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sapphicdarkficsrus · 2 years

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A Place Of Her Own

Warnings (18+ only): smut, mind control, coercion, dub-con, oral sex, collars+leashes, strap-ons

Summary: Wanda takes a different path towards getting what she wants from America Chavez, leading her to her sons, a new home, and you.

Wanda strode quickly down the street. Dreamwalking was…less than ideal due to how little time she could safely spend doing it, but more importantly she didn’t want to be leaving this universe’s Billy and Tommy alone for too long. A distressing number of universes had her as a single mother, and this one was one of them. Ideal in some ways (the last thing she needed was Vis asking difficult questions) but it meant worrying about her boys. Still, this opportunity was too good to pass up. America had landed in her neighborhood this time. No dangerous treks across a continent or country necessary. Not that there was much that could actually pose a threat to her, but no need to take undue risks with a body that wasn’t hers.

That was what she kept telling herself. Her very first thought upon discovering the Multiverse Traveler was to conjure and compel demons to hunt down the girl. It wasn’t like the girl could control her powers, and they presented a big risk. In theory it was for the greater good. But that was a flimsy justification, even to her own ears. Every time she thought about it, she also thought about Vis’ pain and dismay at her actions during the Hex. And that had been an accident, with her convinced everyone was happy and content with their new lives. Murdering a teenager girl was…a big leap from that.

But watching the girl had given her insight, and now Wanda was prepared to offer her an actual deal. “Excuse me!” She called out, waving her hand when America turned to look at her, the girl’s expression confused. “America Chavez, right?” The girl blinked rapidly, her expression growing a little wary but still primarily confused. “I’m Wanda Maximoff. Do you know who I am?”

“Yeah, I’ve heard of you.” America confirmed with a nod. “How do you know me?”

“I’m from another universe as well.” America’s eyes widened, but Wanda had to hurry to explain. “Not like you. I’m a witch, I’m currently possessing the body of this universe’s version of me. It’s a long story. I…” She bit her lip nervously, gesturing. “My family died, in my universe. I lost my sons. I was hoping that you could help me…find other versions of them. In an infinite multiverse I assume there’s a universe where I died but they didn’t.” America winced.

“I’m sorry, I don’t actually know how to use my powers…”

“I think you do, actually. Or, more accurately, that your subconscious does.” Wanda interrupted. “I’ve been watching you. Not spying!” She added hastily. “I don’t have audio and I never watch very long. I just noticed you when I was looking through the multiverse and you caught my attention. But my point is…you keep showing up in universes where food is free, usually in civilized areas, and where you can speak at least one language that everyone else speaks. You never get dropped in any universe where you can’t breathe, or where there’s a zombie apocalypse or dinosaurs, where the ice age never ended or global warming destroyed the Earth..” America blinked a few times, and Wanda had the feeling it hadn’t occurred to the girl. “I mean, this time you landed in the same suburb as an, admittedly retired, Avenger.” She pointed out, gesturing at her borrowed body. “I don’t know the source of your powers, but I believe that there’s something in your mind that knows what universes are what. An encyclopedia, if you will.”

America frowned thoughtfully. “But…you found me. Why do you need me?” Wanda nodded.

“A few reasons. One, I was able to find you because you’re a blunt instrument. You literally punch holes in the multiverse. It’s not particularly hard to track you. Secondly, I have extremely specific abilities. If it’s not something especially obvious, like your traveling, the only thing I can find is me. I’m looking for a universe where I’m dead, which makes things a little trickier. And thirdly, I can’t actually travel between universes physically. I can only project my consciousness. Which, again, makes things tricky given my goals.” She looked at America to make sure the girl was following all of this. “But, if you allow me to help you, I think I can teach you how to control your powers, how to find and select specific universes. “

“How would you do that, exactly?” America asked suspiciously. Wanda gave a sheepish look.

“I’m a telepath. I would project myself into your mind, and we’d do some…exploring, you and I. I wouldn’t be possessing you, more…guiding you through your own mindscape, to find the root of your powers.” America blinked a few times.

“...like a video game tutorial?”

“Not…unlike that.” Wanda conceded. “Also…I can provide you with something else on top of just making your powers easier to control. I think I can help you find your mothers.” America froze, and Wanda hurried to explain herself, twisting her hands nervously. “I didn’t mean to pry, You’re just very loud, psychically speaking. I’m afraid it’s actually hard to not listen to you on certain subjects and you think about and project them quite regularly. The minute I started talking about finding my boys, in fact.”

“You think you can help me find them?” America said numbly. Wanda nodded hurriedly.

“Yes. If we can use your powers to pinpoint specific universes, then I should be able to specifically search for them. They should stand out, because they won’t be native to whatever universe they’re in. They may even have some residue from your powers, though I can’t guarantee that.” America frowned, peering at her suspiciously.

“You really, really think I’m able to control my powers without realizing it?” She demanded.

“America, how many universes have you gone to?”

“...71? I think?” Wanda smiled kindly. “71 and you’ve never once appeared in a universe where you couldn’t breathe, or underwater, or 20 feet in the air? Yeah, I think I can help you. Would you like to start?”

“God yes.” America said quickly, eyes wide with youthful hope and optimism that Wanda hadn’t felt in years.

Two Months Later

You were sitting on the couch, watching Hercules with Tommy and Billy, when quite suddenly the door opened, seemingly unlocking and swinging open on itself as a woman walked through the doors. You stared in shock as Wanda stepped inside, the Avenger freezing when she saw her sons, tears welling up in her eyes. The dead Avenger. Killed in battle with some crazy witch with purple magic just a few years ago.

Except, maybe it wasn’t? You quickly stood up, hand going for a gun that wasn’t there. You never wore it in the house, especially when the boys were right beside you. Once upon a time you’d been a SHIELD agent, and when the agency had fallen apart you’d been given a job at the Avengers compound, as support staff. You’d become decent friends with Wanda, her go to babysitter even, so when she’d died you’d taken in the boys.

So you knew Wanda. And this…wasn’t Wanda. Or at least, not exactly. She was younger than she should have been, older than you still but not by as much. And there was something in her demeanor and eyes when she looked at her sons that felt…off.

Your suspicions grew more solid when she turned her attention to you and her expression grew upset and confused. “And who might you be?” She murmured. Hearing her voice solidified it. Her voice still carried a thick Sokovian accent, a trait you hadn’t heard from your Wanda since the boys were born. This was someone else. A Skrull maybe?

“Mom?” Tommy asked, voice weak and cracking. Both of the boys were staring at the intruder with a mixture of horror and hope. The not-Wanda looked back at them and nearly melted, which confused you even more. A Skrull wouldn’t so obviously love the boys.

“It’s me boys. I’m here, and I’m never leaving you again.” The woman said, voice thick with emotion. So much you almost felt like you were intruding. Which was ridiculous, she was the one breaking into your home. But still. “But first, I need you two to sleep.” You let out a cry as both boys promptly curled up and passed out on the couch.

“What did you do to them?” You demanded, dropping to your knees and shaking first Billy and then Tommy.

“I just had them go to sleep.” Wanda said, sounding angry at the accusation as she shut and locked the door behind her before waving a hand. You were immediately lifted into the air, gripped by an invisible hand as Wanda considered you, tilting her head in a way that was all too familiar and all too Wanda.

She turned abruptly from you to consider the sleeping boys, stroking first Billy’s forehead and then Tommy’s. “I’m going to have to fix this universe.” She says absently, staring at your (her?) sons like they were her world. “Just some minor tweaks. Children shouldn’t lose their parents. I’ll twist everyone’s memories or your version of me’s death. I won’t erase her, the boys should still honor her. Maybe we were triplets? I always wanted a sister. And I think I’ll make a town. New, from scratch this time. Safer than living here, better than trapping them like fairy tale princesses.”

Wanda let out a brittle laugh and turned to you. “Vis always said I was too impulsive, not good at looking before I leapt. Like with you…I don’t actually know anything about you. Let’s take a look.” Her eyes glow a smoky red and you let out a sharp cry as you feel her intrude into your mind.

For a few minutes there’s nothing but Wanda as she casually rifles through your brain, treating your life like a particularly interesting book. Eventually she pulls back, and there’s a soft look on her face now. Wanda reaches up to stroke your cheek, considering. “You love them.” She murmurs. “The boys. You’re a good mom. I can tell they care about you too. They’re louder, easier to read. Don’t have to invade or dig deep.” She bites her lip.

“I was going to get rid of you.” She says with terrifying frankness, moving her hand to stroke your shoulders. “I was…so angry. But you’ve taken good care of my boys. And you were doing that before your me died. You were her friend.” She hums, and something…hungry enters her gaze. “Maybe…well, why can’t the boys have two mothers? You’re rather pretty after all, and it’s legal on this earth.” Wanda puts her thumb against your lips, and a combination of pressure and magic makes you open your mouth, allowing her to start playing with your tongue.

She waves her other hand, and your eyes fly open as your clothes vanish, leaving you naked and exposed to this strange Wanda’s hungry gaze. You try and fail to squirm and dodge as her free hand roams your body, groping and squeezing. She plays with your breasts, then your taut stomach, still toned from your days as an active agent of the Avengers. And finally your sex, which she strokes gently with a purr.

“Yes, that’s it. You’ll be my wife, Billy and Tommy’s stepmother.” She says firmly, nodding. Not stopping to ask you what you thought, if you wanted that. “We’re going to have such a good life together darling.” She promised, smirking wickedly. “I’ll take such good care of you.”

Then, quite suddenly, you were woken up by a tugging on the loop at the front of your collar and a gentle kiss to your lips. “Wake up sleepyhead.” A gentle, if heavily accented, voice purred. You blinked away the sleep from your eyes, coming face to face with your wife Wanda, who grinned, cupping your cheek. “It’s almost noon lazy bones.” She chuckled, staring down at you happily.

You stared up at her for a long moment, still reeling from the incredibly vivid nightmare. That was…much more specific and…coherent than you were used to. You stared long enough to worry her, and she started threading her fingers through your hair, massaging your scalp. “What’s wrong?” Wanda asked, concerned.

“I just had a…very vivid nightmare. You showed up, but you were…wrong, and aggressive…” You struggled to explain. You didn’t notice Wanda’s frown as you spoke, or the way the fingers stroking through your hair sparked red, or even the red glow her eyes took.

“Well, that’s odd. Maybe we shouldn’t have watched Invasion of the Body Snatchers last night.” She teased as your eyes briefly lost focus. You chuckle and nod, the dream already fading as you wake up more, details garbling and vanishing from your mind. Though that was only natural. You often had dreams that were vivid at first but then quickly faded. A blessing when it came to nightmares you supposed.

“Probably not.” You drawl. “50s horror is famous for being intense and traumatizing after all.”

“Well for someone so fragile and sensitive, I’m sure it is.” Wanda drawled right back, arching an eyebrow. Then she grinned and kissed you gently before springing out of the bed with an unfair amount of agility. “But I wasn’t kidding about you getting up.”

“Morning people.” You groaned in disgust.

“11:30 AM is barely morning darling. How were you ever in SHIELD?”

“Coffee. So much fucking coffee.” You groan, reluctantly getting out of bed. Getting dressed wasn’t too much of a hassle, fortunately. Just a pair of skinny jeans and a tight t-shirt that hugged your body, showing off your toned and athletic body. Some part of you didn’t remember liking such tight clothes, nor your current, borderline butch, style, let alone buying these clothes. But you didn’t worry about it, anymore than you worried about the fact that you couldn’t remember dating any women before Wanda.

You join Wanda and the boys in the kitchen, kissing your sons on the tops of their heads, then Wanda on the cheek. “What’s on the agenda today?” You ask brightly, grabbing an apple.

“Well, since it’s summer vacation, I thought we could go to the zoo!” Wanda said brightly. Billy and Tommy cheered, and you blinked for a moment. You didn’t…remember Northview having a zoo. It was just a small town in Eastern Oregon…wait…hadn’t you been living in Payson, Arizona?

Suddenly Wanda was behind you, massaging your shoulders and kissing the side of your head. “Are you alright darling?” She asked carefully, and you took a deep breath before blinking. Memories of the move from Payson to somewhere a little quieter and more out of the way slotted in, and you quickly nodded, forgetting why you’d even been bothered in the first place.

“Yeah, just need more coffee I think.” You said with a chuckle. Wanda laughed and refilled your cup with a wave of her hand, spanking you lightly with the other.

“Careful darling, or I’ll start to think you love the coffee more than me!” She said playfully. You chuckled again and turned to kiss her.

“I could never love anything more than you.” You said earnestly. At your words Wanda’s eyes went wide and her lip wobbled. You were worried she might cry when the boys broke in.

“Gross!” Billy shouted, dramatically covering his eyes.

“Get a room moms!” Tommy agreed, covering his own eyes. Wanda laughed lightly.

“Well, I was going to say we should leave for the zoo now, but if you’d rather I think your mama and I can ‘get a room’.” She teased. This was met with twin cries of denial from the twins, both bolting to their rooms to get dressed. You and Wanda laughed, and you pulled her in, nuzzling her.

“We’re pretty damn lucky.” You murmur, and Wanda smiled softly, stroking your cheek and nodding.

“Absolutely.” She agreed, before kissing you deeply for a few seconds. Then she pulled back and spanked you again. “Now eat breakfast missy. I’ve got to go put the finishing touches on the zoo.” She muttered that last part and you gave a slight frown as you grabbed the plate Wanda had already made for you.

“What was that?” You asked in confusion. Wanda laughed and waved a hand dismissively.

“Nothing darling.” You blinked, then nodded and moved on. Breakfast was calling.

Later That Day

The trip to the zoo had been a rousing success. For such a relatively small town, Northview had a surprisingly large and elaborate zoo, with a wide array of animals, all in well maintained, perfect looking enclosures. If it weren’t for the sign proclaiming the zoo to be as old as the town, you’d almost have suspected that Wanda had gotten Pepper to kick the town money to improve the zoo for the boys.

There were lions and tigers and a variety of bears (oh my!), but also an impressive reptile house, an equally impressive array of monkey habitats, rhinos, hippos, and more. The boys had quite literally needed to drag you away from the hyena habitat. They were your favorite, and zoos so rarely had them, you hadn’t wanted to stop. But the minute Wanda had mentioned there were penguins you’d lost the war, your sons far more interested in the ice birds than your laughing cat dogs.

The zoo had been a nice experience, but you were still glad when the doors shut and Wanda took the leash off your collar. You knew it was necessary, that it was part of dealing with Wanda’s anxiety after losing literally all of her blood family and Vision. Her therapist had even talked to you about it, about the necessity of letting Wanda lead you on the leash as well as how to stay firm in your own boundaries. Obviously you walked upright, this was about Wanda’s need to keep you close and in sight, a safety blanket rather than a kink thing. But there were also firm rules about its length, how frequently and how hard she was allowed to tug, and other small things that ensured you were both comfortable with the process.

There were runes stitched into your leash and collar of course, but Wanda had assured you that they were just there to keep people from noticing them. Invisibility charms, basically, with a bit extra to keep people from walking into the leash. She’d promised over and over that she didn’t toy with people’s minds, and you believed her. The collar itself served as a large, constantly visible engagement ring, more or less. Something for Wanda to be able to readily look at and remember that you loved her and were with her. You suspected it also helped Wanda notice when your emotional state was going down, as you’d occasionally noticed it would light up when you were getting upset and then Wanda would get particularly touch happy. But that wasn’t exactly something you could be upset by.

“You think too much.” Wanda teased as you washed the dishes from dinner, making you jump. You’d gotten lost in thoughts about the day and about your leash and collar, and missed her coming down from putting the boys to bed.

“Maybe a little.” You conceded.

“Clearly I need to tire you out a little.” Wanda purred, her tone compounding the heaviness of her accent to make you shiver. She twisted her fingers so that a leash of pure magic formed, her other hand waving to make the dishes start washing, drying, and putting away themselves. You blushed as she tugged on the leash, but followed her up the stairs anyway. You don’t see much point in denying Wanda when she’s in a mood, and it’s not like you don’t want this. She’s your wife, you love her and you love doing just about everything with her. And sex certainly fell under the category of ‘everything’.

The minute you stepped into the bedroom the magic leash leapt from Wanda’s hand to attach the headboard, and she turned to smirk at you, waving a hand to make your clothes vanish. You yelped, pouting at her. “Was that really necessary?” You demand. Wanda shrugged, cat-like.

“I suppose not. It was fun though.” She said with a smirk. “And are you really going to be upset by how much I love to look at you?” That made you blush.

“I guess not.” You admit bashfully, giving her a sheepish grin. Then you raise an eyebrow. “But I do think it’s your turn now.” Wanda raised an eyebrow, then nodded.

“Yes, it is my turn I suppose.” She twitches her hand, and the strap-on you two use, thick and curiously bumpy, red as her corset, appears around her body, harness strapped on over her clothing.

“...that wasn’t what I meant and you know it.” You grumble, pouting. Wanda chuckles and a full wave of her hand makes her clothes disappear.

“I’m sorry darling, I couldn’t help it. And…” She grins and suddenly she’s in front of you, stroking your cheek before kissing the tip of your nose. “You’re just too adorable to not tease.” She chuckles before kissing you deeply, a kiss you return. Wanda pulls back, looking at you with wide, kind eyes. “I love you. So, so very much. You know that, don’t you darling?” You nod.

“I do. I really do.” You say earnestly. “And I love you too. I…hope I do a good job showing that.” Wanda softened, visibly, and nodded, slow but eager.

“You do darling. You do such a good job of it.” Her smile turned from soft and tender to wicked in an instant, and she snapped her fingers. In a literal blink of your eye you were suddenly lying on your back on the bed, and Wanda was on all fours over you. She smiled, her expression tender and predatory all at once, and surged down, latching onto your neck just above the collar and sucking hungrily.

“The boys are going to wonder why my neck is bruised.” You warn, voice breathy and ragged. Wanda snorted into your skin.

“I’ll get rid of them later.” She promised you, running her tongue up your neck and along your jaw. “Stop worrying so much.” A soft but unrelenting hand began gripping and squeezing at your breast as Wanda continued to lavish attention on your neck and jaw. “Mine.” She breathed, but there was a weakness underlying her words, less a declaration of dominance and more a quiet demand for validation. One you were willing to provide.

“Yours.” You agree rapidly, nodding as much as the leash and her mouth will allow.

“And I’m yours.” Wanda murmured against your cheek, pressing a gentle kiss to it before sliding down. “Though this…I think we could have a dispute about who this really belongs to.” She teases, pressing a gentle kiss to your labia that quickly turns into a very hungry lick.

You gasp and arch your back as she spears you with her tongue, the clever, flexible appendage slipping inside you with haste, finding your most sensitive spots with more ease than you think is really reasonable. You suspect Wanda uses her magic to cheat, but you haven’t bothered to ask because it feels far too amazing for you to actually care. It doesn’t really matter if she’s using magic to make her tongue longer and more flexible, or to make certain parts of you more sensitive to her tongue. All it matters is that it feels heavenly and you can’t get enough.

Wanda chuckles against your sex, amused by your reactions, but you can’t really bring yourself to care about the teasing noise. All you can think about is Wanda. About her tongue inside of you, or the way one strong hand rubs your stomach and lightly pins you while the other… “Goddess!” you cry out as she starts playing with your clit with her other hand. Wanda keeps eye contact with you, looking positively smug at your cry as she keeps working hard at you. “F…fuck…” you murmur weakly, squirming beneath her touch. It’s not the most intense of sensations, you know. Your wife is a witch, when she wants you overstimulated she can do the physically impossible. But whether due to her skill or your own innate nature, you’ve never stopped being incredibly sensitive to Wanda’s ministrations in the bedroom. It’s almost a problem, but Wanda likes you like this so you don’t ever think too hard about it.

“If you keep up like that I’m going to cum soon.” You whimper in warning. Wanda radiates amusement, and very much doesn’t stop or slow down. In fact, you think she might be putting even more effort and attention to your clit in response to your warning, which is just…unfair. Yes, you’re not a man, your orgasm isn’t going to end the sex. But that doesn’t mean she can just make you cum as much as she wants! Right?

The orgasm that rips through your body seconds after this occurs to you implies otherwise. You cry out, arching your back as you shake and shiver, moaning desperately as you come down. Wanda stretches your orgasm out as long as she can, tongue eagerly plundering your tight hole, savoring the way it spasms and tightens around her appendage. She doesn’t use magic though, and eventually she pulls back, smiling as she licks her lips.

“I think you must have some magic of your own darling.” She teases as she slides back up your body to line up her strap with your now over sensitive entrance. “There’s no other reason for you to taste so good.” You manage to blush at that, somehow flustered against all reason. There’s plenty of other reasons for you to be flustered and blushing, but no, it’s the compliment that does it.

“W…well, you were definitely cheating with your magic.” You manage to pant. “There’s no other way to explain your tongue being so amazing.” Wanda pouts.

“No other way darling? I can’t just love you that much?” You narrow your eyes at her, trying to gauge if she’s genuinely pouting or just trying to throw you off, and she laughs and leans down to you, capturing your lips with her own for a deep kiss. As she’s kissing you though, she suddenly thrusts, shoving her strap into your tight passage, and you cry out into her mouth. Wanda breaks the kiss, chuckling, and now it’s your turn to pout. Not that you can pout too much when Wanda’s putting her literal magic strap into you, but you give pouting through the pleasure your best shot. Wanda’s still chuckling at you, though the pleasure is starting to get to her too. The strap is magic, making her feel every bit of pleasure you get as if it were her own.

“Such a good girl.” She husks, eyes flashing red and accent growing thicker by the second. “You’re so wonderful darling.” She twists the fingers of one hand, and suddenly you’re caught in a position of not knowing where exactly Wanda’s arms are. Intellectually you know that they’re by your head, bracing her body so she’s not lying on top of you. But you can also feel and see them groping and pawing at your breasts, squeezing and kneading the sensitive flesh as Wanda stares down at you lovingly.

“You’re wonderful.” You moan, wondering idly when you got so sappy. “I love you Wanda. But please, harder!” Wanda laughs, and it’s a glorious sound, delighted and carefree, then she gives a devilish grin.

“Your wish is my command.” She purrs, and then her hips start to move. You let out another, louder, cry, hands grabbing desperately at Wanda’s back for some sort of anchor. She’s moaning as well, less loudly than you but no less wantonly. It’s clear that both of you are already on the verge. Which makes sense. You wonder if Wanda realized that using the strap on you so quickly after your orgasm would result in you being much more sensitive, and by extension her more sensitive thanks to the toy’s magic. Wanda doesn’t always think things like that through, but it’s kind of adorable and very hot.

Then Wanda thrusts particularly hard and hits exactly the right spot, and you lose the ability to think about anything but how fucking good Wanda fucking you feels. She manages to hit all the right spots inside of you, aided by the abnormal shape of the strap. You don’t care if she’s using magic to cheat, it feels far too good.

“Oh god darling…” Wanda gasps, before breaking down into Sokovian, losing her English for a moment. “Fuck. I’m so close. Let’s cum together. Can you do that for me darling?” A third phantom hand cups your cheek, turning your head to enforce eye contact. “Cum with me darling.” Wanda commands, an order you’re only too happy to obey.

Your second orgasm of the night knocks you on your ass, metaphorically. You scream your lungs out, your vision going white for a moment, only dimly registering Wanda’s own cries and when she collapses on top of you. You barely notice her rubbing her fingers through your hair, or her tired, breathless murmur of “Mine.” All you feel is her, and all you think about is this. Your wonderful life, with your wonderful wife.

What more could you want?

Fifteen Minutes Later

It was with some reluctance that Wanda pried herself off of you, making sure to reach into your mind to urge you deeper into sleep. She had work to do, and she didn’t need you waking up to ask questions about where she was or worse, what she was doing. She was better now than she had been with Westview. Of course, Westview had been an accident, and she’d been working with a real town. This new place, Northview (Wanda would readily admit she wasn’t great with names) was built from scratch, in a patch of undeveloped land that had previously belonged to some ranchers with certain political leanings that made Wanda fairly certain nobody would genuinely miss them. Everything was carefully laid out, crafted over days of deliberation and planning. Agatha hadn’t been lying when she said a spell couldn’t be changed once cast, and Wanda wasn’t taking any chances.

