#had to drive like. twelve hours to help family move cause their car broke down 🫠

[splitsabers]

hey y'all! VERY busy weekend so posting's on a break for a bit - be back soon! Working on the last saber series sets :)

[freudensteins-monster]

You Say “Mad Scientist” Like It’s A Bad Thing

Based on my own tumblr post: 3am thoughts… Has anyone written Jane Foster as a mad scientist, I mean like a villain?

Chaotic neutral Darcy and Jane featuring modern/human SHIELD Agent Bucky.

Available on AO3.

Content Warnings: Implied/Referenced Torture, Aftermath of Torture, Amnesia, Memory Suppressing Machine | The Chair (Marvel), Dark, Sort Of, Ambiguous/Open Ending...

In a world full of megalomaniacs, straight up supervillains, and fricking aliens, mad scientists were a dime a dozen. Dr Foster was one such scientist who was quickly moving from mildly irritating to SHIELD’s Most Wanted.

Dr Foster’s gimmick was portals. She first gained international attention when she claimed responsibility (via an untraceable Instagram account, @dr-mthrfckng-foster) for diverting LA’s 405 to a dirt road in rural Australia. Then came a string of impossible robberies – bank vaults and the private collections of the world's richest assholes stripped bare in seconds. Then she created a portal that caused an Indonesian typhoon to bear down on Wall Street, flooding the trading floor. And then she robbed a top secret government black site of some classified technology.

And that’s when Director Nick Fury made finding and stopping Dr Foster SHIELD’s number one priority.

Agent James Barnes had been stuck on suspension for two weeks, with two more to go, and was itching to get back into the field. He had way too much free time on his hands: he’d caught up on his sleep and everything in his Netflix queue. He’d cleaned out his refrigerator, done laundry and enough meal prep to last him until next month. He’d caught up with his family, cleaned his whole goddamn apartment twice, and now he was well and truly bored.

He was out for his fifth run of the week (and it wasn’t even Wednesday) when his work phone rang.

“Thank Christ,” he muttered before answering.

“Barnes.”

“It’s Hill. How’s the arm?”

“Fine,” Barnes grunted, rotating his metal shoulder irritably. “You got something for me?”

“Are you up for a recon mission?”

Usually he would have protested. He headed tactical units. He was an elite ‘first through the door’ kind of field agent. Not that he couldn’t be stealthy and patient - he’d been a sniper in the army for christ's sake - but going unnoticed in public was kind of a problem for him these days; he’d have to wear jackets and gloves in the middle of August to hide his prosthetic for starters.

On the other hand, his mother had been calling him every second day to feed him carb-heavy meals in exchange for help around the house, all while dropping not-so-subtle hints that he should start dating again. Requests for more grandchildren couldn’t be far behind.

“I’ll be there in thirty.”

Thirty-five minutes later Agent Barnes was back at his desk at SHIELD HQ perusing through the increasingly large file of one Dr Jane Foster. 

She had been a brilliant student and had earned a PhD in Astrophysics from Culver University by the age of 25. By all accounts she should have been one of the leading researchers in her field, and if doctoral programs handed out superlatives Dr Foster’s would have been “Most Likely To Win a Nobel Prize By 30”. 

Unfortunately for Dr Foster, and the rest of the world, she had been forced from that path by a sexist tenured professor who publicly denounced her theories, and the woman herself, as crazy, discredited her published work, and used his influence to ensure she was denied all of the more lucrative research grants.

When federal agents went to interview him after the 405 incident they found his office looking like a tornado had gone through it and the professor himself was nowhere to be found. A few weeks later he stumbled into a US Embassy in Russia after being found wandering in from the forests outside Vladivostok, half mad and still decrying the evils of allowing women into scientific fields.

He had been placed into witness protection and promptly admitted into a psychiatric facility under his new name, and was being monitored by several undercover agents in case Dr Foster felt like punishing him some more. 

Anyone else who had a part in ruining Dr Foster’s legitimate career was also under surveillance, as was her mother in London, a terrified ex-boyfriend in Boston, and a handful of known associates, though Dr Foster hadn’t been in contact with any of them in years.

SHIELD and other federal agencies had tried the usual methods of tracking down a rogue mad scientist. They tried to find out where her base of operations was, firstly by looking for any properties in her name, but Dr Foster had been a broke student with an impressive amount of debt (until the day she decided to wipe it, and the rest of Culver’s student debt, out). So if she had property it would definitely not be in her legal name and all but impossible to trace back to her. Then they tried to look for drains on the powergrid. However she managed to generate her portals - SHIELD scientists still hadn’t figured that out - it surely had to be using huge amounts of electricity. So far they’d found six grow labs and two server rooms running illegal god-knows-what, but no Dr Foster.

Agent Barnes read the file twice, reviewed all the transcripts of the interviews with her known associates, and came to one very important conclusion: she had an accomplice. 

As smart as Dr Foster was there was nothing in her academic history to suggest that she had a background in computer science that would account for the notable hacks and the untraceable nature of her activities. To add to that several interviewees had made passing remarks about her not having a cell phone for most of her academic career, and how she had zero interest in social media.

Two days later, after getting the okay for a field trip from Hill, Agent Barnes made his way to Culver University to speak to anyone who had even the vaguest recollection of Dr Foster. And that’s how he learnt about the intern.

He’d started by dropping by one of the physics labs where Dr Foster had spent most of her time, and by pure chance met a doctoral candidate who remembered her, and her intern.

“I think her name was Darlene. Glasses. Always on her phone.”

…which led him to the academic advisor who put the two of them together...

“Darcy. Darcy Lewis. She was actually a PoliSci major but left it too late and Dr Foster’s internship was the only one available. She had only been working with her for a few weeks before… before Dr Foster’s funding was revoked and she was asked to leave.”

...who pointed him to one of Darcy’s former professors…

“Average student. Good debater. Often late, and always had a coffee in her hand.”

...who gave him a few names of some former classmates who might remember her…

“Not the worst person to be stuck with on a group assignment. Pulled her weight. Obsessed with her stupid iPod.”

“I swear she lived off pop tarts and coffee. And not Starbucks either. Some stupid hipster chain.”

“Deja Brew. Serious problem. Went through one of those loyalty punch cards every week. Always complained about having to go home for the holidays and resort to big chain coffee shops.”

...which had him driving out to Darcy Lewis’ hometown, located a few hours south of Roanoke, Virginia, stopping first at the local high school to speak to the school principal…

“She’d always been good with computers but wasn’t allowed to use them at home for some reason so she spent a lot of time at the local library using theirs. We had to suspend her once. One of her classmates accused her of accepting payment from other students to hack the school’s records and alter their grades. Their grades were definitely getting altered, but we couldn’t get any concrete proof it was her.”

...who was able to find a photo of 16 year old Darcy in an old yearbook and told him what bar he could find Darcy’s mother in.

“She knows not to come to me if she’s in the shit, because I would call the cops in a heartbeat. Especially after that stunt she pulled before she went off to college…”

“What stunt was that, Ms Bennett?” Agent Barnes asked patiently, hoping he wouldn’t have to enable her alcoholism to get some useful information. 

“I made some mistakes, okay,” she slurred defensively. “I was having an affair with my boss. Don’t know how Darcy knew. She told her stepfather but he didn’t believe her. Then a few weeks later we went out to dinner for my boss’s birthday... all the tv’s in the bar start showing security camera footage of us falling into offices and motel rooms. Took her all of a minute to ruin two marriages and a law firm.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” he replied diplomatically. “Is there anyone she could turn to for help? Her father, perhaps.”

“He died when she was about twelve. They were as thick as thieves,” she recalled with a tinge of bitterness.

“Was there any place that was special to them? Someone she might go to ground?”

She shook her head. “He used to rent this old cabin near the Catskills off a buddy of his every other year. Winter or summer, Darcy loved it. But it's long gone. Forest fire, I think, the year before his accident.”

Back in his car Agent Barnes reviewed the data points.

Dr Foster had a base of operations somewhere. Had to be private, and as best SHIELD could guess it must be off the grid and Dr Foster must be generating her own power.

Dr Foster was a space nut at heart, and while an abandoned observatory might be too much to ask for, she’d probably want somewhere with minimal light pollution.

And while they could portal anywhere, neither of them spoke any other languages and had no familiarity with any international locations, so they were most likely still State-side. (Dr Foster’s mother had moved to London when Jane was twenty-three, but she’d never found the time to visit.)

Miss Lewis was familiar with the Catskills area. A base of operations there could be very isolated.

Dr Foster was most likely building and modifying her own own equipment so she had to be able to access materials. Sure, she could portal to her local hardware store, but having Darcy drive into the nearest town for supplies would attract less attention.

Miss Lewis had an addiction to coffee procured from Deja Brew, a small hipster chain with only a handful of locations along on the east coast. While she could have found another way to get her caffeine fix, people were creatures of habit.

Miss Lewis was also known for stocking up on poptarts. In one of the only images of the other side of one of Dr Foster’s portals there was what appeared to be, if one squinted, a box of limited edition pop tarts on a counter.

He plugged it all into SHIELD fancy search engines and got a few results back. The most promising was an abandoned ski chalet turned abandoned research station halfway up a mountain, an hour drive away from an up and coming tourist town, whose main street hosted a Deja Brew cafe. They also had a small mom and pop hardware store, as well as a post office, and a grocery store that had still been selling pumpkin pie pop tarts around the time Dr Foster’s portal had been caught on camera.

Agent Barnes came to with a groan. The flesh of his shoulder where it met his prosthetic felt like it was on fire, and he was pretty sure he could smell fried wiring.

The research station had come up in SHIELD’s initial search for a potential mad scientist's lair, but had been dismissed for not using any power and for not sending back any heat signature readings. Perhaps they’d found a way to fool the scanners. Or maybe they just weren’t in the day the readings were taken. Whatever the reason, Agent Barnes had a good feeling about it. He filled his tank up at the nearest gas station and got on the highway, forgoing checking in at the Triskelion on his way past in favour of driving all night. He’d call Hill when he had something solid. 

** *** **

“Fuck…”

He willed his eyes open and came face to face with Darth Vader.

Barnes reeled back at the sound of the synthesized voice. “Who sent you? Who do you work for?! The Rebellion?” 

“What the fuck!”

It took him until his eyes adjusted to the fluorescent lighting to realise that Darth Vader was wearing a grey knit dress and black tights. Darth Vader laughed and ripped off his mask to reveal a smiling bespectacled brunette underneath. The accomplice. Darcy Lewis.

“Sorry, I was just messing with you, dude,” she teased, tossing the mask over her shoulder. “I’ve always wanted to do that. But seriously, who do you work for? Who knows you’re here?”

“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,” he lied. “I was just camping in the woods, man. I saw the lights and decided to check it out,” he rambled in a lazy Canadian accent. “How the hell did I get here? Did you electrocute me?”

He used his not-quite fake panic to test the limits of his restraints. He’d been strapped into some sort of junkstore barber chair, with thick metal shackles locked around his wrists, ankles, and chest. His metal arm could probably make quick work of them but the damn thing was not responding. His panic became a little less fake.

“Just camping, huh?” she echoed back with a raised eyebrow, leaning forward to the point where Barnes couldn’t avoid getting a good look down her top and the 15-carat pink diamond (worth about 40mil and reported stolen in one of Dr Foster’s vault heists two months ago) hanging around her neck. “So that wasn’t you poking around town this morning?” she asked pointedly, drawing his attention to the wall of monitors he hadn’t noticed showing various street cameras around the town. “I’ve got eyes and ears everywhere, dude. You got into town bright and early in a beat up looking truck with plates that didn’t exist two weeks ago and started flashing my yearbook photo around. So, who do you work for?”

He levelled his best steely-eyed agent stare at her and switched back to his native pissed-off Brooklynite accent. “I ain’t tellin you shit, sweetheart.”

“C’mon now,” she cooed, taking a seat on his lap. “Who do you work for? FBI? Interpol? SHIELD? Crawford County Library Services? Listen, I was totally going to return Eat Pray Love, but we had to skip town in a hurry and it got lost in the move. I will totally pay to replace it.”

Years of training (and regular poker games with the Black Widow) had taught him to school his features, even if that last one threw him for a loop.

“Nothing? You sure you don’t want to talk to me? Fine,” she whined. “Jane!”

It was only then that Barnes switched his focus from his captor to his surroundings and realised that there was another occupant puttering about on the other side of the large telescope that took pride of place on a hydraulic platform underneath the research station's retractable roof. The infamous Dr Foster.

“Jane!”

“What?” came the irritated reply. 

“Come over here and practise your monologue. Look! You’ve got a captive audience and everything!” she announced, laughing at her own joke. 

“I don’t have time, Darcy,” the disgruntled voice argued. 

“Hey! I spent two days writing up that monologue, the least you can do is spend twenty-five minutes reading it out loud so I can make sure it doesn’t make you sound too much like a cartoon villain.” 

“Twenty-five minutes?! Are you kidding me?” Dr Foster stormed out from behind the telescope to wave a wrench at her assistant. She looked less put together than her ID photo, appearing to be long overdue for both a shower and a nap. “I’m in the middle of something. I’ve almost figured the problem with the mobile portal generator, and… Darcy, why is there a man tied to a chair in my lab?”

“This man?” Darcy snorted, taking Barnes’s chin in her hands and wiggling it about. “This is the intruder. You remember the intruder alert, like fifteen minutes ago? Lots of flashing lights and alarms? Well, I found this guy passed out on the lawn. For most people, hitting my force field would be like getting lightly tased, but this bad boy,” she continued, tapping a fingernail against his dead metal arm, “meant you ended up getting the full 50,000 volts to your heart. Thanks for letting me practice my CPR by the way,” she added with a wink.

“It’s not a force field, Darcy. It’s a glorified invisible pet fence, upsized and modified so it reacts to the electrical impulses in the human body.”

“It keeps people out; I’m calling it a force field.”

This was definitely the weirdest interrogation he had endured by a large margin, Barnes mused as he followed their bickering like a pingpong game.

“Who is he, Darcy?” Jane sighed wearily. “What is he doing here?”

“Fiiiine. Janey, meet Agent James Barnes of SHIELD.”

“What?! SHIELD?!!”Jane screeched. “Why did you bring him here?”

“He found us, Jane. What was I supposed to do?”

“Something other than bringing him inside our secret hideout.”

“I am not killing him and burying him in the woods; I just did my nails.”

Jane scowled, turning the full force of her overtired fury on James. “Why can’t you SHIELD issue jackbooted thugs just leave me alone? Can’t you understand how important my work is? I am challenging the very foundations of modern science - of the laws of the universe! I am on the verge of a breakthrough! And if you or Nick Fury think you can stop me, you’ve got another thing coming!”

Before his mouth could betray him and ask how the hell they knew his boss Darcy spoke up.

“A little off script, but I like the energy, Jane. Very much the mad scientist vibe we’re going for. But next time, try not to make it so personal – we’ve got to hide the target of our frustrations, remember? Instead of saying “SHIELD” say “government”, instead of saying “Nick Fury” say “president”.”

“Right, right,” Jane nodded absently, tapping the side of her head with the wrench she had just been waving around like a weapon.

“Now, go back to work. I’ll handle this.”

“Okay, thanks Darce. Oh, have you seen my soldering iron around?”

“It’s in the locked cabinet because you’re not allowed to use it unsupervised, you know that. Gimme ten minutes, I’ll bring it to you.”

Jane wandered back to her side of the observatory, muttering under her breath, leaving Barnes at Darcy’s mercy.

“She’s not the criminal mastermind here, is she?” he wondered, his eyes roaming over the strange cupcake of a woman in his lap.

“Not exactly,” Darcy admitted. “I mean, it’s not like she set out to be a mad scientist. I kind of rebranded her after that little freeway incident.”

“Rebranded?”

“Yeah. She was in a bad way after New Mexico and then when the first live test of her portal engine went a little sideways I didn’t want dudebros on the internet coming after her, so I changed the narrative. Instead of ‘girl scientist makes mistake, should stick to making sandwiches’ I changed it to ‘Dr Foster, genius astrophysicist, causes chaos, totally on purpose.’”

“And all those robberies?”

“I may have encouraged that. I’m all for sticking it to the one percenters, and Jane needed to fund her experiments somehow,” she added with a shrug.

“So Jane’s the absent-minded professor and you’re the brains behind this operation, huh?”

Darcy laughed and slid out of his lap causing a distracting amount of friction. “I’m really not. So you, Coulson, and Fury should be really, really scared.”

“How do you know those names?” he had to know, cover be damned.

“You don’t know? Of course you don’t,” she huffed. “Fury and his clearance levels. I’d tell you to ask him about New Mexico sometime, but you’re not going to be able to.”

“Why not? What are you going to do to me?” Barnes fretted, unable to ignore the sinking feeling that he was in big trouble; she wouldn’t have told him anything if she intended on letting him walk out of here.

“Oh, relax. I’m not going to kill you. I’m just gonna scramble your brain a little.”

She circled his chair, flipping switches as she went, and something behind him started humming ominously.

“So, admittedly I didn’t major in hard sciences. I had an ex who did, but he also fancied himself something of a cat burglar, so when he went to jail I liberated all his college textbooks and gave myself a crash course in electrical engineering. And it helped that those HYDRA designs were really easy to follow.”

“HYDRA?” Barnes cursed.

HYDRA had been the scientific branch of the Nazi regime and believed that discovery required (human) experimentation. They were supposedly eradicated at the end of WWII but Project Paperclip saved some of HYDRA’s greatest minds, giving them immunity in exchange for their genius. If Foster or, more worryingly, Darcy had aligned themselves with some surviving HYDRA faction the results could be catastrophic.

“Yeah, I found them in that SHIELD warehouse when we recovered Jane’s stolen research.”

“What are you talking about?”

“They just call it ‘The Chair’, which is totally not creepy at all,” she continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “And this is the Halo,” she added, drawing Barnes’s attention to the whirring circle of metal that was lowering itself over his head.

“What the hell are you doing?” he shouted, renewing his efforts to break free of his restraints. “Get that piece of scrap metal the fuck away from me!”

“Hey! Don’t mock my work. It may look like I raided a junkyard for the components - and I did - but my welding game is on point. It’s totally safe. Mostly safe. It’s just going to send focused electrical pulses to your…” she paused to consult some smudged writing on her hand, “hippocampus and prefrontal cortex.”

The Halo stopped moving and two metal plates extended, pressing against the sides of his head, holding it like a vice.

“Please… don’t do this,” he begged as she approached him with a rubber mouthguard.

“C’mon, open wide. You don’t want to end up braindead and unable to chew your food,” she jested, waving the thing in front of him. “Oh, just one question before I fry your brain,” she added just when he was about to give in. “How did you find us? I was so careful,” she whined.

Agent Barnes, terrified as he was, still managed to look smug at his small, short lived success. “Deja Brew coffee.”

“Curses!” she wailed theatrically. “Betrayed by my one true love!” 

Darcy huffed and quickly returned her attention to the matter at hand. 

“Thanks for that,” she said with a smile as she forced him to bite down on the mouthguard. “I’ll know better for next time. Start making my own coffee at home… but it never tastes as good,” she muttered to herself.

She stepped away from him and bent down to pick up a similarly frankensteined industrial remote with long wires snaking back to the chair and a clichéd big red button at its centre. He began struggling anew, screaming around the foul tasting rubber, begging for mercy.

She took great delight in his terrified expression and put on her best supervillain voice, “Give my regards to Nick Fury.”

Nick Fury observed his agent from behind a two way mirror as he sat behind a table in an interrogation room. Barnes had been sitting there for the past hour as still as a statue, except for his unfocused eyes which flitted about the room. 

In true horror movie fashion, Agent Barnes’ screams echoed down the mountainside like an avalanche, sending animals fleeing in terror for miles around.

** *** **

Local LEO’s had found him wandering aimlessly down a stretch of highway just outside the ruins of what had previously been Puente Antiguo, New Mexico, and ten minutes after they ran his prints Agent Romanoff had been on a quinjet to collect him. She’d been directed to the nearest hospital and found him sitting up on a bed but not responding or reacting to any of the medical staff as they buzzed around him. Agent Romanoff took a cautious step forward and held her breath as his unfocused eyes settled on her. 

“Hello James...”

An excruciating minute later the veil lifted and he attempted a smile. 

“Hey Tasha.”

She’d brought him back to base and dragged him to SHIELD’s medical bay for more tests - not that Barnes put up much of a fight, in fact he was terrifyingly compliant. The SHIELD doctors confirmed what the New Mexico doctors suspected: the bruising and electrical burns around his temples and his memory loss were indicative of some back alley version of electroshock therapy. His memories should come back in time - how long was anybody’s guess - but for the moment Agent James Barnes had no memory of the last four weeks.

Fury picked up a tablet with depressingly little information on its screen and stepped into the room, waiting for Barnes eyes to focus on him before taking a seat. 

“Agent Barnes.”

“Director.”

“I know you’re probably sick of questions by now, but I have a few more for you, if that’s alright.”

“Yeah, sure…”

It rankled Fury to no end how meak and passive Barnes seemed. Heaven help him, he missed the argumentative sonofabitch.

“What’s the last thing you remember?”

“Being called into your office.”

“What for?”

“I punched Rumlow.”

“Why?”

“He was bragging about taking advantage of a drunk woman at a club when he was last on leave. He didn’t like me calling out his shitty behaviour. He punched me, I punched him back.”

Fury sighed. He hadn't gotten a straight answer out of Barnes at the time of the incident and he couldn’t feel happy about getting one now. 

“Do you remember what happened once I called you into my office?”

His brow creased and his eyes zipped back and forth like the carriage of a printer as his mind searched for the elusive memory.

“You suspended me?”

“I did,” Fury confirmed. “For a whole month. But two weeks into it I pulled you in for a special assignment.”

Barnes tensed, shrinking in on himself. The confusion about his lost time seemed to be the only thing that got under his skin, but only when someone brought it up. Once the moment passed he forgot to be concerned about it.

Fury took pity on him. “For the past two weeks I had you running down leads on the whereabouts of Dr Jane Foster.”

“The scientist with the portals? Did she do this to me?”

“It’s not exactly her MO, but then again no law enforcement agency’s ever managed to have a confrontation with her. Never had the chance. Those portals of hers let her keep at a distance. You might have been the first person to have a face to face with her, but I can’t confirm it because I don’t know where the hell you were when this happened,” he grumbled, letting a little more of his usual exasperated tone filter through. “You missed check in by two days. The last we heard from you, you were at Culver running down leads on what you said was a potential accomplice. We found your car in Tromso, Norway, a day after you were found on the side of a road in New Mexico. You don’t appear on any security footage or speed cameras in the area. There’s no activity on your work or personal credit cards. Your activity logs on our highly secure system for the last two weeks are nonexistent, as are your call logs on your work phone. Even the messages you sent Romanoff from your personal phone complaining about your assignment have since been deleted - from her phone too. She’s real pissed about it. As far as your digital footprint is concerned you disappeared from a gas station outside Roanoke, Virginia, last week - do you know how weird it is to know you were headed out towards a place called Roanoke only to up and vanish?” He sighed at Barnes’ painful silence. “Is there anything you can remember, anything at all about Dr Foster or her accomplice? Anything that will help us catch up to you without talking to everyone on campus to figure out what you discovered?”

Barnes’ brow creased in painful confusion.

“I think… I think I saw Darth Vadar.”

Director Fury blinked. “Right…” He took a deep breath to stop himself from venting his frustrations at Barnes, the sorry bastard looked like a kicked puppy as it was. Instead he got up and tapped the tablet against the metal tabletop harder than strictly necessary. “Well, I’ll just go put out a BOLO out for Darth Vadar then.”

“Okay,” Barnes murmured, and promptly zoned out again.

Agent Romanoff exited the viewing room looking uncharacteristically unsettled. 

“I want a full detail on him at all times,” Fury ordered as he stormed off towards the elevators. Hill had just stepped off and was looking even more grim than usual. “Until his memories come back he’s vulnerable, and once they do he’ll be a target.”

“I’ll get a STRIKE team on it. Not Rumlow’s.”

“Get another one along with any assets currently not on assignment. Flood that campus, interrogate everybody. I wanna know who the hell Dr Foster’s accomplice is, and I wanna know yesterday. Understood?”

“I think we might have more pressing concerns, sir,” Hill reported, tapping at her tablet as it beeped erratically. “Coulson’s said there’s an issue with the Tesseract. Dr. Selvig read an energy surge from it fifteen minutes ago.”

