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petersasteria · 4 years ago

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The Life of A Mobster's Wife || Arvin Russell

Russell || Main || Taglist

Mob!Arvin x Reader (Modern AU) Requested? Nah 9,818 words (pls send feedback bc this is the longest mob fic i've done and i want to know if it's alright or if i should just leave the mob au alone sksk) W: asshole!arvin, doesn't follow canon, curse words, killing, cheating, so many fucked up shit

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Being married to a mobster wasn’t easy. Everything has to be kept under wraps whilst having a lavish lifestyle. But when you’re young, you’re naive and you think that everything will work out and you’ll live happily ever after like some Disney fairytale. Everyone seems to forget that Disney princess stories were adapted from the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen. You didn’t know that your life would take such a dark turn the moment you met Arvin. The second he smiled at you, you were a goner. You were hooked on him; addicted. Everything should’ve been a red flag and the people around you told you that something about him seemed off. That should have alarmed you, but you took what they said personally. One by one, they all left you and only Arvin was left by your side. That should have been a sign too.

You told yourself that you’d be happy and you were. You were together for six months and then you got married. Now, six years later, you have a son who just turned six and a husband who doesn’t even sleep in the same bed as you anymore. You didn’t know what went wrong, but everything suddenly changed.

Arvin made sure you and your son were away from him, so he bought a big apartment in the Upper East Side for both of you. Arvin would stay there sometimes, but most of the time, he was working; killing, kidnapping people for ransom, selling weapons, selling drugs, etc. He wanted you away from those especially, Hayden; your son.

You wanted for things to change because Hayden hardly ever sees Arvin and they don’t have a connection. You also wanted another baby and you felt like Arvin was too busy for that. Wanting to focus on your husband, you decided it was best to hire a nanny to attend to your son’s needs. However, it was difficult to look for a nanny when you’re keeping everything a secret. You were lucky enough to hire a personal doctor.

Amelia Avery Hudson is a trauma surgeon, but you hired her as your personal doctor to treat your husband and his men if they have wounds. The other doctors you asked turned down your offer. When you asked Amelia, she immediately agreed. Amelia didn’t really have a choice. She applied because she needed to pay her student loans back. Plus, she needed to keep a roof over her head and rent was expensive in New York. She’s a fresh graduate and she had trouble finding a job that fitted her career path. Your offer was perfect and she saw it just in time. She hoped that no one took the job yet and luck was on her side because she’s been your personal doctor ever since.

Amelia’s only there during the evening from 7PM until 12 midnight. Having signed an NDA, she had no one to tell about the things she’s seen. She knew that if she even tried, Arvin would somehow find out and kill her with no mercy. She didn’t want to risk it.

Amelia’s feisty, but she was nice. The poor girl had a terrible life. She kept moving from one foster home to another when she was younger. Because of that, she grew up strong. She’s a remarkable woman and you were glad that you met her. You weren’t close, but you had a good relationship with her. Sometimes, she’d entertain Hayden which meant a lot to you.

You put up a poster for the nanny position and a few applicants were interested. You looked through their resumes and interviewed them one by one. Out of everyone, only one person stood out. Her name was Celeste.

“Tell me more about yourself, Celeste.” You smiled at her. You didn’t feel comfortable interviewing people in your apartment, so you always made sure the interviewees met you in your favorite restaurant in the upper east side.

“I-I’m Celeste Regina Dela Cruz. Eighteen years old. Um-”

“I know those things.” You laughed. “It’s on your resume. Just loosen up and tell me about yourself. Would it make you more comfortable if I went first?”

Celeste nodded, clearly intimidated. You smiled and said, “I’m Y/N Russell and I never finished college because I got married. I dropped out and left everything behind to be with my husband. I was also pregnant when we got married, so we never really had a decent alone time. I volunteer a lot for my son’s school and I make sure that my son has everything. Right now, he’s on a waiting list for multiple colleges.”

“Wait, how old is he?”

“He’s 6 years old.” You said before taking a sip of water. “It’s nice to be prepared, though. At least we know that he has a slot when the time comes.”

Celeste nodded and you motioned for her to start talking about herself. She widened her eyes and opened her mouth to talk, but the waiter arrived with your food. You both thanked the waiter and began eating.

“Please continue, Celeste.” You said as you took a bite of your food.

“I’m Celeste and I’m from the Philippines.” She said. “No wonder your accent is thick.” You pointed out and nodded for her to continue.

“I was able to come here because my tita- ay sorry- aunt; my aunt brought me here a year ago. I graduated high school, but I can’t go to college yet because my aunt is sick and she’s the one who pays for my schooling. College is very expensive and we can’t afford it anymore because of my aunt’s medicines.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” You frowned. You felt bad, truly. Here you were, a college dropout but you’re living a luxurious lifestyle. Of course, that’s all thanks to Arvin. You were just lucky that you married a rich man. But as you sat in front of Celeste, you felt the need to do something nice for her. After all, in your mind, she was hired already.

“Oh, it’s okay.” Celeste smiled. “We’re getting by. My friend told me to apply to you and that’s why I’m here.”

“I understand.” You said as you folded your hands on the table. “When can you start?”

“Ha? What?” Celeste furrowed her eyebrows.

“You’re hired, Celeste.” You chuckled. “When can you start?”

“Um… as soon as possible!” Celeste exclaimed and you nodded.

“Pack your things and I’ll send for Pemberley to pick you up at your home address. I’d just like to confirm that your address on your resume is still your home, yes?” You asked and she nodded quickly.

“Okay. I’ll give it to Pemberley. He’ll pick you up at 9:30AM sharp.” You grinned. You both shook hands and continued eating.

The next day, you welcomed Celeste in your apartment and gave her a tour. She looked amazed at everything and it was entertaining to see. You told her that she wasn’t allowed in the master bedroom unless told and she wasn’t allowed in Arvin’s office.

You looked at your watch and gasped, “Oh, my! I’m late for a meeting. Make yourself at home and don’t forget to pick up Hayden from pre-school at 2:15. I have a note for you in your room. Please read it.” You quickly grabbed your bag and coat and left.

Celeste stood there and made her way to her room. After roaming around for 2 minutes, she finally saw her room and read the note.

Hello, Celeste! These are the rules:

Hayden can’t eat seafood. He is allergic.

No sugar-y or chocolate-y drinks before bed. Only one glass of milk with no sugar.

Sandwiches are not allowed to be eaten in his room because of crumbs.

If Hayden has no classes, you may take him to the park or the museum. As long as there are only a few people.

Stay away from crowded places. I beg.

Give Hayden a bath before bed.

Call me only when severe emergencies happen.

Your laundry schedule is the same as Hayden’s; TTh.

Always bring a small first aid kit in your bag and make sure you have a full container of hand sanitizer AT ALL TIMES.

Keep an eye on Hayden. He is your main priority.

P.S. Have fun! Eat whatever you want and if you need anything, please give Jose your own list before he goes grocery shopping.

Celeste taped the note on the wall next to her bed and started unpacking her things. She looked at her watch and realized that it was time to pick up Hayden from school. She quickly grabbed her small bag and ran to the front door.

Hayden’s school was just around the corner, so it was easy for Celeste to pick him up. There were many nannies waiting for kids to be picked up and Celeste was a bit overwhelmed that her job was actually starting. She never had training or anything.

A few more minutes of waiting, the door opened and out came a plethora of running and screaming children. During the apartment tour you gave her from hours before, she remembered you showing her a family picture that was recently taken. With that in mind, Celeste was able to remember what Hayden looked like.

Celeste looked around and saw a young boy by the steps, looking around. “Hayden!” Celeste shouted, causing the boy to look at her. Celeste walked over and said, “Hayden Russell?”

The boy nodded. She smiled, “I’m your new nanny. My name is Celeste.”

Using his manners, Hayden shook Celeste’s hand. Celeste grinned and took Hayden’s bag from him. She held his hand and they walked home. The walk home was short and quiet, but it was comfortable. When they walked into the fancy apartment building and into the elevator, Hayden spoke up.

“Can I call you ‘Celie’, instead? Like a super agent secret name? It’ll be cool.” Hayden said, causing Celeste to smile at him.

“Sure!” Celeste said.

When they arrived in the apartment unit, you were already home. Hayden ran up to you and you bent down to pick him up and hug him.

“How was school?” You asked as you kissed his forehead.

“It was fun! We learned so many things and we had arts and crafts and we-”

“That’s great, sweetie!” You smiled before putting him down. “You can play sudoku in the living room.”

Hayden made a face, “But I hate sudoku.”

“Yes, but it’ll help you stimulate your brain. Think of it as a mental exercise.” You grinned before softly nudging him to the living room where his sudoku book was waiting for him on the coffee table. Hayden begrudgingly walked to the living room and you turned to Celeste, “We need to talk.”

You turned around and walked to your husband’s office. He wasn’t there anyway and you had the freedom to speak business there. “Follow me.” You said without looking behind you. Celeste was scared shitless. She did the sign of the cross and prayed on her way to Arvin’s office.

“Aba Ginoong Maria, napupuno ka ng grasya, Ang Panginoong Diyos ay sumasaiyo. Bukod kang pinagpala sa babaeng lahat at pinagpala rin naman ang anak mong si Hesus. Santa Maria, Ina ng Diyos, ipanalangin mo kaming makasalanan ngayon at kung kami’y mamamatay. Amen. (Hail Mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you amongst women and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners. Now and at the hour of our death. Amen.)” Celeste muttered under her breath. You opened the door to Arvin’s office and was immediately met with the darkness due to the closed curtains and lights that were not switched on. The only light present was the sun’s light peeping through the spaces between the curtains. You walked in and Celeste followed suit and closed the door behind her.

You sat on Arvin’s chair and read the papers that you previously laid there on the table. “Please, sit.” You motioned for her to sit in front of you and she did.

“I told you that I had a meeting earlier. I met with important people and we went through your records.” You told Celeste. Celeste knew that she didn’t do anything wrong and that she had a clean record, but that didn’t stop her from worrying.

Was she in trouble for declining her father’s call from the Philippines? Or perhaps she was in trouble for cursing her cousin. She wasn’t sure.

“And I’d like to applaud you for having remarkable and outstanding grades. Straight A’s?! I didn’t know you were smart. You didn’t put in your resume that you were a valedictorian.” You smiled sweetly. You were impressed.

“I didn’t put it because I don’t want to be hired because I’m a valedictorian. I want to be hired because you want me for the job.” Celeste said and you nodded in understanding.

“That’s very humble of you.” You smiled. “Anyway, I submitted your records to multiple colleges and they immediately got back to me.”

You opened the drawer and took out at least ten envelopes from well known universities. You handed the envelopes to her and motioned for her to read each one.

Yale University

Stanford University

Harvard University

New York University

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Cornell University

Brown University

University of California, Los Angeles

University of Pennsylvania

Columbia University

“I want you to look through those and read each one. You also have the freedom to check each university’s website to see what they look and what they offer and if what they’re offering is what you want, tell me.” You told her.

“That’s very nice of you, ma’am.” Celeste said, clearly overwhelmed with what you just told her. “I can’t afford it. It’s too- mahal. Ang mahal po kasi.(expensive. It’s too expensive.)”

You stared at her as she spoke to you in a foreign language. Not just any foreign language, her native language. She quickly realized what she said and said, “The tuition fee is too expensive.”

“You know, for a valedictorian, you’re kind of slow.” You joked. “Sweetie, you don’t have to worry about it because we’ll pay for your tuition fee.”

She gasped and squealed, “Thank you!”. She jumped out of her chair, did a small dance, and went up to hug you which took you by surprise. You smiled brightly and patted her arm as a sign of affection. It felt nice to do something good for once even though your husband does a lot of bad things. Sometimes you think that all the good things you’ve done are payback for all the bad things Arvin has done.

Celeste quickly let go of you and went back to her seat. She cleared her throat and apologized and you waved your hand and said that it was nothing. You debated with yourself on whether you should tell Celeste about your husband’s mob or not. You decided against it and told yourself that you’ll tell her when she asks.

“I’ll enroll you in any university you pick and I’ll make an arrangement that your tasks during the day until you pick up Hayden, are done face to face. Meaning, you’ll physically attend classes at the university of choice. Of course, that only applies here in New York.” You explained.

“Should you choose a university that isn't in New York, you'll be enrolled in online classes." You told her and she nodded.

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you so much!" Celeste said sincerely which made you smile.

"You're welcome. Study well and you can join Hayden in the living room now. I'm sure he's done with his sudoku. He should be reading his French book now." You said as you looked at the time on your phone before standing up. Celeste stood up too and held the letters close to her chest.

"I think my husband is coming home tonight, so we'll eat dinner at his favorite restaurant. Get ready at 6PM. Knowing him, he'll be late." You said and left the office with Celeste following behind. She closed the door and quickly went to the living room to check out the letters.

You went straight to your shared bedroom with Arvin and quickly went to your walk in closet that Arvin built for you. You scanned through the rack for dresses and scanned through multiple shoes to match your dress. You knew it was still 3:30PM, but you liked being prepared.

Your phone rang and you immediately answered it without looking to see who it was. “Hello?” You answered while grabbing a cerulean colored cocktail dress from the rack and holding it against you and checking it in front of a mirror.

“Y/N, honey, it’s me.” Arvin said. His voice was raspy and there’s no doubt that it’s because of his smoking habit. He’s trying to lessen it because according to him, he didn’t want to have cancer and he didn’t want his life cut short. Despite that, he still smoked… less than before. He was really trying. Key word: trying.

“You’re smoking right now, huh?” You asked, already tired of his shit. You loved him so much, but you didn’t have the energy of being his wife anymore. Probably because he doesn’t treat you like one.

“Mind your own business, woman!” Arvin hissed. You knew he didn’t mean it, but it still kind of hurt. “I’m just worried about you and you said that you’ll lessen the smoking.” You said calmly. You didn’t want to fight with him; it’s useless.

“I am. This is my third stick today and it’s late in the afternoon.” Arvin said, pushing his hair back. “Anyway, I called to tell you that I’ll be coming home tonight and I’m sleeping there.”

“Wow, it’s been a while. How long will you stay here?” You asked, hiding your excitement.

“I’m taking 7 days off. Starting tomorrow.” Arvin said. He gathered his things, got up from his seat and walked out of his office. “I’m leaving The Hamptons as we speak.”

“Alright. I’ll be waiting for you.” You said.

“What’re you up to right now, darling?” He asked, exiting the mansion and went straight to the limo. The door was being held open by Jeeves, the chauffeur. Arvin got inside and Jeeves closed the door before quickly getting in and driving.

“I’m picking a dress for tonight. I made reservations because you’re coming home.” You told him and he smiled.

“That’s sweet of you, darling. I’ll text you when I’m almost home, okay?” Arvin said.

“Oh, ok-”

Arvin hung up the phone and you sighed. You put the phone on top of the small chair before picking another dress.

Hours later, you received a text from Arvin saying that he was already around the corner and that he’ll just wait for you in the limo. You quickly finished getting ready and walked out of your room wearing a steel blue dress that you knew Arvin loved. You wore heels that matched it and wore dangling earrings that you wore on your wedding anniversary.

Celeste was wearing a polka-dotted blouse and a skirt that ran until her knees. She was wearing an old pair of Mary Jane’s and her hair was neatly combed. She had a hairpin to clip it back and on her shoulder, was a ‘nanny bag’ that you gave her. Hayden was wearing black pants and a button up that you bought last year. He was wearing black sneakers to match his outfit.

All three of you left the apartment and quickly made your way to the elevator. The elevator ride was short and before you knew it, you were in the lobby. Seeing the limo from afar, Hayden ran towards it causing Celeste to run after him. You walked quickly knowing that Arvin hated waiting.

Hayden opened the limo’s door and went inside to give his father a hug. “I missed you, daddy!” Hayden said with a smile and kissed his cheek. Arvin hugged back tightly and kissed the top of his head.

Arvin loved Hayden. The boy was like a copy of him and Hayden was Arvin’s most prized possession. He was the reason that Arvin worked hard and he was the reason that Arvin is sane. Although he doesn’t mind having more kids, Hayden was more than enough for him and he was content with that.

“I missed you too, buddy!” Arvin smiled widely and sat Hayden on his lap. Hayden started talking about what happened while he was away and Arvin was listening. Celeste went inside the limo and sat across from Arvin causing him to glance at Celeste up and down with furrowed eyebrows. You quickly got in the limo next to Arvin and closed the door. Jeeves asked if everyone was ready and you said yes. Jeeves started driving and he turned the music down a bit.

This caught your attention and you internally groaned. You looked at Arvin and quietly said, “Really? You’re playing this music again?”

Not leaving his gaze on Celeste, he said, “My limo, my music.”

You rolled your eyes and looked out the window. Arvin’s music played through the speakers and you decided to help yourself with a glass of champagne just to get through the night.

“Are you washed? (Are you washed?) In the blood (In the blood) In the soul cleansing blood of the lamb?”

The music filled the quiet limo, Hayden stopped talking a minute ago, finding the scenery more amusing than his own stories. Arvin nudged you and whispered, “Who the hell is the chick?”

“Hayden’s new nanny.” You whispered. “I hired her yesterday. She’s from the Philippines and-”

“You know what? I’ll interview her during dinner.” Arvin cut you off. “I already interviewed her and she’s qualified.” You hissed.

“Really? Doesn’t seem like it.” Arvin said. “I’ll do the talking. You already got to know her and it’s my turn now. I want the best for my son.”

“She’s very intelligent, you know.”

“I don’t give a shit, Y/N.”

“Daddy said a no-no word.” Hayden said, his eyes not leaving the window. “Also, can I get a puppy? Jason’s daddy bought him a new puppy and I want one too.”

“Tomorrow.” Arvin answered. “I’ll pick you up after school and we’ll buy a puppy.”

“Arvin, babe, he’s not responsible enough for a puppy yet.” You told him, but Arvin shrugged you off. He didn’t care what you thought. If his son wants a puppy, he’s getting a puppy.

You arrived at the restaurant and immediately got out of the car. You went down first and Hayden followed after. Arvin glanced at Celeste and motioned for her to get out first and she did. Arvin was last and he closed the door behind him. “Buy yourself some food, Jeeves.” Arvin said as he handed $200 to Jeeves through the driver’s side. “Pick us up when I text you. Don’t be too far, alright?”

“Yes, sir.” Jeeves said before driving off.

You all waited for Arvin and all four of you entered the fancy restaurant. The hostess led you to your table that had a small card that said: ‘Reserved for Mrs. Russell’ in cursive. All four of you sat down and the hostess provided menus for you, Arvin, and Celeste. A kids’ menu was handed to Hayden and he smiled and thanked the hostess. Holding a menu made Hayden feel like a real man. He wanted to be just like his father and that scared you because Hayden doesn’t know about Arvin’s job. Neither did Celeste and you felt sick to your stomach knowing that you brought two innocent people in danger. If things get worse, you’ll fire Celeste and let her go back to her family while you make sure that traces of her are gone. After all, if they find Celeste, she might get killed. Chances are, her family gets killed too. It’s all connected.

Anyway, all Hayden knew was that his father takes down bad guys. To him, Arvin’s a hero. But you knew better. Hayden will find out when he’s older. One day, he’ll understand that not all people who take down bad guys are heroes.

You all ordered and handed the hostess back the menus. Arvin took a sip of his water and cleared his throat before turning his attention to Celeste. “What’s your name, and where are you from?” Arvin asked.

Celeste stared at him in shock, “A-Are you talking to me, sir?”

“Who else would I be talking to? Of course, I’m talking to you.” He scoffed which made you slap his arm lightly. “Introduce yourself to me. We haven’t met and if my wife thinks you’re qualified for this job, it is also my right to see if you’re qualified as well.”

“U-Um, okay. My name is Celeste Regina Dela Cruz and I’m from the Philippines. My aunt brought me here last year. I only graduated high school and-”

“Alright. How did you find out about this job?” Arvin asked.

“My friend told me about it, so I applied.” Celeste said. A waiter came by and poured champagne on yours and Arvin’s glasses while he poured water on Celeste’s and Hayden’s.

Arvin nodded, “Alright. Were you a nanny before this?”

“No, sir.” Celeste answered.

“So, what makes you qualified for this job? Why are you here?” Arvin questioned.

“I’m here because… I want to work and I think that being a nanny is the only way.” Celeste answered and Arvin nodded before turning to you.

“Have you discussed her salary?” He asked and you shook your head. He nodded and turned to Celeste, “Will $100 a day be enough?”

“Yes, sir.” Celeste nodded furiously.

“Alright, then. $100, it is. I’ll give you extra if you’re good.” He said before taking out his phone and kept himself busy. You gave Celeste a tight lipped smile and did the same.

What Arvin said struck a nerve on you. You knew of his affairs and ladies, that’s why you never visited your mansion in The Hamptons. You knew there’d be a plethora of girls who are throwing themselves at your husband. You also knew that he wasn’t faithful and you knew that because he smelled like women’s perfume and sometimes he’d have a smudge of foundation on his white shirt. You stayed with him anyway.

“Thank you, sir.” Celeste said with a small smile. She turned her attention to Hayden and entertained him with stories from back home.

“How was work?” You asked Arvin and he shrugged.

“Nothing special. Rodriguez finally paid back what he owes, so that’s that. Also, dad visited me this morning. He said that he wanted to see Hayden. I told him I’ll think about it.” Arvin said with no emotion.

Arvin’s relationship with his dad, Willard, was rocky. It was no secret that Arvin preferred the company of his mom rather than his dad. Charlotte, Arvin’s mom, was the sweetest lady you’ve ever met. She helped you with your pregnancy and she’s the one who told Arvin to keep you away from the mob things. She didn’t want Hayden to grow up in such a bloody environment. Besides, it wasn’t safe. She’d occasionally visit you and Hayden when she’s not busy.

“How were things while I was gone?” Arvin asked.

“Same old. The only new thing was hiring Celeste.” You told him and he nodded. He moved closer to you and asked in a low voice, “Does she know?”

You shook your head and he nodded, “Good. It should be kept that way.”

“We’ll be paying for her college education.” You said quietly and Arvin’s head quickly turned to you as he glared daggers at you. You paid him no mind as you took a sip of your champagne. “We’ll talk later.” Arvin said sternly.

The waiter arrived with your orders and all four of you began eating in silence. Celeste was too awkward to start a conversation, Hayden didn’t know what to say, Arvin will talk to you later in his office, and you didn’t want to engage in a conversation nor start it.

After that, you ordered desserts. You initially didn’t plan to order any, but Hayden wanted the strawberry cake that he saw at the other table. Therefore, Arvin ordered four slices of that. As Arvin took bites of it, he chuckled which made you look at him through your peripheral vision.

“What’s so funny?” You asked, before eating the cake that was on your fork and chewing it. Arvin shook his head, “Nothing. I just remembered our wedding cake. It was similar to this.”

You smiled at the thought and nodded, “Yeah, they are similar.”

Your complicated marriage with Arvin made you stressed. You didn’t know how to act around him, but he was a great actor. He acted like he wasn’t cheating on you, he acted like he wanted the domesticated life, he acted like everything about his family was normal, and above all, he acted like he was still in love with you.

The truth is, Arvin isn’t in love with you anymore. But he loved you; he still does. He will never stop loving and caring about you. He just doesn’t get the same feelings as he used to. Before, one look at you gave him butterflies in his stomach and the world turned into slow motion. Now, he looks at you and he feels nothing. In his mind, you’re just his wife and the mother of his child. He didn’t know what to do anymore, but he knew he couldn’t leave you. Leaving you would ruin him because he knew you’d take Hayden away from him.

Being unfaithful wasn’t part of his plan, but it just happened. Then it kept happening with different girls and he hated himself every time. He knew that you knew. After all, he wasn’t discreet about it either. Both of you just pretend that nothing’s happening, it’s all swept under the rug and it’s killing you.

After dessert, Arvin texted Jeeves to pick you up as you called a waiter for your bill. After paying, Jeeves was already outside. Celeste got up from her seat and carried Hayden, who was falling asleep already. You and Arvin followed.

The ride home was shorter and quicker. When you arrived in the apartment, Celeste went straight to Hayden’s room with him fast asleep in her arms. Arvin cleared his throat which caught your attention. You looked at him and he nodded his head towards his office. He went there and you trailed behind him.

When he opened the door, he switched on the lights and went straight to his desk. You entered and closed the door. You sat in front of him and waited for him to talk.

“Since when were we paying for someone else’s education?” Arvin asked.

“Since now.” You answered boldly. He bit the inside of his cheek and nodded, “Why?”

“I’ve seen her records. She’s a valedictorian and she deserves to go to college. Her aunt can’t pay for it and I volunteered. It’s a little ‘thank you’ for taking care of Hayden. Taking care of a child isn’t easy.” You explained.

“That’s her job. Her little ‘thank you’ is her salary.” Arvin said with his thick accent.

“She deserves more than that.” You told him. “We have so much money, anyway. Paying for her college education won’t even cause a dent in our bank account. Besides, you told her that if she’s good, you’ll give her extra cash. Now, what do you mean by that?”

You and Arvin stared at each other in silence. The tension was thick. It was obvious that you both have problems that you refused to bring up.

“Let’s go to bed.” Arvin said after a minute. He stood up and you stood up too. Both of you left his office and he turned the lights off. He went straight to your shared bedroom and you went to Hayden’s bedroom. When you peeked inside, Hayden was already asleep and wearing his pajamas. You took off your shoes and walked to his bed. You laid down next to him and hugged him as tears streamed down your face.

Being Arvin’s wife wasn’t easy and it wasn’t like the fantasy you had initially thought. You wanted a happy family, but Arvin doesn’t even lay with you anymore. Your day was tiring and chaotic with a mix of high and low emotions. You knew that it would repeat the next day and you already dreaded it. For now, you’ll just cuddle your 6-year-old son and try to get some sleep.

The next few days consisted of doing your daily tasks. The only difference is, Arvin was home and he joined in various tasks. He accompanied Celeste in picking up Hayden at school and true to his word, Arvin bought Hayden a puppy.

Now, the puppy is part of your daily tasks too. Hayden named his puppy 'Jack' and he loved it. Part of his new daily life, Hayden always made sure that Jack was nearby whenever he did anything whether it be sudoku or reading his French picture books.

Arvin loved Jack too. He even swore to Jack that he'd come home often. You rolled your eyes at that, but chose not to say anything. While you thought that nothing in your marriage will surprise you, you thought wrong. After his 7 days off, Arvin came home every night solely because of Jack and Hayden.

'Perfect.' You thought. 'At least he's coming home every night.'

It was now Sunday which meant that Hayden had horseback riding lessons at the back of your mansion in The Hamptons. Celeste was watching over Hayden with her cheap sunglasses on. The skirt of her dress was slightly lifting up due to the wind. You offered your hat to her, but she declined. She said that she was used to the sun because of the weather in the Philippines.

You and Arvin were in his office looking over Celeste’s university of choice. You were making calls and Arvin was checking out the university’s website on his laptop. You were currently on hold and you grabbed Celeste’s acceptance letter from Arvin’s desk. The envelope was open and you sat down on Arvin’s desk as you took out the letter from the envelope and read it.

Cornell University

Celeste Regina Dela Cruz 2264 Oak Street Manhattan, New York 10021

Dear Celeste Regina:

Congratulations on your acceptance into the College of Engineering at Cornell University! We are very pleased to be welcoming you to this coming academic year.

Very soon, you will receive your official letter of acceptance from us in the mail. We are excited that you will be joining the Cornell community and know that you will make a very positive contribution to the university.

Best regards,

Amanda K. Bishop Associate Vice Provost for Enrollment Cornell University

ENROLL AND DEPOSIT ONLINE: Please retain the URL and PIN provided in the notification email you received, as well as the password you created to view this letter. You will need all three in order to log in again to complete the Enrollment Response Form and submit your enrollment deposit.

You finished reading and before you knew it, you weren’t on hold anymore. You began talking to the person in charge and Arvin glanced at you from time to time while scrolling through Cornell’s website.

“I think she’ll enjoy Cornell, darling.” Arvin said, exiting Cornell’s site and you glanced at him and gave him a thumbs up before turning your attention to the call again. After an hour, you end the call and turn to Arvin.

“They agreed to let her do online classes and occasionally attend classes physically.” You informed him and he nodded.

“Do you think Hayden will get into Cornell? It’s a nice university.” Arvin asked. “I don’t really care where he gets in. I’ll be proud regardless.”

You gave him a small smile and said, “That’s wonderful. Speaking of Hayden, his horseback riding lessons should be done by now. Let’s go.”

You left Arvin’s office and he quickly followed behind you. “Is there something wrong?” He asked and you shook your head, not saying anything.

Days went on that way. You talked to Arvin less and less and he was starting to catch on to that. He also noticed that you don’t sleep next to him anymore and that you always made sure that you weren’t home when he comes home from the mob business.

The party was in full swing and the children were having so much fun. Arvin wasn’t a fan of parties, but he decided that it would be nice to have other children around the apartment. Hayden’s friends and classmates played around and the nannies were all huddled in one corner as they watched the children. Some of them even played with Jack.

You were with the parents and you couldn’t find Arvin. It was time for Hayden to blow the candles and you wanted you and Arvin to be there beside him. You looked for him everywhere and you forgot to check his home office. ‘He’s most likely in there.’ You told yourself.

Without knocking, you walked in and gasped when you saw the sight in front of you. The back of Arvin’s chair was facing you, but you didn’t need the chair to fully face you to know what they’re doing. A young woman, in her early 20s, was sitting on Arvin’s lap and you could see her bouncing up and down. Arvin wasn’t even hiding the fact that he was enjoying it. You quickly left and closed the door.

You knew he was cheating on you, but seeing him in action made it so real. You told yourself that you weren’t going to cry, but the tears you held back were freely streaming down your face. You quickly wiped them away and Celeste saw you.

“Ma’am, are you okay?” She asked. She was worried about you. You faked a smile and nodded, “Yeah, I’m alright. I just can’t believe that Hayden is 7 already! Time flies by so fast.”

Celeste nodded and smiled, “Okay. Hayden wants to blow his cake now.”

“Okay. Tell him to get ready.” You told her and she nodded, quickly leaving you alone. You glanced at the door of Arvin’s office and debated on calling Arvin’s attention or not. You decided that you weren’t going to call for him. If he cared about the little family you made, he would have the decency to not cheat on you on your son’s birthday. With that in mind, you held your head high and walked to the kitchen where everyone was waiting. Hayden was sitting on the bar stool while his cake was placed in front of him, on top of the countertop.

You smiled brightly at him and stood next to him. You kissed his cheek and gave him a side hug. “Where’s daddy?” Hayden asked you, looking up at you with innocent eyes.

“He’s busy cheating on mommy, sweetheart.” You wanted to say so bad, but you held back. It wasn’t nice to bring personal problems to parties. Especially your 7-year-old son’s party.

“He’s answering an important call for work, buddy. He’ll catch up later.” You lied. Hayden frowned, but his mood changed when everyone started singing ‘Happy Birthday’ while some took pictures of you two. Celeste lit the candle that was shaped like the number 7. After the song, Hayden closed his eyes and made a wish before blowing his candle. Everyone clapped and you gave everyone a slice of cake.

When everyone was eating, Arvin finally walked out of his office with the young woman with him. He gave her $100 and whispered, “This is for not telling anyone and for spending time with me.” He winked at her and she blushed before quickly walking off to the kid she was watching.

Unbeknownst to them, Celeste saw the whole thing. She looked at you, Hayden, and Arvin and she looked torn. She wanted to tell you, but she was scared of Arvin. She thought that he was sketchy and she didn’t fully trust him. If she doesn't tell you, she’ll feel bad. So she quickly went to her room, called her sister and sat on her bed.

Toni, her sister, answered, “Oh, bakit ka napatawag? (Why did you call?)”

“May chika ako! Tangina, ‘di ko alam kung ano gagawin ko. (I have tea! Fuck, I don’t know what to do.)” Celeste said. She was panicking in her room and she truly didn’t know what to do.

“Ano ‘yon? (What is it?)” Toni asked.

“‘Di ako sigurado pero parang nambababae itong tatay ng alaga ko. Sabihin ko kaya sa asawa niya? (I’m not sure, but I think the dad of the kid I’m taking care of is cheating on his wife. What if I tell his wife?)” Celeste bit her nails nervously. Toni was quiet and said, “Ikaw bahala. Kung sa tingin mong kakainin ka ng konsensya mo, sabihin mo na. Kung kaya mong magkunwari na wala kang alam, edi ‘wag mo sabihin. (It’s up to you. If you think that your conscience will eat you alive, tell her. If you can pretend that you don’t know anything, then don’t say anything.)”

“Kung ikaw nasa pwesto ko, ano gagawin mo? (If you were in my place, what would you do?)”

“Wala. Kunwari wala akong alam. Saka ko na lang sasabihin pag tinanong ako. (Nothing. I’ll pretend that I don’t know anything. I’ll just tell her if she asks me.)” Toni answered.

“Sige. Chat nalang kita mamaya. Kailangan na ako sa labas. (Okay. I’ll chat with you later. I think they need me outside.)”

“Okay, bye!” Toni said before hanging up. Celeste took a deep breath and walked out of her room.

Some people were already leaving and Celeste immediately grabbed a big garbage bag to pick up the paper plates and paper cups that were left behind.

“Where have you been?” You asked Celeste sweetly. She jumped at the sound of your voice which was weird because she wasn’t jumpy.

“I-I went to my room to talk to my sister.” Celeste said. It was true, but she didn’t tell you why. You nodded and said, “Send her my regards.”

Celeste nodded and proceeded to clean up. You walked away and thanked your guests for coming to Hayden’s party. You’ve been avoiding Arvin for hours now and it was like he wanted to talk to you alone. You didn’t want to.

When everything was clean, it was already time for Hayden’s nighttime yoga routine. He quickly went to his room and started getting dressed in his yoga outfit. Celeste went to her room to grab her books, so that she could read while Hayden did his yoga. Jack went with them and Celeste was more than happy to know that the dog was joining them.

It was only you and Arvin in the living room. The tension was thick. You closed the door after the last guest left and Arvin started talking, “Why didn’t you call me when Hayden blew out his candle?”

“Was I supposed to?” You snapped and gave him a death glare which he seemed to return.

“Of course you were supposed to! I’m his dad and I should be there for him!”

