#guys who do i need to talk to to make this happen? | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

13tinysocks · 2 days ago

Text

My Dead Girlfriend

Days pass. Patience grows thin. Deathbed talk begins. You pull the last straw and are taken somewhere new.

[Invincible Varients X Reader]

[Part one] [Ao3] [11]

12 * Two Inches? [9.2k]

"Nice, nice!

Are you a virgin?

Nice, nice!

What color are your panties?"

Nice Nice - Dazey and the Scouts

"We need to tell everybody." He couldn't look away from that massive white thing. Hard-shelled with soft, crabby flesh underneath. His mouth watered just looking at its twitching mandibles.

From behind him, "No."

Baldie turned, brows pressed together. "Why not?"

Phantom watched him, feet away, keeping eyes and ears out for approaching company. No one was coming.

"(Y/n) likes you." He says instead of answering directly. "If you ask her to come with you alone, she will."

Baldie's mouth fell open. Now he was starting to get it. "But... You just said all that stuff about not splitting up."

"Because I had to." Phantom said, modulator softly echoing off the cave walls, "To keep the peace until we could talk. This is the safest way to do it."

"We can't just keep this from every-"

"You saw what those two did to her." Phantom cut him off, surprising even himself, "How easily they took her from you. I had to get her out of that situation. We only survived because they decided they were done playing. Do you really want her to be around people like that?" His throat itched. Vocal cords thin and raw after ten seconds of jabbering.

"Then we tell everyone but them." Baldie reasoned, though the voice in the back of his mind agreed. To take the hoard that was you and run.

"If we're all together, they'll find us. It has to be just us." Phantom finishes, cards splayed across the table, hoping Baldie would fold.

Baldie's mouth opened, closed, opened, closed. He knew he should do the right thing. Refuse. Tell everybody. Band together, kill Lensless and Scars with everybody else. Establish peace. Live with and eat bugs forever. Find friendship and understanding in the only person who could really understand what he went through- the other versions of himself.

But he just couldn't.

He'd waited four years in hell only to find your bones. Watched you be civil to the others, Viltrumite loyalists and enforcers and leaders. It made him sick, the idea of you with them. Any of them but him. Phantom must feel that way too.

He was no fool. Alternate motives were guaranteed in a situation as suspicious as this. "How long have you known about this place?" Was double-speak for, 'Did you find this before or after we ate a guy?'

"Not long." Phantom lies, "Three days."

Baldie nods shallow before spinning, neck cracking like a whip. "You're only telling me this now because, what? You think I'm stupid? You think I'm easy to kill?"

Phantom backed up, hands raised defensively. "No." He says, shaking his head, voice small, hunched over, feigning doe-ishness.

"What's stopping you from killing me when I bring her here?" Baldie's prowling closer now, fists clenching, "What's stopping you from just taking her yourself? Why are you telling me this?" Veins pop out on his scarred neck, pulse throbbing in his clenched fists. He's still angry about you letting Lensless and Scars go. He doesn't want, he needs to hit something hard as he can.

"Because you can make her happy." Phantom says, "And I can't." That makes Baldie pause. "I wish she liked me the way she likes you, but I know it won't happen. I'm okay with that. I just want her safe." It's a lie but a well-told one.

Baldie relaxes but not fully. "If you ever fucking try to touch her, I will kill you." He only says it because you're not here to hear him say it, because he couldn't say it to the ones that hurt you. Then and now. He had dreaded coming home from prison and you being scared of him, his appearance and the scars that festered underneath. But the you now wasn't scared, you were starting to cherish him. He was afraid now, of fucking it up a second time.

"Understood," Phantom said because this is exactly what he wanted.

"I-" Baldie took a breath, squared his shoulders, "I also need some time to figure this out. This," the bug queen, the cathedral, the never ending cache of food, "is a lot." But most of all, he needed to figure out how to tell you.

***

Your phone was gone. Off the rock you'd left it on to play music and die on. You'd asked around unhurriedly. Not like it'd be any help but the comfort of something not from this shithole was alluring. Something to hold and know you had existed before this and would hopefully exist after. But nobody knows where it went. Though Lensless (when you saw him next) claimed he took it and tried to get you to force him to tell the truth. You didn't even try.

Gray was dodgy, not about the phone, but about you. He couldn't seem to hold conversation with you for more than two seconds at a time before flying off somewhere with something better to do. He'd always been that way, but he'd been shorter with his words and was staring at you a whole lot more. Despite this, he wasn't a suspect. You doubted he'd want anything to do with your phone, even if it was working.

You were rotting and they all saw it. You couldn't explore long. The torches you'd been making out of soaked, then slightly dried wood and cloth never last longer than a half hour. You couldn't go to the surface, ceiling too high to even consider scaling out of. Not like any of them would let you anyway, not with Scars and Lensless roaming the wastes during the day. Hiding out somewhere hidden so those who wanted them dead couldn't even kill them in the daylight. Or maybe they were hiding, waiting to pick them off one by one. No one knew what they were planning.

Scars and Lensless always came at night because they'd yet to find another source of food. The peace was paper thin. They ate and didn't attack or kidnap you. Your horde of bodyguards let them stay in the shade for a few hours. We don't hurt you and we get to eat. Not exactly an even exchange.

Personal agendas were always thick in the air now. It was only a matter of days until the food was gone. They could go without awhile, but as soon as you began to starve, there'd be another death and another. Everyone was planning to be the last one standing, to die in the desert with you. The truce wouldn't last much longer but for tonight, nobody mentioned it.

Gray marked day twenty on the wall. He kept count for the sake of rationing. Meager scraps of what hadn't rotted remained. Only you would eat tonight, the small hard pieces of Emperor jerky that always got caught in your teeth a reminder.

Hopelessness isn't in the air, it's already sunken in, become a part of each of you. People were starting to think about dying or finding a way to make this all work long term. But without food? It would not.

The deathbed talk started lightly, a reprieve from their thoughts and the empty expanse around them.

"I could really go for mom's chicken parm." Maskless says, watching you nibble on small pieces of Emperor meat.

Tracksuit's mask fluttered when he laughed, "Your mom cooked?"

"Yours didn't?"

So began talk of Debbie Grayson. Another universal constant, but she was dynamic through the multiverse. Tracksuit talked about a distant figure he never liked much. Maskless implied kind acceptance, the love some of them yearned for. She stood up to Nolan and died for it. Mohawk laughed in his face. Bragged about how he came to your world partly to kill her himself again.

"Did you?" Omni asked, sounding suspiciously interested. Like he'd had a similar idea.

"Nah." Mohawk kicked at the ground. "Wasn't home. Any of you dicks find 'er?"

Nobody had.

Lensless claimed a weak, once loving mother who stepped aside when the Viltrum Empire came to Earth. Struck by grief at the death of her husband at her child's hand. They lived together through the change Viltrum brought to Earth. What was left of it after the slaughter Lensless brought down. She was a ghost. Wasting away as the world was rebuilt into a utopia. The last time he saw her, she was hanging in her closet. He said this lightly, with the same smile he always wore.

Scars grinned at the story, told them that Debbie Grayson's body would never be found in his world. Left it at that. No one wanted to know.

Gray was confused by all of this. The death. The alien versions of his, "Mother raised me on Viltrum." Turned heads. "She likes it there."

Baldie stirred, agitated by the idea. Mom was good, she was just. She was taken from Earth just like he was. Brought to Viltrum, not in a cell, but still imprisoned. Dad gave him updates in between beat-downs on his cell floor. She had stopped talking, stopped eating, had to be put on life support to stay alive. Nolan refused to pull the plug. He kept his wife unwillingly alive as a self-inflicted vegetable. Baldie wished he could've escaped another way. Seen mom one last time, taken her off that horrid life support and let her rest in peace.

But he kept his mouth shut. He felt if he opened his mouth at all, the cave secret would come spilling out. He hadn't figured out how to tell you. Where to tell you. When. How you'd react.

Phantom hadn't spoken at all since he'd talked with Baldie those days ago. Something about Mom and Viltrum made him spark, contempt thick in his voice. "As breeding stock?"

Gray turned to him, "That's not what I said."

"Dad said that's all humans were good for," Phantom said.

***

"Is she with child?" The Viltrumite doctor asked as they all stepped into the sterile room. White on white on white. Technically, only Mark needed to be in attendance for his physical. There had been plenty of appointments since he was the first human-Viltrumite hybrid and the Empire desperately wanted to know how he was developing. But his parents came, they always came because they cared. Humanity's customs had rubbed a dent into Nolan's character. The other Viltrumites didn't approve but he still conquered planets, if not more effectively than before- excited to return to his family.

"No." Debbie said firm. "We've already told you, we're not-"

"You brought the human woman to breed did you not?" The doctor looked square at Nolan. Debbie was beneath him.

"I feel it's better to focus on Mark until he develops his powers." Nolan said as Mark climbed onto the table for a full body scan. He was seven, small for a Viltrumite boy his age but Debbie was sure he'd hit a growth spurt soon.

The doctor watched numbers flash on a screen. Mark's vitals, muscle and bone density. Hardly different from a full blooded Viltrumite. "He will soon, Nolan. It would be prudent to begin procreation immediately."

"I said no." Debbie snapped.

The Viltrumite doesn't turn to address her. "You should consider your mission on Earth a great success, Nolan. We were unsure of human-Viltrumite compatibility before, but by the time he's developed his powers- he'll be strong as a full-blood. The Empire thanks you for this knowledge."

"Uh, yeah sure." Nolan internally wilted at his wife's hard stare. "But you don't need me to have more children do you? There's so many Viltrumites and humans to do that for me."

The doctor's hands balled to fists. "You know?"

It's a secret Mark isn't privy to. Debbie isn't privy to. Nolan knows. There are only fifty full-blooded Viltrumites left in the galaxy. Their bloodline thinning in other mixed races. The Empire is weak, desperate. Mark the greatest success yet.

"Yes," Nolan said.

"Then you know what you must do."

***

"There are other humans to do it for him." He says, the parallel is like a hammer to head. The population of Viltrum had thinned further since then, but there were still others to carry the mission. He could just... No. No, he couldn't defect like that, it wasn't like mother. The Empire wouldn't even allow you to be considered if you couldn't procreate. Even if he wanted to, he was stuck in the desert. No way of returning to his Empire. Still, he looks to you and finds a cringe he feels the need to reset. "The parents of our hybrid children are not forced into what they do. It is bad for the child's physical health if some human practices are not done during pregnancy and early development." Only in hybrids. Viltrumite babies weren't so needy. Remembering himself, a tiny, keening and a desperate thing, made him embarrassed to not be full blooded.

Your expression only worsens. You did not like that. He is confused, what he said was very humane. He left out the part that humans were selected by health and fertility, that many did not meet their qualifications. Some did not wish to serve the empire, so they would be killed until another was found. Rinse, repeat. After awhile, all participants are willing.

"Wait." Tracksuit's accent cut the tension. "You were on Viltrum from day one, yeah?"

"I was born there." Gray said, proud. It was like a badge among the lesser versions of him.

Tracksuit's fingers snapped. "That makes so much sense!" Gray doesn't ask, so Tracksuit continues, "You know, why you're taller than the rest of us!"

Looks were shared. "He's not-" Then. "Wait- Hey! Stop hovering for a second!"

Gray, who perpetually seemed to hover above the ground except for when he slept, did as requested. Gasps rang through the cave. Marks stood beside him. Hands going from the top of their heads to the middle of Gray's chin. All of them were the same height, except for Gray. Two, maybe three inches taller than the rest.

There was outrage from some. Gray did not care. Height did not matter on Viltrum, through he suspected his difference was due to a different level of gravity throughout his lifetime. Odd, yes, but he can only focus on you and your faraway expression. What were you thinking about? Were you not impressed with his height? Didn't Earth women like taller mates?

He is so focused on you he nearly doesn't catch Phantom's quiet words.

"She'd rather die than live on Viltrum." The whole time he'd been simmering, building up the strength in his throat.

Gray looked to him. Saw past his modulator and mask, and knew he was a hurt, aching, little boy on the inside. One he could've been, had he not been raised to be strong on Viltrum. Gray pities him, but feels no compassion. A bleeding heart was just that, a bleeding heart. Weak, soon to die.

"Your mother is dead, yes?" He says more than asks. It's a guess, an educated one. The human-raised among his ilk were too transparent with their feelings.

Phantom jerks as if struck, voice a growl like what he says will hurt him. "Dad killed her."

Weakness. "If she resisted, then it had to be done. She was not strong enough for The Empire or your father. My mother was, and she still serves The Empire." He says as if his mother didn't only have one child. As if he didn't cherish growing up surrounded by his parents love and attention. She had not done everything she should have for The Empire and he still loved her, his father loved her. He too was weak, but unlike Phantom, would not show it.

Phantom bristled under the mask. Tense. Ready to strike. But he looks at you. Remembers what's at stake. Forces himself to relax.

Mohawk's cackle hurts his ears, "Maaaaan! You can't be sayin' that shit to this dude!" His thumb jerked toward Phantom, "Dude looks like a school shooter!"

Phantom took the abuse on the chin. He'd take all he needed to because soon enough, he'd show them all.

***

Scars and Lensless touched down, made their gross, sexual commentary. Toed the line. Maskless built the fire, Gray marked day twenty-two.

You eat beside Tracksuit. Friendship an undercurrent you keep hidden at these fireside. The others would be weird, territorial. Scars and Lensless might fucking kill him. You hoped they didn't hear you pour your heart out to him about Mark. Knowing your luck? They probably had.

Another night of tension. Conversational scraps. No one had found anything in the caves or the desert. Until.

"Alright, I'm bored." Mohawk shot a pointed finger your way. "I gotta know, how was he in bed?"

You almost drop your jerky. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. How was fuckin' Daddy's little clone?"

You'd been avoiding the topic for days. Avoiding Omni for days. He had his own cot now, had for days, but he pushed it right up next to yours. Sleeping next to one another, ignoring his chatter, trying to get him to sleep on his cot and not roll onto yours in the night. All you cared about was if he would kill you or not. Since he wasn't trying, you didn't need to talk to him. Still, he tried. Over and over to catch you out alone and you continued to dodge. Using your powers to get someone else to be around. He was smart and knew the others shouldn't know. Liked keeping a secret between you both, until he didn't.

"I told you twelve times already, we didn't have sex." Your lies sting him. The first time you denied it, he didn't mind. It was survival. But now? You sounded grossed out by the idea of him inside you. As if your body hadn't been begging for more. As if he hasn't tasted you on his fingers.

"Sure you didn't." Mohawk snickers. "Yelling at him for that long?"

"Dude," Tracksuit swallows a wad of meat, "I'd tell you if she was fuckin' some guy. It's like, bro code man."

Mohawk snorted, "I'm just sayin', if we were alone for that long? You would not be yelling at me." His brows do a stupid jig on his forehead. You want to throw your jerky at him but you needed it. You'd used your reserves for the day on shutting Scars and Lensless up for an extended period. They seemed to come to the fireside just for your control. Work it out until your nose bled or you passed out, then leave into the night.

"If we were alone that long, I'd kill you." You say.

He bit his pierced lip in a grin. "I'd like to see you try."

"Say that stupid shit again and I will."

Omni had had enough. The secret was doing no good for your relationship. He said loud and clear for the whole desert to hear, "Is it so bad that I made love to my wife?"

Your jerky finally drops out your hand as you stood. "You-"

Mohawk slapped his knee. "Knew it! I knew it!"

"We didn't!" You glare at him, trying to stop him with your eyes.

Omni levels you with a too-serious glare. "We did and it was beautiful."

"No!" You hands go to your head. You do not have the energy to deal with this.

Mohawk clutched his chest, laughing so hard he may vomit. "Him! Him first?! Ain't no way!"

Your control on Lensless and Scars snapped. Lensless shot up, arm raised, "Me next! Me! Pick me!" While Scars watched you with a small, knowing smile. He'd already known. Guessed or heard somehow. You could never tell with this freak.

"Oh God." Tracksuit ran a hand under his mask.

"Wait." Mohawk stopped. "What about bro code? Were you in that pussy too!?"

"No." Omni said at the same time as you.

The unity made Mohawk stop laughing. Taking stock of the situation, the way you stood in front of him, trying to mask your anger in a way you wouldn't if he was lying. If he was lying you'd make him jump into the fire, but you just looked anxious now, barely contained.

"You actually fucked her." It's not a question. Omni didn't joke. "I should cut your dick off." Mohawk wanted to say little but considering they were the same person? Definitely not little.

"You will not." Omni says, smile cocky enough to make them all bristle, "But I didn't need it."

Mohawk's hands go to the shaved sides of his head. "Fucking-!" He'd done plenty of that in his day, especially since your death to fill the void. If anyone knew about meaningless sex it was him but you fucked him, another version of him, and not him him. It was a total betrayal, a slap in the face, a Coalition of Planets data pad under the mattress.

Nothing seemed more healing to him then being buried in your pussy. Negging you was flirting for him. He was just trying to get in your pants, then your heart. He'd thought the teasing would bring you closer together. He'd had a plan but now all he wanted to do was kick Omni's ass for existing.

He stood. Omni stayed seated. "Do you really plan to attack me, Little Man?" Mohawk doesn't see but feels his eyes flick up and down. It was obvious who the scrawniest was out of all of them, Mohawk himself. Nothing to sneeze at in terms of physique but compared to Omni's brick wall body? He stood no fucking chance.

But he knew his physique didn't matter, that he was more durable, better than all of them combined. And he wouldn't take such a insult in front of you.

"Yea-"

"Take a breather." You say. Mohawk shoots hard into the night. You hold control long as you can.

"I appreciate the assist, my love but l-"

You hold up a hand shutting him up. "I'm not your love or your wife. That was the whole fucking point of what we did." You turn to the rest, the official news hitting them all at once. "And if any of you assholes have a problem, I'll send you out until you can act like adults. Jesus Christ."

Gray felt strangely disappointed. You couldn't help the repopulation effort but you'd still had sex just to have sex. Why? He never understood why his parents did what they did. Never got to lay his version of you down himself. Baldie tells himself you're only human. Needed to let off steam, but he angsts anyway. Lensless and Scars look to each other. Seeming to physically brew up punishing ideas. Maskless didn't care. Tracksuit hoped Mohawk wouldn't come back and murder him over an assumption.

Phantom sat content. Upset, yes, but content knowing this information would push Baldie further to his side. All evidence of Omni's mark on you could be erased anyway- once Baldie was out of the picture. If everything went his way no one else would touch you ever again.

***

You sat on the ground in total quiet. Alone for the first time in forever in the central cave. You couldn't remember who was on babysitting duty or where they'd gone. You continued knitting garbage together on your bare arms. Everyone had a cot now, but you wanted a blanket that wasn't Omni's cape after that shit he pulled last night. You'd slept against a carved bench by the fire while he tried to call you to bed. You ignored him until the only sounds you could hear were the fire and your teeth chattering.

You were exhausted and your whole body ached, and every time you fucked up the technique, you swore. It'd been getting harder to keep your emotions in check. You were always partly starving, bored, afraid for your life. You were fraying at the edges and didn't know how much more you could take.

"Hi."

You nearly jumped out of your skin. Falling forward, scraping your elbows on the cave floor, garbage fabric falling to useless shreds on the ground. You twisted, ready to bark out a kill order.

Phantom stood. Hand poised like he was going to touch your shoulder but thought better of it.

"What?" You gathered your limbs under yourself, trying to look more composed.

He notices you're slow to do so. You were not as afraid of him as the others. Unsure, reasonably so, but not enraged by his closeness. This was a good sign.

He reached into his belt. You'd never seen him turn out his pockets, had no idea what was inside. Mind racing that he was going to pull out a weapon, superhero murder gas or something of the like. Instead, he holds a small flat disc. No larger than the center of his palm.

"For you." He held his hand out, palm open, waiting for you to take it.

You ogle the thing with a frown. "It's not going to cuff around my wrists right?" You remembered the thing he'd thrown at you in Sydney. What you guessed it was but it was never confirmed to be. Remember what Scars had brought with him to subdue you. You suppress a shiver.

"No." He says, smile soft in his voice. "I used this when I knew I didn't have the time to follow a suspect." His thumb pressed on the disc's center and out popped a suction cup. Another press and it was smooth once more. "I did a lot more work for the GDA than the others."

He assumes anyway. Those lazy, immoral rats didn't care about the planet most of them grew up on. Not like Phantom did. He did everything he could to protect it. He still remembers what Dad said to him that horrible day. A sneer as he said "his hobby was cute," right after leveling their family home, after killing you. Just remembering spiked his heart rate.

He forced himself to breathe. Be level, calm. He held his arm out a little further but didn't dare touch you. Careful not to set you off, the poor, scared little mouse that you were.

"Or," he started, nervous under your attention, "to keep covert operatives safe." He flipped the disc on its side, slid a hidden track down to reveal a slim red button. "Press this and I'll be alerted. I'll come right away." He slid the hidden compartment shut and waited.

He wanted to keep an eye on you. Keep you in the palm of his creepy hand. He wanted to...

You were always in the same place. Always under threat of Scars and Lensless suddenly swooping down and snatching you up. This wasn't about stalking, it was about protecting. After all, he had saved your life from them, and your own stupid mistake.

You took the thing, slow, like you were scared if you moved too quick his predator instinct would spring and he'd grab your arm. But he holds himself perfectly still. Feeling the euphoric thrill that is your fingers grazing over his palm through kevlar. When your touch leaves, the sensation lingers.

You turn the thing over and over in your palm. Testing the weight and muttering, "Where was this a few days ago?" Before sliding into the pocket of your soldier pants. Its weight is near imperceptible but you feel it tugging at your hip. A real, solid comfort. A promise.

You realize you're being an asshole.

"Thank you." You say. Hoping he doesn't take it and his promise of protection back. Machine Head was always so quick to take privileges like that away. You worried but a lightning speed pick-pocketing doesn't occur. You relax. "For this and the other day. Those guys are uhm..." You look up through the porthole as if they'd be there waiting. They aren't. You don't want to jinx it. "It's good to have someone like you on my side."

He nods. All talked out for the day. Chest ablaze with the praise.

"It's good to have someone like you on my side."

He picked up your trash and re-knit it before you could think about doing it.

"It's good to have someone like you on my side."

He brought Gray's cache of trash to weave closer. Sat by your side and passed you pieces as you went along. Quietly enjoying your company.

"It's good to have someone like you on my side."

***

Dinner tonight was a broth of Emperor's bones to be sipped out of cups of dry clay Gray baked in the sun. He only made bowls for those two because if he didn't, they'd have an excuse to drink from yours. It was not that he cared for your comfort, why should he if you couldn't help him complete his mission but... There was no mission in this wasteland. He tells himself he's trying to keep the peace, to do the most rational thing in a hopeless situation. You were needed for morale, the others and not his of course.

You tilted the bowl to your lips and let the poor excuse for hot soup slide down your throat. Scars watched your throat bob. Wanting nothing more than to drink the liquid out of your mouth after a long day of desert dwelling with Seven. He settles for drinking his own share.

Scars is watched himself. Nobody trusts him not to try and take you to the sky again. Maybe even take you away for good. He hadn't made his move yet, but it was expected soon. For tonight, he did the same thing he had for the last week.

"Stop avoiding the question, Dregs." Piss you off on purpose, asking personal questions and making assumptions about your previous life. You didn't understand why he did it. You always shut him up and he was too pussy to attack even with Lensless in a room full of your personal bodyguards. Sometimes you thought he was getting off on bothering you, on not letting you have any sense of peace. But he barely fought back, letting you shut him up and bite back.

"Be quiet." And he was. Thank God.

Your nose hadn't started to bleed yet. Your powers should be weaker from eating less and less these last few days but you were on a roll tonight.

"Why are you getting so defensive?" Lensless baited. "We've been plenty vulnerable with you about our lives. Why can't you do the same thing for us? Just tell us who came up with the name!"

"Leave."

The cave whooshes with a rush of air. The kindling scattered to the floor. Regathered by Omni before they can burn themselves out. You nod thanks. The cave was insulated from desert night chills but it was no camping trip, you needed the fire.

You feel your control on Scars start to slip. "Stay quiet." You close your eyes. Feeling power loosen on Lensless, even at a miles distance. By now, his mind is free but his body is not. You focus. Try to keep them both evenly controlled. You'd never had a workout quite like this. Regular human beings were so easy to control you were unused to challenge. Hadn't even had any resistance from non-psychics until that day on the roof. You wouldn't say it but the exercise was welcome but you almost started looking forward to making fools of them over the nightly bonfires- showing them all you had something they couldn't control. You.