“NASA didn't authorise Selvig to test phase,” he grunted, taking the tablet from Hill.

“He wasn't testing it, he wasn't even in the room. Spontaneous advancement.”

“Motherfucker.”

[adiwriting]

Sunday Mornings 7/?

Notes: Hope you guys are still enjoying this thing 7 weeks in! If there’s every any domestic Sunday morning bliss you want to see, hit me up! We’ve got plenty of time left in hiatus for requests. 

Week 7: 

Michael wakes up to the sound of his phone going off and he reaches out quickly to silence it before it wakes Alex up, too. Unfortunately, in his rush to silence his phone, it also ends the incoming call. He pulls the phone to his face to see what on Earth had somebody calling him so early in the morning that even Alex isn’t awake yet. 

The missed call is from Liz and that’s when Michael notices that he has 4 text messages from her. 

Liz (4:05am): Are you awake? I need you to come get me. 

Liz (4:10am): I get that you’re sleeping, but my towing options are slim and all involve me calling either a misogynistic pig or a racist one. 

Liz (4:20am): I’m gonna get murdered out here. 

Liz (4:25am): Please don’t make me call Max for help, I’m not ready to see him yet. 

Michael immediately calls Liz back and she picks up on the first ring. 

“I thought you were in California,” he whispers, trying not to wake Alex. As carefully as he can, he crawls out of bed and grabs the first pair of pants that he can find and throws them on.

“I was, I’m back,” she answers. “Or… almost back. My car broke down just outside of San Patricio.” 

“Damn.” 

He instantly knows what she means now about being scared to call anyone else. The guy that runs San Patricio’s sole shop is such a notorious racist that even those who grew up in Roswell know not to ever call him. And the only other shop in Roswell besides Michael’s is run by a family of sexist pigs who are currently in the middle of a harassment lawsuit. 

“See, I’m going to end up in some creepy House of Wax museum if you don’t come,” she whines and he chuckles softly. 

“You are not, I’m coming to get you,” he says. 

He grabs a shirt from the dresser and steps out into the hall. 

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” 

“Ping me your location,” he says, moving to grab a pair of sneakers from the entryway. “It’ll take me a bit. I’ve gotta drive out to get a tow truck before I can come to you. Are you okay? Do you want me to stay on the line?” 

Michael hears her sigh of relief and knows in his heart that this is the right thing to do, even if the idea of leaving Alex naked in bed on a Sunday is the last thing he truly wants to do. 

“You don’t need to,” she tries to say, but Michael doesn’t buy it. She sounds nervous, even though she’s the toughest, most self-sufficient woman he’s ever met. 

“Give me a minute, I’m just going to tell Alex where I’m going,” he says. 

He doesn’t bother hanging up the phone, but pulls it away from his ear. When he turns back to the hallway, Alex is already standing in it, leaning against the wall. He’s got his crutch in one hand and is rubbing his eyes with the other. He’s in nothing but a pair of boxers, looking adorably confused and groggy. 

“Where are you going?” Alex complains, reaching out his hand to try and get Michael to come back to bed. It’s tempting, and Michael wants to, but he can’t. 

“Liz needs my help,” he explains, gesturing towards the phone in his hand. 

Alex blinks a few times and his body tenses as he becomes more alert. 

“I thought she was still in California.” 

“She’s back. And I’ve gotta go get her. She’s on the side of the road, I can’t just leave her there.” 

“Did she say what was wrong?” Alex asks. “Why is she back? Did something happen? What about her research?” 

“It’s too early for so many questions,” he complains. 

“Sorry. What’s wrong?” he asks. 

Michael just shrugs. “She just said that her car broke down.” 

Alex nods and moves into the living room to grab a pair of sweatpants and t-shirt that had been left on the floor last night in their haste to undress each other. 

“What are you doing?” Michael asks, confused as he watches Alex sit down on the couch and start to dress himself. 

“Going with you,” he says, looking at Michael like he’s lost his mind. 

“But it’s Sunday,” he argues. “You’re supposed to stay in bed all day.” 

“No, it’s Sunday, I’m supposed to be with you all day,” Alex counters 

“Smooth, Manes. Real smooth.” Michael smiles uncontrollably. He should protest. Let Alex go back to bed and assure him that he’ll be back in time for breakfast, but he doesn’t. 

Alex moves back into the bedroom and comes out holding his prosthesis, his liner and sock tucked under his arm. He moves towards the door. Michael gives him a curious look. 

“I’ll put it on in the car,” Alex explains. 

He sets the prosthesis down so that he can slip his shoe on. Once he’s done, he rubs his face one more time and runs his hands through his hair, making it stand on end even worse than before. He looks utterly adorable and Michael is going to make sure he knows it, just as soon as they get back home from picking Liz up. Because no matter what Alex might say, Sundays are most certainly for staying in bed all day…

“We’re just giving her a tow, right?” 

“Right,” Michael assures him, grabbing the keys from the hook. He helps Alex back up and takes the prosthesis from him so he can navigate better. Then, he opens the front door and follows Alex out, locking the door behind him. 

“Did you ping your location yet?” Michael brings the phone back up to his ear to ask. 

“You sneaky little brats,” Liz says, sounding shocked. “You got together and neither of you told me?!” 

Michael is confused for a moment before he remembers that Liz is on social media even less than he is. Meaning, she’s not on it at all. So she has no way of knowing that Alex is his boyfriend now. The few times they’ve talked since she’s been gone, they’ve stuck strictly to science related topics. He hadn’t thought to tell her, and clearly, neither had Alex. 

“Uh, yeah?” he says, unsure how to read her reaction. Alex is one of her best friends and Michael likes to think that Liz and he are friendly enough, but maybe she’ll be mad about the Maria of it all? 

“How long has this been going on?” she asks. Michael glances at Alex who takes the phone away from his ear and puts it on speaker. 

“How long has it been official or how long has it been going on?” Alex asks as Michael waits for Alex to get his seatbelt buckled before turning the truck on and pulling out of the drive. 

“Both. Obviously,” she says. 

“We got back together seven weeks and three days ago,” Alex says, causing Michael to do a double take. 

“You counted?” he whispers. Alex shrugs. 

“Nerd,” he teases, fondly. Alex just winks at him. 

He sets the phone between then and starts the process of putting on his leg. 

“We’ve been on and off since right before graduation,” Alex explains. 

“Maria told me that Michael was your museum guy but I didn’t know it was ever more than that night… wow.” Michael hears Liz whistle then rattle off something in Spanish and it’s far too early to try and translate. 

“Is she pinging us her location?” Michael asks. 

“Tell Michael that I’m trying but it won’t locate me. I barely have enough bars for this phone call to go through,” she explains. 

“And you all gave me a hard time when I suggested we all get chipped,” Alex says, giving Michael a look that has him rolling his eyes. 

“Because I’m not a lost puppy,” he grumbles. “Just help her figure out where she is,” he adds, effectively ending the discussion before they can get into that argument again. 

He zones out as Alex takes the lead on walking her through looking for mile markers to help them figure out her exact location. Which is good, because by the time they finish with that, they are at the junkyard and Michael is rushing into the office to grab the keys to the tow. 

“GPS is saying we’ll be there in 40 minutes, so you know that means Michael will get us there in 30,” Alex says, as they both climb into the tow truck. 

“Perfect, plenty of time for you to give me the gossip,” she says and Michael groans. 

“It’s too early for this, Ortecho,” he complains. 

“You’ve been banging my best friend for years and I didn’t know,” she argues and then her tone completely changes to one of concern when she says, “Did Maria know?” 

Alex grows visibility tense at the mention of Maria. While they are all working on being friends, there’s still a ways to go before things are 100% again, and Michael is well aware that there’s more that happened with Maria and Alex’s friendship than he’s entirely aware of. 

“Bring up Max, that’ll shut her up,” Michael says. 

It’s not too early for Michael to translate the next thing that Liz says. He’s had all the Spanish curse words memorized since he was a kid. 

“I’m trying to be supportive here, you don’t have to be an ass,” she says. 

“Starting with congratulations and avoiding talk of exes is usually a good place to start,” Michael counters, refusing to feel bad. 

“Of course. I’m sorry guys,” she says, honestly sounding it. “I’m just surprised. Of course I’m happy for you both. So long as you’re both happy.” 

Michael looks over at Alex, who reaches out for his hand and smiles softly before saying, “Immensely.” 

Fuck. Michael loves Alex so much. He wants to wax poetically about it for hours, but he’ll save it for when Liz isn’t on the other end of the line… But when they get home, Michael is going to have some serious words with him. 

Alex licks his lips and Michael has to let go of his hand and look at the road if he wants to avoid crashing. He shakes his head, forcing himself to focus. 

“For the record, Ortecho,” Michael says. “Alex and I haven’t been banging for years. We make love.” 

That earns him an amused chuckle from Alex and a shocked one from Liz. 

“¡Ay! Mikey! Okay,” she says. “I didn’t realize.”

“Well now you do,” he says. 

He’s not really sure why it even matters. It never has before. For the past twelve years, he’s kept his relationship with Alex between he and Alex, and yet… It matters. It’s like Alex said last week, it’s annoying that people just assume their relationship couldn’t possibly be deeper than a consistent hookup. Like the fact that they are two men makes their love story somehow less than. 

“Well, I won’t push anymore,” she says. “Clearly it’s a sensitive subject. But just so we’re clear, whenever either of you are ready, I’d love to hear your story. You both deserve the world and if you found that in each other, then that’s wonderful.” 

“For somebody who doesn’t believe in romance or love, you seem to have no problem wishing it for others,” Alex says, an unspoken question lingering in the air. 

Liz sighs. “Yeah, well… It’s not that I don’t believe in love. It’s just that my love stripped me of my agency and then didn’t fight for me. So… Max can screw himself.” 

“Liz,” Michael says seriously, cutting off whatever sympathy Alex is clearly getting ready to respond with. “Take it from somebody who gets it more than you’ll ever know. The people you love will hurt you. They’ll make decisions without you that impact your life. It sucks. It hurts. But it doesn’t hurt more than being alone. Forgive him.” 

“But—” 

“No,” he cuts her off, before she can give an excuse. “Forgive him.” 

“He hasn’t even apologized,” she says. “He didn’t come after me. He just let me go.” 

“And you left,” he says, not unkindly, but he’s also not about to let her change the narrative. Michael did that too many times and it got him nowhere. He loves Max and… yeah, he won’t ever admit it to her, but he loves Liz too. So he won’t let her make the same mistakes he did. 

“Michael is right,” Alex cuts in. “Max has his own list of ways you wronged him too. And if you both let it, that list will keep you apart for years. It’s not worth it. Not when you really love somebody.” 

Alex unbuckles his seatbelt to slide over in the truck, so he’s right next to Michael and can lean his head on his shoulder. Michael wraps his arm around Alex and holds him close. 

Liz is silent on the other end, and that’s fine. Alex and Michael give her the time and space she needs to take in what they’ve just said. 

Alex reaches up to thread his fingers through the hand that’s holding him close. Michael places a kiss to the top of his head. 

“I love you,” he whispers. “Thank you for always coming home.” 

“Thank you for giving me a home to always come back to,” Alex whispers back. 

It takes them another hour and a half to get Liz’s car to the junkyard where Michael promises he’ll fix it tomorrow, even though it’s his day off. Then Liz refuses to take no for an answer, insisting on cooking them breakfast as a thank you. They get stuck at the Crashdown for a while, catching up with Rosa, Arturo, and Liz. By the time they are finally back home, it’s just after 11, and yet, it doesn’t take hardly any convincing to get Alex to climb back into bed with him so that Michael can make good on the promise he made to himself this morning. He spends the next several hours making sure Alex feels fucking worshiped like the vision he is.  

Tagged: @callieramics​​ @redstalkingdeath​

As always if anyone wants to be tagged, let me know!

[ororowrites]

Two Thousand Twelve (Yahya x Black OC)

 Sweet Thang Series  - Chapter One

Warnings: Language, sexual situations, substance use 

Word Count: 2,409

Los Angeles - 2012

Forty-five, forty six, forty seven, forty eight, forty nine, fifty! Candace finished up her last set of sit-ups, dusted off her leggings and grabbed her belongings. The gym served as her stress reliever, especially when her boyfriend was the cause of the stress. When she felt like she had worked up enough of a sweat, Candace returned to the off campus apartment she shared with her twin sister, Trinity. 

They were both in their Senior year at USC, far away from their home in Chicago, Illinois. Candace was majoring in Dramatic Arts while her twin sister was studying History and Education. They were both the apple of their parents’ eyes but Candace was the child who went above and beyond to make them proud. Her sister Trinity was more of a free spirit and though she had many academic successes, she did not care what their parents thought or about their constant pressure. Trinity and Candace had two older sisters, Freida and Talia and a younger brother, Anthony who was about to start his freshman year of college. The twins were in their last semester of college and while they looked forward to graduating, they did not look forward to splitting up for graduate school. Candace had dreams of attending Yale’s Drama School and her twin wanted to move back home for her next educational ventures. 

“I need to figure out what I’m going to do. At this rate, I can’t keep up with my tuition payments,” Candace complained, checking her bank statements. “Most of my money is going towards the car and insurance and I can’t get rid of that.

“Did you talk to someone in the financial aid office? They stay having attitudes in there but maybe they can help. I would say I’d help you....I’m broke as shit, though.” Trinity twirled her Ramen noodles around her fork and stuffed it in her mouth. “I’m surviving on Ramen noodles and faith.” 

“I wasn’t expecting your help, Trin.” Options began to pile up in Candace’s head and only one of them appeared to be the best choice. Maybe not the best choice to many but her pride kept her from asking her parents for more help. Anthony Jr. was a talented athlete and with them putting him through school, she didn’t want to bug them. Plus, she wanted the best for her brother. He deserved the world for all the hard work he put into his craft and turning his life around after a rough patch.

“Getting another job is probably your best bet,” Trinity suggested, shrugging her shoulders. 

--------

“Let me eat you out,” Maxwell whispered in Candace’s ear. 

If she rolled her eyes any harder, they’d fall out of her head. Why did she even agree to come out with him when his sheer presence irked her soul? Maxwell was Candace’s on and off again boyfriend and right now they were in an off phase. As usual, Candace ended up making herself available so Maxwell could apologize. 

“Why can’t you just watch the movie,” Candace ignored the twitch between her legs and kept her eyes on the movie screen. Agreeing to come to the drive-in was a poor decision. Everyone always ended up fucking at the drive-in. 

“Come on, baby. I’m trying to apologize.”

“There’s a such thing as saying ‘I’m sorry’.” Maxwell’s verbal advances turned into physical ones as he pressed his lips to her neck. 

“For a man that claims he knows me sure doesn’t get a clue.”

Even though she was slightly turned on and would do anything to take her mind off her latest concern, Candace was distracted. 

“Aight then. What’s up? What’s on that pretty mind of yours,” Maxwell questioned, his golds glistening as he smiled. 

Candace pulled at the drawstrings on her sweatshirt, “I don’t think I’ll be finishing school this semester.” 

One thing Maxwell didn’t have to worry about was money when it came to school. He was a future NFL prospect and had a full-ride scholarship. “Damn, baby. Can’t you call your parents for help?”

“Ant is graduating this year. They’ve supported us all this time and I’ve been doing good paying my tuition this year. As soon as my hours got cut at work, shit started getting out of hand,” Candace sighed, running her hands down her face. 

“Why didn’t I know this was going on?” 

Taking a deep breath, Candace thought about how many ways could say, Because you only think about yourself. “You’ve been too busy worrying about other things. I told you they were going to cut my hours.” 

“My bad. You know I stay busy with ball. I don’t remember you telling me that,” Maxwell replied, letting his hand rest on her thigh. “I would help you out if I could.” 

No you wouldn’t, Candace thought. But, she stayed silent to protect her peace. 

Maxwell’s hand crept across her lap and between her legs. She hated that she couldn’t control her sexual urge when it came to this man. The empty promises she made herself time and time again were getting ridiculous. Candace flinched when Maxwell’s cold fingers pushed her thin, cotton shorts to the side. Once again she was failing herself. Candace reached for the lighter and left over blunt that Maxwell had in the cup holder. 

“Relax,” Maxwell hummed, waiting until he felt Candace’s muscles relax before pushing a finger past her folds. He watched Candace close her eyes, letting the smoke pass through her lips. Hitched breaths filled the car, even with the loud action scene coming through the speakers. Letting herself go, she began to roll her hips into his hand.

As usual, he had her where he wanted her. Right in the palm of his hand. 

--------

San Francisco - 2012 

Yahya returned from his lunch break early, excited about new ideas he wanted to write down before they left him. His mind never stopped going and it often kept him up at night. Since graduating from Berkeley, he worked for the Mayor’s office as an Urban Planner. His passion for building up the urban core piqued his interest in architecture and his minor in social justice. When he landed the job with the Mayor’s office, he jumped into projects feet first. He had been a part of two major projects and was currently working on another one. 

“Mr. Abdul-Mateen,” the secretary said as Yahya walked through the glass doors and towards his office. “Mr. Reid would like to see you in his office.” 

Stefanie’s statement did not worry him. Her eyes always held a certain sadness, so Yahya didn’t see that sadness as a threat. Yahya walked down the long hall to Mr. Reid’s suite. The normally rambunctious man was sitting at his desk but facing the the window overlooking the city skyline. 

“Remember your first project, Yahya,” he asked, sensing a presence in his office. 

“Yeah, that proposal for the new school. That one public official was a pain in our ass but the proposal finally went through at the last minute,” Yahya recalled, smiling at the memory of his first success on the job. 

“Yeah, Mr. Ryan is a total hard ass for no reason. But you should be proud.” 

Sensing a shift in the conversation, Yahya cut right to the chase. “Mr. Reid, what’s this about?”

“Um....why don’t you come take a seat,” the director motioned to the chair in front of his desk. With the way he was looking, this could not be good news. 

Yahya had been let go. Even after all his hard work and fresh ideas, the city needed to make budget cuts and his job was one of the first on the list. Their reasoning? They had too many Urban Planners and could only afford to pay two of them and those two just so happened to be recent graduates that would get lower pay. His world felt like it had fallen apart in the ten minutes he spent in Mr. Reid’s office. What was he supposed to do now? There was no plan B when he was very calculated about his life decisions since childhood. Yahya knew what he wanted to do, which school he wanted to attend and which career path he would take to get to his ultimate goal of having his own architecture firm. This put a dent in his plans, leaving him feeling helpless. 

When Yahya got home, he didn’t even think about calling his mother and father about the bad news. He wasn’t ready to accept the news himself, so he’d wait a couple of days. Instead, he called up his boys in Los Angeles and told them he was heading down for the weekend. 

Kevin and Damon were brothers and Yahya’s best friends since grade school in Louisiana. When Yahya and his family moved to Oakland in his 6th grade year, they all remained close. Summers were spent in Louisiana and Yahya was grateful his friends were at least in the same state now. Kevin was a celebrity trainer and Damon was currently in law school. They had both moved to Los Angeles shortly after high school. 

“What’s up, dude,” Kevin exclaimed, clasping Yahya’s hand and roughly patting him on the back. “Long time, no see. You ain’t been down here in a minute.” 

“Shit, been busy, bro. Wassup Damon,” Yahya greeted the other brother and stepped inside their apartment. “Damn, the place is nice. Glad to see ya’ll asses finally got a couch and tv stand.” 

“Shut the hell up. Always talkin’ shit,” Damon groaned. “Want anything to drink? Water, soda...or a drank drank?” 

“You got anything dark? I’ll take some of that.” 

“Long day, man? You look like you been through it,” Kevin added, joining Yahya in the living room. He flipped the television to Sports Center.

“Long day? How about a long week. They worked my ass. I may put in for some vacation time here soon. I need a break,” Yahya lied. He would keep this layoff a secret until he had a plan on where he wanted to go next. 

“I hear you,” Kevin agreed. 

The crew watched sports highlights and reminisced on their childhood for a couple of hours. It was late but the night was still young for them and they didn’t want to be stuck inside on a Friday night in Los Angeles. They hit the town, settling on a strip club downtown. 

“Glad I got paid today because I’m about to go crazy up in this bitch. I heard this place has the best looking strippers and I’m tryna make someone’s daughter rich tonight,” Damon yelled over the music. Beautiful women seemed to be everywhere they turned. The strippers, the bartenders and a few women there for bachelorette parties or just there out of curiosity. 

“Just as long as you have enough left for your half of the rent, nigga. I’m not covering your half again this month,” Kevin eyed a dancer on the stage twirling down the pole with her legs in a split. “Damn.”

Yahya was distracted. Even with all the good distractions in front of him, he couldn’t stop thinking about losing his job. The entire six hour drive to Los Angeles, he tried to think of a plan B or if he needed to move and try to get an urban planning position in a different city. 

“Whoa, shit! Sorry,” a woman groaned, grabbing onto Yahya’s shoulder trying to catch her footing. “These niggas don’t know how to say excuse me around here. Sorry I ran into you.” 

“Oh, you’re good. You okay,” Yahya caught the brown beauty before she could hit the floor. 

“Yeah, first night back at this place. Gotta get used to the rude ass men in here. Thanks for catching me. Enjoy the rest of your night,” she quickly pushed through the crowd and disappeared. 

Yahya turned back to his boys to find them shaking their heads. “What?” 

“You just gone let shawty walk away like that? Did you see how that ass was sittin’? How those titties were sittin’? Honey was bad as fuck and you let her walk away,” Kevin sucked his teeth. 

“Unlike you, I’m a gentleman. Plus, she was in a rush. She’s working.” 

“Man, whatever, lets go find somewhere to sit and order some liquid courage. I’m trying to get fucked up tonight.” 

The trio settled on a table in the middle of the club after ordering their first round of drinks. They spent a little more money than they wanted but Yahya finally loosened up and started to have a good time. The next morning, he’d probably regret all the alcohol he was consuming to numb his pain. Too much liquor meant making silly decisions; like paying for a private dance in the famous Dream room. 

Yahya took a seat on the leather sofa and waited on a dancer. He had opted for the Friday night surprise, instead of asking one of the dancers on the floor for private time. The door opened and the woman who had run into him earlier that night closed the door behind her. 

“Oh, you again,” she said with a grin. 

“You act like that’s a problem,” Yahya laughed, licking his lips. His eyes were low from all the alcohol he had consumed that night. “Maybe this time I can catch your name, sweetheart.”

“A dancer never tells anyone her real name. I go by Cakes.” She stood in front of Yahya’s long legs, placing her hands on his knees. Anywhere by 112 started playing over the speakers. “This is one of my favorites.” 

“Mine too.” 

Candace tried to shake whatever connection she was having with this random man at the club. It was her first night back in two years and the first rule of Dynasty was to not fall for these randoms in the the club. They didn’t see you as anything else but a hoe in the strip club. Besides, things were on the upside with Maxwell.. at least for the time being. The only reason she had come back to Dynasty was to get enough money to pay up her tuition and put funds into her savings account for her moves after graduation. That was it. Candace had no room to be greedy because this was one secret she did not want getting back to her parents. 

Rolling her body, Candace kept her eyes on the customer, dragging her hips to the seductive beat.  

Maybe the long drive down to LA would be worth it. 

Tags: @just-peachee​ @blackburnbook​ @emjayewrites​ @chaneajoyyy​ @kumkaniudaku​

Want a tag? Please let me know and I’ll add you to my taglist for this series.

[mermaidsneedwater]

second chances | chapter six

series page

The Beer Pong Queen

Yugyeom: I want to see you tonight. Let’s do something fun… are you free?

Reading the message, you shook your head before typing out your reply.

Y/N: i have date with my couch and netflix.

Yugyeom: cancel it. I’ll pick you up at 8.

Setting your phone down, you were filled with an emotion that you hadn’t felt in a while, excitement. Returning to work on your computer, you couldn’t stop yourself from watching the clock, counting down the hours until you saw Yugyeom.

+++

“Will you at least tell me if we’re drinking?” You asked, bugging him in the car. “You’re going to have to pay for my liver transplant at the rate we’re going.”

“We’re not drinking. I mean, maybe we will later, but that’s not what we’re doing first.” Yugyeom smiled.

Turning the corner in his car, you were alarmed as you felt the car sputter and begin to slow. Panicking, Yugyeom quickly veered off to the side of the road.

“Oh shit.” Yugyeom cursed. “Come on honey, don’t crap out on me now.”

He ran a hand over the steering wheel as if to soothe the engine.

“Um, I’m no mechanic, but I think your car just broke down.” You said turning to him.

