#haven't looked closely at his face to see if that's the case this weekend

[blanketforcas]

Do you think jensen have been to a tan salon? His tan looks very even fore it to be just from the Sun. Knowing primadonna girl jensen he fore shure have been spraytaned 💅🏻 ( he look very tan in photo ops)

i did notice that too! i mean, it's likely. he really is a primadonna girl <3

[cherubshert]

Hiii, if you haven't already can you do morning's with enhypen? Like waking up needy to them, getting ready for the etc 🙏🙏

Sweet Mornings...

A/n: I'm sorry this took me a long time to finish, i was kinda hesitant to write this cause I don't write things like this, really cause it flusters me tbh. But ig I wanna step out a lil now that I'm an adult. I changed the request a little too tho, uhh. Just Hyung line, I would have written for sunoo and Jungwon as well, maybe next time if ppl like this one.

Warnings: Kissing, making out, Talks of engagements and fighting, suggestive but not going fully into it cause I'm a coward ig lol, angst(?). I got really excited with Hoonie's.

𔘓 Heeseung

The peaceful hug of sleep is harshly interrupted by the blaring of your boyfriend's alarm. You groan, struggling to move in his unwavering grasp, his chest still calmly moving signalling he's still deep in slumber. When your right hand is set free, you turn off the aggravating sound. You stare at the ceiling, using all of your strength to get out of Heeseung's hands.

When you return to the room, Heeseung is sitted at the edge of the bed, hunched over his phone, not looking up when you draw closer. "Did my alarm ring? I didn't hear it." "I did." You grumble, flopping down on the bed next to him, relaxing your back into it.

He gently rubs your thigh, "sorry, love." you groan at him, pressing your hands to your chest, your eyes closing. You feel him move, finding his way between your legs, his head resting on your chest. "I wanna sleep hee." " I'm not trying to stop you darling." You sigh, wrapping your arms around his shoulders.

He gently shifts again, kissing up your neck, your fingers twitching slightly. "Hee." You gasp, letting your arms flop to the bed as he rises up. His fingers lace with yours, "Sorry, am I disturbing you?" He teased, you shake your head.

"Beautiful." he mutters, capturing your lips.

𔘓 Jay

Arguments with Jay were rare, but when they happened, they often left the both of you hurt. That was the case the night before, Jay's harsh words repeating in your mind as you slam your apartment door behind you. The darkness of the night engulfed you as you walked to god knows where to clear your mind. When you come home you're met with silence, the clock ticking in the background. 3:00 am.

You settle for the couch, using a soft plushie as a pillow, covering you body with your jacket.

You barely drift off when you're awakened by your body being hoisted up. Though you can't see him, your arms wrap around his neck, your soft breath brushing against his neck. Jay gently places you on your shared bed, his body hovering over you.

"I was so worried." he murmurs, you struggle to act like you don't care, the slight quiver in his voice causing your heart to squeeze in pain. "You didn't answer your phone, I went to check everywhere but I couldn't find you." a tear falls to your check, rolling off immediately. "My phone died." You answer, your right hand raising to wipe his tears. You sit in silence before his lips are pressed to yours, apologies slipping from his lips when he pulls away.

He is fully over you now, his lips kissing your skin gently, apologies following every press of his lips to your skin. Your fingers lace as the sun slowly starts to peek in.

𔘓 Jake

Jake plays with the subtle silver band on your finger, the dopey smile from the day before never wavering. Jake's eyes raising to meet yours excitedly, "I can't believe we're engaged." he repeats, you chuckle, pulling your hand away to rub your eyes. "You've said that all night." he wraps his hand around your waist, pulling you closer.

"I can't believe it... Can't believe you said yes." He leans in, pressing a wet kiss to your cheek. A giggle leaves you as you playfully push him away, wiping your face. "Maybe I should've said no, after all the stress you put me through all weekend. " He pouts, pulling you close to his chest, his hair tickling your skin.

"Sorry, I wanted it to be special, and memorable." you shun him playfully, crossing your hands over your chest, leaning your head away. He bites the space between your neck and jaw gently, a small yelp leaving your lips. "Yunnie!" He giggles into your neck, hands moving to your side, tickling you.

You laugh loudly, struggling to get out of his grasp. You turn your body slightly, hold his right arm tightly, both hands stopping in response. You pause to catch your breath, leaning forward towards his neck. He responds faster than you, pressing your arms to your chest, his body going to hover over you.

"I'm winning this one babe." you cock your eyebrow, tilting your head slightly. You bite your bottom lip, trailing your eyes down to his, your eyes looking back up into his. His stare intense, a slight blush rising to his face. "Really?" You take advantage of his loosening grip, reaching up to pull him down. Your lips dance with his, your tongue licks at his bottom lip, and he readily welcomes you, his hand gripping the sheets beside your head.

You pull away, leaning up more to bite his ear, giggling at the shakey sound he lets out. "I think I won Jakey."

𔘓 Sunghoon

You stir awake hearing a loud sound ring through your apartment, your heart pounding in your ear as you stay in your position waiting to see if anything else would come up. Your name catches your ear, though muffled, your previous fear flipping to happiness. You jump to your feet, forgetting your slippers, the cold tiles waking up your nerves more.

"Hoon?" He's barely visible, shifting his bags. He looks up and smiles, "Hey." You're in his arms almost a second later, he let's out a surprise laugh as he stumbles backwards. " Thought you were coming home tomorrow." you murmur into his neck, "Surprise~" he teases. He holds you for a second, before gently going to push your shoulders to see your face. Your head shakes in response, your grip not faltering, slowly growing drunk on his scent. "can I look at you? It's been months since I saw your face." "Please just hold me." He easily complies, both arms wrapping around you tightly.

You pull away from him eventually, his hand raises to your cheek. You finally scan his face fully, your face twisting with worry. "You look exhausted." he only smiles, "I am, a little." the last part comes out lightly and deep, your eyes trailing from his eyes to his lips before moving back. He leans in and you lean away, "You need to rest." "Hah, yeah." he pulls away, his hand reaching for his luggage.

Your hand lightly brushes his away, a short huff leaving you as your struggle to raise it. "You'll get hurt y/n, I got it." "I got it." You say dragging your feet towards your room. He watches you for a second, laughing silently to himself before reaching from his smaller duffle bag.

You're not sure when you both fell asleep, but his soft breath in your face now filled you with a certain warmth. The afternoon sun peeking in through your windows, adding warmth to your body. You brush his hair out of his face, your finger outlining his face before you lean in, pressing your lips gently to his. There's a slight pause before the ends curl up, shifting his face deeper into the pillow, his eyes opening to look at you.

"What a beautiful sight to wake up to." He murmurs, his deep voice ringing in your mind. You snicker, "I know." you whisper in response, your hand moving slightly down his neck, your eyes follow your fingers tracing his skin. "Missed you." you look up at him, you body growing hot as your take in the emotion evident on his face. "Me too." His hand trails down your waist, a trail of goosebumps following in his tracks, despite the layer of clothing keeping his hand from your skin. His cold hand on your warm skin makes you jolt slightly, your shirt raised slightly giving him access to your lower waist.

"Missed you so much you have no clue. you're such a distraction even when you're miles away." He teased. You grip at his shirt as he pulls you close, closing the distance between the both of you. He opens his mouth to speak again, and you immediately press your lips to his, his hand immediately going behind your head.

[ssahotchnerr]

This scene but Hotch is dating reader 🥺 it's pretty new, but everyone can already see the change in him, and everyone just wants to know the amazing woman that has given them some weekends off 🤭

subtleties

hehe i had to write a lil thing for this, kinda a different take but still very similar! cw; none! just how the team notices aaron is in love <33

there had been a shift.

one day, it was just there. the bullpen seemed a bit brighter, the atmosphere was lacking it's usual apprehensiveness, even the provided coffee seemed more flavorful- not as bland and definitely not as tart.

and no one could figure out why.

dave was the first. and since, well, dave was dave, it didn't take long for him to question the matter at hand. all he had to do was forwardly ask, and the expression he received in return told him everything he needed to know. he also gained the immunity otherwise known as bragging rights- in case anyone asked, he knew all along.

the next telltale, as pointed out by penelope and caused all heads to turn- a newfound, frequent smile. the usual, timid frown was still persistent, it hadn't become a stranger and probably never would, but the ability to pull a smile wasn't as challenging. it made it's presence multiple times a day, comparable to the past where a smile typically appeared a few times within a month.

in accompaniment, a softened gaze. the harsh lines drawn between his eyebrows had seemingly faded. he looked younger. happier.

one could only imagine how surprised the team was receiving the instructions they could leave early if they so desired one friday night, including the "action reports can wait until monday" a double-take was necessary; did they hear correctly? monday? a whole three days away? accordingly, it became the new normal. as long as the group of them weren't called away at the hands of serial killers, weekends lived up to their name and purpose.

dutifully, even more questions arose. rumors were traded. and everyone had a feeling- only one thing could be the origin.

with a schedule dictated by serial killers, abrupt departures were never a surprise, but heavily inconvenient when preoccupied. no matter the hour, one had to drop everything and go.

once all were settled and en route, it consumed the air. an aroma that was sweet and playful- a touch of berries, jasmine, sandalwood. the close quarters of the jet was never shy in terms of enhancing sights, sounds and smells, so it didn't take long for it to be noticeable.

"what is that?" derek said suddenly with a scrunch of his nose.

spencer didn't skip a beat, not even bothering to look up from the novel in his grasp. "what is what?"

"someone doesn't smell like themselves."

"you smell your colleagues?" emily snorted out a laugh.

"no." derek balled up a scrap of paper within reach, chucking it at her. "call me a profiler, but haven't you gotten used to, i don't know... we all have our signature scents, you know? whatever that is, it's new. and strong."

dave presented a knowing smirk of a smile, side eyeing the culprit, who was also doing his hardest to refrain from smiling. but again, in the constricted space of the jet, it was visible to everyone. in addition, it promptly confirmed the rumor that had been circling the past few weeks.

"hotch?" derek pushed, raising his eyebrows in question but with a knowing expression on his face.

"maybe you should save your keen observation skills for when we land, morgan." aaron shrugged as he studied the file in his lap, the smallest of grins pulling at the corner of his mouth. "it could do you some good."

[apocalypseornaw]

He does get jealous

You had resigned yourself to the fact that Dean simply didn't get jealous, that is until Garth being Garth hosts a get together for hunters and you run into one of your exes that you're still on good terms with.

Warnings: um cursing, mentions of sexual themes

So first and foremost you knew Dean loved you. There was not a sliver of a doubt in your mind to that man's devotion to you. You knew for a fact that he'd choose you over any other woman. Did that stop you from getting jealous? No.

No matter how hard you tried that little voice in your head would pop up rather it be on cases where witnesses would flirt a little too much or even just grabbing a bite to eat on the road where the waitress would let her eyes linger a little too hard on him.

Dean would always notice it of course. On cases he'd grab your arm to "pull you away and discuss the matter at hand" which normally consisted of a quick kiss and promises of what was to come later. Off of a hunt he'd have no qualms about pulling you into his lap in the middle of a diner to prove that he was taken no matter your blushing or Sam's groans of embarrassment.

The problem was he never got jealous. Ok yeah sometimes jealousy is a major red flag that you need to heed and run far away as fast as you can but a part of you started to wonder if maybe he just didn't register to be jealous over you?

You woke up and reached for Dean smiling to yourself when his hands met yours halfway pulling you into his arms. "Morning sweetheart" he mumbled, voice still heavy with sleep.

You placed a kiss to his chest "Good morning. Don't forget we have to leave here around ten to make it to Garth's in time" you couldn't help but laugh lightly when he groaned "Why are we doing this again?"

You pulled away from him just enough to lean up slightly to look at his face. A steady sprinkling of stubble covered his jawline and although his eyes were closed you knew he was tracking your every movement "Because hunters are always going to exist and its our job to make sure the next poor saps that get yanked into this life have a better system. C'mon baby Jody, Donna and all the girls will be there. Eileen is meeting us there, Kenzie is coming with Alicia and Max. It'll be fun. A weekend with people in the life just getting to catch our breath and catch up with people we haven't seen in a while"

When his response was a simple "mhh" you raised an eyebrow before adding "Bobby would be proud of it" he opened one eye to look at you but his gaze immediately went to where the sheet had slipped down off your chest leaving your breasts peeking out "If you weren't so damn gorgeous and right about this I may argue about going" a smile slipped onto your face "I love you too Dean"

He glanced over his shoulder at the clock on the nightstand and you could practically see the wheels turning in his head "It's seven thirty" you nodded slowly "Yeah" he reached out to gently grab your chin "We don't have to leave until ten?" You nodded again, eyes never leaving his. "So we have time"

"For what?" You asked innocently enough despite knowing exactly where his mind was. One of his hands dipped underneath the sheet and you gasped when you felt his fingers tracing patterns on your inner thigh "We have time for me to show my girl how much I love her" you pretended to consider it until his fingers went higher demanding your full attention when the first digit slipped through your folds "Fuck Dean" you whispered before a grin split his face "Exactly my idea"

"A lot more people showed up then Garth figured would" you leaned up at Sam's words because you knew him well enough to recognize a laugh being buried. What was so funny?

You looked at the cars parked around and about. There was Jody's suv, Donna's truck and the twins' car. There were more vehicles you recognized but weren't quite as familiar with. You were about to question Sam when you followed his line of vision and spotted Sawyer's bronco parked next to Eileen's car.

Sawyer was one of your exes. A hunter as well and someone you'd still consider a friend. You hadn't seen him in a few years but you felt a bit of excitement at getting to catch up. "Oh I didn't know Saw would be here" you spoke with a grin as Dean pulled baby to a stop. You leaned up and pressed a kiss to his cheek "C'mon. Let's go socialize"

----------

Dean had recognized that damn bronco the moment he turned into the clearing reserved for parking next to the cabins. Sawyer Monroe. A pretty decent hunter if he had to be honest and the only guy you'd ever dated before him that you wouldn't knock out on sight.

Thinking about it he wasn't sure you'd ever mentioned exactly why you and Sawyer had split. Hell you'd known him and Sam for years meaning he knew how you'd once felt about Sawyer. You'd even talked to Bobby about the guy.

Seeing the grin on your face when you spotted his bronco made something pull in Dean's chest. He wasn't jealous, no you were with him. You were a woman that knew what you wanted and wouldn't accept anything else. Yet trailing behind you towards the crowd that was gathered around and about he couldn't help but keep his eyes out for your ex.

There were tents around and about, a few grills going and a set up with speakers and a dance floor area. It looked almost like a wedding set up with the cabins being avaliable for anyone who needed overnights. Or a reunion of sorts.

"Kenzie!" You spotted her, Alicia and Max so you headed that way feeling Dean's hand resting at your lower back while you made your way through the crowd. Sam had already split off with Eileen and Donna so it was up to you to get the elder Winchester to actually enjoy the gathering.

She turned at the sound of your voice "Y/N!" She pulled you into a hug shooting a wink at Dean "Heya Winchester. I see you've actually managed to keep this one. I'm impressed. If you hadn't acted when you did I would've asked her out" "Very funny" he laughed watching as you went from Kenzie to Alicia to Max hugging all three of them.

----------

"So how have you been?" Alicia asked glancing towards where Max and Dean had headed in search of drinks. "Good. Dean's amazing of course. I don't think I've ever loved someone like I love him"

Before she could respond you heard a voice behind you say "Oh ouch. That hurt" you'd know that voice anywhere. You spun around to see Sawyer standing not even a foot away. "Hello to you too Mr Monroe!"

He stopped right before he got to you "A hug ok?" You nodded and he scooped you up into a hug. Sawyer was around Dean's height with chestnut brown hair that curled at a certain length and hazel blue eyes.

He was a sweet guy and one of the few you'd dated and stayed on good terms with. It'd been one those situations where you both knew the relationship had hit its end. When he put you back down on the dirt you laughed "I see you're still a fucking giant oaf" he shrugged one shoulder "Why change now Darling? Now where's this fella who you love more than anyone cause I wanna know where I'm ranked in the book of Y/N"

You felt an arm slip around your waist and laughed as you leaned back against Dean's chest "Sawyer I'm sure you remember Dean. Dean you remember Sawyer" the two greeted each other with a quick handshake "One of Bobby's boys" Sawyer commented and Dean nodded "Yeah. We met a time or two while you and Y/N were dating"

Sawyer cut his eyes at you "Well she was just telling Alicia how much she loves you so I'm glad to see she's happy" "We both are" you glanced back at Dean but he simply smiled at you "Anyways..what's on the schedule for this thing? Garth was pretty vague"

---------

Ok so maybe a small nip of jealousy hit Dean when he looked over to see you in Sawyer's embrace. It was a simple hug, that was all. Just as you'd hugged everyone else. Did it bother him seeing Sawyer hold you? Yeah. But it was just the fact that he wasn't sure if Sawyer knew you two were together. He didn't want him to get the wrong idea about the hug. That was all it was.

When he walked up behind you and slipped an arm around your waist he felt his heart flip a bit when you leaned into his embrace and did a quick reintroduction between the two men.

When you steered the conversation towards Garth's plans he stayed quiet keeping an arm around you and watching how Sawyer looked at you as you cracked jokes with Alicia and Kenzie. No, he wasn't jealous at all.

You were enjoying yourself. The banter and familiarity of so many hunters in one place was something nearly intoxicating. Most of your lives were lived in solitude. Hunting was a lonely life and being able to wind down with friends, people you considered family also that actually understood that? It was a beautiful thing.

Dean was talking to Garth, Sam and a few other hunters while you mingled with Donna, Jody and the girls. "I see Sawyer is here" Jody teased with a laugh. "Yeah we saw each other already" you replied.

"Who's Sawyer?" Claire asked and before you could open your mouth Jody explained "Y/N's ex before Dean. Her only real serious ex before him"

Claire's eyes widened "Ohhhh I bet Dean is jealous as hell" you scoffed with a roll of your eyes "Dean Winchester? Jealous? I've been with him this long and have yet to see it" Donna and Jody exchanged a look "We didn't just step into relationship issues did we?"

You shook your head "No. Me and Dean are happy, really. It just seems like at times he's incapable of getting jealous so I feel like a crazy woman when it perks it's little slimey head up in me" "I bet he gets jealous and just hides it" Alex offered but you shook your head then shrugged "Next subject? Something that isn't my relationship insecurities?"

Chatting and catching up had given way to a spread of food being laid out, a damn near open bar setting up and music playing through the speakers sat around and about.

You were sitting next to Dean laughing at Claire who'd nearly dropped Kaia when she attempted to dip her. "Think you can do it better?" Claire teased so you cut your eyes at Dean who shrugged one shoulder "Go for it sweetheart"

You glanced, spotting Max near the bar so you whistled "Banes?" When he glanced up you motioned towards the girls "Wanna teach these young ones how it's done?" He raised an eyebrow as he walked towards you and Dean "Am I leading or are you?" "Claire thinks I can't dip someone" a broad grin split his face "Oh its on then Novak"

----------

Dean watched as you spun Max around the dance floor. Several people had stopped to watch probably just from the height difference between the two of you. This was something you and Max had long since perfected, you both would take turns leading. When it came time for you to dip Max despite the height difference you successfully dipped him, spun him out then the two of you switched leads.