“Why weren’t you present for most of the day, then? Where were you when I needed you? Where were you when I needed help with Hayden’s gifts? When I needed someone to give drinks to the adults, where were you? You weren’t around, Arvin. You were busy with God knows what!” You raised your voice.

“What are you saying?!” Arvin shouted.

“I’m saying that you’re not there for me and you haven’t been for a long fucking time!” You shouted back. This started a screaming match between the two of you. You didn’t even notice how loud you were shouting.

Hayden stopped doing yoga and looked at Celeste, “What’s going on?” Celeste looked at Hayden while listening closely. She sighed and told him, “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

Celeste walked out of Hayden’s room not knowing that Hayden followed her out. She only realized that Hayden followed her when she heard Hayden shout, “Stop fighting!”

You and Arvin stopped to turn your heads to Hayden who was already crying at the sight of his angry parents. The sight of Hayden crying made you cry too. You walked towards him, but he ran away to hide in his room. He locked the door and Celeste was just standing there awkwardly.

You wiped away your tears and to your surprise, Celeste spoke up. “Ma’am, sir, um, please don’t fight anymore because Hayden will not like it. If you can’t stop fighting each other, do it for Hayden.” Celeste said softly as she looked at both of you.

“Hayden is a very nice kid and he’s very smart and he’s very obedient. He does everything you tell him to do even if he doesn’t like it because he knows that it will make you happy. He doesn’t deserve to have parents that are fighting all the time and he doesn’t deserve a family that has problems. If you have problems, just talk about it. Don’t yell.” Celeste told both of you. She was trying to be a peacemaker and both of you commended her for it. It wasn’t her job to be a peacemaker, but she’s being one right now.

“Sir, I saw you a while ago at the party with a girl and you gave her money. Being unfaithful is not nice. You should be faithful to your wife because she’s doing her best. If you don’t love her anymore, why are you here?” Celeste said. You knew she didn’t mean anything wrong, but Arvin took it the wrong way.

“Excuse me?” Arvin asked, offended. “I’m offended that you had to ask me why I’m here. I’m here because I live here. It’s my money, it’s my apartment, and everything here is from me! So don’t ask me why I’m-”

“She’s right, Arvin.” You said and turned to look at him. “I’m tired of all this fighting and all this pretending. From now on, I’ll sleep in Hayden’s room. If you enjoy sleeping with different women, you’re surely going to enjoy sleeping alone.” You snapped before leaving the living room to go to the bathroom to wash up.

Arvin glared at Celeste angrily and she said, “Sir, I understand if you fire me. It’s fine. I’m sorry for disrespecting you in your house. But before you fire me, think about what I said, sir. Also, think about your son. You can’t take care of him because of your job and your wife can’t take care of him because she’s busy with different things. If you fire me, no one else will look out for Hayden. Thank you for listening, sir.”

Celeste looked down and went to Hayden’s room in hopes that she could coax him into unlocking the door and letting her in.

Arvin sighed in distress and rubbed his face with his hands before going to the master’s bedroom and slamming the door.

Arvin didn’t know what happened. All he remembered was going to an event that was attended by his mob allies when all of a sudden, his rival mob attacked them all. A lot of shooting happened and he was sure that his mob friends were killed. He hoped they weren’t.

People were screaming and he heard someone crying at some point. His people were scattered everywhere and he didn’t know if they were alright. He didn’t get out scott-free, though. He got shot on his side and he was shooting his rivals all while trying to get out of the venue to get in the car and go back to his mansion.

When he arrived, Amelia was already on her feet and doing her tasks. She was the only doctor, but she pushed through and it amazed Arvin how Amelia could help them. He admired her and thought that she was strong. Her job isn’t easy, after all.

A few hours of taking out bullets from bodies and declaring one person dead on arrival, Amelia was finally finished with her job. She was in Arvin’s office to get her paycheck while Arvin wrote her salary on a check.

“$20,000” Arvin wrote before handing it to her with a tight-lipped smile. Amelia took the check gratefully.

“Thank you, Mr. Russell.” Amelia smiled before grabbing her bag and leaving. Arvin sighed and leaned back on his chair. He hasn’t been home for a while and Hayden didn’t want to speak with him whenever he called you to talk to Hayden. It broke his heart.

He put a hand on his gun wound and closed his eyes to rest for a while to think about his life. He never really thought that his life would turn out like this, but he knew that someday he’d have to take over the mob. When he took over, that’s when he met you.

In truth, he didn’t know how or what to feel when it comes to you. He’s confused. His thoughts were interrupted by his phone ringing which made him groan. He opened his eyes, grabbed his phone, and answered it without looking at the caller ID.

“Hello?” He answered.

“Hello, Russell.” His rival, George, said. Arvin could almost imagine the smug look on George’s face. Arvin gripped his phone tighter, “What do you want? You killed one of my men. Isn’t that enough?”

“Quite frankly, no. I would send my condolences to the deceased family, but I don’t really give a shit. Besides, it would teach you a lesson from stealing from me!”

“For the last time, I didn’t steal from you!” Arvin shouted.

“Your men joined my mob and stole from me!”

“It’s not stealing if they’re getting what’s rightfully ours.” Arvin hissed. “If anything, you stole from me!”

George scoffed, “If you really think that way, fine. Just know that you’ll pay for it.”

“I’m not paying for anything, George.” Arvin chuckled bitterly before pouring himself some scotch with one hand.

“Not even for your family?” George asked. “Wow, that shit’s cold.”

“What’re you talking about?” Arvin asked with furrowed eyebrows as he took a sip of his drink.

“Oh, you’re not informed?” George said sarcastically. “Your wife and son are here with me. If you don’t give me back what you stole from me, I’ll kill them. You know where to find me, Russell.”

George hung up and Arvin yelled in frustration. He sat up and winced because of his wound. He ran a hand through his hair and thought about how he’ll save you and Hayden. Him and his men talked about plans and when they were able to finalize, they wasted no time in going to George’s place.

The plan was going to George and giving him a duffel bag filled with rocks, so that he’ll think it’s the thing he was looking for; the thing he claimed Arvin’s men stole. Arvin decided that it’d be best for his men to ‘give it back’ to George while he and a few guys would look for you and Hayden.

Arvin heard George shouting about everything being fake and he heard gunshots. In a span of a few hours, his mob was shooting people again. He heard Hayden’s familiar cries and followed it while being covered by Javier, one of his men.

When Arvin found the room where George kept you and Hayden, he gasped when he saw you lying in your own blood, unconscious next to a weeping Hayden.

“Daddy!” Hayden cried and it made Arvin’s heart break. He had so many questions running through his mind. How long have you been unconscious? Why are you unconscious? Did they hurt both of you? Where’s Celeste?

Arvin quickly untied Hayden and he didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around him. “It’s okay, buddy. Everything’ll be okay.” Arvin whispered and kissed the top of Hayden’s head. He lets go of Hayden and knelt beside your body. He untied you and panicked when he saw multiple gun wounds on you. He knew that if you stayed longer, you’d die.

Arvin turned to Hayden and said, “Listen to me, okay? Take care of mommy and don’t go anywhere. Got it?”

Hayden nodded and wiped his tears. “Are you coming back?”

“Of course, I’m coming back.” Arvin reassured him. He stood up and quickly left the room and shot every person from his rival mob. When he saw George, all Arvin saw was red and started beating the shit out of his rival.

George didn’t get a chance to defend himself because Arvin just kept throwing punches and hits. Arvin wanted George dead for bringing his family into their problems. Arvin didn’t care about George’s bloody and bruised state. Arvin pushed George to the ground and whipped out his gun.

“This is for my family.” Arvin panted. He looked at George in the eye and shot his head mercilessly. He looked at his surroundings and saw that almost everyone in George’s mob was dead and the few that were alive, are either unconscious or terribly bruised.

Arvin ran back to the room and picked up Hayden. “I told you I’d be back.” He said as Hayden rested his head on the crook of Arvin’s neck.

Arvin ordered one of his men to carry you and immediately drove to the mansion. Arvin called Amelia and said that he needed her ASAP.

“Mr. Russell, it’s late and it’s not my schedule.” Amelia said groggily. She was already deeply sleeping and Arvin disturbed her greatly.

“I know, I know and I’m sorry. I need you ASAP, Amelia. It’s my wife this time.” Arvin said frantically. They arrived at the mansion and rushed you to the medical room where Amelia was hours before.

Hayden was asleep in Arvin’s arms and he went to his room to let Hayden sleep there comfortably. He hears shuffling around on Amelia’s end as he did his best to tuck Hayden in.

“I’m on my way.” Amelia said.

“Okay, please hurry.” Arvin pleaded before hanging up. He looked at Hayden and smiled a bit at the sight of his son fast asleep. He quietly left the room and rushed to the medical room where you were being kept. He wasn’t a doctor and he didn’t know what to do. Time was running out and for the first time in years, he finally saw you.

He finally realized how important you are in his life. He finally realized that it would hurt him deeply if you were gone. He couldn’t imagine going on with life without you by his side. He didn’t notice Amelia walking in the medical room and he only acknowledged her presence when he was being escorted out of the room by her.

“Wait, no! I want to say, Am-”

“You know you can’t.” Amelia said sternly. “It’s protocol. You can’t be here. Just wait outside.” Amelia pushed the mobster out the room and locked it. The whole time he waited, Arvin was pacing back and forth. He was restless. Who wouldn’t be? If your spouse is undergoing a procedure, you’d want to know about them, right? Arvin had no clue how you were doing.

Three hours later, the door opened and Amelia stepped out of the room. She was clearly tired. Arvin stopped pacing and stared at Amelia who only said, “She’s okay.”

“Thank you.” Arvin sighed in relief as he walked towards the room.

“You don’t need to pay me. Consider it a freebie. I know what it’s like to grow up without a mom at a young age and I don’t want that to happen to Hayden. Take care, sir.” Amelia smiled softly before leaving.

Arvin went into the room and pulled up a chair to sit next to your bed. He held your hand and stared at you. It’s been a long time since he’s seen your face. You were beautiful. You always have been and always will. Seeing you unconscious scared him greatly and it made him realize how much he still loves and cares about you.

“Y/N, I’m sorry this happened to you. I mean it.” Arvin said softly. “I love you. I’m sorry it took me almost losing you to realize that. You don’t know how sorry I am, sweetheart.”

“I can’t imagine the pain you must have felt when Celeste came clean about seeing me and some other girl on Hayden’s birthday. But I know you, Y/N. I know that you’ve always had a feeling that I was unfaithful and I can’t imagine your heartbreak when you found out about it being true.”

“When we first got together, I promised I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you. I’m sorry for breaking that promise. I’ll be better for you, Y/N. I’ll come home and I’ll stay with you whenever you need me. I’ll be present for Hayden and I don’t want to argue with you anymore. I want us to go back to normal and I know it’ll be hard for you, but I’m willing to try.” Arvin said with hope in his eyes.

“I also know that you’re awake and that you can hear me clearly.” He added as he looked at you. You slowly opened your eyes and looked at him, “I hate that you know me well.”

“I actually love it. It makes me feel like I’m still in touch with you. Lord knows I’d be heartbroken if I can’t read you anymore.” He chuckled lightly before pressing a light kiss on your hand.

“Did you mean what you said? Trying again?” You asked and he nodded. “Then, I’ll try too.”

However, some relationships work out and your marriage turns into something better than before. It happened to you and Arvin. He kept his promises and soon, you were blessed with a second child. Celeste was alright and you treated her like a sister you never had. In return for sending her to college, she did well in her studies and made sure to show you her grades which made you proud.

Everything was coming together and you were thankful that things took a nice turn. Your life as a mobster's wife wasn’t so bad, after all.

* * * *

𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐀𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐍 𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓: @cocoamoonmalfoy @parkerpeter24 @slutforsr @rumplebutterbaby @dummiesshort @quxxnxfhxll @bora-world @supred12 @more-like-reyna

𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐋 𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓: @holland-styles @trustfundparker @calltothewild @felicityparkers @hufflepuffprincess24 @tommysparker @justasmisunderstoodasloki @quaksonhehe @call-me-baby-gir1 @itstaskeen @theonly1outof-a-billion @lost-in-the-stars03 @justafangirlduh @piscesparker @speedymaximoff @miraclesoflove @lexirv @blairscott @getbywithasmile @pqrkerr @lavender-writer @blackbat2020 @hoodpankow @bi-lmg @emmastarz

#arvin russell #arvin russell x reader #arvin russell x y/n #arvin russell one shots #arvin russell blurbs #arvin russell fic #arvin russell imagine #in-a-lot-of-fandoms-tbh

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themadauthorshatter · 4 years ago

Text

OTP PARENT HEADCANONS PART 2

Because I'm bored.

And I want to give myself some serotonin.

And because I've put this off for a long time😅

RED QUEEN:

Shade and Coriane were never afraid of monsters under their beds because Cal would "scare them away" with a really bright flashlight.

Both children have a little bit of buidling and tinkering in them. Shade showed it by switching out lightbulbs and pointed out the ones he was putting in would be better at being adjusted than the ones before and Coriane showed it by fixing a clock.

Mare isn't exactly the best at cooking, but she's at least better than Cal. And her mother; sorry, Ruth.

Both children are excellent swimmers, much to Cal's chagrin.

Coriane remembers meeting her great Nanabel, and the smile she had at the sight of her great granddaughter.

Shade didn't really have a chance to meet her.

Both children wish they could have met their uncle on their mother's side and uncle, grandfather, and grandmother on their father's side.

Both Samos siblings are allowed to see the children, and neither of the children were excited; they'd heard "scary stories" about them and their father, who sounds scary; no, Cal didn't make it clear that Volo was dead, all he said was the Samos patriarch had fallen down and didn't get up, so they assumed that meant he couldn't use his arms anymore.

They were all pretty surprised to meet each other.

Ptolemus was more like a fun uncle than the berserker they all knew.

He did explain that Volo did indeed fall, but couldn't get up because of how high he fell.

The electricons love how entertained the children are with their lightning abilities.

Tyton is a pretty good babysitter. Coriane is allowed to stay up, but only after Shade has gone to bed.

Kilorn is not allowed to teach either child how to swim; there was an 'incident' where Cal tried to be brave and go swimming and Kilorn scared the living hell out of him.

That's fine because neither children like swimming.

Yes. Just because the children are good at swimming doesn't mean they enjoy it.

Mare has told Gisa she doesn't need to make the children outfits, but Gisa did it anyway because she loves her niece and nephew.

The court ettique stuck with Cal, which has led to him raising the children to be very formal.

SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL(I'm naming Tedros and Agatha's son Anthony):

Both parents were kind of scared Anthony was mute because he didn't start talking until he was nearly a year old. He's not mute, he just doesn't talk much.

You have to catch him at just the right moment. Anthony is completely silent around large crowds or assemblies, but with his parents he's half of a chatterbox, at least.

Anthony and Agatha can have full conversations with nothing but facial expressions.

Tedros had a hard time getting Anthony to open up to him, and decided to give the boy space for a little bit.

It was absolutely worth it for the heart to heart they had.

Hester and Anadil hate kids, but Agatha's and Tedros's little demon spawn is the only exception to that statement.

Anadil was won over by how he didn't cry and even 'said' how her rats were cute.

Hester, however, only warmed up to him when she spent a longer time with him, and after getting a chance to watch him because Aunt Sophie kept stepping in.

On one such occasion, where Anthony was surprised by Hester's watching him, the boy was overjoyed to see her, hugging her closely. He then backed up and stepped back, giving her a wave and smile. As she understood his silence better than Sophie, Hester wrote to him on a paper, 'Did you miss me THAT much?' Anthony nodded and wrote back, 'Yes!'

Sophie is not a helicopter aunt, but she loves Anthony a bit too much for his liking.

She NEVER talks about how she'd been hoping he was a girl.

Anthony isn't a fan of pink, but he doesn't hate it. Pastel is fine. Anything more vibrant makes him puke.

Both Tedros and Agatha were surprised to see how good Anthony was on horse back.

Heart attack angst moment: A former supporter of Rhian and Japeth snuck into the castle and made an assassination attempt on the royal family, more specifically Anthony. Tedros threw his son behind him and drew hus sword and Agatha shot a spell at him and proceeded to tackle him to the ground, not caring about her dress or the fact that the assailant was still armed.

Anthony colud not watch the execution because he hates bloodshed. He's a vegetarian/vegan and tries to eat as little meat as possible because he often spends time in the stables and around animals.

Agatha and Tedros are aware of this and are okay with it, though Tedros has him eat a single steak for dinner and teo eggs for breakfast once a month on seperate occasions, just so he doesn't lack any iron or protein.

To clarify, by separate occasions, I mean that Anthony will eat the steak one day and the eggs later another day within the month. After that, he can indulge in as much vegan/vegetarian food as he wants.

Have fun trying to convince Tedros and Agatha to let him attend the SGE; it's not that they have unpleasant memories, they just want him to try and have as normal of a life as possible.

On a walk, and when the Tagatha child was a teen, Tedros noticed some girls trying to flirt with Anthony and that his son barely reciprocated their actions. He pointed out that they were showing an interest in him, and Anthony admitted that he knew and he just didn't really feel the same way; he didn't exactly see why they were so flirty when he didn't feel like giving it back to them.

NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS(The triplets I'm naming Jacob, the eldest boy, Luna, the middle girl, and Daemon, the youngest boy):

Jacob is 98% the triplets' father; he'd be a spitting image if it weren't for his mop of hair, he's sharp as a whip, but still puts the E in idiot(please tell me you git that Jenna Marbles reference!!!).

Luna is arguably the smartest, but good luck getting a, 'you don't say' out of her. She won't tell you she's smarter than you, she will show you. Good thing Jack and Sally keep her in check.

Daemon is the family's "underdog." He has the last minute, 'this will work,' Jack Sparrow plans. He's quiet, he sews, he sings, and if he's not trailing behind Jack, Sally, or his siblings, he's probably touching up his clothes.

Jacob was the idiot kid that got electrocuted to the point his red hair turned black. He barely remembers it, but now all he tastes is cold peanut butter. Daemon has often suggested and offered to do it again, but Luna stops him. Pro: he's spending more time with Luna and Jacob is safe. Con: he's spending time with LUNA and Jacob still doesn't remember.

Jacob, as the oldest, attends 'meetings' with Jack and the Mayor. It doesn't bore him, he just gets tired of the Mayor's whining.

Jacob doesn't get Christmas. Luna has the basic idea of it. Daemon is the only one that understands, but doesn't explain it fully out of spite; Jacob called him scatter brained because of an incident where, at the table, a cockroach crawled out of his eye socket.

Daemon is the only one of his siblings to have eyes.

Even though she's literal bone, Luna has stitches that are very close to Sally's.

Neither Jack nor Sally have nicknames for the children, besides terms of endearment.

You know you're in trouble when Jack looks at you and looks ready to dig your grave himself.

All three triplets have Jack's fire power, but no one's gotten hurt because of it, even though Jacob and Daemon had one close call.

Neither parent would ever even dream of raising a hand against the children.

It's safe to say that Luna and Sally use common sense the most out of all five of the family members.

Daemon smells like pumpkin and cinnamon. He finds both himself, cinnamon bark and small, apple-esque pumpkins, and eats them like skittles and popcorn.

Another result of the electrocution, Jacob is hard of hearing where is left ear would be, if he had ears. He can't hear at all in the "ear." Not even a ringing sound.

The only reason Jacob doesn't like something is because he doesn't get it. At all.

Luna sees the glass as half full, Daemon sees the glass as half empty, and wonder if it belongs to someone who drank out of said glass, hence its being hald empty, and Jacob just sees a glass of water, now can he just drink the rest?

Luna, the best with herbs, has poisoned her brothers. Sally found out and she was grounded.

Daemon, to see how much he could take, dived off the roof of Dr. Finkelstein's tower. It took Jack, Sally, Luna, Jacob, and Zero all day to collect all of him. He was grounded and locked in his room.

Jacob got grounded for a few things: setting his sister on fire(no one knows who started that fight.), hiding in a morgue to scare people only to end up falling asleep, even as they tried to cremate him, and then waking up in front of the humans, pretending to be one of the hanging men on The Hanging Tree, and dancing on top of the tallest Pyramid in Egypt.

The children do misbehave sometimes, but their parents love them.

Jack and Jacob don't see eye to eye exactly, but they still get each other.

Luna loves both her brothers, but she will hang out with Daemon more than Jacob.

Daemon has a lot of glow sticks he collected and they all still glow when it gets dark. Jacob used his thinking cap and had a moment of big brain time, and drank some of the glow stick juice.

One more thing he got in trouble for.

Daemon also got in trouble, but he was allowed to keep his glow sticks.

Luna is a good singer, Daemon is a great dancer, and Jacob is the best at succeeding their father

#red queen #school for good and evil #nightmare before christmas #marecal #tagatha #jack x sally #tiberias calore vii #mare barrow #sge tedros #tedros of camelot #sge agatha #agatha of woods beyond #jack skellington

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zodiyack · 4 years ago

Text

Heart Of Gold

Pairing: John Shelby x Female!Reader, Polly + Female!Reader (platonic)

Warnings: Swearing

Words: 1,896

Summary: Polly cares for Y/n in private, feeling sympathy for the woman left with her five year old boy and no money or food, but John stumbles in on one of their meetings and can’t help but be nosy.

Note: So! I won’t be active this weekend, hopefully I upload a couple fics to my que beforehand (I’m planning on it, but I can’t promise anything). also, pardon my shock of just now discovering that fridges have existed since like 1805, and my odd hysteria over the word count... John was born in 1895 lmao

Taglist: @matth1w, @redspaceace-writes, @simonsbluee, @peakysputain, @fandom-puff, @darling-i-read-it

Masterlist | Peaky Blinders Masterlist

“Polly!” The little boy, knots and tangles in his beautiful h/c hair, ran to the woman and giggled as she lifted him up. She held him on her hip, walking to Y/n and giving her a side-hug.

“It’s nice to see you too, Jonas.” Polly smirked at Jonas. His appearance was rather “rich-looking” despite him being nowhere near such. The truth was, ever since the Peaky Blinders had been making tons and tons of money, Polly had been helping Y/n and Jonas.

When she first met them, she had just bought herself a gorgeous gown. She remembered stumbling upon the little boy, his mother chasing after him. Halting in place, she began chuckling to herself as the boy flashed her a smile, his two front teeth nowhere to be found.

Polly took them in. Sneaking them into the house when the rest of the family had left, buying them clothes, teaching Y/n stuff like baking- cooking- sewing- really anything that could help her and Jonas. She felt like she was a mother all over again, only this time, to a woman and the woman’s son.

But, hey, she wasn’t one to complain.

“His teeth are growing back in. Soon, he will be a big boy, isn’t that right Jojo?” He nodded in response. Jonas opened his mouth and tapped his gums, where, sure enough, two tiny teeth were poking out- slightly visible but not that much. Polly rubbed his cheek, pinching slightly, and kissed the opposite one.

“When I’m a big boy, I get to help!”

The women laughed with adoration and intrigue. “How so, little Jojo?”

“Well...I can protect mommy. That’s what big boys do, especially the big-big boys- they fight in wars against other big-big boys.”

He had a great amount of bravery and an equal, possibly even greater, amount of imagination to balance it out. Having never known his father, Jonas took it as his sworn duty to care for and protect his mother. And while Y/n found amusement in her mini knight in shining armor, she felt insecure in her parenting skills; if he were to make it his duty to protect her, thus taking what she felt her was job as a mother, what would she do?

Polly had been their savior and somewhat-Y/n’s-counselor. In summary, Pol had known how Y/n felt about her little boy’s confidence, many worries consisting of his safety, her insecurities, and how their relationship would turn out as he grew older.

“That’s right. However, little one, your mummy would like to protect you until you’re old enough to protect her and yourself.” Polly brushed his hair from his eyes. She studied his small face for any negative reactions before continuing, “Is that alright with you?”

He thought for a moment and brought his finger to his lips. As he furrowed his brows and scrunched his face, his baby-fat clung to his cheeks and made his expression look more cute than intimidating. “I guess... But I can still protect her...right?”

“You can protect each other.”

“Hooray!” Jonas’ arms flung into the air whilst he began to celebrate.

“Alright, aright, Mr. Hero. It’s time for your bath.” Y/n traded the set of clothes and a small-ish towel to Polly in exchange for her son. She kept him busy as Pol started the boy a bath.

It was a regular routine. Twice a week they’d come in to bathe, eat, get some homeschooling done, and just have some social interaction time with someone they both knew and were actually comfortable with.

They put him into the tub and allowed him some time to play. Polly looked at her pocket-watch, noting the time it had been when he’d got in, and made sure to check ever now and then for when he would be required to start the actual bathing process.

“You can take a nice, long, bath after, dear.” Polly had never been subtle about her observation-skills, and today was no different; she waited until the tea was done before continuing to talk, pouring two cups of tea and a cup of milk. She set a cup of tea in front of Y/n and the cup of milk in front of the seat next to her. The third teacup was in her hands as she sipped it slowly.

“Pardon?”

“You’re stressed. You’ve got bags under your eyes, Jojo has way to much energy to be normal, you can hardly keep up with him, not to mention- the way you looked at that hot water...”

“It’s fine... I-”

“No.” Polly set her cup down, “It’s not ‘fine’, Y/n. You’re stressed. That’s normal for a parent. You just need some time to relax. I know you usually just wash your hair and body- but please; take advantage of this. Take advantage of it, for once.”

Y/n laughed for a second, but stopped when she realized Polly had been serious. “W-what do you mean?”

“Stay in that tub. Wash yourself before or after- I don’t care. Just stay in it, relax in the warm water, close your eyes if you’d like, anything as long as you relax and stay in the tub.”

“I’m ready!” Jojo’s high-pitched voice rang from the other room, catching both adult’s attention.

Polly downed the rest of her tea and stood up, pushing her chair in. She didn’t leave without giving Y/n a kind smile that disguised the pensiveness in her eyes and voice. “Think about what I said.”

Eight or more minutes later, Polly had returned to the kitchen. Jojo sat on her hip, clad in only his little undershorts and equally as small wife-beater. Aside from clothing, he also wore his towel- which lied over his shoulders as he shivered.

Before Y/n could stand up to grab her son, Polly put her arm out, “Bath. Now. Before I set Jojo down and force you in there myself.” She knew Pol was joking, but she also knew how serious she was.

So she obliged, walking into the room and stripping down before stepping into the tub slowly and sinking into the hot water. It wasn’t too hot, nor was it too warm or cold- it was just perfect. If only she’d listened to Polly about everything- it had been less than ten minutes, and she was already drifting away.

Although her eyes were clenched shut and her body and breathing acted as if her brain had commanded the REM cycle to start, she was wide awake. ‘How silly I must look,’ she thought to herself, ‘A woman who’s never relaxed in her life? No wonder Polly can see right through me.’

The feeling of comfort, given to her by the noises of Jonas and Polly’s laughter as Pol found a way to make getting dressed all the more fun, held her down into the tub and prevented her from leaving, glad that Jojo was safe and having a good time.

Polly poked her head in the door, “I’m going to take Jojo to buy a new toy.” Y/n opened her mouth to object, telling Polly she didn’t have too, but the woman held up a hand and cut her off, “I’m aware that it is unnecessary, but he’s been well behaved for every visit, so I figured he earned it. We’ll be back shortly, I promise.”

She hesitated but nodded and yelled a goodbye to the two, sinking lower into the warmth of the water and shutting her eyes again. Minutes had gone by, the only sound being her fingers skimming through and under the water and the soft breaths that escaped her mouth.

However, the state of solitude had been shoved aside when the door opened and footsteps paced to the kitchen.

Y/n sat up and opened her eyes. She waited for a sign that Jojo or Polly were headed towards the bathroom, perhaps to retrieve or check on her, but nothing came. Slowly and carefully, Y/n stood up and stepped out of the tub, wrapping her towel around her torso and walking out of the room.

“I know you said you’d be back shortly, but I didn’t think you meant that short-” she had been expecting Polly and Jonas, coming back with more toys than they’d originally left for, but was greeted by a man’s backside as he dug through Polly’s refrigerator. He pulled away from it, a bottle in hand and a smile upon his face, and turned towards Y/n. His smile faded as he looked her up and down.

He gulped before speaking, quite obviously affected by her appearance. “Who’re you-”

“I could ask you the same thing! What are you doing here?”

“This is my home!”

Polly had never told her of any men residing in the home, “If you’re lying to me, you’d better say so now.”

“I’m not fuckin’ lying!” The man looked almost offended, “I live here! Now, please, inform me and why you, from what I can see, are using my tub?”

“For your information, not that you need- let alone, deserve- to know, I was told to relax.”

“Deserve?” A scoff tumbled from his mouth, “Well- not in my bloody house! Go home! Go ‘relax’ in your own fuckin’ bath!” He ran his hand down his face and began to drink from his bottle, but whispered to himself before his lips met the cold lining of the top. “Jesus...”

“Ah, I see you two’ve met.” Polly commented from the doorway, “John, this is Y/n. Y/n, John. He’s my nephew.”

“I thought I was your nephew-” John’s eyes darted down beside Pol, a bit of shock in his system when they found a little boy standing next to her- the spitting image of the woman he’d just met.

“No, love, you’re my pretend nephew. Like a god mother, but an aunt instead.”

“Shit- I’m so sorry-”

“No...There’s no need for apologies. I can imagine how surprising it is to find a stranger half-nude in your home.” She chewed on the inside of her mouth nervously and presented her hand for him to shake. “Y/n L/n. That monster over there is my little boy, Jojo.” Almost ending the introduction there, she realized what she’d missed and rushed to talk before he could. “His actual name is Jonas L/n.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Y/n and Jojo. My name is John Shelby.” John observed Y/n, and as he did so- he swore his heart did a backflip. “Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are?” It was like he broke character; his voice softening and his eyes narrowing, a small grin pulling at his lips when Y/n let out a nervous chuckle and averted her eyes. He forgot that they weren’t the only people present.

“So I take it they can continue to visit- only now, they may while you and the others are present?”

John nodded, still not fully focused on anything except for the woman, whom he could’ve sworn was a literal angel, in front of him. Had it not been for his aunt’s kind heart, he would’ve never met the woman who managed to steal his heart upon their first, and very unplanned, meeting.

Due to his trance-like-state, it had taken him a minute or two to process what his aunt said, but by then, Y/n was back in the bathroom- likely getting dressed- and Jojo had followed Polly to the family room.

“Wait- continue?”

#john shelby #joe cole #joseph cole #peaky blinders #john shelby x reader #joe cole x reader #joseph cole x reader #peaky blinders x reader #polly gray #peaky blinders reader insert #peaky blinders imagine #x reader #reader insert #imagine #all readers #zodiyack #might make this a series tbh

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stxphxn-strange · 4 years ago

Text

spun sugar (written for the ironstrange fanfic challenge)

Summary: He didn’t feel like going out, but he needed a distraction. Nothing would be able to take his mind off of the phone call he was waiting for, the call he knew would never come. Not even a double date to the carnival with Anthony, Hope, and Christine kept him focused today, and he was actually starting to need a distraction from his distraction.

a/n: just a heads up that this fic is on the heavier side of angsty so please be careful and safe! tw: for homophobia/mentioned use of slurs, outing, death (drowning), and family issues, and i think that’s it

Today felt like the world’s longest deja vu episode. It felt like standing in line at a carnival for hours, only to spin endlessly on one of those teacup rides. Everything was an unbreakable cycle of doubt, confusion, anger, and the old familiar self loathing. So for Stephen, it was just Thursday.

She didn’t forget.

She probably forgot!

She didn’t forget. She didn’t call on purpose.

She knows what today is.

She doesn’t want to talk to me.

I don’t want to talk to her either, and yet I still wish she’d call. Maybe then I could pretend that things are sort of okay.

Stephen sighed, completely tuning out his professor. He hadn’t been paying attention all class and wasn’t going to start now. There were more important things to be thinking about, like the nap he was going to take when he got home, or the fact that it was Victor’s birthday.

It was Victor’s birthday, and Stephen wanted to plan some sort of surprise call and later invite his brother to visit him in the city. Eugene immediately took to the idea and offered to help plan it and reach out to more of the family, but there was a catch. Of course Beverly had to be involved in some capacity. Even if she didn’t want to be associated with her older son, her younger one was near and dear to her heart and she wouldn’t hesitate to do anything for him. Except this, apparently, because that would involve speaking to Stephen. The med student didn’t expect to hear back from his mother and truthfully never expected a lot from her generally, but his hopes were still up.

Waste of time. She doesn’t need me.

She doesn’t even want me.

Stephen checked the time again. His lecture would be over in 15 minutes, and the next one started in half an hour. That gave him enough time to grab a coffee and call his dad on the walk across campus, and to make the time pass now he’d organize his inbox.

Most of his messages weren’t surprising (they were mainly just calendar invites and the occasional email from Anthony with an article Stephen might like) or even worth reading, but Stephen was a bit surprised when Eugene called him first. He had a solid relationship with his dad, but it was still unfamiliar for Stephen to have his family approach him first. Usually it went the other way around.

“I was just about to call you,” he said. “What’s going on? Mom never told me when the family call is”

“That’s the bad news,” Eugene replied. “Your mom changed the plan.”

“So she shut me out? Again? Is that what I’m supposed to understand?” Stephen asked, his voice cracking like the thinnest sheet of winter ice under heavy footfalls. “I didn’t do anything.”

Eugene sighed. “I’m sorry.” That was all the confirmation Stephen needed.

“What happened?” He asked. “She would do anything to make Victor happy, even if it means acknowledging me as part of the family.”

“Which you are,” Eugene argued.

“Not according to Mom, and you know that,” Stephen replied. “Please just tell me what happened, my next class starts soon.”

“Your aunt called to wish Victor a happy birthday and then was chatting with your mom about the family, as they do. I think she asked your mom how you were doing and how your love life in school was going, but at that point I wasn’t really listening. You know that your aunt is one of my few in-laws I actually tolerate, maybe even like, and today she proved exactly why. Claudia said something about you, and based on your mom’s reaction it wasn’t what she wanted to hear,” Eugene explained. “She knows you’re gay and is really happy for you, against your mom’s expectations and wishes that she’d be ashamed.”

“That was the first time they’ve talked about my sexuality, right? Because I never came out to her. I assume Maxwell brought it up for some reason because I came out to him years ago. Why he’d bring it up now, I don’t know,” Stephen replied.

