#holy fuck I’ll be THIRTY next year????

[psychoticwillgraham]

yall know how im going to california next august for our vacation? well sis just informed me over the phone that we’re going to fucking Disneyland??? look, fuck disney and all, but when am I gonna get this chance again??? she’s paying for it, not me, so i have to do whatever she buys tickets for. if I don’t get to see a drag show in cali at some point, then what’s even the fucking point?? i wanna see how the west coast girlies do it and the king scene around where we’re staying is legendary apparently.

[macfrog]

hi queenie, love of my life 😌 i’d like to ask the following for 🩵: d’you think there was ever a moment where joel really thought holy shit. she drives me insane… i gotta fuck her. ???

(rly hoping there was 😌)

ily, sister! thanks for the gif. feeling really. normal. about him. right now. oh, yeah. he had his moments. let's get into it.

compensation 1.1k words | duckie's baby shower 🩵 warnings: literally just joel masturbating to the thought of his neighbor. good shit.

she can’t have been older than twenty-five, when she moved in.

hell, she’s not even thirty yet, as it is. she’s too fucking –

you’re too fucking young for him, and that’s the end of that.

at least – that’s what joel’s telling himself, trapped on your front porch. watching you relive the story of the ups driver who almost wouldn't let you sign for his package.

doing his best to keep his eyes on yours, and not the thin tank top you’re wearing.

“…she’s like, how do i know you’re gonna get this to him? i’m like, uh, what the fuck do i want with my boring ass neighbor’s mail? no offense, joel. but c’mon. i’m literally signing for it. anyways.”

you turn, bending down for the box by the stairs, and joel drags his eyes upwards.

his hand shakes at his side. jaw ticks, watching you turn back, the package leaning against your front. your breasts – oh, jesus.

he swallows. his throat feels like carpet burn.

“’s heavy,” you mutter, edging towards him. “rock collecting?”

“mind your business,” joel clips, slipping his hands around the box. the back of his wrists brush against the swell of your breasts, and he stares so intensely at his own address on the label that he hopes it’s burned forever into his vision.

you huff as the weight passes into his hands. a little sigh.

something twitches beneath his belt buckle.

joel sits the box on his hip. “well, thanks for this. and for calling me boring.”

you cross your arms. it only pushes your tits up more. “stay humble, old man.”

he should walk away. right now. he should take his package, and his pride, and the fucking rock in his jeans – and head on home.

but then you slump against the doorpost, one ankle crossing over the other, and say, “s’posed to get pretty hot this summer.”

“’s already pretty hot.”

“hotter, jackass. they’re sayin’ record temperatures.”

“they say that every year.”

you poke at the inside of your cheek with your tongue. the way you always do, when you’re trying to annoy him.

and it’s working.

“actually, uh –” joel shifts between feet, “– i was gonna ask you a favor.”

“mhm?”

his gaze trickles down your figure. each curve and swell of supple skin. the shorts he’s getting a little too used to seeing you in, too used to looking for. your bare legs, and the glow of sun on them.

when he looks back up, you’re smirking at him.

christ, he wants to wipe that smirk clean off your face. wants to twist it into something darker, something…something louder, and filthier, and –

“joel. hellooo?”

you wave your hand in front of his face, and he snaps back.

“huh? oh, shit. sorry – i, uh…” a flush rises like an inferno up his neck. he shakes his head, fighting it off. “yeah. a favor.”

“you good? don’t pass out on my porch,” you warn. “wait until you’re back on your own land to do that.”

he breathes a laugh – panting, almost. “i’m good. i just – i need someone to water my, uh – my plants. i’m outta town next week, visitin’ my brother. if you wouldn’t mind…”

he feels like a fucking moron when he finally meets your eye again.

you blink back at him, frowning. head tipped, looking him up and down. “i don’t mind,” you say, something cautious in your voice, “but i expect generous compensation for my time.”

“compensation,” joel agrees, nodding. he’d do anything to be off this goddamn porch right now. “how about i’ll owe you one?”

“works for me.”

“alright. thank you, again,” he holds the package up, “and, uh – i’ll see ya.”

he’s gone before he hears your response.

too young. she’s too young. you’re so young. goddamn it.

you drive him fucking insane. you and your little shorts, the simper on your face. he swears he could see through the white of your top, two perfect circles where –

oh, fuck.

he spills into his bathroom, a heavy hand slamming down on the valve. the water roars from the showerhead, louder than the blood in his ears.

joel hauls his tee over his shoulders, the fabric peeling from his muscles and crumpling in a damp pile on the floor. he shucks the rest of his clothes off, kicking them to the side, and steps straight into the cubicle.

he looks down, and – fucking hell.

his cock sways between his legs, all rosy and already dripping. he can feel his pulse hammering at his tip; hisses when the stream sprays over it.

his hand lifts, curving around air.

shit, he just wants to touch himself. wants to relieve the ache between his hips. he has to.

he balls his fists against the tiled wall. his head drops low between his shoulders. the water pours down over him, pastes his dark hair in soaking flicks around his face. he can taste the salt of sweat and sun as it slips from his skin.

once. if he only did it once, would it matter? he’s hard now, anyways. there’s a quick fix.

you just – you caught him off-guard. he only went over there to pick up a package. he didn’t fucking know you’d be – oh, christ – he didn’t know you’d be in that shirt. no bra, no nothing beneath it.

he can still feel the plush of your tits on his knuckles. the way they moved as you leant against the doorframe. he can still see the summery shine on your skin.

he thinks about slipping his hands under the hem of your tank. up, up, up, across your smooth skin until he’s cupping them. squeezing them; circling his thumbs over the hardening peaks.

the short breaths from your lips, your smirk melted into a delicate o-shape. voiceless, nothing but whimpering and gasping when his teeth take your nipple.

before he even realizes it – he’s stroking his cock.

and quickly.

he groans, lips turning to his bicep. he bites down on the skin, hard.

he’d slip your shorts down your hips; see whatever slutty little panties you wear. he’d pull your thighs over his shoulders, unfold your sweet cunt and –

“shit,” joel pants, hips stuttering. his fingers splay out on the slippery tile.

you’re so infuriating. loudmouthed and fucking bratty. and he could shut you up, he knows he could. he’d sit you on his cock, wrapped perfectly around him, and fuck you dumb. fuck you until you’re nothing but a sobbing, soaking mess.

fuck you with that scrap of a tank top on. tits bouncing beneath it, the fabric riding higher and higher until they’re exposed.

what a good fuckin’ girl, taking all of him. letting him split you open, letting him fuck you raw. so big he’ll leave an ache deep inside you; so hard that he makes you come three times over before he’s even close.

but – fuck, he’s close, right now.

“c’mon, baby,” he mutters into his skin. teeth gritted; fist so tight the skin threatens to split across his knuckles. “make me come, c’mon.”

it’d dribble from your cunt, and he’d push it straight back in. make damn sure you keep it all in there, make damn sure you’re walking around all full of him. the seam of your thighs slick, semen seeping into your panties.

“goddamn,” he groans, and with a throb, coats the shower wall.

his cock twitches, pulses until he’s empty. the ache begins to thaw.

he shuts the shower off, still massaging his softening dick as he steps back out. he lifts a towel and drags it across his tingling body.

and he swears, when he notices the sun dipping below your roof –

it will never happen again.

[ssturniolo92]

Matt Sturniolo-Cold

pairing-matt sturniolo x reader

prompt-“let’s go home, you’re freezing, and i don’t want you catching a cold.”

genre-fluff

description-after a video at the ice skating rink, matt takes y/n home not wanting them to catch a cold

“if you slip and fall that would be so funny.” nick said as he helped you into the rink.

“i’m telling you guys i’m pretty good at ice skating.” you sighed. you had been ice skating since you were young, so over the years you got pretty good.

you had mostly come just to prove that you could skate well, but also because you wanted to be with matt.

you had only been dating a few weeks, but you had known him almost your whole life.

“okay, show us what you got.” chris said, rubbing his hands together.

“i’ll race you.” you said, grinning over at matt.

he took your hand, softly and led you to the far end of the rink.

“if you win, we can have a movie night and you can pick.” he said, looking over at you with a smile.

“done deal.” you said.

chris started counting down from three, and you could hear nick narrating the race.

as soon as chris said one you and matt were speeding towards the other side. luckily you got a good start and you beat him by a foot or two.

“i beat you!” you yelled out childishly, skating around him.

“yeah yeah,” he said rolling his eyes.

“i didn’t think you would actually win.” nick said.

you gave him your best death glare and turned to matt, “we’re watching the taylor swift documentaries.”

“haven’t you already seen those?” he asked.

“yes, but i’m spreading the joy.” you said with a grin.

after an hour and a half of messing around the four of you decided it was enough footage.

“we have thirty minutes left what should we do?” nick asked.

“tag.” you and chris said in unison.

“no no no no no-” nick said.

“too late!” you yelled out before tagging nick and skating as fast as you could away.

matt turned the camera back on and set it back up since he thought this would be funny.

“ha, chris i got you!” nick yelled.

“matt you’re next!” chris said with a smirk.

chris began chasing matt around the rink, and while matt wasn’t looking he bumped into you, causing you to fall.

“ow.” you said quietly.

“sorry, sorry.” he whispered, helping you up.

“holy shit, your hands are freezing.” he said looking down at your hands.

“i’m fine.” you told him.

“no we should go.” he said, looking down at you.

“no it’s okay,” you said.

“no let’s go home. you’re freezing and i can’t have you catching a cold.” he said making you smile.

once you got back to the triplets house matt made you change into his sweatpants and one of his sweatshirts and the four of you watched a movie.

matt put his arm around you and smiled down at you.

“pay attention to the movie.” you whispered up at him.

“how could i when i’m sitting next to you?” he said looking down at you.

“that was the cheesiest shit i’ve ever fucking heard.” you whispered.

“only for you.”

“see that shits weird.” chris said from across the room.

matt ignored him and just looked at you, causing your cheeks to flush. he gave you a kiss on the cheek before turning back to the tv. and in that moment you knew you were the luckiest person alive.

[modelbus]

Could I get CC!Dream x F!reader with childhood friends to lovers and fake dating?

Now I wonder why childhood friends to lovers goes so well with Dream...

Pairing: CC!Dream x Fem!Reader

Childhood Friends to Lovers - Fake Dating

If you told eleven-year-old you that you'd be pretending to date your best friend, you would've called the cops on the crazy lady. Except here you are, pretending to date your childhood best friend.

Dream was the only person you'd ever even consider doing this for, and he had a good reason. It was just to get fans and his family off his back. His fans were persistent, and God knows his family has been rooting for you two to get together for a long time now. Everything just made sense for you two to just... pretend. Only for a little while.

Except that "little while" tipped into a month, then three. And now you're sitting next to Dream at his streaming setup, about to greet his millions of fans live for the first time.

To say you were nervous was an understatement. Millions of people were about to give their opinions on you without editing, and thousands were doing it live. Something like this could ruin your life.

"I'm right here if it gets too much, okay?" Dream asks, taking your hand in his and rubbing the back of it with his thumb.

It's because you're fake dating. Even if no one is around. He's just gotten so used to doing it in public that he'll do it in private now. That's it, nothing more.

You can't let yourself hope for more.

"I know. I'm just scared they won't like me, y'know?"

"No, I don't know. You're an amazing person, okay? Everyone loves you. Everyone will love you. I promise."

“You can’t promise that.” You point out, rolling your eyes.

“Yes, I can. Besides, I can always just ban them. Ready?”

You take a deep breath in and then release it. “Yeah.”

He doesn’t let go of your hand when he presses the “go live” button, and for that, you’re infinitely grateful. People flood in chat, already asking questions about you and rejoicing there’s a Dream facecam stream.

“Holy shit.” You breathe, eyes on the view count as it steadily ticks up.

“I meant to hide that.” Dream groans, reaching over you to use his mouse to turn it off.

“Sometimes I forget how fucking famous you are.”

“It’s my superpower. Anyways, hi! Hi guys! How are you? Good? Who is this? This is my girlfriend! From the photos and the stories!”

“Hi!” You give an awkward wave. “Uh, I don’t know what to say.”

“We’re just going to answer questions and stuff.” Dream explains for you.

“Easy questions please, I will die live on stream.” You beg.

“I’ll take the hard ones.”

“You’re hard?” You ask, seizing your chance to make the joke.

“THAT IS NOT WHAT I SAID!”

“But you’re not denying it-“

With a shove, your chair is sent out of frame. Dream’s push is too forceful though, making the chair tip. In your panic you don’t even think about getting out, just screaming and going down with your chair like a captain and their ship.

“Oh my God, are you okay?” Dream asks immediately, abandoning his chair to help you up.

“Yeah. But you broke the chair.”

You take his hand, and he hauls you up before bending to pick up the broken wheel from your chair. Not even twenty minutes in and you’ve already broken it.

“Take mine.” He offers.

“It’s your stream, I’m not-“

“My stream, my rules. Take my chair.”

Well, you weren’t going to decline it a second time. His regrets were his to live with, not yours. Within seconds you’ve taken up residence in his much nicer chair.

“Sorry about that, Dream broke my chair.” You explain to the viewers. “Uh, questions?”

Dream ends the stream about thirty minutes and a shit ton of questions later. Most of your answers were surprisingly truthful—how you met, favorite memories—but Dream did have to bullshit how you two started dating.

“That went well.” You say, spinning your chair around to face him.

“Did you think it’d go bad?”

“Well yeah. We’re lying about dating, it’s a recipe for disaster."

"...Right." Dream nods, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"Speaking of, when exactly are we ending it?"

"Ending what?"

Okay, you've been friends with Dream for a very long time. Too long, sometimes. But you've known each other long enough to know when he's acting oblivious and when he's actually oblivious.

“This whole fake dating thing. We can’t let it go on forever, what about when we actually want to date someone?”

That wasn’t the real reason you were asking, but he didn’t need to know that. The problem was that you didn’t want to break up. Which was exactly why you had to before you were too far in.

He frowns, just a little, and you panic. You don’t mean to make him feel bad about this, really. Internet and family pressure fucking sucked, and you were more than willing to help out.

“Not that I’m not having fun!” You blurt out. “This is fun!”

“It’d make the most sense to break up tonight, I guess. Blame it on the pressure from the livestream.”

Hang on, you didn’t mean to break up right that second! Although fake dating Dream was a little weird at first, you got used to it. You got to know a slightly different side of him, one you quickly came to love just the same as the one you grew up with. Detaching yourself from that would require time, more than a few seconds.

“Okay.” You speak past the lump in your throat, desperately trying to ignore how you didn’t want this to end. It just had to.

Out of all the people you’ve dated, he’s been the best. He took you on dates, posted the cringiest photos of you. And it was fucking fake!

Really, how could anyone blame you for falling for him?

“So, um. That’s it then?” You ask, fiddling with your hands. You’re still in his chair, looking up at him. Maybe you should leave?

“What? I’m not a total dick, Jesus. I’m at least going to break up with you at a nice dinner.” Dream laughs.

“Aw, you’re giving me the full relationship experience!” You jokingly gush, holding your hands to your heart. A part of you is thankful for the fact you get the rest of the day to prepare yourself.

“I’m a true gentleman.” He agrees. “Now help me pick out an outfit that screams ‘I’m about to break your heart.'"

“Only if you help me pick one that screams ‘I think you’re going to propose.’”

“Deal.”

He sticks out his hand, and you shake on it.

———

This was a bad idea.

Sitting across from Dream, trying to keep all your focus on eating your food, a sense of dread just kept growing. Dating him wasn’t real, you shouldn’t be dreading the end this badly. It’s for the best, anyways. He didn’t like you the same way you liked him.

Part of it was your own doing. The outfit you helped him pick out looked good on him, too good. As if you really needed another thing drawing your eyes to him.

“I still can’t believe you chose Pepsi over Coke.” Dream says, breaking the silence.

“The waitress would’ve thought we’re a Coke-only couple.” You reason.

“We aren’t?!”

You laugh, rolling your eyes. Ever since the first day you met him, he refused to drink Pepsi over Coke. He laughs with you, but it quickly dies out.

“Is it weird I’m nervous?” You ask. “To fake break up?”

“I’m nervous too! But not for the same reason.”

Huh? What else would he have to be nervous about?

“Are you nervous about making a scene in front of everyone? Don’t worry, I’ll keep my heartbreak to a minimum.”

It was true. Dream would never have to know you wished this was all real. It was better this way: to lose hope of a romantic relationship in favor of keeping a platonic one. He was practically the other half of you. Some of him was better than none.

“Okay.” He nods to himself before putting his hand palm up on the table.

You hesitate, but he raises his eyebrows at you, so you slide your hand into his. His hand is unnaturally warm, even for him, the guy that always seemed to run warm. He’s nervous, more than you.

“My wonderful, beautiful girlfriend.” Dream begins grandly. “It is time for our relationship to end. I simply cannot go on like this.”

A laugh finds its way out of you at his dramatics. Somehow he always finds a way to make you laugh.

“Well, my dear boyfriend, you will always be my favorite ex-boyfriend in my heart.” You play along.

“Great. Now we’re broken up.”

“That we are. Back to being best friends.”

You go to pull your hand away from his, but he tightens his grip on yours just slightly. It’s nowhere near tight enough to hurt, but it’s enough to suggest not pulling away.

“Wait.” He awkwardly clears his throat, slowly flushing red.

“What?” You ask, confused. You’ve broken up, the fake dating thing is over.

“My stupid, amazing best friend." It's somewhat of a repeat of what he just said, but clearly more serious. "I asked you to pretend to date me to put off pressure, and you did. But throughout the three months we pretended to be in love, I realized I wasn’t fucking pretending. You would’ve thought after my parents asked if we were dating for the thousandth time I would’ve figured it out, but nope. It took us pretending to date for me to realize. So, will you go out with me? For real this time?”

“What?” You ask dumbly.

Of all the ways you’ve thought about this dinner going, this wasn’t one of them. Although you probably should’ve seen it coming, really. You and Dream always did seem to share the same thoughts.

“I’m asking you to date me. Not for anyone else this time, just for us.” After a second of your silence, he gives a small smile. “As much as I love the fact I’ve finally made you speechless, I’m kind of freaking the fuck out.”

“I- sorry, yes. Holy fuck, yes.”

Dream laughs loudly. “How long have I been fucking blind?”

God, he could read you like a fucking book.

“Way too long.”

He lets go of your hand to grab his coke and hold it in the air. “I feel like we should cheers or something. Celebrate that you didn’t turn me down.”

“Celebrate that some crushes end in romance.” You suggest, raising your Pepsi.

“How about to it being real this time?”

Your glass clinks against his, both of you speaking at once.

“To you not being blind.” You joke.

“To it being rea- hey!”

[shywhumpauthor]

Day Off - Part Two

Part One

Back by popular demand

Cw: noncon touch, abuse of power, mistreatment in a workplace setting, past torture, unrequited crush, humiliation, dehumanization, implied upcoming torture, injuries, exhaustion, overworking

“Don’t worry, pet, I’ll make sure you get the day off tomorrow.”

Hero was many things, but they weren’t a liar. Henchman thought back bitterly, biting the inside of their cheek as they glared at the folders on their desk, their laptop open to their work email which was flooded with over thirty new messages.

“I’ll even be generous.”

Henchman wasn’t sure what they said to Villain, and honestly Henchman was sure that they didn’t have to say much—a few smooth words from Hero and the criminal complied to almost any desire of theirs. Expensive jewelry, some bought with stolen funds and others snatched right out of the case from the lavish boutiques that sold them. Rings adorned the Hero’s fingers, collars of diamonds around their throat that they wore for no reason other than to flaunt what they owned. It only took a minute, after they had slipped into Villain’s office, before Henchman received the text to take the next two days off.

Whatever it was, they weren’t going to protest. That evening, after they had worked up the energy and the will to practically drag themself out of the van and back to their room, they had all but collapsed into their bunk, not bothering to change out of their torn, bloody clothes, or even pull back the sheets. They were so exhausted, tears and blood dried alike on their face.

It fucking figured.

Henchman wasn’t sure why they hadn’t realized it before. How it had never become apparent until that moment. How they hadn’t heard of Hero’s ability, hadn’t witnessed it during any fights or just in freaking general. The more they thought back, the more it made sense, though. All of the times they knew they wounded Hero in a fight, only for them to be chasing them across the rooftops later that same day, fine.

“Let’s keep this between you and I for now, alright pet? Villain doesn’t need to know just yet.”

Of fucking course the hero would have healing powers. Every slash, every stab, all Hero had to do was drag their fingers across the fractured skin and it would mend, which was about the time Henchman lost consciousness. It hurt, holy hell it had hurt, worse than it had when the wounds were inflicted.

And it barely left a scar. Slightly raised across their skin, like a wound inflicted years before, given the time to heal and settle.

Hero had been an asshole, though. Henchman didn’t know there were stages of healing abilities—as far as they thought, when they heal something it’s just healed. At least that’s how villain’s medic worked. Hero, though, left it in stages. They healed everything against their face, their neck and their hands, leaving only faded scars in their wake. Their collar bones, the rest of their arms, and the very top of their chest, they left some bruises and scrapes, healing the worst but leaving all else.

Their torso and abdomen, Hero didn’t touch—except for the gash they sliced straight across Henchman’s stomach, which went a bit deeper than expected and they quickly had to mend lest Henchman’s internal organs became external. Everything else was left.

Everything else. Down to the deep lines carved in their side, about halfway above where their elbow touched their midriff to their shoulder, the initials dripping blood despite being together just under the size of Henchman’s pinky finger.

“Now, Henchman, you’ll keep your mouth shut, won’t you? I’ve sentenced criminals to life for less than what you’ve done, if the agency were to somehow get their hands on you, oh my pet, you’ll be in for one hell of a time.”

Yeah. A hell of a time alright.

Henchman flipped through the file, eyes barely skimming over the words, flicking across the diagrams without comprehending a single letter. Part of them nagged that they should be paying better attention—this was Villain’s newest plan, after all. They couldn’t risk missing something and potentially compromising the mission.

They’d check it again later, when their head wasn’t pounding and their ribs felt like they were going to snap with each breath. While Henchman knew Hero wouldn’t turn Villain in themself, a direct infiltration into the agency’s headquarters was beyond risky.

They set the folder aside, scribbling a note to themself on a post it and sticking it onto the front. Their words looked more like scribbles than strings of letters, Henchman’s hands had been shaking a lot recently. Sometimes they could barely focus enough to keep the tip of the pen on the page.

Next… next… Henchman squinted at the front of the next file, and leaned in slightly, but the words refused to focus in their vision so they slumped back in their desk chair, setting down the pen with enough force to make a small clatter, a hand rubbing at their eyes.

Hell, they were a mess.

Yesterday they had gotten nothing done. They wished that was an exaggeration, but it wasn’t. They sat at their desk and stared at their laptop waiting for the ache in their bones to settle enough to allow them to focus. It hadn’t.

And all Villain did to check in was text them, a simple “you up for working?” That was it. Henchman had looked at the text for over an hour, waiting for a follow-up “are you alright?” or “how’re you doing?” or even a “why’d you need days off?”, but they had set their hopes too high.

They saw Villain the day before. In the hall, walking back to their bunk, and all the criminal had offered them was a nod and a small smile. The same small smile that made Henchman lose focus every time the Villain looked their way. They always thought it was too kind for the face of a thief, a killer.

Once Villain passed, they had to glance back over their shoulder to make sure there was no one else in the hall. Confirming that the smile had been for them.

And they knew why they didn’t quit.

A knock on the door drew Henchman’s attention back to their small office, and they twisted around in their chair to face the door as it opened. A small flicker of hope sparked in their chest, anticipation dancing across their face as they expected the kind eyes and the soft smile that was about to enter. Only Villain ever interrupted them during the hour—the other henchmen knew to save all regards until either ten, twelve, two, or six. Urgent situations were a different matter, but this knock was much too gentle to be of great importance.

The warmth in their chest, the soft heat of the embers quickly turned to cold shards.

Henchman was out of their seat in a moment, their movements driven off of instinct alone as their mind seemed to sputter to a stop. They weren’t sure what they were going to do, whether they were going to fight or flee or cower to the corner. They never got to find out, either. All Hero had to do was take a single step forwards and they had squared up to them, their boots inches away from Henchman’s own feet as they placed a single hand against Henchman’s chest and shoved them back into their seat.

“All that looks important, doesn’t it?” Hero tilted their head, glancing over Henchman’s shoulder to the documents spread across their desk. “It doesn’t look like you can afford to get distracted, now, can you?”

With their other hand, Hero reached behind them and pushed the door closed.

Henchman wasn’t sure what to say that would spare them from whatever Hero’s intentions were, so instead of biting their tongue and biding their time, words spilled from their lips, a disorganized mess of emotions bleeding into half formulated thoughts.

“No, hero- yeah, I, I need to get these done—Villain, Villain needs me to get these done by the end of the day-”

“Do they now?” Was all Hero hummed, their hand still pressed to Henchman’s chest, keeping them down despite Henchman’s lack of struggle. They didn’t miss the small stutter in their breath as Henchman began to process just how close the hero’s hand was to their neck, a single finger brushing over the high neckline of their uniform to trace the unmarked skin just above their sternum. As untouched as it seemed, Henchman shuddered as the memory of a knife dragging across their throat seemed to overlap the present.