While you were focused, Mohawk hits you where it hurts. "By all means, leave those dickheads in the dark but why not tell the rest of us? We're buddies by now, yeah babe?" He knows your hold would break if you added another Mark to the roster. You can shut those assholes up, but not him.

"None of your business." You grit out through ground teeth. Feeling Lensless's mind wriggle in your hold. You clamp the mental prongs down.

He really shouldn't agitate you but you'd been avoiding him for days now. He just needed you to look at him again after that moment of union in the caves. "I think it is," Omni says.

Mohawks brows shoot up in surprise but he takes the advantage, willing to work with anyone if it meant getting under your skin. "See, babe? Everyone wants to know, even this shithead."

You scowl at Omni, concentration waning. Scars mentally slashing at your power with steely claws.

"Shut up."

"Think of it like a campfire story, ya'know. You can even change the names around if ya want." You don't budge. Mohawk pouts, "Come oooonnn, I showed you mine, you show me yours isn't that how the sayin' goes?"

"I said," your eyes snap open, control gone from the others, "shut up."

It's Mohawk's turn to go quiet. Lensless returned to the fire in a snap that again, scatters the wood. The fire is restacked before you notice a change in light.

"Idiot." You tsk at a finally shut up Mohawk.

"Did I miss anything?" Lensless asked.

"Just our dear Dregs getting defensive over the tiniest of questions." Scars said.

"I'm not defensive." You say, defensively.

"Then tell us." Mohawk goaded. Your hold already gone with your concentration.

"Yeah, I wanna know why you're so hot and evil and stuff." Lensless said.

You scowled. None of them were stopping this line of questioning. Why the hell was Mohawk working with Scars, who he tried to kill last week, to get information out of you? Why the hell weren't Phantom or Gray stopping this?

On the flip side, Phantom wanted to know. He knew you'd be upset if he asked. But the cool-headed image of him in your head wouldn't crack if he stayed quiet. When you stopped being angry you'd think it was survival move to stay quiet. Not speak against the majority.

Gray shouldn't let the tensions rise, he knew, but you were so vexing. All he needed to do was let the others crack your brain open for him.

Baldie tried to stop it, weakly. "She doesn't want to talk." Said as a mutter because he craved knowing all of you, but knew if he said nothing, you'd be pissed.

"Stop white-knighting, dude, she's not gonna fuck you." Mohawk said and that shut him up. Fighting all of them was a stupid idea. But leaving in a huff, leaving you alone, was a stupider idea. The best thing he could do was sit by your side as silent moral support. Back your play.

"I'm not fucking any of you." You say.

Mohawk scoffed. "You fucked Wonder Boy over there."

You lean forward, elbows to knees, "Yeah, and not you." That made his smirk crumple.

He forced it to bounce back. "Not yet."

"Mmm, no." You say, a lilt in your voice, "Thing is, I just don't think you're all that attractive." It's a lie but one you try to sell. Happy to bruise an ego. "I never thought the Mark in my timeline was either. With him," you jerk your head toward Omni, "I just needed stress relief and we were in the dark, so who really cares?"

Mohawk's lips purse like he'd sucked a lemon. "Funny you say that." He shifted, pulling something out of his back pocket.

Your phone. Caligula's belly flashing on the lock screen, fully charged.

"Give me that." You don't want to waste what power you have left, not yet. "How is that even working?"

"No shot." His shit-eating grin returns, "You could'a been explorin' the caves all this time, playing your stupid music-" Your eyes shift around, wondering who told. "We got crazy tech in these suits, babe. I had Art put a phone charger in mine cuz I kept missing your calls while I was workin' and you'd get pissed!" He slid the phone into a seam on his bicep, surly enough the charging sound dinged. He pulled it out. "-But you didn't think to ask cuz you're such a prissy bitch."

"You want to call me that again?" It's a dare.

One he doesn't take because he has the upper hand. "So I started goin' through ya phone." He flips it to himself and unlocks it with a swipe of the thumb. "Can't believe your passcode's the same." He laughs, tapping at the screen.

"Oh no, you beat my Tetris Lite high score." You say, because there's nothing incriminating on your phone. Aside from vague text chats with Machine Head and Isotope. "What's your point?"

"I'm so glad you asked." A few more taps and he where he wanted to be. An old photo album automatically downloaded to your phone from the cloud. You never looked at it, never cared to. Images carried over from your old phone before Machine Head issued you a new one, decked out with all sorts of encryption tech for secure messaging and calls. You didn't need pictures of your old work schedule or study notes from high school. But you never found the time or energy to delete them.

He flipped the phone over, stretched out his arm and panned the image around the circle. Letting everybody take in the truth. You, five years ago, kissing Mark's cheek, him grinning stupid at the screen. Your third or fourth date, the best so far. It had been your lock screen for months.

"Still think I'm unattractive?" Mohawk smirked.

Caught red handed. Your words catch in your throat. All of them processing what you had been to Mark. Even in the vaguest terms. Their hopeful puppy dog eyes. The memory of being happy and younger.

Mohawk started swiping through the pictures. One after another, in the short moments after the first. A cheek kiss to a lip kiss, the both of you blushing and smiling. "Doesn't this bring back memories, babe?"

Phantom feels his heart melt. He'd taken those same photos with you. Lensless had too, though with a lot more tongue. Baldie had too, but he'd been too shy to go in for a kiss on the lips. Omni was never one for selfies, thought they were a waste of time. But that didn't stop him from collecting photos, asking friends or strangers to snap some when you were out. He remembers you making fun of him for how serious he always took it. Mohawk had plenty pictures of you on his phone that he hadn't brought along. Mostly of your eyes looking up at him pleadingly, lips stretched over his cock, tears messy on red cheeks. He was deeply disappointed not to find anything similar on your phone. Scars didn't know you young, but liked where this was going. The look on your face, the rage, the humiliation- oh so sweet.

Gray did not have any photos of you. Photos for fun weren't a thing on Viltrum. Tracksuit had plenty of nudes on his phone, mostly of himself. Now, he was glad he hadn't brought his phone. A little glad he was witnessing true reality TV trash in real time but still, he felt bad for you but- come on, drama like this doesn't come around every day. Maskless watched on less enthused. Here we go, more het-slop drama. Fantastic.

"Give me that," you warn low, "give me that right now." You're saving your power now. Strategizing how to hurt him best in one big burst.

"Or what? You'll tell me to shut up?" He swipes through another photo. Mark's back to the camera, your head over his shoulder, locked in a hug. "Man," he whistles through his teeth, "you've got a lot of these. Wanna know the best part?" He asks the others, not you. "These are years old and she still has 'em-"

"I meant to delete them!" You can't help the outburst.

"And I went through 'em all, we stop showing up right around..." He stopped at your last photo of Mark. "Here. 'Bout five years ago," according to the photo app metadata. Mark sat across from the camera at a fancy dinner table. He was late to his own reservation, leaving you embarrassed and feeling like an inconsiderate dickhead. But when he came with roses in hand and you forgave him right away. You'd never been on a date like that again because not long after- you were through.

"Shit," Lensless took the phone, Mohawk let him have it, "We rock a suit, huh?"

Scars leaned over his shoulder. Frankly disgusted by how sweet his own face could look. "Rocked her right after this picture was taken I wager."

"No!" You should kill them all. Like, actually. You couldn't do them all at once though, you were deciding who to hurt.

"Why haven't you taken any pictures with him in that long, huh?" Mohawk went on. "Trouble in paradise, babe? You know, you'd never have any with me." Bullshit.

Omni took the phone out of Lensless's hand. Swiped through the photos himself. You looked so sweet, so happy, and alive. Nothing like you did now, with your dead-tired eyes and permanent scowl. He knew what happened to you in vague terms, the jail sentence and the subsequent assassin position. He jumped to the conclusion that this dimensions version of him was a stupid fuck up who didn't put a ring on it, and couldn't protect you from the world. He'd given up on you like a fool. But it was lucky for him, he supposed. He knew for sure now, despite your denials of his love, you could and would love him back. One day.

"We were friends." You lie back, "He was just affectionate-"

"Friends?" Mohawk cackles, "Yeah, cuz I tongue-fuck all my homies. Really, babe? I thought you'd come up with something better than that. What? Are you embarrassed?" Clearly, you were. "Cuz you kept alllll these pictures after he broke up with you?" It's a guess but dead on.

The quiet rage is confirmation enough.

There is a collective internal glow of pride in everyone. You were in love with him at some point. Some part of you kept the evidence. You could love him back, the collective thought. Save for Tracksuit and Maskless, who were both thinking this was a little much. Who both felt bad for you. Who both knew they'd rip Mohawk's skin off if they were in your shoes, but make no move to do so.

Mohawk didn't know when to stop, slinking forward to get in your face. "Aww, baby... Are you still in love with him? That's so stupid and sad."

"Punch yourself in the balls. Hard as you can."

You feel a rush of air and he's on the floor, writhing, clutching his family jewels, tears pricking the edges of his eyes before you can process your nose starting to bleed. You wobble on your feet, avoiding Baldie's balancing touch. You turn to Omni with Gray hovering behind him. Feeling things he couldn't truly explain.

You say, "Crush it." Before you consider that you'd need the flashlight.

Glass and metal splinter to the ground. Omni opened his hand, impressed you controlled him like that, but he doesn't think it'll happen again. Blood is coming out your nose in thick drops now. You wipe them away with the back of your hand. Head starting to throb as you walk slow, purposeful back to Mohawk. Still groaning.

You kneel. Everyone falling away but the two of you. Him in sweet, glorious pain, and you high off his agony. "You wanna know who gave me that name so bad?" His face is to the ground, trying to hide how much it hurts like the tough guy he is. You grab his hair in your fist, pulling his head up easily because despite everything, he'd always melt in to your touch. "You did."

They want answers so bad- they'll get 'em.

"My boss Machine Head, that robo-dick I murdered- he took it and ran with it because it upset me. You said I was the dregs of society- something stupid like that- and left me to rot. He thought it was so funny Dregs, his de facto murder-torture guy, isn't that nice? I was his favorite, you know? Machine Head always had these fucked up requests and I'd do it because I didn't care. I knew he wouldn't check, not because he trusted me, but because he knew I had nothing else. One guy, I made him skin himself alive with a potato peeler. Got pretty far before his body shut down. Another, I made him choose who to shoot first, his wife or his mistress- they both died, yeah, but man, him turning on his wife like that? Crazy." You didn't mean to ramble but you were. You were just so pent-up and angry, that a reminder of your Mark, the life you could've had, had you unwinding yard by yard. It was easy letting their flawed logic win for once, and it felt damn good. They had hurt you.

"I could've been something. When I met Cecil, he wanted me to work for him. Mark could've made that happen, but he let me fuck around New York murdering people for some drug-running robot dickhead." Mohawk's eyes began to clear of pain. Were rapt on you and your anger and how transparently awful you were. "I loved him so much, and now-" He's looking at you like he loves you and you hate it; say the nastiest thing you can think of, "If I ever get back, I'm killing his family, starting with that dumb bitch Eve. So no, you stupid motherfucker, I'm never going to love you and I'm never letting you fuck me."

You stand, emboldened by the silence. "Any more questions?" You only look at Mohawk. Curled, clutching his balls, but slowly, purposefully smiling at you.

"I think that about covers it." He says, voice weedy.

"Can you do me next?" Lensless asked.

You were sapped of power. Couldn't if you wanted to. You also shouldn't, he'd cum but still, he'd hurt and you wanted them all to hurt. You say nothing, gather up a premade torch. Held it out to Tracksuit to light with friction- much quicker than the fire that didn't much like damp-ish cloth. He does, no questions asked. He'd also want to take a hike after all that.

You picked a cave and started. Not before saying, "Fuck you all."

Then you were off. You don't let yourself stop and cry until you were triple sure you were out of hearing range. Even then, you go further, further, until your torch burnt down to the quick and singed your hand. You drop it, clasping the skin, crumbling to the ground as the first angry tears sprang forth.

You hated them. You wanted them to die but you needed them to survive. Why couldn't they just be normal? Couldn't they understand you were a different person? And now they knew your dirty secret. Sure to hold it over your neck like a guillotine.

You'd scream but they'd hear. Come running. Come mocking. So you sob as quietly as you can into your hands.

"I'm sorry he did that to you." He says.

You jump. Grab the smoldering remains of the torch off the ground and throw it at the voice, despite how it burns your hand. "Go away!"

The torch bounced off Baldie's chest, fell to the ground, all light dead on impact.

"I know you're upset but..." He knows Phantom is near. Lurking. Can hear his mostly disguised breathing. He'd left after you when the bickering fizzled and Lensless and Scars left out of boredom. Phantom followed because he knew- Baldie had made up his mind.

"Upset? I'm not upset!" You forcefully rub at your cheeks. "This is nothing."

He frowns, though you can't see it. "I have something to show you."

"I don't care." You say. "I don't want to see anything that isn't Mark's dead body. Okay? Just-" You take a wobbly breath, "Fuck off. I can't do this anymore."

The admission almost pulls a sob out of you, and you have to fight to hold it in.

"I know," it's soft, "I know, that's why I need to show you. You don't have to see any of them."

You're fighting to hold in sobs, barely processing what he says, "Please. Just go."

"(Y/n) I-"

"Die." You splutter without power, "Just drop dead or go away. I'm done." Soon as the words come out your hands go to your head. You almost did it again. You didn't want him to die, not really.

The sobs come harder. You're hysterical. Soon to crack and scream and then he wouldn't be alone with you anymore.

He scoops you up in his arms. Apologizing, keeping his grip gentle as possible as he flew deeper into the caves. Back to the hidden entrance he'd visited and re-visited since Phantom told him of its existence. You beat your fists against his chest, his neck, his face, but he couldn't be angry at you. He was angry at them for making you feel so low.

He doesn't speak as he moves the rock, floating inside, and sealing the tomb behind you both. He sees Phantom's silhouette as the rock slid flush to the wall. An agreement passed quietly between them.

You heard movement, unable to place the exact sound. Like Styrofoam peanuts squeaking past one another. But there was no way there'd be Styrofoam peanuts here. You blink, looking around but seeing nothing in the absolute dark. The air felt different here, wetter, smelling of sod and sulfur.

"One sec." He said, floating down to the ground with the least amount of creepy-crawlies. In the times he'd come back, he started the beginnings of a camp. Stole away supplies from Gray's material cache to make your own cots. Picked a spot a few feet up from the bug rivers where you could watch but be in no danger if you decided to hop down and explore.

He clacked two rocks together. Sparks rained as the fire pit he'd built lit. He blew, added more kindling from the pile he'd prepared, nurtured the fire in a matter of milliseconds. The light illuminated the cavern around you, but your eyes could barely process what you were seeing.

You were beside her, yards away. Sat in a high chair at her bug court. The massive white thing that was some mutated sand-mite-termite-whatever-the-fuck queen. She did not notice or care about the fire. Did not mind your sudden presence. Her mandibles twitched as her children flitted in and out of her mouth.

"What the fuck?"

Your brain doesn't even think of food. Water. Too stuck on the giant bug. But you know what it means, these are the first living creatures you'd seen since arriving over three weeks ago.

"We can stay here." He says soft behind you, sure to give plenty of space for you to process. "We have everything we need." You don't reply, jaw dropped open, taking in the sight. The bugs skittering in and out of their dens set into the walls. "You don't have to go back and deal with them ever again."

It's like a dream come true. Too good to be true.

You don't feel yourself speak. "They'll come looking."

"They haven't found this place yet and if we stay quiet, they won't. But I'll be honest, I didn't find this place myself. Someone else did."

You turn, eyes wide, "Who?" God, don't say Scars. Don't say Lensless.

"He wants to tell you himself." He knew it'd matter to you who it was, but Phantom asked him not to tell. He was cagey about why. "But he's helping us. I think tomorrow he'll stage your disappearance and join us. It's nobody bad, I promise."

"I-" You look back to the bugs, undulating below. None of them cared you existed. Minding their own buggy business, not begging you for sex or love or attention. If Baldie brought you here they were likely not venomous. They didn't attack or swarm or even run away. "We'll really be safe here?"

"I'll make sure of it." He said.

Something in you breaks. Resolve or dignity.

Because you lunge at Baldie, tears returning. Stuff your face to his chest, arms going tight around his forearms and middle. The hopelessness that'd become a part of your everyday slowing leaching out in his hold.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," it's muffled against his chest. His arms wriggle easily out of your hold and drape over your back. He pulls you closer, inhaling your scent, feeling your skin, and is at peace.

"It's alright, I've got you."

151 notes · View notes

beanarie · 14 hours ago

Text

part 2 of buck takes a mental health break, in which i try to nudge the other characters into the family role they've played onscreen multiple times in the past. spoiler: eddie's still being a fuckin knob because he's got more growing to do.

He tells the team, because no matter what happens to him, he never wants to be the person who leaves without a word.

He cooked, not at the station in case it would be a busy shift, but he reheated it there. They all took some lasagna, and even sat together at the table. They're doing better. They'll be all right.

Hen is the first to sense something off. "You're not eating?" she says.

"Oh," Buck says, grabbing a roll. "I, uh."

"It's not poisoned, is it," Chim says with a snicker. He doesn't stop eating.

Buck doesn't now what to do with that. He just comes out with it. "Today is my last shift. I'm taking some time off, a few months at least."

Someone drops their fork. "Whoa," Ravi says.

"Is this like last time?" Hen asks, ignoring Chim's confused noise. "You're not- Buck. No one, no one blames you for Bobby."

A lump rises in this throat. Buck can only shake his head.

"Jesus Christ," Eddie says. "So you're getting back at me."

"What, for leaving?" Ravi says. Everyone's lasagna is getting cold.

And Eddie has to say, "Maybe that, too."

"Eddie," Hen says, calmly but with a discernible edge. "What did you do?"

Eddie looks away, his jaw clenched. Funny, how he doesn't feel right saying it to everyone else who was there, but he had no problem saying it to Buck.

They shouldn't have to hear it, though. Buck takes Eddie's attention back with a shrug. "I'll be driving cross country, and doing that right takes a while. Out there, just. If I'm all I got, it's okay if I make things all about me."

Eddie scoffs and rolls his eyes. "Whatever. You haven't chosen to take a day off in your life. We'll see you in three days, drama queen."

Hen looks between them and lands on Buck. "Are you okay, really?"

"I will be," Buck says, hoping he sounds more confident than he feels.

A familiar shout/scream of "Uncle Buck!" punctuates the car that pulled in front of Buck's short term rental. He opens the door to the entire Han family. Maddie already looks misty. Hoo boy.

"Hey, guys," Buck says, waving them in and letting Jee climb him like a set of monkey bars.

"Coffeemaker's in the kitchen, yeah?" Chim says, toting a knocked-out Bo in his carseat. "Come on, Jee. You come from a long line of caffeine addicts. Gotta start sometime."

For him, it's very smooth.

Maddie takes Buck by wrist and leads him out to the tiny patio. They sit in the uncomfortable lawn chairs that the last tenant (or ten before him) left behind.

"You were never looking for a permanent place," she says.

"I thought about it, at first." When he realized Eddie and Chris wanted their home back. "Something with less strings just felt right."

She breathes out very slowly. "Okay."

Buck watches a couple of sparrows flitting about the fence. He's not asking permission.

"How bad has it been?" she says, choked up.

"I... can't really put it into words," Buck says. Not without some bile getting out, and he doesn't want that, not for her, especially not now.

"Evan," she cries. He could never take that tone from her. He pulls her to him, letting her tuck herself into his arms.

"We'll talk, okay? When I'm on the road, you'll- you'll get sick of hearing my voice. I just need some distance, perspective, all of those things."

"And you are coming back," she says, half in question. "I need you."

It would've been better if she'd stabbed him in the stomach. For a second there he can't breathe.

"What? Buck, please talk to me."

"No, you don't," Buck says in a ragged voice. "I'm- I'm not-"

She takes his face in her hands, like when he was six, like when he was twelve, like when he was nineteen. "Listen. If this is not the place for you anymore, I will understand. But you and me? That can never change. I told you, you are never alone as long as I've got the ability to do something about it."

"Okay," Buck says, sniffling. "Okay."

Just after Maddie takes the carseat and the toddler out the door, Chim wraps around Buck and squeezes hard. "I'm sorry," he says thickly. "We really thought he had you."

It was a reasonable assumption. Eddie had been there after the tsunami, after the lightning strike. After Tommy. But losing Bobby shattered something in Eddie, and the sharp edges cut whatever exists between them.

"Thanks," Buck says (instead of No one asked. Why didn't anyone ask?) and he means it.

#bucktommy #tevan fic #things by beanarie #my writing

171 notes · View notes

crushpunky · 18 hours ago

Text

actress!reader gets asked about drew

masterlist | actress!reader masterlist

based on this ask. a sort of compilation of y/n telling cute stories <3

Y/n settled in the chair opposite the podcast’s host, Claire, adjusting the mic as the interview began.

“Hello and welcome to another episode of Chit-Chat with me, your host, Claire Hale!” Claire said cheerfully before turning to face y/n. “Today we are going to be talking with the wonderfully talented y/n y/ln. Welcome!”

“Hi, thank you so much for having me.” Y/n smiled, smoothing a hand along her pants as the two of them launched into casual conversation, ranging in topics from y/n’s childhood to her favorite movies and her morning routine.

“So, I think the people are dying to know, how is married life?” Claire said, dropping her jaw open exaggeratedly. Y/n laughed, absentmindedly fidgeting with the diamond ring adorning her finger.

“It is great.” Y/n smiled. “I didn’t think it was possible to be this happy, y’know? Like I thought that I was happy before we got engaged, but actually being married is a whole other level.”

“Ugh, that’s so cute.” Claire swooned, causing y/n’s cheeks to warm as she thought back to the memory of waking up this morning in Drew’s arms. It was something that happened nearly every morning, but each time it made her heart flutter and fall impossibly more in love with him.

“I’m not even trying to over exaggerate or put on an act, I am just genuinely so happy right now.” Y/n continued, folding her hands in her lap as she smiled to herself.

“I think we are all so happy to hear that.” Claire nodded. “You and Drew have been together for such a long time, it’s so nice to just see two people who truly love and care for their work and each other. Speaking of, how do you guys sort of find that balance between work life and personal life, with both of you spending so much time away acting or away on projects?”

“It’s taken a lot of practice,” y/n chuckled. “Lots of hours of late night FaceTime calls and missed dinners until we both kind of decided that we needed to set up some boundaries and some of what we call ‘no excusers’.”

“‘No excusers’?” Claire asked, leaning in intently with a quirk of her brow. Y/n nodded, thinking back to when Drew and her had originally come up with the term. It had been after Drew missed a dinner with y/n’s parents, a dinner he had promised to be at amidst his busy schedule, just a day after y/n had to cancel on one of their preplanned coffee dates.

“Yeah, Drew and I sort of set up this system where we have certain things that we call ‘no excusers’.” Y/n explained. “They are things that the other person has to be at, or at least help to reschedule to be at, no excuses.”

“Both of us have such busy schedules, so it can just be super easy to retreat into yourself and just say ‘oh I’m too busy’ or ‘I can’t’, but we both knew that we wanted to be there for the other person when they needed it most, even if it was hard.” Y/n continued. “So, with the ‘no excusers’ we are sort of making a promise to the other person that we can count on them to be there for us, no excuses.”

“Really making sure to set aside time for you guys and your relationship and what’s important to that relationship.” Claire clarified.

“Yes.” Y/n agreed. “Neither of us had really been in a relationship with another actor or person in the industry, so we knew we had to make time for each other in our busy schedules if we wanted to keep this relationship.”

“That’s really sweet.” Claire grinned. “So, speaking of busy schedules, how did you guys find time out of yours to get married? I mean both of you had such huge and busy years last year, so I think everyone was pretty shocked to hear that you guys got married.”

“I think we were pretty shocked that we found the time too.” Y/n joked, causing Claire to laugh. Y/n remembered back to all the hectic planning on sets and over FaceTimes, getting dresses tried on between meetings with producers, tasting different cakes from the comfort of their home, pajamas on.

“No, but in all seriousness, I think we were both just so excited to get married that we were going to find time for it no matter how busy our schedules were.” Y/n said. “Both of us could barely wait a minute longer, like I remember that we had a countdown on the whiteboard in our kitchen, ‘Days Until We’re Married’, and we just made a huge deal of it each day counting down. Music, dancing, cheering, the whole shabang.”

“Stop, that’s so funny.” Claire chuckled.

“Our neighbors probably hated us, but we didn’t care.” Y/n giggled. “Like, did you expect me to not be excited to marry the love of my life?”

“No, you’re right, I can only imagine how excited you guys were.” Claire nodded. “I mean, you’ve been together for so long, like, four years?”

“Publically, yes, but privately about five.” Y/n giggled as Claire’s eyes widened.