“As far as I know, this is the first time Claudia brought it up. I assume if they’d talked about it before, your mother would’ve gotten angry or cut her off. She wasn’t happy today,” Eugene said bluntly. It wouldn’t do any good to sugarcoat the truth when Stephen already knew all of this.

“Great! Mom’s already mad enough at me for coming out and being proud of myself. I bet I ruined her relationship with Aunt Claudia because I blabbed and Maxwell clearly takes after Mom since he outed me for no reason!” Stephen snapped. He took a deep breath, his head spinning. “Sorry for yelling, Dad.”

“I don’t need you to apologize. You have every right to be hurt, for a lot of reasons,” Eugene said. “But to make a long story short, she told me flat out that she wouldn’t be talking to you today and then left for work at the same time she always does.”

“Can I talk to Victor at least? I don’t care if she doesn’t want to talk to me, but I can’t ignore him,” Stephen pleaded. “I can’t not be there for him on his birthday, that’s cruel!”

“I know you want to be there for your brother, it’s okay. That’s the good news and why I called you. Give me a minute,” Eugene replied.

Stephen mumbled some kind of response, slowly but impatiently shifting his weight from side to side. He was thinking about blowing off the rest of his classes for the day, emotional exhaustion overtaking him. He could usually power through things like this, as he was used to his mother steadfastly refusing to accept him. Today she and her hatred actively prevented Stephen from wishing his little brother a happy birthday, and that was too damn much. The fact that his cousin suddenly outed him almost three years after Stephen came out was only making him angrier. Stephen always tried to do the best that he could for his family, especially his younger sibling(s), and was even more protective of Victor in the wake of Donna’s death. All he wanted was to look after everyone he cared about, and his sexuality didn’t negatively affect his protective oldest child instincts. If anything it made them stronger because Stephen always wanted to be an ally for his siblings. He would always stand up for them when they needed.

Sometimes he felt like he failed Donna, despite his best efforts to keep her safe and make her happy. Stephen couldn’t fail Victor and let their mother’s actions come between them. He wouldn’t. He looked at his phone to distract himself, editing his coffee order to include a latte for Anthony. He was usually home around this time and would more than likely appreciate the surprise coffee.

Thinking of his boyfriend, the love of his life and his person, made Stephen smile just enough to prevent him from sobbing in the middle of Starbucks.

Two (2) minutes that felt like an eternity later, Victor came to the phone. “Hello?”

“Happy birthday Vic!” Stephen forced a smile, hoping some cheer could be detected in his voice.

“Thank you,” Victor replied with an emotion that Stephen couldn’t place.

“Sorry I couldn’t be there today or join the family call. I wanted to be part of the call at least, but…”

“It’s okay. I know you care, and I know you wouldn’t forget my birthday just because you’re busy.”

“Right… busy!” Stephen’s laugh was forced. “I would never miss your birthday, and not just because I have a flawless memory.”

“I was just starting to miss you until you said that. Damn shame.”

“Not only is today your birthday, it’s apparently also the start of you acting like the smartass you‘ve grown up to be,” Stephen quipped. Eugene’s noisy laughter could be heard even over the phone.

“I didn’t come into this world as a smartass like you. I had to learn from you, unfortunately,” Victor replied. “And I’m glad to see you’re amused, Dad!”

“I taught you everything I know, and this is how you thank me?” Stephen asked.

The barista called out Stephen’s order.

“Hey I have to get going, but you and Dad should come visit me in New York sometime soon,” Stephen offered.

“That sounds nice, but you can also just call me. Contrary to popular belief I do want to talk to you on days that aren’t holidays,” Victor replied. “But New York sounds fun.”

I wish we could talk whenever, like we used to when I was welcome under her roof.

“I want to go to the city, I’m sick of the neighbors,” Eugene added. “We’ll have to plan a trip, but for now we’ll let you get ready for class.”

“Thanks Dad. Love you both, and I hope you have a great birthday, Vic!” Stephen hung up before they could reply, grabbed his coffees, and dragged his feet the rest of the way home.

++++

Anthony was in the kitchen, serenely flipping through a magazine and eating lunch when Stephen trudged in. He paid no mind to the door opening at first, dipping his grilled cheese into the steaming cup of soup beside him and continuing to peruse the pages.

Stephen smiled fondly at the sight of him, the tiniest bit of joy finding its way to his heart.

“I got you a latte,” Stephen said, setting both drinks on the counter.

Anthony gasped, curiously ignoring the coffee completely and standing up to hug Stephen. “Thank you cuore mio.”

“I figured I’d surprise you since I’m home early,” Stephen replied. He relaxed into the hug, slouching in Anthony’s arms.

“I appreciate that, but I’m much happier to see you. We both left at weird times this morning so we didn’t get to talk and get ready for the day together like we usually do,” Anthony said, a little pout on his face.

“Well we’re both home now, and I’m really tired.” Stephen was beyond tired and beyond annoyed, swaying a bit in Anthony’s arms.

Anthony hugged him closer and tighter to steady him. “Let’s go sit. Did you have lunch?”

“No, I just got coffee and came right home,” Stephen replied.

Anthony handed over the other half of his sandwich. “Take this then, I just made it. There’s tomato soup too, since Bucky made me go to Panera with him earlier.”

Stephen was about to object, stopping himself only when he saw the mirthful light in Anthony’s eyes. “What?”

“I mean I don’t mind either way, but I’m giving this to you so you don’t swipe it from me like the mischievous, overgrown British shorthair you are,” Anthony teased. “You’re not subtle.”

“If I was a cat, we both know I’d be a calico,” Stephen replied.

“I disagree. What are you doing for the rest of the afternoon?” Anthony asked.

Stephen shrugged. “I kind of want to nap. Preferably with you, under a blanket, and in front of the fireplace.”

“That sounds nice,” Anthony murmured, reaching up to softly caress Stephen’s cheek. “Let’s go, then.”

As soon as they were settled, Stephen rested his head on Anthony’s shoulder and practically melted into his side.

They made idle chatter and finished their lunch, Stephen glancing at his phone every now and then.

It’s stupid to hope something will change.

He knew his mom wasn’t going to call him, and that still stung no matter how much he tried to move past it. Stephen also knew she wouldn’t ever accept him again, and she’d continue to use his identity against the rest of the family who he loved and who loved him in return. Be it immediate family or the most distant relatives, Beverly was determined to exile him completely, erasing her oldest son from the family story.

Victor probably suffered the most from this, aside from obviously Stephen himself. Contrary to what their mother thought, Victor deserved to talk to whoever he wanted on his birthday, including Stephen. Being the middle child, Victor was the link between cautious Stephen and carefree Donna. The three siblings were incredibly close growing up, and their sister’s death took as much of a toll on Victor as it did on Stephen. Stephen almost left home for good a few days after Donna’s funeral, almost leaving his little brother behind. It was impossible to forget anything about that day.

Stephen knocked on his brother’s door.

“It’s open!” Victor was sitting on the floor building a Lego castle.

Stephen sat on the floor across from him. “This looks really good, Vic!”

“Do you want to help me finish it?” Victor asked.

“I can’t today. I actually came in to tell you that I might be leaving home for a little bit,” Stephen replied. He rested his head on one of his hands.

“When do you leave?” Victor asked, still not looking at him.

“Tonight or early tomorrow. I’m going to New York to help Anthony move,” Stephen said, making up a reason as he finished answering. It was true that he was going to New York to see Anthony, but he couldn’t tell Victor the real reason why. He’d already been through enough the past few days, he didn’t need to know that Stephen and Beverly weren’t on speaking terms as of today. He didn’t need to know that their mother was trying to kick Stephen out.

Victor just sat quietly and nodded, not registering his brother’s distress. “So you have time to help me build then. Can you hand me that brick, please?”

Stephen smiled sadly and obliged.

They were quiet, just working together like nothing was wrong until an overwhelming clamor filled the farmhouse.

“Dad’s home,” Stephen remarked.

“Are he and mom arguing?” Victor asked. “Why?”

Stephen knew why, but he held his tongue and just shrugged. “I’m not sure.”

Victor nodded and went back to building. “Make sure you follow the directions, I want this to be perfect.”

They continued to work diligently, not saying much to each other but listening to the argument from the kitchen. It wasn’t easy to make out what Mr. and Mrs. Strange were saying, but their mutual anger hung in the air long after the conversation ended. The whole house felt different, its welcoming energy replaced with something sinister.

And then someone knocked on the door. “Boys?”

“Hi Dad!” Victor said. “You can come in, Stephen is helping me build the castle set that you gave me!”

Eugene walked in, standing in the doorway and watching his sons work for a minute. “Stephen, can I talk with you for a minute? Sorry to tear you away from your building, but you can finish up later. I also brought home dinner. Victor, go eat with Mom before it gets cold.”

“Cool, thanks Dad!” Victor stepped cautiously over his castle and headed downstairs.

Stephen was still on the floor, Eugene sitting at Victor’s desk. He didn’t know what this conversation was going to be like, and fear made him snatch the first words without giving them much thought.“Dad, I fucked up.”

“I’m going to be honest, I don’t see it that way,” Eugene said.

Stephen had been staring at the carpet until then, looking sharply up at his father. “What?”

“I said I don’t see it that way. You didn’t mess up,” Eugene repeated himself.

“Mom wants me to go,” Stephen mumbled. He hung his head again, looking at the carpet. Victor’s room was the only carpeted one in the house, and no one knew why.

“Your mother also wants me to stop leaving my computer in the dining room since that’s apparently ‘her space,’ but last I checked this is our home and she doesn’t have a monopoly on that room,” Eugene replied.

Stephen was quiet for a minute. “She says it’s not my home. Not anymore, anyway.”

“That’s what we were arguing about,” Eugene said. “I came home from work and she told me what you talked about and how she felt. I don’t agree with her.”

“I wanted to tell you myself,” Stephen muttered. “She had no right to tell you, that’s not what you’re supposed to do!”

Eugene didn’t say anything, unsure of what he could say to make this better.

“I didn’t time this well, I know, and I’m sorry. I should’ve given Mom more time to process losing Donna, and—”

“Stephen, I think your mother would’ve responded the same way if your sister was here. It’s nothing to do with the circumstances and everything to do with her,” Eugene said.

Stephen nodded slowly. “Are you upset with me Dad?”

“No I’m not, and I don’t think you should go,” Eugene replied.

“I probably should, for a few days,” Stephen said. “Anthony’s in New York, and I know I just saw him but I wanted to go visit again before he leaves for boarding school.”

Eugene nodded. “As long as you’re back at least a day before your school year starts.”

“Mom isn’t going to want me to come back, but I don’t want to leave Victor! I can’t abandon him!” Stephen said.

Eugene shook his head. “It’s not up to her. You’re our son, mine and hers equally, and I want you to be home with us while you finish high school. Besides, you and Victor need each other especially now. Your mom isn’t the only one who decides what family means. You are both our sons, and though our family might be a little smaller, we’re still family.” Eugene grabbed a box of tissues from Victor’s desk, handing them to Stephen as he began to cry.

“Thanks Dad.”

“It’s going to be okay. What day are you planning on going to New York?”

“I booked a flight for early tomorrow morning, Ant said anytime in the afternoon he’d be around.”

“And are you going to finally stop pining for each other and tell him how you feel while you’re there?”

“Dad!” Stephen hesitated before continuing. This was unfamiliar territory, discussing his love life with his father. Eugene knew Anthony and could obviously tell how Stephen felt, but it was weird to talk about this. Still, curiosity got the better of him. “Do you think I should?”

To make a long story short, that’s how they ended up here, in the apartment they shared with three of their friends while Anthony repeatedly nudged Stephen with his elbow.

“What do you want?” Stephen muttered, failing to even pretend like he was annoyed.

“Scoot over so I can go to the kitchen!” Anthony said, the slightest hint of a whine in his voice.

Stephen shifted and grumbled a little protest as he stood up.

Anthony smiled and kissed the top of his head. “I’ll be right back, then you can cling to me as much as you want.”

Stephen sighed, half in teasing exasperation, and looked at his phone again. He was staring daggers at it when Anthony returned, letting it go when he was pulled into a hug.

“Did you hear back from her yet? What time is the call?” Anthony asked gently, beginning to stroke Stephen’s hair.

“She hasn’t called yet.” That wasn’t a lie, but Stephen was too upset to give Anthony more details right now.

Anthony hummed, kissing his head again. “She will.”

“I don’t— yeah. She will,” Stephen mumbled. Also not a lie, as he was still clinging to the thinnest shred of hope that his mom would change her mind.

She won’t.

It doesn’t matter how much she loves Victor and values his happiness, I’m dead to her and that’s final.

“How was your day?” Stephen asked, eager if not desperate to change the subject. “Did you present the business plan you were telling me about? How did it go?”

“I did! Honestly it went really well, I wasn’t nervous like I usually am,” Anthony replied.

Stephen yawned. “I’m so happy for you. Every time you practiced presenting it to me, you were amazing.” He was physically and mentally weary, exhaustion dragging him into a midnight blue haze, but he was never too tired to give Anthony the praise he deserved.

“Thank you,” Anthony murmured. His eyes were closed, but Stephen could practically hear Anthony’s soft smile.

“I mean it,” Stephen said. “Love you.”

He was surrendering to the exhaustion, to the warmth of the fire and the blanket and Anthony’s embrace. Sometimes knowing that Anthony loved him and feeling the manifestations of his love made Stephen feel a little better. This was reprieve, and he was going to revel in it until reality came back to kick his ass.

Anthony still sounded like he was smiling. “I love you too. Get some rest sleepyhead.”

++++

Anthony woke up first, his phone ringing loudly from the carpet below. He was going to just ignore it, mistaking the notification for an alarm, until he came to his senses a little more and realized Christine was calling.

“Your boyfriend is bad at answering his phone,” she’d said.

“Hello to you too, Christine. He’s sleeping,” Anthony replied. “We both were, actually.”

“So sorry to have interrupted your mid afternoon nap,” Christine drawled. “But I’m glad you were resting. Stephen seemed really off today during class, and as much as I hate to admit it I was a bit worried.”

“You’re too much of a helicopter parent friend to pretend like you’re not concerned,” Anthony said. “I can see right through that.”

Christine just laughed. “Anyway, I know you could talk about Stephen for probably years but I called for a reason.”

“What’s up?” Anthony asked. Stephen was still asleep in his arms, and Anthony tried his best not to disturb him. “Everything okay?”

“Oh yeah I’m fine! I was just gonna ask if you two wanted to go on a double date with me and Hope later? It’s the first night of the carnival,” Christine said. “Sam and Bucky aren’t planning on going until tomorrow because they’re boring, and we want an adventure.”

“Going out on a Thursday night counts as an adventure?” Anthony asked.

“Why wouldn’t it?!” Christine protested. “Let me know what you decide to do and just text me or Hope, we can plan to meet up later. I take it Stephen isn’t going to class but I am, so I’ll talk to you later.”

“Sounds good, bye Christine!” Anthony rolled his eyes in amusement, opening a game on his phone and holding Stephen closer.

It wasn’t more than twenty minutes later when he woke up, checking his phone and trying to hide his disappointment when his mom didn’t call.

What did I expect? She made up her mind.

She doesn’t want to talk to me.

Why am I pretending she cares, hoping she’ll call?

Stephen huffed out a sigh, more angry with himself than anything else.

“Nothing yet?” Anthony asked gently.

“No,” Stephen replied. He felt anger boiling in his system, unease taking over as he continued to lie and hope that something would change.

“I’m sorry,” Anthony said. “The day is still young.”

“I guess that’s true.” Stephen didn’t know if going along with what Anthony said was helping or hurting at this point. “I have a ton of missed calls from Christine though.”

“Oh yeah, she invited us on a double date with her and Hope since it’s the first night of the carnival,” Anthony replied. “You in?”

“Not really.” Stephen answered without even giving it much thought.

“Okay.” Anthony was always so amenable, sensitive, and empathetic, even at the expense of what he wanted. Sometimes Stephen’s heart ached at how selfless Anthony was and how much he cared for people. It was a privilege to be someone Anthony loved, but Stephen had to remind him constantly that relationships were a give and take. He didn’t want to drain Anthony’s kindness, not the way people in his past did. He wanted and tried to be as giving and loving to Anthony as Anthony was to him.

He didn’t even sound upset about not going out, but Stephen’s anxiety kicked in and convinced him otherwise. “Well wait Ant, what do you want to do?”

“It might be fun, but—”

“Why not go, then?”

Anthony was stunned by how fast Stephen changed his mind, trying to read his face for things his words left unsaid. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine… just a little jittery waiting for this stupid call. A distraction might help, and you’re right! It probably will be fun. Plus I don’t want to selfishly keep you from being out with friends, that’s not fair to you.”

“Nope, you stop that right now,” Anthony admonished gently. “If I wanted to go with our friends, I would. I want to spend time with you tonight, whatever that looks like, and we’re both allowed to want things. They don’t have to be the same thing, and you’re not selfish or controlling for disagreeing with me. Believe me?”

“I wish I could, because I know you mean it. I just feel like a failure since I can’t be there for Victor the way I want,” Stephen replied. “And I know it’s not my fault, but…”

“But it still hurts.” Anthony gently cupped his face and leaned in to kiss him. “Right?”

Stephen nodded, whispering a pained “yes,” into the kiss. It hurt more than Anthony knew, more than he was ready to discuss.

“You’re not a failure. You’re just trying to make everyone happy even when the most fucked up circumstances get in the way. It’s not a bad thing to prioritize yourself, and in fact it’s a good thing to give yourself the kindness you give to others. You have to,” Anthony said, protectively wrapping his arms around Stephen.

“I’m glad you listen to my advice enough to repeat it back to me, at the very least,” Stephen quipped.

“Yeah yeah, I know I sound like a hypocrite since I—”

“Since you’re not nice to yourself, even though you deserve to be,” Stephen finished his sentence. “I just want to be able to make someone happy today. I want to make you happy.”

Anthony smiled sadly and kissed him again. “I love you so much, you idiot. You always make me happy, and I’m always here for you.”

“I know you are. I love you too,” Stephen replied. “A distraction honestly might help me deal with the waiting game, though.”

“It could!” Anthony nodded, playfully adding, “I’ll make it worth your while.”

“Oh yeah? How?” Stephen played along.

“We can start by getting your favorite sushi,” Anthony offered.

Stephen genuinely smiled at that, attempting to hide it by burying his head in Anthony’s shoulder. “Really?”

“Why not?” Anthony replied. “It’s been awhile since we went to that restaurant anyway.”

“It’s been too long,” Stephen corrected him. “I’m not sure if I’m feeling up to being out for dinner and then going out later, though. I feel bad because you’re trying so hard to plan something fun, and—”

“You don’t have to feel bad. It’s not a problem, we can just order in and stay home until later. That’s what I was planning anyway,” Anthony said. “And if you don’t feel like going out tonight, we really don’t have to.”

“I want to, but I also don’t,” Stephen said. “You know what I mean?”

Anthony nodded. “Yeah, I do. I’m fine with whatever though, it’s up to you.”

“Let’s go then. I’m still kind of on the fence, but I’m leaning towards yes.”

++++

He was just being himself, but Anthony was making good on his little teasing promise to make the fair worth Stephen’s while. He had some magical effect where his smile made anyone’s heart sing, and his spell was especially powerful on Stephen. He was truly having fun, for the most part. His motion sickness didn’t flare up at any point, which meant he could spin a bit faster than normal on the teacups ride. It was exhilarating and just dizzying enough that he leaned slightly into Anthony’s shoulder while the group decided what to do next. Stephen found he was oddly at peace with himself and the evening, probably because of Anthony’s spell.

“Okay, here’s what I want to know: what the hell is a hall of mirrors?” Anthony asked.

“How do you not know?” Christine replied, her eyebrows racing up towards her hairline.

“Never in my life have I been exposed to anything that would entail being in a hall of mirrors,” Anthony muttered.

“Surely you’ve been to a carnival before, right?” Hope asked.

“Yes, and amusement parks! But again, I have no idea what it actually is,” Anthony said. “I’ve never seen one until right now.”

“It’s just as it sounds, Ant. It’s a room full of mirrors, almost like a maze I think, and some of the mirrors are distorted. It’s hard to explain without seeing it, but it’s kind of funny,” Stephen replied. “You’re the only person in life who ever gives me an answer,” Anthony half-joked, linking arms with Stephen. “The only person.”

“Rude, didn’t I just tell you the other day about—”

“Hope I love you but I made my point very clear,” Anthony teased. “I need to see these mirrors.”

Stephen smiled. Anthony was so full of an almost childlike wonder, he was kind of like the human equivalent of a ferris wheel… somehow… the comparison made more sense in his head. “This is going to be adorable.”

“Can we go?” Anthony was almost bubbly with excitement.

Stephen couldn’t say no to him, and right now he didn’t want to. “Yeah, come on.”

“It’s this way, let’s go!” Christine pointed vaguely to her left and led the way.

Stephen didn’t know what Anthony expected to see in a room that was literally just Full Of Mirrors, but his every reaction to it was more endearing than the last.

“Could you imagine decorating an entire house like this?” He asked, looking around the room.

“You mean you haven’t?” Christine teased.

Stephen rolled his eyes. “I can barely stand to look at myself for five minutes, this is like hell on earth. Don’t give Ant any ideas about redecorating our apartment, Christine.”

“She doesn’t need to, I wouldn’t do it,” Anthony replied. “Even I don’t need to see this much of myself.”

Christine laughed at their antics before chasing after Hope and giving them a moment alone. There weren’t many other people around, so Stephen had an unobstructed view of several of his reflections checking their phones.

Anthony was still standing beside him, taking everything in. “You okay?”

Stephen (and all of his clones) nodded. “Yeah, I guess. Still no updates though.”

I can’t even be honest with him. I can barely be honest with myself at this point.

“I’m sorry Steph.”

“It’s okay! I’m probably more anxious than I need to be, it’s really fine.”

Anthony frowned slightly but didn’t push him. “I feel like there should be at least one control variable, just a basic full body mirror at the beginning and/or end of these things.”

“There usually is at the end,” Stephen replied. “At least I think. It’s like when you leave home and take another glance at yourself to make sure you look decent. You’re the one who can, and you do, spend five minutes in front of any mirror, so—”

“That’s absolutely not true and you know it. The longest I’ve looked at myself in the front hallway mirror specifically is three minutes tops”

Stephen rolled his eyes. “Whatever you say, babe.”

They continued their walk around the winding hallways, coming to a stop at a standard mirror just in front of the exits.

Christine and Hope were chattering outside, looking at a map of the fairground that they’d found somewhere (Stephen hadn’t a clue where, seeing as he wasn’t paying attention at the time).

“We look cute,” Anthony remarked.

“You do, I don’t,” Stephen said.

“No, we both do!” Anthony’s stubbornness was coming out to play, it seemed. “I mean I know you only keep me around because I’m adorable, but I’m probably the luckiest guy in the world to be yours.”

Stephen blushed and looked at his shoes. “Yeah, I’m only with you because you’re hot and not at all because you’re my best friend who I happen to be madly in love with.”

“Aww.” Anthony smiled and squeezed Stephen’s hand, leaning up to kiss his cheek. “I love you too, you asshole.”

Stephen looked up, staring at their reflections and different expressions. His smile was tired and clearly forced, while Anthony’s was genuine and bright. He couldn’t help but sigh, disappointed in himself for not matching his boyfriend’s energy.

“You sure you’re okay?” Anthony asked.

“I’m trying to be,” Stephen replied. “That’s the best answer I have, and it may not seem like I’m trying very hard, but I am.”

“I know. Stress and anxiety don’t just go away when you ignore them, unfortunately,” Anthony reminded him. “Attention whores that they are.”

Stephen laughed, surprised as always by Anthony’s sudden dry delivery and humor. “I feel like you’re what ‘sugar and spice and everything nice’ means, you can go from sweet and calming to making me laugh within the same breath.” He shuffled forward a bit, dropping his head on Anthony’s shoulder.

“Well I don’t like the implication that I’m nice,” Anthony huffed jokingly.

“I didn’t really imply it, I’m telling you that you’re nice,” Stephen replied.

Anthony just rolled his eyes. “That’s your opinion.”

“I wouldn’t say it if it wasn’t true, you know I don’t like lying,” Stephen said.

Except for the fact that I’m so in denial about Mom not calling that I actually am lying to Anthony. He doesn’t deserve that.

Anthony just shrugged as Stephen looked up at him again. “So when you said that I’m not good at carnival games, that was—”

“That was me trying to encourage you, and while you clearly needed it I don’t think it helped,” Stephen quipped.

“Rude but true. At least there weren’t a lot of people—”

“Move!” A boisterous group of children who couldn’t be older than 13 ran past, shoving past them on their way to the door.

Stephen stumbled and fell back against Anthony, which caused one of the group to say something particularly rude.

Anthony glared at the instigator. “What?”

“Don’t, it’s not worth it,” Stephen said.

The same kid laughed, having the audacity to repeat himself before catching up with the rest of the bullies.

“I don’t know where someone who looks like they’re barely eleven years old learns to talk like that, but they can fuck right off,” Anthony said.

“You’re right. Honestly I would be more upset if worse things hadn’t happened today, but it’s all relative,” Stephen replied. “I’ll tell you about it later, we should go find Hope and Christine.”

Anthony nodded, a scowl still on his face when they found and rejoined their friends.

“Are you self-obsessed idiots done looking at yourselves?” Christine teased.

“You literally heard me say I can’t stand looking at my reflection for more than five minutes. We were just talking,” Stephen said.

“Why do people have to be so goddamn ignorant?” Anthony muttered, kicking the dirt in front of him.

“What happened?” Hope asked.

“Really nothing, just some middle schoolers being stupid,” Stephen replied. “It’s not a big deal. What are we thinking about doing now?”

“I want a snack, I think,” Christine said. “Does anyone want cotton candy?”

“We should get cotton candy!”

Donna had boundless energy, a zest for life, and a fun-loving mischief about her. She ran into each day like it was a new adventure, sometimes reckless but always under the protective watch of her brothers.

“If that’s what you want, Donna, I’ll buy you some.”

“What about me?”

Victor didn’t come into the world with a smartass attitude, but he quickly adopted some of Stephen’s mannerisms. He learned how to assert himself and how to be fair, which meant he knew when and how to argue on his own behalf.

“Of course Vic, I’ll get you some too.”

“I want the bubblegum flavor!”

It was the end of summer, and the Strange family was spending an afternoon at the zoo. Donna loved animals more than almost anything in the world, and all she’d wanted was to spend the day with her family sharing random animal facts and learning as much as she could. Stephen was the one to plan the excursion, the trip occurring the day after he returned from California. He was visiting Anthony for just under two (2) weeks then, that summer their last as ‘just friends.’

Donna was elated when Stephen came home, her little face lighting up when he announced the family outing.

Outing was an interesting choice of words.

That day trip was the last time the Strange family was whole. That day was the last day Stephen was worth something in his mom’s eyes, the last time he read his sister a bedtime story after pretending that he didn’t want to. All Stephen did was plan a surprise afternoon for Donna and buy her cotton candy, and she was the happiest he’d ever seen her. It was, in the most tragic sense, the perfect last day. She drowned in the lake the next morning, and Stephen felt like he lost control of his life. Desperate to take it back, and against his better judgement, he came out a few days later. He hoped his mom would be supportive, understanding, and maybe even encouraging, but he was as good as disowned by her that day.

“Hey… Earth to Steph.” Anthony softly caressed his face. “Stephen?”

He snapped out of his flashback, probably looking like a deer in the headlights when his eyes met Anthony’s. “Sorry.”

“I thought you were gonna pass out for a minute,” Anthony said.

“I’m good. I just zoned out,” Stephen replied. “It’s not even motion sickness, I genuinely stopped listening to whatever you guys were talking about.”

“So you didn’t hear me ask if any of you wanted cotton candy?” Christine asked.

“That I did hear.” Stephen heard the sudden brittleness in his voice and steeled himself, subconsciously reaching for Anthony’s hand.

“I forgot you don’t like sweets that much, sorry man,” Christine replied.

“That isn’t the problem,” Stephen said. “And that’s not even true.”

Christine just shrugged. “Alright.”

Stephen sighed, ignoring the confused look Christine gave him and running his free hand through his hair. He sighed again. “Sorry Christine.”

“You’re forgiven, Stephen. It’s fine, and sometimes you just have a bad day,” Christine replied. “It’s not like I’ve never gone off on you before.”

“I wouldn’t call that going off, I’ve used all of my self restraint today,” Stephen said. “But thanks.”

He sighed for the third time and leaned against Anthony’s shoulder.

“You okay?” Anthony asked gently.

Stephen looked at his phone again. “Still no updates.”

Anthony frowned, concern and understanding written all over his face. “That’s shitty.”

“You’re right about that,” Stephen replied, laughing despite himself at how direct Anthony’s delivery was. “Rollercoaster?”

“Damnit, I thought I was enough of a thrill for you,” Anthony teased.

Stephen rolled his eyes. “You are, you dumbass. I just thought it’d be fun.”

“I’m not disagreeing! I’m in,” Anthony replied.

“The line isn’t too long, y’all should go now,” Hope said. “We’re getting popcorn, and then we can ride the teacups again before leaving if you guys want?”

“Sure,” Anthony said.

Stephen just nodded. He’d had a good time, but honestly just wanted to go home and pretend like today didn’t happen.

“We can hold your shit too, if you want,” Christine offered.

“Thank you for not bringing up the Great Adventure mishap,” Anthony replied, handing Christine his bag.

“Not sure if I’d call forgetting to take off your sunglasses a mishap,” Stephen quipped, also handing over his bag.

Maybe I’ll get lucky and she’ll have called by the time we’re back.

If I asked a magic 8 ball what the chances were of that happening, I think it’d tell me to go fuck myself.

“What would you call it, then?” Anthony asked indignantly.

“Unfortunate, and a consequence of you not listening to me when I said not to wear them,” Stephen replied.

“You’re both wrong, that’s just Ant’s smooth brain energy hard at work,” Hope said.

Anthony rolled his eyes. “I’m sorry that wearing sunglasses is such a big part of my personal brand! Whatever, see you two in a bit!”

Hope and Christine probably rolled their eyes as Stephen and Anthony went on their way, but all in good fun.

Stephen was starting to feel a little better while they queued for the rollercoaster. He’d always liked them and they never made him dizzy which really helped. Coasters were sort of like a spontaneous thought process in his mind. There were digressions, breakthroughs and thoughts that were best left alone, and something to look forward to at every corner. Stephen felt like there was less time for self loathing on a rollercoaster, less time to hone in on certain things while he was moving so fast. He definitely preferred rollercoasters to tilt-a-whirl type things, even though he didn’t hate the spinning teacup ride they ended the night with. There was just more sitting still involved somehow, which meant more opportunities for self loathing. The pattern of the ride mirrored the circular thought process he slipped into, almost like he was cycling through stages of grief. Stephen wasn’t sure if he was angrier with Beverly for how she treated him or with himself for hoping she’d call, and he hadn’t even made it out of the denial stage. To his expected disappointment, there were no calls from his mom when he checked his phone on the ride home.

I don’t know what I expected.

I keep telling myself that I’m dead to her and it doesn’t seem to sink in.

I know it’s true, and all of this might hurt less if I just accept that.

Christine and Hope were bickering about something in the front of their car, and Stephen didn’t have a clue what it was. He’d tuned them out again, despondently resting his head on Anthony’s shoulder as Christine navigated the traffic.

“Ant?” Stephen’s voice was hushed and straining as he tried not to cry.

Anthony hummed. “That’s me.”

Stephen smiled sadly. “She’s not going to call, Anthony.”

“The night is still—”

“No! No, I mean she’s… I’ll tell you when we get home.” Stephen was trembling now, overwhelmed with everything that he was feeling.

“Okay,” Anthony murmured, softly kissing his head. His heart broke as Stephen started crying into his shoulder. “I love you.”

Stephen barely fought back a sob. Sometimes he needed reminders that people loved and cared about him, but he was always ashamed to ask. He was getting slowly better at asking for affection, but verbal reassurance was a completely separate beast. When it came to dealing with his mother, he needed to hear that he was loved and valued for who he was to try and combat the self loathing that followed their conversations. He needed help getting his confidence and self assurance back. He didn’t like to be so vulnerable, but Stephen couldn’t deny that sometimes he just wanted to feel loved and safe. Anthony, affectionate and protective and caring and sweet, always knew when Stephen needed these loving affirmations and always provided them. “I love you too.”

“It’s okay. We’ll be home soon, mia vita,” Anthony soothed. He reached for one of Stephen’s hands, holding it in both of his own. “Ti amo con tutto ciò che sono e con tutto ciò che sarò.”

He loves me…

++++

There was always something sweet about coming home to a loud house. The noise could be jarring, a pleasant consequence of 5 relatively loud friends living together, but it served as a welcoming of sorts. Today it was even louder when Stephen and Anthony got home, thanks mostly to an argument between Sam and Wong. Standing between them, Bruce was acting like a moderator of sorts.

“The lovebirds are back!” Wong announced, interrupting what looked like a heated rebuttal from Sam. “How was the carnival?”

“It was good! I tried to win one of those balloon dart games,” Anthony replied.

“Keyword is ‘tried,’ guys,” Stephen added.

“I was too busy thinking about what prize to win since I wanted to give Steph something cute, but it didn’t really go to plan,” Anthony said.

“Next time babe, I believe in you!” Stephen cheered as brightly as he could. He was tired of faking a smile, tired of hoping his mom would come around.

She’s never going to change her mind.

“Maybe we should’ve gone tonight, I feel like it’s going to be more crowded tomorrow,” Sam said.

“I think it depends on when you go,” Anthony replied. “Speaking of going places, you know your man dragged me to Panera with him earlier.”

“I told you! Nothing comes between Bucky and a bread bowl,” Sam said, rolling his eyes. “What time do you think is the best to go tomorrow night?”

Stephen shrugged. “Probably 8? I don’t know. Most of the lines move relatively fast so you should be fine.”

“Don’t worry Sam, if the grumpiest boy on the Eastern seaboard says you’ll be fine, you’ll definitely be good,” Wong teased.

“That’s rich coming from you.” Stephen turned on his heel and left, retreating to the comfort of his bedroom.

“Did I upset him?” Wong asked, mostly addressing Anthony. “I didn’t mean to.”

“Something is bothering him,” Anthony replied. It wasn’t his business to go into detail, nor was he the gatekeeper of what problems Stephen chose to share with their friends. “He should be okay, but I’m gonna go keep him company.”