“Hero, please. Just- just leave me alone. Not now, I- I need to get this done, for- for Villain,” Henchman was silenced a moment later as Hero’s hand suddenly drew back, them glancing back towards the door.

Henchman wasn’t given a moment of relief, before Hero’s gaze was back on them, a grin twisting across their lips. They reached around Henchman and snatched the first file they got their hands on, a few loose papers scattering to the ground as they skimmed over the open page. Henchman couldn’t help the clench in their jaw, all the time they had spent organizing everything perfectly so that Villain wouldn’t have any difficulties navigating their reports.

“Planning a heist, I see…” Hero clicked their tongue, a soft hissing sound of undistinguishable emotion. “You know it’s my job to prevent these kinds of things, don’t you?”

Henchman felt trapped. The arms of their chair keeping them boxed in, Hero’s legs barely inches from their own, one of them almost sticking between Henchman’s knees, their presence nearly suffocating. Something twisted Henchman’s stomach into a tight knot, the overwhelming sense of overpowering crushing them beneath the Hero’s strong stare.

“It’s Villain- Villain’s plan, Hero, I need to finish this-”

“Villain’s plan, you say? I wonder how your boss would like knowing you just ratted them out to a city official…”

The file fell carelessly from Hero’s hand, scattering across the office floor in such a perfectly chaotic manner it seemed like it was pulled from some iconic scene in whatever movie. Henchman bit their tongue, though they weren’t sure whether to hold back a curse or a cry. Literal hours had gone into organizing that, making sure the plan was clearly comprehensible and laid out in a careful order.

“Stop- Hero, please, just let me finish this,” Henchman felt a flicker of heat in their chest, creeping up their neck but they didn’t let the humiliation become apparent in their face. Or at least they tried not to. They didn’t need to hand Hero another means for torment.

Not that Hero seemed short of those.

“Oh, pet, are hoping Villain will give you a treat for your obedience? Maybe if you roll over, they’ll toss you a bone.”

The taunt was childish, insolent, but Henchman couldn’t fight the burning as it crawled across their cheeks, flushing all the way to the tips of their ears. Hero’s grin was devilish. It was exactly the reaction they had been looking for, and Henchman had all but handed it to them on a fucking platter. Goddamn it, they were really just as fucking pathetic as Hero said.

“I wonder, do you do tricks for anyone else, or is it just Villain? I didn’t get the chance to test that out the other day,” Hero continued, now that their hands were free of the file able to lean forwards and grip either of the armrests, drawing in close to Henchman.

“Hero- stop.” Henchman’s voice broke into something small, any shred of authority they managed to muster in their tone spilling through the cracks, splintering like a branch under increasing weight, inching towards the moment where it would become unbearable and the limb would simply shatter. “Leave me alone.”

Hero’s face was inches from their own, even as Henchman retreated, shrinking into the chair. For a moment, instinct urged them to kick out, but the stirring thoughts hesitated their actions. Villain made one thing clear on missions—they weren’t to hurt Hero. While Henchman doubted a blow would do little more than annoy the city’s protector, they were sure Hero would twist the situation beyond the bounds of reason that fueled them now.

Hero must have seen the twitch in their leg, muscles itching to lash out and knock the other away, because they moved their foot a few inches, and the heel of their boot was digging against Henchman’s shoe as Hero shifted their weight. Henchman felt the touch like electricity, prickling their skin through their unostentatious uniform, Hero’s other leg shifting to shadow Henchman’s knee, shins touching along the side as Hero smirked.

The same static stung across their legs, up their bones throughout their body. A new kind of fire kindled in their chest, but these flames were as cold as stone, dropping to their stomach. Their hands clenched, itching to push away but there was nowhere they could go. Their ribs a cage around their lungs, closing in and sealing their breath in an unyielding embrace.

There was something in Hero’s eyes. A look, a glint of something darker than the industrial office light’s unrelenting white glare.

“Here’s one trick I know you can do,” Hero’s voice was pulled with a cruel delight, dancing along each syllable a calm that Henchman’s growing panic strictly contrasted.

“Beg.”

————————————————

Tag list: @pickleking8 @zillobeastrevival @urmyhopeeee @d-cs @fluereaux @roblingoblin285

And like the 5 other anons who requested a continuation

[mememanufactorum]

Lythero – various DBFZ Shenanigoons sentence starters

* All lines are from the various “DBFZ Shenanigoons” videos made by Lythero

* FEEL FREE TO SHARE AS YOU PLEASE, NO CREDIT NEEDED. CHANGE PRONOUNS OR ANYTHING ELSE AS DESIRED.

“If you think you had trouble with me, wait until the next one!”

“We’re going to explode.”

“You bullied me, so now I’m going to bully you!”

“Stop reverbing your jowls.”

“God damn it, your assist sucks.”

“Wait, what’s that about dying if we lose?”

“I’m not dying. YOU’RE gonna die.”

“I’m definitely not screaming every time.”

“They’ll bring me back agaaaaaaaain!”

“You’ll pay for this, you bastards.”

“I’m a Super Saiyan 4! Little one. Happy Meal version.”

“Where’s your arm?!”

“I hate you so much, stop talking!”

“Why are you laughing though?!”

“I mean, technically, I tagged you in. Look, he’s right there.”

“Block! Block, earthling! Block!”

“I need more bitches.”

“You are a bitch, [name].”

“Bitch...? Bitch... WHAT DID YOU SAY?!”

“Your drip is ruined.”

“I might have to don this drip as well.”

“I don’t need drip, unlike you.”

“See you later, FUCKER!!!”

“Is this the power of drip?!”

“This is the power of thirst!”

“He looks like a Soundcloud rapper!”

“Hi. I’m going to combo you until the thing is over.”

“Alright, on you go, you fuckin’ rat!”

“Let’s see what the rat can do.”

“Holy shit, you nearly died! He nearly TOD’ed the fuck out of you!”

“Hold on, let me think about this.”

“You know what? Fuck you! Stop powering up right now!”

“Bitch. Bad at life bitch. Bad at life, no bitches?! Oh ho ho ho ho ho ho ho!”

“I’ll have bitches alright, you’ll see.”

“Come here, scallywag! I will picketh thee up!”

“Yeah, fuck you [name]! Wake up super that ass!”

“Hey, you good over there? Maybe you should have worn a mask, motherfucker!”

“Alright you stupid two-dimensional loser.”

“I am getting attacked by Disney World prices, bro. Fuck.”

“This is how it feels when you try to go to Disney Land every year.”

“I’ll step on all of your Nikes. One at a time.”

“Now honey, listen here, I think you’re about to become content.”

“We only live to serve our master.”

“You know, [name], I don’t see eye to eye with you, but this fuckin’ [name] character has got to go!”

“Get him, honey! Fuck his day up!”

“His dad would rather buy extremely expensive clothes for himself than buy his son any clothes whatsoever.”

“He’s built like a fortress. A fortress built of FURRIES. Do you have any idea how good they make shit? Have you seen their fursuits? That shit lasts! Made out of Nintendium, bro!”

“Thirty-one days. Thirty-one days. You better count it down, bitch.”

“I’m getting tired of this shit. I’m not programmed for an entire month of [name] telling me what to do.”

“You’ll see why they call me the Prince of all Drip.”

“Hand me my keys! You know what? Fuck the keys I don’t need them!”

“Oh god, this guy plays like a fucking gorilla!”

“How come you didn’t tell me he was a king?”

“Let me kill the tiny woman!”

“Damn, honey, you couldn’t get me any of that drip? I see your dad over there looking all fly and shit, what the hell?”

“Get in the jar!”

“It’s only a matter of time, [name]. You can’t escape from crossing fate.”

“Bring back the one above all!”

“You speak out of turn, little one! I brought you into this world... SAY THAT AGAIN!”

“It’s nice of you to play with kids. Father-father/son-son bonding.”

“How dare yo– Do it again.”

“This is the power of drip. You’ll understand when you’re older.”

“Were you feeling confident? You thought you were going to win? No.”

[anthonysstupiddailyblog]

Anthony’s Stupid Daily Blog (362): Tue 14th Mar 2023

Finally decided to start doing my exercises to go along with my mini diet to try and lose as much weight as I can before my trip to the States at the end of the month. I’ve stopped and started so many diets over the last ten years but I can just never seem to stick to it. My thinking is that if I just eat well and exercise like a beast one day and lose a decent amount of weight then this will help motivate me and convince myself that if I go through some grueling cravings and brutal exercise for a short amount of time then I’ll have shifted a load of weight before I set off and when I get to WrestleMania people won’t ask me for selfies thinking that I’m Earthquake. I weighed myself this morning and I was 14 stone 0.5 lbs. I had only three breakfast biscuits and a bowl of soup plus plenty of water all day. I went for a half hour run  early in the morning. When I I weighed myself again in the afternoon I was down to 13 stone 10 1/2 lbs. Holy fuck monkeys! Four pounds in one day? If I keep on this course I could actually be down to 12 stone before my holiday. This was the boost I needed and I’m now committed to forgoing the fatty foods and quite literally exercising my arse off. One thing that pissed me off was that when I stepped in the scale a notification came up on the electronic board that normally displays your weight which said “Low Battery” so I had to go and get one out of the kitchen cupboard. What I don’t fucking get is that if there is still juice to tell me to replace the battery then how isn’t there enough in there to display my weight. If the battery was really fully drained then the display board just wouldn’t say anything! Anyway, tomorrow I’ll do the same thing diet wise but I’ll go for two runs to really make a dent in my weight.

I started reading the next book in my Edgar challenge, The Chatham School Affair by Thomas H Cook. The novel follows Henry who’s father ran a school and one day when he was a kid a teacher went mad and commuted a massacre. The novel is Henry retelling the story of the day of the killings and it’s pretty damn good although after the agony of trying to get through Dick Francis’ Come To Grief this book could be someone writing random letters and numbers for 300 pages and it would still be a step up entertainment wise.

Recently the Lakers have gone through games where they’ve either just scraped through by the skin of their teeth or they’ve just lost by a couple of points so I was delighted to watch last nights came and see that the Lakers fucking demolished the Pelicans. Before the end of the first quarter they were already twenty points up and shortly into the second half they were nearly thirty up. They were abusing the Pelicans so bad by the end of it the RSPCA had turned up (I’m going to try to sell this joke to Bill Maher because he’s awful and he won’t realize the joke is just as bad).

[byersbootyshorts]

okay so love the virgin eddie content ofc but now it's got me thinking about shy virgin jonathan that's never felt the touch of a woman getting his world absolutely fucking rocked by reader, thoughts?

What Happens In The Darkroom���

Summary: After years of being fascinated by the mystery that is Jonathan Byers you finally get what you want.

Pairing: Jonathan Byers x fem!reader

Warnings: sub!Jonathan, dom!reader, smut, hand job

Word Count: 1.6k

A/N: This request made me scream ngl. This isn’t much but I have an idea for a part 2 so if you like this please let me know. Even if you don’t like it I’ll probably write it anyway because holy shit sub!Jonathan.

Click here for part 2

Jonathan Byers always fascinated you. You’d never spoken a word to him but you crossed paths more often than people thought.

You were the head photographer of the Hawkins High newspaper and so you were constantly in the school’s darkroom developing photos for the newest issue. And it just so happened that almost every time you were in there, Jonathan was too, developing his own photos in the opposite corner, not saying a word.

And that was how it always was. You’d enter the darkroom with some new photos to develop, notice Jonathan working away at the other side of the room and get on with it. You didn’t even think he’d ever made eye contact with you, despite your constant close proximity to one another.

And that was why you found him so intriguing. He was a complete mystery. And it was that mystery that made you all the more attracted to him. You’d never tell your friends this, of course, but the more time you spent in his presence the more you wanted to talk to him; to touch him; to do things to him you only thought about late at night.

It was just another usual day. The final bell rang and you swiftly made your way to the darkroom to develop some photos you’d taken of the basketball team’s latest victory. Although, when you entered the room, you were startled. Jonathan, who was usually in his own little world at the back of the room, was working right next to where you always did.

You stopped dead in your tracks for a moment out of sheer shock before continuing as if nothing was different. You went to your usual place and grabbed the equipment you needed before getting to work. But you were distracted.

Jonathan was so close to you you could hear his shallow breaths. You felt almost rude not talking to him when he no more than an arm’s length away from you. So, you decided to do something you hadn’t done in the two years you’d known him. You decided to talk to Jonathan Byers.

‘Wanted a change of scenery today, huh?’ you asked, your voice a little louder than you expected.

Jonathan was taken aback. He almost dropped his camera as you spoke.

‘W-what?’ he stuttered, confused as to why you randomly decided to acknowledge him.

‘You’re normally over there,’ you pointed to the back corner of the room. ‘I’m just making an observation.’

‘Oh right, yeah, I, uh, well, the light’s broken so I have to use a different one,’ he mumbled.

‘And even with all the other lights working you had to use the one right beside me,’ you joked.

‘Uh, sorry, I-.’

‘Hey, it’s fine, Byers. I’m joking,’ you laughed.

‘You know my name?’ Jonathan asked, the look of confusion on his face growing more and more prominent.

‘Of course I do. What, you think we’ve been going to the same school for two years, using this room together and I don’t know your name? We even have some classes together.’

‘I know, it’s just, most people don’t even notice me.’ Jonathan continued to look down at his photos, not daring to meet your eyes.

‘Well, you are pretty quiet,’ you replied.

He didn’t say anything after that so you turned back to your work station and began developing your photos.

After about thirty minutes Jonathan was finished for the day. He’d hung up his photos and packed his camera back in his bag. However, as he made his way to the door something came over you. You didn’t want things to go back to the way they were before. You didn’t want to come into the darkroom the next day to find Jonathan holed up in his usual little corner. You didn’t want to just admire him from afar anymore because, now that you’d seem him up close, you wanted him more than ever. Besides, you hadn’t failed to notice all the times he glanced in your direction as you worked side by side that day.

No, you couldn’t let him get away this time.

Just as he was about to grab the doorknob you bolted over and turned the lock.

‘Wha- what are you doing?’ he asked. Your faces were so close you could feel his breath tickle your face. You made eye contact for the first time since meeting him.

‘What I’ve always wanted to do.’

You grabbed his face and pulled it towards you. Your lips met with such force that Jonathan let out a high-pitched whimper. You didn’t wrap your arms around him in case he wanted to pull away. You had no idea if he even wanted this and expected him to pull himself away. But he didn’t.

He was frozen at first, his lips rigid, his body stiff, but it only took a second for him to melt into you. His lips softened, allowing your tongue access to his mouth. His tongue tasted like mint as it tangled with yours. You wrapped your arms around his neck; his hands just barely brushed your waist. You could tell he had no idea what he was doing. You walked forward, still locked in the kiss, until his back hit the wall.

You moved your hands up from his neck to his hair, pulling lightly on the greasy strands. Each tug caused Jonathan to release yet another whine. Eventually you pulled his head back, breaking your lips apart.

Jonathan was a mess. His eyes bulged in shock. He seemed as though he could barely stand and his breaths were shaky and uneven. His eyes weren’t the only thing that was bulging.

Pressed so close to him you could feel the swell in his pants. You removed one hand from his hair and slowly dragged it down his body to his jeans. Jonathan swallowed deeply as you rubbed him, aching to remove the layer of fabric between your hand and his dick.

‘Help,’ he breathed.

‘What was that?’ you asked in an assertive tone.

‘Help, please,’ he moaned.

‘Oh, you want some help with that?’ you nodded down to his bulge. ‘But we’re in school. I can’t,’ you teased.

‘Please,’ Jonathan begged, burying his head in your neck. ‘I don’t care. Please. I don’t care what you do to me.’

Hearing Jonathan beg so pathetically like that made you want to fuck him right then and there. But you got a hold of yourself. You wanted to take things slow.

‘Well, seeing as you asked so nicely.’

You took a painfully long time unbuckling Jonathan’s belt, undoing his buttons and pulling down his pants.

‘Hmm, not bad,’ you smirked down at his exposed cock, then back up at Jonathan. His eyes were already closed in concentration and you had barely even touched him yet.

‘Look at me, Jonathan,’ you ordered. His eyes flicked open at the mention of his name. And when they met yours, you swiftly wrapped your hand around his dick. A small whimper escaped him but his eyes remained locked on yours. So, you began to move your hand up and down his cock, slow at first, agonisingly slow.

You pulled him close again, kissing him briefly before your lips made their way to his jaw and down his neck. You left dark red marks all the way down the left side of his neck while still maintaining a steady pace with your hand.

The louder his moans grew, the faster you pumped your hand. Every so often Jonathan’s waist jutted forward and you pushed him back with a kiss. After a long while Jonathan moans morphed into screams. The sudden loudness made you stop abruptly, causing Jonathan to let out a whine that sounded more like a sad dog.

‘We’re in school, remember? Keep it down.’

‘I will. I’m sorry. Please, keep going, please. I can’t…’

He threw his head back and shut his eyes tightly. You noticed a singular tear escape from his right eye as you picked up your pace once more. His whimpers got higher as he tried his best to supress them. Even though he was being quiet as you asked, you couldn’t help yourself placing your free hand over his mouth. Shit, he looked so pathetically hot like this.

You felt air move in and out of his nose as he tried to steady his erratic breathing.

His dick convulsed in your hand and you knew he wouldn’t last much longer. You removed your hand from his mouth and pulled his chin down so his eyes aligned with yours. His brows furrowed in expectance.

‘Not yet,’ you whispered.

You rubbed your thumb on around his wet tip. You were curious to see how much he could take. To your disappointment, it wasn’t much.

Soon you had to return your hand back over his mouth as he whined louder than ever, cum shooting from his exhausted cock.

‘I’m sorry,’ he whimpered when you pulled your hand away from his mouth. ‘I’m sorry, I couldn’t hold-. Fuck.’

‘It’s okay,’ you replied, not doing anything to mask your disappointment. You grabbed his shirt and wiped your cum covered hand on it. Then, you walked away from him as though nothing happened, leaving him there, mouth agape, jeans at his ankles, too in awe to speak.

You packed up your things, grabbed your bag and walked back over to him. Putting your mouth to his ear you whispered.

‘Just know, next time I won’t be so forgiving.’

You quickly placed a kiss on his cheek before turning on your heel, unlocking the door and leaving.

Part 2

[strangelysamantha]

cheerleader ❀

rafe cameron x plus!reader.

warnings: swearing, flirting, slight angst in the beginning (barely)

words: 2,365.

summary: rafe was intrigued by you, he wanted to get to know you. he thought that task would be easy, but your distaste for him was apparent. despite the overwhelming amount of setbacks, he knew he would get you to crack.

request? no :)

a/n: please like and comment if you enjoy! thank you, ilysm <3

my masterlist

part two

——————————————————————————

most things rafe wanted, he easily got. it was a known fact. his parents were financially stable so they could afford to throw money down the drain for useless items that wouldn’t be used more than once. his popularity and name allowed him to get away with most things. except you. you seemed to not care about his wealth or his looks. you didn’t even care to give him the time of day. he took this as a challenge. he was destined to get you to like him if it was the last thing he did.

the first time he talked to you was during school. he thought his charm and popularity would make you swoon. instead, it was quite the opposite. he approached you at your locker, his smile bright. “hey. i’m rafe.” he extended his hand out to you. “hello, rafe.” you shake his hand back, before retreating your hand to your side. you stare at him in confusion. “uhm am i in the way of your locker?” you question, he shakes his head. “oh no, actually. i just wanted to introduce myself to you.” you nod your head. “well rafe, it was nice to meet you, i guess. but i’m running late for class.” you shut your locker, speeding off to class.

rafe stayed by your locker in awe. you really thought rafe was just waiting to get to his locker? it’s halfway through the school year, if his locker was by yours, you would have known by now. he embarrassingly walked away, heading to his first class. that awkward moment was lingering in his head, stuck on replay. your facial expression that showcased confusion stayed still in his mind. by third hour he was over it, not as embarrassed. he shrugged it off, excited to try again.

rafe actually didn’t know that much about you. he saw you in the halls occasionally. his interest in you peaked when he saw that you talked to topper a lot. since you were heavily associated with topper, he believed that it would be easy to befriend you. it’s clear to him now that isn’t the case. he can’t help but feel surprised at your lack of knowledge for him. everyone knows of rafe, and you should especially know because of how well you know topper.

regardless, rafe knew what he had to do. he needed to see topper, and investigate him. rafe pulled his phone out, texting topper to meet him.

topper met rafe in the boy’s bathroom before fourth period. they scoped the bathroom, ensuring to themselves that they could openly talk since they were alone. rafe didn’t hesitate, he immediately bombarded topper with questions about you. “what’s with the sudden interest?” topper asks, confused.

“i don’t know, i keep seeing her in the hallway and she stares at me.” topper nods, “well she does good academically, i know her because her family is friends with my family, she’s on the cheerleading team, i don’t know man. what info are you wanting?” the cheerleading team. rafe smiled to himself, you are a cheerleader. “that’s good enough, i just needed some info so i could know if i want to meet her or not.” topper laughed, “alright man. i gotta go.” rafe nodded, “see you later.” topper fist bumped rafe before walking out the bathroom.

you were a cheerleader? he had no clue. it dawned on him, if he had no idea of who you were, why would you know who he was? he shook his head at the thought, instead heading to class.

on the other side of the school sat you, fidgeting with your pencil as you struggled to keep up with the current notes. the interaction you had with rafe was confusing you. why did he suddenly want to meet you? it didn’t make sense. the whole class period you tried to wrap your brain around his actions, trying to figure out what his intention was, but you fell short.

at lunch time you sat at a table, you usually sat with friends but they were absent. it didn’t help they were absent the one day someone popular randomly takes an interest in you. you sit on the chair, pulling out your math homework. if you knocked it out at lunch, you had a high chance of not having homework. you start the first problem, but immediately halt when your family friend, topper, taps on your shoulder. “hi tops.” you smile softly at him, setting your pencil down and turning your attention to him. he smiles at you, “hey.”

you pick up a goldfish, plopping it into your mouth. “how have you been?” you question topper. he shrugs, “same old same old. family is still upset with me, per usual.” you nod, soaking up what he said. “dang, that sucks. it’s so annoying how people hold grudges. they don’t know how to forgive and forget.” you shrug, smiling up at him. he returns the smile, “i know right.” you place your homework back in your bag, assuming you wouldn’t be able to finish it during lunch.

“what did you even do?” you ask him. he smiles, “uh i accidentally pissed a pogue off so they got revenge by sinking my new boat.” your eyes widened, “what! holy shit you must have fucked up bad.” he frowns, “i didn’t really want to do it, you know how tricky it is with our reputation and who we have to associate with.” you laugh, “oh i know all too well of what that’s like.” topper rolls his eyes, assuming you’re talking about him.

“hey! i’m not too bad.” you laugh, “it wasn’t about you. you aren’t bad at all.” you look up, seeing rafe take his backpack off. you glance at topper to see he is confused as well. “hey rafe, what’s up?” topper questions rafe, who had just sat down at our table. “nothing much man, saw you over here and decided to join.” you laugh sarcastically, “inviting yourself to our private party?” you question, slightly joking. rafe felt an unexpected twinge of jealousy when you grouped yourself and topper together.

“i’m just kidding rafe… kind of.” you grin, topper joining in by chuckling with you. rafe awkwardly laughs along. he pulls himself together, thinking of things to say. “are you going to the football game tomorrow?” rafe waits for your response. you smile slightly, “yeah, but i’m a cheerleader so i’ll be on field.” he nods, “oh, that’s cool.” you nod awkwardly. “yeah.” he smiles subconsciously, excited to see you in a uniform. his smile disintegrates when topper confronts him. “what are you smiling for bro?” rafe stared at him, unamused. “nothing.” topper scoffs, “alright then.”

you steal looks between rafe and topper, still confused. you don’t ask any questions, you just continue eating your food. the bell rings, indicating that lunch is over. you gather up your trash, standing up. you notice rafes eyes lingering over your body. his eyes fixating between your thick thighs, and hips. you feel self conscious under his stare, so you quickly stand up and walk to the trash can. rafe follows after you, quick on his feet. he comes up to your side, much to your dismay.

