#he is having just the WORST day at work ever

[princesssmars]

better leave your man at home!

mini stories of vi, sevika, abby, and ellie showing you your true worth.

wc : 7.306

contains : sfw and nsfw. fxf. fem!reader. cheating on the men's part until ellie's part lol. ellie’s is a modern!au the rest are in canon. mentions of violence and alcohol. silco but he's chill. owen but he's not chill. reader can be interpreted as bi or comphet i think!

a/n : ladies if you're reading this...cheat on him. or cheat back. yknow what just leave him.

VIOLET ꨄ

ʚɞ ever since getting out of prison and restarting her life, vi had been looking for a new purpose.

ʚɞ she had found a solid job, managed to reconnect with wither last siblings left alive, and started to build up a life for herself, but still, she felt...aimless. she longed for a deeper connection than the ones she had, someone she could yet again.

ʚɞ and then she meets you, a sweet little store owner with a voice that sounds like a symphony and an attitude as sweet as cookies. the first time she even met you she bumped into you on the street outside your bakery, knocking you supplies for your treats all over the ground. she's expecting that usual zaunite 'watch where you're going!' but instead you tell her not to worry, that you were carrying too many things anyway.

ʚɞ it was almost instinct for her to assure you she was at fault, downright demanding she help you carry everything that dropped inside and that it was the least she could do. you call her a sweetheart and tell her if she does you'll send her home with a plate of her favorite dessert. how could she say no?

ʚɞ she cant help but to quickly hang out with you whenever she can. after her shifts she stops by to help you close up, telling you its the least she could do for someone who was oh-so sweet. you seem to welcome her affections, whispering one late night when making some extra batter that you always appreciate when she stops by. she goes home on a high that night.

ʚɞ but then the worst thing ever happens. you get a boyfriend.

ʚɞ apparently he's some old family friend who moved back to the city when he found a small fortune overseas and was ready to come back to 'win you over like he tried years ago'. you told the story with a slightly wistful voice but all vi could do was nod along with wide eyes and a shut mouth.

ʚɞ eventually, she meets the guy, a tall and rather weasly looking guy who was waiting impatiently outside the store. she gave him a simple greeting and all he could do was tilt his head in recognition that she was there, apparently. she passed him and went to the back of the store and asked you what he was doing standing outside looking all suspicious. her eyes nearly bulged out of her head when you told her he was waiting to take you out but had to stand outside because he couldn't stand the smell of bread.

ʚɞ yeah, this definitely wasn't gonna last long. she’d just have to get you to see that.

ʚɞ sadly, she didn't have to do much work. ton a sunny day when the two of you were walking through the upper city levels together you stopped in your tracks, a talking vi whose arm was wrapped with yours questioning what made you stop before following your eyesight to see your boyfriend in the arms of another woman, way too close for comfort. vi wanted nothing more in that moment than to go and knock the bastard's lights out, but she had to prioritize you first.

ʚɞ you go into a depression for a week, your shop closed and your apartment locked as you skulk and cry in your home. but thankfully you gave vi a key not too long into your friendship, and she wakes you up one afternoon and demands you go and clean yourself up while she takes care of your chores.

ʚɞ you come out of the shower feeling rejuvenated and refreshed, your mood only lifting higher at the smell of cookies in the air. you pad out to the kitchen and cant help but smile when you see vi standing with a tray of perfectly made chocolate chip cookies on the island counter.

ʚɞ you sit up on your counter and moan at the taste of the cookies, vi accepting your praise of her baking skills with pride as she rubs over your bare thighs. eventually the topic steers to your recent heartbreak and vi makes sure you can complain and vent to her all you want.

ʚɞ but the last thing she wants to hear is you blaming yourself, teary-eyed and mumbling about how maybe you were too overbearing in your affections. she gently but sternly brings your attention to her, making sure you look her in the eyes when she goes on about how you’re the nicest and most soft-natured person she’s ever known and he was a fool to not see what an amazing woman he had in front of him.

ʚɞ and you cant help but feel even worse at the clear effect her affection has on you, unconsciously biting her lip at her praise and closeness. her eyes dart down to your lips and back to your eyes, slowly inching her head forward for permission. as soon as you slightly nod your head she’s kissing you with months of pent-up adoration, warmth, and lust.

ʚɞ a small part of you feels guilty for moving on to your close friend only a week after you broke up with your boyfriend, but when her fingers are drifting down to your cunt and making you cry as you cum over and over again, you can't find it in you to care.

ʚɞ “he was an idiot to give up on someone as sweet as you. but down worry muffin, i’m not gonna take that chance.”

SEVIKA ꨄ

ʚɞ sevika had made a promise to herself years ago: don't mess with married women.

ʚɞ she could give herself some grace, she was young and dumb, and the woman was incredibly gorgeous. and when a woman with legs that could bring any person woman or man to their knees comes up to you and asks you your plans for the night, you cant exactly pass up the opportunity. though she wishes she did after her partner caught them together in bed and she got in one of the worst fights of her life.

ʚɞ but she had to admit things in her life were getting a bit…stale, to say the least. her schedule was a steady routine of doing tasks for silco, reeling in jinx, and keeping the last drop working like a well-oiled machine. she didn't want anything drastic that would screw up their plans to happen, just…something.

ʚɞ and oh, does she get it. some out of towner got too rowdy in the bar and started a bar fight and before she could come in and get things under control theirams leg gets broken. so now she’s tasked with finding a good enough replacement to cover him for the few months it gets healed since he for some reason couldn't just take a shimmer dose and get back on his feet in no time.

ʚɞ she goes through dozens of recruits, all either too disobedient or downright atrocious behind a bar. she’s just about to give up and force one of the goons to do it when you come through the door. you’re rather unassuming, and at first she things you’re joking until you travel behind the bar and instruct her to give you any drink and you can make it. after ten different drinks she’s more than convinced.

ʚɞ she doesn't talk to you much at first, you’re just another cog in the machine that keeps the enterprise running smoothly. obviously she’s noticed that you’re attractive, surrounded by a stern but easy-going aura that makes most customers sit and want to talk to you for hours on end. it amused her when she watched how you convinced three different patrons to buy some more drinks so you’d continue telling them a wild story of some adventure you apparently had in bilgewater years back.

ʚɞ she can't help but ask you if its true later when the bar is closing and you’re wiping everything down, rolling her eyes when you call her out for listening to your conversations. you reveal that all your stories of adventure and excitement are true, but that you gave that life up when you decided to settle down after you get married.

ʚɞ she scoffs that the woman you married must be a hell of a catch to get you to leave behind such an exciting life, and she sees your eyes drop when you reveal that life with your husband is a nice and quiet alternative to your days of danger. sevika’s always had a good poker face, and she’s really glad she has it now after hearing you gave up all of that for a guy. and that her gaydar was apparently wrong, which never happens.

ʚɞ but its almost like this is the challenge her mind has been looking for, because after that conversation she keeps having late-night talks with you when no one else is around. you’re disarmingly easy to talk to, able to show a compassion and understanding that isn’t common for the folks down here. its only a few hours after she gets a bit too tipsy and accidentally lets slip a story about her upbringing that she lays in bed and slaps her human hand to her forehead in frustration when instead of being embarrassed all she can think about is your soft hand gently rubbing her shoulder as she poured her heart out.

ʚɞ she is so screwed.

ʚɞ eventually, you draw silco’s attention. mostly because the profits from the bar have nearly doubled since you started working, partly because he can tell a certain someone is distracting sevika. he gave her a list of tasks one day that he could tell she hated doing and she went off with a nod and without a word, and she either had a new woman in her life or she was about to snap. he made sure to find out about you a few minutes later, and asked/demanded to know more about your life. in particular, any outside connections you had.

ʚɞ sevika doesn't know whether she wants to thank silco or kill him when you’re given a more permanent position at the bar and finally introduce the crew to your husband, a man who silco has apparently given a job in his booking department. when sevika pulls him aside later to ask why he would od something like that, he just. shrugs. silco never just shrugs.

ʚɞ now that you’ve basically part of their little crime family it's even easier for sevika to spend more time with you. unfortunately for you jinx has taken a liking to you, but you handle it well and always make sure to give the girl her favorite drink in her favorite cup whenever she stops in the bar to babble on about some new weapon of mayhem she’s decided to make.

ʚɞ but after a few weeks she notices your mood start to sour, how you start getting snippy with some of the more rowdy drunks who stumble through the bar. she catches you a few hours after closing sat behind the bar with a half drunken bottle in your hand and mascara running down your cheeks. normally if this was anyone else she’d scoff to herself and quickly make her exit but instead she plops herself down next to you and demands you tell her what's wrong. through hiccups and tears, you tell her that you’re pretty sure your husband is lying to you. about a lot. in particular about where he spends his nights and comes back grumbling about ‘unfair bets’ and losing cash.

ʚɞ sevika assures you she’ll get to the bottom of it, and it only takes her a few hours of trailing thee guy to find out the problem. it seems your betrothed has been gambling your money away in seedy gambling circles, with some guys she swore she told to cut it out months ago when it came to rigging their dice when playing with tourists. but the amounts he’s using are definitely more than what either of you are making on a salary.

ʚɞ she tries not to smile when she picks the excuse of a man up by the back of his neck with her mech hand, reveling in the horrified look on his face as he makes up excuse after excuse for why he’s been stealing money from you and the boss, that he swears he’ll make it back up to silco-

ʚɞ you come in the next day as confused as ever, whispering that your husband packed up his things in the middle of the night and disappeared. sevika sits you down and explains that your husband was a thief, stealing hundreds from silco rather sloppily under his nose, and was dealt with in a timely manner. but she assures you that you won't be affected by any debts he may have had, she’ll make sure of it and make sure none of those gamblers come after you.

ʚɞ you only grow closer and closer after that night, and its no surprise you start to catch feelings for the gorgeous woman who constantly makes sure you’re safe and protected. its on one of the bars rather more exciting nights that you relent and play a drinking game with some members of the crew, and in a moment of weakness accidentally admit that since your husband left you haven't been laid in weeks, and in an additional moment of weakness admit that the first person you’d like to rock your world would be none other than silco’s second hand.

ʚɞ it was just your luck that the woman was walking by when the words left your lips, and fueled by her own dose of liquid courage came up behind you and whispered that she was free at that moment.

ʚɞ you expected many things when you settled down in zaun, and getting bent in half for hours on end by the second in command to the rule of the underground was not one of them. but when sevika groans in your ear and moans about how you have the tightest pussy she’s ever had the pleasure of taking, you’re really glad it happened to you.

ʚɞ “god, i’m really not gonna be able to stay away from you now. promise that the next time you get married you’re not gonna have to worry about being disappointed ever again.”

ʚɞ (when sevika walks in the next morning with a rare smile on her face silco does admit that he hired your husband knowing he’d be an idiot that she’d have to get rid of. you’re welcome.)

ABBY ꨄ

ʚɞ abby never saw herself as a jealous person. she’d only been in one relationship before, and even though it ended rather sourly she knew it was only natural that they’d both eventually move on. but when she sees you, a new wlf recruit walking and smiling side by side with owen, she feels…weird. really weird.

ʚɞ she does feel bad that as soon as he introduces you all to the group at a small party thrown by some of the soldiers all she can manage is tight-lipped smile and a small wave. you visibly deflate and smile it off, immediately pulled away by nora and leah to grab some drinks. manny butts her shoulder with his, giving her that ‘what the hell?’ look he loves to do. she defensively apologizes, because how should she react? her ex-boyfriend clearly has a thing for you, is she supposed to be all buddy buddy with you?

ʚɞ it doesn't help that its clear to everyone that you’re pretty. like, weirdly pretty for someone in the middle of an apocalyptic setting. crystal clear skin, smooth lips, and eyes of a beautiful shade. she caught herself staring once in the gym as you laughed with one of the trainers and had to quickly get herself together.

ʚɞ isaac must be playing a sick game because you then get assigned to go with her on patrol. she initially resented, questioning why you were tagging along when you mostly worked with the medics and mel was already trailing along. he said that apparently you had asked for the chance to get some more field practice and left it at that, dismissing her with a wave.

ʚɞ she was quiet for most of the ride to the patrol spot, hands tight on the steering wheel as you sat in the back of the truck with the others in the group and laughed at some story one the guys was talking about.

ʚɞ god, even your laugh is cute, she thinks as she carefully maneuvers the truck around a downed tree. youre like if a dream girl was placed down in this wasteland to torture her, a giant sign to tell her of course owen went after you, you were perfect. more perfect than she could be.

ʚɞ it isnt helpful that shes left partnered with you as you clear out the abandoned store in the strip mall they've all been sent to check and re-clear the spaces if necessary. she finds herself frustrated when you very reasonably and very smartly stick to her side the whole time. she swears she almost trips over an overgrown branch when she catches a whiff of your soap and she doesnt know where the hell you managed to snag vanilla flavored anything.

ʚɞ everything is fine for a while. you both remain vigilant as you walk through the barely lit aisles of the department store, the only action when a clicker jumps up out of nowhere and nearly tackled you before she’s roughly pushing you out of the way and kicking out its knees before bashing in its head with her boot. she’s panting and catching her breath before roughly asking if you were alright and reminding you to stay vigilant, taking your wide eyed stare for shock at a close encounter to what would be a rather painful death.

ʚɞ but despite her rather abrasive attitude you try your best to be friendly with her. you reveal that owen did confide about their past relationship, and as awkward as the situation sometimes was you wouldn’t let it drive a wedge between you, that you in fact wanted to be friends with abby. you had heard a great many things about her, how she was a loyal friend, a courageous leader, clearly an incredibly strong soldier-

ʚɞ her brain. short circuits a bit. the way you called her strong, like it was fact that was so obvious that she’d already proven it to you just by being out here. sure she’d pushed you of out the trajectory of that clicker but that was normal, anyone should and would do the same. she realizes you wouldn’t get the chance to see any displays of strength like that back in the base save for the visits to the gym, and a foreign voice in her head laments what a shame that is.

ʚɞ she doesn’t realize until a day later just how screwed she is.

ʚɞ whatever weird…feelings she has for you don’t even get a chance to go away or settle, just fester and multiply with your constant presence. where abby is her friends are close by, and that now includes you. at small get togethers, shared gym workouts, breakfast lunch and dinner hangouts, you’re always there with a bright smile and a warm greeting for her. she thinks she’s hiding whatever it is she’s hiding pretty well until nora pulls her to the side and asks why she just keeps staring at you whenever you’re around, that she understand there might be some lingering feelings of jealousy and resentment towards owen but that’s no reason to treat you rudely.

ʚɞ abby stumbles over her words, insisting that she’s not treating you rudely, that’s the last thing she would want to do. who would ever do that to someone as nice and sweet and gorgeous as you? she ends her mini explanation with a stiff chuckle and looks at nora who’s now staring at her with an open mouth and a flabbergasted look on her face.

ʚɞ so it’s clear that abby likes you. she doesn’t know how to grapple with the fact, and decides its best to just deal with it privately and wait for it to just pass as most things do. the only person who knows is nora, who after not talking to her for a few hours after their last encounter came back to abby’s room to apologize for walking out on her in a moment where they so clearly needed to talk more about what was just revealed. she assures abby that she’ll help her through this but it’s very confusing to herself as well. it’s not every day you have to deal with your best friend falling in love with her boyfriends new girlfriend.

ʚɞ she doesn’t agree with abby’s method, frequently telling her that dealing with this in private will only have the opposite effect. and just like normally she’s right, abby’s increased attempt at distance from you only peaks your worry and drives you to constantly check in on her to make sure she’s okay. one day you come by her room after one of your workouts, and the sight of you covered in a thin sheen of sweat in shorts and a tank asking her sweetly if she’s feeling okay and if she’d like to join you for lunch let’s her know for sure that she really can’t do this for much longer.

ʚɞ so she’s tries her best to try a different approach : exposure therapy. as bad as it sounds, she’s sure once she starts spending more time with you she’ll realize you aren’t some mythical girl of of her dreams and are just a normal person who’s dating her ex and who she can totally just be normal friends with. she comes up to you in the halls a few days later and asks if you’d like her to help you train for more field work and you beam up at her before wrapping your arms around her neck and thanking her a multitude of times before composing yourself. you go one about how you were so eager to prove yourself and you’d do no better than to have the abby anderson teaching you the basics. she zoned out as soon as she felt your skin against the back of her neck, nodding along to all of your words with a doe-eyed blank look.

ʚɞ it’s really nice bonding with you over the course of a few short weeks. you quickly pick up on the things she teaches you, and whatever you don’t she’s more than eager to help you learn. she hates to admit it but her conscious cheered a little bit when you told her you needed help aiming one of the bigger rifles, and it nearly screamed when she got to place herself behind you and helped you aim at the target practice. maybe she’s a bit delusional at this point but she swears she felt your body relax into hers, felt your breath stutter just a bit when her chest met your back.

ʚɞ and she knows it’s serious when she trusts you enough to share her space in the library. it’s a night when manny has a girl over so she’s in her usual cozy spot surrounded by the book shelves when she shears your gentle footsteps and call of her name, remarking that you initially went to the room out of loneliness about owen being gone for the night but came here when a breathless and shirtless manny told you her usual sleepover spot. she invites you to settle in with her in her heap of old blankets surrounded by dusty novels, trying her best to remain calm when you lean your head on her shoulders and insisted she keep reading her current book aloud.

ʚɞ she wakes up to the early morning light with her head rested on top of yours, snuggled up to battle the chill of the stadium air and your hand clamped around her arm. when she looks down at your face and wishes she could see you like this every day she realizes that she is really, really screwed.

ʚɞ luckily she doesn’t have to wait long to see you like that again. well, the circumstances are rather horrid. yet another soldier was having small secret party ok one of the larger stadium dorms and you were glued to abby’s side. everyone besides nora was confused but happy that the two of you seemed to be getting along so well, and nora herself kept giving abby looks that were a mixture between pity, worry, and just a bit of ‘you need to just get this off of your chest to anyone else but me’ annoyance.

ʚɞ abby was your designated drink manager, constantly making sure you weren’t too drunk and were drinking enough water to stave off any of the negative effects of the smuggled in alcohol they brought in for the party. you’re both sitting on one of the couches and observing the party when you make an off handed comment about not seeing owen for a while and abby decides to sit you down snuggly on the couch while she goes to look for him to appease your tipsy haze. her search leads her down the hallway, and it’s only when she hears an object drop in a nearby maintenance closet does she find out the truth.

ʚɞ she whips open the door to see owen and mel in a rather…well, let’s just say a really lewd position. in the midst of being disgusted and infuriated she finds a bit of amusement at mousy mel of all people doing a drunken hookup in a dingy closet. owen hurriedly tries to fix himself and his pants, insisting to abby that it’s not what it looks like, and suddenly his eyes lock on an object behind her and she turns around to see you, teary eyed and clearly betrayed before you silently stoop off to the direction of your own room.

ʚɞ abby is normally a calm person. as a soldier she isn’t afforded the luxury to let her emotions get the better of her in moments of stress. but seeing you with tears in your eyes and a wobbly lip makes her wish she broke owen’s nose on the spot. collecting all of her composure, she slaws the closet door in his face and quickly runs after you.

ʚɞ she quickly chases after you, making her way down the stadium halls until she finds your bedroom door agape, quickly knocking and entering when she hears your quiet cry demanding owen leave. she makes sure to announce who she is once she settles in beside you on your bed, gently extending her hands to make sure shes allowed to physically comfort you before pulling you into a tight hug once you let her know it’s okay.

ʚɞ she had again struggles to keep her composure when you cry into her shoulder, not minding the tears staining her t-shirt when she hears you weep about what a fool you wer, how you were such an idiot to believe that someone like him could truly care about you.

ʚɞ in the morning, she can blame the weeks of pent up feelings, or maybe the cup of beer she had an hour before, but she can’t stop herself from grabbing your shoulders and turning you towards her, commanding your attention before she reveals that should’ve warned you about owen earlier, that she should’ve known he would take advantage of someone with as sweet a nature as you. She’s always known he was a fool, but to ruin his chances of someone like you is the dumbest thing he ever could’ve done.

ʚɞ when you sniffle and look up at her with those shiny eyes and puffy lips and ask her if that’s true she feels her composed facade slipping, hands shaky as she reaches up to wipe your tears away before letting her palm letting her fingers trail down your face, biting her lip when she sees your eyelids flutter closer when her hands start to ghost down your neck.

ʚɞ she doesn’t feel sorry when she watches you take off your top, doesn’t feel guilt when she pushes you down to the bed and lets her lips bite and kiss from your neck to her chest and draw out all manners of whines and gasps from your throat. and when she feels your hips lift up and grind into her crotch, when her hands attach themselves to your hips and forces you to bring yourself to an orgasm in your pants, she doesn’t give a shit how it’ll seem when she parades you around the stadium tomorrow.

ʚɞ manny and nora are open mouthed and shocked when you walk hand in hand into the cafeteria the next morning, both starry eyed and covered in love bites as you sit together nearly attached at the hip. when owen walks in a few minutes later and quickly storms out after seeing the two of you, abby can’t help but shrug when manny asked her what the hell is going on.

ʚɞ “owen had his chance, and he should learn that jealously is a monster.”

ELLIE ꨄ

ʚɞ in moments like these ellie remembers laughing at how her fellow lesbians would fall for their straight friends in middle and high school and end up with broken hearts and broken friendships. and now as she sits across from you and listens to you lament about your boyfriend, she realizes that karma is real and she is totally a bitch.

ʚɞ truly, she has no one to blame, but herself the moment she saw you walk into the record store she worked at she knew that this would only lead to trouble for herself. It was obvious to Dina, who lightly pushed his shoulder and told her to stop drooling and to focus on her work and not fall into another relationship so soon after her catastrophic breakup with cat. she had rolled her eyes at the brunette and assured her nothing would happen, that she’d politely introduce herself, help you buy a product, and never think about or see you again.

ʚɞ god, what an idiot she was.

ʚɞ as soon as she introduced herself, you complemented her tattoo, mention that you had wanted one but were too indecisive about a design and placement. before she can even think of what she wants to say she’s telling you that wouldn’t mind hooking you up with her tattoo artist who could help you decide what you wanted. hell, she wouldn’t mind helping you decide what kind of vibe you were going for when it came to the body art and where exactly on your body would be best to showcase it.

ʚɞ you’re beaming up at her and thanking her, telling her that she really is just too kind. she’s even kinder when she continues to talk to you as she helps you look through the store, helping you decide which record would be best for your collection.

ʚɞ and helping you pick out another record as a gift. for your boyfriend. she can hear dina snicker at the counter all the way from three aisles away, passing it off as allergies when you turn to look at her.

ʚɞ but it’s not like she’s gonna fall for you. she gives you her number, but that’s because she already promised she’d help you with the tattoo stuff. and sure she talks with you for hours the following week and even goes with you to the parlor for moral support, but that’s because she’s a good person! and you even told her she’s a great friend for helping you with this! she’s just being friendly.

ʚɞ soon enough she basically becomes your new best friend. she doesn’t know how it happened really, somewhere between helping you when your car broke down in the middle of the road and having dinner with your parents when they demand to meet the person who’s been taking up an extra chunk of their daughters time. it’s frightening how easy it is to just be with you, to talk to you about any and everything. she remembers it took dina pestering her at work for weeks for them to become friends, and here she is laughing with your dad over roasted chicken after a month.

ʚɞ dina and jesse call her delusional. when the former shows the latter a picture of you on the instagram account you have to ellie he folds over in laughter and tells ellie oh so eloquently that she’s definitely going to fall for you, it’s only inevitable. but she remains vigilant that she wouldn’t do something so dumb. i mean yeah you’re basically exactly her type, like a deity went into one of her wet dreams and plucked the woman she manifested and placed you in the real world, but she was strong. there were plenty of fish in the sea. plenty of gay fish, to be exact.

ʚɞ she tries to go on dates, scrolls through tinder and likes every other attractive viable woman she sees. she even manages to have a few hookups. its really just a coincidence that they have some of your similar characteristics, truly. she’s not actually looking for you in any of these girls, that’d just be weird.

ʚɞ but then it happens. she has a girl over, her leg thrown over her shoulder as she grinds herself into the pretty girl’s cunt. she’s lost in a high after the blunt they’d shared earlier and her heads thrown back as she’s letting out expletive after expletive, and then she does it. she moans your name. she pauses, the girl pauses, and its silent as they remove their entangled limbs from each other and rigidly lay in bed side by side. it hurts even worse than the embarrassment when the girl pats her shoulder with a smile after she’s put her clothes back on, wishing her luck with whatever’s goin on between the two of you.

ʚɞ there’s no point in denying it then. she doesn't even get the chance to keep it to herself, the next day when she’s watching a movie on your couch you poke and prod at her until she reveals what’s got her in such a sour mood. she doesn't tell you the full story, of course, just that something absolutely mortifying happened last night when she was riding some girl. she groans that she didn't even get to finish and that was way worse then what she said, hoping the joke will ease some of the embarrassment she has telling the story and the guilt about passively lying to you.

ʚɞ she doesn't notice how you hips shift in your seat, how your teeth bite at the skin of your lip. she does notice when you question what she meant by riding a girl. she cant help but think about how adorable you are before explaining the position in the nicest way possible. you hum and turn your attention back to the movie and she thinks that's the end of the conversation. but only seconds later you’re asking her to show you.

ʚɞ she thinks she's dreaming. no, she knows she's dreaming. its happened before, weird dreams she has after a strong high where she swears her dreams become all the more vivid and lifelike. it was super annoying the second time it happened, she woke up to a world where she in fact did not win the lottery and get to make out with her celebrity crush. but this is just cruel, she didn't know her brain could be so masochistic. but no, the feel of your hand shaking her shoulder and shyly asking if you’ve made her uncomfortable is real, your big eyes flitting to anywhere but hers is real.