“Oh fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.” Yugyeom held his face in his hands.

“How old is this car anyway?” You asked, finally noticing how the aged the vehicle looked.

“I bought it second hand in college, the family had owned it for about twelve years? So twelve plus five… It’s about 17 years old.”

“She’s still a minor!” You joked. Yugyeom rolled his eyes, apprehensive about what he should do. Looking around, you noticed an automobile repair shop. “Hey look!”

Pointing it out to Yugyeom, his head perked up at the sight of the garage. “Oh thank god.” Turning to you, he began unbuckling his seat. “Listen, I’m going to go check it out, stay here and lock the doors.”

“What? No, I’m coming with you.” You insisted, unbuckling your seatbelt as well.

“Y/N, it’s late at night. It’s not safe for you to be out. Just stay here.”

“Yugyeom, it’ll be fine. I’m coming with you, and if something happens at least I’ll be with you right?”

Thinking over your statement Yugyeom finally gave in, “Okay.”

As the two of you stepped out of the car, Yugyeom turned to the piece of junk. “I won’t leave you behind honey, I’ll come back for you.”

Stifling a laugh, you walked side by side with Yugyeom, crossing the street to see the repair shop. As you entered, you were met by a small woman manning the desk.

“Yes?” She asked, eyes transfixed on her computer screen.

“Hi, his car broke down across the street and we need help getting it repaired.” You said politely.

Looking up at you, and then through the window to see where the car was, the woman spoke. “It can be done. But by tomorrow morning.”

“What?” Yugyeom said, “But I need my car. Is there any way it could be fixed faster than that?”

“Tomorrow morning.” The woman reiterated. “We do have some rental bikes if you want though.”

“Bike? As in a motorcycle?” You perked up.

“That’s typically what we mean when we say bike.” She replied.

“We’ll take it.”

“What? But Y/N, I don’t have a motorcycle license.” Yugyeom frowned.

“I do.” You grinned. You pulled out your wallet to show him.

“Are you serious?” He said, looking at the license and the back up at you. “How did I not know this?”

“I guess you don’t know everything about me.”

The woman coughed, interrupting your banter. Yugyeom pulled out his wallet and paid in cash for the repairs. Counting the bills, she then led the two of you to the side of the garage where the motorcycles stood. She checked your license, handing you the keys and then two helmets.

“Helmets on. Always.” She emphasized. “The car will be ready in the morning. Bring the bike, the keys, and the helmets back tomorrow when you come to pick it up.”

“Got it.” You nodded, securing your helmet. Swinging a leg over the bike, you looked back at Yugyeom, patting the seat behind you.

“Are you sure about this?” Yugyeom said nervously, fastening his own helmet.

Bumping your helmet against his, you teased “Come on! Don’t tell me you're scared.”

Crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow, he got on the back of the bike. “Happy?”

“Yes, now let’s go!” You cheered as you started up the bike and headed for the road.

As the bike moved, you felt Yugyeom tentatively place a hand on your waist, attempting to steady himself. As your heart fluttered, you pushed away the feeling of his hand and focused on the road. “Tell me where to turn.”

+++

“An arcade?” your jaw dropped as you rode the motorcycle into a parking spot in front of the building. “You’re kidding!”

“Oh god, I think I’m going to be sick.” Yugyeom held his stomach, as he got off the motorcycle.

“Oh be quiet, I didn’t drive that badly…”

“Hmm, how about when you were trying to ride the bike without holding the handle bars?!” Yugyeom reminded you.

It was true, Yugyeom’s facial expressions in your rearview mirror were priceless. As you rode the motorcycle, you wiggled the handle bars around, causing him to yelp. Seeing how far you could go, you’d turned your head to him and told him, “Watch me ride without holding the handles!”

Yugyeom would never admit it, but the scream he let out had been suspiciously high pitched.

Laughing, you nudged him with your shoulder, “Hey, we got here in one piece. That’s a win in my book. Should we go in?”

Nodding, Yugyeom muttered before gesturing for you to enter, “You turned out to be real dangerous Y/N.”

Soon, the two of you walked around the arcade, a cup full of coins in each of your hands.

“Hey,” Yugyeom said, turning to you “I bet I would crush you in a game of beer pong.”

“Cup Pong.” You corrected him, looking at the family friendly version of the game set up in the arcade. “And I’d like to see you try.”

“You’re on!” Yugyeom said, racing to one side of the table.

Twenty minutes later, Yugyeom cursed himself for suggesting this match up. Out of the ten cups on the table, he’d only managed to get three cups out. You, on the other hand, had managed about eight of Yugyeom’s cups.

“How are you so good at this?” Yugyeom asked in disbelief. “And why am I so bad?”

You replied nonchalantly, “People used to call me the Beer Pong Queen in college. I guess I haven’t lost my touch.”

“Damn, and you couldn’t have mentioned that before I challenged you?” Yugyeom said.

You shrugged before getting the ball in the ninth cup. Taking your second chance, you finished the game and scored in the tenth and final cup “Yes!”

Taking a bow, Yugyeom came to your feet and bowed before you. “I am your humble peasant for the rest of the evening Cup Pong Queen.”

You laughed, helping him stand up before picking the next game.

+++

Pulling up to Yugyeom’s apartment, you slowly brought the motorcycle to a stop in front of his apartment building. Yugyeom cautiously hopped off the bike, looking as nauseous as when he first got to the arcade.

“Come on! I didn’t ride that badly.” You pouted.

Unable to resist you, Yugyeom slowly cracked a smile, “Okay fine, you weren’t. I just like teasing you, you make it too easy.”

Rolling your eyes, as you started up the bike again, preparing to head home you were startled by Yugyeom’s firm hold on the handlebars of the bike.

“Where do you think you’re going?” He asked with an eyebrow raised.

“Home?”

“No way. You think I’m going to let you go this late? Spend the night, we’ll get my car in the morning and I’ll drop you home.” He insisted.

“I’m a big girl Yugyeom. I think I can get home safely.” You tried to rebut him.

“Just, spend the night please? For my own peace of mind? If something happened to you I-” He stopped himself. “Please?”

“Alright, alright.” You gave up. “But I’m not sleeping on the floor.”

“Don’t worry, I have a pull out couch.” He grinned.

chapter five | chapter seven

[megalony]

Shattered

This is a firefighter! Ben Hardy imagine that will have a follow up part soon, I hope you all enjoy it. There is angst and injury mentions in this part.

Taglist: @lunaticspoem​ @butlegendsneverdie​ @langdonzvoid​ @jennyggggrrr​ @rogermeddow @radiob-l-a-hblah @rogertaylorsbitontheside @chlobo6 @rogertaylors-lipgloss @sj-thefan @omgitsearly @luckytrashgooprebel @scarsout @deaky-with-a-c @killer-queen-ofrhye @bluutac @vousmemanqueez @jonesyaddiction @ambi-and-sunflowers @milanosaurus @httpfandxms @saint-hardy @7-seas-of-fat-bottomed-girls @mrsalwayswritex @rogerina-owns-me @peterquillzsblog

Ben Hardy masterlist

Part 2

Summary: Whilst Ben is on a job at a collapsing building, he finds out (Y/n) and their son are there and tries to protect them but he can’t stop them all from getting injured.

Enjoy.

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"Whatever, it's fine Ben it doesn't matter-"

"Yes it does, it matters a lot to me (Y/n) because I've never missed a scan before. I want to be there and I want to take Tommy to his game in the afternoon but I can't swap my shift." There was a knowing look in (Y/n)'s eyes that made Ben's expression harden. They had three boys together and up to now Ben hadn't missed any of the scans during each pregnancy, despite the odd and gruelling shifts he worked. But tomorrow he simply couldn't go because he had to work and no one had been able to swap the shift with him.

"You can be at the next one Ben, it really doesn't matter. The job always comes first, right?" (Y/n) quipped back, but her response only caused Ben's brows to raise and his jaw to lock.

"Now that's not fair." Ben's voice was unusually now and with his words being quiet as not to disturb the toddler on his chest, his words sounded menacing. Ben would admit that his job was important to him, it was a vital job that he had been doing for ten years but it wasn't the most important thing in his life. Ben would always put his family first but the point was he had to work tomorrow and if something went wrong at the scan (Y/n) could always call him and he would try and leave as quickly as possible. It was the first time this had happened when they were having a scan.

"Isn't it? You haven't been able to go to half of Tommy's games, it was me who had to leave work to take Billy to the doctor, not you and we were damn lucky my water broke when it did with James or you wouldn't have been there for the birth. I'm not angry Ben because it's just a scan, its routine and we've done it before but we both know the job comes first a lot of the time."

(Y/n) knew she would be rivalling with Ben's job the moment she got together with him and it was always okay because he saved lives. Ben put his life on the line to help others and sometimes (Y/n) did worry he would get hurt badly or not come home at all. But she knew being a fireman was the only thing Ben wanted to do and he was good at his job so she was proud. But the job was almost as important as his family and even though that was understandable, sometimes it did hurt.

"No, that's not fair because when you had your operation I got two weeks off at two days notice so I could be home with the boys. When Tommy broke his leg I was the one who took him to A&E instead of going to work and when you had your accident when you were pregnant with him I left work and came straight home to you. The job always comes second to you and the boys and you know it."

Tilting his head down from looking at (Y/n), Ben looked at the two year old asleep in his arms. Billy had his head resting on Ben's shoulder and his arms curled up against his chest, when he fell back asleep Ben didn't have the heart to put him into bed. He just stayed holding him because he had to get ready and go to work in a few minutes.

"(Y/n) I don't want to argue, I'm sorry but on the next scan I'll be there and I'll take Tommy to his next game in three weeks. Can you take Billy now, I need to get ready?" Ben tipped his head to the side, his eyes sorrowful but he felt a small swell of relief in his chest when (Y/n) nodded before approaching him.

Biting her lip, (Y/n) carded her fingers gently through Billy's hair as she leaned her head on Ben's chest, feeling his free arm wrap around her waist to pull her a bit closer.

"Text me when you've finished and I'll see you tonight." (Y/n) reached over and gently eased Billy into her arms before she quickly pecked Ben's lips. Their gazes stayed interlocked for a few more seconds before (Y/n) slowly left the room to go and settle Billy back down to bed since it was still early in the morning and he was now fast asleep.

"Tommy, I need my shoes back buddy, give 'em here." Heading down the stairs, Ben sat on the bottom step before he motioned for his eldest to walk over to him when he came in sight down the hall. Ben watched with a smile as Tommy slowly waddled over to him, trying his best to walk in his dad's shoes that were far too big for his small feet. When he reached Ben, he stood by his side and kicked the shoes from his feet so they were resting in front of Ben.

Ben's shifts were all twelve hours a day, four days a week but he still had to leave home early so that when he got to work he could put his overalls on and grab his protective equipment. Then when he finished his shift he took longer because he got changed and showered at work rather than driving home covered in smoke and grime. It was tough, but it was Ben's job and he wouldn't choose to do anything else.

"Why are they like that?" Tommy leaned his head on the banister as he tapped Ben's shoe with his toe to signal what he meant.

"So I don't burn my feet, bud, or in case anything falls on them so it won't hurt." Ben tapped his knuckles against the top of his boot to show how tough the material was which he was very thankful for. Ben had to walk into burning buildings and step in or around fires so his boots had to be made of material that wouldn't catch fire easily and that wouldn't melt or burn his feet. They also had to be strong so that if any bricks or wood or items fell on him, they wouldn't crush his feet and stop him from getting to safety.

"Why aren't mine like that?" Tommy watched Ben tying up his boots before he stood up and slung his bag over his shoulder, checking that his keys were in his pocket.

"What fires do you normally walk into, buddy?" Ben smiled, trying to refrain from laughing because he didn't want Tommy to think he was being rude when he was only curious. "Right, I'll see you tonight before you go to bed, your mum's gonna take you out today so you be good, okay?" Ben leaned down when Tommy wrapped himself around his legs, humming in agreement before he begrudgingly moved back to let Ben leave. Tommy huffed quietly, knowing that whenever Ben left to go to work at night or when he got home at night it meant it would soon be his bedtime.

"Bye dad."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I don't like this Joe, the whole place is about to go." Ben spoke into the radio hooked to his left shoulder as he cast his eyes around his sector of the ground floor car park. The fires in this multi-story car park and shopping centre were on one side of the building and it made the whole thing unsteady and Ben felt like he was going to be crushed at any given moment. Ben's team were needed to try and get people out whilst Joe's team were concentrating on the fires that were still going.

But Ben didn't like the feel of this because the fire meant that the building was collapsing on one side and that normally led to the whole thing breaking down. Ben knew that the building was far too big for everyone to get out safely before something happened but they had to try.

Turning to look over to his right, Ben nodded silently at Sammy before the pair hurried in different directions, both of them picking up speed when they could hear the building trembling. The fires on this floor were minimal but the number of cars suggested people might come down here trying to get out.

"Ben, pull your team out it's too risky. Let search and rescue take over when they get here." Joe knew it was getting to a point where Ben's team were going to be put at substantial risk when they weren't designated to getting everyone out. They didn't have the equipment or protocol to stay and act as a rescue team, it was safer for Ben and his team to get out and then help put out the fires from the outside.

Just as Ben was about to agree, he reached out to his right to steady himself against the wall when the building started to tremor.

"Dad?!"

That one word made Ben feel like the building had already collapsed onto him and crushed him entirely. They couldn't be here, not now, not today not right this moment in time. Ben couldn't have any of his family here in this building or anywhere near this place when it was about to go down.

"No, no no what are you doing here?"

A course of curse words flooded past his lips on repeat as he flung himself from the wall and across the unsteady ground that felt like it was going to give way beneath his feet. Ben's eyes were locked on Tommy who was trying to run but he was wobbling. The moment Ben reached him he wasted no time in scooping him up and holding him to his chest, pressing his hand to the back of Tommy's head as his eyes darted around to look for (Y/n).

"Where's your mum? Are James and Billy with you? Tommy tell me quickly where are they?!" Ben didn't know if (Y/n) had brought the boys with her or if she was just out with Tommy and James and Billy were with her parents like they were supposed to be. (Y/n) wasn't meant to be here, she never said she was bringing Tommy here, Ben thought she was going across town today.

Why did they have to be here?

"M-mum's behind me... t-the boys aren't with us." Tommy tucked his head into Ben's neck as much as he could with Ben's safety helmet and his thick florescent jacket being in the way. (Y/n) had been right behind him until he spotted Ben and made a beeline for him.

"Ben, are you on your way out yet? The place is gonna go down any minute, the foundations are ruined." Joe's voice over the radio was barely heard due to the rumbling sound the building was creating and the panic that could be heard from miles away.

"I can't get out yet, my family's on this floor!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A choked breath mixed with a moan escaped Ben's mouth as his eyes violently flew open like he had been resuscitated. His head jolted up before slamming back down against the concrete floor when he realised his body was far too weak and paralysed from unconsciousness to move.

Where was he? He was on the ground floor level, he remembered going down and knowing it was a bad idea before the concrete walls started to shake and the world turned black.

How long had it been? He didn't know.

Was he alone? Sammy was on the other side of the floor, but he might have gotten out when Joe told the team to retract. But Ben was still here... oh God, Tommy and (Y/n) had been down here with him the moment the place started to crumble like it was the end of the world. Hundreds more questions started to circle through Ben's mind but he couldn't focus on any of them other than needing to find where his wife and son were.

It wasn't dark.

As Ben tried to open his eyes and focus his vision, he realised that there was still light creeping into this level despite half of it being collapsed. The electrics would have surely become severed and broken so to have light meant there was part of the walls that were broken enough for the outside to creep in. That was a good sign.

When his vision managed to focus properly, Ben choked on his breath when he realised that he was laid on his side with his arms cocooned around Tommy who was squashed against his chest. Ben was relieved he seemed to have fallen- or maybe he laid down himself, in this position because if he fell on top of Tommy he would have crushed him. And if he fell with Tommy on top of him and something fell down on them, it would crush Tommy first and presumably worse than it would Ben.

Trying to keep his breathing calm and slow, Ben counted each breath he took until he was no longer on the verge of panicking as his eyes focused on his eldest boy. His vision narrowed and he held his breath so he could try and focus on Tommy and Ben felt tears welling in his eyes when he knew his boy was breathing rather normally considering the shock he must have gone through.

A shuddering breath left Ben's lips as he relished in holding his boy before he dared to look around and try to find (Y/n). Ben couldn't remember if she had been close by or a distance away, he didn't know if he had been holding onto her as well or if she had been out of his reach.

Ben's eyes soon latched onto his wife's frame only a few feet away from him, she was also laid on her side and thankfully had her front facing Ben. Even when he narrowed his eyes, he couldn't quite tell if her chest was moving and with the sirens and screams and ringing sounds, Ben couldn't hear how she was breathing. But he was certain he could see the muscles and skin around her neck moving and pulling inwards suggesting that she was breathing. He kept watching her for a few more minutes before he noticed her hand twitch and he nodded to himself that she was alive.

That was all he could ask for at this moment. He didn’t dare let his mind think about what was happening with the baby after something like this, they were only five months along and thinking of the results of this kind of event made Ben want to be sick.

As he took calming breaths, Ben tried to think what kind of training he had received for this kind of situation, but he'd never been in this situation before and his training had been years ago. The refresher courses didn't do any good and the last one of those had been at least seven months previous. Deciding he would have to try and make it up as he went along, Ben knew the first thing to do was try and see what injuries he and Tommy had and if he could move or not.

He slowly moved his fingers, feeling the gloves over his hands were grazing against rubble and gravel. When he curled his fingers into his palms, he knew he hadn't broken any knuckles or fingers which was a good start. He moved his focus onto his arms which he tensed before pulling tighter around Tommy. Ben could feel the burns and when his left arm started shaking, he figured it was a rather bad burn. But nothing broken yet.

Raising one hand, Ben slowly grabbed the helmet and visor resting on his head and moved his head to take it off. He knew it was safer to keep it on in case any rubble fell but right now he didn't want it constricting him. He cracked his neck side to side and felt very little strain there which was also good.

Trying to shuffle his weight back just a little, Ben very slowly and gently unravelled his arms from Tommy without moving his boy very much at all. When his arms were free, Ben rolled onto his back and then removed the thick padded gloves that made it hard to bend his fingers, Ben then trailed his hands over his upper body.

His overalls were ripped, burnt and hot to the touch and when he moved his hands down to his chest he hissed and jolted against the concrete when he felt at least two ribs on his right side that were either fractured or broken. Now his breathing felt like it was beginning to hurt now he was aware of the pain he was beginning to notice. Moving his hands lower, he grazed only his fingertips against his body so he wouldn't apply any pain or pressure to any injuries he had.

His torso felt strained and bruised but nothing major. Moving his hands to the floor, he felt around him for any bricks or lumps of concrete before he pressed his flat palms to the ground in order to sit himself up.

Ben took a moment to control his breathing and ride out the dizziness in his head before he dared to check over his legs. His right leg had a rather blistering burn to his upper thigh and the way it sizzled like he was sitting on a barbecue made Ben guess it had reached the muscle.

"Shit."

He left the burn alone, not having any water or gauze to clean it with anyway, so he focused on trailing his hands lower down his body.

He'd dislocated his left knee, great.

But when Ben looked at his legs, a sound resembling a moan escaped his lips before he groaned and felt himself beginning to cry without shedding any tears. There was a chunk of concrete like one of the pillars holding up the ceiling and it was laid on Ben's right ankle, cutting off his sight of his foot.

For two, maybe three minutes, Ben sat choking on dust and air wondering if it had gone completely through his ankle and chopped off his foot. Without being able to see his foot or being able to see the damage to his ankle, it felt possible that his foot was no longer connected to his leg. But Ben could feel his whole leg twitching and it didn't feel like his foot wasn't there, so surely it had to be, right?

Ben found it horrifying that he could feel no pain in his leg other than his blistered thigh. He wasn't suffering agonising pain from his ankle bone clearly being crushed by concrete, nor were his nerves shooting with pains or his muscles twitching and spasming with pain. His leg just felt numb from the knee down.

Trying to ignore his own injuries when he heard Tommy lowly groaning, Ben tried to turn to the left but he ended up laying back down on his side to ease the pain he was feeling. He gently brushed Tommy's hair from his eyes that were just beginning to flutter open like butterfly wings. He took a moment to adjust and look at Ben before hi pupils blew wide and a strangled breath escaped his bleeding lips.

The eight year old's breathing started to increase and he began to shake as a silent cry escaped his lips making it clear that his memory was sharp and coming back to him quickly.

"Sshh, hey, hey I'm here buddy. I'm here and I've got you, it's gonna be okay I promise." Ben brushed his hand over Tommy's face, knowing his voice was scratching but he hoped he could still calm him down. He kissed Tommy's forehead and continued to brush his hand over his features to calm him down, listening as his breathing calmed down but he started to choke on wails. "I'm here, you're okay."

Tommy reached his hand up and clung to Ben's arm for a few minutes until his wails turned to sniffs and gasps for a proper breath.

"Tommy, baby I need to check you over to see where you're hurt. I'm gonna turn you on your back, just tell me if anything hurts, okay?" Ben took Tommy's hand to keep him calm when he sat up before he gently eased Tommy over onto his back.

Ben felt something stabbing his chest when he realised he'd called Tommy baby like he used to when he was younger and he didn't revolt against the term. It was a pet name Ben used for (Y/n) and all the boys but Tommy started to say he was too old to be called that, but right now he didn't seem to bother, if anything it seemed to reassure him.

Ben slowly let go of Tommy's hand so he could check him over, wincing when Tommy let out a cry when Ben touched his left shoulder which felt dislocated. Ben tried to breathe slowly and calmly to get Tommy to copy him as he continued to check him over, noting that he had at least two broken or fractured ribs and his right leg felt both blistered and broken. But he didn't feel any pain around his torso or chest other than bruising which was a good sign that he might not have any internal injuries.

"Okay, I'm gonna sit you up, put your shoulder in place and then sort out my knee, okay?"

"Daddy don't... i-it's okay please-"

"It'll hurt a lot less if I put it back in place, I know what I'm doing I swear. Count to three for me baby, please." Ben eased Tommy up before reaching around to hold onto his shoulder. He knew it was going to hurt but he also knew leaving it out of its socket would be a bad idea if they had to get themselves out of here because he could catch his shoulder and make it worse.

"O-one... two-" Tommy cut himself off with a piercing scream when Ben pushed his arm straight up and they both heard it popping back into its socket. It was better to do it when he wasn't expecting it and get it over with.

"Good lad, now you just sit there for a minute, okay?"

Placing one hand on his left thigh, Ben held his lower leg with the other hand and closed his eyes for a few seconds as he calmed himself down. He'd done this before with someone else's knee, but not to himself. But he couldn't move or bend his knee if it was popped out of the joint and at some point he needed to check on his shattered ankle. Drawing in a deep breath through gritted teeth, Ben opened his eyes, focusing his gaze on his knee as he held his breath deep in his lungs.

One... two... three.

Curse words flowed freely from his chapped lips along with a scream of pain when he heard the sickening pop telling him that he'd done it.

Turning his head, Ben looked over at Tommy who was cringing from the scene and the sound he just witnessed and tears were now streaking down his face that was covered in grime and dust. But when Tommy moved his head and caught sight of (Y/n), Ben's voice caused him to quickly look back at his dad.

"Hey, eyes over here. Your mum's okay, she's just unconscious like we were a bit ago. When I sort my foot out, I'm gonna go and make sure she's okay and then we'll get out of here, it's gonna be fine I swear." Ben didn't want Tommy to sit and stare at (Y/n) because he would upset himself and convince himself that she wasn't okay. Ben didn't want Tommy to torture himself looking at (Y/n) knowing that he couldn't help, nor did he want Tommy to go and sit with her in case she had any injuries that he would be able to see.

Pressing his hand under his knee, Ben pulled it until his knee was bent up and he could shuffle closer and bend his other knee to get as close to his damaged ankle as possible. The boulder crushing his limb wasn't too extensive, it wasn't very long in length and it was rather thin which he guessed was a good thing. Daring to lean his head over the boulder, Ben sighed in utter relief when he saw his foot on the other side. He had truly believed he would look over to see a severed limb looking back at him. His foot was bent to the left at an odd angle and Ben didn't have to move the boulder to know that the bone of his ankle would be shattered.

Without even thinking, Ben moved his cautious hand to try and touch his foot that was clad in his boot but to his utter surprise, his foot jerked at the contact which made his ankle move under its constraint of the boulder.