Anthony headed for his bedroom, bringing the conversation to a halt. Stephen had closed the door, which wasn’t unusual but Anthony still didn’t want to just open it in case Stephen wanted to be completely alone.

He knocked quietly yet audibly to avoid startling Stephen. “Hey, it’s just me. Can I come in?”

“Yeah, ‘course,” Stephen mumbled. He was curled up on their bed, trembling as he looked up at the ceiling.

It was warm in their room as per usual, so Anthony knew Stephen wasn’t shivering from cold.

Stephen felt the bed dip as his boyfriend sat beside him, and he closed his eyes as Anthony began to gently massage his scalp.

“Wong and Christine are probably angry with me,” Stephen said after a while.

“Wong didn’t mean to upset you,” Anthony replied. “Neither did Christine. And I think they understand that you’re not purposefully antagonizing them.”

Stephen sat up, the intense mix of emotion in eyes burning a hole in the ceiling as he leaned against the headboard and a pile of throw pillows.

Anthony shifted just enough to rest his head on Stephen’s shoulder, silently reminding him that he wasn’t alone. He offered one of his hands, Stephen holding it gently. He drew figure eights on Anthony’s upturned palm as he thought, the motion soothing as he started talking.

“Before I came home today, when I went to Starbucks, I got a call from my dad,” Stephen began. “Mom changed the plan for today, he said. I don’t know what she did specifically but all that matters is that she rearranged the family call so I couldn’t join. That was her way of telling me she’s mad at me without having to burden herself by speaking with me.”

Anthony shifted to straddle him, comfortingly resting his hands on Stephen’s arms. Stephen didn’t meet his concerned gaze.“I’m sorry.”

“It gets worse. When I said earlier that I’ve dealt with worse things today than some homophobic children, all of this is what I mean.” Stephen was still staring upwards, as if their ceiling had an answer he didn’t. “I got to talk to Vic, which was most important to me. We didn’t talk for very long since I was planning on going to my next class at that point, but I got to wish him a happy birthday and apologize for not being able to join the call. He wasn’t upset with me, he understood and we left things on the same good terms. I didn’t tell him why I couldn’t join, but I’m sure he knows. I’m sure he’s figured out why Mom and I don’t talk, he knows enough of the story to figure it out.”

He was crying now, all of his emotions boiling over. He was livid, devastated, and afraid for some reason, hiding his face in his hands.

Anthony was silent, taking both of Stephen’s hands and letting him cry until he’d somewhat calmed down.

“Sorry,” Stephen mumbled. He rested their joined hands in his lap and turned his teary gaze on Anthony. “I've not even finished the story and I’m already a mess.”

“It’s okay Steph, you don’t have to be.” Anthony brushed a few stray tears off Stephen’s face.

Stephen sighed. “I knew by the time I got home that she wasn’t going to call me. That’s why I came back, honestly. I didn’t want to sit through my classes thinking about it, thinking about how I’m… thinking about how she wouldn’t call. I tried to make myself tell you earlier, but I can barely come to terms with all of this in my own head. I wasn’t trying to lie to you when you said she might call, I promise. I was just holding onto the smallest wisp of hope that maybe she’d change her mind.”

“I don’t feel like you lied to me,” Anthony replied, one of his hands again finding its way to playing with Stephen’s hair. “I’m sorry I was so insistent in saying she’d call. I was trying to reassure you.”

“I know,” Stephen said. “It helped a little, especially since I was trying to convince myself that she’d end up calling. But she never did, Anthony, and she won’t. Dad said she told him directly that she wasn’t going to talk to me, so why am I such a fool and still hoping she’ll come around? I’m dead to her and I should be able to understand that!”

“I imagine you’re trying to make yourself accept it so you can move on, right?” Anthony asked.

Stephen nodded frantically, his eyes shut tight as he began to cry again. “I know that’s not the best way to deal with things, but I don’t know what to do. I don’t expect her to accept me anytime soon, and I know my family isn’t going to ever feel whole again. But I ruined Victor’s birthday by not showing up for him with the rest of the family! I would’ve joined the call if she wasn’t mad at me, and I didn’t even fucking do anything!”

Stephen was crying more out of anger than sadness, resting his head on Anthony’s shoulder and subconsciously pinching his forearm.

Anthony hugged him, both to reassure Stephen and to keep him from hurting himself in anger. “You haven’t failed him. You did what you could and made the best out of an awful, fucked up situation.”

Stephen just nodded, hearing Anthony’s message but not fully listening “Speaking of fucked up, and this is actually probably the thing I’m most upset about, you know my cousin Maxwell?”

"Yeah.”

“He took a page out of my mom’s book and outed me to my aunt.”

“Jesus Christ.” Now Anthony looked as angry as Stephen felt, a storm brewing in his eyes.

“I’m lucky because my aunt Claudia is great, and she’s really accepting but that obviously pissed my mom off so now she’s mad at her sister and at me,” Stephen said.

“That’s good about your aunt, but why the fuck would your cousin do that?” Anthony asked.

“He might have thought she already knew, I don’t know. It’s not okay that he did it, but it’s a relief to know that at least she took it well. I was worried she’d make fun of me since she always likes to prank and make me the butt of the joke, and even that would be fine compared to my mom’s response,” Stephen replied. “If I got over this faster I wouldn’t have taken all the fun out of tonight.”

“Hey, stop that,” Anthony murmured. “You didn’t! I like being around you no matter what mood you’re in, and I’m always here for you. That includes when things aren’t going well, by the way. My love for you isn’t conditional.”

Stephen looked up enough just to see Anthony’s face. “Do you think she’s ever going to come around? And not just today, but in general?”

“I hope so,” Anthony replied. “You don’t deserve to deal with this from her, or from anyone but least of all your own mother, and I hope she understands that sooner rather than later. But I can’t say with certainty what she’s going to do.”

“I just want today to be over,” Stephen said with a sigh. “I mean I did have fun tonight, but spending the entire day attached to my phone and trying to ignore what I already know wasn’t really nice.”

Anthony nodded. “Why don’t we get ready for bed then? We can put it all behind us and start over tomorrow.”

“That sounds good,” Stephen whispered. “I know I won’t ever forget this, but just for now I want to set it aside.”

++++

The day should’ve ended there, with slight banter and falling into bed with the person Stephen loved most in the world. But of course it didn’t, of course the powers that controlled his life had to have the last laugh. He’d just closed his eyes and was starting to slip away, content as Anthony pulled up one of their nighttime playlists and hummed along to whatever song was playing. Stephen was the little spoon tonight, feeling loved and secure and safe in the dark of their bedroom and Anthony’s arms. He was finally starting to relax, and then the phone rang.

He didn’t expect it and was annoyed when he heard the first notes of his ringtone, but he answered anyway thinking it was one of their friends. Thor especially had a tendency to call people earlier in the morning or later at night. “Hello?”

Despite having called him, the person on the other end of the line responded with a hasty “I must’ve misdialed. Don’t call back.”

Oh my god.

The cold, familiar voice ringing out over the speakerphone made Stephen’s heart stop.

SHE CALLED!

“No Mom, wait! I didn’t think you were going to call.”

“I don’t consider you my son, I don’t know why you keep calling me your mother,” Beverly replied. “I told you, I misdialed. I wouldn’t go out of my way to speak with you, not after you continuously cast shame onto my family.”

“Not even today? On Victor’s birthday?” Stephen asked.

Beverly scoffed. “No, and don’t even say his name! You and Victor aren’t brothers anymore, you decided that for yourself, and I’ll not have any outside influences corrupting my only son!” She hung up before Stephen could defend himself, the dial tone uncomfortably loud.

Stephen wasn’t sure what to do. A sharp, stabbing numbness seized his body and he curled in on himself to escape the onslaught of emotion hanging over his head. He turned onto his other side, burying his head in Anthony’s chest and failing to keep himself from crying.

“None of what she told you is true,” Anthony said. “Not a damn thing. You—”

Stephen shook his head. “Anthony, don't talk. Please, I’m sorry, I love you and I love your voice but I can’t… it’s too much…”

Anthony shushed him softly, carding his hand through Stephen’s hair again. He wanted to say something, to tell Stephen that he didn’t have to apologize, but that wouldn’t do any good. Instead, he just hugged Stephen tighter and gave him a soft kiss. Sometimes love was best conveyed in actions.

This is just like when I left after the funeral, when we hid from the outside world together. No one makes me feel at home the way Anthony does.

Stephen was too used to crying in Anthony’s arms because of things his mother… because of things Beverly told him. He knew he could run and hide from this or any problem with Anthony, and he’d always be safe and accepted and home. The thought was comforting, especially to the part of Stephen’s mind that was loath and afraid to confront the truth.

Eventually I’m going to have to process this fully and give myself the time to do it. I know myself, and I’m not going to change for anyone. Why should I have to?

Stephen shifted closer to Anthony, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend. He rested his head on Anthony’s shoulder, the tiniest smile on his face.

How does he already have bedhead? Adorable.

Despite saying that he wasn’t tired, Anthony was already falling asleep. “Need anything?”

Stephen shook his head and softly kissed Anthony’s cheek. “I’ll be fine. I’m just as tired as you, if not more.”

“Doubtful.”

“I’m going to ignore the fact that you just scoffed at me.”

“I didn’t!”

Stephen rolled his eyes and leaned up to kiss Anthony’s cheek. “I love you. Thank you.”

“I didn’t do anything, really, and I love you too,” Anthony replied with a yawn.

“You’ve done more for me than you realize, and I think you know it,” Stephen murmured.

Already falling asleep, Anthony didn’t respond verbally. He just hugged Stephen closer, again saying much more than words ever could.

tags: @stark-strange-love2 @taruyison @kitkatfat15 @katninjagirl97 @spookywizardboy @ocforeverything @ironstrange-chaos @chocopiggy @lokis-leah @majesticnerdynerd @maya-custodios-dionach @thespacecryptid @kiwidino @doctorstephenvincentstarkstrange

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wonderwomanfantasy · 4 years ago

Text

Today. Tomorrow. Forever.

no one liked the first part but fuck you a part two

part one

Dabi x reader (we’ll get there)

warnings: Drinking, abuse, cannon divergence, swearing, spooky stuff

word count: 2,000 (about)

summary: the longer you stay with these ghosts the less you feel like yourself, as if something else had taken your place.

“Shoto, can we talk?” you asked quietly, as he poked at his bowl of cereal. Everything had seemingly gone back to normal, the only evidence that last night had even happened was the marks left around your throat. He shook his head and you sighed.

“Shoto, we have to talk about last night,” you said. His cheeks went hot with shame.

“I-I’m sorry please don’t be mad,” he pleaded tears filling his eyes. You blanched not knowing how to deal with this.

“No, No I’m not mad Shoto,” you reassured him, he didn’t calm down.

“It’s my fault!” he shouted putting his face in his hands.

“Sweetheart no,” you tried again, then on impulse you added “I won’t leave,” he sniffled and looked up at you.

“You’re going to stay?” he asked.

“Yeah I’m not going anywhere,” you said, reaching out to him, he winced and you didn’t touch him, not completing the action waiting for him to come to you, eventually he did. Giving you his hand to squeeze reasuringly.

“What happened lastnight wasn’t your fault, and it’s not going to scare me away.” you declared patting his soft cheeks dry with a napkin.

“Does that kind of thing happen a lot?” you asked and he nodded. “And did something like that happen and the last nanny got scared away because of it?” you asked and he nodded.

“The last three,”

“Well, Not me, that mean old ghost isn’t anything I haven’t delt with before,” you said in an effort to sooth him.

“He’s not mean- not most of the time anyways,” Shoto defended. “He just gets mad sometimes and it’s scary but he wouldn’t hurt me,” this supprised you, and you couldn’t help but not believe him. Even if this ghost loved him, even if this ghost was family, it could still hurt him.

“Do you know his name?” you asked. Shoto crossed over to you and cupped his hands around your ear before whispering in that loud breathy way children whispered.

“Toya,”

You didn’t plan on doing much that day, both of you too shell shocked for chit chat about books or a trip to the movies but you were saved from having to do any planning by a loud ringing of the door bell.

It made you jump. Anyone who worked at the home just came and went as they pleased, as did Enji, and any pakages came through the back door. You realized this must be the first time you’d heard the door bell rung. Shoto looked equally puzzled.

“Do you want to go see who it is?” you asked and he nodded sticking out his hand for you to take hold of. The two of you went down stares and just as you reached to forer you saw a white haired man about your age being welcomed in.

“Natsuo!” Shoto called out dropping your hand to rush to the man. Natsuo laughed and crouched catching Shoto in his arms and whisking him up in a tight hug.

“Hey kiddo!” he laughed happily than turned to you.

“Sorry for the unannounced visit, If I had had your number I would have called you,” he said, you offered him a tight smile. As bad as you were dealing with children you were even worse with your peers.

“No truoble at all, I’m (y/n) the nanny,” you said taking the hand he offered you and shaking it furmly.

“Natsuo, i’m the older brother,”

You warmed up to Natsuo quickly. It was hard not to like him when Shoto was so clearl thrilled to see him. He seemed like a good guy and you spent the day playing with hot wheeles with the two of them. You even let Shoto stay up passed his bedtime so he could spend somemore time with his brother, and when he was too sleepy to keep his eyes open any longer, Natsuo put him to bed.

“Can I get you a drink before you leave?” you offered.

“I’d love that,” he said. The cook had already left for the day, but you could manage yourself just fine. You poured him a glass of wine, then a glass for yourself, you both stood around the counter drinking and talking in hushed tones together.

“I’m surprised you took the job honestly,” he said, now just taking a quick swig form the wine bottle before passing it to you so you could take a drink too.

“I needed it,” you admitted.

“Still, there are better places to work, better people to work for,” he said bitterly.

“To be fair, I don’t know your father as well as you do,” you siad.

“But you heard the rummors right?”

“Just the ones that this place is haunted.” He scoffed, taking another drink.

“That all is bullshit, I’m talking about what people say about dad,”

“That I haven’t heard,”

“Well they aren’t rummors you know? T’sall true. He beat our mom until she went nuts and killed his own son. Everyone knows he did it too, but he’s got that rich bastard money so all his problems dispeared,” he spat drunkenly. There was an uncomfortable pause after that, you weren’t sure what to say after that, and Natsuo seemd to realized he’s killed the mood.

“Sorry,” he muttered.

“It’s okay, can you tell me about your brother?” you asked. Natsuo shrugged.

“He’s a good kid, but you know that, Shoto’s a good kid.”

“Sorry, not Shoto, your other brother,” you pried furhter. He sighed deaply.

“Toya was a mother fucker.” he said stuggling to think of anything else. “But I loved him. He was, mean and a son of a bitch but we were thick as theives growing up, he faught with dad alot, but I loved him.” He told you. It wasn’t much to go on but you guessed you should be glad that you had gotten that much.

“Fuyumi was the smart one she always had her nose in some book but we’d pull her hair to get her to chase us… god I miss her i’should call er,” he mumbled to himself.

“Natsuo do you want me to call you a cab? You probably shouldn’t be driving,”

“That be great, thank you.”

You called the cab. And saw Natsou off. And then you were alone, in this large house that felt so small. You turned off the lights in the house, as much as you hated to do so, and started to make your way upstairs. You gripped the hand rail tightly, and looked down at your feet making sure they landed firmly on the stair each time before you trusted your leg with your weight.

You were drunk, although not as drunk as Natsou and your vision blured slightly around the edges. There was a low groaning sound as the house settled and you stopped for a moment resting your head agains the railing. You were too drunk to deal with any ghosts right now.

“Please don’t” you said softly, hoping in vain that if someone was listening the would grant your plea. You straightend. Getting dizzy from the sudden head rush, and kept marching up the stairs. You felt your way down the hall using the walls as guidance to your room. Your sad room that felt so small.

You needed a shower you decided and stumbled to the bathroom. You took off your shirt, then your pants, then your undergarments. You looked at yourself in the mirror there was another person in the mirror. Ablurry second you. Naked, ecept for your silver locket, thick purple bruises still on your neck.

You could see there were scars running down your chest and arms from the last time you had taken the locket off. But this time is different. You thought. She’s gone, she can’t hurt you anymore. You felt like you were going to throw up, but whether it was the alcohol or the thought of your mother it was hard to tell.

Quickly you turned on the watter and stepped into the shower embracing the ice cold spray. You took a shuddering breath and balled your hands into fists.

You had been devastated when your mother died. Your father had left before you were born and she was all you had. Of course, she was dead, but not gone. It was hard to ignore her screaming and thrashing at her own funeral, demanding that people look at her, see her. But you had to pretend that she wasn’t there. After all, no one else could see her. You had been gifted the locket the next day, and moved in with your Aunt the day after that.

And your mother followed. Sometimes, you talked with her, sometimes you ignored her. Sometimes she kept quiet and let you ignore her, but often she didn’t. It had been horible watching her spirit wither away, litterally loseing pieces of her self day by day. You had just been a child, you hadn’t known any better. You were just scared of losing your mom.

When your mother possessed you, it set her back to normal, at least for a little while, all her peices were there. And she was so happy everytime too, so proud of you. She would smile and tell you how wonderful it was to eat again, to sing and be seen, all the things living people take for granted. It was awful everytime, to be ejected from your body and losing chunks of time and memory, you could still rembebr how empty it all felt.

But it made her so happy, and it ment you wouldn’t have to say goodbye. It became easier and easier for your mom to take over, until she just had to touch your locket to be in control of you while your own contious slipped away. She had started taking over more and more often too.

It was awful, you had just wanted to be in your own body for a single day so you took your locket off.

You flipped the watter from cold to hot, deciding that you had sobered up enough and wanting a bit of comfort. You set the water so hot that it burned, but burned in a good way. You breathed in the steam and watched your fingers prune before finally turning off the shower. You towled off and looked at your self in the mirror again. Just one you this time.

It was late, nearly one in the morning. But you weren’t ready to turn in yet. You slipped on your robe and started padding around the halls. The robe was soft and a deep wine red color. You had never had a robe before, let a lone felt the need to use one, but it had come with the job, provided for you like the soap and the toilet paper.

The house was stil dark, still empty. Quiet and still except for the sound of your foot steps, your wet feet sticking slightly to the hard wood floor and pealing off of it with ever step. It didn’t take long for you to get lost, it never did, but you didn’t mind. You just wandered, deaftly poking the bruises on your neck to feel the sting.

Part of the hall way was illuminated by moonlight streaming through a glass door. You looked out and saw a balcony that you had never seen before. You reached out and touched the door nob. Unlocked.

You opened the door and stepped out into the crisp air night, the cold concrete felt good on your feet as the night breese fluttered your still damp hair. It was a full moon tonight. You could see hundreds of starts above you in the sky, the mansion was so far out from the citty that light polution wasn’t a problem.

The stone parapet was thick enough to sit on, so you did, letting your legs dangle over the edge. It was so far down. You noted, then wondered what floor of the house you were even on. Where exactly where you anyway? You kicked you feet back and forth watching them swing above the courtyard.

And when you looked up, the ghost from last night was there. Standing in the air. He gave you a small two-finger salute. Then he spoke

“Hello there.”

#dabi x reader #toya todoroki #toya todoroki x reader #dabi imagine #my hero academia #my hero acadamy #my hero academia imagine #my hero academia head cannon

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lallyloo · 4 years ago

Text

It’s Complicated

(This was just supposed to be a short little thing but it kind of got away from me..)

By the time the 3pm video call happened, Spencer had already talked to his parents. They were old hippies who didn’t know how to Zoom, so they just called from their landline. Brady stayed on his bunk while the phone call happened, trying to mind his own business, but he heard enough to know that Spencer’s parents really wanted him to come home, quarantine be damned, and they spent most of the call arguing. Spencer tried to tell them that even if he could come home it was too late to travel, and it was safer for him to just stay at school anyway.

The call ended quickly and Spencer suggested drinking after that.

They did a few shots before connecting to Brady’s aunt’s Zoom call, and when they did introductions he called Spencer his roommate. It was technically true, but it felt like there should’ve been another word for it – and Brady wasn’t sure yet what the word might be.

They fooled around a lot. Got naked together. Jerked off. Sometimes if they got too drunk they spent a lot of time kissing. Brady liked that a lot. Sometimes they’d wake up cuddled together on the same bunk and Spencer would slick himself up and fuck Brady nice and slow.

Sometimes Brady felt like he loved him.

They never really talked about it, and Brady wouldn’t say Spencer was his boyfriend, but he also wouldn’t say he wasn’t. He didn’t like to think about it too much. It was complicated.

So ‘roommate’ was the word he went with.

They’d put their masks on earlier in the day and managed to socially distance their way across campus to a little convenience store. Brady had been searching the freezer when Spencer came up beside him with his arms full of snacks.

“Dude,” Spencer held up a box of Ding Dongs, with his hand over the word ding. “Check it out – dongs!”

Brady laughed and high-fived him. It was stupid, but sometimes Brady liked stupid.

They bought the snacks and Ding Dongs, along with some frozen TV dinners and a tub of ice cream. They’d both been hoping for pie, but they knew it was a pipe dream when they were getting their Thanksgiving supplies at a campus convenience store.

When they got back to their dorm room, Spencer tried his best to shove the ice cream in the frost-coated freezer of their mini fridge, while Brady read the instructions on their tv dinners so he’d know when to start cooking them.

Spencer’s phone call happened shortly after, and then Brady was breaking out the vodka and trying to distract Spencer with a drinking game. Spencer suggested the Thanksgiving theme and they did a couple shots before the Zoom call, just to get themselves loosened up a little.

When the inflection in Spencer’s voice changed and he went a little nasally, Brady knew the alcohol was kicking in.

Just before three, Brady went down to the common area and put their dinners in the microwave so they’d be ready in time to join the family. He was a bit nervous about bringing Spencer to dinner, but a bit excited too.

When he got back to the room Spencer was wearing a dress shirt and his fake leather jacket.

“Dude, you dressed up?”

Spencer glanced down at his outfit. “Gotta make a good impression, man!”

“You obviously haven’t met my family.”

“I’ve seen your mom on your computer.”

“Yeah, so you know she’s nuts.”

Spencer shrugged. “She’s still your mom. I gotta make a good impression.”

Brady wasn’t sure if Spencer was forgetting the shot glasses and the fact that they planned to get completely shitfaced over dinner, but he didn’t have much time to think about it because the clock in the room said 3:01 and they were already late.

Brady set the TV dinners aside and quickly joined the video call. Spencer sat down a few seconds later, sliding in beside him in his pleather jacket, and they ended up having a great time. Brady’s family was ridiculous enough to encourage several more shots, and they got good and drunk while they ate some hot food. It was nice. The food wasn’t much different from their terrible cafeteria food, but somehow eating it together at a family dinner made it taste better.

Brady was feeling a little sappy by the end of it, and he was sad to miss out on his mom’s pumpkin pie, but watching Spencer smile at him from beneath an ice cream mustache seemed like an okay trade-off.

When Brady finally logged off and closed his laptop, they were both drunk and full and happy.

“You wanna lie down?” Spencer was looking at him with heavy eyes.

Brady nodded. “Yeah, dude.”

Spencer slipped off his jacket as they made their way to his bunk, and as soon as he was lying down Brady crawled in beside him.

They spent a good long while reliving the Zoom dinner and laughing about it.

“My Uncle Gary with that stupid turkey hat..”

“Turkey! Drink!” Spencer raised his hand as if he was still holding a shot glass but quickly remembered they were done drinking.

“It was turkey noises, drink.”

Spencer just waved him off with a smile. “Whatever dude.”

They talked about his Uncle Philip and Aunt Diane and Brady told a story about his younger cousins and how one Christmas they nearly set his grandma’s tree on fire.

The mention of Brady’s grandma suddenly had Spencer in hysterics. “Oh man, she was talking about her dookie!”

“Dude. Sick.” Brady grimaced. “Let’s not talk about it.”

When Spencer’s laughter died down he swiped his hand over his forehead, trying to get the hair out of his face. Then he looked over at Brady and smiled.

Brady smiled back at him.

He really liked Spencer but Brady secretly thought that his hair was pretty bad. It was too long, and cut weirdly, and dyed an inky black color which seemed to clash with his reddish beard. Brady didn’t even acknowledge the blue tips. It was just a weird combination over all.

He would never want to tell Spencer what to do or how to cut it, but the alcohol seemed to be making him brave. Or making him an asshole? Brady couldn’t really decide.

“Dude, you ever get tired of your long hair?”

Spencer seemed to consider the question for a moment before replying, “yeah maybe sometimes, like when I’m eating, and when I’m trying to watch tv, and when I’m sleeping.”

“You think–”

“And when I’m in class and the prof is writing stuff on the board.”

“Do you think– ”

“And when I need to brush it.”

“Dude.”

“And when– ”

“Dude.”

“Yeah dude?”

“What if.. like.. what if I cut it?”

Spencer didn’t respond so Brady continued.

“I’m good at cutting hair, I cut my hair all the time.”

When Spencer still didn’t reply, panic started to hit Brady a little. He wasn’t aiming to hurt Spencer’s feelings, but he was suddenly afraid that maybe he had. He silently cursed the stupid alcohol making him say stupid things.

“But if you don’t wanna” Brady stammered, “that’s cool too.”

“Yeah, dude.”

“Like, yeah that’s cool?” Brady asked carefully.

“I mean, like, yeah you can cut it.”

“Are you serious?”

“For sure,” Spencer nodded, pushing hair off his forehead again. “But we gotta wait until we’re not drunk. You got those shaky hands, bro.”

Brady raised a hand up to take a look at it. Spencer was right – his hands always trembled a little but it was worse when he’d been drinking.

He lowered his hand and looked over at Spencer. “Tomorrow?”

“Sure dude, in the morning.”

Brady smiled. “Awesome.”

He convinced Spencer to get up with him and they walked to the communal bathroom together to pee and brush their teeth. It was still pretty early, but Brady knew with the alcohol in their systems and the Thanksgiving dinner they’d both be passed out long before midnight.

When they got back to their dorm room Brady pulled his shirt over his head and Spencer unbuttoned his dress shirt and tossed it on the floor.

“You wanna kiss or something?”

“Yeah, man.”

Brady followed Spencer back to the bunk, and kissed him until he was too tired to keep his eyes open.

Brady woke to the feeling of Spencer’s hand on him, smoothing over his back, and when he opened his eyes the room was bright with morning light.

“You awake?” Spencer asked and Brady nodded into his pillow.

He secretly liked their early mornings together. The inflection in Spencer’s voice was different, softer and calmer, with less of the nasal twang he always had when they drank. Most mornings Spencer’s hands would be on him and they’d touch a bit and fuck, and Brady would happily go along with everything. It was in those moments he thought maybe he was in love. Maybe Spencer was his boyfriend.

But as the day went on Brady would push those ideas away. They were roommates.

It was complicated.

Brady thought back to the conversation from the night before and he really wanted to ask Spencer about his hair, but being sober made it a little more difficult and he definitely didn’t want to risk hurting Spencer’s feelings. So Brady kept quiet and just rolled over to look at him.

Spencer’s hair was pure chaos, a messy black and blue mop on his head, and maybe Brady gave himself away by staring at it, but Spencer was soon grinning at him.

“You wanna get the scissors?”

“Only if you want to, man.”

“Yeah, dude,” Spencer ran his hand through his hair, giving it a shake, “go get them.”

Brady jumped out of bed and searched his desk drawer for the scissors he always used on his own hair. He grabbed a towel from the closet, and a comb, and then pointed to his desk chair.

“Sit there.”

Spencer did as he was told, and Brady draped the towel over his shoulders and pulled it closed over his chest.

For such a chaotic pile of hair, it was surprisingly free of tats. Brady combed through it, brushing it down over Spencer’s face, completely covering his eyes. He needed to see where to cut and how much, and when Brady felt like he was ready he paused to look at Spencer.

“You ready?”

He could see Spencer’s mouth form into a grin beneath the smooth black hair. “Yeah, man, go for it.”

Brady went for the blue tips first, happily lopping them off, and then he surveyed Spencer’s head again. The loss of the blue tips left him with some sort of bowl cut and Brady considered it for a minute before moving around Spencer and snipping away at the sides and back.

Black hair continued to fall as Brady cut, and Spencer sat quietly, and if he was worried about his hair he didn’t say so.

Brady managed to cut the sides short, uncovering Spencer’s ears which he was pretty sure he’d never seen before. He stood in front of Spencer and looked back and forth, trying to make sure he’d cut everything evenly.

Then he nudged Spencer’s knee, pushing his legs apart, and he stepped between them.

“Time for the front,” Brady said, taking a deep breath. “Hopefully I don’t wreck it.”

“You won’t, man.” Spencer placed his hands on Brady’s bare hips and left them there as Brady started cutting.

It didn’t take long, just a few cuts, but Brady went slowly – holding out pieces and trying to cut things a bit jagged so Spencer wasn’t left with a blunt cut straight across his forehead. When he felt like he was done, Brady ran his hand through Spencer’s hair, trying to force it into some sort of style.

“If you put some wax in it I think it’ll look pretty good,” he said as he removed the towel from Spencer’s shoulders.

“Do you have any?”

Spencer glanced up, and Brady’s only response was to stare at the green eyes looking back at him. He’d seen Spencer’s eyes before, of course, but never so clearly.

“Dude, you’ve got nice eyes.”

“So do you,” Spencer smiled. “They’re so blue.”

“Yours are green.”

“I know, man.”

Brady leaned in to kiss him.

It was the first time they’d kissed without being drunk first.

Spencer’s hands strengthened their grip on Brady’s hips, and Brady couldn’t keep himself from touching Spencer’s face. His beard was still wild and scratchy, and it still clashed with his black hair, but it didn’t really bother Brady.

His hands moved lower, sliding down to Spencer’s shoulders and touching over him and when Spencer sighed against his mouth, Brady slid down onto his knees and unzipped Spencer’s jeans.

Brady had seen his dick before, usually when they jerked off or after Spencer fucked him, but they generally didn’t touch each other that way. But Brady knew what Spencer looked like, how long he was, and that he was uncut. Brady liked the way Spencer’s cockhead hid sometimes. He’d always been interested in it, wanting to explore because it was different from his own dick, but they never did that kind of thing, with his face in Spencer’s lap and Spencer watching him.

Brady thought maybe they should start.

He paused before reaching beyond Spencer’s zipper.

“Is this okay, man?”

Spencer just nodded slowly, “oh yeah, dude..”

Brady was slow about it, wanting to touch and look, and he watched the way Spencer thickened in his hand and the slit of his dick peeked out a bit as the hooded skin uncovered it. Brady gripped a little tighter, sliding Spencer’s foreskin down to uncover the wet cockhead underneath. He tried it again a few times, sliding the skin up and over the head of Spencer’s dick and then back down, pulling it taut as Spencer’s cock strained and leaked.

Spencer was sighing above him, “ahh Brady, please..” so Brady leaned forward and took him into his mouth.

Spencer’s dick was slick and salty and Brady licked over him, thinking about the way he liked his own dick sucked and trying to emulate it. Brady took him as deep as he could before realising it made him gag and he didn’t like that much, so he focused on licking and sucking on the end, using his hand to jack Spencer’s foreskin a bit. Spencer was writhing above him, making soft little whining sounds as he gripped the arms of the desk chair.

“Oh god, dude,” he gasped, “oh Brady, please, please keep going.”

So Brady did. He licked and sucked until Spencer was whining and coming down his throat. Brady had tasted his own jizz before and Spencer’s wasn’t much different, and it didn’t make him gag like the deep throating did. He moved his mouth over Spencer one last time, leaving him wet and licked clean, and Spencer leaned down to hold Brady’s face and kiss him.

“Oh man, you taste like me.”

“Obviously,” Brady grinned, “you just jizzed in my mouth.”

“I sure did,” Spencer smiled back, and then he slid down from the chair and joined Brady on the floor.

Spencer gave him a soft push, “lie down.”

Brady laid back and watched as Spencer knelt over him and loosened the ties on his joggers. His dick was tenting the fabric and Spencer looked at it before looking up at him.

“Can I suck you, dude?”

Brady’s eyes went wide. “God, dude, YES.”

He watched as Spencer pulled his joggers down and his dick sprung free, and then Spencer’s mouth was on him, wet and warm. Brady wanted to buck his hips up because it felt so good, and maybe Spencer knew it, because his hands moved to hold Brady’s bare hips again, pressing him to the floor as he took Brady’s cock as deep as he could. Spencer nearly gagged on it, and then he pulled his mouth back and completely away to watch the trail of spit and precum stretch between his lips and Brady’s cockhead.

“Spencer,” Brady gasped, wanting his mouth back, and Spencer moved down again, sucking over him nice and slow.

He’d had his dick sucked before, plenty of times, but Spencer’s mouth on him felt different. Sweet almost, and it gave Brady an odd feeling in his chest. He reached down to touch Spencer’s head, running his fingers through the fresh haircut, and Spencer glanced up at him, his green eyes soft and wanting as he smiled around Brady’s dick.

Brady watched him a little longer, enjoying the way Spencer’s lips moved over him, sucking him a little deeper each time. And when Brady felt himself teetering on the edge, he tipped his head back and pushed his hips against Spencer’s hands as he pulsed inside Spencer’s mouth. Those wet lips stayed tight around him, sucking every bit of jizz out of him until Brady was spent and unable to move another muscle.

Spencer flopped down next to him and after a moment he felt Spencer’s hand reach for his and they entwined their fingers.

“We should do that all the time.”

“Yeah, man.”

“Like, every day.”

“Yeah.”

Brady looked over and smiled at Spencer, and Spencer grinned back at him as he leaned in for another kiss.

It wasn’t really that complicated.

Brady was pretty sure he was in love. And Spencer was definitely his boyfriend.

#dude bro boyfriends #brady/spencer #rhink fic #but not exactly #they're randl characters #they were roommates #my fic #rhink #spencer/brady #sprady

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popculturebuffet · 4 years ago

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Ducktales Lena Retrospective: The Other Bin of Scrooge McDuck! or Why Does Lena’s Darkest Hour Have a WACKKKYY Bigfoot Subplot?