“How did you guys even manage that?” Claire asked incredulously. “I mean, Outer Banks, like, blew up during that time, you must’ve had so many eyes on you.”

“Ha ha, yeah, that was certainly a very interesting time.” Y/n chuckled, remembering how the two of them would try and sneak around downtown Charleston, ducking into darkened allies to kiss like teenagers.

“It was during COVID, so for a while we just stayed inside. There weren’t very many opportunities to catch us, aside from the occasional social media post or livestream, but I think that we kept it pretty lowkey. I mean we already lived together, so we weren’t going back and forth between each other's places or anything like that.” Y/n continued. “But when things kinda started going back to normal, and we were going out more and more eyes were on us, it certainly became a lot harder.”

Y/n thought about a particular time in which a fan had snuck a picture of the two of them sitting on a bench just off the beach. The two of them shared AirPods, chatting casually. They hadn’t even realized that y/n had ended up perched in Drew’s lap, his hands resting on her hips as their faces sat just inches away from each other. They were too caught up in the moment, and in each other, to realize they were in public until they saw the photos later that afternoon.

“There were… multiple times where people pointed out something or noticed something that we hadn’t even thought about and we thought like ‘oh shit, we’ve been caught’, but we always managed to sorta weasel our way out of it.” Y/n giggled, brushing a bit of hair away from her face. “It was hard, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way.”

“Yeah,” Claire nodded. “That sort of situation definitely helps you guys to keep the relationship real, y’know? How did you guys decide to keep it private for so long? Was that a mutual decision?”

“Yes, yes it was definitely something we both agreed upon.” Y/n said. “I think we both wanted to make sure that our relationship was authentic and real, not just something shaped by other peoples’ perspectives or opinions. I really do think that that time where we kept things between ourselves helped to shape our relationship.”

“I know you said you kept it between yourselves, but other people definitely knew, right? They had to.” Claire asked.

“I honestly think that some of them knew before we knew ourselves.” Y/n laughed. There were so many moments and stares shared by the people around them who recognized the very obvious feelings between y/n and Drew. So many friends and family members would comment on the almost magnetic attraction the two exhibited, practically unable to go anywhere without the other.

“But in all seriousness, yes people knew.” Y/n continued. “We kept it just between us for like… a month, month and a half maybe? But then we shared it with our friends, the Outer Banks cast, but they kinda already knew since we were all living together. Then a little after that we told our parents on FaceTime— because of COVID— and they also kinda had their suspicions.”

“That’s so funny.” Claire grinned. “Well, y/n, I really appreciate you taking the time to Chit-Chat with us! It was so much fun!”

“Thank you so much!” Y/n grinned. “Thank you for having me, it was a lot of fun.”

“Once again, thank you for watching and thank you for Chit-Chatting with us!” Claire said, her and y/n waving goodbye to the video and listeners at home.

#drew starkey #drew starkey x reader #drew starkey x actress!reader #actress!reader #drew starkey social media au #drew starkey x actress!reader social media au

143 notes · View notes

mallory524 · 1 day ago

Note

Hii can I request John Walker (or Thunderbolts if u dont write for him) with a reader who like passes out if they overuse their powers?

tyy love ur headcanons!!

(I LOVE THIS!!)

john walker x reader

tags- losing consciousness, canon level action/violence, teammates to lovers, comfort, implied no olivia (doesn't affect anything)

word count- 1020

notes- I am a proud John Walker girl and i straight up giggled when i saw I’d gotten a request for him😭(also you’re so sweet!! thanks!!)

The first time it happened during a mission, John thought you DIED. Even days later, he was still thinking about the moment he saw you collapse to the ground. He had rushed to your side in the midst of all the chaos and started frantically trying to find your pulse. Yelena had to tell him repeatedly that this happens to you sometimes, and that you just overdid it and you were fine. John figured she'd laugh at him for "overreacting", but she didn't. Yelena understood, and neither of them ever addressed the tears that had been in his eyes.

That whole incident forced John to address the very real feelings for you that he’d started to develop. You're so attractive and smart, and every time you use your powers, John's just mesmerized by how cool you look. He thought about you all the time, and those 40 seconds he was convinced he had lost you were terrifying. He didn't want you pushing yourself too hard like that again.

He kept worrying that all the energy you were exerting was hurting you. Whenever you guys were on missions, he’d be constantly glancing over at you to make sure you were doing okay. Sometimes he'd step in to help if he felt like you were trying to take on too much at once, even if you were handling things just fine.

As helpful as that all was, you misinterpreted it as John making fun of you. One night while putting your gear away, you noticed him closely watching you, like he was ready for you to collapse at any moment.

"Oh, cut it out, Walker."

"What are you talking-"

"I'm sorry I slowed us down that one time, it won't happen again. Geez," you had said. When you turned to meet his eyes, though, you were floored by the amount of real concern in them.

Instead of arguing back like he always does, John just sort of wearily throws his hands up in surrender. "Sorry. I know you know what you're doing."

Things were different after that. You were both terrible at communicating with one another about your feelings. About 3 months later, you actually started being honest with each other and a relationship started!

Now, you don't feel like you always have to hide your affection or your concern for one another, because it's all out there in the open.

John is way more comfortable letting you know he worries about you than he was before. He has trouble with the words sometimes, but he shows it in little ways.

He washes your suit, awkwardly folds it, and leaves it on your bed the night before a mission. He fills up your water bottle and he makes sure you're getting enough to eat. He knows that if you overuse your powers, you'll pass out anyway and a balanced meal probably won't change that, but he figures it can't hurt. He's your biggest cheerleader, and everyone jokes that he's the one running the fan account they found that posts clips of you from the news and other public appearances. John says that “obviously” he doesn’t have time to run a fan account, but he does at least follow it.

Despite his constant reminders not to overdo it, it still happens. John’s always there to carefully scoop you up and take care of you for the rest of the day.

One night, you guys are way outnumbered, and John's trying to fight this guy who’s definitely been enhanced in some way.

John might be doing okay now, but he's getting tired and the man's started to get the better of him. He's far away from you, and this man is obviously powerful, so you're really going to need a lot of energy to hurl this guy out of the way. That's energy you don't really have.

More people are closing in on you and that man is starting to pummel John and the rest of your friends are getting ambushed too- it's too much. You know you’re running out of steam and now you're getting overwhelmed. You take a deep breath in, try to steady yourself, and you finish this. Your moves are intentional and carefully aimed in many directions, but anyone watching would just see one big burst of light that illuminates the dark street and ends the entire fight. When the dust settles, all of your adversaries are down, but so are you. You don't do that kind of thing often; it's too much at once, and it's too much on your body.

When you wake up, you're in the car, and John is tending to your injuries and Alexei high fives you, saying you did a great job.

You're injured, you can feel that, but you notice John's pretty roughed up, himself. "Are you okay?" you ask him quietly through a yawn.

"Oh yeah. I heal quickly, you know. That guy was just really strong. You're a lot stronger than I think you realize, too."

You wince upon hearing that, even though John's softly smiling at you and clearly not mad. "Yikes, sorry. I was hoping you wouldn't get caught in the crossfire."

He just kisses your forehead.

"Don't apologize. But stop overworking yourself... and don't do that move again, it was terrifying."

"Well, stop trying to take on the scariest people we run into, that's terrifying," you say as you reach for the first aid kit to patch up a long cut on John's face, but he gently swats your hand away.

"No, get more rest. I'm fine. Lay back down. It's a long drive."

You don't even try to argue with him on this one. You're exhausted.

You know how the rest of tonight will go, too. John will make sure no one wakes you up again for the rest of the car ride, and then he'll carry you back into the tower and gently set you down on your bed. He'll be there for you in the morning to help you with anything you might need help with. He'll always be there for you. No matter what.

#thunderbolts*#asks #mcu #thunderbolts x reader #x reader #john walker #marvel x reader #john walker x reader #us agent x reader #us agent #marvel

119 notes · View notes

lo1k-diamonds · 3 days ago

Text

Bubbles 💜 Part 4

SX Seoul Series | Jungkook's Entry

“If you want to be with me.”

PAIRING: Jungkook x (f) Reader

SUMMARY: Jungkook did change - he learned from his mistakes. Did you?

WORD COUNT: 7.4 k

GENRE: Exes to lovers, smuuuuuut, angst, making up

RATING: Explicit

WARNINGS: arguing, crying, angst, making up, semi-public, fingering, orgasm control/denial, begging, soft Dom Kook if you squint, nipple play, mirror sex, unprotected sex, confessions

PARTS: [1] [2] [3] > [4] <

A.N. And here we have it! I'll miss this couple, they're intense 😁 Sorry for the wait, I hope you enjoy it! 💜 (Thank you @eerieedits for the cool banner 💜)

Masterlist | Masterpost | AO3 | Wattpad

“So what do I get for you?”

You barely noticed the girl whose name you couldn’t recall, waiting for you now that the conversation about Jeon Jungkook had ended.

“A porn star martini,” you bit quietly, eyes quickly drifting to the couple just a few tables over, at the bar. Cold sweats chilled your spine as you watched Jungkook laugh and thank the bartender for the beer, all while the girl with him all but drooled all over his bicep.

“Stay calm.”

Youngjoo was the voice of reason, and it stung you. “I am,” you bit at her, glancing at her before staring at the scene again. You couldn’t look away, both dreading and anticipating how that would unfold. “I recognize her,” you admitted, giving in to the anxiety lacing its claws around your heart. “She was at the party, hitting on him a week ago. She is a model.”

“Okay, and what did he say about it?”

You whipped your head, glaring at her. “I told you before, he laughed it off!”

Youngjoo rolled her eyes. “I mean after that. Haven’t you talked about it after that?”

You looked away. “No.”

Youngjoo turned to you with raised eyebrows. “Why not? Are you guys not talking?”

You shrugged. “We’ve sent a few texts. We’ve been busy.”

“You’ve been busy?” she repeated, skeptically. “I mean, of course you have, but it’s not that. You went from not leaving his side to barely not talking?” You could tell by her tone that she was incredulous. “You need to talk to him! You need to be on the same page about all this. Don’t let some misunderstanding happen again. If it’s not meant to be, then it’s not. Just talk to him first.”

You clenched your jaw, finally looking at your best friend to avoid glaring at the girl clinging to Jungkook. “If he wants his fuck boy life, then—”

“Stop putting words in his mouth! So what if some girl hit on him? He went home with you!”

“Actually, he dropped me off so he could help his brother with the roof of his place…”

“Oh, m— Won’t you stop it?! Since when are you this insecure about him?”

You glared at her once again, snapping in a caustic tone, “Since he has models grovelling on their knees, begging for seconds!”

“But he chose you.” You straightened back up on the sofa, and she continued, “He could have them if he wanted, but he chose you.”

Your eyes were locked with hers as you silently fought her without a word. You doubted she was right, and she reproved the way you were handling things. You could see it in her eyes — you promised Jungkook and yourself you wouldn’t make the same old mistakes. When Youngjoo had asked you about getting back together after you had hurt so much over the last year, you had assured her you were more mature now; you both were. So what the hell were you—

“Hi.”

You turned, shuddering with the sound of his voice before you saw him standing there, black leather jacket, wet hair curling over his ears, and a half-drunk beer bottle in his hand.

“Hi, Jungkook. How are you?”

Youngjoo put you to shame with the way she effortlessly made casual conversation while you couldn’t even say something. Instead, your eyes were on the girls around you, who were casually listening in and ogling Jungkook.

They threw quizzical glances at you — do you know him?

They gave Youngjoo looks, too — can you introduce us?

But Youngjoo ignored them, and you did the same.

You heard your name, so your attention was pulled into the conversation. “—that she was coming with you and a few friends to the SX tonight, and I thought I’d join you.”

“What a great idea,” Youngjoo praised, probably with more emphasis than she should have. Same as your best friend’s, Jungkook’s eyes were also on you, but unlike him, you couldn’t seem to hold his gaze. Your stomach twisted as you tried ignoring your sweaty palms. You felt like a teenager, the furthest from mature you had ever been. “How about we go get a round of shots? My treat!”

She clapped for the others to follow her, and although the girls offered resistance, Youngjoo managed to drag them along. You got up, too, ready to follow after them, but Jungkook’s presence kept you locked in. Not that he touched you or overtly expressed anything towards you, but his presence next to yours, his arm brushing yours, your hands grazing as his cologne reached your nose, made you stay, standing on shaky legs.

Your eyes stayed fixed on the floor as you took a deep, soothing breath.

“What’s wrong?”

His question made you finally meet his eyes, only to have your stomach drop. A week ago, you thought it would be best to talk directly and clear things out, but now you just didn’t have the guts. Maybe Youngjoo was right — you were too insecure about him and yourself. You needed that conversation, but not now.

You knew what he’d tell you — you could already see his gentle eyes as he drew you close and said, I know those eyes.

So you took a deep breath and replied before he could.

“I’m just tired,” you explained, attempting a smile. “I’m going home.”

He placed his beer on a nearby table. “I’ll take you home.”

“Stay,” you insisted. “You're having fun.”

“Fun?” he asked, shaking his head slightly with a smile. “Nah, no reason for me to stay. Besides, you don’t look so good. I’ll take you home.”

He gave you a nod to lead the way, and you made your way through the crowd. Once in the lobby, you took your phone from your purse to text Youngjoo about leaving with Jungkook and followed him quietly out into one of the many streets in Itaewon.

Jungkook turned around to check if you were still following and slowed down so you could walk side by side through the Friday night crowd.

“How’s the apartment?” he asked, putting his hands in his pockets.

“Fine, it’s quiet,” you confirmed, meaning to reassure one of the first things he worried about after sleeping there with you the first weekend.

“Good, that’s good. Maybe we just caught a neighbour partying that weekend.”

You nodded and kept going, eyes lost in the partying crowd, smiling and laughing, unlike you.

“What about the washing machine? Still giving you issues?”

“No, the plumber you called fixed it. Thank you.”

Jungkook smiled at you. “You can always do laundry at mine if it gives you problems again.”

You smiled back, closing your coat a little more to stop the winter cold.

“Are the elevators working again?”

“Oh yeah, they fixed it the morning you left. It’s only been two weeks, but I’ve already noticed that they keep at least one of them working.”

“That must be annoying.”

“Nah, it’s fine. I live on the second floor; I take the stairs most of the time.”

“That’s good.” His voice sounded distant for a second. “What about work? Is that other department head still giving you a hard time?”

“I’m still adjusting…”

Your smile dropped from your face, and he instantly reached out to grab your hand. “It’s a phase. Just wait until they get to know you and how good you are.”

“Thank you.” You squeezed his hand and smiled genuinely, noticing the stars in his eyes the moment he stole a glance.

But then he had to let go of your hand to get into the underground parking lot, squeezing in the narrow corridor to allow the many people wanting to reach the street to pass you in the opposite direction.

You asked him to lead, as you didn’t know where he had parked his motorcycle, and he did, unable to talk to you above the noise of roaring engines and loud people, who were excited to party. The same groups kept both of you pressed against the wall as you went further down the stairs, until you exited them on the third level.

It was suddenly much quieter, with faint echoes and the occasional sound of cars driving along the parking lot.

The silence almost gave you whiplash, your ears ringing faintly.

“And the—” Jungkook’s voice was so loud it echoed. He cleared his throat. “The team? Your colleagues, are they nice?”

“Very nice, actually.”

He nodded quietly as he led the way to his red motorcycle. Once beside it, he pulled the keys out of his black leather jacket pocket, then twirled them once.

“Should I take you to a doctor instead?” he asked, and you raised your eyebrows. “I mean, you said you’re tired a lot…”

“No, I’m not sick,” you assure him, noticing his eyes avoiding you. Suddenly, the silence felt heavy again. “Why?”

“Am I… Should I… I mean,” he tried, grabbing his keys firmly in a fist. “If I’m bothering you, I can… give you space.”

You paled. “What?”

“It’s okay, I understand that it’s a lot with the moving back and the new job and… we have our issues, too. I’m sure it’s difficult, I don’t want to make it harder for you.”

Your blood ran so loudly in your ears that you didn’t know if you heard him clearly. Yet, this one word caught your attention. “Issues?”

Your eyes instantly teared up, and your guts twisted. That was it. You knew it, he was done with you.

“I don’t mean—” His wide brown eyes as he waved his hands tried to interrupt your thoughts. “No, I mean—”

“So things aren’t going well,” you thought out loud, feeling a chill up your spine.

“Wait, that’s not what I’m saying.”

In a split second, your eyes were full to the brim, and there was a sob about to shake you, and you instinctively spun on your heels to hide it. “We can talk about this later—”

“No,” he cut in and caught your arm before you could make an escape. Instead, he spun you around, making the back of your legs collide gently against his bike. “I’m never going to let you walk away without things being clear. Never again,” he promised, looking deep into your eyes. Your guts twisted for an entirely different reason. His eyes were puffy but firm, and suddenly your heart ached; you missed him so much. “I’m just… I’m worried. You’re quiet and distant, and I don’t want you to feel like you have an obligation to be with me or something.”

The blood drained from your face. “You— You don’t want to be with me?”

“Of course I do,” he scolded with a hint of a frown. He cupped your cheek. “What nonsense are you saying? Would I even mention it if I didn’t want to be with you?”

Your breath hitched. “You just said something about space.”

“If you need it because—” He looked straight into your eyes, drawing his thumb over your cheek in a caress. “Because I don’t want to be something you worry about.”

Your mouth opened to object — he wasn’t a problem, he was home — but then you closed it as your eyebrows drew closer together.

“So I am,” he said quietly. “Something you worry about.”

Your eyes lowered stubbornly, even as tears pooled again. But then his hand dropped from your face, and it unintentionally stung your heart.

So you raised your gaze sharply. “You’re right, you are, so I’ll just get it off my chest.”

As soon as you said it, you were breathless, watching his glistening eyes. The fear of everything falling apart froze you for a second, but then you swallowed dryly and decided to open up.

“I don’t think I’m a jealous person, I just— I think I have healthy boundaries, that’s all. In the end, I can’t, nor do I want to, control you or anyone you do whatever with. I don’t want to deny you freedom or whatever, either. But I don’t see how I’m supposed to keep quiet. If you need multiple women to give you attention and hit on you, then maybe restarting just isn’t a good idea.”

He just looked at you the whole time, not interrupting, not moving. He listened attentively to every word you said, until he raised an eyebrow. “Wait, is that the problem? You think I want that? Is that why you’re acting distant?”

You crossed your arms over your chest to hide the tremble. “I’m not…”

“Is that why you text me less and are tired so often?”

“I’ve been really tired…”

He took a step closer to you. “Is that why you don’t come to mine anymore?”

You pursed your lips, looking away. Now that he said it, you had to admit that, once again, you were a coward in many ways.

“Is that why you say you’ll come to a party with me and then don’t show up?”

Your eyes found his immediately, and your hesitation must have been evident in your face. By the way he looked at you, you knew there was no use in keeping secrets.

“I did show up. Remember Soyeon? She helped you with a class one or two years ago? She was there. And Haechan? He graduated with me. He was there too.”

Jungkook nodded slowly. “I know, I saw them.”

His patience was enough for you to know he was waiting for more, and you pressed your lips before letting it out. “I arrived before you did. I saw you arrive, and by the time I got to the kitchen, I overheard Seungkwan saying something about you needing to be free and not doing relationships and all that…”

Jungkook groaned loudly, covering his face with his hands for a moment before suddenly wrapping his arms around you to let his forehead fall to your shoulder.

“You gave me such a scare.”

“What do you mean?” you asked, confused about his reaction but happy to hold him, too.

“I thought you were giving up on us.”

You scoffed playfully. “And your reflex is to give me space?”

He snapped back up to look at you. “I don’t want to push you away!”

“Well, you are! Or would,” you corrected, biting your tongue. “Shouldn’t you be pulling me in instead of—”

He pulled you in by the waist. “I am.” You pressed your lips again, and he sighed. “Why would you listen to anything Seungkwan says? What does he know about what I want or do? I’m guessing you didn’t stick around to hear my reply.”

You blushed and looked down at his chest. “I… did not… So what do we do now?”

“About what?”

“About how I feel.”

He hummed, looking up as though recalling. “You mean about your jealousy?”

“Yes,” you said, still looking away. “Maybe I don’t even have the right to be jealous…”

“You do.” He pulled your arms around his neck. “If you want to.”

You scoffed. “If I want to be jealous?”

“If you want to be with me.”

Your mocking smile dropped before the seriousness in his eyes. “You know I do.”

He nodded. “I do, but… Can we be more?”

Your eyebrows quirked. “More than together?”

“Officially together,” he whispered, looking at you as your guts twisted again.

“We aren’t? I mean, I thought— We’re either together or we’re not,” you pointed out, swallowing hard.

“Right, that’s good.” He squeezed you closer. “No, forget I said anything.”

“No, that—” Your breath caught as you pressed your palms to his chest, grounding yourself. “What does that mean?” you asked, seeking clarity while your sight grew blurry. “I never thought of it in any other way, did you—” Your voice wavered with a pain you couldn’t hold back. “Did you— Those girls—”

“No. Look at me,” he urged, searching your eyes now full of tears. “No. I didn’t know how you felt about us, but—”

“We said we’d try again!” you exploded, the tears streaming down your face. “What do you think that means?!”

You were trembling, unable to keep your pain and fear from lashing out, but he didn’t even flinch. He kept you close and guided your foreheads to touch. “It means we love each other. I know that. It means you’re mine, just like I’m yours. I know that,” he insisted. “But I needed to know how you thought about it. I… You’ve been so distant for the past week.”

“You could have asked me about it.”

“We should have talked, clearly,” he instantly agreed, looking deeply into your eyes despite your snarky comment. “If you knew how much I want to be with you, you would never have gotten jealous like this. You would have never ignored me after you just saw me talking to someone—”

You smacked his shoulders. “Can you blame me?!” It was hard not to cry, but suddenly you were angry all over again. “I thought you were keeping your options open or regretting giving up your fuck boy life!” His hands were firmly on your waist as you tried not to sob. “You knew how I felt and still—!”

“I didn’t know you felt like this.”

“I told you!! And you laughed!!”

Jungkook frowned, about to shake his head and deny ever laughing, when suddenly it hit him. “You mean at my work dinner party? No, but I didn’t think you were serious!”

“What? Why not?!”

“Because there’s no way I’d ever look at someone else,” he deadpanned, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Not when I have you back in my life, it’s just— I thought you were joking!”

You caught your breath, realizing as he tried defending himself that you were crazy angry. You had tears on your face, red cheeks, were panting, and your throat felt rough.

“Well, I wasn’t,” you managed to mutter after calming down. Meanwhile, you could see Jungkook thinking about things as well, and he looked calm and sober, never taking his eyes or hands off you.

“Alright, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I can’t stop anyone from talking to me, but I have told anyone who asked that I was taken.”

“At the party, you introduced me as your friend.”

“That’s exactly why I wanted to make sure!” he blurted out, and as you frowned, he rushed to add, “Not because I’m not in it one thousand percent, but because I don’t want to put words into your mouth or go too fast! Remember? I don’t want to put you in that position again.”

Your lips trembled as your heart ached. You were clearly the one who hadn’t learned from her mistakes.

“And tonight? The girl you saw?” he continued. “She asked me if I was lying about being with someone because she hasn’t seen me with anyone in a while.”

Your jaw hardened as you grumbled, “Well, then. Let’s go back to the club and give her a show—”

“No,” he cut in and stopped you before you could leave the comfortable position you were in, between him and his motorcycle. “I don’t care about what anyone thinks, but I do care about us. I’ll just give your name next time, you fight it out.”

“You want me to fight her?” You raised a skeptical eyebrow as he hugged you.

He chuckled, “No, obviously. I want to walk in with you hand in hand and hug you and kiss you without worrying that you won’t like it because we’re going too fast.”

“You thought I wouldn’t?” You were in disbelief. “I’d always like it.”

“Always?” He looked into your eyes, and your knees were weak. You nodded. “You wouldn't think it's too fast?”

You shook your head eagerly. “No! I want to be with you, the whole deal, the whole package. It's not too fast,” you raised your hand to caress his cheek, “if anything, it's too slow. We need to make up for the time we lost.”

He nodded quietly, licking his lips. “Can we pick it back up where we left it?”

You grabbed his leather jacket and pulled him close. “Yes. Just kiss me, I miss you—”

He captured your lips in a kiss, and you were never so happy to forget about whatever you were saying. You dove headfirst, showing him you were as desperate and crazy about him as he was about you. You could barely breathe, and all thoughts about where you were flew out the window. All you cared about was licking the lingering taste of beer still in his mouth while you grabbed his hair just as firmly as he grabbed yours.