Ben tried to swallow a howl at the sudden agony he felt when a shooting nerve sprung to life in his ankle and bolted all the way up his leg. Now he could feel the pain instead of the numbness. He tried to think what he was going to do and how to get his foot free and as he leaned his head to the side to assess his ankle, he noticed there might just be enough room to bend his foot and slide it under.

"Tommy, can you shuffle over here for me?" Ben cocked his head to the side, watching as Tommy slowly dragged himself over whilst trying not to move his broken leg too much. But when he looked over at Ben's ankle, more tears fell from his eyes and he started to whimper.

"D-daddy, y-your..." He couldn't seem to find the words he was thinking of so he just pointed at the sight that made him feel sick.

"I know it looks bad, but baby I need you to help me. I need you to lean over and help push my foot under the concrete, I can't get it free on my own."

Tommy violently shook his head, trying to retreat but Ben reached over and grabbed hold of his hand. His eyes were pleading, he wouldn't ask this if he could do this on his own. Ben didn't want his boy to see him in pain or witness this but there was no way Ben could bend his damaged foot the other way and push it under the boulder as well as trying to lift the boulder enough to slot his foot free.

"Baby I need your help or else I can't go and help your mum. Please?" Tommy started to shake but he finally relented and nodded. "Good boy, all you have to do is bend my foot to the other side and then push it when I tell you to, okay?"

Tommy turned his head to the side when he shuffled closer to the boulder and Ben could see his stomach churning and his throat tightening like he was going to be sick. He rested his left arm over the boulder and held onto Ben's boot, slowly pushing it like he was moving the hand of a clock into the right position but the noise Ben's ankle made caused Tommy to wail. He shivered and shrunk down when Ben growled through gritted teeth and snapped his eyes closed, he had to try and be strong but the pain was making it very hard.

Moving his hands, Ben slipped his gloves back on before he slotted his hands under the small gap the boulder had left. His arms started to shake and he felt his stomach muscles tightening when he pulled up the boulder before nodding for Tommy to push his foot.

Ben tried his best to pull his leg back but it was harder than he thought when his whole leg was numb to the point he could barely feel it. When the edge of his boot barely scraped past the boulder Ben let it drop against the floor before he leaned back on his hands and tipped his head back, closing his eyes tightly. Now the weight was gone Ben could feel every inch of skin and every nerve pulsing and tingling in his ankle like it was coming back to life and he knew it would only be a matter of minutes before the pain started to arise.

"Good lad." Ben breathed through the words as he tried to stop himself from becoming light-headed.

When he dared to examine his ankle, Ben knew he would be lucky if his foot would survive with how shattered the bone was, it looked like his ankle had been flattened and there was a piece of bone poking through the skin that was oozing blood like a small river.

"Tommy, baby you stay there and I'm gonna go see to your mum, I'll be right there you won't lose sight of me for a second I promise."

"O-okay."

When Tommy nodded, Ben managed a tight-lipped smile before he slowly rolled over so that he was resting on his front. He knew it would be easier to crawl over rather than try and stand with a shattered ankle and a dislocated knee, the pain would be too intense to bear. As Ben started crawling over to (Y/n), he started to wonder how long it would be before search and rescue got here and got them out.

There were countless other people trapped here who needed to escape but Ben was praying that since they were on the ground floor, they would be seen to quicker.

They needed help.

[chiliiscereal]

(This is preseason one to show you what the background is on the whole story)

(let me know if you think this should be published as a separate book!)

You and Steve had a rocky start to being siblings.

You were born four years apart.

He was born in a time when your parents actually loved each other. They had time for birthdays and family weekends together. They went out to the park on saturdays. They were a picture perfect family.

It just so happened that when you were born, your father stopped being quite so faithful to your mother. When you came into the world, your father was in Europe on a business trip. And he wasn't only up to business.

Little Steve had adored you at first. He always wanted to hold you or play with you.

But then their parents no longer had time for him.

It was always work... and taking care of you.

It slowly changed over the years to only work, as your mother could no longer trust your father. Steve was left to watch you for weeks on end. He was good at it at first. He used to watch you carefully. He used to make sure you were happy and well...

Until he could no longer see his friends.

He was ten. You were five.

He began to leave you at home. At first it was only for thirty minutes while he went to the park. Then it was an hour every day during his elementary school days while he went to the movies.

You were seven when you began cooking your own meals.

You TRIED talking to him. You really did.

You tried catching his sleeve whenever he breezed past. You tried showing him crafts you made. You tried playing music you thought he might like.

That ended with twelve year old Steve pushing you away.

It ended with your works of art thrown in the trash.

Your music cassettes were thrown onto the road.

Your mother made sure both of you knew to never walk into the middle of the road, so you could only cry as some unknowing stranger destroyed your wonderful music. The music you had saved up all your allowance for. The music that you had thought your older brother would like. The music that you thought might bring you two together.

When your mother and father returned, you tattled.

Steve was grounded for a whole week.

But he always needed to have the last say. So he sold your boom box and spent all the money on comics. He threw your sketchbook in the quarry water. He shoved you to the floor, saying that if you ever tattled again then you would join your drawing book in the cold water.

You stopped trying to give Steve your attention and love. You no longer wished he would spend more time at home. So you began exploring the town by yourself at the age of nine. You didn't really have friends to hang out with so you would browse through stores.

The arcade was your favorite place.

You loved showing up early on Saturday mornings, before Steve was even awake, and leaving behind a new high score on the dragons lair.

Why?

Because it always riled up a group of boys your age. They had no idea who kept beating them over and over. Every Sunday morning you watched them walk in... only to scream a few seconds later about how someone had beaten their score by ONE point. Again.

You loved having some sort of connection to them. Even if they didn't know it was you. Or even who you were at all. They were a weird little group, strictly sticking with only other A.V club kids. Besides, you hardly ever talked. What would be so special about you?

It also didn't help that your older brother had begun to build himself a reputation. When you were ten, he began to be known as king Steve. You knew he bullied one of the kids (wills) older brother while beginning to flirt with another's (mike's) older sister.

You knew this because your father began forcing Steve to drive you home from school. That was the rule he set when he gave Steve the car.

Every day you trekked to the high school, only to watch Steve hang around Nancy Wheeler and push Johnathan Byers. You would have intervened and told him that you really didn't want to wait twenty minutes (out of sight) for him to be done. But the last time he did that he made you ride the way home in the trunk of his car.

When you were eleven, you started hanging out at Melvald's convenience store in the town square. Your favorite time to go there was at 7:00, because Mrs. Byers would always work the morning shift.

Wills mother was really quite wonderful. Every time you walked in she greeted you with a smile and lowered her magazine.

——-

"Whatcha lookin for today, kiddo?" She smiled softly, leaning on the counter to watch you browse.

"Any new cassette tapes." You shrugged, fingering each music case that caught your eye. "Do you have any Clash? I... lost mine." You didn't lose it. Steve broke it when he heard you mutter about how much you hated Tommy H.

"Yeah, we got a new box of cassettes delivered this morning." She hopped up and waved for you to follow her to the back room. "I miiiight have snagged a Clash cassette for you when I saw it." She grinned as she held the door open for the young girl.

"You didn't need to buy anything for me!" You gasped. You knew that the Byers needed all the money they could get. "Can I pay you back?" You immediately began digging through your pockets for spare change.

She placed a guiding hand on your back as you both entered, pulling you away from your search. "Oh no it's fine! It's the least I can do for my most frequent visitor."

She plucked the music case off the shelf and handed it to you. "You go to Hawkins elementary, right? You should talk to my son. Will. He also loves the Clash."

You turned red and clutched the cassette. "I've...seen him around before. I don't know how to talk to him."

"Oh it's easy!" She grabbed the spare paper and crayons you always used when you visited. "You just need to find common ground. For example," she pulled up a stool beside her for you to sit at, "you both like to draw!"

You placed down the paper and got working on your art. "Will it make a difference if I draw cartoons and he draws realistic? What if the difference is too big for him to want to talk to me?"

"It'll give you more to talk about!"

——

So began your quest to pursue friendship.

You attempted to speak to Will and his friends in the hall.

They were talking too loud about their latest campaign to hear you.

You tried asking to sit by them at lunch.

They were too busy launching potato's at the ceiling to notice.

Right when you almost gave up... Will and you were paired together as partners for a history project.

——-

'Don't mess it up, don't mess it up', you told yourself over and over as you moved to sit by Will. 'Don't be weird. See if he'll talk first. Don't be clingy.'

Wills was equally quiet. He just read through the rubric of the project and stayed silent.

'What can we talk about... what should I say?'

A drawing poking out of wills bag caught your eye. It looked like a wizard casting some sort of spell.

"I like your drawing!" You blurted out, wishing you could just shut up.

Wills jumped, startled. "Yeah... umm.. it's from... uh... it's from our last campaign.." he began fiddling with his thumbs, unsure of what to say to a girl. "Our DnD campaign... I mean."

You nodded along. "I like to draw to! I've never... I've never played DnD before... so I like to draw people."

Will cracked a shy smile. "I'll show you my drawing if you show me one of yours."

You agreed hesitantly.

He took your cartoon and you took his master piece. You desperately wished you could draw like him. Your cartoons looked so simple, as Steve always said.

"You're a cartoonist!" Will smiled, holding the paper out in front of him. It was a caricature of Mrs. Byers. "You must be the girl my mom sees at her job!" His eyes were wide with recognition. "This is so good! I wish I could draw cartoons. But whenever I try... they look like potato's." He laughed.

You flushed a deep red. "I... I'm also the one that beats your scores every Saturday." You admit.

His jaw dropped. "No way. We've been trying to figure out who that was for months! We formed a whole list of people to interrogate!" He ran a hand through his hair.

You giggled. "I can prove it... if you want. Next Saturday I could show you and your friends? At the arcade?"

"Yeah! I'm totally down to hang out at the arcade!"

——

Will had brought you to the A.V club after to ask the rest of the party. You had protested at first. What if they didn't like you? What if they said no? You would look so stupid! You tried to use your brother driving you home as an excuse.

But if you brought Steve up... no. You couldn't start a potential friendship like that.

Will proposed the ideas to everyone excitedly.

It seemed that Lucas had a problem with it immediately.

——-

"Sorry Will, but we can't." Lucas shook his head. "We've got plans."

Your heart dropped.

"Wait," Dustin frowned and turned to his friend. "What plans? I wasn't aware of any plans."

Lucas crossed his arms. "Remember? Our campaign?"

"We don't have a-."

Lucas elbowed him harshly and looked at you. "Can you leave for a second? We need to talk. ALONE."

You nodded and stepped out of the room. "Yeah totally! Just let me know when-."

The door slammed in your face.

You know you shouldn't have but you pressed your ear to the door anyway.

"What's your damage?" Mike Wheeler hissed quietly.

"Don't you know who she is?" Lucas accused.

"No... should we?" Will whispered in confusion.

"That's Y/N Harrington!" Lucas spat out.

"Steve Harrington's little sister." Dustin stated, now understanding.

Mike groaned. "The douche bag my sisters hooked on?"

"Yes! What if she's exactly like him?"

"You mean a total mouth breather? A player? An absolute jackass?"

You sunk to the floor. Of course Steve ruined the only chance you might have of a friendship. How could she think that these kids would look past her family's reputation? No one ever did. Even her teachers expected her to be disruptive and rude.

"Guys." Will intervened. "I talked to her in history."

"What?!"

"Traitor!"

"What about the party?"

Will lowered his voice, causing you to lean a little closer to the door. "She doesn't act like him. She never called me any names. She never told me that I'm a freak. She tried to talk to me about art."

"Steve definitely doesn't appreciate art." Dustin mumbled.

Wills continued. "She's a cartoonist. And I think she might be like us. You know who kept beating our dragon lair record?"

"Who?"

"Please tell me it wasn't Troy."

"Y/N Harrington."

"WHAT?!"

"IT WAS HER?!"

"GIRLS PLAY VIDEO GAMES?!"

[stxn-the-mxn]

I Love You, Too || 2019!Reddie X Daughter!Reader

A/N: I combined two requests, cause I wanted to put them together :))) Hope you don’t mind

Request: hi! i absolutely LOVE your writings! especially the daughter!reader ones. i was wondering if i could request something? like where the reader is eddie and richie are married and they adopted a daughter. she’s has a stutter and is picked on for it at school. she comes home one day crying and her dad’s comfort her when she says she hates her stutter and they tell her that it’s not a bad thing and she should embrace it and not be ashamed? just soft family fluff! thank you -Anon

Could you do a semi sweet but angst fic? Richie and Eddie get out of Derry together and get married, adopt a little girl (the reader) and they return to derry with her. She’s around 7/8 years old and penny wise gets her, they go to save her with the rest of the losers but Eddie still dies 🥺 (my baby) but sweet moments of the reader meeting the gang and everything and sweet moments with her papa’s. Sorry if it sounds kind of dumb ❤️❤️❤️ - @spidey-starky

!!WARNING: HOMOPHOBIC SLURS, IT CH2 SPOILERS, BLOOD!!

***

You were pushed up against your locker, Jacob holding you by your shirt collar. Most people in this situation would maybe yell out for help, try to get someone’s attention. But you were used to it, plus school had ended and barely anyone was still here.

This was a regular occurrence. The name-calling, the mockery, everything that a middle school bully could do, she had seen and heard before. It didn’t affect her anymore.

Jacob would always do this, maybe steal something of yours, typical bullying business. But today, he went too far.

After the school play, Jacob had seen your dads picking you up. He had found that perfect bullying material. A stutter and the daughter of two gays? Perfect victim, he thought.

“Come on, Stuttering Y-Y/N!” He mocked your stutter, as you rolled your eyes. “Aww, is the stuttering joke getting old? Well, how bout we talk about your fag fathers?”

Your eyes widened. Shit. 

“You’re probably just like them.” Tears welled in your eyes. “And, hey, that means you’re adopted! Not even your real parents wanted you so they had to hand you over to some fucking gays! So, not only do you have a dumbass fucking stutter, your parents are fucking gay!”

Jacob smirked as he saw the tears dripping down your face. It had taken a while, but finally, he’d found what broke you. You couldn’t speak, too overwhelmed by everything happening so quickly. A part of you wished you were just getting bullied for the stutter.

“I don’t know if you noticed, Stutter Fag, but your kind isn’t appreciated around here.”

He threw you to the ground, as you landed on your nose, causing it to bleed. Jacob walked away, leaving school. You waited till you knew he was gone before grabbing your bag, picking up all the papers that had slipped out.

How long had your dad been waiting out in the parking lot? Checking your watch, you discovered he’d probably been there for at least ten minutes. Shit, he wasn’t gonna be happy… 

Running out to the car, you forgot about the blood dripping down your face. You threw your bag into the back of the car, before hopping into the front seat, being met with the concerned face of your father.

“Y/N? What the hell happened to you? Jeez, wait til Eds sees you.” He handed you a few tissues, not noticing as you used them for your eyes and not your nose. He started the car, driving back to your rather large home.

“Y/N?” Your dad placed a hand softly on your knee. “What happened after school today?”

“N-N-Nothing. Just got t-too excited and r-r-ran into a w-wall.”

You could see on his face that he didn’t believe you. Lying to your father wasn’t something you were good at. He raised an eyebrow, which meant that he expected you to keep talking.

“It w-was just J-J-Jacob. H-He stayed a-a-after class a-and, uh, he m-m-m-might have, uh, b-b-bullied me.” You whispered, mentally cursing yourself for stuttering so much.

That stupid fucking stutter was the cause of all your problems. 

“Oh, honey, I’m so sorry… Look, right now, we’ll push it aside and talk about it later when Papa Bear is home.” Your dad laughed as your face contorted into disgust. He knew you hated when he called Eddie that.

“All jokes aside, we’ll discuss this later. Just relax, and maybe clean up your nose a bit more.”

***

You sat at the dinner table, eyes glued to the plate in front of you. Eddie’s eyes remained on you, concern etched on his face. Richie, however, simply smiled warmly at you. 

“Y/N, baby, you’re awfully quiet,” Eddie spoke, his head tilted slightly in confusion.

“Honey, it’s time to talk.” Richie reminded you of the conversation in the car, and with a sigh, you thought of how to explain the situation.

“Uh, d-dads, after s-s-school today, t-this kid was, u-uh, teasing m-me about m-m-m-my stutter.” You couldn’t tell the whole truth. You couldn’t tell them that. Just the thought of what Jacob said brought tears to your eyes.

The tears began streaming down your face.

Eddie left his seat, pulling you into his arms. You cried into his shoulder, and Richie piled on top. Eddie’s arms were wrapped protectively around you, and Richie rubbed calming circles on your back.

“Your stutter is so perfectly you, baby. You shouldn’t feel ashamed of it. Embrace it.” 

Your tears slowed as you heard Richie’s phone ring, his ringtone being that stupid Pina Colada song. At first, he ignored it, staying with you, but by the sixth consecutive ring, you told him to answer it.

“I’m hungry, anyway.” You smiled, wiping the final tears from your face. With a forehead kiss from Eddie and a final hug from Richie, they moved away, Richie answering his phone.

“Yello? Huh? Oh. Right, yeah. Yeah, cool. See you soon, I guess?” His face went white as he hung up the phone, and he ran out of the room. Seconds later you heard him in the bathroom, the sound making you cover your ears. Eddie ran to the bathroom, and you could hear him checking over Richie.

Eddie’s phone rang suddenly, and you picked it off the table, bringing it to the bathroom, where Eddie was helping Richie off the floor, moving him away from the toilet bowl.

“Dad? Your phone is ringing.” You handed the phone to the shorter male, before scurrying back to the table. What the fuck was going on?

They stayed in the bathroom for another ten minutes and when they came back, you knew something was wrong.

“Baby, we need to talk.”

***

Last night at the Chinese restaurant had been an interesting event, to say the least. It had been a long trip to Derry, so you had been half asleep when entering the restaurant. An hour into the dinner, you were on the verge of sleep.

Richie and Eddie were trying so hard to keep you awake, but you were twelve and had been on a plane for five hours, which didn’t seem like much but it was a very rocky flight. Eventually, Richie and Eddie caved and allowed you to fall asleep, leaning against Eddie’s arm.

“She’s adorable,” Beverly said, smiling at the passed out girl. The other Losers hummed in agreement, Richie and Eddie sharing a proud smile.

“H-How long h-h-have you ha-had her?” Bill asked, realising afterwards that maybe he could’ve phrased that differently.

“Since she was only two, actually. So we’ve had her for ten years, now.” Richie pushed the hair out of your eyes, a soft smile on his face.

“Tell us about her.” Stan smiled, his usual demeanour shattered by the precious girl at the table. Everyone at the table was simply enamoured with this little girl.

“Uh, we adopted her a year after we got married.” Eddie grew flustered, as the Losers smirked at him and Richie.

“She’s literally the perfect kid!” Richie chimed in, “She’s got good grades, she doesn’t get involved with anything bad or stupid, and she’s just amazing. We love her so much.”

The other Losers felt like they would burst from the amount of adoration they had for this girl. The night continued on, everyone getting quite drunk, except Stan, who felt the need to be the one sober person.

He was rolling his eyes at Richie and Eddie drunkenly flirting in the corner when he noticed you stirring from your spot on the table. You sat up, blinking a few times, growing accustomed to the fluorescent glow of the lights above.

Stan was the only one to notice you wake up and decided to separate you from the drunken activities.

“Hey, Y/N, how was your sleep?” He asked, loudly, as to maybe alert the others that you were awake. 

“Yeah, i-i-it was pretty g-good. I’m no-not as t-tired now.” Stan’s eyes widened in surprise. You had a stutter?

“Oh, honey, you’re awake!’ Richie announced loudly, everyone looking at you and Stan.

“She has a stutter?” Stan asked, and you immediately felt tears brim in your eyes.

Richie and Eddie looked worried, while the others looked intrigued. You felt everyone’s eyes on you, and it was far too much. You ran from the room, your dads calling after you.

“Did I say the wrong thing?” Stan asked worriedly.

“She’s very sensitive about the stutter. She gets bullied a lot. So, we don’t talk about it.” Eddie explained, before running out to find you, Richie not too far behind.

The other Losers turned to Bill, their stuttering friend.

He had an understanding look on his face, having lived with a stutter for so many years of his life. But he had overcome it for so many years, so surely he could help you.

The Losers returned to the table, waiting patiently for Richie and Eddie to return, you by their side. Minutes passed, and no one walked through the door, except for the waitress who placed a bowl of fortune cookies on the table.

Just as she was leaving, a panicked Eddie and Richie came through the door.

But you weren’t with them.

Their faces held panic, fear, and everything in between. 

“Guys? Where’s Y/N?” Ben asked, his voice shaky.

“W-we don’t know. We looked everywhere, but we can’t find her.” Eddie started crying, Richie holding him close to his chest.

Mike stepped forward, grabbing Richie by the shoulders. “We’ll find her. She can’t have gone too far. She’s probably in the bathroom.” 

“O-oh, yeah. The bathroom.” He only sounded half-convinced, but Richie and Eddie would take anything to put their minds at ease.

“W-we were gi-given fortune c-c-cookies,” Bill suggested quietly.

Everyone sat back at the table, avoiding looking at the empty chair between Eddie and Richie. They all picked up a cookie, one still sitting in the bowl.

They all cracked theirs open, each finding a single piece of paper. 

“The hell? Mine just says ‘Time” Richie murmured, the cookies really not distracting him from the disappearance of his daughter.

The others all looked at their fortunes, not noticing Eddie’s shaking hands and terrified expressions.

“W-wait. Give me y-y-your paper.” Bill said as the Losers put their papers down. All except Eddie.

They scuffled about, finding that their words formed a sentence. 

“Oh shit. Oh, fuck!” Richie yelled, seeing the sentence forming. He looked over at his husband, begging him for the paper. Eddie held it tighter, but upon seeing the desperate look on his love's face, he placed the paper down.

Tears streamed down his face, as the other saw what was on his paper.

Bye Bye Stuttering Y/N! Time To Float!

“No. No. This isn’t fucking happening. We have to go get her.” Richie stood from his seat, Eddie following.

“No!” Mike yelled. “There’s something we have to do first.” 

***

You were floating, but they couldn’t do anything, not yet. First, they had to kill that fucking clown. It hurt Richie and Eddie to just leave you there, floating above the ground, almost dead.

“Hey, fuckface! You wanna play truth or dare? Here’s a truth; You’re a sloppy bitch! Yeah, that’s right. Let’s dance! Yippee-kay-yay motherfuc-” Everyone watched as Richie got caught in the deadlights.

Eddie screamed, but not a frightful scream, it was more of a “back off my husband you bitch” scream. He ran forward, throwing the pole Bev had gave him as hard as possible. It struck Pennywise in the mouth, sending IT backwards, ending up impaled on one of the spikes.

Richie fell to the ground, breathing heavily. What the fuck had he just seen?

Eddie came crashing down on top of him, straddling Richie’s waist. Not an uncommon position for them, but that wasn’t relevant right now. Eddie leaned down, grabbing Richie’s face and slamming their lips together.

Richie closed his eyes, melting as he always did when Eddie kissed him. His eyes opened, however, when the salty taste of Eddie’s lips became metallic. Richie froze, not even flinching when Eddie splurted blood onto his face.

“R-Richie?” Eddie spoke softly, blood trickling down his chin. The pain in his eyes matched that of Richie’s heart. Richie couldn’t look down, because he knew what he would see if he let his eyes travel.

And then he remembered, the first time he had entered this fucking house. The first time he lost Eddie. That fucking demonic version of his love. The fucking black shit that had flowed from his mouth. That image that was identical to this. That motherfucking clown who had planned everything to be like this.

“Eddie? Eddie, love?” His pleas were useless, as Eddie was pulled away from him, and flung about by the clown who ruined every fucking good thing he’d ever had.

IT threw Eddie from its claw, sending him towards the ground, right beneath where you were floating. Fuck, he couldn’t do this.

But he had to.

For Eddie.

And for you.

***

Richie got up from beside Eddie, who was barely alive at this point, but Richie could always see the life in his eyes. Eddie watched him leave through the dancing black spots in his vision. 

He could feel the familiar fabric of Richie’s jacket in his hands and found one of his hands in the pocket. His hand brushed against what felt like paper, and with as much strength as he had, slid it out of the jacket.

Unfolding it slowly, he saw a pencil drawing, one that you had done as a very young child. It was of the three of you, smiling, and for a toddler’s drawing, it was extremely good. You had labelled each person, though it was obvious who was who.