“will i see you at the game tomorrow?” you turn your head to the side, “are you going to the game?” you return. he nods, “yeah.” you smile, “then you’ll probably see me.” he grins, “okay, cool.” he quickly turns around, leaving you by yourself. you were confused still, but hey, maybe having rafe as a friend would be good.

you got through the day quickly, heading immediately home. you work on homework, chores, and finally get ready for bed. before bed you prepare your uniform. you set it out, along with a jacket so you weren’t on full display at school. you wake up the next morning, putting on your uniform, along with a bow in your hair. you head to school, slightly nervous for your possible interaction with rafe.

when you arrive at school, you don’t see rafe. you only saw topper, who was eagerly heading in your direction. he smiled, standing still in front of you. “hey, good morning!” you smile, “hi tops.” the two of you talk for a bit, him walking you to class. “can i pick you up before the game?” topper asks. “sure, it has to be a little earlier than the fans. i have warm ups and stuff i have to do before the game.” he grins, “okay! just text me tonight when you want me to pick you up.” you put your hands in your jacket pocket. “okay, thanks topper!”

he walks away, and you walk into your first hour class. you go through your classes as usual, rafe not showing up. you couldn’t tell if you were disappointed or relieved, but either way it didn’t matter, you had a game you had to prepare for. you do your make up, and touch up your hair. you chug water, and began stretching. you text topper, saying he could pick you up now, if he still wanted to drive you. his response was quick and enthusiastic.

topper pulls up to your house, his music loud, and a large smile plastered on his face. “game day!!” you laugh along, repeating his words. “game day!” you open his door, hopping inside. “let’s go!” you playfully roll your eyes at his eagerness, “to the school!” topper smirks, stepping on the gas, and speeding out your driveway.

the two of you sing along to the songs on the radio, before it abruptly ends due to you two arriving at the school. he decides to stay in his car, planning on joining right when the official game starts. you skip down the field, joining your teammates. you stretch with them, before you practice the chants and dance numbers.

at six thirty, they start allowing people in. you immediately see topper hunched over the fence, him waving frantically at you. you wave back, jogging over to him. “you ready?” he asks, you bite your lip, “i guess.” he laughs at your nerves, excited for you. you glance over and see rafe. he hadn’t seen you yet. your breath gets caught in your throat, slightly scared and self conscious to see him.

topper gives you reassuring words, and out of the corner of your eye, you notice rafe had found you. rafe slowly makes his way towards topper, keeping his cool. rafe stares at you in your cheerleading uniform. his breath gets heavy, he stares, watching you talk to topper. jealously fills his chest, of course topper was here first. rafe quickly approached the two of you, eager to break the conversation up.

“hi rafe.” you smile softly, looking up at him. he smiles, “hey. good luck today.” you fiddle with your fingers, “thank you.” rafe stays silent. you hear the coaches whistle. “i got to go, i’ll talk to you when i can!” you quickly turn around, jogging back to the cheerleading circle.

rafe watches as you jog away, hes mesmerized by how well the uniform fit. he knew you would look good, but damn. he looks over at topper, who makes eye contact with him. “what’s up rafe?” topper stares at rafe, waiting for an explanation. “she is so hot.” topper scoffs, “bro, already whipped?” rafe rolls his eyes, but grins. “for her, yeah. i’d willingly be whipped.” the two boys sit on the bench, topper watching the game, and rafe watching you.

after sitting in silence, rafe speaks up. “do you think she likes me?” topper quickly glances at rafe, trying to see if he was joking or if he was serious. when topper saw he was serious, he genuinely contemplated it. “id say maybe, i mean she doesn’t shrivel up in disgust when you are around. that’s a pretty good sign.” rafe shook his head, “that’s true. that is a good sign.”

rafe admired you, you getting his full attention. on break you rush to the fence, excited to see rafe and topper. “hey!” you look up at them, “you are doing great!” topper reached down, highfiving you. “thanks!” you look over at rafe, something took you over because he actually looked hot. you bit you lip slightly, you were going to say something, but rafe beat you to it. “you look good.” rafe smirked slightly, causing heat to rise to your face. “thank you, rafe.”

you return to the group again, your heart racing. the idea of rafe made your breath heavy. you continue to chant, and preform. you occasionally looked up rafe, his eyes always focused on you. you had a low chance of being able to go to the fence again, so you focused entirely on perfecting the choreography. the crowd was cheering loudly, your hometown winning the game.

at the final quarter, your hometown won by one point. your team jumps up and down, ecstatic. you preform a final show, before you break apart. you chug water. you rush in line with the other cheerleaders, going in a straight line to high-five the football players. you smile brightly at them, telling them congrats for winning the game. most of them returned a smile, and thanked you.

after the bleachers started to empty, you decided to meet up with topper, and possibly rafe. you look around for topper but he was gone. you turn around, accidentally bumping into rafe. “oh i’m sorry.” he stares at you, “hey, by the way topper left, said he was going on a date with a girl from the cheer team.” you frown, “oh. he was my ride.” rafe smiles, “you can ride me- i mean ride with me.” you laugh lightly at his switch up, “okay. i’ll ride you.” your heart is racing, the after game adrenaline flowing through your veins, which was causing you to be bold. he smirks at you, “okay, i’d enjoy that.” you mimic his smirk, following him to his car.

he turns around, “are you sure?” you nod, “i’m sure, are you?” he is shocked by your question, “so fucking sure.”

part two will be steamy <3

[petrichorocs]

title: rough fandom: stranger things pairing: eddie munson/oc warning(s): swearing, referenced drug use

READ ON: wattpad / ao3 / quotev / ff.net OR UNDER THE CUT

CHAPTER TWO X

10:22 am. Walking up to Ms. O'Donnell's desk, Cynthia knelt down and asked quietly, "do you have anything for me this week?"

The teacher peered over the report she was reading over as the rest of the students spoke amongst themselves. Sighing, she set down the report and wrote on a post-it note before handing it over to the girl on the other side of the desk. "I haven't spoke to him yet, but he needs it. Library, right after school."

Getting back up to her feet, Cynthia unfolded the note and her eyes widened when she read the name.

Eddie Munson.

"Are you serious?" She asked, before turning to look at Eddie who was surprisingly in his spot at the back corner of the classroom, headphones on and drumming his fingers on the desk in front of him.

"Go sit back down, Cynthia."

Taking a deep breath before turning around, she made her way to the very middle of the room where her assigned seat was. She could say no and leave Eddie hanging; not like he'd care very much, this was his third time taking this class. On the other hand, she'd feel kind of fucked up if she didn't even try to help him, it sucks having to repeat a grade but even more so what should be your last year in high school.

"You look like you just got fired, what happened?" Her friend Robin, nudged Cynthia from the seat on her right.

She passed the note to the blonde girl and let her read the name for herself.

"Holy shit. Good luck with that." Robin laughed and slipped the post-it into Cynthia's jacket pocket.

The bell rang not too long after and the girls each gathered their things before they had to separate for the rest of the day. "I'll see you tonight."

"You're working tonight? I thought you only did weekends."

"I could use the money." She shrugged, picking up her books and walking up the aisle.

Robin started talking about a bunch of kids that came in the previous night and ransacked the horror section as Cynthia walked by Ms. O'Donnell who had Eddie stopped in front of her desk, likely running down the tutor situation.

✰ ✰ ✰

3:42 pm. Cynthia felt like she was staring through the clock and into the chipping cement paint as she waited for Eddie. She knew this was a waste of time. "Just wait until four." She muttered to herself, turning her attention to the book in her lap.

Another few minutes of annoying near-silence was interrupted by loud laughter and the door opening, "I'll see you boys tomorrow."

There he was, thirty-five minutes late, Eddie Munson. Sunglasses pulled over his eyes, sweater in hand so he was just in his Black Sabbath t-shirt and his signature jean vest. "I'm so late, I'm sorry. Cynthia , right?"

"Yeah," she replied as he crossed the room, the smell of weed wafting off of him as he pulled the chair out and sat down, laying his sweater and notebook down on the table. "Ms. O'Donnell is letting you retake that midterm from a few weeks ago you failed."

"Yeah, I got a thirty percent." Eddie took two pencils, a pen and a lighter out of his pocket.

Cynthia laughed, "How?

"I'm really bad at World History."

"Clearly. This is your third time taking it."

"I don't store all that shit up here." He replied while tapping his forehead with the pen.

"Fair. Listen, we don't have too much time today, so we can do this tomorrow or Wednesday."

"The library's open until six." Eddie informed.

"I have work at four thirty. I was hoping we could get more done but--"

"My bad, Jeff needed a ride home and I'm--"

Cynthia cut him off, her volume dropping "I know exactly what you were doing, I literally buy weed from you."

Eddie snapped his fingers, "That's why I know your face. Tomorrow won't work, I have a gig at The Hideout."

She sighed, "We have to work something out, your re-test is next week Thursday." Looking at her planner, the weekends in the mornings and afternoons were fully clear and all next week was the same. "How does after school Wednesday and Friday, then we can meet up Saturday or Sunday, early."

"I have Hellfire on Friday, everything else sounds good."

"Your place or mine?"

✰ ✰ ✰

The doorbell rung, startling Cynthia awake. "What the fuck?" Crawling over to the window, she peeled the curtain open and squinted at the driveway. There was a brown and white van parked outside, Munson. "Fuck."

Nearly tripping once she crawled her way to the edge of the bed, she stood up straight and grabbed a pair of sweatpants off of the floor and put them on as she exited the room. Impatient knocked sounded as she made her way down the hall, "hold on!"

Swinging the door open, Eddie stood there, wearing a denim jacket and a Motorhead shirt, "Damn, I've been waiting out here for so long I thought you were a church girl or something." When she responded with only a confused look on her face, he spoke again, "It's eleven thirty. Did I wake you up or something?"

"Yeah," Cynthia looked at the clock to her left. 11:25am. "My bad, I lost track of time last night."

A gasp and a hand on his chest, "And we thought I was the slacker here, Moose."

Laughing, she opened the door wider, "Get in here." She let him pass before giving him a playful nudge to the shoulder, "and you are the slacker here, Munson."

They hung out for over an hour, going over notes and the textbook, spread out on the floor of the living room. Eddie stretched and let out a loud crack from his back, "Do you wanna take a break? Order a pizza and.." he trailed off, motioning himself smoking a joint as he did.

Laughing, Cynthia rolled her eyes, "Sure, I could eat. Domino's?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna run to my van real quick." He got up from his spot and stretched some more. The girl held her hand out and he took it, helping her stand up.

"Great, I'll order that and when you come in, can you pick a movie?"

Eddie nodded and they went their separate ways, he went out the door and into the cool, November air. Unlocking his van, he climbed in the sliding door and retrieved his black box. He needed to grab his weed but also needed a moment to think.

He liked Cynthia. Not like that, at least he thinks it's not like that. She was pretty cute but he always thought she was kind of preppy for what he feels like his type is. The more he sat in the door of his van the more he realized that he never really hung out with this girl or even talked outside of small talk when he'd deal to her.

"Shit," he breathed out as he stood up and slid the door shut, playing with the rings on his left hand as he walked back up to the house.Walking in, he slipped his shoes off and set the box down on the coffee table, before muttering to himself again, "movies, movies, movies. Where-- there they are."

He knelt down in front of a box that had a couple of movies laying on the top, Evil Dead and Carrie. Opening the box he was met with an even bigger collection of movies, mostly horror. "This your collection?"

"Yeah!" She yelled from another room down the hall.

She had taste. Shrugging to himself, Eddie covered his eyes with his hand and used the other hand to dig in the box and pick at random, he had trust that something good would come out of it.

Cynthia came out of her room, in a new outfit and asked, "What'd you pick?"

"Uhh," He uncovered his eyes and looked at the case, "Sleepaway Camp."

[sunmoonandeddie]

who you are and who you’ve been

pairing: bucky barnes x reader

word count: 8,490

summary: Sometimes love takes a little longer to find you.

warnings: SMUT.  Mention of past abusive relationship, drinking, swearing.

a/n:  Thank you so much to @zeilenkrieg for commissioning this and being so patient while I wrote it!!

“Mama!  Mama!  You here?”

You sighed as you looked up from your coffee, seeing your daughter coming through the living room.  She had on that pair of daisy dukes that she stole from your wardrobe—the ones you used to wear in the heat of summer, a white shirt tied to let the sun on your tummy.  You used to scandalize your own mama with that outfit… 

You had argued with her that she had worn the same kind of outfit back in the seventies, and that vintage was in.  But she liked to wear hers with cowboy boots and you preferred it with a good pair of sneakers.

God, you missed being young…  Your twenties had been absolutely wild, even if they had started out with that horrible pandemic in 2020.

You still washed your hands after touching almost anything.  An instinct that never went away.

That year and the couple years before had been… insane.  But at least it incited real change in the world.  The people had learned from their mistakes, at least for now.

History did have a habit of repeating itself.  Humans were fickle, forgetful creatures like that.

“Yes, honey bun?” You said as you stood up, moving to hug her.

At thirty-seven years old, she was the only good thing that ever came out of your marriage.  That, and knowing how to wash blood out of clothing.

The only problem was that by the time you’d finally left him, you had no friends left.  You were in your forties by then, with no family besides your daughter, and no friends left to speak of.  You hadn’t even had Facebook at the time to keep in touch with old schoolmates from university.  And by then, what was the point?  They were all leading completely different lives and probably hadn’t spared you a thought in at least a decade.

“When’s the last time you left the house?” She asked, her hands on her hips in a stance that reminded you so much of yourself that it scared you.

Now that… that was hard to answer…  You honestly didn’t think you’d be able to remember.  You got practically everything delivered, you worked from home… 

Shaking your thoughts away, you shot her a look.  “I’m fine right where I am.”

“Your doctor called and said you haven’t been taking your medication.”

“Fuckin’ snitch,” you scoffed, rolling your eyes as you turned back to the window, staring down at the now cold coffee.

Josephine rolled her eyes.  “He said you haven’t picked up your refill in over two months.”  She came over to stand next to you, staring out the window with you for a long time.  “Mama, you’ve gotta take your medicine…  You remember what happened last time…”

Ah, yes, the infamous incident.

Which was an incident in a long line of incidents.

There had been a… few times when you’d stopped taking your medication—either intentionally or simply because you had forgotten—and it had resulted in a stay in the psych ward at the local hospital.  It had happened far too many times for your daughter to not be in contact with your doctor so she would be informed if you had stopped getting your refills.

You didn’t blame her, of course.  But it did make you feel like a horrible mother.  One who couldn’t even take care of herself to the point where your daughter had to.

“Yes, I remember last time,” you sighed, staring at a cardinal.  “You know, my mama used to tell me that if you see a cardinal, a loved one who’s passed is visiting you…”

“Mama, I signed you up for a seniors’ social club.”

You blinked.

And then, you blinked again.

You turned to look at your daughter, disbelief written all over your face.  “No the fuck you did not.  I swear to all that is holy, Josephine Ann, if you signed me up for one of those… those… pre-death support groups, I’ll tan your hide!”  You gasped as some of your coffee splashed onto your sweatshirt.  “I brought you into this world, and I sure as hell can take you out of it!”

“You’ve been saying that since I was two,” She said, taking your arm and guiding you to sit down at the kitchen table.  “And it’s not a pre-death support group.  I feel like that’s offensive somewhere so make sure you don’t go running around the group saying that.”  Josephine used a paper napkin to dab at the coffee on your sweatshirt, muttering about throwing it into the wash and getting you a new one.

This was what you meant by your daughter taking care of you.

“Josie, really, I can get my own sweatshirt.”

“Doesn’t mean you gotta,” she said as she came back with a new one, helping you change.

Sometimes you felt like she thought you were a hundred years old.

“Honestly, mama…  I just want you to be happy…  You should have friends.  You shouldn’t be cooped up in this house all day, all the time.”

“What do I need friends for when I’ve got you?  And Danny?” You asked.

But you had been hit with the sudden reality that except for Josephine and her girlfriend, you were alone.  Completely, and utterly, alone.  Hell, they were the only people you had ever invited over to the tiny one bedroom you owned.

Repairmen didn’t count because they were there to do a job, not keep you company.

God, you had wanted more than this, once upon a time.  You had once had dreams, of maybe being a writer and making the New York Times’ Bestsellers List, of a husband who adored you and brought you flowers every Friday, of lazy Sundays eating waffles on the couch with the love of your life.

But life didn’t end up the way you had dreamed it.  There were no book signings or meetings with editors… there were no gardenias… and there was no smell of waffles and syrup.

And you’d made your peace with that.

Sort of.

Josephine’s arms wrapped around you as she rested her head against yours.  Like a mirror of yourself, she was, from her face down to her toes.

Thank god.  She didn’t deserve to have to look in the mirror and see reflections of her father.

“Will you at least try it?” She asked gently, her hand running up and down your arm, her freshly manicured nails tickling your skin.  “It’s not like a pre-death support group, as you call it…  It’s for seniors or people who are approaching seniority and are still active and want to go out and have fun, but maybe need some friends to do it with.  Please?”

And how could you say no when she wanted something so badly?

“Alright,” you said after a moment.  “I’ll go once.  And if it’s horrible, I’m not going back.  And I’m gonna tell Danny how you forced me to meet a bunch of strangers.”

She squealed excitedly, running off to your bedroom and going through your closet.  “Okay, the first thing the group is doing is having a first meeting at a bar, and we’re gonna get you all done up.”

Oh, good.  She was going all in.

“When’s the first meeting?” You asked as you sat on the bed, leaning back on your hands as you watched her.

“Tonight.”

Uh.  What?

“TONIGHT?!” You shouted in shock as you jumped up.  “What?!  You didn’t think to ask me about this a few days ago?!”

She snorted, picking out a few tops that you hadn’t worn in what felt like decades.  “I signed you up this morning, I didn’t know about it a few days ago.”

You watched in exasperation as she threw article after article of clothing onto the bed for you to try on.  “I don’t think I need to wear four pairs of jeans to a bar,” you said, beginning to pick up a few of the pieces.

Josephine gave you a look as she continued.  “Considering how long it’s been since you’ve been out, I think it’s fair that some of these might not fit anymore.”

Well, you had lost some weight…  Not necessarily in a healthy way, but she was right.

In the end, she ended up shoving you into the bathroom and forced you to do a full shower—which meant body and hair.

You hadn’t even gone to such lengths when you were going on your first date with her father.

She spent hours on your hair and makeup, chattering away excitedly about the vacation her and Danny were planning.  A South American cruise.

Josephine had never married, never had kids.  Never wanted to after seeing what her daddy had put you through.  It left a sour taste in her mouth, and even though it was legal now, her and her girlfriend hadn’t breathed a word of a wedding.

Though, you suppose they had a common law marriage at that point, if lesbians were included in it.

“Perfect,” she said as she got you to slip on an old jacket of yours that was a little too big.  “Come on.  I’ll drive you and pick you up.”

“Oh, honestly,” you snorted as you grabbed the purse Josephine had shoved all your things into.  “You’d think I could take an Uber.”

The bar wasn’t what you had expected when she had first told you that’s where the meeting was going to be held.  The last bars you’d been to had practically been nightclubs.

But this was… upscale.  Sophisticated.

Now you understood just why she had put so much work into making you look presentable.

It didn’t look like anyone else was there yet, even though most of the patrons were around your age, so you took a seat at the bar, the group’s site pulled up on your phone.

“What can I get for you, miss?” The bartender asked as he set down a coaster in front of you.

A snort erupts from your throat as you look at him.  “You always call women as old as me miss?”

“Oh, come on, you’re a catch,” he said, shooting you a playful wink.  “My dad’s single, you know.  If you were… looking.”

“Thank you, but I’m not,” you said gently, your cheeks flushed.  “Can I get a Manhattan?”

The bartender nodded, gracefully backing off the subject of you possibly dating his father.  And barely a minute and a half later, there’s a perfectly made Manhattan set on your coaster.

You’d barely taken a sip before someone came up beside you.  “Do you have Macallan’s 18 Year Sherry Oak?” A man asked.  At the bartenders confirmation, he hummed.  “Can I get a double on the rocks?”

The bartender dropped a large ball of ice into a glass before pouring two shots of whiskey over it and handing it to the man.

“Macallan’s, huh?” You said softly, your heart pounding.  Josephine had told you to make friends.  That was the whole point of this, even if the man wasn’t part of the social club you’d been forced into.  “You know your whiskeys.”

The tall man took a seat beside you, his eyes boring into the side of your face.  You hadn’t dared look at him yet.  “I’ve always preferred those who choose a Manhattan over a martini any day.”

“And why is that?” You asked, finally looking up at him.

And oh, you wished you hadn’t.  He was… stunning.  The very definition of male beauty.  His salt and pepper hair reminded you of the photos of the men in the forties…  The 1940s, that is.  Blue eyes so striking that you lost your breath, and broad shoulders that you knew would haunt your dreams.  He was wearing a glove on his left hand for some reason, but you didn’t linger on it too long.

But at least he was at least your age, if not a little older.  You’d die if you’d just sort of flirted with a twenty-something asshole who just bought expensive whiskeys for the sake of buying expensive whiskeys to show that he had money to blow.

“Martini drinkers think they’ll get some kind of award for their choice of drink,” he said, “as though choosing a drink that generally tastes like shit is some kind of accomplishment.  Unless you’re just taking a shot, a drink should taste good.”  He looked you up and down, letting his pretty blues linger on your lips.  There were faint crow feet at the corners of his eyes, but they just seemed to make him even more handsome.  “And a Manhattan doesn’t need a fancy whiskey.  It is steady and sure even with the cheapest five dollar bottle you can get from a gas station.  Someone whose drink of choice is a Manhattan is sure of who they are and what they want.”

You hadn’t felt this hot under a man’s gaze in decades.  “Really?”  Swallowing around the lump in your throat, you took another sip of your drink to buy you a moment.

“Mmm…”  He stole one of the two cherries from your drink, biting it off the stem.  You were transfixed as he slipped the stem into his mouth, sticking his tongue out about thirty seconds later with a perfect cherry stem knot on display.  “Really.  I’m James.  What’s your name?”

Butterflies filled your stomach as you gave him your name.  God, you felt like you were sixteen again and being flirted with for the first time.

His eyes flicked down to your open phone that rested on the bar, the social club’s page still up.  “You’re here for the meeting, too?”

“Um…  Yes,” you said, ducking your head.

“But, doll…”  He leaned towards you, a charming smile on his lips.  “You don’t look a day over thirty-five.  Are you sure you’re a senior?”

Blinking, your mouth hung open in a soft o.  “Are you planning on flirting with every woman in the club like this?”

James looked around dramatically, his gloved hand resting over his heart.  “A club?!  Is that what you call this place?” He asked, mockingly serious.  “Damn, what does that make all those dirty, gross places these young kids go to now?  Brothels?”

For some reason, you felt comfortable enough to shove his shoulder, surprised a little at the feeling of metal under his jacket sleeve.

For the first time, he looked a bit… uncomfortable.  He had flinched a bit, his bright eyes focused surely on his drink.  “Um…”

“You’re the Winter Soldier.  James Barnes,” you said curiously, your head tilting to the side as you looked at him.  “I thought I recognized you from somewhere.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“No.”

“You sure?”

“Mmhm,” you drawled, taking the cherry left in your drink and biting it off in a way that you hoped was alluring.  “Though, I gotta say, it is a bit awkward to meet the man I wrote two papers about in high school.”

Shit, his laugh was beautiful.  Everything about him was beautiful.  Like Apollo or something...

James’s head was thrown back in laughter.  His cheeks were flushed, his eyes squeezed shut.  “Did you actually write two papers about me?” He asked as he tried to catch his breath.  At your nod, he smirked, leaning in close again.  “What did you write about?  How devilishly handsome I am?”

You couldn’t believe you were saying this.  “I mean, I can show you the papers and actually let you read them, but they’re at my place.”

Before he could pick his jaw up off the ground, there were other seniors in the group coming up to greet you.  Your throat was dry as the Sahara as you turned to face them, plastering on a smile as you tried to ignore the heated gaze on your face and the way he licked his lips.

The meeting was… long.  Boring.

Or at least, that’s how it felt when you had James’s dark, sultry eyes on you the entire goddamn time.

Mind fuzzy, you vaguely remembered agreeing to come to the next meeting, and even signing up for a hiking trip they were taking the next weekend.

As you headed outside, you felt Bucky’s hand slip into yours, his long, calloused fingers intertwining with yours.  “So…  Am I gonna get to come over and… read those papers?” He murmured, his lips brushing against your ear.

God, you could practically feel yourself bursting into flames.  You weren’t gonna survive.

Thank god your daughter had forced you into a full shower.

But what about how dirty your house was sure to be?

“Um…  Y-Yeah,” you said as you turned to look at him.  “But, my daughter is gonna be driving me home…  I don’t want her to know I’ve got someone coming over.  She’s nosey.  Real…  Real nosey.”

“Of course, darlin,’” he chuckled.  “Here, why don’t I give you my phone number, and you shoot me a text with your address when you’re ready for me to come over?”

Your head was swirling as you got into your daughter’s car, your phone burning a hole in your purse.

“How was it?” Josephine asked nervously once you got about halfway home.  She couldn’t tell from the look on your face.  “Did you like it?”

“Hm?  Yeah.”  Swallowing, you shot a text to James with your name, telling him you’d text him when it was all clear.

“Are you gonna go again?”

“Yeah.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

She seemed both dissatisfied and pleased by your vague answers.  At least you were getting out of the house.

Once you got home and said goodbye, it was a mad dash to ensure that your house was clean as could be.  Josie had put in some work while you’d been gone, it seemed.  She’d done the dishes and the laundry, as well as dusted.

Thank fuck.

You struggled for a solid twenty minutes to put fresh sheets and pillowcases on the bed, lighting two candles and placing them in a manner that you hoped seemed natural.

“Shit,” you cursed as you smelled under your arms.

Okay, quick body shower.  It seemed all that flirting had made you a tiny bit sweaty.

You turned the water to scalding and scrubbed your body down, exfoliating and using your best scented body wash.

And to be quite frank, you’d never shaved your lady bits as quick as that.

As you texted him your address and that it was safe to come over, you pulled on your clothing from the bar (though, you did put on nicer, matching lingerie underneath.)  By the time he’d gotten there, you’d downed two shots of tequila for a bit of liquid courage and had poured yourself a glass of wine.

“Hey, baby doll,” he said, a crooked grin on his face as you welcomed him inside.  His glove had been abandoned, and black metal fingers lined with gold glittered in the light.  “Woah…  You know, I wasn’t sure how your place was gonna look, but this is very… you.”