ʚɞ she stutters over her words, asking if you really mean it. and you say yeah, you’d been curious about this anyway. it wouldn't hurt to do it with ellie, you were friends, right? and god what an idiot she was because she’s nodding along like of course, this couldn’t make your friendship weird at all, right? so she gets to work, not doing anything too lewd except for gently pushing you to lie on your back as she maneuvers her body over yours, placing her crotch over yours until she can feel the heat of you through her jeans. she tries not to show a reaction to the sight of you looking up at her, curious and flushed as your hand briefly comes up to rest on her hip. its only when your hips delicately press up into hers that she abruptly removes herself from on top of you, stiffly chuckling before recommending you get back to the movie.

ʚɞ neither of you bring it up again.

ʚɞ it’s so much more difficult to be around you now. before she was resolute in the fact that she was alone in whatever weird feelings she had towards you, but eventually she might move on. but with only a few actions you threw that whole viewpoint out the window. now it was clear that you were interested. maybe not in ellie but in sex with another woman. a small part of her is upset at the fact it might not be her. its only cliche that if you started having these feelings you’d fall for your gay best friend, who the hell else were you thinking about? whatever, that wasn't important.

ʚɞ what was important was what occurred over the next few weeks. it happens slowly but surely, your complaints about your intimate troubles with your boyfriend. now ellie had met the guy before, and it made her feel slightly better that she had a valid reason right from the start not to like him. the man was clearly an ass, looking her up and down the first time they met and giving her a ‘yeah you’re weird’ look that he apparently didn’t think she’d recognize. luckily she didn’t have to see him often, only seeing him in passing when she spent time with you at yours or picked you up to go hang out.

ʚɞ but now his weirdness is apparently front and center. she nearly chokes on her chipotle when you tell her that he questioned why the two of you were spending so much time together, feeling like ellie was going to make a move on you.

ʚɞ and yeah, it was offensive. just because she was a lesbian didn’t mean she wanted to jump the bones of every woman she met. unfortunately that didn’t apply here because she very much did want to jump your bones. not like he knew that. hopefully.

ʚɞ but she doesn’t want to get in the way of your relationship, begrudgingly recommending that maybe the two of you should spend some time apart so he can chill out and realize he’s being paranoid. she’s very happy to hear your quick rebuttal, remarking how you’d rather dump him then spend any more time away from her.

ʚɞ god you are making this so confusing. and it only reaches a head the next time she sees you. you’d texted her to ask if she could come over late at night and obviously she said she would, along with a bag of your favorite drinks and snacks just in case you got peckish. so she’s sitting on the couch as you both eat some shareable m&ms when the topic becomes a bit more…intimate.

ʚɞ she notices your rigid shoulders as you sit stark straight on the couch and laughs about how pent up you must be. your following laugh is awkward as you agree that you have been a bit stressed lately. so she tells a joke, that your boyfriend isn’t up to par in bed. she expects you to laugh and hit her shoulder but you nod your head.

ʚɞ you…nod your head. and then you turn to her, and she’s getting flashbacks to the last time you were this close on your couch. her face is hot as whisper that the past few times you’ve tried to sleep with your boyfriend he, as you eloquently put it, ‘just pumps and dumps’, and brushes you off whenever you bring up the fact that you haven’t had a release. that as much as it ashamed you to say it, once he falls asleep next to you you sometimes find your hand trailing under your shorts and thinking back to her stories of the hookups she told you about, wishing she could show you how all of that felt.

ʚɞ ellie has always liked your bedroom. its soft and sweet, with vines of fake ivy hanging across the ceiling and a large canopy hanging over the bed. you even have an adorable collection of stuffed animals, a few of them gifted to you by her throughout the months of your friendship. all of the little guys have been shoved to the floor now, and for a fleeting moment she things they’re really just going to have to understand before her mind is consumed again with you, how you’re pretty flushed face is staring and moaning up at her as her wrist nearly cramps with how fast her fingers are pistoning into your wet cunt.

ʚɞ you haven’t even touched her and she’s already on cloud nine. your confession nearly made her pass out, and she swore she had died and gone to heaven when you asked her to help you with your problem and grabbed her hand to lead her to your bed. it was like her horniest dream come true to see you undress, to feel over your skin, to lower her head to your pussy and try her best to suck out your soul in the most loving way possible.

ʚɞ she feels her boxers get soaked when you cum around her fingers again, legs wrapping around her waist and head raising to muffle your sounds in her shoulder. she swore she nearly came when you bit into her shoulders, already knowing she was going to look into the mirror later to look at the mark your teeth left on her with a smile. but she didn’t predict for you to be so insatiable, for as soon as she pulls her fingers out of your cunt you’re whining and grinding your hips up into hers, whispering little *‘please, el, need more’*s

ʚɞ “don’t worry, baby, i’ll give you whatever you want. swear once i’m done you’re never even gonna think of that stupid boyfriend of yours again.”

[woso-dreamzzz]

Surgery: Christmas

Mapi Leon x Ingrid Engen x Child!Reader

Summary: Christmas with Cub

"We could get her another cat?"

"We're not getting her another cat!"

It's strangely difficult to find ideas for Christmas presents to give a little girl that's only obsessed with cats, the washing machine and baking.

Your mothers can't exactly buy you your own washing machine or an electric mixer or, god forbid, another massive cat for you to carry around and insist isn't fat, isn't a complete monster or isn't the absolutely worst enemy of your mothers.

One of those worst enemies, your incredibly fat tabby Garfield, sits on the kitchen counter attempting to bat open a box of cereal to feed his never ending hunger.

Mapi and Ingrid ignore him, knowing that sooner or later this burst of energy will leave and he will amble off to a sunspot so he can nap away the rest of the day.

"Mami!" A call comes from your bedroom. "I'm stuck again!"

Mapi scrubs a hand over her face. "Just a minute, cub! I'm coming!" She turns back to Ingrid. "Definitely a no to the cat?"

Ingrid sighs. "No more cats."

"Just trying to make it easier on us!"

"Go and help our kid put on her t-shirt. I've got this."

But Ingrid very much doesn't have this. It shouldn't be this difficult to find a Christmas present for you but you're such a content kid. You've already got toys and the tv and the washing machine and the cats.

There's not really much else you want or need.

You're no help either, of course, because when Ingrid asks, you just reply with a simple:

"Er...I can get more time in yours and Mami's bed?"

So, it was very clear that you didn't quite know what you wanted for Christmas either apart from, clearly, curling up in Mapi and Ingrid's bed with them and probably kicking Mapi in her sleep.

Ingrid spends weeks stewing over what she and Mapi could get you. They'd gotten you a few throw away things like a new yellow digger after your last one fall off the balcony and smashed into the pavement below and a cute little necklace that doubled as identification with things like your name and had Mapi and Ingrid's numbers on them in case you ever went missing in a crowded area.

In the end, it's Frido that comes to her and Mapi's rescue, throwing out an idea at random during lunch when Aitana takes you up to the buffet to find some chicken.

It's a throwaway comment but with Mapi and Ingrid struggling to work out what else they could get you, they cling to it like a lifeline. They're fairly easy presents to source, something that Ingrid is glad for because she's cutting it abnormally close to Christmas day to get everything sorted.

"Mami..."

There's a crackle on the monitor that has Mapi stirring awake.

"Maaaami."

Mapi counts to ten in her mind before rolling out of bed, kissing a still sleeping Ingrid on the cheek and making her way out to your room.

"Merry Christmas, cub," She says as she pushes open your bedroom door," I see you've got company."

All of the cats seem to have migrated to your bed overnight.

Garfield, as usual, is laying on his back after (presumably) being used as a stuff animal for most of the night. Bagheera sits by your feet, grooming herself primly while the monstrous León-León stands nearby, tail flicking from side to side as he stares.

"We had Christmas cuddles," You say happily," And now we have the gingerbread?"

"We'll have to wait. Mama is still asleep."

"Why?"

"Huh? Why is Mama still asleep? She's tired."

"But why?"

"Because she was busy making sure everything was good for today."

"But why?"

Mapi scrubs a hand over her face. "You know what, let's go eat that gingerbread. Then we'll go and get your Mama."

You wiggle happily all the way to the kitchen, where Mapi lifts you up onto the counter so you can have a breakfast of the gingerbread you and Ingrid made last night and so Mapi can stop you from running into their room before Ingrid is awake enough to function.

The cats come running in as soon as they hear the rattling of their dishes - though Garfield kind of lumbers in, far behind León-León and Bagheera but still manages to steal most of the food.

Mapi does a pretty good job of stopping you going for the presents until Ingrid finally gets up, a nice warm mug of coffee waiting for her and an overly excited child trying to shove some gingerbread into her mouth.

"Tha-Thanks, Cub," Ingrid laughs as she pushes away one of your sticky little hands from where it's trying to shove biscuit into her mouth," But I'm fine with my coffee."

"It's good," You say through your own full mouth and Ingrid laughs.

"I know because it was made by us, with lots of love." Ingrid kisses the tip of your nose. "But really you should eat it all yourself."

"Really?"

"Really-really," Ingrid insists and you giggle, kicking your feet happily as you finally settle on her lap, sprinkling gingerbread crumbs everywhere as you move.

Garfield, as he always does whenever there's food to spare, comes ambling over to eat them all up.

Usually, Ingrid would scold him but Mapi's coming over with presents and she decides that even the cats can get away with things they usually wouldn't today.

"Are you ready for presents?" Ingrid asks, bouncing her knee so you burst into a round of giggles.

"Presents!"

Mapi and Ingrid exchange triumphant looks as you tear open your presents.

Your new ID necklace is placed snugly around your neck immediately, ready for in case you get lost during the walk your mothers have planned later that day.

You take great delight in placing your new yellow digger with all of your other construction toys in the corner of the room next to your little wooden set of tools.

"Mama! Mami! It's CAT!"

It's truly a surprise how many CAT themed things the club has managed to make in such a short amount of time. It's even more surprising just how much stuff they can buy for so cheap a price with their team member discounts.

But, perhaps the most surprising of all is how much the club was willing to just straight up give to them in return for just a few pictures of you with CAT the mascot.

It's not shocking to the staff and fans alike who the biggest CAT fan is and, while you do regularly appear on Mapi and Ingrid's Instagrams, it's a rarer feat to see you featured on the team's.

But, with just three pictures of you with CAT and a very cute video of you nearly taking the mascot of their feet in an attempt to hug them, Mapi and Ingrid received a bundle of CAT merch in return.

"It is CAT," Mapi laughs," It's a t-shirt with CAT on it!"

"And a keyring! And a new mug!" Ingrid continues as you rip open your presents, getting more and more excited the more CAT things you see.

"CAT's my second best friend," You tell Mapi and Ingrid earnestly in the next hour as you all take a nice walk together through the park.

"Oh, yeah?" Mapi says," And who's your best friend?"

"You and Mama," You reply.

"Oh, cub," Ingrid coos," That's so swe-"

"And Bagheera and Garfield and León-León."

Mapi laughs. "There it is."

[deathbecomesnerds]

Well…okay…

When I was 2, I took a handful of my mom’s anti-seizure meds while she was distracted with my brother. My dad was in the military, and so we went to the military hospital. The story goes, I was screaming the two-year old equivalent of “DO YOU KNOW WHO MY FATHER IS!?” as they tried to give my Ipecac.

When I was 8, I had an asthma attack so bad, that I quit breathing and when the nurse gave me something to help me start breathing, I projectile vomited all over the place and equipment.

When I was 20, I developed severe chest pain at work while folding a shirt. I worked with a bunch of old ladies, so they called 9-1-1 cause we thought it was a heart attack. The EMT was cute and also worried that my entire left arm was cold to the touch…and the nurse I had was cute too, and he saw my boobs as he helped take my shirt off so they could put the heart monitor sticky’s on me. It wasn’t a heart attack, but it was Costochronditis which I’m still struggling with til this day.

Two months later, at my other job, I tried to catch a falling plate and it sliced my finger open and we had to rush me to the E.R. cause it was gushing super bad. Same cute nurse stitched me up.

When I was visiting my Dad in Virginia, I woke up to the worst pain in my back ever. He took me to the ER where I proceeded to vomit on the receptionist/nurse while my dad parked the car. I apologized to hard! I had just passed a kidney stone.

In 2021, I accidentally overdosed on my anti-depressants. I wasn’t paying attention and I spent an hour convincing the ER doctor I wasn’t trying to kill myself—I was just neglectful in my night routine. Luckily, he believed me and they held me for a few hours until it was obvious nothing of consequence was going to happen to me.

While trying to open a Guinness Beer Bottle, I broke the neck off and immediately stabbed myself with it. When the doctor asked me “how much have you had to drink tonight?”, when I told him “None. That was supposed to be my first!” He was impressed. I had 6 stitches.

I had food poisoning, and kept throwing up and after a while there was blood, so I went to the ER. Turns out, I’m just a violently strong vomiter and irritated the lining of my intestines.

For the purposes of this poll, do NOT count the following:

Your own birth (unless there were complications/urgent concerns)

Routine check-ups or scheduled-in-advance appointments that just happened to be at a hospital

Visiting or accompanying someone else to the hospital

Use your discretion as to whether to count visits to urgent care.

–

We ask your questions anonymously so you don’t have to! Submissions are open on the 1st and 15th of the month.

[millersfinest]

untethered | e.w

00s!ellie williams & 00s!miller!reader

wc: 7.4k

series: chapter one (you’re here!)

blurb: it’s been awhile since you’ve been back home; in upstate new york where you’ve spent most of your life waking up early and tending to the animals that moo’d and meh’d. after graduation high school, and then college, the city life has stolen most of your attention. enabling you to visit only a handful of times through the years. when your lovely adoptive parents (tommy and maria miller) invite you back for a thanksgiving dinner—a troubled old flame from your childhood manages to get your attention, despite its explosive ending.

cw: lmao flip phones, some vulgar language, ellie cheating on her gf (kind of), the millers, r is a writer, elements of longing, ellie is #1 lesbian yearner in the world, some early 2000s references, thanksgiving, some physical violence, adopted kid trauma (shoutout to all the adopted kids!!), hella angst, repressed emotions, a little bit of mature content, eventual smut.

note: i have too much confidence writing for ellie. but here’s another series im starting because i realized the plot is too much for a single work on here, hence the 7 thousand words ijbol. hope you guys enjoyyy.

It was quieter upstate. Breathable and airy—you missed it more than anything. As much as you loved living in Manhattan, there was nothing like the countryside. Waking up to the sound of birds chirping and roosters crowing. Hearing the excited neighing from the horses you birthed and took care of. It was refreshing to be home again.

And, of course, you missed your parents.

They adopted you as a troubled child, and you’ve considered yourself lucky ever since. Babies and younger children were often the ones to be pulled from inconsistent foster homes, but they chose you. A pierced, attitude-ridden, thirteen-year-old who liked smoking cigarettes because they made you look cooler than you felt. And it helped you cope with the lasting effects of neglectful parents.

That trauma didn’t just disappear once Tommy and Maria entered your life. It was something that grew from nothing, and they were adamant in making your transition as comfortable as possible. You never experienced anything like it before them. Their strictness and structure did the opposite of what most would think. You went from sneaking out and smoking cigarettes to staying up late studying and finishing your favorite novels—still smoking cigarettes, though, but out your window. It was hard habit to break.

Once you realized that they could be trusted and had your best interest at heart, you gave them the right to parent you. Sure, it wasn’t easy. The three of you argued many, many times—but you respected them more than you have anyone else. Really, just for tolerating you.

The Miller’s were always very family oriented and social. Sunday nights always managed to be a grand event—Tommy grilling in the acred backyard, Maria handling the food items that could be cooked inside, and you diligently decorating and setting the table. Football Sundays were always the worst, but they were great memories to think about. That was the first time you met, basically, the love of your life at the time. Ellie Williams.

It was 1995 when you had completely fallen in love with her—only knowing her for around three years. Joel Miller wasn’t really her father, or adoptive father, he was just somebody who took care of her. He owned a guitar shop that sold, obviously, guitars and other instruments alike; as well as holding lessons for those wanted to learn how to play.

The story goes: Joel was working the register on a very slow day when Ellie showed up. There was a shiner on her eye, but she insisted that she was fine—asking for lessons with crumbled cash and dirty coins. She couldn’t afford the lessons on her own, so he gave her a job and proceeded with teaching her how to play.

She grew up similar to you; hidden under the confines of foster care. The only difference was, she was never adopted. At least not until the age of seventeen, when she’d spent so much time with Joel that she had a decorated bedroom in his house. They both had commitment issues, but after Tommy convinced him to do the paperwork… He did. Surprising her on her seventeenth birthday. However, the outcome didn’t really go to plan. Not how anyone would have expected it.

It was 1997 when she completely broke your heart… Not to be cheesy or anything.

Her seventeenth birthday was hosted at your house, on the farm. You knew her the most out of everyone, so you made it your mission to make this the best birthday ever. Decorating had become a hobby of yours after so many Sunday dinners—you spent all day stringing up lights and colorful streamers. Maria helping you out with a homemade cake that said: Happy Birthday Els! You were too anxious to write the words yourself, so you let her do it instead. You were even sure to invite the friends you shared; demanding they each brought presents to show how much they cared about her.

Joel had showed up before she did; just in time so they could all hide and jump out with big smiles on your faces when Ellie arrived. You would always remember the feeling of hearing the rumbling of her truck coming to a stop. And the shy smile on her face when everyone jumped out from behind furniture—blowing birthday kazoo’s. It was picturesque!

Dina had trotted over to her, snapping a blue paper cone birthday hat over her head. While you walked over with her birthday cake in your hands, brightened with seventeen candles. “Happy seventeenth, Ellie.” You had spoken, warmly. A bashful grin spreading onto your lips. She looked at you with such awe in that moment. Blowing out her candles and kissing your cheek, muttering a blushing ‘I fuckin’ love you’.

You knew about her surprise adoption papers before the party had started, excitement running through your veins when Joel meandered toward her—handing her an envelope of hope. Ellie took it, eyeing him, skeptically. “Open it!” You urged—that was your mistake.

Chortling, she broke open the envelope, not caring if it tore. When she pulled out the certificate, reading the words on the page, her entire face dropped. “Adoption papers?” Her eyes squinted in disgust, glaring at Joel. The smile fell from your face, lips parting in slight shock. Her olive eyes glanced around the room, seeing the fallen expressions clouding everyone’s features. Landing on your fallen face, briefly—a look exclaiming, ‘how could you’. Freckled cheeks heating up in embarrassment and… Anger. “Joel, what the fuck?” She blinked at him, shoving the papers into his chest, then storming out of the house. Hands ripping the hat from the top of head, throwing it to the ground. The screen door creaking obnoxiously as she exited. It all happened so fast.

He quickly followed her out, calling for her, desperately.

Awkwardly, you turned to the frozen people around you. “Anybody want cake? It’s german c— chocolate.” You stammered, trying to keep your composure. Looking to Maria and Tommy for some sort of consolation, you frowned, placing the cake on the counter before fleeing to the bathroom.

You clenched at the roots of your hair, pacing around the bathroom. You could hear remnants of a solo screaming match from outside the bathroom window, causing you to grit your teeth. The papers were supposed to be a good thing! Ellie had always been a hothead—easily agitated like a stray kitten is distress. There were even moments where the two of you went at it. Until one of you caved, begging for affection as an apology. Your nerves burned at the idea of her not liking the surprise—was that selfish?

Instead of remaining in the bathroom, you swung open the door with your eyes fixed on the front door. Hands clenched at your sides, you walked through the kitchen, where Tommy tried to liven up the mood by handing out pieces of cake.

He tried calling your name, but you brushed him off, pushing open the screen door with an attitude that could be felt with every step you took. The brisk autumn air hit your exposed skin, the long-sleeve striped shirt not doing much to keep you warm.

Striding around the side of the house, you seen Joel and Ellie having a stern conversation. But by the time your eyes landed on them, they were in a beat of silence. Joel shaking his head with his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. Ellie had her arms stubbornly crossed, frowning. When her eyes found yours, he turned around to leave. “She’s all yours…” He solemnly sighed, walking back into the house. The adoption papers crumbled up in his hands.

Biting your bottom lip, you approached her with your arms crossed for warmth. “What happened, Ellie?” Your voice dragged, tiredly. There was something always wrong with her. “We just wanted to do something nice for you… Why’d you have to go and ruin it—?”

“Oh, I’m the one who ruined it?” She scoffed, a sneer resting on her lips. “I’m not the one who brought the fucking adoption papers!” Ellie exclaimed, gesturing broadly with her hands. When she was up in arms, she always gesticulated more. “Did you have anything to do with this? Because if you did—“

You interrupted her with scrutinizing glare. “So, what if I did? I thought this would make you happy, Ellie… Don’t you understand?”

“You had me open that in front of everyone knowing what was inside— and you thought that’d make me happy?” Her lips arched in disgust. “Clearly, you don’t know me at all.” Her words were venomous, lips twitching in anger.

There was nobody who understood you more than Ellie, and vice versa. You just got each other because you came from similar backgrounds—that was your glue. You don’t know me at all. That was new.

With your eyes growing warm with tears, your tongue rolled in your mouth. “I spent all day setting this up… For you. Because I love you, Ellie. I don’t know you— that’s bullshit if I ever heard it.” Your voice cracked, but you refused to let a tear run down your cheek. This was no time for tears—if she could get angry, so could you.

“I’ve known you long enough to have some semblance of understanding on why you’re upset, right now— that’s for damn sure.” You paused, averting your eyes to concentrate on keeping your rising emotions at bay. She watched you, cheeks still red with anger. “I’m gonna give you ten minutes— ten, Ellie! If you don’t get your ass back in there in next ten fucking minutes…” You lick your lips, shaking your head. “We’re over. Done!”

Giving a final glare, you turned to head back inside. “I can’t keep dealing with this shit.” You mutter, under your breath.

“So that’s what it is… Dealing with me?” Ellie voiced, a sliver of disappointment slipping in her moment of anger.

Wiping your cheeks, you peered over your shoulder. “What?”

“You got this perfect little life… Huh?” She began, approaching you intimidatingly. “The loving parents, the farmhouse— you became the perfect daughter for them… Gets the grades, does everything she can to appease them. This fuckin’ fantasy world that you chose to live in all because you wanted someone to love you… Fuckin’ pathetic.”

“Ellie…” You warned.

“Well, newsflash, little-miss-perfect— not everybody wants that! Not everybody wants to play pretend for the rest of their fucking life just to be—“

It happened before you could stop it, fists clenching at your sides as she bad mouthed you till oblivion. Your soft spot—and she knew all about that. Both of you grew up as kids who got into fights and disputes more times than anyone could count; you just decided to clean up your act. However, that troubled twelve to thirteen-year-old still resided inside of you. And, in that moment, she wasn’t your doting girlfriend—she was someone punching down on you.

Your knuckles collided with the side of her face, knocking into her cheek bone. Features scowling as if she were a stranger. Ellie stumbled, holding onto her face with surprised eyes. For a second the version of her you loved came through, but she quickly recovered. Her lips curling at the ends, taunting you. “I knew you still had it in you… You’re no better than me.”

There it was.

Not only was it the straw that broke the camels back—it was the truth. The ultimate truth. Behind all of your petty little arguments. Behind all her wild bursts of anger. She was jealous of you. Grunting behind your teeth, you charged at her. Taking the collar of her jacket as her back hit the gravelly ground. Straddling her, you didn’t hear the rushing feet hitting the porch. You could feel her hands settling loosely on your calves, only angering you more. “I did the fucking work— nobody else but me!” Tears poured down your cheeks. “I am better than you. Because I fucking try—“

Arms pulled you off her body, wrapping around your abdomen. It was Tommy, questioning you in your ear, but you weren’t listening. “Everything went to shit because of you! Remember that!” Dina and Jesse rushed to her side, but she only sat up watching you get pulled back inside. They glared at your forced retreat—they were always more friends with her than they were with you.

Tommy released you, with a disappointed sigh. Maria walking inside, shutting the door behind her, frowning. You heaved, looking at all the decorations that mocked you. Sparkling and shining against the dim lights in the room. The barely eaten cake sat on the counter in the kitchen making fun of you—it was all too much.

“What the hell has gotten into you, y/n?!” Maria pointedly, asked. Not really wanting a response.

“What’s gotten into me?! What’s gotten into her—!” You pointed to the door as if she replaced it.

The blond man leaned his elbows on the kitchen counter, bending at his hips. “Well, I don’t think it matters what’s gotten into her if you put your hands on her, Bug.” Tommy spoke, evenly. He was always the calmer of the two. “Did you… Did you put your hands on her?”

Maria stood with her hands on her hips. “What did we say about fighting—? And you don’t hit your girlfriend— you don’t hit the people that you care about!” She scolded, pointing her finger. “We raised you better than that…”

Your lips quivered, guilt setting in. “I didn’t mean to hit her! She wanted— she wanted me to… I swear!”

He glanced at his wife. “She wanted you to hit her?” Tommy deadpanned, pressing his lips into a line.

They both looked at you with separate expressions. Maria clearly overwhelmed with disappointment and utter disbelief. The same look she gave you when she caught you smoking cigarettes at the barn when you were fourteen—when you told her you quit. Tommy had an expression of pity, like he often did. That same look he gave when you had a meltdown at school when you first moved in with them.

More tears began to roll down your cheeks. “Maria… Tommy… She pushed me. Why would she do that? Why would she—“ You began to ramble, knees growing weak. Your strict mother-figure rushed to your side, catching you before you fell. “I didn’t mean to… I didn’t want to— she was just being so mean.”

Sinking to the floor with you, her hands caressed your hair. Maria looked to Tommy, mouthing for him to go check on Ellie.