Everything was modular this time. Nothing relied on something else that didn’t have to. The hexagonal barrier (it always came out as a hexagon, Wanda assumed as a cosmic pun on ‘hex’) was separated from the simulated weather, was separated from the conjured people and animals, from the magical power grid. Everything in town was under her control, outside of the boys of course. And her darling, to a lesser extent.

Eventually she’d have to figure out how to safely bring real people in. The boys deserved real friends, would need them. And her darling…well, Wanda wasn’t certain she wanted to share you, but some friends could be good…this universe’s Darcy would probably be happy to move in. Maybe Clint as well, provided the farm itself wasn’t sentimental.

Wanda mused as she strode through the paused zoo, waving a hand to casually patch a few potholes before she double checked the proximity charms. Not every ‘living’ thing in Northview was constantly moving and going about their day of course. Even for her that’d be too much. Instead everything went still whenever her sons or her wife weren’t within four miles of them. By herself the town was a frozen thing, a video game on pause.

She did this every night, more or less. Everything needed to be perfect for her family. Her sons were the priority, the only people in town aside from her with one hundred percent free will. But her darling wasn’t a puppet, and Wanda wanted to make sure everything was good for her as well.

At times Wanda felt a little guilty about what she’d done to the younger woman, but never for very long. A life as her wife in a magical town with no bills was undeniably better than being a single mother to twins, even if she was getting some money from Pepper, and a bit less from the government. Yes, Wanda played fast and loose with her darling’s memories, and had crafted a false therapist to justify some of her behavior, but still. She left the emotions alone. Everything her wife felt was real. Based on false memories frequently, but real emotional responses regardless. And since the memories were driven by things that would have happened, Wanda was fairly certain they were okay as well.

Satisfied that the small issues she’d noticed were taken care of, Wanda returned to her house, taking a moment to herself on the way to just enjoy the sensation of flight in the cool night air. Quiet moments like this, when the town was silent and all was calm, were a pleasant break. Still, she longed to be home, and returned after a quick few loops, landing on the balcony of the master bedroom to slip back inside. She smiled at the sight of her darling, fast asleep, still leashed to the bed, naked and waiting for her.

Exactly as it should be. She’d had to make it, but she had her perfect home now. Finally. She couldn’t imagine being happier, and she’d make sure you couldn’t either. It was her world after all. What more could either of you ask for?

#dark mcu #dark fic #dark!wanda maximoff #dark!wanda x reader #dark!femslash #mcu femslash #wanda maximoff x reader

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hops-hunny · 3 years

Text

Just a Flight Away

Pairing: Neville Longbottom x Ilvermony!Reader

Word Count: 2.8k

Request N/A

Summary: Neville has a cutie who lives in America but no one seems to believe him.

Warnings: None!

A/N: This isn’t a request but it’s based off of me rambling here and slightly off of the vibe telepatia by Kali Uchis gives off.

If there was one thing Neville was thankful was it was the absolute goddess he got to call his girlfriend. It was funny the way they first began talking to one another. (Y/n) had been trying to contact a friend at Hogwarts but after the long trip from Ilvermony to Hogwarts, her owl was quite exhausted and ended up bringing the letter to Neville instead. Neville saw the poor bird, giving it a bit of bird seed and water that he kept in the green house before he set off to find the rightful owner of the letter. Luckily he had 3rd period with the girl who thanked him before excitedly yanking the letter from his hands. When Neville went to go check on the owl, he saw that it had already left, leaving a heart shape in the bird seed.

After that day, Neville hadn’t really thought about the incident that much. Well, that was until he saw the same owl fly towards him with a letter in its mouth. He smiled fondly at it rubbing under its chin with his finger before going to give the letter back to the owl until he noticed it had his name on it. He ripped it open, careful to not damage the envelope before reading the letter.

Dear Neviile,

Thank you so so so much for getting the letter to Gwen! Gwen is a good friend of mine who I had been missing dearly and if not for your kindness she would have never received my letter.

As you may be able to tell from the seal on the letter, I attend Ilvermorny school of witchcraft and wizardry. I've heard of how grand and great the infamous Hogwarts is, is it true? How is England in general? I've never had the pleasure of traveling out of America.

Oh yes! The main point of this is as a thank you, I've attached a package of my favorite American sweets as a token of my gratitude. The package is enchanted which is why it's so small. To restore it to its original state, place it on a flat surface before tapping it with the tip of your wand.

Sincerely,

(Y/n) (L/n)

Neville felt his face grow warm at the girl's kindness. (Y/n). 'What a beautiful name..' he thought to himself before pulling out the galleon sized package from the envelope. He pushed aside a few plants on the table in front of it before placing the package down, tapping the top with his wand. He gasped, watching in amazement as he saw the package expand. Neville wasn't quite familiar with this enchantment, perhaps he'd ask her about it in his response. His cheeks turned a brighter red. Response?

Did she want to speak to him more? He didn't want to assume but by her letter and her asking questions, it made it clear that this wasn't the last exchange she wanted to have. Was this a prank? Were the Weasley twins up to this? There was only one way to tell. Neville reached a shaky hand forward, opening the package as he closed his eyes expecting something to pop out at him but when he opened his eyes there was nothing but a box of snacks he had never seen before. He let out a sigh of relief, ignoring the racing in his heart.

After that, Neville and the girl started to talk quite a bit. Months had turned into years and he couldn't have been happier. It felt nice to have someone he could talk to, someone far away from all the hustle and bustle of the castle. To her he wasn't the kid with unfortunate luck or the "cowardly" boy in Gryffindor. He was just Neville, her boyfriend. Neville, her kind boyfriend in another continent, far away.

(Y/n) loved Neville just as much. It wasn't that she never had suitors approach her. In fact, she had quite a few. (Y/n) was what you could consider popular, not that she cared. She was kind, smart, and beautiful. Who wouldn't want that? However, she always felt like none of the men who'd approach her got her. They all just saw her as a beautiful woman instead of what she was, a normal girl deserving of love. That's why she liked Neville so much. No matter what he always treated her with the utmost respect and that hadn't stopped when they started to date either.

When the two had first exchanged photos, Neville was stunned. He had been talking to that beautiful of a girl? He couldn’t believe it. It was as if Olivander himself had sculpted and carved her out of the best of wood. She had glowing (s/c) skin, soft healthy looking (h/c) (h/c) hair, and a smile that could compete with the sun on its brightest of days and win. And when he found out she was single? He would’ve been a fool not to make a move. Angels as sweet as (Y/n) didn’t come around that often.

And although their relationship was as great as can be there was the underlying sadness: they lived across the world from one another. Every time either of them would see a couple hug or kiss in school, they’d feel a twinge of jealousy pierce their hearts. It wasn’t fair that the most perfect person in the world was off enjoying themselves in their respective countries. Although (Y/n) tried to ignore it, Neville was the type to bring it up. He’d describe in the most beautiful of words what he’d do if they were together. How he’d hold her in his arms and show her off to all of his friends. Where he’d take her on a date, the plants he wanted to show her as they were both herbology geeks. Meanwhile she’d end each of the letters discussing this topic with the same phrase as usual. ‘You know I’m just a flight away. If you wanna I could take a private plane.’ He could never ask that of her though. As much as he’d love everyday to be filled with his flower, he wouldn’t wanna rip her away from the things she had going on in her own life.

It wasn’t all bad though! After the girl had taught him the charm she used when she first sent him something, they both would send each other gifts back and forth as much as possible. Neville sent her sweaters with his scent embedded, charmed flowers, chocolate frogs, anything she wanted was hers. She’d send her own things to remind him of her as well. Her favorite stuffed animal, loads of photographs, little crochet hats she made for Trevor, more...unsavory things as well definitely not her underwear. Despite the increase in objects Neville owned, none of his friends had questioned it until he started to wear a necklace with a heart shaped piece of onyx on it with the letter (Y/f/i) carved into it.

“Oi! Neville. Where’d you get that necklace from?” Ron questioned his friend who sat across from him in the Gryffindor common room. The boys had all decided to study together which of course turned into Neville studying as they goofed off. Neville tensed as his cheeks heated up turning a pink color.

“O-oh um..it’s from my girlfriend.” He said, saying the last word as soft as possible. He prayed to Merlin that his friends hadn’t heard him but unfortunately for him they had. It wasn’t that he didn’t want anyone to know about her. It was far from that. He was just a bit protective, he didn’t want anyone to try and steal her from him. Even though it was impossible since they had no contact with her, he never knew when it came to his friends. They always found a way to make the impossible possible.

“What year is she in?!”

“Who is it?!”

“No way, is she fit?!”

He finished at the chorus of voices, trying to calm them down so he could speak. They all scooted closer to him, looking up at him expectantly. “Well you see..” he trailed off, looking away as he played with the pendant around his neck. “She doesn’t go here. She attends school in Ilvermorny. But to answer your question, yeah she is bloody fit.” he responded, turning his attention back to the scroll of paper in front of him. Dean, Ron, and Seamus exchanged a look with each other trying to suppress their laughs.

“Yeah I’m sure she does Nev.” Dean said sarcastically as he joined the other two in laughter. Neville looked up at his friends confused at their behavior.

“Yeah Nev, if your nan sent it you could’ve just told us! Better than saying you’ve got a girl halfway across the world.” Ron said, pushing the boy slightly as he continued to laugh at him. Seamus was doubled over, snorting with laughter as fire whiskey shot from his nose causing the other two to howl with laughter.

“It’s not from my nan! My girlfriend really did send it to me.” he exclaimed, smacking Ron on the back of the head, before doing the same to the other two men. “Besides, you have some fucking nerve accusing me of lying when none of you have birds yourself.” he sneered, causing the boys to quiet down some.

“So harsh Neville, you didn’t have to go there mate! Well what’s this ‘girlfriend’ of yours called.” Seamus asked, doing air quotes as he mentioned the topic at hand. “You’d think it was a bit strange too if your friend suddenly mentioned a girlfriend who lived all the way in the states too wouldn’t you.”

“(Y/n). And I’ll have you know this isn’t a new thing. We’ve been dating since around 2nd year. Sure, I’d find it a bit strange if you mentioned a girlfriend in America that you had never brought up prior, but I wouldn’t find it impossible! Now if you excuse me, I have to go.” he quickly stood up, packing up his materials as he stormed off to the direction of his dorm. He sped up, ignoring the protest and begging of his friends to come back and continue to hang out with them. He had enough of them and he wasn’t gonna sit there and let himself be called a fucking liar by Hogwart’s biggest ones.

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

“Did you guys hear? Students from Ilvermony are supposed to be coming to visit!” Ron said, running up to the other four boys. “I’m just picturing how hot all the girls from the states are gonna be. All hot and leggy with those bloody accents. I could combust just thinking of it!” he exclaimed, flopping down on the couch. Neville gasped softly, looking up. Did he hear him correctly?

“Where’d you hear that from? I didn’t hear anything of the sorts.” Hermione questioned, looking up from her book at the interesting news she had just heard. However, Neville was still frozen. Was this true? And if so, why hadn’t (Y/n) mentioned it. No, no it couldn’t be. She surely would have told him.

“I just overheard it from Dumbledore himself. They should be arriving in a few minutes! They’re staying here for a few months. It’s a part of this new thing that they’ve set up. Something about wanting the students to learn different methods and what not. They decided it’d be a good idea since summer is coming soon.” he said nonchalantly, looking over at Neville who hadn’t moved since the news left his mouth. He went to question what was up with him before his eyes lit up, recalling the conversation they had a few months ago. “Hey Neville? Didn’t your supposed ‘girlfriend’ go to Ilvermony.” the boys all suddenly interested began to ‘ooo’ exchanging looks with each other.

“See Neville, this is why you don’t lie. Lies will always come back to bite you in the rear. Perhaps Ronald i-”

“I wasn’t lying, Hermione! She really does go to Ilvermony.” he exclaimed, standing up as he wiped his hands on his pants. All of a sudden, there were the sounds of a bunch of American accents speaking which caught all of their attention. Many different students in Ilvermorny uniforms (some without them) roamed freely to explore the large and intense castle.

“God you weren’t kidding Ron, the girls are bloody fit.” Dean muttered, eyeing some girl who gave him a wink before giggling and running off with her friends. “Woah look at that one, are you kidding me? She’s a fucking goddess!” Neville’s curious hazel eyes followed his friend's words as he saw a familiar shade of (h/c) hair styled in the way his girlfriend wore it. Wait, was that his sweater?

“That’s not just some fucking girl, that’s my girlfriend!” Neville exclaimed, standing up from his seat.

“No chance.”

“You couldn’t pick a more believable one?”

“Prove it then.”

Neville went to say something before the girl turned around, locking eyes with him. She gasped, tearing up some as she pushed through the crowd of people running to him as quickly as possible. “Nev! Neville babe, is that you?” she exclaimed. Neville’s face flushed brightly taking in the girl’s appearance. She had worn the first sweater he had given her, a mossy green sweater with an obscure pattern, with a pleated skirt pairing it with a pair of boots. Neville nodded his head quickly, holding his arms out as the girl ran into him almost knocking him over. He picked her up, spinning her around quickly before setting her down, holding her soft face between his hands.

“W-what are you doing here?! You never told me you were coming to visit!” he exclaimed, wiping at the stray tears that had left her eyes. He moved his hands from her face securing them around her waist as he stared down at her. God she was even more beautiful in person.

“I wanted to surprise you! I actually found out a few weeks ago and let me tell ya, it was SO hard not to tell you!” She giggled, reaching up to stroke his cheek. He leaned into her touch, smiling at her. “I didn’t think it was possible for you to get even more handsome but bloody hell. You’re so fucking hot, Nev.” she said, feeling her face heat up. Neville flushed a bright red before leaning down, kissing the girl on the lips. She pulled him down more, wrapping her arms around his neck as she kissed back. The kiss was full of the love and affection they had both been craving from one another. (Y/n) tangled her hands in the back of his hair as he deepened the kiss, moaning softly. They both jumped away from one another at the sound of someone clearing their throat. “Ah sorry! Nev, are you going to introduce me to your friends?” she asked looking up at him as she intertwined his large hand with her smaller one.

“I suppose I will, even though for some reason they thought you weren’t real.” he quipped, glaring at the four boys who looked away ashamed. “From left to right there is Harry, Ron, Dean, and Seamus. And over there,” he said pointing to the big arm chair in the corner. “That is Hermione.” he said as they all muttered ‘hi’ and ‘sorry’ from some of them. (Y/n) giggled some, waving at them all.

“It’s very nice to meet you all! Nev talks about you guys all the time in his letters. Oh!” She said, eyes looking at his chest. She reached a hand forward, grabbing the engraved onyx in her hands. “The necklace I gave you!! You like it? I think it looks really good on you.” she exclaimed with a smile, happy her boyfriend enjoyed the gift she gave him. Neville once again looked at his friends chuckling some at their wide eyes.

“Of course I do, petal. I wear it everyday, everywhere I go. Right guys.” he teased, watching as they all stuttered out ‘yes ‘yep’ ‘sure does. “Come on flower, I’ll show you around the castle. I know you’ve been looking forward to that for a while. Also, you look quite cute in my sweater.”

“Thank you. I wear it quite often, even though the smell of you has worn off it still brings me good memories.” she said, playing with the slightly worn out sleeves of the sweater. “I’d love to!! Can we check out the greenhouse first? I wanna see that plant you were talking about. Maybe we can work on identifying what species it is!” he nodded in response, taking her hand once again as they began to walk off. Before they turned the corner, he quickly turned his head around using his unoccupied hand to flip off his friends before turning his attention back to his lover.

“Who would’ve thought? Longbottom with an absolute fox.” Ron said, slumping back down as he frowned. Hermione took the book she was reading smacking him upside the head.

“Maybe if you knew how to treat women you’d be with one too.”

#Neville Longbottom #neville longbottom x reader #neville x you #neville longbottom x you #neville x reader #harry potter imagines #Harry Potter #harry potter imagine

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watchyourbluesturngolden · 3 years

Text

you are my home

this started out as a little concept, and then i thought it might be fun to write a whole fic out of it!

(side note: I know we have no idea if sarah and mitch are having a boy or girl, so i just went with girl ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

warnings: angst, relationship struggles, arguments

word count: 11.5k (the longest thing i've ever written :) )

"Just an eighth of a cup?"

"That's what it says," Harry shrugged, looking at the recipe on his phone. "Look, one eighth cup of milk. Right here-" He tilted the screen toward you.

"I believe you, it's just weird, it doesn't seem like a lot," you mused, but followed his instructions anyways. You were making chicken parmesan, and the two of you had a rather long history of butchered recipes. It was usually because you were too wrapped up in each other to read the recipe properly. Or because Harry would start kissing you while the food was cooking, murmuring against your lips that "we have plenty of time". Unfortunately, he usually got carried away, leaving you with a flushed face and burnt food.

Not this time, though. You were determined to make this one right. You stirred the milk into the mixture, watching carefully and turning the heat down when it began to bubble.

"Now... we just have to wait while it simmers for a few minutes," you said, setting the spatula down in the spoon rest. "So far, so good."

"I can think of something for us to do for a few minutes," Harry grinned, wrapping his arms around your waist. He leaned down, beginning to kiss your neck, but you quickly squirmed away.

"Nope, not this time," you grabbed the spatula again, brandishing it like a weapon. "Stay back. We're not taking any chances with this one. I'm tired of throwing out charred food and ordering pizza."

"Pizza is good, though," he argued, stepping closer again as you moved farther away.

"Not as good as our homemade chicken parmesan will be if you can just be patient for three minutes."

"Three minutes?" He practically whined.

You rolled your eyes. "You will be fine for three minutes. Wait until the food is done."

He huffed, leaning back against the counter with his arms crossed. "Can't believe you're depriving me of your love like this."

"Yes, you're so terribly deprived," you said sarcastically. "it's not like I've been by your side constantly for the past 72 hours."

"Well, time flies when you're with the love of your life."

You smiled, stepping forward to give him a quick peck on the cheek. Just one. He grabbed at your forearms, trying to keep you close, but you jumped back.

"No," you said sternly. "The food is almost done and I'm not burning this one too."

"Fine," he groaned. "But speaking of 72 hours... I was wondering about something."

You hummed questioningly, stirring the sauce.

"I was just kind of thinking... I mean, we're together all the time. When we're in the States we're together at your place, and when we're in London we're together at mine. So do you think... maybe we should just... officially move in together?"

You froze, suddenly feeling your heart thudding. It's not like you hadn't thought about it before. You had; a lot, actually. Of course you wanted to live with him. You hated being apart from him, and you knew he felt the same about you.

But still, moving to a whole different continent is a pretty big step. You didn't know how that would work for your job, and you weren't exactly excited to be so far away from all your friends and family.

"You don't have to answer right now," He was quick to interject, seemingly noticing how worried you looked. "Not at all. I just... I think it would be nice to have you with me. I just hate all the back and forth, and I'd kind of like to have a place we can call home together."

A small smile spread over your face as you thought about how nice it really would be. You thought of waking up on a rainy morning, cuddled into his side as you listened to the raindrops patter on the window. You thought of baking cookies in the kitchen with him. Taking bubble baths together. Going on walks in the park every evening. All of that would be so much better if it didn't have an end date lurking around the corner. If you knew you wouldn't have to fly back home in a few days or weeks or months.

"It would be really nice," you agreed. "I just... what about my work and stuff?"

"We can figure that out," he said. "We can do it however you want. I'm sure they could set it up so you can work remotely, or you could get a different job in London, or... you don't actually have to work if you don't want to."

"What, just be your little housewife?" you teased, looking over your shoulder at him.

"No," he grinned. "Well, maybe-"

You turned and snapped a hand towel at him before he could finish that sentence. He jumped away, grinning boyishly and holding his hands up in surrender.

"That's not how I meant it, and you know it. But seriously, if you don't want to work you don't have to."

"I would like to be there with you, and know I don't have to leave anytime soon," you said thoughtfully.

"Like I said, you don't have to decide right now. Why don't you just think about it? As much as I want you to, it is a big decision and I don't want you to rush into anything you're not okay with."

Before you could speak again, the timer on your phone went off.

"That's the sauce," you said, turning around and turning the gas off. "See? It's not so hard to keep your hands off of me for long enough to cook a meal, is it?"

He scoffed. "Speak for yourself. I nearly died. Of lonliness."

-----

In the next few days, you thought about Harry's offer a lot. You couldn't deny that you really liked the idea. What could be better than living with the love of your life? Never having to leave to pick up more clothes, never forgetting something important at home, always being in the same country as him. There were just a few things you worried about. Your job, for one. Yes, Harry had offered for you to quit working, but you weren’t sure if that was the best idea. You liked your job, and being able to earn your own money.

Harry was probably right; it probably could be done remotely. But you would kind of miss seeing your coworkers, at least the few you had been close with.

Then there was the matter of your friends. You would really miss having girls' nights, and gossiping about their boyfriends, and getting mani-pedis every month. Sure, you knew you would be back to visit. But you also knew it would be different.

Then, the thing you were most worried about: your family. You had always been close with them, especially your mom. You went to see her and your dad every week, and you called them almost every day. You weren't sure how well you would cope with being so far away from them.

But at the same time, you were incredibly excited by the idea of moving to London. You had been there before, of course, but never for longer than a few weeks. You wanted to get the full experience. You wanted Harry to show you around, take you to his favorite places. You wanted to go to the town he grew up in, see the bakery he never shut up about. You wanted to be a part of his life, in every way.

So, a week after he first asked you, you made up your mind. You were laying on the couch with him, tracing over his tattoos with your fingers while some cooking show played. He was pretty involved, every so often groaning or shaking his head or tsking at the contestants' "complete lack of skills." You weren't paying any attention, though. You were trying to decide how to bring up the conversation from earlier.

Eventually, you decided to just go for it.

"Harry?" you asked, not looking up from your fingers on his arms.

"Hm?" He replied, peeling his eyes away from the screen to look at you.

"I was thinking... about what you said the other day."

"Yeah?" He sat up more, muting the TV. "What about it?"

"I just think- I mean, there's still some stuff to figure out, but I would really like to move into your place in London."

"Really?" His face lit up.

You nodded. "I'm a little worried about my work, and leaving my family and friends, but... I want to be with you. I hate when one of us has to leave. I just want to go to sleep next to you, and wake up next to you, and not have an end date hanging over my head every time we're together."

"I like the sound of that," he smiled, pressing a kiss to the back of your hand. "And like I said, we'll figure out your work. And we'll come back to visit whenever you want to. It's only like... a nine hour flight."

"Right, basically nothing," you laughed, leaning your head against his shoulder.

"Right," he smiled. "But really. Any time you need to see your people, we'll come see them."

"We?"

He nodded, seeming confused by your questioning tone.

"You wouldn't have to do that," you shook your head. "I don't want to make you-"

"I want to." He cut you off. "I'm not going to just let you fly for 18 hours all alone. Plus, I'd miss you too much while you were gone."

"That's sweet," you said, a light flush heating up your face. "Also, my family might be disappointed if I came back and you weren't with me. I think they like you more than me at this point."

"That was the plan all along," he grinned.

You hit his arm playfully, but didn't move your head. "So what would that look like?"

"Well, really we could do whatever you want to. We could just move all your stuff into my place, or if you wanted, we could maybe find somewhere new? Somewhere that's just ours."

"Harry, we are not buying a whole new house when you basically have a mansion. That would be stupid."

"I'm actually really glad you feel that way. That mansion was bloody expensive."

-----

"How much longer until your lease is up?" Harry's impatient voice came through the phone.

"One less day than when I told you yesterday," you rolled your eyes. He was worse than a kid waiting for Christmas. He asked nearly every day if he could just pay off the lease for you and have you move right then. Your answer was always no; you had decided to finish it out on your own. Kind of like closing one chapter of your life before you start another.