“Oh, really?” You asked as you offered him a glass of wine, which he gratefully took.  “How so?”

“I don’t know,” he chuckled as he swirled the deep red liquid in its glass.  “It’s cozy.  Sweet.”

Your throat was dry as you watched his adam’s apple bob as he took a drink.  “Um… so those papers…”

Bucky whispered your name, moving closer to you as he set the wine glass down on the counter.  “Baby girl, I’m not really here for the papers, am I?” He asked as your back hit the island.  “If I am…  If I am, then just tell me, and I’ll stop this.”  His slightly chapped lips ghosted against yours like the tease he was.  “Am I here just for the papers?”

“No,” you breathed out, before pressing your lips against his in a firm kiss at last.  His breath was minty and cool, with just a touch of the wine you’d been sharing, like he’d brushed his teeth before coming over just like you had.

Could it be possible he was just as nervous as you were?

But he was perfect?  Why the hell would he be nervous?

Your thoughts were cut short as he reached down, his hands firmly grabbing your ass as he lifted you up and set you on the counter.  “That’s a good girl,” he growled as he kissed down your neck, his hands working at your blouse.  “Couldn’t stop thinking about you during that whole stupid fucking meeting.  Just wanted to kiss you.  Just wanted to… to touch you.”  He pulled back, kissing you fiercely as his hands moved from your blouse to hold your face again.  “You gonna let me touch you, angel?”

A whine escaped your throat as you nodded, desperately yanking at his shirt.  Once it was off, you didn’t hesitate to run your hands over the broad planes of his chest.  He wasn’t quite as toned as you remembered from when you were younger, when you used to (occasionally) stalk (lightly) his social media accounts.  There’d been so many pictures of him on vacation with the other Avengers… all tanned and toned…

But you liked this better.  There was a softness to him now, a gentleness.

You were so distracted by his physique that you didn’t notice he’d gotten your shirt and bra off until the cold air hit your chest.  “Fuck,” you mumbled as his lips found your neck, trailing down to your breasts.

You couldn’t remember the last time you’d been kissed, let alone the last time you’d had such… attention.

Especially when his hands worked your pants off and he stood between your legs, moaning as his fingers tickled your thighs.  “You’re so beautiful,” he said as his lips wrapped around one nipple, suckling at it and teasing until it was diamond hard, and he moved on to the other.

Gotta be fair, after all.

“James…”

“Fuck, baby girl…  Never been with a woman as beautiful as you,” he growled, kissing down your tummy.  “You’re not making it out of here without orgasming at least twice,” he warned jokingly.  He was half bent over in front of the island, watching in wonder as he slowly pulled your silk panties down your legs and revealed your aching core to him.

“I-If you’re not comfortable standing like that, w-we can move somewhere else,” you stammered, suddenly growing self conscious.  What if he thought your pussy was weird?  Granted, you’d overcome thinking that when you were in your early twenties, after learning that each one looked different.

But he was born in the forties.

But that meant he’d probably seen an exponential amount of pussies!

Oh, god, there was no way you’d have anywhere near as much experience as him.  The only person you’d ever been with was your ex husband, and he wasn’t exactly the paradigm of lovers.

“Hey.”

You refocused with a shake of your head, your eyes meeting James’s.  “Yes?”

“You’re in your head,” he said softly, his forehead resting against yours as he slowly ran his fingers along your sensitive folds.  “There’s no need…  It’s just you and me, okay?  And you’re absolutely perfect.”

Your heart was melting inside your chest as you nodded, stealing a tentative kiss.  “Okay…  Just you and me.”

James nipped at your lower lip as he lifted you up, wrapping your legs around his waist.  “Come on.  I don’t want our first time to be on a kitchen counter.  Though I make no promises I won’t help christen every inch of this house after,” he said with a playful growl.

You whispered directions to your bedroom as he held you tight to his chest, his lips finding purchase on your neck.  “And here I thought you said the super soldier serum was wearing off,” you joked.

The man snorted as he pushed you up against the hallway wall.  “Trust me, doll, no lack of super soldier serum is gonna stop me from fucking you right,” he said, his voice husky and deep.

Before you could even open your mouth to reply, two thick fingers were slipping inside of you to slowly tease your cunt, his lips ghosting over yours.  “Does that feel good, sweetheart?”

You couldn’t find it in you to be embarrassed at the whimper that fell from your lips.  “Y-Yes.  Yes.  Please, I need more, James…”

James smiled into the kisses he’d been giving you.  “I’ll give you everything you want.”

“That’s a tall order.”  You threaded your fingers through his hair, shivering at the way his metal fingers dug into the plumpness of your ass.  “You sure you can fill it?”

He doesn’t respond with words, growling as he kisses you fiercely, carrying you to the bedroom.  You don’t have time to think before he’s crawling over you and kissing up your tummy to your lips.  “I need to be inside you,” He whispered as he stroked his length.

“Please…  Don’t wanna wait anymore,” you said.  Vaguely, you’re aware of the twinge in your knees from all the physical activity, and you knew you’d be sore as hell in the morning.

Fucking worth it, though.

James didn’t hesitate to line himself up, the head of his cock pressing against your entrance.  When he finally pushed in, unison moans fill the air.

“I…  I haven’t done this in… so long,” you finally admitted as he slowly pushed in more, taking his time.  Eyes locked, your mouth fell open in a soft ‘o’ as he bottomed out, his hips meeting yours.  “Oh, fuck…”

“Then I better do a real good job fucking you right.”

You weren’t quite sure how long you two lasted, but you do know he manages to pull three orgasms out of you in the space of just a few hours.  There’s snack and water breaks in between rounds, his cool metal hand running up and down your spine to cool you down as you two whisper in the dim light of your desk lamp.

You can’t remember a time that you’d felt so at peace.

A spark had been lit inside your chest as you two laid there in bed, legs intertwined.  Both of you were quiet, his fingers moving to caress your cheek.

There were no words that needed to be said.

His sea blue eyes are sparkling in the dim light, and your hand runs over the sharp stubble that lines his jaw.  It had certainly marked up your neck.

“I had intended on asking you on a date,” he said quietly as his hand found yours, bringing it to his mouth.  Chapped lips kissed each of your knuckles like you were something precious, something to behold.  “I didn’t think the five minutes or so before the meeting counted…  But I’d still like to take you on that date, if you’ll let me.”

“That sounds nice,” you said, a grin twinging at the corners of your lips.

“Yeah?” He asked, sitting up a bit as his fingers brushed against your forehead.

“Yeah.”  A giggle escaped your lips as he playfully tackled you, starting yet another round as his hips rolled down against yours.

The next morning, you woke up alone.  The sheets beside you were mussed, though the space James had been occupying was still a bit warm.

Jazz music floated down the hall, through the cracked door, and you could vaguely hear the clinking of pans.

It took you a minute to gather the will to get yourself out of bed and find your robe, but you finally did it.  As your feet hit the ground and you pushed yourself to a stand, you winced.

You had been right about feeling it in your knees.

You forced yourself to walk smoothly down the hall, despite how much it hurt.  Embarrassing yourself in front of James was the last fucking thing you wanted to do.

He was in the kitchen, standing in front of the stove and humming along with the old jazz song playing on the Bluetooth speaker.  He had a pan full of pancake batter in front of him, a whole stack he’d already made on the side.

Standing in the doorway, you couldn’t help but grin as you watched him.  He’s so handsome… and he seemed so at home in your kitchen.  In your home.

Maybe he’d like to move in…

You shook your head, knowing that it’s already too much.

But the thought was nice.

Him in his pajamas, making coffee…  Him in your shower…  Him in your bed every night…  

Yeah.  It’s a really, really nice thought.

“Hi.”

James jumped, his eyes wide as he whirled round to face you.  “Hi.  I thought I had another thirty minutes before I had to go and wake you up,” he said.  “I’m making pancakes.  For you.  For us.”  His cheeks flushed, turning a bright red as he turned back to the pan to quickly flip the pancake.  “I hope you don’t mind that I used your flour and shit…”

“Oh, no, I…  I almost never cook,” you admitted as you moved over to stand next to him, watching as he made two more pancakes.

As he carried the huge plate to the kitchen island, he teasingly grabbed your ass and squeezed.  “Maybe I’ll have to stay the night more often, if only so you get a homemade breakfast.”

It was sweet, and domestic, and somewhat terrifying.

You hadn’t had a man do anything for you like this since you were in your twenties, when your husband was still sweet and loving.

But even so, this was somehow better than anytime your husband made his famous burritos.

Maybe because James’s cooking actually tasted good.

Your first date was to a movie, a drive in.  Something that’s designed to be vintage but really just looked cheesy as all hell.

But it’s perfect.  Perfect and cheesy and romantic.

Your only complaint was that he didn’t kiss you at the door when he dropped you off.  He pressed his lips to your cheek and whispered a goodnight, and that was it.

It took two more dates within the same week for him to kiss you again.

Bright and early on the next Saturday morning, he knocked on your door, holding a bouquet of flowers.

“I figured I should make up for you having to be up so early with this,” he said as he came inside, kissing you quick before moving to put the flowers in a vase.

At this point, he knew your house almost as well as you did.  It felt good, when you two moved around like you were part of a team.

“Have you gotten your coffee this morning?” You asked, already pouring two travel mugs full of the good stuff.

He came up behind you, kissing your shoulder.  “I have, but you know I’ll never say no to more, doll.”

The rest of the group eyed you curiously as you got out of the same car, a few elbow nudges and whispers in the air.

“At least I know no old ass dickheads are gonna come hit on my girlfriend,” James growled in your ear, his calloused flesh hand squeezing your hip.

“Jamie…,” you whined, cheeks flushed in embarrassment.  No one had ever claimed you in such a way that made you feel so desired and… and worthy.

James made you feel worthy.

Which is something you’d only ever really gotten from your daughter.

It sent a bolt of arousal through you, and you were tempted to drag him back to the car so you could bring him right back home and do something about it.

Also…  Girlfriend?  Were you his girlfriend now?  Officially?

That just made you wanna find somewhere to fuck him even more.

But alas, you pushed the thought away as the lot of you boarded one of those white airport vans that took you out of the city to the closest state park.

“It’s beautiful,” you breathed out as you stared out the window, forehead pressed to the cool glass.  The morning air was a bit chillier than it had been lately, signaling the coming onslaught of winter.

Maybe Bucky would wanna make hot cocoa together… go sledding…  Would him, Josephine, and Danny would all come over for Christmas and New Years and—

Would he even want to meet Josephine?

Would Josie wanna meet him?

She had no idea that you’d found a—A boyfriend?

“Not as beautiful as you,” Bucky murmured against the shell of your ear as his vibranium fingers intertwined with yours and squeezed.  His stubble tickled your neck as he rested his head on your shoulder, watching the passing scenery with you.  “I’m really glad I met you, doll…”

“Me, too,” you said, grinning as you squeezed his hand back and leaned your head against his.

It was strange, falling so hard for someone so quick after everything you’d been through.

But you had a gut feeling.  One that you had never had with your ex husband.

James was a good one.  A really, really good one.

That reminded you.

When were you meant to tell him about all the shit you’d been through?

Despite the amount of time you had spent together already, you hadn’t found the courage for it.

Soon, you decided.

But first, you had to get through the damn hike.

Bucky was glued to your side the entire time, even though you were a lot worse at hiking than he was.  He would hold your hand, guiding you anytime there was a fallen tree or a creek.  His blue eyes were soft as he murmured encouragement, quietly praising your every move.

It was intoxicating.

So when you two fell behind from the group, watching them go around a curve and down a hill, you dragged James behind a large rock formation.

“Baby doll?  Darling, what the hell are you doing?” He laughed as you pressed a fierce kiss to his lips.

“Can’t a girl be spontaneous?” You teased as you dropped to your knees, ignoring the way a twig was poking into your left knee.  “Need to taste you.”

His eyes locked on you as you worked at his jeans, getting them down and off, his nails scratching at your scalp as he got a good grip on your head.  “Fuck…  Are you really this needy for me, angel?  Fuck, you’re so god damn gorgeous…  Look at you.”

Your heart pounded against your rib cage as you finally freed his length, a grin on your lips as you wrapped your hand around him and slowly stroked him.

Bucky’s eyes rolled back as your mouth wrapped around the head of his cock.  “Fucking shit…  Good girl…  Suck me off real good, baby.”

The group probably would notice your absence, not that you particularly cared.

Not when you had your man so weak for you.  And all you’d had to do was get on your knees.

His metal and flesh hands guided you to take more of him in, going at a slow pace so as not to hurt you.  He was so big there was no way you’d get all of him down your throat but what you couldn’t take in your mouth, you pleasured with your hands.

Pleasuring your partner like this was addicting.  You’d never felt the desire—no, the incessant need—to please your ex husband.  All you could think about was getting Bucky off, making him feel so good that he couldn’t see or walk straight.

You choked around him as you took him as deep as possible, your eyes glassy.  When you popped off, you stroked him as you moved down to carefully suck at his balls, fighting a grin as he gasped, his hips stuttering.  Before he could orgasm, you took him back in your mouth, wanting to swallow him down.

“Fuck, fuck—  Oh, shit…  Baby—  I’m gonna…  I’m gonna—”  Bucky broke off with a shout as he came, spilling down your throat.  His large hands stroked your cheeks as you swallowed all of it, barring the little bit that had gotten on your lower lip.  “You did so good, darling,” he cooed as he helped you stand, pressing you against the rock behind him as he kissed you.  “Are you okay?  I didn’t hurt you, right?”

“No, you didn’t,” you said, a faint smile on your lips as you helped him put himself back away.  “You were perfect, James…”

When you finally caught up to the group, a few of the others shot you knowing looks.

But Bucky just had a satisfied smirk on his lips, his hand tightly intertwined with yours even as you flushed in embarrassment.

“Once we get home, it’s your turn,” he whispered in your ear as you all headed back for the van.

Your relationship with James was… wonderful.

It was easy in a way you’d never had before.

Within just two months, he was living at your house almost full time, to the point where you’d been thinking about asking him to move in.

It was like you two were magnets.  Even when you both had work to do, you did it in the same room, slowly gravitating towards each other until you were sitting close, your foot running up his calf.

And he’d gotten you to start writing.

“It’s your dream, doll.  You’re never too old to chase your dreams,” he said one night as you two laid in bed.  His metal fingers were tracing shapes on your spine, a chill from the cracked window ruffling his sweaty hair.  “If you don’t mind me asking…  Why did you stop in the first place?”

Ah.

The conversation you’d been avoiding for so long.

Sitting up, you pressed your hands to your face as you tried to find the words to say.  “Um…  I was married before…  I know you know, but, uh…”  Your fingers fiddled together nervously.  You swallowed around the lump in your throat.  “My husband…  He wasn’t…  He wasn’t nice.  At all.”

Bucky immediately sat up behind you, his vibranium hand resting flat on your back to reassure you that he was there, and to give you something to focus on while you spoke.  He didn’t need to speak for you to know.  He was there and he wasn’t running.

“I married him young… and I had Josephine young…  He’d always been so… possessive, but I just considered it protective,” you continued, pulling strength from his touch to keep on going.  You needed to tell him this.  You needed him to understand.  “Then after Josie was born, he started getting violent.  He’d always been mean, but he’d never hit me until after I gave birth…”

James was tense behind you, slowly scooting over so he could wrap his arms around you, his legs resting on either side of yours as he held you.  He needed you close.  Needed to know you were safe in his arms and that man was long gone.

“Put me in the hospital a few times…  He at least didn’t do it in front of Josie.  That’s the one thing I asked of him that he listened to.”  You couldn’t help but snort as you slowly relaxed back against him.  “She always thought all the bruises and shit was just a side effect of how clumsy I am…  But she came home one day during college, to surprise us…  She walked in on him holding a frying pan above his head, about to swing again.  She jumped in between us and told him if he ever touched me again, she’d kill him.”  You let out a breath you hadn’t realized you’d been holding as his lips pressed to your bare shoulder.  It was soothing, feeling his skin against yours.  “She moved me out of that house and into her apartment, helped me get the divorce, get back on my feet…”

“Remind me to tell Josephine thank you,” he said quietly as he squeezed you close.  “Thank you for telling me, doll…  I…  I can’t imagine how hard that was…  But he’ll never touch you again.  No one will ever touch you again if you don’t want it.”

“I know.”

He nuzzled into your hair, breathing in the scent of your shampoo.  “I love you.  So much…”

A peace settled over you as you rested your head back against his, allowing yourself to truly fall into him, to relax.  “And I love you…”

After that night, Bucky slept over at your place five to six nights a week, only going home to get more clothes and do his laundry really, even though you’d told him a million times he could do it at your place.

“Wake up, sweetheart,” he murmured in your ear one morning, pushing your hair away from your face.  “Time to get up…  I’ve got breakfast ready for you…”

Groaning, you tried to pull him down for more cuddle time, but he wasn’t having it.  He always woke up before you, too many years a soldier coming into play.  He’d go for a run and make breakfast before waking you up.

“Come on, doll,” he chuckled, pressing a quick kiss to your lips as he got you to sit up, your vision blurry from sleep still.  “Medicine,” he said, pressing your pills into your palm and putting a glass of water in your other. 

Ever since he’d found out about your prescriptions and how you had a hard time remembering to take them, he’d taken it upon himself to make sure you did, every morning and night without fail.

“What’d you make this morning?” You asked sleepily after swallowing your pills, letting him pull you to your feet.  His t-shirt clung to you as you followed him down the hall.  Your hand was tucked into his as you rounded the corner to the kitchen.

What neither of you had heard was the sound of the front door opening.

“Mama?!  What the hell?!” Josephine demanded, standing in the kitchen with Danny right behind her.  “Who the fuck is this?!  What is he doing here?!”

Oh.

Yeah.

You’d neglected to tell your daughter, afraid of how she might take it.

“Hello.  I’m James.  Or Bucky,” your boyfriend said as he held out his hand to you, clearly unashamed and standing his ground even though he was only wearing a pair of pajama pants.

“What the fuck are you doing here?!” Your daughter repeated angrily, ignoring his hand.

“Josie,” Danny began, trying to soothe her.

But your daughter was nothing but determined when she was in her protective mode.

Before you could open your mouth, Bucky supplied, “I’m her boyfriend.”

You felt a flush coming over you as she stared at the two of you, slack-jawed.  “He is,” you said, wrapping both of your arms around his metal one.  You were so nervous, you were shaking.

“When did this happen?!” She demanded, beginning to pace back and forth around the kitchen.

“Um…  The first meeting at the bar… for the club,” you said.  Seeing her so upset made your anxiety spike, and you knew James could feel it, could hear the way your heart rate increased exponentially.

Josephine whirled on you, her eyes—so much like yours—wide with disbelief.  No.  Betrayal.  “You’ve been seeing someone for almost three months and you didn’t tell me?”

“I…”  Tears pricked your eyes as you tightened your grip on Bucky’s arm.  This was not the way you wanted them meeting to go.  “I was scared… of how you’d react…”

At that moment, Bucky turned to meet your eyes, his forehead almost pressing against yours.  “Darling, I feel like this is a conversation you two should have alone, yeah?  So I’m gonna take—Danny, right?  Yeah—Danny to the living room with some coffee so we can get to know each other, okay?”

After a nod, and a squeeze of his hand, he got two mugs of coffee and led your daughter’s girlfriend to the living room.  You could see them sitting down from the corner of your eyes, but you were much too focused on Josephine.

“Mama, I—”

“I love him,” you said, before she could say anything more.

Her eyes were shining, locked on you as she waited for you to speak.  In her gut, she knew this was something you needed to get out.

“I love him more than I’ve ever loved a man.  More than I loved your father,” you whispered, your voice cracking.  “And I know…  I know you’re as protective as you are because you saw how he treated me.  You saw how much I hid that he was hurting you, but Jamie isn’t like that.”  Your fingers fiddled as you tried to keep yourself from pacing.  “He’s kind and adoring and gentle and…  and he loves me.  More than I thought anyone could ever love me.  And I know you feel like you need to take care of me and I am so grateful.  And I still need you.  Everyday.  But Bucky…  I love him.  I love him and he loves me and we take care of each other.”

Josephine reached out, slowly taking your hands in hers.  “He…  He makes you happy?  He takes care of you and you’re safe?” She asked, voice trembling as a few tears rolled down her cheeks.

“Yeah.  He takes real good care of me,” you insisted with a weak laugh.  “And I’ve never been so happy before, honey.  I promise.”

“Okay…,” she said, taking a deep breath.  “I’m still giving him the shovel talk.”

Bucky looked up as Josephine entered the living room, looking much calmer.  He wasn’t sure what you’d said, but it had seemed to placate her for the time being.

“Can we talk outside?” She asked him, keeping her chin high.

God, she looked so much like you.

He nodded stiffly, getting to his feet and leaving his mug behind as he followed her to the front door and out onto the porch.  The former super soldier watched as she paced back and forth, biting her thumb.  “I’ve heard a lot about you,” he said finally, breaking the silence.

Josie stopped in her tracks, listening quietly.

“Your mama loves you something fierce.”  Nervously rubbing his hands on his pajama pants, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so nervous meeting a girl’s family.

Though, he supposed it was a bit different when it was meeting your girlfriend’s daughter.

“And I love her.”

Your daughter, your mini me, stared him directly in the eyes.  “I’m sure she’s told you about my father.  What he did.”

“She did.”

“So you know that if you put one fucking foot out of line, I’ll filet you?”

“I do.”

She eyed him for a long moment.  “What are you in this for?  What’s the long term?” She asked.  “I’ve heard of elders just… settling for someone because they don’t wanna be alone in their twilight years.  Is that what this is?”

Bucky tried really hard not to feel a little bit offended.  He wasn’t that old.  “I’ve been alive since 1917,” he said slowly.  “I have no doubt you know who I am.  But I’ve been alive a hundred and something years, and I’ve never met someone who makes me feel the way your mom does.”  His heart clenched inside his chest as he thought of you, seeing your shy smile in the mornings, how you clung to him when you went out in public, the sound of your voice as you read an excerpt of your writing to him, so nervous about what he would think.  “And I…  I can say that everything I’ve been through…  Everything I’ve ever been through was worth it, because I got to meet her.  And I get to be hers for the years I have left.”

She looked absolutely speechless.  “Good,” she said, coughing to clear her throat.  “Good.  I just…  I can’t see her get hurt again.  Not after everything.”

“Trust me, I don’t plan to,” he said, his mouth dry.  “I…  I actually have something to ask you about…  Been waiting to meet you to talk to you about it…”

Inside, you paced the kitchen and living room, going back and forth and back and forth, sometimes moving to the window to try to hear what they were saying.  But they were keeping it all very hushed.

“It’s gonna be fine, mama,” Danny said, standing up and moving to wrap her arms around you.  “Josie’ll see how much you two love each other, and it’ll be fine.  She’s just gotta have her protective moment.  You know how she is.”

Sniffling, you hugged her tightly.  “I shouldn’t have kept it from her for so long…  I was just so nervous…  They both…  They both mean the world to me.”  You paused, snorting.  “I knew you’d approve of him.  I wasn’t so worried about you.”

“Oh, please, the way that man looked at you?” She said, laughing as she kissed your forehead.  “Mama, there’s no way in hell that man would ever hurt you.  He looks at you like you’re his entire universe.”

Heart warm, you glanced towards the front door, wishing they’d just come inside already.  “I’ve never felt something like this…  But fuck, if the whole shit show that’s my life wasn’t worth it for him…  I wouldn’t change a thing, as long as it means I get to end up with him.”

You broke out of her grasp as the front door opened and they came back inside, looking relaxed and even… happy?  “Well?  You aren’t gonna kill him?” You asked Josie as you moved to James, heart racing.

“Nah…,” she said, giving him what seemed like a secretive smile.  “As far as dads go…  He’d be pretty nice to have.”

“What?” You said, brows furrowing as you looked between the two of them.

Bucky chuckled, winking at Josephine as he led you to the stove where breakfast was still waiting, making you waddle as his arms wrapped around you from behind.  “Don’t worry your pretty head about it, baby doll.  It’s all good.”

You still couldn’t help but feel like the two were planning something as he made your plate for you, cutting up your pancakes and filling up your coffee.  “Why do I feel like you two are gonna end up ganging up on me?”

“Oh, come on, mama,” Josephine said with a smirk on her face.  Her and Danny had made their own plates and joined you and Bucky in the living room.  “How could you ever accuse us of such a thing?”

“Yeah,” James said as he fed you a bite of pancake.  “How could you ever accuse us of such a thing?” He asked, before leaning in and stealing a kiss.  “I love you.”

You’d never felt more relaxed, surrounded by the people you loved the most in the world.  What you’d said to Josephine had been true.

“I love you more,” you said, leaning back in for another kiss.

You’d never been so happy.

[art-outlaw]

Stargazing // Chapter Four

Daniel Ricciardo x Reader

Summary: Friend’s since childhood, you’re lucky you to spend the time you do with Daniel. Refusing to acknowledge that you’re in love with your best friend of 25 years is fine - until it’s not.