The more he consumed you, pushing his tongue past your lips and sinking his fingers into your hips, the more heated you became. Your thoughts were clouded as you got intoxicated — his taste, his scent, his touch, the lip ring grazing your lip, his hair curling around your fingers. You weren’t thinking, you just had a visceral need to be his again. Not just to correct your wrongs, but to rewrite history.

His hand on your hip raked your dress up to squeeze your ass and you did the only sensible thing possible — you sat on his motorcycle. Instantly, your leg laced around his waist, pulling him closer to you. The hard-on grazing your core told you everything you needed to know; it was your carte blanche.

“Kook, don’t make me wait,” you begged once he gave you a reprieve and kissed down your jaw.

He wasn’t shy about humping you, gripping your leg around him so firmly you were sure it would bruise. “What do you want, bubbles?”

“Need,” you corrected, unapologetically grabbing his head and squeezing your tits between your arms in the process, hoping he’d notice what was right under his nose.

“What do you need?” he breathed, dragging his lips over your chest until he hid in the valley between your breasts.

The anticipation alone was making you throb and clench, gluing your underwear to you while you wished you had no clothes separating your skins. “You. Inside me,” you moaned, feeling his tongue licking every stretch of skin he could while he ground against you roughly. If he were inside you, you’d be undone by now. “Please,” you begged, your voice wavering as you writhed. You leaned in to speak as closely to his ear as possible. “I need to be yours again, please.”

Your voice faded into a whimper when he bit down on one of your tits, yet it wasn’t that that made you gush between your legs, bracing yourself for what you wanted most. He placed you on the bike more firmly, wrapping your other leg around him, then pushed your underwear to the side and skimmed your dripping folds ever so lightly. Enough for you to moan and for him to groan against your chest.

“Fuck… bubbles,” he sounded muffled but you didn’t care, proud that he knew you were more than ready for him.

You weren’t shy from incentivizing him to continue, whispering in his ear, “Feel that? For you,” you moaned, trembling from the sensations shaking you. “I’m so ready for you, you’ll feel so good, please…”

You squirmed, trying to make his fingers touch you more firmly where you needed them, but as usual, Jungkook did what he pleased. He chose to pull his hand away despite your request, and as your pleas shifted to whimpers, he pushed your coat over your shoulder. You shimmied, easily taking it off.

Then, he slid the zipper of your dress down your back and pushed the straps down your arms. Your skin tingled under his touch while you were dazed by the hickeys he was leaving across your chest. Even feeling him unhook your bra didn’t startle you; you only realized his goal when he pushed away all barriers and finally got a nipple inside his mouth.

You had to make your best effort not to let your moans echo in the parking lot. It was so hard, you started trembling, sinking your nails into his scalp, when his hips snapped forward as though he wished he were inside you right now. You showed him you wanted the same by helping him dry humping into you, the fraction of friction enough to have you begging yet again, but he had other plans.

He kept nibbling and torturing your nipple in his mouth while his free hand got under your skirt again, unabashedly going straight for your core.

Your efforts to suppress your moans made your very bones shake as his thumb gently drew circles on your clit. Every new motion elicited a new shudder, to the point you were holding your breath and letting your body unfold along with the pleasure. It was so singular and soft, immediately contrasted by his mouth suckling, making your toes curl.

“Kook, please,” you cried as soon as you could, surfacing to draw a quick breath before sinking into it again.

“What do you need, bubbles?” he asked again, nuzzling and pecking all over your chest as though he was so lost in you, he no longer knew what you needed.

As if that was possible.

“You. Inside me,” you managed to say through the shivers, making your lower belly coil. Every lap of his thumb was a threat to your sanity, pushing you closer. You sank your nails into his scalp and crossed your legs behind him so he’d stay as close as possible. “I need you, I missed you… Kiss me, please.”

Your desperation was obvious in your breathy words, and your heart thumped when his lips left your chest to acquiesce. His mouth was quick to slot in with yours, instantly seeking your taste with his tongue as though being inside you meant in every way possible. You kissed him harder, knowing it would bruise your lips. His thumb disappeared momentarily as he adjusted the clothes between your bodies, and you moaned breathlessly in anticipation. Only what suddenly invaded you was not his hard dick as you had hoped, but two fingers that he curled inside you.

You whimpered, squeezing your eyes shut further when he started playing with your slick, getting his fingers properly coated by pulling away and pushing back inside you multiple times.

“How— How could you—” you complained, finally managing to open your eyes.

His eyes sparkled mischievously as he kept you as close as could be with your foreheads pressed together. He chuckled sensually, and you throbbed around his fingers. “Did you forget where we are?” he asked. Your lashes fluttered as you tried to think, but it was impossible while he fingered you with that deliciously slow and consistent rhythm. “Besides, I have to make you a good girl. Make you earn it first.”

His playfulness made your stomach flutter, clenching around his fingers before you even realized how close you were. You gripped him harder, closer to you, so needy you couldn’t think further than him, right there, with you.

“Tell me what you want,” you whispered, trembling with want. He ghosted your lips as you breathed, “Whatever you want, I—”

Everything happened so fast. Your mind was invaded with possibilities of what he might have wanted, from you getting on your knees to suck him to him turning you around and fucking you raw, either way covering your insides white. As if your fantasies weren’t enough, he raised his thumb, trying to give you extra friction. For a split second, you were sure you’d come in seconds.

But then the loud noise of a door slamming open broke through your haze, and everything stilled. Jungkook’s hand stopped as he hugged you closer, hiding your face in the crook of his neck with a possessive grip that quickly turned into a soothing caress.

You heard the laughter and steps of people entering the parking lot not so far from you while your racing heart calmed inside your chest. Jungkook’s scent and embrace were enough to keep you relaxed, but then his hand slid off you slowly, and you cried out quietly. His neck muffled it, but still.

“No…” You whined. “I was right there.”

“Sorry, bubbles.”

You sulked hard and pulled away abruptly to glare at him, but your chin dropped instead. He was casually licking your slick off his fingers while the group of people got inside their car a few rows behind you.

You blinked, befuddled, and before you could say something, he was already kissing you again. The way he pressed himself to you, hard, hot, and tasting of you, scrambled your mind entirely. Licking your taste on his tongue made you grab him close and press him to your needy core. It was enough to move your hips, dry humping him while his hands grabbed your ass and helped.

You were so turned on that the lightest touch was enough to set you ablaze. “Fuck, please… Jungkook, please…”

“I want to, bubbles.” He groaned, kissing down your jaw. “You drive me fucking insane.” You agreed eagerly, nuzzling him while your hands tried to search for his belt. “But I want to take you home.”

“Sounds perfect,” you agreed, unbuckling his belt when he stopped your hands. You faintly heard tires screeching as a car left the parking lot, but your mind was focused on Jungkook.

“Now,” he clarified softly, raising his hand to brush your hair behind your ear. “I need to take you home.”

Suddenly, the lust dictating your every move receded. Your mind was brought to a conversation you two had one month ago, and everything was clearer.

I hate that I brought you here 'cause I wanted to see you here, in my home, as if that could bring back what we once were.

Jungkook always needed to bring you home because you were the woman of his dreams. The one he loved with his whole heart, whom he could never hate.

You cupped his cheeks and nodded, kissing him tenderly. “Take me home, Kook.”

His precious smile meant everything. He quickly helped you fix your clothes and put your coat back on before buckling his belt and giving you the extra helmet he always kept under the seat. Once seated behind him, you kissed the back of his neck before putting your helmet on and holding onto him.

As usual, as soon as the motorcycle engine roared, you let all thoughts fade from your mind. There were no more worries or doubts, just Jungkook taking you back home, as if you had never left.

The way to his home was paved with tenderness and care. He drove carefully, not too slow, not too fast, grabbing your hand on his chest whenever he had to stand still at a red light. You responded by pressing yourself flush to him, molding to his body like a blanket. You knew by the way he touched your leg sporadically or squeezed your hand that he loved every second.

When he parked in the underground garage of his apartment building, no words were exchanged. Not even all the way up to his apartment. You both moved in silent tandem, storing the helmets away, then holding hands and making way to the elevator. You stood close, easily curled up to his chest while you waited, and the familiarity of that moment soothed you. It was just like three weeks ago, just like one year ago; thankfully, nothing had changed.

When you entered his apartment, you hung up your coat on the coat hanger, the same one he had kicked to the floor in a fury one month ago, when you fought. When you drove him insane because, despite the words out of his mouth, the one thing Jungkook never wanted was for you to leave.

You smiled at the memory. “I’m home,” you sighed, stepping in.

His living room was just as you remembered; the blanket you used to snuggle on the couch was still there, as was your favorite coffee mug next to the coffee machine in the kitchen.

Before you could turn around and tell him how much those little things made you feel at home, his arms wrapped around you from behind. And just like that, you were more than welcomed back, more than safe.

You pulled his arms further around your middle, making him drape over you like a blanket this time.

“Bubbles…”

His whisper in your ear was enough for you to turn around and meet his waiting lips. He didn’t relent his hold for one second; instead, he pulled you flush to him, kissing you gently before softly picking you up from the floor. You held onto him with arms and legs, sighing into his kiss as he carried you.

He placed you gently on the bed, and you were quick to get on your knees so your lips would stay connected to his at all times. You were so heated, pulling his shirt so he’d take it off and welcoming him straight after when he returned his mouth to yours, that you barely noticed his deft fingers sliding your zipper down. Yet as soon as you did, you peeled the dress and everything else as quickly as possible. The moment your lips connected once again, he was unbuckling his belt, and the very sound made you clench unapologetically. You wanted him so much you wouldn’t be able to think until all of him was all over you.

You tried to move, but your foot got stuck, forcing you to turn and look. Your heels were getting tangled in the sheets and you chuckled, sitting back on your butt to take them off. Jungkook smiled too, never taking his eyes off you as he stripped naked. Yet, your eyes drifted from him to the mirror behind him after throwing your heels on the floor. Not just because of the view of his round ass and sculpted back, but the whole image — you on the bed, naked, waiting for him. It reminded you of the first time you got back together, when he moved the mirror on purpose so he could see you.

Before he could put his knees on the bed and embrace you again, you got on all fours and reached out your hand to him. He grabbed it instantly, letting you guide him behind you to face the mirror too.

“I want you to see me every time you look into this mirror,” you told him, kissing his hand before putting it on your body. “Even when I’m not here.”

He brushed his hands down your curves slowly, admiring you in front of him as he got on the bed. Soon, his whole body was a blanket again, covering you from head to toe. His strong chest pressed to your back as his broad shoulders framed you, leaving nothing to the imagination, not even his excitement.

Yet your mind didn’t go there immediately. Instead, you basked in his sweet caresses and kisses as he leaned in to whisper in your ear, “I always have, bubbles…”

Your heart thumped loudly inside your chest as you shuddered, knowing he was telling the truth. Knowing that was how deep you were for him.

Jungkook didn’t take long to trace, kiss, and nuzzle every bit of skin you left for him to find, taking pleasure in nibbling and tickling you so you’d squirm and chuckle. Meanwhile, you had no gripe with pressing yourself further into him, scratching his arms, and bucking your hips, trying to get him to align with you.

At first, he chuckled, playing along, but eventually, he grabbed your hips. “Eager?”

“I’m a good girl, and we’re no longer in a parking lot,” you replied. He nipped your shoulder in retaliation, but you weren’t taunting him. “We’re home, so won’t you come home to me?”

He groaned, grabbing your hair to turn your head so you’d meet his lips. His mouth was needy, almost rough on yours, and you matched him. You were busy meeting his tongue and trying to lick his lip ring when you felt him pressing the head of his cock to your entrance.

Your chin immediately dropped, turning a needy kiss into a messy one, especially when he thrusted shallowly, trying to stretch you to his size. You both groaned, loving the searing pleasure climbing your spine as he bottomed out.

“Fuck,” he groaned, and you whimpered. His fingers started drawing gentle circles on your clit and your hips buckled against him. You could feel him sliding so well, melting under the strength of his arms and the sweetness of his lips. “You’re so wet…”

You bit your lip, letting the way he fit inside you override your senses. It was so easy to let go and forget everything when Jungkook kept whispering sweet nothings into your ear while he rubbed your clit slowly. His hips were even slower, barely moving while he stayed perfectly hard inside you, as though telling you how amazing you felt was more important than fucking you.

It drove you wild; the more gentle his touch, the more you needed more. The more he told you how much he wanted you, the more you craved him. To the point that when he bit your earlobe playfully, you snapped your hips back, making him reach deep and bottom out again.

His hand automatically striked your asscheek, but you felt it like a caress.

“Needy,” he whispered, nibbling your shoulder, and you sighed.

“Only for you.”

His hand darted from your ass to your hair, pulling ever so slightly so you’d arch your back. His hips gained a rhythm, snapping to yours more vehemently while he suckled and took nips at your neck.

You grunted, dazed and happy. You wanted everything, from his kisses and teases to the way he rutted into you and caged you in like you were his. His fingers left your hair to your core again, knowing how to softly pave the way of your pleasure while your walls clenched around his length, feeling him slide into you so well. The sloppy sounds made you proud.

Until he slowed down and bit your ear again, knowing your squirms were because he was keeping you on edge for far too long.

You were about to call him out when he whispered, “I want to look at you.”

You raised your head to look into the mirror, having completely forgotten about it, and met his gaze. His eyes glistened sweetly, trained on you while his hips kept a sweet rhythm, and you sighed. This was all about you two, not whatever he did before he found you again.

So you raised a hand and guided his sweet lips to meet yours, telling him with a slow kiss that you loved him. You could always have hot, frenzied sex, but right now, you wanted that sweet loving only he could give you.

He understood you perfectly. He pulled out and sat on the bed, grabbing your hand to keep you close while giving you the choice of what would happen next. You rose to your knees and smiled at him, unable to hide how much your heart thrummed with his gentleness toward you. Then, you leaned back, splaying your hair on his pillow while pulling him over you. His eyes eagerly took in your silhouette, including your smile, as you spread your legs and welcomed him. You belonged in his bed, on his pillows, and he belonged to you.

He instantly crushed you to the mattress, sweetly wrapping your legs around him as he kissed you deeply. He didn’t just love you with passion; he lived it too.

Aligning himself with you took a second, and sliding into you, filling you whole, was instantaneous. You gasped as he pecked your cheek and moved with him, knowing this was it. He wasn’t just enjoying feeling you, nor guiding your pleasure in ways that blew your mind. He was looking at you with love and desire unfolding with every thrust. Every time your bodies pieced together, stealing your breath away between one moan and another, his starry eyes stayed on yours, locked together, strengthening the foundations of your commitments until you were ready to cry out.

“Kook…” you breathed, quickly squinting your eyes. You wanted to look at him, but as your insides coiled, ready to be released at any moment, it was harder and harder.

“I’m here, bubbles,” he assured you. He grabbed your hands, pressing them to the mattress next to your head, and you knew that look. Knew that angle, recognised the snap of his hips, and soon the burn stretched through your body, making you keen. He knew you so incredibly well that you weren’t surprised when he sharpened his thrusts. There was no hesitation, just pure want and something deeper and gentler.

Your nails sank into the back of his hands as you bucked your hips, helping him to the last of your strength. Your breathing changed, and so did your moans as you arched your back, and he sank into you. He searched for your mouth, kissing your lips once, twice, with the same cadence as his hips until you collapsed.

You arched against him, unable to keep your eyes locked with his or that sweet kiss any longer. Your climax floored you, making you scream and tremble as you felt everything. The way he groaned as he hid in your neck, the way his body framed yours with as much gentleness as fucking that need allowed him, and finally, the way he throbbed inside you, releasing warm ropes of cum to make you feel complete.

His lips peppering your neck with kisses quickly reached your own, pressing gently before he lay beside you.

He pulled you into his arms as you both caught your breath. You rested your head on his chest, and he grabbed your hand.

“I love you,” he whispered, brushing your knuckles with his lips.

You could hardly be happier. “I love you, too,” you said, kissing his sweaty pec.

“I need you to know it,” he insisted, looking into your eyes. “When you came back, I felt pathetic. You reminded me of how happy I was before you left me. Of how much it hurt to lose you. Of what I did to try to forget you and how it changed me. So much so, I almost lost you in this whole thing. Even when I knew, as soon as I saw you again, that I wanted no one else. That I wasn't happy with the way I was doing things. That I still love you and want to spend my life with you, even if you tore my life apart when you left.”

You frowned. “Kook—”

“No, I’m saying it because that’s where I stand. This opportunity with you is not just… a gamble or giving it a shot. I love you, I want you, my life isn’t complete without you. No one could ever take your place. It’s been two years since I met you, and this is still true. I want to be with you and be the Jungkook who loves you. Because when you’re in my life, I’m happy and strong enough to live as I dreamt. You're part of all this, of me,” he whispered, kissing your fingers again. “I want you to know that.”

“Kook,” you called, with tears in your eyes. His teary gaze met yours, and you jerked forward to hug him with all your heart. “I love you, too, and I want you too, so much! I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you, I… I should have talked to you immediately. I let it all get to my head. It won't happen again, I promise.”

He nodded, petting your hair as he held you to his chest. “It's part of trying again, right? As long as we figure it out together, I'm happy. But you know what could help?”

You withdrew to look at him with a furrowed brow. “What?”

He grinned. “A certain ring.”

He pressed his lips to your fingers again, unable to hide a playful smile, while you chuckled.

“One thing at a time.”

He chuckled. “Maybe next year.”

131 notes · View notes

athenamikaelson · 9 hours ago

Text

Klaus Mikaelson X Soulmate!Reader x Elijah Mikaelson Ch. 30

Word Count- 3.7k

Warnings- Swearing, violence, blood, puking

“Up and down, not side to side you fucking freak,” Theo’s agitated voice comes from behind Elena and I as he and Jeremy paint their side of the room.

“That’s what I’m doing!”

Elena chuckles at Jeremy’s response.

“Going darker, huh?”

As if today couldn’t get any worse.

I don’t even turn around because right now I’m not in the mental state to deal with yet another vampire I have a vendetta against. Which means my vampire hate count is up to 4 right now, not including dead vampires such as Mikael and Trevor.

“It’s the only color we had,” Elena says to Stefan with a smile, and I roll my eyes.

“That’s what happens when you decide to paint your guardian’s room that she shared with her now-dead boyfriend in the middle of the night,” Jeremy retorts and slightly glares at his sister.

I turn over to look at Theo, who is glaring at Stefan, who, as I glance at him, tries to give me a small smile, which I don’t return.

“I don’t suppose anyone tried to talk you guys out of doing this so soon?”

“We have to keep moving, otherwise we’ll start thinking and we don’t want that…”

My birthmark feels like it’s burning as I listen to Elena’s words, and I rub it in reaction.

“You good?’’

I jolt back slightly as I turn to see Theo right next to me now. He takes his hand and places it on mine, removing it from rubbing my mark.

“We’re not thinking about it, right?”

Theo sends me a saddened look, but Elena wraps an arm around my waist.

“That’s exactly right. Today we’re just existing. No bad thoughts, just painting and enjoying each other’s company. We’ve all been away from each other for too long.”

I give Elena a raised eyebrow, which results in her lightly pinching my waist and then dropping her hand and going back to her painting.

She’s been like this since we got to the Gilbert residence last night, overly touchy and affectionate. I know it’s because she’s just trying to fill her time with something else instead of thinking about Alaric, but, holy shit, I forgot how touchy this girl was. For the first few hours we got back, we spent in her room with Jenna watching comedy movies and horror movies to distract ourselves from the actual horror movie we are currently living in. That entire time, I also spent dodging calls and texts from Klaus and Elijah. At one point, Klaus even showed up at the front door, and Theo had to go down and threaten to spray him with the hose if he didn’t leave. Rebekah had called me and apoligized for what happened, mentioning how she had no idea what my birth mark meant and that if she wasn’t body snatched by her own mother she would’ve been there to kick her older brother’s asses.

“Do you need any help?”

I roll my eyes at Stefan’s question.

“You know how to pant?”

I turn to my brother, wondering why he’s making conversation with a guy he hates.

Stefan perks up, “Ya, I guess it’s not hard.”

Theo taps his chin, “Huh, and here I thought all you knew was how to run girls off the road in your ugly ass Prius,” Theo turns to Jeremy, who wears a smirk, “The more you know!”

For the first time all day, I feel a small smile twitch onto my face.

Stefan’s face morphs into one of shame, “It’s actually a Poshe…and Y/n, I-”

Theo moves in front of him, “You no talk to her- Got it,” He points a finger at the vampire's face.”

Stefan sighs but still nods.

“Anyways,” Jeremy interrupts, “Are you two together or something?”

The question is aimed at Stefan and his sister, who both instantly start shaking their heads and deny it.

“I was just checking up on you guys. Seeing how you were doing…after everything.”

Jeremy glares at him, “We’re fine. But if you are trying to be the good guy again, why don’t you do the right thing and give us one day? Just one day without any vampires in it.”

“That sounds nice,” I mutter to myself.

Jeremy huffs and then storms out of the room, Theo of course following after, but not before making an “I’m watching you” finger motion to Stefan.

“He didn’t mean that,” Elena says to Stefan.

“Ya, he did,” I reply, and Elena shorts me a look, and I shrug before putting down my paintbrush and following after the boys.

“Y/n?”

My shoulders deflate at Stefan’s voice, but I still pause.

“I am really sorry. What I did on the bridge…and what I said after it wasn’t me. It wasn’t how I truly feel. And I know you won’t forgive me today, but hopefully one day we can get back to where we once were in our friendship.”

I look over my shoulder at him and nod, a look of relief pushes onto his face momentarily...that is until I open my mouth.

“Any chance of us ever being friends died the night you tried killing me and then called me a waste of space, but thanks for the apology. It means nothing.”

With that, I turn and walk out of the room. As I head down the hall, I hear Elena’s quiet voice say something about giving me time and how I’m going through a lot right now.

Understatement of the fucking centuary.

Not only did I find out I’m a goddamn werewolf yesterday, watch my history teacher die because of a bitchass witch, find out my soulmates have been lying to me the entire time I’ve known them…I also had to tell everyone the fact that my father wasn’t actually my father and that Theo and I are actually half-siblings. So that cat is out of its bag.

“Kol wants to come over and play Modern Warfare,” I hear Theo’s voice come from Jeremy’s room.

After the conversation Elena and I had about our brothers yesterday, I’ve been watching how they interact more closely. So like any nosy sister, I hide beside Jeremy’s door and listen to their conversation. Sue me.

“You do realize he tried to kill me, right?”

“Kol didn’t try to kill you…he tried to kill Damon. And honestly, y'all should’ve let him. The world would be a much better place without him in it.”

Jeremy’s quiet for a moment.

“Ya, you’re probably right. But…”

“What is it?”

“It’s nothing, I just…wanted to hang out with you…y’know, just me and you. Like old times or whatever.”

My face softens at Jeremy’s nervous voice.

“Oh..”

Seriously, Theo, “OH”.

“Oh?”

“I don’t mean Oh,” Theo quickly says, “Not like Oh Oh, but just like Oh. Y’know?”

This dumbass.

“Not really, Theo.”

“Right…well, what I mean is that I’m cool with just us, y’know, hanging out like bros do.”

“Ok…cool.”

“Cool…”

I hate these two. Jesus Christ.

“Y/n?”

Oh shit!

I just slightly and see Jenna approaching me. Her tear-ridden face and red, puffy eyes send a tight pain to my heart.

I move away from Jeremy’s door so they don’t hear us.

“Hey, Jen. I thought you were napping in Elena’s room?”

Jenna swallows a lump in her throat and tightens the blanket she has wrapped around her, “I just needed some fresh air.”

I nod, trying not to be awkward, but I’ve never been one to know how to console others.

“Are you hungry? Do you want me to make you something?’’

I frown at Jenna’s words, “Aren’t I supposed to be the one asking you these questions?”

Jenna huffs out a sad laugh, “Ya probably, I just…I guess I could use the distraction.”

Oh.

“Ok, then I guess I could eat if you are also making yourself something.”

“I’m not hungry,” She tries to deny, and I shake my head.

“I’m not eating unless you do too.”

Jenna reaches over and squeezes my shoulder, “Fine. Then how does waffles sound?”

“Wait, did someone say waffles?”

I whip around to see Theo with his head poking out of Jeremy’s room and the other boy peeking behind my brother.

“Yes, I was going to make your sister and me some. Do you both want any,” Jenna responds.

Both boys eye each other before nodding and practically hopping out of the bedroom. Theo moves over to Jenna and wraps his arm around her shoulder, to which Jenna gives him a small smile, the first one I’ve seen from her all night. Theo just has that kind of power.