This was why he hadn't really gotten too upset when you'd spoken with Sawyer early. He knew you were his, you were happy with him. He had no reason to get jealous, right?

He heard Donna call his name and was quickly pulled into a conversation with her, Isaiah and Jody. "So how's things going?" Donna asked glancing back towards the dance floor. Jody smirked at him "Ya know Garth already has this set up..would be perfect for a ceremony of any sorts" he knew she was teasing but he also knew he'd be lying to himself if he hadn't already thought about a future between the two of you. He loved you and for some reason unknown to him you loved him too. "Yeah it would be" he replied causing a laugh to slip out of Isaiah at the look on the two women's faces.

Somewhere along the line you'd lost Max to David who cited he wanted his boyfriend back. You pulled Kenzie onto the dance floor next laughing when she insisted on leading.

You spotted Sawyer at the edge of the crowd, nursing a beer. You spun around with Kenzie a few times until Alicia cut in and you were left partnerless.

"On the off chance I may have a Winchester gunning for me, care to dance?" You turned to look up at Sawyer and shrugged. Dean never got jealous, so chances were Saw would be safe. "Well cmon then Monroe. Let's see if you've lost any steps"

He hesitated before touching your waist so you grabbed his hands with a light laugh placing them where both Max and Kenzie had touched you. "See? No harm, no foul" the two of you started to dance and you found yourself humming along with the song. It was one Dean played a lot.

"So you and Dean...can't say I'm surprised" you raised your eyes to look at him "Why is that?" He shrugged moving your arm that was resting on his shoulder slightly "He always seemed smitten with you. No other hunter compared to you, he was always talking about ya even when we were together"

"So what was that about calling him one of Bobby's boys?" You asked with a grin "Could I really say oh yeah of course I know Dean Winchester. One of the best hunters that's ever walked. The one man who I knew the first moment I saw you around him that we'd never last in the long run" "oh come on now Saw. We were good together for a while. We just got to a point.." you trailed off and he leaned down just enough to be eye level with you "That we both knew we'd be better as friends?" You nodded "Yeah cause if we'd dragged it out we would've ended up hating each other"

He smiled "I have no hard feelings love. You're happy with him. That's all I've ever wanted for you. Plus I'm seeing someone, her names Genya. She lives in New Orleans. I think you'd like her. We been together about six months now"

"Why didn't she come?" You asked and he smiled "Her coven had a ceremony she was presiding over" you could feel how wide your smile was at that news "She's a witch? Oh I love her already" he laughed loudly, the sound echoing around the two of you "C'mon now Y/N, you've got Dean. You can't have my girl too"

The sound of Sawyer's laughter hit Dean's ears over the music and conversations around him. When he followed the sound with his eyes he felt a flame flickering to life in his chest.

Sawyer's hands on your waist, your hands on his shoulders. Your faces close, laughter falling from him and a broad smile lightening your features.

"What the hell?" He meant to think it, not to let any anger slip into his voice or posture but it was clear to anyone who knew him and considering he was still fairly close physically to both Jody and Donna needless to say those two knew him pretty damn well. No, not quite anger. He'd felt that plenty in his life and this wasn't it. No this was jealousy, no other word could come close to the reasoning behind the flush to his skin or the torrent of thoughts running through his mind.

----------

One minute you were swaying to the music with Sawyer and the next you felt two hands on your waist pulling you away from Saw and causing you to collide with a broad chest.

Your hands flew out to brace yourself and the moment they collided with the body under them your eyes flew up to meet the green eyes staring down at you. When had Dean stripped out of his flannel? Why was he glaring at Sawyer over your head and when had this t-shirt gotten so tight across him?

"Baby, everything ok?" The thought occurred to you that maybe something was wrong but the look in his eyes didn't scream something was up, no he was jealous. No. Dean didn't get jealous, or did he?

"Dean?" Sawyer tried and you could see the muscles clenching in Dean's jaw as his hands gripped your waist firmly. "I need to talk to Y/N for a minute..that good with you?" Sawyer cut his eyes at you and you almost missed the slight twitch upwards his lips did before he said "Of course" before saying "Good night darling. It was good seeing you. I'm leaving bright and early but I'll ring ya once I hit Louisiana"

You could feel the heat radiating off Dean when you turned to give Sawyer a hug "Don't be a stranger and drive safe" the moment you released Sawyer Dean was leading you off the dance floor with a hand on your lower back.

"So what's the problem?" You asked once the two of you had cleared the crowd. Some of the cabins were already taken but there was enough for everyone. You saw the impala so you started to walk towards it, hearing Dean huff slightly behind you.

You made it to the impala and turned to face Dean. "Baby, do you remember your words?" He was silent but moved closer to you, he laid a hand on either side of your shoulders his palms flattening on the roof of the car and effectively trapping you between it and his own body.

"What's wrong with me?" He asked finally, leaning down close enough you could smell the scent of his cologne mingling with the whiskey he'd drank. You nodded slowly knowing he could smell the same brand of whiskey on your own breath from shared kiss and you stealing his drink earlier in the night. "Yeah, you pulled me off the dance floor and lead me out here into the dark. Now what are you planning to do to me Winchester?"

He scoffed, a smirk slipping onto his face "You get jealous if a waitress calls me handsome or if a witness asks to be interviewed by me yet you're asking what's wrong and what I plan to do?" You could feel your heart flip and heat rush into your lower stomach at his words. Oh, he was jealous

"Is it because I was dancing with Sawyer?" He didn't respond,instead he stepped even closer moving his lips to your neck to barely let them brush over the sensitive skin there.

"Is it because another man had their hands on me?" You asked when his hands went from the roof to your hips pulling you close enough the heat from his body had every inch of you feeling like it was on fire "Can we pick a cabin, head in and talk?" He finally spoke before connecting his lips to your neck sucking the skin right over your pulse, no doubt leaving a mark it his wake but you could've cared less considering it took every ounce of self control you had to not let out the moan trying to escape your lips.

You knew you were pushing it but also wanted to relish in the moment of finally catching Dean jealous. "Or do you only get jealous when you know it's someone who's had me under them? Someone who knows what I taste like?" You swallowed hard before leaning up to place a kiss to Dean's neck, feeling his pulse under your lips.

"Someone who knows what I sound like?" You whispered into his ear and couldn't help but feel your heart skip when his demeanor changed. You could feel the hard steel of the impala under your back when he pushed you backwards just slightly but considering he'd also chosen that moment to kiss you like a drowning man coming up for air you lost any sort of sense or control you'd had.

He moved from your lips to your jaw then down your neck. He went from kissing to biting the areas he knew would make you go weak. "I would rather do this in a cabin but you know I hold nothing against fucking you in baby" you let out a breathy moan when he hit a certain spot "Wait...stop for a second"

You knew that's all you needed to say. He froze in his tracks but for a split second you saw the uncertainty in his eyes. That small flash of self loathing that you always found buried under any sort of jealous streak. You'd never noticed it before on him. "Tell me why you're acting like this"

He took a deep breath letting his fingers slip under your shirt to tease at the waist of your jeans slightly. He wasn't trying to unsnap them or even reach under them, more so it seemed like he was trying to remind himself you were in his arms. "Sawyer knows you. He's a decent guy, you were happy with him. He knows what you look like under these jeans that I love on you, he knows what it feels like for your nails to cut into his shoulders when you're hitting that peak.." he groaned letting his head fall over onto your shoulder "I'm not some jealous, controlling asshole but I'll be damned if that didn't do something to me"

"You're jealous?" You whispered and he finally raised his eyes to meet yours again. "Yes sweetheart I'm jealous as hell. Rather you see it or not I get jealous a lot. Now please for the love of everything can I either climb into the impala with you or find a cabin and remind myself I'm the only one who gets to touch you, taste you, feel you. I just need to feel you clinging onto me, moaning my damn name and maybe just maybe I can fuck you good enough you won't get jealous as often either. I love you more than I ever knew possible but right now? I want to fuck you until neither of us can even remember another man or woman's name"

You swallowed hard at his confession, feeling your body react to the promise in his words. "In that case let's find a cabin"

@globetrotter28

[allmoshnobrain]

𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫: 𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

part 05 of 06 | masterpost

word count: 8,2k | ao3 link | fic's playlist

I sighed, feeling heat rise to my cheeks as I sensed a kind of understanding forming between the three of us, albeit slowly; Dave and James were like two sides of the same coin, always had been, brothers of fire and anger even before all their pain had driven them apart. Was it such a shocker that they'd both end up falling for the same woman? Was it such a surprise that I'd end up loving them both? Maybe we always knew it would eventually lead to this.

✦ on this chapter: NSFW!!!, threesome, mxfxm sex, dave mustaine x female!oc, james hetfield x female!oc, oc is cliff's cousin, +18, language, slice of life, unprotected sex, oral sex, drug issues mentioned, alcoholism, drinking

✦ a/n: Hey, everyone! So, this chapter turned out a bit longer too, but I couldn't wrap up the fic without throwing in this smut scene at least once. Honestly, it's one of my favorites in the whole story! Oh, and in case you haven't noticed - yeah, Leanne's husband is Joe Sinclair. He popped up in some earlier chapters as Lea's friend who had that cool beach house where they celebrated Cliff's birthday and where James first kissed Nore at Lea's birthday party. Next part's gonna be the finale, and I swear we're finally getting a happy ending after all the drama lol Thanks for sticking around and reading, feedback is appreciated! ❤

April 6, 1992

Dave and I came back from our weekend getaway even more head over heels for each other, if that was even possible. Now that our feelings were out in the open, any walls between us just crumbled away, leaving us with one undeniable truth: I was crazy about him, and he felt the same way about me. Life had never felt so simple. 

Life had also never felt so damn complicated; come Monday, things took an unexpected turn when Lars unexpectedly dropped by. He showed up at my place bright and early, his usual chill vibe replaced with a hint of worry that had me wondering what was up.

"Hey, Lars. Come on in, I was just munching on some breakfast," I gestured for him to enter, stepping aside. He gave a somewhat tense smile and took a seat at the kitchen table, setting his backpack down. "Hungry? I've got pancakes, orange juice, some fresh sliced watermelon..."

"Just water, thanks. I grabbed a bite earlier," he replied, flashing a quick smile when he noticed my concern.

"If you're all fueled up, what's with the serious face?" I inquired. "Something happened?"

"Actually..." he trailed off. I plopped down at the table, sliding a glass of water his way and pouring myself some juice, giving him a curious glance. "You catch the news today?"

"News?" I furrowed my brow, and Lars let out a sigh, seeming resigned. He unzipped his backpack, pulling out a magazine and passing it over to me. I blinked at him, puzzled, before focusing on the publication.

What I saw left me gaping in disbelief.

The magazine was one of those gossip rags, the kind I never bought because I had never been interested in such stuff. If I didn't expect Lars to read this kind of thing, I certainly didn't expect to see myself on the cover. The photo showed a painfully familiar scene; Dave and I getting off at the airport together the night before, him with an arm around my waist, pulling me close as he whispered something in my ear and I smiled. We both looked happy; happy and at peace, like I hadn't felt in a long time.

The photo didn't take up the whole cover; there was some other Hollywood gossip splashed across it that I barely paid attention to as I zeroed in on the caption beneath my picture with Dave.

SHE’S GOT A TYPE? Get the lowdown on Nore Burton and her new metalhead boyfriend, snapped in LA yesterday, on page 30.

I hurriedly flipped through the magazine, landing on the page mentioned and scanning through it, feeling my face flush hotter with every word.

Lately, there's been a buzz among Hollywood bigwigs and celebs about a fresh face on the scene: Eleanore Burton (27), aka Nore Burton. The actress, with a theater background and gearing up for her small-screen debut, turned heads by snagging the lead in Pacific Coast Television's (PCT) latest romance series, sharing the screen with some seasoned industry pros.

What's not widely known is that the actress is actually cousins with late Metallica bassist, Cliff Burton. And then there's the rollercoaster romance between her and the band's frontman and guitarist, James Hetfield (28). They've been on and off since way before they hit the big time, dabbling with other flings whenever they hit a rough patch.

But what really caught our eye was spotting the actress getting cozy with a new flame: Dave Mustaine (30), infamous for his sharp tongue and ongoing feud with Metallica after getting kicked out of the band in '83. A trusted source confided that they were actually together for a few months earlier that same year, but things fizzled out shortly after Metallica dropped their debut album, Kill 'em All.

It's anyone's guess how James Hetfield feels about his sweetheart's new fling. How's he gonna take the news that she's back in touch with an old flame he's not too keen on? We tried reaching out to Hetfield via Metallica's reps, but no word back yet as of press time.

"They went after him?" I shouted, eyebrows raised, looking at Lars in shock. "Lars, I had no clue about this pic! I..." I shook my head, too stunned to finish.

"Yeah, welcome to the club, babe," Lars quipped, snatching the magazine from me. "Just wait till you need bodyguards for your Bloomingdale's run. Fame's got its downsides, no doubt." He glanced up, frowning. "When were you planning to spill the beans about getting back with Mustaine?"

"I was going to, I swear," I said, feeling a blush creeping up my cheeks. Lars just huffed, giving me an incredulous look. I couldn't blame him for being peeved; maybe I should've looped them in sooner. But I didn’t expect my personal life would become front-page news like that. "Seriously, Lars. Dave and I just reconnected last month, but everything happened so fast..."

"And what about James? Did he get the memo, or did he find out through the grapevine?"

"He knows Dave and I crossed paths again. But..." I paused, feeling a lump form in my throat, my voice trailing off as memories of James' silent treatment flooded back. "He's been avoiding me for weeks. I've called, but no answer. It's like I'm invisible to him," I finished in a mumble, blinking back a lone tear rolling down my cheek.

Lars gazed at me for a beat, then let out a sigh, opening his arms for a hug. I blinked back tears, feeling them well up despite my efforts, and eased myself into his embrace.

"You know you could've spilled this to us, me and Kirk," he said softly. "You could've mentioned James was giving you the silent treatment again. We would've had your back."

"I didn't want to be a burden," I murmured, and he scoffed.

"You're not a burden. We're family; we look out for each other, got it?"

"Thanks," I choked out, my voice thick with emotion, as I stepped back. I straightened up, brushing my hair back and sniffing, wiping away the tears that had slipped down my cheeks. "I... I'll give him a call. And if he doesn't pick up, I'll swing by his place after today's shoot. We gotta talk things out; it ain't cool for him to shut himself off like this."

"You want me to come along?" Lars offered, rising from his seat, and I shook my head no. I'd rather handle this on my own. "Okay; I got some stuff to sort out myself. We're hitting the road soon for a tour, won't be back till August for Lea's wedding. If James pops up, I'll call you, alright? And let him know you're looking to chat."

"Sure thing, Lars," I smiled softly as he clasped my hand, giving it a comforting squeeze. "Appreciate it."

As expected, I couldn't get hold of James; every call went straight to voicemail. I got swept back into my daily grind, a hectic day of non-stop shooting. Word about me and Dave must've spread like wildfire; some colleagues offered sympathetic words, but I also caught plenty of curious looks and hushed chatter whenever I was on set during the day.

I left the studio totally beat; all I craved was getting home, hitting the shower, and crashing out. But, sticking to my morning promise, I made my way to James' place. I stood at the door, debating whether to ring the bell. After a moment, I went for it, but got no response. I fidgeted nervously, wondering if I'd picked a lousy time to drop by; I wasn't even sure he'd be home. I hit the bell again and waited. Just when I was about to bail, James finally swung open the door.

The moment I laid eyes on him, I could tell he wasn't okay; his disheveled hair, creased forehead, and bloodshot eyes gave away recent drinking. He just stood there, staring at me, before stepping aside silently to let me in. I winced at the sight of his living room, a mess that brought back memories of our wild party days back when we were younger; empty beer bottles littered the floor, clothes tossed haphazardly on the couch, and a stack of pizza boxes sitting on the corner table.

"You showed up," James muttered hoarsely, and I turned to him. He gazed at me, a mix of pain and bitterness flashing in his blue eyes, sending a wave of discomfort through me. "Finally remembered I'm alive? Or did your boyfriend not want you around today?"

"James..." I started, my tone a mix of caution and desperation. I wasn't looking for a fight. All I wanted was to talk things out with him. He snorted before heading to the kitchen, and I trailed after him. I watched with worry as he opened the fridge, reaching for a beer. "I... I don't think booze is the answer right now."

"Thanks for the tip, but I'll pass," he smirked, sarcastically. "What brings you here, Nore? Suddenly worried about my feelings now that the whole world knows you're with someone else?"

"James, that's not fair," I said, my voice choking up. "I've been trying to reach out to you for weeks. You've been ignoring my calls, you didn't answer any of my voicemails, and now I'm the one who doesn't care?"

He shot me an annoyed look but stayed silent. I sighed, blinking away the forming tears as I looked away from him, trying to swallow down the lump in my throat. Maybe coming after him wasn't such a great idea after all.

"Lars mentioned you're hitting the road soon. How are you planning to handle that if you're in this state?" I questioned weakly, and he just rolled his eyes.

"And what's it to you?"

"I do care about you, James. Even if you can't see it," I answered, my voice dropping, feeling the weight of his anger. Whenever James got like this, I felt lost, like a ship tossed at sea, struggling to find solid ground but always drifting. It was like he was slipping further away, and I couldn't reel him back in. I couldn't handle it — his distance or the hurt it caused.

"Why'd you go back to him, Nore?" he questioned suddenly, his voice now filled with anguish. "Wasn't I good enough for you?"

"James, please," I implored, taking a step forward, but he shook his head, backing away. "Come on. You know I care about you..."

"Don't say that while I have to watch you happy with him," James snapped. "Really, Nore? Fucking Mustaine? I can handle you seeing other people when we're not good, but did it have to be him ? The one person I know I can't measure up to?"

"James," I begged, my voice catching. "I didn't plan for this. But I can't ignore how I feel. It wouldn’t be fair to any of us. But you don't have to push me away. Please, let me help..."

" Stop it ," he interrupted, his voice sharp and icy. I flinched, holding back tears, feeling a pang of sadness as I watched James' expression turn hostile. "I told you not to come crying to me, didn't I? I don't want to fucking see you, I don't want to hear about your life. I don't know why you still think I give a shit," he snarled, his words laced with venomous anger.

I gaped at him, stunned, my heart pounding painfully in my chest as I watched the realization of what he'd just said sinking in, the hostility melting into regret in his blue eyes. He reached out, but it was too late; the damage was done, my heart shattered, and I knew I couldn't stand to be near James for another second right then, no matter how hard I tried.

As he came closer, I swatted his hand away, tears streaming down my face. I backed off quick, just needing to get away, to put as much space between my pain and James' rising temper as I could, even if that meant widening the gap between us even more.

I got home feeling totally crushed, tears still streaking down my cheeks as I flopped onto the couch with a heavy sigh, and caught sight of the blinking light on the phone, telling me I had messages waiting. I grabbed the phone and held it up to my ear, tapping the button to listen to the voicemails. A faint smile crept onto my face as Dave's voice came through.

Hey, babe. How's it going? Just saw that article they threw out about us. Give me a call, alright?

I let out a sigh. Even though I was feeling pretty down, I knew chatting with Dave would lift my spirits, so I quickly dialed up his number.