For the sake of continuity and landmark events  the story will take part during the 2019 season but has a bit of a flair for creative freedom. Also, Renault era Dan just has a bit of a spice, a flavour to him that I just can’t forget yet

Chapters: 4/28

Warnings/ Rating: Mature. Alcohol consumption, like two swear words

Word Count: 3872

Posted: 11 June 2021

“Daniel, for the love of god please tell me you are not still packing right now?!” You knew you sounded like a chastising mother, but honestly you’d think a grown man soon to be thirty and a freaking professional Formula One driver to have more organisational skills than a twelve year-old packing for school camp. 

But alas, here you were with your hands on your hips staring into the bedroom of one Daniel Ricciardo who was frantically throwing random pieces of clothing into an open suitcase. Even the suitcase was resting precariously on the bed, only a few more items away from spilling onto the floor… all of this suggesting that Dan had procrastinated on packing...again.

“You said we’re leaving in fifteen minutes, I’ve still got time!” Daniel hadn’t even looked up at you yet, or bothered to check his watch either. You had told him an hour ago sitting at his kitchen bench over breakfast that you were leaving in fifteen minutes - that was when he’d looked at you like a deer in the headlights and choked out that he better finish packing then. Knowing your pretend-fiancé as well as you did, there was no illusion about what this was code for: holy fuck I haven’t even packed yet but going to play it cool and pretend I have it all under control.

He then proceeded to bolt from the kitchen to his bedroom.

For the past month you had all but moved in with Daniel in preparation for the upcoming season. While he and Michael had started their pre-season training camp, you had used the time to get your affairs in order before leaving the country; quitting your job (giving notice meant that you’d had to suffer the meaningless dribble of your job for two more weeks), telling Gavin and your landlord that you’d be moving out (avoiding the real reason why, of course), and telling your family that you were engaged.

“Okay, Dan, you’re killing me here.” You moved from your power stance in the doorway towards him. Only when you placed a soft hand on his shoulder as he hunched over the suitcase, did he finally look up at you. “You, go and have a shower because I refuse to sit next to a musty Dan on a four hour flight, and I’ll fix the monstrosity that is your packing skills.”

He smiled at you gratefully, before grabbing a random pair of shorts and tee from his bed to change into. “You are a god-send,” he exhaled in relief. And before you could wonder what the hell he was doing, he’d grabbed you by the neck, planted a solid kiss on your forehead and moved towards his ensuite. He didn’t linger, didn’t give you the chance to relish the casual affection he gave so freely. 

Pretending like your heart wasn’t about to beat out of your chest or that your cheeks were suddenly three degrees warmer than the rest of your body, you moved his suitcase further onto the bed and surveyed the damage he’d done so far.

Despite the mess of the whole thing, Dan had done a decent job of getting the essentials in - there was no way in hell you were going to dig through his underwear drawers and pick out his boxer-briefs wear for the next three weeks. You started tidying up the mess of it all, adding things you know he would want or need but neglected to pack himself. 

You tried not to overdo it on the packing, after all, it was only three weeks before you’d be at his second-home in Monaco and he could fix everything up there. The thought had you nearly giddy with excitement - in three weeks you’d be two races down and three countries deep in your trip. Considering you’d never even been overseas, the thought of going so many places so soon had your stomach churning, excitement and nerves combining into one.

You chuckled to yourself as the echoey sound of Dan singing to himself in the shower escaped from behind the bathroom door. He was singing some country song you didn’t know, something involving a bottle of whiskey, you honestly couldn’t tell what it was about. But the sound of him clearly more calm since leaving the packing in your more-than-capable hands had you shaking your head in mirth.

You were adding another pile of clothes to the suitcase when your hand brushed something much sturdier than a simple pile of cotton-shirts. Assuming it was a phone charger, you pulled it from the depths of the suitcase to move into your handbag, knowing he’d be desperate for it as soon as you got to Melbourne. Your hand scrambled for it, but couldn’t find the cord for the life of you. Eventually you pulled it free, only to stare at the object that was definitely not a phone charger in your hand in disbelief. 

A small box sat on the palm of your hand innocuously, completely unthreatening. You wanted to drop it like it burned you, you wanted to open it and confirm the conclusion to what your brain had already jumped to. You knew jewellry boxes as well as any other person and that nestled inside the velvet covered box was most likely a ring. You couldn’t tell how long you stood there and stared at the unopened box, your mind screaming at you to open it, to look at see if this was the engagement ring that would sit on your finger.

But your heart told you not to. After all, it’s not like the engagement ring would symbolise anything beyond the agreement you had made with Daniel, it wasn’t the symbol for a life together as partners, or a symbol of his unending love for you. It was a rock on a precious metal, made to maintain a ruse. 

In all your worry you barely noticed the sound of the shower cutting off or the rustle of Dan getting dressed in private, only when the lock of the bathroom door clicked to announce his imminent arrival back into his bedroom did you realise what he was about to walk into. Without a second thought, you shoved the ring-box back into the hidden depths of his suitcase, and stepped away.

“Alright, so I’ve just got to add my bathroom stuff,” he entered the room, fluffing his wet curls with a towel, the other hand holding a small bag which he promptly threw on top of the now neatly filled suitcase. “And we’re good to go!”

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

The rush to the airport and through security checks goes by uneventfully. You don’t know what you were expecting… throngs of fans? Media frenzy? In reality, it’s all very calm. A few fans stop Daniel on your way to the gate, but take little notice of you or Michael or any other of the team. You breathe a sigh of relief, maybe you could get away with a few more days of anonymity before the news of Daniel’s mystery fiancée broke. After all, Daniel had only informed the necessary staff of his ‘engagement’, citing privacy as the only reason they had heard so little of you before. 

Plane tickets were covered by Daniel against your better judgement, whilst hotel rooms and VIP passes were all organized by Renault’s coordinators with little fuss - it was not the first time Daniel had brought someone along to a race with little fanfare… It gave you a little comfort though, to know that you were the only person for Daniel to need to organise an ongoing arrangement with his team for. 

You knew Daniel didn’t like being dishonest with his team, not when they always put their absolute faith in him to be so forthcoming about everything - on track and off track. But, there was no way they would have ever agreed to the charade if they were made aware of it. So, the lies started there.

As far as you knew, the only people that were actually in on the whole ‘fake-engagement’ thing were yourself, Daniel and Michael. A longtime friend to both of you and Daniel’s trainer meant that there was no hiding it from him - after all, Michael had spent the better part of a year and a half working so closely with Daniel it was a wonder they had any privacy from each other at all. 

When Daniel and you sat down with Michael for a casual dinner at the farm one night, only a week after you had finally agreed, to tell him the exact plan you two had been cooking up, you weren’t entirely sure of how he’d react. To be fair, he sat and listened without speaking as Daniel calmly spoke him through the plan, and you stuttered out details when you could bring yourself to - he’d nodded along but his face remained nearly expressionless the whole time. When Daniel had finally run out of things to say in justification for bringing you along, Michael finally spoke:

“If this is what it’s going to take to get you to stop whining about missing her when you should be focusing for a race, I’m all for it.” Then, and only then did you see Daniel get embarrassed about the arrangement. He’d tried to stutter a witty response about Michael not being good-enough company for him, but the pink-tinge to his cheeks and the length of time it took to get it out ruined the effect. You and Michael had taken great pleasure in laughing at the chagrined look Daniel had sent you. It was easier to laugh and cover the lump in your throat than to acknowledge the kinds of feelings that him missing you brought up.

“My only condition in this whole thing,” Michael gestured between the two of you with his fork full of spaghetti, “if she begins to be more of a distraction than a help, I won’t hesitate to call you both out on your bullshit. We’re here to win races, not to fake a honeymoon, you got it?”

Neither of you could argue with him on that… 

You knew Daniel felt better with Michael knowing about the whole thing - taking the burdensome weight of a secret off of his shoulders meant that rather than being forced to hide it all, he’d have Michael to discuss it with… Shifting his focus from a fake engagement to the training camp and race-prep was a lot easier when he didn’t have to fake being in love with you on top of it all. 

Not that faking affection with you was hard for Daniel in the slightest, his casual affection with you had made the ruse all the more convincing when you had informed both of your families.

You had deluded yourself into thinking that the calmness that Michael had taken the news was to be continued with your family, you could not have been more wrong. They had exploded when they watched Daniel take your hand in his, look at your father and inform him of his intention to marry his child.

You still cringed at the memory.

Rather than splitting the news and being forced to tell both of your families separately, Dan had taken it upon himself to throw a small get-together for the announcement. Both his family and yours had trekked it out to his little farm for another outdoor fire, like you had all done in the past - and prior to the announcement, you had been having such a fantastic time catching up with everyone that you had nearly forgotten why they were there in the first place.

But eventually the sun had set and Daniel’s sister Michelle had wrangled her son and her brother into some semblance of calm… Uncle Dan had taken it upon himself to show his all-too adorable nephew the joys of dirt-biking before night had fallen, and you had watched on with a fondness that melted your heart. There was such beauty in watching Dan interact with his nephew that you had barely taken your eyes off of the two of them, even when Grace Ricciardo had done her best to claim your attention.

But eventually the sun had set and everyone pleasantly a few drinks down, and Dan sent you a look that told you he was going to drop the metaphorical bomb. And in all your fake-fiancée-ness you had dutifully gone and stood by his side at the head of the table, as he spewed all the lies you’d both constructed of your secret romance. Initially there was shock mixed with joy - your two families had been so close for years that it had almost felt inevitable for the two of you to date. But then when Dan had turned to look at your father, a man he’d known for nearly his entire life, and informed him of his intention to marry you, you swore you could’ve heard a pin drop.

Both of your mother’s had shrieked and jumped up from the table to hug each other, screaming something about how they’d always dreamt of this moment - like that wasn’t weird at all. Michelle and her husband gaped at the two of you in gobsmacked silence, mouths hanging open. Daniel’s father was the only one to approach the two of you and embrace you both, congratulating you quietly. You had a sneaking suspicion that he knew everything was not as it seemed…

But your father… Oh god. He sat there and you watched as his face went from its normal shade, to a few shades paler, and then a few shades redder than you’d ever see before. The transition of colours had only taken seconds, but you knew when to expect an explosion and cringed at what could only come next. But it’s like Daniel could see what was coming, and ever the tactician, he covered his own ass expertly.

“I know that tradition dictates that I ask for your blessing, but with a woman like her, the smart, beautiful woman you raised… I couldn’t take the chance of you saying no, because I know that I don’t deserve her, I don’t think there is a man in the world who deserves the person that she is… and I promised myself I would never lose her, no matter what.”

Oh how the man could play on the hearts of everyone around you. If you didn’t already know better, you’d have thought Daniel was telling the truth. Part of you wished he was. Because of the grip he had on your hand and the comforting squeeze he gave, the way his eyes glazed over and stared at you as he promised never to lose you, and the way his words had flowed so easily like he’d prepared for them his whole life… It was so easy to just pretend that this was real life.

And that was it; your small gathering had turned into an unofficial engagement party in a matter of minutes. Champagne was popped, toasts to a beautiful life together made and congratulations were shared. Promises on both sides of the family to keep the happy news quiet were made, understanding that any chance of it reaching the media ahead of the first race was only adding unnecessary stress… It didn’t stop both of your mothers jumping to wedding planning so quickly that both you and Daniel were surprised they hadn’t gotten you hitched by the end of the night. You and Daniel had agreed to share the lie that there were no immediate plans to set a date, just happy to finally be ‘open’ with their relationship, to get through the fast-approaching season.

With preparations all made, and lies set in motion, there was nothing for the both of you to do except be prepared for the onslaught of questions awaiting you from the team, the paddock and the media alike. So sharing the quiet comfort of limbo that airport gates gave you, Daniel and you had exchanged very little the whole time. You could tell he was glancing over to you, pulling his head up from his phone occasionally to check in on you but you kept your head down in your book, despite not having turned the page for quite some time.

You were still unsure of how the whole thing would work; how much attention would the news be given? How much affection and ‘love’ were you supposed to publicly show to keep up with the lie without giving away your own true feelings to Dan? How much to keep the public believing that you weren’t some random after his money... But overthinking it only gave you a headache, so in true-to-you fashion, you just avoided thinking about it at all.

You knew Dan would’ve noticed by now that your eyes had been resting on an unturned page for too long, perceptive as he was. You hoped he would leave you to your contemplative silence in peace, but as always the need to know everything overwhelmed him, and his quiet voice finally broke the quiet.

“Should I be worried about how quiet you’ve been the past half hour?”

You shake your head, and glance up at him with a small smile “Just thinking ‘bout some thing.” You left your answer at that - hoping he wouldn’t press. Again, he pressed for more. 

“You’re not going to ditch me before we even get started, are you?” The tone was joking enough, but the worry underneath was unmistakable. You shake your head again, and decide you might as well be a little honest with him - he was your fiancé now after all.

“Just worrying about what people are expecting us to look like, you know… Like I’m springing up out of nowhere, engaged to you… People are going to think I’m some groupie gold-digger,” You were disgusted by the thought of someone using Daniel like that, let alone people accusing you of doing that.

You could tell he was equally disturbed at the thought. “Don’t worry about what people are going to think… We know the truth about it, as weird as the truth is. The media are going to have their own thoughts about it, regardless of what we tell them. It’s going to be hard, that’s a given, but we don’t need to give them any more power over our lives than they already have.”

It was so easy to believe him, as easy as breathing. The confidence with which he approached life often left you astounded. You wondered, like you often had, what life would be like to be so self-assured as he was. You knew the confidence wasn’t unending, and that he had his moments of insecurity and weakness, but his ability to play it off was something you aspired to. You wondered if it was years of living in the spotlight, or something that was just quintessentially Daniel.

“Just like when we agreed to this, we’ll come up with a plan. And like before, if we get a few races in and we need to re-evaluate how this works, we’ll do it. Compromise is key.” 

The smooth voice of the flight attendant came over the PA announcing boarding for first class members interrupted your thanks, Daniel already moving to stand, reaching down to grab his backpack. You watch him as he moves towards the gate, heart in your throat. He only gets a few steps away from you before he turns to stare back at you in confusion.

The look you give him must be one of pure panic, as he quickly paces his way back to you and crouches down. His hands grasp at yours sitting limply in your lap, and squeezes them gently.

“I got you, baby. Always.”

And with that, you let him pull you from your seat.

Next Chapter >>

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I am having way to much fun writing this to stick to regular posting schedule right now, so here’s another chapter! As always, reply to this post to be added to the tag-list for the next chapter and all following chapters!

Hope you guys are enjoying it so far! Next chapter: Aussie GP and news breaks of DR’s mystery girl...

[levi-my-beloved]

Birds of a Feather

Chapter 4

Parings: Canon!Levi x F!Reader

Content Warnings: Violence, torture, this one gets a little spicy y’all, descriptions of sexual acts, hints of abuse (please let me know if i’ve missed any)

Word Count: 14.8K

Summary: You were the most notorious criminal in The Underground City. With your organisation of highly skilled professionals, only one man could take you down. He also happened be be Humanity’s Strongest... and your ex.

Previous Chapter

First Chapter

A/N: well, you guys wanted it all in one post! this is by far the longest chapter, yet, and possibly the longest chapter in the entire fic maybe? i’ve caught myself up now with the progress of writing, since i’ve only completed one part of the next chapter so chapter 5 won’t be out within the next three days like these last four have been. i’m thinking i’ll need maybe a week? not sure, but the next part has a little flashback section which i hope you’ll all enjoy!

god these a/n’s are really long aren’t they? asdfghjkl sorry i’ll make the cut off now. hope you enjoy!!!

𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔𖣔

Whether it had been thirty minutes or thirty years, you couldn’t tell. Struggling to stay conscious as the four soldiers brought your limp body back to your cell. Your legs no longer work, gathering dust as they drag across the ground. Your abdomen and back were on fire. You were convinced. They had simply thrown you into hell to cook for a bit before dragging you back out. There was no other explanation. Other than the countless, seemingly endless beatings you had just taken. Whether your legs were tired or if your spine was broken, you couldn’t tell as they tossed you back behind bars, removing the rope around your wrists. You didn’t have the strength to fight back. Didn’t have the strength to even raise your head as they left.

Broken, split ribs sent agonising jolts of pain as you shifted in a lame attempt to curl up into a ball. You hadn’t cracked like they’d wanted you to. You hadn’t screamed, cried, begged them to stop. And you wouldn’t. When they came back for you, you would hold your tongue once again. You had never broken in the past. Whether you’d been compromised during an assault on a rival gang, or whether it was one of your mentor’s training exercises to get you used to torture. You had never broken.

You weren’t about to start now.

Still, the throbbing in your body prevented you from sleeping. You didn’t know what time it was. Time had escaped you during that ordeal. You didn’t even know what time of day it was, pretty sure it was night when they had come for you.

Fuck, your body ached. But you knew comfort was a long way from here. It always seemed so far away from where you were. Did you ever have comfort?

You lay there for god knows how long, seconds turning to minutes, minutes to hours. Hours could have turned to days for all you knew.

When the now familiar echo of footsteps reached your ears, you didn’t move. You didn’t care. Whoever it was could rot in hell for all you cared. Wishing death upon these fucking soldiers was the only thing keeping you from giving up right now.

“The bed not good enough or something?” Levi. Shit. The one person you didn’t want to see you like this.

You didn’t answer, choosing instead to try and count as many marks on the wall as you could. It helped to keep your focus off the dull throbbing coursing through your body.

“Oi, ‘you seriously still asleep? It's almost midday,” the singing of metal caused you to wince slightly as he rapped on the bars in an attempt to wake you from a sleep you weren’t in.

“Get the fuck u—” You had a vague idea what caused him to stop his impending barrage of insults you knew were about to flutter effortlessly from his mouth, and you couldn’t tell if you were thankful or not. On the upside, you didn’t have to hear whatever colourful language he was about to spew. On the downside…

“What happened to you…?” it was the second time he’d asked that question, but from the tone of his voice, you could tell this was less a passing thought and more of a question prompted by horror.

Levi froze. His breath caught in his throat. He had expected you to be awake by now. To be up, with that crooked, cocky smile on your face. In fact, he’d half expected you to be leaning against the wall, the door flung wide open as you twirled the keychain around your finger, simply begging him to ask you how you’d done it.

The last thing he expected to see was you, on the floor, curled into a ball. The shirt on your lower back riding up enough for him to see violent, deep purple bruises, blood steadily streaming from your spine and lower back.

Still you refused to answer, or even move. Filthy fucking soldiers, you fucking hated every last one of them. How fucking dare they? How dare they string you up like a piece of drying meat. They had no idea what you’d been through. What you’d had to do to survive. How dare they assume.

And yet,

And yet there was still that little voice in your head. That little kernel of doubt, convincing you that you deserved this. You had killed so many. So much blood was on your hands.

You deserved this.

You didn’t even notice Levi had entered your cell until a hand rested upon your shoulder.

“(Y/N)—”

“Don’t fucking touch me,” your reaction was instant. Instinctual. Immediately wrenching out of his hand, throwing yourself forward. A yelp escaped your mouth without your permission, fire igniting in your body as you moved so suddenly. It caused you to falter in your movements, landing harshly on your side. “Shit!” your voice broke as you yelped, agony flaring in your entire midsection, hand flying to clutch your side as you backed up against the wall. “Don’t fucking touch me,” there was no conviction in your voice. It was more of a plea than anything. If you had raised your head to look at him, maybe you would have laughed at his expression of twisted shock.

But instead you let your hair fall in front of your face, masking your own expression. Teeth grit in silent pain, eyes screwed shut.

Levi’s worry turned to outright unsettling fear. Over the last two days, he’s witnessed you more broken than he’s ever seen you before. He remembered sitting up with you after you’d woken from one of your nightmares. The two of you sitting on the floor against the wall, sharing a cup of tea to not waste resources. He’d seen you angry. He’d seen you upset. But he’d never seen you shattered.

“(Y/N)...” you’d forgotten how soft his usual bored voice could sound. Even after yesterday, you hadn’t heard that tone from him in years. It was borderline unnatural.

It prompted you to raise your head ever so slightly, glaring at him through thick, matted (H/C) strands. You refused to let your guard down, even though the sight of him squatting before you, eyebrows gently creased with suppressed worry almost made you relax. But you weren’t about to be taken away and tortured again.

Any scrap of trust that may have manifested yesterday during the carriage ride and your conversation had been crushed.

“Get away from me,” you looked feral, bearing your teeth animalistically as you snarled. Though it didn’t seem to deter him. He knew a dog only bared its teeth when it was wounded, fearing to be hurt further.

Levi sighed through his nose as he stood. You flinched at his movement and watched as he made more of a conscious effort not to startle you. Your eyes squinted in suspicious confusion as he took a small cloth from his pocket and started running it under the tap.

It seemed the faucet did work. Good to know.

Returning to squat in front of you, his eyes flickered from your face to your abdomen.

“Show me,” he instructed gently, and you almost obeyed him. Almost.

“Go fuck yourself,” you spat instead, bringing your knees closer to your aching body. If you hadn’t been trained to withstand pain, you would have cried out as your abdomen begged you to stop constricting your muscles.

“I’m trying to help,” your ears caught the slight irritation in his tone, but you didn’t care. He could kick you for all you care.

Actually, you really didn’t want him to do that.

“I don’t want your help,”

“You need it.”

“Burn in hell, Levi,” it was the first time you’d actually used his name since you said it back when they first apprehended you, and Levi couldn’t deny that it cut deep. A sentiment he masked with a frustrated exhale. Clearly he’d expected resistance. Either that or he was just as tenacious as he used to be.

“Well, I'm definitely not going up,” he responded, that same softness in his tone and despite your situation, you couldn’t help the slight huff of amusement. It seemed to put him at ease too, content you weren’t about to lunge for his throat.

Slowly, you uncurled from your position, visibly wincing as your torn, beaten muscles relaxed. Levi took this as permission to inch closer and you felt a small appreciation for his trepidation.

Still, you couldn’t help but flinch every time he moved too fast. A simple reflex stemming from your training. It wasn’t really something you thought about, but it prompted the raven haired man to freeze every time you moved.

You refused to meet his eyes as he gently lifted the fabric of your shirt, hearing his breath hitch slightly.

“Holy shit…” He breathed. You hadn’t seen how bad your body was damaged, but judging by his reaction;

It sure as hell wasn’t good.

Levi felt he could kill someone. Actually, a lot of someones. Shit, when he finds out who was responsible for this he would make sure they wished they were never born. The same rage he felt when seeing you flinch for the first time once again coursed through his veins, and this time, he didn’t think he could just let it simmer.

“Who did this to you?” you blinked, his question caught you off guard. Didn’t he know? How didn’t he know? Surely every soldier in the damn military would revel in the idea of you being tortured all night. You clenched your jaw, refusing to respond. You didn’t know why you were being so stubborn. Maybe it was the sheer principle of not wanting to show any sort of weakness in front of him.

In fact, now you thought about it, it was definitely that. Whether Levi sensed it or not, he chose not to press you for an answer. Perhaps he did already know.

You hissed as the cold, damp cloth gently soothed your inflamed skin, glancing back to his face. You hated the way his focussed expression calmed your heart. Loathed how that crease in his eyebrows eased your whirling thoughts. Despised how, from this angle, you could see just how annoyingly attractive he had become.

“Can you move?” he asked, silver eyes rising up to meet your own. The low torchlight highlighted the heus of deep blue you knew he had hidden away. You pretended you looked away because you couldn’t stand the sight of his face, rather than the reality.

You were far too tempted to lean up and capture his lips.

“Yes,” Levi couldn’t tell if you were lying, shifting slightly to help you move but stopping immediately when you flinched away.

“Lie on the bed,” for the first time in ten years, you were compelled to follow an order. You weren’t even obedient towards Viper most of the time. But nonetheless, you found yourself struggling to your feet, an arm braced on the wall behind you.

Clearly respecting your independence, Levi took a step back, allowing you to find your own way. If you weren’t slightly delirious from the pain, you would have missed a kernel of respect flashing in his expression, before he swiftly turned away, washing the cloth again as you collapsed onto the so-called ‘mattress’ with a hiss.

Levi rung the small cloth out onto the floor, focussing on the way the droplets collided with the stone, rather than the way every movement you made caused you obvious pain. Once again, every fibre of his being was screaming at him to cradle you in his arms and whisper soft nothings into your ear. He wanted you to fall asleep next to him, your face buried in the crook of his neck. He craved to feel your soft hair through his fingertips, gently coercing you into dreams. It hurt so much that he could see you, but he couldn’t have you.

Turning to face away from him, you once again shrivelled into a ball. You didn’t want this. You didn’t want any of this. You just wanted to be left alone. But the dip in the bed behind you told you that wasn’t an option right now, muscles tensing on instinct.

he didn’t ask for permission this time as gentle fingers gripped your shirt, dragging up to reveal your brutalised back. If you could see his expression, you might have even been afraid. Darkness shrouded his face, teeth grit in utter hatred. A muscle in his jaw twitching from the effort of clamping his mouth so tightly.

His first touch felt like you’d been shocked by the static that built up on the bed clothes. The damp cool gliding across the welts and bruises across your back. Balling your hands into fists, you refused to make any sound. Still having the mindset of not wanting to give anyone the satisfaction of hearing you in pain. It was a mindset you didn’t think would leave you for a while.