There were just two weeks left now, and the evidence was all around the place. You and Harry had started to box up your smaller items, and the space already felt much less like home. You had taken pictures off the walls; cleared trinkets off the bookshelves. In the next few days, you were going to go through your clothes and decide what would come with you and what would be donated.

Harry had been excited to help with the whole process, but he had to go back to London a week earlier than he planned. Of course, you weren't happy about this, but you kind of liked having some time alone to say goodbye to the place you had called home for the past five years.

So you did just that. You wandered around, smiling at the patched spot in the wall from when Harry had knocked over a lamp stumbling around in the dark. You ran your fingers over the slight scorch mark on the table from when you made dinner, but forgot to set down a potholder. Your toe scuffled over the nail polish stain on the rug, from when Harry had tried to paint your nails.

All these little things made your little apartment feel like your home. You would miss them, but you had realized something as you thought back to all the memories. Most of them had been with Harry. Yes, you were leaving some memories behind, but you weren't leaving HIM behind. You would make new memories together, wherever you lived. As long as it was together.

"It's just two weeks, baby, and then we'll be together."

"Two weeks is so long," he sighed.

"It'll go by fast," you promised. "It is for me. I'm keeping busy over here."

"Me too," he took on an offended tone. "Very busy. I'm doing lots of things."

"What have you been up to?" You asked, settling back onto the couch. It was weird to see how empty your space was, but it was nice to be able to put your feet on the coffee table without knocking over the various decorations that usually adorned it.

"Some work stuff, but mostly clearing out space for you. You have a lot of stuff."

"I do not," you scoffed. "I probably have less hair products than you do."

"Hey," he cried. "Rude. My hair is luxurious. It takes a lot of upkeep."

You smiled, shaking your head.

“I moved a lot of stuff into the guest closet, so you can have half of the one in our room."

"Really?" You asked, a little surprised. You knew how well organized he kept his closet, so it was a little shocking that he was willing to just move everything.

"Of course. You'll be living here too, you need someplace to keep your clothes."

"I don't think I'll be able to fill half of your closet, though," you laughed.

"Guess we'll have to go shopping, then!" He chirped.

"I guess," you agreed with a smile.

You heard muffled voices in the background before Harry spoke again.

"I'm sorry, love, but I have to go." he sounded frustrated. "I'll call you later, okay?"

"Okay. Love you!"

"Love you too."

-----

"Today's the day!" Harry practically yelled through the phone.

"I know!" You said, trying to match his enthusiasm. You were slightly less excited. After all, you still had a nine hour flight ahead of you. But you knew that by this time tomorrow, you would officially be living with Harry, and that made it worth it.

"Do you have everything packed?" He asked.

"Pretty much. I'm just throwing the last of my stuff into my bag."

"Did you make a shopping list for when you get here?"

"I was gonna do that on the plane. It'll be something for me to do," you said, turning on the speakerphone so you could move around more freely.

"Yeah, good plan," he agreed. "I've said this a few times already, but I'm so excited for you to be here with me."

"Have you? Have you really said it a few times? I wasn't aware," you laughed.

"Be nice to me, I'm just happy," he said, and you could practically hear the smile in his voice.

"I know, I'm sorry," you shook your head with a smile. "I'm excited too. But I have to go now, I have to finish packing."

"Ok," he replied sadly. "See you soon!"

-----

You spotted him right after you got off the plane. He was standing near the gate, searching the crowd expectantly. Once he locked eyes with you, his face lit up in a huge smile. He made his way through the crowd, meeting you with open arms. He acted like he hadn't seen you in weeks, even though it had only been four days.

He buried his face in your neck, holding you tightly against him.

"I missed you," he murmured.

"I missed you too," you breathed deeply, inhaling his familiar scent. "But I'm here now. And now we can go home."

"Yeah," he grinned. "Home."

-----

"Harry, the movers can carry some of it, that's their job," you reminded him as he grabbed one of the boxes.

"Yeah, but it'll go faster if I carry some stuff," he argued, motioning to the door with his head. "Open that for me?"

You did as he asked, shaking your head as he brought the box of books inside. He insisted on helping, even though he had hired a team of movers to do this for you.

"Where do you wanna put these?" He asked, looking around the living room. "They can go on the shelf in here, or the one in our room."

"I'm not sure, I think I want some in here and some in the room. Why don't we go through them later?"

"Sounds good," he nodded, setting the box down in front of the bookshelf. "Another box!"

You shook your head again, going into the kitchen as he went back outside. You started going through the cupboards, checking to make sure you didn’t have any duplicates on your shopping list. He already had quite a few of the items you needed, so you could remove several things.

Once the last few boxes had been brought in, and Harry had thanked the movers profusely, he collapsed on the couch.

"I told you you shouldn't have done so much, now you're all tired out," you joked, going to sit next to him.

He nodded. "You were right. I need a nap after all that." He got up, pushing you to lay down and then crawling on top of you. He laid his head on your stomach, sighing contentedly when you ran your fingers through his hair.

"Oh wait," he lifted his head, already sounding half asleep. "We didn't even get groceries yet. We have to-" He began to get up, but you stopped him with a gentle hand on his face.

You shook your head, running your thumb over his cheekbone lightly. "We can do that later, baby. Just go to sleep for a while."

"Yeah," he nodded slightly. "I'm just gonna go to sleep for a while."

"Okay," you smiled. "Sweet dreams."

-----

When Harry woke up, he was alone on the couch. He frowned at the lack of warmth, grabbing the blanket from the back of the couch and pulling it around himself. He wasn't sure how you had managed to get out from under him without waking him, but he wasn't happy about it.

He planned to go back to sleep, but sighed when his phone buzzed. He reached for it, but then paused for a minute. He decided whatever it was could wait. He retracted his arm, pulling the blanket tighter around himself and snuggling into the back of the couch.

Just as he was about to drift off, his phone began buzzing again. This time, it didn't stop. He groaned, but grabbed it this time. He squinted at the bright light, trying to make out who was trying so hard to contact him.

It was Jeff. There were two missed calls and a text. He swiped on the text, his frown deepening as he read the message.

Jeff: I'm sure you're going to see this soon enough, but the moving van was spotted outside your house. There's already a few articles out, and I'm sure there'll be more. Just wanted to let you know so you don't have to hear it from some trashy website, and maybe you should let Y/N know to stay away from socials for a while. Sorry about this.

Harry groaned, throwing his arm over his face. He had known this was likely to happen, but at the same time he had hoped it wouldn't. He was so happy right now, and he didn't need that to be tainted by rude articles and crazy fans and speculations about his relationships. He just wanted to sit back and relax with his love for a few days, but apparently that was too much for him to ask.

Normally, he wouldn't even look at the articles. He knew they would only be upsetting. This time, though, he felt like he should. He wasn't sure how you would react to this, and it might be easier if he knew what you would be seeing all over the internet for the next week.

So, he opened google and searched "harry styles". Instantly, his screen filled with pictures of the moving van outside his house. There were even a few pictures of him carrying boxes, and one of your back as you walked inside. He huffed angrily. This was supposed to be a happy day, and now he was in a bad mood. His privacy had been violated yet again, and it was hard for him to stay positive after that.

Then he began scrolling through the article titles. He rolled his eyes at the baited language that was clearly meant to create negative responses.

"HARRY STYLES seen MOVING BOXES? Is he going out... or is someone coming in?"

"Harry Styles spotted with NEWEST GIRLFRIEND"

"ANOTHER GIRL? HARRY SHARES HIS HOUSE... YET AGAIN!"

"Just a friend? Or Harry's latest lover?"

"Guess which FORMER ONE DIRECTION STAR is shacking up with his SECRET GIRLFRIEND!"

Against his better judgement, he clicked on one of the articles. His heart sunk further with every sentence he read.

"It's no secret that Harry Styles has been with a lot of women (read about each of his past relationships here). But is there someone new for the Watermelon Sugar singer?

A moving van was spotted outside of Harry's house today, and the star was seen moving boxes into his 8.7 million dollar mansion.

As if that’s not enough, there was a woman seen heading into the house with Harry. Could this mean a new romance for the Grammy winning artist? Well, don’t be too sure. There are many possible explanations for these new living arrangements. Maybe she’s a friend going through a hard time, or even just a family member who needs a couch to crash on.

Or maybe she’s Harry’s newest conquest. Yet another notch in the bed stand! Way to go, Styles!

However, we can’t help but notice: she doesn’t seem like Harry’s type. Come on girl, leggings and a hoodie? And that hair? Apparently, she’s not trying too hard to impress him.

We don’t know all the details yet, but stay tuned! We’ve reached out to Harry’s management for more information. Check back for more updates, and subscribe to our email list so you don’t miss anything!”

Harry clicked off his phone with a sigh. He stood up from the couch, keeping the blanket wrapped around him as he made his way into the kitchen.

No matter how upset he was, he was sure the sight in front of him would always bring a smile to his face. You were wearing one of his t-shirts, dancing slightly to your music as you stirred the pot in front of you. Harry leaned against the door frame, giving himself a few minutes to take this in. He couldn’t believe he would get to experience this every day from now on.

With a fond smile still on his face, he walked over to you. He wrapped his arms around your waist, adjusting the blanket so it draped over your shoulders as well.

“Hi,” you smiled, leaning back against him. “Did you have a good nap?”

“Would have been better if you didn’t get up,” he pouted, resting his chin on your shoulder to look into the pot.

“Oh please, you were totally dead to the world. I’ve been in here for half an hour now, and you only just woke up.”

“Still,” he said, turning his head to kiss your cheek. “What are you making?”

“Mac ‘n’ cheese,” you explained. “I wasn’t in the mood to do any real cooking.”

“Sounds delicious,” he smiled. “S’it almost done?”

“Should be like five more minutes,” you glanced over at the timer on your phone. “Want to get the plates?”

“No, just want to hold you,” he said, pressing his face further into your neck. “I’m not awake yet.”

“Fine,” you said, setting the spoon down. “Then you gotta walk with me, because I need to set the table.”

“I can do that,” he said, his voice muffled.

You smiled, moving around the room to get everything you needed while Harry clung to you like a koala. The smell of food seemed to perk him up, because within a few minutes he was lifting his head and leaning less of his weight on you.

“Smells really good, love,” he said, finally pulling himself away from you.

“I know, I’m an amazing chef,” you grinned, lifting the pot off the stove and bringing it to the table. This time, you remembered to set down a potholer. You didn’t really want to ruin this table that probably cost more than your entire apartment.

“You are,” he agreed, pulling out your chair before sitting down next to you. He scooted his chair closer, moving the blanket again so you were both under it.

His mood seemed to change suddenly as he was piling the food onto your plates.

“I have to tell you something,” he said, looking more upset than you had seen in a while.

“What?” You asked, turning slightly to face him.

“I don’t really… there’s no nice way to say it,” he said, avoiding your eyes. “Someone took pictures of the moving van and us bringing stuff in, and there’s some pretty nasty articles.”

“Oh,” you said quietly. You weren’t quite sure how to respond to that. It’s not like you didn’t expect this, but you had hoped to have a few peaceful days with Harry before being attacked by the media. “Is it- how bad is it?”

“It’s... not good,” he sighed. “I wouldn’t recommend looking at it. That stuff is terrible, always has been. They always seem to know exactly how to tear people down; make you feel bad about yourself. You might wanna stay off social media, just for a few days until some of the crazies calm down.”

You nodded. “I’m sorry.”

“What?” he looked up quickly. “Why are you sorry? I’m the one that should be sorry, they’re writing terrible stuff about you, and it’s my fault.”

“It’s not your fault,” you were quick to shut him down. “And I’m sure it bothers you too. I know you don’t like when they get personal information.”

“No, I really don’t,” he agreed. “But I wish they left you out of it.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter now,” you said, leaning your head on his arm. “Because now I’m here, and we’re together, and I don’t have to leave anytime soon.”

-----

After dinner, Harry decided you should get some more of your things put away. He brought your bag to the bathroom, dumping everything out onto the vanity.

“Why do you have so many bottles?” He asked, picking up the closest one.

“Because,” you said, grabbing it out of his hands. “They all do different things. This one is moisturizer, this one makes sure my skin doesn’t get too oily-”

“So why don’t you just not use either of them? Seems like they cancel each other out anyways.”

You shot him a glare. “That’s not how it works. Anyways, this one's for dark spots. These glass ones are mineral oils. This blue one is for wrinkles- you know, gotta get ahead of those- and this one is rose water. It doesn’t really do anything, it basically just smells good. Then that’s my hair stuff- and I was right by the way, you do have way more than I do. And this is a face mask, and that one close to the sink is a hair mask, and this little tub is an exfoliator, and this cloth is a makeup remover, but it’s better for the environment than individual wipes. And then my makeup is here- so liquid foundation, setting powder, blush, concealer, mascara, eye shadow, eyeliner, and the brushes. I actually don’t have that much stuff,” you shrugged, looking at the bottles splayed everywhere.

“Right… not that much stuff,” he said, his eyes wide. “It’s a good thing I asked Gemma how she organizes all her stuff, because she told me to get one of these things.” He opened the cupboard under the sink, pulling out a spinning makeup organizer. “Hopefully all of your million bottles fit on this.”

“You got this for me?” you asked, smiling. “That’s so nice of you.”

“Well, I don’t think your stuff would have fit in the drawers,” he said, running a hand through his hair.

“Oh, shush,” you rolled your eyes. “Help me get all this organized, will you?”

-----

The next week was pretty smooth, minus that little hiccup with the press. You did as Harry suggested, and stayed off Twitter and Instagram. You didn’t think it would be too bad, but you had gotten a few texts from concerned family and friends that made you wonder how bad it really was.

Either way, you didn’t really want to look. You and Harry were essentially honeymooning, and you weren’t about to let a few nasty articles ruin it.

“We haven’t gone for groceries yet,” Harry reminded you, coming up behind you as you did your morning skincare routine.

“Yeah, I kind of forgot about that,” you said, closing the bottle of moisturizer. “We can go whenever, just let me get dressed.”

He nodded. “What all do we need?”

“I don’t think there’s too much, but we need some fruit. Most of yours is bad at this point.”

“Yeah, that happens.” He laughed. “I usually buy a whole bunch and then end up having to leave, so then I come home to a fridge full of rotten fruit.”

“Lovely,” you joked. “I also need some chips, all your snacks are healthy.”

“I have no idea what chips are, but we can buy some crisps, if that’s what you meant,” he smiled at you in the mirror.

“Shut up,” you rolled your eyes, hitting his arm playfully. “I’m not going to call them crisps just because I live here now. I’m still American.”

“Fine, but when we have kids, they will not be using your American words. I’m not letting you corrupt my children like that.”

“You’re so annoying.”

“Well then, it’s too bad you moved in with me, isn’t it?”

-----

“Ooh, we need these!” Harry said, grabbing a bag of brownie bites.

“Why do we need those?”

“Because they’re delicious,” he said, looking at you like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“If you say so,” you shrugged, pushing the cart forward after he threw the bag in. “Where is the pasta?”

“Aisle 17,” he answered immediately.

“Is it really?” You asked, a little surprised he had the aisle numbers memorized.

“I have no idea,” he laughed. “It’s just the first number that popped into my head. I think it’s that way? Or maybe over here…” he trailed off, like he was trying to remember where to go. “I actually have no idea.”

“Wow, you're so helpful.”

“I know,” he grinned. “I don’t know, just start wandering around and we’ll find it eventually.”

“What a plan,” you shook your head, but followed him anyway. It’s not like you were in any rush, and you were both having a good time.

“Oh look!” You said, turning into an aisle. “I found the chips.”

“The what?” Harry called from the next row over. “I thought you said something, but I must have heard you wrong.”

“No, I just said I found the chips,” you repeated. “You know, little cooked potato slices?”

“I’m sorry love, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” He said, joining you in the aisle. “Oh, silly me. You meant crisps!”

“Nope,” you grabbed a bag of Doritos. “I meant exactly what I said.” You placed the bag in the cart, turning back to Harry. You leaned up on your tiptoes, moving closer to his face. “Chips,” you whispered, before pressing a quick kiss to his cheek and then turning around again.

“You can’t seduce me into calling them the wrong name,” he scoffed.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you shrugged, pushing the cart away. “Did you find the pasta yet?”

“No, but I did find the ice cream,” he said, easily catching up to you with his long legs.

“Ooh, I think that’s where we need to go next.”

“I agree,” he grinned, steering the cart in the right direction. “I think we should probably just get all of them, ya know? That way we won’t miss out on anything good.”

“Harry, there’s like thirty different flavors here,” you laughed. “We are not getting that much ice cream, we don’t even have that much space in the freezer.”

“No, that’s just because I have a bunch of frozen food in there. It’s mostly vegetables. Not that important. I can just throw that all away,” he argued, already opening the freezer door to reach for some ice cream.

“We are not buying thirty cartons of ice cream,” you shook your head. “We can get, like, ten, at most. Even that-”

“You already said ten!” he said, pressing a finger against your lips. “You can’t go back on that now. So pick some flavors!”

-----

“Which one do we want to try first?” He asked, looking at the large selection you had bought.

“Um… I think the salted caramel core,” you decided, picking up the carton of ice cream.

“Oh! You know what we need with all of this?”

“Insulin?”

“No,” he rolled his eyes, grabbing one of the bags from earlier and pulling out the brownie bites. “I told you we needed these, they’ll go perfect with the ice cream.”

“Ooh,” you nodded. “That’s a good idea.”

“I know,” he said proudly. “I’m full of good ideas. Actually, I have another one. Let’s go watch The Office while we eat our delicious brownie bites.”

“Ok, but if you put on the UK version I might have to leave.”

“I would never,” he said in an offended tone. “I’m not a monster.”

-----

“I don’t want to go back to work,” he sighed. “I just wanna stay here with you.”

“I know,” you said, tracing patterns on his chest. “But I have to start working again too. I don’t think my boss is too happy about this whole arrangement, so I have to make everything twice as good so she’ll let me keep doing it this way.”

“Yeah,” he said, running his fingers through your hair. “I’m saying again, you could just quit.”

“I’m not quitting,” you shook your head. “I like my job. And I can do it all from the house, so it’s a really good deal.”

“I wish I could do that,” he sighed again.

“That wouldn’t work,” you smiled. “If we were both here all day, neither of us would get anything done.”

“You might be right,” he laughed. “You’re very distracting.”

“Oh, I’m distracting?”

“Very,” he grinned. You recognized the look in his eyes, and you knew if you didn’t get up soon you wouldn’t any time in the next hour

So before he could move too far and start kissing at your neck, you rolled off him.

“I have to get ready for work,” you said, getting out of bed.

“What do you mean get ready? You don’t have to go anywhere, we have all the time in the world,” he pouted, reaching out his arm for you.

“I don’t, but you do. Jeff has been texting you nonstop, and Sarah called the other day and told me she’s getting restless at home. So I’m taking the baby today, so all of you can get some work in.”

“You are? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because, if you knew we were having the baby here, you would come up with some excuse to stay here.”

“Maybe,” he smiled, still making no moves to get up. “She’s just so cute.”

“Well, sometime we can offer to babysit so Sarah and Mitch can go out for the evening or something. But you have to go in today, so you should probably get dressed.”

He groaned, flopping his head back into the pillows.

-----

“Harry! They’re here!” You called, opening the door and inviting Sarah and Mitch in. “Hi guys, Harry’s being a drama queen today so I’m not sure when he’ll be down.”

“When isn’t he?” Sarah smiled, stepping into the room with the baby in her arms. Mitch was carrying the diaper bag, which he set down on the bench next to the door.

Sarah handed the baby over to you as Harry came down the stairs.

“Aw, can I hold her?” He asked, not even greeting his friends.

“No,” all three of you said at once.

“Why?” He whined before smiling at the baby in your arms.

“Because you won’t be able to put her down,” you said, laughing when the other two nodded. “See, they know I’m right.”

“Fine,” he grumbled. “But Mitch, you’re taking Sarah out tomorrow night and we’re babysitting.”

“I’m alright with that,” Sarah smiled. “Y/N, you should have everything you need in the diaper bag. There’s enough formula for a few bottles, but she won’t need to eat for an hour or so. Other than that she’ll probably sleep most of the time, she’s a pretty quiet baby. She takes after her dad.”

You nodded, bouncing her lightly. Harry was already in her face, smiling and cooing and offering his finger for her to grab. She seemed to like the attention, and was smiling right back at him.

“Harry, we have to go,” Sarah said with one hand on the doorknob.

He huffed. “Just when I start to make a connection with the child, I’m ripped away.”

You rolled your eyes. “We’ll have her tomorrow night. You can connect with her then.”

“It won’t be the same,” he said. “You know- why don’t we just take her with us? She can just come with us-” he was already moving toward you again, but Mitch grabbed his shoulder.

“No, Harry, we actually have to get some stuff done today.”

“Fine,” he groaned. “But you better send me pictures if she does anything cute,” he pointed at you.

“Everything she does is cute,” Mitch argued.

“You’re really not helping,” Sarah said, hitting his arm. “I thought I had one child, but turns out I have three.”

-----

The next few days were not very productive for Harry. He was having a hard time getting back in the swing of things, and it felt like everything he did was bad. He couldn’t write or play anything he liked. He just felt stuck.

They went over some old stuff, just so he didn’t feel like they totally wasted their time. Still, he couldn’t help but feel incredibly frustrated. He didn’t usually have issues with writers’ block, and he expected to be even better now that you were with him all the time. He had always been more productive when he got to see you, so he thought living with you would give him an extra boost. Apparently not.

Then, to make everything worse, more pictures and articles came out. Pictures from the day you had gone grocery shopping had been captured by some fan, but for some reason hadn’t come out until today.

But they were suddenly everywhere. There were even more articles than before, and this time it was worse because there were full pictures of your face. Before, there had only been one blurry shot of your back, and that alone got enough criticism. Now it was like the floodgates had opened. Every aspect of your appearance was being ripped apart, along with Harry’s “decision making”.

He saw the first article when they were taking a break for lunch one day. They had ordered some pizzas, and everyone was spread out on the couches across the room.

Harry unlocked his phone, ready to call you and ask about your day, but was instead met with another text from Jeff. Like the one before, he had advised Harry to keep you off social media for the next few days and apologized that it got this out of hand.

Sighing, he decided to see what they were saying this time.

“Harry Styles goes on a shopping spree- But who’s that with him?”

“Harry’s “new girlfriend” shops with him?”

"DID SHE MOVE IN?”“

“MYSTERY GIRL and HARRY STYLES search for the necessities!”

He clicked on one of the articles.

“Harry Styles and his mystery lady were seen shopping last week. We can’t help but think things might be getting more serious!

The former One Direction star was spotted moving boxes into his house a few weeks ago. What we thought may have just been a favor for a friend might be something much more juicy!

Maybe she’s not just another notch in the bed stand- maybe this one will stick around!

But really, if she wants to stick around- maybe she should watch what she eats. The Sign of the Times singer was searching for healthy snacks, while his newest girlfriend filled the cart with ice cream and chips. Seems like a recipe for disaster between the two!

Again, she’s seen wearing a very simple outfit. And no (or at least, very little!) makeup. Come on girl, you couldn’t have at least used a little concealer for those eye bags?

It seems like she’s just not trying very hard! We have to wonder- how long can this last?”

“Fuck’s sake,” Harry groaned, grabbing the pillow next to him and chucking it across the room.

“Harry, what’s going on?” Sarah asked. Everyone had noticed how on edge he had been lately, but no one was quite sure how to address his moodiness.

“Another article just came out,” he sighed. “It’s worse than the last one. I’m so sick of this.”

“Does Y/N know?”

Harry shrugged. He didn’t feel like talking about it anymore, but he knew they wouldn’t just leave it without knowing if you were ok.

“You should probably call her, so she doesn’t hear it from someone else,” Sarah advised. “I would want to find out from someone I loved.”

“I can’t- I really don’t want to talk to her right now.”

“Did something happen with you two?” Mitch asked, confused. The two of you had been inseparable lately, so this was strange.

Harry shook his head.

“I just- can we just not talk about it?”

He could tell they didn’t want to drop it, but one of the assistants came in with the pizza, and Harry was clearly done talking.