"Hey."

"Hi, Dave," I said, trying to put on a smile even though my voice was still a bit wobbly.

"Hey, sweetheart. You alright?" Dave asked, sounding all worried. Of course he'd pick up on my mood instantly; nobody read me like Dave did.

"I..." I let out a sigh; I didn't wanna stress him out, but I also couldn't keep everything that went down with James from him. "No, I'm not," I confessed. "I... I went to see James, Dave. He's not in a good place... We had a huge fight, he said some nasty stuff, and I..."

"It's because of that stupid article, right?" he said, his voice tense. I agreed, and he let out a sigh. "Hey, wanna swing by my place? I don't want you to be alone if you're feeling this bummed out. I'll whip up some dinner for us."

"Wait, you actually know how to cook?" I asked, my genuine curiosity distracting me from my sadness for a moment, and he chuckled softly.

"I'm getting there. Can't survive on fast food forever, you know. But I can always order in if you're not convinced by my culinary skills," he said, and I giggled.

"No need. I'm game to try your cooking. I'll just change and head over there, then."

I showed up at Dave's home not long after, carrying a backpack slung over my shoulder packed with all the stuff I figured I'd need for the next day. When he swung the door open, I wrapped my arms around him, burying my face in his chest.

"Hey," he chuckled softly, running his fingers through my hair. I glanced up, standing on my toes to plant a kiss on his lips. He grinned, his hands cradling my face gently. "C'mon, let's head inside."

I smiled softly when I stepped into Dave's place and noticed the living room, dimly lit and cozy, lit up with just a small lamp while some soft tunes played in the background. Not the usual heavy metal songs I was used to enjoying with him, but instead, a nice, slow piano melody. The dining table was all set with red candles flickering, some spaghetti bolognese, and a bottle of red wine.

Dave snuck up behind me, wrapping his arms around me and resting his chin on my shoulder, swaying along to the music. I couldn't help but let out a soft giggle. I turned around to wrap my arms around his neck; he slid his hands down to my waist, giving me a light kiss on the lips before resting his forehead against mine.

"A candlelit dinner and some music? You're pulling out all the stops this time, Mustaine," I remarked, and he grinned.

"Just wait 'til you see what I've got planned for after we go to bed."

"You didn't go all out with rose petals and stuff, did you?" I teased, and he chuckled, giving me a tight hug and a light kiss on the lips.

"I'd do anything to see you smile. You know that, right?" he asked, softly.

How could I feel anything but pure joy hearing that? Having Dave back in my life felt like a dream, one that just kept getting sweeter by the day. I could see it in his eyes he meant it, despite all the mess with James, despite all the baggage from my past. He loved me, plain and simple. What more could I ask for? 

Instead of answering, I simply leaned in and planted another kiss on his lips.

August 15, 1992

The next few months flew by in a blur. Between my jam-packed schedule and all my commitments, things slowly started shifting. Dave and I made it official, letting everyone know we were back on, and sure, at first, it caused a bit of a stir with the gossip mags and our circle of friends. But soon enough, the novelty wore off, and we got our privacy back.

The moments I spent with him were just something else; every day, our bond got stronger, and I couldn't get enough of Dave - his smile, the feel of his skin on mine, the taste of his kiss, and how his eyes softened whenever they locked with mine.

Dave kept fighting to stay clear of falling back into addiction, even though some days were really tough on him. I did what I could to support him, even if I knew deep down that I couldn't fix everything. But Dave always made sure to let me know that just having me around made things a whole lot easier.

Having him around definitely helped ease my load too; getting back with Dave kind of lifted some of the heaviness I'd been carrying around for the past few years. Sure, I knew I'd always have to deal with the sadness that came with losing Cliff. But the pain of having lost Dave in the past bit by bit was slowly being replaced by love - real, deep love that filled up my chest almost entirely.

Almost entirely, except for the part that still hurt because of my messed-up relationship with James. We'd been in this complicated dance for a few years now, but lately, he'd been more distant than ever. I mean, I get it, being a big-time artist, time works a bit differently, right? It wasn’t unusual for us to go ages without seeing each other when the band was out on their never-ending tours, but usually, we'd at least keep some kind of contact going.

But lately, it felt like he was going out of his way to steer clear of me, and honestly, I wasn't really feeling the urge to patch things up after the nasty stuff he'd flung my way last time we talked. I'd still give Lars and Kirk quick calls to check in on them every now and then, but I made sure to steer clear of bringing up James, and they didn't mention him either.

I figured I'd bump into him sooner or later. I mean, with Leanne's wedding creeping up, it was bound to happen. Lea and Joe had settled on tying the knot down in New Orleans and had snagged a whole hotel to fit everyone in. I caught up with them the day before the big party, when they swung by to greet us at the airport and give us a ride to the hotel.

The moment I laid eyes on Lea, a huge smile spread across my face; she was just like I remembered her, with her dark locks and sparkly eyes, but I couldn't help but do a double-take at the little bump showing she was expecting. As for Lea, she didn't seem at all shocked to see Dave tagging along with me for the event. Despite the miles between us, Leanne and I always made sure to keep each other in the loop about what was going on in our lives.

"You’re pregnant? " I blurted out, all wide-eyed and grinning as she pulled me into a hug. She laughed.

"Yeah, I am! Joe and I were just as shocked, believe me. I'm at 19 weeks... Oh, sorry, that's like 4 months, right? I didn't spill the beans sooner 'cause I wanted to tell you face-to-face."

"Wow, Lea. That's amazing news, congrats!" I gushed, beaming at her, and she beamed right back.

Man, I was beyond thrilled for her. Even though Leanne and I hadn't been as close lately, I still saw her as one of my ride-or-die besties, and I knew she felt the same way. Losing Cliff had changed a lot of stuff, but it didn't touch the bond we had. Seeing her all glowing and living her best life, well, it warmed my heart more than words could say.

Dave and I tagged along with Leanne to the airport parking lot, and there was Joe, leaning against the car, waiting for us. His face lit up with a smile when he spotted us. While Leanne hadn't changed much, Joe was a whole new dude compared to the long-haired blondie I knew back in my San Francisco days. These days, he kept his hair super short, almost buzzed, and sported a full beard. But that friendly grin of his was still exactly the same.

"Hey, Nore, Dave! Been ages!" he said, giving us a hug before unlocking the car. "How've you been? Pumped for the party?"

"I'm counting down the minutes," I grinned, and Leanne let out a soft chuckle. "But you two must be over the moon, right? Tomorrow's your big day!"

"Oh, you have no idea," Leanne said, all hyped up. "We've been waiting for this forever, and now that it's finally happening, it's like pinch-me-I'm-dreaming territory."

We pulled up at the hotel before we knew it. Dave and I gave Leanne and Joe a big thanks for the lift, then headed inside to check-in and crash for a bit. I mean, the next day was gonna be huge. Finally, we made it to our room, and I let out a sigh of relief, humming a little as I started unpacking. Dave glanced over at me, a small smile playing on his lips.

"You're looking pretty happy," he observed, moving in closer and resting a hand on my waist. I let out a soft chuckle as he planted a kiss on my cheek, his lips brushing lightly against my skin before meeting mine. "I love seeing you like this."

"Isn't it crazy that Lea's gonna have a baby? That's awesome," I remarked, grinning. Dave chuckled softly, pulling me into a hug before his lips found mine once more. I let out a contented sigh as he gently gripped my hips, drawing me closer.

"You ever thought about having one?" he murmured, his voice low and a hint of a smile on his lips as he leaned in close to my ear. I pulled back a bit, feeling a blush creep up on my cheeks as I looked at him, surprised. "We could have a little one someday. You know, down the road. Or two. Or ten ."

"How'd we jump from two to ten?" I giggled, and he let out a big laugh.

"Just throwing it out there. If you want, I’d love to have a future with you."

Those words from Dave kept swirling around in my head all night, even after we'd settled into bed. Ever since Cliff had passed, I'd been steering clear of making any big plans for the future. Losing him had hit me hard, wrecking any dreams I used to have. For a while, I’d just let life happen, rolling with the punches as they came. I was so, so terrified of hoping for anything and ending up crushed and broken again. But with Dave by my side, everything felt different, like the world was painted in brighter colors. Was it okay to start thinking about a future where we wouldn't ever have to be distant again? Was it okay to start thinking about a future with him?

A future with him. Just the thought made my stomach tie up in knots, all tangled up with the fear that it could all go south one day. But deep down, I knew I craved it with every fiber of my being.

Maybe I wasn't exactly brimming with courage right then, but one thing I knew for sure: for as long as I lived, I never wanted to be apart from Dave again.

August 16, 1992

Leanne's wedding ceremony was short and sweet, but emotional. I'll admit, I got a bit teary-eyed watching her stroll down that aisle, all choked up with happy tears but still beaming. On the downside, being a bridesmaid meant I couldn't shake the feeling of James' eyes on me the whole time. Him, Lars, and Kirk were all groomsmen at the wedding too.

James and I had crossed paths real quick at the hotel during breakfast, but it was like we were total strangers. Not a single word passed between us. Maybe I was being a bit stubborn, but after the nasty stuff he'd flung at me months back, I wasn't about to be the one to make the first move and patch things up.

The wedding’s reception kicked off pretty quickly, held at a beautiful historical mansion not far from our hotel. I snagged a seat at the table set aside for me, Dave, and a bunch of other folks while he headed off to grab some food. I glanced up with a grin when I noticed a familiar face plop down beside me.

"Hey, Kirk," I greeted, and he flashed me a warm smile.

"Hey, Nore! Finally tracked you down. So, I noticed Lea moved you to a different table... Is it 'cause you and James had a spat or 'cause your boyfriend's not our biggest fan?" he quipped, and I chuckled.

"Maybe a bit of both. But don't sweat it, Dave won't mind me hanging with you guys. As for James..." I let out a sigh. "How's he holding up?"

Kirk grimaced.

"The usual drill, ya know. Him and Lars got into it like three times on the tour... Lars keeps pushing him to hit up rehab, but James insists he’s good," he sighed, then flashed a grin. "Sorry 'bout the tiff you guys had. But he'll bounce back, trust me."

"I know. It's just frustrating when you wanna lend a hand but the other person isn’t having it," I admitted with a sigh, then glanced up as Dave strolled over with two plates of food. "Red alert, Dave's on the scene," I joked, and Kirk chuckled before standing up.

"I'll bail for now. Don't wanna ruffle your boyfriend's feathers too much. We'll chat later, Nore."

I flashed Kirk a smile as he headed off to join Lars and James at their table. Heat rushed to my cheeks when I sensed James looking my way, so I quickly turned my attention to Dave.

"Brought food," Dave grinned, sliding a plate in front of me before settling down beside me. "So, what was up with Hammett?"

"Just chatting. You know we haven’t seen each other in a while," I answered, a small smile playing on my lips. He scoffed, rolling his eyes, but didn't seem too bothered. "Jealous, much?" I teased.

"No need for jealousy, sweetheart. I know you're madly in love with me," he grinned, and I playfully nudged his arm, chuckling.

We wrapped up our meal, happily chatting the whole time. Once dinner was done, a sweet tune started playing, and I couldn't help but grin as I watched Leanne and Joe twirling around the dance floor. Leanne looked stunning in her fancy dress, her hair all dolled up with twinkling little gems. Joe looked like he was on cloud nine, beaming at her like she’d hung the moon. I felt Dave slide an arm around my waist, planting a soft kiss on my temple, and I melted into his embrace.

The party flowed like honey, with drinks pouring freely, mouthwatering meals, and catching up with old friends. Leanne had rounded up a bunch of folks from our San Francisco days, so mingling was easy. Dave and I bounced around, shooting the breeze with different faces, and as the booze kicked in, things got looser. I ended up deep in conversation with Lars at one point, while Dave snuck up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and resting his chin on my shoulder. I couldn't help but chuckle at how unexpected and unlikely the moment felt.

The only person I hardly even crossed paths with was James. I mean, there was this one time when I was heading back from the bathroom and accidentally plowed right into him. He caught me, his hands gripping my shoulders tight, and I couldn't help but blush when I looked up and saw it was him. I took a step back, my face probably as red as a tomato, while he just stood there, all serious, not saying a word.

"What?" I snapped, my voice a bit sharper than I meant it to be. He just kept on staring at me, like he was trying to figure out what to say, but I wasn't in the mood to hash things out with him. I spun on my heel and headed back to Dave, who was busy grabbing us a couple of drinks at the bar.

“Hey, babe. You good?" Dave asked, passing me a glass filled with a drink. I took a sip and nodded, shooting a quick glance over at James, who was still eyeing me from afar. We locked eyes for a sec, both of us clearly ticked off, until Dave caught on and followed my gaze. He frowned, grabbing my hand. "C'mon, let's go somewhere else."

I tore my gaze away from James, ditching my drink on some random table as I trailed after Dave, feeling kinda intrigued. The way Dave's shoulders tensed up told me he wasn't exactly thrilled about the silent stare-down I just had with James.

He led me through the mansion's hall and out the back door, where we found ourselves in a huge, empty garden since most of the guests were still inside. I raised an eyebrow, wondering what he was up to, as he guided me to a secluded spot in the garden. My eyes widened in surprise when he pulled me close, wrapping his arms around me before planting a harsh kiss on my lips.

"What's the deal with you and James?" he growled, catching me off guard with the intensity in his voice.

"Dave, it’s nothing," I murmured, but he just grunted in response, kissing me again with a bit too much force, his tongue pushing into my mouth without any of the usual gentleness. I let out a little moan, taken aback, gripping onto his arms as his hold on my waist tightened.

"He's been eyeing you all night, and now you can't seem to take your eyes off him," he murmured, giving my lip a light nip as he backed me against the wall. He slid one knee between my legs and his hand rested lightly on my neck. "You gonna clue me in on why you're giving him all this attention?"

"He's just being a jerk. I'm not giving him the time of day, I... Oh!" I gasped when Dave spun me around, pressing my back against him and pulling me close, letting me feel his hard-on as he started kissing my neck. "Dave, hold on, you're drunk..."

"And what if I am? You are too," he grunted, but eased up on his hold a bit. His lips, however, kept on working their magic on my skin, planting soft kisses that sent shivers down my spine. "What's wrong? You wanna go back to him?"

"It's not that," I murmured, daring to turn to face him again. Dave looked at me, his eyes filled with turmoil as I gripped onto his arms, feeling my heart pounding and my cheeks heating up. "I want you, Dave," I declared, reaching up to his face and wiping away the lipstick that had smeared from my lips to his. He grunted, grabbing my wrist before pressing me back against the wall, his lips finding my neck once more as he nibbled and sucked gently. I let out a little moan, caught off guard, closing my eyes. "Dave..."

"If I make it crystal clear to everyone that you're mine, will that jerk finally back off?" he growled, nipping at my neck again in a way that I knew would leave a mark. I gasped, clutching onto his shirt and shutting my eyes. "You know I'm planning to fuck you stupid all night long, right?"

"Hmm... Dave, please..." I begged, not entirely sure if I wanted him to stop or to keep going. He grunted, but pulled back, leaving me with one last kiss on my neck before stepping away, his cheeks flushed and his gaze burning with intensity.

"We should head back," he suggested, his voice low and husky, his fingers intertwining with mine. I nodded, my heart still pounding, feeling a jolt of electricity shoot through me at his touch.

We made our way back to the party; Dave and I ducked into the bathrooms to freshen up before rejoining the crowd. I blushed when I caught sight of myself in the mirror: flushed cheeks, smudged lipstick, hair slightly tousled, and two distinct red marks on my neck's smooth skin. I did my best to fix my hair and makeup, dabbing at the hickeys with cold water in a vain attempt to reduce the bruises that I knew would linger for days.

I headed to the bar, grabbing a glass of water to cool down. I glanced around, searching for Dave, but he was nowhere to be seen. Maybe he hadn’t left the bathroom yet. I settled at a table with a sigh, my heart still fluttering a bit.

"Your guy's a bit possessive, huh?" a voice chimed in, and I glanced up to see James with that familiar smirk on his face, his blue eyes sparkling with mischief and bitterness.

"After all this time, that's your opening line?" I shot back, my tone icy. He took a seat beside me, his gaze fixating on the marks on my neck. His fingers traced the edges of the redness softly, sending a shiver down my spine.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" he muttered, "You love having him under your spell. And me too," he added, lifting his gaze to meet mine, his eyes flickering with anger and something else, a mix of emotions I couldn't quite pin down, but definitely edged with desire.

"You're not even gonna say sorry? Just gonna stay there spewing out this nonsense?" I shot back, aiming for hostility but only managing to sound wounded. He scoffed, leaning in closer, his lips pressing against the bruises, kissing and biting them softly before he murmured against my skin:

"I'm sorry." Then he straightened up, leaving me stunned, heart racing and face flushed as I watched him walk away without a backward glance.

After the party wrapped up, Dave and I hopped in a taxi back to the hotel. We were quiet on the ride, his fingertips tracing little circles on my inner thigh, sending shivers up my spine. Once we got to our room, I headed to the bathroom, flicking on the tap to start filling the bathtub while Dave took his clothes off. Leaning against the door frame, I watched him kick off his shoes, feeling the buzz from the drinks at the party making me even more eager to pick up where we’d left off with that kiss.

"Are you hopping in the bath with me?" I asked, shooting Dave a coy smile as he loosened his tie. He smiled back and walked over, wrapping his arms around my waist and planting a soft kiss on my lips, while his hand fumbled for the zipper of my dress.

He paused when we heard knocks on the door. I frowned, wondering if it could be hotel staff or something. Dave sighed, annoyed, as the knocking continued.

"Better shut off the tap before we flood the room," he remarked, and I chuckled softly. "Let me handle this while you do it."

I headed into the bathroom, shutting off the tap as I listened to Dave dealing with whoever was at the door. I perked up, intrigued, when I heard a familiar voice followed by Dave's tense and irritated tone:

"You've got some guts showing up here, huh?"

I furrowed my brow, puzzled, and went back to the room, my jaw dropped in confusion when I spotted James at the door, locking eyes with Dave in a standoff.

"James?" I blurted out, taken aback, and both men turned to look at me, frustration and anger etched on both their faces. "What the hell are you doing here?"

He eyed me for a beat, tension thickening as Dave's gaze drilled into him. It was like mixing gasoline with a lit match; all of us were already worked up and intoxicated after a night of partying, and James clearly had some bones to pick with both Dave and me. James made a move to step into the room, but Dave cut him off, blocking the entrance with his arm.

"She asked you a fucking question," Dave growled, and James finally glanced at him, a sarcastic smirk creeping onto his lips.

"I came here to talk to her, not to you," James slurred, his voice thick with alcohol. Dave looked ready to snap, his free hand balling into a fist.

"Dave," I stepped in, grabbing his arm and easing it down. He turned to me, and I placed my hand on his chest. "It's alright. Let him in."

Dave sighed heavily but reluctantly moved aside, his face tight with tension, his eyes burning with anger and his lips pressed into a thin line.