Hello all you happy people and welcome back to Shadow Into Light, my look back the LIfe and Times of Lena Sabrewing. And we’re almost at the end of season 1. Woo-Ooo!. While i’ll have more season 1 episodes to cover for it’s sister arc, this is the last episode in this arc before the finale.. and i’m happy to repeat that next week will be DUCK WEEK as a result, finsihing up this arc and the Della arcs, as well as dipping into season 2 a bit for Lena’s return to celebrate the finale of this wonderful show. Full disclosure: I didn’t PLAN for it this way, I assumed the show would be ending in April, but sometimes serendipity just works out for you. So pitter pat er, let’s get at er.

When we last left off Webby went on a wild duck chase for her grandma in England and 87!Webby befriended that version of Magica’s niece and told off a grown woman masquerading as a child because her husband likes being called “Daddy”. When we last left the plot proper though, we learned Lena just wanted to be free, and was willing to do whatever it took, and Magica was getting more abusive and more impatient. And if you thought the end to Jaw$! was pretty sad and dark.... strap in and steel yourself as we take a look at one of the darkest episodes in the series.

The opening sets the stage perfectly as we’re in Scrooge’s Room in the middle of the night, when Lena comes in.. with a knife.

Naturally she dosen’t have baked goods, but instead is trying to cut the knife from around his neck while Magica won’t shut up while she works and keeps distracting her and BLAMING her for getting distracted. As for the knife it’s glowing and mystic because naturally, Scrooge doesn’t trust just ANY string but a magically woven one to hold his dime. Unlucky for her her girlfriend walks in at the exact moment she’s standing over her idol holding a mystical knife. I don’t think hallmark makes a card for “Sorry I was lying to you for months for my abusive aunt to earn my freedom and then looked like I was about to slit your uncle’s throat. I love you though. “ Yet.

Scrooge starts to stir so Webby pulls Lena out of there and back to her room... and flashes a lamp on her to interrogate her. Lena is able to bounce back, asking “what were you doing there”. Which NORMALLY wouldn’t last more than two minutes.. but since Webby was there to get Drool samples, maybe she wants to clone him I mean she does know a guy I think the why is something we’d rather not know about, Webby herself was a bit suspcious and Lena uses her starkerish ways to say she’d also gotten into being a Scrooge fangirl. This also allows her to ask about the dime.. but since Scrooge never takes it off, that means they have no access and both Lena and Magica are stuck watching Webby’s long presentation on Scrooge’s life story. I mean personally i’d love to see this in it’s full probably 8 hour glory but I’m not trying to earn my freedom or stuck as a shadow monster.

It was then when watching the episode this morning.. I was reminded it had a subplot. And the instant I saw Dewey folding Louie’s shirts... I started to piece together it was the bigfoot one.

As you can tell i’m not a fan of this subplot. It has a good core idea, riffing on “kid takes home sasquatch films” like Cry Wilderness, Big and Harry and of course the one that started it all, Harry and the Hendersons.

It’s just bogged down by one really obnoxious trait that trips it up and is in the wrong episode entirely. We’ll get to that first scene and the plot as a whole in a moment we just need the setup in the a-story first: Scrooge privately conferring with Beakly, which Magica snoops on. While Lena didn’t get far at all in cutting the rope of his dime, she still left a knick and the fact someone got into his house, let alone his bedroom and got THAT far, means SOMETHING bad is afoot. So while he looks for it he’s putting the dime in the Other Bin for safekeeping. We’ll find out what that is in moment. For now

Let’s Get This Stupid Sasquatch Plot Over With

We open with Louie having conned Dewey into folding his stuff for the “world laundry folding record”. I mean.. it’s greasy but I gotta respect game here. And it’s not actively harming anyone. Though we do find out from an irate Huey he’s done far worse, if in a hilarious way with Louie’s Kids, his obviously fake charity he uses to get money out of Donald. And so far into it, as Huey hid something he had in the closet and offered to Fix Louie’s stretched out hoodie, the reason he was mad at Dewey, I didn’t get why I hated it before. I wondered why I was so annoyed. Same when Huey while carrying Louie’s hoodies hears his uncle looking for something in the mansion.

Turns out he’s got a bigfoot hiding in their closet, that he found injured int he woods and brought back and all that good kid finding a mythical creature stuff. Dewey of course loves him on first sight and both want to keep him. But unlike most of these sorts of things where the creature’s damage to the room and what not is played off or the sibling doesn’t know, Louie does see it and isn’t happy about it and only agrees to hide the furry bastard because his brothers blackmail him with his schemes, and refuse to feel sorry for him as the creatures antics continue, including drinking Louie’s special pep and eating his snacks.

And this is where one of the plots two major issues crops up: The way Dewey and Huey act. Both just ignore any damage wooly foot does, any discomfort to Louie and any obvious downsides of this. Now Dewey being clinginly attached to a majestic creature he found and wanting to keep it? Fits perfectly, and him being mean to louie fits because louie tricked him. Huey however.. is horribly out of character, as while I could see him being charmed at first and not wanting his uncle to hunt his new friend.. he’s not an impractical boy. He’d of tried to get his new friend to the woods first thing because it’s where he’s safest from scrooge and his foot has healed. He’s also a Woodchuck and I can’t imagine the JWG says it’s okay to keep a wild animal person as a pet basically. None of it fits him and makes him into a moron for an episode solely for the plot to work. This still could’ve worked but just have Huey and Louie BOTH get suspicious, Huey later, and find out Tenderfoot is actually Gavin, whose sapient, has a phone and simply is taking advantage of them. it would’ve gone the same way: if they told Dewey , Gavin would kill them, as he threatened to do if louie told his brothers. The Gavin part though is brilliant and a really nice twist I didn’t see coming when I first saw this.

And it would’ve made the already great climax more interesting as Huey would’ve been forced to use the methods of Louie’s he’d derided to beat a far worse scammer. Instead it’s just Louie but he doesn’t take Gavin’s threats lying down.. and comes up with a clever way to use his scam against him. He shaves Gavin, hides the razor then claims to his brother that not being in the woods means he’s dying or some such thing. So our two idiots and our hero drag them out and while they run into scrooge, Louie still saves the idiots life by manipulating him with a schmaltzy speech and they let him go despite his best attempts to stay, with Louie getting a nice “I win in there”. Overall a bit of a mess with some good ideas, but Huey suddenly taking dum dum juice really drags it down.

So in any other episode this would’ve been fine whatever just mildly obnoxious. What makes it really, unintentionally obnoxious.. is it’s in the middle of a tense, dark, horror story that dives into the depths of Lena’s soul and ends on a really horrifying note. Case in point Louie shaves a bigfoot and gets his victory over his nemesis.. after an utterly spellbindingly horrific nightmare by Lena, easily the most terrifying moment in the entire show. Followed up with a shaved bigfoot.

Now I could buy Disney simply forced them to do this to keep things light... except Frank’s been pretty upfront about the production process, how Disney has treated him, what they’ve said no on. So if it had been something they were forced to do, he would’ve said it. No this is just not reading the room and not thinking things through and an otherwise stellar episode suffers for it.They could’ve waited till season 2 for it, they didn’t, and this was the result. It dosen’t ruin the rest of the episode it’s too good for it, but damn if it dosen’t create mood whiplash so severe I need a neckbrace.

The Good Part

So back at the plot anyone actually cares about, we found out what the “other bin” is when Lena asks Webby: While the Money bin is for well, money and precious keepsakes, the other bin is the stuff too dangerous to keep out in the world. And this is the guy who kept a mystical gold eating dragon, a pirate ghost, and a medusa gauntlet in his garage, and we’ll learn after this ep also keeps a giant golden aztec golem in there. NONE of that was deemed dangerous enough to put in the other bin. So Webby is understandably hesitant.. and it gets a bit unsettling when Lena manipulates her into it. While she has in the past.. she usually just nudged Webby into something she’d do anyway at worst, or showed her an r-rated movie or something harmless. While she did use her as an in she clearly cares.. so it shows how horrifically desperate she’s got she’s willing to pressure her into going into Scrooge’s most dangerous and secure location, pointing out this may be her only chance to see the Dime.

So she reluctantly agrees, and the two head into the garage. Turns out Scrooge keeps all his junk here for more reason than just shoving it wherever it’d go, as the entrance to the other bin is hidden here. The statue that gave Manny his head is actually a clue towards the painting hiding the second bin, which itself requires one of those things used to hold up ropes and such like you’d see at a movie theater... god I miss movie theaters.. I mean watching stuff in the comfort of home is very nice, but it was nice getting out, making a day of it. I mean their around, but I really don’t want to go till one till more vaccinations have happened and it’s a lot safer to go. Wait what were we talking about? Oh right gay ducks going into a horrifying nightmare vault. But yeah the theater thingy is the key, it unlocks the entrance and our heroines head inside.

In contrast to the modern, buisnessy welcoming bin, the other bin is basically one giant vault/prison, with everything in it securely locked inside identical doored rooms. It’s genius as it is simple: Only 6 people have likely ever had access to this place: Scrooge, Beakly, Gyro, Duckworth and MAYBE the twins. Even Della and Donald being allowed down here is an unknown. The non-scrooge people are only because someone besides him needs to maintain it, keep any creatures fed, that sort of thing and he’d only trust his butler and his housekeeper, who are also both extraordinarily badass, to do so. Gyro is because someone needed to design the cells. I also wouldn’t be surprised if Quackfaster was a 7th since season 3 casts her as Scrooge’s magic expert and he’d likely need specific runes for specific cells. He’d want as few people down here as possible, and even fewer knowing. I’m sure Bradford knew, and i’m also certain it’s the one thing he never quibbled about the expense as while he hates what Scrooge stands for and tried to curb his “chaos” as much as possible.. this is doing exactly what Bradford likes: locking it away where it can’t hurt anybody. Plus quibbling about it might make Scrooge want to show it off to him and that’s.. that's’ a whole lotta nope in a 2 pound bag.

So for once Webby is very hesitant and very cautious, though naturally Magica points out a door.. and Lena stupidly follows her advice as she knows her “aunt” is impulsive and has no regards for her safety. What did she think was going to happen? They instead find a unicorn.. or rather it’s angry murderous cousin the Sword Horse, which naturally tries goring them. I’d go with Spear Horse, but semantics. Point is Webby is soon tackled by the thing and Magica just wants to let her die. As seen before the tension between Magica and Lena has hit a breaking point: Magica is fed up with Lena’s clear feelings for webby and caring more about her than the mission.. while Lena is fed up with Magica not listening to her, respecting her as sentient being and dismissing her out of hand instead of listening to her often very valid criticism. So Lena naturally ignores her and throws her the knife, which Webby uses to get the Sword Horse back in it’s pen. And then wonders why her girlfriend has glowing painstakingly crafted magic knife. Whoops. Webby also wants to leave but Lena convinces her to keep going. but it’s also very clear that Webby’s getting more and more reluctant and i’ts very hard to watch. You can’t blame Lena for wanting to be free of Magica: she dosen’t see her as a person, and dosen’t value her life. But it’s still hard to watc her have to manipulate the only person that loves her and do so so.. effectively. It’s easy to imagine Lena’s done this dozens of times to other people.. but not to someone she actually CARES about.

Webby DOES figure out how the rooms work though: each one is labeled by the year Scrooge caught it. So she assumes one room she fine is the dime.. and Lena of course runs in and slams the door shut... they’ve found it. So we then get to the most terrifying moment of the series. With victory in her grasp magica roars for Lena to claim the dime, filling the room and Lena with shadow with Lena seemingly disolving.. until Magica is restored or at least partially, still a shadow. Magica has just one thing for her.. and Lena’s reactoin is terrified.. and says oh so much in just one expression it’s VERY clear Lena fears she’s about to die... if she’s lucky. Magica’s been so verbally abusive, tearing her down constantly, manipulating her constantly.. why WOULD Lena expect anything good? Why would she expect anything other than pain or death? So a hug is a surprise.. as is Webby who assumes she’s being attacked... and is clearly heartbroken that’s not the case and runs for Scrooge when Magica admits the truth... only for Magica to seemingly kill her, turning her into a doll resembling the original Webby

Yeah at this point it’s obvious something’s up.. but before we can get to the natural reveal at the end of this horror show, Lena demands Magica change her back... only for a fight to naturally ensue with Magica rubbing the way Lena’s treated Webby in her face: How she manipualted her, lied to her and used her. Even if it was for more noble reasons.. she never told her any of this or tried to and is now directly responsible for her death. She’s a monster.. and then Lena’s amulet activates.. and seemingly finishes the job.

Then Lena wakes up. This was simply one of SCrooge’s artifact, one Webby mentioned earlier off hand and Webby rescues her. It was all a nightmare.. easy to see given Webby was seemingly killed or turned into a doll at points.. but besides making Lena realize how while not as bad as her aunt, she ahsn’t been great.. it also gives us a painful look into her head and how she sees both Magica and Webby. With Magica.. it’s again VERY clear Magica verbally abuses her, depersons her and is in general a horrifiingly relastic depection of a domestic abuser. But it’s also telling Magica hugs her... while Lena didn’t expect it, this is all her subconcious mixed with a magical cursed artifact, it’s clear that deep down one of the things she wants most.. is for Magica to LOVE HER.

That is just... it hurts so much. She just wants a Mom.. and even then her subconcious can’t give her THAT because it knows the truth. Granted the nightmare thing might of had something to do with it, but still, the fact is deep down she knows Magica dosen’t care about her but she WANTS her to. As with Webby, she fears Magica is right, that all her gaslighting has had an effect and Webby would run away the second she found out. When as we’ll learn.. that’s not true at all. She’s deeply hurt... but she still belivies in her. But Lena can’t even see that. She’s been beaten down so much by someone constnatly telling her no one will ever love her she belivies it herself and all her mind and the dreamcatcher can do is pummel her over and over again with what she feels about herself, what she’s KNOWN about how she treats webby even if she had no way out otherwise, how wrong it’s felt. Just holy shit it’s a lot to take in.

But all this trauma has made Lena realize she truly does love Webby and this isn’t worth it.. she’ll find some other way out or figure out something, for now their leaving. She’s not dying for this.. not for her. They happen to run into Scrooge who, due to the WACKY BIGFOOT SUBPLOT THAT HAPPENED RIGHT AFTER THE ABOVE SCENE, no I will not let that go even going back to Frank’s twitter asks he outright said it was their darkest plot paired with one of their most insane, he knew what he was doing. Turns out cleverly he kept the Dime in vault one. As he puts it “They never think to check the first one”. Smart. He also keeps his worry room down here. Just a note I wanted to mention.

He does chide them, and Lena takes the full fall.. but suprisingly he dosen’t ban her from his home or anything, he just asks they be honest and would’ve gladly showed the dime off to them both if they’d just asked. Once Scrooge and Webby walk off far enough Magica berates her again..but Lena is done. She’s realized from her own horrifying nightmares that NO amount of freedom is worth what Magica will get out of this, that her own soul isn’t worth the death of the one person she cares about: Webby will fight her and she might not make it. She loves her more than she fears Magica. And even if it means loosing Webby.. she knows who can stop him. Unfortunately.. this is not a happy ending as Magica simply takes full control. And now has Scrooge’s full trust.

Final Thoughts: This episode is one half a masterpiece. The parts with Lena are to this day, as we approach the very last episode, some of the show’s finest writing and Lena’s nightmare is easily the darkest scene in the series, and only not the most gutwrenching.. because we’re getting to that next week. It finishes the first leg of her character arc, with her selfishness all gone, and the only thing she wants is Webby’s hapiness. Granted that leads to a whole nother character arc over her season 2 episodes, but we’ll get there. Point is she’s realized her manipulations are wrong and not worth the cost, and that she’ll never get anything good out of Magica. Freedom.. will take just a bit longer. It’s eerie to watch, uncomfortable as Lena sinks to her lowest point before climbing out of it, and with a very tense atmosphere the whole time, the bin having a smothering uncomfortableness as we know there’s tons of horrible things here.. but we don’t know what.

So on it’s own it’d be one of the series best episodes, and the plot itself is still one fo the series best.. but it’s weighed down by one of the series worst plots. Still tame compared to a lto of other series worst moments but being paired with something so dark and excellent really shows how fucking stupid this plot was and made it that much more grating. It just clashes badly. Thankfully the crew did learn from this fiasco to the point we got one of the series best episodes “Escape from the Impossibin!”. That one seemingly has two light enough plots, Scrooge, Louie and Della escaping from the bin and Webby stalking the boys, but in a comedic ic still messed up fashion.. but both take a sharp left at just the right time as to not clash: the full implications of what Webby’s doing and her physical fight with Bentina happen around the same time Scrooge breaks down and confesses he’s scared he can’t win this time. The episode gets really dark in the second half but it eases into it and slowly makes it’s way to it, building to it with some laughts to disarm it. But stuff like robo scrooge or the timeloop room, or the timeloop room, or the timeloop room, or the oh thank god i’ts broken. That stuff isn’t SO wacky or out of place that it detracts from the other plot. They compliment each other. Here it’s just two plots that don’t work together at all joined together for some reason. So yeah overall a very mixed bag of an episode and if you do want to watch or rewatch it.. just skip the bigfoot subplot> it’s not worth it.

Next Time on Shadow Into Light: It’s all come down to this. Magica finally ges what she wants. The Shadow War is Night.. but before I can tell you that story we have a bit of ground to cover so..

Next on this Blog: The family minus Beakly ends up in Greece. Dewey is forced to deal with his fears about his mom, Scrooge is forced to deal with his old rival Zeus, and Donald is forced to deal with an unwanted admirerer. Spanikopita!

If you liked this review, follow for more, feel free to contribute to my patreon, and feel free to commission a review of your own. Until the next rainbow, it’s been a pleasure.

#ducktales #lena sabrewing #webby vanderquack #weblena #magica de spell #scrooge mcduck #bentina beakly #huey duck #louie duck #dewey duck #tenderfeet #the other bin of scrooge mcduck #disney xd #disney channel

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keanureevesisbae · 4 years ago

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Coach Cavill - Chapter 3

Summary: It’s Benji’s first competition with Henry as his coach.

Coach!Henry Cavill x Amelia Jung (Asian ofc)

Wordcount: 3.6k

Warnings: None

A/N: Just wanted to let you know that your comments are really making my day 💕 If you want to be on the taglist, just let me know 😉😘

Masterlist // Previous chapter // Next chapter

Eve, her husband Johnny and their kids Lola, Jake and Yara have taken Isabella with them, so they can find a nice spot on the bleachers, while I wait for Benji, since he is at the weigh in. He walks out of the room, giving me a thumbs up. He is always a bit nervous during weigh ins, though our scale told us this morning that he was all good to go. I hold his bag, as he is slipping into his sport socks. He puts on his sweater again and says: ‘I think I can finish this year in the minus fifty five kilo category, mom.’

‘Well, we’ll see about that. There is nothing wrong with going up a category, you know. You are a teenager and still growing.’

‘I know,’ he says with a smile. ‘Let’s just hope that I won’t start growing again for approximately two months. I’d like to finish in this category.’

‘Mister Jung,’ Henry says, who walks up to the two of us. He is looking handsome today. I like him in a tracksuit, because goodness gracious, those legs…

‘Coach Cavill.’ I see the way Benji’s eyes light up when he sees coach and it nearly makes me want to melt. I dread the moment Dean will arrive… ‘The weigh in went good.’

Henry nods with a bright smile on his face. ‘Very good. Are you excited?’

‘I am.’

‘Are you nervous?’

Benji shrugs. ‘Maybe a little bit, but that’s only healthy right? At least, that’s what mom always says.’

‘When you are a bit nervous, you usually perform better, so your mom is obviously right about that.’ Henry’s eyes meet mine and smiles. ‘Good morning Amelia.’

‘Good morning.’

‘You slept good?’ he asks.

I nod. ‘Wonderfully, thank you.’

‘Benji, are you letting your mom carry your bag for you?’ Henry tsks, before taking the bag from my hands. ‘Well, since you’re not taped in yet, I’ll let it slide this time.’ He places his hand on Benji’s shoulder, who blushes and mumbles a soft: ‘Sorry coach.’

I can’t help but smile. This is the type of bond I wished Dean and Benji had.

‘You have an hour before you’re up. Eat something, drink something, make sure you’re all taped up and ready to go, so I can help you warm up, okay?’

‘Thanks coach.’ Benji smiles, before saying he is going to join aunt Eve and the rest. I watch him with a smile on my face.

‘Are you nervous?’ I ask Henry.

He scoffs, as if he is offended. ‘Why would I be nervous?’

‘You have been their coach for a week now,’ I say, as we walk towards the bleachers, ‘and this is your first tournament.’

He chuckles. ‘I don’t get nervous, especially over something like this,’ he tells me. ‘Passed that station a long time ago.’

‘Liar liar, pants on fire,’ I singsong.

He frowns. ‘That has been quite a while since I heard that phrase.’

‘Let me guess: kindergarten.’

‘How did you know?’ he asks, genuinely impressed. I’m tempted to convince him that I’m a psych-kick, but I decide to tell the truth.

‘Well, I sing this on a daily basis. I’m a kindergarten teacher, surrounded by cheeky little ones who think they can deceive me.’

Henry smiles. ‘Didn’t know you were a teacher,’ he says. ‘You seem like a sweet one. Those kids are lucky to have a teacher like you.’

This shouldn’t make me blush and yet it does. I always thought and hoped that I left my blushing episodes in high school. I wave to Eve, who obviously spotted us and nods approvingly, when her eyes fall on the handsome man beside me.

‘Here you go, champ,’ Henry says, placing the sports bag in front of Benji’s feet.

‘Thanks coach,’ he says. I know my son better than he knows himself, because I rummage through my mom bag, that is filled with necessary stuff, neatly arranged.

‘There you go, honey,’ I say to him, handing him a sandwich. I look up to Henry. ‘You want to join us or…? I have two sandwiches for you.’

‘I’m never going to say no to a sandwich, let alone two.’

I sit down next to Benji, who gives me the roll of tape and Henry sits next to me. Tons of thoughts are running through my head, but one recurring thought is that we kind of look like a couple now. We look like a family and if Isabella would sit here with us, it would be complete.

‘Here you go,’ I say to Henry, giving him his sandwich. ‘Enjoy.’

‘Mom makes the best sandwiches,’ Benji says, holding out his hand for me to tape in. ‘She can’t cook very well, but her sandwiches are out of this world.’

‘Benji, don’t tell your coach that I’m not a very good cook.’

‘But it’s true and you say that you should tell the truth.’

‘Yeah, but a little lie every now and then doesn’t hurt anyone.’

Henry chuckles. ‘Well, maybe she isn’t a great cook, but she sure as hell knows how to make a wonderful sandwich. I feel like I should pop by everyday to get one.’

I rip off a piece of tape. ‘You’re always welcome. I think Benji would love to have his favorite coach around.’

Benji blushes. ‘Well, I wouldn’t complain,’ he softly mumbles, taking a bite out of his own sandwich.

Jake and Lola, who are Benji’s age, sit on the floor at his feet. These three have been friends ever since the day they were born (thirteen days apart, making Benji the youngest) and it makes me happy that to this day, they are still close. Something deep inside me tells me that Benji is into Lola, but that is merely a gut feeling, since Benji doesn’t talk about such thing and I don’t want to be a mother that wants to pry out information like this from her child. I hated it when my mom did that, I sure as hell know that my son would hate it.

‘You want a protein bar?’ Lola asks him.

‘It’s totally acceptable, aunt Amelia,’ Jake adds, when he sees me looking. ‘I always eat it before I go to the gym.’

‘Enjoy it, sweetheart,’ I say to Benji. ‘Give me your foot.’

I tape up his ankle and I wonder what Henry is thinking right now. When I look up, as I finished taping up Benji, I see Henry smiling.

‘Mom, look,’ Isabella says, causing me to stretch myself out to see her sitting on Johnny’s leg, as Yara is sitting on his other.

‘You know,’ Johnny says, ‘this reminds me of when Lola and Jake were younger. Only this time, I don’t have a stinky boy on my leg.’

‘I’m right here, dad,’ Jake says.

I roll my eyes. ‘Well, Jake, your dad is right. You were a stinky boy when you were younger.’

‘Aunt Amelia, that is so rude!’

I stick out my tongue, before I watch the three teens start talking again. Eve and Johnny both wink at me, causing me to roll my eyes. I look to the side, to Henry. ‘So,’ I start, ‘it must be hard, to be here by yourself. No family.’

He shrugs. ‘Sometimes, but here in Luna Meadows, I feel like I’m home. Does that make sense?’

‘I totally understand. I moved out of this town when I was fifteenth and came back when I was eighteen. The second I was back here, I was home again.’

‘Why were you out of town for three years?’ Henry asks, but I don’t have an opportunity to answer, because my favorite supporter has arrived.

‘There is my champion.’ If the air could turn any colder, my spit would freeze in my mouth. Dean sits close by and it infuriates me. Do I really have to teach him the post divorce etiquette? How hard is it for someone to understand to sit away from your ex-wife?

My heart stops beating for a bit, as I watch Dean sitting next to Benji.

‘Hi dad,’ Benji says, clearly uncomfortable. He quickly checks if his dad kept his side of the bargain, by not bringing Mindy, and thankfully Dean did. Benji leans over to me and whispers: ‘Next time I don’t want him here.’

Oh, my poor baby. ‘Understood. Do you want him gone now? We can just be honest with him, he should understand.’

Benji shakes his head. ‘No, not necessary.’

I wrap my arms around his shoulders and pull him in for a hug.

‘Benji,’ Henry says, ‘let’s go, we’ll go stretching a bit, go over the game plan.’

My son simply nods (but I know him, he is grateful that Henry is giving him this way out) and gives me a kiss. ‘I love you, mom.’

‘Love you too.’

‘Good luck!’ Eve says. ‘You go kick some butt, promise?’

Benji smiles as he stands up. ‘I promise, aunt Eve.’

Everyone wishes him good luck and I stand up, so I can sit close to Eve. Isabella rushes over to her dad, to sit with him. I don’t like that Isabella still loves Dean, but I don’t feel like I should interfere. She is his daughter and he is her dad and that’s a bond I shouldn’t come in between, no matter how much I want to.

Jack and Lola sit between me and Dean and I lean over to Lola and whisper: ‘How about junk food after the match? As a thank you for being my human barrier.’

‘Aunt Amelia,’ Lola says with a smile on her face and she looks just like her mother now, ‘this is merely a favor. We love you.’

Eve did such a good job raising her kids.

‘Let’s ignore the idiot,’ Eve says as she leans over, ‘and talk about more important things. For example how handsome coach Cavill is.’

‘I know right,’ I chuckle, as I look over to the tatami, seeing Henry writing down some stuff on a piece of paper, as Benji is getting ready in his judogi, as he listens to his coach.

‘Also, this man is totally into you and he is not making a secret out of it. I mean, the way that man looks at you when you are not looking, it’s quite something.’

‘Don’t, Eve.’

She sends me a look, before continuing to say: ‘Benji seems to really like him too and that may be the most important thing.’

That is the most important thing. Eve knows how Benji can be and actually Johnny is one of the only men Benji trusts. ‘I know, that makes me pretty happy too.’

I can feel that Dean wants to talk to me, wants me to have a conversation with him and pretend like he didn’t ruin our marriage. Just because he didn’t bring the toddler with him, doesn’t mean I can pretend like everything is okay.

I continue to ignore Dean’s presence, just as I am ignoring the stares of everyone else. Benji is doing his warm up and Henry is helping him stretching out his muscles. Eve gets my attention, by tapping my leg and whispering: ‘Henry is good with kids, that’s also a good sign.’

I don’t know if this is her way of distracting me or if she is serious. I chuckle, before I say: ‘Shut up.’

✰ ✰ ✰

How do you kill your ex-husband, without a crowd of at least a hundred people noticing? I don’t think that is even a possibility, especially since I want that man to suffer.

He has been yelling things like: ‘That’s my boy’ and ‘Watch your defense, Benji’ and if that man knew his son one bit, he’d know that Benji hates that. The only thing I do from the side, is applauding and giving him a thumbs up when he looks at me. Jake and Lola are his friends and Isabella is his sister and they have a pass for yelling things, but Eve and Johnny also need to shut up.

However Dean is his dad, not his friend and he should know this.

‘Dean, I am warning you,’ I eventually say to him, ‘if you don’t cut the yelling right now, I’m going to kick you out.’

‘Can’t a dad support his son a little? Geez, Amelia, you are such a party pooper.’

My hands turn into fists. ‘A real dad would support his son in a way that the son appreciates it. Benji hates it when you yell from the sideline.’

Eve takes a deep breath and says: ‘Dean, if you could just shut up for the finals.’

Dean leans back in the chair and I quickly check my phone, when I see that Benji is on his, waiting for his turn.

Amelia: I’m sorry, honey

Benji: It’s okay, mom

Amelia: Sure? I can kick him out.

Benji: Sure, I can handle this.

I look up, to see his head hang, his tense shoulders and when he looks up to me, I catch the sad look in his eyes. My boy is everything but okay. My eyes meet Henry’s, who holds out his hand, non verbally telling me that it’ll be okay and I believe him. I totally believe him and who is he anyways?

He has seen my kid during practice three times and he already knows Benji better than his own father does.

During the final, I hold my breath as I usually do. I’m afraid he is going to break his neck, especially since his opponent is actually pretty good.

‘Come on, Benji, don’t be such a pushover!’

‘Dean, are you kidding me?’ I ask, pushing Jake and Lola to the side, so I can have a clear look at the man I fell for many many years ago. The man that I loved. The man that proposed to me, that told me that we would be together forever and the man who told me when Benji was born that he was going to protect him with his entire life, just like he did when Isabella was born. ‘What did I just say?’

That is the exact moment that Benji falls flat on his back, thus losing with an ippon, meaning the game is over. He walks off the tatami, after he politely shook his opponents hand and marches to the exit.

Fuck, no, no, no.

I get up and stare at Dean, hoping that I can kill him with this simple stare. ‘Look at what you did, you idiot.’

‘I’m an idiot?’ He grabs my wrist as he stands up, preventing me from going after my son. ‘He could’ve easily won this.’

I’m not going to have this conversation with him. ‘Honestly,’ I say, ‘I don’t care about the lies and the rumors you spread about me behind my back, but this is your son. You hurt him when you act like this.’ I pull my hand free from his grip, as I rush off the bleachers, hoping I can find Benji.

‘Benji, open up.’ Henry has placed his hand on the doorframe, as he continuously knocks on the wood. ‘Come on, buddy, we have to talk about this.’

‘Go away,’ I hear Benji’s muffled voice coming through the door.

Henry sees me and steps aside. ‘I’m sorry,’ he says. ‘I thought this wouldn’t go to his head. I hoped I had prepared him for this.’

‘This is not your fault,’ I tell him, before I knock on the door. ‘Benji, honey, it’s me. Can you open the door for me?’

‘Leave me alone.’

‘Look, I get that you are upset,’ I say, before sighing deeply. Thanks a lot, Dean, for screwing up so badly. I place my forehead against the door. I don’t even know what to say to him. Normally I know exactly what can cheer him up, but this hasn’t happened before. How does one respond to a situation like this?

‘Is he in there?’ Dean asks, as he marches up here. Fuck, that voice is annoying the shit out of me and I feel my son tensing up, though I can’t even see him.

‘Dean, leave us alone,’ I say. ‘I’ve got this under control.’

‘You’ve got this under control?’ he repeats. ‘If you raised him to—’

‘Excuse me,’ Henry says, physically stepping in between me and Dean. ‘Amelia is right, it’s all under control.’

‘Benji is my son and—’

‘Sir,’—how does Henry stay this unbothered?—‘I get that, but we have this under control. What Benji needs right now, is his mother and as far as I’m aware of, you are not his mother.’

I’m not as unbothered as Henry is. This bothers me in a way that I can’t keep silent anymore. ‘This is your fault,’ I blurt out. ‘You have no consideration at all, now do you? What was the real reason that you wanted to watch his match? You barely went to his matches before our divorce. What is so damn special about this one?’ I gently push Henry aside, before I let out a laugh when I see Dean’s face. ‘Oh my, you are unbelievable. This had nothing to do with you wanting to get to know your son or be there for your son. This has everything to do that your brothers are coming over soon! You just want to show our son off and his accomplishments.’

‘That is not true.’

His left eyebrow just went up a bit, a clear sign he is lying. ‘Get out, Dean. Next weekend the kids, if they want to, are yours again, but right now you need to go.’ He wants to stammer something about not leaving, but I’m dead serious now. ‘Leave!’

He shakes his head out of frustration, slamming another door, before walking away.

As if he was waiting for it, because Benji opens the door and wraps his arms around my shoulders. ‘I’m sorry, mom,’ he says.

‘No, no, no, don’t you dare apologize for this,’ I say, as I run my fingers through his sweaty hair. I let out a deep sigh. ‘Next time we will not let him join your match, unless you want him to.’

Benji lets go of me, but I hold his face in my hands, when I notice his held back tears. ‘Okay, mom.’

I press a kiss on his forehead. ‘You did really well,’ I tell him.

Benji takes a deep breath, sinking his teeth in his bottom lip. ‘I’m sorry, coach,’ he says.

Henry simply frowns, placing a heavy hand in the back of Benji’s neck. ‘Why?’

‘I let you down.’

‘No, no, no, you didn’t. You were outstanding.’ Henry smiles at my son, patting him on the shoulder. ‘You can and should be very proud of yourself, because I know I am and your mom is too, that I know for sure.’

Benji simply nods and wipes away his tears. ‘Go sit with the rest, okay?’ I suggest to him and he nods. ‘I’ll be there in a second.’

‘Congrats, champ,’ Henry says, ‘second place is very good.’

‘Yeah,’ Benji says with a smile, before walking away.

I finally let out that frustrated breath I have been holding since Benji walked out of the bathroom stall. ‘Fuck,’ I mumble underneath my breath. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘Why are you apologizing?’ he asks.

‘You got sucked into some family drama as the new coach. Highly doubt that was what you signed up for.’

‘Listen, Amelia,’ Henry says, causing me to look up, since he sounds so sincere, ‘I know how shitty a divorce can be and it takes time for the respective parties to find their ways. From the looks of it, you did and your ex husband hasn’t. That this happened… It’s not what you want and in an ideal world, it wouldn’t have happened. I understand. Just… Just give it time, okay?’

‘I gave him five months,’ I say, ‘even longer than that. It just seems that he can’t be the dad they deserve.’ This is already way too much information that I wanted to share, especially with a man like him. That doesn’t stop me from oversharing some more, since Henry has this unexplainable vibe, that makes me want to spill my guts. ‘They don’t even want to visit him anymore.’