Up the top, in messy crayon handwriting, were the words “I love my daddies.” with two pink hearts sloppily drawn at both ends of the sentence.

“I love you too, baby”

[xiubaek-13]

Stalling Time

Prompt: Yixing + “Shut up and kiss me already.”

Setting/AU: Vet

Warnings: Injured animal, memory of death of a pet.

Word Count: 2,340

A/N: I put trigger warnings for this drabble because an animal is in an accident, and there is a flashback to a pet passing away.

You weren’t sure how you even made it to the animal hospital without crashing since you could hardly see through your tears as you drove. You loved animals more than people so naturally you were beside yourself when you saw a dog run out into open traffic and saw the car that didn’t swerve out of the way in time. The screeching sound of tires followed by a small thump would be forever etched into your mind. Nothing you would ever see would be worse than that, you were sure of it.

But when the driver didn’t stop, your shock went to rage and despair. You stopped in the middle of the highway, got out of your car, ignoring the cacophony of horns behind you, and collected the poor animal. It was still alive, thankfully the car had mostly swerved out of the way but from the whimpers coming from the injured animal, you knew it was hurt. You carried it back to your car and gingerly placed it on the backseat before driving off to the nearest vet you could find.

The tears started as your worry increased. What if the dog was more injured than you thought? What if it didn’t make it? You knew exactly how it felt to be on the receiving end of that kind of devastating news. As you drove you remembered that day vividly, you’d been twelve years old. You remembered how you’d arrived home from school and had found it odd that the house was so quiet. Usually your father was home and Danny, your best friend and family pet, would come bounding up to you. You wandered through the hall and into the backyard as you searched for either of them but found nothing. You had figured that maybe your father had taken Danny for a walk so you went about your business, did your homework and watched some TV.

As soon as your father walked in the door you knew something was wrong. Your eyes darted around, searching for Danny, but all you saw was the heartbroken expression on your fathers face. Your father was the strong one in the family, so seeing him like this broke you. He didn’t even need to say the words, the pained expression when you asked “Where’s Danny?” was enough to tell you that something horrible had happened.

“I’m so sorry honey,” He’d started, but you dropped to the floor before he could say anything else. He rushed over to you and cradled you in his arms as you sobbed, ignoring his own tears.

The dog in the back of your car would be ok, it had to be. You were trying to convince yourself that it would all be ok as you drove because you could not handle the idea of another child’s world being shattered like yours was.

You finally arrived at the animal hospital, parking horribly outside & definitely in a no parking zone but you didn’t care. You slowly lifted the dog out of the backseat and it whined at the movement, its eyes wide with fear and its body trembling. It absolutely broke your heart to see it suffering like this. “Shhh, we’re almost there ok?” You said, hoping your voice would calm the poor thing down. “We’re gonna get you fixed up so you can go home and live your best life ok?” You kept chatting away to the dog as it seemed like your voice was having a somewhat calming effect on it as you walked towards the doors of the hospital.

As soon as you entered a vet nurse rushed over to you and helped you place the dog on a small portable bed. You were thankful that there weren’t many people there so you were rushed ahead of the few that were waiting. When she tried to separate you and the terrified animal it panicked so she asked you to stay with it, so that the poor thing didn’t injure itself further. You agreed instantly, thinking if you were in it shoes you wouldn’t want to be alone.

You stayed while the vet came and assessed the severity of the dog’s injuries and you waited patiently in the waiting room when they finished prepping for surgery and put the little guy under. The waiting was the worst part, you didn’t know how long they’d be, if the lil guy would make it, who he belonged to, nothing. As though she could read your mind the vet nurse appeared and beckoned you over to the front desk. “Before we took him in I scanned him and found a microchip. I’m just going to look up the owner now so you don’t have to wait around any longer if you don’t want to.”

You shook your head. “I’ll stay. I need to know if he’s ok.” You said. She nodded, the understanding evident in her eyes. You walked back to your seat and continued to wait, hoping that the surgery wouldn’t take much longer and that it would be a good outcome. The vet hadn’t thought it was anything life threatening but you worried regardless of that fact. He hadn’t witnessed the accident, or heard the cries of fear and pain coming from the poor animals mouth.

An hour had passed when a young man burst through the doors, his eyes frantic as he looked around the room and rushed up to the desk. “I got a call to tell me that my dog was in an accident?! Is he ok? Where is he?” The vet nurse lead him over to where you were sitting and waited for him to take a seat.

“Yixing is it?” He nodded. “Your dog was hit by a car earlier today.” You saw him freeze and all of the colour disappear from his face. “This young woman next to you witnessed the accident, and when the driver didn’t stop, she brought your dog here. His injuries aren’t life threatening but we still had to put him under for surgery. That is where he is now. I’ll let you know of any updates as soon as I have them.” She smiled softly at both of you in the way that all nurses do before turning and heading back to the front desk.

The young man next to you had slumped forward with his head in his hands. This whole situation must be overwhelming for him. You remembered all too well how it had hit you the last time you had to experience the fear of loss. “What’s his name?” You asked gently.

He rubbed his face with his hands as he sat back up and looked at you, pain and fear in his eyes. “Guiying.” He coughed. “His name is Guiying.”

You tried a small smile. “He’s very much like his namesake.” Yixing half chuckled. “He was frightened but he was very brave, letting a complete stranger pick him up and drive him off to who knows where.”

“He might be brave but he’s also foolish.” He sighed. “He must have escaped the backyard and run off, and just… just got distracted by traffic.” He sniffed as he took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.

You placed a hand on his shoulder as you tried to reassure him. “Hey, I’m pretty sure it was just his hind leg that was broken, but that they had to put pins in, hence the surgery. He’ll be ok.”

Yixing grabbed your hand and held it tightly in his. “Thank you for caring enough to help him.”

“I just did what anyone would.” you said.

“No,” he shook his head. “You didn’t. Most people would not stop in the middle of an intersection to help an animal. Most people would just keep driving, thinking someone else would help it or that it was too late to help. You,” He choked back a sob. “You saved his life.”

You couldn’t speak because you could feel your emotions in your throat, tears were so close to forming and you did not want to let them. Instead you smiled and squeezed his hand. The two of you sat in silence, his hand still not leaving yours, as though your hand was his anchor to reality and hope.

After another hour of sitting and occasionally chatting about life, avoiding the topic of the accident, instead trying to distract yourselves from the fact that you were both sitting in the animal hospital waiting room late at night, you’d come to the realisation that if the circumstances were different, Yixing was someone you would be interested in. He was kind, honest, thoughtful, funny and it was futile to deny that he was incredibly easy on the eyes. But in the back of your mind you had to remind yourself not to flirt with him, the poor man was waiting to see if his beloved dog was ok, this was not the time nor the place. Normally you despised small talk, but you’d made an exception for Yixing since you were trying to keep both him and yourself distracted from thinking about Guiying.

“I know I’ve said it repeatedly tonight, but thank you.” He said.

You smiled. “And like I’ve said every time, I was more than willing to do what I did.”

Yixing shook his head. “No, I mean yes, thank you for that but this thank you was specifically for staying here with me and waiting. You didn’t have to do that. And don’t think I haven’t realised that you’ve been trying to keep me distracted.” He half smiled at you.

“Ah, you caught me.” You chuckled.

“You’re good at it.” He paused as his eyes drifted from your eyes to your mouth, a fleeting glance, before moving back up to your eyes again. “I’ve worried less in the past hour than I thought I would and that’s thanks to you.”

Your reply is interrupted when the vet emerges from a door and walks over to the two of you. “Yixing?” He asks as he looks down at the young man next to you who is fidgeting as all of his worries flood back into his system.

Without thinking you grab his hand to ground him. He grips back tightly as he responds. “Y-yes. Is?…how?…please,” he stutters out.

The vet crouches down to bring himself to eye level with Yixing. “Hey, calm yourself. Thanks to the lovely young woman next to you your dog is going to be just fine. He has a broken leg that will take time to heal and he had an internal obstruction caused by the accident. I’ve fixed him up and he’ll be able to come home with you in a few days. We have to keep him here for a few nights for observation. He’s a little groggy post-op but you can come and see him if you’d like.”

Yixing exhales a breath you hadn’t realised he was holding. He thanks the vet profusely before standing and turning to see if you were coming as well. You let go of his hand and shook your head lightly. “I think, if it’s ok with you, that I’ll visit Guiying tomorrow. I’m just glad he’s ok.”

“Are you sure? I don’t mind if you come along now.” He started but you stopped him.

“Yixing, it’s sweet of you, really, but I think it’ll be better for you to go see him alone.” You looked over at the vet. “Is it ok if I drop by around 11am tomorrow to visit?” He nodded and told you that as long as Yixing was ok with it then they’d allow it. Yixing was more than happy to oblige you visiting his dog since you were the reason he was even still alive.

You watched as Yixing’s form disappeared behind the door and turned to the vet nurse who was holding a clipboard out to you. “What’s this?” You asked, confused.

“We have a policy that is to wait until after surgery to hand these kinds of forms out. You mentioned a car hit the animal right?” She asked.

“Yes.”

“This form is for you to write down all of the details of the accident that you can recall so that we can send it on to the police. Not common policy, I know, but there is an officer there who follows up the reports we send him.” She hands you the clipboard. “If you just fill them out before you leave, I’d be really grateful.”

You take the clipboard and take a seat, filling out all of the details you can remember. You aren’t sure how this helps, was hitting an animal even illegal? You hated the driver for not stopping but there was no denying that it was an accident. You hummed as you finished filling out the forms, then got up and handed it back to the vet nurse. She thanked you as you turned to take your leave.

“Wait!”

You had reached the door to your car when you heard his voice as he ran out the front door to catch you. He slowed to a jog as he got closer to you, then a purposeful walk. “Yixing? Is something wrong?” You noticed the glistening in is eyes, a clear indicator of tears. Shit. Had something happened? Was Guiying ok?

He didn’t respond, he simply walked straight up to you and enveloped you in an embrace. He held you tightly for what felt like minutes, and you weren’t sure if you should be happy or sad. You had no indication for what this hug was for. When he pulled back you couldn’t wait any longer to get answers. “What happened? Why have you got tears in your eyes? Is he ok? Fuck, he was ok 10 minutes ago, what could have happe-”

You were cut off by Yixing’s finger touching your lips, shushing you. You looked from his hand on your lips up to his face, his expression unreadable. He leant in, pausing at the exact moment before his lips touched yours. Somehow you still had the brains to speak. “What are you-”

“Shut up and kiss me already.”

[dopescotlandwarrior]

Someone Like You

On AO3

Ch-1  Ch-2  Ch-3  Ch-4

Chapter 5

Once we were on the road Jamie opened up his laptop and worked for a while. I needed the solitude to clear my head. Jamie was right, it was only twelve hours ago I broke off my engagement. Why do I just feel numb? As a first-year student at Boston U, Frank, Dr. Randall, taught my history course. The way he looked at me was a bit unnerving. When I walked into the huge lecture hall his eyes would find mine and he would smile and wave. His comments on my SA answers were over the top in praise. I started looking forward to seeing his face light up. He made me feel special. It was fun to be the teacher’s pet. Coming straight from boarding school and still a virgin, I was swept away by the sophisticated Dr. Randall. As soon as I was no longer his student, we started dating. The first summer was magical because he took me with him to England where he was lecturing at Brunel for six weeks and I was free to wander around London all day, ride the train to different cities, read the day away at the many bookstores. I couldn’t wait for him to be free for the evening because we made love almost every night.

I was watching the coastline lost in my memories of that romantic summer. The moon roof was open and warm air surrounded me. I thought, how odd that I can’t catch my breath. I forced myself to breathe and relax but it wasn’t helping. Suddenly I was gripped by panic because I couldn’t breathe. The car started to swerve and I looked helplessly at Jamie before I passed out.

I heard voices, strange voices and felt a terror grip my stomach. Terrified I would discover something so awful it would change my life forever. I didn’t know how the car was stopped, or who all the people were around me. I just wanted to go back to the black. There was a mask over my face, a cuff on my arm, and an EMT had my wrist in his hand. Jamie held my other hand. I pushed the mask off my face and sat up, apologizing to everyone and assuring them I was fine now.

I refused a trip to the ER and signed a paper that said as much. I stood up and started to open the car door when everyone seemed to say no at the same time. I looked at Jamie feeling helpless and very afraid.

“I’ll drive for a while lass.”

He is the kindest man I have ever known, I thought. He looked worried and helped me into the car and closed my door. The ambulance pulled away and Jamie looked at me. I could see the worry on his face. At that moment I didn’t even want to be with him. Alone in the woods, under a rock, a floating raft out there on the ocean would be preferable.

Jamie watched Claire work through something in her head. Whatever was happening to her caused a massive panic attack and she fainted right in front of him. “How can I help Sassenach?” He decided at that moment that Claire had the most unique and beautiful eyes than he had ever seen on a woman. She looked lost and vulnerable and he ached to crush her to him.

It’s time for the truth I decided. I tried to square my shoulders and feel brave but I failed. Jump in, get it over with, and then go on with life and be stronger for it.

“I might need to borrow your laptop for a moment. I just need a browser. Is that okay?” He put the computer on my lap and I typed in the name of Frank’s hotel. I heard the phone ring and a man’s voice answer in German.

“English?”

“Yes madam, how may I help you?”

“My brother is staying at your hotel, with his wife. There’s been a family emergency and I must speak to doctor Frank Randall at once.”

“I believe Dr. Randall is at the University at the moment.”

“Ring me through please I’ll speak to his wife.”

“Of course, madam.”

When she answered, the phone slipped out of my hand and I looked out at the ocean. It turned gray and ugly, the sky was ugly, the hills were ugly. Jamie was calling me from far away and finally held my face so I would look at him. “Such a good man,” I whispered. Before I knew it Jamie yanked me out of the car and walked me down the side of the highway. He held me around my waist and my feet were moving.

“I’m here with ye Sassenach and we will just walk until you feel a bit better. I want ye to tell me what just happened”

He stopped suddenly and turned me to face him. “Wasna request. What just happened?”

“Frank brought a woman with him to Germany. She has been with him this whole time.”

“Christ, Claire. I am so sorry.”

He pulled me to him and I felt the enormous strength of his arms. He body felt like a stone wall I was leaning against. What must it be like to have strength like that, I wondered. His big warm hands were stroking up and down my back. He pulled my arms around him and crushed me to him. It was surreal and I knew if he let me go I would float off my feet and be lost forever.

“Lass, yer shakin sae hard, It’s time for a whisky. Maybe two. C’mon.”

I clung to his arm, afraid he would let go and he pulled me to him again. Somehow Jamie found a bar within five minutes and ordered two at a time. The whisky was like a reprieve, a second chance at life, and I had two more. I filled my lungs with air and smiled up at Jamie.

“Well. Very shitty news. I suppose I will need some therapy for trust issues in the future. If it’s ten sessions or less I’m good with that." His eyes looked so worried. I put my hand on his cheek and smiled. I felt okay now, it was as simple as that. “It’s truly okay Jamie. I was done with him anyway. I just never considered that level of dishonesty and manipulation was possible. It shocked me. I never considered he wasn’t alone lecturing for six weeks. Why would I?”

“Why would ye indeed.” he pulled me to my feet and we drove across the street into a parking lot. I looked at the ocean, it was beautiful again, as was the sky. He popped the trunk and handed me my big straw hat.

“It was a great idea to wear our suits for the ride Sassenach. We’re too drunk to drive but we can swim!”

The idea made me feel happy and I was out of the car before Jamie could reach for my door. We dinna have towels and I drank too much to go drive around lookin for a store. Ye’ll be okay without one Sassenach?”

I heard him laugh when I pulled him toward the beach. It was a spectacular Sunday. Warm and breezy with crashing waves that held Jamie’s attention.

“My God. The waves are beautiful and I would have missed all this if ye hadna come with me!”

I smiled up at him as I unbuttoned my shirt. He seemed stuck on what I was doing. “I can’t wait to jump into a wave!” I dropped my pants and piled my clothes on the sand and ran toward the water. The tears were coming, I couldn’t stop them and I wanted a place to hide. I wanted the ocean to hold me while I cried for my lost innocence.

Jamie was speechless watching Claire run to the waves. “That is the smallest bikini I’ve er seen”, he said out loud, “and she is breathtaking.”

Claire turned around and waved him in. When she took off her hat he could see the pain and the tears. Oh God lass. Yer too small to hurt that bad. He ran into the water and scooped her up off her feet and held her to him. She cried into his neck and her body shook with sobs. Jamie just held on and rocked her back and forth. He whispered over and over, this will pass sweetheart. He doubted she could hear above the waves but it made him feel better. He knew it was true. When she wiggled to get down he didn’t want to let her go, but he did. Then he pushed her into a big wave.

Every second underwater I felt his body against mine. I scooped a handful of wet sand and threw it at him when I popped up. When he laughed his wide smile was genuine and his teeth were so white. I didn’t see him throw it but I was jolted from staring at him by a large quantity of wet sand hitting me in the belly. He walked over to me laughing and splashed water on the clinging sand.

“It’s time for a nap and yer not allowed in the water without me so come on.”

He pulled me to where we left our clothes and dropped onto his back. Then he patted the sand next to him. I heard myself laughing and realized it was real laughter. Jamie was being very cute and funny.

“What… am I laying on yer side Sassenach? Sorry”. He rolled about three feet to the side and I laughed some more. I would get through this, and for now, I wanted it out of my head. Jamie was like a kid who skipped school to go to the beach. I laid down on the warm sand and it felt delicious. The sun was so warm on my cold skin and my eyes were closing. Then, the unthinkable happened. My phone started to buzz.

“That will be Jenny askin ye to tie me to somethin solid and leave me there.”

“I’m gonna make her jealous.” I reached for my phone and then threw it like it was a hot potato.

I looked at the thing continue to ring.”

“Is that Frank fuck?”

I couldn’t help the giggle. “Yes, some nerve.” When it wouldn’t stop I grabbed it and clicked it on. “I’m having a nap with the Greek God Frank, what do you want?”

“No your in your tent freaking out about something you know nothing about.”

I clicked off and laid back down. The calls started again but this time he wanted to face time me. I looked at the face I use to love. “What is it Frank I could feel his image pulling me under.

“Where in God’s name are you Claire?”

Jamie was laying on his side watching me. I got up on my knees and gave Frank a look at my bikini, then I twisted landing on Jamie. I turned the camera toward Jamie who smiled and waved. “Frank, meet the Greek God. Greek God, meet…oh never mind.” I wiggled my way into Jamie’s side and he stretched out to give me access to the full length of him. Frank was yelling something about the hotel manager wants to tell me something. I guess I had enough of Frank at that moment. I looked up at Jamie and pulled his mouth down on mine. Within seconds Frank’s voice went away, the surf was silent, the people made no sound, and for the"minute-long kiss it was only Jamie and me. I felt his warm hand move up my arm.

“Sassenach.”

I don’t know if I wanted to do anything with my mouth except kiss Jamie again. Like he read my mind his lips touched mine softly. I just wanted to feel this for ten more seconds and I wrapped my arms around his neck. His kiss turned hungry and his tongue invaded my mouth. God, I felt like a runaway train and clung to him. Then it happened, my brain restarted and I screamed looking at Jamie in horror. I couldn’t wiggle away fast enough and just ran for the waves. I wanted to drown myself for what I had done. I dove into a wave and felt Jamie’s arm pull me up. What else could I do but sob to him how sorry I was.

“Let me go, Jamie!” He refused to unhand me. “Jamie please!”

He bent over so his eyes were level with mine. “I canna because yer talkin a wee bit crazy right now.” He looked really freaked out when I promised not to tell or better yet I’ll tell her about Frank and my impulse…you weren’t ready for it…I surprised you. I gasped and hit him in the arm as hard as I could, “why did you kiss me back?!” I was absolutely shocked. “You're as bad as Frank, you fuck!”

Before I could hit him again he picked me up and spun me into his chest and just held me there while I fought against his iron hold and the waves. After five minutes of fighting for my life, my body had no strength left. I cried and said I was sorry over and over.

“Sassenach! What are ye so sorry for lass?”

“Turning you into a cheater like Frank.” He wouldn’t let me go and I was just spent, so I just cried.”

“Claire, I’ve known ye almost all yer life. I know ye to be sassy but not crazy. For the love of God, what are ye sorry for!”

“Will you be able to say your vows to Geneva with a clear conscious?”

“Claire, ye must listen very carefully, with all yer heart. I am not to be wed to anyone and I havna been with Geneva for over a year.”

Surely I didn’t hear him correctly. I picked my head up, “what?”

He spun me around so I could see his face and his eyes.

“I dinna have a lass at home and Geneva and I are through forever. Now if I let you go we will go have a talk, aye? On second thought, if its all the same to ye, c’mere ye little brat.”

He crushed his lips to mine and I dropped back into that void of silence. I felt my arms go around his neck and I felt the kiss all the way to my toes.

We kissed so many times I lost count and when I would break for air his amazing blue eyes filled my vision. We walked back to our spot and laid in the sand again. He kissed me more and announced it was nap time again. He grabbed my phone and pulled the battery out.

You need rest mo leannan and I will guard ye. He turned me on my side and laid behind me with one arm over my hip. My mind was like a tornado. I desperately needed to talk to Jenny and this would be weird because it was her brother.

“Claire, honesty…I have wanted to kiss ye since Flagstaff airport.”

I smiled to myself. “I’ve wanted you to do that since I was sixteen laying close to you in your bed.

“Yer a patient one are ye naught?”

He rubbed my leg. “I don’t want ye to go home tonight Sassenach. Stay with me and I’ll drive ye right to yer door. Well, ye will be drivin. Ye dinna start school for a month and I want to know ye better.”

“I decided to stay and drive with you before you kissed me.”

“Yer a good lass arent ye.”

There was considerable energy between us. So much had happened in the last day, no the last hour, and I needed to process the conflicting emotions of heartache over Frank and excitement about Jamie. I wondered if that made me the most shallow person that ever existed.

All this time Geneva was his fiance, at least in my mind. I wondered how I didn’t know they had broken up. I went back in my mind and remembered I just stopped asking about Jamie. He belonged to someone else and was no longer in my group of friends in Scotland. That’s what I did. I just cut him out rather than feel blue about his relationship with Geneva. When Brian Fraser died last year and Jamie took his place as leader of the company, Jenny would talk about his accomplishments with the business and nothing more. This past eight months she spoke only of Ian it seemed.

What of Frank? Did I have a need to fill the Jamie hole when I got back to the states after graduation? How did I fall so easily and deeply into Frank when he is so obviously the wrong man for me. Frank is ten years older than I am and the only person I have kissed until today. Does he know what a terrible kisser he is, I wondered? How many times have I noticed this weekend how wrong Frank is for me? Even if Jamie and I part forever, I would rather take my chances on what else is out there than be saddled with what looks like a serial cheater and a big zero on the fun scale. History is for people who relish the past and I am not that girl.

As one breath rolled into another I dropped the archeology path forever. It was like history. Proving the past and how it existed was not the environment for me. Medicine never looks back, always forward. Not proving the dead, but improving the living. Why didn’t I see this before? That’s two wrongs I’ve chucked out of my life this weekend, Frank and archeology. I felt lighter and more progressive already.

What about Jamie? Oh my God, what a stellar kisser. That is very exciting. I liked sex with Frank because he would focus only on me for a little while. It was really the only time I didn’t have to fight for his attention. Sex was fine, didn’t love it or hate it, but I liked having Frank all over me. I wonder how Jamie makes love. If it’s the way he kisses it’s rough and crazy. Maybe I will like it better with Jamie. What am I thinking? He goes home to Scotland in three days and then it’s another crapshoot when I would see him again. Now I’m feeling sad because I really like Jamie and I think he likes me too.

I just want more kisses and hope he doesn’t stop if it gets weird. Got to keep it not weird somehow. Maybe I am sleepy after all.

I took a deep breath and stretched rolling to my back and then remembered where I was. It looked like the afternoon was waning, maybe four o’clock I guessed. I looked at Jamie asleep on his back. He looked peaceful but I’ll bet that sunburn won’t feel good when he wakes up. Poor guy. I can’t even get my fingers through my hair it’s so matted with sand. I should try and scrub some of this out before we go.

I wandered into the surf and dropped down under the water working the sand out of my hair. I popped up and felt clumps of sand still caught in the coils` so down I went again. This time was much better and I squeezed the water out like a sponge. I should get Jamie up. His stomach looked pretty pink, come to think of it, so does mine.