"You're like her little lapdog, aren't you? Whatever she wants, you jump, just to keep her happy," James remarked, his tone dripping with sarcasm. I shot him a disapproving look, furrowing my brow, but before I could respond, Dave interrupted with a growl:

"And what about you, huh? You're here to grovel for her forgiveness?" Dave stepped forward, confronting James with a challenging glare. I glanced nervously between them, reaching out to touch Dave's arm in a futile attempt to calm him, but he shrugged me off. "I see the way you look at her, Hetfield. You think I don't notice? You're pathetic."

"That's the crux of it, isn't it?" James snarled. "You and I, we're cut from the same cloth. We both crave her love, her attention, hoping we'll be the lucky one she picks in this messed-up game."

"Except she already chose me," Dave shot back. "Game over. And you know I don't like sharing what's mine."

"Maybe you guys should give it a shot," I blurted out, without really thinking, eager to diffuse the tension between them, but instantly regretting it. Dave and James both turned to look at me, wearing expressions of disbelief, while I felt my cheeks flush with embarrassment. "Um... I just meant..."

"Try sharing you?" Dave chuckled, as if what I’d said was totally nonsensical. I blushed when he gently lifted my chin with his hand, locking eyes with me as he leaned in close, his words a soft whisper, "You don't even know what you're asking for, do you, sweetheart?"

"I just don't want you guys fighting," I murmured, pleadingly. "Please, Dave. You know I care about both of you."

James chuckled, shifting our focus away from each other. Leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed, he had that same intense look in his eyes as when we’d talked earlier — anger, jealousy, and something else I couldn't quite put my finger on at first, but then recognized: longing.

"You always play nice with everyone and it drives me fucking crazy," he remarked, moving closer and closing the door behind him. My heart raced as his hand trailed down my neck to collarbone, all while Dave kept a close eye on him. "There's no escaping this, Nore. Choosing one means hurting the other. And he's got a point." James shot a glance at Dave, who raised an eyebrow. "I'm not exactly great at sharing what's mine either. You know you can't have us both, right?"

"I know. But I don't wanna lose either of you," I admitted, feeling my cheeks heat up as James came closer with a growl, planting his lips on mine. I gasped in surprise, and he seized the moment to slip his tongue into my mouth, his hands firm on my waist. I let out a soft moan as I felt Dave's lips on my neck, planting slow kisses until he reached my ear.

"You sure about this?" he questioned, and I nodded, shutting my eyes and yielding to James' kiss, eliciting a soft growl from him as I tangled my fingers in his hair. "Didn't know you were this greedy, babe," Dave murmured, but he didn't seem upset, more like amused.

Was this really happening? It was hard to wrap my head around it, hard to think straight as the lips of the two men I loved roamed over my mouth, my neck, my skin, igniting sensations that made my whole body tingle. Dave's fingers deftly unzipped my dress.

"Talk to me," James whispered in my ear, and I shut my eyes, my lips parting slightly as I exhaled, Dave still planting kisses on my neck as he eased down my dress. "Tell me you want this, I gotta hear it from you."

"Please, I want both of you," I breathed out, and Dave tightened his grip around my waist, pulling me snug against his body while James teased my earlobe.

I let out a sigh as Dave tilted my head, locking his lips with mine, our tongues moving together while James worked on unclasping my bra and took a nipple into his mouth, giving it a playful nip before leaving small hickeys all over my soft skin. I couldn't help but moan, the sensations overwhelming me. I was completely lost in the moment, swept away by the touch of both of them. It was beyond anything I'd ever dared to dream.

James backed off a bit, his hands resting gently on my hips while Dave went back to peppering my neck with kisses, his hardness pressed against my butt. I stole a glance at James, noticing his distant gaze and flushed cheeks as he watched me, his fingers tracing my cheek softly.

"How do you pull it off? You're still perfect even when you're messing with my head," James muttered, and Dave snarled softly, leaning his head on my shoulder, their eyes locking for a moment. James' expression was hard, revealing a blend of frustration and reluctant acceptance.

"Why do you think I'm crazy about her?" Dave murmured, his lips trailing from my neck up to my jawline in a slow, deliberate path.

I sighed, feeling the heat rise to my cheeks as I sensed a kind of understanding forming between the three of us, albeit slowly; Dave and James were like two sides of the same coin, always had been, brothers of fire and anger even before all their pain had driven them apart. Was it such a shocker that they'd both end up falling for the same woman? Was it such a surprise that I'd end up loving them both?

Maybe we always knew it would eventually lead to this. Maybe we’d all been waiting for this moment, a collision of stars, like waves crashing on the shore on a rainy day. It was dangerous, but exhilarating — so much so that I almost wished we wouldn't cross this line, because I knew I could never come back.

But, at least from now, it seemed good enough to be worth it.

James took a step back, loosening his shirt’s buttons and slipping it off gradually, working on undoing his pants next. I watched him, feeling a shiver run down my spine as Dave's hands caressed my breasts softly. I let out a sigh as James came closer, and reached out, my fingers tracing the edge of his underwear slowly. James grunted, grabbing my hand on his and pressing it against the outline of his erection.

"No way," Dave grunted, clutching my wrist tightly, while James arched an eyebrow. "She's mine first. You can watch," he declared, and James chuckled, rolling his eyes with a smirk. Dave wrapped his arm around my waist, pivoting me to face him, and planted a slow kiss on my lips as I unfastened his shirt.

"Is this your way of proving I'm yours?" I whispered, and he grunted against my lips. "By fucking me in front of him?"

Dave didn't say a word; he guided me to the bed, laying me down and sliding off my panties before undoing his pants and lowering them. James joined us on the bed, shedding his underwear and stretching out, placing my head on his thigh and tenderly running his fingers through my hair, his gaze fixed on my face as he caressed it. Dave finished stripping, then climbed on top of me; I shut my eyes, letting out a soft moan as he pushed into me and I felt him spread me open. James let out a low, rough sound, leisurely stroking my hair. When I looked at him, I saw he held his hard cock in his hand, jerking it softly.

I shifted my gaze to Dave, who kissed me slowly, his intense hazel eyes serious as he pushed into me. His lips moved against mine, his tongue intertwining with mine as he thrust forcefully. I let out soft moans against his mouth, tears brimming in my eyes from the pleasure of feeling him inside me.

"Dave…" I whispered, and he groaned, pulling me close, our gazes locking in a heated embrace.

I wrapped my legs around his hips, urging him to go deeper, gripping his hair tightly. James growled, tilting my face up and guiding his cock to my lips. I eagerly opened my mouth, taking him in, and he moaned softly. Dave kissed my neck, sucking on the tender skin, leaving even more bruises that sent shivers down my spine, but I didn't mind. In that moment, all I could focus on was the sensation of James and Dave, both of them, with me, together.

"Fuck," Dave whispered in my ear, his actions growing more fervent. "If I knew it felt this good to have you with an audience, I would've suggested it ages ago."

"If I knew you'd be into it, I would've brought it up sooner," I whispered back, stroking James' cock slowly with my hand and sighing when Dave started to massage my clit with his fingertips. I moaned, gripping him tightly, and he shut his eyes, thrusting into me with more vigor.

"You're almost there, aren't you?" Dave whispered, and I nodded, unable to form words. James gently brushed away the tears of ecstasy that welled in my eyes, his touch so tender it sent shivers down my spine. I took him back into my mouth, and he let out a soft groan, moving slowly as I continued to pleasure him.

I let out a long, satisfied moan, tightening around Dave as waves of pleasure washed over me, leaving me trembling and breathless. Dave groaned, his face buried in my neck as he reached his own climax, his release flooding into me with a low grunt.

Taking a moment to catch my breath, I pulled James out of my mouth, my lips meeting Dave’s as he shifted beside me. He brushed the hair away from my face, planting gentle kisses along my neck and shoulders as I took James back in my mouth, meeting his gaze with a mixture of desire and satisfaction.

James tangled his fingers in my hair, guiding my movements as his hips rocked gently. His flushed face and parted lips revealed his arousal as I worked my tongue, eliciting soft sighs from him. Meanwhile, Dave's kisses grew more fervent, his hand trailing down to where my body was still slick with our fluids. His touch on my already overstimulated clit made me shiver, and I couldn't help but moan in response. James then bucked his hips forward with a moan, tightening his grip on my head, his release filling my mouth with a warmth that sent a thrill through me.

"Good girl," Dave murmured approvingly as James pulled away from my mouth, running a finger along my slightly swollen lips. I swallowed, feeling a rush of warmth and satisfaction. I turned to Dave, and he leaned in, planting slow kisses along my jawline. I closed my eyes, savoring the moment, but Dave gently cupped my face, urging me to look at him. "Don't shut your eyes, sweetheart," he whispered, his breath tickling my ear. "We're not done with you yet."

I nodded, feeling my cheeks flush and my heart beat faster as Dave shifted away and James pulled me onto his lap, my legs wrapping around his hips as I sensed him growing hard once more. Dave let out a sigh, positioning himself behind me, his hands firmly on my waist providing support as he nibbled on my earlobe. I closed my eyes, nestling my face into James' neck and wrapping my arms around it as Dave raised my hips, allowing James to enter me with deliberate slowness.

This was gonna be a long, long night.

✧ if you'd like to be tagged on the next parts, let me know and I'll add you to the tag list! ❤ ✧

tag list: @killazilla777 @whatsupvic @70srogah @genswine9 @twice360noscope @ilovepapahet @decemberm0on

[lunexrin]

𝑩𝑳𝑼𝑬 𝑳𝑶𝑪𝑲 𝑯𝑬𝑨𝑫𝑪𝑨𝑵𝑶𝑵𝑺.

(𝐹𝐸𝑀! 𝑅𝐸𝐴𝐷𝐸𝑅)

𝑴𝑰𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑬𝑳 𝑲𝑨𝑰𝑺𝑬𝑹 as your partner.

disclaimer: this was a lot harder than it looks (to write about this egoistic monster lol.) i haven't read the manga at all, but based on what i've seen, i think this is how he'll be as a s/o. sorry if this isn't accurate!

a little suggestive towards the end. (i will put a mdni divider, and that's where the suggestive part starts. you can stop reading if you feel uncomfortable!)

There were only two of how he could be; either leave you in a crying mess every time you caught him in another's bed or he would just be downright worship you. But in this case, it was the latter, fortunately.

Michael rolls around the bed, his hands desperately trying to find his beloved's perfect waist. He reaches it, and pulls himself closer to her. "Mein liebling.." he whines, burying his face into her stomach. "I know that you are mad but.. you won't leave, won't you? "

Michael kissed you, a rough, possessive kiss. Pulling you close, burying your face in his chest. His arms wrapped around your figure tightly and squeezed you further into his being, as to further emphasize his point. "This pretty thing you're hitting on, she's my girl. Right, liebling? " He shifts his gaze towards yours, and grins when you prove his point. Looking back at the guy who was hitting on you, he glared, but that grin never left his face. "Screw off," he said, like the proudest man in the world.

"My goddess.." he whispers, sliding his lips from your wrist and to the very end of your fingers as he got down on one knee. "You're so beautiful.." he whispers again, his rough hands gently caressing your sides— your waist, all the way down to your hips. He loves the fact how gorgeous you look in the black dress he bought for you, to wear at a special event tonight; a celebration party of his team after winning a big match. He couldn't wait to flaunt you off to his teammates. "Here, let me put it on for you." He grabbed the pair of high heels you wanted to wear for the night, lifting up your foot and gently slid them on. He even did the complicated straps delicately, with full care. That just shows how much he loves you, and how much he worships you.

Spoils you rotten. He bought a luxurious car for you on your birthday, a year after you both got together. He took you shopping at the end of the month on the weekends when he is on his day off. He made sure that even if he was not there with you, money wouldn't be a problem if you wanted to spend it on your wants and needs— by giving you his black cards.

He would go nuts if your presence is blinded from his gaze, even for just a minute. He would anxiously search for you with his eyes in the middle of the game— he got it together for sure, but it won't last long. Of course that he won't let this be the reason he slacks off in the middle of the game and makes it the reason he lost the match, but at the same time he couldn't bear the idea of losing you. Really, his teammates had to restrain him from sprinting across the field to the bleachers, to find you row by row. Turns out you paid a quick visit to the toilets, and he could finally relax again, grinning and throwing a wink as he sees you waving at him.

Randomly grope you out of nowhere. Be it in public or in private. He just can't bear to keep his hands off of you— even for just about 5 minutes while waiting in line trying to get some fucking ice cream. He loves to hear you shriek, and would lean into your ear, whispering cruel things that shouldn't have been said in the moment. "Shush.. don't wanna be a bad example for the kids 'round here right, sugar?" But of course, he wouldn't let anyone see the action. He'd feel as if he betrayed himself and you by giving anyone else's eyes the pleasure of the show displayed— your round, fit bottom.

Aftercare. He would pull you in close, caressing the back of your head while cradling you against his chest like a baby. He knows that he was rough with you, not to mention the whole episode of him degrading the shit out of you earlier. But he wasn't going to let you suffer and in pain even after the passionate night— or day you just shared. He'd make sure to whisper sweet things in your ear, and maybe some snarky, dirty remarks that would make you pinch his arm, and he'll complain of how it hurts. "I had to say, you know how I hated it when you got hurt but.. earlier was a different case— ow!" He claimed, pouting from the pinch you gave him. But then he grins again, chuckling. He placed a gentle kiss on your lips, the grin turned into a small, genuine smile. "Okay, okay.. I love you, l'right? Now, get some sleep, sleeping beauty. The pain will go away soon, hopefully." He laughs when you pinch his arm again, and pulls you closer, further into his warm embrace.

© 2023 lunexrin, do not copy, translate, or repost on any other websites without proper credits.

[manicpixiefelix]

*crashes my imaginary car into your inbox*

OLLIE WHO WAS ADOPTED BY READER'S FAMILY!!!!!

I know this is a major shift in established dynamics but hear me out!!!

What if Oliver's tales about his home life were actually true, worse even so he ended up an orphan? He gets adopted by Reader's parents for the optics mainly because it makes them look good and they figure it'll provide their heir with a companion.

So they become this peculiar little duo, both very observant of the world and people around them. Ollie is a stranger to this world of the ultra rich and endures etiquette classes.

Oliver Quick becomes Oliver L/N, the boy uplifted from squalor by the heroic family *eye roll*

Reader is fiercely protective of their brother and will ruin anyone that insinuates he's not ~really~ family

I know we've never really discussed the ancestral home of Reader but I imagine it is every bit as grand and impressive as Saltburn. Ollie's favorite room is definitely the massive library.

BEEN THINKING ABOUT THIS A LOT OF COURSE I LOVE HOW YOUR MIND WORKS!!!!

Of course your parents love the optics of it all.

You're six when they adopt Oliver, and he's five; this mousy little thing who doesn't smile often and barely speaks and can't look you in the eyes. He shys away from your overbearing, performative parents, but you seem to be able to see how overwhelmed he's getting. There's no words in your first interaction, only gestures, taking and keeping Oliver's focus as best you can to ground him in the moment; you teach him a simple game, and he returns the favour. Not a word between you two. By the end of the visit, you realise the adults have gone quiet; your parents and Oliver's case worker are just watching you both, marvelling. As you're looking away, Oliver himself finally steps towards you, taking your hand carefully and half hiding himself from them behind you, as if already deciding to trust you. You and Oliver had begun the day as strangers, and ended as siblings.

Your parents love to tell anyone who will listen about how when you first met Oliver you 'practically fixed yourself to his side and haven't moved since'. You look like the perfect family in photos, and the press is quick to forget how little research your parents did on the last charity they very publicly supported, and it's less than ideal history. Oliver learns to smile on command the way you feel like you've always known, but at least they don't make the two of you seperate in these moments.

Oliver says your house is like a fairy tale. At first he sticks close by you, overwhelmed by it all, but as the days turn to weeks and then months, you start to lose him as he goes exploring amongst the estate's many rooms and corridors. No-one knows the old house better then you, but Oliver is a close second; Nan says Mother used to scurry around just like you did, used to know every trick the old house had, but that was a lifetime ago.

Mother's study locks from the inside and Father works long hours in the city, so it's up to you to help Oliver settle in with the nannys and the tutors and the rest of the staff. Your parents like to buck tradition, so they're not precious enough to hire anyone to teach Oliver the etiquette that usually comes with wealth and a house like this, so long as he was polite and respectful and sweet faced in public, they couldn't care less which fork he used for salad. Honestly adults at events found his lack of grace and understanding of their unspoken rules charming in its sincerity. You, however, know that their condescending adoration grates on your brother's nerves as they talk to him like he was some kind of pet.

On the weekends Nan comes over, and it's clear that Oliver likes her the best of all the adults in your lives. Like you she doesn't pressure him to talk, always taking his silence in stride, but also taking the time and putting in the effort to understand him when he does try and communicate, however that may be.

In public - not that you're in public a lot - you and Oliver tend to cling to each other. As you grow older, even as you stop physically holding on to each other, you barely seem to stray from each other's shadow. Of the two of you, Oliver still is the far more reserved one, happy to let you do the talking most of the time, often only sharing his thoughts as quiet asides to you alone.

Considering your parents had no choice but to publicly acknowledge you in this universe, you and Oliver very much grow up in the public eye. The strange, observant duo who seemed to have the uncanny ability to wrap rooms full of adults, the upper echelons of society, around their little fingers, grow into beautiful and bitchy socialites.

Considering you're both getting privately tutored instead of going to a proper school, most of your time is spent travelling and attending events. Following the various Fashion Weeks around the world is a yearly tradition since you were teens, you go to concerts and film festivals and galas, always together, always inseperable. Or at least, inseperable when being seen by people who might matter. Oliver's confidence grows, he's far more open and even talkative in public than when he was a kid, but there's comfort in your established dynamic too. It returns most often at formal events, with Oliver half a step behind you, murmuring his commentary and amusing aside to you throughout the night.

A few of the independent tabloids your family didn't own print unsavoury rumours about your closeness, but those get pulled from news stands within the day, and a few threats of defamation lawsuits make them think twice before printing those kinds of articles again.

Everyone in the Western world knows who you both are, or has at least heard of you. But thankfully it's been years since anyone had tried to tie Oliver back to the Poor Orphan Boy he was when he'd first been adopted. By the time you both get to Oxford, he's been your brother for so long that it's like the world has thankfully forgotten that it's not by blood.

[billyhargrovesupsidedownshadow]

A little nonsensical Single father!Billy Harringrove piece, 968 words, no warnings, G

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

Billy rubs a hand over his face. Fuck, he's tired.

"Why are you bringing someone over? You're a father!" Jen's voice is so insanely annoying, Billy can just barely hold himself from wincing. Exactly how drunk was he six years ago to deal with it, was beyond him.

He glances, frowning with worry, in the direction of his living room. It is suspiciously quiet. Sarah isn't running back, shrieking from seeing an unfamiliar man in her home, and Steve isn't trying to politely leave forever because oh, maybe Billy forgot to mention that he has a kid.

A kid who chose the first fucking mommy-weekend in five years when Billy had someone over to throw a tantrum about how she wants to be back at daddy's.

Like hell he will listen to all of his friends telling him he needs to meet people ever again. Fuck all of them. This is what meeting people leads to: children or childhood trauma.

"Jen, you fuck around all the fucking time, one night I invite someone over, and that's it, I'm a terrible father?"

"Don't swear in front of my child!" She whisper-yells at him.