‘And you aren’t forcing them?’

‘No, of course not.’

Henry smiles. ‘Then you are already doing better than most.’ He takes a step closer and places a hand on my shoulder. It’s a simple gesture, but it makes me feel so noticed. ‘You’re a good mom and Benji loves you a lot.’

I bite my bottom lip. ‘Yeah…’

‘He does, really,’ he says, when he senses my lack of reaction. ‘He even told me after practice the day before yesterday. Not many kids that age gush over their moms the way he does.’

Okay, I have been holding in the tears for too long now, because they spill over my cheeks. ‘Shit, sorry,’ I say, wiping the tears off my face. ‘I shouldn’t cry over this.’

’No, it’s understandable, Amelia. I’m sorry, I didn’t want to make you cry.’

‘No, no, no,’ I quickly say. ‘It’s just that… I pulled my shit together during the whole divorce process and… I mean… I don’t know. I’m sorry, you don’t care about this at all. I shouldn’t dump my unsorted feelings out on you.’

‘Mom, the award ceremony is going to start,’ I hear Isabella say and I hastily dry my cheeks.

‘I’m coming, sweetie,’ I say. I hold out my hands in a form of an apology, before I rush passed Henry. ‘Have you seen your dad?’

‘No,’ Isabella says, holding my hand. ‘And I don’t want to see him this weekend. Maybe next weekend.’

‘Okay, but only if you want. Remember that.’

(Let’s hope they work this time)

Taglist: @diegos-butt // @henrythickcavill // @thelastsock // @onlyhenrys // @agniavateira // @needmorereading // @summersong69 // @coldmuffinbanditshoe // @chamomilebottom // @toomanystoriessolittletime // @shadesofarrogance // @crazybutconfidentaf // @oddsnendsfanfics // @gearhead66 // @star017 // @iloveyouyen // @thereisa8ella // @thethirstyarchive // @nina-skyee // @rn7rocks // @hollytehmoomin // @star017 // @abschaffer2 // @cynic-spirit

#henry cavill #henry cavill x ofc #henry cavill x oc #henry cavill fanfic #henry cavill fandom #henry cavill x asian ofc #asian ofc #henry cavill x amelia jung #coach!henry cavill #Coach Cavill #amelia jung

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fanfics-for-the-hockey-fan · 4 years ago

Text

Sleepover - Artturi Lehkonen

Note: I was going through my writing folder the other day and realized that I never posted this one shot, that I wrote in the summer of 2018. So if you were the one to request it, I am so sorry. It somehow got lost in the folder, I hope you enjoy it.

Request: Hi can you do one with artturi lehkonen with kids and just like really cute? Your writing is amazing btw😊

“Kulta, do you want to come over tonight? I feel like we haven’t been able to spend the night together in a long time.” I was on the phone with Artturi, my boyfriend for over a year. He had just been on a week long road trip and I was gone on a work trip in the days before he left.

“I really want to, but I am babysitting my nephew tonight. It’s my brother's wedding anniversary so I promised to watch him for the night so they can have a night alone.”

“That’s nice of you, how old is he?

“Andrew is 6 now. Speaking of Andrew, do you think you can get me two tickets for your Saturday afternoon game next weekend? He’s just getting into the sport and I promised him I would try and get some tickets.”

“Of course, you guys can come down after the game and meet the team. I can get you all of the brownie points you want.”

“You are amazing, thank you.”

“Of course, I’ll let you go get ready. I have some laundry to get done.”

“Good luck with that, remember to separate your clothes. You don’t want to mess up more of your clothes.”

“I keep the note you wrote me right next to the washer so I don’t forget.” I laugh as I remember the frantic call I got a month into dating Artturi when he ruined his entire load of laundry when some of his clothes bled and colored all of his whites. I rushed over to try and fix it but I wasn’t able to save most of the clothes, only saving the white items with bleach. Since then I always tried to remind him to not make the same mistake.

“I have to go make macaroni and cheese, I’ll talk to you later.”

“Alright, love you.”

“Love you too.” Smiling, I slid my phone into the pouch of my sweatshirt, or I guess I should say the sweatshirt I stole from Artturi. It was so comfortable and it was practically a dress on me so I just had leggings on underneath it. A couple of hours later my brother dropped off Andrew with an overnight bag, thanking me for watching him before heading back out. Just as we were getting ready to sit down to eat the macaroni and cheese, someone knocked at the door of my apartment.

“Go wash your hands up Andrew, I’ll go see who is at the door and then we can eat.” Andrew nodded and headed towards the bathroom I kept the step stool in so he could reach the sink as I went to the door. Opening it, Artturi was standing behind the door with a backpack sling over his one shoulder. “What are you doing here? I thought you would have gone out with some of the guys tonight.”

“I’ve spent enough time with them lately, I missed you and I thought you might want some adult company while you hang out with your nephew tonight. And I thought that since you are moving in with me next month it might be good for Andrew to meet me so that next time your brother and his wife want a night out he is okay with me.”

“That’s a great idea, we were just about to sit down for dinner. I made macaroni and cheese, I also have a salad so it won’t be horrible for your diet.”

“Sounds great, I have the tickets with me and I have mini sticks if you are okay with us playing here.” I nod as we hear little feet running towards us.

“Aunt Jen?”

“Hey Andrew, I want you to meet someone who is very important to me.” Artturi puts his bag down inside the door and closes the door as Andrew stops in front of us. “This is my boyfriend Artturi, is it alright if he hangs out with us tonight?”

“I guess.”

“One of the coolest things about him is that he plays hockey for the Canadiens. And he also got us hockey for next Saturday, if you want to come with me?”

“Yes! Thank you Aunt Jen, thank you Ar-.”

“Why don’t you just call my A, my name is hard to say.” Andrew nods before leaning Artturi to the dining table, asking him all kinds of questions as we ate dinner. He was even able to get Andrew to eat some salad, which is a small miracle. “I thought that we could play mini sticks if it is okay with your aunt.”

“Please Aunt Jen?!”

“Just be careful and don’t be too noisy.” They started to get ready to play as I washed up the dishes, smiling as I listened to the talk. I never knew that Artturi was so good with children but watching him with my nephew made my heart melt, and making me fall in love with Artturi even more. Once all the dinner dishes were done I pulled out some pre made cookie dough and popped some onto a sheet tray, sliding it into the oven before setting a timer on my phone and then going to sneak a peek of the two most important guys in my life playing together. Artturi was down on his knees, showing Andrew how to hold the stick properly. I snapped a couple of pictures before going to pull the cookies out of the oven, letting them cool as I walked out into the living room.

Settling on the sofa I watched them play for another half hour before telling them about the cookies. I made Andrew go change into his pajamas so he would be ready for bed. “You are amazing with kids.”

“I always like interacting with kids at team events, and Andrew is amazing. He is a cool kid.” I rested my head on his chest as his hands rested on my ass.

“He is, I love hanging out with him.” The slapping of bare feet running towards us separated us, Artturi kissed my forehead quickly before Andrew appeared. “Let’s have some cookies and then we can watch a little tv before we go to bed.” We all grabbed some cookies and some drinks before going out to the couch. I turned on the tv to a hockey game and enjoyed watching Andrew and Artturi talk as they watched the game and ate their cookies. Once we were all done eating I took the dishes to rinse and by the time I got back both of them were asleep on the sofa, Andrew resting against Artturi’s chest. I snapped a picture of them because it was just so cute how they were cuddled up.

Artturi’s eyes opened as I moved towards them, giving me a sleepy smile. “Should we get him to bed?”

“Yeah, he usually falls asleep on the sofa when he stays the night. I learned the hard way to always make him change into his pajamas beforehand. I can carry him.”

“No, I’m good. Just help me slide out from under him and I can carry him down the hall.” Between the two of us we got him off the sofa and down into my guest room, tucking him in before moving to my bedroom. “Do you want me to go home for the night?”

“No, I missed you too much. My brother has already met you and he approved of you, he told me whenever I wanted to I could introduce you to Andrew.” Now that we were alone with no chance of a child seeing up Artturi gave me the kiss I had been waiting over a week for, one that made my knees weak and my heart pound. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Getting ready for bed we snuggled in the bed together, I rested my head on his chest. As we both fell asleep I kept smiling, tonight just proved that Artturi was the perfect guy for me.

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buckysmischief · 5 years ago

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here comes trouble

Peter Parker x reader // Bucky Barnes x reader

Word Count: 2.4k

Warnings: language, mentions of cheating, and kinda cheating.. but not really? It's up to you. kinda smutty??, so 18+ please

Summary: You were supposed to be dating Peter Parker. Then can someone explain why the hell Bucky is treating you better than your own boyfriend.

Masterlist

Another another amazing moodboard by @fangirlinsweden , thank you again 🥰🥰

“Hey Wanda, have you seen Peter anywhere? He said he was gonna be in the lab with Tony all day but they’re both nowhere to be found”

“Nope, haven’t seen anyone but you all day. Come sit with me though, I feel like you need to vent.” You and Wanda have been bestfriends since you moved into the tower, it wasn’t surprising she knew that something was bothering you.

“He’s just been.. weird lately. Like, he doesn’t come back from patrol until 6 am, unless he stays at May’s place. He doesn’t talk to me much anymore, and I hate admitting this but, we haven’t had sex in weeks. I’ve sent him seductive pictures, tried setting up romantic evenings, and still.. Nothing.” You had convinced yourself that Peter was just stressed, but finally saying it out loud made you feel more uneasy about the situation than before.

“That doesn’t sound like Peter, I’m sorry.” she wrapped you in her blanket and gave you a comforting hug. “How about we watch scary movies and drink wine until you feel better?”

“This is why you’re my best friend.”

You got the wine and snacks ready while Wanda got extra pillows and blankets and turned off the lights. There was a pile of movies stacked and ready to watch, Friday the 13th, IT, When a Stranger Calls, and A Nightmare on Elm Street.

“Where do we start?”

“When a Stranger Calls, it’s been awhile since I’ve seen that one.” you put the movie in the DVD player and lose yourself in the chills and thrills of it all.

Meanwhile, Bucky is in his room meditating, a habit he picked up in Wakanda, when he heard your voice in the other room. Normally he isn’t the type to eavesdrop on other people’s conversations, but when it involves you, he tends to bend his own rules.

When Bucky moved into the tower a few months prior, he only spoke to Steve and Sam. But after a few mornings of you offering to make him breakfast, he finally caved and the two of you had been close friends ever since.

Friends. He was totally fine with that, at least that’s what he convinced himself. When he found out you and Peter had been dating for the past year, he had no other choice. He told himself he’d never come between you and your happiness, but apparently your boyfriend is doing that all on his own.

“It’s now or never,” he thought to himself, “I gotta at least see if there’s a chance. Especially if Peter’s up to what I think he’s up to.”

He waited until the movie was over to go into the common area. “Hey you two, what’s the occasion?”

“Yn is having Peter problems, he’s being weird. We're trying to get her mind off of it.” Wanda knew about Bucky’s little crush, and she wanted to see how long it would take for him to admit it.

“How’s that going?”

You stand up, walking to the kitchen to grab another bottle of wine, “It’s going great, but if he doesn’t come home tonight I won’t know what to do anymore. It’s aggravating, and I’m tired of bringing it up and him apologizing and then doing nothing to fix it.” Normally you wouldn’t talk to Bucky about Peter, the bad things at least. Your relationship was private, but you were spiraling.

“Hey, doll, it’s okay. S’not your fault your generation is lacking gentlemen.” He joked, picking you up from behind, “Besides, you shouldn’t have to beg someone to care about you, Yn. Not when you have us.” Bucky decided to start out subtle, he didn’t want to push you away if this didn’t end in his favor. This was delicate.

“I know, I feel conflicted about it all.. but less talking, more watching. Join us?” The three of you sat down and watched one more movie. Well, if you count both parts of IT one movie. Peter had patrol that night and you wanted to be in yalls room when he got home, if he got home.

Peter didn’t come back until the next morning, walking in while everyone was eating breakfast.

“For someone who was on patrol all night, you sure look well rested.” Bucky pointed out, not even looking up from his plate.

“It was a slow night, and when I got too tired I just stayed at Aunt May’s.” Peter avoided all eye contact while making his plate. You give Wanda a look, telling her that this is what you were talking about.

Once everyone is done eating, Peter gives you a quick kiss goodbye, saying he was going to the gym and then to Ned’s to work on a presentation with him and MJ.

“Hey doll, want some help?” It was your day to clean up the kitchen, but if Bucky was asking, you weren’t going to tell him no.

“I wash, you dry?” He smiles and nods, helping you grab the dishes from the table. You both work in a peaceful silence until you’re almost done washing the dishes, Bucky asks, “Can I give you my opinion?”

“Sure.” You were curious, Bucky having an opinion isn’t anything new. Him asking to express it is, though.

“I think you deserve better than what Peter is giving you, which doesn’t seem to be a whole lot lately.” So much for being subtle and taking it slow.

“And what do you know about my relationship with Peter?” you shut off the water and begin cleaning the stove and countertops. Bucky was supposed to be cleaning off the table more, but instead he’s suddenly pressed against your back, hands moving your hair behind your ear and whispers, “I know that if you were mine, you’d never go to bed alone. Does he even tell you when he’s not coming home?”

He found his answer in your silence. How could Peter treat you this way?

“Does he leave you to do everything yourself too?” you could tell what he was implying, and you began to wonder if Wanda told him what you confessed to her the day before. “That’s a shame. I hope you know that I’m always here to help out, you just gotta ask.”

“Bucky..” it came out hoarse and needy, and you’re sure he noticed.

“I can have you screaming that later if you’d like. But we don’t wanna hurt poor Peter’s feelings, do we?”

Before you could figure out a response, he was gone. Were you dreaming? Bucky only said things like that to you in your dreams. Sure, you have a tiny crush on the Super Soldier, but you would never act on it. Not while you were dating Peter.

But this was real, and you had to figure out this Peter situation before temptation struck again.

Over the next few weeks Bucky was relentless, and even though the both of you knew you weren’t going to cheat on Peter, it was an entertaining distraction. Thankfully when he decided to tease you in front of the team, he was subtle enough that no one thought anything of it. Except for Wanda, Wanda somehow knew about the dishes incident and you told her everything.

He started out simple, swapping out his usual black sweatpants for a pair of gray ones. It didn’t go unnoticed by you, just a shame he caught you staring. There were a few times he sat beside you at dinner when Peter wasn’t there and he didn’t even so much as talk to you, but the first time Peter was there since Bucky started whatever this was, he still sat beside you.

Everything was going normal, Steve was even telling a story about the 30’s, you were beginning to think Bucky would continue to let the dinner table be a safe zone. But then you felt the chill of his vibranium arm on your right leg. You tensed underneath his touch and looked around to see if anyone noticed only to find no one, not even Peter was paying attention to you. Bucky didn’t move his hand, save for his thumb that was rubbing small circles on his thigh. He just kept it like that until everyone got up to clean.

The first time you two were alone though, that was more intense.

Everyone was out doing their own thing since it was a Saturday, but since Peter bailed on your plans again, you decided it was a good day to catch up on your endless pile of laundry. You were almost done loading a washer full of the first batch of clothes when you heard him come in, he didn’t say anything, only coming up behind you and running his hands up your arms to your neck.

“I thought you were supposed to be going outta town this weekend.” You question if it’s a good idea to let him continue rubbing your shoulders, but you’ve been stressing yourself out about a relationship you seem to be the only one who remembers you’re in.

“Surprise, surprise. Peter bailed. Again.” you sigh, resting your head on Bucky’s chest. You’ve made the decision you were going to break up with Peter, and not because of Bucky, but because he’s such a bad boyfriend, every time you made plans to hang out (to break up with him, but he didn’t know that), he canceled with a lame ass excuse. The only reason you’re not single is because Peter won’t give you a solid minute of his time.

Bucky moves his hands back down your arms until he laces your fingers with his, “We both know if it were up to you, you’d have broken up with him already. So what’s the harm in pretending for like, five minutes he’s officially out of the picture so I can kiss you.”

You turn around, expecting to see some notion on his face to say he was kidding, but he wasn’t. He looked to be 100% serious. When you didn’t answer, he decided to test the waters and slowly bring your face closer to his. You wanted to tell him to stop, to wait until the situation was different, but he was so close that you could smell his shampoo, you could even feel his breath, and you were caving.

“Actually doll,” he puts his hands up and walks away from you, “you’re right. It’s probably best we wait. Wouldn’t wanna get in trouble now, would ya?”

Once again, he’s gone before you could figure out what the hell was going on.

A few days later everyone was eating breakfast when Peter walked in. He made his plate and sat next to you without saying a word. He was close enough that you could smell him though, and you had finally had it. This was the longest you had been with him in weeks, you knew this wasn’t the best time to do it but damn it, this had to be done. Now.

“Peter, I think we should break up.” everyone stops what they’re doing, giving their undivided attention to you and Peter.

“You really wanna do this now?” he wouldn’t even look at you, what had happened to the sweet and caring guy you once cared so deeply for?

But that didn’t matter, all that mattered was that you had finally felt free.

“I haven’t seen you properly in weeks, I didn’t want to let another day go by without saying it. And then you come in here smelling like her and I realized-” you were interrupted by a room full of wait, what’s, and oh my god who’s, and of course Bucky’s what a fucking idiot.

“MJ, you’ve been fucking MJ.. tell me I’m lying.” You’ve finally figured it out he wasn’t even trying to hide it.. he didn’t care. “Months. Months I’ve been feeling bad about Bucky-”

“What about Bucky!?” he stands, Sam pulling him back to his chair before he lunges at Bucky.

“Feeling bad about getting closer to Bucky while you were cheating on me, apparently. But that’s not my problem anymore.” You stood up and left, not really wanting to be around anyone anymore.

You stayed up so many nights thinking of all the reasons why Peter didn’t want to be with you anymore, because that was obvious, he just wasn’t man enough to admit it. But you never thought that him cheating on you, with MJ, was a possibility.

Before the day was over you had moved all your things into a new room, on a new floor, as far away from Peter as you could get. It wasn’t until later when you were almost asleep that you found out who your neighbor was. “Goodnight, trouble.”

No way. You got out of bed and threw on a hoodie, and went to the source of the voice, needing to make sure you weren’t hearing what you wanted to hear. Once you got to the door, you waited a second before knocking. What if it’s Sam and I’m going to wake him up? But you heard it again, Bucky’s voice. “Are you just gonna stand at the door all night or are you gonna come in here? Cause I gotta admit, I’m dyin to finally get my hands on you, doll.”

After quickly and quietly shutting his door, you ran to him and straddled his lap. Finally giving in to something the both of you have been thinking about for a very long time. The feeling of his lips on yours, on your shoulder and neck. His hands running up your sides, up your shirt, and your hips grinding down on his.

This is how you should have been spending your nights, not alone. But now you understood why, it was Bucky. You figure it’s always kinda been Bucky. He’s the one you were supposed to be with, and he already treats you better than Peter ever did. You were finally happy, almost happy enough to thank Peter for being a dumbass.. but not quite.

You’d worry about everything tomorrow, though, tonight you were going to see if those grey sweatpants were exaggerating his features.