“I personally prefer mine with brown sugar, but if you guys don’t have that, I can make do with…”

Theo continues to drone on about waffle mix as he drags Jenna and Jeremy down the staircase, with me following behind.

I make it to the final step when the doorbell chimes.

“I’ve got it,” I say to the group, and they continue their way into the kitchen.

I grab the door handle and- oh shit.

“We’ve got a problem,” Damon says as he holds a bleeding Bonnie to his side.

—-

“What do you think they’re talking about?’’

I shrug as I dip my paintbrush into the green paint.

“Beats me.”

After I opened the door to find Damon and Bonnie, Stefan came downstairs to let me know he could handle it, and I don’t exactly want to deal with any vampires today, so I let him and went back upstairs to help Elena.

The sound of a phone ringing turns my attention to Elena. I watch as a look of confusion morphs onto her face as she reads the caller's info.

“Elena, who is it,” I stand up, and my breathing halts as I read the caller's name.

Alaric.

“That’s fucking sick.”

Elena shakes her head and presses the answer button, “Whoever this is, it’s not funny.”

“Who else would it be?”

No way. Not possible.

At the sound of the supposedly dead Alaric’s voice, Elena and I both shoot each other fearful looks.

“Listen closely, I’m at the school. I have Caroline, and if you want to keep her alive, I need you to get into your car and come down here…and bring Y/n with you, I know she’s with you. If you tell anyone where you are going, I will kill her.”

—

“Never thought I’d get murdered by my history teacher, but here we are,” I mutter to myself and Elena as we stand at the entrance of Mystic Falls High.

“He’s not going to kill you, Y/n. I won’t let him.”

“As much as I appreciate the effect, Elena, but well…he’s kind of an Original so and you’re well… you.”

I look at Elena, who sighs in defeat.

“We got this, together,” She grabs my hand and sends me a look, and at this point, I’m so numb that I just laugh.

“Right, let’s go defeat the big bad Original with the power of friendship!”

—

The sound of painful groans makes me cringe as Elena and I run down the hallway to find a very undead Ric sitting all-American Psycho in his classroom. Caroline has a cloth wrapped around her face to keep her from talking, and oh… two pencils impaled into her hands.

“Let her go, Alaric,” Elena says the the man.

He smirks at us, “Free her yourself.”

“Oh ya, I’m sure he’s going to let you do that,” I say sarcastically, but Elena still runs to Caroline and tries to pull the pencils from her hands.

As Elena is about to pull out the pencil Alaric speeds over to them and shoves the pencil back in, making me take a protective step forward even though there aint shit I can do.

“What have I told you, Elena? Stop trusting vampires!”

—

I watch with a painful look as Alaric dips Caroline’s gag into a glass of vervain. Her cries fill the room, and I find myself abruptly standing up to help her.

“Stop, Ric!”

But before I can get over to my friend, a sharp pain hits the side of my face, and then I feel myself bang the edge of my head off one of the student desks.

Through a loud ringing in my head, I hear Elena yell and a muffled cry from Caroline.

“I don’t want to hurt you, Y/n. I truly don’t. But you must understand what you mean in all of this. So sit down and shut up,” He leans down to my level on the floor, and I flinch as I catch a glimpse of his fangs.

He stands up and then pauses. He proceeds to sniff the air and then glare down at me, “You should probably clean that up. Wouldn’t want you to bleed out…just yet.”

The ringing still hasn’t subsided, so I’m still incredibly confused…until a wet feeling falls down my face. I bring my fingers up and swallow a throatful of bile as I see my fingers covered in blood.

Deja vu much?

—

“Why are you doing this?”

Elena’s angry voice asks Alaric as he paces the small classroom.

Elena runs a hand up and down my back soothingly as I lay my pounding head on the cool desk. Over the past 15 minutes, I’ve tried to keep up with the back-and-forth arguing between the Original and my friend, but I’m just really tired.

“Because you need me. Because you’re an 18-year-old girl, without parents or guidance or any sense of right and wrong anymore,” Alaric harshly says.

“She’s got Jenna,” I softly say as my eyes flutter closed.

“Keep your eyes open, Y/n.”

I groan in annoyance at her request, but with enough resilience, I peel open one eye to glance at her, which seems to relieve Elena.

“Look at you,” Elena then turns to Alaric, “How is this right,” She gestures to Caroline and then to me.

“She’s a murderer. She told me she killed someone and liked it. Now, how is that right? And her,” He points to me and I use whatever strength I can muster to lift my hand up and show him my middle finger, “It’s only a matter of time before she starts murdering people just like the people she’s mated to,” He walks over to Elena, “Listen, Elena, your parents led the council. It was their life's mission to keep this town safe. They weren’t dead six months before you went and undid it all.”

Elena, I think, goes on to deny him, and they argue some more, I think. I’m not exactly paying attention. Fuck, I need advil. Or vodka. Or both.

A loud scream makes me open my eyes, eyes I hadn’t even realized I had closed.

“Take Y/n and get help!”

Who’s taking me?

I groan in pain as I feel strong arms wrap around me, and next thing I know, I’m being dragged out of the room. I try to struggle out of their hold.

“Y/n, it’s me, stop.”

Oh. Care. Never mind, take me away.

Caroline drags me some more before we stop.

A hand pressing to my mouth makes me jolt, but the overwhelming smell of something woodsy makes me relax.

Klaus.

“I’ve got you, my love. I’m not going to get to you. You’re safe,” I find myself leaning into his touch and I almost fucking moan when he runs a warm hand down my face.

“We’re going to save Elena,” His voice is no longer soft, and I look to see him staring at Caroline, “Get her and yourself out of here.”

We?

I fast movement catches my eye, and I see Elijah standing a few feet away from us, his eyes running over my body frantically, he’s surprisingly not in a suit. Or maybe he is, and my head injury is just so bad I’m imagining things.

“Come on, Y/n,” I feel a tug and groan in annoyance.

“We’ll be coming out right after you, Elskan,” Elijah’s dark voice fills my ears, and I close my eyes as if to savor it.

“Take her and heal her.”

—

I’m going to barf.

A wave of nausea flows over me as a blinding light hits my eyes.

“She’s coming back now,” An old scratchy voice says from above me.

God?

“No dear, not God,” The voice says.

Am I saying things out loud?

“Yes, you are,” A younger voice chimes in.

I let out a groan as I peel open my eyes slowly, and take notice of the blurry figures in front of me.

“Go slow, Elskan,” A warm voice fills my senses, and I find myself giggling.

“Such a pretty voice.”

A loud laugh makes me cringe in pain, and then I hear a yelp.

My vision finally starts to come together, and I can make out an old woman sitting above me, Elijah standing beside her, and Kol and Alastiar standing farther away.

I go to sit up, but the old woman, presses her hands to my shoulders, “Easy, young lady. You took quite the spill. Just lie back.”

“What…who…”

Ya, I’m definitely going to barf.

“Ew, someone get it a bucket.”

“Kol,” I hear Elijah’s stern voice.

“Fine.”

A split second later, Kol returns with a blue bucket and puts it in front of me with a grossed out look.

And another split second later, I’m pushing the old woman out of the way and I’m barfing into the small bucket, or at least trying to aim for the bucket.

I feel a hand rub my back soothingly, and then I feel my hair being pulled away from my face, “That’s it, Elskan.”

—

I then proceeded to throw up for the next five minutes. Kol left 2 minutes in with a gag of his own. Alastair still stands by the door with a solemn expression, the old woman has been doing whatever old people do, and Elijah has not left my side.

For the past five minutes, he’s been holding my hair, whispering soothing words to me, and just being so kind, it almost makes me forget I hate him.

Almost.

“What the hell happened?”

Elijah grabs a tissue from the side table of the bed I’m currently lying in and wipes my mouth. I try to grab it from him but he won’t budge.

“Alaric took you and…” He pauses as his jaw tightens and he grits his teeth, “You hit your head. Your blonde vampire friend healed you, but you remained unconscious, so I called in a nurse to come look over you.”

“You must’ve had a nasty spill,” The woman says, and I realize from the glazed-over look in her eyes that she must be compelled, “I stuck an IV into you to get some fluids into you.”

My eyes look down towards my arm, and like she said, a small IV is implanted. Its tube is connected to a walkable IV stand, which is next to my head.

“Oh.”

“Oh? That is all you have to say,” Elijah’s tone is slightly harsher than before as he shakes his head.

“Your work here is done,” He turns to the woman, “Go home and forget this happened. A check will be sent to you.”

The woman then grabs her bag and leaves the room, leaving only Alastair, Elijah, and me.

“You are dismissed as well, Alastair.”

“I’m fine right here, Sir,” Alastair says, not taking his eyes off me.

Elijah turns over his shoulder to glare at the younger vampire.

“He’s fine, Elijah. I want him here.”

“We need to talk,” Elijah tries to argue.

“Anything you have to say to me, you can say in front of him,” I try to glare at him, but too much movement is making me nauseous.

Elijah must take notice because he instantly loses the dark facial features and places a cool hand on my face.

He’s like a fucking ice pack.

“We can talk when you’re better,” He says softly and leans forward to place a kiss on the top of my head.

A thought quickly crosses my mind, and I straighten up, “Where’s Elena?”

A grim look passes over Elijah’s face, “The Salvatores and Klaus are still at the school fighting Alaric. Niklaus and I thought it was best if I made sure you got to safety before anything else. But, they’ve got a plan to help her, so just sit back and get some rest.”

“Will you stay with me,” I say through a yawn.

Elijah gives me a soft smile, “Of course.”

I shake my head, “I was talking to Alastair.”

—

“AHHHHHH!”

A sharp pain flies through my body, and I quickly sit up.

“Y/n, what is it!? What’s going on?!”

I stare wide-eyed at Alastiar, who is nearly by my bedside, watching me frantically.

I clutch my chest, “I…I can’t…”

“Can’t what?!?”

“Breathe, I can’t breathe!”

A loud crash fills the house, and Alastiar quickly takes a defensive stance in front of me. Alastair stares at the door like a guard dog, ready for attack in case someone walks in. I grabbed his hand for support, and he clutched it in his.

“Just try to take deep breaths, Y/n. I’m sure one of the Mikaelsons will figure this out.”

The door handle jiggling catches our attention, and Alastair takes a defensive step forward, dropping my hand.

“Y/n?’’

If I could sigh in relief, I would as I see Elena pull herself into the room. She holds herself on the door frame and I frown as I see Damon standing behind her with s solem look on his face.

“What’s happening?”

—-

I clutch my knees to my chest as Theo sits wordlessly at the end of my bed.

We’ve been sitting like this for 2 hours, or at least since he drove me home from the Mikaelsons.

“What’s going to happen?”

I don’t respond to my brother.

“Y/n?”

“Y/n?!”

I glance up at my brother.

“Klaus is gone. There’s nothing to do.”

96 notes · View notes

verdancy-hime · 6 hours ago

Text

This is true but when you tell them that they should just stab Chad or go invent new drugs or start a band or climb a mountain or whatever to obtain validation of manliness and shut up the chad in their head this is the wrong answer the same way sex they can actually get is the wrong answer or being better looking is the wrong answer or sex workers are the wrong answer.

The question is "please tell me I'm a bad boy I'm about to cum" because there's no other way that can go.

Even most 4b feminists have an idea of like... what would need to change about society or the world for them to be interested in dating without enslaving people and forcing them to date them or like "I am not interested in dating anymore because of this thing that happened to me and I would like to spread awareness of what can help people not have this happen to them" or "I am venting and I am sad."

Incels literally took over the US government and they're the second most powerful demographic after weird annoying old women who volunteer at churches and they're not putting an agenda to try to get themselves pussy into place.

They're trying to put an agenda in place to get Chad pussy.

If you wanted to say "surprise, I never wanted pussy so I redefined power so that pussy does not determine power- while you studied women I studied the blade."

That would make sense. They're not doing that.

They took over the government to get pussy for Chad.

That makes them cucks. It's not an insult to call them cucks it's literally a cuck move to take over the government so a guy you admire can have sex while talking about how much you don't deserve sex and no one wants you.

It freaks me out it makes me think somehow all men are experiencing sex as rape and I am a rapist.

Actually a lot of toxic masculinity makes it seem like women are raping men and that's why they have to train us to never do anything sexy and never go outside and make sex so unpleasant and miserable but then it wouldn't make sense why the same guys are obsessed with making sure someone is getting pussy.

"this guy gets no pussy, which makes him low-status. thats probably why he's joined the hate movement dedicated to the idea that women are a status symbol that's been denied him"

343 notes · View notes

125storejuice · 2 days ago

Text

Hi all, so it's looking like I have some good news, although I'm hesitant to say anything because I feel like something bad will happen lol

It looks like I may have more affordable housing starting on June first, which would seriously change my life right now and make things significantly less stressful. I also may start getting access to different financial assistance programs, but this will take a bit more time. But it is exciting, none the less!!!!

Thank you all for all your help in the past weeks/months, I appreciate all of it, and all of you, all the reblogs and financial help. I cannot say thank you enough. I have actually be able to afford food, medications for me and archie, and some random bills. It's so appreciated. I hate to ask again for help because I've already asked for so much help and one day I really hope I can pay it forward, but I'd love help with things like moving costs, as well as gas money for driving back and forth over the next couple of weeks starting to move some of my stuff in. I have absolutely no money and this situation I've been brought into is such a gift, and I actually have hope that I can get on my feet. I have a case worker who is very dedicated to getting me to that point.

To help with moving costs and typical costs and living for the next couple of weeks when things are happening, I'd love $250 to help do everything that needs to be done. I know that's a lot and I've already asked for so much help, so please feel no pressure in helping me, ever!!! Reblogs are so appreciated, and I love you all.

If you help out and want a subscription or content in return, please shoot me a message! My brain isn't always braining even if we've talked before, and I know you, u maye not remember. You're all the best, thank you wo much.

I'm still catching up on customs, just so you guys know!!! Health stuff has not been great lately!! ♥️♥️♥️

$0/250

My links

92 notes · View notes

fairyhaos · 22 hours ago

Text

seventeen and horror movies

notes: this is from ages ago but apparently i never posted it lol so im doing it now

masterlist

seungcheol

thinks horror movies are really cool! they're not at the top of his list, though, and he definitely prefers action movies with less psychological tricks and less fussy plots of good guys beating up the bad guys, but the suspense in horror films is always great too. laughs when the bedraggled and emo villain first appears on the screen and says that the villain looks like [insert which ever member pissed him off recently]

jeonghan

the most calm. offers his hands as stress balls to any members who need it during the film. was probably not paying attention for the entire thing, his brain having logged out of the human world and logged in to the angel network or something. offers to make popcorn every time, and by some weird psychic ability of his he always gets up to do refills right as the popcorn is running out for everyone. records seungkwan kicking chan into tomorrow every time they finish a film

joshua

is basically the human shield for the other scaredy cat members. he doesn't particularly like horror movies, but he's pretty good at keeping in his flinches and doesn't get that many nightmares from them afterwards. often gets dragged out to make cookies for dk bc he cant handle the movies. the person that everyone goes to at night when they can't sleep. once had a total of five members in his room after they all watched 'the shining' together, and let them sleep in his bed with him for the rest of the week.

junhui

loves (!!!!) horror movies so much. thinks they're the pinnacle of film industry art. gets scared by the super horrifying ones, but loves that feeling of getting scared so much. doesn't get nightmares bc he basically forgos sleep for two days straight after they watch a film, so he bores the nightmare demons into not visiting him. at least, that's what he swears by. does need to hide behind some of the other members tho when it gets a lil too scary for him to handle

hoshi

the epitome of reckless cockiness. boasts every single time that he's Great at handling horror movies, despite having a track record of Definitely Not being great at handling horror movies well. unintentionally engaged in a screaming duet with mingyu this one time. refuses to leave the room even when the members try to force him out bc he's too loud. always wakes up wonwoo, either bc he digs his fingers into his thigh thinking that he's jihoon or bc he's just being way too noisy. doesn't remember a single thing about the plot, pretends he remembers everything and says they should totally watch it again sometime

wonwoo

agrees to watch it with the members, ends up falling asleep halfway through. while everyone is talking about the terrifying cinematography afterwards, he's just sitting there like o_o bc he doesn't remember anything about the movie. he doesn't even mean to fall asleep, it just accidentally sort of happens. is woken up by hoshi during every movie tho bc that man is basically a high-pitched whistle when he's terrified and he gets terrified by horror movies all the time

jihoon

gets scared, but is scared the moderate amount. flinches at the jump scares, lets out little yelps at the sudden screams, but always does that cute giggle afterwards to show that he's more embarrassed than anything. has soonyoung's hand around his thigh like a vice the entire movie, and he has yet to figure out if the man is doing it to try and keep jihoon in place or to keep himself in place. sometimes gets nightmares after, but he doesn't really sleep enough to even have dreams on a daily basis, so.

minghao

doesn't like them, sits through them bc if too many people leave then chan gets sad that people aren't watching the movie he picked. pretends he's chill with it but he sits in the armchair by himself all curled up like a shrimp, hugging a cushion and squeezing his eyes shut whenever he gets too scared. after the movie's finished, though, he doesn't think it was all that bad. does that mean he's willing to watch it again? not really. but at least he's not getting nightmares for a week like the others.

mingyu

cannot even Think of watching them (1). is too terrified. clings to joshua so hard that he leaves the man with bruises on his arm. screams the loudest at every unexpected noise on the screen, even if it's something as tiny as a floorboard creak. can never finish the full movie, either bc he gets yelled out by the other members for being too noisy or ends up too creeper out and runs away to hide in hansol's room and watch him sleep to make sure he's okay

dokyeom

cannot even Think of watching them (2). gets all three of the 95 line to baby him for the first part bc he insists that this time he Will get thru it. holds jeonghan's hand the entire time. and seungcheol's. also has joshua's hand (the one on the arm Not being held hostage by mingyu) hovering near his face, ready to cover his eyes when something scary pops up on the screen. never makes it past the 45 minute mark without getting teary-eyed and having to leave, asking joshua to bake him cookies with him or something to help him calm down

seungkwan

gets absolutely terrified if theres any gore. psychological horror? hell yeah, he's down. demon/exorcism horror? so long as no ones peeling off anyone's skin, he's fine. horror movies (especially the ones chan picks) often leave a bad taste in his mouth tho so theyre not really his favourite. vows to never ever watch another horror movie that chan's picked out again, always ends up sitting on the couch squashed between jun and chan during the next horror movie viewing. beats up the maknae after every movie for suggesting something so grotesque and horrible

hansol

doesn't watch. he's not a big fan of the mildly plotless, gory horror movies chan always picks and instead goes into his room. tries to read a book or do something productive, ends up just falling asleep on the floor. wakes up to mingyu's face inches from his in almost pitch black darkness, the elder trembling like a leaf in the wind while telling him that he was guarding him while he was asleep to make sure he was okay. he turns on the light in the room and spends the rest of the night reassuring mingyu that the sounds he's hearing outside are totally normal and no werewolf is trying to break through their windows

chan

was probably the one to suggest the horror movie. he's pretty chill with them, finding them interesting (if not sometimes rlly repetitive) to watch. the suspense is his most favourite thing ever. he thinks it's super cool. flinches sometimes, but always laughs after. is the only one grinning with excitement once the movie is finished. looks around at his hyungs and asks if anyone would be willing to watch it again with him sometime?

request guidelines

reactions tags: @weird-bookworm @minhui896 @slytherinshua @haowrld @belladaises @newgirlygirl @moonlitskiiies @mirxzii @wonranghaeee @yonabutnotyuna @crackedpumpkin @wqnwoos @kthstrawberryshortcake-main @kawennote09 @a-wandering-stay @icyminghao @valenhui @sweet-like-caramel @odxrilove @kyeomyun @chansburgah @pepperonijem @jeonride @kellesvt @kikohao @astrozuya @eightlightstar @onlyyjeonghan @aaniag @starshuas @all-american-fangirl @f1uffyjun @sea-moon-star @nonononranghaee @isabellah29 @mcu-incorrect @hrts4hanniehae @suraandsugar @pan-de-seungcheol @dokyeomkyeom @melodicrabbit @bananabubble @allieyaaa @aaa-sia

104 notes · View notes

classfelidae · 2 days ago

Text

ETIQUETTE

If you were tagged it’s just a shoutout, don’t panic XD

Hi all, I wanted to make this post to set some gentle boundaries when it comes to my au.

I’ve had a few interactions like this now, and I’d rather make a post explaining my boundaries to prevent it from happening more.

This is not directed at one specific person. It has happened a few times with different people. I may reference experiences but the post in general isn’t directed.

Okay, to the point. Please do not make unsolicited comments criticising my designs/animal pick for characters. Especially if it’s a finished design. If you’re not happy with my choices, you have free will- pick up a pencil and make your own.

This includes backhanded compliments such as “this is cool, but I’d prefer if they were a ___” and “I’ll only see (character) as an (animal) but…”

While they may not be intended as such, these come off as rude and really hurt my feelings. You may know by now that I put a lot of thought and effort into every single design I’ve put out.

There are multiple factors, not just their personality and their looks. I take into consideration the dynamics they have with other characters, their behaviour, the way they move, their trap, etc. Some characters are designed with an overarching motif, for example, Wrath of the Gods (ty to the ppl who corrected me) are based on street animals, vermin, and each character will fall into that category. Adam and Lawrence? Cat and dog dynamic. Hoffman and Strahm? Competitors. Biological enemies. You get the gist.

Either way, I care a lot about my designs and for someone to invalidate them blatantly does hurt my feelings! And it does stick in my head for a while. In short, think about what you’re typing before you hit send. It may mean nothing to you but I assure you it means something to me.

If I am looking for advice on a characters design, I’ll ask for it! Suggestions on these posts are okay! As well as on concept sketches of a new design.

Hoffman was actually down to a vote on my Instagram!

My asks are also open for anyone curious about lore and why I picked an animal for a character etc.

I love talking about it so please ask me!! If I don’t respond to your ask about a specific character it just means I don’t have art of them yet, please don’t think I’m ignoring you out of malice; I have a few asks I yearn to respond to in my inbox rn but I just need to draw something for em!

If you have said something like this and I ask you not to because it’s rude, please just apologise and promise you won’t do it again. Do not argue with me and make me feel stupid/belittle me for my boundaries. That adds salt into the wound and you will be blocked.

I will not dislike you or hate you for a misstep; it’s just about respecting me and my art.

On that note, I don’t condone people comparing my au to other animal AUs, or other artists in general. Do not tell another artist mine is better than theirs or vice versa. That is also rude and frankly, toxic. We are all human beings and deserve to be respected.

Having said all this, I want to say that if you have your own animal au; please don’t be scared to tell me about it! I love hearing and seeing others interpretations of the characters, all are valid in their own unique ways.

I also do not mind if you draw yours interacting with mine, in fact I love it! So don’t be scared to show me.

And lastly, I want to shout out some very cool people that also have animal aus for you all to enjoy!!

These guys are great and their art rocks. Please support them!

@ostendird-oddie

@eldritchx

@littlesapphicraccoonguy

@xxhamtubexx

@w0lfieisdrawing

@dragofelid

@voidfluid

(PS, if you were that person with an opossum Adam pls comment cuz I’ll put you here but I forgot ur username WAA)

58 notes · View notes

tobiasdrake · 2 days ago

Text

Here we are at the end of Andor. And my opinion of it is pretty simple. I think the show is really good at talking about the politics of fascism and insurrection.

Where this season excels is in the big moments and the political speeches. It's things like the Ghorman Massacre or Luthen teaching Kleya how to be an operative. It's moments like Mon Mothma's speech to the Senate, where she addresses the Senate and says, "Donald Trump is plunging this country into a fascistic hellscape while FOX News erodes the very concept of an objective reality. You, the person sitting here watching Star Wars: Andor, you have to be responsible for pushing back against this."

The show has a lot to say, and what it has to say is extremely relevant to this moment in history. It is a very good at being a powerful political manifesto that wears its themes on its sleeve.

What it's not so good at is... doing things with the characters it has. Holy shit, do I need to vent because when the show wasn't giving political screeds that I like and agree with, it was such a fucking mess.

Here, at the end of the line, I feel confident saying that they have utterly failed to make Cassian seem like the character from Rogue One. The show is too enchanted by that moment when he decided to defy orders and follow his heart, which was supposed to be a moment of character development.

But they've backwritten it into the show as his defining character trait. The Cassian of Andor is a loose canon who undermines everyone all the time. He hates the Rebel Alliance and is only here because his girlfriend dumped him, and all he does is play cards with his buddies, steal ships, and get in arguments over whether or not Tony Gilroy's OC is the greatest character ever introduced to Star Wars.