He can't believe he's being slut-shamed in his own house, when he hasn't even done anything. Because as soon as they got to the fun part, Jen was banging on his door. Not the kind of banging Billy hoped for today, but definitely the only kind he's getting.

He squeezed his eyes shut. That's what he gets for taking a risk. A mess.

"Okay, alright, I'm not, bye, Jen, you brought Sarah over as she asked, now you can go."

"You can't have some man over with my child in the house!"

"Right, I'm not, bye, Jen," he ends up closing the door in her face, hoping that this will be the end of it for now. He knows he's going to hear all about it next weekend anyway.

He waits a couple of minutes to check that she isn't trying to break his door down again. Definitely not stalling before he has to go into the living room.

And Steve is actually so hot and nice and generally good. And loaded. Like who the fuck else brings his car over to a mechanic just to check over clearly nothing four times in a month. Their receptionist, Argyle, said that Steve came over only when Billy was in. Billy looked at the little bi flag on the BMW's dash for a long time before actually deciding to try his luck and asking Steve out.

And now Billy has to awkwardly explain how he managed to fail to mention that he has a kid over five dates and wave Steve goodbye forever. And he was starting to actually like the guy. Thinking that maybe life was looking up. That maybe he will have someone to come home to when Sarah is at her mom's.

But of course not. Not in his life.

He breathes out and walks into the room, the only light coming from the street lamps outside and the floor lamp leaning over the couch he was just making out with Steve on fifteen minutes ago.

"And you know all the breeds?" Steve asks in a very serious tone, looking at the book about horses that Sarah has on her lap sitting on the couch next to him.

"Yes! Daddy reads me all about them! And we go watch them at the stadium when there are competitions!" She answers, excitedly.

Billy leans against the doorframe, a bit dumbfounded.

Steve looks up at him and smiles, then turns back to Sarah.

"You can tell me all more about them next time, okay? I have to go now," he stands up.

"To feed your doggies?" Sarah asks, all understanding, brows furrowed.

"I hope my friend fed them, but I should go check in case she forgot. It was very nice meeting you, Sarah," he offers her his hand for a formal handshake and she giggles.

"Bye, Steve!" She yells as Steve walks by Billy to the hall.

They stand there, awkwardly, for a moment.

"You have dogs? I haven't seen any hair or damage in the car," Billy blurts out, like this is the most important thing right now.

"Yes, I have six. They aren't allowed into the Beemer, I have a minivan for them. Yes, I have two cars all for myself," he says before Billy has a chance to ask, while putting his shoes and a jacket on.

Then he looks at Billy again.

Billy just stares back, not knowing what to say. Steve looks pretty chill after the whole encounter, but Billy isn't about to allow himself to hope that they were still on for later.

Steve leans in a presses a small kiss to Billy's lips.

"Call me," he says, serious, making sure Billy's looking into his pretties fucking brown eyes ever. "Bye, Sarah!" He yells again, getting another "Bye!" in response. "Bye, Billy, see you next time," he says and finally smiles, opening the door.

"Yeah, next time," Billy manages to croak out eventually, his voice unexpectedly coarse. "I'll call you!" He adds as an afterthought when Steve is already walking to the elevator of Billy's building.

Steve waves at him.

Billy closes the door and leans against it.

Fuck.

"Daddy, is Steve your new friend?" Asks Sarah, coming to him and looking up at him with his own blue eyes.

"Yeah," he says.

She nods.

"That's good, you need more friends, and Steve's nice, he listened all about the horses! Can you make me a sandwich? I'm hungry!" She says all in one breath and skips to the kitchen.

Billy breathes out and follows her, fighting back a smile.

They are still on. Maybe he actually did luck out this time.

[keen-li]

CLAWED | JJK | 03

Synopsis: "do you honestly think I want your help? I'm desperate " you can still see the hatred he has for you in his eyes, but you can also see the desperation.

Genre: e2l, angst, fluff, smut-ish. Convict jk x police officer reader

Fem reader x jk

Warnings: cussing

_________________________

The usual side comments and mumbles are heard as you walk through the station to the chief's office. You ignore everyone and mind your business, as you always do, when you feel a large strong hand grab your ass.

"It's just how we talked about boys" you hear sunho, one of the officers, yell as his friends cheer him on.

This crosses your boundary and you punch his nose, which causes him to grab his now bloody nose and groan. You threaten to pull out your gun but the yells coming from the other officers telling you to stop held you back. You decide to continue your journey giving sunho one last nasty glare and you notice how he grabs the tissue his friend gives him.

"Whore" you hear one if sunho's friends yell towards you but you keep moving and finally reach the chief's office. You'd have to tell the chief about this.

You walk in after his authoritative 'come in'

"Good morning officer" he greets "I'm sure you have the report I asked for" he says this his attention not fully on you but on some papers.

"Good morning sir and yes I do" he stretches his hand signaling you to give them to him which you do. He doesn't look at it but simply puts them away to the side.

You stand in position seemingly waiting for his attention so you can tell him the other thing you have to him.

He looks your way meeting your eyes with his cold ones.

"Anything else I can do for you?" He asks not rudely but it definitely sounds that way. Before you can start your sentence someone walks into the office and after lecturing the officer over knocking he lets the man speak.

"We have some leads on the Kim robbery" the chief stays silent for a moment takening in the information and turns to you.

"I'm pretty sure you're concern can wait can't it?" He didn't even get to hear you out. You nod taking it as your cue to leave. You close the door behind you and you wait before you leave, standing in front of the door for a bit. No one could see you.

"We've located one of the guys, taehyung but he's on the run" you hear the officer say

"but the other two are nowhere to be found and we still dont know how many in total they are"

"no description of the others?"

" No "

You decided to walk away not wanting to snoop any further, if they wanted you on the case they'd let you.

You've been hearing about this case. A group of guys apparently robbing the largest Kim company and holding people at gunpoint, even killing two and one injured. You wonder what idiots would think of robbing the Kim company. But it also surprises you how they've seamlessly been able to slip and hide.

__________________________________

You didn't get the chance to eat yoongi's brownies that he brought you two days ago, you hope they're still okay but you don't worry cause stored them pretty well. You hope he isn't mad at you for how long you've taken to give him the feedback.

So you're now bent over your counter stuffing your face with the brownies while going through your phone. These brownies are so good you'd swear he bought them from a bakery. You haven't had anything this good in a while, well except for the caffeine you take in everyday, nothing can beat that. While you're stuffing your face with brownies you see a message from your Dad.

"Don't forget your mother's birthday. We're having a Birthday Gathering I hope you can come."

Shit, you forgot that this weekend's your mother's birthday, you feel so horrible for forgetting. So you decide to punish yourself by closing the brownie box and stuffing it back into the fridge.

You're still beating yourself up when you're startled by the sound of the tap turning on. You thought you were alone.

"when did you enter the kitchen?" still startled you ask jungkook who's washing his hands and for a second you see him stare at your ass. Who can blame him you're wearing your pajama shorts and on your tippy toes stuffing the box on the top and highest shelf of your fridge.

He turns his gaze away as he dries his hands.

"just got in" he lies, he was watching you as you beat yourself up for forgetting your mother's birthday and stuff your face with yoongi's brownies. As a matter of fact he didn't even need to wash his hands he used it has an excuse to enter the kitchen.

"Anyway" you change the topic and walk to the other side of the island. You're trying to find a gentle way of saying what you want to say.

"It's past 4 days" you beat around the bush and fiddle with your fingers. You didn't want to be rude about it but it had to be said.

You don't want to hurt his feelings, but think about all the times he's hurt your feelings you think to yourself. You think for a bit remember the times he'd hurt your feelings, what you're gonna say can't be worse than that.

Jungkook watches you knowing what you want to say but wanting you to say it.

"It's passed four days and and you're still here" you say sternly finally finding your confidence.

"when I moved in this house I didn't plan on feeding two mouths."

Jungkook looks at you but you can't keep the same eye contact, he doesn't say anything just letting you speak. The silence lingers for a bit when he finally speaks.

"y/n if you want me to leave just say so" he says leaving the kitchen, you immediately rush over to grab him by his tattooed arm to stop him from moving.

"That's not what I meant" what are you even saying it is what you meant, and why are you holding onto him. You quickly pull your arm away from him as if his arm had suddenly turned into a hot coal.

Why are you trying to 'plead' or justify what you're saying, you should be standing your ground. You didn't want jungkook in your house and that's final. But again somewhere in you, you didn't want to kick him out like a dog.

"You know jungkook, I don't know what happened to you" your tone is a little loud and rough and he has his back to you but he doesn't move.

"You were the best, better than me better, than sunho for fucks sake, better than everyone" you continue to yell.

He truly was the best at everything when competitions came around and people knew he was participating they would honestly forget about winning. You always had hope that someone would beat him and you'd hoped it be you.

And after he wins he'd always commend you for believing in yourself, mocking you of course, you honestly didn't know why you hated jungkook. Maybe it was because he hated you or that he hung out with shitty people, sunho, you really hated the fact that you three graduated together and got the same job at the same office. It didn't make life any better for you.

"Ever since you lost your job" you can't continue and take a much needed break to calm yourself.

"what happened to you" now you think about it you never actually knew why jungkook got fired it was so early on and sudden. Alll you knew is that he got fired and after that you never saw much of him.

The guy who spent his entire time at the Academy and work making your life hell, got fired. You should have been happy that he got fired but it didn't bring you much pleasure and you didn't know why. You often thought about it and him but you always brushed it off your brain telling you you should be happy that one of your nightmares were gone.

Henhasn't turned to look at you or even speak but when he does you can't tell what you see in his eyes, but it's nothing you've ever seen in him even when he'd tell you the most hurtful things.

"I never liked how you never knew how to mind your own business" he says so calmly but with so much bitterness.

"how can I? How can I mind my own business when you're living in my house?" you start to move your hands around showing your confusion towards the situation.

"for all I know you could be a criminal on the run jungkook" you don't know why you said it but it's the first thing that comes to mind.

You see jungkook's face change when you say that and he scoffs.

" you really think I'm a criminal? You really think I could be one? Huh? y/n" he presses the question.

"I don't know" you lower your tone unsure. You actually don't think jungkook can be a criminal but your mind is clouded that you don't know what to think.

"well if you want to know why I got fired so bad" you stand not wanting to speak, you had already spoken your mind.

" I got to charged for fraud"

your jaw drops both physically and mentally. Fraud? jungkook?what?

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Prev | next

[abiiors]

i need a jealous ross fic or blurb desperately😭

asjkdjsjd this is shitty, evidently i do not know how to write jealousy </3

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so ross makes it a point to pick you up from work as often as he can. whenever he can get away from his own job, he's there outside your building with flowers, or coffee and donuts, or food and a warm hug. and today's no different as he waits eagerly outside your building with some delicious hot chocolate. he hasn't seen much of you this week because you've both been busy but it's a Friday and he's got a very free weekend that he's looking forward to spending in bed with you (cuddling, doing...other things, the works). he's used to seeing you come out chatting and laughing with your group of friends, he's met them on many occasions and he's also quite fond of them but something's off today. that's not the case today. he feels the smile slipping off his face when you step out of the front door with some man he's never seen before. it's not like him to be seething at the sight of you talking to other men, it's never been like him. but this is different. this man is standing too close, heads bent together as you look at something on his phone. suddenly you laugh like he's just said the funniest thing in the world. he stands up straighter, makes himself look taller. not like he needs to but hey, it can't hurt. you still haven't spotted him, haven't even looked around yet as you nod at the other man, eyes moving over his face and a near-constant smile on your face. is he really that fucking funny? ross's jaw ticks at the sound of your shared laughs. he's not jealous, no he's not jealous at all, just annoyed at being ignored, just mildly irritated. he'll call your name and you'll smile at him the way you only smile at him and the other guy will be forgotten. he knows it. and then you go in for a hug.

his fingers dent the disposable cups, a little spills over from the side but he doesn't care. his tone is clipped when he finally calls your name. and then once more till you actually look at him. he brightens a little when you positively beam at him, the familiar special smile that's only reserved for him but all of it goes down the drain when you grab the other guy's hand and bring him over.

'who's this then,' ross tries to sound conversational and very casual. he knows you'll be very mad if he went caveman and he actually wants to have a nice weekend with you. you're none the wiser...yet. you introduce him, it's your coworker ben, he just moved, just started the job and you showed him around a bit which is how you got to know each other. but ross also notices how ben leans towards you and tries to be all familiar and joke-y after TWO days of knowing you. once the introductions are done, you say bye to ben, tell him you'll see him on Monday and he tries to be all cheeky with the "bye sweetheart" which ross DOES NOT LIKE. you're HIS sweetheart, not this stupid coworker's. and ben doesn't even say bye to him, just does the weird lil bro head nod thing (it's so stupid, i hate it)

once he's gone, you jump on ross and kiss his face and tell him how happy you are to see him, how you were actually craving some hot chocolate and he melts a bit but he's still all "oh so you've been hanging out with this new guy all day huh?" and also "you two seemed pretty friendly" at which point you roll your eyes at him because you're not stupid and you can see right through him. you're like "baby, he's not even a friend yet, i met him two days ago" and ross just mutters darkly, "trust me he doesn't wanna be your friend" to which you sigh and mumble about men having one thing on their mind. he's a bit pouty after that, muttering to himself occasionally like an old witch in the forest while you're busy practically inhaling the hot chocolate. you do feel slightly amused tho because he's so cute when he gets like this and it's not often he gets like this; he's all handsy and clingy but in a cute way, touching your butt at every chance he gets and pressing a kiss to your cheek. he also uses sweetheart at the end of every sentence which you find hilarious.

it's only after you pull him close for one deep, long kiss that he shuts up and promises to not bring up ben for the rest of the night (ben will be long gone from both your memories well before the night truly ends 👀)

[catlynhoss05]

Home Sweet Home Ch.5: Too Close to Home

Pairing: OCfem!reader x Emily Prentiss

Summary: A man from Remi's past shows his face in a horrible way.

TW: mentions of rape & other CM case-related stuff

It's been a few weeks since that weekend and Remi and Emily have become much closer in their relationship than they were before. The team -especially Hotch- have all noticed how much closer they've become. In the last few weeks, the team had one case that was short and local.

Remi and Emily made their usual stop for coffee before work whenever they carpooled together. Remi was wearing a nice navy blue pantsuit with a light pink button-up shirt, a maroon bow tie, and chestnut brown dress shoes. She knew how much Emily loved seeing her all dressed up like that. "Someone's looking snazzy today," Derek chuckled as the couple made their way to their desks. "Thanks, Morgan. Just make sure to keep your eyes in that bald head of yours," Remi joked with a grin, making Emily laugh.

Derek put a hand over his heart as he faked being hurt. Remi chuckled as she sat her bag down on the floor and sat down at her desk. After greeting Spencer and JJ, everyone started to work on their stacks of paperwork. About an hour later, Penelope came out of her batcave excitedly. "What's up, baby girl?" Derek asked, causing the others to turn their attention to the colorful woman. "You were a cheerleader!?" Penelope asked aloud. Remi ended up choking a bit on her coffee because she was not expecting a question like that. Emily was the only one who knew about Remi being a cheerleader in high school after she asked Emily to keep it a secret. Especially from Derek. "H-How-" Remi cleared her throat. "How do you know about that?" She asked in utter shock.

"You see, I was wondering what you looked like back in high school. So I looked up your yearbooks and came across you being a cheerleader as well as the star basketball player," Penelope explained. "Yeah, I got a full-ride scholarship for basketball to my college of choice.... What's so funny, Morgan?" Remi asked. "I just can't imagine seeing you as a cheerleader!" He laughed. "Well believe it, bucko! I only did cheerleading in my freshman and sophomore year of high school for Aspen. Then focused on my schooling, sports, and farm-related things until I graduated," Remi explained with a smirk. "Plus, the cheerleading squad needed someone strong enough to do the lifting and spotting of the cheerleaders. And also someone to do the occasional front flip, back flip, and cartwheel as well," Remi explained. "Okay, Miss Fancy Pants. I wanna see you do all three of those," Morgan challenged.

"Okay. First off, you got yourself a deal. Secondly, not here because this is a workplace; not a playground. I rather not lose my job. And lastly, I also rather not have my ass handed to me by Emily for not acting like an adult in a public setting," Remi chuckled. "Is that true, Prentiss? You've done that?" Morgan asked, smiling widely as well as Penelope and Reid. "No, I haven't," Emily stated with a sly smile on her lips. "Three times... And on the same day while grocery shopping," Remi smiled into her coffee cup. JJ came into view from Hotch's office. "Hey, we got a case," she announced to the team. Everyone gathered in the conference room within the next few minutes. Remi took her usual seat in between Emily and Morgan.

"So what do we have here?" Remi asked aloud. "Three 9-year-old girls who were all taken from their homes in the middle of the night, raped, their necks were snapped, and their bodies were dumped next to a hiking trail in Pryor, Oklahoma," JJ explained to the team. Those words raped and necks snapped echoed in Remi's head as she continued to look through her case file in hand. "I suggest y'all stop staring at me," she said aloud as she looked through the file. "Are you sure that you want to do this case, Remi?" Rossi asked. "Yes, I'm sure. If I can't handle the pressure, I'll let y'all know," she assured the team. Once the team finished briefing, Hotch stopped Remi from leaving the conference room after everyone else had dispersed. "Look Hotch... I'll be fine." "That's not why I'm stopping you," Hotch said, letting out a small sigh as he looked at Remi.

"Then what -" "I just got word that John Stephenson had escaped from prison. They think that he might be the unsub," Hotch informed her. The look on Remi's face was a look of fear that the Unit Chief was all too familiar with. "W-What..." Remi paused, trying to wrap her mind around the bombshell of information she just received. "How would that even be possible? He was in prison in Nashville... If it's true that he did escape from prison, it would've taken him roughly about 9 to 10 hours to get to Pryor if he went there by car," Remi wondered aloud to her boss. "Let's go and find out," Hotch stated. They both hurried to grab their stuff and went to meet the rest of the team on the jet. Upon arriving on the jet, the others noticed a not-so-good shift in Remi's attitude. "Everyone, get some rest. The flight will be about roughly 4 hours or so to get to Pryor," Hotch said to the team.

Remi took her usual aisle seat next to Emily who watched her closely. She put her hand gently onto Remi's right knee and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Everything will be okay," She whispered reassuringly. Once the jet had landed in Pryor, Oklahoma, the team made their way to the precinct around 2 p.m. When they arrived, they grabbed the stuff they needed and headed inside. A few 10 year olds that were walking by had recognized Remi and immediately came over to her. "You're Remington Montgomery... We're big fans of yours! May we get your autograph?" One of the 10-year-olds asked. "Of course!" Remi smiled at the kids and signed their cowboy hats with a sharpie. "There ya go, kids! I've gotta get back to work so y'all be safe, okay?" She asked with a smile, receiving some 'yes ma'am's'. Emily had waited for her and they went inside together. "That was sweet of you," Emily smiled. "I try to be," Remi chuckled.