His mood only got worse for the rest of the day. He still couldn’t make anything new, and he was even having trouble with things he already knew. He struggled to hit the higher notes, and his throat was getting sore from trying to force it. By the time people were starting to head home, he was ready to throw a lot more than a pillow.

Harry dropped his keys when he was trying to unlock the door, and then his coat fell off the hook when he tried to hang it up. By the time he got to the kitchen, his jaw was clenched and he was fuming.

“Hi,” you said tentatively, noticing how angry he looked.

“Hi,” he said shortly, opening the fridge. “Is there anything to eat?”

“I didn’t make anything,” you said, still typing on your computer.

“You didn’t-” He shut the fridge aggressively, the bottles and containers in the door clinking against each other. “You couldn’t make supper for one night?”

“Excuse me?” You looked up, crossing your arms defensively. “I’ve been working.”

“So have I!”

“And I don’t expect you to make supper after you’ve been working all day!”

“It’s different, you’re home all day!”

“That doesn’t mean I’m not busy, Harry. You know that.”

“Well what am I supposed to do?”

“I don’t know, you could stop yelling at me for starters! I didn’t do anything wrong and you're acting like you hate me.”

His face softened immediately, and he stepped forward. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m so sorry. I don’t hate you, I could never. I just-” He scrubbed his face with his hands. “I’m having a terrible time with work. I can’t do anything right, nothing is working, and all these articles-”

“The articles came out weeks ago, Harry. It’s not that big of a deal anymore.”

“No,” he shook his head. “There’s more. A lot more, and they’re worse than before.”

“Oh,” you said quietly. “I didn’t know that.”

“I know,” he replied. “I should have told you earlier, I just- I don’t know. I don’t want you to have to deal with this.”

“Well, keeping it a secret from me and then yelling at me isn’t going to help anything,” you said, arms still crossed. “I know you’ve been having a hard time lately, Sarah told me. You can talk to me, you know. You don’t have to just keep everything in.”

“I didn’t want to put this on you,” he admitted, looking down.

“I want to know,” you told him. “I want to know when things are upsetting you or you’re having a hard time at work. You can tell me those things.”

He nodded. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “I shouldn't have raised my voice. Please forgive me?”

“Of course I forgive you,” you said, moving around the table and closer to him. He looked up, opening his arms and smiling as you stepped into them.

“It will get better soon,” he promised. “It won't be this hard for long."

-----

Despite his hopeful words, your situation didn’t get any easier. More articles came out, most of them attacking Harry for his past relationships and wondering how long this one would last. His writers’ block showed no signs of easing up, and he was getting more frustrated with every day that passed.

On top of all this, you had started missing deadlines for work. The difference in time zones made it more difficult than you had anticipated, and your boss was not happy. You’d already had to sit through three Zoom meetings this week, with her lecturing you on “the importance of timeliness and responsibility.”

You were not in the right state of mind to deal with Harry’s moodiness, and the atmosphere between you was painfully tense.

That is, until it all boiled over one day.

Harry came home angry, again. He slammed the door shut and basically stomped to the kitchen. Your day had already been stressful enough, and you weren’t about to let him take out his frustration on you.

“Don’t even start with me today, Harry,” you shook your head.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He asked, immediately getting defensive.

“I know you probably had a terrible day, but so did I. I’m sick of us fighting.”

“You think I want to fight? I’m so sorry for being stressed,” His voice was heavy with sarcasm.

“And I’m not? It’s not like you’re the only one in the world having a hard time, Harry!”

“What do you have to be stressed about? I’m the one who can’t get any work done, and I’m the one getting ripped apart by the media,” he huffed.

“Excuse me? Have you been on ANY social media lately? Are you the one getting called ugly for not wearing enough makeup? Or accused of being “Harry's newest slut”? Because that’s that they’re saying about me!”

“And how do you think that looks for my reputation?”

“Oh, so now it’s my fault that people are attacking you?”

“No,” he sighed, dropping his face into his hands. “I don’t want to fight about this. I’m just really stressed right now, and-”

“Again, Harry, so am I! I changed my entire world to come and be with you, and it’s like you don’t even care, or appreciate all the sacrifices I made!”

“What sacrifices? You don’t-”

“You did not just say that,” you breathed. “Are you kidding me? I gave up everything! I left all my family and friends. I can’t go out in public without people taking pictures of me, and posting them, and saying terrible things about me. I’m trying to figure out my new work situation, and my boss is pissed at me all the time. I’m probably going to get fired if I don’t figure something out. I-”

“You act like you’re the only one with work troubles!” he exclaimed. “My entire career is on the line if I don’t start writing again soon. And all this shit in the press- it’s not exactly motivating.”

“It’s affecting my job too. Do you think my company wants to be involved with all the drama about us? It doesn’t look good for them. All the more reason for them to fire me.”

“But it’s worse for me!” he raised his voice to match yours.

“Why is it worse for you, Harry?”

“Because-” He stopped himself, seemingly knowing he had gone too far.

“No, say it. Say why it matters more to you. Because everything about you is more important, isn’t it?”

“That’s not what I meant-”

“But it’s exactly what you meant! You care more about your career than you do about me.”

“That’s not true,” he said, an intense look in his eyes. “You know that’s not true.”

“Really? That’s not how you’ve been acting lately.”

“It’s not like that-'' he exhaled a frustrated sigh. “I’m just saying, all this bad press is really getting to me. I’m going to lose support, and it’s going to be hard for me to get it back.”

“Oh please, you’re Harry Styles,” you spat. “You’re the golden boy of the music industry. You’ll be fine. Other people, like me, are actually in trouble here. I’m actually at risk of losing something!”

“You can just find another job!” He threw his hands up. “I’m more in the public eye, it affects me more. That’s all there is to it.”

“I can’t believe you!” you were on the verge of tears now, simply from how frustrated and angry you were. “It affects you more? You’ve been dealing with this for years. How do you think it feels for me? I’m new to all of this, and you’re acting like I should know how to handle everything.”

“You knew it was going to be like this when you first started dating me!” he argued. “I told you, and you said you didn’t care.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t think it would be this miserable!” You said, the first tear rolling down your face.

“Well if you’re so miserable, maybe you shouldn’t have agreed to move in with me.”

This stopped you in your tracks. Everything the two of you had said so far was angry, and in the heat of the moment. But this felt different. It felt like he had crafted this sentence specifically to hurt you, not to voice his feelings about the situation.

“Fine,” you stood up, grabbing your laptop and charger. You walked right past him, out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

“Where are you going?” He called.

You didn’t answer. You went into your closet, pulling out the backpack you used to use for traveling back and forth between your house and Harry’s. You began shoving clothes into it, but made sure not to include any of his shirts or hoodies.

“What are you doing?” Harry came into the room, speaking quietly.

“Packing,” you said shortly.

“Don’t do that,” he frowned. “You can’t just leave.”

“Yes I can,” you shot back, still not looking up at him. You zipped up the bag, brushing past him as you went back downstairs.

“Where-” he followed you quickly. “Where are you going?”

At this point, you realized you didn’t have anywhere to go. You didn’t have any close friends; most of your friends were also Harry’s. And you needed to be with people who didn’t remind you of him right now.

“I’m going home,” you said, finally turning to look at him.

“What?” His face fell.

“I’m leaving. I’m going back home. I can’t be here right now.”

“No- you can’t leave!” he said, his face paling. “You can go stay with Sarah and Mitch, or with Jeff and Glenne- or I’ll get you a hotel room or something, but you can’t-”

“Yes I can, Harry,” you cut him off, repeating your sentence from earlier. “I need my family. I need to see my mom. I- I have to go.” You reached for the door handle, but he stopped you, placing his large hand against the door.

“You can call them,” he said, beginning to look desperate. “Or- or we can even fly them out here. But please don’t do this.”

“You’re the one who told me to leave if I was so miserable here,” you said, trying to stop your chin from wobbling. “So that’s exactly what I’m doing.”

“I didn’t mean that! I’m so sorry, I should have never said- I don’t want you to leave. That got way out of hand, I went too far, I’m so sorry.”

“It did. And I can’t be here right now. So let me-” you tried the door again, but he kept it firmly shut.

“Please don't do this,” he whispered. “Please just… stay here tonight. I’ll sleep in the guest room, I won’t bother you if that’s what you need. Or if you really can’t be here, go stay with-”

“No,” you said decisively. “I need to go home. You’re making me feel worse by forcing me to stay here, can’t you see that?”

He dropped his hand away from the door, pressing his lips together. He gave a short nod. “If you have to-” his voice broke, and he quickly cleared his throat before speaking again. “If you really have to leave, then I’ll drive you to the airport. It’s not safe to be out alone this late.”

You shook your head. “I can get a cab, I’m not going to make you-”

“Either I drive you, or you’re not going,” he said firmly. “I need you to be safe.”

You sighed, but nodded, knowing he wouldn’t give in. He was just as stubborn as you were.

-----

You were both silent for the entire drive. Harry didn’t even try to argue with you, which you were grateful for. He seemed to understand that this was what you needed, and he couldn't change your mind.

-----

“Please don’t do this,” he said one final time, watching you walk toward the gate. His heart broke a little more with each step you took.

Even though you wanted to, you didn’t look back. You knew that one look at his sad face would be enough to break you, and you couldn’t let that happen. You needed to go home. You needed your family.

Harry stood at the large window, watching with crossed arms as the plane took off. Once you were officially gone, the first tear slipped down his face.

He made his way out of the busy airport in a daze. He barely registered that he had made it back to his car until he was sitting in the driver’s seat. He reached for the keys, but his hands were shaking so much he couldn’t manage to start the vehicle. Instead, he dropped his head to rest against the steering wheel, and he cried. He couldn’t remember the last time he cried this hard. He felt like he couldn’t breathe; there was a huge weight on his chest.

Had he just lost the love of his life?

-----

He didn’t know how long he sat there, but eventually he realized he needed to get home. He needed to figure out what to do.

As soon as he pulled in the driveway, he pulled out his phone and called Mitch.

“Hello?” Came his friend’s tired voice. It was the middle of the night, after all.

“I need you to come over right now,” Harry rushed. “I fucked up, I fucked up so bad and I don’t know- what am i supposed to do? I can’t do this- I need her!”

“Wait, slow down,” Mitch instructed. “What happened?”

“I- just come over right now,” Harry said, hanging up the phone.

-----

When Mitch arrived, he immediately knew something was very wrong. He had never seen Harry look so torn up. His eyes were red, and he was pacing back and forth while running his hands through his hair.

“What happened?” He asked again. “Where’s Y/N?”

“She’s gone,” Harry said. “She fucking left. She went back home.”

“Is she ok? Did something happen with her family?”

“No, Mitch,” Harry said, scrubbing his hands over his face. “She left because of me. We had a fight- a really bad one. I said some really shitty things, and it got way out of hand, and now she’s gone. I don’t- what am I supposed to do?”

“What did you say? Was it about the articles that came out?”

“Somewhat,” Harry nodded. “She said it was starting to affect her job, and I said it was affecting mine too, and she said she was miserable, and I… told her if she was so miserable she shouldn’t have agreed to move in with me in the first place,” he looked down in shame. He felt terrible as soon as the words left his mouth the first time, but going over the fight with someone else felt ten times worse.

Mitch took a deep breath. “Yeah, that’s... pretty bad.”

“Yeah, no shit it’s pretty bad!” Harry snapped. “Sorry, I’m sorry,” he groaned, falling back on the couch. “I just- what do I do?” He leaned his elbows on his knees, cradling his head in his hands.

“I don’t know,” Mitch admitted. “Did she say when she’s coming back?”

“No,” Harry said miserably. “She just said she needed to go home. I tried to get her to stay, I really did. I said I could get her a hotel room, or ask if she could stay with Jeff or something, but she said she needed her family. The worst thing is… she said she needs to go home. I thought she saw this as her home now. I thought she wanted to be here. I thought she was happy here,” his voice broke, and he dropped his head again. “I don’t… I don't think she loves me anymore.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Mitch shook his head. “Of course she loves you. Do you know how many fights Sarah and I have had? You just have to give her time.”

“Yeah, but did Sarah ever leave the country after you fought?”

“...No,” Mitch sighed. “No, it never got that bad.”

“Exactly,” Harry said, another tear falling down his face.

“She will come back, Harry. She loves you way too much to stay away for good.”

“Not this time,” Harry shook his head. “I think it’s different this time. I honestly don’t know if she’s coming back. I don’t know how to fix this.”

“Well, you have to apologize,” Mitch said. “As soon as her plane lands, call her. Tell her what you told me. Tell her how sorry you are and that it got out of hand and you didn’t mean anything you said.” He paused before speaking again. “You didn’t mean it, did you?”

“Of course I didn’t,” Harry snapped again. “I was just… I’ve been in such a terrible mood, and I took it out on her.” He shook his head, whispering, “I’m so stupid.”

“I’m sure it will work out if you just-” Mitch was interrupted by his phone ringing. “Yeah, he’s alright,” he said into the phone. “I’ll explain when I get home." He paused before sighing. "Again? Ok, I’ll be there in a few,” he said before hanging up. “I’m really sorry, I have to go. The baby’s sick and apparently threw up all over her crib. I have to go help Sarah clean up. Just… tell Y/N the truth, okay? Make sure she knows how much you love her.”

Harry nodded, still looking awful as he raised his head. “Thank you.”

“Of course. Let me know if you need anything else, okay?”

-----

Harry started calling you as soon as Mitch left. He knew you were still on the plane, but he wanted you to hear his apologies as soon as you landed.

“Hi love… I’m so sorry. I don’t even know how to explain how terrible I feel. I didn’t mean anything I said. I was completely out of line, and I shouldn’t have let it go that far. I love you so much and I never wanted to hurt you. Please call me when you get this.”

Then he sent a quick text.

Harry: Let me know when you get to your parents’ house so I know you’re safe. Love you.

After that, he knew there wasn’t much else he could do. He wandered back up to his bedroom, looking at all the pictures the two of you had hung on the walls together. He thought back to the day you had moved in, and how happy you had both been. He remembered when he tried to put a nail in the wall, but swung the hammer at the wrong angle and put a hole in the wall instead. He remembered how shocked you had looked, covering your mouth for a second before you both burst out into laughter.

He remembered sitting on the living room floor and eating Chinese food while you played scrabble. Sure, you had ended up dropping lo mein all over the board, but it was worth it.

There were still traces of you all over the house. Your coffee cup still sat in the sink from this morning. Two of the cabinets were still open, because you always forgot to close them. There was a purple scrunchie on your bedside table, and a blue one on the bathroom vanity, and a white one hooked over one of the kitchen cabinet knobs, because “I never know when I’ll need to put my hair up!”

He couldn’t look anywhere in the house without thinking of you. He didn’t want to be in this big empty space all alone. The only way he could think of to make all the painful memories stop was to go to sleep. So, he did just that. He pulled your pillow against his chest, cuddling it like it was you in his arms. There was the faint smell of your conditioner stuck to the fabric, and he buried his face in it to just breathe you in.

The next two days were the worst Harry had ever been through. He didn’t know what to do with himself. You weren’t answering any of his calls, and your voicemail inbox was full. He kept texting, but you weren’t even reading any of them. He paced all day, trying to occupy himself. If he didn’t think of something to keep him busy, he would just keep texting, and he was sure you were pretty annoyed at this point.

But he couldn’t help himself, so he quickly unlocked his phone and started typing.

Harry: I’m so sorry, I can’t even put it into words. Please just let me know when you’re coming home?

He scrolled up through his previous messages, sighing when he realized how pathetic they sounded.

Harry: Please stop ignoring me, I need to talk to you.

Harry: I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I love you so much, please come home.

Harry: I sound like a broken record, I know, but I just need you to know I feel awful for everything I said.

Harry: I don’t even care how pathetic I sound with all of this, I can’t lose you.

He decided he couldn’t wait anymore. He didn’t even care if you weren’t ready to come back to London yet, but he needed to see you. He stood up from the couch and marched to the front door. He was going to get the next flight out to you.

He whipped the door open, ready to run to his car- and stopped abruptly in his tracks when he was met with your apprehensive face, one hand raised as if you were about to knock.

His eyes went wide, and he froze. He didn’t say anything, and you could hear him breathing heavily. His gaze flickered all around your face, almost as if he couldn’t believe you were really here in front of him.

“Hi,” you said hesitantly, lowering your hand. You opened your mouth to speak again, but he pulled you inside and against him before you could say anything. He held you tightly, arms wrapped against you as if you were going to disappear right before his eyes.

You reached up, putting your arms around his neck as he rocked you gently. His face was buried in your neck, and you could feel his chest shaking.

You just stood there with him, letting him hold you until you could feel his breathing evening out again. After what seemed like hours, he pulled away to look at you. He put his hands on the sides of your face, his eyes flicking between yours desperately as if he still didn’t believe this was real.

“Are you- are you home? Are you staying?” He whispered. His eyes were bloodshot and he looked like he hadn’t slept since you left. The sight was enough to make guilt stab through your chest.

“I’m staying,” you nodded. “I’m not going anywhere.”

He exhaled shakily, pulling you against his chest again. Your head was turned so you could hear his heartbeat, and it still seemed dangerously fast.

“I’m so sorry,” you murmured. “I should never have left.”

“It's ok,” he shook his head. “You’re here now.”

“It’s not ok,” you lifted your head to look at him. “I was angry. But I never should have let you think I was leaving you. That was unfair of me. I said awful things to you too, and I didn’t even say I love you before I left.” Your eyes were watering again, but you blinked back the tears.

“I didn’t… I didn't know if you were going to come back,” he admitted, voice thick with emotion. “I thought I lost you for good.”

You shook your head. “Of course not. I’m here, I promise, and I'm never going to do that again.”

“Good,” he laughed shakily, bringing up a hand to run through his hair. “I was terrified.”

“I know,” you said sadly. “And I feel like such an ass, coming back and just letting you welcome me with open arms. You should probably be really angry with me-”

“I’m not angry,” he quickly shut you down. “I was scared. I was so, so scared. I was about to get on a plane and fly out to you. And of course I’m welcoming you with open arms, I love you. You can always come back to me.”

You nodded, this time letting a tear slip down your face. “I love you too.”

He smiled, wiping the tear with his thumb. “What made you decide to come home?”

“I got there and I expected to feel better. I drove all around town, going past all the spots I used to love. It made me… nostalgic, I guess, but it didn’t comfort me like I expected it to. I went to my parent’s house, and they were great, but all I could think about was the times you’ve visited there with me. I went up to my room, and all I could think about was the time we stayed in there and my bed was way too small so I was basically sleeping on top of you. And how we couldn’t get to sleep because we kept laughing, because your hair was tickling me or I would hit you with my knee. Everything I did made me think of you. And I realized- that town isn’t my home, and neither is that house. This is my home. You are my home.”

His eyes were shining just like yours, and you both reached up to wipe the other’s tears away.

“You’re my home too. And if you want to move closer to your family, we can do that. I don’t care where we live. We can go anywhere in the world, as long as I’m with you.”

#harry styles #harry styles/reader #harry styles/you #harry styles/reader fanfiction #harry styles/you fanfiction #harry styles x reader #harry styles x reader fanfiction #harry styles x y/n #harry styles x you #harry styles x you fanfiction #one direction fanfiction #fanfiction #one direction

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acdeaky · 4 years

Text

to tell you the truth (i’m still in love with you)

warning: angst, fluff, mentions of sex

note: oscar isaac’s hot, no question. anyway, enjoy this, babies

word count: 3.3k

gif credit: @damerondjarin

it was dark out when you woke. the loud, incessant banging on the front door of your apartment had jerked you awake, and the minimal amount of lighting coming through the curtains let you know it was very early - or very late.

a part of you was tempted to roll back over under your sheets, pull them up to your chin and fall back asleep, but the knocking only seemed to become louder and more frequent.

you pulled off your covers and flicked on the small lamp by your bedside. your clock showed 2:43 as you shook your head and began to make your way through your small apartment to answer whoever thought it was a good idea to show up at your door right now.

you had an idea who it could be. there had been a few times when santiago had appeared on your doorstep in distress. on those occasions, you coaxed him inside with soft words and gentle touches as he pulled himself in on heavy feet, the weight of the world seemingly on his shoulders.

looking through your peephole, you knew this would be no different as you noticed the familiar stubble and greying hair of santiago’s, looking ever the same after three years. even after so long, you were who he crawled to, the only person who could calm the noise in his head.

the locks clicked as they were shifted, the hinges creaking afterwards as you pull the door open.

and, just as you knew, there he was. santiago’s usual, confident self was gone; even just looking at the way he held himself could tell you that. it almost looked like he was leaning against an invisible pole, his old stance gone, a new, tired one filling its place.

but he was here, and alive, and even after three years the only thing you could think of was-

“hi.” was all he said, a duffel bag by his feet and his hands stuffed into his jean pockets.

“hi, welcome home.” you simply spoke, leaning against your doorframe, feeling like your heart was about the burst the longer you stood and looked at him.

“do you know?” there was a slight quiver to his voice and his head dipped down from yours. “do you know where i went?”

“frankie told me. when you left that night, i waited a couple of days for you to come back. then i asked fish if he knew where you were and he said you were in south america. i asked when you’d be back and he didn't know. i didn't expect you to be back three years later.”

you could almost remember that day, as clear as if it happened yesterday. the night before he left, your best friend, santiago garcia, invited himself to your apartment - like many nights - and brought dinner. he laid the excuse as wanting to spend time with you, have a night like you used to (even though it had only been a week or so since you last did something like this together).

but santiago didn't take no for an answer; he let himself through the door and began pulling out containers of food and a couple of bottle of drinks. you welcomed it pleasantly, happy to be spending a night with just him, just santi, no tom or benny or will or frankie. no comments about your relationship, no teasing over your choice of drink (or teasing in general, which santiago would always reply with ‘they mean well’, and you know they do).

a few hours later, the food was gone and you had both had a few drinks. the sun was settling down on the horizon and, if you looked carefully, you could begin to see the moon creeping up behind it. the red and orange sky covered your open room with light, bringing in a peaceful glow with it. the light settled on santiago, like it was used to his body and the dips and bumps covering him.

he looked like a vision, ethereal. a beautiful dream which you had experienced so many times and you were selfish enough to only want to see it yourself for the end of time. you believed no one would appreciate it like you do, no one would find the same amount of beauty as you find in santiagoas he lets himself bask in the light.

neither of you had realised that you had moved closer to each other over the course of the evening. you had started on almost opposite sides of the sofa, but now found your thighs pressed against the other’s, you shoulders bumping into each other’s as you moved.

santiago’s music was playing in the background. at some point - god knows when - he had gone into the kitchen and, as he came back, the soft notes of his favourite song floated from the speakers and settled around you two. he handed you another drink, sitting back onto the sofa and leaning slightly towards you, his arm slung across the back cushions. his hand landed on your shoulder, and his fingers began drawing light patterns across your skin while he conversed with you.

it was something that rarely happened. santiago had done this with you before, that being eating, drinking and relaxing, allowing the music to pull you from the real world as you talked until the early hours. never been so close and intimate. at the time, you thought nothing of it as his lips came to meet yours in a delicate attempt at confessing his feelings.

the words “i've fallen in love with you” escaping his lips as they ghosted against yours, his breath hot and sticky against your skin as you replied, “i've fallen in love with you, too”.

santiago made you feel things you'd never felt before that night. he touched you with softness behind it, allowing his lips to travel wherever they could reach before picking you up off the sofa and trekking through the apartment to your room.

the two of you spent the night together filling it with passion, giggled and delicate kisses. neither of you could get enough of one another. to you, he tasted so good, like nothing you've ever endured before, something good and amazing and so characteristically santiago. to him, you tasted like home, a forever presence that he refused to get rid of.

and he really didn't want to.

come morning, the sheets beside you were cold and pulled back. the couple of bits he haphazardly threw on the bedside table the night before were gone and so were the clothes you remember tugging from his body. the only thing he left was his jacket; it was the one you loved on him, that smelt like him. alongside it was a note, the words ‘i love you, but there's something i have to do’ were carefully engraved on the paper.

that's when you waited. you gave santiago a few days to do whatever it was before you turned to frankie. that was a difficult conversation in itself and you could tell that frankie was as confused and conflicted as you were. he offered you an answer, more than santiago had given you, and a response to a question that no one in the world could answer, not even santiago.