Outside, Ellie was dismissing the weary questions from her friends. She’d never seen you act in such an unruly way. Every time she came over, there wasn’t a hair that was out of place on your head. She was always the one acting out, swearing like a sailor. Sure, she knew about your smoking habit, but that was nothing.

Your girlfriend was envious of how everything was panning out for you—college was around the corner. You had an acceptance letter from your dream school, and without a doubt, you were leaving for the city. Leaving her behind to rot in the country. It wasn’t fair!

That adoption letter felt like pity. She wasn’t a fan of that feeling either.

As a bruise formed on her cheek, guilt settled into the pit of her stomach. Ellie had every intention on seeing the side of you that everyone talked about with a past tense that indicated warning. She needed to prove to herself that you weren’t the perfect person she saw you to be—but all that was left behind was remorse and a sore cheek.

She watched as Joel and Tommy stepped aside to talk. Their eyes glancing back and forth between the door and Ellie, as she leaned against her rusted red truck.

“I can’t believe she would do something like that… On your birthday?” Dina shook her head, with her arms crossed.

“It’s not like her…” Jesse narrowed his eyes at the auburn-haired girl. “What’d you do?”

Dina smacked his chest. “Jessie! She’s literally the victim here— domestic abuse!”

He sucked his teeth, rolling his eyes. “I’m not saying what she did was right.” Jessie began. “I’m saying that I know Ellie Williams, and I know how she is— she’s a pusher.”

The bruised seventeen-year-old scoffed.

“Yeah, I said it.” He stood tall, a small smirk playing on his lips. “You’re a pusher. Hell, you’re a professional pusher— you push people for a fucking living.” Dina glared at him, threatening to hit him again. “I mean, there was that one time… When we went into the city for that comic convention, and you completely obliterated Joel for worrying about you—“

The dark-haired, freckled teenager pushed her boyfriend out of the way taking his place. “We don’t have to relive that…”

Ellie rolled her tongue in her mouth. “Look, I know this is my fault…”

“Ellie… You’re the one with the bruise forming on your face.” She reached up, rubbing her cheek. Her wincing under her touch.

She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, squeezing her red eyes. “Yeah, and if it weren’t for me— for what I said… I wouldn’t have this fuckin’ bruise.” Ellie peered at where Joel and Tommy were speaking. They were wrapping up, giving brotherly hugs. “I am a pusher… And now my girlfriend hates me.” She pouted, tears welling up in her eyes. The blond Miller waved a hand at her, giving a tight-lipped smile that screamed I’m sorry. “I gotta go…” She pulled her keys from her pocket, getting into her truck.

That was the last full conversation the two of you had. Horrible, but the last. Everything in between then and the present was short and empty. Light conversations that only strangers and acquaintances shared. Letters here and there. It was a dispute that was so nuanced, for the first year after that, Joel barely said a word to you. Which bled into his relationship with Tommy. Maria tried to play middleman, but it didn’t work.

Perhaps, that was the reason you kept your distance. You didn’t want to continue to be the wedge that formed between two brothers. While you loved your parents, they were only a phone-call away. And, in the meantime, you could focus on growing in your career. Focusing on your book writing, instead.

You just wanted to forget about what happened when you were an emotionally undeveloped seventeen-year-old, but every time you seen her face—you remembered. So, avoiding Ellie Williams was a mission within itself.

A mission you were hoping you weren’t going to have to endure this year.

“You know,” Tommy began, sipping his fresh coffee. “Joel’s coming down from Jersey for the week.”

As you looked through the fridge, you snapped your head in his direction. “Is he now…?” You slowly question. Letting the fridge door shut on its own. The blonde woman to his right, sitting at the island counter, chuckled. Flipping through the interior design magazine you brought for her.

“And he’s picking up Ellie from the city.”

“What!” You exclaim, rushing to the opposite side of the counter. Pulling the mug from his lips, a surprised squeak left your throat. “Uh, dad… You forgot to mention on the several phone calls that we had in that last month that Ellie moved to the city.”

Maria perked up, pushing a piece of her hair behind her ear. “Yeah, she’s been there for about a year now… Brooklyn, is it?” She looked to her husband for clarification. He nodded, peering up at you with a plain expression.

“A year?! And none of you told me?”

“Bug, you did say that you didn’t want us to bring her up anymore unless you asked.” Maria stood to her feet, meandering to the stove and oven. “But that does remind me… They should be here in a few hours. Wanna help with the brownies?” She preheated the oven, walking around you casually.

Your mouth fell open, glancing between the two of them. “Okay, so they get brownies, and I get the worst news of my life…” An apron with your nickname embroidered on the front, Bug, hung in your mother's hand as an offering. “Yes, I’ll help with the brownies— this is very cruel to your very successful daughter.”

Tommy waved his hand, dismissively. “C’mon, that incident happened years ago now. You’re twenty-five, I’m sure she’s gotten over it.”

Tying the string around your neck and back, you pressed your lips into a line. It wasn’t really about her—you weren’t over it. You still harbored the same guilt you felt when you settled in your room that night. A crazy mixture of resentment and remorse all rolled up into one feeling; as you settled in your reading nook, with your hand out the window holding a burning cigarette with your index and middle finger. “I’m sure she has…”

Eventually, you switched the conversation around while baking. Falling into fits of laughter from mentioning past stories of your teenagehood. Teaming up with Maria to make fun of Tommy and his aging—all of a sudden, he was beginning to have a knack for playing a checkers. Only old people enjoyed playing checkers. Then, the waiting began.

To busy yourself, you pulled out your computer and brought it to the porch. Even though, you were taking some time off at your publishing job; when it came to your book writing, you had an agent to keep flooding your inbox with emails. Telling you to do this and do that—it was obnoxious. But you did as she asked anyway.

Typing away, a puff of nicotine fled from your lips. Murmuring under your breath, the words that were populating on the screen. On your hip, your phone rang, causing you to throw your head back in slight agony. Something always interrupted you when you were flowing. Flipping open your phone, the decorative chain swinging around as you placed it against your ear. “Hello,” You spoke, stubbing out your cigarette.

It was your roommate and closest friend, Sierra, complaining about the neighbors. Her strong long island accent echoing through the phone. “Oh, my God— they’re so loud! You’d think gettin’ an apartment in a nicer building would thicken the walls.” She groaned on the other end. “Please, come back. At least to tell them to shut up, and then you could go back upstate.”

“Why don’t you… I don’t know…” You shut your laptop, replacing your butt with the boxy electronic. Strolling to the far end of the porch, leaning your arms against the bannister. “Tell them yourself?” An amused smile spread on your lips.

Sierra paused. “Because that’s your job. I’m the nice one, remember?”

“Okay, well I can’t leave. I just got here, and I’m not spending another grand on taxi fare.”

“I’ll spot you.” You could hear her smile on the end.

“Sierra, I’m not coming back until Saturday. So, your only options are to either bang on their door— telling them to shut the hell up— or you suffer listening to their relentless daytime sex.” As you spoke, a truck began rolling up the driveway. Identities unclear due to the intense window tint, but you knew exactly who it was. However, there were three heads in that truck.

She groaned on the other end of the line. “Ugh! I hate you—“

“You love me!” You grinned, but it dropped right off your face when the people exited the vehicle. From the driver's seat, it was Ellie; then, it was Joel who exited, seemingly in conversation. And, finally, a girl stepped out of the vehicle. Joel noticed you leaning against the bannister on the porch, waving his hand with a smile.

Your muscles reacted, waving a fleeting hand. “Maria, Tommy! They’re here!” You yell loud enough to be heard through the screen door. You were always insecure about calling them by their parental titles in front of people—let alone new people.

“You’re yelling in my ear, hon. If you gotta go just tell me.” Sierra complained.

“I gotta go.”

Before she could say her goodbyes, you shut your phone, sliding it into your back pocket. Your parents came out of the house in high spirits; Maria clapping her hands, excitedly, embracing Ellie. Tommy giving a firm bear hug to Joel, laughing heartily—at what? You were unsure.

Awkwardly, you stood there. Smiling with your hands held in front of your body as if you were presenting a project.

Joel looked to you, approaching you with open arms. “Look at you,” He began, wrapping his arms around you, warmly. “All grown up.” He pulled back to get a better look at you, nodding proudly.

“Yeah…” You tapped his shoulder. “You, too.” A chuckle fell from your lips.

Then, you looked to your right at the freckled girl with her arm around a feminine stranger. However, you couldn’t indentify her before you did Ellie. Her auburn hair was pulled into a low bun, with pieces framing her gentle features. Her round evergreen, tinted with slivers of brown, eyes. Freckles decorating her cheeks, bridge of her nose; the beauty mark under left eye—

“Hey,” Ellie drawled out the greeting, awkwardly. Leaning in for a hug that teetered back and forth until you reciprocated.

You kept that same plastered smile on your lips, wrapping your arm under hers. “Hey, Ellie.” Pulling back, you finally looked at the girl beside her. She had tattoos and piercings and looked so much cooler than you. “Who’s this?”

Her earthy eyes widened. “Oh, this is, uhm, my girlfriend, Cat.”

The only response you could give was a nod and a half-hearted wave. It was like a dramatic record scratch in your head. But your parents took over with the rest. Guiding everyone inside to the warmth. Tommy remained outside, giving you skeptical eyes. “Help me with the bags…”

“Honey, don’t be weird about this.” He spoke, as you followed him to the truck.

“I’m not being weird.” You whined, gravel crunching under your feet. “Seriously, what’s to be weird about?” Reaching into the open trunk, you pulled out luggage’s and duffle bags. This was a lot of stuff for a week stay—they brought more than you did.

He gruffly breathed, pulling up the handle of one of the suitcases. “You’re my daughter, I know you— just sayin’…”

“Oh, my God— please!” You complained, hooking the duffle over your shoulder, pulling one of the luggage’s. Leaving him to follow you toward the porch.

Dinner had come quicker than you had hoped. If anything, if you could magically skip over the thing, and still eat, that would’ve been perfect.

All six of you sat at the dining table, forks and knives scratching at ceramic plates. Tommy and Joel had gathered in the back, last minute to cook up some steaks. And, to busy yourself, you helped Maria with the sides while Ellie and Cat got situated in the guest house.

“So, y/n, how’s the book comin’ along?” Joel wondered, putting a cut piece of steak into his mouth.

You made a surprised sound as you chewed your food, rushing to swallow. “Shit, you’re writing a book?” Ellie questioned, leaning her elbows on the table.

Taking a sip of water, you decided to respond. “Yeah, I’ve been working on it for a while.” Your eyes glanced at her, then moved on, quickly, to Joel’s. “It’s… Coming along.” A bashful laugh fell from your lips, as your hand reached for the glass of wine. It was barely touched, red hue swishing in the bulb of the glass as you took a sip. It’s fruity bitterness relishing over your tongue.

“What is it— like fiction or…?” Ellie pressed, genuinely.

“Non-fiction. A book of essay’s, really— written in different forms.” You nodded. “It sounds boring…”

Ellie shrugged, forking a piece of meat into her mouth. “Doesn’t sound boring to me.” She responded, with her mouth full.

“It’s the farthest from boring, honey.” Maria massaged your shoulder, sharing a small smile. You mirrored her in return, forking at the vegetables on your plate—perfectly steamed broccoli.

“How’s Brooklyn treating you?” You spoke up, raising your eyebrows.

Ellie lightly glared at Joel before answering, placing her utensils down. “It’s certainly treating me…” She muttered, rubbing her hands together, glancing at her girlfriend.

“It’s a great place for art, but just not Ellie’s art.” Cat chuckled, sipping from her wine glass.

“Oh, that’s what you’re doing.” You nod.

“I recall her using the words: too crowded.” Joel used air quotes to briefly describe the past conversation.

She rolled her eyes, shaking her head. “It makes me feel crowded— the city. When you say it like that, it makes me sound fucking stupid, Joel.”

“You did say crowded.”

“Well, I meant overwhelmed.”

You snickered at their bickering, leaning back in your chair. “Back to your art, I guess you’re experiencing the artistic equivalent to writers block?” Tommy inquired, still chewing on his steak, raising an eyebrow. The auburn-haired young woman nodded, chuckling to herself. “That’s why you’re stayin’ with us for a little while, huh?”

Another record scratch.

You blinked at you father, deepening your eyebrows. “Wait, what?”

Joel had set his beer on the table, leaning forward. “Yeah, Ellie’s stayin’ with your parents for a little while to get her juices flowing, again.” He explained, pressing his lips into a soft smile. Ellie cringed at his use of the words juices, taking a sip of her beer.

Tommy and Maria told you nothing unless you asked for it for almost everything now—you at least deserved to know that Ellie was staying on the farm indefinitely. After all, when they’re dead and gone, it’ll be yours; so, they could’ve at least told you without you having to ask—that’s big!

“And, I’ll help out so I won’t be sleeping the day away— because I know that I will without a proper schedule.”

“I thought you guys didn’t need a farmhand.” You glanced at your parents, with your eyebrows still deepened with confusion.

Maria chuckled, standing to her feet. “We don’t need anything, but who could say no to a helping hand?” She grabs the empty basket of biscuits from the center of the table. “Anybody want more biscuits?”

“I would love some!” Cat spoke up, holding up a tattooed finger.

“Me too, honey.” Tommy also spoke.

A dry chortle left your lips, leaning against the back of the chair. “Are you staying on the farm, too?” You peered over at the stranger—the girlfriend, with a slight accusatory tone.

Her lips parted a few times before she responded. “Oh, no, I’m going back to Brooklyn. Not much of a country girl.”

Pursing your lips, you nodded, downing the rest of your wine. This week was going to be a doozy. When Maria came back to the table, you snatched a biscuit from the basket, biting into it. There was a perfect crispy layer on the outside, mixed with the perfect gooey, soft innards of the biscuit. “These are so good.” You muttered with your mouth full with its buttery goodness.

On your hip, your phone buzzed. Cursing under your breath, you plucked the cellphone from your belt, flicking it open. It was your agent calling you at eight o’clock at night. “Excuse me, I gotta take this.” You scooted the chair back, pressing the green button. “It’s late, Isa.” You started the call, stalking out of the room like the corporate woman you are. Taking the route up the stairs to your old bedroom.

“I need that new chapter by tomorrow morning— as in, 8am.” She scolded on the other line. “I’m personally reminding you. Since you couldn’t respond to my emails.”

You sighed, shutting your bedroom door behind you. “Isa, I’ve been traveling all day on public transport, and I’ve been trying to have family time— is that not what Thanksgiving is about?”

“You’re writer, hon. You have little bit of family time, then you hermit to finish your work— now, stop giving me grief. Time is of the essence.” Her smooth voice told, chuckling after her words. “I’ll be anticipating you’re new chapter tomorrow at eight! Have a great night.”

“Have a great night…”

Slapping your phone shut, you sighed, running your other hand over your face. Being a writer was relentless—just as relentless as you and your roommate’s neighbors. But, instead of lingering in frustration, you grabbed your heavy laptop and propped yourself on the cushion beside your window—your reading nook. Not forgetting to put a Sade tape inside of your stereo for some background music, before you began to diligently work.

You typed at your computer, rapid clicking sounds filling your ears. Although, it was no surprise that you worked your hardest after the sun set—it was like you had one too many espresso shots.

Every word was coming from the heart, and coincidentally enough, the guests at your home made it easier. This chapter was definitely reflecting the feelings you felt the day of Ellie’s seventeenth birthday. You used imagery and metaphors to describe that feeling of attack—being backed into a corner, having the worst part of yourself brought into the light. And, like most of your pieces, it was dredging it all back up again; the emotions.

That feeling of losing the only person that truly understood you.

Of course, you had a few relationships since then—a few, trying to chase that same feeling you felt when your hands touched. But there wasn’t anyone who could compare to her. How pathetic was it to still be harping on a highschool sweetheart?

Hours passed under the radar. Your parents being the mile marker in your work, knocking on the door to let you know everyone was heading to bed. Too busy with outlining new ideas, you barely spared them a glance, muttering a smooth goodnight.

It was about one in the morning by the time you finished the chapter. Still, it needed some tweaking, but it was good enough to send to your agent for the editor to look at.

Shutting your laptop, you finally took in your old bedroom. Various music artists slapped against your soft pink walls, attached with tape—some corners hanging off. Catwoman figurines lining the back of your large, white, wooden dresser; with comics stacked alongside them. Stacks of old books in the corner of your room, stacked from the floor to the middle of her wall. If you were to stumble into them, they’d experience one hell of a fall.

Suddenly, curiosity struck.

Hopping from the cushioned seat under your paneled window, you looked under your bed. Reaching for an old shoebox that was filled with many, many interesting things. You slid it from under the dusty bed frame, taking it back to that plushy seat you appreciated so dearly. Plucking the top off, you released a sigh. Immediately being hit with polaroids of yourself as a teenager—mostly standing beside, laughing with, and cuddling Ellie.

They were the photos you snatched from your wall after that fight. Oh, she looked the same. Still had that uncertainty in her earthy, olive eyes. You didn’t understand it then, and you most definitely didn’t understand it now. Ellie didn’t have to feel the uncertainty she was used to in foster care. She had people who believed in her—who will always believe in her.

Sifting through, your hands hovered over a letter she wrote. It was an apology letter sent around the time of her eighteenth birthday—almost a full year since the situation. The envelope was ripped open from the day you received it; stained with salty, heartbroken tears.

If only that day never happened…

A startling knock sounded at your window. It was no more than a pebble, which was confirmed when another launched within your sights. Scrunching up your eyebrows, you unlocked it, pulling it upwards. Once you peaked your head outside into the brisk, cool weather, a small smile spread onto your lips.

“Workin’ hard or hardly workin’ up there?” Ellie called from below. “I brought a little somethin’… Thought you could use a break from writing.” She waved a tightly rolled joint in her hands—which could only be seen if you squinted.

The corners of your lips spread wider, feeling horribly nostalgic. “You’re actually a little too late on that front. I finished a few minutes ago,” You pressed your lips into a line, continuing. “But I could never turn down smoke break. I’ll be down in a second.”

Dropping the letter, you scooted off the seat to grab your jacket. Stuffing your feet into the semi-stained Uggs you wore into the ground, before fleeing your bedroom. You didn’t feel the need to sneak down the stairs, but a part of you wanted to—to relieve that feeling of adrenaline you felt in your youth.

Ellie met you at the back door, holding open the creaking screen door as you exited. “I honestly wasn’t sure you still did this.” She chuckled, looking at the ground as you both began to walk away from the house. Putting some distance so the smell wouldn’t upset the elders in the home.

“What? Smoke weed?” You perked an eyebrow. “You think because I went all corporate, I stopped being down?”

“Actually… Yeah.” She responded, nervously snickering.

The two ofyou settled in front of this white-lined shed that was illuminated by the two warm, orange-toned lights on either side of the door. “Well, you’re kind of right…” You admitted, squinting your eyes, embarrassed. It’s hard being known for your adaptability. “I try to keep the pot smoking to a minimum. In the corporate world they test you for it.”

Ellie pulled the joint from behind her ear, placing it between her lips. She shook her head in response to your words. “Says the cigarette smoker…” She joked, eyeing you, teasingly. While she flicked her lighter to burn the tip.

“Hey, they don’t give a rats ass about nicotine— I need to make up for that loss somehow. I’m a writer for christ’s sake.”

When she finally gets it to catch the fire, she took two puffs before passing it to you between her index and thumb. “Where’s Cat?” You innocently questioned, taking a hit of the joint, then looking at it, before taking another hit.

Ellie became rigid, releasing an exasperated sigh from her lips. “The guesthouse, watchin’ some movie.”

You handed her the joint. “What, is she not down?” Mocking your previous words, with amused eyes. However, her demeanor had quickly shifted.

“She gets easily frustrated after traveling all day…” She shook her head in a dismissive way, like she didn’t want any further questions to asked.

“Hm… That’s relatable.”

Silence engulfed the both of you as you passed the blunt back and forth until it was nothing more than a roach. Hearing nothing but the distant wind chimes sounding off on the porch.

Before speaking, Ellie took a deep breath, glancing over at you as if she were nervous to make eye contact. “I hope me stayin’ here for a little bit doesn’t bother you too much.”

Her words were double-take worthy, you looked over at her with expressive eyes—widening, in surprise. “Bother me? Why would it bother me?” You leaned your shoulder on the shed, kicking one leg over the other.

“You didn’t seem like the biggest fan—“

“Ellie, I was surprised. That’s all.” You waved your hand, shaking your head. “I feel like they don’t tell me shit anymore…” Shoulders shrugging, you glance toward the house standing tall in all its glory. “They didn’t tell me about you moving to Brooklyn, either. What does it look like when someone you’ve known your whole life moves to a city you’re actually familiar with and they’re not, and you don’t reach out to help them? I’m only a forty minute train ride away.” You rambled, deepening your eyebrows. “They basically made me look like an asshole.”

You weren’t entirely sure how you’d react if you knew about Ellie’s moving to the big city. Knowing your habits, you’d probably sit by the phone for hours before making the move to give her a call. But, it’s not like you were given the opportunity to figure it out for yourself. Now, it just appeared that you forgot about her—or could care less about her endeavors; which is farthest from the truth.

Her full lips cracked into a smile, chuckling. The auburn-haired woman, mirrored your position, leaning her shoulder against the wooden shed. “Always worried about what you look like…” She muttered, sucking her teeth. “If it makes you feel any better, I don’t think you’re an asshole— you just didn’t know.” Ellie shrugged. “It’s not like we talk as much as we used to…”

As much as we used to. That kind of stung.

Your eyes averted to the gravel under your boots. “Yeah…” There was an awkward beat that took its place between you. Swallowing, you shooed it away with speaking up. “What about your art? You’re living in one of the most creative cities in the world, and you can’t create?”

She puffed air from her lips, glancing in the direction of the guesthouse, priming her lips. “Okay… Confession— but only if what’s said here stays here.”

“What’s said at the shed, stays at the shed.” You affirm, holding a hand and crossing to fingers. The high from what you smoked clouding your mind, squinting your eyes and loosening your inhibitions.

“Cat and I moved in together pretty early— too early… I needed a roommate and she was the perfect option.” Ellie began, carefully. Olive eyes shifting under the dim light in thought. “I swear ever since I moved in with her… The inspiration to make anything new is fucking gone.” She ran her hand over her hair, which was actually loose without a hair tie. Dusting over her shoulders, pieces pushed behind her ears. “She, you know, hovers a lot— in a sweet way, it’s just irritating because not even her pushing me can be inspiring.”

Your heart skipped a beat; it was hopeful—you really are an asshole! “Damn… So, it’s not the city that makes you feel crowded. It’s Cat.” You hum, nodding your head, taking in your assumption. “And… You think staying here will help? Doing boring farm work?” A chuckle falls from your lips, borderline nervous, borderline humored.

She pursed her lips, raising her eyebrows. “I mean, I spent a lot of time here growin’ up…” Ellie looked at you, knowingly. “It was never boring when we did it together.”

“That’s because we were doing it together. I’m not gonna be here while you’re shoveling horse shit.” You chortled, peering at her through hazy eyes. She giggled and it sounded like music to your ears. It’s been awhile since you heard her laugh from something you said. Weed always did have a way of bringing people together.

“Well, maybe before you go, you could help me out. Jog my memory.” Ellie offered, raising her eyebrows. “It’s either you or suffering through Tommy’s jokes for hours—“

“I don’t mind, but we might have to jog each others memory.”

“Hey, you can take the girl out the country, but not the country out the girl.” She shrugged. “I have faith in you.”

You narrowed your eyes at her, a smile spread on your lips. “You’re still so corny.” Shaking your head, a laugh slips. Wrapping your arms around your body, you acknowledge the cool weather. It pricked at your exposed skin, and even through your jacket. “It’s getting late…”

She scratched the back of her neck. “Yeah, sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. I appreciate the joint— I needed it.” You pushed off the shed wall, licking your lips. In preparation to meander back toward the house, you rocked on your feet. “There’s some left over biscuits on the counter…” You drawled, but it was all right because Ellie had filled in for you.

“I’m fucking starving.”

Then, the two of you walked shoulder to shoulder back inside. Giggling at stupid jokes, surfing over any of the past debacles you had. Turns out reconvening with your childhood lover wasn’t so bad after all. For now, anyway.

[flwrkid14]

The Batfamily’s Christmas List Tradition (and how Tim gets lost in it)

The Batfamily has a long-standing Christmas tradition: the List. With so many members in the family, it’s a necessity. Everyone writes down what they want (within reason, of course), and the list serves as the ultimate gift guide. It’s efficient, especially for such a big family, and it ensures no one ends up with seven pairs of socks or the same gadget twice.

Tim takes the list seriously. It’s his chance to ask for the small, thoughtful things he wouldn’t usually splurge on for himself. Things like:

New makeup brushes. His old ones are worn out and falling apart, and it’s not until he’s on a mission that requires cross-dressing that he realizes just how bad they’ve gotten. Having a new, high-quality set would make everything feel a little smoother—and maybe even a little fun.

Cozy hoodies. Between Wayne Enterprises business casual and his Robin gear, Tim rarely gets the chance to wear something soft and comforting. His favorite hoodies are all fraying at the edges, with loose threads on the pockets and fabric that’s stretched too thin. A fresh one would feel like a luxury.

A new game console. Tim is rarely ever not working, but on those rare days off, he realizes he doesn't have much to entertain him that's not work related, that doesn't require him to leave his nest. Plus, it’s a great way to connect with his siblings during low-stakes, playful nights.

Nice coffee cups or tumblers. His caffeine habits are legendary, but the chipped and mismatched mugs he uses don’t exactly scream "Tim Drake." A sleek, stylish tumbler or a high-quality ceramic mug would elevate the most important part of his day.

Random indulgences. Books, stationery, weighted blankets, maybe a nice figuring from his favorite movie, a cool gadget he wouldn’t think to buy himself—little things that spark joy and make him feel cared for, anything he knows his own parents would have never bought for him to help heal his inner child. He's never had the luxury of writing such lists before becoming a Wayne.