"And these are Agent Prentiss and Agent Montgomery," Hotch introduced to the police officers. "Wait, like as in the Remington Montgomery? The two-time record holder for bull riding?" An officer asked while shaking Remi's hand. "Yes, sir. That's me, but it's Agent Montgomery... If y'all don't mind," Remi said, the thick southern accent in full swing. "Yes ma'am... I'll show y'all where you can set up at." The officer said. After the team got set up, Reid started working on the geographical profile, Rossi worked on the paper trail, JJ and Emily went to the coroner's to get read into the autopsies, and Hotch, Morgan, and Remi went to talk to the victims' families.

Hotch wanted Remi to come along with him and Morgan because she was quite close with this case and he wanted to keep a close eye on her. She was quiet on the ride to the first victims' house. "So, Remi... What took you so long to come into the precinct earlier?" Morgan wandered, breaking the silence. "A few kids had stopped me and asked for an autograph," Remi smirked. "You seem pretty well known around here then," Hotch commented. "My family and I were a part of a few rodeos in Tulsa and did quite a bit of charity work there and here," She explained. Hotch, Morgan, and Remi had finished up at the last victims' house and headed back to the precinct.

Remi had a bad feeling that Aspen's stepfather was to blame for the three young lives that were taken. Once back at the precinct, Remi had made her way to the restroom and was followed by Emily. "Hey, Remi. Is everything okay?" She asked, stepping closer to her girlfriend. "Yeah, I just gotta pee... Plus, I just have this feeling that somethings off with this case," Remi explains as she uses the restroom. "Is your 'off' feeling about John Stephenson escaping prison?" Emily asked, hearing the toilet flush and the stall door opening slowly. Remi stepped out of the stall, looking a bit pale and shocked. "How do you know about that man escaping prison?" She asked in a very serious tone.

"Because Hotch told me over the phone while you guys were at the second victims home. Honey, if he is behind all of this, we're going to get him. You're not alone in this because the team and the officers are in this with you. I'm in this with you until the very end." Emily explained, cupping Remi's face in her hands. "You know I love you more than anything in this world, right?" Remi smirked, wrapping her arms around Emily's waist. "I love you too, honey buns," Emily said, laughing when Remi glared at her. "We should get back to work once I wash my hands," Remi stated, giving Emily a quick kiss. They left the restroom to get back to work when they had noticed a group of maybe 50 people being escorted out of the precinct.

"Hey, Rossi... What's with all the people?" Emily asked as they walked into the room they were using. "They all heard that Remi was here in town and wanted to meet her," He explained with a soft smile, making Remi chuckle. "Let's get back to work, shall we?" Remi suggested. Emily and Rossi went to the lobby to talk with Hotch about the case while Spencer took a quick bathroom break. Morgan, JJ and Remi continued to work in the conference room when a police officer came in with some cookies for the team to snack on. "What kind of cookies?" JJ asked. "Chocolate chip... My wife made them from scratch," the officer smiled. The three agents all took a cookie. Hotch, Rossi and Emily all had a cookie as well. What Remi wasn't aware of was that the officer had brought the wrong kind of cookies and brought peanut butter cookies.

After taking the first bite of her cookie, Remi started to feel a bit funny and started to cough a bit. She started to have trouble breathing and started to wheeze, catching the attention of JJ and Morgan. "Remi? You okay?" JJ asked worriedly. Her question was answered when Remi collapsed to the ground, taking a few chairs with her. "HOTCH, HELP!" Morgan shouted as he rushed to Remi's side. Rossi, Hotch, Spencer and Emily -along with a few officers- rushed into the conference room to see Remi on the floor, wheezing and turning blue. "Oh my God! Remi..." Emily panicked, rushing to her girlfriend's side. "She's having an allergic reaction. She must've had one of the cookies," she explained, getting out Remi's spare epi-pen out of her back pocket. Emily administered the epi-pen just in time and Remi's color and breathing started to slowly get better.

When Remi had taken her first deep breath, she started to have a coughing fit and tried to sit up with assistance. "Are you okay, honey?" Emily asked worriedly. "Water," Remi croaked. Derek got her a bottle of water and a couple paramedics with a respirator came into the room. Remi thanked Derek for the water and took a sip. The police officer that brought in the cookies was distraught and felt horrible for bringing in the wrong cookies. After about 30 minutes of the paramedics checking over Remi, they gave her the all clear and packed up their gear and left. Emily and Morgan helped Remi up to her feet. "You okay, kid?" Rossi asked. Remi coughed a bit and cleared her throat. "Uh, yeah. I'm alright." Remi stated, voice still a bit hoarse. Emily still had a hand on her back that she had found quite comforting.

A police officer had come into the conference room in a hurry. "Everyone, we got a fourth victim. But this time we got a witness who saw your unsub. They're with a sketch artist now," the officer informed them. "Alright, thank you. Remi, you stay here and continue to work on the profile. Also, call me when the sketch artist is done and if it's who we think it is," Hotch ordered, leaving the room with the rest of the team. Once the sketch artist was done about 15 minutes later, an officer brought the sketch to Remi in the conference room. With one look at the sketch, Remi knew exactly who it was. "For fucks sake," She muttered, pulling out her phone to call Hotch. "Yeah, Hotchner," he answered. "Hotch... It's him. It's the bastard, John Stephenson," Remi explained, anger in her voice. "Are you positive that it's him and not just your imagination?" Hotch asked. "Look, Hotch. I know what this man looks like and what he's capable of. I know him and I know it's him because he's got a very visible scar on his forehead. So yeah, I'm pretty fucking sure it's him," Remi explained with an attitude.

"Okay, okay. We'll be there shortly. And Remi, try to keep your head straight. We need you on this case," Hotch stated. "What did she say?" Emily asked. "It's him. It's John Stephenson," Hotch sighed. After they finished up with the crime scene, Hotch decided to stop and get some take-out for the whole team on the way back to the precinct since it was getting close to half past midnight. "Everyone, take a break and eat something. Then go to the hotel and get some rest. We'll start back up here at 6 a.m.," Hotch informed. Everyone sat around to eat while talking amongst themselves. Remi was unusually quiet as she ate her food. "You okay, honey?" Emily asked quietly. "Yeah. Just hungry," Remi explained, taking another bite of her food.

"Excuse me, Agent Hotchner. There's a couple of people here wanting to see and speak to Agent Montgomery," an officer informed them. Hotch and Remi walked out of the conference room. "Hello, I'm-" "Sherry? Matthew?" Remi questioned surprisingly. "Oh my gosh, Remi," Sherry exclaimed, being enveloped in a big bear hug from Remi. "Oh Hotch, I do apologize. These are Aspen's parents. This is Agent Hotchner," Remi introduced. "So, what're y'all doin' here?" She asked. "I-Is it true about John? That he's behind all this mess?" Matthew asked sternly. Remi rubbed the back of her neck, not wanting to answer his question so she looked over at Hotch. "We're not able to answer that right now since we're not 100% sure if he's behind it all. We'll know as soon as we can get more information on him," Hotch informed them. "If he is behind all of this, I promise that the team and I will get him one way or another," Remi explained to them. "Good... And look at you, Remi. You're so grown up and beautiful. And in amazing shape, wow," Sherry gushed, her hands on Remi's biceps and making the woman blush and chuckle.

"Do you have a girlfriend or a wife yet?" Sherry asked. "I do have a girlfriend and she's here if y'all wanna meet her. If that's okay with you, Hotch," Remi said. "Yes, that's okay. I'll go get her for you and it was nice meeting you both," Hotch smiled, going to get Emily. Emily came out to them and was a bit taken aback when she saw Sherry with her hands on Remi's biceps. "Hey, honey. I want you to meet Aspen's parents. This is Sherry and Matthew Greene. This is my girlfriend Emily Prentiss. We also work together too," Remi introduced with a smile. "Hi, Emily. It's so nice to meet you. You got a real beauty here, Remi," Sherry smiled, making them all chuckle. "I think that every day. She is quite amazing," Remi gushed, making Emily blush beat red. "Well, it was nice meeting you both but, we gotta get back to work," Emily explained. After their goodbyes, the team packed up some of their stuff and headed to the hotel to get some well-deserved rest.

Emily and Remi were sharing a room like they usually do. "So, do you wanna take a shower together?" Remi grinned, setting her stuff on the bed. "Sounds good to me," Emily chuckled. After a well-needed shower, the couple got changed and crawled into bed. Emily cuddled up against Remi's chest. "Honey, what's going on? You're tense," Emily asked bluntly. "It's just this whole case that's buggin' me. Then Sherry and Matthew showed up at the precinct earlier and it sunk in that this case is real and I'm not imagining any of this," Remi confessed. "I promise that this case will be over before you know it, I promise. Now, let's get some sleep," Emily stated.

The next day, the team decided that Remi should give the profile. She does have a better outlook on the man than the others. "Our unsub's name is John Stephenson. Twenty-six years ago, Stephenson raped and murdered his nine-year-old stepdaughter, Aspen Greene, in their home in Nashville, Tennessee. Stephenson was serving the last 26 years of his life sentence in prison until two days ago when he had managed to escape and made his way here... his hometown," Remi cleared her throat. "The man is in his late fifties now, about 6'2", 230 lbs, fit and also bald. He's an egotistical, self-absorbed narcissist who will lay low and stay in the same spot to get his next victim," Remi explained. "By laying low, that means he's, for a fact, staying somewhere that's completely abandoned and where he has full access to both the dump site and any next victim that he can get to," Remi finished.

"We have come to find out that his location is the abandoned house 1098 on West Grove Street. Use precaution and know that he's fully aware that we are after him," Hotch added. "Does he know that Agent Montgomery is an agent and that she's a part of your team?" One of the officers asked. "It's a possibility that he could know that I'm here. But I doubt that he knows because I made sure that he wouldn't hear anything about me after what he had done twenty-six years ago. I made sure that it seemed like I had fallen off the face of the Earth while he was in prison. However, there IS a possibility that he could have heard some things since he had escaped over 48 hours ago. But I wouldn't put my money on it," Remi finished explaining.

Hotch pulled Remi aside afterward while everyone was gearing up. "I think it would be safe for you to stay behind, Remi," Hotch stated. "Stay behind, my ass... Hotch, with all due respect, I'm going with y'all if you like it or not. I NEED to get this bastard no matter what it takes," Remi seethed with anger. "You will wear a vest and will go with Morgan. Morgan, keep a close eye on her. Do NOT break protocol, Remi. Got it?" "Yes sir." Remi agreed, putting her Kevlar vest on. Everyone got into the proper vehicles and made their way to take down John Stephenson. Hotch and the sheriff made sure that everyone stopped a block away so they didn't tip the man off. Once everyone arrived, Hotch gave the team orders on how they would go into the abandoned house.

They all carefully made their way down the sidewalk to the front of the house. Rossi and were at the side door, Derek and Remi went to the back door, and Emily, JJ, and Hotch were at the front. Morgan was very puzzled at the calmness that Remi was presenting. The officers were scattered all around the house a bit of a way away to make sure that they had the team's back if the man decided to run. "John Stephenson, open up. FBI," Hotch's voice boomed out, silence being returned. On cue, Hotch, Rossi, and Morgan all kicked the doors in at the same time. Each member entered the house, glocks raised, searching for the man. While going down the hall, Remi was on Derek's six when she abruptly stopped. "Morgan," she said quietly, making Derek turn around.

She pointed at the door that was blended very well into the walls. "I can hear something behind this door," she stated, keeping an eye out as Morgan wedged the door open a bit. "Ready?" He asked, getting a nod in return. Upon entering the room, they noticed Emily and JJ comforting a little girl while Hotch and Rossi dragged Stephenson out of the house and Reid calling for a medic. "How'd you guys get here so fast?" Morgan asked. "Just did," Rossi stated. "Hi, sweety. My name is Remi... Would you like it if I carried you outside?" The agent asked as she crouched down, waiting for the little girl to answer. She somehow knew that the little girl knew of her. The little girl nodded her head and reached out to Remi. Rossi had a slight smirk on his lips at the scene of Remi carrying the little girl. He loved the way that Remi had with kids.

The little girl was attached to Remi like a koala bear while she carried the girl outside to get checked. After everything was said and done, everyone headed back to the precinct. While at the precinct, the officers had John Stephenson in their interrogation room. Hotch and Emily had found Remi in the observation room, just staring at the man. "Remi..." Hotch started. "I want to talk to him... I NEED to talk to him, Hotch," Remi said lowly, continuing to stare at Stephenson. "You think that's a good idea, Remi?" Emily asked. "Would it be better if Morgan went in there with me?" Remi asked. Hotch sighed, not liking the idea at all but it's worth a shot. "Morgan, you go in there with Remi," he ordered. Morgan enters the interrogation room first, followed by Remi. She made her way over to the table and carefully sat down, getting the attention of Stephenson.

"Do you remember me, John?" Remi asked as she carefully watched as the man studied her face. "No. Should I?" He asked, a bit confused. "My name is Remington Montgomery..." she paused, waiting to see if he remembered her. "Aspen Greene was my best friend when we were kids..." She showed him the picture of her and Aspen that Hotch allowed her to take in with her. "That is until you murdered her... You're stepdaughter, John," Remi stated. It all started coming back to him and he then remembered the woman in front of him. "I remember you now. You've changed a lot since then, Remi" he said. "It's Agent Montgomery or Ma'am to you, John. My friends only call me that." She said sternly.

"Oh, well that's just too bad," the man gave her a nauseating smirk. "Why's that, John?" Remi questioned. "Just thought we could be friends. Or maybe a bit more then friends," he grinned as leaned forward towards her. "There's no chance of that EVER happening, John," she explained, trying to stay calm. "Well, at least Aspen knew better to give herself to me when I asked," Stephenson said, starting to laugh. With that, Remi lost her composure and leaped over the table, tackling the man out of his chair. She started to beat the man black and blue. Morgan struggled to peel Remi off of the man to the point that Hotch had to come in and help him drag her out of the room. "Get off of me," Remi yelled, shoving the men off of her. "What the hell was that, Remi?" Morgan asked, dumbfounded. "I did what needed to be done. He deserved it and more... Now, get the hell out of my way, Morgan... I'll be at the hotel getting ready to leave," Remi said as she stormed off, her knuckles still bloody.

The rest of the team returned to the hotel not long after Remi did. Emily carefully entered hers and Remi's shared room to find both of their belongings packed and sitting by the door while Remi was tending to her cut-up knuckles. "Hey you," Emily spoke gently. "Hey," Remi said quietly. "Here, lemme help you with that," Emily stated, surprised that Remi didn't put up a fight. "Thank you," Remi spoke, looking up at Emily as she got her hands cleaned up. "You were out of line back there, Remi. Hotch isn't very happy with that but he said that you're not in trouble with any higher-ups," Emily explained. "That's good to hear and I know I was out of line. I realize that now," Remi said. "Good. Now, let's get out of here and go home," Emily stated. "Sounds good to me," Remi smiled.

[hungerpunch]

yukierre + “fuck! you scared me! why are you sitting in the dark??”

"fuck!" yuki yelps when he hits the lights inside his hotel door and sees someone sitting in the courtesy armchair opposite the bed. they've dragged it to face the window instead but yuki knows the back of that head all the same.

the fear tempers into relief in an instant but his heart is still racing as he moves further into the room, soft-close door dragging shut behind him and automatically locking. "you scared me," he says as he goes, the gushing sigh of his voice like pressure releasing from a steam tank.

the relief curdles into wary confusion as the details start coming into focus: pierre is in his room, in the dark, gazing at the astronomical twilight enfolding the landscape of budapest below. he notices both an uncorked bottle of red wine and a goblet, empty but stained, on the floor beside the chair and curses internally at the portent pair. red wine makes pierre maudlin, is the thing.

"why are you sitting in the dark?" yuki asks instead of asking how did you get in my room? or why are you drinking alone? or is it charles or esteban this time?

"well, i'm not anymore," pierre says. yuki recognizes his attempt at his signature casual drawl but it wavers, watery, and yuki's heart seizes in his chest. he hates when pierre cries. not that pierre shouldn't be allowed to, it’s more that yuki never knows how to fix it.

"why were you, then?" yuki amends. he kicks off his shoes and slides quietly on socked feet to draw even with the arm of the chair; looks down at pierre. all he can really see is the top of pierre's head, the point of his nose and his chin, and his hands folded in his lap.

"yukino," pierre says quietly. then he tilts his head back, bringing his face into view. it's devastating. his eyes are shining, welled up glossy with tears, and his mouth is a dark pit—an awful case of wine lips.

"pierre?" yuki whispers. he doesn't know why. the moment just feels so delicate; fragile enough to shatter under the weight of normal conversational volume.

"i miss you," pierre says sadly, his drunken gaze boring straight into yuki's.

yuki has seen pierre cry over charles. he has seen pierre cry over esteban. but he's never seen pierre cry over him.

"but your car is performing much better—" yuki starts around the dreadful lump forming in his throat.

pierre shakes his head. "did you turn into a car when i wasn't looking?" he asks, syllables slurring together a bit. "i miss you."

"i'm right here," yuki breathes. "i'm in the paddock with you every weekend." he tries a smile first and then he tries to puncture the awful tension with a joke: "i didn't know you were so needy."

all the beautiful, horrible openness of pierre's face slams shut in a moment. he frowns, mouth tight, and looks away from yuki, back out into the city. "forget it," he says. "i shouldn't have said anything."

"no, no," yuki rushes to backtrack, wincing at his poor judgment call. he moves his hand to clutch over the junction of pierre's trap, that damned curve from his shoulder to his neck, and squeeze it. he can feel pierre's body heat bleeding through the cotton of his shirt. "i'm sorry, i was joking. but i am right here, pierre. i haven't gone anywhere."

pierre keeps staring out the window. "i know," he says miserably, "but it's not like it was before."

yuki swallows. "it couldn't be," he says quietly. he pets pierre's shoulder in what he hopes is a soothing manner. "we knew it wouldn't be. you have a new teammate now."

pierre brings one hand up, digs a knuckle into the hollow of his eye. "i know, but he's… he's not…"

"easy like me?" yuki offers, a little sad about it.

that gets pierre to look at yuki again. sharp. indignant. "you were not easy," he spits. "but he is not natural like you." he reaches up to tug at yuki's sleeve. "we did not feel like... co-workers." his lips tremble. his nostrils flare. he's staring at yuki like he is searching for answers, answers to questions yuki could never guess. "to me."

yuki's hand stills on pierre, palm splaying over honed muscle, each fingertip a pinprick. "to me, either," he says. pierre should know that. they'd talked so often about how genuine their friendship was.

pierre blinks his stupidly long lashes and a fat tear finally breaks free from the queue in his eye and rolls, slow and gleaming, down pierre's cheek. "what did we feel like, then? to you?"

yuki bends to gather one of pierre's hands in his before he speaks.

[nine-of-words]

Something Borrowed (Part Five)

M Gargoyle x M Reader

PREVIOUS || STORY TAG || NEXT

Wordcount: 5134

Content Warnings: Discussion of a Breakup, Drinking (Reader)

This one being a day late may or may not have to do with the fact I've finally started playing bg3...

Today, so far, has been one of those days that everything just feels wrong.

The midsummer wedding rush is in full swing, you’re baking the batters for a wedding cake off in the morning and finishing a different one for pickup each afternoon. And that’s on top of every birthday and pool party and every other sort of occasion under the sun, all demanding sweet, celebratory confections.