They weren’t.

~~~~

Permanent tags: @sociallyeneptbarnes @rogvewitch @saturn-aka-six @stuckonjbbarnes @superavengerpotterstar @estillion14 @sleepingspacedragon @geeksareunique @infj-slytherclaw @imsoft-barnes @piper-koko-barnes-rogers @murdermornings @distractedgemini @screaming-fridge @readeity @aestheticrelated @my-drowning-in-time @valkyriesryde @sebbbystaaan @perpetually-tuned-out @disaffectedbarnes @buggy-blogs @hey-its-grey @pinknerdpanda @brokenthelovely @sandyclaws @death-unbecomes-you @rhymesmenagerie @actualdpshuri @sweetkingdomstarlight-blog @mushyjellybeans @https-bucky @nea90sweetie @goalexis123 @missmeganrachel @sunflowersandcherry @miraclesoflove

#bucky barnes x reader #peter parker x reader #smutt #angst #fluff #kinda cheating?#maybe?#if you squint??#I guess??#but yeah #cheating #marvel #mcu fanfic

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p-artsypants · 4 years ago

Text

Longest Night (50) Celebrating

Here we go! The last chapter! And it’s a doozy!

I don’t know about the rest of you guys, but I grew up calling all of my parents friend’s ‘aunt’ and ‘uncle’. Some of them I still do. Which was really fun when I dated a family friend and kept calling his mom ‘Aunt Julie’. We are not related. Fun times!

Also, there’s some nicknames in this chapter. “Peepums” is Tom. “Nonnie Cheng” is Sabine. And “Nonna Gina” is Tom’s mom. You know how grandparents all have their weird nicknames.

Ao3 | FF.net

20 years later

—

When Marinette awoke that morning, she was alone in bed. It wasn’t that odd. Adrien had always been an early riser, but this was a different reason than just that.

But she didn’t worry. It was best just to leave things the way they were.

Dressing in a robe, she went downstairs to start making breakfast. The kids were old enough to get ready on their own now, and as long as they were down before 7, she didn’t bug them.

The first into the kitchen was the youngest, Emma. A complete girly-girl and lover of all things pink and fashionable. Even at 12, she had her own sophisticated sense of style (party cultivated by her grandfather). She danced in her pink dress and adorable white flats. “What do you think, mama? Perfect for career day? Do I look like a professional?”

“Of course you do, sweetheart.”

She beamed. “Where’s papa?”

“Oh, uh, I’m not sure. He couldn’t sleep last night, so he went for patrol. He hasn’t been back yet.”

Emma frowned hard. “He’ll be there for career day though, right?”

“He wouldn’t miss it for the world! But Peepums and Grandfather Gabriel are going to be there too.”

“Is Peepums bringing treats?”

“I would assume so. He never passes up a chance to bring snacks. Now, I’m making crepes, you want one or two?”

“Just one, mama.”

“Alright.”

The next down the stairs was the oldest (by two minutes) Hugo. “Morning mama,” he smiled brightly.

“There’s my birthday boy! Feel any older?”

“No, but I feel wiser!” He joked, as he jumped on the stool by the counter.

“Where’s Louis?”

“Stuck in the toilet.”

“And you mean that figuratively, right?”

He shrugged. “What’s for breakfast?”

“Crepes, blueberry, your favorite.”

“Yes! I want five!”

“You can have three, I don’t want you to get a tummy ache before school.”

“Lame! Bring on the crepes!” He pounded his fists on the counter.

“Three, and then if you aren’t stuffed, I’ll consider more.”

Then came the unmistakable sound of a body slowly falling down the stairs, before a dark haired teen crawled across the floor and collapsed next to his mother’s legs.

“Ah, Birthday boy part 2. Welcome to the land of the living!”

“It should be a crime to have to wake up early on your birthday.” Said the boy, face flat against the ground.

“You truly are my child,” said Marinette with a smile.

“Where’s pops?” Asked Hugo, digging into his second crepe.

“Out on patrol.”

This caused Louis to stir and look up. “Did something happen?”

“No, he just couldn’t sleep.”

Hugo frowned. “Nightmares again? He’s been having those a lot lately.”

“Yeah. I’m not sure why he’s having them. But you kids don’t need to worry about it.”

“Are we still okay for our party tomorrow?”

“Of course!” Marinette beamed. “Even if papa wasn’t feeling great, we’d still have it! Aunt Chloe reserved the rooftop pool for you, after all.”

“…I’m so excited,” said the child on the floor, with no enthusiasm. “You just can’t tell right now.”

“Well, you’re not going to get any rest on the floor. Sit in your seat and eat your crepe. I’ll make a little coffee.”

“…yay…”

—

Emma bounced nervously in her seat. She was flanked by Tom and Gabriel, who had both already presented for career day.

The day was almost over, and her father hadn’t shown.

“It’s okay, my little cupcake.” Tom assured, petting her blonde hair. “He’ll be here.”

“And if he doesn’t make it,” added Gabriel, “It wasn’t because he didn’t want to. He’s probably out there stopping a criminal, saving lives. I know you’re the most important thing in the world to him.”

Emma nodded, believing both of her grandfathers, but also not wanting to be one without a dad on career day.

Through the years, Emma had gotten used to her father’s unpredictable behavior. He loved her to the end of the world and back, and would move mountains for her if he could. And most days, it really really showed.

But some days, he just wasn’t…there. Emotionally, spiritually, or like today, physically. Her mother had similar episodes, but mostly in mood swings. She got angry sometimes, seemingly over nothing. Never directed at Emma or her brothers, thankfully, but Emma knew that there was something different about her parents.

She knew the story. She had been told pieces of it growing up, but never allowed to watch the footage. Mama and Papa had been kidnapped and tortured, because they were superheroes, and they were never the same after. The details were vague, and she was told it would be too scary for her to handle every time she asked. But she saw the scars, heard her father’s screams at night.

Most days, she didn’t want to know.

“Alright! I think that’s everyone!” Miss Bustier called. “Thank you all for participating in our career day! It’s awesome that we have such a wide range of jobs just in this very room!”

Emma deflated. Her father really wasn’t coming.

Tom laid a giant hand on her head and rubbed.

But then, there was a knock at the window.

“Chat Noir?” Miss Bustier asked.

The man in black waved as she opened the window.

“So so sorry I’m late!” He apologized, hopping into the room. “I caught a robber, and I walked him down to the police station and we had to do all this paperwork—“

“Papa!” Emma shouted, leaping over her desk. She ran to him, and threw her arms around him in a crushing hug. “You made it!”

“Just in time it seems,” he laughed, hugging her back. “I’m sorry I’m late. Can you forgive me?”

“Of course! Come on, it’s your turn to present!” She took his hand and led him up to the front of the room. “Everyone, this is my dad, Chat Noir! He’s a superhero!”

—

The next day was Saturday, and Marinette was full of stress up to her neck. She paced poolside, as her family helped set up for the party.

“Alright, Nino’s on music, Alya’s on Emma duty, Chloe covered catering, mom and dad have the cake, Gabriel and Emilie have decorations…what am I missing?”

“My Lady, you’ve gone over this list a hundred times. We’re fine.”

“Drinks! I forgot the drinks!”

Adrien pointed over at the bar. “Luka and Kagami are on drinks, remember? Luka’s making his mimosas for the adults.”

“Oh, right.” Then she pointed at him. “No alcohol, alright? Not with your medication.”

“Oh come on, these are Luka’s mimosas! I’m gonna get krunk!”

“Dad’s gonna get krunk?” Asked Hugo, from the pool.

“No one is getting krunk!” Marinette poked Adrien in the chest. “Look what you started!”

“I’m only teasing.” Adrien laughed, taking his wife’s hand. “Relax My Lady, it’s a party, a sweet 16 party! Everyone’s here to have fun. And they will as long as we relax.”

Marinette got close, whispering conspiratorially, “that’s just the thing! Do you remember our sweet sixteen parties?”

“Well...I didn’t have a party,” Adrien shrugged. “You, Alya, and Nino helped me escape the house and we went to the movies.”

“Yeah, and they spent the whole time making out, so you and I just sat there awkwardly.”

“I think I put my arm around you,” he grinned. “My very good friend.”

She stuck her tongue out at him.

“And your sixteenth...was that the year that Lila told everyone it was on a different day?”

“And you were the only one who called to confirm it was on the original day, and so you were the only one that showed? Yep, that’s the one. I cried on you for 15 minutes when I realized no one else was coming.”

“I mean, yeah, that sucked, but we still had fun with your family.”

“My point is, this is Hugo and Louis’ sixteenth birthday. I want them to have a good one, to have what we couldn’t have.”

“You have their gifts in your purse, right?”

“Yeah?”

“Then I wouldn’t worry about it. Their friends and family are coming, everything looks good, so just relax.”

Marinette took a deep sigh. “You’re right, my love. Whatever happens, happens, and we’ve done all we can.”

“The party will be fine, Mom.” Said Louis from a lounge chair.

“Ah! Louis? Why aren’t you in the pool?”

“I’m perfectly content just relaxing here. I’ll get hot soon enough and go in the pool.”

“Are you sure?”

Adrien wrapped an arm around his wife. “Marinette, let him alone. He’s fine. You know he’s our introvert.”

“Mama! Papa!” Emma called, running towards them from the hotel elevator. “Look at the swimsuit grandfather Gabriel got me!” She twirled, letting the shimmery, glittery greens, teals, and purples swirl in a kaleidoscope of color. “I look like a mermaid!”

“You sure do, Princess!” Adrien beamed.

Emma squealed in delight before running back to Alya.

“See? All of our kids are enjoying themselves. The guests are slowly trickling in...” he gestured to the elevator where more classmates with gifts arrived. “And no catastrophes yet.”

“Fine fine, Kitty, I get it. I’ll have a mimosa and lighten up.”

“Have one for me too!” He called after, as she headed to the bar.

Soon, the guests arrived. Hugo and Louis had invited their entire class of 18 kids. Some parents stayed to help with chaperoning, and some even brought younger siblings that were friends with Emma.

It was turning out to be a real shin-dig.

So far, Marinette felt at ease. The four parents that had stayed were mostly just hanging out at the bar, but the kids were in the pool, and no one was drowning.

Louis still reclined on the lounger, sunning himself.

“You're still doing okay over here, kiddo?”

“Mom, I’m doing so okay. So okay, it’s ridiculous. Nonna Gina brought me over a virgin mimosa, cause everyone’s talking about them. I feel like I’m on vacation.”

“As long as you’re content, I’m happy. Just wanted to make sure you weren’t feeling left out.”

“Nah,” he waved her off. “I will go swimming, but I’m going to wait until after eating.”

“Okay, kiddo.”

Seeing Hugo happily enthralled in a cannonball contest, and Louis sunning himself like a cat, she decided to check in with her youngest. Though she saw Alya at the bar talking to Kagami, and Emma nowhere in sight.

This used to make her panic immediately. None of her kids were especially hyper or rambunctious. They didn’t run off on their own, especially without letting her know.

But there was still a fear, still a niggling doubt in the back of her head that said ‘what if’?

As calm as possible, she approached the adults at the bar, and asked Alya. “Have you seen Emma?”

“She ran down to the lobby to use the bathroom,” Alya answered casually.

“Alone?”

“Yeah, Marinette, she’s 12. She can handle going to the bathroom alone.” It was a reassurance, no judgement. Because sometimes, Adrien and Marinette needed a reminder that their children were well adjusted and had plenty of common sense.

Marinette knew that. And it wasn’t the bathroom part she was concerned about. It was the trip down to the lobby by herself.

She heard a father speak softly, “for superheroes, they are certainly overprotective of their kids. Kind of feel sorry for them.”

Marinette nodded at Alya, and retreated sheepishly. Was her paranoia ruining her children’s lives?

“What’s with that look, My Lady?” Adrien asked, softly, sipping on his drink.

“Sorry, sorry, I just…overheard something I shouldn’t dwell on.” She looked at the drink in his hands, narrowing her eyes.

“It’s virgin!” He handed it to her. “I promised I was going to quit. Getting plastered at our kid’s birthday would be the worst time for them to find out I have a problem.”

“It’s not a problem yet, but that’s why I want you to stop. So it doesn’t become one.”

“Hey! Let go Isaac!” Louis’ voice carried over the water. Instantly, Marinette and Adrien were alert and looked to see a larger boy pulling Louis toward the pool by the arm.

“Hey!” Marinette called out. “Let him go! If he doesn’t want to go swimming, don’t force him!”

“Oh come on, Lady!” The father from the bar shouted over to her. “What’s the point in having a pool party for your boys if they aren’t even going to go swimming!?”

SPLASH

Louis surfaced with a gasp, and then a defeated “aw man!”

“Are you okay kiddo?” Marinette asked. “You didn’t have your phone on you, right?”

“No, I’m fine.” He took off his soaked shirt and dropped it on the edge of the pool with a loud plop. “Just…didn’t want to get wet yet.”

“Dude, come on Isaac, don’t be such a turd!” Hugo chastised.

“He looked lonely!” Isaac argued.

“Whatever,” Louis said, defeated. “Just…don’t dunk me, okay?”

“No promises!”

Adrien frowned at the exchange as Louis swam over closer to his brother. “Isaac, Isaac, why is that name familiar? Is that the kid that’s been picking on Louis? Why is he here?”

“Oh,” Marinette smacked her head. “That’s what they were asking about!”

“What? Who?”

“A few weeks ago, the boys were asking me questions about what to do about a classmate people don’t get along with. They asked if they should include them in the party if they were inviting the rest of the class. I told them that would be the right thing to do, but I didn’t realize they were talking about Louis’ bully!” She groaned. “And it looks like the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” She glared at Isaac’s dad at the bar.

Adrien smiled over at the pool. Both Hugo and Louis were laughing and seemed to be having a good time. It seemed Louis was already over his impromptu dunking. “Our kids are resilient. It’ll take more than that to bring them down.”

“They are strong.” Marinette breathed. “Stronger than me.”

It was then that Emma returned. “Hi mama, I’m back. Aunt Alya said I should check in with you because you were worried? I’m sorry I didn’t tell you where I was going.”

Marinette smiled at her. “It’s fine Emma. You told Aunt Alya, so someone knew. You just know I’m a basket case.”

Emma frowned at her mom. “You’re not a basket case. You’re just...worried?”

“Does that bother you? Do I make you feel trapped or smothered?”

Adrien stared at his wife in horror. Likewise, so did Emma. “No! Not at all!” She hugged her around the waist and added, “Nonnie Cheng worries about where I am too. She says it’s because you went missing, and it’s scared her ever since. I don’t want to scare you, mom.”

Marinette hugged Emma tightly and said, “I have the best kids in the world.”

“In that case,” Emma grinned. “Can I have some soda?”

“Sure, just tell Aunt Kagami what you want.”

“Thanks mom!” She beamed and scurried off.

“And no running!” Marinette called after. “Girl’s got my clumsy streak. She’ll break her neck.”

“Crisis averted it seems.” Said Adrien.

“For now,” Marinette narrowed her eyes. “But Ladybug never rests!”

Adrien pecked his wife on the lips. “Someone has to be responsible.”

“Hey pops!” Hugo called from the pool.

“What’s up?”

“We’re going to do a diving contest! You should join!”

“Yeah!”

“Come on Mr. Dupain-Cheng!”

“Show us some Chat Noir style!”

Marinette nudged him. “Go ahead. Show those kids how it’s done.”

He smirked. “Okay okay.” He took off his shirt and laid it on the lounger by their bags. Then he entered the pool from the shallow end, coming up behind the kids. “How does this diving contest work?”

“It’s easy!” Said Hugo, “we’re going to take turns coming up with unique ways to jump in the pool. Winner is the best technique, or most creative.”

“I got one!” Said a chubby kid. He climbed out of the pool and up on the diving board.

“Make room!” Someone called. “Cannon ball champion on the loose!”

“This is called ‘The Patrick Star’!” He bounced twice, getting real air before leaping out, parallel with the water, arms and legs spread out like a starfish.

And he collided with the water with a resounding clap, making everyone go, ‘ooo!’

The kid surfaced, his entire frontside pink. “Ow.”

The rest of the class laughed at him.

One by one, classmates would come up with a dive, though most were a lot more elegant than the first.

“I call this, ‘The Ladybug’.” A girl said. She ran and jumped, twisting in the air while throwing her arm, mimicking Ladybug’s yo-yo. She managed to say “bug out!” Before she hit the water. Marinette whistled. “She’s got my vote!”

“Come on, Pops,” said Hugo. “It’s your turn!”

“I don’t have a—“

“Just make something up! Go go!”

Adrien pulled himself out of the pool and headed toward the diving board, aware of the people watching, curious.

This was his twin boys’ special day. He had to be impressive. He had to be the cool dad.

He took a running start, falling into a front flip as he hit the diving board. His adult weight bowed the board with force, sending him up into the air. He curled tightly into a ball, using the momentum to rotate three times, before coming out of the ball and diving seamlessly into the water.

When he surfaced, the crowd of kids were going wild. They screamed and chanted “Dad! Dad! Dad!”

Obviously started by his boys.

Adrien beamed as he treaded water. Being Chat Noir was great, even with all the pain it had brought him. But being his kid’s hero was the absolute best.

But everything came to a screeching halt as Isaac, the butthole kid, let out a loud, “EWWW!!” Grabbing everyone’s attention. “What’s wrong with your dad’s back!? It’s all gross!”

Adrien slammed his eyes shut, all at once feeling self-conscious. But this was just a dumb teenager. Maybe he didn’t know any better. But before he could gather himself to calmly explain his scars, his boys spoke up for him.

“It’s scarring, you jerk,” said Louis.

“He got it from being a superhero, when he was just two years older than we are!” Added Hugo.

Isaac scoffed, “Chat Noir and Ladybug aren’t real superheroes! Not like the ones in America! All they do is rescue cats from trees and show up for charity events. They don’t even do anything anymore!”

Adrien sloppily backtracked, reaching out for the edge of the pool.

“Just yesterday, he caught a robber! That’s not nothing!” Hugo defended.

“Oh yeah?” Said Isaac, “My dad said that they used to fight supervillains, but they couldn’t stop the guy responsible for them! He said they’re losers and failures!”

“Hey Jean,” said one of the parents. “Tell your kid to shut up.”

Isaac’s father took a chug from his beer and shrugged. “Someone had to say it.”

“Monsieur,” said Ladybug with god-like patience. “I suggest you and your son leave. I don’t feel the need to play host to someone who could be so hateful and misinformed.”

“Misinformed?” The man, Jean, scoffed. “I was there. I saw the stream back then. I remember what it was like. The weekly akumas, classes and events always cancelled. The only reason they stopped is because Hawkmoth gave up. I don’t think you guys should be getting recognition anymore. Sorry, not sorry.”

“Mom?” Louis called from the pool.

Jean frowned, continuing. “The rest of us have to make a living working hard, every day. You and your husband just put on some skin tight leather and prance around. Now you’re set for life. It’s disgusting.”

“Hey man, if you don’t like it, you can leave,” said Alya. “No one invited you. I heard your son was only invited out of obligation.”

“Mom!” Louis called again.

“Marinette and Adrien suffered enough for a lifetime. Every day is a struggle! How dare you say otherwise!”

“MOM!” Louis screamed.

Marinette whipped her head over to the pool, seeing Adrien struggling to keep his head above water. Louis and Hugo were holding him up. She hurried over. “What happened? What’s wrong?”

“He’s having an attack!”

Tom rushed over, reaching his hands under Adrien’s arms, and pulled him out of the pool. He tried to set him on his feet, but he kept leaning forward, trying to lay down. His eyes were wide, but unfocused, as his breaths came rapidly.

Marinette tugged on his arm. “Come on, Kitty. Not here.” She called over to Chloe. “Is there a room we can borrow for a second?”

“Follow me!”

Louis broke off from the group, but Hugo and Marinette were quick to escort Adrien away from the party.

“Mom?” Emma asked, right as they were about to get on the elevator.

“It’s okay, Honey. Dad just needs a minute. Stay behind with Aunt Alya, okay?”

Emma nodded, though didn’t look convinced.

Chloe showed them to her room, where she quickly got a towel for Adrien to wrap up in.

Hugo and Marinette eased him down to sit on the couch. There, he slumped, his head resting on the back of the couch.

Louis found their room, cup in hand. “I brought a coke. I know that usually helps.”

Marinette sighed in relief. “Thank you baby,” she took the cup from him and put it in Adrien’s hand, then helped him take a sip.

They sat for a while, watching Adrien breathe slowly and take occasional sips from his drink.

“I’m so sorry boys,” Marinette looked to them sadly. “We didn’t mean to ruin your birthday.”

Hugo frowned at her. “What? You guys didn’t ruin anything. Isaac’s the one that pooped on our party.”

“Yeah,” added Louis, “and we were having a great time up until now. Don’t worry about it mom.”

Adrien very shakily brought the cup towards his face, and Marinette was quick to help, so he didn’t spill. “Dad’s going to be fine,” she explained. “Why don’t you boys get back to the party?”

“If it’s okay, I’d like to wait until dad feels a little better. I’d feel guilty if I left,” said Louis.

“Me too,” said Hugo. “And I need a few minutes to calm down to keep from punching Isaac in the face. What he said was dumb. He has no idea what you guys do.”

“…it shouldn’t have bothered me…” Adrien said, softly.

“Dad?”

“I’m okay,” he took a deep exhale. “Just…lost myself for a moment.”

Hugo hugged him tightly around the shoulders. “Love you, dad. Don’t worry about it.”

“I’m sorry for scaring you boys…and your friends. But I’ll be alright now.”

“You recovered pretty quickly,” Marinette noted.

“It’s because I have my big strong boys with me.” He wrapped his arms around his sons. “There was nothing to worry about.”

Except, there was.

Alya burst into the room, Chloe behind her, with a look of panic.

“Marinette, come quickly!”

“What? What’s wrong?”

“It’s Emma! She’s been akumatized!!”

—

As Emma watched her father be rushed out of the party, a stone fell into her gut. No matter how often this happened, no matter how good they got at catching the attacks, it still scared her when it happened.

She was torn between wanting to be with him, and not wanting to see that vacant expression on his face. Her mother said it was a coping mechanism he developed a long time ago, when they had been kidnapped. He just switched his brain off when he got overwhelmed, as to not experience pain. It only happened a few times a year, only in super stressful situations where he thought about his torture.

Emma wiped at her face as she looked over the party. Alya was chastising the adult man that had talked bad about her father, and Hugo and Louis’ friends were ripping into the kid that started the whole mess.

Everyone was angry and yelling.

“Emma?” Gabriel asked, resting a hand on her shoulder. “Are you alright, dear?”

“Oh, Grandfather…” She sniffed. “I’m just…scared.”

“Your father will be alright. It’s nothing physical, it’s just a mental state.”

“I know…” She screwed up her lips. “But I’m scared people are going to keep saying that stuff to him. Mom acts like I’m too young to understand what’s happening…but people are forgetting that they are real superheroes, and they act like they’re mascots. I’m scared this is going to happen again.” She rubbed at her damp eyes. “He doesn’t deserve it. Neither of them do.”

“You really love your parents, don’t you?”

“Of course! They’re the best!”

“Then, I have a plan. Would you be willing to help?”

“Of course, what is it?”

“Come with me, we’ll speak in private.”

Curious, Emma followed Gabriel into the hotel, down to a conference room. He locked the door behind them.

“You remember our little secret?”

“That I know you were Hawkmoth?”

“Yes. My plan requires me to come out of retirement, just this once…and to akumatize you.”

She looked startled. “You want to turn me into a supervillain?”

“Only if you agree to it, dear.” He pet her hair. “My goal is to make you a supervillain, so you can terrorize Paris and remind them of what Ladybug and Chat Noir used to do. I’ll be able to see through your eyes, so I can stop and undo any damage if something goes wrong.”

Emma crossed her arms. “You’d make mom and dad fight me?”

“Not fight you, rescue you.”

She frowned again, thinking about it. Then she nodded. “Let’s do it!”

Gabriel smiled at her, and opened his sports jacket, where Nooroo was hiding. “Nooroo, Dark Wings rise!”

In a flash of purple light, Hawkmoth had returned. Inside his cane, a little white butterfly fluttered.

Emma danced on her toes. “What kind of powers are you going to give me? I want to be pretty!”

He chuckled at her eagerness. “Of course, my sweet Emma.” He evilized the butterfly, and then coaxed it into the paw print bracelet she was wearing.

A purple mask appeared on her face.

“Mermaidia, I’m giving you the power of the seas. You may travel through any body of water, and turn those that oppose you into sea creatures. In exchange, you must give Chat Noir and Ladybug a taste of nostalgia. Do you accept these terms?”

“Absolutely, Hawkmoth.”

The dark purple fog encompassed Emma, turning the sweet blonde girl into a real mermaid, with purple hair, shimmering scales, and an abundance of glittering gold and jewels. In her hand, she held a trident.

Hawkmoth took a bottle of water from the table, and poured it on the floor.

Mermaidia stepped into the puddle, and disappeared.

—

“Regardless if you feel like you’re right, it’s still your opinion. And an opinion doesn’t give you the right to be an asshole, especially to people who are hosting this party!” Shouted Alya.

The rest of the parents were quietly watching the exchange, not really wanting to get involved. But they were also paying attention to a similar argument in the pool.

“You are a grown adult and a parent. It’s your job to teach your kid respect and kindness, two qualities I haven’t seen from him today.”

“Look lady, I know you’re friends with the Dupain-Cheng’s and all, but come on. It doesn’t bother you that they don’t work at all? What’s the point of them calling themselves superheroes anyway? They should just hang up the suits and get real jobs.”

“They. Can’t.” Alya emphasized. “Did you not just see what happened to Adrien? What if he was working and he had an attack? What then, smart guy?”

“He won’t have attacks if he was doing something with his life!”

“They are full time parents, and full time heroes! They do more than just ‘rescue cats and make celebrity appearances at charity events’! How can you be so ignorant?!”

“What did you call me!?”

Screams came from the pool, and the argument halted.

Mermaidia had made her appearance.

“I am Mermaidia! You all have grown too soft and comfortable! I’m here to remind you what it was like back when there were akuma!” She laughed, pointed her trident, and turned a child into a fish.

The party descended into madness, as Mermaidia shot rapidly. None of the teens in the pool escaped, and all turned into various fish and sea creatures.

Isaac turned into a starfish, and Emma stuck him to her arm. “You’re coming with me. I want you to see how wrong you were.”

Several adults had tried to escape as well, but Mermaidia stopped them in their run.

Only those who knew the identity of Hawkmoth, or were previous Miraculous users didn’t panic. Rather, they stood staring, confused. Alya backed away carefully, and escaped into the hotel. Whether Emma purposely let her go or not, she would never know.

“Emma?” Asked Sabine.

“I’m not Emma anymore, I’m Mermaidia!” She turned Isaac’s father into another starfish, and stuck him on her other arm. “You mocked my parents, but now, they’re the only ones that can save you! Ahahaha!”

“Emma, stop.” Tom demanded. “You’re a good girl. We can’t let what people say get to us. People will always have their opinions that we disagree with, but we can’t take it personally.”

“But I can take this personally!” She shouted back. “My father is the greatest man alive, and no one will doubt that when I’m through! Just you see!”

She turned the rest of the assembled party goers into creatures, before leaping into the pool and disappearing.

—

Ladybug, Chat Noir, Alya, Chloe, Louis, and Hugo all returned to the party, only to find a bunch of fish.

“What the…?”

“She’s called Mermaidia,” Alya clarified. “She’s turned everyone into sea creatures. She appeared from the water, so I think she can transport through liquid.”

“She totally can, dude,” said a sea turtle from the pool.

“Nino?” Asked Chat Noir.

“Cha dude, what do you think? Pretty fitting for me, huh?”

“Are you okay?”

“Totally. All the little dudes are too.” He gestured to the fish in the pool.

“Emma turned the kid and his dad who started the argument into starfish.” Said a sea-snake. “They’re on her arms. So be careful when you attack.”

“Luka?”

“Yep.”

“Where’s my mom and dad?”

“Over here!” Called a walrus. There was a crab next to him, waving a claw. “We’re fine, honey. Just save Emma!”

“Next question,” Said Ladybug, wielding her yo-yo angrily. “Where’s Gabriel?”

Chat Noir rested a hand on her shoulder. “Let’s focus on saving Emma, and then we’ll find him.”

She sighed. “You’re right, as always, kitty. However, I think we might need some help with this akuma.” She opened her yo-yo and reached inside, pulling out two octagonal boxes. Then she turned to Hugo and Louis. “I hoped to give you your presents later, and hoped you wouldn’t ever have to use them. But desperate times come desperate measures.”

Hugo and Louis smiled at each other, with excitement.

“Louis, my wise, observant, and cunning child, this is the Miraculous of the Snake. With it, you can turn back time an infinite amount of times in a five minute duration. You will use it for the greater good.”

“Sweet.”

“And Hugo, my brave, bold, and exuberant child, this is the Miraculous of the Turtle. With it, you can create an impenetrable shield. You will use it for the greater good.”

“Yes!”

“Louis, to transform, simply say ’Sass, Scales Slither.’ And Hugo, your phrase is ‘Wayzz, Shell On’.”

“Sass, Scales Slither!”

“Wayzz, Shell On!”

A flash of green and teal, and the boys were turned into superheroes. They high fived each other.

“The Reptile Boyz are back in town!” Hugo cheered.

“Really? ‘Boyz’ with a ‘Z’?” Chat Noir asked flatly.

“It’s cool, old man!” Said Louis.

“Alright team, let’s focus,” Ladybug said, a bit too fondly for the situation at hand. She took out her yo-yo, and looked for intel. There was a special report live from Nadja Chamack.

“—Mermaidia is the first Akuma in 20 years! It was thought that Hawkmoth had retired, but it seems he has one ace left up his sleeve. The akuma was last spotted at the Luxembourg park! Hopefully, Ladybug and Chat Noir are on their way! Again, this is a real akuma, so it is advised to stay indoors and away from water!”

“She’s at the park! Let’s go!”

—

This wasn’t nearly as scary as Emma thought it would be. In fact, she was having a lot of fun. Hawkmoth did advise her that she would be influenced by her anger, but that really didn’t seem to bother her. It was really fun to turn people into sea creatures.

Though, she did feel really guilty when she hit people that were crying in fear.

But that’s what her parents were here for! To undo all this! It was fine!

“I am Mermaidia! And Ladybug and Chat Noir are your only chance for salvation!”

“Now now Emma,” Chat Noir spoke from behind. “Go easy on us. We’re a little wet behind the ears.”

Emma had to stomp down the urge to run and hug her father, and instead declared. “There you are, Ladybug and Chat Noir! Ready to do battle?”

Ladybug simply crossed her arms. “If you don’t give up your akuma, you’re grounded.”

Mermaidia stomped her foot. “You can’t ground me if you can’t catch me!” And she leapt into the fountain.

“She’s escaping!” Cried Hugo.

“Quick, fan out! Look for sources of water, and call as soon as you get sight of her!”

—

This was not Hugo or Louis’ first time using a Miraculous. Every once in a while, Marinette and Adrien would allow the children to pick one out to try, and then they’d have a family game of tag out on the Paris rooftops. The rules were to stay safe, and to not allow the media to take pictures. And at the first sign of danger, they were supposed to go home and let Mom and Dad handle it.

So the boys were familiar with their powers, but boy, they were not ready for the anxiety of an Akuma attack.

They may have been older, but Emma was still the reigning champion of tag.

“Find anything?” Louis asked, crossing his brother.

“Not a scale,” said Hugo. “Have you activated your Second Chance yet?”

“No, but I will the second we find her. Then if she escapes, we can just reverse time.”

“Smart.” Then, Hugo’s eyes caught on something in the river. “Huh?”

“What?”

“How often do you think whales go down the Seine?”

“Uh…never?”

“There she is! She’s on top of it!” Hugo activated his distress beacon on his shield, making sure to keep up with Emma, but also stay out of sight.

“We have to play this carefully. She can literally jump into the water and disappear at any second.”

“Not if there’s no water to disappear into,” said Chat Noir, appearing from nowhere.

Hugo resisted a scream. “D-Chat! You’re too sneaky!”

“I’ve been doing this a while, kiddo. Ladybug’s not here yet?”

“No, what’s the plan?”

“I have half a plan…”

“Then it’s a good thing I have half of one too!” Said Ladybug, finally joining them. “After you sent your signal, I called the French Waterway Commission and had them close the lock she’s on.”

“What did what the what?” Hugo asked.

“The river is made up of locks,” explained Louis, “chambers that fill and empty with water so boats can travel. The ground isn’t level, and the water level changes.”

“So Ladybug basically had them dam up the section Emma’s on right now,” said Chat.

“But she can still travel through water, so once she reaches the dam, she’ll just abandon ship, er, whale.” Hugo observed. “So then what?”

“Then we put my plan into action,” Chat cracked his knuckles, and stealthily made his way to the river bank.

Louis and Hugo watched in fascination as Chat called his Cataclysm and touched the water. In a boiling wave, it rolled quickly past Emma, evaporating as it went. It didn’t even have time to settle, just went up in a cloud of steam.

The whale that Emma was on run ashore, and she came to a halt. “What?”

“Nowhere to run now, little girl!” Ladybug called.

Mermaidia jumped from the back of the whale and landed in the sand. It wasn’t even damp. Chat had literally evaporated all the water in that section of the river.

“Second Chance!” Louis activated his bracelet. And just in time too, as Mermaidia shot a beam at Ladybug, and turned her into a dolphin. “Second Chance!”

Time restarted, and Louis shouted. “Ladybug, dive!”

Ladybug dove out of the way, missing the three shots Mermaidia took.

“I’m not going to take it easy on you just because you’re my mother!” Emma shouted. “So let’s show Paris what a real superhero looks like, hmm?”

“Oh you are so grounded when this is over, little lady!” She dodged another blast, and called for her Lucky Charm.

Hugo called for Shelter while she glanced around, looking for the purpose of the tennis racket her Miraculous had bestowed upon her.

Then it dawned on her.

A grounding wasn’t enough for her naughty child. Oh no. This called for the big guns.

The second Hugo’s Shelter faded, she shot out her yo-yo, catching Emma around the arms, and yanked her to lay across her leg. Hugo and Louis peeled the captive starfish off, while Chat took the trident. All the while Mermaidia wriggled around, fighting against the yo-yo string.

“No akuma in the trident, my lady.” Chat Noir shrugged.

“Oh, I’ll get it out of her.” Ladybug raised the tennis racket. “Where’s the akuma at, Emma?”

“This is cheating!”

“Okay, you asked for it.” And Ladybug brought the tennis racket down on her bottom, once, twice, three times before Emma cried out. “Okay okay! It’s in my bracelet! Stop! Stop!”

Chat broke the bracelet, freeing the butterfly, as Ladybug set her crying daughter down in the sand.

She caught and purified the butterfly, and removed everyone from the bank of the river before casting her cure.

Emma Dupain-Cheng returned, pouting, and still rubbing her behind. “I was just trying to help…”

“Where’s your Grandfather?”

“He’s in a conference room at the hotel. But don’t be mad at him, please…”

Before Ladybug could yell more, Isaac and his father approached her. “Uh, Ladybug?”

“Yes?”

“Look, I wanted to—we wanted to apologize. Thank you for rescuing us, and I’m sorry. I guess I had forgotten what it was like having akumas around. You still stopped Hawkmoth, right? Well…until today…”

“Hawkmoth is a friend of ours now,” Ladybug clarified. “He’s paid for his crimes, but today has shown that he hasn’t quite learned the right way to deal with problems. I believe he was well intentioned, but we will be having words.”

Isaac’s father nudged his son. “You want to say anything?”

Isaac shyly looked at the family and admitted, “thank you for inviting to the party. No one invites me to things.”

“Yeah, well, work on your boundary issues, and maybe it’ll happen more often,” said Louis.

“If you guys want to head back to the hotel, I think there’s still time for cake!” Said Chat, with optimism.

—

After the Miraculous cure restored the party, everyone gathered again and lunch was served.

But, the Dupain-Chengs were in the conference room. Marinette and Adrien frowned at their youngest and Gabriel.

“Now, son--” Gabriel began.

“What were you thinking?” Adrien interrupted.

“I was thinking that Paris needed a little reminder of all the hard work you guys did.”

“Yeah, cool,” sniped Marinette. “Except now they think you’re out of retirement, and that’s a huge reminder that we didn’t stop you!”

Gabriel took the brooch off. “Then here. Make it official. Tell them that this akuma was my swan-song and I made it to surrender.”

Marinette took the brooch regardless, and put it in her bag. “I don’t know what I’ll say to the media. They’ll want to know who you are, and if you’re going to prison…and akumatizing your own granddaughter?”

“I told him I was okay with it!” Said Emma. “I knew what I was getting into. It’s not that big of a deal!”

“Not that big of a deal!?”

There was a knock on the door, as Hugo and Louis peeked their heads in. “There you are, Grandfather!”

“Hi boys,” he smiled at them, softly.

The twins pushed passed their parents to stand in front of him, arms crossed, just like Marinette and Adrien.

“What you did was terrible,” Said Louis.

“So awful,” echoed Hugo.

“You could have permanently hurt or traumatized people.”

“Done thousands of dollars of property damage.”

Gabriel sighed. “I know…I just—“ But he was cut off as the boys wrapped him up in a tight hug. “What?”

“Thanks for the coolest present ever!”

“Yeah! Mom gave us our Miraculous, but the chance to use them on a real akuma!?”

“Hey!” Shouted Emma. “I was the akuma! No thanks for me!?”

They gave her a noogie. “Thanks twerp.”

“You’re a twerp!”

Marinette and Gabriel met eyes. He gave a sheepish shrug. “I know I’m bad. But I deeply love my family.”

She then gave up trying to be angry. “Alright fine. I admit it. It was fun to fight an akuma again. But it’s over now!”

Adrien shook his head fondly. “Thanks for meddling dad.”

“Your welcome, son.”

“I want cake!” Hugo shouted.

“Cake time!”

“Yay cake!”

“No cake for Emma. Only broccoli.” Marinette clarified. “You were naughty.”

“Aw man!!”

AND THAT’S THE END!

Oh my word this story got AWAY from me! It was only supposed to be maybe 20 chapters when I first started on it? But here we are, a year and a half later, and over 200,000 words! I kinda can’t believe I’m done!

Anyways, thank you all for sticking around through all the heartache. I appreciated every single review and like. And one parting question: What was your favorite part?

#miraculous ladybug #ml #ladybug #chat noir #ladynoir #adrienette #gabriel agreste #fanfiction #longest night #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste

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tuancore · 4 years ago

Text

Purple Hearts || { Part 3 } :

Starring- Jinyoung x reader.

Genre- Angst | Non-Idol AU , Disorder AU.

Summary- I'll continue to love you for as long as I'm breathing, but I won't let my love come in between your happiness.

*GIF not mine, credits to the owner*

"I thought you were going to stay at BamBam's place toni—", Your words were cut as Yugyeom grabbed your arms harshly making you yelp in pain. "You're hurting me Yugyeom!", You informed still struggling to remove his hand but all he did was give you a stern look.

"Hurt? You say hurt huh?", He chuckled sarcastically before yanking your arms from his grasp, "Do you even know what you fucking got yourself into?".

"Yugyeom!", You yelled at his language.

"No Noona, not today!" He shouted back with those fierce eyes which you have seen only once or twice in your lifetime, "You..." He pointed his fingers at you as he spoke "You are the one who is responsible for everything!".

"I don't know what you're saying", You muttered softly turning around avoiding eye contact. "You don't know? You don't know?! Woah! Such a great actress aren't you?".

You exactly knew what he was referring to but you didn't want him to rub salt on your wounds gulping a tight knot in your throat, you said, "Yugyeom not now".

"Not now, then when? You never fucking told hyung that you liked him! You never told him that you have loved him every single moment of your life since you came to know the meaning of love!....." He added roughly, "But I never interfered I thought— actually all of us thought that you will confess to him yourself! But look at what you did....you gave his hand to Somi?".

"I didn't do anything... Jinyoung loves Somi, not me" You informed still your back facing him. "Yeah you are correct... because you didn't do anything for yourself....for your love....for your heart .....but you did for Jinyoung hyung!".

"I didn't do anything for anyone! He loves Somi and he's marrying her that's it!" You snapped, "Don't get me involved into this".

"Jinyoung hyung told us that it was you who helped him with Somi, he told us about all the date plans....all the outings that you planned for them..." Yugyeom blurted monotonously grabbing your arm again and forcing you to face him, "You fucking became a matchmaker!".

"Why would you do that to yourself? Why?" This time your brother's voice utterly soft, his eyes glimmering with tears, "I did it for him..." You whispered as a tear slipped down your left cheek, "I did it for Jinyoung, I did it for his happiness....".

"You shouldn't have....Why don't you ever think about yourself....... even for once? When will you understand that his happiness is not everything"

"That's where you are wrong....his happiness is everything for me, he is everything for me", You expressed with so much pain in your voice.

Yugyeom knew that you were not only hurting but were broken after what Jinyoung has done today. He shouldn't be getting angry at Jinyoung, he has absolutely no right to but he can't seem to stop thinking about your heart. He has spent all his age watching you caring for him and loving him.

"Then why are you crying ? You should be enjoying and celebrating his happiness but here you are in your room....crying your eyes out", Yugyeom whispered lightly.

"I'm— I'll be alright it's just a moment of weakness I'll overcome this, trust me", You stammered wiping your tears from the sleeves of your dress, "You should go back, you promised Bam for a sleepover remember?" You chuckled trying to ease the tension.

Yugyeom kept quiet observing your facial expressions even if you laughed and proclaimed to get better, he understood that you won't. You can never get over your broken heart, your broken soul and on top of everything you can never get over Jinyoung.

"Go or should I call BamBam to carry you?" You teased pushing him out of your door but he was in no mood for humour. No words left his mouth but he obliged to leave you to yourself for now.

"I'll be one call away", He said walking away from you.

_____________

Since that night you avoided seeing Jinyoung at all costs, you were not hating on him but you needed some time to collect yourself so that you can face him again. You drowned yourself into your job doing overtime as well. The thing that also chewed you from inside was Yugyeom's silence, he no longer got excited seeing you coming home with handful of his favourite take outs, no longer went outside for fun or drinks.

"Yugyeom!" You shouted from outside his bedroom's door when he refused to come out, "Yugyeom! Come out please! Please!".

"My stomach is full, I have no appetite for more", his monotone landed a hard slap on your face. He was purposely trying to avoid you as well it was so clear. "Yugyeom I know you're angry at me but please don't vent your anger out on food....you....you haven't eaten anything since previous night".

"Why do you care? All you care about is Jinyoung hyung then go and care for him! I don't need your consolation!" He shouted.

"Please Kyum don't do this to yourself, think about yourself", You practically begged him after all he's your little brother.

He unlocked the door standing tall in front of you, with those emotionless eyes folding his arms to his chest, "Hypocrisy! You are telling me to think about myself when you yourself doesn't think about yourself".

"That's a different topic Kyum, come one let's eat", You commanded holding his wrist dragging him downstairs to the dining table.

"Why don't you let me starve? Why are you trying to feed me when I don't want to?" He asked vehemently yanking his wrist from your grasp. "Because I'm your Noona, you're my little brother, I can't see you suffering!", You expressed boldly.

"If I'm your brother...then you're also my sister, how do you expect me to stay calm and watch you suffering alone? You think I've not noticed how much stress you're taking on yourself just to avoid hyung and his thoughts? That I've not heard you sobbing in the middle of the night? That I've not noticed how miserable you have become? You think.........it's a good and pleasing sight for me?.......It's been three weeks and all you've done is cry every single night, skip meals and overwork yourself.....you promised me that you'll get over him and this......", He circled your face in air with his index finger, " This is not called moving on....you're destroying yourself from outside as well".

"Then what do you expect me to do?" You challenged him.

"Tell him that you love him", he stated without any trace of humour, "Tell him everything about your feelings for him".

"I—I can't d—do that".

"If that so then I've absolutely no problem in informing him myself", He shrugged.

"You won't do that Yugyeom...." You pleaded, "He's getting married in two and a half months—".

"So what? His marriage or his love life is none of my concern but you are....and I can't let him love someone else while you're on the verge of dying!" He yelled in rage "And now the choice is yours either you tell him that you love him or I will......you have a week".

With those words he rushed back inside his room slamming the door shut, he got you into a dilemma if you told Jinyoung that you love him, you always have loved him and only him— he'll definitely reject you on your face and the things will get awkward between you both, even more than strangers or worse if he decides to break all strings with you.

Technically the same thing will happen even if Yugyeom were to tell Jinyoung. Holding your head in between both your hands you tried to contain yourself, by the way Yugyeom is reacting you're dead sure that he will not step back from his word.

"A week.." You sighed to yourself, "What am I supposed to do?".

My Neung Neung :

Hey why are you not answering my calls?

My Neung Neung:

Yugyeom told me that you're busy with some paperwork but I miss you.

My Neung Neung:

Please let's hangout this Sunday just you and me like old times.

My Neung Neung:

It's so boring without you T_T I'm losing my mind please lets meet up please please.

My Neung Neung:

I'll fill your inbox unless you call me or text me.

My Neung Neung:

Please! Come on girl you can't be that busy to not talk to me.

My Neung Neung:

Y/N !

Hellooooooo!!!!

Anyone there!!!!!

Hey my bestie!!!! Your Jinyoungie is missing you!!!!

He needs you!!!

Come on!!!

You can't avoid me like this !

I love you Y/N!

His messages brought that smile to your face which you had been missing for weeks now, he really had that impact on you. Your eyes stopped at 'Your Jinyoungie' and 'I love you', you felt your breath hitching your mind shouted that it was out of friendly love and gesture but your heart said otherwise that he really needed you and that he loves you like you love him when you knew it can't be possible.

Surely you had been successful in avoiding him for straight three weeks but he never stopped calling you atleast hundred times a day, doesn't he have Somi to look after or call her over if he wants some company, however this is the first time he has messaged you in these weeks. And seeing how much you yourself missed Jinyoung, you couldn't bring yourself to ignore him anymore, so you decided to message him back.

You :

Sorry I was really busy with my job but I'll be free after tomorrow.

Let's hangout together on Sunday.

Clicking the send, you sighed heavily wondering about what you'll do regarding Yugyeom's threat when your phone buzzed again you unlocked it hoping for Jinyoung's reply but the name on your screen got your mind spinning.

Aunt Park :

Let's meet tomorrow at my house, no excuses.

And don't worry Jinyoung won't be there.

Part 2 | Master list | Part 4

______________________________________

#got7 imagines #got7 jinyoung #got7 x reader #jinyoung imagines #got7 angst #got7 bambam #got7 jackson #got7 jaebeom #got7 mark #got7 youngjae #got7 yugyeom #got7 breath of love: last piece #got7 jb #jinyoung x reader #jinyoung x you #jinyoung fanfic #jinyoung angst #jinyoung fluff

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huearmy · 5 years ago

Text

The Smell of Truth - II

Summary: After years being forced to fight in clandestine hybrid ring, Jungkook is now living in shelter, but life remains bad, the place is abusive, and nobody seems to want adopt him. Until one night a pro-hybrid activist group invades the shelter, and a woman in black smelling like truth promises that things will get better, and he decides to follow her wherever she goes.

Pairing: pitbull!Jungkook x human!Reader

Genre: fluff, angst, future smut maybe.

Words: 3291

Rating: NC-17

Warnings: N/A. Jungkook continues to be just a cute pie here ok dont touch me.

Chapter I - Chapter III Chapter IV Chapter V Chapter VI Chapter VII

You have always been enchanted by hybrids. You grew up surrounded by them, they were friends and family. Literally. For exemple, your favorite uncle adopted your cousin, a cat hybrid, when you were five and she was three, he and his wife wanted a second child but could't have one biologically anymore, and you got a friend as a gift. You never saw your cous being treated diferently from her older sister, indeed they were equaly loved by the whole family. You two would run and play for hours together.

You learned some diferences between you and hybrids when living with your cousin in childhood. The first one was that you, unfortunately, don't have fluffy beautiful ears and tail like they do, more than once your mother needed to comfort you before going to sleep cuz you were crying, wanting to be cute too. The second was that you were always at a disadvantage in games like hide and seek and tag you it, but you still had fun. The third is that hybrids can't go to school like normal kids. Until a certain age you were home schooled, taking classes with a tutor, when you turned eleven things changed a little bit, and you started studying at an elite college. Your world expanded, you started to study more hours a day and met new people, new teachers, classmates, you made new friends that gradually showed you a cruel world that you didn't know. Most of your friends were also daughters of politicians and entrepreneurs, just like you, and just like you, they grew up surrounded by hybrids. But while they were family to you, to your classmates they were butlers, maids, pets. Soon you started to understand the injustice of it all, of why you were bullied when you talked about your cousin, why you didn't like to go to some friends' house where you would see them treating their hybrids coldly.

The last straw came when you were fourteen, more specifically your birthday. Until then you kept your friends from meeting your cousin, for fear that the situation would be strang, but it was you birthday, you wanted all your friends in your sleepover, including her. At the beginning of the night you were apprehensive, but your friends did nothing but find your cousin cute and be kind to her, so you relaxed. Everything was going well until one of her best friends decided that she liked your cousin so much that she was going to "ask her father to buy her".Your cousing didn't understand at the time, it was the first time that she was treated as something and not as a person. You were so angry that the party ended right there, most girls left, even though it was two-thirty in the morning. Days later you were expelled from school for getting involved in a fight and assaulting one of the girls who used the wrong word to define your family. You went back to school at home, with the best private tutors, and the world outside was no longer so beautiful. That's how you, already in college, joined a radical activist group for the sake of hybrids.

The concept of owning someone was disgusting for you, that's why you never adopted any hybrid, just fought to free them, in and out of law.That's why you don't recognizes yourself in the decision of getting Jungkook home. But here are you, driving your SUV with him sitting next to you in the passenger's seat. You want the best for each hybrid you have ever rescued, but never before have you been so involved that you are directly responsible for one as you are now doing with him.

Jungkook have followed you to your car, where you gave him a oversized hoodie of yours to wear - the nigth got cold - and snacks that you had prepared for your trip back home. He was really entertained comparing flavors of three diferent chips, that he didn't even noticed when your black outlaw clothes are gone, replaced by a summer dress in a cardigan. Well, he couldn't remember the last time he had a chance to eat chips, it was probably when he was a kid, and there weren't that many flavors. Of couse, he was refraining from asking you too many questions, that were filling your head like: How is house? Will it be long before we arrive? Do you live with someone else? Do you have other hybrids? Do you do these jobs every night? ... But he kept silent, like a good boy.You said the drive to your city would take about two hours, that he could sleep, but he wanted to keep awake and looking out the window at the landscape, the trees he had never seen so many together and other cars, once in a while passing by with their lights on. It would be beautiful during the day too, he thought. The music playing softly on the radio is also cool.

"Ok." You brake the silence. "We have sometime before we get home, we can talk and get to know each other until then."

Jungkook took a sip of his soda before answering.

"To know each other?"

"Yeah. Like a game where we tell things about ourselves and ask each other something..."

"Got it. How do I win this game?" Jungkook got excited.

"It wasn't supposed to be a competition." You laughed, and then got thoughtful. "If you make a question you got one point. If you tell a fact about yourself without being asked you got two points..."

"Whoever has the most points wins. Ok." Jungkook softly clapped his hands with a happy soud coming from his mouth, the gesture doesn't go unnoticed by you. You showd him where to find paper and pen in the glove compartment for him to write down the points. In one side of the page he writed your initials and in the other, his - JK.

"I go first. Hummm... My full name is Y/N Y/L/N and I'm twenty-three. And you, what' is your age?"

"Woaaaa, Y/N! You already have five points, you are good at it." Jungkook excitedly wrote down your points, already thinking about what to say. "I'm twenty-two, but not for long, my birthday is in september. I'm a virgo. What's your sign?"

"Y/S." You responds. "You are into zodiac?"

"Not exactly. But it was a fact about me." Jungkook smile to you making you look away from the road for a moment longer than insurance so you can look at the dimples under his eyes. "Among these three chip flavors, which is your favorite?" "Both cheddar and bacon, I can't choose between them" You answered without hesitation. "Actually I love cheddar and bacon in any context. Did you decided wich one you like the most?"

Jungkook thoughtfully compared the chip packs.

"Nope. I like them all together. I like sweets more. Do you live with someone else?" Jungkook took the courage to ask something that was really on his mind.

"No, is just me in my apartament. But theres always a friend or relative visiting me, almost everyday. "

Jungkook he felt a confusion of feelings, he did not know if he should be happy or disappointed that you lived alone, and as a result, that he will live only with you. It would be nice if you live with siblings or your parents if they are good like you, but at same time if they are bad he prefers to be with just you.

"How is your family?" He asked before you could make your next question.

"They are great." You said, your tone of voice and eyes ligthing up with affection. "I'm single child, but my family is quite big. We are all focused on progressive thinking of liberating hybrids. That's why I'm part of activist groups ... Of course, only I do this more clandestine work, and my mother doesn't even know. She would be crazy worry. You will like them I think. I have like six cousins, two girls and four guys... Oh my God, they will tease me so much for bringing a boy to live with me..."

Clearly your family is a trigger for you to talk non-stop. Jungkook concluded that your family must be really cool, for you to like them so much, making him wanting to know them too. It got him a little nervous. What would them think about him? Your talking makes your family look amazing, while he’s no big deal. Worse than being uninteresting is not being liked, and there are really bad things about him ... More bad than good things actually. Your family not liking him is scary, and thinking that you might know about his bad past and not liking him any longer suddenly made him anxious.

You were bragging about your great-aunt's cooking skills when noticed Jungkook got too quiet.

"You are ok, Jungkook?"

He looked at you awkwardly, eyes round like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Yes."

"Sorry I talked too much." You let a weak laugh out, feeling embarrassed. "Is your turn now. Go ahead."

Jungkook looked through the window, avoiding looking to you.

"I don't know what else I have to say... You already won anyway." He showed you the score, your inicials with no space left to write down points.

"Oh I bet you have a lot of things to say."

"Not good things." Jungkook dared to say, already regretting it as soon as the words left his mouth.Your voice softned.

"You don't need to tell me anything you are not ready to tell. Even if you're never ready. But I know that you are a person, and people are made up of many things, not just bad things." A moment of silence followed, you thinking about the next thing to say. "If you don't want to talk about past things... Lets talk about the future. What do you want to have for lunch tomorrow?"

________________________________________________________________

At some point Jungkook finally fell asleep. You drove an entire hour alone, slowly sipping an energy drink, his soft snores beside you not letting you forget about his presence. Everything you want is to sleep too, your eyes heavy, your body numb. You were thinking of it an how you would be in your bed about time, in your fluffy pijamas and warm socks, when blue and red lights appeared in your rear view mirror.

You pulled over and waited to the cop to come closer to lower the window

."Good nigth, officer."

You greeted in a low voice.The man just nodded writing down your license plate.

"Do you know why I made you pull over?" He said, louder than you.

"No, sir." You calmly answered, shrugging. "I was not above the speed limit and my tail lights are ok."

He made an approving sound.

"Papers please."

You turned on the light and reached out to get your documents from the glove compartment, making Jungkook open his sleepy eyes with a groan.

"Y/N?" He called with a pout. The ultimate pout."Shhh. Keep sleeping, babe. We didn't arrived yet."

He obeyed immediately, leaning his head on the window, and you can tell he didn't really wake up in the first place. He was with his cap and hoodie on, so the cop couldn't see his ears and know he is a hybrid. And theis way is better, you thought.

"Your boyfriend?" The cop asked while analyzing your driver's license.Time to improvise with your acting skills.

"Kind of." You timidly put a lock of hair behind your ear.He scanned the trash in the car."Any alcohol?"

"No, sir. Just energy drink and soda." You smiled.

He did the breathalyzer test on you anyway.

Since it didn't point to guilty results, you were released to continue your journey.

You took a deep breath, glad he didn't asked to inspect the car, he would surely find something that would link you to the terrorist act against the shelter, as the newspapers would for sure report the next day.

The good part is that forging Jungkook's adoption document in your name with a date prior to the rescue will be super easy, as the shelter's records blew up in the explosion. That thought made you relax and start driving normally. ________________________________________________________________

"Jungkook. Jungkook wake up." You shook his shoulder, his sleep too heavy. His head fell forward, making him jump in his spot, blinking heavily, the ultimate pout making another appearance. "We arrived, Jungkook."

Jungkook slowly regained consciousness, seeing you standing outside the car, beside him, holding the door open for him to get out.

"We're at home?." His face got bright.

"Yeah. Come."

It was a courtyard at the back of a small old building, it was still early in the morning, the sky was still dark and no one in town was awake. You turned on the car alarm, and guided a still sleepy but very attentive to the details of the new place, Jungkook, to the back door of the building, taking the bunch of keys out of his pocket - of your hoodie that he was wearing. He liked the proximity, the soud of the keys and the smell of the place. Actually the smell was pretty amazing, specially when you opened the door and everything inside got your smell, and others good things.

You noticed his nose working in the air and laughed.

"Is a flower shop. Do you like it?" You asked.

Something made sense to Jungkook, it's not that the place smelled like you, you smelled like flowers because of the place.

"Yeah. Is pretty good." He said still sniffing the air.

"On the first floor we have the shop, on the second the shop office and a photo studio that I rent to a friend... And on the third and fourth is our home." You tell him as you go up the stairs, he following you closely. "Early on, both the store and the office are open, but this should not be a problem if you want to sleep till late."

"Ok."

You two whispered up to the third floor, a small corridor with two doors on one side and windows on the other. You stepped forward to the first door, the entrance to the living room and struggled to fide the rigth key in the dark.

Jungkook noticed a faint light coming from under the door and a murmur inside. There was someone in there. He got alert and slightly apprehensive.

You finally oppened the door and got inside, dropping your heavy bag on the floor, the keys in the corner table, kicking off your boots. Jungkook got inside with short steps, looking around cautiously, looking for the person who would ambush you both. The light was the TV... He smelled a cat.

"Y/n?" A sweet and sleepy voice reached your ears, a little form lifted on the couch. A sniffing soud and the sweet voice got hostile. "Who is this?"

"Yeri, you are here." You smiled, not really caring for the mood changing of her. Jungkook stepped behind you a little. "This is Jungkook. Jungkook, this is Yeri, my cousin."

"Hi." Jungkook tryied.

"What's he doing here? You never brought anyone home ..."

And by anyone she meant hybrids, and Jungkook knows it. He couldn't see her face in the dark, just her luminous cat eyes with vertical pupils, the dominant presence of those who had their territory invaded radiating from her.

"There is always a first time I guess." You say, still ignoring the awkward atmosphere, taking off your cardigan and hanging it on the rack behind the front door. "Are you in the guest room?"

Yeri got up and turned off the TV.

"No. I'm sleeping with you."Clearly she didn't trust Jungkook yet. If you bet, she was ready to sleep in the guest room, but now she decided to sleep with you to protect you from the stranger.

"Ok." You said.

"Ok." She said.

She turned on the light in the corridor, taking a few steps to the top floor, with bare feet and cute pijamas, and then stopped looking at Jungkook. Now he could see her face. The scariest cat he has ever seen. "Welcome to the family." And than she disappeared up the stairs.

Jungkook gulped, not sure what to think about it.

"She liked you." You told him, putting a hand in the small of his back.

"How do you know?" He asked you with round eyes.

"She didn't say she disliked you." You smiled. "Yeri is pretty honest about her feelings."

You took him to a room in the hall, with a messy cat-smelling bed in the middle, an empty desk and an armchair close to the window, and an empty closet. Beside the bed on the floor was an open handbag , with women's clothing showing up.

"She said she wasn't going to sleep here..." Jungkook pointed.

"Yeah, she lied about it. She wouldn't let me put you to sleep on the couch, though..." You went down the hall and came back with another blanket. "Aaaand, this will be your room. You'd better get used to it."

You fixed the sheets and changed the blanket and pillowcases, probably to help with the cat smell, odorless bedding help to make the bed more of him.

"That's what I can offer you for now, after all I wasan't expecting to adopt you. We can fix it later." You tiredly said, picking Yeri's bag from the floor.

"Ah... Don't worry.". Jungkook wanted to say he was already happy with what he got, that being adopted in firts place was more than he expected, that he was greatfull of your caring so far. But he couldn't find the words to put in on.

"Good, bucause I'm dead tired... I need to sleep, and you do too." You gave him a pat in his back, and went to the door. "If you need it, theres a bathroom in the end of the corridor. Good night." And than you closed the door behind you.

Jungkook waited for the sound your staps desapeard to start moving and breathing again. He was in his room! He ran to the window and opened the curtains a little to see outside, it seemed to be a main street in a small town, but Jungkook had never stepped in a small town before to have reference. He tryied the armchair and conclued it was confortable enouth to take a nap on it. The closet was big enough for him to fit in - he tested it - another possible place for good naps. With leaps of joy he imagined all the things he could kept there, the clothes and shoes he didn't have yet but dream of having. Fantasizing about when you were going to take him to shopping, he put the hat on one of the top shelves and closed the double doors carefully, to make any noise. And then threw himself on the bed, scenting the sheets, sighing contentedly. He took off his shoes and placed beside the bad, his wallet in the nigthstand - open like a picture frame, showing the photo of two hybrid little boys embracing and smiling - , and the suffed bunny lying next to him with it's own pillow.

All in this room felt so real to him, as much as your smell. If you said it will be his room so it's true, because se believe in you, and he is so happy.With the thought of a bright future with you Jungkook finally fell asleep again.

___________________________________________________________

Tag list: @stayunderthelights @deolly @panconte

___________________________________________________________

Thakyou!!! Let me know if you liked it... <3 <3 <3 This is a sub blog so I wont respond coments, but I read it all.

#bts fanfic #bts fanfction #bts hybrid fic #bts blog #bts fluff #hybrid bts #hybrid jungkook #jungkook x reader #jungkook fanfic #jungkook fic #jungkook imagine #bts angst #dog jungkook #bangtanshadowfamily

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theladyofdeath · 4 years ago

Text

In the Bleak Midwinter {3}

A Throne of Glass Period AU: 1920s.

Summary: 2 years after Arobynn Hammel is killed by Rowan Whitethorn, Maeve has returned from Eyllwe with a vengeance. Meanwhile, Rowan is getting married, Lorcan is a father, and Lysandra is finally ready to give her heart away. There’s been peace in The Cadre’s Orynth for 2 years, but peace never lasts.

A/N: And so it begins.

All characters belong to SJM. I am no more than a fan with a plot.

**Warning: mature content - language, alcohol use, drug use, sex, murders and shit.

Links & masterlists:

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The Cadre - 1920s AU {TOG}

In the Bleak Midwinter {The Cadre, Part 2}

“I hear Cairn brought you my gift.”

Rowan eyed Maeve, his jaw locked as he observed her, taking a mental note of his surroundings. He reached his hand into his jacket.

Maeve’s haughty laughter had him freezing.

“Oh, Rowan, you and I have too high of morals to kill each other in a back alley,” she crooned. “Besides, I’m alone and unarmed.”

“You expect me to believe that you’re alone and unarmed?” Rowan asked, but his hand fell back down to his side, nonetheless.

“Yes,” she answered, plainly. “You see, I didn’t come here to take a life, nephew, especially not yours, not today. I came to explain myself.”

Rowan sighed, pulling his cigarette case out of his front pocket. “Very well.”

He pulled out a cigarette and stuck in between his teeth as Maeve said, “You killed Arobynn.”

“Well, he was threatening my life, so,” Rowan mumbled, igniting his lighter.

“Arobynn was my lover,” Maeve continued, as if he said nothing. She had a far off look in her dark, clouded eyes. “The love of my life. I was pregnant with his child, his son, his heir.”

Rowan blew smoke into the narrow alley before turning to meet Maeve’s gaze. “Your point?”

“Once I received word in Eyllwe that Arobynn had been killed, I was so stricken with grief that I lost the baby,” she said, words soft.

The sarcastic words faded from Rowan’s tongue. “I’m sorry,” he said, and he meant it. The loss of a child, no matter how horrid that child’s parentage, was no easy loss.

“An apology?” Maeve asked, intrigued.

“For your child,” Rowan said. “Not for Arobynn, he deserved what he got.”

“And here I thought we were having a moment,” Maeve said. She kept her distance.

“Drop your shit, Maeve, tell me why you’re here and fuck off before I lose my sense of morals and put a bullet in your head, unarmed or not.”

Maeve lifted a thin, sculpted brow. “My nephew finally has a backbone? How refreshing.”

Rowan said nothing as he put his cigarette back between his lips.

“You all betrayed me. After all I had done for you boys, raising you after your father’s death, taking care of everything while you were all away at war…” Maeve’s words trailed off and she shook her head, violently, those clouded eyes turning vicious. “And you murder my love? Not to mention that my child’s blood is on your hands, as well.”

Rowan smiled, but there was nothing humored in it. “You knew he was going to kill me, your own fucking nephew, and didn’t give a damn.”

“Perhaps not,” Maeve said, words light, once more. “And perhaps that’s why I intend to finish what he started.”

“Is that so?” Rowan asked, back pressed up against the brick of the Fireheart, once more.

“Yes, starting with the others,” Maeve said, her heels clicking against the cold ground as she approached. “Fenrys and Connall, Lorcan, Vaughan, Gavriel,” she continued, until she was standing just in front of him. She was a head shorter than he, but had a way of making him feel two inches tall. “Which saddens me, because I was always fond of Vaughan and Gavriel.”

“I’m sure the guilt will eat you up,” Rowan muttered, blowing smoke into her face.

She didn’t balk, but her eyes narrowed. “I will force you, nephew, to watch all of them die, so that you know their blood is on your hands, and when they are all dead, and your heart is as broken as mine, I will come for you, and I will kill you.”

“Hard to break the heart of someone that doesn’t have one,” Rowan said, eyeing his aunt as she took a step back and adjusted her coat.

“We both know that’s shit, Rowan,” Maeve said, eyes bright. “Your heart is bigger than all of theirs.”

Rowan scoffed. “You don’t know me. Not anymore.”

“Of course, I do,” Maeve said. “If you were heartless, I’d already be dead.”

She was right. Rowan Whitethorn was a bad man, but he still had morals, still had a code that he lived by. And as he watched Maeve walk away, he cursed himself for it, because he should have shot her there and then.

If he had, he would have avoided one hell of a storm.