Tim doesn’t just take the list seriously for himself; he makes sure to go the extra mile for his family, too. He’s always had a knack for gift-giving, and he loves curating the perfect presents for his siblings. For Dick, it might be a rare vinyl of his favorite band. For Jason, an antique first-edition book he’d mentioned once in passing. For Damian, something handmade and unique, like a custom leather-bound sketchbook or a rare art supply. Tim remembers the little things—the throwaway comments, the subtle preferences—and builds his gifts around them, ensuring every box under the tree feels deeply personal.

But Christmas rolls around… and none of the thought Tim puts into his gifts is reflected in what he receives.

Instead, he gets tech. More tech. External hard drives, cables, chargers—things he already has backups for because, well, he’s Tim. He doesn’t need more, and he didn’t ask for more.

And the worst part? It’s not that they’re bad gifts. It’s that the family assumes they know him so well that they don’t even look at his list.

“Tim’s the tech guy,” they think. “Of course he’d want more tech.”

But he doesn’t.

He’s grateful, of course—Tim is always grateful—but there’s a hollowness that creeps in every year when he unwraps another stack of USB drives and ethernet cables. It’s not about the gifts themselves. It’s about the realization that the people he loves, the people who should know him best, don’t see him the way he wants to be seen.

In a way, it feels painfully familiar. Janet had always made sure his presents as a child reflected her vision for him, not what he actually wanted. New tailored suits instead of the hoodies or tees he longed for. Sleek, professional office stationery to replace his Robin-themed pens and notebooks. Vintage collectibles meant to sit on a shelf, collecting dust, instead of toys he could actually play with. The gifts always came with a message: who he should be, not who he was. And now, even with the bats, the gifts still feel like expectations—like they see him as "the tech guy" rather than Tim, with all his quiet wants and overlooked needs.

So, Tim starts dreading Christmas. Not because he doesn’t love his family or the season, but because it reminds him of how little they seem to notice the little things about him.

And maybe one year, he stops adding personal things to the list altogether. Maybe he starts asking for tech, just to avoid the disappointment.

But deep down, he wishes someone—anyone—would surprise him with a new hoodie, a weighted blanket, or a set of makeup brushes. Something that says, “I see you, Tim. I really see you.”

[puckinghischier]

Can we talk about how hard Luke would try to be helpful while you’re on your period? I just feel like all of his efforts would be so endearing

oh this is so perfect bc my body decided to give me its own christmas present yesterday 🤩

he would be so attentive, god love him. he’d even have his own tracker on his phone so he can be prepared and make sure he always has your favorites stocked when the time comes.

the second he starts seeing the signs, he’s making your coffee or tea, whichever you prefer, in the mornings and having it waiting on you with your favorite breakfast pastry. on your worst day he’s bringing it to you in bed, heated blanket on his arm.

if he has a day off from practice or gets back early from a morning skate, he’s assuming all housework duties. he’s making sure the kitchen is clean, bringing you your favorite comfort meal from your favorite restaurant, doing the laundry, tidying up the living room. he wants to make sure you don’t have to lift a finger.

he secretly loves when you’re having a rough cramp day, if he’s honest. not because he enjoys seeing you in pain, it’s the opposite really. it breaks his heart that you have to go through this every month, knowing there’s nothing he can do to take the pain away. but he loves how clingy you get, whining every time he gets up to leave the bed or the couch, even if it’s to get something you asked him to get.

he’s constantly calling and texting you to see how you’re feeling and asking if you need anything when he’s not with you. the guys in the locker room all make fun of him for it, but he could care less. it’s the least he can do. you’re constantly taking all of this on every other week of the month, doing all you can to make his life easier, wanting him to come home and be able to relax and focus on resting before or after games. so he’ll gladly take the responsibility on for this one week a month, to show you how much he appreciates you and loves you.

you become such a homebody when you’re on your period and luke eats it up. he loves nothing more than being lazy with you, and he gets at least an entire week of it each month. you refuse any offer of plans, not wanting to have to put on ‘real’ clothes, content with living in one of luke’s oversized shirts, period panties, and a loose pair of his boxers. and luke loves coming home to the sight more than he could ever express.

you love the effort he takes each month to make sure you’re comfortable and cared for. you don’t know how you did it, but you truly hit the jackpot with him. you hear him constantly on the phone with ellen, double checking which painkillers work best for cramps and what the best remedy for period induced headaches. you crawl into a freshly made bed every night, despite rotting on the couch all day. you get baths drawn for you with soothing smells and low light, like either joining you or sitting in the floor with you and telling you all about his day. you have a never ending supply of sweets and baked goods, thanks to his bakery runs every morning.

you always ask him how you can repay him, but he always tells you the same thing. “what you do for me every day is enough. being able to do this for you is repayment in itself. this is what i’m supposed to do. it’s my job to make sure you’re comfortable, taken care of, and loved.”

of course, the words always make your hormonal self emotional, tears falling every time at how much you love him and how lucky you are he loves you. but then he ruins the moment, adding in “plus, the post-period sex is always great, so that’s a good incentive, too.” you swat at him, telling him to shut up.

“i’m just kidding, sweetheart. i love doing this for you, seriously,” he’d back track, nuzzling his face into your neck to place small kisses there.

rolling your eyes, you respond with “you might like doing this for me, but you weren’t kidding, don’t lie.”

he gives you a “welll….” look, making you laugh, forgetting all about the ache in your lower abdomen.

[rafesangelita]

₊˚⊹˚ 𐙚 WHEN YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW | FOUR

a pogue!sweetheart!reader series by rafesangelita ©

SUMMARY: making the hardest decision you’ve ever had to make in your life, rafe is heartbroken, driving himself to damn near insanity before he decides to do something he should’ve done months ago..

WARNINGS: heavy angst, rafe and ward argue (what else is new?), ward being a raging narcissist

LINKS: series masterlist | prev chapter | next chapter

WORD COUNT: 1.9k

one week. rafe hasn’t seen you, spoke to you, or heard your sweet voice for one whole week. seven, full length, twenty-four hour days.. and yes he’s keeping count. he got back to your place that evening, fully expecting you to be ready to grab dinner, but as soon as he drove up the gravel path, he felt the pit of his stomach drop. something was off. besides the fact that the light was off outside when you turned it on almost religiously at seven o’clock every single day, he also felt this weird sense of emptiness hit him in the chest. the air was too quiet, too still.

he was already calling your name before he went inside, his knees threatening to give out from under him when he rushed into your room and saw that most of your clothes were gone from the chest drawer by your bed. rafe continued to call for you while he nearly ransacked your camper, even going as far as checking the surrounding brush outside to make sure he wasn’t going crazy. after searching helplessly, he went back inside, his worst nightmare coming true when he saw a folded up paper on the kitchen table, along with a check that was torn in half, and the cell phone he bought you.

the first thing he did was pick up the check, his teeth gritting with anger when he saw ‘CAMERON DEVELOPMENT’ stamped in the corner. of course ward wouldn’t just give up on making him miserable. rafe felt his stomach turn when he saw the amount ward was willing to give away just to have you leave him alone. one hundred thousand dollars.. rafe couldn’t understand it. you didn’t take the money, but you still left? looking over at the other paper, he unfolded it with shaky hands, tears brimming his eyes when he saw your handwriting. this couldn’t be.

please know that i’m doing this because i love you, and i want you to have everything you’ve worked so hard for. i know you’ve dreamed about becoming the man of the house one day, and running and taking over the family business, and i just couldn’t live with myself if you didn’t get to have that because of me. your father has made it clear that i will never be part of your family, and for you, i know family means everything. writing this out right now is killing me. i’m sorry that i’m letting ward get what he wants, but i can’t be the reason why you’ll lose everything if i stay. i’ll be gone by the time you read this, so please don’t look for me.. i won’t be able to walk away from you again.

rafe sat there, rereading your letter as if to make sure it was real. he had so many questions but not enough headspace to think of the answers. despite what your letter said, rafe was back in his truck, flooring it to tanneyhill to cut himself off from cameron development. ward had another thing coming if he thought he could just dangle rafe’s livelihood over his head whenever he pleased. rafe felt like he wasn’t going to be able to relax until you were back in his arms again, his mind racing a million miles per minute just thinking about where you could be right now.

he wasn’t going to look for you until he had all of his shit sorted out, this whole thing with ward being at the top of his list. rafe was seething when he walked into ward’s study, his dad going over paperwork with his glasses low on his nose as if he didn’t just make the love of his life pack up and leave from her own camper. ward barely looked up when rafe slammed your note down on the hardwood of his desk. “read this, look what you did!” he shouted, feeling sick to his stomach as ward all but laughed at the piece of paper.

“this should be the least of your worries, rafe. she’s the one who showed her true colors today by leaving so easily. if i knew all it would take was some pocket change to get her to realize you two never stood a chance, i would’ve thrown that money at her a long time ago.” rafe couldn’t believe how mistaken ward was. the man who swore he knew everything, really knew nothing at all. “yeah? ‘you talking about this?” rafe pulled the torn check from his pocket, “she didn’t take the money, asshole. she left because you threatened to take everything away from me,” he was pacing back and forth now, his skin hot as he continued to yell, “you’re wrong about her and you know it!”

ward stared at the check in disbelief. why the fuck didn’t you take it?

there was a long pause of silence between the two of them, a knowing feeling falling over them both. “this doesn’t mean anything—” rafe was quick to cut him off; “no, you don’t think so?” he laughed, “she wasn’t looking for a handout then, and she isn’t looking for a handout now. this whole ‘all pogues are the same’ bullshit needs to stop. i’m gonna go look for her, and when i find her, there isn’t anything you can do about us being together, i guarantee that. cut me off, take me out of my co-ownership, i don’t want nothing to do with you.” ward shot up from his chair, rounding the side of his desk before fisting rafe’s shirt between his knuckles.

“what did you say?” rafe glared down at his father, seeing him for the man he truly was for the first time in his life. he stared in the eyes that were supposed to reflect his own, nothing but greed and hatred evident in those cerulean orbs. he’ll be damned if he let his father run his life and his own son see’s him with the same look one day. rafe decided right then and there that the vicious cycle of ego and pride would be ending with him. no more miserable generations, no more painful relationships. “i said cut me off. i don’t need your money, nor do i want it. everything you’ve ever threatened to take from me was never truly mine. everything except for y/n.”

pushing ward away with a shove to his chest, rafe was halfway out of ward’s study before his father shouted. “if you walk out that door, you could forget about ever coming back!” just then, wheezie walked in, her eyebrows knitted with worry. “this is all my fault, isn’t it?” her chin was wobbling as she stepped between the two of them. rafe was quick to pull her into a hug, shushing her as she cried. “no, this was bound to happen. look, keep my number, okay? just because me and this sick son of a bitch aren’t talking anymore, doesn’t mean me and you aren’t. i’ll call you everyday, alright?”

wheezie shook her head, clinging tighter to her older brother as ward went to pull her away. rafe made his way out of the room with tears rolling down his cheeks at the sound of wheezie yelling for him not to leave, his nostrils flaring with anger when he realized that ward was willing to let all of this happen, let others hurt all because he was too selfish to see a vision that wasn’t his own. walking away from him was ensuring that rafe would never be anything like him. rafe got in his truck and drove back to your camper where he would be staying at until he got you back.

not knowing where to start, or who to ask about your whereabouts, he spent the next seven days driving all over kildare island. he went to the icecream parlor where you worked and asked your boss if he had heard anything from you, or seen you at all, but he was just as concerned when rafe told him he was looking for you. he went to the country club and asked the bartender if he had seen you go in there recently trying to sell cookies or something, but to no avail, no one had any idea. it was like you disappeared into thin air. just as he was going to break down on the last day, he found himself in the port where the ferry ran their twenty-four hour service.

then.. it clicked.

you had to have left kildare altogether, the island simply wasn’t large enough to keep you two from seeing each other again. it’s the only thing that made sense. without a second thought, rafe parked on the ferry and waited until it finally started moving, quickly googling the cheapest and nearest motel on the mainland. sure enough, a bed and breakfast that was only two minutes away from the drop off station popped up. he needed you to be there, he needed to take you home already. the next fifteen minutes felt like it dragged on forever, his heart racing at the thought of finally seeing your face again, and getting confirmation that you were at least okay and safe.

once the ferry reached the check point, he sped off in the direction of the motel, his fingertips itching as he rushed over. when he got there, the parking lot was almost empty, only a few cars parked sparsely around the front. “please be here..” he whispered to himself, jumping out of the driver’s seat and making his way inside. the guy behind the counter sat there unbothered, his dull expression seemingly dragging the mood of the entire place down. it smelled like coffee, cigarettes and old paper. “can i help you?” without pulling his attention away from the outdated television in the corner, rafe nodded.

“uhm, yeah— look, i need to find out if someone i know is checked in here right now.” the guy shook his head, finally sparing rafe a glance. “i can’t tell you that information, my bad, man.” rafe’s fists clenched at his sides. “you don’t understand,” he leaned forward, “i’m this girl’s boyfriend, and i’m concerned about her whereabouts.” he explained. shrugging, the guy eyed the check-in sheet just within his arm’s reach. “again, that’s not my concern.” rafe felt his eye twitch, muttering a ‘fuck it.’ before grabbing the check-in book and going back to the last page.

the guy was about to get up and take the clipboard but rafe shot him a glare before he could make another move. skimming the pages until he landed on an entry date from exactly one week ago, his heart stopped for a second when he saw your name next to ‘ROOM # 22’. tossing the clipboard back on the desk, rafe ran out and looked for your room number on the outside of the countless rows of doors.

“nineteen, twenty, twenty-one.. twenty-two..”

he skipped multiple steps as he booked it up the stairs, eyes zeroing in on the room door that sat at the end of the walkway. rafe was breathless by the time he stood outside, his chest rising and falling as he knocked.

“y/n?!”

your eyes shot open. “y/n, are you in there?” rafe’s voice was loud and clear, your eyebrows knitting in confusion when you peeked out of the blinds. you couldn’t help the tears from forming in your eyes, your fingers scrambling to get the locks open. as if you couldn’t already believe that rafe was standing in front of you, you felt the world come to a standstill when he looked at you with an indescribable look on his face.

“rafe?”

taglist: @percysley @oceandriveab @lacydollette @weirdowithnobeardo @mattyskies @cnnamongrl @b3bybunny @littlelamy @nemesyaaa @lovinqbella @jeonmochi99-blog @corpsebridenightamare @whorelaud @mymvlody @idontknowwhyimhere33 @ursovaine @maybankslover @ilovefiction4lmen @rafesfavouritegirl @katekells @winnie1emon @sexysadie23 @hewwokitti @avvwritesstufff @purplerose291 @avengersgirllorianna @rafegf-real @impossibleturkeydiplomatghost @dearestjune @finnickodairslut @starkeysprincess @stoned-writer @just-here-for-ff @snowtargaryen

[sillymommy6969]

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ 𝕻ICK & CHOOSE

Daniela Avanzini x fem!reader

summary: your best friend, dani can be a really possessive freak and you guys fight about it a lot. when you get a new boyfriend, she was falling back into her toxic ways, but you—maybe, just maybe—kinda find her jealousy… hot?

warnings: slight!nsfw, suggestive/sexual themes, harsh language, mean/toxic!dani, pushover!reader, cheating

Daniela had always been a territorial woman. Since her days on the playground, sneering at any kid who would come up and try to snag her seat on the swing or in high school, when she’d yank a girl’s scalp off for taking her cheer spot.

Being Daniela’s best friend could be really exhausting at times, especially when she saw you as just another thing she owned.

Even in middle school, people would mistake Daniela as your girlfriend, the way she’d always have an arm over you or scare off any interested boy or girl with one cold glare. And nobody dared give you a second glance. As much as her reputation shielded you from any potential threat, it stripped you of your freedom to experience things in the dating scene.

And honestly, she has no shame in taking accountability for it.

Daniela truly believed nobody was good enough. They would always be too tall, too short, too annoying, too quiet—nobody ever satisfied her rigid standard for your partners.

You’d spend nights in her room, after sending the boy you’re talking to home to recover from a night of mean and passive comments from Daniela, fighting her about her attitude.

She’d always roll her eyes, calling you ‘insane for getting mad at wanting to protect you’. But she’d somehow always make it up to you in some half-assed apology and big puppy dog eyes, taking you out for ice-cream, making sure you’d crawl straight back into her open arms.

And like the fucking pushover you were, you would.

You met Jake at a really cool record store. You stopped by the place after work—alone, because Daniela was still caught up at rehearsal—and you were greeted by a well-dressed boy with a thick Australian accent.

The two of you had shared a similar taste in music, and he made you laugh in a way you hadn’t in a very long time. When he asked you for your number, you didn’t have to give it much thought—you wanted to see this man again.

You didn’t mention the encounter to Daniela when she asked about your day that night. She would absolutely freak.

The months after you met Jake, you would hang out with him whenever Daniela was unavailable. You felt so free, mind in such a happy state whenever you were around him.

You felt you worry less about Daniela when you held hands for the first time when Daniela bailed on you for a Katseye bonding thing, when he kissed you under the snow during Christmas eve when Daniela wanted to go clubbing with Manon, when he brought you to dinner over a city view of LA to ask you officially to be his girlfriend with flowers and a record of the band you both adored.

You remembered feeling an argument with Daniela arise that night when she called to ditch you for her career for the nth time. She was making up some bullshit reason, when she was just choosing to prioritize her bandmates above you.

You sighed, wanting out before things got tense.

It caught her off guard when you would just tell her a simple “no problem, see you” instead of whine like usual.

She knew something was up; you had been acting off for months, the effect she had on you—the control she had on your relationship—was slipping through her fingers.

Which brings us to now, you in Jake’s car after calling him the moment you hung up on Daniela.

“No, I’m telling you, you need to watch the movies in order from best to worst, not chronologically,” Jake insisted, his eyes trained on the road, “It won’t make sense, but it’s better.”

You rolled your eyes, but a smile tugged at your lips. You interlaced your fingers with his on your thigh.

“I don’t know why you love those movies so much, it’s just about grown men driving fast cars and tokyo drifting.” you teased, immediately scoffing at the loud gasp he let out.

“Don’t you disrespect the Fast & Furious franchise like that.”

You looked at him, admiring his side profile as he sped through the busy LA streets. You reached out to run a hand through his styled, black hair, feeling him buzz as he chuckled. “What?”

“Thanks for taking me out tonight, Jake.”

He brought your intertwined hands up to his lips, pressing a chaste kiss on the back of your hand. “Of course, love. I’ll take you wherever you want, just give me a call.”

Before you could answer, your phone buzzed, interrupting the music you were playing on bluetooth. Siri read out the contact name and you froze; “Text message from, ‘DANI ♡’. On my way to your house, I’m bringing booze’. Reply?”

Your hand untangled from Jake’s grabbing your phone to quickly silence the message. You shot her a quick “sounds good” before shoving your phone into your purse. Jake raised an eyebrow, glancing over at you quickly before he had to avert his gaze back to traffic. “Didn’t you say Dani was off partying tonight with her friends tonight?”

You nodded, smile faltering. “Yeah, but it’s fine. She probably needs a place closer to downtown to crash, she does this when they go out, my apartment’s closer than their dorm.”

Jake hummed, “So… I can’t stay over tonight?”

He drove into a small street and pulled into your driveway, turning the ignition off. Jake turned in his seat, his piercing eyes now fully focused on you as he grabbed your hand again. He pouted, quivering his lip dramatically as he sniffed.

“Guess not. Tomorrow night?”

He nodded, before getting out the car and running over to your side. He popped open your door, a hand held out to take yours as you both stood on the side of your car. He leant against the hood, hands on your hips as he smiled. “I’m glad you called, I’d rather be out with you than doing some lame spreadsheet for my stupid clients.”

You chuckled, slapping his chest. “Those stupid clients pay your bills, Jake. But thanks for dinner, that place was amazing. We should go back some time, it’s a nice excuse to dress up.”

He bit his lip, eyeing you up and down. “Oh, we’re going back if it means I get to see you in this smoking outfit again.”

“Okay, perv. I have to get out of said smoking outfit before Dani gets here.” You leant in, smirking, “Wouldn’t want anyone but you seeing me like this now, would I?”

He took your lips in for a long kiss, moving against yours in sync. You pulled away before he could deepen the kiss anymore, because you knew he’d sweet-talk his way into having you get back into his car.

“Goodnight, Mr. Sim.” You whispered, hands slipping from his shoulders down to his hands before pulling apart. You backed towards your front door, watching him blow you a kiss. “Text me when you get home.”

“You got it… Mrs. Sim.” He smiled, his hands in the pockets of his suit. “Have fun with Dani. I love you.”

You feel a flutter in your chest, a mix of nerves and excitement, and you’re so caught up in the moment that you don’t even notice Daniela standing in your bedroom window.

The door closed softly behind you, and when you retreat to your room, you saw her. She’s leaning back casually, one leg crossed over the other, but there’s nothing relaxed about the way her eyes are fixed on you. Her lips are pressed into a thin line, and her jaw is tight.

"Well, well," she drawled, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Looks like you had fun."

You blinked, caught off guard. "God, Dani, you scared me.”

She was lying on your bed, a magazine from your nightstand sprawled out in front of her as she threw a swig of beer back. “I thought I’d come since I was in the neighborhood. Clearly, I shouldn’t have bothered—you’ve got a new little boyfriend for that now, don’t you?"

Her words are laced with venom, and it sets you on edge. "His name is Jake. He drove me home after a date, that’s all. Why are you acting like this?"

"Like this?" she snapped, her eyes narrowing. "Oh, I don’t know, maybe because I just watched you make out with that fucktard in a suit in front of your house like you’re in some cheap rom-com."

Your cheeks flushed, both with embarrassment and irritation. "You were watching us? Dani, that’s insane."

"What’s insane," she said, stepping closer, "is you wasting your time on someone like him while you leave me waiting."

"Stop it," you snapped your voice rising. "You don’t know him.”

She laughed sarcastically, shaking her head. "I don’t need to know him. I know you. And I know you’re settling for someone go definitely doesn’t deserve what you can give."

You crossed your arms, trying to steady yourself under the weight of her intense gaze. "And what do I deserve, Dani? Someone like you?"

The words are out before you can think better of them, and for a moment, there’s silence. Her expression hardened, but there’s something else there—something raw and unguarded.

“I just don’t think he’s good for you,” Daniela scoffed, her hands in her pockets. Her sharp eyes glared straight at you from across the bed, swinging her legs over your sheets to sit on the edge of your bed. “I mean, when was the last time you had time for yourself, really?”

You groaned, shaking your head. “This is not up for discussion, Dani, I’m not about to argue about this with you, okay?”

“I want what’s best for you, mami, and it’s so obvious you’re not even that into him.” She barked. She watched you take your hair out, fluffing it out as you stripped out of your jacket, shaking off your heels, then the tight and skimpy dress you had hugging your skin. “Why’re you entertaining this prick?”

“How would you know what’s good for me? You haven’t given me any of your time since you debuted,” you sighed, “Y’know I’m very happy for you, Dani, but I haven’t seen you in so long.”

“Oh my God, it’s my opinion!”

“Well it’s not your opinion to have!” You raised your voice, “For the love of God, Dani, I’m not some pet you own. I don’t have to run every little thing or decision in my life by you before I do them, okay? And while you’re out drinking and fucking girls, Jake has kept me company. He doesn’t make plans and then call to cancel last minute. And he’s not a prick.”

Daniela’s nose scrunched as she held back a snarl. Her fingers tightened around your sheets, scrunching under her white knuckles. Oh, if she could have five minutes locked in a room with this guy, she would beat his face in so much he’d taste his own brain. He was tainting Daniela’s perfect little girl.

“I work extra hard so I can take you on vacations during my breaks. I deserve some downtime, don’t you think?” She stood, tilting her head, “It doesn’t really matter anyway, does it? While I’m out fucking those girls, you’re busy fucking him.”

“And what’s wrong with that, exactly? I’m a grown woman.”

“A grown woman who doesn’t even know what she wants,” Daniela muttered through gritted teeth. She walked closer to you as you backed away from her, eventually, your back hit the wall. “A grown woman who left her best friend waiting in her house while macking her boyfriend on his car outside like a whore. A grown woman who let the first guy who showed her any interest shove his dick in her.”

You shook your head, your chest tightening at her harsh words. She was always mean, but she had never been so cruel before. You felt tears well into your eyes. “You don’t mean that.”

“No? You hurt ‘cuz I’m right, mami?” She laughed at your reaction, a hand resting against the wall beside your head. “When have I ever been wrong?”

She had a point. She was really toxic with it, but she was seldom wrong. Still, you were absolutely over the way she treated you. You weren’t the same high-school girl who was loyal to a fault who would agree with everything she said.

“How much do you fuck in a week, hm?”

You swallowed thickly, turning away to avoid her heavy gaze. You knew to never stare straight into those piercing eyes, it was a trap. “That’s none of your business.”

“Bet he starts feeling you up every time, you say ‘no’ but after a couple drinks and couple kisses, you end up letting him touch you.” Her voice was low and husky, her breath grazing your cheek. “Then you wake up in his bed, feeling real good about yourself, before you leave him to come see me.”

Sex with Jake was a sensitive topic. He was a very passionate guy, very touchy and he loved inviting you over to his place a lot. You always thought he rushed into it too much, but you tried not to pay those thoughts any mind because you wanted to keep him happy.

“Dani, please, just stop.”

“He’s a placeholder,” she interrupts, her tone sharp and unforgiving. “You’re so desperate for someone to love you that you’ve settled for the first guy you see. It’s pathetic, honestly.”