He has two separate arguments about that. It's crazy how much the last three episodes are just about what an amazing character Luthen was. Like, the parts with Luthen and Kleya's backstory were actually really good but then the next two episodes just will not stop talking about how Luthen is a Great Man of History, singularly responsible for the very existence of the Rebel Alliance.

Everything good that ever happened in the Star Wars Trilogy, they owe it all to Luthen Thunderdick who descended from on high and made the Empire tremble with his mighty footsteps. It was all him and nobody else. For decades, he was the guy, and there was nothing he couldn't do. Except kill himself effectively.

At the same time that the show can't shut up about how great Luthen is, I was genuinely stunned that Luthen's big confrontation with Dedra consisted of him passively slitting his own gut and hoping for the best. Luthen really struck me as a "Killing myself in a giant explosion to try and take you with me" sort of character, but apparently the big 'out' he had decades to plan for himself was to just quietly die in front of Dedra and hope the Empire will let him.

Cassian and Bail later talk about how Bail being a "Go down swinging" sort of guy makes him like Luthen. And. Like. Yeah, I would have thought Luthen would go down swinging too. So weird that he didn't.

Honestly, it would have been fine if Dedra was killed like that, too. Because the show had nothing else for her to do. She was just sort of fired from the plot right after that. This is another place where the politics are strong but the character work sucks.

Dedra's ultimate comeuppance for everything she's done this season comes in the form of Lonni stealing her access codes offscreen somehow. That's it. That is what undoes her. At some point between episodes 9 and 10, Lonni somehow acquired the ability to access her files. We never saw it happen, only heard him talk about it to Luthen afterward, but that offscreen occurrence so minor that it wasn't worth showing is the moment that seals Dedra's fate.

Dedra going to the prison from season 1 is a strong political point about the way the cruel and unforgiving systems of fascism will devour and destroy their own without hesitation or remorse. She is ultimately crushed under the very machine she worked so hard to help build.

But as a final resolution for arguably the central antagonist of the entire series, it has the same energy as if she were just suddenly dragged away by mountain lions. A bad thing happens to her because the show is over but it doesn't really connect to anything the principal characters are actively doing.

Luthen should have just blown them both up and saved us all a lot of screentime that could have been spent writing a satisfying conclusion to the character journeys we've been following.

I also found it unsatisfying when Syril, horrified by what he's contributed to, exited out into the crowd of Ghormans during the massacre... Only to suddenly spot Cassian and suddenly just turn into a Physical Threat Boss Fight. A violent orc who overpowers Cassian with his incredible accountant might.

But at least they had the Ghorman dad be the one who shot him. Dedra didn't even get that much. She was just dragged away by mountain lions because Lonni did things offscreen between episodes.

It's kind of amazing how this show is supposed to be the prequel for Cassian Andor, a ruthless killer first introduced executing his own informant for the "greater good" of the Alliance, and the most involved he is with the ultimate fate of any of the show's antagonists is getting his ass beaten down by Syril Karn just before someone else shoots him.

Cinta Kaz is the character most poorly served, of course. They brought her back just so they could bury the gays and, by Tony Gilroy's admission, give her girlfriend Vel some emotional baggage. Vel then does not do anything for the rest of the show. That's basically where her character ends.

Bix also got hit pretty hard. Allegedly, she does missions for Luthen and then is dedicated to the Rebel Alliance. She's in it for the cause. But she only gets to go on one mission and that's to get direct revenge on the guy who traumatized her. Apart from that, all she does onscreen is mope around about Cassian and then dump him because a random Force seer told her that he needs to be single for Rogue One.

Literally wrote a fucking psychic into the show to walk up to her and go, "Whoooo the Force tells me that Cassian has a GLORIOUS DESTINY that you can watch on Disney Plus, and you aren't part of it. Get out of here before they fridge you, girl!"

I'm not even going to touch that final scene of her with a ten-foot-pole. I will say that it's kind of gross that she "chooses the Rebel Alliance over Cassian" not by dedicating herself to the cause but by dedicating him to the cause while she retires to go raise his kid. It's kind of gross that they wrote "choosing the Alliance over Cassian" to mean that.

Not like the Rebel Alliance themselves are good for anything. Disney's been assassinating the Rebels for years due to a fondness for renegade protagonists screaming "SCREW YOU, MOM, I'M DOING WHAT'S RIGHT!!!"

Star Wars: Rebels depicts the Alliance fingerwagging at the Ghost crew and telling them, "DO NOT go try to liberate Lothal! Liberating worlds from Imperial control is NOT what the Rebel Alliance is about!" But then the Ghost crew do it anyway because fuck those useless cowards.

Rogue One depicts the Alliance fingerwagging at Jyn Erso and telling her, "DO NOT go try to steal the Death Star plans! Resisting the Empire is NOT what the Rebel Alliance is about!" But then the Rogue One crew do it anyway and drag those useless cowards reluctantly into helping.

With that in mind, Andor is at least consistent when it has Rebel leadership making a big stink about how Luthen sucked and the Death Star intel is wrong and we should just shove our thumbs up our asses and do nothing.

Until Draven realizes that the plot of Rogue One has to start somehow so he does a complete 180 and gives Cassian an important mission, even though they all hate Cassian for being a loose canon renegade who doesn't play by the rules.

Disney just does not like the Rebel Alliance as an organized resistance movement.

Oh, and let's talk about Wilmon. Wilmon gets an amazing moment in episode 6 when Saw Gerrera radicalizes him to the cause. Again showing the political strengths of the show, Saw gets to deliver an amazing speech about how you have to be a little crazy to be a revolutionary, and it gets Wilmon so fired up he exposes himself to gases to join Saw in the madness. He is IN IT now, ready to GET CRAZY AND DO SOMETHING.

The rest of Wilmon's story for the season is that he gets a girlfriend. She seems nice.

That's it. Wilmon's done. Nothing more for Wilmon to do.

Kleya, a character who gets to eat so well in episode 10, then suddenly gets written bewilderingly in 11. She sends out a signal for evacuation because she has vital intel she had to endanger in order to make up for Luthen's random bout of incompetence. Then, when evac arrives, she inexplicably starts an argument with Cassian over whether Luthen is the greatest character ever to grace the face of Star Wars and refuses to be evacuated.

Fortunately, she wastes so much time that the Imperials show up and knock her out with a stun grenade, which also hits Cassian but he shrugs it off with his raw manliness. This allows Cassian and K-2S0 to have a kickass fight scene and then drag Kleya to evac before she can wake up and start weirdly resisting again.

K-2SO's really just here to make witty banter (which he succeeds at) and to have a fight scene where he storms the safehouse to rescue Cassian from Kleya's random bout of stupidity. I honestly don't know which is my favorite bit of choreography.

One Imperial raises a gun at the identifiably hostile droid but doesn't pull the trigger while K advances into grappling range and kills him. The other Imperial, watching this, raises his gun and doesn't pull the trigger until K advances into grappling range and kills him too.

K-2SO, famously killed by blaster fire, slowly advances into grappling range on a guy who shoots him in the chest. The blaster shots glance harmlessly off of K-2SO's invulnerable chassis.

K then uses that guy as a human shield to block enemy blaster bolts, even though it was just established that he's invulnerable to them. So I guess that part was just for shits and giggles.

Either way, at least K did get to be funny. I do feel like this is the same character from Rogue One. So there's that, at least.

But overall... yeah. Andor makes for a really good manifesto that really captures the moment in history in which we are living in, but is not very good at telling a story.

#andor critical

60 notes · View notes

abbysimsfun · 3 days ago

Text

Sims In Bloom: Generation 2 Pt. 187 (A Proposition...)

Rafa Bonilla returned home from work in a daze, and his girlfriend, Melissa, caught his forced smile. "Did you have a bad day at the villas?"

"No worse than usual," he said. "Conrad called me."

"You look...I don't know what you're thinking. I've never seen that look before, Rafa. What's going on?"

"Ximena's pregnant."

Melissa was dubious, recoiling at the mention of his sister. "She's what? Don't they have condoms in prison?"

"Apparently they worked in the prison library together, one of the prisoners started a fight with the guards and left them alone...I don't know all the details but you know Ximena. If she wants someone she'll find a way."

"She told you she never wanted kids."

"Conrad says she won't raise it. The prison doesn't have a program for incarcerated moms, but Ximena probably wouldn't want it, anyway."

"So what happens? The baby goes to foster care when she gives birth?"

Rafa shifted uncomfortably. "Not if there's family to take in the baby."

The lovebirds shared a long look. Melissa silently begged him to be serious, but she knew what he was thinking. "Rafa, we can't raise a baby. We live in a shipwreck. I don't make a lot as a lifeguard, and you barely make enough in tips to buy the materials you need to renovate this place."

"I know, but I was thinking...you know Sulani PD asked me to join their force after I took out those smugglers when Ash was kidnapped."

"And you told them you were past making trouble but could never be like the guys who slammed my head into the sidewalk the night Ximena's deal was bust by the cops."

"Conrad's not like them. I could probably do it like Conrad. Oliana doesn't need me; anyone could serve drinks to rich tourists at the villas, but Sulani PD would pay me enough that we could rent a real home here. One with room for a baby, and an indoor shower."

A smile pulled at Melissa's lips, but she couldn't bring herself to let it spread. "As much as I'd appreciate not having to shower in the waterfall every morning, you don't want anything to do with your sister. You think she'll leave us alone if you're raising her kid? We're not ready to raise a baby, let alone your sister's demon spawn."

"I'm from the same people as my sister, Mel, and I'm not like her. I can't let my own niece be raised by complete strangers."

"Niece?"

"Conrad said the tests say it's a girl. He says he'll work personally to make sure Ximena's baby is placed with the right foster home, but I don't care if Ximena's a lost cause. Babies are innocent and I can't abandon Ximena's daughter."

Melissa knew how he felt, but she needed time. "When do you need to decide?"

"We have months. We can decide after she gives birth if we want to. That's what Conrad said."

With Rafa and Melissa left with a massive decision in Sulani, Heather returned home after a late night at the clinic in the Bay. She smiled when she found the kids quietly doing homework and Conrad on the floor playing with Roan.

"Hey, how was your day?" She could see tension in the smile he gave their infant son, and she knew something was weighing on his mind.

"My day was...interesting," he said, shaking Roan's rattle as the giggling boy's tiny hands reached in futility.

"That sounds a little more ominous than it should, Conrad."

"I know. It's nothing terrible, I just...Roan's hungry and I want to take a shower, get out of my suit."

In truth, he wanted time to get his thoughts together, and he wanted to get the kids to bed before he told her.

Heather still hadn't changed or showered by the time the kids were all off to sleep; she was too anxious about what Conrad had to say. "Do you want to talk about your day now?"

"I got some news from Brindleton Prison," he began. "Ximena's pregnant with John Brindleton's daughter, and the courts are going to ask Rafa and Melissa to take the baby. If they don't take her, she'll end up in foster care."

"Well, it's not that hard for babies to find foster families and get adopted," she said. "Puppies and kittens never stay in shelters for long, either."

"The way Rafa thinks about loyalty...it took ages for him to turn on his sister. He's not going to let his own niece get lost in the system."

"But he lives in a shipwreck..."

"I talked to him earlier. I told him I'd do everything I can to support him, but he's not even sure he'll convince Melissa..."

His voice trailed off, leaving an echoing silence and the thump of his own racing heartbeat. Like he knew what he was about to say could start a fight. Heather took a deep breath.

"Conrad, you're not thinking we raise the baby...?"

"I know it sounds insane. Ximena made our lives hell, but I wouldn't doubt she's having this baby to torture the brother who put her behind bars. I heard her promise she'd make him regret it the night he confronted her at the prison. Rafa's like a brother to me; he won't accept the system and putting Ximena's kid with strangers, but he'd accept us."

Heather shook her head. "And what about our kids? What would Ash think living in the same house as Ximena's daughter? She's the reason he was kidnapped! And what if she gets out of prison on some wild-eyed appeal and comes back to torture us, too?"

"I'm not suggesting we do this without talking to the kids. I'm trying to do what's best for Rafa, and I know us, Heather. We can give that baby everything he can't, even better than some strangers in the system."

"You can, maybe. I don't know why I should have to raise your erratic ex-girlfriend's prison lovechild."

Conrad shook his head. He'd expected this reaction, and there was no use carrying on. "You're right, I'm sorry. It's a bad idea."

"We'll help Rafa and Melissa," she offered quickly. "Of course we will. If they're going to raise a baby, they've got to get out of that shipwreck. Maybe we should even plan a family vacation to Sulani after Ximena gives birth to help them through the first few weeks with a newborn. I'm sure the kids would be happy with a tropical vacation."

"Yeah...yes. That's a great idea."

"Conrad, I love you. But that witch..."

"I know. I love you, too. Don't think about her anymore. It was a wild proposition; I shouldn't have asked. It wouldn't be fair to you or to Ash."

"Or you!" she argued.

He smiled. "Right. Me neither."

The lovebirds fell asleep in a comfortable embrace - as though making up for the fact they felt very differently about who should raise Ximena's baby. ->

<- Previous Chapter | Gen 2 Start | Gen 2.1 Summary

Gen 1 Start | Gen 1 Summary

#sims 4 #sims 4 gameplay #sims 4 screenshots #sims 4 legacy #sims in bloom #ts4 #ts4 gameplay #ts4 legacy #ts4 screenshots #sims 4 story #ts4 story #legacy challenge #sims legacy #ts4 legacy challenge #gen 2 #brindleton bay #sulani

48 notes · View notes

kiribaku-queen · 2 days ago

Text

Our Final Goodbye Pt.2

Feel good/comforting, little angst

Bakugou x reader, Midoriya x reader

Word count: 14k

Summary: Who knew disappearing from someone’s life was going to be so miserable. Were you going to get your life back on track? Or were you going to mull over your relationship for the rest of your life?

A/N: Hello? I’m back? Kind of? A lot has happened these couple of years I’ve been gone. I moved AGAIN to another country; so I am now living in South Korea. I experienced my first family death and first long term relationship breakup. I know you guys have been DMing me and commenting about how much you needed a second part… (sorry for the long delay) this is for you guys and more than anything a little something for me as well. Enjoy! Hopefully I can get into writing again :) Happy 5 year anniversary to me!

Sequel to part 1, you can read here

Fuck your life.

Why did this have to happen to you? Why do all the bad things happen to you? What could you have possibly done to be treated this way? Were you a horrible person in your past life? Does karma just hate you? Or were you actually a horrible human being and just didn’t know it?

Life after the break up was… difficult to say the least. Everyone talks about how much you can grow as a person after a break up, how a break up can actually be a positive thing. But no one warns you about how actually insane you can get; driven by sadness and depression.

At first, you tried to deny it. Deny that you weren’t okay. You tried to convince yourself that the break up didn’t actually hurt you as much as it did. After moving yourself all the way across the globe, you decided that you wouldn’t let this break up with Bakugou get to you. You put a smile on your face, at least tried to. No one could see how much you were hurting inside if you just kept a smile on your face. But everyone who knew you, which wasn’t many, could see right through you.

“(y/n)?” Deku had called out your name, but you continued to stare out into the distance. Water was overfilling the cup in your hands. You couldn’t feel it but then again, you couldn’t really feel anything nowadays. Deku stopped unboxing your books and rested his arms on his knees, properly turning to you.

“(y/n)… (y/n)!” he finally snapped you out of your trance. You slowly turned your head towards the male’s voice, still not grasping what was going on around you.

“I think that’s enough water…” he pointed out. You quickly looked at your hands and indeed there was enough water in the cup. You mentally sighed and stopped the faucet. With a cheeky smile, you dumped a little bit of water back into the sink and offered it to Deku.

“Sorry. And thanks again for helping me move in. I know you’re busy and all…” you trailed off at the end. Deku couldn’t help but accept the cup with saddened and pitiful eyes. And that’s what you hated. You didn’t want the pity. You didn't want people to feel bad about your situation. What for? This was your relationship, your problem to deal with. That’s why you decided that you were going to wear a smile on your face no matter what; to show people that you were in fact okay. After all, you were the one to technically break up with him. You did this to yourself; you knew the outcome. So, there’s no reason for you to be sad since you were the one who initiated it.

“You don’t have to hide it, you know,” Deku blurted out after taking a sip of water. The ‘smile’ on your face faltered but you quickly put it back up.

“What are you-”

“I think it’s worse that you’re hiding it. It won’t make you feel any better. It’s okay to mourn. Actually, to properly process your emotions, you should-”

“I don’t need you to tell me how to ‘properly process my emotions’” you suddenly got angry, causing Deku to freeze in place. “If I say I’m okay, then I’m okay. Don’t try to tell me how to feel or what I should be feeling. You’re not the one in this situation so you have no say in anything. If you just want to run your mouth, then I don’t need your help. You can leave.” You pointed to the door, gesturing him to get out. Deku put both hands up in defense, carefully trying not to cause you anymore distress.

“I spoke out of place, I’m sorry. I just… I’m worried about you,” he started. It was too late. The tears were already filling your eyes and the anger inside you kept bubbling up. If he didn’t leave this instant, there’s no telling what the demon inside you would say or do. You took a deep breath in and slowly released, hoping that would calm you down.

“I understand. But it’s probably best you leave,” you tried to tell him in the nicest way you could possibly say, given how you were containing all your anger.

“(y/n), let me help you. You don’t have to deal with this by yourself,” the hero turned comforter tried saying.

“I’m not asking for your help. I’m asking you to leave,” you once again gestured toward the door. Knowing that he lost this one, he made his way towards the door but couldn’t fully allow himself to leave. He gripped the door handle but only rested it there.

“Call me if you need me. I’ll be by your side every step of the way,” was Deku’s last goodbye before leaving your apartment.

You waited until the door had completely shut to let out a small sigh of relief. But in doing that, something uncomfortable rested in your chest and no matter what you did, it wouldn’t go away. You tried to beat your chest to get rid of it. You tried taking deep breaths, pacing around the room, drinking water. Nothing was working. Everything you were doing was probably making it worse. The feeling in your chest was so tight and uncomfortable that you felt like you couldn’t breathe. You felt yourself caving in. The sensation was physically pushing you back until you were on the edge of your bed. You collapsed back on your bed, hand clenching your chest as you curled into yourself.

And then you sobbed.

Once you started crying, you couldn’t stop. You had thought that you cried it all out before, that there were no more tears left to cry. How wrong you were. The reality of the break up was starting to hit you. And the reality was, he was no longer in your life. The man of your dreams. The man who you talked about starting a future with. The man who you could be yourself around. The man who knew your deepest darkest secrets. The man who would comfort you and never judge you for even the smallest things. He was so perfect in your eyes and you were convinced that you would be together till the end of time. How could it all have ended in such short notice? You thought you had given yourself enough preparation by distancing yourself, by slowly accepting the fact, but the true fact is, you weren’t going to be over him for a long time.

You questioned yourself a lot. Were you allowed to feel this way? Were you allowed to be upset when you were the one who broke it off? Why was it always you that bad things happened? He was a good guy. Such a good guy. You wanted him and you’ve always chosen him. So why was it that you always ended up with the short end of the stick?

Some moments of the day were okay… okay, as in there were no tears. But just because there were no tears didn’t mean that you were feeling better. If you weren’t crying your eyes raw, then you would stare up at the ceiling. Sometimes you were thinking about him, sometimes your head was empty as you watched your day pass away. You couldn’t find an appetite so there wasn’t a need for food. You also weren’t thirsty so no need for water either. No food and no water going into your body just means that nothing can come out. Great, you didn’t have any motivation to get up from your bed anyway.

From sunrise until sunset, you watched as the grossly, warm sunset fade into darkness. And there you were again, alone in the dark with your thoughts. What a dangerous place to be… alone with your thoughts. And what better place to be alone with your thoughts than the pure darkness. During the daytime, your thoughts were at surface level: how you were just sad in general and how you don’t think you can escape from your sadness. When night came, your sadness reached a new level of concerning. You started reevaluating your entire life existence. Started thinking about every bad core memory that’s ever happened to you. Each memory hurt a different part of you and then you think… all those memories, all those horrible times framed who you are now. God… that’s why you act the way you act, the way you think, the way you treat life? And then you continue to think about those memories, almost as if you were purposely making yourself sad.

Little surprise, you weren’t basking in your sadness alone. Despite kicking him out of your apartment that day, Deku kept coming back. And you let him back in. But he never talked about what happened. He never acted strange or out of character. He acted as if it never happened. But you couldn’t act that way. You treated him horribly, even though at the time, you were trying so hard not to turn back into that horrible monster that hurts everybody. But you just figured out that you could never change.

“Do you want to get up and do something?” he asks you gently from the side of the bed. He’s kneeling on the ground, elbows resting on the bed so that he could be leveled with you. Meanwhile, you were curled up in your forever ball, the only comfort you could find. You stared into the abyss without answer but Deku got all the answers he needed.

“Maybe we should get some fresh air,” he suggested. Again, no answer.

“Can I at least open a window?” that only earned him a frown. Right, so that’s a no.

“Fine. If you only do one thing today, then that’s take a shower,” he said with a sterner tone. All the other things he said were suggestions but it doesn’t seem like he was asking with this request. It was more demanding if anything.

“I bet you feel real gross right now.” He teased, but he wasn’t wrong about that. Straight on the nose, actually. Speaking of nose, your nose and your whole face was feeling dry and oily at the same time. The tangles in your hair, you know are going to be a pain in the ass to take out. And honestly, you didn’t want your hair to get matted. That would be impossible to take out. Maybe a shower didn’t sound so bad afterall…

“If you do one thing today, let that be a shower. Come, let me help you,” Deku reached out his hand. You stared at it. Should you, or should you not? Deku’s hands were laid out gently, only waiting for acceptance. But looked like it would be okay if it was rejected once more. His small gesture was more than just trying to help you take a shower. If you took his hand, you would be accepting the next steps of moving on. If you took his hand, that means you were ready to venture on your healing journey. And he was right. You felt gross, you needed to get out of bed. You knew this. You know you have to move on. You know you have to start living your life. But why were the first baby steps so hard? Help was staring at you in the face, literally reaching their hand out for you, so why were you finding it so difficult to accept help?

Frustration was clawing inside of you. Just fucking do it! You want to forget about him. You want to get better. You want to take that shower. Your hand felt heavy as you reached for Deku’s out stretched hand. He gently helped you up, supporting you from behind. Because as soon as you got up, regardless if you were going slow and taking your time, you felt dizziness hitting you straight in the face. God, you literally felt like the room was spinning. Was the room spinning or were you physically spinning? The only reason why you didn’t topple over was because of Deku.

“Woah, I got you,” he was surprised but held a strong grip around your waist. This is what happens when you are in bed for too long and decide to all of a sudden get up. You couldn’t help but clutch your head in agony. The pounding against your head felt like your brain was working on overtime. It was unbearable. Maybe a shower and some food would help…

With much success, you found yourself under the scolding hot water of your shower. Deku insisted he help, even more than he should really. But you declined his offer and undressed yourself. For a minute, you just stood under the running water. Too many thoughts were running in your mind again. Bakugou. Uraraka. The party. Them kissing. Bakugou. Your memories together. The vacation. Deku. Bakugou again. How could one mind be occupied with only one person? It’s not like you absolutely fell for this person and thought he was the man of your dreams…

The hot steam filled the bathroom, eventually leaking out into the rest of your apartment. You had to snap out of it eventually. Taking a step out of the fresh shower, you wrapped your hair up in one towel and draped another one over your body. Thankfully, the shower and closet area were closed off from the rest of your apartment. So even if you were naked, no one could see you getting out of the shower and getting dressed. You changed into fresh, clean, comfortable clothes. Clothes that will eventually stick to your body again once you get situated back in your bed.

The door to your combined bathroom and closet opened and you finally reappeared in front of Deku, who was surprisingly waiting for you on the couch with a table full of Chinese takeaway. You paused in your tracks at the sight. The shower was refreshing, you’ll give it that. But now with the smell of Chinese takeaway filling your apartment and your senses, the realization of how hungry you were was now smacking you in the face. It didn’t help that your stomach couldn’t stop grumbling, especially after the lack of food you’ve had lately. Then you took the moment to look around to find that your apartment was spotless. Your bed was freshly made and fluffed up, ready to be snug in again. Nothing was on the floor. No dishes in the sink. Did Deku do all of this? When did he have time to do this? And when did he have time to order takeout?

“When did you…?” you started to ask. Deku rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish smile.

“As soon as you hopped in the shower. I hope it’s not too much. But I know you haven’t really eaten that much and Chinese is your favorite. Plus, I was kind of craving it too so I just ordered. Sorry if I was going overboard with the cleaning. Thought you would feel better if a fresh you came out to a fresh apartment and-” he rambled on. He only paused when you came up to him silently and rested your head against his chest. Your hands remained on your side but laid your weight against him, guilt washing over you.