“i'm sorry-”

“santi,” you stopped him, not wanting to do this - whatever it was - on the doorstep of your apartment at almost three in the morning. “do you - its late - but do you wanna come in?”

santiago looked back up at you, seeing your warm smile and kind eyes, something he had missed for the last three years. “yeh- yes, please.” you gave him a light nod, stepping further back into your apartment to give him space to pull himself through with his duffle bag.

even after three years, he was still your santi. the cap he adorned was one you had spotted and persuaded him to buy; one which he had worn almost every single day since he went away. the jacket was new, one to replace his other one, but it fit him well, allowing his broad shoulders a chance to be seen. the colour suited him, too, a dark navy blue.

he was heavy on his feet as he entered, shuffling around like he was a stranger in a foreign country as he thought about where was best to leave his bag. that had been his life for the past three years; everything he had and knew lived in there while he was deep in the jungles of south america.

much to his surprise, he came back unscarred, physically at least. of course, his knees had taken a hit during his - mission? - and the neck surgery he gotten gotten the year before hadn't helped much either. but aside from that, he would be fine, so long as the nightmares were kept at bay, no one would think any different of santiago.

but you weren't just anyone. you had seen santiago in his most vulnerable states, in every sense of the phrase. there was almost nothing you didn't know about him, but now, there was a large part of him you were a stranger to. without even knowing a tiny part of what had happened, you knew the santiago who was currently in front of you, sweaty hands and shaking nerves, was a different man to the one who left you three years ago.

three years. god, santiago had changed, as had you. you had never been with someone since. many people had tried to win your affection, attempting to entice you with the promise of dinner and a sense of forever, but you didn't want that anyone but him, a man who was on a completely different continent and who had probably had many others beside him in his bed since that one night.

regardless of how he had acted out there, your love never faltered, unlike your hope for his return. the light inside of you which had been sparked by santiago’s promise of love had quickly diminished when you began to believe that he would never come home.

but you wouldn't think any different of him. he just didn't know that.

“can i-”

“i'm sorry for-” you both began, santiago seemingly wanting to smooth things out above anything else. “you go.”

“no, no, it’s okay. i just- do you wanna sit?” he nodded, watching your finger point towards your sofa in the open space. it was the one where that night began, but most definitely didn't end. you knew that. he knew that. but you weren't offering a seat in a malicious way, wanting to see him squirm and suffer while making him remember what happened that night, you could see that he was tired. it was the least you could do.

so santiago took your offer, turning away from you in a vain attempt at calming himself down. that wouldn't happen until things were sorted, until he felt that you knew everything. he just wanted to say-

“what happened?” you whispered into the quiet, turning on a small light to light up the room. it glowed over the sofa, settling around your bodies as you moved to sit down next to santiago, not completely ready for how long this could take.

but he was. santiago knew everything that happened in those years and it would not take a few minutes to tell. there was too much to say and almost not enough time.

the story began with his time colombia, working for the police as a private military advisor. next came lorea and santiago’s escapades with his informant in search for the drug lord. he explains the house - the safe - and the job, how he roped benny and tom and will and frankie into helping him with the job.

he didn't even make it through the mountains - tom.

and something about the night feels strangely familiar. with the two of you, sat there, being shielded from the world only by your thin curtains, it felt like home. familiarity. the thing that seemed to have left you three years ago and escaped to south america.

your bodies were pressed into each other’s sides, the feeling of just another person being there after so long brings about comfort in the both of you. a warm, calloused hand of his sat in the both of yours, a thumb gently rubbing over the back of his hand.

somehow, your eyes were trained to santiago’s head throughout his story, never leaving his body for a second in case you missed something, anything. as for him, his eyes never left your joined hands, watching the delicacy of your movements, concentrating his sight on something so small, but so significant to him.

it was silent for a few moments after he finished. santiago kept his head down, watching the comfort on his hands, whereas your eyes were darting over his entire body, taking him in, thinking how much you had missed him.

“i’m so sorry, santi.” your voice was quiet, like earlier, only just drifting from your mouth and into his ears. that’s when he moved, shaking his head before looking up at you, finally meeting your eyes for the second time in years.

“no, i’m sorry. i shouldn’t have just up and left like that, especially after what happened the night before.” there was a small smile on your face at that reminder and you hadn’t even noticed the quiver in his voice.

“it’s okay,” one of your hands left his thigh, moving upwards to cup santiago’s cheek, the stubble a little longer than usual. “you’re here now, and everything will be okay.”

his eyes closed as you allowed yourself this time to look at him. there was exhaustion buried deep inside of his skin, the usual relaxed look that he held whenever he closed his eyes was gone. it seemed that only a shell of the man you used to know came back from south america.

but you knew he was there. you knew your santiago was there, underneath it all. that’s why you held him. and that’s why you’d continue to hold him for as long as he needed you to.

without much thinking, you leaned closer to him, pressing your lips against his for only a second. an innocent kiss, much different to the ones you two had shared before he left, but it meant more to you both than either of you could describe.

then, as delicate as ever, one of his hands reached up to join your own, his large palm completely covering the back of yours. “come on,” you whispered, your free hand moving to card through his unruly curls. “let’s get you to bed.”

a slight nod was your only answer, that and the lack of resistance he gave you your hands grabbing his and helping him up from the sofa. everything stayed where it landed, neither you nor santiago making any effort to grab his bag and pull it into your room.

it almost seemed domestic. almost. as you crawled back under your covers, santi stripped off his jacket, leaving him in just a dark t-shirt. his jeans followed, the metal of the buckles clashing together as he pulled them off. the hat was last, being placed gently on your chest of drawers before he made his way over to you.

like usual, you welcomed him, pulling back the covers just enough for him to slip under, shuffling his body closer to yours. as he laid on his back, you took the silent invitation to press into his side. just as any other time, your head rested on his chest, both of your arms wrapping around the other’s body.

santiago let out a deep breath, his chest rising and falling so slowly it felt like you let one out, too. maybe you did, but it wasn’t important with where you were and who you were with in that moment. he was finally home, back and safe in your arms and not in a godforsaken dark corner of the narcotics war.

you fell back asleep to the steady beat of his heart, his hands running up and down your skin as he tries to soothe himself to sleep. eventually he does, well after you, but he feels safe this time, being back in your arms doing wonders for his mind.

it felt as if it had only been a few moments, but it wasn’t long before you could feel the rise and fall of santiago’s chest again, but this time on your back. the warmth of his breath on the nape of your neck was calming, that and the warmth of his hand over your exposed skin.

“we should get up, honey.” he says delicately, his voice rough with sleep, dry sounding, and you can feel him behind you, his eyes just barely opening as he decides to start his day. you feel guilty that you wish he wasn't awake, even as he reaches closer, an arm tightening around your waist as the other slips between the pillows and your head, reaching out for your hand as your other lands on his forearm, affectionate, loving.

there was no use in pretending you weren't awake, your need to touch him, to feel him and know he was there and not in some god forsaken place in colombia, too great to even attempt to stay in his arms longer.

“we shouldn't.” you mutter, turning your head to press into his skin, soft, warm. your fingers danced across his bronzed skin, keeping your lips pressed against his bicep as you did so.

santiago was complacent behind you, not even bothering to attempt to stay true to his words as he reveled in you, your warmth, your love, the exact thing he had missed all these years. his breath was still warm on the back of your neck, his lips only ghosting over your skin. even after last night, after the sacred kisses and emotions you’d shared, this is what stumped him.

it was only a few minutes later when you twisted onto your back, your hand leaving santi’s as you shifted to face him instead of hiding away. the hand that had left his own cradled his exposed cheek, your thumb carressing the delicate skin.

the beautiful brown eyes you love were still hidden by sleep-ridden eyelids. the only indication that he was awake being the small smile that adorned his face as you continued your ministrations, your own eyes flittering over his features like he would disappear, again.

“are you still in love with me?” he asked, breaking the silence without even opening his eyes to look at you, “after everything i’ve done?” his voice was so quiet, so petrified of your response, especially when that gentle hand stopped moving. god, never stop holding him like that.

“i’ve always been in love with you, santiago,” you assured him, guiding your hand to the back of his head to pull him even closer to you, fingers tangling in his short curls, “i don’t think i can ever stop.”

“can i tell you the truth?” his eyes finally met yours, confidently shifting the hand on your hip around you to press flat against your back, bringing your chests closer, bringing you closer.

“please.” it was a whisper, a beg, your plea for him to tell you what you already knew.

“i’m still in love with you.”

if anyone wants to be tagged in my oscar writing, let me know!

taglist: @shes-over-bored @i-barely-go-on-online @sohoneyspreadyourwings @brian-maybe-not @deakysbabybooty @1001-yellow-daffodils @retromusicsalad @hardcoredisneynerd @painkiller80 @goldhoran @scarecrowmax @mebeatlized @seesiderendezvous @alright-mrfahrenheit @someone-get-a-medic @miamideacon @chlobo6 @teenagepeterpan @spacedustmazzello @deakysgurl @forever-rogue @xcdelilahxc @keepsdrawings @igotsuckedintothevoid @kill4hqueen @supersonicfreddie @laedymoon @inthedayswhenlandswerefew @warriorteam1924 @painandpleasure86 @boomerangbassist @mamaskillerqueen @bhxrdy

santiago taglist: @stardust-galaxies @kindablackenedsuperhero

people who i think may like: @damerondjarin @unstoppableforcce @starryeyedstories @sergeantkane @youvebeenlivingfictional @writefightandflightclub @anetteaneta

#santiago garcia #santiago pope garcia #santiago garcia x reader #oscar isaac #oscar isaac x reader #once agAIN #this has been in my drafts for a while #like my last javi one #but here she is #and she’s beautiful #i love this one #and i hope you do too!#enjoy babies #x reader #acdeaky

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tobiosmilktea · 4 years

Text

casual catastrophes — sakusa kiyoomi

2.6k words | genre/s: uni!au, fluff | warning/s: kinda nsfw (i tried lol) | pairing: sakusa x f!reader

↪︎ in which his jealous actions spoke louder than his words

a/n: request for @study-milk, sorry for the long wait! i still hope you enjoy it overall

also i cant write smut for shit so i turned it into something poetic instead LMAO like honestly i have no idea how people write this so casually i couldn’t stop laughing the entire time

you were an untamed disarray in the morning. you looked at the world through a lens of thunderous fatigue as you finally managed to get some sleep in the past couple of days of nonstop assignments and projects. you loathed the hour at which you were forced to wake, from the tweeting of morning songbirds to the chattering of voice of the morning news droning through the placid dewy air of the new day.

your slender fingers slithered through your knotted hair, pulling the linen sheets of of you as you groaned honey through your teeth. you stretched up high until you could practically touch the clouds through the tips of your fingers until it lulled you awake rather than knee-jerk movements of the daily routine of getting out of bed. it was finally the weekend which meant no classes for a couple of days and you were eternally grateful. despite the short break between weeks being only two days, it was surely enough for you to have fun and relax, not to mention that your best friend had just arrived last night from travelling abroad.

you and your best friend, kaito, had been close ever since you had punched him square on the nose in elementary school after he made fun of you. you supposed that the impact had hurt him enough to think he would like to be best friends with you forever.

kaito had been on your side for as long as you could remember. you would always attend the same middle and high schools, helping you through your darkest days, your highest of highs, and even the lowest of lows. hell, kaito was even there for you when you were head over heels for sakusa. if anything, it was your best friend you had to thank for you to even be with sakusa kiyoomi in the first place. you two got together your second year of high school and have been going strong even now that you both were in your last year in university.

it was honestly quite the shame that you and kaito ended up following separate paths after graduating high school. you decided to stay in tokyo with sakusa while kaito travelling abroad and living his best life.

as if your body was on autopilot, you found yourself already making your way out of your shared bedroom of your shared apartment with sakusa, sighing to yourself as you gently shut the door behind you. following the sound of the television’s soft chattering from the small living room, you glanced upon your boyfriend making breakfast and cooking his morning away tot he smell of chamomile tea and eggs.

“morning,” he muttered, quickly flickering you a glance before focusing his attention back on the eggs. he was in the process of making yours and he was well aware of how picky you were with how your eggs were cooked.

“good morning,” you greeted with that smile he always liked seeing. you settled yourself atop one of the bar stools as you waited for him to finish, “we got visitors today.”

sakusa’s brows arch as he plated your breakfast and making his way towards you. “visitors? who? what time are they coming so i can clean properly?”

you shook your head with a light chuckle left your lips, “you don’t have to do that, you know as i think you know who’s coming.” you say, thanking the boy before you as you stabbed your fork into your eggs. “besides, we’re probably going out to hangout.”

a hum of acknowledgement emitted from sakusa as you could’ve swore he made a strange look when you mentioned visitors. you didn’t even mention kaito’s name, but you knew that he knew who you were talking about.

shaking the thought out of your head, you and your boyfriend ate breakfast in the serene silence. your eyes hadn’t even meet each other as your gazes were both locked upon the television screen.

sakusa found himself waiting, sitting on one of the bar stools at some random pub in downtown tokyo that you had dragged him to in order to meet kaito. he let out an inaudible sigh as he pulled his white face mask higher up on the bridge of his nose as he watched your honey drenched eyes scan the crowds every five minutes.

sakusa had a terrible habit of staring at you in the midst of the silence between you two. he often thought of his gazes to be of a nuisance, but he was well aware that you would’ve called him out on it if you truly found it annoying. trust me, he learned this the hard way when you two first started dating. if anything, he took it to his own advantage to memorize every feature upon your face. the volleyball player’s face seemed to light up the same way yours did as your eyes widened at the sight before you—kaito and a friend of who decided to tag along.

“kaito!” you called out to her best friend, pulling sakusa from his trance and towards the arriving pair.

“feels like i haven’t seen you in eons, (y/n).” kaito laughs as he pulls you into a tight hug. sakusa’s eyes flickered down to how dangerously close your friend’s hands were wrapped around you.

a curt smile melted upon your lips, “well, this is the longest we’ve been apart.”

“true, but i’m honestly surprised you haven’t gone insane without me keeping you in check all the time.” jests kaito, a tone lacing his words with a raised brow upon his face.

you scoff, “as if! i though your expected between from me.” you mused before gesturing to your boyfriend that your best friend had failed to even greet, “besides, sakusa has taken over that job.”

it was then kaito had finally nodded towards the masked individual as you were too occupied introducing yourself to kaito’s plus one. eventually the four of you found yourselves sitting on the bar stools in a row, with you being in the middle of kaito and sakusa.

with only two hours into the night, numerous topics had already been talked about—mostly between you an kaito as they were of reminiscent memoirs that refused to wither into oblivion or stories of his travels.

“so when are you leaving japan?” you asked, casually sipping on your cocktail.

a hum of thought emitted from kaito as his eyes focused on his glass, “in two weeks, i think.”

“where to?”

“probably australia and new zealand,” kaito answers between sips of his drinks, “so far, i’ve been to most of the continents besides australia, so i’ll most likely spend a month in each country.”

a light chuckle escaped from your lips, “must be nice.” you commented, suddenly feeling a large, warm hair grip at your thigh. eyes widening slightly, you look back towards sakusa whose face mask was resting below his chin in order to take a sip of his drink. he wasn’t even looking at you, but his grip on your thigh tightened. you squeezed his hand back.

your best friend downed the rest of his drink, his breath finally catching up to him as he felt a pair of eyes staring holds into his skull. he decides to shake it off, “well, i’m just really fortunate enough to have a job that lets me travel. maybe once you graduate you can come with me and travel for a couple months.”

it was then sakusa wove his fingers though yours and gripped your hand tightly. as if he was suddenly afraid to let go, he rudely cleared his throat as he downed a shot.

“besides,” kaito continues his ramblings without noticing any of sakusa’s tense actions towards you. “i was supposed to go on that australia trip right now, but i decided to stop by japan cause i wanted to see you before i leave again. couldn’t last another couple of months without seeing your ugly face.”

a playful scoff emits from you, rolling your eyes. “dickhead.”

“oh, come on, i know you miss me.” he teases, his hand raising to possible touch your face, but before he could do so, sakusa swiftly pulls your face away to quickly peck you on the lips.

“sakusa?” you muttered upon his soft lips as you pull away.

he cleared his throat, “sorry that i interrupted, but it’s getting late and i just remembered that atsumu asked for our help for his move.”

that was a lie. sakusa quickly made it up as he couldn’t bear for his anger and jealousy to brew within him for any longer as he would physically combust if he were.

“really?” you questioned as confusion rang over your face.

sakusa nods, “yeah, he texted us earlier this morning, remember?”

you tilted you head slightly, trying to recall the memory but failing to do so. but it wasn’t like you questioned it any further as it was probably lost in the busy saturday endeavors of cleaning up around the house that it possibly flew over your head. besides, it was sakusa who usually remembered this types of things so you trusted his judgement.

“oh,” you sigh, looking over to kaito and giving him a pitiful look. “sorry we had to cut tonight short, kaito. maybe next time we can hang out for longer.”

“don’t worry about, (y/n). there’s always next time” your best friend waves his hand as if to say it wasn’t a big deal. he watched as you hopped off the bar stool and gathered your things, “oh here, let me walk you guys out.”

kaito, along with his tag along left their seats at the bar as well and followed you and sakusa out. your best friend noticed the way your boyfriend was tensed with his arm draped affectionately over your shoulders. kaito’s brows slightly furrow as he looked at the sight before him. jealous, he thought as he feigned a laugh. being the germaphobe he is, he was well aware that this was super out of character for sakusa and it was all because of kaito. perhaps there was a smug look on your best friends face that immediately dissipated the moment you all stepped out into the cold night air.

“i swear it got colder,” you mumbled as a cheeky idea popped inside kaito’s head. perhaps he would do you a favor as he was aware of how stressed you had been in the past week, maybe if he pushed a couple more of sakusa’s buttons that you would be in for a treat.

“here, let me give you my coat.” kaito was in the midst of taking his jacket off his shoulders when sakusa had already place his own coat over your shoulders in one swift movement.

the tall volleyball player flickered a look over his shoulder, giving a harsh glance towards your best friend. “i got it, thanks. we’ll be leaving now.”

“bye, kaito!” was the last thing you said to your best friend before you and sakusa walked towards his car.

you hadn’t expected the night to end like this—stark naked under the pale moonlight that bled through the windows of your apartment, laying beneath sakusa who was in the process of taking his shirt off.

all you knew was that this was entirely sparked off his stupid jealousy towards kaito for no reason whatsoever. the thing is, the only reason why you knew was of all the backhanded comments sakusa had made on the car ride home after he had locked the car doors and confessed that helping atsumu was a lie. that having you alone and all his was the only reason why he wanted to leave the pub so badly, to have you in his arms and in his embrace, to feel your skin against his. whatever jealousy he experienced earlier in the night, he wanted it to disappear once he showed you that you were his.

you tried to be indifferent about it. that his uncalled for actions wouldn’t let him succeed in having him take you, but your senses seemed to swell and pulse against your skin at each waking moment that passed. you did end up melting into his arms as he carried you to the bedroom.

he knew you so well that he was aware that the moment his lips touched your neck, all of your defiance would deteriorate. he knew that just a few light brushes and strategically placed touches against your skin would do all of his bidding without much thought.

sakusa sighed into your lips and that burst of serendipitous spark of lust and desperation radiated throughout your bodies. as if all of his rising envious antics melted away, withering along with everything else in the world—the sounds, the questionable best friends, the alcohol coursing through your veins—it dissolved into nothing but you and him.

all of sakusa attention was on you and you only. nothing else in the world would break him out of his trance of love and infatuation for you as he savored the familiar taste of your lips.

you clutched at him with the aching of fervor and reincarnation. you yearned for his touch, clinging to his shoulders, pulling at his hair, and wrapping your legs around his hips to drag him harder into you.

sakusa kissed his way down your neck, to your collarbones and eventually down to your breasts as the deep growl that emitted from his lips lit your skin on fire. he breathed vehemence and desire as he adjusted himself in front of your entrance, watching as there was some sort of unwavering and steadfast hunger and avidity that melted over his face.

you let out a moan as he stretched you out, the sound bouncing off the walls as he didn’t even hesitate and let you adjust. you held onto his shoulders tightly at each of his movements, all strong and powerful at each buck of his hips. there was an ignited salacity in you and sakusa’s tangled greed of limbs and skin had pressed together.

your nails dug into his skin, hoping it would leave marks for his friends to see due to your boyfriend’s guttural sounds of pleasure. even the lewd whimpers leaving your lips caused sakusa to make his movements harsher and deeper, for his lovebites to darken upon your innocently clean neck, and to his hands leaving red marks from his grip on your thighs.

you both hoped your marks for each other would last for days. as if they were the reminders of the night a casual catastrophe of jealousy eminent in your love was something you both could memorize the reminders for days. that instead of you remembering the fun memories of your antics with kaito, you instead remembered the way sakusa looked beneath the blue hues of the midnight stars. of how he looked absolutely breathtaking by the moon’s silhouette.

to remember the taste of lust and ardor, of the way his lips tasted, of the way his body felt pressed up against yours. it was truly something to remember as the only reason why you and sakusa were nearing each other’s edges was all because of kaito himself. the man who set you two up in the first place and the man who purposely made sakusa jealous just because you were stressed, kaito was aware that your boyfriend was the only one who could make you feel like this. to unravel and have you in a trembling mess under his own body, you had dragged him with the tide of pleasure with the sudden downpour of mumbled ‘i love you’ was muffled against each other’s bodies.

your phone then buzzed on your bedside table once you both rode out your highs:

from: kaito :))

hope you had fun tonight, homie, i did the best i can ;)

#haikyuu!!#haikyuu #haikyuu scenarios #haikyuu imagines #haikyuu oneshots #haikyuu smut #haikyuu x reader #sakusa kiyoomi #sakusa x reader #sakusa fluff #sakusa smut #sakusa scenarios #sakusa oneshot #sakusa imagines

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spine-buster · 4 years

Text

The President Wears Prada (William Nylander) | Chapter 28

A/N: Thanks for all the love this past week ❤️ It meant a lot to me. Here’s 4600 words of subpar writing 😝 And FYI, we’re not getting too sad around here. This is the only chapter they’ll be apart. That means reunification next week!

April 12th, 2020

Aberdeen Bloom was with her family.

It was Easter, and they were celebrating together, thankfully. She was more grateful for it now more than ever, considering the state of the world. She had stayed camped out at her apartment for the last two weeks with Kasha, who had come back from Evan’s place and was none the wiser about William being there for the fourteen days prior. It made the most sense to Aberdeen because she still had to pay rent, and because she didn’t want to put Minerva through a stressful move again. So, she stayed put. Plus, now that she was living on her own, she’d know she’d go crazy if she lived with her family again. Especially with Siena back from Ottawa because of classes in some weird state of limbo. The sisters were thankful that Camden was independent enough to be able to learn on his own and not be constantly watched – and so was Orla. She had enough to tackle, having her grade one class turned into online learning until further notice. Everything was messy, and unprecedented, and weird, and not understandable, and weird, and chaotic, and confused.

But Aberdeen had her family. And Aberdeen had Willy.

They’d kept their promise about calling each other every night. Aberdeen would lay in bed and put in her headphones (so Kasha wouldn’t hear) and they’d FaceTime each other for a majority of the night, alone in their rooms, talking about anything and everything. Sometimes they’d fall asleep talking, and their phones wouldn’t shut off, and Aberdeen would wake up an hour later and see the brightness of her phone screen still lit up, and she’d see William sleeping on the other end, his face so peaceful yet so burdened with responsibility of caring for his siblings while his parents and other siblings were eight hours and an entire continent and ocean away, and she wouldn’t have the heart to end the call.