Anger was gradually taking over your bruised self-esteem, but so does something else—something you can’t quite name. Daniela’s words sting, but the way she’s looking at you now, her eyes burning with intensity, her plump lips spitting out whatever insults she could think of and her body mere inches away from yours. It made your stomach churn… or flutter?

“Get off me. You’re being an asshole about this and I don’t want to talk about it anymore,” you say, though your voice wavers slightly. “You don’t decide who I fuck and that’s that.”

“Oh, don’t I?” She leans forward, closing the space between you, and suddenly the air feels charged. Her gaze drops to your lips for the briefest of moments before snapping back to your eyes. “I’ve seen you in ways he never will, loved you better than he ever can. I know you better than anyone. Better than yourself. And I’m not about to sit back and watch you throw yourself away on someone who doesn’t deserve you.”

Her words are venomous, but her proximity is intoxicating. You wanted to shove her away, to tell her she crossed the line—but you can’t. Because part of you knew it meant she cared, and after months of feeling neglected, you craved it.

“You’re being ridiculous,” you muttered, though your voice lacked conviction.

“Am I?” Her hand comes up to cup your jaw, her fingers firm against your skin. “Tell me I’m wrong. Tell me everything I just said isn’t true and I’ll back off.”

You couldn’t. Because she was right. You didn’t want to say it though, to give her the satisfaction.

“Whatever. I’m gonna take a shower, you better be gone when I get out.” You warned, gently shoving her backwards. “Take the booze. I don’t wanna see you until you stop acting like a child throwing a tantrum at their mom not getting them candy.”

“Don’t walk away from me.” She tutted, pulling you back by your wrist. Before you could tell her off, you felt her grab you by the waist, her lips silencing whatever you had to say.

It’s not gentle or soft—it’s fierce and demanding, exactly like everything else about Daniela. Her lips thrashed against yours, her nails digging into your skin as if she’s trying to stake her claim. Her hand crept up to your neck, fingers squeezing the sides of your jaw slightly as she gripped your throat. Your mind screamed at you to pull away, to tell her this was insane, but your body betrayed you. You kissed her back, letting out a soft moan as she pulled your lip back between her teeth.

Her possessiveness, her toxicity—it should repulse you. You always thought it did. But now, with her pinning you to your bed as her cool hands snaked up your stomach, things seemed clearer. The way she took control, the way she pushed you to the edge—it was irresistibly hot.

When she finally pulls back, her lips are swollen, her breathing ragged. Her eyes hooded and her pupils blown wide. “You don’t like me staying out late? Fucking whatever bitches who throw themselves at me?” she rasped. “If you missed me that much, you could’ve just told me, mami. I would’ve dropped anything to come see you.”

Daniela doesn’t give you time to think. Her hand slid from your throat to your heaving chest. She smirked, a mix of arrogance and desire, and leant in again.

“You like this, baby?” she murmured, her lips ghosting over yours, teasing but not quite touching. “You like me putting you in your place? Maybe if I’d done this earlier, you wouldn’t have thrown yourself into that fuckface’s arms.”

You want to deny it, to push her away and tell her she’s wrong, but the words catch in your throat. The truth is written all over your flushed skin, in the way your breath hitches every time her lips get closer.

“Answer me,” she demanded, her voice low and commanding.

“Yes, Dani, yes, I do.” You panted breathily.

She grinned in satisfaction, the grill in her teeth shining under the dim lights on in your room. She quickly muffled any noises that came from your mouth with another kiss, deeper this time. Her fingers were quick to grab at the hem of your dress, tugging it up just enough to make you gasp against her mouth. She took advantage, her tongue sliding against yours, and it was absolutely dizzying, intoxicating.

Her knee pressed between your thighs, you gripped her shoulders, nails digging into her skin as if to ground yourself, but it only seemed to turn her on.

“He’s just a blank piece of shit who wants to get his dick sucked,” she whispered against your lips, her voice dripping with venom and passion. “Tell me who you belong to, mami.”

Every word she said, every move she made, set your skin ablaze. You were getting hot and needy, your body aching at the absence of her touch.

“Dani,” you breathed, her name slipping from your lips like a confession, a surrender.

She pulled back just enough to look at you, her dark eyes searching yours. “Say it,” she repeated, softer this time but no less insistent. “So you won’t ever forget it.”

“I’m yours,” you admit, the words tumbling out before you can stop them. “You own me, Dani.”

Her lips curl into a victorious smile, and she leans in, her breath hot against your ear. “Oh, baby,” she whispered, her voice sending shivers through you. “I’m gonna spell my name out in hickeys, so that boy you of yours know it too.”

Before you could respond, she’s kissing you again, more demanding, more consuming. Every touch, every movement feels like a claim, a declaration that you belong to her and no one else. You’re lost in her, in the intensity of it all, and for the first time, you don’t want to mind Daniela’s possessiveness.

You knew you’d fight about this in the morning, but confusion was definitely pushed to be experienced in the morning…

Jakey :) Hey baby you left your wallet in my car

Jakey :) Can I come drop it off really quick?

[snowball-doie]

| pairing: sub!fem!Reader x poly!ilichil

| warnings: 18+ MDNI. HEAVVYYYY breeding kink (they all wanna get reader pregnant). Orgy. MLM behavior. Bondage. Overstimulation. Ball gag. Sex toys. Safe words in place but not used.

| wc: 9k

| aurora's note: self indulgent fic so the reader is plus sized coded... but i tried to make it universal reader friendly as much as possible aside from that! (for poly!ilichil followers, this is ahri canon)

Working on your birthday was less than ideal, truth be told. Months ago, you imagined that you would spend the day at home with the boys, eating your favorite foods that Johnny would make, watching your favorite movies or binge watching a TV show, cuddling up in someone’s arms, and, yeah, probably fucking. Whenever the boys didn’t have work and you could afford time off, you were fucking. The reality was that the boys were so busy that they had to make their limited time together count; and though they couldn’t get the entire day off for you, Taeyong pulled a few strings to get their managers to look the other way as Johnny petitioned to have all the boys take the afternoon off, which the company surprisingly agreed to. But then you had to work. You woke up before the boys stirred, you were out of the house before they were out of bed, and you weren't going to be home until dinner time. Even though Taeyong was home for you, and the boys managed to wiggle out of rehearsals, you were exhausted… You wondered if you would have enough energy for them or you would simply collapse on the couch and later wake up in your pajamas in someone’s bed.

When you left work, you found a familiar car parked outside, and an even more familiar man leaning against the passenger side door, his arms crossed over his chest, sunglasses over his eyes, a toothpick trapped between his teeth as his tongue played with it, a beanie pulled over his head, and his gaze was flicking left to right to check if he was going to be recognized by any passerby. You approached him. When he sensed you nearing, the sound of your footsteps growing ever louder, Jaehyun looked straight ahead to smile at you before pocketing his toothpick. You smiled back just before he wrapped his arms around the small of your back and pulled you against his body so he could lay a passionate kiss on your lips.

“Happy birthday, princess.” He smirked and pulled you in close for another kiss that you were hesitant to participate in due to your position in public. He didn’t take offense. “Wanna get something to eat?”

“Ice cream sounds kinda good.”

You shot him a smile as he took your hand and began leading you down the road to the nearby Baskin Robbins the boys would frequent whenever they were waiting to pick up you from work. Jaehyun held the door open as you entered. The two of you approached the self-order kiosk at the front rather than ordering with an employee at the desk. As you tapped on the screen to look at the ice cream options, Jaehyun snuck up behind you, feeling you up with his hands splayed on your hips at first before they risked venturing down to knead your bare thighs, almost pushing your short skirt up. Immediately, you shrugged Jaehyun off. People were beginning to stare, and you worried that someone would recognize him and start taking photos. Your worst nightmare was getting caught. You were already putting a lot at risk trying to be a normal couple just for your birthday… He knew better. He needed to be more careful.

Jaehyun retreated for your own comfort. However, when you didn’t pick anything to eat, he reached around your body, his chest pressed against your back, so that he could tap on the screen to order caramel for you and chocolate for himself. He paid with his card before you could protest. When the order was confirmed and the receipt with a number was spit out of the machine, Jae took the piece of paper before leading you to one of the booths in the corner of the building, which was secluded slightly from the rest of the few patrons enjoying their ice cream too. Mostly it was just parents treating their kids to an afternoon snack. There were only about two other couples there to share ice cream like you and Jaehyun were.

“How was work?” he asked, inspecting the number on the receipt to wait for it to be called.

You gave a shy reply while glancing around. Work was fine, it was boring, no one remembered that it was your birthday, so you tried not to make a big fuss about it.

“We’ll do something special tonight, princess, I promise—”

“173!” an employee called out into the speakers.

Jaehyun slid out of the booth to go grab the ice cream. When he returned, he set the tray on the table before returning to his seat across from you, immediately grabbing a spoon and digging into the chocolate flavor he ordered to be self-indulgent. For the first few minutes, Jaehyun ate without any hesitancy or concern. He dipped into the chocolate with the tip of his spoon, brought it up to his mouth, then sucked off the ice cream before going again. Fairly simple. But when he noticed that your spoon was dry from going untouched, he furrowed his brows with confusion.

“Why’re you not having any, hmmm?”

“I’m not feeling hungry anymore.”

“Why?” He popped the spoon out of his mouth. “Did I actually upset you in line?”

“No… I just… I just realized I’m not hungry, that’s all.”

Jaehyun sighed, scooping into the caramel ice cream before lifting it back up for you, teasing the tip of the spoon at your mouth, waiting for you to give in. You stared at him as you accepted it. Obviously if you didn’t comply, he’d get more suspicious of you, so you figured that a spoonful or two was a safe price to pay to avoid having him figure out what was going on and in turn punish you later. Then, three spoonfuls later, Jaehyun set the spoon down.

He licked the dried sugar on his lips. “We’re going home.”

Finally. Despite the leftover, melting ice cream left on the tray, he was content and wasn’t going to subject you to more silent investigations.

Jaehyun opened the car door for you once you walked back, and the whole drive home he made sure to keep his hand glued to your bare leg, his long fingers kneading the fat of your thigh just below the hem of your short skirt. You tried to ignore him. Once you arrived home, Jaehyun turned off the car, pried his hand away from your thigh, then ran to open your car door for you and took you hand as he helped you out then followed you into the house.

The second you opened the house’s front door, you were cornered by Yuta, Doyoung, and Jaehyun. You hardly had any room to enter… Jaehyun had to force them to move slightly so that he could close the door and lock it so you really had no where to go.

Doyoung tilted your chin up with his index finger propped underneath it before he pressed a gentle kiss against your lips. “Happy birthday.”

“Look at you, pretty girl,” Hyuck complimented with a confident chuckle. “Did you get dressed up for us?”

Jaehyun’s hands ran up your thighs, scrunching the fabric of your skirt upwards just enough so that they could see your safety shorts underneath. Yuta exhaled with lust at the sight. He dropped to his knees, getting the chance to inspect you up close.

“Those shorts are too short, princess,” Johnny said from the side.

“That’s why they’re called safety shorts,” you snipped back.

He raised an offended brow at you, yet he elected not to say anything, instead waiting to see what someone else who was within closer proximity would do first. Yuta let his curiosity get the best of him. He pressed the tip of his index finger over your clothed core then slowly, very slowly, dragged it towards your clit. You moaned and fell forward a bit.

“She’s dripping already,” he informed the others.

“The Hell did you do to her, Jae?” Mark inquired.

“Took her for some ice cream. Felt her up a li’l bit. The usual. You know how rare it is to see her in skirts, I just couldn’t help myself… Isn’t that right, baby?”

You whimpered when he began nibbling on your earlobe gently.

It was true, you had no interest in wearing skirts out in public for various reasons but mostly having to do with your own self-consciousness that convinced you that you weren't fit enough to wear them. You feared being judged. Especially at work where you desperately wanted people’s approval, you felt like it was wrong to wear a skirt and parade around the office like that… But the boys liked it. They were the only ones who got to see you in shorts, dresses that ended above your knees, and short skirts that showed more than you cared for; but it was your birthday, and you wanted to feel pretty, so you dressed up. Only, the staring at the ice cream shop brought your self-consciousness back.

“Did you wear this just to rile us up, baby?” Jungwoo questioned you.

You were too embarrassed to acknowledge their questions properly. You avoided eye contact with them and kept your lips pursed together as you looked down and shooed the boys’ touches away from your trembling body.

“Why didn’t you eat any of the ice cream I so kindly bought you?” Jaehyun chipped in, finally circling back to the dreaded topic you thought he’d abandoned at Baskin Robbins.

All the boys halted their actions to wait for a truthful answer.

You gulped. “I hate how I look in skirts, okay— You know that… I hate wearing them ‘cause my body isn’t made for them, and I just… I was reminded of that when we went for food, okay… I didn’t want to get bloated… I wanted to be pretty for you guys when I got home.”

The boys hesitated. Hands were pressed against your thighs, Jaehyun’s erection was rubbing against your ass, and Johnny’s face soured. He was always the angriest when it came to you thinking you had to be embarrassed around them— They loved you for who you were, and the fact that you ever doubted that and thought that you needed to change how you looked, that pissed him off to no end.

“Jungwoo, take off her shorts,” he ordered gruffly, his arms crossed over his chest. You gulped when Jungwoo’s fingers moved towards the hem of your shorts. “But keep her panties on.”

So Jungwoo pulled the fabric down while Jaehyun kept your skirt pushed up. While they all expected to find a cute pair of lingerie underneath, when you were revealed, they all paused at the sight. You got even more embarrassed.

“No underwear? Naughty, naughty birthday girl,” Yuta teased, kneading your thighs open so that they could all see.

Jungwoo couldn’t help himself. He leaned in to devour you within an instant, his tongue peeking between your folds in order to flick your clit just enough so that he could suck on it a bit until he was suddenly pulled away via his hair by an upset Johnny. The room waited for his orders. He was always the one in charge, even for the other Doms, so they waited for his instructions.

“Grab her.”

You tried to fight off the hands that grabbed each of your limbs so that you couldn’t escape before Jaehyun took your waist, spun you around, then threw you over his shoulder. A quick smack to your ass made you jolt. You'd fucked up royally… Yeah, okay, you wore the skirt to mess with the boys, and you figured that maybe when you got home you would get some action with one of them so you elected to not wear any underwear— But you never thought in a million years that it would result in you fessing up to not wanting the ice cream Jaehyun bought for you and that would lead to all eight boys getting upset and quite literally dragging you upstairs. You tried to fight them off with closed-handed hits against Jaehyun’s back, but all he did was chuckle at your futile attempts. He smacked your ass once more for good measure.

The nine of you collected in Yuta’s bedroom where Doyoung pulled the comforter off and arranged the sheets so that there wouldn’t be as much of a mess to clean up later… Hopefully… Then Jaehyun placed you on top of the mattress. All of the boys laughed and lunged forward to grab you when you pushed yourself up to your feet and tried to book it towards the door.

“Silly girl,” Hyuck cooed in your ear.

Seven boys pinned you down to the bed while Yuta uncoiled sets of white rope that he kept for times like this. You shook your head in protest. You were sorry! You were silly for thinking that you couldn’t wear a pretty skirt or eat ice cream on your birthday, alright! You were really, truly sorry!

“That’s nice, baby, I’m glad you can admit that,” Taeyong said with a genuinely relieved smile.

But your apologies didn’t matter because it was far too late. With the boys pinning you down, Yuta began tying your legs in a frog-legged position so that you were left completely open as Mark held your left knee and Jungwoo held the right. Mark’s hand held the back of your head so that you were forced to sit up just slightly so that they could grab your hands and tie them to your legs, and you were made to watch the entire time. The boys holding you worked together to remove your shirt prior to your hands being fully secured, but they left your pretty blue bra that matched your skirt that was flipped up onto your stomach, exposing you to the boys who finally stilled so that they could spend a good minute or so just admiring you.

“Let me go first. She’s been teasing me in that short skirt ever since I picked her up from work.”

The boys cleared a path for Jaehyun to step forward. You were quick to notice how Jaehyun wasn’t wasting any precious time since his pants were already unbuttoned and his pants and boxers were pushed under his hard cock that he held in his hand.

“Wait, daddy, please, I said I’m sorry—”

Jaehyun ignored your pleas without a safe word to catch his attention or bring him to a full stop. However, Yuta was less than impressed with all the talking. He went back to his collection of toys and pulled out a ball gag which he shoved into your mouth and tied around the back of your head before moving to let Jaehyun proceed.

“Two fingers if we should stop, don’t forget.” Jaehyun’s warning was a reminder that while you couldn’t speak, you could still put a stop to what was going on whenever you wanted. When you nodded, Jaehyun smiled. “Good girl.”

You moaned behind the gag as Jaehyun lined his tip up with your wet entrance. He was thick— Just the tip of him already made your entrance stretch a bit, but that was Jaehyun and Johnny’s favorite part. They liked feeling your tight walls make desperate attempts to accommodate their large cocks, but everyone was fairly sure you'd never loosen up for them. Maybe it was because your body also liked it. As more of him slid inside of you, Jaehyun steadied himself by putting his hands on either side of your waist while leaning over your body a bit, then his fingers grabbed ahold of your skirt.

“Such a pretty color,” he complimented as he squeezed the last two inches inside of you. Your face scrunched. “And such a pretty face.” He grabbed your chin with one of his hands so that he could stare at you as he began thrusting slowly. “Look at how gorgeous you are, princess.” He chuckled to himself. “Daddy’s perfect birthday girl…” He grunted as he hit a deep, sensitive spot that made you squeeze him. “Yeah, you like that—” He bullied that spot to keep getting that reaction out of you until you were panting and squirming, silently begging for reprieve, but you didn’t hold up your fingers, so Jaehyun went even faster. “I’m going to cum in you, baby.”

You paused.

Jaehyun snickered. “Don’t look at me like that.”

The pace of his thrusts changed to something slightly slower so that he could focus on hitting his pelvis harder against yours as he got closer to his orgasm. Jaehyun was a bit of a marathon-runner when it came to sex. He could go for hours and hours, unless he didn’t want to. He knew what made him cum, and he knew that if he continued to stay balls-deep in you, he would cum easier than if he just fucked you with the first few inches or bullied you at a fast pace that made your eyes roll to the back of your head. Not to mention, the dirty talk was doing it for him. The unprotected, risky sex… The short skirt around your waist… Your breasts bouncing with every deep thrust… Jaehyun grunted deeply as he finally pulled you all the way onto his length and came. You felt it as it happened. The warmth of his cum as it pooled in you, the amount he pumped in which seemed like more than usual. Even Jaehyun couldn’t contain his pride or the grin plastered to his face.

“Finally… gonna get you knocked up… like I always wanted…”

After his orgasm faded completely, Jaehyun slowly slid out with a grunt, and he looked down to watch as his cum began seeping out of your hole. He tsked his tongue with discontent before using his index finger to push his cum back inside. You tensed at the feeling. He was ramping up a bit in pace and depth like he was purposefully trying to finger you towards an orgasm— Before it could go too far, though, Jungwoo pushed Jaehyun out of the way slightly so that he could get a taste of your wetness mixed with Jaehyun’s cum. That felt even better. You moaned as Jungwoo’s tongue fucked you, but he neglected your throbbing clit that was begging for attention so that you could cum properly. They knew what they were doing, though. They were waiting to please you so that they could prove a point first.

“Move,” Johnny commanded.

Jungwoo did as he was told in an instant.

With a shove, Mark was brought forward with a shy blush warming his face. He looked around at the rest of the boys for someone else to go next, but Yuta was too excited to see what Mark could do, so no one came to his rescue. In fact, Yuta trapped Mark from behind, and in an attempt to ease Mark into it, Yuta slid his hand around the back of Mark’s neck then pulled him in for a deep, passionate, aggressive kiss. Mark was caught off guard. He let Yuta kiss him for a minute or so before he decided to kiss back, which only got Yuta more involved by reaching down to palm Mark’s erection over his pants. When Yuta’s tongue won the battle for dominance in their kiss, his hand drifted under Mark’s pants to pull out his cock. Mark bit Yuta’s lip. That only egged on Yuta more, so he pushed Mark’s pants down to his ankles with a chuckle before he bit Mark’s lip in retaliation.

“Fuck her nice and hard for us,” Yuta mumbled against Mark’s lips. Mark nodded. “Good boy.”

With a gulp, Mark turned to face you entirely, his erection bobbing just slightly until he grabbed it with a steady hand and guided his tip towards your entrance. His nervousness returned. He eyed you as you were waiting motionless in anticipation of what he would be like— Would he be rough like Jaehyun, or would he be his kind, gentle self he always was with you? With a shaky breath, Mark pushed in a bit. He froze about two inches deep… and he stared at you again, his cheeks even redder than before.

“Can you wear skirts like this more often?” he asked, running his hands over your waist where your skirt was scrunched up. “You look so pretty.” He swiftly looked away from you out of embarrassment.

“Keep going,” Yuta said in the background.

Once Mark was inside of you, there was a complete switch up. The nervous, shy demeanor that had him shaking in front of you disappeared the moment Yuta helped him thrust all the way inside, and instead he bit his lip in concentration as he began taking control by quickly fucking you without any more hesitancy.

Yuta grinned wickedly over Mark’s shoulder. He looked down to watch where Mark’s cock met your slick entrance. “Be a good boy and fill her up for us,” Yuta egged on in Mark’s ear. Mark nodded quickly and obediently. “How does she feel?”

“So fucking wet,” he moaned out in one breath.

Yuta chuckled. “I bet.”

With Yuta’s hands on his hips to guide him, Mark fucked you as fast and hard as he was physically capable of. His head tilted forward, the bangs of his long hair falling over his eyes to cover up the pretty faces he was making as he let out moans in the same pattern that he bucked his hips forward. He certainly wasn’t being gentle like usual. Something overcame his senses— Likely Yuta’s doing— that melted Mark’s brain until he was focused solely on achieving his orgasm.

Yuta chuckled once more. “You’re really desperate for her.”

Mark squeezed your thighs with his hands. “‘C-course I am…” He bit his lip harder to hold back a moan, however that wasn’t sufficient enough for Yuta who wanted to hear the pretty sounds Mark had boiling inside of him. So as Mark continued to fuck you, Yuta turned Mark’s face then kissed him passionately again. That set Mark off. “Close—” he moaned into Yuta’s mouth.

“Already?” Hyuck teased somewhere out of sight.

Yuta pulled on Mark’s hair to keep it out of their way. “Go on.”

Mark’s hands held onto you for dear life while his tip hit a deep, sensitive spot that made you clench around him as he began cumming inside of you, his moans leaking directly into Yuta’s mouth.

“Good boy.”

Mark moaned again, and he pulled out until his tip was hanging at your entrance, then he fucked his cum back into you one more time for good measure.

“Let me have my turn with her now.”

Mark nodded obediently. With a pathetic, submissive whimper, his softening cock slipped out of you, and he stepped to the side while Yuta’s hands were on his hips to guide him away.

The second Mark was out of his way, Yuta lined his tip up with your entrance, then with a deep grunt he thrusted all the way into you in one, rough go which made you whimper and struggle against your restraints, however there wasn’t enough slack for you to fight back against him. He had an extremely rough grasp on your hip using his right hand while his left held the band of your bra that was directly between your tits so that he could easily support himself as he fucked into you as hard and fast as he could. It was obvious that he wasn’t like the others who were trying their best to take their time with you because they wanted to make it count when there were so many other boys that still needed to have their turn with you. No, Yuta was always different from them. Honestly, he was the type of guy to just leave you tied up on his bed with your legs spread, toys plugging each of your holes, a vibrator taped against your clit so that you had to endure orgasm after orgasm without any breaks. But that wasn’t their plan. Yuta was playing along with the whole idea of filling you up, but he was going to do it how he wanted, as per usual, which meant finding a way to make you wish you hadn’t teased them then had the audacity to think poorly of yourself.

“Look at that, pretty girl,” he cooed with a chuckle before reaching to lift your head so that you could also look down at where your bodies met. Leaking around Yuta’s cock was a mixture of cum from everyone who had fucked you. He slammed his hips against yours roughly then said, “Can you feel me in there, princess? Right here?” His fingers danced over your stomach before finding the spot where his tip was, just to show how deep he was inside of you. “How ‘bout this? You feel this?” Suddenly, he had your clit pinched between his thumb and index finger, then he began gently rubbing it. Yuta laughed, “Yeah, you do.” He knew that because of the way your body jolted in response to the overstimulation and your walls clenched because of the sudden pleasure. “I’m close, princess, take my cum for me, like a good girl.”

As if you could do anything… You looked down as Yuta continued to fuck you and play with your clit, but like the ass he could be, he started cumming and immediately abandoned your clit, leaving you on the edge— You squeezed around him in search of your high but that was to his benefit since it milked his cock for everything he was worth. Yuta wasn’t the vocal type by nature. He had to really be into it to make all kinds of noises, yet this time around, it seemed like he was so lost in the moment that he let out a guttural groan as his high disappeared.

Despite the fact that he had cum, however, Yuta didn’t stop. His pace kept up without any indication of slowing down. The others watched, no one protested, not even those who were impatiently waiting their turn, because they knew that if they said or did anything to mess with Yuta while he was fucking you, they were in for a world of torture for at least the next week.

Suddenly, out of fucking nowhere, Jungwoo pushed Yuta to the side, and he quickly replaced Yuta’s cock with his own… He didn’t even thrust to fuck you. He just buried himself in to the hilt and fell forward over your body as he came inside of you. You realized that during the time that Yuta was fucking you, Doyoung had been edging Jungwoo to get him ready for his turn, but he couldn’t last anymore, and rather than let his load go to waste, he rushed his turn.

Yuta aggressively grabbed Jungwoo by his hair and yanked him back so that he was pulled out of you, his cum dripping everywhere. With a frustrated growl, Yuta said, “Don’t ever, ever interfere like that again, brat.”