Laying next to him in the sand I studied his face for a few minutes before running my hand lightly up his arm. He opened his eyes and stretched.

“You broke the only rule I have Sassenach, how could you?” He was gigging.

“I just woke up too, and haven’t done anything.”

“Ye went in the water without me, didna ye lass.” He was smiling so big. “So now ye go in again, with me this time.”

He stood and picked me up off the sand but released me quickly moaning about his sunburn. His stomach looked not only amazingly muscular but bright red as well.

“We need to get you some medicine, but the cold water will help a little too!” I didn’t want him to hurt, it would take away from his fun. So I stood and pulled him to the water and he sighed with relief. We floated and let the waves crash over us. Each in their own thoughts but he never let go of my hand. Later, we walked down the beach while our suits dried and happened to catch the seagulls hunting. They would soar high into the sky and then drop straight down lengthening their body like a missile into the water. Seconds later up they would come flapping back into flight. It was really fun to watch so we climbed a guard tower and sat high off the sand watching them while the sunset behind them. Jamie pulled me in front of him, in between his knees and he played with my hair while we watched. Before we were completely in the dark we headed for the car to resume the trip.

We exited highway one with great sadness and Jamie jumped on the interstate heading east. We were both quiet, maybe feeling the same loss of our time in California. I watched the highway come into the headlights for about an hour and wondered if there was a better way to get to the other side of the country. This type of driving would just be depressing. I wondered why Jamie was so quiet. I hoped he wasn’t regretting the kissing. Please don’t regret that Jamie.

[elaineleri]

See Past the Storm

Elin growled under her breath as the rain continued to pour relentlessly. It was as if the Universe was against her. First, a letter arrived to tell her that her grand-aunt had died and had left her a house at some obscure countryside. Then, as she was trying to navigate the unfamiliar road, she found herself lost—no thanks to the stranger who had given some vague and useless instruction under his breath. Her bad mood must have clouded her thoughts; she was better at making decisions than this. Going in the opposite direction would have been more logical than following a set of directions that she knew wasn't right.

Yes, something was definitely wrong with her head.

Something in the shape of a grand-aunt she didn’t know existed.

So many questions were running through her mind with no one to ask. It frustrated her, and the storm didn’t help.

At that moment, as if to taunt her, the rain fell even harder. They hit the car with such passionate frenzy, she wondered whether it was going to be the reason she went mad first.

“Shit!” She came to a stop and let out a wail. Her head thumped against the headrest, her hands still gripping the steering wheel so hard her knuckles had turned white. To make things worse, her stomach decided to cramp with hunger, letting out a familiar groan.

Alone, hungry, and lost. This day couldn’t get any more catastrophic.

After a few minutes, she let out a huge breath, forcing her fingers to relax. It wouldn’t do to drown in self-pity. Her main mission here was to sell the house, and go back home. Drowning wouldn’t solve anything. Elin began looking around, tried to squint past the opening between each wiper cycle. The sight of the menacing storm cloud made panic rise. It didn’t look like the rain was going to stop soon.

She picked up her phone, unlocked it. Still no signal. Her fingers went up to her scalp. She gave her long hair a tug, then another—and another. She could get out of the rented car and try to find someone for help, but—no, what if she didn’t find anyone and only ended up soaked to the bone? She worried her lips impatiently. The tank was still pretty full. She could go on for another thirty minutes before choosing whether to stop. That could work.

She looked up again, at how the raindrops blurred the dirt road in front of her even though the wipers were already working double-time, and sighed. There was no use trying. She’d only be wasting gas.

When she couldn’t think of anything else, she decided it was time to give up. Now that she’d finally made a choice, Elin found that she was more exhausted than she’d thought. She’d taken a twelve-hour flight, and had been driving for nearly five hours with only one stop at the gas station. Her shoulders were stiff, her back sore. If she was honest, her head was pounding as well.

She slid open the windows the tiniest bit, turned off the ignition, and tried to sleep.

***

Someone was knocking on the window. Grimacing, she lifted herself from the reclined seat, turned the car on, then lowered the window. The glares of the sunlight hurt her eyes. She had to blink a few times before they could focus on the figure in front of her.

“Hello. Are you lost?” the old lady asked. She had a short stature and a head of windswept silver hair. A warm smile spread across her features, highlighting her high cheekbones and the deep wrinkles around her bright, almond eyes.

Elin gaped, then huffed out a laugh. “Will—” She gulped and failed to resist the tugging at her lips. It was almost too good to be true. “Yes, will you help me, please? I’m trying to get to Sunflower Cottage.”

“Sunflower Cottage?” She straightened, thought for a moment, then bent to look at her again. “It’s quite a long way. Would you like me to sit with you? I’m better at giving directions when I’m seeing what’s in front of me.” She chuckled, exposing a set of crooked teeth. “And no, before you ask, it’s no trouble. You could just take me home after as a trade. How about that?”

“Yes. Yes, of course. Please.” Elin quickly shifted her backpack to the backseat, exited the car, and helped the lady in. Whatever sleepiness remained quickly evaporated. Having hope had never felt so good.

“Thank you for helping me, auntie.”

“Auntie? No, call me Granny Wren. Everyone does.”

She looked abashedly at her. “Sorry, that’s what I call those your age where I come from. Granny Wren it is. I’m Elin.”

“Ha. That’s funny. Pretty name you have there, by the way. Now, we’ll want to go forward.”

“On it.”

They rumbled down the dirt road, and Elin took her time to take in the sights. All around, they were surrounded by a large field. It stretched on further than the eyes could see. The dark clouds had completely disappeared, giving way to clear azure sky. A stream flowed not too far off, cutting through the verdant landscape.

“Have you been living here for long, Granny Wren?” asked Elin as she continued to admire the view.

“I used to. I grew up here, got married, then left. I moved around a lot after that. Oh, we take a left here. That’s right. Now tell me about yourself. How old are you?”

“I’m twenty-nine.”

“Boyfriend?”

“No.”

She looked shocked. “No? Why?”

Elin glanced at her, incredulous. “Why? Do you have someone in mind for me?”

“Maybe. Are you choosing not to have one, or you just never got around to finding one? Turn another left here.”

“Can’t find one.” She paused. “I just broke up, actually. He said I'm spending too much time at work.” It hadn’t been a peaceful break-up either. There had been so much shouting and arguing over who was right and wrong, who caused the relationship to deteriorate. Elin was quite glad that it was over, but she felt guilty too. These days, happy memories from before kept surfacing, and she wondered why she hadn’t tried harder to hold on to it before it was too late.

“Oh? What are you working as?”

“At human resources.”

“You should quit.”

Elin couldn’t hold back the giggle that bubbled up at Granny’s pout. “It’s not that easy.”

“The job messes with your life. I can tell you’re not getting enough sleep, so it’s not good for your health either. What other reason do you need?”

That stumped her. “It’s not easy to find another job.”

“When you have no good health, there might as well not be a life. You’re wasting away, child.” Granny tutted with a furrowed brow.

Elin shook her head with a sad smile. They talked about other things, about the rainstorm, about Elin being an orphan; she was adopted into a Singaporean family when she was seven. She’d flown back to the orphanage to look for her biological parents years later, only to learn that they had died a long time ago. Then there was Granny’s story about her life, how she’d moved from the city to stay with her sister after her husband died—and good thing too, since her sister really needed the care. She was suffering heavily from dementia, and to have a familiar face had helped her a lot.

“My sister never married, and she was living alone. She had the village to look out for her, but it was difficult for them. There were times when Carys would forget. She’d be so frightened she wouldn’t come out from her room at all,” Granny regaled sadly.

“Then it’s great that she had you to take care of her,” Elin said reassuringly.

“Yes, it’s a good thing.” After a while, she said abruptly, “I have a granddaughter.”

“Oh, that’s nice. Does she visit often?”

Hesitantly, Granny said, “She doesn’t— She doesn’t know I exist.”

Elin took in her pursed lips and downcast eyes. “Why not?”

Granny Wren let out a nervous breath. “I made my daughter give her up. I even made the orphanage agree not to disclose too much about the family. If Janice wanted to see her, she would go find her herself.” She sighed. “I’d love to see her—but I’m not strong enough to face her. I know she’ll blame me, but it would be nice for her to know that it was for the best at the time. My daughter was so young then—too young to even take care of herself, let alone take care of an innocent child.” A helpless single mom.

Elin brought a hand to hers. It was cold and wrinkled. “I’m sure she’ll understand. Pretty sure she’d love to see you too. The Universe knows I would.”

Granny held her hand and smiled. “Thank you.” She gave her hand a pat, then proceeded to take it hostage, peering at it this way and that. It made Elin laugh.

When they made another right turn, Granny’s expression brightened. “Ah, here we are.”

Elin took in the small cottage standing in the midst of the sunflowers with its blue roof and bricked walls. Other houses dotted the surrounding area, but none of them, she felt, could grab her attention like this one.

“Beautiful, isn’t it? I can’t believe I left.” Granny’s voice held a tone of reverence.

Elin turned to her sharply. “You’ve stayed here before?”

“Who wouldn’t want to have a look at these cottages and sunflowers for a time in their lives? It’s not often we see a field like this.” She patted her shoulder playfully, looking at her with mock annoyance. “Your grand-aunt is lucky. Imagine seeing this view everyday.”

It was vastly different from the city, where everything moved so quickly. It was only now that Elin registered how relaxed she had been on the empty road. She would never have been able to talk and drive at the same time in the city, where one had to constantly look out for idiots who swerved and changed lanes without so much as a signal—worse yet, those crossing the roads as if they owned them.

Granny Wren and Elin got down from the car. They walked to stand in front of the house, enjoying its quaint design. There was a rusty blue letterbox not too far off with a faded ‘Sunflower Cottage’ painted on it in white blocky letters. This was really it.

Elin saw a man tending to the plants that decorated the place, and felt her heart thump heavily in her chest. Was this one of her grand-aunt’s friends?

She turned to Granny Wren, intending to ask her if she needed a lift home—only to realise that she was gone. Frowning, she turned around, trying to look for her. It suddenly occurred to her as well that she hadn’t told her anything about her grand-aunt. How had she known anything about that?

“May I help you?” a voice asked suspiciously.

Elin turned back front. It was the middle-aged man she saw earlier. The shade from his straw hat made him look almost severe.

“Hello. Good morning. I received a letter the other day about the passing of my grand-aunt, and it says that she’s left Sunflower Cottage to me?” She dug through her pockets and fished out a rather crumpled piece of paper. She handed it over with a grimace, hot with embarrassment.

He looked disapproving as he took the paper from her. After reading it through, he looked at her again. His dark eyes assessed her intensely. The temptation to fidget was so strong, she had to clamp her jaws tight to resist its call.

After what felt like forever, he let out a sigh. “You look just like her.”

“What?”

“The shape of your eyes, like your grandmother. Cheekbones too.”

Elin blinked. “Erm…”

“I’m an artist. I’ve painted their portraits countless times. I’m sorry if I frightened you. Do you want to come in?” She nodded, feeling slightly dazed. As they walked upon the damp soil, he explained, “Your grandmother gave me the responsibility of caring for the house until you arrived. She wanted me to pass you the key, not some estate agent who will be here spouting nonsense into your ears.” Nonsense that she’d drink up. With reasons unknown, she felt suddenly guilty.

“Wait. My grandmother?” It finally dawned on her what he’d just said. “But my grand-aunt was the one who left this house to me. It said so on the letter.”

“Before your grandmother came to take care of your grand-aunt, your grand-aunt did own this house.” His features softened. “I believe your grandmother wanted you to know that.”

Elin let out a shaky breath. She felt so cold all of a sudden. The day couldn’t get any more bizarre. She had a grandmother all along, one who hadn’t thought of reaching out until she passed. It felt like she was being played. All this time, she’d been searching for her family; she hadn’t had any luck for so many years. Then, within a span of three days, she found out she had two.

And now she really had no one left.

As thoughts filled her mind, the man, who’d introduced himself as Jackson, pushed open the heavy wooden door. The gentle scent of roses filled her nostrils. It was everything she'd imagined. Photo frames filled the walls, sofas with floral prints on them encompassed the fireplace and clutters of vintage pieces stuffed glass cabinets. Her goose pimples subsided, replaced with a warm homeliness in her heart.

“This is yours.” Jackson held out a silver key.

Hesitantly, Elin took it from him. Something caught her eye then. It was a photograph standing just beside him on one of the rustic drawers. She moved closer to have a look. Two women in their seventies sat side by side. The background helped her see it was a photo taken right here in the living room. Her mouth dropped open when she saw who one of those women was.

Elin pointed at her. “Who’s this?” she asked breathily.

Even before he answered, she already knew the answer. Hearing it, only to confirm her hunch, made her drop to the floor and burst into tears.

https://blog.reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts/.

In response to the prompt "Write a character driving in the rain."

On my Reedsy account: https://blog.reedsy.com/short-story/4oiiwn/

[toxicbuckys]

Drink It Away || Peter Parker

Prompt - Y/N is depressed due to personal problems and finds solace in alcohol instead of her boyfriend.

Warnings - angst, for once this fic will not be fluffy, swearing, fighting, mentions of alcoholism, strong depictions of abuse, lotta violence, reader has super strength, older!Peter, sad Wanda, and a slightly different take on Wanda’s powers. Also, this is gonna be super fucking long, fair warning. 

A/N: so like, I rewatched Jessica Jones and it gave me this idea. I also had a bit of trouble writing this cause I’m so used to writing fluff, but like that’s not gonna fuckin stop me so enjoy this shit... please?

not my gif

“You’re cut off. Go home, kid,” says the big burly bartender as he reaches forward and takes away the shot glass you held in her fingers making you grumble under your breath. 

“How the fuck am I supposed to get home? You took my goddamn keys and I’m hammered up the ass,” you slur in a drunken manner, leaning your head on the palm of your hand as you squint at the bartender that you had gotten to know so very well over the past month. 

“Don’t worry, Luke, I got it.”

You roll your eyes in bitter annoyance and sigh deeply at the sound of your boyfriend’s voice, you turn to face him and his expression of disappointment. 

“Babe, come to rescue me again?” You say sarcastically with a smirk on your sleep deprived face, your drunken voice cut through the silence of the almost empty bar.

Peter doesn’t respond, he takes you by the waist and holds you up as he leads you to the door. You would’ve pushed him away but you knew that you wouldn’t be able to walk on your own. You wrapped your arm around his shoulder as he grips your waist, firmly holding you up. 

The grip he held on your waist was tight and if it were in any other situation, you would’ve taken it as a sexual advancement and went for it, but in the past month your libido had dropped down to nothing. The fault of your own mistakes. 

It physically hurt Peter to see you this way, you used to be so full of life and now... you didn’t give a damn about life. 

Every time he had to drag you out of a bar he couldn’t help but face the memories that invaded his mind of the girl he fell in love with. The memory of the smile he hadn’t seen in so long, the way you laughed whenever he told a bad joke, he remembered everything about how you used to be and it hurt so goddamn much. 

You had passed out on his shoulder a few seconds after leaving the bar and all your weight shifted causing Peter to stumble slightly as he opened the door to the backseat of his car, lifting you in his arms he lays you down in the backseat.

During the drive back to the tower Peter started to think of ways to help you and your problem, he couldn’t bare your alcoholism any more and it was beginning to hurt those around you as much as it was hurting him. 

You used to be as close as sisters with Wanda, but it was just this morning that Wanda came up to Peter in tears crying about how much she wanted her best friend back. Wanda had woken up in a cold sweat that same morning from a nightmare about you, and she had been so terrified she broke down in tears. She desperately wanted her best friend back, but these days you didn’t speak to anyone.

Not even Peter. 

He opened the door to his and your shared bedroom being careful not to bump your head in the doorway as he carried you inside. In your sleep, you had managed to grasp an iron grip on Peter’s shirt as you buried your face in his chest. He gently laid you down on the mattress and softly pried your grip from his t-shirt, you subconsciously whimpered in your sleep when you no longer felt Peter’s body heat against you. 

He slowly raised the covers onto your sleeping frame and longingly brushed the hair out of your angelic face. He admired how peaceful you looked in your sleep, how you didn’t look like the alcoholic you had become but the girl you used to be. The girl Peter fell in love with. 

Tears threatened to fall from his eyes as he watched you, he didn’t know how to help you. Not when you wouldn’t talk to anyone and not when he didn’t know what it was that changed you. 

You never told anyone what had happened to you when you went to visit your family back home, and Wanda was too scared to ruin your relationship to check for herself. 

Begrudgingly, Peter stood from where he sat on the edge of the bed and moved the trashcan you guys kept in your room to the side of the bed just in case you woke up and needed to hurl. 

With one last look at his girl, Peter left the room. 

He quietly made his way down a couple hallways down to Wanda’s room where he knew she wasn’t sleeping. The two of them had developed a sort of bond in trying to help you, a bond strong enough to know that Wanda barely slept anymore. She stays up all hours of the night staring up at the ceiling, just thinking. 

Peter softly knocked on her door and waited for it to open. Soft footsteps and rustling were heard on the other side as Wanda got out of bed to open the door. 

“Hey, Peter,” she whispers wrapping her arms around herself. 

“Can I come in?”

She steps to the side and opens the door wider for him to come in, she closes the door behind him and waits for him to speak. 

“I need you to look in her head.”

She should’ve known this would come back eventually, she was the only one who could figure out what it was that messed you up so bad, but she couldn’t risk you getting angry at her for using her powers to invade the privacy of your mind. She had gotten in trouble a few times for getting into people’s minds without their permission, she remembered the one time she did it to you. You had gotten so mad that day that you didn’t speak to Wanda for a week, she wasn’t about to risk something like that now. 

“Absolutely not.”

Peter ran a hand through his hair in frustration, “Wanda, please.”

She shakes her head to decline once more, “I’m not doing that to her again, I can’t have her angry at me.”

“She’s already not talking to you, what more of a difference can it make?” Wanda stays silent and turns away from the boy, refusing to make eye contact.

”If you care about her, you’d do this. We need to help her but we can’t do that if we don’t know what screwed everything up in the first place,” he explains giving Wanda a pleading look, she blinks away tears that pricked at the corner of her eyes. Moments of silence pass, Wanda leans against the door softly crying to herself, not caring if Peter saw her. 

“I miss her,” she mutters, her voice brittle and weak.

“I miss her too.”

Wanda starts to remember what it was like to laugh with you, to be able to trust you with everything. She remembered how happy you used to be and it broke her heart at how easily something tore that apart. There was once a time that you would never let Wanda be unhappy, you never let Wanda doubt herself. And now all she does is think about how unhappy she is, she doesn’t do much else, and now she was tired of it. 

“Fine, I’ll do it.”

Wanda sat on the edge of the bed gazing down at you, the girl she considered a sister, praying that once she did this you wouldn’t be mad at her. Wanda leaned forward, hovering her hands over your head and conjured her power. 

Red energy surrounded her hands as she finds a way into your mind, your dark and damaged mind. 

Wanda digs around in your memories until she finds the one of you going back home to visit your family. The moment she found the memory, she had already regretted it. 

.

It was your big sister’s birthday weekend and you were going home to celebrate with the family. You hadn’t seen them in so long and you were so excited that you were practically bouncing in your boots. You parked in the driveway of your childhood home and waved at your mother and sister whom waited for you on the porch of the house. 

Shutting off the engine, you reach over to the passenger's seat and take the neatly wrapped birthday present you had gotten for your sister in your hands. Tucking it under your arm you step out of the car and brace yourself for the oncoming bear hug from your big sister. 

“Y/N! I missed you, loser!” She exclaims happily, throwing her frail arms around you and squeezing you tightly in a loving embrace. 

You hand the present over to your mother who stood behind your sister and return the hug. 

“I missed you too, dork.”

The two of you pull away and your sister steps to the side to let your mother give you a hug, she embraces you and nuzzles her head in your shoulder. 

“I need to talk to you,” your mother whispers in your ear, softly enough that your grinning sister doesn’t hear. 

You pull back and give your mother a confused look but she ignores it and plasters a smile on her face before ushering the both of you inside the house where the rest of the family was waiting. 

Inside the house was chaos, it had been a while since the family was all together but it wasn’t everyday that someone survives cancer after being told that they wouldn’t. That someone was your sister who had made it to her 26th birthday. 

Your mother drops your present off in the living room and all but drags you to an empty bedroom. 

“Ma, what’s wrong?” You ask in worry catching sight of the terrified look on your mother’s face. 

“He escaped. He’s coming here,” she whispers to you in fear that someone might still hear her, you were taken back by her news. 

You took in the sight of your mother, her hands were shaking and a thin veil of sweat covered her forehead. She had no need to specify who the aforementioned man was because you already knew. 

It was your father. 

Your father was a cynical man who beat your mother half to death for most of your childhood, it was him that made you angry enough to discover a hidden ability you never knew you had. 

You were only six and your sister was twelve when your father had come home drunk one night, similar to all other nights. The two of you had been sleeping when you were both woken up by a woman’s screams and objects crashing coming from the kitchen. 

You got out of bed and looped your arm with your sister’s, going downstairs where your mother’s screams were getting louder. Both of you peeked inside the kitchen where your father stood seething mad over your sobbing mother, holding a broken beer bottle above his head. 

His head snapped to the doorway where your heads stuck out from behind the wall, he spots you and your sister. His anger turns away from your mother and switches it to you two. 

He grabs your sister by the waist and pushes her to the side, her head colliding harshly with the wall. He takes you by the arm and drags you back to the kitchen, your screaming and crying didn’t faze him. 

“Let me go!” Six year-old you screams struggling ineffectively against the man who you never technically considered your father. 

His grip on your tiny arm tightens and you cry in pain. You wield your arm back and form a tiny fist, your fist collides with his abdomen copying the move you had seen on the dozens of action movies your sister was obsessed with watching. 

Instead of the punch being ineffective, your father folds over in pain, dropping his hold on you. In surprise, you decide to hit him again, this time he flies back into a wall. Your ears catching the sound of bones cracking, you run over to him and continue to hit him. Your rage had blinded you and you couldn’t stop yourself until you felt a familiar pair of arms wrap around you and pull you away from the unconscious man. 

That night, you discovered your super strength, and that night your father went away for good. 

Until now. 

“I protected you then and I’ll protect you now. I won’t let him touch you, I promise.”

You envelope your mother in a gentle hug, giving her time to breathe deep breaths. 

It was silent in the room for a few seconds when suddenly you hear gunshots coming from downstairs, your mother jumps and covers her mouth to stop herself from screaming. You tell her to stay inside the room as you dash down the stairs to where the shots had come from. 

Your heart was thumping wildly in your chest and desperately wanted to cry because you didn’t think you could face him, but you had to stay strong. 

For your mother. 

Down in the living room, a man holding an automatic gun shoots down your family. A man you didn’t recognize. 

“No!” You scream as you see your family members fall before your eyes. 

You didn’t stop to cry, your fist flew forward and struck the man down. You sent your foot to his head for good measure. 

Tears began to fall from your eyes as you collapse to your knees, letting out a choked sob at the sight of the people you were raised by and grew up with laying dead with bullets littering their bodies. You try your hardest not to scan the room as you bawl, but you couldn’t stop yourself. 

The walls were sprayed with spattered blood and stray bullets, and in your position you just wanted to curl up and die. 

That is, until you noticed someone missing. 

Your sister wasn’t among the bodies. 

The pieces began to connect in your head. You curse and sprint up the stairs into the room where you left your mother, but by the time you got there both your mother and sister were tied up with your father standing behind them pointing two separate guns at their heads. 

“Shit,” you mumble under your breath at the situation, your father smirks at you.

“Y/N, always the hero, aren’t you?” 

“If you hurt them I swear to god I’ll rip your goddamn head off!” You threaten but the look on his face doesn’t falter. 

“I’ll make you a deal, choose one to die and the other lives, and hurry before I lose my patience.”

The two women at gunpoint began screaming at you to let the other live, but even through all the screaming and crying they sounded muffled. You stood there for who know’s how long just trying to find a way to make it out with both of them alive. Your cheeks were wet with tears and flushed with fear.

Your worst nightmare had come true. 

“Time’s up.” 

The two shots rang in your ears, your scream muffled in your ears as you shot forward in his direction. 

Your hands wrapped tightly around his neck and didn’t let go. Using your strength you squeezed and pulled until finally, you made good on your promise. 

.

“Oh my god,” Wanda whispers using her hands to cover her face in both shame and disbelief, she stands from her spot on the bed and steps away from you and Peter. 