Things were fine in Tampa, from what he told her. Jacquie had calmed down considerably. Alex was…Alex – always trying to make jokes and make light of the situation. They barely left their house, but because there were three of them there, it wasn’t too bad. There were a lot of board games played, a lot of Netflix series watched. From across the countries, Aberdeen and William were watching Tiger King together. She didn’t think she’d watched anything as horrifyingly crazy. William would crack jokes about her putting him in a meat grinder and feeding him to tigers. She could only giggle.

She knew that today the siblings were going to go for their first “outing”, just to get some sunshine, along the Courtney Campbell Bridge. She hoped the weather would cooperate for them. And once they were all home, and once Aberdeen was back at her place, the routine would begin, and she’d crawl into bed, and she’d FaceTime Willy to hear all about it.

Good Friday meant they had fish. Easter Monday meant Orla’s roasted lamb and much of the same sides that were prepared on Christmas. They’d still video chat with their grandparents, Camden would still play hockey in the driveway, and Aberdeen and Siena would go down into the basement and watch episodes of Brooklyn 9-9 or another show. Routines, in a time of a global pandemic that brought so much uncertainty, were accepted with warmth. Even for just a day, life was going to feel normal. Orla and Mirza had even gone so far as to get their kids chocolate eggs. It didn’t matter that the youngest didn’t believe in the Easter Bunny anymore or that the girls were in their early twenties – the gesture went farther than that. They were all together again, even if it was just for the day.

When Orla placed the roasted lamb at the centre of the table, asking Mirza for his plate first, Aberdeen took a giant whiff of the smell and immediately felt more relaxed. She filled her plate with carrots and asparagus and Yorkshire pudding before her mom piled on the lamb and sauce.

“So where’s our good friend William these days?” Orla asked as she finished serving everybody and sat down in her seat. She immediately grabbed her knife and fork to dig in. “He didn’t want to come for Easter?”

“I’m sure he wanted to come and have your lamb, darling,” Mirza said.

“He’s in Tampa,” Aberdeen answered, smiling slightly at her parents’ interaction. “His brother and his sister went there at the start of lockdown, and so when he was good to go too, he went.”

“William quarantined for fourteen days too?” Mirza asked. “Why?”

“He spoke to one of his Swedish friends on the Predators so he had to. I bet the whole team did,” she explained.

“Did you guys quarantine together?” Siena asked.

Aberdeen rolled her eyes. “Hah. Good one.”

“William has sisters?” Camden asked.

“He has three,” Aberdeen smiled. “All of them are younger than him.”

“I can’t imagine three of you and Siena.”

Everybody at the table snorted. “We can’t imagine three of you either, buddy,” Siena quipped back.

Camden smiled, then focused his attention back to Aberdeen. “So what’s he doing in Tampa?”

“I don’t know. Hanging out with his brother and sister.”

“Why don’t you call him and ask?”

“Camden,” Aberdeen said, “I can’t just call William Nylander and ask him what he’s doing so my little brother can know,” her tone made it seem like it was the most out-of-this-world idea. But it was a total lie. William would be at her beck and call – he always was. If she called him right now, he’d answer. If she called him and asked him what he was doing because Camden wanted to know, he’d answer her and tell Camden what he was doing. He was just like that.

“I think the most important question we should be asking about William, considering the circumstances in our world right now, is whether or not he’s safe in Tampa,” Mirza interjected. He stuffed a roasted potato into his mouth. “Is he safe?”

Aberdeen nodded. “He’s safe. And he’s with his family, just like we are.”

***

Aberdeen could hear the video game sounds coming out of Camden’s Nintendo Switch as she lay in his bed, cuddled up to him while browsing through her phone. It was later – later than she thought – but she wanted to stay at home for a little while longer, at least until Camden went to bed, because, well…it was a global pandemic and she wanted to see her family. Her dad would drive her home eventually – she knew that. But she wanted to spend some time with her younger brother, even if it was just cuddling with him while he played video games and she browsed Instagram. Sometimes physical contact was the best contact; sometimes nothing needed to be said.

“Hey Aberdeen?” he whispered.

Apparently something needed to be said.

She looked over at him and saw that he’d placed the Switch face-down on his chest. He was looking up at her. “Yeah bud?”

“Are you scared about the pandemic?”

Aberdeen softened immediately. God, she wished he could stay this age forever. She didn’t want him to grow up and turn into a moody teenager. She wanted him like this forever: young and innocent and the little boy who cries over meeting Kyle Lowry. “Of course I’m scared,” she admitted. “Are you scared?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he nodded. “Mom’s home so it’s okay but I’m scared about dad. What if the virus is on one of the envelopes or packages he has to deliver? Or, like, on a mailbox?”

Aberdeen cuddled closer to her brother, if only to provide physical assurance. There were so many unknowns about the virus. It didn’t help that there was wall-to-wall coverage of it on the TV all the time. “I don’t think the virus works that way, Cam. I think—”

“But did you see how fast it spread in New York City? Mom and dad were watching the news one night and the number of people who have it is so high,” he was so concerned.

“I think dad’s work put a lot of, like, safety rules in place so nobody will catch it,” she tried to calm his nerves. “Dad wouldn’t be working if it wasn’t safe. Look at my work. They’re not letting me work because it’s not safe.”

Camden considered his sister’s words. She could practically see the gears shifting in his mind. “I guess so,” he acquiesced. “But I still think about dad a lot when he’s working. Mom’s even praying a lot more now.”

“I figured she would be,” Aberdeen nodded. “Listen Cam, I’m scared about everything too, but the reason why I’m not worried about dad is because dad’s a really smart guy, and we’re a family that listens to doctors and public health experts who are trying to make everything better,” she explained.

“And don’t forget the epado…epid…”

“Epidemiologists,” she smiled, saying the word for him. “Them too. I’m listening to them.”

“Mom thinks I won’t go back to school this year at all. She told me I’m gonna help her teacher her first graders,” he giggled. “Imagine that! At least I don’t have to take EQAO this year.”

“Lucky you,” Aberdeen wiggled her eyebrows at him. “Hey, if I order some masks, what designs do you want on them?”

“Raptors and Leafs, obviously,” he smiled. “Do you even need to ask?”

“Well excuuuuuuse me—”

Their conversation was interrupted by Aberdeen’s phone ringing from its place on her chest. When she flipped it over to see who would be calling her at this hour, she should have known better than to wonder. It was William. It would only be William. But he was requesting to FaceTime her. Just as she was about to reject the call, she heard Cam gasp. “Is that William Nylander? He’s calling you?!”

She gulped. “Cam—”

“Answer it! Answer it!”

She swiped her screen. She prayed to every saint that he wasn’t already topless. When he finally appeared on the screen, he was wearing an oversized t-shirt. She’d have to pray the rosary tonight. “Hi William,” she greeted formally – no “Hi baby” or “Heeeeeyyyyy” like she usually did, hoping he’d get the hint.

“Hello…” he answered back awkwardly, not realizing immediately why she was being so formal. When she tilted the camera and he saw Camden lying beside her smiling from ear-to-ear, waving frantically at him, he understood. “Heeeyyy Camden,” he greeted, waving back.

“Hi William!” Camden said. “How are you?”

“I’m good, buddy, how are you?”

“I’m okay,” he shrugged. “Aberdeen told me you’re in Tampa Bay with your brother and sisters.”

“I am,” William nodded, shooting the quickest of looks to Aberdeen. “She texted me to let me know you guys were apparently missing me today at lunch. I already know my lunch wasn’t as great as the one your mom made.”

Camden giggled slightly. “It definitely wasn’t. Mom made lamb today. Hey William?”

“Yeah bud?”

“Aberdeen told me you have three younger sisters. I have two older ones. How do you do it?!”

William burst out laughing, as did Aberdeen. “Ooooooh Camden. If I knew, I’d tell you.”

***

“How are you, minskatt?” William asked as he watched Aberdeen get into her bed. He’d called her again when he knew it was safe – when she was back at her apartment after her dad drove her home. He hadn’t expected Camden to be on his earlier phone call, of course, but they’d spoken for about ten minutes until Camden was satisfied.

Aberdeen took a deep breath. She was going for it. “Jag mår bra hur mår du?” she replied in near-perfect Swedish.

She watched as William’s eyes bulged out dramatically and smiled mischievously. “Minskatt?!” he gasped dramatically, even going so far as to sit up in bed. She could only giggle. “Minskatt where did that come from? Are you…”

“Mhm,” she nodded before he could finish his thought. “I ordered a bunch of Swedish language books and I’ve been learning since you left. I wanted to surprise you.”

“Minskaaaaatt,” he repeated, except this time in a more playful accusatory tone. “What have you taught yourself?”

“Just the most basic stuff,” she said. “Hello, how are you, where is the washroom, that kind of stuff. Verb conjugations are going to come later. And…” she trailed off.

“And?”

She smiled again. “Jag tänker på dig när jag inte ens tanker,” she whispered.

It was the most amazing thing William had ever heard. It didn’t matter that the pronunciation was a bit off – it was incredible. Incredible. So incredible that he couldn’t handle it. He smiled from ear to ear and buried his face in his pillow as he giggled. “Minskatt…you have no idea how beautiful that sounds,” he said. “Like…you honestly have no idea.”

“Do you like the surprise?” she asked.

“I fucking love it,” he said. “Minskatt, you’re too good to me.”

“I want to learn more. I want…I want to like, become as fluent as I can so that I can speak to your family in Swedish. You know, when we’re in Sweden. Whenever that is.”

William’s heart practically burst in his chest. If it was possible, he would have spontaneously self-combusted right then and there at her words and their sweetness. “If I could take you to Sweden tomorrow, I would. God minskatt, I miss you so much. I’m dying over here.”

“Me too.”

“I want to touch you so bad,” he admitted. “I was dreaming about it the other night but then I woke up, and I couldn’t fall back asleep again.”

Her heart fluttered. She’d dreamt about the same thing too last night and woke up sweating. She’d never been this sexually frustrated before, even in her single days. To think of the time they spent together during quarantine, only to have him leave and be unable to do those same thing…it was a lot to miss. A lot to look forward too, as well, once they reunited. But for now, she could only miss it. “How were you touching me?” she asked, biting her bottom lip.

She could see his Adam’s apple bob in his throat. “You know how,” he whispered.

“Tell me,” she said, slipping her hand underneath the covers. She snaked it down her body and underneath her pajama pants and underwear. “Tell me how you were touching me.”

William watched as he watched her one arm move and her hand disappear. He gulped at the sight of it. “I was touching your pussy,” he huffed, slipping his own hand under the covers.

“Was it wet for you?”

“Of course,” he said, grabbing hold of his cock, stroking it almost immediately. “Is…is it wet right now?”

“Getting there,” she nodded.

“Are you touching yourself?”

“Mhm,” she said, her eyes drooping slightly. She waited a few moments as she continued to touch herself before she finally continued. “Tell me how you were touching me. What were you doing?”

“I was fingering you. And my thumb was rubbing your clit…how you like it,” his voice was low.

“Mmmmm,” Aberdeen hummed, mimicking what he was saying and doing it to herself as best she could. She’d done it for so long as a single woman that she’d practically mastered it, but ever since she’d been with William, he’d mastered it in the short amount of time too. There was nothing he did that didn’t turn her on. “I had your cock down my throat in my dream last night.”

“Oh fuck,” William huffed, not expecting that at all. He thought, as always, this was gonna be about pleasuring her by some good old-fashioned phone sex. He didn’t think she’d go so far as to include him too, considering how new the experience was. But they were doing this. “Was it deep in your throat?” he asked.

Aberdeen nodded. “It hit the back.”

“Fuuuuuck Aberdeen,” he huffed. He imagined the feeling and it sent shivers down his spine. He got hard almost immediately at the thought as he kept stroking himself, but ever since he’d been with Aberdeen, his own hand didn’t fucking cut it anymore. She gave him the best handjobs, the best blowjobs…everything she did was the best to him.

“Remember when I sucked you off in the backseat of your car?” she asked, her voice sugary sweet. William nodded his head quickly. “Remember how you came in my mouth? You tasted sooooo good, Willy.”

“Ab—Aberdeen—fuck, don’t—”

“I can’t wait to taste it again.”

William’s eyes rolled back. “I can’t wait to taste your pussy again.”

“When you come back home, I want you to fuck me like you did during quarantine,” she continued. “Fuck me hard how I like it, Willy.”

“Ab—are you—look at me when you cum, Aberdeen,” William demanded. He could tell by just a quick look that she was almost there. “Look at me when you cum.”

“Are you close?”

“Y—Yeah.”

“Cum with me, Willy. Think of my tight pussy when you cum.”

She could see his face contort slightly as he closed his eyes. She bit her bottom lip and tried to suppress a loud moan, writhing in her bed and squeezing her legs together as her orgasm took over her body. She heard William moan too, low and guttural, and when she saw his chest heaving just as much as hers was, she knew he came too.

As her breathing steadied out, Aberdeen couldn’t help but giggle slightly. “I can’t believe we just did that,” she admitted. “That was—”

“That was really hot,” William finished her sentence, albeit more bluntly than her tone. “That was—we did that quick but God it was hot.”

“Yeah,” Aberdeen nodded. “Nothing compares to the real thing though.”

“No, it doesn’t,” William agreed. “The second I land in Toronto – finish quarantine – whatever, I’m taking you to my place and I’m fucking you senseless.”

Aberdeen couldn’t help but giggle and smirk at his words. “Promise?”

“Promise.”

***

April 14th, 2020

“What did you and your brother do that day?” Aberdeen practically screamed into the phone as the video played on what seemed like an infinite loop on her laptop. “Seriously. What made you think to film that?”

“We practiced for a long time!”

“Oh yeah, I’m sure the Toosie Slide dance took a lot of practice.”

“It does!”

“Your poor sister.”

“She lived.”

Aberdeen snorted. “And what are those shorts, William?!”

“Um, excuse me? Are you making fun of my shorts?” he giggled. “I thought you’d like them, seeing as they show off my thighs. We both know how much you like my thighs…”

“Stop it.”

“No.”

***

April 20th, 2020

“Did you get some sun today?” Aberdeen asked sarcastically, seeing William on FaceTime looking redder than a tomato.

“You’re funny.”

“Have you heard of sunscreen?”

“I wore sunscreen,” he grumbled.

“Sure you did.”

***

April 25th, 2020

“Have you been writing a lot, minskatt?” William asked as he watched Aberdeen concentrating on her screen, hearing her furious typing through the microphone. They were on the type of call where the participants just went about their business, connected through the screen, watching the other do their work while also doing their own. William was just being dumb and scrolling through golfing websites, but Aberdeen was actually being productive.

“Mhm,” she nodded. “I just…well, you saw how much I wrote when we were together too. In between the sex,” she chuckled slightly. “But after you left, there was just this huge burst of inspiration and energy.”

“I think it was the sex,” William deadpanned, causing Aberdeen to laugh. “The sex inspired you.”

“Well you definitely gave me the energy,” she smiled. “Too bad what I’m writing isn’t a sex diary or something.”

“What are you writing, minskatt?” he asked, genuinely interested.

“Um…” Aberdeen began, trying to formulate what she was writing into words. “It’s about a girl. Well, a group of girls.”

“You mean like that TV show Girls?”

“Better,” Aberdeen huffed. “Lena Dunham is awful.”

William smiled. “So a group of girls?”

“A group of girls and their relationships with each other. And the expectations they have for each other that sometimes may not work in their favour.”

“So is it semi-autobiographical?”

Aberdeen side-eyed him. Everything in writing was at least somewhat autobiographical. But he didn’t need to know that. “Maybe.”

***

April 27th, 2020

“I miss you so much,” William mumbled, his voice sleepy.

“I miss you too,” Aberdeen said, equally as tired. “I can’t wait for you to hold me. I can’t wait to just cuddle.”

“Me too.”

***

April 30th, 2020

For the first time in weeks, Aberdeen wasn’t doomscrolling about COVID-19. She was doomscrolling about William.

It started innocently enough, by Aberdeen reminiscing on the first time he drove her home from the airport and he spoke about his contract negotiations and how they turned a lot of people sour on him. She believed him right then and there, but she didn’t go looking. Now, with nothing to do and a curious mind, she went looking.

And she hated what she found.

Entire articles, practically one written every week, about his trade value. Those same articles devalkuing him as a player and downplaying his role on the team as a top-six forward. Panels of analysts and experts demanding that the Leafs trade him. Entire Twitter accounts dedicated to blasting every single little thing he did on the ice. Men with nothing better to do than to obsess over him and call him every name in the book.

And then there was the video from Tim & Sid, the popular sports radio duo in Toronto that Aberdeen listened to for fifteen minutes once, but couldn’t get past Sid Seixeiro’s dumbass opinions. In the video she watched, he took a less than 10-second clip of something William had said in a post-game interview during a loss against the Panthers and asked, indignantly, “What the hell is wrong with him?” He then proceeded to go on a five-minute rant about the entire locker room having an attitude problem, how Willy had an attitude problem, how he didn’t care about the team…and people believed it. She knew it. People gobbled it up. It was their serotonin while they hated him and called him a pussy on the internet and threw glasses at him in bars while drunk. She felt sick to her stomach that these people felt this way about him.

She’d been crying for a while before she picked up her phone to call him. Her hands were shaking as she dialled his number, waiting for him to answer. “Hi minskatt,” he cooed after the fourth ring.

“Willy,” she greeted, her voice shaky.

The last time she’d called him in such a state, she was being followed from her apartment. William’s mind immediately went into overdrive. “Minskatt? What’s wrong?”

“Willy you know I love you, right?”

He softened slightly. “Of course I do. Why would you—”

“—I love you every way you are—"

“—Aberdeen—”

“—And I know you’re a good person and I love you so much, more than anything—”

“—Aberdeen—Aberdeen—stop. What is this about?”

She took a quick breath. “What everyone says about you, Willy. They’re horrible. Horrible. I was reading and I was watching these videos and they’re just awful to you and—”

“Aberdeen, I told you not to watch those videos,” he said.

“Willy, please,” she begged. “How could they say those things about you and not even know you? How can they still be so bitter after your contract negotiations?!”

“Aberdeen—”

“I love you, Willy. I love you every way you are,” she repeated. “I don’t care what anybody has to say about you. I love you. I love you.”

“I love you too, Aberdeen,” he said calmly but fiercely. “Aberdeen, you can’t listen to them. I learned how to tune them out a long time ago. Even if I did…I don’t care what they say about me. I know who I am, Aberdeen. I know the truth, and they don’t. And you do too.”

“I do, but I just…they’re so awful, Willy. I don’t know how you can stand it.”

“Like I said…I know my truth. My family knows. And you do. The most important people in my life know the truth and that’s all that matters. I don’t give a fuck about what they think of me,” he said.

Aberdeen stayed silent. She knew she was overreacting, but damnit, she needed to overreact. She’d been a part of the hockey world now for what felt like a century, and if what she had with William was going to last, it would be a major part of her life for years to come. She needed to learn to roll with the punches. But at the same time, she felt like if those punches were unjustified, then she was justified in being upset about them and wanting to speak out. “I just love you so much,” she whispered, her voice much calmer now but still a bit shaky. “God, I’m such a horrible girlfriend. I’m calling you crying about the stupid Toronto media on the night before your birthday—”

“It’s okay, minskatt,” he interrupted. “I would rather you call me then cry alone. Besides, my birthday isn’t going to be special because you won’t be here.”

“Willy, don’t say that.”

“I mean it,” he replied. “I wish I could spend it with you. Fuck, I wish I could fly you down to Florida on a private fucking plane just so I could spend time with you. I’d kill someone just to hold your hand right now.”

Her heart fluttered. “I wish you’d come back to Toronto,” she whispered. “When you get back, Willy…I’m gonna let you hold my hand so hard.”

They both snorted. “I’ll be eagerly awaiting my gift, by the way,” he said, knowing that whatever she had in store for him for his birthday would be waiting for him when he got back to Toronto. She made it that way – she promised, and he’d accepted. He was dying in anticipation, but he’d accepted.

“Want a little piece of it now?” she asked.

He smiled. “You know I do.”

***

May 1st, 2020

Happy birthday I know you’re spending the day with your brother so it’s okay if you don’t text back I just want you to know how much I love you. I’m sorry that I waited so long. I’m sorry I denied it for so long. You have been so good to me Willy. I hope I’m half as good to you as you are to me. I’ve never felt the love that you give me every single day from another person and I think that’s because the universe was saving it for ~you, for ~you to show me, because I can’t picture it being from anyone else. I love you so much and I miss you. Jag tänker på dig när jag inte ens tanker.

i love u more than anything minskatt Jag tänker på dig när jag inte ens tanker Jag tänker på dig när jag inte ens tanker always i will always love u i wish u were here with me nothing is the same without u

nothing is the same without you either I love you so much Willy

i love u aberdeen

160 notes · View notes

snakeboistan · 3 years

Text

Just Out Of Reach

My exams are finally over so have some touch-starved!Nagisa

Pairing: Nagisa x 3-E

AO3 LINK

Shiota Nagisa was a loner. He always had been for as long as he could remember.

When he was in elementary school, he was the weird kid - the strange girl-boy that hardly talked and no one could understand. His male classmates thought that he was too girly to take part in their games or join their conversations and whilst his female classmates didn’t mind his appearance that much, they knew better than to associate with him lest they too fall victim to the taunts and sneers that followed him everywhere, or the relentless bullying that inconvenienced him every breaktime. However, he didn’t mind - friends were a luxury he couldn’t afford anyway (his mother didn’t approve of him spending time out of the apartment, away from her). He would have his own fun by sitting himself down in his school’s library and bury his head in a book, getting lost in worlds that weren’t mean, or cold, or judgemental. Or he’d sit on a bench in the school playground, homemade lunch in hand, and observe his peers hug and high five and laugh together, whilst ignoring the strange pang of something that would curl in his stomach, wanting more than ever for something he could never have.

Even during his first year of Junior High, when he met the red haired genius of a delinquent called Karma, he didn’t let himself indulge in what normal friends would do. Sure, he felt comfortable around the first friend he’d ever had (though the unnatural comfort was often overshadowed by the awe and admiration that he was allowed in the company of someone as brilliant as Akabane Karma) but Karma had his own walls, his own issues and lack of trust, so there was always that unspoken distance between them, that slight tenseness that lingered between every (very) rare arm that was slung over his shoulder. Though they walked side by side, it was never hand in hand. Though they spent every free minute together there were never any fist bumps or high fives or hugs (Nagisa wondered if Karma even knew what hugs were). Karma kept to himself and so did he - they both had boundaries that the other respected.

Until, Karma left. And he was alone again.

And as much as he said that he didn’t mind it - as much as he told himself that he was used to it ever since he woke up that one day and his father was nowhere to be found, the shouts and screams of his parents having their nth argument ringing in his ears even though his house was pitch quiet for once - it hurt. So when he was sent to E-Class with his head hung low and the voices of his former classes whispering their disgust trailing after him, he looked at the grenade in his hand and knew that he had nothing left to lose.

(So why did Koro-Sensei save him? And why did it feel so good? )

(And why did that mucus-like membrane shrouding him make his chest heat up with a feeling he’s never felt before?)

It was during their lunch break when it happened.

Nagisa was sitting by cross-legged at the base of a tree, reading an article about an upcoming superhero flick, whilst a group of his classmates were throwing, hitting and bouncing a ball in a game that Yada had called ‘don’t let the ball touch the ground’ but Kimura dubbed ‘the floor is lava for the ball and not us’ (he’ll let the jury decide which title was better) when he heard some rustling above him followed by groans.

“Okajima,” Maehara whined, “you hit it too high.”

“I’m sorry okay,” Okajima said, “I didn’t mean to get it stuck in some branch.”

“Don’t worry,” Yada smiled at him, “I’m sure that we can get it down if we stand on each others shoulders or something.”

“I don’t know,” Kataoka frowned. She looked up, making sure to cover her eyes from the sun, at the cursed branch, “it’s pretty high up. It’s safer for us to go and get a ladder.”

“No need,” Nagisa said. Unbeknownst to them, the moment Nagisa had gotten whiff of what had happened, he jumped up and, as silent as a serpent, leaped nimbly from branch to branch until he reached the one with the ball. He carefully plucked it from where it was nestled in a groove before making his way back down again, all just before Kataoka spoke. He threw it into her hands.