Johnny handed Yuta a pair of handcuffs which were swiftly used to restrain Jungwoo’s hands behind his back so that he could be handled accordingly. Jungwoo began to apologize profusely. He tried his best to explain that he held back for as long as he could, he wanted to be good and wait his turn like the rest of them, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. Yuta pushed Jungwoo in Doyoung and Jaehyun’s direction. More pathetic cries of, “No, wait, wait, I’m sorry!” echoed through the room, all in vain, however, since no one heard a safe word, and the reality was that Jungwoo loved to be manhandled and tamed, so he was secretly having fun though he would never admit it out loud.

“You can take more of me, can’t you, baby girl?” Yuta teased you shortly before he thrusted fully back into you. It felt like the wind was knocked out of you with how hard he fucked you. “Yeah, you can.”

Your core felt sore, so to distract yourself, you watched out of the corner of your eye as Jungwoo choked on Doyoung’s cock, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes.

Meanwhile, Jaehyun was scolding Jungwoo with, “If you want to cum so bad without permission and want to get in Yuta’s way… Fine… You can cum.” He slid a vibrating cock ring onto Jungwoo’s overstimulated dick. He tried to protest. He squirmed and whimpered much like you had, but he was well restrained and Doyoung kept Jungwoo’s mouth otherwise occupied. “Brat.”

Your body tensed. Your walls tightened around Yuta’s long cock as a warning of what was to come before the words could even escape you.

Yuta grinned. “Bad girl, you didn’t ask for permission to cum on my cock.” One of his hands wrapped around your neck. “Does watching the boys abuse Woo get you off?”

You nodded while panting as your orgasm faded just as quickly as it approached. If he would’ve been playing with your clit, you would’ve had a stronger orgasm, but he was still neglecting the bud on purpose in the hopes of avoiding giving you an orgasm, which somehow didn’t work.

“Please, hyung, please,” Hyuck’s pathetic voice echoed in the corner. You glanced over to find him jerking himself off and bouncing eagerly on his toes. “Sir, please,” he begged in Johnny and Yuta’s direction, waiting for permission from either of them. Yuta surrendered by finally pulling out of you, and Johnny told him that he could go next. Immediately, Haechan leapt at the opportunity. In one rough motion, he thrusted his thick cock into you, throwing his head back, moaning out, “You’re so fucking wet.” He instantly found a quick and rough pace. It was obvious that he had no patience for teasing or trying to slowly work himself up— He was already worked up; He just wanted to fuck you. “Noona,” he cooed, “do you think we’ll get you pregnant?” He bit his lip and thrusted balls-deep. “I hope we do… I hope it’s me who does it…” He let out a high-pitched moan fueled by his desperation. “T-toy.”

Mark passed a small battery powered bullet shaped vibrator to Hyuck who pressed the side of it against your clit.

“I’m going make you cum, noona, just to make sure you really take everything we give you.” He rolled it around your clit, and he grinned when you moaned. “After all, we’re being so generous today for your birthday, giving you all these gifts. You’ve earned another orgasm, right?”

Your whole body curled into a ball, your frog-tied thighs pressing against your chest, the inside of your thighs clenching around Hyuck’s cock and wrist as he continued to bully you with the toy. “Please,” you mumbled behind the gag.

“Cum on my cock, noona.”

It felt pathetic to cum so fast, but Haechan’s words had really gotten to you. All of them had filled you up or soon would, and the thought of it sticking like he wanted, the thought of them having you tied up day after day, held open to take their loads… You couldn’t hold back your embarrassingly fast orgasm.

Haechan shuddered when your walls fluttered around him. “I’m already close… Please…”

“Cum in her,” Johnny said.

Hyuck’s hips stilled as he let out another moan and let everything go. His arms and thighs tensed, his soft stomach clenched, but the rest of him relaxed with a wave of relief as he emptied every drop inside of you. You felt him pulsing. Every time another stream spilled into you, you felt his cock jump, and he flicked the toy over the top of your clit in unison just to get you to squeeze him again. Finally, Hyuck showed some mercy. Once he was finished, he turned off the toy and tossed it to the side. He brushed his curly hair out of his face then smirked down at you because his confidence convinced him that he’d done his job well, and perhaps he really would succeed ultimately.

Johnny didn’t care. He wanted to move the process along because he was still impatiently waiting for his turn, which would likely come at the end if you had to guess. So while Johnny stepped forward, Hyuck caught the hint and slid out of you— A fair amount of liquid dripped out of you, too, but Hyuck was quick to use his fingers to stuff it back into you, which Johnny didn’t protest because at least there was enough room for the next man to step up to take his turn.

Taeyong.

Honestly, he looked even more nervous than Mark did— Not because he was shy; Taeyong was anything but that. But his nervousness stemmed from the fact that everyone was standing there, watching, chuckling at the way you panted with every thrust one of them gave you, how you so willingly accepted their cum, and how you looked up at him with those lustful eyes which were always his kryptonite. You were perfect in every way in Taeyong’s eyes. There was nothing you could say or do that would convince him you weren't the prettiest, smartest, funniest, most amazing girl in the entire world… And all he wanted was to make you feel good. Whenever you were in Dom space, he was your favorite toy because he was so obedient and so pathetic… Whenever you were in sub space alongside him, the boys always made you play together for their own entertainment because it was hilarious how Taeyong could get so hard just by kissing you. That skirt of yours that you decided to wear on your birthday had him as hard as a rock the second he saw you walk through the front door with Jaehyun, and it wasn’t helping that now you were laying in front of him, tied with your legs spread wide, and Haechan’s fingers in you to plug you full of your boyfriends’ cum.

“Yongie,” Johnny whispered into Taeyong’s ear sensually, “you ever think about getting her pregnant? Hmmm?”

Taeyong gulped.

“You have, haven’t you? Maybe when she lets you fuck her, and you’re rutting into her for so long, holding your orgasm back because you have to wait for permission to cum like a good boy.”

Taeyong’s breath shuddered.

“Good boys want to fill up their noona, right?”

Taeyong palmed himself over his pants until his hand was torn away by Yuta who was circling his two hyungs like a shark.

“You’re our good boy, Yongie.”

Taeyong nodded desperately, licking his dry lips.

Johnny kissed Taeyong’s neck, and Yuta pushed Taeyong’s pants down so that they fell to his ankles, revealing his unbearable hard-on. “Don’t let Hyuck win.”

With Yuta guiding Taeyong’s cock forward, the leader of the group hissed quietly when he saw Hyuck’s fingers slide out from you, and his tip was quickly brought forward to plug you up instead. His whole body shuddered. Yuta kissed one side of Taeyong’s neck while Johnny kissed the other… Taeyong’s eyes looked empty, like there wasn’t a thought in that brain of his, not while your entrance felt so good and the boys were teasing him.

“Can I, noona?” Taeyong asked submissively while rolling his hips to indicate he was asking for permission to fuck you.

How the fuck did he expect you to give him permission in the state you were in? It was a laughable request, but you yourself didn’t laugh. Johnny was the one to give Taeyong permission. The second he had the go-ahead, Taeyong slowly began pushing into you with his big boba eyes staring directly into your eyes, waiting for you to say something or express if he needed to do something different. You didn’t move or speak. So the second Taeyong was even halfway inside, he began rutting into you like a wild animal.

He fucked you with a shallow pace unlike the others who were trying to fit as deeply inside as they physically could. Taeyong liked to watch the cum slip out of you every time he pulled back… only for him to thrust it inside of you again. The cutest, most pathetic whine you had heard all night fell from Taeyong’s lips, and that was his way of waving the white flag, indicating that there was hardly any strength keeping him up anymore as he fucked you while listening to Yuta and Johnny tease him with the idea of knocking you up. All those moans he tried to hold back were suddenly spilling without any end in sight. Whimpers… Moans… Quiet pants and smooth comments about how tight and wet you were.

“N-N-Noona, I’m c-close…” Despite his warning, Taeyong’s whole body tensed like he was trying to hold himself back because he didn’t have enough time inside of you yet. He wanted more— No, he craved more. Though he was more untamed than the others with his thrusts, Taeyong was still a submissive at heart, and there was no way he was going to give up so easily. “I love… I love you, n-noona— Oh, fuck—” He squeezed your hips for dear life as he tried to forbear his imminent orgasm. “Sir, please,” he begged no one in particular.

Johnny pulled away from Taeyong’s neck after leaving a noticeable hickey that he seemed proud of. For a minute, he didn’t say anything, so no one else uttered a word of permission to Taeyong either because they were all amused by the sight of him trying so, so hard not to fall apart in a moment’s notice… Their Taeyong was too cute. He was so obedient, and he tried so hard to impress all of them. He would never, ever act out like Haechan and Jungwoo did for fun; and that was what made Taeyong so endearing to them. So, eventually, Johnny folded, finally giving Taeyong permission to cum.

“I love you so much!” One last breathy whine followed by Taeyong rolling his hips in a different direction brought him over the edge, his cum shooting deep into you along with everyone else’s. His body toppled over yours, his face hiding in the crevice between your tits. “Fuck,” he mumbled against you. His body shivered. “Fuck.”

“You did good, hyung,” Yuta whispered.

Taeyong whined tiredly.

“Let the last two have their turn, hyung, okay?”

Nodding, Taeyong slowly pushed himself upright, and his eyes met yours once more. Both of you moaned as you instinctively tightened around him once you saw how his eyes were glossed over with the same kind of fucked-out lust that you loved so much whenever you were Domming him and he’d pant, “Noona, please, I’ll be a good boy, just let me cum!” after hours of edging and ruined orgasms. Honestly, if you hadn’t been in your current predicament, when Taeyong asked for permission to cum, you wouldn’t have been as nice as Johnny was. You would’ve snickered and told him, “No. Hold it.” You liked to watch him struggle to keep his composure while balls deep inside of you, and you liked to watch him squirm a bit too… But those eyes. Those big, beautiful eyes of his… They were still the same no matter what, and it made your head spin with love.

“Attagirl,” Johnny commented after Taeyong slid out of you and you settled with a tired moan too. “Just me and Doyoung left, and I promise we’ll make it count.”

Doyoung finally dragged himself away from torturing Jungwoo. You glanced over again for the first time since Yuta had his second chance with you, only to discover a more pathetic sight than you remembered. Jungwoo was on his side, his eyes rolling to the back of his head while he continued to weakly beg Jaehyun for mercy because his cum was dribbling endlessly out of his soft cock— He’d made a mess of himself and the floor with his cum and drool. But Jaehyun didn’t turn down the toy wrapped around Jungwoo’s cock. He sat in the chair opposite Yuta’s bed so that he had the perfect angle to watch you be filled over and over again, while Jungwoo fell apart at his feet.

Johnny ushered Doyoung to stand just in front of you, settling between your legs like all the others had. For a moment, Doyoung stared at your body, his eyes wandering around every detail of you from the sweat beading on your skin to the cum leaking out of you before Johnny quickly reached out to scoop it up onto his fingers which he brought to Doyoung’s lips. Without a word, the two shared the same thought. Doyoung moaned as he wrapped his lips around Johnny’s long fingers. The two of them held eye contact to help the erection that was still going strong in Johnny’s pants. With a smirk, Johnny removed his fingers from Doyoung’s mouth, then he quickly replaced them with his tongue, pulling Doyoung in for a passionate kiss that lasted long enough for Johnny to taste all the cum and your wetness, and in the meantime the rest of the boys cleaned themselves up so that they could enjoy the finale from their seats either on the floor or next to you on the bed. It was only after Hyuck settled on your right and Taeyong settled on your left that Johnny put his hand on Doyoung’s chest and pushed in order to separate them— Otherwise they would’ve kept going until they ended up fucking each other instead of the birthday girl dripping with need in front of them.

“Have your turn with her while I take her mouth,” Johnny said to Doyoung.

When they separated, Doyoung situated himself between your thighs, meanwhile Johnny took the gag out of your mouth as he crawled on his knees next to Taeyong— And instead of immediately fucking your throat without remorse, Johnny took a moment to massage your jaw and inspect your face to make sure that you were alright.

“Color?”

Exhausted, you whispered, “Green.”

He pet your hair lovingly. “You’re being such a good toy for us, darling.” With that, he held your jaw so that your mouth remained open wide enough for him to start slowly face fucking you. “Use your tongue, baby, come on, don’t fall asleep on us now.”

You did your best to focus on swirling your tongue around Johnny's tip that he was sliding in and out of your wet mouth, but you were immediately distracted by Doyoung who had no decorum in the way he grabbed your hips then aggressively thrusted inside of you without any kind of warning. Though Yuta’s restraints had proved to hold strong, Haechan and Taeyong grabbed your legs to keep them open as Doyoung drilled into you far faster than anyone else had— And that remained a disruptor to your actions for Johnny’s pleasure throughout the whole ordeal. You couldn’t use your hands to jerk him off or cup his balls. You couldn’t really bob your head the way you were positioned. All you could do was lay still until Johnny was fed up and decided to tangle his fingers in your hair so that he had a steady grip on your head before he began matching Doyoung’s thrusts face-fucking you.

Haechan, being the menace he always was, decided that was the perfect moment to push down the cups of your bra so that your tits were out for him to suck on. The second Taeyong saw that, he needed some too. The two of them worked in tandem with Doyoung and Johnny to suck, nip, and pull on your extremely sensitive nipples which had been neglected the entire night thanks to their selfish endeavors to make themselves cum and not the other way around.

Honestly, by the time it came to Doyoung’s turn, you had already been ruthlessly railed by Jaehyun, Yuta, Mark, Taeyong, and Haechan, and Jungwoo had filled you up some more for good measure. You had no fight left in you. All you could do was lay there, your mouth open, your legs shaking, while Doyoung chased his orgasm and Johnny took his time roughly face-fucking you. Mark took some pity on you. To show just an ounce of kindness amongst all the cruelty, he approached so that he was close enough to hold your hair out of your face so that it didn’t get in Johnny’s way. What wasn’t so kind was what Yuta chose to do. Instead of comforting you, Yuta used two of his fingers to rub your overstimulated clit. Both you and Doyoung moaned when your walls contracted in reaction to the pleasure— Johnny grunted when he felt the vibrations of your moans around his dick.

“Hurry up, Doyoungie,” Johnny egged on impatiently. “I need to cum in her pussy.”

“I know… I know…”

Doyoung threw his head back to let a moan out into the room which overlapped with Jungwoo’s moans in the corner. Johnny laughed at the sight. The two of them were really good at playing off of each other, and though Johnny had put Doyoung on a timer “indirectly,” they were both having fun spit roasting you. They had shared you plenty of times, it wasn’t anything new to you, but this felt more special since it was your birthday and everyone else had already taken their turn with you. Italy… That was a good one. You were reminded of it suddenly when Johnny and Doyoung began kissing over your body, and it seemed Doyoung was too, because the second Johnny tugged on Doyoung’s hair, he muttered, “Hyung,” into their kiss then started cumming inside of you.

“H-hyung—” Doyoung faltered, his body giving out slightly as his senses were overwhelmed, but Johnny held onto him the entire time. So with support, Doyoung continued thrusting lightly to make sure he really got everything out. “Love you,��� he mumbled again.

Johnny smirked against Doyoung’s lips. “Let me have a turn with her.”

“I could have another go like Yuta.”

“Maybe later.”

Pouting, Doyoung pulled out of you and moved away to make room for Johnny who was already out of your mouth and moving to take Doyoung’s place at the foot of the bed.

“Look at what they’ve done to you, sweet girl…” His breath shuddered when more cum leaked out of you. “Fuck…” He bit his lip. “Are you full, baby?”

You nodded.

“Fucked-out?”

You nodded some more.

“Poor thing…” He slowly lined his erection up with your entrance, maneuvering his hips so that he didn’t have to release his grip from your thighs. “You’re gonna have to take some more, baby, I’m sorry… You just look so fucking good in this skirt…” He began pushing in. “And filled with our cum…” He went a little faster, forcing his entire length into you with a lewd squelching noise followed by a scream from you. Johnny threw his head back. “Oh, fuck, they really filled you up.” He settled all the way inside. With a sigh, he said, “Don’t worry, darling, I’ll be quick.”

Like Jaehyun, Johnny was a marathon runner of a sex god with a hint of Yuta’s enjoyment for seeing you squirm and complain about all the things he liked to do to you, like stretching your ass around his thick cock. But that wasn’t the goal this time around. Though Johnny certainly had half a mind about fucking your ass instead, he wanted his chance at filling you up like everyone else had, and he certainly made an impressive grand finale with the way he had his hand wrapped around your neck to apply just enough pressure to keep himself steady and make sure you stayed still as he railed the rest of your energy out of your body. He liked seeing you like that. He liked how helpless and tired you looked— How all you could do was moan his name and sniffle as he hit deep, sore spots inside of you that were covered in cum. It was dirty. It wasn’t the most insane thing you'd all done together, but it certainly said something about the kind of family you were if they could all share you like that and still find time to have fun with each other in the middle of it all. Maybe Jaehyun and Haechan really were onto something. Maybe it wasn’t just a silly game where they were joking about getting you pregnant— Maybe they’d actually make it a reality, and that alone seemed to egg on Johnny more, because even though he wasn’t the most competitive guy around, he wanted to win this.

“Is this a good birthday gift?” he asked you teasingly.

You glared at him slightly— Just enough to get your point across but not to draw Yuta’s attention since he would’ve gotten a tad mean if he found out you were acting out when they’d been “so nice,” as Hyuck put it earlier. Johnny, however, still did not find your hint of brattiness amusing. He tightened his grip around your neck to put enough pressure that warned you not to do it again, so you easily backed down since you were in no position to go even further down that route. Maybe some other time… To get back at him for all of this.

“That’s my girl.”

He grinned wickedly when he saw your submissiveness come out; but even then, he didn’t loosen his hand around your neck. Both of you liked the feeling of it too much to surrender, so he even tightened it a smidge more as he leaned his tall height over your body to make you feel trapped underneath his strength.

“Here,” Yuta said.

Johnny reached out one hand to take what Yuta was offering— Something which you couldn’t see. Not until Johnny reached down between your bodies and turned on the same toy which Haechan had used on you earlier, immediately torturing your swollen clit. When your mouth fell agape with a desperate moan echoing throughout the bedroom, Johnny took the opportunity to kiss you, his tongue immediately claiming dominance, both of your breaths running short with his hips swerving and your exhaustion catching up to you again now that his body was on yours… He was so warm. He felt inviting and safe. Johnny was always like that, no matter how rough or short-tempered he could get, he could put you at ease no matter what.

“You’re gonna cum with me, baby girl, okay?”

You nodded against his lips. Together, you moaned in unison, both of you leaning in to kiss the other harder. All the feeling in your core was numb— The soreness was fading, and all you could distinguish was the stretch at your entrance every time he went balls-deep in you, as well as the never ending buzzing against your clit. The marathon runner in Johnny held back his orgasm. Those abs of his were working overtime to hold his body together because you were squeezing tightly around him— So tightly that he couldn’t stop moaning with every deep thrust. He was waiting for you, waiting for that moment you would start fighting your restraints again while moaning into his mouth a mixture of pleas and variations of his name. “Johnny… John… Oppa… Daddy…” The last one was sure to get him, and you knew that. So the second you felt your high approaching again, you bit Johnny’s lower lip and whispered, “Daddy, please,” loud enough for only him to hear.

“Milk my cock like you did theirs, baby.”

“S-Sensitive,” you mumbled.

“I know… You can do it, though. Let me take care of you. One more orgasm for us, okay? For your birthday.”

The vibrator rolled over your clit in a different direction then back the other way, and when it hit that sensitive peak, you came suddenly, your legs shaking, your hands desperately trying to reach for something to hold onto as you tried to bear how overstimulating the orgasm was. And as promised, Johnny finally let his orgasm go at the same time he felt your velvety walls pulsing around his cock.

“That’s my girl,” he cooed gently, brushing your hair out of your face while his hips were still against yours, his cock throbbing inside of you. After another minute of enjoying watching you struggle to get the vibrator away from your clit, Johnny took pity, finally pulling it away. “Sorry…” He chuckled and sat upright. “Color?”

“G-gree… G…”

With a light smile, Johnny brushed your hair again then pulled out. “We’re done.”

Finally, everyone agreed to release you.

Yuta jumped in to undo the ropes in order to give you some kind of relief. Doyoung sprinted to the kitchen downstairs and returned with a cold bottle of water by the time Yuta moved to undo your right leg while Haechan was slowly stretching your freed left leg to help with any soreness in your knee. Johnny was at your head again to comfort you, asking you questions about how you felt and if you were alright. Honestly, you were too fucked out to talk. The boys thought it was funny, all of them were chuckling while still making sure that your limbs were fine and that you were drinking plenty of water.

“Woo…” you croaked.

They moved slightly to show that Mark and Jaehyun were looking after him. The cock ring had finally been removed along with the handcuffs, and Jaehyun was wiping Jungwoo’s tears and cum while Mark made sure Jungwoo was also drinking water. Jungwoo looked like he had fun too. Despite how ruined he was, the smile on his face indicated that you didn’t need to be worried.

“Let’s move her to my room,” Johnny said.

Taeyong, wearing nothing but his boxers, nudged the boys out of his way so that he could carry you bridal-style in his arms out of Yuta’s stuffy, cum covered room and into Johnny’s nice, clean bedroom. He gently placed you on the bed. “You okay?” he asked, running his fingers through your hair. You nodded vaguely. “Rest. We’ll look after you.” You nodded again and he chuckled.

When you woke up, you were still in Johnny’s room, but the bed was made up around you, there was no one next to you, and you were changed into pajamas— Well, a pair of Jungwoo’s pajama pants and an oversized sweatshirt from Johnny’s closet. As you tried to roll over to look at the time, you found that your entire body was achingly sore, preventing you from moving an inch.

The door creaked open. You lifted your head a bit… as far as you could, at least… and you found Mark peeking his head in to see if you were okay. When he saw that you were awake, he smiled and walked inside, and you tried to push yourself up but you fell with a thump back onto the mattress, which made Mark giggle as he sat next to you on the edge of the bed.

“Hi, sleepy head,” he cooed lovingly. You yawned. “Are you still tired?” You nodded again and moved to put your head on his thigh. “What do you want for lunch?”

“I’ve been asleep that long?” you questioned with utter shock.

Mark laughed. “Yeah. It’s okay, though, Jaehyun called your boss—”

“The one that’s in love with him?”

“Yeah. Offered her a signed album and a picture with her if she gave you the day off.”

You giggled. Food sounded good now that he mentioned it. It’d been so long since you had food, and after the night they had you endure, you desperately needed something that would provide energy. “Can I get a sandwich? I don’t care what it is, honestly.”

Mark nodded with a smile. “Yeah, I’ll have Doyoung make something for you. Anything else?”

“Water.”

“Done.”

“Ibuprofen.”

“After you eat something.”

“A kiss.”

He leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss against your lips while his palm was splayed across your cheek. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

taglist: @henderysposts , @trash-number-one , @mystverse , @pandagirl753 , @zierose-freak , @i2608s , @junrenjun , @sunshinesmuse , @stolasisyourparent , @ninupi , @notbasickpopie , @morkleesgirl , @mrsbyun-baek

[ash5monster01]

Christmas Tree Farm

Pairing: Charlie Dalton x FemReader

Warnings: fluff, mentions of distant parents, meet cute, friends to lovers, language, heavy flirting, sickeningly sweet and full of Christmas magic.

Summary: To avoid spending Christmas at home Charlie chooses to work at a Christmas Tree Farm. What he doesn't expect is finding the girl of his dreams. 

Word count: 3.1k

Masterlist

Being home for Christmas was Charlie’s worst nightmare. Not only was he subjected to spending time with his folks but being back in Vermont during the winters only reminded him of one thing. He could only take so much of the snide comments his father made about sleeping in and his mother with her overbearing questions. At least when he was at Welton winter break was at most two weeks. When it came to college it became a month of this madness. So he needed to find an excuse to get out of the house and fast. 

That’s why on a particularly cold afternoon, having sulked behind his mother in the supermarket, his eyes caught the bulletin board. Buried in a mountain of announcements, rooms for rent, numbers for tutors, was a particularly bright red sign. Help Wanted - Christmas Tree Farm. So when his mother gets distracted by the bag boy for putting dish soap in with the vegetables, he rips one of the numbers from the bottom of the sign. The first one taken and he knew better than to wait. 

So come Monday his father has nothing to say when Charlie’s pouring a cup of coffee before he’s even come downstairs. Giving only the brief details of a short time job and how he wanted the extra cash for when he went back to school. All he got in return was a huff and the snap of the newspaper opening in his father’s hands. He knew best to bundle up and finish his cup of coffee, leaving the house quickly before his mother could question him. 

When he pulls onto the long drive he discovers the Winter Wonderland presented before him. Darlene Love’s voice barely plays over the rumble of his engine as he passes the gorgeous trees that lined the drive, all wrapped in the most sparkly Christmas lights he had ever seen. He can’t help the soft smile that covers his face because Neil would have loved this and for the first time in a long time, it finally felt like Christmas. Not the time of year to feel sad. 

“Hey! You the new guy?” he doesn’t expect the soft voice that calls out to him when his car door shuts. Turning he’s quick to find you, eyes as sparkly as the Christmas lights he just passed. It’s like the breath gets knocked out of him, and suddenly this might’ve been a bad idea. 

“Yeah, Charlie” he wipes nervous palms across the front of his jeans before approaching you. A nervous smile on his face as he offers up his hand. When your gloved one closes against his he realizes he had left his pair at home. “Shit”

“That’s not normally the greeting I’m used to” you mutter and Charlie lets go, a nervous hand flying to the back of his neck. Of course he was already making a fool of himself in front of the pretty girl. 

“Sorry I just realized I left my gloves at home. Already screwing up my first day” he confesses and you giggle at the nervous boy in front of you. It makes you wonder if he’s ever had a real job before. 