“Sorry.” You muttered. Deku’s expression softened. He pat your head and engulfed you in a hug. A hug you desperately needed. Deku has been by your side and taking care of you this entire time. How do you repay him? You yelled at him. Kicked him out of your apartment. Wouldn’t answer him when he was only trying to do his best. Why were you such a mess?

“Hey, hey,” he gently whispered, pulling you in tighter when he heard the small whimpers coming out of your mouth. “What are we crying for?”

“You’ve been too good to me,” you confessed. “I don’t understand how you’re still here. All I’ve been is mean to you.”

“I’d want someone there with me if I was going through something like this too.”

“Yeah, but you wouldn’t have acted as cruelly as me,” your voice trailed and cracked off at the end. The truth of how you acted was hitting you even harder saying it out loud. You have been cruel to him. If you were in his shoes, you probably would have walked out and left him alone to bask in his own feelings. But he didn’t. Why?

“Because I know this is not who you truly are,” he answered as if he could read your thoughts. “And I know that you’re going through a period of grief. Why would I leave when you need a friend the most?”

“You still want to be my friend after all this?” you asked. You felt a hard knuckle hit the top of your head. “Enough of that. Of course I do. Now, if you want me to accept your apology, you have to eat with me.”

And just like that, you found yourself on the couch, slurping up your favorite lo mein noodles while Deku occupied the other side of the couch, immersed in the random TV show that was playing. The flavors of the noodles hit you with full force and you wanted to cry again, but because of how good it was. How long has it been since you had a proper meal? Even if you were putting something into your body, it was either water or bits and pieces of Deku’s food. But never enough to keep you full or even deem as a proper meal. It took some willpower to stop yourself from scarfing down the entire box. And he got orange chicken? This guy must really have wanted you to eat.

After eating something a little more nutritious, you could feel yourself gain more energy. With more energy, came with more food for thought. As if Bakugou wasn’t constantly going through your head, you felt like you could think more clearly about the situation. And what he did… was fucked up. What HE did was cruel and unforgiving. What HE did made him the villain. He made you act like this horrible, fucked up person who doesn’t appreciate their friends.

Deku glanced up from his noodles and show to see your eyebrows bunched up and your lips permanently turned into a frown.

“(y/n)?” he called out your name. The words coming out of his mouth were going in one ear and then out the other. They were floating in the air around you without truly getting through to you. Finally, you had enough. You slammed down the box of lo mein noodles on the table and announced,

“I. am. so. angry!”

Deku blinked at your sudden actions. You huffed and puffed beside him. So much negative emotion took over your body that you started to shake with anger and eventually, those angry tears came down. As if you weren’t crying enough already, but you couldn’t stop.

“I’m so fucking angry,” you poured your heart out, wiping the hot, angry tears away.

“Alright, you’re angry. Let’s talk about it,” Deku tread carefully, in case that you were angry at him. Or even if the anger wasn’t directly aimed at him, he wanted to navigate the situation where you weren’t exploding up on him. He positioned himself to face you but didn’t make any sudden movements to touch you or anything.

“I just… I hate feeling this way. And it’s all because of him. If I never tried to help him, if only I just minded my own business, if I didn’t fall for him the way I did, this would have never happened. I hate him. God, but I hate her even more. She just had to come back into his life. And did you see the way she treated me? Or even talked to me? Pushed me aside as if I had no impact on his life. It’s so bullshit! And why the fuck couldn’t I have fought for him? I should have told her to fuck off and find some other guy. As if she could just take him back after he’s moved on with another person! I couldn’t fight her though… you saw the way Bakugou looked at her. It would have been useless to say all that only to be wrong. Then I’d look like a fool. I gave up so easily. But he didn’t fight for me either, which is the most fucked up part. It’s like he never even liked me in the first place. How could he? He was only using me as a placeholder for his grieving feelings. Of fucking course this would happen to me. Everything bad has to happen to me. It’s like fate doesn’t want me to be happy or something.” You blabbed on and on and on, letting every single emotion, every single running thought, whether it be true or not, come out. And Deku just listened. Not once did he try to interrupt. Not once did he try to interfere, tell you that you were wrong or that you were overthinking it. He waited patiently until you were done. But even when you had said everything that was weighing heavy on your chest, he stayed quiet for another beat more.

“I’d feel the same exact way if I was in your shoes,” he commented. All you could do was roll your eyes.

“You can call me crazy if you want to. I know I am.” You didn’t need him to validate your feelings. If it was anyone else, of course they would feel comforted in his words. Isn’t that the whole reason why you vent to someone? So that you could have someone on your side? At this point, you didn’t need that. What did you need…?

“You’re not crazy. I’m serious. Your partner’s dead girlfriend comes back from the dead and tries to get him back while you’re still together… sounds like a movie. Your life is a movie.”

“If my life were a movie, where’s my happy ending?” you laid your head on the side of the couch while stretching out your legs so that they were resting on top of Deku’s lap. Not that he cared anyway. Actually, he gladly accepted the weight as if it was natural that your legs be there.

“You’ll get one,” he tried to reassure you, but you weren’t so sure about that.

“How do you know? I heard some people are destined to be alone for the rest of their lives. I’m probably one of them,” you muttered the last comment to yourself. Not so subtly as you thought.

“No, you’re not,” he negated you. You gave him those ‘are-you-kidding-me’ kind of eyes.

“How can you be so sure?” you questioned him.

“I know you’re feeling like it’s the end of the world. And I may not know what its like to be in your exact shoes, but I know it gets better.” Cue the eye roll.

“Such a typical thing to say.”

“Typical, but is it not the truth?” Deku challenged you back. All you could do was poke at your noodles and pout. “Look, I know you really liked him…”

“I loved him…” you corrected. Deku was a little taken aback. The air became uncomfortable for a split second until he cleared his throat to correct himself.

“…loved him. But, at the end of the day, he didn’t treat you right. And more importantly, he didn’t choose you. Why would you waste your tears on a guy like him? Because he gave you good memories? Because he made you feel good? You think there’s not another guy out there that can do those same things?” Deku was making very good points. But you couldn’t believe a single word he was saying.

“What if I can’t find another guy?” you ask softly. Do you really believe you could find a better guy than Bakugou.

“I’ve known Bakugou for a long time. Trust me when I say you can find so many guys that are better than Bakugou.” He tried to reassure you, once again. But once again, doubt filled your mind.

“I can find them, but there’s no guarantee that they’ll like me or even want to be with me.”

“(y/n)… are you kidding me? Any guy would be lucky to be in a relationship with you.”

“Izuku, I’m serious…” you wanted to play it off, because everything he was saying about you wasn’t true. Any guy would be lucky to be with you? You? There was nothing that made you special.

“I am serious.” Deku’s tone changed. It was a matter of fact. Glancing up at him, his brows were slightly furrowed, lips frowning in seriousness, eyes piercing right at you. You had to look back down at your uneaten food to avoid the intense expression. “Do you not know what a catch you are? You’re kind, funny, intelligent, and so pr-… so pretty…” The green-haired hero didn’t mean for that last comment to get out, but since he already let it slip, he had to follow through. But not before a rush of red made it to the middle of his cheeks.

“You can say that about literally anybody. Being kind and smart and decent looking doesn’t mean that people are going to like me.” You counterargued.

“Okay. You want me to be more specific? Every time you walk into a room, the room lights up with how bright you are. You are humble and carry yourself with confidence, but not enough that it’s arrogant or cocky. You are always kind to others and welcome everyone that comes into the group. You listen to others with next level enthusiasm, I don’t even know how you do it. I’ve seen you encourage others when they are down. You’re a good person, (y/n). You make me want to be like you. If that doesn’t get to you, I don’t know what will.” Deku shyly laughs, looking away so you don’t see the blush on his face getting deeper and deeper.

You listened. And it made you think. You couldn’t really deny that those facts are true. However true they may be, you couldn’t help but think… is that enough? But the fact that Deku was able to read you like that, means he was really paying attention to you. Guess that wasn’t a surprise given how attentive he was to others during his school days. You didn’t know what to say. The only response you were able to muster up was scooting closer to him, head on his shoulder, his arms wrapping instinctively around you.

“Thanks…” you muttered into his chest. Deku couldn’t help but sigh and pat your hair, his chin resting on top of your head.

“You don’t need to be so hard on yourself.” He whispered back. He was right. God, was he right. You’ve been so hard on yourself, being so negative, swallowed by your emotions. Having a friend here was definitely a blessing in disguise. After being convinced that you deserve everything that came to you, maybe listening to Deku wasn’t such a bad idea now. And now you think, having a friend by your side wasn’t so bad after all.

Getting back on track was not a walk in the park. You couldn’t just magically get back into your routine with a snap of a finger. There were still days when you didn’t want to get up from your bed. There were days where all you wanted to do was cry. Thankfully, there was a gentle giant there to cradle you in his arms, brushing his hands through your hair while silent tears streak down your cheek. He would let you fall in and out of sleep in his arms. It didn’t matter if his arm would fall asleep. That static feeling he would feel when you finally got off of him? Didn’t stop him from doing it over and over again. And he didn’t dare move his arm when you were sleeping so soundly in his arms.

Izuku Midoriya never got upset when it came to you. He was there to support you, and that’s what he was going to do. He made sure you took care of yourself, that you were eating properly and at least taking care of your hygiene. There was only one instance where he did let his emotions overcome him.

He thought you were making such good progress. You were eating more. You didn’t need to be told to do things around this house. You were out of your bed more often. He thought you were starting to forget about the tragic heartache. So why did he come home to find you frantically packing clothes in a bag.

“(y/n)?” he gently called out, almost carefully. He gently slid off his shoes and approached you but you were too fast and too frantic to pay him any mind.

“Woah, (y/n), what are you doing? Where are you going?” Deku finally stepped in your way. You snapped out of your trance and looked at him with widened, tearful eyes.

“I made a mistake.” You admitted.

“A mistake? What are you talking about?” Deku tried searching your face for any clues about what ‘mistake’ you were addressing and why it had you so panicked. He didn’t expect the next thing to come out of your mouth to cause his heart to drop to his stomach.

“I want him back.” Him? There could only be one person you were talking about.

“…What?” Deku fully stopped in his tracks and his mind went completely blank. His pause allowed you to continue with your packing. You just filled your bag with whatever clothes you could grab, not minding what ended up in there. As long as you had the essentials and the bag was filled, you were ready to go to the airport and fly on the next plane back.

You zipped your clothes-filled bag and tried to bolt out the door, but your sudden quickness helped Deku come out of his trance. He grabbed you by the arm and spun you around.

“Now wait a second, (y/n). Let’s think about this,” he wanted to convince you not to go back to him. He needed to convince you. He didn’t know what happened for you to all of a sudden come to this conclusion, but you weren’t in your right mind.

“Please…” you begged. “I have to go back to him. I want to start over.”

“Start over? But you’ve been doing so well. You were starting to get back to normal!” he had thought.

“Normal?” you grabbed a fist full of your shirt where your aching heart lay. “I feel like I’m breaking apart, Izuku. Ever since that day, I felt this constant emptiness inside of me. Like something’s always missing. I can’t keep living like this. I need him to make me feel whole again. I can’t keep falling apart like this!” you sobbed.

“What about me?” Deku raised his voice. Your sobs halted at his unexpected reaction. “You think I’ve just been here by your side every single day, watching you break because I don’t care? You have this emptiness inside you, well I’m here. I’ve been trying to be that one constant when everything around you is falling apart.” His words panged at your heart. However true that might be, you still couldn’t give up on him. You shook your head and tried to make your way past time towards the door.

“I know. But I can’t give up on him.” Your shoulder pushed past him. But Deku had had enough. He grabbed your arm, gently but firmly, and spun you back around to face him.

“Let’s not forget who gave up on who. He left you for another woman. Why would you want him back after he treated you like trash? You deserve so much more than someone who doesn’t value you.” Deku’s heart pounded with each second that passed. Has he ever been so harsh with his words with you? Never. But he felt like he needed to in order for you to accept reality. And the truth of the matter is, Bakugou didn’t choose you.

“But I don’t know how to let go,” your voice trembled, finally giving up. Deku’s matched trembling voice got as equally quiet.

“Then let me help you. Let me show you that you can live without him. You are strong. You don’t have to go through this alone.” He reminded you. Slowly, you dropped the bag on the floor and surrendered to him.

“I don’t know if I can…”

“You can. And you will. I’ll be here every step of the way. Just… stay.”

You had to try. No matter how hard it was or how much you really didn’t want to or have the strength to, you had to try to get over him. You admit, you can’t act like this forever. Especially since Izuku is trying so hard to help you. The least you could do was try for his sake.

Another weekend you spent wasting away in bed while Deku was typing away on his computer on the desk next to you. Was he playing a game? Was he playing games? Or searching the web? Unclear, but he was busy focusing on that screen. Speaking of screens. You grabbed your phone and finally started to scroll through videos you had missed out. The audio of the videos played out loud and even though Deku couldn’t exactly make out what you were watching, he felt a bit relief that you weren’t aimlessly looking at the ceiling anymore. And instead, looked aimlessly at your phone. Nothing much you had to catch up: some political drama, world news, comedy sketches, fashion advice and… relationship advice. Yuck. You weren’t in the mood for ‘relationship’ advice. Every time one of those videos came on, you hit the ‘not interested’ button.

Ah, this is what you were looking for. Cute videos of animals… and babies… better yet, baby animals! Your favorite creators also posted a lot while you were away, so of course you had to watch those too. By the time you knew it, hours were passing by. But neither one of you would say a word to each other. Both of you were doing your own thing while just basking in each other’s presence. Izuku would sneak a peek at you from time to time, just to see how you were going. Completely absorbed. At least you were distracted and not full in sorrow. That’s progress if he’s ever seen it.

One video in particular was the turning point. You came across one of your favorite content creators and they were imitating Judge Judy so perfectly that you didn’t know a smile had crept on your face. By the end of the video, a small giggle had escaped your lips.

Ba-dump.

A cliché. But his heart beat so loud that it rung in his ears. Deku immediately stopped what he was doing and spun his head towards you with wide eyes. There it was. That smile. Something he hasn’t seen in a hot second. He didn’t think he would see it so early, but he wasn’t complaining. You were so immersed in your phone and you didn’t realize that Deku has shut his laptop closed. You only noticed him when you felt a dip in the bed and Deku was suddenly laying down next to you.

“What’s so funny? Can I watch?” Deku giddily asked. A smile was wide across his face and eyes were bright with amusement. He needed to see what video finally got a smile and laugh out of you. You gladly obliged, scooting over to make more room for him. As Deku got more comfortable on the bed, you decided that you also needed to get in a position where you both could see the screen. Once Deku got situated, you moved his arm over and placed your head on his chest, holding up the phone in front of you both. Deku was flustered to say the least. His hands stayed frozen in the air from when you moved them.

“Really?” you were confused by his actions. “We’ve been cuddling for how long? You should be used to this by now.”

“Yeah, but those times were different…” Deku tried to make an excuse. You frown, a little disappointed by his reaction.

“Oh, well then,” you say, starting to get off him. If he felt uncomfortable, then that’s the last thing you wanted to do. You thought you guys were close enough to be doing these kinds of things without any judgement. You didn’t even know you were crossing any lines. Looks like you were wrong. So you’ll gladly set boundaries if you had to.

But that’s not what Deku was feeling at all. He sensed the change in atmosphere and panicked. You were getting up too fast. He needed to fix the situation. He wrapped his strong arms around you and pulled you back into his chest, firmly resting his arms around your waist with no intention of moving it.

“Change of heart, huh,” you mumbled because it was so hard to talk when your face was squished in between the mounds of his pecs. Blush crept to his cheeks and sweat began to run down his back. Yeah, well… something was up with his heart.

“Just show me the video,” he couldn’t find an excuse so he had to bring it back to why he was originally there in the first place. Thank god you couldn’t hear how fast and how hard his heart was beating under his chest.

That was truly only the start of you getting back to your normal daily routine. You found yourself smiling a little more, laughing a little more. You started getting out of the house more often, going on walks with Deku, going grocery shopping with Deku, cooking with Deku, freshening up your apartment with Deku. Even without the help of your friend, you were able to be by yourself. You wouldn’t be able to be more independent if it weren’t for your trusty headphones. You had to listen to music, a podcast, something or else dark thoughts will start enveloping and you didn’t want to go back in that hole again.

Each day you started to feel a bit better. With music blasting through your headphones, you danced around the apartment doing your chores, while you were cooking, cleaning, going grocery shopping, clothes shopping. Anything you could think of, you were doing it with your music. You were your own concert. To many, it may seem like such a small feat, but this was the one thing that was truly making you feel like you again.

So there you were, happily dancing in your kitchen, creating some deliciously smelling cookies. The smell and taste of a fresh, homemade chocolate chip cookie can truly melt all your troubles away. Maybe you should have done it sooner. You were mixing the ingredients together in a bowl, letting your hips sway to the music that was playing via speaker. Because sometimes you have to let your ears take a rest from having earphones in all day. The music was so loud and you were so into your baking, that you didn’t hear Deku come through the front door. The moment he laid eyes on you, he swore that he was swooning for you all over again like it was the first time.

This was the (y/n) he knew. The fun, care-free woman that captures the attention of every person in the room. Look at you dancing, like no one was watching. You did think no one was watching. He could appreciate your looks and your dancing all day, but he wanted in on the fun as well.

“Oh, this is my jam!” he exclaimed loudly. A small squeal escaped your lips as you spun around, hands covering your mouth and heart beating out of your chest. Your squeal turned into a fit of laughter and also embarrassment when Deku suddenly began to create his own dance moves. Hands all over the place, feet uncoordinated, hips not even swaying to the beat of the song, he looked down right silly. But you couldn’t stop smiling nonetheless.

“Stop! You’re so embarrassing!” you laughed, trying to cover your eyes but peeked through a few fingers to see him still doing the same thing. Only, he was getting closer and closer to you.

“How can I stop when you’re playing my favorite song?” he shimmied his way over to you. What made it worse was that he was trying to sing along with the lyrics. But Deku was never good at memorizing lyrics, so he was always a beat too late when it came to the words.

“Fine, I’ll change the song,” you couldn’t bare the sight any longer. You grabbed your phone with full intent on changing the song but Izuku was faster. He almost grabbed your phone out of your hands but you moved your body in a way where it blocked him, outreaching your hand even more to get the phone away from him.

“It’s my phone!” you playfully yelled.

“And it’s my song!” he argued back. Deku being the big, oversized hero that he was, you were already no match for him. He easily grabbed your phone and replayed the song from the start. He muttered a small ‘yes’ as his form of victory.

“That’s not fair!” you began to argue. How could it have been fair when the size comparison between you two were just out of this world? You went to face him but stumbled your words when you realized how close Deku was. You were pressed against the counter, his body flushed against yours, his broad chest right in your face. He was so close that the smell on his cologne caught on his shirt wafted through your nose. And come to think of it, has he always been his muscular before? You guess you never noticed how toned and in shape your green-haired friend was.

“Totally fair! I was killing it with my super stylish moves and you cut it off!” he joked back, but you weren’t quite responding. Weird, you’d have a little banter by now. He looked down to see your face flushed with embarrassment and that’s when he realized how close he was to you. Was it his turn to get embarrassed now? He removed himself off you and cleared this throat.

“It smells good! Cookies?” he changed the subject.

“Oh! Uh, yeah! I made a small batch earlier to test it out, wanna try?” you hurriedly said. You picked up a small cookie and shoved it down Deku’s throat without so much as a warning.

“Mmm,” he hummed in satisfaction. “Now that’s a good cookie.”

That was such a Deku thing to do: always praise you, no matter how big or how small. How could one person have so much positivity, so much happiness? After all the negative energy you put out and put him through, none of it rubbed off on him. Surely, he has his down days too.

“You’re so good to me,” you suddenly turned serious.

“Because you’re a good person.” Izuku brushed some hair out of your face and gently cupped your cheeks. “Look at you. You are doing so well.”

“Because of you.” You admit.

“No. You did that all by yourself.” Deku corrected.

“You did help.”

“I did help,” Deku admit a little bit, “but it was truly all you. You had the strength to pull yourself back together. And you are so cool and strong for that.” You admit, you couldn’t have gotten so far and where you are today if it wasn’t for Izuku by your side. Sure, you did most of the heavy lifting and you had to do all this yourself, but Izuku was your rock through it all. He was the backbone of every step of the way.

“Thank you. And I’m sorry.”

“Sorry? For what?” his voice got incredibly soft.

“Everything. How I worried you, and yelled at you and said mean things to you even though all you were doing was trying to cheer me up. How I treated you. And for how I treated myself.”

“Hey, nobody’s perfect, right? All we can do is aim to be a better person for ourselves, no one else. You’re doing just that.” He ruffled the side of your hair.

“You forgive me right?” you broke away from his grasp and embraced him in a hug. Deku chuckled and hugged you right back.

“Of course I forgive you, silly.”

“Thanks… now can you help me make the rest of these cookies?”

And ever since that moment, the moment where you decided to forgive yourself is the moment where you finally accepted that the relationship is over. And that you can’t do anything about it. Not in a pitiful way, but more of a way that it couldn’t be helped. The only way forward is to accept the fact that it happened and move on. Not to dwell in the past. There was nothing more you could have done. Well, you could have not acted the way that you acted, but it was a learning process in the making. It’s time to learn from your mistakes and try to not let it happen again. Or at least, try to manage it better.

Soon were the days where there were no more tears. You didn’t need constant music to drown out your thoughts. The heavy weight on your chest vanished in thin air. Your smile finally returned. One that would come naturally and never forced. You found yourself making more friends and going out to more events. Your eyes turn into crescents every time you laugh. You laugh as if there’s not a care in the world. And every time Deku got a glimpse of that gorgeous, addictive laugh, it was music to his ears. He couldn’t name a better sight to behold.

Now it was no secret that Izuku Midoriya was head over heels for you. How could he not? You guys were inseparable; always going to events together, going out to eat, going to the movies. You guys were each other’s ‘dates’ when the occasion arose. Hell, you were basically roommates because he would never go home. One might argue that you were together, just no labels. But you, on the other hand, were completely oblivious to Deku’s feelings and everyone’s feelings towards the two of you. You saw nothing wrong with how you two were acting. Yes, you were close. Yes, you cuddled here and there. Yes, he was your rock. Yes, he was very attentive and caring and charming and funny and goofy and strong and cute…

But you’ve always acted like this towards each other! Ever since the beginning so what makes it different now?

“It’s because he ~loves~ you,” your friend teased in a sing-song like way. She had come over to help you figure out what this whole situation is. Her response just made you roll your eyes at her unbelievably ridiculous claim.

“I don’t know how you guys could say that!”

“I don’t know how you CAN’T see it!” she retaliated.

“What’s there to see? This is normal behavior! Just because you aren’t as close with your guy friends doesn’t make our relationship any different.” You pointed out.

“(y/n)… he treats you like a queen. You know, every time we go to the bar, he stares down every guy who looks your way. He’s always behind you so you don’t get pushed. He holds your drink for you whenever we go to the bathroom. He buys your drinks! Tell me when the last time you bought your own drink at the club? He is so head over heels for you!” your friend kept pushing examples in your face, but… that was normal right? Don’t all male friends act protective over their female friends at clubs? You had thought that was normal behavior. Because why would anyone want to see their friend being pushed and uncomfortable at the club when all you’re trying to do is have fun?

“He’s not…” you kept denying.

“You know what? This is lowkey making me mad. He is. You just have to accept it. You don’t have to do anything! But just acknowledge that he likes you.”

“He’s just a good person! He’s kind to everyone!”

“He is. But does he drop everything: his career, his family, his friends, to be by everyone’s side? Does he stay with us until the crack of dawn when we’re crying over our ex? Does he smile at us the way he smiles at you? With all the love and care in the world as if you were a precious artifact? NO! There’s a difference between being nice and… that.”

“Okay. You say he likes me. Have you heard it come from his lips?” you challenged. If Izuku hasn’t personally said it, then there was no need to make assumptions.

“Well, no…” your friend couldn’t defend herself there. See? Why should you believe anything if Izuku didn’t say it himself.

“Then what if you’re wrong? What happens if I believe that he likes me, I make a move and confess, and it turns out, he never liked me at all?” a slight pause.

“Oh so you like him?” your friend raised a curious yet playful brow.

“Well I wouldn’t mind being in a relationship with him… but…” god, you can’t believe you were gonna say this.

“But…?”

“I’m just afraid.” You confess.

“Of what?”