��“What the- how the hell did you even do that?” Maehara’s jaw was dropped, frantically looking between the ball and the branch it was (he swore) a second ago.

“How did no one even see him?” Okajima whispered.

“Thank you, Nagisa,” Kurahashi beamed with the intensity of a thousand suns and threw her arms around him in one of her famous bear hugs, laughing in that usual bubbly way she always does. Nagisa freezes mid-flinch, almost petrified at the sudden contact. An unfamiliar warmth starts to spread across his chest. It was nice and almost comforting, drowning him with bright yellows and gentle goldens - making him feel like he was special. It took everything in him to not melt into it, a keening noise stuck at the base of his throat.

When his mother touches him, he feels the sharp talons of her nails digging into his skin. When she pecks his cheek or forehead, he has to stop himself from wincing at the way cyanide seems to burn him where her lips leave. In all honesty, he’d rather the sharp slaps and objects flying at him, at least those forms of pain where only physical and didn’t leave a confusing sense of dichotomy where his emotions that craved for the positive contact to linger battled where his fight-or-flight survival instincts screamed at him to scrub every single atom of her off of him. Touch was something he could neither afford nor understand.

If he wanted warmth, he’d wrap himself up in scarves and throw on soft jumpers; if he wanted to feel safe, he’d make sure to do everything he can to not trigger his mother into another eruption; if he wanted contact then he’d find his old plushies buried deep in the confines of his closet and embrace them in hopes that it would be enough. For him, the closest he’s ever gotten to feeling that void in his chest was when words of affirmation would wash over him (it’s no secret to anyone that compliments can render him unable to function)(but can you blame him when compliments to him are as rare as painite?).

When Kurahashi let go of him to go regale Yada with stories from a nature documentary she watched the night prior, he’s still stock still, dumbstruck, from that momentary embrace. He wanted her to come back so that he could feel it again. He wanted to feel her arms around his body like a safe little cocoon. He wanted to submit to that sunshine-like comfort and never get out of it. He craved that warmth so much it hurt him - why did it hurt so much?

It made him feel so wanted . And lov-

Is this why people hold hands all the time?

Later that night, he crushed one of his stuffed animals against his chest as he wrapped his arms around his body. He wondered why his pillowcase had wet stains on it when he woke up the next day.

(He ignored the answer that gnawed him at the back of his mind)

The second time he felt it was during a ‘completely necessary class bonding sleepover extravaganza’ (as Fuwa had put it) at the Nakamura household. With the blonde’s parents out of the country to visit her older brother, she had her entire house to herself - a house that was miraculously large enough to house twenty-seven teenage assassins in training (as well the phones that contained ‘Mobile Ritsu’).

“I still don’t understand why we can’t watch anime,” Fuwa pouted from her position on the kitchen island, her One-Piece-themed-socks-clad feet kicking up and down as she took another spoonful from the bowl of snickerdoodle cookie dough she had nicked from Hara and swallowed it, “it’s practically a staple for every good sleepover.”

“Because, Fuwa,” Nakamura drawled in reply, her own hands busy pouring popcorn into bowls, “none of us want to see you go full otaku during our relaxing evening.”

“It’s nothing against you Fuwa,” Nagisa had cut in quickly, having had made eye-contact with Isogai and Hara as the three of them were washing and drying the baking equipment they were using (“‘You know we have a dishwasher right?” Nakamura had called in amusement) and their combined parental instincts had deemed it necessary to extinguish anything that could potentially start something (and knowing this class, mountains can be made out of molehills as quickly as Koro-Sensei can fly from continent to continent), “it’s just that we think it might be a good idea to have more variety tonight. Next time we have a class movie night, you can choose anything you want.”

“I’m holding you to that, Shiota,” Fuwa pointed her spoon at him with narrowed eyes before sliding herself off the table and sauntering off towards the living room.

“She’s not going to get sick, eating all of that raw cookie dough, is she?” Nakamura asked, staring at the doorway.

Hara smiled at her, “don’t worry, we made the dough edible.” She gave Nagisa a head pat with a slightly soapy hand, “you can finish with that bowl you’re drying and help me bring these trays to the living room, ‘kay Nagisa?”

Nagisa nodded bashfully, trying to hide the redness that blossomed over his cheeks in reaction to Hara’s hand making contact with his scalp.

"What do you mean 'we should watch a horror movie'?" Isogai asked his friend.

"Exactly that class prez," Maehara grinned at the brunette, "you can't have a sleepover without a few screams."

"Nor can you have one without anime but here we are," Fuwa grumbled to herself.

"But what if people get scared?" Isogai asked, as always being the Ikeman he is and thinking about others. Bless him.

"That's the point," Nakamura chirped, "it's the perfect bonding exercise. Nothing can bring together a group of rag-tag misfits like fear."

"But-"

"Don't worry," Nakamura said, "we have Karma and Hazama with us. I can assure that whatever we see on the television will be nowhere nearly as scary as them."

"True that," the class sighed as the two students in question gave eerie, self-satisfied smirks.

"Not to mention that we're all assassins in training," Okano said, "no evil spirit or crazy murderer would stand a chance against us."

"And if they do, we can just sacrifice Terasaka to them," Hazama piped up, not even looking up from her book.

"HEY! WHAT THE HELL?!"

"Yeah, Hazama," Karma smirked, "as if they would even want him."

"OI AKABANE, WHAT'S YOUR DEAL?!"

"Hey, Nagisa," Kayano turned to her friend as Karma stuck his tongue out at Terasaka, "what kind of horror movies do you like?"

“I don’t know,” Nagisa replied, idly tracing the outlines of the cartoon sushi pieces that patterned his pyjama bottoms, “I’ve never watched any horror movies so I wouldn’t know what is good.”

Maehara grinned at them from under the hood of his Pikachu onesie, “Then have no fear, Nagisa. As a movie connoisseur-”

“I thought that title was reserved for me?” Mimura raised his hand with an arched eyebrow.

“-I would be more than happy to educate you, my young padawan-”

“-I’m pretty sure he’s older than you,” Okano pointed out.

“On the art of Horror Movie Binge-athons,” Maehara declared, ignoring the interruptions and pointing at the blunette in a very Fuwa-esque way.

So that was how Nagisa found himself on one of the couches, two scream-fests later, sandwiched between Karma and Sugino, watching the end credits of The Ring. From his perch, he watched in interest at the horror-struck faces of his classmates below.

“Dude,” Kimura breathed out in fear when the screen turned black, a shaky hand attempting to comfort a very visibly distressed Okajima, who had the athlete in a bone-crushing hug from behind as he hid behind him, “I am never going to answer a phone again.”

After a full ten seconds of silence, the smartphone that was lying in front of him lit up, and the Sonic theme song ‘Gotta Go Fast’ cut through the air like a knife. Kimura jumped about a foot in the air, screaming, whilst the others around him did the same. Muramatsu and Yoshida, clung tighter onto Hazama, yelling about how they were too young to die whilst Okajima and Okano began praying to the gods.

“Karma, stop it,” Nagisa sighed without even looking at the redhead next to him. When Karma smirked and ended the call on his phone, thus terminating the ringing, he turned and raised an unamused eyebrow at a snickering Nakamura who was filming the entire scene on her own phone. The blonde winked at him and raised a peace sign.

“I know what we should watch next,” Yoshida said after a while and took the remote. He began to scroll through the movie suggestions on the screen, “Coraline.”

“Isn’t ‘Coraline’ a kids’ movie?” Kataoka furrowed her eyebrows as she eyed the cartoonish movie poster on the television.

Coraline was not a kids’ movie. It was a horrific abomination of nightmare fuel dolled up with pretty colours and a talking cat. At least with the other films they had watched that night, he was able to stand - jump scares don’t really work on someone that’s constantly on edge and no CGI generated creature of the supernatural could terrify him as the very real harpy that he shares a roof with. At most he stiffens up or just trains his eyes onto the kernels of popcorn that get sent flying whenever Okajima gets particularly frightened. He usually just tries to deconstruct the story from a logical standpoint, making sure to point out to himself the plot-holes to enhance the fact that it’s nothing more than fiction (instead of making these comments out loud like Sugaya and end up having a brigade of throw pillows assaulted onto him). However watching The Other Mother, who spoke with a honey-sweet tone but had that distinct aura of ‘threat threat threat’ made him feel more chills than watching the disfigured Samara Morgan crawl out of a television and murder people and whilst the revelation of her true colours weren’t completely unpredictable, it didn’t and the fear and acid crawling up his stomach.

‘You may come out... when you've learned to be a loving daughter!’

‘How dare you disobey your mother!’

It was after watching that vile woman drag Coraline into that dark chamber and locking her inside it when he couldn’t take it. His frozen facade and almost petrified posture just broke. He lurched, fumbling for the blanket draped over his legs and pulled it up so that he could cover his head and buried himself under it. With his knees drawn up under the covers, he focused on controlling his breathing and trying to steady his shaking hands and starting-to-blur eyes in an attempt to push away the unpleasant flashbacks hissing around in his head like a viper. Suddenly out of nowhere, he felt a hand gently circle his wrist. He tensed, heart rate speeding up in a panic, before his skin registered the familiar feel of polyester - the material of Sugino’s red sweatbands (wait, does he even wear them to sleep? ). When he had physically relaxed, the- Sugino’s hand slowly and carefully - giving him ample time to pull away - moved his own and away from his legs and then interlocked his fingers between his. The skin on skin contact at the base of his fingers had caused the same warmth he had felt with Kurahashi spreading across his entire arm, stopping at his chest and swirling around like a mixture of comfort and elation, like he had just drank a cup of steaming milk tea. He steadily curled his own fingers downwards, letting the tips press down against the baseball-lover’s knuckles. The only response he got was a tight squeeze in return - not hard enough to sting but still grounding in a sense.

Okay.

He was okay, he can do this.

It was during the climax of the film, when Coraline confronts that button-for-eyes-wearing she-devil, when Nagisa abandoned all inhibitions and pulled on the hand intertwined with his own, simultaneously pulling Sugino down and bringing himself up so that he could wrap his arms around the black-haired boy. His uncharacteristic actions even shocked himself but all of his usual anxiety’s of forcing his problems on others were pushed back by the voice in his head saying ‘safe safe safe get closer closer ’. With his eyes squeezed shut so tight they almost hurt, he felt something wet roll down his cheek and so he tightened the hold he had on his best friend. Sugino reciprocated, one of his own hands gently cupping the back of his head, fingers burying past silken blue hair, so that he could very lightly bring the other’s face closer and tuck it underneath his chin. Now normally, Nagisa would have combusted with embarrassment at being so close to another student, especially in such a public setting like this, but right now he felt like nothing more than some primal urge begging him to soak in as much of that embrace as possible. To be selfish for once and just stay as close as he can even if it means he dies there. To let himself be vulnerable for a change. The movie, those memories they all washed away and he felt nothing but safe….

The next morning he woke up with his head on someone’s shoulder, a fluffy blanket raised upto his chin. He blinked the haziness out of his eyes to find himself in front of inky locks.

“You alright there, Nagisa?” Sugino looked at him with a smile. Oh he was already up. That’s new.

Nagisa’s eyes widened, his face erupting with redness as the events of the previous night replayed in his inner-theatre like those epic fail compilations Karma likes to laugh at. He jumped back to the other end of the couch, as far away from Sugino as possible.

“Oh god, Sugino, I am so sorry,” Nagisa whispered as loudly as he could without waking up his still snoozing classmates, “what happened last night was so weird and I put you in such an awkward position and I’m super sorry I swear that will never happen again and you must’ve been so embarrassed honestly you should've just pushed me off when I fell asleep I really wouldn’t have minded this was so weird and-”

“Nagisa, chill,” Sugino moved closer and placed a hand on the rambling boy’s shoulder, the corner of his mouth twitching upwards with slight amusement, “it’s cool. It’s normal for people to get scared during horror movies - it’s kind of the reason why they were made, you know. Besides if you looked really distressed and if I couldn’t do anything to help you then why are we even friends.”

“Yeah but-”

“No buts,” Sugino cut in, “you’re always ready to help others so don’t be surprised to find otu that others want to help you.”

Nagisa sighed. He looked up at the other boy with a slight blush, “well, um, thank you. For that. It was really nice of you.”

Sugino’s hand squeezed on his shoulder and he felt that familiar thrill shoot down his arm as the taller smiled, “no problem, Nagisa.”

(“Next time we decide to do a bonding activity,” Fuwa says during breakfast as she’s munching through a honey dripping pancake, “we should all go camping.”

Collectively the class shuddered, their minds being filled with visions of Fuwa holding up a chainsaw on full speed and running around like a mad woman, of fire enveloping a forest and demolishing a once peaceful campsite and dark grey mushroom clouds puffing out like an ashy eruption, “no thank you.”)

For some reason he finds himself in these sort of situations more and more. Like when he feels himself clinging closer to Okano when she bridal carries him up the mountain after he had injured his leg during a training exercise (which is interesting because normally being in such an unmasculine position would make his insecurities flare up like crazy); or when his arms tighten around Karma so much that it feels like their bodies are going to fuse together when the red head piggy-back carries him during a race; or when he just sighs in contentment when Maehara slings him over his shoulder instead of flailing around like he usually would when the brown-eyed boy declared that he was studying too hard and ‘offered’ to take him karaoke singing with everyone else.

In the back of his mind, he feels like the amount of affectionate touches he receives have almost quadrupled in size - there hasn’t been a day where he hasn’t gotten either a head pat, friendly noogie or side hug. There was even a tickling incident that led to his male classmates dogpiling him (because in 3-E the A in PDA can also mean aggression).

No one comments on it though.

It’s almost like Irina-Sensei’s comment about the students of 3-E having ‘some creepy hive mind’ is actually true.

(That comment actually lead to the class planning via group chat to speak in monotonic unison in front of her for an entire half an hour just to mess with her. It worked.)

“I still don’t understand why you people like drinking this leaf juice,” Fuwa scrunched her nose at the ceramic cup in her hand. Due to the pleasant weather, Kanzaki, Kayano and Okuda decided to have a tea party and Nagisa being the tea lover that he was was more than happy to accept their invitation.

“Hey,” Kayano glared at her, making a shooing gesture with one of her hands, “Group four only.”

“Kayano,” Nagisa said firmly, “she can stay if she wants.”

“But she’s disrespecting the tea.”

Nagisa shook his head and sighed whilst Kanzaki giggled into her cup.

“Listen Fuwa,” Kayano rounded on the female otaku, “whilst I stand by the statement that pudding is the closest thing to perfection humanity has ever created and I would sell this entire class for a lifetime supply of pudding cups without a second thought (“Say what now?” Nagisa backtracked), a cup of nice warm tea can truly heal your soul. It’s science.”

“That is true,” Okuda piped up, gently pushing her glasses up, “a cup of hot anything in your hands mimics human warmth which is said to have calming properties. So it basically means that warm drinks can mimic the need for human care and touch.”

‘ Well ,’ Nagisa blinked, thinking back to the mountain of tea bags that reside in his bedroom’s dustbin, ‘ that explains a lot. ’

“So if you guys ever feel too single,” Fuwa laughed and gave them double finger guns, “you know what to do.”

Whilst the rest of his company gave responding giggles, Nagisa felt a tug on his elbow and let it go limp to allow the greenette sitting next to him to tug it downwards. When he felt her link her pinky with his he turned to look at her to see a sunny beam directed straight at him.

And he smiles back.

Because he’s not alone anymore.

#assassination classroom #My writing

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pokedash55 · 3 years

Text

Raincloud HC and Mini Fic

BENTHOMAAR/VANIA HC DUMP.

CAN BE READ PLATONIC OR ROMANTIC BUT THESE TWO WOULD BE PERFECT FOR EACHOTHER EITHER WAY

Inspired By @parachutingkitten

- They saw each other at the nya tribute but didn't get to actually meet

-Bentho became king of merlopians but struggles with citizens seeing him as a real king, as many still are distrustful of the surface world

-He has gluttonous there as the royal scientist and Gripe helps him out, but the citizens still don’t view him has a true king after what happened with Kalmaar

-Bentho and Vania have a cordial meeting for royal business

-Vania is struggling less with her people and more with her city economically recovering.

-Bentho wants to bind the kingdoms somehow, since her kingdom is so inland that if they had good relations with a mountainous region it's one step closer to accepting him.

-They are skeptical of SURFACE DWELLERS not humans so it's a good try.

-establishes trade and economic relations with each other. Maybe trade or sell deepstone and bioluminescent stones for jewelry and architecture in return for some shintaro product unavailable under the sea. Maybe a metal or type of cuisine? Not sure. Flowers perhaps since they have so many in the garden.

-Both relate to having less than respectable family members and share experiences with defeating them

-share new ruler problems they face and can relate to each other very well

-benthomaar can keep up with the bubbly energy of Vania and they both have a backbone to keep their bond from being too unhealthy, fluffy and overly optimistic.

-bentho has trauma from kalmaar's abuse and goes overboard to try and impress vania and thinks he has to be the best damn guy and best royal ally possible to keep her current friendship

-Vania is pretty easily impressed and is very vocal with her admiration so he'll be overwhelmingly happy and confused when she latches on so quickly.

-she'll show him around the sky city, bentho never been so high up, and can introduce him to her allies down below.

-Bentho loves the caves much more than the city in the sense that it's more comforting and all the underwater streams and lakes remind him of home.

-all streams lead to the ocean so I'm not surprised if they find out the water is connected to merlopian seas some how

- this can also work to compliment the kingdoms

- Like Merlopia can reach out and achieve diplomacy with another kingdom instead of being so islationist, and shintaro struggles with moving on from a unsustainable and horrific economic system so they could help eachother alot.

-Both very isolated so coming together may be a good step for both countries’

-Merlopians could be accepting of geckles and munce since they live below the surface, and the shintarins live high above it (so they couldn’t flood it even if they wanted to). It’s baby steps towards liking the rest of NINJAGO as a continent.

-When they become closer friends she Opts for calling him Ben or Benny, since she is so outgoing and bubbly like that, but immediately backtracks and asks if it was ok and apologizes, saying she went over the line

- He would stand up for himself and deny BENNY but I think Ben would be a cute name between the two uwu

-Benthomaar is naturally formal in his ruling and has to push himself to relax while Vania is very lax and friendly with her ruling but needs to push herself to be demanding and formal (She took awhile to use the “Princess” card against Halmaar, opting instead for mutual understanding)

-ok quasi-fic time

___________________________________________________________

FIC SKELETON (might finish writing someday but here’s the basics with some interaction)

summary: : They spend the day learning about each other kingdoms, and in turn eachother.

________________________________________________________________

CHAPTER 1: Shintaro

Vania goes about giving Bentho a tour of her city and he is overly courteous of her. She finds it cute at first but then she starts worrying if Benthomaar thinks she can’t handle herself.

Introduces Bentho to Chompy. He finds the dragon very cute and that gets a big smile out of him, really showing off his very sharp teeth. Chompy loves him immediately and starts to climb over him and sit on his head and stuff. Bentho reciprocates pretty much immediately, no stranger to the values of an animal's unconditional love. (The only love that ever seems unconditional in his experience.)

He has trust issues from Kalmaar and tries extra hard to earn love so he goes overboard sometimes, he’ll be the sort to open doors literally all the time, agree with her ideas more aggressively than is really needed, go out of his way to try and physically protect her from perceived threats, etc. Not knowing this fact, and being insecure about her own leadership skills, she thinks he is babying her, or worse, pitying her. She eventually tells him that she can indeed handle herself.

“I can handle myself Benthomaar, you don’t have to do all these things for me.”

“I… Know that”

“You’re very sweet and I appreciate your generosity but… this”, gestures to all the things he bought or given or made for her, and gestures to the situation they were in where he immediately went to protect her from, “simply is too much”

The walk back is a tad awkward after that. Bentho remarks he’s never been so high up before and he does seem very dry from the heavy winds and cold air.

Good thing it’s about time to show him the lower parts of the Kingdom anyway.

“Halmar, I am escorting Benthomaar down through the mountain. Can you be in charge while I’m gone.”

“As you wish my queen”

Benthomaar looked the armored man up and down. “Halmaar? Are you of royal blood too?” he asked.

“What?” Halmar bluntly questioned aloud to the merlopean king before sputtering out in a bow, “I mean, Pardon?... Your majesty”

“Benthomaar this is Halmar. My right hand advisor and head of our defensive force.”

“Oh. In my people, -Maar is given to that of royalty. ‘Halmaar’ means Brave Sea. ”

“Well I can assure you he’s very brave.” Vania beamed as Halmar recovered from his bow. “And will protect the city while I'm gone” she reminded him playfully, as she moved benthomaar out of the temple.

________________________________________________________________

CHAPTER 2: The Dungeons

Going through the dungeons vania remarks on her father’s previous ruling over it. They share stories and struggles.

Talks about her father and how the ninja came to help. Goes into the topic of her ruling struggles.

“Now that I have helped bring King Vangelis, my father I mean, to justice, people expect me to fix everything. They come to me asking for plans to retain Shintaro's glory, or with pleas for more funds. The people put so much faith in my father and, although his actions were Terrible… it made the city so wonderful for everyone living here. I don’t think I’ll be able to make Shintaro prosper the way he did. I love my people but they expect so much of me all at once. I admit It is very difficult to keep track of it all.”

“That sounds rough, but at least your subjects care for you. The people of Merlopia don’t see me as their king...and they have every right to. I helped the surface dwellers and my actions led to Kalmaar’s death. In their eyes I am a traitor…. Many don’t follow my commands unless they are directed through Gripe. It’s understandable they won’t respect me… I was adopted after all...”

“Well I respect you. Why, from the past--” counts on her fingers with a tongue sticking out “-- three hours I’ve officially known you, I’d say you’re a wonderful ruler! I hereby royally dub you a great king! You can tell your people that!”

*Small air laugh recovering from his Sadness* “Thank you, Vania. I don’t know how much they’ll regard a compliment from the mouth of a ‘surface dweller’, though”

*Smol vania /hj sad pout to one side*

“But I appreciate it, really!!” He corrected arms waving at his front, trying to recover from his previous, in his eyes, disrespectful remark (also in his eyes failing horribly at doing so. He needs to queen to like him. This isn’t going well and-)

“I know you do.” she beamed, “ Now Come on, I see the cart tracks we’re getting closer!!” she happily stated, almost skipping past the new King.

Bentho looked onward at the long haired blond who was trying to walk and balance on the rim of the track, and smiled with relief that she is so easy going at him. He essentially disregarded her royal decree to her face and she brushed it off like nothing. Trimaar had always honored heavy respect towards other royals but it seems this Queen runs things very differently. Even the day had been tame. It felt more like some playdate than an official royal gathering,but with how stressful becoming King had been it was a pleasant change of pace.

“Hey Bentho! We’re HEeeereee!” Vania waved excitedly as the other royal caught up to her standing near a steep ledge leading down to an opening with a large passageway.

Have to go down a large mountainous trench first to reach the dungeons. Benthomaar prepares to scale down the cliff but Vania brings out her wings and tells bentho to hold on. She flies him down the cave--

(Flying is vaguely exciting, but also vaguely terrifying. He’s never really had to deal with the possibility of falling before. Buildings in Merlopia aren’t that tall and you literally can’t fall underwater, there’s always something supporting you.)

The two meet up with the chancellor of the geckles first. He welcomes Queen Gania and her friend Genthomaar and he asks first for trial by mino, but Vania orders him off. Scoffing at her majesty’s boring overriding of their usual procedures he opts for a simple vote for bringing the new unfamiliar face to the munce queen. Bentho gets rocks thrown at him and the geckles cheer as they escort the two to where murtessa is. Vania giggles at him.

Next up is the muntz.

So she'd challenge him to a quick duel to see if he is a fitting ally. Naturally Benthomaar rocks with a spear, so he's good, but he'll be really confused at first and probably not want to fight her.