Levi worked in silence, allowing you to settle and almost relax after a while. You wanted to trust him, but you didn’t. Not really. However, right now, you trusted him not to hurt you further. Simply content to relish in the way he soothed the pain. It didn’t come naturally. Every time he pressed too hard it took all your strength not to lunge for his throat, but he would stop upon hearing your sharp intake of breath, waiting for you to settle before continuing.

After what seemed like an eternity of silence, you finally broke it with a question that had been budding in your mind.

“Why are you doing this?” your voice came out a rasped whisper, almost as if you hadn’t used your vocal chords for weeks. You were sure he wasn’t going to answer, opting instead to simply continue to clean your bruises. Another blanket of quiet had settled over the two of you before he responded.

“I don’t know,” he lied. Levi wasn’t sure why he lied. Honestly, he thought it was obvious enough. He still cared about you. So fucking much. It burned him to see you in so much pain. He’d never felt the mind numbing fury he felt when he saw what they’d done to you.

You weren’t really happy with the answer. If anything, it simply gave you more questions. But you were too tired to press for more. Almost too tired to notice when he’d stopped. Pulling your grimy shirt back down to your waist, you felt the mattress rise as he stood. You didn’t turn. You couldn’t turn. After the night you’d had, the exhaustion from the last 24 hours finally catching up on you.

Noticing how you were almost already asleep, Levi decided to throw caution to the wind.

You felt a soft caress through your dirt ridden hair, the action sending a pleasant buzz through your system. It was an action so familiar to the both of you, you wondered why you kept flinching away from his touch when all it did was gently drain you of energy.

“Sleep.”

You didn’t have time to contemplate his tone before the comforting nothingness claimed you.

꧁ꨄ꧂

Levi hadn’t been this angry in a long, long time. Sure, he’d been annoyed. When a solider made a stupid mistake or when a cadet didn’t know how to clean properly. But he hadn’t been this furious in years.

Maybe since the deaths of Isobel and Farlan.

It was obvious when Levi was in a bad mood. Sweeping through the headquarters like a storm. Cadets could almost feel his presence before they saw him, swiftly making themselves busy as he paid no attention to any of them. He had one goal in mind. One destination. And he didn’t even knock when he got there.

“Out. Now.” it wasn’t an order to disobey. When he opened the door to Erwin’s office, revealing a small meeting, Levi didn’t think twice to dismiss them, even if they were his superiors.

“Levi, what’s—”

“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll all leave the room for the next half an hour. Maybe longer depending on how this conversation goes,” his swirling eyes met Erwin’s and he swore he could detect the slightest fear in the man’s gaze.

Good.

He should be afraid.

Without so much as a mutter of goodbyes, the squad leaders and section commanders all dispersed, leaving the Captain alone with the Commander.

Erwin was the first to break the heavy silence.

“I’m assuming this is about Raven?” his voice didn’t waver, seeming to have regained his composure from the initial shock. But Levi wasn’t here for a dainty conversation. The unbridled rage pulsing through his bloodstream clouded his vision, almost seeing red.

“Did you know?”

“Levi—”

“Did. You. Know?” Levi hardly ever raised his voice. Usually it was only out in the field or on a mission, and that was only because it was easier to communicate that way. Keeping his bored, flat tones when slicing open the nape of a titan didn’t seem possible.

Erwin pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a deep, defeated sigh.

“Yes. I knew. But Levi, you have to understand—”

“I don’t have to understand jackshit. Don’t you think she’s been through enough? She’s led a life being treated like an animal and now you’re allowing her to be beaten like one?”

“It’s necessary, Levi.”

“It’s barbaric!” Erwin had never heard such venom in his voice. Not even when he vowed to kill him all those years ago. He’d seen Levi’s rage. Witnessed it from afar. The way he tore through flesh like it was paper.

Never did he think he would be on the receiving end. Leaning forward, the blonde folded his arms against the desk, clearly conflicted.

“I know this is a difficult subject for you. You two grew up in the same environment, it would only be natural for you to care for her,” the conniving bastard. Levi borderline snarled at the statement. He did care for you. Deeply. But Erwin didn’t need to know that.

“But please listen. As I mentioned before, ties between the Military Police and the Survey Corps are taut. Any discord between us would cause them to snap. I already tightened them further by not allowing them to execute her publicly. I thought if she joined the Scouts instead, not only would we gain an asset, but she would also be able to survive. That didn’t sit well with Niles. He wants her to pay for what she’s done. If not by death, then by various other methods. This was the only way to keep both parties happy, Levi. Trust me,” Levi was starting to lose what trust he had in the man.

Whilst yes, his explanation made sense, it still didn’t sweeten the blow. How long would this go on for? Would they take you everyday, or just some days? How badly would they hurt you?

As if able to read his mind through his knife-like glare, Erwin continued.

“It’s only for this week. Whilst she’s in her cell. They don’t have permission to permanently damage her, only—”

“Only break her ribs and crack her sternum. Yeah, I saw,” he responded bitterly, folding his arms as he leant against the door. Fuck this. Fuck him. Fuck them.

Levi had never been so conflicted. Whilst the sight of you, beaten and broken, had shattered him, he also knew it was for your own good. It was this, or death.

He didn’t like the second option much.

But the memory of what they had done had burned into his skull. Running his fingers down your prominent, bruised spine. So fragile, but so goddamn strong. Muscles spread disproportionately about your abdomen and shoulders. Your stomach was concave for fuck sakes. And they were still beating the shit out of you.

It made him wonder. If he wasn’t so lucky…

Would he have received the same treatment?

Would he have been thrown in a cell and tortured for a week?

He doubted it.

Erwin waited for Levi to gather his thoughts. Waited for him to say whatever he was going to say next. He had expected Levi to find out. Had expected the man to have some sort of reaction, but nothing quite to this extent. Maybe there really was something deeper between you and him that Levi was keeping to himself.

“So this will continue for a whole damn week?” Levi asked, almost exasperated, running a hand through his obsidian locks. This was a nightmare. All of it. Nobody deserves this treatment. Not even Kenny, but especially not you.

It was Erwin’s slow nod that had his stomach dropping.

“Yes,” he replied quietly. “This will continue for the whole week.”

That was all Levi needed to hear. Whether it was right or wrong, he was powerless to stop it. Turning on his heel and heading back down the halls to his office, he tried to push the images of your broken body and spirit from his mind. Maybe he was hoping you were the same bright eyed, mischievous woman you were before he lost you ten years ago. How had so much changed since then?

How much had you changed so much since then?

He no longer saw that spark of life in your eyes. No longer able to bask in your genuine smile.

If he hadn’t seen so many young, hopeful souls shattered by the paralysing fear of facing a titan, or the desperate heartache of losing a loved one, he’d be surprised.

But he wasn’t. Not at all. Who knows what you have had to do to survive? Who knows just how much of yourself you’d had to sacrifice to get where you are now. But he wouldn’t accept that you were gone.

He would never accept that.

But from the looks of you, only a small fragment of your true self remained. Levi thought he was over being hurt by the changes in people he somewhat cared about.

Maybe he was wrong.

꧁ꨄ꧂

The week was gruelling. Taken from your cell at night and being subjected to both physical and mental torture was one of the toughest things you’ve faced. It was brutal, having to fortify both your mind and body nightly against the blows from the MPs. Sometimes it would change. Sometimes the original four switched out. Sometimes they had an observer. But every time was horrific.

You were sure you’d be dead by now if Levi didn’t visit daily to soothe your broken and cracked bones. If he didn’t ask his monotonous questions, all of which you either responded to with something sarcastic, or silence.

Very few times you actually gave a real answer.

Unlike this time.

“How did you get that scar?” It was always the question he started with. Always wanting to know what happened to you during the time he was away, and that scar down your right eye.

“Don’t you ever get tired of asking that question?” you huffed, tucking your elbows beneath your head.

“Don’t you ever get tired of not answering it?” since you’d seen him everyday since you arrived, you were beginning to relearn all the tells you knew he had, but had changed over time. For example, this smallest lilt in his voice when he found something amusing. He waited for your body to stop twitching as you laughed silently, before resuming the treatment of the damp cloth.

“Not really, it’s fun listening to you get more and more frustrated.”

“As charming as ever, Raven.”

You didn’t know how you felt about him using your alias rather than your name. You knew you’d asked him to, or rather, harshly told him to, but he’d used your actual name a few times since then. But you didn’t want to ask, not wanting him to feel uncomfortable.

You let the quiet blanket the two of you, debating whether or not to answer. You’d refused him everyday, but as more time passed, the more you remembered just how much you’d loved him.

“There was a rival gang in the neighbourhood next to ours. Always fighting us for territory or supplies. Honestly, I wanted them wiped out, but Prongs insisted that would make us far too many powerful enemies,” Levi had paused as you started the exposition, genuinely surprised you’d actually decided to give him a full answer, rather that the usual “I entered a sword headbutting contest” or something equally as ridiculous.

“We were at each other’s throats for years, never really landing a solid hit on the other’s gang, until the bastard managed to take one of my Shadows, Diablo, alive. I owed those people everything. They took me in when you—” you managed to stop yourself, but not fast enough for Levi to avoid feeling the gut punching guilt he felt whenever you accidentally mentioned him leaving. You really didn’t mean to, you were just used to talking more openly about it.

“Uh, sorry. Yeah, they took me in, so I owed them a lot. Plus, I’d known them for years by now. I trusted them and they trusted me. I wasn’t about to abandon her,” Levi could hear your conviction and resolve in the cadence of your voice, and silently wondered when you’d become so strong. He’d almost forgotten he was supposed to be treating you badly damaged back, until you hissed slightly. Looking down, he realised he’d pressed a little too hard with the cloth against your tender skin.

“Shit, sorry.”

“‘S’fine. Just concentrate, yeah?” despite your condition, you still had it in you to crack cocky jokes. Levi had half the mind to swat the back of your head with his cloth, but he decided to be merciful.

You left it a beat before you continued.

“Anyway, I didn’t have a choice. But it turns out, all the creepy bastard wanted to do was to make sure everyone knew I wasn’t untouchable. Then maybe we’d stop having smaller gangs ally with us. I let him scar my face, and in return he gave us Diablo back, completely unharmed. It was really fucking weird now that I think about it,” Levi pondered this for a moment, before another question popped into his head.

“What happened to him?”

“Who?”

“The creepy guy, idiot.”

“Call me an idiot again, I fucking dare you.”

“What will you do? You can hardly stand.”

“I don’t need to stand to beat your sorry ass.”

Shit, he’d missed this. This playful banter between the two of you. He’d missed it so goddamn much.

“He found one of my blades stuck in his throat pretty soon after,” Levi grunted in approval, a small smile bloomed across his face at the thought.

Good.

Creepy son-of-a-bitch.

The two of you continued in a comfortable silence for a short while, before your slightly mischievous voice cut through it again.

“Okay, my turn,” you sounded far too nonchalant for his liking, Levi narrowing his gaze to the back of your head.

“Your turn?”

“You’ve been asking me questions for the last few days, and I haven’t asked you one once,” if Levi didn’t know better, he’d say you were almost pouting. He was tempted to turn your head to check, but it seemed you still weren’t entirely comfortable with the whole being touched thing.

He hadn’t asked you about that yet.

“Alright, alright. One question.”

“How come you get countless and I only get one?”

“Call it a Captain’s privilege,”

“Pffft, Captain my ass,”

“Just ask your stupid question.”

You laughed at his feigned frustrated tone, knowing he was loving this as much as you were. You allowed yourself to think about how you wanted to phrase this.

“Are they still here with you? Farlan and Isobel?” you had been slightly hesitant to ask this, since he hadn’t mentioned them once. You didn’t know them personally, only seeing them fleetingly when Levi would usher you into his room, or having sparing conversation with them when Viper sold them that ODM. And judging by his pained silence, you now feared his answer.

“Yes and no,” your question had definitely caught him off guard. He didn’t even think you remembered them, so for you to ask after them was a little out of the blue. Hence why he opted to mimic your response from a few days ago.

You had clearly caught on.

“The hell does that mean?”

Levi realised he probably couldn’t tend to your back and tell this story at the same time. He was going to need all his strength to suppress the torrent of emotions he knew he was about to unlock. Sensing his change of tone, you slowly shifted so you were sitting next to him, making sure you didn’t move too quickly or awkwardly so as to not irritate your painful back.

You searched his features in the silence, partially hidden by the bangs you used to love running your hands through. You couldn’t help but wonder whether or not they were as soft as they used to be.

“It was my fault,” he admitted quietly. You hated seeing Levi like this. You’d only seen him like this once before, when Kenny abandoned him. You vowed you would never let him feel like this again as long as you were by his side.

This is what happens when you’re separated.

“What was your fault?” you gently prompted, not wanting to push him, but rather wanting to let him know that you were willing to listen.

“It was our first expedition. I was naive, agreeing to let them come with us, rather than the original plan which was for me to go alone. Raven, the reason I— the reason we left, was because we were recruited for a job, and killing Erwin Smith was part of that. But none of us knew what to expect beyond the walls. We’d trained but, we didn’t know what to expect when facing an actual titan,” you didn’t press further when he took pauses or longer breaths. You were happy he was comfortable enough with you now to even tell you this. “Everything was going smoothly. Too smoothly, and it wasn’t long before it all went to shit. I lost sight of them when the storm hit, losing them in the fog. I was completely powerless to stop an Abnormal. Shit, I didn’t even know it had passed me. I just saw bodies and limbs everywhere and knew I had to turn back. By the time I got there, it was too late. They were both gone,” Levi’s fist clenched into a ball, taking his focus away from the pain in his chest to the one in his palm. He didn’t even realise his eyes were closed until he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. He stiffened under your touch, not quite able to believe how far the two of you had come in such a short amount of time.

“I’m so sorry I wasn’t there, Levi,” he didn’t really understand what you were apologising for, or why you felt the need. Afterall, it was him who left you.

“I vowed after that day I wouldn’t have any regrets. Some jackass said that if I did, their deaths wouldn’t mean anything. But I knew I would always have one. I knew I would always regret leaving you behind,” Levi looked to you through his bangs, an expression of guilt etched into his hardened face. You forgave him at that moment. You forgave him for everything.

“I’m here now, aren’t I? And whilst I may not be the same girl you left behind, I still have her memories,” your hand slid from its position on his shoulder to rest over his heart, feeling it flutter within his sturdy ribcage.

Levi faintly wondered if he was dreaming. If you could feel his heart rate increase with every touch.

“That’s why you said yes and no, isn’t it? Because they’re not physically here, but they are here,” Levi could do nothing but nod, his eyes trained on your face like a hawk. He wanted permission. Begged for it through his dark, swirling eyes. Screamed for it in the way his eyes flickered to your lips, your face so close he could smell that scent of freshly baked bread you’d always carried with you, even beneath all the filth. A few centimetres further and you would have what you’d wanted for ten long years. What you both have wanted.

“You sound ridiculous,”

“Your fault,” he could feel the flutter of your breath against his face, wishing nothing more than for you to close the distance.

Levi slowly brought his hand from his lap, his palm rising to cup your cheek.

It didn’t even get close before you flinched, eyes darting to his raised hand.

And just like that, all the tension dissolved. As if you hadn’t been busy getting lost within the storm that were his irises. Levi pulled back, as if he himself had been struck.

“I’m sorry… I wasn’t thinking,” he rose from his position next to you, wanting nothing more than for the ground to swallow him whole.

How could he be so damn selfish? It was obvious you couldn’t do anything like that right now. Maybe not ever. And he was getting way ahead of himself. You had already said the girl who loved him was dead, he couldn’t even think how or why he would assume just because your body was present, your mind was as well. Just because he was willing, why would you be willing as well?

Except you were.

So. Fucking. Willing.

And you cursed yourself for these instinctive reactions. Every sudden movement had your mind flashing back to training. Back to Viper’s brutal learning methods. It wasn’t even that much longer after Levi left you were made the Raven. After Viper’s death, it was almost instantaneous. But that didn’t stop those seven months of brutal punishments to leave a permanent scar on your psyche. You wished you could find your voice to reassure him that you’d get over this.

But you couldn’t.

And Levi was once again the first to speak.

“I should go. I’ll see you tomorrow Raven—”

“(Y/N),” you corrected him. After countless times of him calling you by your alias, you didn’t think you could stand it anymore. Levi raised his brow, seemingly a little confused by your interruption. “I’m not The Raven anymore. Technically that title belongs to Prongs now. So it’s just (Y/N),” despite the awkwardness of your recent encounter, you still felt that familiar warmth blossom in your chest at his softened smile, and quietly wonder if anyone else ever saw him smile this much.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, (Y/N),” you returned his expression, before lying back down on your side. This was your last night in your cell, before you’d be free to join the Scouts. You silently scoffed at the irony of that statement, but nothing could quell your small candle of hope as you listened to Levi’s footsteps get quieter and quieter. Maybe things weren’t so shit up here after all.

꧁ꨄ꧂

“You know, Raven, I’m going to miss our little nighttime meetings,” another harsh blow to your stomach sent you reeling, eyes screwed shut in both pain and defiance. They were trying everything they could to break you tonight. Blood running freely down your abdomen. Fresh bruises now blossoming over the wilted petals of previous nights.

Still you refused to break. Solid walls of spite had erected around your mind, and they wouldn’t be cracked or broken. Not by anything. So you took it. You took your punishment, only opening your mouth to hurl obscene insults or vile curses in their direction. Mocking the way they struck, laughing at their lack of strength. It only resulted in harsher blows, but it was worth seeing the frustration on their faces when you didn’t scream in agony.

“You know who you remind me of like this? I only made the connection a few nights ago. Strung up and beaten like your good-for-nothing father,”

That struck a chord in you. Your eyes flew open, staring at the ground in horror. This is what had happened to him? They had taken him and beaten him? Was he still alive? Was he here somewhere?

The man, who you’d dubbed Dirt, answered all your questions with his next jab.

“A shame he only lasted a few days. You on the other hand… you’re much more fun to play with,” a feral grin sliced through his face as he circled you, drawing back to land three excrutiating blows against your lower back. You grit your teeth, fighting back the tears that threatened to spill from your eyes. You didn’t think you had a heart to shatter. You didn’t think any of it remained for it to be broken again.

The MPs had taken two father figures from you.

That grin still adorned Dirt’s face as he went to swing the metal bat again, only to be interrupted by the door behind you opening. Dirt’s eyes narrowed, before whoever it was seemed to please him. God you couldn’t wait for the day where you tore that venomous smile right off his fucking face.

“Captain Ackerman. To what do we owe the pleasure?” you froze. What the hell was he doing here? Why did he always have to arrive during the moments where you really didn’t want him to see you.

But you weren’t expecting to feel a kernel of hope as he spoke.

You weren’t expecting the small smile that etched into your sweat slickened face.

“I was sent to observe. Since she’ll be joining the Survey Corps, I’m here to ensure you don’t break her,” Levi sounded as bored as ever, and you almost huffed a laugh.

Dirt scoffed, in irritation that he wouldn’t get to sever your spine with brute force.

“Very well. However, I must ask you to stand back. She swings like a stallion’s cock sometimes,” If it weren’t directed at you, you would have laughed at the comment. In any other situation, it would have been rather funny.

Just not this one.

Levi had never felt so sick. As soon as he walked in, seeing you strung up like that, helplessly, he had to force down the instinct to rip every one of these torturous bastards to ribbons. He’d never had to have such a tight hold on his emotions in his life, because if that hold slipped…

This would become a blood bath.

“Anyway Raven, where were we?” he asked, though the question was rhetorical. You knew he remembered. He was just trying to provoke a response out of you. But knowing Levi was here gave you a strength you weren’t expecting.

Looking up through your hair, you shot a glare through the thick, matted strands.

“Choke on your own blood, fuckface,” you spat, kicking weakly towards him. It wasn’t the show of defiance you’d wanted, but it seemed to get the message across. You were prepared for whatever consequences there would be for such a demonstration.

The repercussions came immediately. Roughly digging his fingers into your chin, Dirt forced you head up to look at him, his face a picture of mock amusement.

Levi’s jaw clenched.

“Come now Raven. Not trying to impress Captain Levi now, are you?” your eyes flickered over to Levi, his expression unreadable, grey hues trained on the two of you. A rumble of laughter echoed around the chamber as Dirt took in your spiteful expression. “Now I’m left wondering, how somebody like you could come from somebody like your pathetic father. How somebody so defiant, so fucking strong,” —he harshly jabbed at your stomach with the hilt of his bat— “Could be the daughter of somebody so weak,”

“Shut the fuck up,” you rasp, hot fury surging through your veins. How fucking dare he? How dare he insult your father this way. He was a good man. An honest man. He did nothing wrong. Nothing to warrant his or your mother’s death.

“Hm. No, I think I’ll keep talking. This might finally break you.”

“I’ll fucking KILL YOU,” the hook keeping your arms above your head creaked as you thrashed, trying to free yourself to wrap your hands around his goddamn throat.

“You should have heard his cries. His pathetic whimpers as we carved into his flesh. They were… amusing.” No. This wouldn’t be your downfall. You refused. This wasn’t it. You would not be broken by this.

“At least tell me what he died for. At least tell me why you took him, you shit-eating pig!” you spat viciously, trying once again to get free. It was infuriating more than anything. You had so many questions, never knowing why your parents had been killed. Why you came back to your house in disarray, crimson staining the floorboards as your mother’s blood drained from the gash in her throat. Your father, nowhere to be found.

Though he managed to keep his expression neutral, Levi thought back to your father. For the short time he knew him, he was a kind man. He did what he could for the people around him, always feeding those who looked starving. He was convinced that was where you got your compassion from. Why the hell would they take him and torture him?

“Why? He didn’t tell you? Interesting. Your father knew the location of The Nest long before you became our problem. You thought it was a coincidence Viper just happened to take you in? Please, this job was enjoyable enough, don’t make me laugh with your naivety as well,”

“You’re lying. My father was a baker. He was a good man. He wasn’t involved in our criminal shit!”

“Have you noticed a pattern in your life, Raven? Have you noticed how we tried everything to prevent you from falling down this path?” your jaw flickered at Dirt’s tone, mocking you as if they had done you a service.

“We thought your father would introduce you to a life of crime, so we got rid of him for you. When you fell into the care of Viper; well, we got rid of him for you as well,” his smile was snake-like as flashes from that night plagued your mind. Pressed up against the wall as your mentor was savagely dealt with. Begging at them. Screaming at them to stop. To let him go. Only for them to raise a rifle to his head, and paint the wall with his blood.

Dirt imitated a gun with his fingers, putting them up to your forehead.

“Bang.”

Slowly, you stopped thrashing, though the hatred in your veins didn’t cool. You simmered silently, raising your eyes once again. No tears. No sorrow. Nothing but feigned indifference flickered in the low light.

Dirt looked at you for a moment, eyebrows creasing in irritation as he stepped back, twirling the bad in his hands before repeatedly cracking it against your empty stomach. Levi only just managed to control his breathing as he watched helplessly, flinching subtly as every blow connected with your too-skinny body. Clearly Dirt was taking out some intense frustration. He’d just managed to compose himself when the bastard’s eyes turned to him. That fucking smile poisoned his features as he extended the handle of the weapon.

“Captain Levi. She killed a few of your men, did she not? Why don’t you see if you can break the whore?” You almost scoffed in amusement. Levi wouldn’t do that. Not to you. Not after everything the two of you had been through.

You’d finally found each other again.

You were so sure.

You were so sure of yourself.

You were so sure of him.

You’d rekindled that trust over the last week.

You’d rekindled something you thought was dead.

You were so sure.

Until he took the handle.

And the white hot knife of betrayal twisted into your gut once again.

Fuck.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck.

What the hell was he supposed to do?

Shit.

The weight of the bat felt ten times heavier than anything he’s ever held in his life. The weight of what he was about to do.

Fuck.

As excruciating as this was to watch, he knew it was ten times worse for you. He knew every blow, every crack, was undoing hours of hard work soothing your aches and bruises. Each thud against your body sent jolts of electricity through him. Nerve ends alight with adrenaline, heart beating as if he was about to fight every single one of these bastards just to get them away from you.

Still you have not broken. He couldn’t pinpoint the slight warmth in his chest, couldn’t comprehend what it was. Was he impressed? Surprised?

Proud…?

Levi wasn’t sure if the look of soul shattering betrayal in your eyes was worth it as his hands gripped the cool metal, slightly slickened with your blood.

He would explain it to you.

He would.

Once you were back in your cell, he would tell you why he did it.

But for now, his glare only darkened as he stepped forward. He couldn’t stand the expression on your face. Confused bewilderment, as if trying to work out what he was thinking.

Levi begged you to stop. Stop looking at him like that. Stop trying to work him out because not even he knew if this was the right thing to do.

It was almost a relief when your wide eyes clouded with heartbreaking realisation and acceptance.

A hiss escaped your lips at the first crack. Somehow, this felt more painful than anything those pitiful soldiers could do. Your eyes screwed shut, jaw clenched so hard you were afraid it would shatter into a million pieces.

Each blow felt so precise. So measured and controlled. It stung your heart more than anything else. You’d been betrayed. Again. For the second time in a week. Betrayed by the two people you’d ever loved. Scarlett, who’d picked you up when you were sure nobody else could. Who nursed your broken bones and your broken soul.

And by the first man who ever held your heart.

And truthfully, still did.

Was that all this last week had been?

A ploy just to fuck with you. To earn your trust only to immediately shatter you once again? To break your spirit? Granted, nobody knew the nature of your relationship between you and Levi, but that didn’t matter. The man you loved had just stabbed you in the back.