“Just what if he doesn’t feel the same? Or worse – he does, but I’m just rebounding? He doesn’t deserve that, no matter how I feel.” No matter how you think about it, it just didn’t seem right to be with Deku. Him and your ex were friends. Doesn’t seem right that your next relationship is with your ex’s friend. Moreover, to everyone else, it’s going to look like a rebound relationship. Deku was with you through everything, but that doesn’t mean your feelings for Bakugou are totally over with. You could be getting together with Deku just to get over your feelings for Bakugou. And that wouldn’t be very honest of you. Even if it wasn’t true, that’s how the relationship would look like to outsiders perspectives.

“Oof, that is a tough one… But let me ask you this: are you happy when you’re around him?” she asked you.

“Immensely. He makes me laugh. He makes me feel safe, like I can finally be myself and breathe again.” You tried to stop the smile that was forming on your lips, but every time you thought about him or how he makes you feel, you couldn’t stop smiling.

“Then I think it’s time that you talk to him about it. Tell him how you feel. Be really honest about everything on your mind and in your heart. If he’s the right person for you, then he’ll understand. And you’ll be able to work things out.”

Easier said than done.

When the situation finally presented itself, your nerves were off the charts.

“Izuku… Can I… ask you something?” you ask nervously. The green-haired hero was sitting on the bed next to you, was tightening the screws of his glasses. He was being so nonchalant, completely oblivious to the fact that you couldn’t stop fidgeting with your fingers. Were you really going to ask? Was this the best time? The best place?

“Of course, what’s on your mind?” he asked, not looking up from his handywork.

“I overheard something but I didn’t know if it was true and I wanted to ask you just to make sure…”

“Oh, gossiping were we? With who?” now he sounded a little bit more interested.

“One of the girls.” You were being so vague.

“Yeah? And what did she say?”

“That you liked me.” Silence. The hand that was busy with the screwdriver had suddenly froze in thin air and he refused to look at you. Fuck, you knew this wasn’t a good idea. The air between the two of you became thick, like you couldn’t swallow. Cold sweat began to run down your back and you wanted to run and hide and forget that this conversation had ever happened. But then.

“Of course I like you.” Either he was avoiding the conversation or he wasn’t getting what you were trying to hint at. Sure, you knew he liked you as a friend. But that really wasn’t the question you were asking. You had to pry to get a real answer.

“Well yeah, but like, do you like like me? More than a friend? Because everyone is convinced that you like like me and that I’m the only one who doesn’t see it.” Deku smirked, a small laugh escaped his lips as he continued to tighten his glasses.

“I thought I was hiding it better than that. But yes, I do like like you. I’ve liked you for a long time.” He confessed. Oh. He actually… no way. Is this real? Was he lying? Is this a joke? Does he really like you? So all your friends could see it. How long did they know? And why would he like you? He saw how much of a mess you were, how hung up you were about your ex. Why would he fall for you? And what did he mean when he said he liked you for a long time? What does that mean? Since when? There were so many questions yet you couldn’t ask a single one. You were just in shock. But you hadn’t realized you’d been quiet for a long time. And then Deku started to become nervous.

“Does knowing that make you uncomfortable?” he asked.

“No!” you exclaimed, a little too loudly, putting your arms up in defense. Deku subtly blew out a sigh of relief. “But, where do we go from here?”

“We don’t have to do anything. Just because I like you doesn’t mean the relationship that we have now has to change. Unless, you want it to change? How do you feel knowing that I like you?” Deku was looking at you a little hopeful. How did you feel? You could only tell him honestly from your heart.

“I like it.” You say and you stared straight into his eyes, never breaking eye contact. No matter how heated your cheeks got, you wanted him to know that you meant what you said.

“You like it?” he questioned as if he couldn’t believe it. Deku nodded his head in understanding, looking away from you. He smiled to himself then looks back at you, head tilted with the most flirtatious eyes. “Then you like me, too?” God, how could he look at you like that?

“Yeah…” you said shyly, having to look away from his intense gaze.

“Then what do you want to do?” he asks, gently taking your hand in his.

“I don’t know. Because I don’t want you to think I’m using you as a rebound or that I’m rushing into something because I’m lonely.” You felt too guilty. You couldn’t look him in the face anymore, ashamed that he was thinking exactly what you were afraid of. So you looked down at your fingers intertwined, playing with the tips of his fingers.

“Well I don’t think that, first of all,” he interjected.

“If we were to date, I want my feelings for you to be real. And genuine. And so, I guess what I’m saying is, I don’t know if I’m ready right now but I’d like to try.”

“(y/n), I don’t want you rushing into anything if you’re not 100%.” Deku reaches over with his other hand and tucks the side of your hair behind your ear. “And if that means I’ll have to wait, then I’ll wait for you for another 100 years until you’re ready. If you need time to sort out your feelings, I’ll wait. If you find that you don’t want to be in a relationship, that’s fine with me. All I want is your happiness, with or without me. No pressure, no expectations. Just when you’re ready, you let me know.” And with that ladies and gentlemen, you couldn’t ask for a better response.

“You’re such a good guy.” You say with such fondness in your voice.

“Thank my mom.” He cracked a joke. Oh, he still has room for jokes. He turned the serious, almost awkward atmosphere into something light and playful, which you were grateful for. He knew exactly when and how to make you feel better. But you couldn’t help but roll your eyes at him, bumping his shoulder playfully as you laughed it off. Deku laughed with you. But while you looked away to laugh, he never took his eyes off you, soft and unwavering, as if you were the most captivating thing in the world.

You took a deep, shaky breath. The nerves were hitting your stomach once again and you felt sick to the point where you wanted to throw up and pass out. You can’t believe you were in this position again. You thought you would never come to one of these again. You thought you would never see these people again. But here you were, supporting your boyfriend on one of his biggest nights. Deku tried to persuade you to stay home. He had told you that knowing that you supported him behind the scenes was enough. Coming to these parties didn’t mean anything. He almost declined the invitation to this party to make you feel more comfortable but you couldn’t let him do that. This party was celebrating another year of him becoming the new symbol of peace, the number one hero. Sure, its been multiple years in a row for him, but nevertheless, there was still a party to commemorate his success. You were going to be the supporting girlfriend that you were, even if that means you’d have to run into him.

You know he’s inside. He didn’t go to many events but with important ones like these, he had to show his face. You didn’t know how to feel in this moment. Should you be nervous to show your face to this group of people again? Should you be ashamed to be arm in arm with your ex’s friend? Should you feel anxious to see the ex who threw you away to be with his ex again? Maybe it should be a mix of all of these. You just knew that your nerves were on edge and you just can’t seem to calm yourself down after going through every possible scenario in your head. Would there be a big commotion? Would a fight break out? Maybe nothing will happen. Maybe if he is there and you did see him, maybe he’ll act like he doesn’t even know you. Would that make you feel relieved? Would that hurt your feelings? Would-

Deku leaned in so that his face was right in front of yours. The proximity of his face snapped you out of your thoughts. You hadn’t realized that you were being so quiet next to him. And Deku knows that when you’re too quiet, you were overthinking.

He starts to lean in closer as if he was going to kiss you. So you closed your eyes, preparing for your boyfriend’s lips to meet yours. But it never came. Instead, he snickers.

“Waiting for something?” he teased. You rolled your eyes and lightly push him away.

“Not anymore,” you say with a pout. Deku couldn’t help but love this side of you. He3 knew you were disappointed and trust, he wanted to kiss you just as badly, but seeing your cute, pouty lips was a sight he couldn’t resist seeing.

“Come here,” Deku pulled you in before you could escape and placed a chaste kiss on your lips. The kiss was powerful and steady yet gentle and full of emotion. Like he wasn’t in a rush to go anymore and wanted to take his time showing you how he truly felt. You felt everything he was trying to convey within the kiss. Love, pride, affection, encouragement, reassurance. You were beginning to enjoy the kiss, but felt disappointment when he pulled away what felt like was too quick.

“We can leave whenever you want, m’kay?” he whispered, resting his forehead against yours.

“Okay. Promise?” you whisper back, comforted by any sort of touch of his.

“When have I ever broken my promise?” Deku cheekily said. “Now, (y/n) is what?”

“Are we really doing this?” you asked, embarrassed. You can’t believe he was making you do that here, of all places. But Izuku wasn’t listening or moving until you finished what he wanted you to say. He leaned his ear closer to you because he wanted to make sure he could hear all the important things coming out of your mouth.

“…strong…” you mumbled, embarrassed out of your mind. You hated this self-confidence bit as you don’t believe in the words you said. But Deku insisted that this exercise would help you see the true you.

“And?” he wanted you to continue. You blushed a deep red.

“And confident.”

“And?”

“And cool.”

“Aaaand?”

“Beautiful.”

“Damn right you are,” he confirmed before giving you a quick peck. “And don’t you ever forget it.”

Fortunately, Bakugou was nowhere in sight from the moment you had entered the venue. That gave you a little breather and one less thing to worry about. The obstacle you had to pass now were all the stares that you were getting. As you passed each guest, being hyper aware of your surroundings, you could not ignore the whispers being spread around the venue hall. Was it because you were with the number one hero or was it because you were with the number one hero?

The first hour went by okay. You still weren’t completely relaxed or comfortable with the crowd you were being introduced to. You timidly introduced yourself and tried to just listen in on the conversations being held while Deku was doing all the talking. From time to time, he would squeeze your hand to let you know that while it may look like all his attention was on the company present, he was still thinking about your well-being. You were so distracted by meeting to many people, that you hadn’t realized that Bakugou wasn’t on your mind and you didn’t even question why you hadn’t bumped into him at all. Maybe you were lucky and he wasn’t going to show up, you thought… what was until…

It was like the red sea was parting. You were by Deku’s side, immersed into a conversation that you really had no intention in partaking and just as you decided to glance around, that was when the sea of people split down the middle, revealing a familiar blonde that had your heart clenching and breath caught in your throat.

Bakugou didn’t know what made him turn to the side. Intuition? Fate? Destiny? Love? When he saw you, he almost didn’t recognize that it was you. Because there was no way that you were just going to appear in front of him again after all these years. But it was you. There you were. Staring right back at him with wide eyes. There were times when he thought he had saw you randomly in the street, only for it to be a stranger. There was never a physical reaction. But this time, the pang of his heart was so heavy that there was no doubt in his mind that this was really you. When his mind fully registered that the love that got away was staring at him, he instantly put his glass on wine down and made his way towards you.

No. No. No.

There was no way he was walking to you right now.

In a panicked state, you had gripped onto Deku’s arm tightly and took a step back. The sudden action caught Deku’s attention instantly. He looked down at where your arms were gripping his dress shirt and then glanced to see your frightened expression. You were staring a something – or somebody – so he followed your gaze to what you so appalled by. When he saw Bakugou powerfully walk in their direction, Deku’s protective mood quickly switched on and he hid you behind him.

“Don’t do this right now,” Deku whispered yelled, walking up to Bakugou with an equally powerful stride to meet him halfway, blocking Bakugou’s path to you. He didn’t want to make a big scene but that might be easier said than done.

“Just let me talk to her,” Bakugou said desperate yet through gritted teeth. He was overcome with emotion, he doesn’t even know which one to show or feel. Anger. Desperation. Longing. He was feeling it all at once.

“You need to calm down first,” Deku warned, stopped Bakugou with a hand to his chest.

“I am calm,” he claimed with clenched teeth, the quite opposite of calm.

“If your goal is to start a scene, then be my guest. But you’re gonna have a hell of a hard time getting past me first. So I suggest you walk away right now,” Deku threatened, turning Bakugou’s energy back on him, his tone firm and final. Bakugou quickly scanned the room and even though the two of them were trying to be as discreet as possible, there were a few eyes and whispers aimed at them already. It didn’t help that those two were the two main characters of the night for the special awards. To cause a fight right here right now would not look good in the press tomorrow. There was going to be another opportunity, he convinced himself. He was going to make sure of it. So he backed down. He grit his teeth in compliance and took a few steps back. He then took another glance at you before retreating back into the sea of guests.

You had been on edge for the rest of the night. You were a fool to think that you weren’t going to run into your ex. It was only a matter of time before you two met again, but for some reason, you weren’t expecting that kind of encounter. Hell, what kind of reaction were you even expecting? You thought he would blow you off, act as if he never knew you. That would have been a blow to your ego but would have probably been the best case scenario. But the fact that he was trying to come up to you? For what reason? He didn’t look like he was going for a friendly greeting either. But for the rest of the night, you were paranoid that he was constantly watching you. You couldn’t help the feeling of a constant pair of eyes on you and that he was always close by. But when you turn your head to take in your surroundings, he was never there. You were all in your head which prevented you from being good company to Deku. Deku wasn’t oblivious to your behavior either. He was probably equally on edge as you, but just could hide it a bit better than you. After all, there were so many cameras and people watching him.

“Need a break? Or should we just go home now?” Deku leaned in to whisper into your ear. He could see how anxious Bakugou’s presence made you. If you weren’t going to speak up, he wanted to give you a chance to choose.

“We can’t go home. You haven’t gotten your award yet,” you argued. As if the hero cared about some dumb award he wins every year.

“You know that doesn’t matter to me. We can leave right now if you want.”

“Can we leave right after you get your award then?” you compromised.

“Deal.” Deku promised.

“I think I need to take a breather though. I’m gonna go to the restroom,” you inform him. Yeah, a breather is what you need, to calm your mind.

“Let me come with you,” he insisted, already putting a protective hand on your back to guide you to the restroom. But you put a hand up to stop him.

“I can go by myself. Wait for me here?”

“I’ll be right here. Call me if you need anything,” and with that, he sends you away with a quick peck on the cheek.

God, why was it so hard to find the restroom? The place was too huge not to have signs pointing where the ladies room was. You were sure there were some closer, but you got so lost that you ended up in the restroom farthest from the event hall. No problem. This was probably better anyway. The farther you were, the less people, which means you could finally relax and clear your mind.

You stood over the sink as you allowed the water to run its course. The sound of running water helped you organize your thoughts a bit better. So, Bakugou, your ex who chose another woman over you, is here. From what you saw, Uraraka was not by his side. But maybe you just didn’t see her. He saw you and wanted to come up to you. Had your boyfriend not stopped him, what would he have said to you? What would you have said to him? Would you react the same way regardless if he was angry at you or if he just wanted to say hi? You need to come up with a plan in case he really does try to approach you again. All you have to say is that you’re happy now and that you’ve moved on. Perfect. There’s no need for further explanation. You’re sure Bakugou doesn’t care about the details nor will he ask about how you were after the breakup anyway. Okay. You got this. You turned the faucet off, gathered your belongings and prepared yourself to go back out there and face your fears. But when you went to open the bathroom door, it was already opening itself so you made room for the next person to come in. Only, that person blocked you in and wouldn’t let you past.

“Excus- Bakugou?” you exclaimed with widened eyes. Words cannot describe how in shock you were to see your ex walk through that door. Not only was he physically in the way so you couldn’t leave, he locked the bathroom door to really make sure you were both stuck in there.

“(y/n),” he called out to you. But you were not having it.

“You cannot be serious right now,” you mumbled to yourself but loud enough for him to hear it. You grabbed your phone and dialed Deku’s number but Bakugou was quick to grab it from you.

“(y/n), we need to talk,” he insisted. How dare he barge in here and demand things from you.

“I have nothing to say to you.” You stood your ground.

“You have nothing to say? So you’re not even gonna explain why you disappeared on me like that? You deleted every single thing, your number, our pictures together, every single memory of ours… erased. You didn’t even say goodbye and you have nothing to say?” you could tell he was getting angrier and angrier with every word by the way his breath was more rapid, his chest heaving up and down, and the fists on his sides were tightening around themselves.

“What do you want me to say?” you felt like you were going to explode. “How much it hurt to see the love of your life fall out of love with you in front of your very eyes? How it was easier to just disappear than to see you spend another second with her?”

“I never fell out of love with you.” He said with a fact of fact.

“Stop it. You gave up on us.” You had to remind him.

“I was trying to make it work.” He excused. You couldn’t help but scoff.

“How?! She was always in the picture. You never came home on time. You were always messaging her. You always met with her. You never paid attention to me. How were you possibly trying to make it work?!” now it was your turn to get angry. You couldn’t understand where he was coming from. Trying to make your relationship work? No matter how you saw it, no matter how many times you tried to put yourself in his shoes, his actions didn’t make any sense.

“I had to confirm!” he raised his voice. “I had to confirm my feelings for her were over with. I had to make sure. Yes, I was confused but the more I was with her, the more I realized that she was not the one I wanted. It was you. It was you this entire time. It’s still you. Do you know how much, how long I searched for you?” he suddenly dropped a bombshell that you weren’t expecting. Because what do you mean he looked for you?

“You did?” you questioned. Suddenly, your emotions of anger turned into disbelief and your heart began to race.

“Yes. That night… the night you left, I was going to tell you everything. When you gave me that letter to go to the rooftop, I was so happy. But when it wasn’t you there… God, (y/n), I never stopped looking for you.” His voice became soft, almost below a whisper. Had you heard these words a year ago, you might have accepted his words. You might have been so happy that you would jumped straight into his arms and take him back without a moment’s hesitation. And the pull of your heartstrings at his words now… were your emotions being swayed?

Meanwhile, Izuku was scanning every bathroom he could find. You were successful in calling him before Bakugou was able to grab it from you, so he heard your entire conversation together. Izuku was frantic and desperate, gripping the phone in his hand so tightly, any tighter it would shatter completely. His heart was pounding, his mind going a complete blank because… you can’t go back to him.

“Look, I know I messed up. But if you give me another chance, I can make it right again.” Bakugou steadily took your hand in his. The feeling of his calloused fingers in yours made you almost burst into tears. For a long time, all you wanted was to see him, to touch him, to smell him, to hear those words. Now that he was right here, literally in the palm of your hands, you could finally get what you wanted-

BANG BANG BANG!

“(y/n!)” you heard Izuku’s voice yelling out your name from the other side of the door. Your head whipped towards the direction of his voice, snapping you out of your trance.

“No…” you whisper.

“(y/n)?” Bakugou called, but Izuku’s knocks were getting louder and more powerful.

“(Y/N)!” Izuku called out to you once again. He knew you were in there. This bathroom was the only one with the door locked. Even if he couldn’t hear your voice or confirm that it was actually you in there, his gut instinct was telling him that you were. He wiggled the door handle uselessly. When that didn’t work, he tried to slam his body against the door to break it down but it was surprisingly sturdier than he had expected.

“Open the door!” Izuku demanded, not resting as he still continued to break down the door.

“(y/n), please. Give me one more chance,” Bakugou panicked.

“No!” you screamed, ripping your hands out of Bakugou’s grip. “It’s over, Bakugou. It’s been over since the moment you picked her.”

“But I didn’t pick her! I picked you!”

“Well you didn’t show it. I was so tired Bakugou. That entire time, I felt like your second-pick and that you were using me as a placeholder for her. You were always with her. How did you think that made me feel? After I poured my heart out to you, you said you needed time. Well I gave you more than enough time to figure out your feelings and the fact that you were always with her just confirmed to me how you were feeling.”

“Open this door NOW!” Deku screamed again. His shoulder pounded against the door, the door opening slightly but not enough to fully break in. He didn’t want to use his quirk over something like this, but if you guys were being stubborn then he’ll have no choice.

“But, I can make it right. If you give me one more chance, I can-” Bakugou went down to his knees.

“It’s too late.” You tell him.

“If you don’t open this door when I get to three, I’m breaking it down!” Izuku warned.

“Too late? But why does it have to be too late? Why can’t we – I don’t care about the past anymore. I don’t care about her. I don’t care if you’re with stupid Deku. Just tell me that there’s still a chance for us.”

“I’m sorry.”

“ONE!”

“So what now?”

“We have to move on.”

“Please don’t say that.”

“TWO!”

“Bakugou…”

“(y/n), I’m begging you. How can I move on when I’m still in love with you?”

“You can’t say that. It’s too late for that now.”

“THREE!”

The door to the bathroom bursts open, revealing a glowing green Izuku. In the end, he did what he had to do in order to get to you. Izuku was beyond furious. His eyes locked onto Bakugou, blazing and wild with fury. He looked at him with something so dark no one would dare approach him. His breath so ragged and uneven, like he was barely holding himself back and lunging towards the blonde hero.

“You son of a bitch!” Izuku screamed, grabbing Bakugou by the collar, raising his fists so high in the air, ready to give him a piece of his mind. But you grabbed onto Izuku, stopping him just in time before his fist made contact with Bakugou’s face.

“That’s enough,” you say, not having any more energy to fight. “I want to go home now.” Those were the magic words that prevented Izuku from doing anything else. He left out a deep sigh, and regretfully let his arm rest at his side.

“Come on,” Izuku says to you. You let him snake his arm around your waist, escorting you out of the venue and back to the car. But as you pass Bakugou, who was still on his knees, arms limp on his lap, eyes completely glossed over and tired, you momentarily pause to say something only for him to hear.

“Goodbye.” You mutter your last and final goodbye and finally, left with your boyfriend.

The silence after was deafening. Eyes brimmed with tears as the weight of your words settled over him like a crushing blow. He thought back to every memory you had together, every secret you told each other, every kiss you shared. The memories he cherished and thought so often over the years, turned into cold, heartbreaking memories. He let you slip away from him. He thought he finally had you in his gasp again and he was never going to let you go. But…

“Fuck,” he cursed. Lips were turned downwards in an ugly frown. He used his arm to wipe away the tears streaming down his face but it was useless. His tears couldn’t stop anyway.

“FUCK!” he screamed as loud as he could, hoping the burning of his throat could distract from the yearning pain he felt in his chest. But the pain was too much. Bakugou clenched his shirt where his heart was and leaned over, slammed his fists against the tiled floor. He slammed them over and over again, not caring if he was bleeding or not. He felt shattered and broken and alone. The realization was coming to him that this was going to be the last time he was ever going to see you again, not just as the one who got away, but as the one he lost forever.

The silence in the car was suffocating. Izuku had a death grip on the steering wheel while you just wanted to sink into the car seat and disappear. The suffocating silence lingered in the air, almost the entire ride back. Not even the beautiful city lights passing by could distract how thick the air was. But you needed to talk to him. At least say something, anything.

“He told me he still loves me.” You say as if those words didn’t stab Izuku right where it hurt. A momentary beat.

“How do you feel?”

“Confused.” You confess. Izuku gripped the wheel tighter.

“You weren’t supposed to say that.” Izuku’s voice cracked, speaking as if he was about to break down any second.

“I’m trying to be honest with you.” Honesty was the best policy, especially where you were in your relationship right now. But how come those words pierced Izuku’s heart so bad? He finally knows what it’s like to be in your shoes now. His partner has feelings for her ex and can’t seem to get him out of her mind. Is this the pain you were feeling the whole time? Feeling like you’ll never matter and never be first in their eyes? It was a crushing feeling. It made Izuku’s confidence about your relationship fly out the window.

“Aren’t you happy with me?” he asks, biting his lower lip so that the sound of his sobs won’t come out.

“Izuku…” you couldn’t believe that you were hearing. You’ve never seen Izuku act or sound this way. He usually always says what’s on his mind, but he was being completely vulnerable right now with you, not hiding his feelings at all. You grabbed his hand and squeezed with reassurance.

“Even if you feel confused right now, I can make you forget him.” He promised. “I can treat you well. I can make you happy.”

“I know you will.” You had no doubt in your mind that Izuku could fulfil all those promises.

“Then will you stay by my side?”

“Izuku, unlike Bakugou, I know what I want. And that’s to be by your side always.” You reassured him, bringing your clasped hands to your cheek so you nuzzle against his hand. Although Izuku still had some doubts, he trusted everything you said, which made his heart explode with relief. All the emotions he held back finally appeared in the form of fat tears running down his face. And after seeing the aftermath of your breakup with the same situation, he vowed that he was going to do everything in his power to not make the same mistakes.

A/N: WOW! She's finally finished. I hope this was worth the wait and got your closure. Sorry if you felt it was boring but again, this was more for me to vent out my feelings over my breakup as well. So... ya get what ya get I guess right? >< I tagged people who I thought were interested and commented about a part two in part one. Let me know your thoughts in the comments! You know I love reading everyone's opinions (good or bad) and I miss you guys!

Tagged: @gbcssskjb @zaptapbam @dwn-bad @superblyspeedydragon @power-house-fan12 @s-viore @forgetmenotlovee @strawberrie-bunbun

#boku no hero academia #my hero academia #bakugou x reader #bakugou imagine #bnha imagines #bnha bakugou #bakugou #katsuki bakugou #bakugou angst #katsuki bakugou x reader #deku x reader #izuku x reader #izuku midoriya #bnha izuku midoriya #deku #mha izuku

45 notes · View notes