“What? What was it?” Peter asks in worry. 

Wanda’s answer was cut off by you waking up, screaming. 

You looked around frantically, searching for any danger you might be in. Your heart was racing crazily in your chest and your breathing was more hyperventilating at this point. 

Your eyes land on Wanda who was panicking to the side and a ferocious growl erupts from the back of your throat. 

“What the fuck did you do?” You yell in anger, you swing your legs to the side and get off the bed, storming over to your best friend. 

“I-I’m sorry, I know I shouldn’t have and-and...” Wanda stuttered, she was absolutely terrified. 

Not only had she just first handedly witnessed the worst moment of your life, but she had also witnessed you murdering your father in cold blood. Along with the fact that she had done the one thing you asked her not to do, she knew never to fear you just as you knew never to fear her. 

But right now, as she looked into your angry raging eyes she couldn’t help but wish she had never listened to Peter. 

“Y/N! It wasn’t her fault! I made her do it! I wanted to know what was going on with you and I made her do it,” Peter explains getting in between you and Wanda. 

Your anger turns to your boyfriend in a split second. 

“Who the hell do you think you are? You had no right to invade my privacy like that! If I wanted to tell you, I would’ve fucking told you, Peter!” You scream, you looked into his eyes and didn’t see a single sliver of regret. 

“I love you, I really do, but I really don’t give a damn. I had to spend this entire month dragging you out of bars, taking care of you, making sure you didn’t drink yourself to death! I actually give a crap about you and I deserve to know what the hell fucked you up so bad!” He yelled letting out a month’s worth of frustration, he didn’t mean for it to come out so angry and frustrated but it did and he couldn’t take it back. 

You paused, you stared at him for what felt like hours until a smirk makes its way to your tear stricken face. 

“You wanna know what fucked me up? You did all this shit cause you wanna fucking know?” You asked, your tone laced with what sounded like amusement but was actually venom.

Peter wanted to stay silent, he didn’t like the current look on your face. He wanted to take everything back, he wanted to take the last fifteen minutes back, but what’s done is done and he was one of the many people who couldn’t go back. 

“Yes,” he answered in a soft voice almost above a whisper, if you hadn’t been listening intently for his answer you almost wouldn’t have heard him. 

“I killed my father with my bare hands. I killed him right after he murdered my mother and sister right in front of me.” Your voice had cracked mid-sentence as the images began to invade your head again, your breath caught in your throat as you let out more tears. But these weren’t of anger. 

They were of you finally admitting to yourself that you had fucked up. 

“Fuck,” you cried. 

You would’ve collapsed to the floor if it weren’t for Peter’s strong arms catching you, he and Wanda sat with you as you cried on the floor. 

“I-I promised my mom that nothing would happen to her, a-and she trusted me,” you began, holding tightly onto Peter’s shirt, “but he still shot her.”

“We know you’re hurting, but you can’t drink the pain away and expect us not to worry about you. Do you know how much we love you?” His voice had dropped down to a gentle loving tone, showing just how much he cared for you with every single word. 

You switched your teary gaze from your hands to his loving brown eyes, the same eyes you fell in love with. 

“I’m sorry,” you begin to apologize to Peter, then turn to Wanda with the same apologetic expression, “to the both of you, for all the pain of the past month.”

“It wasn’t your fault, your reaction was completely understandable. What you went through was traumatizing and we don’t blame you for how you handled it,” Wanda started giving you her famous heartwarming smile. 

“But now, we want you to know that you don’t have to handle it alone.”

Your eyes dart back down to your lap where you fiddled nervously with your fingers. 

“I’ll be better, I promise. I’ll start talking to you guys or professionals, whatever I need to do to get better because I can’t stand to see you guys looking at me the way you do,” you say turning your head to the side to face Peter who was also looking at you lovingly. 

He leans forward and captures your lips in a gentle, soft kiss. 

“Whatever brings back my girl.”

.

.

.

A/N: hope you liked this fic ! i worked really hard on it. i’d like you guys to know that i am working on a part two to Nerds and it should be up sometime this week or next week depending on how distracted i get with my personal life. thanks !! <3333

[everlarkbirthdaydrabbles]

My birthday is February 18. Could I have Smitty age gap please and thank you?

Happy, happy birthday @aaltena26! To help you celebrate in style, the always incredible @booksrockmyface has written this wonderful bit of Everlark, just for you. Enjoy!!

Dream Come True

Rated: Explicit

Trigger warning: Brief talk of a four wheeler (ATV) accident and a resulting injury ending in amputation of a limb.

Author’s note: HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I hope this is all you were hoping for and that your day is THE BEST! Much thanks to thesaltywinteradult for helping me get this story figured out when I got stuck on a transition.

________

Peeta remembered staying up late when he was eight years old to see Katniss Everdeen compete in the final archery round in Athens. She had been a frontrunner from the start, especially since she’d just barely missed out getting into the games four years before. She was his first crush.

When he was put in charge of showing the Olympian around campus as the Student Activities Board president, he was beside himself with excitement. He’d get to talk to her. Get her settled into her hotel. Introduce her to the group of students that would gather to see her archery demonstration.

“Calm down, Mellark. She’s just a person.” He told himself as he bounced around in the parking lot waiting for her arrival. “A really hot person you’ve had a crush on nearly all your like, but a person nonetheless.”

A compact car that looked like it had seen better days pulled in and Katniss Everdeen emerged. She was even more beautiful that Peeta could have ever imagined. Her long brown hair hung in waves over her shoulders. The sign, “Dangerous curves” came to mind as she stretched and looked around. She removed her sunglasses and sent a smile Peeta’s way, causing him to suddenly lose his normal ability to talk as her grey eyes landed on him.

“Are you Peeta?” She asked as she walked over, a blonde girl Peeta knew to be her younger sister in her wake.

“Yeah, that would be me.” He managed to stutter, holding out his hand. “Peeta Mellark. I have to say, Miss Everdeen, I am a huge fan. I watched the final round in Athens when you won the gold.”

Katniss laughed and blushed a little. “That was hard day. But the best day of my life.”

“I thought the day I graduated high school was the best day of your life.” The blonde girl teased.

Katniss laughed. “No, sorry, my gold beats your graduation and your wedding day combined.” She made introduction. “This is my sister Prim.” She pointed her thumb toward the car. “That’s Gale by the car. He’s my best friend. Also my brother-in-law.”

Peeta nodded. “Well, I can help you find your way around campus. Unless you’d like to get settled in your hotel.”

Katniss smiled. “Already got settled, actually. We got up pretty early this morning. Gale likes to drive, so Prim and I slept in the car.”

“Then, I would love to show you around our lovely campus.” Peeta led the way, jabbering away about the history of the school, all the while thinking about all the things he’d done while looking at Katniss’s pictures growing up. And all the things he was going to imagine long after she was gone.

Katniss didn’t seem entirely interested, but she at least asked questions every once in a while. She smiled and reached out to touch Peeta’s arm as they circled back to the start. “It’s a beautiful campus.

“Thanks.” He felt his heart pounding in his chest at her touch. “Can’t take too much credit, but I’m pretty proud of it.”

“As you should be.” She said kindly. “So what time do I need to be back here tomorrow?”

“Your demonstration starts at noon. You can come warm up any time before that. We’ll have a crew set up your targets and everything this evening. Someone will be on hand in the morning as early as ten.” He gave her his most dazzling smile. “But I can make sure you have my number in case you need someone before that.”

Katniss smoothly handed over her phone. “Thanks.”

Prim cleared her throat. Peeta noticed a look pass between the sisters, but nothing was said. He finished typing in his number and handed the phone back.

“Call if you need anything.” Peeta said.

“I will.” Katniss replied with a kind smile.

________

“Oh, wow, isn’t he cute?” Prim gushed as Gale pointed the car back toward the hotel.

Katniss snorted. “Please, Prim, he’s a baby.”

“What? Like twenty?” Prim said. “That’s not a baby.”

“Well, you’re married, so I don’t know what you’re going on about.” Katniss pointed out.

Gale chuckled. “Well, Catnip, you are very single and I think you should tap that. It would be good for you. Improve your mood.”

“Fuck you.” Katniss crossed her arms. “It would just be weird. I’m thirty-two and he’s barely out of high school.”

Prim leaned forward. “He’s cute and he’s smart and he’s totally into you. So what if he’s twenty? He gave you his number.” She squeezed Katniss’s arm gently. “And he did say to call if you needed anything. I say a toe-curling orgasm counts.”

Katniss covered her mouth as she laughed. “How do you know it would be toe-curling?”

“The way he looked at you, he’s probably been jerking off to your picture since he first figured out what masturbation was.” Gale said. “He at least knows a little bit.”

“Solo experience has nothing to do with how well someone will be in the sack.” Prim argued. “But you should try it anyway, Katniss. Maybe it’ll be a learning experience for him.”

“Yeah, he could put it on his resume.” Gale said with a suppressed laugh. “‘I fucked archery gold medalist Katniss Everdeen.’”

Katniss shook her head as she continued to laugh softly. “I can’t believe you two.”

Gale shrugged as he pulled into the hotel parking lot. “Might as well go for it. He nearly came in his pants just looking at you.”

This got all three of them going.

Prim said, “You’d know a thing or two about that, wouldn’t you, Gale?”

His ears turned pink. “Don’t know what you’re talking about, Prim.” He got out of the car and headed toward the front door.

Katniss and Prim followed, separating when they got to their floor. “Dinner in a half hour?” Prim asked.

“Sure.” Katniss stepped into the room and looked around. She sat down on the bed and looked around. Maybe Prim and Gale were right.

_________

Peeta groaned as Finnick beat him at yet another race. Which was unusual because he was pretty good at Mario Kart.

“You’re a little off your game today.” Finnick said.

“Just stressed.” Peeta dropped the controller on the coffee table and stretched. “Like I always am when we have campus visitors. I shouldn’t have run for president. This is a lot to take on.”

Finnick snorted. “Sure. Has nothing to do with it being Katniss Everdeen, your nightly wet dream.”

“Of course not.” Peeta said defensively as he snatched up his ringing phone. The number was one he didn’t recognize, but he answered anyway.

“Hi, it’s Katniss.” The voice that floated through the line was a little uncertain. “It’s Peeta, right?”

“Yeah, it’s Peeta.” His heart sped up and he hurried to his bedroom to get away from Finnick’s curious eavesdropping. “How can I help you?”

She seemed to hesitate a moment before she said, “You want to come hang out with me?” She laughed. “Would that be weird?”

“No, definitely not.” Peeta said quickly. “But are you sure you want to spend your time with some college kid?”

“I’m sure. My sister and brother-in-law are still in the honeymoon phase of their marriage and I always end up being the third wheel.”

Peeta chuckled. “I know that feeling.” He paused. “So you want me to come for real?”

She laughed. “Yes, I do.” She gave him the name of the hotel and her room number.

“Holy shit.” Peeta said, staring at the disconnected phone. “Holy shit.” He sat down on his bed and quickly pulled on his shoes. “Holy shit.” He pulled a few condoms out of their place in his top drawer and stuffed them in his pocket before he hurried out. “I’m going to hang out with Katniss Everdeen.” He said as he picked up his keys off the hook by the door. “Don’t wait up.”

Peeta drove like a madman to get to the hotel across town. He walked casually past the front desk clerk and up to the third floor.

Katniss opened the door just a moment after his knuckles made contact with the wood. She gave him a megawatt smile as she ushered him in. “I hope I didn’t pull you away from studying or something.”

Peeta shook his head and sat on the chair in the corner. “I was just playing Mario Kart with my roommate.”

“I used to play that.” She laughed. “When I wasn’t doing target practice.”

He sat down in a chair just inside the door. “So you really do practice all the time?”

She smiled and offered him a can of soda. “Not since I stopped competing so much.”

“So no Tokyo for you?” He asked.

She shook her head. “I’m moving on to coaching. Maybe I’ll get to go back in that capacity one day.” She opened her can of coke and took a sip. “So what’s your major?”

“Art with an emphasis on graphic design.” Peeta said proudly.

Katniss gave him a kind smile. “That’s a little lofty.”

“It is.” He said. “But my dad owns a bakery and I’ll go back to help him once school is done. I can still do art that way and not ever be broke or homeless.”

“Well, then, I suppose it’s smart.” She traced a grain on the table. “I never went to college. Too busy with hours and hours of training.”

He nodded. “I didn’t even want to go to college, but my mom insisted. I decided if I had to come, I was going to do it on my own terms. She wanted me to do a business degree, but I chose art instead to spite her. I plan on learning all my dad can show me, anyway.”

She bit her lip and placed her hand on top of his. “I’m sure your dad would be very happy to do that for you.”

“Yeah.” His voice caught in his throat at her touch. He blurted, “I have the biggest crush on you.”

She laughed and rubbed her thumb over the back of his hand. “I’m flattered.”

He laughed uncomfortably. “I told a kid in school when I was about twelve that you were a family friend and that I talked to you all the time. He didn’t believe me, of course, and asked my mom. I got in so much trouble for trying to start that rumor.”

Katniss laughed at that. “Where did you grow up?”

“Like an hour from your hometown. We really could have known each other.” Peeta took a sip from his soda and sat it down. “Do you have a boyfriend?” He felt himself blush and shook his head. “That’s a little forward of me, sorry. You don’t have to answer.”

“No boyfriend.” She said. “Never really had a lot of time for them.”

“Because of the practice?”

She nodded. “Plenty of flings and one night stands, though.” She gave him a steady look. “What about you?”

“I had a girlfriend in high school. Some flings of my own here in college. A few attempted one night stands, but they got weirded out when I took my pants off and made a quick exit.”

She gave him a questioning look.

“Not anything to do with my penis.” He said quickly. “They’re usually pretty impressed with that. It’s the fact that I don’t have leg.”

She glanced down.

He took the cue and pulled up his left pant leg. “Four wheeler accident when I was a kid. Too crushed to even consider any sort of reconstruction.”

“How far…?”

“Just above the knee.” He dropped his pant leg back down. “I’ve started trying to be up front about it when a girl doesn’t know me. So she can run before I get my hopes up.” He gave her a grin.

She smiled and placed her hand on top of his again. “Well, let me tell you, a prosthetic leg is nothing. You’re cute. And two legs or one, I don’t think I’d kick you out of bed for eating crackers.”

This has to be a dream, he thought to himself.

Lifting his hand up, she pressed her lips to his palm.

The breath caught in Peeta’s throat as his heart began to speed up. “You’re so beautiful.” He somehow managed to say.

Katniss smiled. “Would you like to go to bed with me?”

“Yeah, I’d like that very much.” He followed her across the room. “And I promise I won’t tell anyone about this.”

She shrugged. “I guess if you want to brag about it, you can.” She slipped her hands under his shirt, they were warm and eager.

“No, I don’t brag.” He smirked. “I’ve only slept with one girl that was decent and we learned all that together.” He brushed his fingers along her cheek. “You’ll probably want to forget all about this when all is said and done.”

She shrugged and pressed a kiss to his lips. A groan escaped him.

“I feel like this is a dream and I’m about to wake up.” He admitted.

She smiled and lifted his shirt over his head. “Well, this isn’t a dream. I promise.”

He grinned and whispered, “Prove it.”

A quick pinch to his nipple sent a ripple through Peeta’s body, causing him to let out a quick gasp. Katniss grinned and pulled him in for a deep kiss. One of her hands tangled in his hair as the other slipped between them to palm his growing erection.

He finally got the nerve to return her touches, slipping his hand up her shirt and sliding it over the smoothness over her lower back. The other hand grasped her bottom and pulled her closer.

Both of them were breathing heavily when she broke the kiss. “Take off my shirt.” She whispered.

He swallowed and quickly complied. She wasn’t wearing a bra. “Holy shit.” He breathed.

She smiled and pulled him in again, dropping kisses across his shoulder.

“Katniss.” He sighed.

She lifted her head and smiled. “You can touch me, you know.”

“I feel like you’re going to disappear as soon as I do.”

Her smile turned mischievous as she took his hands and placed them on her breasts. “Poof!” She exclaimed.

He laughed and then picked her up by her hips.

She squeaked and wrapped her arms around his neck as he took the last few steps to the bed. “Oh, wow, you’re strong.”

He smiled up at her. “I’m a wrestler.” He sat her down, his lips grazing against her skin as she slid to the floor. He slipped a hand behind her head and buried his fingers in her hair. In a hoarse whisper, he said, “I brought condoms.”

“Good. I begged one from Gale, but the more the merrier.” She bit her lip coyly. “Can I finish undressing you?”

Peeta smiled and nodded. “Yes.”

After a fleeting kiss, Katniss dropped to her knees and popped the button on Peeta’s jeans. She pressed a series of kisses across his stomach as she pulled his pants and underwear over his hips. Following the band with her mouth, she placed hot kisses down his leg until she was met with the top of his prosthetic. His heart started beating a different rhythm as she paused and sat back.

She looked up at him. “Does it hurt?”

He swallowed. “It’s like wearing shoes all day. Stuffy and annoying. Doesn’t really hurt unless I’ve been walking on it too much.”

She pressed his hips back until he sat on the mattress. She removed his shoes and the rest of his clothes. Running a hand up the length of both his legs she said, “Do you take it off or leave it on?”

“It’s really awkward to wear.” Peeta swallowed. “But if you would be more comfortable, I can leave it on.”

Katniss shook her head and stood. “You can take it off. I don’t mind.” She leaned over and pressed a kiss to his lips before moving to sit beside him on the bed, kissing his neck and shoulder.

Even though it was a muscle memory, he still fumbled with the removal of his leg while her hands and her mouth moved all over his skin. She was messing with all his senses. His cock twitched as her hand spread over his lower stomach.

“Condoms are in my pocket.” He gasped.

“In due time.” She said softly, wrapping her hand around his length.

Peeta lifted a hand and tangled it in Katniss’s hair once more as their mouths met in a crushing kiss that made his heart pound even harder in his chest. This was everything he’d ever dreamed of. All those nights staring at the pictures on his wall as he touched himself, wishing she could come out of those photos and take over.

And then she stopped and stood, dropping her pants to the floor before climbing into the bed and beckoning him with a single, crooked finger and a sly grin.

He dropped the leg and sock on the floor as he climbed up to hover over her. Their mouths met again and their hands roamed. Peeta slipped his hand between Katniss’s thighs and circled a finger slowly around her clit until she was gasping on the edge of orgasm. Then he pulled away, just as she had.

“Can I taste you?” He asked.

“That would be great.” She pushed on his shoulder.

He laughed and slowly trailed his mouth down her body. Pressing her legs apart, his mouth made contact with her hard and ready clit. She tasted glorious! And her response to him was nothing short of eager. She grasped his head and pressed herself into him. He took hold of her hips and doubled his efforts. She was panting and encouraging and just a short time later she was rocking against his mouth as she let out beautiful mewling cries.

When Katniss finally loosened her grip on his hair, Peeta moved up her body once more. He paused to swirl his tongue over her nipple as he palmed the other.

“That’s nice.” She breathed.

He smiled against her skin as he came to hover over her. “It was.”

She combed her fingers through his hair. “Condoms in your pocket, huh?”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

After pulling him in for a long kiss, she moved from underneath him to find his pants among the piles on the floor. She came up with a triumphant sound and waved a square of plastic. She climbed back on the bed and sat beside Peeta. Her hands trailed over his skin admiringly. With a smile, she leaned down and pressed her lips over his skin. Then she slid her tongue up the length of his cock, taking the tip into her mouth for a moment and swirling her tongue around it.

“Holy shit.” He gasped.

She removed her mouth and grinned at him as she opened the condom. “Is that your favorite exclamation?”

“Yeah.” He panted. “I’m still sure I’m going to wake up any second.”

Katniss moved to sit on Peeta’s thighs as she rolled the condom on his length. “For at least this once, Peeta, I’m the real thing.” She grinned. “Wrinkles and all.”

He shook his head. “You’re perfect.”

She rolled her eyes. “You know, I’m already naked and almost on top of you, there’s no need for flattery.” She moved herself forward and lowered herself over him.

“But you are perfect.” He sighed as she surrounded him and he gripped her hips to keep her from moving. If she went too soon, he’d come in seconds. And if he was going to fuck Katniss Everdeen, he wanted it to last at least a minute.

She leaned over and braced her hands on the side of his head. “God, you feel good.”

He smiled up at her and bucked his hips. “So do you.”

Katniss set up a slow pace, twirling her hips as she went. It nearly drove Peeta to ruin. It took all his power to hold off. But it didn’t last long. He felt the tightening and she must have too because she sat back moved faster, stilling over him at the last moment. Everything was a little foggy for a few seconds as the orgasm took over.

She gently scratched his chest as he came back to himself, panting and heart beating wildly. “You good?”

He nodded, mumbling something that resembled a “yes.”

She leaned over and kissed him once more before removing herself from him. She stretched out on her back with a satisfied sigh.

“Holy shit.” He sighed.

She slipped her hand into his and brought it up to kiss his knuckles. “Holy shit, indeed.”

Peeta laughed. “That’s so much better than my dreams.”

“Honestly,” Katniss admitted, “that was better than I expected.”

He turned his head. “Glad I could be of service.”

“That came out wrong.” She rolled over and pressed her face into his neck. “I’m sorry.” She looked up. “How old are you, by the way?”

He grinned. “Twenty.”

She nodded. “Not too bad.” She rolled away once more. “I usually stick to guys my age. I don’t want you to think I’m on some sort of quest for younger men.”

He shrugged. “I don’t care. Tonight it’s me. And I mattered for these minutes. I may not matter to you a week from now.” He kissed the back of her hand. “But you capped off over a decade of longing with a great experience and I will never forget you.”

She grinned. “I’m glad I could be that for you.” She moved over him and kissed him softly. “You can stay as long as you like.”

“Thanks.” He pulled her close and kissed her deeply. He didn’t plan on leaving any time soon.