“Ugh, I just don’t get it…” Kirby grumbles and snaps the old tome closed, an uncharacteristically gloomy pout on their face. They lean their head on their hand, their palm squishing their cheek. 

“Something I can help with?” You’ve told them pretty much everything you think may be pertinent, and happily entertained any of the failed spell purging attempts they’ve tried on you so far, but you still want to assist in any way you can.

“Not really- I’ve had no luck with leads at all. And none of the methods in this book that operate without knowing the origin of the curse look very promising. But there’s, like, definitely a curse here! The vibe in the shop and on you- The energy is there, it feels like it’s yours…but it can’t be from you! You’re a numan!”

“Yeah, imagine how frustrating it is on my end.” You chuckle.

“Ohh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that… No offense!!'

"None taken."

“It’s not your fault at all!” They sigh.  “It just… doesn’t make any sense… y’know? I'm like, really good at breaking curses. Even the sneaky ones. It’s kind of my thing. But this one is like, hella hella HELLA sneaky!!!"

“Well, here, try one of these.” Doing what you know best in terms of soothing frayed nerves, you carefully pick up a cupcake from the case- Kirby’s favorite flavor, you've learned- and set it down in front of them. You hear yourself echoing the words your own mother told you growing up countless times: “It won’t fix the problem… but it might help you feel a little better.”

They let out a small, strangled gasp in glee.

“Oooooooh gosh! You're so good to meeee!” The faun takes the cupcake into their hands immediately, holding it like a small treasure. “I’m really going to need to hit the gym after this case, hahah~”

They devour their little treat and seem a bit less bogged down by the weight of your case afterwards, back to their normal peppy self. Helping to lighten their mood at least makes you feel slightly less guilty that your curse is the reason they’re having a hard time in the first place.

Kirby ends up heading out for the weekend not long after, deciding that fresh air and a change of scenery might help jog their investigative thinking.

You find yourself heaving a sigh as you look at the clock,clock, that closing time is creeping ever closer.

It's been so busy you haven't even been able to bake anything for when you see Carlyle later…

You go about the rest of your tasks, a little nervous about the tasting the closer it looms. Devin is pleasant enough, but working for someone you know socially is always a bit of a roll of the dice, unless you really know them well. You can’t imagine her being a problem client, though…

So, what could go wrong?

Nothing, you decide.

This tasting will go well, and even if it’s painful to be reminded of your past for a little bit, your reward for getting through it is getting to go on a date with a wonderful, kind, handsome man later this evening.

Any anxiety about the tasting seemingly disappears as you go through the motions lost in your smitten daydreaming.

Finally, you tidy up a little bit, taking care of what you can of closing while you wait, the table setting for the tasting already set.

Not too long after, Devin appears, all pastels and sunshine.

“Hi, hello there!” She chirps and all but flutters over. When she gets to the table, she grasps your hands and gives them a gentle squeeze with her small, graceful hands, still clearly brimming with joy. “Thanks so much again for fitting us in!!”

“You’re very welcome. Go ahead and take a seat- Oh, and where’s your partner?”

“Pookie will be here in a minute! He’s on his way.” She daintily takes a seat, tucking her ornamental bag in the sill of the window. “He had to stop by the music store before it closed. Lost all his picks again, hehe.”

“Oh, that’s funny.” You snort, reminiscing a little. "My ex used to lose all his picks all the time too, haha."

"It's the worst! I cleaned out one of my old purses once and found twelve at the bottom! Twelve! Then this one time-"

Devin continues to chatter excitedly about anecdotes involving her partner, most of which you relate to with your own stories. It seems you and her have dated similar types of men, for sure.

The conversation is enjoyable enough, but you can't help the strange sense of foreboding weighing on your chest.

"If he'll be here soon, I'll just go ahead and fill these, if you don't mind." You say, motioning to the flutes and the iced bottle of champagne in the bucket. You just want your hands busy to assuage some of the inexplicable nerves. "He'll miss the lovely pop, though."

"Oh, sure, go ahead! I don’t think he’ll mind." Devin assures you with a nod, so you grab the bottle and a cloth napkin.

After neatly removing the foil and the muselet, you cover the cork with the napkin and twist until it goes.

POP-

Devin laughs happily, clapping. The noise drowns out all the sound of the shop door opening, up until the end of the door bell jingle tapering off. A bit of champagne foam drips down the bottleneck and over your palm, then down onto the table.

You look up just in time to see your other guest- your body freezing in place as soon as your eyes fall on them.

You know this person anywhere, down to the tiniest details. A familiar lanky grey elf man; long brown hair tied back in a lazy half-bun, a worn band t-shirt with a flannel wrapped around his waist, and wrists wrapped in braided cord bracelets that move towards calloused fingers.

He looks the same as ever. He was wearing that t-shirt the day you moved out.

It’s Trevor.

You just look at him, speechless. He looks just as shocked- pale as a ghost, and frozen in place just past the threshold of the shop.

There is a loud maelstrom of emotions churning in your chest; you can hear it as blood rushing in your ears. Part of you is just so happy to see him again- but it’s quickly drowned out by months of suffering and grief and anger-

But before you can get so much as a ‘what the hell are you doing here?’ out, Devin speaks up, confirming the worst possible reason to be true.

“There’s my Pookie!” 

"Hello." You force out. Finally reacting, you clean up the bottle and take the champagne flute from in front of her, turning your focus on filling it, trying to maintain some facade of normalcy as your heart starts racing.

“Oh… Heeey…” Trevor says awkwardly, seeming to find his ability to speak and move his limbs as he creakily approaches the table.

“What are you doing standing around, silly?” She pats the pink cushion on the seat of the metal chair beside her. “Come sit, you can finally meet my sweet friend!” 

He finally takes the seat next to his new fiance, timid and flighty as if you’re going to jump up and sink your teeth into him at any moment. The expression is only made more intense when Devin leans over and gives him a large affectionate peck, the septum ring in her nose smooshing flat against his cheekbone.

“Let me introduce you! So,” She says your name. “This is my fiance, Trevor, and Pookie, this is my friend-”

“It’s okay, you don’t have to…” Trevor cringes slightly at hearing your name. 

“Oh… um, do you two already know each other…?” Devin puts a polished finger to her lips, tilting her head quizzically.

“Yeah, Pookie,” You barely manage to keep from spitting the word out like venom. You pick up the second flute to fill it, your fingers pressed forcefully into the stem. “We do, don’t we?”

“Uh. Yeah, Dev. We know each other.” Trevor rubs the back of his head, that little motion of self-soothing that you’re not sure he picked up from you over the years, or vice versa. “We used to date.”

Used to date? That’s it? That’s how he’s going to describe you devoting almost a decade of your life to him, and him tossing it away when you needed his support the most?

You expected to be sad. To be utterly devastated. And while you are certainly feeling heartbroken… You in no way expected this level of indignant anger bubbling in your gut in addition to that stabbing, crushing sadness in your heart.

“Oh, that’s wonderful! It’s so sweet you two can still get along.” Devin says, and you try not to scoff at her absolute failure at reading the room. “If you’re already friends, that makes introducing you a whole lot easier!”

“Yeah. Sooo, uh… You moved the shop and changed its name, huh?” Trevor asks, daring to address you directly for the first time since he meandered in.

The quiet part: This would’ve never had the chance to happen if I knew it was you.

“Yes. It felt necessary at the time.” You say through your clenched jaw, filling your own flute of champagne.

You can’t even look him in the eye while you speak to him. Looking at the familiar hazel of his eyes- it just hurts too much.

“It… looks nice in here, man. I’m glad you’re doing okay.”

Doing okay?? You're most certainly not- or at least you weren't. 

Either way, what would he know about it?! Like you haven’t been struggling to crawl out of a deep pit of sadness and self-loathing over the last year… Spending so much time blaming yourself for getting cursed. For not being good enough…

But… at the end of the day, you are a professional. You mentally pull yourself together, remembering your customer service voice and mustering all of your strength to get through this tasting on your raw charisma and goodwill towards Devin alone.

“Thanks.” You say, neutralizing the emotion in your voice to a smooth, pleasant tone. “Let’s get those cake samples out for you to try, aye…?”

You mercifully move away from the table, grabbing the plate of small, delicately cut cake samples from the front cooler. Some of these samples are flavors you always include, while others are ones Devin asked for specifically.

You set the plate down on the table- each neat square of cake accentuated with flower petals.

You watch as they try the cake samples, talking amongst themselves. You provide guidance and offer information when prompted, but you mostly just sit and drink your champagne, trying not to scowl or otherwise provide bad service.

…They're not agreeing on any flavors.

You've been in this business enough to know that's a bad sign. Not that they have completely different preferences itself- that can be worked around, and you've made multiple split cakes, or had people opt for different flavored batches of cupcakes in the past. It’s not uncommon, but it’s the way that the couple comes to that agreement that’s important. It's the way that they're addressing, or in this case, failing to address, those differences of preferences that's the bad sign.

"I like the pistachio creme, oh!- and the apricot curd- but the rose filling is nice too… and the marble cake is so good! All of these are so yummy, how are we supposed to ever choose?" Devin sighs happily, holding up the tiny fork as if trying to defend herself from having to make a decision. She has a point- not being able to pick which cake flavor is better is probably one of the best dilemmas you can think of to have. "What do you think, Pookie?"

“Whatever you want is good, babe.” Trevor bobs his leg under the table in rhythm, the way he does when he's bored. If he wasn't acutely aware of how bad it would look, he'd probably already be scrolling.

Awkwardness aside, he could at least try to act involved… Some things never change, you guess.

“Oh… I don’t know. What do you think?” Devin turns to you with a bright smile, practically wriggling in her seat in child-like excitement. “You’re the expert after all, hehe.”

“Well, I could’ve saved us some time if I had known… He won’t like any of these three- definitely not the marble, he hates chocolate cake.” You lean over and say, pointing to a few of the cake samples. “Regular white’s his favorite, but you probably didn’t like it much. It’s the most popular for weddings, but it's a wee bit boring, if I’m being completely honest. And he’d prefer the Elven berry compote filling with it.”

Trevor looks pale, like he’s going to be sick. He doesn’t protest, though- you already know you’re right.

“Oh! Wow, you’re really amazing!” She says, impressed. “How did you know all that?”

“Dev…” Trevor cringes, but doesn’t say anything more.

“Oh you know." You brush it off with a bitter smile. "Years of experience."

"Hmm…"

"Not to overstep too much," You can feel the champagne starting to influence your commentary just a tad. "If his parents are going to contribute financially to the wedding, they'll probably appreciate something classic, like that combination. They're sort of traditional. Might help you get on their good side."

Devin looks at Trevor, who nods weakly.

As you expected, they end up going with what Trevor (and ultimately his parents) would enjoy, over the less common combo Devin preferred. You can't help but feel a little bad, seeing a lot of your past self in Devin while watching that compromise take place.

You take down the details of the order on your datapad, desperately holding onto your sanity because you're trusting relief is coming soon.

"You'll still come to the wedding, won't you?" Devin asks you, puppy dog eyes already engaged. "I've got the save the date right here-"

She retrieves her bag and digs through it for a little box filled with twee, flowery wedding announcements printed on nicely textured card stock. She hands you one.

"Sure. I'll be there." You say, reflexively placating without giving it much thought.

Ugh, why did you agree to that…? Surely you could've thought up some excuse.

Trevor seems to be having much the same thought as you, brows almost imperceptibly twitching through his sheepish expression. 

"Oh, good!" She claps.

A small bit of gleeful small talk and Devin’s profuse gratitude later, they finally leave.

Somehow, you managed to get through the entire tasting without making a scene, no matter how badly you wanted to.

You plop down in the stool behind the counter, not even bothering to lock the front up or turn the sign off.

As soon as you’re sure they’re gone and absolutely won’t be coming back for any reason, you let yourself become undone- bursting into raw, pained sobbing in the silence of the empty shop.

It’s like a knife in your chest, seeing him with something else and doing well, when you’re an absolute wreck, still struggling to pull together the broken pieces of your life.

As much as you’re hurting and never want to see him again, on the other hand, a small, weak, part of yourself still wishes that he would change his mind, come to his senses, show up and ask you to come back. Or that you would wake up one morning and all of this would’ve been a particularly long and excruciating dream…

You know you would take him back in a heartbeat. And it disgusts you.

It’s hopeless. It’s pathetic.

But…

It’s not fair.

That was supposed to be your wedding.

Once you’ve had a good cry and drained most of the remaining bottle of champagne by yourself, you’re staring down at your shop counter, zoning out.

Your eyes drift from the wedding announcement, instead choosing to fall on the vased bouquet of flowers still sitting nearby. They’re doing well still, not wilting yet at all. You've been taking good care of them.

You're hit with the sudden, shattering recall of the fact you have a date in less than half an hour. 

Carlyle!

You jump up from your seat, then are forced to sit back down at once as your world spins nauseatingly. 

… There’s no way you can let him see you like this.

You pull out your device, and desperately hammer out an admittedly sloppy message.

< Canb we rain check? Had a v bad dday today

You decide that will suffice and take another long glug from your champagne flute- the last of the bottle. 

Carlyle, bless him, is punctual as ever, and responds to your message with concern before you’ve even put the glass back down on the counter. You would’ve noticed this if you weren’t completely lost in your own spiraling thoughts.

When you finally wipe your bleary eyes on the inner elbow of your button up to get a more clear picture of your device’s screen, you see a bundle of messages waiting. He must really be worried, because it's not in his nature to send multiple messages without waiting for a response first.

> Already on the train to the restaurant

> Are you okay?

> I'll change lines

> Be there in a few

“Dammit,” You swear, hanging your head in your spread palm, staring down the screen.

Great. Perfect. 

You tried to spare him the sight of you, and managed to summon him here instead.

Not only did you have to see stupid Trevor today and agree to make his stupid wedding cake for his stupid wedding with someone new, but now the amazing man that has somehow managed to show interest in you is going to see what an absolute trainwreck you actually are.

You didn't even bake him anything!

…You really are cursed. 

And maybe you're to blame…

You’re stuck in that same loop of catastrophic thinking until the bell chimes, taunting, above the front door that you couldn’t be bothered to lock earlier.

“Hey.”

It's hard to stay devastated when you see Carlyle walk through the door, wearing a subtle, well-concealed look of concern that you may not even have noticed if you were less familiar with him.

"Sorry." You say in exasperation, voice hoarse, trying not to burst into tears again.  "I'm fuckin' tossed."

He takes that as his cue to approach the counter.

"Hah- It’s fine." He glances around at the half-closed state of the shop with raised eyebrows, then back to you. "Bad day, huh?"

"Awful. Terrible. Dogshite."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No!" You whine, and then immediately launch into talking about it. You explain the awful day you’ve had even before the event, and he listens attentively.

"And it was fuckin' Trevor of all people, because of course it was-" You seethe. "One of my clients is marrying my bloody ex! Of all the people in this city!"

Carlyle nods to confirm he's listening, so you take that as the go ahead to just spill everything.

"You should have seeeeen them- He hasn't changed at all. He still leaves his stupid guitar picks everywhere! And he sucks at guitar. He was always better at drums. And she just coddled him n’ doted on him n’ babied him the whole time. Just like I always did- He didn't deserve it then, he sure doesn't deserve it now!"

"I knew he was going to pick the vanilla sponge and the berry filling. I knew it! He is so predictable. You know she picked the marbled sponge and the pistachio cream? There is no way they're going to work out. I make a lot of wedding cakes, Carlyle! Those flavors don't work together!"

"And she calls him Pookie." You gag.

At some point during your rant, he removed his suit jacket, rolled up his sleeves and sat down on one of the metal stools across the counter from you. A glass of water has appeared within arms reach, and you didn’t even notice him going to find the sink.

"You should drink some of this." He taps a dull, stony claw against the trim of the glass. "You'll feel better."

"Ah, bless." You gratefully sip at the liquid, only now realizing how parched you were.

"Sounds like you've had quite the day indeed. At least it’s over?” Carlyle tries to reason.

“I agreed to make their wedding cake. AND go to the bloody wedding.”

“Spirits.” Carlyle laughs softly, cringing and rubbing his neck with his palm. "You could always say something came up."

"Yeah, but my… Client? Friend? Client-Friend? Devin- she’s lovely. Absolute sweetheart. She was so excited to invite me and… I just don't want to hurt her feelings."

“Oh. That is pretty rough.”

“Right? It’s downright tragic, is what it is!" You find yourself quickly becoming all giggles and giddy bubbles."That's why I'm such a mess- well no, I won’t lie, I'm a mess anyway- but tonight I am a HUGE one. We were supposed to be on a date right now, but instead you're here listening to me blubber and winge on about my ex." 

"Believe it or not, I've actually been enjoying listening to you. Moreseo than I already do." He smiles at you warmly, fingers flexing where they're laced together on the countertop.

"An' why's that?" You ask, putting on your best attempt at a flirty tone, given your state. You’re convinced you’ve nailed it.

"For one, your accent seems to be stronger when you're intoxicated. It may not be the most appropriate time to mention it, maybe… but it's too cute to not point it out."

You laugh giddily, suddenly filled with a surge of confidence.

"Cute, eh?"

"Very." He affirms, obviously genuine through his amusement. 

Your face flushes, and you beam with glee.

"...You wouldn't like me better with a twee septum piercing?"

"That's awfully specific…" Carlyle taps his fingers on the countertop in thought, a soft clicking of stoneskin on marble. "I suppose if you wanted one, it's your choice and I can't really complain… It isn't something I would personally find aesthetically pleasing. …Though I could get used to it…"

You crack into laughter, giggling until you're wheezing and dabbing at the tears in your eyes.

"Oh… that's such good news, hahah…"

"Right. …Maybe it's for the best that we get you upstairs?" Carlyle rises, then comes around to your side of the counter, where he idles beside you.

"Oh? You want to leave so soon?" Your hands find his tie, gently but clumsily fiddling with it between your fingers. "But I'm really enjoying your company."

"You can enjoy my company whenever you like." Carlyle smirks. He does not stop you from playing with his tie. "But for now, you could probably use the rest. Allow me to help you upstairs."

You pout, giving the striped pink fabric a few gentle tugs, but he has a point. You are so exhausted and drained from the day already and now with the intoxication on top of it- you're barely holding yourself upright.

"I don't think I need much h-" Shifting your weight to get down off the stool, you fail to find your balance and stumble. The stool clatters and wobbles behind you, and your hands fly out, grabbing at his shoulders.

But a set of firm hands is there on your sides to keep you from collapsing into a puddle on the floor. 

"Careful."

You laugh breathlessly, and let your full weight rest against his form in relief. You let your hands twine at the base of his neck and sigh, relaxing against him.

"Okay. So. Maybe I do need a tick of help."

"Just a bit. But everybody needs a bit, sometimes."

You scoff appreciatively.

"You are so nice to me and so handsome and you make me smile so much." You start gushing words with your face pressed to his solid stone chest, lacking any filter or shame at this point. You're so happy your heart could burst- in stark contrast to the absolute emotional pit you were just languishing in earlier. "Kirby said that's a low bar, but nobody makes me smile like you do. I like it- it feels good to really smile again."