“It’s okay, I have an extra pair. You’ll especially need them for today” and before he can ask what that means you’re walking off to the barn beside you. He follows anxiously as you slip through the doors and return almost seconds later in front of him. Nearly running you over he spots the black gloves that look warm and inviting just like you. 

“Thank you” he says without backing away and you grin. He was charming and different, much different than the farm boys who rotated around here every Christmas season. 

“Leroy is out warming up the truck, you should probably go meet him” you’re quick to tell him and he nods, as if suddenly realizing he was actually here to do a job. 

“Yeah, um. Sounds good” and the call of your name interrupts you both. Both your heads turn to the small white farmhouse, gutters lined with rainbow Christmas lights, and light up reindeer in the yard. On the front porch stands a plump woman wrapped in a pink apron and flour in her box dyed hair. 

“Coming!” you call and Charlie realizes the name belongs to you. You offer him one last smile, pointing towards the field where an older gentleman waved from the truck. He nodded to confirm he knew his direction and as soon as you entered his life you were gone. Running through the fluffy white snow and towards the house that looked warmer than his ever did. Against his better judgement he starts in the direction of Leroy who had a much less pretty smile than you. Trying out the sound of your name on his tongue. 

That’s how it starts. Spending the days leading up to Christmas, sharing shy smiles and awestruck looks. Always warm and kind until he’s pulled to haul trees and strain his body until all he can think about is you. It’s the most manual labor he had ever endured and he can only thank rowing for the strength he had been given, or else he wouldn’t be able to keep up. Especially with Leroy who even in his old age somehow hauled twice the amount he did. It was a lot but had become the best distraction from the storm cloud that always loomed over his home. 

“It’s a warm one” your sweet voice surprises him, freezing in place where he stands on the flatbed trailer. It was only 35F degrees but the heavy lifting had warmed Charlie’s blood, having shed his coat as he unloaded each tree off the trailer. 

“Yeah, hopefully we don’t lose all our snow” he answers after a moment too long. You grin at him, admiring the tight white T-shirt clung to his filled out form. How the red scarf swayed from his neck with each movement he made. You’d be a fool not to admit how handsome he was, especially here in the beautiful snow, pine needles stuck to his clothes. 

“We won’t, not here at least. That’s the Christmas Tree Farm magic” you tell him, having lived here your entire life. No matter the season, the purpose of this place was to provide Christmas miracles. Winter was of course your favorite, but with Charlie here, it made it even better. 

“Yeah? Does that magic work on anything else?” Charlie asks, a sly grin covering his lips and you decide to flash that same smile right back. Happy to flirt with one of the most interesting boys you have ever met. 

“Miracles usually” and you walk off, a fluffy hat like a halo on your head and boots crunching in the wet snow beneath you. Charlie swears you’re a Christmas miracle itself. At least his own. 

For the days to come more and more trees disappear from the lot, families stopping by each day to bring home a little Holiday joy. Charlie watches you with your clipboard and bright smile, happily chatting with customers and playing with little kids. The whole place is a Winter Dreamland and it’s no doubt partly because of you. Years of learning how to contribute the magic within the place. Until now he’s quite certain he never knew what Christmas felt like, at least not until he met you. 

He doesn’t get alone time with you again until a particularly late night. All the lights went out on one of the fences and not wanting to go to his empty home, he offered to stay late and redo it. It’s colder at night here, but prettier, especially as the snow falls to the ground. His fingers are practically numb but he supposes he’s more comfortable here than in his room at home. So he continues on, not knowing you’re approaching with two steaming cups of hot chocolate. 

“Need a break?” He turns to find you’re in some of the cutest printed pajamas he’s ever seen, little Santa hats adorning your clothes as you crouch down beside him. Just the sight of the warm mug has him reaching out with cold fingers. 

“You’re a lifesaver” he grins, immediately lifting the cup up to his lips. You go to protest but he’s too late, the searing liquid hitting his tongue. His face twists quickly and you wear a sympathetic look. “Shit!”

“Does that happen to be your favorite word?” but he won’t take the teasing, his tongue poking out from behind his lips and a soft pout covering his face. 

“It’s okay, I happen to jump the gun a lot” he says, fingers closing around his burnt tongue. It no longer hurts but he knows he won’t be able to taste the hot chocolate now, his taste buds in hiding. What a loss. 

“Here, let me help” and what he doesn’t expect is your lips forming in an O shape and blowing softly on his tongue. He gapes like a fish, knowing you’re both aware of how it won’t help him at all. Yet it’s the best excuse to be this close together. As badly as he wants to kiss you he knows he won’t be able to taste it. That would be worse than heartbreak. 

“Done this before?” Charlie asks when you’re done and you shrug, sipping from your own cup that was now at a much safer temperature. 

“Hot cocoa is my speciality, then again all things Christmas is” you grin, eyeing the lights Charlie had so perfectly wound around the fence. It had been a long time since someone had come around here and cared so much. 

“Have you lived here your whole life?” Charlie asks, lifting to his knees again and continuing to wrap lights. If he stopped now he would be here all night, at least he now felt warmer with you by his side. 

“Born and raised, my parents inherited it from my Grandparents. They must’ve finally gotten tired of Christmas because they retired to Florida a few years ago” Charlie laughs at this response, brown eyes catching yours in the glow of the Christmas lights. 

“You think you’ll ever get sick of it. Christmas twenty four seven, three hundred and sixty five days a year?” Charlie asks and you instantly shake your head, as if you’ve known the answer to this your whole life.

“Never, this place will always be home. Even if I’m trimming trees in August and getting stuck under mistletoe with creepy customers. Christmas wouldn’t be what it is without the people who believe all year long” you say, looking at nobody in particular as you give an honest answer. Charlie’s heart warms over at the sentiment you provide, falling for you more than he ever should’ve in the first place. 

“Mistletoe?” is the only thing he responds with and the instant roll of your eyes only makes him grin wider. You’re not surprised at all that this is what he takes away from your words. 

“My Mom hangs it everywhere and moves it so it’s never entirely unavoidable. It’s only cheek kisses but I swear it’s always the guys missing half their teeth beside me” you say and Charlie burns with jealousy at the idea of all the men who think they have a shot with you. Yet he supposes he’s one of those guys too. 

“Well maybe one day you’ll find yourself under the mistletoe with somebody not that unbearable” Charlie offers nonchalantly, suddenly more focused on the lights than before.  You wear a grin that seemed brighter than any Christmas light on the entire farm. 

“Yeah, maybe” you agree, sipping from the hot cocoa before lifting back up to your feet. Nights were always so peaceful here, more magical. A part of you wished Charlie could stay here forever. 

You stay with him for a little longer before retreating into the house. Repeatedly checking out the windows to make sure he doesn’t freeze to death. Wondering who he really was and all the things about him. Why he wasn’t like any of the half brain guys who worked here before. He was quick witted, smart, kind, and confident. A mix of traits you never knew could be possible together before. You fall asleep with a blanket wrapped around your shoulders and cheek pressed to the windowsill, the last thing you saw was Charlie before entering your dreams. 

It’s not long until Christmas Eve arrives, the last of the families coming to pick trees out to decorate before tomorrow. You used to hate people who waited so long to get one but when you got older you recognized how they waited for family members to arrive in town, how it was their own special tradition, and now they were your favorite customers. You hoped one day someone would love you enough to wait until the last minute like they did. Yet like every Holiday season the day passes in a blur, leaving you standing beside the campfire with your parents, Charlie, and all the other farm hands. 

“It was a good season guys” Leroy holds up his beer and you smile, stepping closer to the fire for extra warmth. “Thank you”

“We made double what we did last year too. Christmas magic is stronger than ever” you point out, having read the books an hour ago. Another good season meant another year of keeping the farm. 

“I think that has more to do with you than the trees” Charlie mutters and everyone grunts and agrees with his words. Knowing it was you who ran the show, you who was kind to the customers and made Christmas feel real for the kids. You took care of everyone here and without you this place wouldn’t feel like Christmas, not at least not in the way it should. 

“Damn looks like we’re out of beer” and of course it’s you who’s instantly ready to volunteer, starting for the barn lit by only a single light above the front doors.

“I’ll help” Charlie scurries after you, almost tripping in the snow, and you smile back at him before both slipping into the warm barn. He finds you pulling a case from under the tool bench and he’s quick to swoop in and grab it from you. 

“Didn’t know you were so enthusiastic about beer” you tease, eyebrows raising as he stands in front of you. He’s nervous but he needed to be alone with you before one of those guys out there noticed the way he looked at you. 

“Not so much beer but you, yeah” he admits and a soft blush covers your cheeks. The sentiment surprises you but with the snowflakes dusting his hair and the scarf wound tightly around his neck, he looks just like the Christmas prince you always imagined for yourself. 

“You think you’ll come back around next year?” you ask, needing to know this wasn’t some college boy looking to lead you on and leave with your heart a week later. 

“If you’ll have me, hell I’ll even come in the summer too” and the genuine way he says it makes your heart soar in your chest. Slowly you grab the beer from his hands and set it on the ground. He gives you a confused look, not understanding what your goal is. When you spot his confused look you only offer a sly grin before pointing up. 

As if spotting a shooting star in the sky, right on the beam above you both hangs green mistletoe, pulling you together like a magnet. “At least you have all your teeth”

“I’m not sure I find that as big of a compliment as I should” and you giggle before grabbing the sides of his coat and drawing him near. 

“Well you should considering I plan on kissing your lips and not your cheek” Charlie’s heart stutters in his chest, unsure where to put his hands and unable to look away from your dazzling eyes. He’s not even sure this is real. 

“This might be my favorite Christmas yet” he finally utters and you grin before lifting on your toes. Charlie steps closer, hands falling to your waist to steady you, the smell of your shampoo invading his senses. Everything about this moment couldn’t be more perfect and he hated that tomorrow he couldn’t come back here and spend his Christmas with you. 

He doesn’t close his eyes right away, preferring to watch as your lips fumble against his only slightly. Not yet locking with his own but sharing the same breath. When he’s sure he can’t take it anymore he presses his hand to the back of your head and seals you against him. Eyes shutting because he finally got to taste you. Nothing about this could be anymore perfect. You couldn’t be anymore perfect. Everything about this is right, Charlie’s firm muscles against your own, soft lips slowly tasting you, warm tongue dipping against your own. You’d stand here and kiss him forever but the distant holler for the beer stops you both. 

“Better supply the masses” you mutter, a little love drunk from his kiss, hand patting his broad chest. Charlie grins, brushing some of the hair away from your face. 

“God but I really want to keep kissing you” he says, already dipping in and stealing another kiss. He smells like the pine trees and tastes like peppermint, he’s Christmas wrapped up in a perfect package, and right now you wish you could keep him forever. He reminds you of home, even when you're here. 

“Me too but I’d prefer not to have an audience” you say before sadly stepping away from him and grabbing the beer case from the ground. 

“Then later? My car once everyone leaves?” and the words make you feel like a giddy teenager. You bite your swollen lip before studying his face and nodding. 

“I’ll be there” you agree and he grins, stealing the beer case from your hand and stealing another mind numbing kiss. 

Smiling you follow him out of the barn, unable to keep the smile off of your face as you walk towards all the people you love the most in life. Here where every wish comes true. Your little Christmas tree farm and the boy who loves you. 

[morningsharksworld]

Ok consider this... Hazard gets sick and refuses to admit he needs to be cared for until he all but passes out from fever and then gets all flustered and sappy when his S/O starts doting on him and forcing him to lay down and rest.

Fever

Hazard x Reader

A/N: Writing this as I have a cold is great therapy ngl anon, nice ol’ blanket and some soup.

Summary: some of the phreaks have been noticing that hazard hasn’t been taking care of himself lately…even when he’s sick

Hazard was as stubborn as a mule—and twice as proud. You’d noticed something was off for days now. His usual sharp movements had grown sluggish, his voice rougher, and his face was a permanent shade of red. But every time you tried to confront him, he’d brush it off with some gruff excuse.

It wasn’t until Boomslang, ever the watchful eye, cornered you in the hallway that you realized just how bad it had gotten.

“Hey” she called, her voice calm but firm. She crossed her arms, leaning against the wall. “I think you need to check on Hazard.”

You blinked at her, confused. “Why? What happened?”

“He’s been sick for days” she said, her expression unreadable. “I told him to rest, but of course, he blew me off. I saw him nearly fall earlier. He’s too stubborn to admit he needs help.”

“That does sound like him” you muttered, already heading toward where you’d last seen him.

Boomslang called after you, her tone dry. “Good luck. He’s impossible.”

When you found Hazard, he was exactly where you expected—still working, hunched over a desk with sweat dripping from his temple. His movements were jerky, and his shoulders sagged under what seemed like the weight of the world.

“Hazard” you said, stepping into the room.

“I’m busy” he snapped, not even looking up.

“You’re sick” you countered, your voice firm.

“I’m fine” he barked, his thick Scottish brogue rougher than usual. His accent always deepened when he was agitated, and now it rolled off him in waves. “I’ve nae got time fer this. There’s work tae be done.”

“You can’t even stand straight” you said, moving closer. “Boomslang told me you nearly fell earlier.”

His glare could’ve melted steel. “That wee tattletale’s got nae business stickin’ her nose in! I told her I dinnae need help, an’ I dinnae need yours either.”

You didn’t argue with him. Not yet. You just stood there, arms crossed, watching him sway on his feet like a leaf in the wind. His pride was his worst enemy, and you knew the only way to break through it was to let him run himself into the ground—literally.

It didn’t take long. Not five minutes later he stumbled mid-step, his knees buckling as his body gave out. You darted forward, catching him before he hit the ground.

“Jesus, Hazard!” you snapped, lowering him onto the couch. “What did I told you?”

His eyelids fluttered open, his gaze unfocused but still defiant. “Ach, dinnae fuss over me” he muttered weakly. “It’s just a wee fever.”

“A ‘wee fever’ doesn’t make people pass out” you shot back, pressing a cool cloth to his forehead.

He flinched at the touch, his face flushing even more. “I’m nae some bairn who needs coddlin’” he grumbled, though his voice lacked any real bite.

“Well, you’re acting like one” you said, dabbing at his sweat-soaked skin. “You should’ve come to me, Boomslang or hell even Susie the moment you started feeling like this. But no, you had to be all macho man about it.”

Hazard groaned, his arm draping over his eyes as though to block out your scolding. “Yer nae gonna let this go, are ye?”

“Not a chance” you said, your tone softening. “You scared me, Hazard. You can’t keep pushing yourself like this.”

For once, he didn’t argue. Instead, he let out a resigned sigh, his brogue softer now. “Yer too good tae me, love. I dinnae deserve it.”

“You deserve to be cared for” you said firmly, brushing a strand of damp hair from his face.

His cheeks darkened, though whether it was from the fever or embarrassment, you couldn’t tell. “Ye’ve got a way of makin’ a man feel like a right fool, ye know that?”

“Good” you replied with a smirk. “Now, shut up and rest you big baby.”

He huffed, muttering something under his breath in Gaelic, but he didn’t fight you. As the fever began to break, he mumbled a quiet, “Thank ye” before drifting off to sleep.

Boomslang was right—he was handy work. But he was your handy, and you weren’t going to let him go through this alone.

[islandheartprincess]

littlepogue!reader - cupcake chaos 🌱✨

˖⁺‧₊˚♡˚₊‧⁺˖

summary: little pogue vivianne keller thinks she could be a baking prodigy, but can her hands cause anything other than disaster?

c!w: none! pure fluff ۫ ꣑ৎ

pairing: littlepogue!reader x pogues (platonic)

read my little pogue oc, vivianne kellers moodboard & intro first

you were hard at work in the kitchen, covered in flour and batter, while the pogues lounged around the chateau deep in convo.

"guys, i promise this time, IT WILL BE LEGENDARY" you said, holding up a box of cupcake mix like it was a priceless artifact

"uh, y'know cupcakes are supposed to be like, sweet, right vee" John B teased sitting on the counter next to you

"shush! they're gonna be perfect" you shot back at him, slapping his arm harshly

pope stuck his head back out from the fridge "right... just as perfect as your pancake cookies from last week..."

JJ stopped his obnoxious crunching on some expired chips to comment "welp man! I'm down, if they're good we get good food, if they're not we get to make fun of vivi's baking skills! win-win." he chuckled at his own joke, popping another chip in his mouth.

kiara let out a loud groan as she walked into the kitchen, "is she doing this again?" eyeing you, preparing herself for disaster. "oh, its happening," JJ responded " and we are all estimated to die from a sugar overload in about an hour"

kiara giggled, turning back to you "vee, if these end up like your pancake cookies, im locking you out of the kitchen forever."

you side-eyed her, about to argue back, and then... ding! the oven timer went off.

"prepare to be amazed" you said, putting on oven mitts while everyone quickly surrounded you,carefully opening the oven door.

pulling out the tray, everyone collectively gasped. the cupcakes were.... well- creative! you still had hope though, setting them on the counter. JJ poked one with a fork, watching it deflate like a balloon. "whoops, think I just killed one, my bad."

everyone took a cupcake, suspiciously eyeing it, and you counted down to three so everyone could taste it at the same time.

"2....3." everyone bit into their cupcake, only letting a second pass before chaos erupted. John B quickly rushed to the trash can to spit it out, while JJ just spat his on the floor. you slowly continued to chew yours, trying to put up a fake front before you spat yours out in the sink.

"vivi ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL US?" kiara said frantically

"i followed the recipe exactly?! i have no idea how it could turn out like this!" you responded suspiciously

John B looked around confused, raising his eyebrow before looking at you, "vee... now that I think about it, we don't even have measuring tools" you blinked at him... maybe it could've been that... he continued "or SUGAR."

you shot him a confused look before pointing to a glass container containing tiny white crystallines. "then what the hell is that?"

pope walked over, and turned the container to its front, revealing a large label reading "SALT" you looked around in silence, before the group bursted out in laughter, you included.

"you're definitely making history with this one, as the worst cupcakes ever" JJ chuckled

"one day, you're all gonna regret doubting me" you said while pope wrapped his arm around you, patting your head. "are you gonna poison us?" he joked, getting a laugh out of everyone.

"fine! I admit defeat this time" you said, plopping yourself onto the couch next to Kiara.

kiara hugged you tightly, "i think it would be the safest to stick to store-bought cupcakes"

you didn't care about cupcakes though, for now, you were happy to be in the moment surrounded by laughter, bad cupcakes, and pure ridiculousness.

˖⋆࿐໋

vivianne kellers moodboard & intro (⁠♡⁠ω⁠♡⁠ ⁠)⁠ ⁠~⁠♪

follow me for more fics like this xoxo

[bumblebeehug]

hi friend. i am in desperate need of a chapter 520 reversal. lucy’s body heat is down and our man Natsu needs to help,,, post Alvarez PLEASE💗 love all your fics btw.

i'm yours no matter

Summary: Lucy comes back from a tough job in a terrible state: she's in a coma, Porlyusica won't stop naming risks and consequenses of the damage she's taken, and Natsu wants to throw up out of worry. Notes: glad fortsättning as we say in sweden! christmas is over, i have to study for my test, new years will probably leave me with the worst hangover ever bc when hasn't it :') but here's a hurt/comfort fic to satisfy y'all until the middle of january<3 thank you bluedragneel for this request, i'm obsessed with this trope and might write it again some day teehee :3 Ao3 - FF.net(link coming)

***

Natsu would never have let Lucy go without him on this mission if he knew the state she’d come back in. He clenched and unclenched his fists while trying to understand what Porlyusica was saying, between odd medical terms and concerned small talk. He didn’t care about the details: he needed to know what happened and how it was going to be fixed.

“Boy, are you listening to me?”

“Huh? What? Come again?”

Porlyusica sighed, a vain threatening to pop out of her forehead.

“This is important. We don’t know how she’ll recover, if she recovers. If she does wake up we won’t be certain if she makes it out without brain damage. Wendy did the best she could, but even her magic is limited.” The fact that Porlyusica wasn’t screaming or yelling with rage, or even annoyingly tapping her foot or actively scowling at him made it clear that this was serious. She tried to appear calm, but in this case it only made him more worried.

“What… does brain damage mean? What would happen to her?” Natsu wasn’t sure he’d like the answer, but he had to know.

“What it entails?” She clarified, getting half a nod as an answer. “Well, if her brain is too damaged, her attention and concentration could suffer, we don’t yet know to what degree. She could also have problems with her memories, and making decisions and motivation would become difficult. This could mean that she’ll be more easily distracted, or she’ll experience information overload and become slower at taking in and making sense of information. Her work as a wizard would be jeopardized.”

Natsu felt a headache creeping on. He wasn’t sure if he properly understood half of that, but it sounded bad. His throat felt thick, swallowing seemingly didn’t help.

“That’s not all though.” Natsu glared at her.

“There’s more?”

He felt ill to his stomach. What could possibly be worse than what she’d just told him?

“We don’t know the exact circumstances around what caused this coma. Her sustained injuries have me worried that she’ll become disabled. It’s not certain she’ll be able to walk or talk like before.”

“What,” he hissed. “Why didn’t you tell me that earlier!?”

“I did tell you, you were just too busy throwing a hissyfit to listen.” If eyes could kill, Natsu would be ten feet under. “I’m not saying there’s nothing to be done, though.”

Natsu almost perked up. He didn’t dare have any high hopes, but a spark of possibility had shown itself: maybe she’d end up okay. Just maybe.

“What we know from the mission is that the client requested protection from a snow monster. Its estimated strength was around ten times the strength of a vulcan, and not only that – it was said to use strange curses. As curses are unregulated, we’re not sure what could have caused exactly this, but we understand that she got thrown headfirst into the mountain. It was Loke that brought her back, but due to how different the time flows in the celestial world, she’d already been out in the snow for a couple of hours.” Porlyusica tried to summarize again what had happened, considering Natsu had been too worried to listen the first time. “We already have Levy, Freed and Makarov working to figure out the curse, but there’s something I want you to do in the meantime.”

Natsu perked up, listening intently. If he could do something, anything, to get her back, he’d do it without a second thought.

“You need to keep her warm.”

“I can do that!” Natsu almost laughed in relief. He’s a dragon slayer – warming things was the thing he did best!

“You have to make the transition steady though. If you heat her up too quickly she could go into shock. Do you understand? You have to start by warming her with your body heat. This is important, you cannot rush things like these.” Porlyusica narrowed her eyes. If he got careless Lucy’s health could be in danger.

“Body heat? So what do I do, just warm her with my hands? It’s gonna take ages.” He fidgeted with his hands, suddenly more impatient than usual. Not to warm Lucy, specifically, just to get her treatment started. He understood how important it was to follow Porlyusica’s instructions: she’d never been wrong about this before.

“Do you remember back when Fiore was at war with Alvarez? You had that tumour in you, and you too were passed out in a coma. Back then, your fire was going out: you were rapidly freezing to death. Lucy was the one who kept you alive, and she did so with skin to skin contact. Today I need you to do the same.”

Goosebumps appeared on Natsu’s arms as he recalled. That was a time he didn’t think fondly of. He went through a lot of hardship back then, even if waking up to Lucy and Happy was something that had given him relief at the time. That’s right, where was Happy?

“Y-yeah, I’ll do it,” he mumbled scattermindedly. “Do you know where Happy went? I rushed here so fast, I’m not sure I told him what was going on…”

Porlyusica sighed. This boy was something else, wasn’t he? Not in the best way either, she feared.

“While you were yelling and getting mad, trying to run to the client of her mission for revenge, I explained everything to him. He’s already gotten a head start. I urge you to join him.” This time her glare was comparable to lazer, earning a hard gulp from Natsu. Still, he was relieved to hear Happy wasn’t in the dark: he knew how much those two meant for each other. If Lucy fell ill and Happy couldn’t be there to help… He didn’t want to think of it. Happy had been much more protective of Lucy ever since he felt Future Lucy die. That went for Natsu too of course.

___

Natsu gulped again and looked back at Porlyusica. Lucy layed behind those hospital drapes, shallow breaths filling up the room. Her scent did its usual work of calming him, but he noticed that it didn’t carry in the air like usual. He was sure that curse and her lack of body heat had something to do with it.

Porlyusica had turned around as she let Natsu undress. She’d seen him in this light attire before, but as a healer she had some courtesy to at least wait until he was finished. Natsu awkwardly cleared his throat, breaking the silence that had filled the room.

“Do I… Take off my underwear?” Porlyusica nearly choked on her own spit.

“No. Please don’t. For all our sake. She’s still a lady.” The last sentence was muttered in a voice barely louder than a whisper, but Natsu heard it. Still, he didn’t want to do anything wrong. “Are you done?”

“Yeah,” he mumbled, feeling his arms hang along his sides. This situation was so odd. He wasn’t exactly shy, but being bare like this in a serious situation felt vulnerable. He wanted to wear his scarf, but she had rejected that idea as soon as he said it. Something about the neck being an important area as a heat source.

Porlyusica turned around, not sparing him as much as a glance. Instead she headed straight to the curtains and drew them to the side. There she was. Under a couple of blankets. So still that he’d be worried for her life didn’t he hear her pulse. It was faint, a bit irregular, but there. He’d made sure to really listen for it this time.

“What are you waiting for? Join her.” The healer motioned at the bed.

“It’s so small though…” he puzzled. If he had a Jewel for every time Porlyusica sent him a stare that was out to kill, he’d have enough money to buy not just Lucy’s apartment, but her entire apartment building. He took that as a sign to keep quiet if he was about to question Porlyusica’s methods.

“You’re gonna need to cuddle close anyways, just hurry up. We’ve already wasted too much time.”

Natsu took a shaky breath and lifted Lucy’s blanket. Her bluish pale hands laying against her sides made his heart drop. This was really serious. Just because this was a treatment that could help, didn’t mean that her health would perfectly return. If anything, this was just another flighty attempt to heal her. Surely it wouldn’t benefit her as much as lifting the curse: had Natsu been smarter, maybe he could have helped her faster.