[allhallows-art]

WRITING REQUESTS

So, I’ve decided to redo this shit I did a while back. A long time ago, I compiled a huge list of AU’s and I’ve decided to repost it. If you want a bit of writing done for the following people:

SuperMega Game Grumps Markiplier ( and crew including Tyler and Ethan ) HatFilms Sidemen Cow Chop CancerCrew Then all you have to do is pick from the list below, send the number to me along with who you want it to be about. I’ll try and get through them as soon as I can. They’ll probably all be shit and jokey bc that’s my writing style but I hope you enjoy Thanks to @apocalypto-12​ for rekindling my love for writing and feel free to pick some Au’s and I'll write them for you babe

1. ‘my parents are rly religious and forced me to this meeting I hate everything the entire world is against me what the actual fuck did a stranger just send me nudes’ 2. I’m passionate about this cause and I will give you this flier if I must shove it down your throat 3. all our friends are drunk 4. it’s 3 am and I’m still in the library studying for finals and I’m losing my grip on reality and I think I just saw a ghost 5. We’re studying in the library and there are two people very obviously fucking in the stacks and we keep sharing embarrassed glances 6. You decked me in the head while you were playing frisbee golf 7. I’ve been sitting in this seat all semester why did you decide to sit in it today 8. my friend dragged me to this party and I just saw my ex quick make out with me 9. it’s 3am, in the dead of winter, some motherfucker pulled/set off the fire alarm and I am being very vocal about how I’m gonna make that fucker pay 10. you’re the fucker who set off the fire alarm with your awful cooking (or) I’m the fucker who set off the fire alarm with my awful cooking 11. dude your headphones are loud like I can make out most of Kayne’s lyrics and I’m sitting across the fucking room 12. you live above me and I’m going to murder you if you don’t stop throwing parties Sunday night 13. ‘me and my roommate decided to decorate our house for Halloween but got really into it, and ended up re-enacting several scenes from nightmare on elm street so loud the neighbours called the police to investigate screams’ 14. I broke your nose at a mosh pit 15. “You were chased by the cops, got in my car and just yelled ‘Drive!’” 16. “You broke into my apartment drunk thinking it was your friend’s house and I should call the cops but my cat kinda likes you so we’re good” 17. “You saw me reading the same book you did and we got into a heated discussion on how much it sucks 18. “My cat steals underwear and I come home to find you chasing my cat to get your underwear back.” 19. “This horrible umbrella won’t extend! Oh, shit I just hit you in the stomach/crotch! I’m so sorry.” 20. “I drunkenly tried to fight you and knocked myself out but you were kind enough to take care of me till I woke up.” 21. “I thought you were my friend so I slapped your ass in greeting.” 22. “I’m watching The Lion King on my phone and I’m trying to hide the fact I’m sobbing uncontrollably but you notice anyway.” 23. cat person and dog person meet at petco and their pets won’t stop hissing and growling at each other 24. we’re both ‘team leaders’ at a summer camp for little people and you may be hot but goddammit my collection of twelve-year-olds are going to beat yours into the dust 25. a mutual friend invited us to their laser tag party and we’re the last two alive on opposite teams and goddammit if I’m going down you’re going down with me 26. ‘I met you last night when you were drunkenly patting my dog in my backyard at 3 in the morning and when I asked you what the hell you were doing you slurred something about dogs being great and then you threw up on my feet and then fifteen minutes later you were passed out on my couch so that’s why you’re here right now also what the fuck is your name and why were you patting a dog in a stranger’s backyard in the middle of the night’ 27. 'last night was a haze for both of us and somehow we woke up hungover in a bed that isn’t either of ours and neither of us recognize this apartment we should probably get out of here before someone calls the cops on us’ 28. 'i found you sleeping on my balcony when I went out to water my plants why are you here and more importantly how did you get here we’re eighteen floors up’ 29. ‘I called the wrong number and started talking about my life and you only interrupted me after a few a few minutes of me revealing some pretty personal stuff and now your invested in my life troubles’ 30. ‘we’re two thirds of the threesome we had last night and we’re walking awkwardly out of the last person’s apartment together’ 31. ‘I’ve had a really awful day so I started kicking a car out of frustration and it turned out to be your car I’m so sorry’ 32. I always see you doing weird shit at ridiculous hours of the night and it makes me feel better because I do weird shit in the middle of the night too 33. “I’m going to need you to put on some underwear before you say anything else." 34. “So why did I have to punch that guy?” 35. “I hope you know that my name is actually ________.” 36. "That is the tenth demon summoning this week holy shit.” 37. “Why exactly do you need chloroform at 2AM?” 38. “You need to stop leaving dead bodies in my kitchen.” 39. I asked you to babysit one time and now my child keeps asking when you will spend time with them again 40. “I’m so sorry that my child pointed out how your shirt- actually never mind I agree, that shirt is horrendous” 41. “You’re drunk and walked into the wrong apartment and fell asleep on my couch oh god you’re going to be so confused in the morning” 42. “I’m at work and my son needs to be picked up from school do you mind?” 43. “Okay well it turns out you’re really good with kids and my son has started calling you daddy and insists we move in so ‘we can be a real family’” 44. “Our dogs whine whenever they’re apart so we spend pretty much every day together” 45. “I walked in on your ex yelling at you so you grabbed me and kissed me so she’d go away and I’m kind of freaked out I literally just met you last week” 46. I’m giving out candy for Halloween and you brought your little sibling trick or treating and I think that’s sweet 47. I accidentally egged the wrong house and I’m trying to apologize but it’s one in the morning and you’re pissed off and I’m so sorry 48. “I live below you and I was minding my own business watching the snowfall out the window WHEN I SAW A BODY FALL ARE YOU REALLY PUTTING UP CHRISTMAS LIGHTS NOW” 49. “our Christmas party turned into a tropical theme because the radiator is broken and it’s hotter than hell in here - damn you look good without a shirt I never noticed before asgdhfjgkhl” 50. You’re allergic to cats but my cat really likes you my bad 51. You caught me having a Barbie movie marathon and now I’m trying to keep you from telling anyone about this! 52. met at a family reunion but not related to each other 53. your kid hates my kid 54. Accidentally “parkoured” through your window and I must pay you back but I’m dead broke 55. It’s a rainy day and I see you get side-splashed by a car and I’m laughing so hard until I get hit too 56. Drunkenly sold my soul to a demon and now I’m their bitch but this might be not so bad 57. Work at the same shitty restaurant and have all the same shitty shift times 58. 'What the fuck are you doing its midnight why are you playing 'My Heart Will Go On' on the piano' 59. “I came up to your apartment to ask you to turn down your music and have quieter sex, but it turns out that you’ve just been jumping up and down on your bed in your underwear listening to music alone 60. 'I heard you singing backstreet boys at 3am and decided to sing along oops’ (other old boybands can be substituted) 61. 'I was walking by the roller coasters and SOMEONE’S SHOE FLEW OFF AND HIT ME IN THE HEAD 62. you’re the drummer for my brother’s band and I find you hot (bonus: the band is really shit and the drummer doesn't want to be there so uses the other person as an excuse to get out of practice) 63. we go to the same coffee shop every evening to do homework but we never speak to each other until today 64. I’m only your friend because we smoke weed and get high together 65.

66. “I want to blame my young child from accidentally breaking your window with a baseball, but it actually was in fact me, and I was aiming for your roof I am sorry 67. we have apartments next to each other and sometimes you’re blasting shitty music but other times you’re jerking off and that’s even louder than the music please quite down 68. “I’m a biker and one day I was biking in your neighborhood while you just happened to be outside watering the plants and since you’re so goddamn cute I accidentally steered into a pole and now you’re giving me first aid (holy shit you’re even cuter up close)” 69. “I’m at a karaoke bar and I’m sober enough to realize that your voice singing my absolute favorite song is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard, and you caught me staring and winked at me oh shit" 70. “it’s 2 in the morning and I was just trying to get home but I left my sunroof open all day and now there’s a squirrel in my car and it scared me and I drove into a pole – would you please stop laughing you’re a cop. you’re supposed to be helping” 71. “you can’t get tattooed drunk, come back in the morning and if you still want my name on your ass we’ll talk" 72. ‘I walked into the public bathroom at a mcdonalds and you’re dangling halfway out of an air vent do I even want to know what you were doing’ 73. ‘I found you on the roof of my house passed out with a black eye holding a fire extinguisher’ 74. I accidentally texted the wrong number with a cat meme and you replied back with a different one unexpectedly and we just kept going ‘till I was convinced I would marry you 75. I’m best friends with your brother and when we were face-chatting you walked past in your boxers and bent over to pick something up and I tried averting my eyes but that ass 76. Detective partners 77. Reincarnation 78. Childhood friends with adjoining houses/rooms 79. This is the end of the world and we’re all we’ve got 80. I keep calling tech support because you’re helpful and your voice is cute 81. Competitive buskers who eventually for a band 82. Pen pals who vent to each other every week 83. Working at a theatre together during midnight premiere of a blockbuster 84. Meeting while waiting for hours in the a&e 85. Panicked yelling in unison because of lost baggage between connecting flights 86. Book store 87. Reluctant team mates who save the world together 88. Stuck in an airport because our flights were very delayed and it’s like 2am 89. Pretending to be siblings because of reasons 90. Teaming up to rescue respective abducted children 91. Trapped in a bank during a robbery 92. I’m pretending to be your bff bc you look very uncomfortable with that person at the bar 93. New fbi partner is hot 94. You accidentally shipped this weird thing to my apartment 95. Inappropriately timed confessions 96. At a ski lodge somehow got stuck outside in a storm hey look an abandoned cabin logically thinking go inside for warmth 97. Oops friend looks like the only place to sleep in this house is this small twin sized bed guess we are sharing 98. Inappropriately timed proposals 99. Called the wrong number while drunk 100. Hitchhiker 101. Arranged marriage 102. Fallen angel 103. Fashion designer 104. Zombie apocalypse 105. Backpacking across Europe 106. Mermaid 107. Band on tour 108. Small town lovers 109. Ice skaters 110. Dancing partners 111. Singing partners 112. Lawyers/ detectives 113. Writer and editor 114. Photographer and model 115. Stuck in a lift together 116. Phycologist and a patient 117. Partners in crime 118. Dystopian 119. Utopian 120. We both got kicked out of our rooms bc our room mates are hooking up and we are now avoiding each other 121. Laser tag 122. Walked by a rollercoaster and got hit in the head by a shoe 123. Swim team 124. Got mistaken for a celeb by their biggest fan 125. Sorry I set the fire alarm off for like the forty ninth time I tried to cook 126. I’m a werewolf but I’m embarrassed to tell you bc my wolf form is more like a Chihuahua 127. We both tried to rob a bank at the same time 128. Mistaken identity 129. Trapped on a desert island 130. Lab partners 131. Runaway royalty and a confused commoner 132. Android ad human 133. Immortal and non-immortal 134. Detention 135. Time travel 136. Came to the wrong Halloween party 137. Pranked the wrong person 138. Accidentally scared a kid and their adult is angry at me 139. Rival super heroes trying to save the same small town 140. Neighbours who only met because “I cannot get this stupid jar open can you help?” 141. We made a bet at the beginning of laser tag guess who won pay up 142. I’m on the FBIs most wanted for killing a ton of people but dw I just wanna date you bc your face is smoochable and you give me butterflies 143. Life sized version of clue in an old abandoned manor 144. Reunited after surviving zombie apocalypse 145. “are we both robbing the same house?” 146. Kissed them as a distraction to steal their wallet 147. “you know you’re singing out loud to your headphones, right?” 148. “I think my dog likes your dog” 149. Little kids getting way caught up in make believe 150. Lives alone in the woods next to a waterfall finds a confused lost person walking round 151. Fighting a squirrel 152. Spy 153. Private security 154. Angry biologists 155. Historians 156. Crazy cat hoarder and frustrated allergic to cats neighbour 157. Modern royalty 158. Got up at 2am for snacks at the store and found you trying to sleep in the hallway bc your roommates have his fiancée over and I guess I’ll lend you my couch 159. My cat went into your apartment through an open window and likes to piss everywhere and ruin furniture and now your back home from the store and you found me in the middle of your living room but I promise I’m not a burglar 160. Its 3 am and as much as you have a great music taste people are trying to sleep 161. My best friend somehow broke me to and tonight it the season finale of my fav to show and no internet streams are working can I watch it on you to please I promise I’ll go back to my apartment once it’s over 162. “I moved into the apartment next door and its totally haunted crash I crash here tonight” 163. “I may or may not have just robbed a bank and please help me get away I will pay you in sexual favors also cash” 164. “I don’t know you but you were at that party last night and long story short I now have your name tattooed on my ass2 165. “my friends dared me to go on this rollercoaster and now we are at the top and it looks hella scary and hello hot person next to me careful I might puke” 166. You thought you were alone at the bus stop early this morning so you started singing fall out boy loud but your Patrick stump impression could use some work and I’m not afraid to point that out 167. We’re rival up and coming singers and every time one of us releases a song the other covers it to try and make it better. We’re also always trying to out cute each other and top each other but half our fans ship us; our agents use this to their advantage and decide we should do a duet bc it would be popular but now we are in the studio together and I know and I kinda wanna know how your lips feel 168. Help I cannot find my cat and I know its 3 am but me and Neil cat rick Harris would appreciate the help 169. I’m a computer hacker trying to hack government systems but accidentally hacked your computer as you were searching up sex positions and looking at questionable porn 170. I’m a fandom blogger and you’re an aesthetic/fashion blogger and I accidentally followed you through that Tumblr radar thing but you’re too cute to unfollow 171. I sent you one of those ask memes Reponses saying that I would date you but we’ve never talked and you live half way across the world but now you’re interested whoops 172. You started banging on my door at 3 in the morning bc you got the wrong apartment and now I’m inviting you in for tea to bitch about the person you thought lived here 173. Person A accidentally falls in the pond trying to reach something and person B is a bystander who can’t help but laugh 174. Person B must grab person A from falling into the t6raintracks because they did stay behind the yellow line 175. you’re a store clerk and oh no I just spotted my ex can I hide behind your desk thingy 176. We’re neighbors and we’ve never talker but your cat may have gotten my cat pregnant guess we’ll have to raise a kitty family together. 177. A toddler broke your nose and I may or may not have snapped my thumb n an intense game of Mario kart and now we are sitting next to each other in A&E 178. I tried to rescue you from being robbed but got knocked out and you had to take me to the hospital after getting your wallet stolen 179. I purposefully get your coffee order wrong so you will talk to me again 180. I work at the checkout ad you are clearly not old enough to buy that 181. We are both con artists scamming each other 182. My hamster escaped and I think he went under your door 183. “Hey we hooked up last night and it turns out you’re my child’s teacher” 184. “we are neighbors and every night at 3;14 you start yodeling?? Why?? Is that you yodeling?? Its been two months??” 185. “I woke up this morning to find you in my living room with a goat wearing a poncho who are you?? Why is the goat wearing a poncho?? How did you get the goat here I live on the 12th floor?? 186. “I was playing beer pong with a coin and accidentally threw it in your eye at a party” 187. “okay I get that you’re a good thief and you don’t want to go to jail but I’m the tired af detective sent to catch you I stg if you let me bring you in I can get you a good deal” 188. “We’ve been nothing but friends our whole lives but then we played seven minutes in heaven on a dare and now I think I’m in love with you” 189. “My guitarist quit the night before a gig that could be my bands big break and apparently, you are really good but if you screw this up for us I will hunt you down and slit your throat” 190. “it’s the middle of the night and I’m walking in the dark and there’s this guy following me and he’s gaining on me and I found a phone booth with a lock on and tried to call my sister but my hand was shaking so now I’ve ended up calling you and I don’t know who you are but please help” 191. They captured you and put you in a room with me because I can suppress other people’s powers so you hate me but I’m just lonely and bored and want to talk to you 192. Esteemed rival chefs who find each other shamelessly buying ramen at 3am 193. “I know it’s the apocalypse but please can we keep this stray dog” 194. We’re at a murder mystery party and I’m sure you’re the killer 195. Your grandma is forward even though we are just friends 196. “We got into a really heated Wii tennis match and the rec and now I wanna bang you” 197. “you are literally the last person I would expect to see at Disneyland but hey wanna ride space mountain” 198. “YOU LIKE GAME OF THRONES TOO?!” 199. “in interviewing you for a newspaper can you please stop flirting with me and we can get coffee afterwards” 200. “we’re enemies by day but league of legends allies by night” 201. Ancient gods 202. Whoops I accidentally summoned a demon 203. Co captains who always argue 204. “I didn’t mean to throw the water balloon at you I meant to hit my friend behind you” 205. There was a food fight and I accidentally threw spaghetti at the scariest kid in school 206. “I happened to glance in your window when you did some air guitar and then you caught me looking” 207. “I live a block away from the pizza place that’s open until 2 am and you’re like always here which is nice because I get to see you but, um is you sleeping here because you’re literally always here” 208. “I swear to god if I hear you taking a shower at 3 in the morning I will fight you, the pipes in this building are right above my room WHY are you taking a shower at THREE IN THE MORNING” 209. 210. “I can literally hear you sneezing through the walls and I bought you some chicken soup because I have exams to study for and your sneezing is seriously distracting” 211. “Im the poor loser you lent your umbrella to yesterday and my cat scratched through the fabric I’m sorry” 212. “we were partnered for this project and both forgot to do it and now have to pull an all nighter at my house” 213. “I came to this Halloween part as Frankenstein and you came as frankenstein’s wife and now everyone thinks we are dates” 214. We’re the only ones at this tiny bus shelter and you’ve been crying for the past ten minutes and id give you privacy but its pouring down with rain outside so “do you want to talk about it?” I guess 215. You’ve just moved into my apartment and I want a drink but you’ve been in the kitchen for an hour and you will judge me for drinking whiskey at noon on a Sunday 216. We’re both in the brass section of the marching band and you won’t stop making ‘horny’ puns 217. You work in construction and I walk by every day to give you a bagel 218. I sit behind you in lecture and bio1102 is not the place to watch porn 219. We were the only idiots who showed up to ballroom dance class without a partner 220. We are in class and you keep throwing paper balls at me why 221. Its 2am and I’m knocking on your window, wake up let’s go on a late-night walk or something idk can we hold hands already 222. Our kids got paired up for a project and I meant just drop my kid off at your house but now we are at the end of a three hour talk 223. Battle of the bands 224. Our grandparents are in the same nursing home and hate each other whereas we don’t. 225. Arrested at the same protest 226. How do you keep getting my name that wrong on my coffee cup? 227. Only two people who bought tickets to this movie 228. Our manager is making us push this crappy item no one needs but you thought my campaigns was funny so you bought it 229. I desperately need you to fix my laptop but please don’t judge me for my browser history 230. My kid’s hamster died while she was at school and I don’t know how to tell her 231. I made a dumb science joke in class and you’re the only one who laughed 232. Everyone in our dorm has gone out but I have the flu and hear you coughing pathetically from the next room wanna share my stash of cough drops and have Netflix marathon 233. Got into a seriously heated argument in the comments of a mutual friends post 234. Rival street performers 235. My kid shoplifted from your store and I marched her right back to apologies 236. Why didn’t you tell me this place was haunted before I rented it from you? 237. My band plays at the same restraint every Friday and you always make obscure requests and I know you’re trying to stump me but you have rally underestimated how much of a music geek I am 238. m the caterer and you’re the florist for this wedding and we bond over talking about how bad of a person the bride’s mother is 239. We’re chaperoning these kids at an ice skating rink and that last couples skate was pathetic how about we show them how it’s done? 240. We both work at rivalling gossip magazines and keep trying to outdo each other ridiculous stories 241. I accidentally caught the neighbor’s yard on fire and I didn’t think it could get worse but the volunteer fireman reprimanding me is gorgeous and probably thinks I’m an idiot 242. I didn’t mean to get you arrested I thought I was helping 243. Your pizza keeps getting delivered to my house and I need to talk to you about your choice of toppings 244. Graffiti artist/ mural painter 245. You’re the only major film critic who’s hated my movie and I need to talk to you about it because I agree

[brokerdag-blog]

1: The Obstacle

There have been many obstacles in my life. The two biggest obstacles have been dealing with my gender dysphoria and my ex girlfriend. We will call her Gladys. I don’t know why. Just feels right. My dysphoria has been an issue every since I was 3. Gladys has been an issue for the last twelve years or so. I’m not innocent by any means through my journey, by the way. I’ve made mistakes. I’ve done things I shouldn’t have. I’ve been meaner than I thought possible. We all have a side we like the world to see and a side we really show to those closest to us.

Many moons ago I hopped on the internet necaise, at the time, chatrooms were the only place I could truly be myself. My first day in a chatroom for anime lovers is where I met Gladys. We dated for almost two years after that day. She lived in the south. I lived in Virginia. Six hours apart. She thought I was a 16 year old cisgender man. At the time, I had no clue what transgender was. Just that I felt like a man and wanted to be treated that way. For the first couple of months, it was great. Then I got myself into trouble. So I had to leave as who I was and become someone different, again. Gladys always knew who I was but we felt like we had to keep everything a secret. Looking back, I have no clue why.

She refused to let anyone know we were dating. It was so exhausting. It was heartbreaking. There was a lot of drama. We broke up, I dated other people, and every time she wanted to get back together I came right on back. I was hooked. Then, I finally told her who I was. That i had catfished her. She ended up dating a couple of guys. One from Japan. Another guy from the chatroom I think. A guy at her high school (who she is still kind of with to this day not sure why but oh well). Anyway. We met for the first time a few months later and then we didn’t talk for another 2 years.

I stumbled across my old email and wouldn’t you know, an email from her was there in my inbox, with her phone number. We talked and instantly connected again. The struggle was that she was dating someone (had been for about a year) and she hadn’t told her mother I was transgender. Over the next 5-6 years, a lot happened. She got pregnant. She got engaged. Baby daddy wasn’t around for much of the pregnancy. I listened to her drone on and on about how she didn’t know why she was with him. She was unhappy. Her parents hated the father. In fact, her mom absolutely loved me and wanted Gladys and I to get back together. I dated a few girls during this time as well.

The crazy army girl Anna who verbally abused me for over a year then I verbally abused her for the next year. Very unhealthy relationship. She lived in NY with her rich parents, who never knew about me until I texted her mom about Anna’s stash of sex toys when we got into a huge fight. I left her for Jocelyn, a pregnant woman a few years older than me. She was amazing. We didn’t have the best relationship, but she was the first girl who ever truly loved me I think. She remembered my birthday, she loved everything about me, she was absolutely stunning. Gorgeous blue eyes. Sexy nautical star tattoos on her chest. Banging body. I loved her very much. But our relationship when from great, to rocky, to downright toxic.

Jocelyn asked me once if I was still in love with Gladys. To which I answered the truth, yes I still had feelings for her but I was absolutely in love with Jocelyn. That caused the downfall to our relationship. I was actually so devastated about our break up that I haven’t really dated anyone since. That was five years ago. But as amazing and beautiful and just loving as she is, she also drove the fatal stake into our relationship. She cheated on me twice in my birthday. Then broke up with me to be with him. Only to come back and cheat on him with me. I have had enough relationship drama to last me a lifetime. I really have. I loved Jocelyn so much that I actually didn’t have any feelings whatsoever for Gladys. Too bad we didn’t work out. I still think about her from time to time. She’s engaged now and has a son and a daughter.

No idea what happened to Anna. She kind of just disappeared. Not sure where she is. Married? It sure. Kids? Probably not. She wanted to adopt. Graduated from college? Probably. She was pretty snooty about education. Funny thing is that I might be moving up about 20 minutes from where her family lives. They also have a house in the keys and regularly fly to Australia, but who’s counting.

Anyway, back to the main drag. The longest constant in my life has been my first love, Gladys. I’m not pining either, by the way. She is as guilty as I am for creating romantic tension. I got over her and she had a sixth sense every time I had moved on. She dropped these huge disrupters into my life. She would hint at having feelings for me. Telling me she wanted to be with me if it didn’t work out with her and baby daddy. She agreed to a date with me once but we never did go on that date. One time I was actually hitting on someone when she texted me telling me she wanted to be with me if it didn’t work out with her baby daddy. I mean honestly. At the time I was relived. Finally, the elephant in the room as addressed. In hindsight, that was pretty fucked up of her to do that to me. I stoped talking to the other girl and hung on everything Gladys had to say.

I can remember when I spent spring break down at her place. I was helping her help her neighbor and she had said, right in front of me, if she weren’t with her baby daddy she would be with me. Who tells someone that in front of you. Made me look like a chump. But again, at the time, I was too star stricken to know any different.

Over the years, her mom and I became very close. She cried the first time I met her. I will always remember that day. The day I met them both, her mom for the first time. Gladys’ daughters first birthday. It was a lot to take in. She was engaged to baby daddy and living with him. But I don’t think she even loved him. I still don’t think she does to this day. I digress. Mom told me a lot of things. How Gladys wasn’t sure if she loved me or not. If she cared what I thought about her and her hometown. Honestly, she was even more beautiful in person. Mind you, this is about 6 years after I met Gladys for the first time. She was gorgeous then, and was still gorgeous.

Inhave so many fond memories. Driving down there multiple times a year. Connecting with mom. Hanging out with Gladys and her daughter. I will always remember those memories. Then, November of 2012, mom passed away suddenly. I had seen her not a month earlier. She had given me $40 for gas and food for my drive home. I had come down to drop off a few things for Gladys for her birthday. We sat outside on her porch and talked about Gladys and just everything. That was my final memory of her when she was still conscious. A month later I was saying goodbye to her after sepsis had taken her. The doctors didn’t catch an infection in her heart because they thought she was an addict, and that infection spread to her whole body and finally her brain. I immediately left work and went down there to say goodbye. I would never be able to talk to her again. I had promised to take care of Gladys of course. And i did, to a point. After Gladys passed away she had gotten back together with baby daddy.

I moved in with them both. Was there for 2 weeks. Almost got a job at the car wash in the area and a grocery store. I don’t know what happened. I got nervous about my surgeries, I was in a weird place where I was actually becoming friends with baby daddy, I was afraid to be there with them while i was in love with Gladys and great friends with baby daddy. It was just a weird place to be, and I couldn’t even talk with mom about it. So I packed up and went home. Back to my life. She had baby daddy. There wasn’t anything I could do for her that he couldn’t.

As you can tell, it’s just been one rollercoaster after another with Gladys. Her mom felt we were meant to be together, Gladys did have feelings for me at one point but didn’t want to give up on keeping her family together. Despite her being so unhappy with him. We stayed best friends, but it slowly died out. We only ever talked if she needed something. There were times when we were connected, and times where I was nothing but an ATM. I finally blocked her this year from everything. My entire life. For a few months. Last night I got drunk, unblocked her, and messaged her. The one thing i noticed was that nothing had really changed. She could care less. I wish her mom were alive right now so I could talk to her about what the hell is going on so I can know what to do next.

There is so much more to the Gladys part of my story, I could write an entire novel about it. I guess will just have to see how the untold stories unfold as our friendship rekindles. Or doesn’t. Whatever happens, hopefully it’s for the better. Until next time.

-Dag