"Hahah, you're flattering me here. …But I'm pleased you feel that way." Carlyle says, seemingly not in a hurry to escape your hug. You can hear the hollow rumble of his laughter in his chest through the thin cloth of the button-up, with your ear flush against him like this. "I would be remiss to not admit I feel similarly.”

You’re too happy for words. For a brief moment, nothing else matters.

“...You probably don't want to sleep in this."

You feel his hands migrate back around your waist, delicately picking the knot of your apron loose with his claw tips.

Despite your strong desire to cling onto him indefinitely, he eventually helps you put your weight on your own feet again. Then, after you've worked together to remove your soiled apron, you wobble towards the stairs, guardian gargoyle in tow.

"Those stairs are a hazard for someone in your condition. So I'll be right behind you. If that’s okay?"

"Yes." You mutter in agreement.

You feel a heavy, reassuring hand place itself on the center of your back, keeping you steady as you climb the narrow stairs up to your loft.

Somehow, you manage to crest the stairs without incident.

"Nice little place.Very stylish, but not too visually loud." Carlyle says as he looks around the space, hand still lingering on your back as you stumble towards your bedroom. "It suits you."

"Oh, you're just so sweet…"

You cross the threshold into your room, the full weight of the day starting to bear down on you. You plop down on the edge of your bed, completely spent, and kick your shoes off.

"Ugh, I can't sleep in these, they're covered in flour." You gripe and gesture to your work clothes, not wanting to get up as soon as you’ve sat down. "I'll get my bed sheets fully dusted… But I don't think I have it in me to stand."

"Not to be too forward, but I can assist. If you feel comfortable with it."

"You're keen on stripping poor defenseless me down?" You tease.

"I meant I could retrieve some sleepwear for you." His dark eyes clearly fix on where your hands are working off your shirt buttons, obvious to you even when the alcohol has dulled your awareness. "Nothing untoward."

"I would like that." You continue to unbutton, a smirk settling on your face. "Or I could go without completely…"

Carlyle's lip twitches into a wicked smile too, but he quickly turns around and disappears past the hanging pink curtain, into your small walk-in closet.

"So. …In here, then?"

"First drawer on the left." You call.

He returns by the time you've partially removed your shirt. It's proving more difficult than expected, and you've somehow got yourself tangled in the process of pulling it off. Clearly a failing in the design of the shirt, and not a reflection of your ability.

Carlyle sets the folded set of pajamas next to you and stands for a moment, assessing the damage caused by leaving you alone for a moment.

"Hahah, here." He pulls it the rest of the way off. You can't help but appreciate the sight of his exposed forearms flexing to maneuver the twisted fabric free from your body. It makes your heart start to race.

"I thought it might end up like this- I was hoping," You look up at him with slightly glazed eyes and say, with what you are absolutely sure is a very sultry, alluring tone. "Tonight was supposed to be a date, after all."

"Hmm."

Your hands reach out, brushing against the edge of his leather belt.

"Don't you want me?" The words tumble out before you can stop them.

"...I do." Carlyle smiles warmly at you, letting out a breath he was seemingly holding. "But not like this."

"Probably for the best." You laugh in agreement, not even offended- you're far too pleased to have that confirmation to be upset. "Thought it was worth a shot."

Carlyle proceeds to help you change the rest of your clothes, mostly acting as a glorified handrail, as he stands firmly in place with his eyes averted.

Eventually you're fully reclothed, and let yourself fall back against the mattress.

"On your side, please-" Carlyle instructs, holding your bedding up while waiting for you to settle.

"Look at you, in here tuckin' me in and everything. You're such a stand up fella."

Carlyle doesn't say anything, just laughing and shaking his head, slender dreadlocks swaying as he pulls the quilted comforter up over you.

"...You're not mad, are you? I'm sorry, I went and mucked things up tonight."

"No, I'm not. It’s no trouble." He leans over with one knee resting on the mattress, constructing a wall of the available pillows on your bed against your back. "Things are still fully unmuckable. We can always reschedule."

You're so giddy, you can't stop yourself, and your hands reach up to affectionately touch either side of Carlyle's face where he hovers over you.

His cheeks are hard underneath your fingertips, like a marble baking table surface before it’s been dusted with flour. But instead of being cold stone like you expected, they're pleasantly warm and soft to the touch. The porous, sculpted surface of them feels good on your skin.

"You… You marvelous man. You still wanna take me out?" You whisper hoarsely. You'd jolt up and kiss him right here if you had any energy left. "After all this?"

"Yes." He finishes securing the pillows to his satisfaction, patient enough to allow you to continue drunkenly cradling his face.

You chuckle, and manage to raise yourself up, just enough to press your pursed lips square in the middle of his stony forehead in a quick, affectionate peck. Then, you release your hold on him and settle back down, snuggling into the bedding. 

"Goodnight, Carlyle." You say, already starting to fade off to the sound of him quietly humming in amusement and shifting his weight off the bed.

"Goodnight."

>> ✨ MASTERLIST >> ☕ KO-FI

[swanhurrem]

Part 2

Embry Call x Swan FemReader (not use of Y/N)

Summary: You love your sister till your last breath, but never realized how far her lifestyle will ever affect you.

Warnings for the entire fic: Depression, angst, death and it’s a little bit fluffy till it ain’t. Sad ending.

Twilight masterlist.

This fic masterlist.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 3>

"Bella still the same, what about you? Are you feeling better?" You asked Embry, lately he had been feeling very strange; He told you that he had hit a sudden growth spurt that his mother always made him notice, spells of very high fever and drastic mood swings, which was completely unnatural for him. It was for those reasons that he wouldn't let you go see him. He forbade you to get close to him in that state, so you only kept in touch via calls.

"Better actually, today mom will take the afternoon and evening shift, so I'll stay all day watching those ridiculous movies that you like"

You had your mouth full of food, but that didn't stop you from replying "Hey! Don't you dare call the Star Wars movies ridiculous, unless you want me to dump you, because in which case you do a good job"

You had forced Embry to watch all the Star Wars movies one weekend when you were staying at his house. He didn't look particularly bored with them, just that it was a no-brainer that he'd rather spend his time on something more interesting; spending the whole night pestering you with neck kisses that soon turned into something else, causing both of you to leave the subject of movies for the following weekend.

You heard Embry's shrill laugh on the other end of the line. "Okay, sorry, I'll stop calling your beloved Jedi movies ridiculous."

"Okay, so you're still in a relationship. HEY! You still haven't told me what you plan to do for your birthday" he had to move the phone away from his ear when he heard your little accusatory cry.

His birthday was coming up soon and you were very excited about the event. You had planned the gift of him weeks in advance and you were already very anxious to give it to him.

"Just a little celebration with Jake, Quil and you, of course, here at home"

"Great, I'll give you my gift and you'll love it" you affirmed with a smile.

There was a rattle across the line as if he was setting something up "If it has to do with food; hand it over to me when Quil's not around, we both know he'll steal everything" You guys laughed at that, Quil always eat all the boys food, and you didn't know if their appetite was due to gluttony or the simple desire to annoy their friends.

You were sitting at the kitchen table with your eyes on the empty bowl before you, when your father peeked through the door and waved for you to go to the living room, you nodded towards him and quickly he walked away "Honey… I have to go now" you said with a little twinge of guilt.

"Will you call me tomorrow?" he asked.

"Of course I do" you said "I call you practically every day"

He laughed "Okay, bye love"

"Goodbye"

You ended the call and walked to the room where your father was waiting for you on the couch. You sat softly next to his as you watched him with his elbows resting on his knees, supporting his chin. These past few months he had been so tired from work and Bella's depressive state that when he found a little moment of rest at night, he was pulled out of it by your sister's screams. He was immersed in a state of excessive and constant worry, depriving him of sleep and other basic necessities during the day.

Your father snapped his fingers as he sat up straighter. "I'll tell Bella to go back to Jacksonville," he snapped, and despite saying it as a statement, his face was more of a question.

"I don't think she wants to do it dad" you said softly. Bella really hoped that Edward or some other Cullen would come back, if she went with your mother there was no way any of them would go looking for her there.

"It's just that… He won't come back, and I don't know what to do anymore" he ran his hands roughly over his face, his dark circles and disheveled hair were a clear indication of the exhaustion, not only mental but also physical that he was going through "Your sister is not improving and she is absorbing you"

"Dad, she's not abs-" you tried to speak but were cut off by him.

"She does it" all his body language changed from him; He sat up facing you, his fists clenched, intense eye contact, a frown and a slight rise in his voice, "You stopped dating everyone you knew, your grades dropped because you focused on Bella and you make the time to shower her when she hasn't showered for days. You just molded your life around hers."

You didn't know what to say, it was completely true but you hadn't even realized that until your father marked it. You made an effort to satisfy Bella in everything and especially in those things that she couldn't do for herself; You didn't want to upset her or do something to add to all the pain she was feeling, even at your own expense.

Your father seemed to realize that it was a bit harsh, so he walked over to you and put his arm around your shoulders "I'm sorry about that… but this is getting too much for everyone, your mother will know how to handle this situation better"

You rested your head on his shoulder "I'll support you in any decision dad, but I honestly think it will get better here and not in Jacksonville. Give her a little more time, let her see for herself that Edward won't be back" your father took your hand "Tell her anyway, listen to what she has to tell you"

__________________________

You heard Bella's truck pull up so you hurried down to meet her. When you caught up with her, she stopped you and handed over the keys to her truck.

You took them in your hand with a frown. "Umm, do you want me to park your truck?"

"I'm going shopping with Jessica, I told her to pick me up so you can take the truck and see Embry" Bella tried to smile at you.

"Bella…are you sure? Not really-" she cut you off.

"Go, I'll be fine"

"But…you hate shopping." You made a face at her.

"I'll be fine, I'll buy you some things too" You got so excited that you rushed over to Bella to hug her.

"I love you so much Bella" you kissed her forehead, before running upstairs to put everything you'd need in your bag.

When you got out, you asked your father for permission and ran to the truck as soon as he said yes, throwing the things on the passenger seat. After a long drive, you parked outside Embry's house and grabbed your things before heading out, watching the living room lights on from outside.

The door to his house opened and there he was, looking surprised even as he ran to hug you; lifting you off the ground and spinning with you in his arms.

"What are you doing here?" He asked with his face buried in your neck.

"Bella told me to come see you, she handed me her truck and everything, she said she would be fine for today"

Embry broke away from your embrace and placed both hands on your face. You closed your eyes as you absorbed the sensation of his touch and the scent of wood from him. You had begun to forget these little details about him, things so insignificant that made you feel calm, happy. You didn't want to forget those things anymore.

When you opened your eyes and met his soft gaze, feelings of fear, uncertainty, and anger hit you. With Embry you felt an immense joy that you had set aside due to decisions of others, responsibilities that were not yours… But you feared that you had given your whole heart to Embry just as your sister did with Edward, you feared to share all the good and bad things about you with him, only to be abandoned afterwards. But you also didn't want to deprive yourself of the love he had for you, so you just let all your doubts go.

And that became your favorite day; the scent of him, the way he held you protectively even if there were no dangers around, the sound of his heart as you rested your head on his chest, his lips on yours, his hands on your waist That night they told each other that they loved each other for the first time.

That night, your favorite… was the last you would have in a long time.

[fruitymations]

TW // serious medical talk This is a really important update about what's going on. I'm copying/pasting the text from my Twitlonger post. Everything is under a read more.

Hey everyone. I've been inactive quite a bit due to family emergencies that have popped up.

I normally don't talk about these things publicly, but it's gotten so bad I've decided to give some sort of an update for my social media.

My father is currently in the hospital. On Tuesday (April 11th) he was found unconscious for up to two hours in the lumber department at a Home Depot store nearby where we live. He has a more severe case of type 2 diabetes and his blood sugar was found to be around 780 during this incident. He refused medical treatment but the Home Depot staff refused to let him drive home on his own as his condition could put himself and others at risk if he were to go behind the wheel.

He seemed a little out of it when I went to go see him the next day on Wednesday (April 12th). I assumed he was tired from the previous day's incident and that his medications might have been taking a while to kick in. I went to see him to pick up the car keys for our other van so I could pick up the van from the Home Depot parking lot. My father lives separate from us at the house that my mom owns. It's the same house she got in early 2021 that I've been trying to renovate from time to time. Me and my mother live in the condo unit we've had since early 2009.

On Saturday (April 15th) I was headed to my weekend delivery job. I was driving the family van since my regular car is currently in the shop as of writing this. I decided to stop by the house to drop off the other house keys and lockbox keys that my dad had attached to the van's key fob. When he answered the door I immediately knew something was wrong. He was showing signs of what looked like a typical stroke (left side of his body and face was mostly paralyzed, slurred and slowed speech, significant mental confusion). I called an ambulance for him after contacting my mother, my sister, and a close family friend about it.

He was taken to the emergency room and his fasting blood sugar was 465. The medical staff at the hospital tried bringing his blood sugar down and he got sleepy quickly. He's not in a coma, but he's been asleep since then and they haven't been able to get him to fully wake up. He also is unable to wake up on his own. I eventually found out that he hasn't been taking any pill medication for his diabetes and other ailments since November of 2022. He's supposed to take daily insulin injections for his blood sugar, but I found out that his most recent insulin injections he had expired in April of 2022.

I will give a more thorough update on his hospital stay and condition once he is out of the hospital, since things are still in progress with him. I've been going around updating my aunts and uncles on his side of the family (he has about seven or eight siblings; I don't know all of them since he's not great at keeping in touch with others). I've also been scrambling around to keep my mother, my sister, my friends, my partners, and close family friends about his condition as the hours and days go on. I'm his only kid and his next of kin so I've had to go back and forth on updating everyone. Once he's able to wake up on his own and is coherent, I'll have to discuss with him on becoming his power of attorney for healthcare in case anything serious happens in the future where he's unable to make medical decisions for himself.

On top of this, my mother also has her own laundry list of medical issues that require lots of various medications to keep her stable and alive. She also has type 2 diabetes but it's not as severe as my father's. Her other health conditions include interstitial lung disease (and lung scarring caused by this condition), severe sleep apnea, stage 3 pulmonary arterial hypertension, and edema (doctors suspect its caused by the heart struggling to keep up with her conditions). I'm mostly worried about her pulmonary arterial hypertension because there is no cure and it usually is the cause of death for those who are diagnosed with it.

Despite her conditions, she still goes to work since she's the financial stronghold of the household. Good friends of mine, along with my family and both my partners, all know about the debt that we have been dealing with. My mother has accumulated $120,000 USD of credit card debt and still owes about $180,000 USD for the mortgage on the house we got back in 2021. All together it's a total of $300,000 USD.

The things I can do to raise money is limited if it's through me, since I'm on SSI, and being on SSI means there are tight and usually unethical financial restrictions put on people like me. I get my healthcare through SSI via Medicaid. If I lose my SSI, I lose my healthcare. I have some health issues myself (mild GERD, possible PCOS, possible IBS, weight problems, some dental problems that I have to wait to get seen for, and mental health issues).

We are on the verge of bankruptcy and are possibly facing the loss of the little bit of stability that we have left. My mother isn't able to retire without risking financial ruin and she's dealing with an incurable disease that will most likely slowly kill her. I don't know if my father will bounce back from his current condition or not. I don't even know if his insurance will cover any of this.

I've been reluctant to open donations or fundraisers for this because I don't want to just take people's money left and right as I'd just feel bad about it.

I'm terrified. I'm exhausted. I don't know what to do.

[softquietsteadylove]

4th

He felt more guilty about it and was more eager to leave her alone but it was Thena who felt familiar and comfortable with him. She came to the shop the next day but it was closed, Gilgamesh was just watching her, hiding somewhere and debating himself if he'll go out and see her...and he did. She was happy to see him and she ordered the same thing that she orders everytime. After that he realized that she needs him, she has no one in her life but him. So he decided to stay for her thinking that it won't be bad to be a baddass gangster pretending to be a sweet coffee shop owner.

I'm sorry it has 4 parts😭 thank you so much!!!! I owe you my life, really.

Gil looks up as he hears a knock on the front window. He isn't open yet, and he's ready to tell whomever that. Then he sees who it is, walking over to open the door with a smile, "Thena."

"Hi," she smiles back, stepping in demurely as he opens the door just for her and then locks it again. "Sorry to come in early."

He shakes his head, sliding his trays of pastries into the case lengthwise, "for you?--come in anytime."

Thena shifts on her feet, toying with the strap of her purse. She looks just like she did when he first met her for the second time. "I just...I wanted to tell you I had a lovely time, last night."

His heart swells in his chest.

He's had this idea that he shouldn't have anything to do with her. It's too dangerous, he wants to protect her etc. And those things are true. But then he thinks about the lost look on her face, the first time she ordered a cappuccino off him (and every time after). He thinks about how he bought online masterclasses on baking and barista-ing so he could run a proper cafe, just so Thena would have a place that makes it just how she likes.

He thinks about how he doesn't seem entirely able to go on with his life if she's not in it.

He didn't think she remembered anything about the crash, he has to admit. But he still doesn't know if her memories will actually come back or not. And if they don't...he doesn't think he cares. He'll take care of her, make sure she's safe. He'll be whatever she needs him to be.

Thena tilts her head as he slides the pastry case door closed and walks over to her. Her eyes flutter as he steps right into her space and just barely touches his lips to her cheek.

"I did too," he says easily, and it's entirely true. It was the first date he'd wanted to have with her nearly a year ago now, after all. And she'll remember this one.

Thena looks down at the white heels on her feet. "If you're free, this weekend maybe-"

"Sounds great!"

Thena lets out a laugh, watching him as he continues to set up for business, "I haven't told you what it is, yet!"

"Doesn't matter," he excuses easily, and walks over to lean against the counter. She leans closer too. "Anything with you is perfect to me."

"Do you say that to all your customers?" she smirks at him, and it reminds him of Thena the museum tour guide.

He could easily tell her that none of his customers are as pretty as her, because they're not. "Y'know, I think you'd be surprised to find that I don't talk to any of my customers as much as I talk to you."

He sees Thena's eyes drift down to his lips, and his eyes do the same. He's thought about this--he's thought about it countless times before. He's also worried about what to do when the opportunity finally did arise.

He still worries about Thena. He still worries about if he can really settle into being a cafe owner after the life he's had. But most of all, he wonders if he can really say he has any right to be with her when he's caused the greatest trauma of her life.

Thena leans up, touching her lips to his gently.

Gil kisses her back. He holds her cheek and tilts his head into it, because he's wanted to kiss her for more than a year. He has loved her for more than a year now, no matter how unfair that is. He has things to tell her, things to make up for. But he'll be there for it all.

Gil threads their fingers together as they pull out of the kiss. He looks into those green eyes, same as they were when he first met her - both times - and knows that he can't walk away from her. He tried and failed once already. And he doesn't intend on abandoning her again.

"Well," Thena murmurs, eyes drifting away from his with a nervous but pleased smile on those lips. "I should let you open for the day."

"Just before you do," Gil says softly, opening up the counter to pull her over to their little table. He pulls her chair out for her and everything, sitting across from her like he's done plenty of times before.

Thena furrows her brows as he sits down heavily, frowning. "Gil?"

"You were honest with me last night," he whispers, pulling her hands into his, "and now I want to do the same. The truth is...there's a reason I knew it was your birthday, Bookworm."