Again.

So much had happened in the last week. So much had been brought to the surface. It would take years to unpack it all, not that you had any intention of doing that. You just wanted it all gone. To bury it with your fathers. To never think about it again.

You were dragged from your thoughts by a shock of agony sparking up your spine, stemming from your lower back. It was Dirt’s favourite place to attack. Whenever he thought you were being too feisty, too aggressive. He would land as many blows to your lower back as he saw fit.

Admittedly, you doubted Levi knew you’d been snapping back spitefully all session before he arrived, but that didn’t quell the raging fire of hatred as your lips parted without your permission.

A broken cry of anguished agony wracked from your chest, chilling the air of the humid chamber.

Levi froze, horror flashing across his usually schooled features.

He’d broken you.

Levi had broken you.

And with it, any bond he’d managed to salvage over the last week. Any bridge he’d started to rebuild now came crashing down around him.

That one well placed crack had ripped away at your resolve, exposing the tired, hurt, beaten girl beneath.

The room seemed to have stilled. All falling into quiet awe at what had just happened. A slow clap split the stagnant air as Dirt walked up from where he was leaning against the wall. Levi was tempted to turn the bat on him, but he found himself unable to move.

“Your reputation precedes you, Captain. Striking her lower back like that after leaving it to simmer? Genius! We should have asked you to join us earlier,” Dirt cackled in delight as he produced a knife from his pocket. Reaching up, he easily sliced through the ropes binding your hands.

Stone rose up to greet your body as you fell uselessly to the ground, legs too weak to hold you.

“Oh dear. Are you dead? Maybe you and your father had more in common that I originally thought,”

“Enough.” Dirt’s jeering was interrupted by the no-bullshit tones of Levi, causing the soldier to whirl around. He’d finally managed to find his voice, once again reining himself in.

“But Captain Levi, Sir, she’s The Raven. Don’t you think she deserves some extra time with us tonight?”

“If you don’t leave now I’ll make sure it’s you who won’t be able to walk. Go,” you couldn’t tell if this was a blessing or a curse. If he was an angel or a demon.

Actually no, scratch that.

He was a demon, and this was a curse.

You couldn’t find it in yourself to move as you heard busy footsteps around you, assuming the four horsemen were gathering their effects.

“I do hope you make her crawl back to her cell, Captain. We all know your reputation for cleanliness. It would be a shame to dirty your hands touching this filthy whore,” Dirt drawled one more savage insult, before you heard his echoing steps get further and further away. You hoped the day would never come where you had to see his face again.

The silence in the room now was suffocating. You could both feel the emotions radiating off each other now the MPs were gone. He could feel your loathing, and you could feel his disgust. Or what you thought was disgust. What you assumed was disgust.

How could he not be disgusted? He must be. To do what he just did. You didn’t understand why he would come down everyday and help you if he felt such hatred towards you.

No, that’s a lie.

You did understand.

But that truth hurt so much more than anything else tonight.

It had sowed the seed of doubt in your mind. You knew you weren’t a good person. In fact, to most soldiers and nobles you were a devil. But you’d always clung onto the hope that everything you did was to help people. You stole medicine, you slit the throats of rapists, you provided weapons to those who didn’t have enough to fend for themselves.

There was a small part of you that truly believed you were doing good.

That small part had just been crushed, along with several bones.

Gathering what little strength you had, you extended a limp arm in front of you. Fuck it, you weren’t going to sleep here on a floor soiled by your own sweat, blood and saliva.

You would crawl if you had to.

“(Y/N)...” all he wanted to do was hold you. All he’d wanted to do since he’d found you again was hold you. He’d been so close yesterday, but he’d fucked that up.

Now he was sure you’d never willingly let him hold you again. The bat fell from his hand as if he’d realised it was covered in poison, heart clenching at the way you instinctively threw your arms above your head, terrified of some other attack.

You hated how his voice carried so much comfort. Hated how it soothed your raging mind. God you wanted nothing more than to rip his fucking tongue out and make sure he never spoke to you like that again.

A gentle hand landed on your shoulder, forcing you to stop.

“Get… get the fuck… off me… Get the fuck off me,” you couldn’t fight back as he tucked his arms under your legs and upper back, wincing as he lifted you into his grip. “Don’t… Don’t fucking touch me,” there was no strength left in you to push against him as he carried you back, but that didn’t stop you from weakly hitting the arms that held you.

You didn’t understand. One moment he was savagely beating you, and the next he was cradling you against his chest, holding you close as he took you to your cell.

Laying you down, he hoped you understood why he did what he did. It was a fool’s hope, he knew.

He realised you definitely didn’t understand when you started fighting back.

With a sudden surge of strength, you lunged for him. It was a weak attack, and you didn’t really know what you were trying to achieve as you threw yourself towards him with a cry of anguished rage, but you also didn’t care.

“I fucking trusted you,” you spat in between your flailing limbs. It really didn’t take long for Levi to pin your arms either side of your head, hovering over your body.

“(Y/N), stop,” He tightened his grip on your wrists as you struggled against his hold. It would have been a real test of strength for both of you had you not spent the last week having the life beaten out of you. You were weaker than you’d ever been, and he was taking advantage.

“I was right the first time. You don’t get to call me that. You don’t ever get to call me that. You sick, twisted BASTARD. So that was why you lied to me. That was why you didn’t tell me why you were helping me. You fucking coward, is that all you were doing? Convincing me I was safe with you? Tricking me into thinking you still actually cared about me you filthy fucking LIAR,” you barked a mirthless laugh, baring your teeth in a visceral snarl. “I swear to you Levi, I will not fucking stop until my knife is buried your goddamn THROAT!” you struggled again, twisting as much as you could beneath him, trying to free your arms, your hands, anything that could help you take him down.

He deserved this. He knew he did. Levi looked into the burning betrayal in your eyes and knew he deserved this. He would take every verbal blow you threw at him because he knew he deserved it. But he had to explain. He didn’t care. You could hurl whatever you wanted at him, but he wouldn’t leave until he had the chance to explain himself.

Then he would never see you again.

If that’s what you wanted.

“Just calm down, for a minute, please,” you hadn’t heard him beg like that in a very, very long time. Shit, you fucking hated what it did to you. In this position, your wrists held above your head, his arms caging you in, his legs either side of your hips...

The room suddenly felt far too warm.

“What could you possibly have to say to me? I fucking trusted you. You disgusting son-of-a-bitch. I can’t believe I actually thought—“

Levi finally lost his temper.

“What? You thought what? That just because we found each other again we’d play happy families? Grow the fuck up, Raven,” he spat your alias, finally releasing all the fury he’d pent up. He knew this was a mistake. None of this was your fault. He’d been angry with how you’d been treated. Utterly beside himself at Erwin.

And you were taking the fall for it.

“I didn’t lie to you, I didn’t have a fucking choice. If anyone saw me treat you any differently, they would start to question it. They would question why I was showing pity to a criminal. The Raven, no less. And I can’t—”

“Oh I’m sorry, I would hate to ruin your reputation, Captain,” you struck back with just as much venom. Just as much fury.

“Let me finish. I can’t let them get to you anymore than they already have. It was either them or—”

“Because I’m just so import—” you almost cried out as the grip on your wrists tightened, knowing they would leave yet another bruise on your body.

“Let. Me. Finish.” Levi narrowed his eyes, returning the glare you were holding on him and not continuing until you yielded, finally looking away and clamping your mouth shut. “It was either them or me. I could let them continue to beat the shit out of you mercilessly, or I could do it myself. I could try and make it better. I couldn’t fucking watch that shit anymore. I couldn’t fucking stand it. Those filthy bastards laying their dirty hands on you. Hurting you. Shit, you were half dead when I walked in. I was scared you were for a moment. Terrified they were just beating a corpse. But you’re so much stronger than I ever gave you credit for. They never fucking broke you. And they never will. Because if they touch you again, if they fucking look at you, I will go the the ends of the goddamn earth and tear them apart, because I care about you,” Levi hadn’t noticed he was panting. He hadn’t noticed the tears slipping down your cheeks. He didn’t think his self hatred could sink any deeper, but now he’d made you cry silent tears.

Loosening his grip on your wrists, he looked at you as though he’d been responsible for your murder.

“So, it was mercy? That’s what’s considered merciful up here?” you couldn’t really believe it. Twice in two days Levi had spoken more to you than you thought he ever did back when you belonged to each other. You didn’t think you’d ever sounded so small. So vulnerable. “Let me ask you this, Levi. Was it merciful on me, or merciful on you? Because you sure as hell didn’t make things better for me,” despite the quieter volume, your voice was still harsh.

But you had to know.

You wanted nothing more than to pull him in and thread your hands through his hair. To feel his body against yours. For his heartbeat to lull you to sleep. But you had to know whether he did this for you, or himself.

You understood now. You really did. And put in the same situation, you didn’t think you’d do any differently.

“Honestly…? Merciful to me. I couldn't bear it. I tried. I tried so fucking hard. But I couldn’t let them hurt you anymore,” his voice was no louder than a choked, guilt ridden whisper.

That’s all you needed to hear. Slipping your wrists free of his hands, you reached up. Cupping the sides of his face, you brought him down to you, since you couldn’t exactly sit up and go to him.

As soon as your lips returned home to his, you couldn’t stop the few tears from escaping your closed eyes.

Levi’s own eyes widened, and he was suddenly convinced he was dead. Was this actually happening? After everything he’s just done, everything he’s just said.

You forgave him?

When your tongue gently skirted his bottom lip, he decided contemplating forgiveness was something for later. Terrified of hurting you further, he rested his weight on his elbows, finally closing his eyes. He’d wanted this for so long. Since he laid eyes on you for the first time in ten years, he’d wanted nothing more than to envelop your mouth with his own.

With your eyes closed, you didn’t mind when his hand came up to gently caress the apple of your cheek. You didn’t mind when you opened your lips for his tongue to hesitantly slip in and explore your mouth, that slick muscle moving against yours. You didn’t mind when his hand travelled down to cup the side of your neck, tilting your head up to deepen the kiss.

Neither of you wanted to break away, having waited far too long for this moment. You reveled in the groan he emitted down your throat as your left hand found its way to his undercut, gently scratching and caressing in desperation. You hadn’t heard that sound in so long and you instantly craved more.

Levi’s eyes rolled back into his skull behind his closed lids, feeling your hands in his hair. God, he didn’t want to fuck you in a cell, but your hands and tongue were making it difficult for him to control himself.

He was the first to pull back, instantly missing the warmth of your mouth.

“I don’t understand,” he breathed, looking down into your eyes. You could see the swirling confusion in those sterling orbs as they flickered in the low light. You could see the arousal in his dark pupils. Feel it against your inner thigh. You wanted to take him right here and now, but not only did you acknowledge the fact you were literally in a prison cell…

You weren’t sure you were ready. Not yet. Not after everything.

“Levi… if you had done that for my sake, I would have shattered both your kneecaps,” you earned yourself a gentle laugh, his thumb coming up to smooth down your eyebrow. “But you didn’t. I know you feel selfish, and I know you hate yourself for it, but I also know that it was either that, or you beat them to death with that goddamn bat. I know you, Levi. You haven’t changed much yourself,” your left hand came back, softly carding through those ebony bangs.

Levi felt like he could fly. Felt as though you’d returned the wings he’d lost when he thought he’d never see you again.

(Y/N), I want to apolo—”

“Shut the fuck up.”

With that, you stretched up to capture his mouth again, instantly feeling like you’d come back home. You didn’t care about the surge of pain coursing through your abdomen and back. That’s what he was to you.

He was home.

You felt his length twitch in his constraints as both your hands found purchase in his hair, gently tugging at the black strands.

“Fuck…” he breathed into your mouth, his hips bucking involuntarily as you sucked his lower lip between your teeth.

You kept having to consciously remind yourself that you are in fact in a dank, filthy cell. And enveloping him between you increasingly slick folds was wildly inappropriate.

Levi thought it was entirely unfair how you were managing to drag whines and moans from him with nothing but your fingers and teeth. So he decided it was his turn to give something back.

His hand travelled down your body, almost instinctively finding the crease in your thighs. He swallowed his own groan of ecstasy as his knuckles grazed his arousal, opting instead to focus on the way your hips rose to meet the pads of his fingers, gently rubbing your swollen, clothed clit. His circular motions drawing out those small whimpers he’d craved to hear.

“Mmn, L-Levi... ACK, fuck!” your moan of pleasure turned into a small cry of pain as your abs contracted, sending yet another lightning bolt through your system. Levi withdrew his hand immediately, eyes instantly clearing and recognising your signs of discomfort.

“Shit (Y/N), your back,” you felt your heart swell at his concern, though internally cursed yourself.

“‘S’fine,” you insisted, rising up once again to grasp his lips with yours, only to be met with thin air and you ex(?) lover looking down at you.

“No, it’s not. C’mere,” Levi sighed and lifted himself off you, careful not to cause you any further damage. He looked for permission before gently turning you on your side, as if your tongue hadn’t been down his throat less than thirty seconds ago. He cursed his erection, finding himself a little hindered by it as he walked over to the faucet, allowing himself a few moments reprieve before removing the handkerchief from his pocket and running it under the tap.

Though the mirror was cracked, he could still see his slightly swollen lips, distorted against the spider webbing fractures. Could still see the mark you’d left on his face. Shit, he wished for those marks to be left elsewhere. His mind wandered back to the way you used to settle between his thighs, teasing him until you got him to crack. He loved the way you could coerce broken pleas from his throat. Adored the black-blue bites you left on the inside of his thighs, before your warmth enveloped him. Your flexible muscle flicking up and down his sensitive length, running over that prominent vein he hadn’t felt you caress in too long. He missed feeling the vibrations of your chuckle when he begged for you to let him cum. When he felt his balls tighten with release, and yet you denied him still.

But most of all he missed tasting you. He missed the way your arousal freely leaked onto his tongue. He missed the way your hips rose to meet his fingers, that breathy gasp when he found your hidden spot. The begs and cries you made when you wanted him to let you cum. When you whined for his dick to replace his fingers. Fuck, he missed the way your thighs locked his head between them as he brought you to climax with nothing but his tongue flicking over you little, sensitive button. Over, and over, and over again.

“Having trouble?” you grinned from your position on the sorry excuse for a mattress. You’d managed to turn yourself over to watch him, disregarding any agony you felt. You wouldn’t miss this for the world. You wouldn’t miss seeing Levi all riled up and unable to focus simply because of the administrations with your mouth.

“Shut up,” he grumbled, turning the faucet off and ringing out the cloth in the sink. You chuckled at his tone and his predicament, loving every second of it. Though you couldn’t miss the small glint of amusement in his dark eyes. “Oi, turn back ‘round. ‘Need to get to your back,”

“I bet you do,”

“(Y/N)...” he warned, with no real malice in his tone. If this was any other man, you would have lunged at them for taking that tone with you. But this was Levi. Your Levi. You knew he would never hurt you. Not unless absolutely necessary.

Case and point: hitting you with a bat to avoid a murder charge.

Begrudgingly, you tore your eyes from his face, haphazardly twisting on the mattress to face away from him.

“Hm, good girl,” Levi purred, eyes gleaming at the way your thighs clenched in reaction. But any spark of arousal was swiftly extinguished, when your body twitched away from his as he took his seat behind you.

You clenched your eyes shut, hating yourself for the reaction you couldn’t control. You didn’t blame Viper for your now primal fear. You knew he was just teaching you what you needed to know, but he had no fatherly experience, and possibly caused more harm than good.

“‘M’ sorry, it’s not you, I promise. I just—”

“No. No apologising. It’s not your fault,” you nodded, not trusting your voice not to crack if you spoke up now.

Levi thought hard about how he wanted to do this without causing any more reaction from you. Attempting to keep his mind from wandering too far, he tried to understand what made you comfortable enough to bring him onto your mouth. To gently tug on his lower lip. To thread your hands through his hair and--

“I have an idea… (Y/N), watch what I’m doing,” you did as he asked, turning your neck as much as you could to watch the movements of his hand. You tensed as his palm hovered over your side. But when you didn’t feel anything, you unscrewed one tightly shut eye, peering at him curiously.

“(Y/N), can you raise your body for me, just to reach my hand?” this might actually work. Levi had been wracking his brains for a way for you to feel comfortable again with touch.

Hesitantly, you slowly raised your body to meet his fingers, almost freezing as you felt no reaction. You didn’t tense, you didn’t instantly balk under his touch.

You hadn’t cried in years, and yet throughout the course of this long, long night, you had cried twice, the corners of your lashes growing damp as a tear slipped down the side of your face.

Growing increasingly concerned by your lack of response, Levi was about to move his hand from your side, but was immediately stopped by your own fingers covering his.

“Don’t. Stay. Don’t move away,” his heart burned at your broken plea, his worried expression softening in slight relief.

“I won’t. (Y/N), I’m not going to touch you without your permission. Ever. But, if you’re comfortable with it, we can do this. If you’re happy with this,” Levi gently moved his thumb against the fabric of your shirt, caressing your side. Your choked laugh of happy disbelief caused his small smile to broaden ever so slightly.

“Yes. Yes i’m happy with this,” still having trouble believing this was truly happening, you closed your eyes in bliss, allowing a few more tears to escape.

“Okay, I’m going to move your shirt up, alright?” your heart sung at his sincerity, nodding silently once again as you felt the fabric of your shirt bunch up ever so carefully. You loved how he always made you feel so precious. Nothing was precious in the Underground, but somehow he always made you feel worth diamonds and gold. You’d forgotten what that was like, until the damp cloth once again soothed your aching welts, chasing away the throbs of pain.

Those spears of guilt once again plunged into Levi’s heart as he saw what they had done to you. What he’d done to you. You were always so forgiving when it came to him. You always have been. He could lock himself in his room for days, not speak to you for hours on end and you would always be there to hold him when the pressure finally cracked. Always there to soothe him when he opened up after long weeks of isolation. When those memories of his mother dragged up again. When the day Kenny left forced him to hide away until he couldn’t take it anymore.

You always forgave him.

And could always sense what he was thinking.

He came back to the present when your hand squeezed his, as if you knew where his mind had taken him.

“It’s okay, Levi,” your soft reassurance broke his heart.

“I should be saying that to you,”

“Go on then,” you retorted, not even trying to hide the mischief in your voice

Levi chuckled, moving his hand from under yours to stroke your hair.

“It’s okay, (Y/N),”

“I feel thoroughly reassured,”

“Tch, shut up brat,” god, at this point your heart could have been a choir. Singing once again at the soft amusement gently lacing his tone. But you internally cringed as fingers threaded through your grimy hair, reaching up to move it away.

“Levi, don’t. It’s fucking filthy,”

“So’s your face but I recall sucking on it a few moments ago,”

“Levi!” you couldn’t believe he’d just said that. He was never one to make such jokes. But you couldn’t deny you loved it. Loved his low, breathy laugh at your indignant call of his name.

“What? Am I wrong?” you couldn’t see his slightly cheeky smirk behind you. Or the way one brow raised in feigned curiosity.

“Well no, but—”

“Didn’t think so.”

“God you’re insufferable. Anyone would think you’re— OW!” you turned to look back at him in mock anger. He didn’t actually hurt you, and by looking at your swiftly disintegrating expresion, Levi was able to decipher you were just fucking with him. Rolling his eyes, he continued his administration with the cloth, watching fondly as you settled back down.

You only spoke again when that hand in your hair started moving.

“Levi, seriously, it’s gross. Just focus on my back,” when he didn’t reply, you once again twisted back to look at him, unable to decipher the expression on his face.

“Stay here,”

“Like I’m in any condition to move, asshole,”

“Tch, don’t be difficult. I’ll be back in a minute,” with a final caress of your head, Levi chucked the cloth back into the sink before standing to his feet. You were a bit of a sorry sight, lying on your side, shirt ridden up to reveal your bruised, still bloodied back. He’d managed to gently scrub off most of the crimson staining your skin, but he wanted to provide you with just a little more comfort, if he could.

You didn’t even try to escape when he left the door open. Too tired to move. Your limbs felt like lead everytime you attempted to shift, exhaustion clinging to your bones like shackles. You didn’t know how long you waited, but you felt yourself start to drift in and out of consciousness, unable to help yourself marvel at how easy it would be to slip into a deep sleep. Your mind was far too heavy to sift through the lake of emotions you’d found yourself submerged in. Just as you were about to succumb to the call of rest, your faultless alert system brought you back to consciousness, adrenaline injected into your veins as you shot upright at the sound of footsteps.

“Calm down, it’s just me,” your brittle nerves settled at the sound of his calming voice, heart leaping when you saw what he carried in his arms.

Levi had brought everything he thought he would need. A small metal basin containing a small flannel, a wash-cloth, a small cup, the shower soap and hair conditioner from his own quarters and a large towel to spare the mattress of the water. Kicking the cell door almost closed with his foot, Levi crossed to the sink once again, setting out the contents on the cracked porcelain before filling the basin.

He left the faucet running, turning back to you with the town folded on his arm.

“Gonna need you to move if we want to set this down,” you raised a suggestive eyebrow, mouth pulling into a small smirk. Levi rolled his eyes. “Not like that, brat. Unless you want to sleep on a damp mattress. It’s up to you, really,” the amused spark in his eye betrayed his neutral, blank face as you gently shimmied down the bed, making a space for him to set the towel down.

You watched as he removed his jacket, mouth watering ever so slightly as his shirt clung to his back, unable to tear your eyes away from the movement of his muscles. They had certainly developed well.

“Oi, stop ogling,” he smirked to you over his shoulder, earning a sly grin from you in response.

“Can’t help it,” you chimed, eyes flicking to his forearms as he rolled up his sleeves. Fuck, if only you weren’t in a jail cell. Or utterly filthy. Or just not ready for that yet.

If only you didn’t have a thousand things stopping you from pushing him against the wall and engulfing his cock in down your throat.

But for now, you just had to settle with undressing and fucking him with your eyes. Something that clearly didn’t go unnoticed, if the way he writhed slightly under your pinning gaze was anything to go by.

“Stop looking at me like that,” Levi tried to steer his thoughts away from his length stiffening once again. Fuck, the way you were staring at him, he was starting to feel hot beneath his shirt, despite the naturally cool temperature of the room. Your heated chuckle only fueled the flames.

“Aw, why? Are you hard?” you teased, raking your eyes up and down his figure, lingering on the small tent in his crotch. You shifted slightly, almost groaning as the mattress below you rubbed against your swollen folds.

“Tch, obviously. And I’m not going to deal with it in this filthy prison cell, so don’t make it worse brat,” Levi marvelled at your laugh. A proper, head thrown back laugh. He couldn’t stop the fond smile spreading across his face at the sight.

“Alright alright, I’ll stop eye-fuckinig you,” you managed to say, after regaining some sort of composure.

“You’re filthy,”

“Isn’t that why you’re about to bathe me?” you tilted your head slightly, watching him lift the basin from the sink after turning off the faucet. He didn’t deem your comment worthy of a response, opting instead to look back at you with a blank, deadpan expression. Tucking everything else under his arm, Levi returned back to your side. He thought for a moment about how he wanted to do this before, wedging the water basin between his legs.

“Lie back, place your head on my lap. Gonna’ wash your hair,” he instructed, busying himself with getting the small, brown bottle of hair soap. But he paused upon sensing your hesitation. Looking back to you, he searched your face, before slowly bringing his hand up.

You shied away, closing your eyes instinctively, almost bracing yourself for the contact that never came.

“Hey, not gonna touch you without permission, remember?” you opened your eyes to see his hand hovering next to your cheek. He was waiting for your next move, and you could see the slight hopeful spark in his eye.

So slowly, you tilted your head enough to gently nuzzle into his palm, your own hand coming up to keep him against your face.

Levi smoothed the skin under your eye with his thumb, trying his damndest not to let any tears well up in his eyes.

Unbeknownst to him, you were attempting to do the same. Not wanting him to see you cry for the third goddamn time tonight. But it became impossible when he said something you didn’t know you needed to hear.

“I missed you so much, firefly,” your breath hitched in your throat at the old nickname. He’d only ever use it in the softest moments in the Underground. Stroking your hair whilst lying in his bed. Staying up and keeping you company when you’d shoot awake from a nightmare. He was never one for nicknames, so one day when he, out of the blue, called you his firefly;

you’d almost cried.

Your eyes widened, hand gently squeezing his own to ground yourself. You let out something halfway between a laugh and a sob.

“I missed you too. So, so much,” you hardly had to move forward before your face was nestled in the crook of his neck, his arms slowly tucking you against his body. “I missed you so much,” you whispered again.

Levi didn’t think he’d ever been this happy, at least not for a long, long time. Ecstatic you felt comfortable enough to let him hold you. Though he was usually so good at keeping his feelings to himself, so much had happened over the last week, he felt the walls to his emotional dam cracking ever so slightly, a few tears lining his closed eyes. He could feel the collar of his shirt dampen as you shed silent tears, his thumb rubbing small circles against your back.

Levi held you like this for what felt like hours. Content to just be in each other’s arms once again. In reality, it had only been a few minutes before he gently shifted you so the back of your head rested against his lap.

“Never known you to be such a cry-baby,” he lightly teased, gathering what he could of your hair and soaking it within the basin still wedged between his knees.