~~~~~

Lorcan pushed open the front door of their home to find Natalia, a finger held up to her lips.

He knew that if he made any noise, she would have his balls - and that was not a figure of speech. The baby was sleeping, and it was hell to get that baby asleep.

Elide crept inside behind him and nodded her thanks to Natalia before taking Lorcan’s hand and leading him up the stairs, and down the hall.

“You’re drunk,” Lorcan sang to his wife as he stumbled inside as she shut the door behind them.

“Am not,” she fought back, but her eyes were lit with mischief and glazed over from the vodka.

“Look at you, letting your hair down,” Lorcan laughed, pulling his wife into him by her waist. Her head fell against Lorcan’s chest, then she was instantly clawing at his clothes.

Lorcan couldn’t help but laugh as she pushed his jacket down his arms, then his shoulder holster.

“Careful, it’s loaded,” he muttered, as she sloppily handled the machinery. With a shaky, excited hand, Elide pulled the revolver out of the leather holding and pointed it at the ceiling.

“Don’t act like you don’t think I’m sexy with a gun,” she slurred.

Lorcan reached up and took the gun away before slowly turning around and carefully setting it on the nightstand. “Sexy? Of course. Always. But dangerous? Also yes. And I prefer I don’t get shot tonight.”

Elide was on the floor, unbuckling her heels before kicking them off, then sliding her stockings down her legs. “I would never, I have a great shot.”

“You do,” Lorcan agreed, shoving his hands into his pockets, “when you’re sober.”

With a roll of her eyes, Elide was hopping back up on her bare feet. “Do you wanna fuck, Lorcan Salvaterre?”

Lorcan snorted, his grin spreading as he took a step toward his wife. “I always want to fuck.”

“Not true,” she said, shaking her head slyly as she wrapped her thin arms around his waist. “We’re not as crazy as we used to be.”

“We’re responsible parents now,” Lorcan argued.

Elide laughed. “We did create a pretty perfect human, didn’t we?”

“Yeah,” Lorcan breathed, pushing Elide’s dark hair out of her face and kissing her forehead, softly. “We did.”

“Let’s make another,” she said, unbuttoning his trousers.

“Well I - oh, fuck.”

She shoved her hand into his trousers, grabbing his balls.

Every word that had entered his mind quickly faded away as she fell onto her knees and shoved his trousers halfway down his thighs. “I, um-”

“Hush,” she mumbled, pulling his cock out and sliding her tongue along the sensitive skin. A long, low moan tumbled out of Lorcan’s mouth.

“Natalia is awake,” Lorcan muttered.

“Let her hear,” Elide said, as her lips wrapped around the head of his cock.

Lorcan’s protests faded away as his head fell back, his eyes fluttering shut. A string of curses left his mouth as Elide’s head began to bob, back and forth, her hands gripping his ass.

He felt the need to stop her, although he wasn’t sure why. Since the birth of Lucielle, they had only had sex on very specific nights, when they knew Lucy was fast asleep and Natalia had already prepared and turned in for bed, or when one of the others had Lucy for a night and Natalia was off doing her own thing.

Those nights did not come often.

At least, not often enough.

Let her hear.

Very well, then. Lorcan lifted Elide up, off the ground, and held her up against him, her legs wrapped around his waist as he carried her to their bed. He dropped her, hiking up her skirt as he pressed himself down on her, grazing his lips across her neck.

He didn’t need convincing.

If Elide didn’t care that Natalia heard, Lorcan would make sure his wife’s beautiful voice was heard throughout the house, throughout the street, throughout the city as he made love to her, over and over again.

~~~~~

The night air was cool as Aedion and Lysandra walked back to her townhouse, Gavriel and the twins close behind. Aedion thought it best that he walk her home himself, considering the circumstances. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t be able to sleep, terrified that something had happened to her.

He couldn’t help himself.

Once they arrived in front of her front door, Gavriel told them goodnight, then Fenrys” and Connall did, as well, strolling away with the women on their arms from the club.

Aedion turned to Lysandra and grinned. “I had fun tonight.”

“So did I,” she beamed, leaning against her front door. “I like being the guest of Aedion Ashryver.”

“Then let’s hope we can do it again soon,” Aedion shot back.

“Let’s hope,” she repeated.

Aedion’s grin widened as he nodded. “Well, I’ll say goodnight, then. Sleep well, Lys.”

He turned to walk away, but Lysandra’s voice had him coming up short.

“Aedion?”

He froze, and looked over his shoulder.

Lysandra’s eyes were wide, her lips parted. Aedion’s heart was beating rapidly as she asked, “Would you like to stay?”

A thousand responses flooded Aedion’s mind, but he finally came up with, “Yes.”

“Good,” she breathed, relieved, as if he would actually say no.

Lysandra took a key out of her clutch and turned the lock, Aedion close behind as she entered. He had been in her home plenty of times, but this time was different as she turned into the den and started a fire in the fireplace.

“Sit,” she said, looking over her shoulder at him. Aedion did not hesitate as he plopped down on the couch and tossed his ankle over his knee.

Lysandra slipped off her shoes before joining him there. “Can I get you a drink?”

“No,” he said, smiling softly. “If I have any more to drink I’ll pass out right here, soon enough.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time you’ve passed out in front of me,” she chuckled, bringing her knees up beneath her on the soft cushions.

Aedion chuckled. “True, but the last time that happened I was a child. What, seventeen?”

“Seventeen and too fond of cheap wine,” she laughed.

“I have since learned,” he assured her. “And that wine was delicious.”

“That wine was awful,” Lysandra argued, shaking her head.

Aedion’s lips twitched. “Perhaps so.”

He looked over at her, closing the mere inches that sat in between them on the dark piece of furniture with his eyes. He longed to reach out, to brush her hair back, the stray wisps that fell too far into her face. He longed to take her into his arms, longed to kiss her lips, softly, to tell her how much he loved her, still.

But he had learned long ago that telling her of his feelings only led to her shutting him down, and he understood it, so he had stopped pushing years before. Whatever happened between them would happen slowly, at her pace, and he would wait, respectfully.

No matter how long that would be.

He just loved watching, seeing how far she had come in the last two years. Her confidence bloomed. She walked with her chin held higher, took pride in her work, and in her home. She smiled more, her eyes had become brighter.

She no longer looked as if she carried the weight of the world on her shoulders.

“So,” she said, cocking her head to the side as she watched him. “I must tell you a secret.”

“A secret?” Aedion asked, instantly intrigued.

“About Aelin,” Lysandra went on, smugly.

Aedion arched a brow. “Well, now I feel you’re enjoying this. Which means it must be pretty big. So, I’ll bite. What is it?”

“You have to promise not to tell a soul,” Lysandra crooned.

Aedion sighed, dramatically, but then he nodded. “Fine. I promise.”

Lysandra’s grin spread wide. “Aelin’s pregnant.”

Aedion stilled, then a loud, humored laugh fell from his lips. “Pregnant?”

Lysandra nodded, excitedly, clapping her hands together. “Can you believe it? She’s going to be such a great mother. And little Lucy will have a cousin to play with.”

Aedion watched her, giddy over her excitement, giddy over the news, but his smile soon began to fade and he suddenly felt himself sobering up.

What a horrible time to be bringing a child into the world.

A war with Maeve was about to begin, if what Rhoe had told them all was to be true, and Rowan was the main target, so it seemed.

Rowan, the father of that child.

If Maeve was successful, and Aelin was left alone...it wasn’t that she couldn’t do it, but to do it, without him, her true love, her soulmate, would be unbearable.

And he would hate to see his cousin in such pain, such sorrow.

As if she could sense his thoughts, could read his mind, Lysandra was reaching across the cushion to take his hand in hers. Her smile was wistful as he met her gaze.

“They will make it out of this,” Lysandra said. “It is just another chapter that the Cadre must endure, another villain that must be defeated.”

Aedion chuckled, although he suddenly felt exhausted. “You speak of them as if they are saints.”

“Not saints,” Lysandra said, “but not as awful as they wish to be perceived.”

Aedion didn’t disagree. “I worry for her, not for them.”

“I know,” Lysandra breathed. Her fingers tightened around his.

“You still wear my pendant.”

Lysandra started, hesitated, then laughed, quietly. She reached up to fiddle with the emerald pendant around her neck. “Of course, I still wear it. Why wouldn’t I?”

Aedion shrugged, smiling softly as he reached up to brush his thumb over the pendant.

Lysandra’s entire body tensed.

Aedion’s hand quickly fell to his lap. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” she whispered. “I’m sorry-”

“You have nothing to apologize for,” he said.

But she was shaking her head. “Of course, I do, Aedion.”

Her smile had vanished, her brows furrowed.

“Lysandra-”

“I still love you, Aedion, just as I always have,” she whispered.

Aedion had said those words to her a million times, but Lysandra scarcely spoke of her feelings, at all. “You don’t have to, Lysandra.”

“It is not fair to you,” she went on, pulling her hand away from his, at last. “I know that you have waited for me, Aedion, but it’s not fair that I’ve asked you to.”

“You haven’t asked me to,” Aedion fought.

Lysandra smiled, but her eyes were sad. “You deserve better, Aedion.”

“Lys-”

“I love you,” she breathed, saying those words again. Aedion couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t form a single thought. “I love you, Aedion, but you deserve better than this.”

“Better than what?” he asked, shocked by the words coming out of her mouth.

“Me,” she laughed, humorlessly.

Aedion scooted a few inches closer to her, and reached for her hand, once more. She did not protest.

“You don’t have to do this,” he said, again, his voice quiet. “I would rather wait the rest of my life than spend it with anyone but you.”

A tear slid down Lysandra’s cheek as she palmed Aedion’s. “I would love nothing more than to kiss you, to bed you, to call myself your wife, but I fear that I will never be able to do that without the ghosts of every man I have ever fucked for a petty penny lingering, judging, staring at me with such judgement and hatred….”

Aedion let go of her hand, only to take her face into both of his. He brushed his thumbs over her cheeks, wiping away the dampness. His heart broke at her words, at the ghosts that haunted her. “I have never seen you as a whore, Lysandra, and I never will.” She opened her mouth to speak, but he shook his head. “I am so in love with you. I always have been. You are beautiful, kind, brave, passionate, selfless…I have never met a woman like you, Lys. I will not pretend to know what you have gone through, what baggage you carry, but you must know that I love you, despite your past, your past doesn’t mean a fucking thing to me, not when it comes to my adoration for you.”

“You are too good to me, Aedion-”

“I only tell you what I mean, what I feel,” he said. “What you deserve to be told.”

Her eyes were lit with something Aedion couldn’t quite place, but then she fell into his shoulder, and Aedion’s arm quickly wrapped around her, bringing her in close. They sat like that, in the silence, clinging to one another. Aedion didn’t dare speak, didn’t dare say another word.

So he kept quiet, but his arm stayed wrapped around her, as Lysandra’s head rested snugly against his shoulder.

~~~~~

Rowan entered the house, Aelin close behind. On the ride back to the estate, neither of them had said a word. At first, Aelin attempted to ask questions, but when it was clear that Rowan wasn’t in the talking mood, she remained silent.

His talk with Maeve had set him off. It wasn’t that he was surprised. He expected a visit from Maeve sooner or later, but the words she had spat at him left him in a sober state of mind.

She wanted him to watch everyone he loved die.

She wanted him to suffer, just as she had suffered, thanks to him.

Once they arrived at their estate, Rowan had stomped into the house and up the stairs, into his office. He pulled out a glass and bottle of whiskey. After filling the glass, he sat behind his desk and lit a cigarette, pulling off his jacket. His newsboy hat was discarded on the desk, the razors hidden beneath the bill in full view.

What a life he lived.

Danger. Insecurity. Instability.

It wasn’t a life he wanted to bring a child into, and yet, it was the only life he had. Yes, they had begun to dabble in legal business, but that wasn’t enough to keep them afloat, that wasn’t what had gotten them the spectacular home in which they currently resided.

Aelin had grown up in the same situation, Rhoe dabbling in unlawful dealings, but she deserved better, so much better.

Rowan sighed, in a dream of tobacco and whiskey, and he leaned back in his chair, his eyes closing.

He had to do something.

He wouldn’t let his family die.

But he had no idea what that would be. Killing off Maeve would be too easy. She had a ton of men in her corner, nearly thirty, as Vaughan and Connall had replayed to him earlier that evening. Thirty against his eleven?

He needed more men.

It would be war.

Which was ridiculous, because they were family, he and Maeve. Maeve was his only living relative, and this is how it would end: battle of the fittest, whoever shot first would be the one who defeated the other.

Rowan’s mother would be ashamed.

But he couldn’t think of that now. Now, he had a duty to his men, to his Cadre, to his wife and his unborn child.

That is where his duty lied.

The door to his office was pushed open, and he opened his eyes to meet Aelin’s, hesitantly closing the door behind her. She said nothing, only watched him as she leaned back against the thick oak.

Rowan took the cigarette out of his mouth as he took a long, slow drink from his glass.

“I’d offer you a pour, but it would be bad for the baby,” Rowan said, at last.

Aelin just shook her head. She slowly entered the room, sitting in the chair opposite of his, across his desk. “I wish you would talk to me.”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” he said, simply.

“Bullshit,” she said, but her voice was light. “I’ve known you for some time, Rowan, and I grew up with Rhoe as a father. I know this life, and you are not fooling me.”

Rowan put the cigarette back between his teeth and blew a puff of smoke into the air before he said, “It’s not for you to worry about. Go to bed.”

Aelin’s eyes widened, her lips parting as her perfectly sculpted blonde brows rose. “Are you fucking kidding me? You're my husband, Rowan, of course it’s my fucking business to worry about! Try telling me that again and see where it gets you.”

Rowan sighed, his eyes falling shut, once more. He wasn’t in the mood for fighting. “Go to bed, Aelin.”

“No,” she snapped, through gritted teeth. “Not until you talk to me-”

“I don’t want to talk!” he yelled, his hand hitting the top of his desk with such force that it made Aelin jump.

“Well, I don’t give a damn what you want!” Aelin yelled, after she collected herself. “We’re married now, Ro, and you’ve been keeping shit bottled up, and it’s pissing me off.”

Rowan downed his glass of whiskey before slamming the glass down on his desk. He pushed himself up on his feet and began pacing. Aelin sat, perfectly still, watching.

“Fine, you wanna talk about it?” he said, at last, flicking ash onto the floor. “You wanna fucking talk about it, A? Maeve wants to kill you all, alright? And do you know why? Because of the fucking bullet I put through Arobynn’s head! It’s all my fucking fault!”

Aelin didn’t reply. She wasn’t surprised by the words that spewed from his mouth. Instead, she leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms.

When she said nothing, Rowan went on, “I’ve put you all in jeopardy. All of you. The Cadre, you, the baby-” His words fell off, and he covered his mouth. Then, he cursed, loudly and brutally, taking the cigarette between his fingers. “It’s my fault. It’s my fucking fault.”

“Ro-”

“You, the baby, I’ve put you in danger-”

“Rowan-”

“I can’t...I can’t fucking-”

“Ro!”

He stopped pacing, meeting her gaze with green eyes full of pure hatred, pure distress. “What?”

“Breathe,” she said, simply. He took a deep breath, shaking his head as he sat back down in his chair. “You don’t have to do this alone.”

“I’m the leader,” he said, simply.

“So, what?” she asked, leaning across his desk. “Ro, we’re in this together, okay? You don’t have to do this alone.”

But Rowan remained quiet, folding his hands on top of his desktop. He blew out smoke into the silence, the cigarette parked between his teeth.

She gave him a moment as he thought it over. There was a lot to think over, after all. Maeve’s visit had him on edge, had his hands shaking, his mind reeling. She had shaken him up, which was surely her intention. Yet, he couldn’t help but let her get to him.

“I’m scared,” he admitted, at last, refusing to meet Aelin’s eyes. “Worried. For you, for the baby.”

“I know,” Aelin breathed.

“I don’t know what to do,” he continued, pulling the cigarette from his mouth. “I don’t know how to make things right. Maeve, her men, they’re out for us, A.”

Aelin said nothing as her worried eyes met his. Rowan just shook his head, slowly. “I’m the leader of this fucking thing, and I don’t know how to make it right.”

“You don’t have to know-”

“Yes, I do!” he yelled, and Aelin went silent. “It’s my fucking job to know! And I don’t, okay? I don’t know what to do! I don’t know how to keep us all safe, and I don’t know the right thing to say!” Rowan took the cigarette and put it out in the ashtray on his desk. His face fell into his hands. “We’re all going to suffer. And, I don’t know how to stop it.”

Aelin’s eyes softened as she stood from her chair and came around his side of the desk. Rowan didn’t move as she came up behind him and wrapped her slender around him, her lips pressing into the side of his cheek.

“You’re not alone, Ro,” she whispered.

Rowan appreciated the gesture, but he felt like he was alone, felt like he was the face of this battle. He was the one that had killed Arobynn, after all. It was necessary, of course, but it had caused quite the reaction.

Which was to be expected, he supposed, even if it was delayed, two years later.

There was no winning solution.

“I want you to stay here, at all times, unless someone else is with you,” he said, at last, keeping his voice quiet.

Aelin looked as if she wanted to protest, but didn’t. “Okay,” she said, at last.

Rowan nodded, taking her face into his hands. “I won’t put you in harm’s way.”

Aelin nodded, smiling as comforting as she could, although Rowan felt no comfort at all.

He had to make this right.

Had to find a way to protect them all.

Because Maeve was right about one thing.

If any of them died, their blood would be on his hands.

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

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