He shook his head. No, he had to focus on what he could do here and now. Worrying about things that could have been wouldn’t help at all, even if he was right about this body-warming treatment only helping a little. It might just be the thing that would keep her away from this brain damage thing Porlyusica had been talking about. He finally crawled into bed beside her.

Cold. She was really cold. His first instinct was to make his own body heat higher, but as he was about to he heard Porlyusica’s warnings echo in his mind. If he didn’t take this slow, new complications could arise. He just had to slowly get used to this sensation.

Porlyusica suddenly spoke up.

“Now, I don’t want you just laying there doing nothing.”

Natsu sent her a confused look. Wasn’t this what she’d asked him to do?

“You need to talk to her. Say her name. Whatever happened on her mission, I’m growing increasingly uncertain of her coma being caused by a concussion. If anything, it’s more likely that it’s a magic coma. And if it’s a curse, nothing helps breaking it better than love. You need to call out to her.”

For the first time in a very long time, Natsu felt himself blush. Just faintly, but the indication that his love for Lucy would be the thing to wake her up, made him feel weird inside. Not a bad weird, just… weird.

“She did the same to you,” she added, only pouring gasoline on the fire inside of him. “If I didn’t think this was important I’d ask for someone else for help, much earlier. Elfman has a large body, he could easily get her to a normal body temp.”

This time, her implications made Natsu tense up instead. He didn’t like the thought of that giant muscle head cuddling with Lucy, skin to skin. He instinctively wrapped his arm around her waist, as to protect her from whatever googly eyed guy that would come waltzing in, in hopes to join them under her blanket.

“Don’t look so stupid. Getting angry gets you nowhere. Anyway, you’re the one who has to do this. If anything can wake her, whether she’s under a curse or not, it’s the connection you share. So I need you to talk to her.”

Natsu once again felt weird inside. He couldn’t pin the feeling down: was it that he felt vulnerable? Or that he felt embarrassed, doing all this in front of someone else? It was awfully intimate after all. Happy was one thing, but having another person listen to him calling out her name like a lost, desperate puppy? Well, awkward or not, it had to be done. He cleared his throat again and looked back at Lucy with determination. He felt his arms lightly shake her from a natural body reaction.

“Lucy,” he tried, his voice sounding weak in the still room. “Hey Lucy, come on… Wake up, would’ya?”

For the first time since Natsu entered the room, Happy spoke up. He seemed like he was in his own world, dazed in worry. Hearing Natsu must have made him realise what had been going on around him.

“Lushy…” The nasal croak he let out made it clear he’d been crying. Natsu envied him a little: he wanted to cry too, but if he did he was sure he’d have a complete breakdown. He had to focus on getting her awake – crying wasn’t an option. Porlyusica shifted her weight. It looked like she wanted to sit down, but she had to join the others with coming up with a cure soon.

“You have to try harder than that Natsu. A tip to not feel like you’re going crazy just repeating her name, is to recall old memories. It’ll keep you busy from anxiety and worry, plus it’ll strengthen your and her resolve. Besides, it’ll make your bond feel stronger. I think that could be beneficial in a case like this.” Porlyusica watched as Natsu turned her words in his mind, trying to understand exactly what she meant. “I’ll trust you to do this now, don’t let her down.”

With those words Porlyusica left the infirmary, leaving Natsu and Happy with their unconscious friend.

Natsu held Lucy close, her icy skin a sharp contrast to the heat radiating from his body. Carefully he glanced at Happy, who looked like he was close to dissociating. If he didn’t start talking now, he’d probably have to deal with two traumatised people who meant a lot to him, and he wasn’t sure if he had the strength to do that.

This thought was enough to kick him into action. He swallowed hard, his voice low and trembling as he spoke.

"Lucy… you’ve gotta come back. You can’t leave us like this." Carefully he grabbed her hand, her fingertips almost blue from lack of blood circulation. His grip tightened just slightly, as if willing her to feel the warmth spreading from his fingers. "I don’t know what happened out there, but I’m here now, okay? So… so just wake up."

He took a shaky breath, tangling his legs with hers, just like he’d done so many times before in her apartment. This time it was different. This entire situation made him want to cringe, leaving a bitter taste in his mouth.Why her out of all people? He’d never been the one who solved problems tenderly. He could fight, get revenge, he’d always been confident of his ability to do grand gestures to fix what was wrong. He couldn’t handle things with care, make out nuances in language, emotion or even a thing like physical hurt. If Lucy ever got injured she’d be honest and frank: sure, she tried to go on for a little bit longer than she should, even while having deep gushes through her legs or shoulders popped out of place. But she was honest enough about it that Natsu always knew what to do about it: sear the opening of the wound, fetch Wendy, pop her bones back into place. Those things were child's play in comparison to this. Now he had to carefully heat her up, not too quickly but not too slowly either, while calling out to her, pulling on whatever strings they had on each other’s unconsciousness. He was aware of the connection they shared, and he was normally confident in it: at times he felt like they shared one and the same mind. But this? He wasn’t so sure it was enough anymore.

"You’re always the one who’s there for everyone," he continued, his voice breaking just a little. "You never give up, no matter how bad things get. That’s who you are. So don’t stop now, Lucy. Please… just don’t."

Happy joined in through whispers in her ear, not daring to raise his voice in case it’d crack. Natsu felt his heart break a little as he watched him hold on to Lucy for dear life. It was one thing that Natsu felt like this, but Happy wasn’t meant to be sad: he had spent his whole life making sure he would get the childhood Natsu never got. For him to have to almost lose Lucy twice: it was a pain Natsu could barely cope with himself. He was genuinely worried about his furry friend.

Still, he had to stay focused. He remembered what Porlyusica had told him, about memories being an effective way to keep his anxiety at bay, while still grasping at Lucy’s unconscious.

His thoughts raced, memories flashing through his mind. The way she’d smiled when they took their first job together, the way she’d always trusted him to catch her when she’d fall, how she always knew what to say to get him to keep moving forward.

"Hey, Lucy… You gotta wake up, you know? I promised you we’d go on more adventures, back when we fought against Future Rogue and…" His voice cracked, he still didn’t dare finish that sentence. "Whenever I was a wreck, you were there. You didn’t give up on me, not even for a second. So now it’s my turn, Lucy. I’m not giving up on you."

Happy’s soft, tearful voice chimed in from beside them. "Lushy… we need you. Please wake up."

Natsu’s jaw clenched. He would do anything to get her out of this. He just wished he could do something more effective. Deep in his stomach he felt his fire work it’s magic: he’d been suppressing it so he wouldn’t warm her up too quickly, so to not slip up and unleash a heat wave on the three of them, he took a deep breath.

“I… Guess this is the time to tell you how thankful we are that we met you all those years ago.” Happy met Natsu’s flickering gaze, sharing a small encouraging nod. “We really are thankful. Like, we’d probably be dead if it weren’t for you.” He tried to chuckle at the attempt of a joke, but Happy didn’t seem as pleased. Natsu cleared his throat.

“What I’m trying to say is… well… we can’t imagine a life without you. If I ever had to go back to only sleeping in my swine sty of a house, instead of being with you everyday, I’m not sure I’d be able to keep my sanity. Even when you scream and do all kinds of weird stuff, we need you.”

“Lushy,” Happy sniffled, “what would I do if I had to go back to only living with Natsu? I’d starve! He burns my fish and everything else we own…”

“Oh come on! You’ve survived up till now!” Natsu protested, but couldn’t bring himself to actually find a counter argument. He was telling the truth after all. Happy glared at him and continued talking.

“I know he’s really stupid,” he began, earning a stern frown from Natsu, “but I think he might be the one who’d hate it the most if you died. But that aside, I don’t think I could stand losing you again.” Tears were once again pouring out of his eyes. “You’re the closest thing I’ve ever had to an actual proper mom…”

The last part would have been impossible for Natsu to hear, hadn’t it been for his dragon-hearing. He swallowed the big knot in his throat that threatened to come out as a sob. He didn’t know Happy had felt so strongly about Lucy, though it made sense as he heard it. Of course she was like a mom to him: she was perfect like that. Caring, worrisome at times, but always loving.

“Hey, you heard him, right? You can’t leave Happy after he tells you something like that, can you? So hurry and wake up… You’d never forgive me if I scared you like this, so come on…”

“But you did scare us like that though,” Happy argued.

“Oh can it,” Natsu muttered, raising his body temperature another degree.

While continuing talking, mixing the casual bickering with emotional anecdotes, Natsu started massaging Lucy’s right hand, the one with her guild mark. Laying there, he realised that the colour of it really was the exact same shade as his hair. The thought tugged on his heartstrings. Had she even meant for that to happen, when he made her join Fairy Tail all those years ago? Had she always been determined that it would be the two of them – and Happy of course – teaming up? Even if that wasn’t the case, if it had been her unconscious that picked the shade of pink so close to his hair, he still wanted to tear up. The two of them were so incredibly attached, to the point where Natsu couldn’t even imagine a life without her anymore.

He continued observing her hand as he massaged her soft skin. It was slender, a nuance less blue than it had been when he laid down with her some minutes ago. This realisation sparked some hope within him. They were helping her: it was working. Continuing the talking, letting his mouth speak whatever flew into his brain, he simultaneously went on thinking about her hand. When she proudly showed it off to him when her mark was new, it had been in pristine condition. Soft, flawless, not a callus or scar in sight. Her nails had been long, carefully taken care of, painted a light pink that almost seemed nude in comparison to the bright pink guild mark. As he looked at it now, it was covered in scars. Some cuts from falling on gravel, some webbing up her wrist like veins. He knew that must have been reminiscent of when she rewrote E.N.D. for him. Another constellation of scars resembled shattering, likely scars from when she had to summon the Celestial Spirit King back when they fought Tartarus. Most of these scars gave Natsu shivers. They were all pale and faded now, but he knew they must cause Lucy pain every day. To carry her biggest joy and her worst pain on the same hand seemed taxing.

He brought her fingers up to his lips, pressed them against them lightly. Then he embraced her, letting her limp, cool body rest against his. Her skin was so soft, but he didn’t enjoy this fake cuddle session: he wanted her to be awake, or even asleep would be better: even when she was asleep she ended up reciprocating his cuddles. This made him feel like he was hugging a corpse, and it was quickly rated as one of his least favourite sensations.

In his new position he could hug her from behind, the many pillows propped up behind his back making him sit up slightly. This allowed for Lucy’s head to rest on his chest, right by his collarbones. Carefully he nudged her a little bit to the left. Maybe his heartbeat could aid them in some way: he wasn’t sure how, but it couldn’t help to try. Happy nudged himself between Natsu’s embracing arm and Lucy’s chest, covering up what would be a very revealing view hadn’t he laid there. Any other day her nudity would be arousing for Natsu, but today it didn’t have that effect. Rather than arousing, it gave him a sense of security. Their bodies, pressed against each other, like clinging on to Lucy’s soul for dear life.

He rested his lips on the top of her head for a while. Happy was in the middle of yapping about Lisanna, his biological mom and Lucy, when Natsu suddenly felt her arm twitch. It was small, and he’d disregard it as his imagination hadn’t he heard her breath hitch at the same time.

“Lucy?” He hugged her tighter, squashing Happy a little in the process. “Happy, I think she’s responding. She just twitched! Keep talking,” he urged, nuzzling his face into her neck. He was certain of it: she had reacted.

Suddenly his resolve increased tenfold, his fiery determination bubbling to the surface. He didn’t care how long this took—he’d stay by her side until she opened her eyes.

"Lucy," he said, his tone growing stronger, more resolute. "I’m not going anywhere, got it? You’re stuck with me, so you’d better wake up and yell at us for being too loud or something. You always do."

Once again he thought he saw the faintest flicker of movement—a twitch of her fingers against his hand. His breath hitched.

"Lucy? Come on, it’s me. Natsu." He leaned closer to her ear, her smell filling his head until he felt completely intoxicated. His voice dropped to a near whisper. "I need you. We all do. So please… wake up."

For a moment, nothing happened. Then, slowly, her lips parted, and a faint sound escaped.

"N… Natsu…"

His eyes widened, hope surging through him like a wildfire. "Lucy!”

Happy dried his eyes that were puffy from all the crying he’d done. He was quick to jump out of their embrace.

“I’ll go get Porlyusica!” He almost left the room before he turned back, lifted her blanket a little to cover the goods, and then hurried away. Natsu barely registered his actions, his focus being completely tuned in on Lucy.

With a split moment alone, Natsu almost felt overwhelmed with the silence. She’d called out his name, though only faint, but instead of her heartbeat rising to accommodate her waking up, it seemed like it was slightly fading. Worry filled Natsu’s head, the anxiety shooting out prickling sensations in his arms and legs.

“Lucy, what’s going on? Why’s your heartbeat slowing down?” His high pitch made the worry apparent, but he didn’t care. “Shit, come on! Stay with me!”

He rocked their bodies back and forth in hope that he’d manage to keep her heart pulsing. It was quickly made apparent that it wasn’t enough, when for a split moment her heart missed a beat.

This time he couldn’t conceal his panic. No one was nearby, Lucy was fading away by the second, and all Natsu could do was choke out a small “Please…”. He didn’t know what to do, tears welling up in his eyes faster than he was prepared for.

“Don’t leave…” he croaked, sobs filling the silence. “Shit, Lucy, I can’t live without you… I love you…”

Had he not been busy pressing her lukewarm cheek against his, rocking them back and forth, and trying to swallow the sobs that leaked out anyways, he’d notice that his confession pulled Lucy’s heartbeat back for a few seconds. But he didn’t notice this: instead he continued his endeavors of grasping whatever life was left in her.

“Lucy, Lucy, Lucy… Please…” He opened his eyes again, quickly regretting it as they soaked Lucy’s face in the salty liquid. He wanted to see her face properly, take in her soft features before it was too late. He grabbed her face with his free hand, slowly letting his thumb caress her cheek. His blurred vision made him miss how her eyebrows twitched into a furrow. Instead he let his heart steer his actions: he didn’t know what else to do.

Pushing her bangs out of her face, Natsu let his lips land on hers. Softly, his hot ones on Lucy’s dry cold ones. His chin quivered – he didn’t want his first kiss with her to be his last one. In fact, he never wanted his first kiss to be with Lucy while she was unconscious at all. He had thought of their relationship for a long time, even imagining them having their first kiss under the stars after a dinner that would leave both of them too stuffed to walk. They were supposed to be joking around, laughing, and he’d look at her, look into her brown, sparkling eyes, that held a universe inside of them, and he wouldn’t be able to contain himself, so he’d lean in and kiss her: and she’d kiss him back. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this, in a sterile bed, in the infirmary that had too bright lights, naked under blankets, Lucy dying in his hands.

Still, he didn’t dare to stop kissing her. And good thing he didn’t, because suddenly, for him out of nowhere, he felt her kiss him back.

In shock he pulled away, his eyes big as plates.

“L-lucy? You’re…” Silent tears kept falling onto Lucy’s face. Her eyelids fluttered, and after what felt like an eternity, they opened, her brown eyes glassy but unmistakably alive. She blinked up at him, her voice hoarse but clear.

"You’re… warm," she murmured, her lips curling into a weak but familiar smile.

Natsu laughed, tears streaming down his face. “Don’t scare me like that…” he muttered, a blush spreading across his face before he could stop it. "But you’re back. That’s all that matters."

Lucy slowly brought her hand up, cupping Natsu’s cheek.

“Did you kiss me?”

Natsu avoided her eyes, awkwardly tensing up.

“I thought Porlyusica said you’d have brain damage or something…” Lucy was quick to hit him on his arm.

“Are you stupid? Don’t wish I wouldn’t understand something like that!” Her voice was shrill, cutting through Natsu’s ears like knives, but today he didn’t care about that. He was insanely happy to have her back to normal.

He let out a chuckle, albeit against his own will.

“It’s not like I hoped for our first kiss to be like that.”

Lucy just smiled. She had put out a lot of energy right as she woke up: truth was, she still felt exhausted and honestly a bit dizzy. After getting a good look at Natsu, taking in his worried frown, his wet cheeks and reddened eyes, she closed her eyes again.

“What are you?! Lucy! Wake up!” He violently shook her this time, not allowing her to fade away again.

“Calm down,” she puffed, “I just need to rest a little.” Slowly she sneaked one eye open, observing Natsu as his wrinkle became more prominent.

“How do I know you won’t die in your sleep?”

“Well, for one you don’t keep believing that I will. Don’t manifest it.” She tried to joke, but it was apparent Natsu didn’t understand what she meant. She sighed. “Just… Stay here, please?”

She turned her body around so she laid on her stomach on top of him. It was at this moment she realised the attire they both were in.

“Natsu..?” She whispered against his chest.

“Yeah?” Natsu had started rubbing his hand against her back in a repetitive motion. This time he was making sure she’d stay alive.

“Why are we naked?”

Natsu didn’t know if the sound he let out was a chuckle or a sob – perhaps a mix of both. It was such a relief to hear her worry about her usual things.

“Don’t ya’ worry ‘bout it,” he smiled, continuing to rub her back.

“Well that’s not suspicious,” she mumbled as she slowly fell back to sleep. This time it felt better for Natsu: her body was warmer, her arms were hugging him back, and now he knew any major damages could be disregarded.

That’s when he heard Happy let out a cry of joy, flying up to nuzzle against her cheek. "Lushy! You’re okay!"

Natsu hurried to push him away with a harsh “shh”. Happy would start an argument hadn’t he seen the corners of Lucy’s mouth curl into a soft smile, her eyes opening briefly to greet her feline friend. Her heart twinged at his tearful eyes, but she still managed to give him a playful blink. She wanted to assure him she’d be back to normal soon. Porlyusica stepped forward into the room, her expression as stern as ever, but a hint of relief apparent in her eyes.

"She’s not out of the woods yet. Keep her warm and let her rest. But this… this is a good sign."

Natsu nodded, his arms tightening protectively around Lucy. 

"Ya’ don’t gotta worry. I have her."

Lucy’s eyes drifted closed again, her breathing steadying as she slipped into a more peaceful sleep. Happy hugged her shoulder tightly. He was so relieved that she was okay. And Natsu? He was beyond relief. If he could, he would have cloned himself so one of his bodies could do a celebratory dance, meanwhile the other could stay here, holding her tight, making sure she could stay comfortable for as long as she needed. He didn’t know any cloning magic though, so he let his imaginary clone work the floor beside the bed while Porlyusica hurried around the two of them, counting Lucy’s heartbeat, drawing her blood for testing, checking her pupils for dilating. Despite the worrying things she was doing to her, Natsu managed to stay calm. Maybe it was the deep breaths he felt against his torso, or the tiny, almost invisible nudging Lucy did to get her body closer to his, but Natsu felt at peace.

Everything would be fine. He wouldn’t let her go:  not now – not ever.

[littlestarbigsky]

I saw that you have Fic Requests open, and that you write for Stevepop... Would you ever write a Stevepop fic where Steve is helping Sodapop with his asthma?

- 🍀

i swear some of yall are in my walls bc i got this request right when i started posting about asthmatic soda so yea this was my jam anon thanks for the ask🫶🏻

i need winter break to go on forever ugh i love all this free timeeeeee

hope this is okay🩷

steve had barely made it out of the bullpen before soda was tackling him in a hug.

“you were amazing!” soda gasped, not caring that steve was sweaty and dirty and about fifty people could see them clear as day.

“i told you i would be,” steve wrapped his arms around soda’s waist and lifted him a few inches off the ground. “you worry too much about me darlin’, i’m fine.”

before they could get out of the way, a horse rode by in the pen next to them, kicking up a massive cloud dust and dirt, causing both of them to cough and gag for a few seconds. the second he got his wits about him, steve rubbed his eyes and grabbed soda’s arm to pull him away from the worst of it.

soda was still coughing as steve pulled him up next to ponyboy and johnny and the rest of the gang on the bleachers watching the rodeo.

“hey, you calm down,” steve coached him quietly, gesturing for him to sit down with ponyboy, but soda shook his head.

“i’m fine,” soda put his hand up and before steve could say anything, he was bolting off in another direction with two-bit to watch another event. steve felt the anxiety building in his chest. he nudged pony’s shoulder roughly.

“give me his inhaler, kid,” steve said to pony, gesturing to the kid’s backpack that was sitting on the bench in front of them. “i don’t like how much he was coughing.”

pony looked at steve nervously, “you think he’s gonna need it? should i get darry?”

steve shook his head, his eyes still trained on soda, “i don’t know, i’ll keep an eye on him for now. i’ll be with him for the rest of the night, it’s better for me to have it. don’t go buggin’ superman just yet, though.”

pony dug around in his bag for a moment before producing the inhaler, nervously handing it off to steve. steve ran after soda and two-bit, catching them just as they both won cowboy hats at one of the carnival games. soda howled with loud laughter, no trace of a wheeze in his voice, and steve felt something loosen in his chest.

they carried on goofing off until the sun began to set, which with work in the morning was steve and soda’s cue to start to head home. they had spent so much time laughing and fooling around that steve almost forgot about the inhaler stashed in his pocket. soda would cough a little every now and again, but it was a rodeo, there was dust everywhere. if something was wrong, they’d know.

“no way!” soda laughed as they walked through the parking lot. “you really think those soc boys are gonna bring that mustang to our shitty little shop?”

“that’s what marcia told two-bit… they seemed pretty pissed with how much it was gonna cost to get it fixed on the west side,” steve laughed. “plus, their girlfriends were going on and on about how handsome you are.”

“too bad they don’t know i’m off the market,” soda glanced around to make sure they were alone, then leaned in and kissed steve quickly.

steve wanted to appreciate the kiss, he really did, but something else he heard caught his attention.

his brows furrowed, “honey, you’re wheezing.”

soda rolled his eyes, “no, i’m not, stevie, you’re just worryin’ because of that dust cloud earlier.”

steve sighed, pulling the inhaler out of his pocket, “humor me and keep this on ya while i drive home?”

soda didn’t take it, walking to the other side of steve’s car and climbing into the passenger seat. steve started to drive them home, the light outside the car turning steadily purple, stealing glances at soda every few minutes.

they were a few minutes away from soda’s house when it started, and it happened so fast that they couldn’t have been ready for it if they wanted to be. soda let out a series of harsh, wet sounding coughs. steve’s head whipped onto him, and he could tell from the look on his eyes that they needed to be worried. steve tried to reach into his pocket and grab the inhaler, but between his seatbelt and trying to keep the car on the road, he couldn’t fish it out of his pocket. he slammed his foot down on the gas, searching frantically for a place to pull over.

“i know, baby, just try to keep breathing for me, i’m trying to find us a spot to stop.”

eventually, he managed to find a vacant-looking lot, where he pulled over and yanked his seatbelt off, ripping the inhaler from his pocket.

“hang on, i’ve got it, just one second.”

soda was still practically coughing up a lung, his cheeks bright red and his eyes brimming with tears. steve slid over in the bench seat of the car, pulling soda into his arms as he popped off the cap and got it into soda’s mouth.

“big breath for me, okay?”

soda looked up at him with huge glassy brown eyes, eyes that clearly said how much pain he was in, how he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to. god, steve couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen soda so scared.

“i know, baby, i know it hurts but please try for me,” steve pleaded through a growing lump in his throat and tears in his eyes, holding soda as tight as he could to his chest.

steve counted them down from three, puffing the inhaler at the same time soda took as deep a breath as he could manage. he coughed weakly, and steve pulled him closer, tucking soda’s head under his chin and sliding a cold hand up under his shirt to place it over soda’s chest.

“stay with me, breathe with me, it’s gonna be okay, i’ve got you,” steve mumbled, pressing soft kisses to soda’s hair and trying his best to keep his own breathing steady and calm.

after giving soda another puff a few minutes later, he had managed to stop coughing, but steve could still feel his chest contracting and he could still hear a wheeze in his lungs. he sat up a bit so soda could see his face, “you think you’re okay to get home? we can wait if you aren’t.”

soda nodded silently.

steve sighed, “i want you to use your nebulizer when we get there, i know you don’t like it, but i just want to be safe before you go to sleep.”

steve had been expecting soda to protest, he usually had a lot of trouble sleeping after a treatment, but soda nodded again and started to buckle himself back in. they drove the rest of the way home quietly, and when they parked the car outside the curtis house, steve came around to get soda into a piggyback to carry him inside.

“damn princess,” he mumbled, but soda could hear the smile on his face. soda just nosed his ear sweetly and kissed his temple gently, squeezing him a little tighter for a moment.

steve discarded soda on the couch when he kicked the door open, “stay there, i’ll bring it out here.”

soda sat and waited patiently for steve to get back. he could still feel the tightness in his chest, and he knew darry would probably smack him if he had an asthma attack and didn’t do a treatment after the fact, especially if his inhaler hadn’t completely taken care it. it was probably the first time in months that he had been quiet for more than a few minutes, but he didn’t really feel like he could get words out if he had wanted to.

steve came back into the room with their biggest and comfiest blanket, a glass of water, and soda’s nebulizer.

“call me a princess again,” soda giggled.

steve leaned over and kissed him sweetly, throwing the blanket over him, “don’t tempt me, you know i’m right.”

steve finished setting up the nebulizer, starting the treatment and handing soda the mouthpiece. he crawled up next to soda and pulled him back into his side, soda tossing the blanket over both of them and snuggling into steve as he breathed in his medicine, his lungs finally starting to open back up.

he leaned his head against steve’s chest and whispered, “you know i’m not gonna sleep for three days now, right?”

steve sighed fondly, tucking soda into him, “i know.”

[mesopelagos]

i am not a pattern to be followed

[7roaches]

i think all he knows how to make is bowl of cereals & even that he burns sometimes