“I’m not. I haven’t cried in years. Literally. Probably since Viper’s—” you stopped yourself, not expecting the casual statement to hurt quite as much as it did. “Viper’s death,” you finished quietly, eyes avoiding any direct contact with his own.

Levi took note of your tone change, reaching for the hair soap. He was only vaguely aware of the relationship between you and the old Nest leader. Finding out through those vile MPs.

“Want to talk about it?” The tone of his question matched yours as he lathered the gel into your now cleaner locks to make sure the grime and grease was properly dealt with.

“Honestly? Not yet. Maybe not ever. I don’t know. I haven’t spoken to anyone about it. Not even Prongs, or Wolf, and they were his Shadows before mine,” you fell silent for a moment, before looking back to him. “How did you do it? How did you just… leave everything behind?”

Levi sighed at the innocence of your question. The raw guilt he knew you were feeling. Knowing you were up here, safe, warm, comfortable, whilst so many people down there were still suffering. Still dying from easily preventable illnesses.

“I didn’t. Not really. I still find myself thinking back to those poor sods down there. But I couldn’t think about it for too long, because I would find myself thinking back to you,” his hand stroked the top of your now damp forehead, smoothing down the wet locks of your hair.

The basin sloshed slightly as you nodded, disheartened by the fact that this feeling of suffocating guilt would probably never leave you. Levi saw this in your face. He saw the exact same swirl of emotions he felt when he knew he would never return.

But you’d left behind so much more than he did. You had a trusted group. A family who would only know what happened to you through the words of that young girl.

“They’ll be safe, (Y/N). He may be an asshole sometimes, but I trust Erwin. He wouldn’t break his word,” running his hands through your soaked hair, Levi gently teased the knots out with his fingers, easily gliding through the now freed strands.

His reassurance calmed your worries. Levi hardly trusted anyone, you only ever knew him to trust Isobel, Farlan and yourself. This Erwin guy must have really made an impression.

Reaching back to the small flannel he’d brought down with him, he began drying your hair, setting the basin to one side. You didn’t think you’d ever felt this pampered. This well looked after. You thought you could certainly get used to it. Returning your thoughts to the conversation, you exhaled a sigh.

“Yeah, I know. It’s just… My job was to take care of them. My job was to stop something like this from happening. Our entire operation was compromised because my shitty partner couldn’t get over some grudge she had against a boy she’d never met,” you poked his chest as he rolled his eyes, looking down at you with a brow raised.

“So it’s my fault?”

“I didn’t say that,”

“You implied it,”

“Oh don’t be so sensitive,”

“I wasn’t the one who cheated,”

You almost sat bolt upright at that, if it weren’t for him anticipating the movement. What did he mean ‘cheat’? You didn’t cheat. You would never cheat. Loyalty ran through your veins like blood, and if you weren’t so incredulous you would have spotted the smallest hint of mischief in his steely eyes.

“Wh— Cheat? I didn’t cheat. What makes you think that?” your genuine concern broke his heart, and he almost felt bad for teasing you like this.

Almost.

Taking your face in both his hands, Levi failed to suppress the fugitive smirk on his face.

“We technically never broke up, brat,” you breathed a sigh of relief, before turning back to scowl at him, tempted to lightly smack the back of his head.

“Don’t fucking scare me like that, asshole,” your scowl held no heat, too relieved that he was just being pedantic rather than actually implying you would ever be disloyal. But your glare melted away at the rumble of a chuckle emitting from his chest. You rolled your eyes, trying your best to feign annoyance and failing miserably.  

Removing the small towel from your now damp hair, Levi deemed it dry enough for you to sleep on without catching a cold.

“There. Think you can do the rest yourself? I don’t wanna… make you uncomfortable or anything,” it was your turn for your heart to break, his consideration for your comfort and wellbeing always seemed to be his top priority. You took his hand in yours, gently stroking your thumb over his knuckles.

“You’ve done more than enough,” earnest gratitude swam in your eyes and it was all Levi could do not to stoop down and kiss you.

Instead, he stayed put for a little while longer, stealing all the seconds he could. He’d realised, with you joining the Survey Corps, you two wouldn’t be able to do this anymore. The company you’d both enjoyed for the past week would be ripped away by expeditions, training and paperwork.

So he greedily took as much time as the two of you could spare, before you would inevitably have to part ways.

“I have to go, (Y/N),” Levi whispered, although every part of him was longing to stay, especially when your face slowly fell in realisation.

“I know,” you tried to mask your melancholy with a gentle smile, but your voice betrayed you, breaking slightly as you spoke. Neither of you wanted to be the one to move. Neither of you wanted to be the first to burst the protective bubble of familiarity you both knew you wouldn’t feel again for a long, long time.

But to save him from doing it himself, you were the one to shift, allowing him to rise from the bed.

“I’ll uh, leave all this here and collect it early in the morning,” Levi shifted slightly awkwardly on his feet, running a hand through his hair. You nodded, adjusting yourself carefully. Your midsection didn’t hurt as much, more of an echoing throb, but you were still cautious nonetheless.

“Right, yeah. Probably a good idea, before anyone sees,” you shrugged, avoiding having to look at his face. You knew it would break both of you if you’d asked whether there was any chance of him staying.

Just for a little while longer.

“I’ll see you soon… Raven,” you felt your soul crack as he replaced your name with your alias. You knew it was right. You knew it was for the best. But that wouldn’t stop every fiber of your being shattering.

Levi hated how you said nothing as he turned to leave. He pretended not to notice your heartbreak as he deliberately called you Raven. He suppressed the urge to pick you up and take you with him. To carry you to his bed and cage you in his arms as you both fell asleep in each other’s embrace.

He didn’t know your prolonged silence was because you were gathering your courage. Silently arguing with yourself over what was right and what was wrong until you stopped him by calling his name.

“Levi…” There was no turning back now. You took a breath, finally raising your eyes to meet his now on the other side of the bars. “I—” love you.

You immediately stopped yourself, finding those three words caught in your throat. You couldn’t say them. Shit, you couldn’t say them.

You were a coward.

“Thank you,”

Levi stayed searching your face. He knew. He knew that wasn’t what you wanted to say. Because that wasn’t what he wanted to hear. He let loose a breath he didn’t know he was holding, giving you one last look of badly masked longing, before turning away.

“Training starts tomorrow,” though the words themselves were cold, his tone was laced with mourning as his footsteps echoed out of earshot, leaving you completely and utterly alone.

Levi had managed all but three steps into the hallway before his name was called by an irritatingly familiar voice.

“Ah, Levi. Good. My office. Now, if you’re not busy,” Erwin had a way of saying ‘if you’re not busy’ that sounded like he was really saying ‘there is absolutely no debate in this, you could be bleeding out and missing an arm and I would still expect you in my office within the next five minutes’. Levi knew he didn’t exactly have a choice.

“Sure. Let me make some tea and I’ll be right there,” he knew he’d made a mistake. The look in Erwin’s cerulean eyes told him that the tall blonde had figured something out. Something dangerous that could compromise his relationship with you.

Actually, he’d probably figured out he had a relationship with you.

Shit…

He was in so much trouble.

[bloomingjungwon]

please write a heeseung college!au !!!! ♡♡

college!au heeseung

𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞: thank you for requesting! sorry if this is so long, i kind of got carried away and i was kind of inspired by one of my favorite blogger's writing style

major: cinematography (don't ask why, i can just imagine him being so into making motion pictures)

he'd probably minor in like north american or woman studies tbh

i can see him as a really quiet, doesn't involve himself in too many things, kind of student

doesn't really speak up when it isn't needed

but if it's a topic he's really familiar with, you can't shut him up

definitley the type of student to sit in the very front even if the classroom has like a billion seats left open

i also see him as the type to never be in the library, he usually just studies out on the grass or in a very underrated cafe.

lives off of coffee to the point his roomate!jake tells him he smells like coffee 25/8

you know how gym freaks take a shot of like protein powder before their workout? yeah that's him but with ground up coffee beans if he is in a rush and doesn't want to wait for his coffee to brew.

it's kinda funny, you don't know heeseung, and he doesn't know you. but you pass each other almost everyday because you also go to the same cafe as him.

like youre always leaving as he enters and like????

hello how r u not noticing such an amazing human being

but dont worry, ya'll meet some day

you're walking across your campus and the bulletin board catches your attention

amongst all the papers screaming "tutor needed" or "join our club", theres a flier SMACK DAB in the middle

"class do20 presents mini films at flint theatre this friday!"

and like, that peaks your interests

because you've always appreciated people's works

but you're kinda just standing in the middle of the walkway and staring at it , you don't realize someone standing next to you

"are you going to go and watch?"

you nearly jumped out of your skin cause like, who tf just talks to someone without getting their attention first

heeseung does

and now he's just staring at you waiting for an answer

"uh,, yeah seems kind of interesting. why? are you?"

"i have no choice to. i'm a part of it, i just haven't started on my film yet."

.... homie, the show is on friday and it's currently tuesday

silence

no words or expressions are exchanged and you're just staring awkwardly at each other

but in reality, you two are just silently admiring each other's features

"do you want to be a part of my film?"

your blank expression turned into a "wtf" kind of expression

"you want me, a complete stranger, to be a part of your film?"

he proceeds to tell you that it'll be a lot easier for him to work with a stranger since he'd most likely not mess around

because this boy needs to get his assignment done asap

and you kind of hesitate but then you're like "well, fuck it. sure"

and then he smiles. and holy

this guy has one of the most captivating smiles ever and you literally feel your heart stop for a small second

"let's get started today, if that's okay with you?" he suggests

and you agree and tell him you have one more class, but he can meet you at a cafe you're usually at

and now it's his turn for his heart to skip a beat because he's talking to an attractive person who just willingly agreed to help him on his project AND goes to the same underrated cafe???

but before he can say anything.. you're already walking away

and now he's just standing there dumb and love struck

but yeah heeseung is already at the cafe thirty min early while he waits for you, camera out facing the door, waiting for you to enter

catches you on film as you walk inside and he kinda just watches you in awe as you're scanning the room to find where he is

you give him a small smile and wave and in that moment, heeseung knew what title he was giving his film

you take your seat and you're like "so, what would you like me to do?"

and heeseung just asks you to do whatever you would usually do at the cafe

and you're like oh sweet. that's easy.

so you ask him what kind of coffee he wants and when he tells you, you stand up to leave and order coffee

he films everything

from you standing in line awkwardly, you picking at your nails, scrolling through your phone, ordering... literally everything

you come back holding both cups (which of course he films too)

"i usually just do my homework while i'm here, but i don't have a lot today"

"that's fine. you can just do it, and if it's okay, i can ask you questions to get to know you better."

"yeah that's okay with me. i can multitask well. i think."

that earns you a chuckle from him

he angles the camera at the end of the end of the table, focusing on you

and ya'll just do homework together and learn new things about each other

like how you eat pizza with a fork and knife because you refuse to get your hands dirty

which heeseung reacts with "do you need professional help?"

but homie blurts out he lives and breathes off of ramen noodles and his roomate!jake has to restock for him every two days

and you're like.... "you're the one who needs professional help."

and for a couple hours

you guys are just goofing around and talking to each other as if you've known each other for years

homework done, three cups of coffee later, heeseung's camera runs out of battery so he calls it a day

chooses the next location to film

a dog park

so the next day, classes done, you meet him at the dog park, and even brought your dog

films you throwing tennis balls, petting dogs, and even you getting chased by a dog

laughs throughout the whole filming process but then internally regrets it because he notices it could probably be heard in the video

breaks it to you that he has enough content for his project

and lowkey youre kind of sad because you've had fun being around him the past two days but you keep it to yourself

"i'm glad i could help. i can't wait to see it heeseung."

loves the way you say his name and now he's sad too because he doesn't really have an excuse to hang out with you more

so ya'll part ways after saying bye

but it's not some dramatic "i'm never going to see them again"

cause ya'll run into each other again at the cafe the next day

and it's kind of unspoken but ya'll just silently agree to sit down with each other and work on homework

you, reading out of your textbook, and him working diligently on his laptop (shh he's editing his film)

and you kind of steal glances his way and he's just smiling to himself as he works

and that's because he loves the way his film is coming along, and he loves seeing you

because in that moment, you both realize you have feelings for each other

but once again it's unspoken cause you're both scaredy cats

you call it a day and say bye and him back

you guys don't see each other until the night of the film show

and you're like okay i'll tell him i have feelings for him after the show

little did you know, he was thinking the same thing about you

but he's up in the film booth sweating his ass off because he knows you're somewhere in the crowd

and all of a sudden he doesn't want to be there

"what if they don't like me in that way?" "what if they take my video the wrong way?"

internally and externally panics

but before he can grab his cd and break it, the lights turn off and oh shit the show is starting

tbh, the films from the other students were quite interesting and you were enjoying each one

but this uncomfortable feeling was forming in the pit of your stomach

were you anxious? nervous?

idk but you were anticipating heeseung's film

and finally on the screen appeared heeseung's picture and biography

you didn't even notice the smile growing on your face

you thought to yourself, what did he even name his film?

"love through my eyes"

....love??

does heeseung have feelings for me too? or did they switch up someone's film with his??

but nope, there was no switch up

you watched yourself on the screen, from you smiling at him at the first moments in the cafe, to you laughing at his eating habits, and to you being chased by the dog, audibly hearing heeseung's giggles

but you thought it was over until there were more clips of the both of you in the cafe

however, they weren't from the first meeting. the clothes you both were wearing were different

wait, isn't this from two days ago? he filmed us that day?

from a hidden angle, the camera caught you two stealing glances at each other when the other wasn't paying attention.

you looked at him with stars in your eyes, and when you went back to your textbook, he stole glances at you as if your were his entire universe

speechless, the film ended, and with his film being last, the show ended and the lights turned back on

you didn't even applaud, for you ran out of the building immediatley, looking for heeseung

and there he is at the entrance of the theatre just staring at his feet

looks up when you hear him running up to him

"so... the film" he starts

but you don't let him finish because you pull him by the shirt and kiss him

and he's shocked because what the fuck they're kising me?!?!

but relaxes and kisses you back

and yeah, that's how your relationship starts

and expect him to film you at random times

would probably treasure "love through my eyes" and play it as a surprise at your guys' wedding in the future

im crying

[likeastarstar]

The House Call

Summary: As a full time grad student and part time drug dealer, you have a lot on your plate and Namjoon being a shitty school project partner is NOT helping, ok?!

masterlist.

Okay, so you were a drug dealer.

Nothing major! It was just weed, which would be legalized quickly, given the way the rest of the world was going. It was just to get you through grad school, you only sold to friends. You kept your circle tight, not many people even knew you dealt. You were very selective, which is why when Seokjin asked to share your number with his friend, you were unsure. But he was your most reliable customer, so his friends must be too.

What made it even worse was that he apparently was too busy to meet up at your usual drop spot- insisting to pay extra if you did a house call instead. You agreed, obviously, but still. It was annoying.

You had things to do, there was a huge project due the next morning and your partner hadn't done his part of it. He looked smart enough when you were paired up- he had glasses and everything. How were you supposed to know he was lazy as shit.

A buzzing in your pocket interrupted your internal rant- who the hell was calling you this late at night?

"Hello?" You snapped, letting your bad mood seep through your tone.

"Uh, hi- I had a question about the project."

Namjoon- your project partner. Of course. You groaned, walking up the steps to the apartment complex to where you were meant to drop off the weed. All of your conversations with this new customer had been through Jin, a fact that you regretted deeply.

"Get it over with, you know you really should've done this sooner," You sighed, checking the apartment numbers twice before knocking on the door.

"I normally would've but I've been really stressed, ok?" He apologized, a shuffling sound coming through the line.

You rolled your eyes as the door in front of you opened, revealing-

"Namjoon," You gasped, taken aback. He was Jin's friend? What are the odds. You hung up quickly, raising your eyebrows dramatically, "What are you doing buying weed instead of working on our project?"

He looked shocked himself, towering over you with his phone still pressed to his ear. He was dressed more casually than you were used to seeing, his hair disheveled in a way that oddly looked better than when he tried to tame it.

"I told you I was stressed," He mumbled, "Come in. I didn't know you were a dealer."

"I didn't know you smoked," You bit back, rolling your eyes.

You pursed your lips but stepped into his place, looking around curiously. It was nice, decorated in a way you wouldn't have expected from a 20 something year old boy. His place was relatively clean, other than the multiple empty cup noodles placed in random areas and the insane amount of paper laying around, "is this all schoolwork?"

"I'm taking a lot of classes," He shrugged, "How much is it?"

"Uh- thirty," You answered, picking up the nearest piece of paper. It was for micronutrients in the human body. the human, a class you had taken two semesters ago on a whim. "No wonder you're stressed out."

He handed you the money wordlessly, trading you for the paper in your hand. You looked at him for the first time since you walked in, only now noticing the dark circles under his eye and the way he had seemingly bitten his lower lip raw. You groaned, feeling all of the annoyance you had minutes ago turn into sympathy.

You shoved the money in your pocket and handed him his weed, pulling your backpack off your back, "Get high, take a break."

"I can't take a break right now, I'm so fucking behind on all of my classes-"

"Chill, I'll help you. Light up, we'll work on the project together and then I'll help you on micro. I got an A in it, I'll tutor you."

So that's what you did, working through the mountain of shit he had piled up in his living room side by side. You never really noticed how funny he was before, both unintentionally and intentionally. He offered your own weed to you and you accepted, feeling nice and relaxed by the time you had gotten around to tutoring Namjoon on other subjects.

"Do you understand it a little more now?" You asked, looking up at him. He was sat beside you on the couch, thighs touching yours with an arm stretched behind your head on the couch. He nodded and frowned, correcting his work and leaning towards you to show you. "Y-yeah, that's right."

He smelt really good- like sandalwood and honey. You couldn't help but stare at the way he was sucking his cheeks in in concentration. Why the hell was this guy a environmental science major? He could be a model.

"You're a really fast learner," You noted, your voice soft and hazy, the way it always was when you were high.

"You're a good teacher," He mumbled, smiling sleepily at you.

He looked so cute you couldn't help it, leaning forwards to kiss him. Namjoon was caught off guard, freezing for a moment but his lips were soft and his skin was warm, drawing you in before you snapped back to reality, pulling away sharply.

"I shouldn't have done that," You gasped, leaning away from him awkwardly. You had to get out of here- eyes already searching for your belongings. Embarrassment crept up on your skin, heating your cheeks. Maybe you could blame it on being reallt fucking blazed, which you were.

"No," He said suddenly, catching your arm with a hand around your wrist, "I should've done it."

What?

"Why do you think I wanted to be your partner for this project?" He smiled, eyes lighting up in a cute way you hadn't noticed before.

"Um, because I'm the smartest person in class?" You guessed, playing with his large hand idly. His fingers felt good between yours, tingling shocks sparking in the places where his skin touched yours.

He laughed softly, nodding sheepishly, "That too- but more than a good grade, what I wanted was you. Part of the reason I'm so behind in class is because all I do during lecture is stare at you- you're not very good at controlling your facial expressions, did you know that?"

You pulled your mouth into a tight line, smiling awkwardly. It was true, you had been known to show every thought passing through your mind on your face. "Why didn't you say something sooner?"

"You're really scary," He shrugged plainly, as if it were just an obvious fact. "You yell at me a lot which makes me nervous and horny at the same time and I've been trying to figure out whether that means I'm a freak or not."

"It's a good thing I enjoy yelling at you," You noted, more to yourself than him.

"You can yell at me whenever you want, baby," He said jokingly, grinning down at you. Holy shit, he had really nice teeth.

You barely had time to process his words before his lips were on yours, leading the kiss this time. His hand cradled the side of your face, thumb stroking your still flushed cheeks delicately as his other arm wrapped around your waist. You placed your hands on his shoulders, squeezing the muscle under your palms and pulling him closer to you. Namjoon guided you onto his lap, holding you closer him. God- he was warm and strong and so, so soft.

His hands stayed in their polite place at your waist, kneading into the flesh of your sides with a purpose. Namjoon was a good kisser- an easy balance of dominant and soft. He knew where to push and pull, reading your body like it was second nature to him. First kisses could be awkward, but this one was perfect.

His tongue licked a tentative swipe along the edges of your mouth and you reached up to sink your hands in his hair, pushing his head to the side slightly as you parted your lips and allowed him to deepen the kiss. His tongue was soft against yours and he tasted like smoke and something sweet, your favorite strain of weed invading your senses.

"We should do this more often- maybe not the tutoring thing, but this- the kissing thing," He said, parting from you for a moment.

You nodded eagerly, pulling him back towards you, "Yeah, definitely- the kissing thing. Maybe if I give you enough time to stare at me outside of class, you'll do better too. I really can't date anyone below a 3.5 GPA you know."

"Okay, calm down," He pouted, narrowing his eyebrows at you, "I have a 3.8."

"I have a 3.84," You bragged, "Don't worry, I'll tutor you."

He stifled a laugh and began kissing you again. You smiled and reminded yourself to thank Kim Seokjin for asking you to make a house call.

(A/N: giiirrrl what the hell? I don't have a 3.84 in my program...maybe I should've gone into a creative writing grad program instead....LMAO)

[lovinkiri]

Okey, this may or may not be based on a real experience but... Could you write something about Bakugou and his demisexual girlfriend where they're in his house alone making out in the couch, cause she finally has the confidence to take that step, and then the thing kinda evolves to a dry hump BUUUT suddenly his parents arrive home. His dad walks in the living room sees them and gets silently shocked and traumatized (as both Bakugou and the girl) but since he's super cool he kinda distracts Mitsuki for them to not be caught by her.

If you do this I will seriously love you, but if you don't that's alright too. Thank u and have a good day!💜

Don't worry boo, I got you 😉 Sounds like you've got a lot of funny stores tho

Warning: Dry humping, heated make out session, cussing (it's Bakugou lol), etc.

Bakugou is +18!

Timing

Bakugou's hands found your thighs and pulled you closer, your body fitting against his so well. It wasn’t often your make out sessions were thus heated, but he wasn't complaining. Even if he ended up being blue balled, it was fine. The feeling of your lips on his and your hands tugging at hus hair, it was worth it.

It was about half an hour into it when you fully reeled back from the kiss. Of course, Bakugou was hard. He wanted nothing more than to fuck you into the couch cushions, to completely destroy you.

But he was a good boy and would never test your boundaries. You'd already explained your position. You were waiting for the right person and he could understand that. If anything, he found it respectable. And above all, he loved you and was willing to wait

So when you pulled back, he held back a groan and simply smirked at you. "Someone's feeling bolder than usual, yeah?"

You felt your cheeks burn and giggled. "Maybe.. Maybe bold enough to.. take this to the next level."

Katsuki's eyes widened a bit at the confession. ".. Really? You.. You're not joking?"

You watched a small grin slowly stretch across his face. "Mm, someone's excited to get some huh?" You rose an eyebrow.

He rolled his eyes and chuckled. "That's not it, idiot. It's that you trust me that much. That.. You know I'm the one. Cause that's how I feel about you." He looked away in embarrassment.

You couldn't fight the wide smile. "I love you, Katsuki."

"I.. love you too." He returns his gaze to you and you gently press your lips together.

The intensity of your kiss grew with every second and it wasn't long until you were desperately undoing Katsuki's shirt. He slid his hands under your skirt, gripping at your thighs.

"Katsuki, c'mon.." You whined softly, the throbbing between you thighs becoming harder to notice. And well, that wasn't the only thing getting harder.

He gave a cocky smirk. "Desperate? Why don't you do something about it?"

You took a minute to think before repositioning yourself over his bulge, rubbing your clothed clit over it.

Katsuki hissed under his breath, pulling you against his hips. The pressure pulled a gasp from you.

It was anything but soft, the way the two of you rut against each other. Years of built up sexual tension coming to light.

"Don't worry, Sweetheart, I- Gah, holy-!"

Both you and Katsuki yelped in surprise, Katsuki pulled his shirt on in a panic. "Shit, Dad! You weren't supposed to be back until six!"

"Kats, it's six-thirty! And please, dress yourself!" His father quickly turned away, allowing him the opportunity to pull the shirt on.

"I am so sorry, Mr. Bakugou! I-I completely understand if you don't want to see me around again!" You quickly stood up and bowed your head.

Masaru slowly turned around, finding himself almost traumatized. The sight of the girl he wanted to be his daughter-in-law on top of his son- He couldn't finish the thought.

"Um- Well.. This is uh.. Very natural and the two of you are adults now. So... please, just take it upstairs. I'll take your mother out to dinner."

Katsuki stood up and gave a quick nod. "Right. Thanks dad. C'mon babe, let's not embarrass ourselves.. and dad.. anymore."

He took your hand and lead you towards the stairs, the both of your faces hot from embarrassment.

"And Katsuki!" Masaru called out. The two of you turned around. Katsuki sighed, wanting to get away as fast as possible. "What old man?"

Masaru looked away before taking a breath. "Please- please use protection."

"Oh.. I.. I don't have any-"

"In your mother and I's room, second drawer in the nightstand."

Katsuki gave a grossed out face, knowing this indirectlylet him know that his father still needed condoms. "Ew, that's gross."

"Trust me, son, you can't feel as embarrassed as I do." Masaru sigh.

You smiled a bit. "Thank you, Mr. Bakugou."

"Of course. Just be safe and.. Not too loud."