He doesn’t win, but Murtessa sees through his fighting that he has a good heart, and a brave one. She declares him an ally of the Munce. King Menthomaar. And then gives him a hearty slap on the back and invites them all to dinner. They politely decline (Vania, to preserve her stomach. Munce food is, ah, something else.)

Murtessa thinks Bentho is a good kid and a good fighter. She thinks it's funny how polite he is, though. Gives him some royal advice that he’d be a little better off if he would carry himself like a king. “Confidence! Important in every Munce ruler!”

Bentho finds her and Munce a bit...much, but they also kind of remind him of the Maaray back home so he also finds it kind of familiar. (Also he doesn’t know it, but shark Merlopians are kind of rough and tumble, too. Like Munce, but without tight knit families or a set kingdom.)

________________________________________________________________

CHAPTER 3: Merlopia

Goes back to the temple to discuss whats next.

“If we are going to be partners in this royal engagement, I think you should see My homeland. Merlopia”

Vania just laughs at his wording

“What did I say?” Genuine confused babi just trying to be overly courteous cause he feels like he must be a GOOD KING. ULTRA KING.

Brings her to the beach. He signals her to wait there and he dives into the water to ask nya for some help in bringing Vania down the depths. She knew the bare basics of what happened but seeing nya in such a state made her a tad saddened.

“Nya. Can you help bring my friend to Merlopia?”

Nya nods all slow and goddess like. “You helped me defeat Wojira, correct? For that I’ll grant you this.”

“Thank you, nya”

“That’s NYA??”

“Do I… know you.”

She just frowns at that question. She knew she and nya were not super close but to be forgotten like that. Ouch. “I guess not”

Nya makes a large air bubble and descends quickly down the depths. And like cool camera pans and junk and bentho is riding the wave nya is making outta the bubble and vania sticks her head outta the bubble for a sec to meet his gaze and feel the current go by. Fluff insues

“Don’t worry there is air in the palace”

Vania just loudly exclaims in relief cause honestly she was prepared to be living in a bubble forever.

Nya just...disintegrates. Which is a bit strange to see, even for Vania who usually likes weird stuff. But she doesn’t linger on it long because ooooohhh Merlopia is so pretty! I mean Shintaro is pretty too but this is a whole different kind of pretty. It’s like the gardens of Shintaro, but that’s the whole city. It’s so colorful compared to the flawless Ivory City.

They tour around a little bit, with Vania looking at everything in interest. She even likes the Royal Ripper Sharks (who are being treated a bit nicer now that Kalmaar is gone, and are sicced on people far less frequently than before.) Benthomaar gets a bit nervous when Gripe runs up to him with a bunch of kingly concerns and kind of tells him a lot of noncommittal responses.

Since they declined dinner with the Munce, Vania’s stomach starts rumbling, and she embarrassedly admits that she was pretty hungry.

Benthomaar invites her to dinner in Merlopia.

They eat while discussing trade stuff and diplomacy? (And also their day and the G&M and such.)

Also a fun chance to make up some Merlopian culture and food, and for him to share it with her. Unsurprisingly, it’s a lot of fish. But that’s honestly great because they don’t have a lot of that in Shintaro. There are a few streams a hike away that she's had every now and again, but for the most part fish isn’t something eaten often in Shintaro.

Benthomaar is pretty happy with this set-up because he had been eating dinner all by himself which was very lonely and wistful. It's much nicer with her company, and he needs her to know that, and really wants her to stay around and to like him so that they can do this again. So his super-manners-having-to-prove-himself-worthy-of-friendship kick in again and he starts getting super formal and passing her stuff and offering dishes a little overzealously and such and she's like "this again what the huh?"

“My lord, you're...doing it again.”

“Sorry, I’ll do better.”

“Better? You’re doing just fine. Really. The meal is great, the presentation is beautiful, and you’re being so kind. I just...don’t need this much attention at once, that’s all.”

No I’m not it’s not good enough. I’m not good enough. * frowns silently * *internal screaming *

They decide to meet again later to discuss trade and commerce deals and both bow goodbye after dinner, but soon as she leaves the dining room and gets lost roaming the temple (this palace is constructed like the caves how do they find anything) eventually ends back up at the dining room, where benthomaar is cleaning up the table and stacking the used dishes and they both realize that she can't get back up on her own. They share a laugh and Bentho promises to escort her back up.

Vania wonders why he is cleaning and not the palace servents so she decides to help him clean up, since it seems his people weren’t going to.

The end

(Also Nya is busy being a goddess somewhere else, so they’ll have to get her transportation back at a later date. With any luck there’s an air-breather-friendly manta saddle that they can use for her.)

________________________________________________________________

They are too precious for this world someone please do more of thisssss

#ninjago #ns15 spoilers #ns15 #ninjago seabound #ninjago seabound spoilers #benthomaar #ninjago benthomaar #ninjago vania #vania #Vania X Benthomaar #raincloudshipping #ninjago raincloudshipping #raincloud #ninjago nya #nya smith

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thecandywrites · 3 years

Text

Of Heaven and Fire Chapter 19 Finale Epilogue.

Woo, it’s been way too long. But I have other projects that got in the way and I had this all figured out and an outline written up and then...the go juice ran out. UNTIL TODAY. So, after way too long, finally. We have the finale to this story that will also segway into a campanion piece that takes place at the very same time Heaven and Fire takes place, actually about six months earlier, but half a world away, on the other end of orc country that takes up practically a whole continent in my made up world.

Also behold, that gorgeous brunette, THAT is the OG The Original Audravienne, the one that Audra in Blood For Gold is named after. So think of it as Suchi and Stormbreaker are on the west coast and Yekmeni would be the east coast, different ocean, different ocean coastline.

And so in this fantasy world- you mix mouras with jade green orcs- you get aqumarine orcs. You mix moura with Yekmeni orcs that are a dark and drab olive green with dark brown splotches- and they are born looking exactly like their orc parents but as toddlers change to look kashmire blue in place of olive green and bright amethyst intense purple in place of brown. So then they got nicknamed paradise orcs, because they have the same coloring as birds of paradise, you mix aquamarine orcs and paradise orcs-you get PEACOCK ORCS that also get called paradise orcs. The Aquamarine goes to turquoise and teal, just like a peacock, with the same splashes of kashmire sapphire blue and amethyst purple. But that’s another story all together. I’ll get to it. Eventually.

Of Heaven and Fire

Part 19

A week later, you woke up to Brock’s hard cock pressing at your rear as he spooned you.

It’s been more than long enough for you to heal and recover from Brive’s birth and your first thought is you needed to reconnect with Brock on this most physical intimate level. Most women take three to four months to recover from a birth before they can have sex again comfortably. Moura women and especially moura mated women who have a moura husband to help heal them from the birth, that gets whittled down to barely a month. And it’s been a month and a half for you.

You looked down at Brive as he slept away the morning, his blond hair growing fast in gorgeous blonde curls. His mint green skin that had more aquamarine notes to it the older he got was a beautiful mix of your pale ivory and Brock’s emerald green. Even though he is only a month and a half old, he has doubled in size thanks to your milk and he has fat rolls for days, which is the sign of supreme health for all babies.

You gently moved Brive farther away from you and make sure he’s perfectly covered and warm. The fireplace in the bedroom is ever burning- keeping the room toasty warm while you can watch the snow fly outside.

Your movement stirred Brock and his arm reflexively tightened around you and your backside was then pressed into his front as he woke up and now that Brive is far enough away that your movements won’t disturb Brive, you ground your ass against Brock’s cock to see if you can stir him awake, which worked to a degree because Brock growled a grunting moan as he started to wake up before he seemed to become aware of himself and moved his hips back so that his morning wood isn’t touching you anymore.

“Sorry Babe.” He apologized sleepily.

“Bring it back.” You whined as you started scooting backwards towards him to feel it again.

“You’re still healing.” Brock gently argued as he rolled onto his back and stretched out just as Brive did the same in his sleep before you quickly rolled over him so you straddled him, your night clothes vanishing in an instant as you sit up onto his belly and braced your hands on his chest which made him open his eyes as he blinked and frowned in confusion at you.

“Moura women usually take 3-4 weeks to heal from birth. It's been 6 weeks. I’m more than healed. Please Babe, I haven’t had sex in the last 7 months, if you don’t fuck me senseless right now I’ll go mad.” You pleaded as you stared down at him and could feel his cock tap at your behind again, he was as hard as a rock and you wanted him so bad it hurt.

“Are you sure?” He asked, even though you could see the desire burn behind his eyes but he was absolutely insistent that he would never, ever hurt you again before you gave him a meaningful look and canted your hips back so that his cock fell towards his belly then set your pelvis down so that your pussy laid over his length and rocked back so that your lips engulfed the underside of his cock as you rubbed yourself from the tip to the base, your own essence making it glide almost effortlessly and watched as Brock’s eyes threatened to roll back into his head while the head of his cock spurted precum onto his belly.

“I’m sure. Please Baby.” You begged and you saw him cave.

“If anything hurts, you stop me immediately, got it?” He insisted.

“Promise.” You vowed before you got into position and slowly eased down onto him, both of you breathing out a breath of relief in being rejoined as he looked up at you questioningly.

“Nothing hurts, it feels so fucking good.” You confessed as your grin grew giddy as his did the same as you felt him dig his heels into the bed and begin to push up into you as you saw the hunger in his eyes grow before you fell into what was once a familiar rhythm but yet it felt new all the same before milk started to drip from your nipples and he was sitting up in an instant to lick it up.

“Good?” You couldn’t help but giggle as he started to wrap his mouth around your breasts and suck in earnest before he hummed in confirmation before he moved from one to the other as you sighed happily and contentedly as you leaned back to give him room to do as he pleased before you removed his mouth from your chest to gather you closer and start kissing you as you could taste the rich sweetness on his tongue as he devoured you whole.

“Gods I missed you,” he confessed in your ear as his hips hiked up into yours as your body rocked against his.

“I missed you too.” You mirrored earnestly.

“I’m just...so sorry I made you wait.” Brock began to apologize and you could tell he was getting choked on emotion again.

“Hey, hey, don’t, don’t start this again? Ok? We’ve been through this, I forgive you. No more beating yourself up. It’s enough. We can’t go back and change it. We can only change now. And right now- is all that matters.” You insisted as you held his handsome face in your hands and looked into his eyes earnestly as you could see his eyes start to shine with tears.

“No more hurt. Only pleasure.” You repeated as you grinded down onto him for emphasis before you kissed him hungrily and passionately as all the pent up feelings over the last year came to a head and you lost yourself in the passion as did he and it wasn’t until you came down from your respective releases when you heard a giggling coo before you looked over to see Brive fully awake and giggling from his spot nearby which made you and Brock both start laughing as you untangled from Brock to go to your son as you pulled him closer.

“Well good morning Brive, did you sleep well?” You cooed to him as you laid down on your side and put him to your breast so he could eat his breakfast which he was all too happy to do, nursing and smiling up at you and Brock who cuddled his back as Brock combed Brive’s hair with his fingers as he stared down adoringly at Brive.

“He’s getting so big.” Brock murmured.

“He is, because he nurses just as fast as I can make the milk.” You grinned as you laid on your side and let Brive use your arm as his pillow while he nursed and in near record time, he had drained one breast and was ready to drain the other before you put him to your chest and rolled with him so that you could lay on your other side and let him nurse from that one as Brock cuddled into your back and rested his head on yours as he nuzzled the juncture of your neck and shoulder, pressing soft sweet kisses to every bit of you his mouth could reach.

“I love you, thank you so much for... everything.” Brock thanked you.

“You’re welcome. Love you too.” You cooed as you kissed his cheek affectionately and once Brive had nursed till he was full and had almost completely drained your other breast of milk, did he detach his mouth with a pop and smile happily up at both you and Brock.

“Ok, my turn.” Brock insisted as he reached over you and got his son and picked him up and cooed to him and kissed him all over before he brought him over to a changing table and changed Brive’s diaper while you slipped out of bed and went to the bathroom, grateful that Brock was so involved and helped with everything he could with Brive and you could tell Brock loved Brive dearly and once you two were ready, you went from your bedroom to the kitchen to prepare breakfast together.

Come spring Brock was unusually busy getting ready for the spring equinox festival since the lunar new year was the greatest celebration to date and Brock wanted the spring equinox to be even bigger and better than the lunar new year. Brock turned so much gold himself for it and saw to most of the details himself, which you didn’t mind. Your biggest hurdle was making clothes for Brive who was growing so fast and his moura cloak was coming in really beautifully but it would still be a few years at least before he learned to control it and it felt like you were sewing all day every day and you felt like you spent a fortune just in fabrics and needles and threads but Brive could wear a burlap sack and look adorable and all who saw him thought he was the most handsome baby boy any of them had ever seen and whenever Brock was around he was all too happy to insist that Brive got all his good looks from you but you could see the unmistakable resemblance Brive had with his father.

When it was time for the feast Brock had you dress in a special dress he had commissioned for you from a group of seamstresses that had settled in Drauch. You felt like a queen wearing it. It was brightly colored and almost every inch of it was embroidered and it even had the prettiest jewels sewn into the fabric. You didn’t want to think about what it must have cost him. But you honored him enough to wear it with immense pride especially when Brive had a matching outfit and even Brock’s outfit was similar, but not as fancy. With how hard he usually worked, you wondered if he was afraid he’d get it dirty or something. Brock escorted you to the main feasting tent and you graciously sat in the seat of honor which was in all realities, basically a couch at the head table with lots of cushions so that it was exceedingly comfortable to prop yourself up and Brive up as you noticed your entire extended family had come for this as they took their seats around you and all the married ones were showing baby bumps or their own little ones since they had gotten pregnant shortly after you did.

“Brock? Aren’t you sitting with me?” You asked when he had you sit down but he moved to leave.

“I gotta take care of something first.” He excused himself before he left, leaving you looking on curiously as Brive was all too happy it sit in your lap and watch what was going on with bright excited eyes as you noticed almost all the women around you who weren’t in your family were also sporting baby bumps or their own little ones along with before Brock took center stage in the tent and got everyone’s attention.

“I would like to thank everyone for coming today to feast on behalf of not just the equinox, the sewing of the fields- which was just completed a few days ago but also to celebrate my official proposal dinner to the most beautiful, goddess divine to swim in the seas, walk the face of the world and fly in the skies.” He gestured to you as you blushed but smiled adoringly at him.

“And I’m sure we’ve all heard the legends..” Brock began before he very elaborately and dramatically retold what had happened in the last year as you and your family and all your friends all laughed almost hysterically at most of it as Brock used every tiny little opportunity to praise you and practically sing your praises.

“And that is why, I would like you all for coming to my surprise betrothal feast for such an amazing goddess!” Brock announced as your eyebrows rose in surprise as your jaw dropped as everyone else cheered excitedly.

“What?” You asked as you bounced Brive in your lap as the real feast was then brought out as you realized what all of you had been grazing on before had just been appetizers before suddenly things seemed to fall into place. Your whole family and all your friends were here, they were all seated around the giant tent along with everyone in the clan and you notice that it’s Brock’s captains and generals that are the servers and it’s the men who are serving the women and the families which was a refreshing change of pace and you were drinking your favorite drinks and eating your favorite foods as Brock then left and brought into the arena in the middle of the tent- his betrothal gifts and you were shocked when they were all new, you had never seen any of them before as you started crying tears of happiness when each and every single one was actually really thought out and you could tell that Brock put so much effort into all of them. And it wasn’t just gifts for you, there were gifts for Brive and all your other future children with him and you couldn’t be happier about that and your smile was brighter than the sun and you and especially his family were practically glowing with pride.

“So, do you Benyana Auksa, accept by betrothal?” Brock eagerly asked.

“Yes.” You happily answered before you happily got up and kissed him which caused everyone to cheer.

“Wanna get married?” Brock asked when you broke for air.

“Yes!” You answered.

“Right now?” Brock asked which made you bust up laughing.

“Right now? Right now, right now?” You asked.

“Yeah, I have a wedding dress for you and everything.” Brock informed you.

“You do not.” You laughed, in disbelief.

“Yeah, it should be back in the house. I had the seamstresses look through all your other clothes and what you usually turn your moura cloak into to get a gage on your tastes and then your mom and your brothers and sisters helped put different elements to it.” Brock confessed as you gasped and stared at your family as all your siblings were giggling gleefully while your mother was looking pleased as punch.

“Let’s do it!” You readily agreed before you and Brive and all your siblings and friends happily got up and all of you practically running to your house and going inside it as your mother followed closely behind to get Brive from you while your dad had your baby sister as you walked in to see your wedding dress already laid out as you just started crying and laughing at the same time, not knowing how it was possible to be this happy. But you were.

It was hands down the most beautiful wedding dress you had ever seen in your life. It had all of your own benar, that you had cried that first night that Brock had captured you. It seemed like a lifetime ago by now and you noticed they were sewn into the sweetheart neckline. You eagerly stripped out of your clothes and your siblings helped you get dressed first before they too dressed in their own clothes that had been prepared for this that matched what had been made for you.

And it all felt so surreal but you were trying to memorize every single moment. What started off as the beginnings of a the spring equinox festival turned into an impromptu wedding feast and celebration as your siblings brought priests from every realm to make a sacred document so that it was recognized the whole world wide that you were married and mated with Brock before you finally got to exchange moura cloak collars as Brocks’ collar had to shrink down to fit your neck while yours had to grow a little wider to encompass his neck before the two seemed to form a link between them so that they both took on the traits of the other so now the two matched in both style and aesthetic, making something altogether new and different and unique. It was so much more than you ever thought to expect or want. It was perfect.

Fifteen years later

“Thanks mom.” Brive thanked you as as he held one of younger siblings and tried to feed them and himself at the same time as you passed out all the portions of pepper crab to all of your kids as Drauch had come to Suchi for another summer solstice celebration as you were wearing another silver belt that had a long tether to the rest of your smaller children while your elder children all had silver bracelets, all of them matching before you were approached by Warchief Lukher and Warchieftess Audravienne and all of their children from Yekmeni which was just on the other side of the continent to the east as they had flown in since Audravienne had come as a moura bride from the stables to Warchief Lukher 17 years prior and themselves had started a large family and their union and the other unions that followed from mouras who married into this particular clan of orcs saw a new kind of orc become born, orcs who had become known as paradise orcs. Because as toddlers they changed from dark olive green with splashes of dark brown to royal blue with bright purple splashes, like a peacock’s feathers or other birds of paradise.

“Audrey!” You greeted her as you hugged her tight as Lukher and Brock hugged too.

“Yana! It’s so good to see you!” She greeted you sweetly and excitedly.

“Oh my goodness is this Brive? Oh my goodness, look how you’ve grown!” Lukher praised Brive as he measured Brive, trying to see how much taller he was than him as Brive came up to his chest already as Brive smiled bashfully as he did his best to stand as tall as he could in the face of Lukher’s praise almost as much as he was happy to see Audravienne’s son Ahi-Shumai who had been his friend since infancy and was trying not to be too awkward to see Ahi’s sister Monrhi who was only a year younger than him and good friends with his own younger sister Brilanni as the two girls were quickly talking and sharing food and complementing each other on their clothes which were their own moura cloaks as they quickly picked up details about the other’s clothes and then began to mimic each other as Brilanni had the same coloring that Brive and all their siblings had, they had the same bright aquamarine coloring and blonde hair as Brive and Brilanni as Ahi was in a similar state that Brive was in as he was trying not to swoon too hard at the sight of Brilanni again because she was still the prettiest girl he had ever seen in his life as Audrey’s sister Maisara and her husband came over with all of their kids before they retreated to Drauch where there was more room since the streets were getting almost overcrowded as they had someone with a big messengerari take a picture of all of them together as something of an extended friends and family picture as they continued to eat the fare offered on Drauch for the summer solstice.

“God, I swear Drauch makes the best fried fish.” Audrey praised as she happily bit into the large fried fish on a skewer.

“Yeah they do. Don’t forget to get a bite of the pepper crab.” You reminded her as you ate beside her, taking the special leg of king crab out of its shell and dipping it into the amazing sauce the vendor made.

“Oh how could I?” Audrey answered between bites before she looked up to see Brive trying to feed Monrhi.

“I think we have a little romance going on.” Audrey teased you.

“Between Brilanni and Ahi? Oh only since they were two.” You teased back.

“Wait what?” Audrey asked before she looked to her own eldest son to see him doing the same thing that Brive was doing by feeding Monrhi the peppered crab leg.

“Wait, which kids were you talking about?” You asked her.

“Brive and Monrhi.” Audrey said as you looked then blinked as you looked from one to the other.

“Well I’ll be blessed.” You laughed as she did the same before you snapped your fingers softly to get Brock’s attention and Brock and Lukher were talking very animatedly about griffins.

“Yeah?” Brock said when he noticed you were trying to get his attention before you nodded over to where Brive and Monrhi were talking and eating and feeding each other as Audrey used sign language to Lukher to look over at his son and daughter- Ahi and Monrhi before they both looked over and started laughing and then teasing each other about it.

“Well I hope one of them works out, just for pure curiosity because if their colors meld, then they’ll really look like peacocks.” Audrey mused.

“They would.” You had to smile fondly.

“To peacock orcs then.” You offered as you offered your cup of wine up to toast with hers.

“To peacock orcs.” Audrey laughed as she toasted her glass with yours.

The End.

#Of Heaven and Fire #Of Heaven and Fire Chapter 19 #Moura #Orcs

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massivedrickhead · 4 years

Text

This is for @eulersfeverdream for their donation to @ppfandomdrive!

Thank you so much for your donation. I’m really honoured to be part of the PP Fandom Drive initiative, which is raising money for Black Lives Matter.

If you want to donate, please visit the @ppfandomdrive page for more information.

The prompt I got from @eulersfeverdream was Bechloe hurt/comfort, and they gave me the following as inspiration if I wanted it (which I did!): One or more of Chloe’s family goes missing on a trip outside of the country, and we see snapshots of Beca trying to comfort and support her as she deals with it.

I hope you like this!

----------

“I don’t understand what you’re saying,” Chloe said, pinching the bridge of her nose. She was pacing back and forth, her phone held up to her ear. “What do you mean she’s missing?”

She heard the soft crying of her baby daughter who was currently sitting in her playpen.

Chloe sighed. “One sec,” she said into the phone. “Beca!”

“Yeah?” Beca called from her office.

“Can you get Alice please?”

Beca appeared a few seconds later, her headphones around her neck.

“Hey baby girl,” she said, scooping up her daughter. “Did mommy leave you alone in baby prison again?”

Alice stopped crying as Beca picked her up.

“Can you take her out of here?” Chloe asked, the phone held against her chest.

“Sure,” Beca said, frowning at the clear distress written across Chloe’s face. “Are you okay?”

“Please, baby,” Chloe said, her voice strained.

“Okay,” Beca said. She closed the door behind her as she carried her daughter into her office.

“Sorry Mom,” Chloe said, turning back to her phone call. “What happened?”

Her sister Haley was missing, that was the long and short of it.

She’d been vacationing in Europe and had stopped answering her phone. She hadn’t updated her instagram or twitter. And the plane that had meant to be bringing her back to the US had arrived in Florida without her.

She was just… gone.

“When was the last time anyone heard from her?” Beca asked that night, holding her wife as she cried.

“I think my Mom spoke to her last week?” Chloe said. “I checked her social media and her last post on instagram was like 9 days ago when she’d arrived in Munich. I didn’t even notice. She usually updates every day and I didn’t even notice there’d been a 9 day gap.”

“Hey, come on,” Beca said softly. “You work full-time and you’re a parent. You’re barely on your phone. So, she was meant to get back from London on Friday?”

“Yeah,” Chloe said, wiping her eyes. “At first Mom thought she must have just missed her flight, but she wasn’t answering her phone. She called the airline to see if she was booked on another flight but they weren’t super helpful. So she called the police who said she had to wait 24 hours before they could do anything. Anyway, eventually the police actually did something and they found out she never made it to England. She was supposed to fly there from Italy and didn’t make the flight.”

“Shit,” Beca said, softly. “So… So what do they do now?”

“I don’t know,” Chloe said, tears building in her eyes again. “Like, Europe is pretty big, right? And it’s all different countries, she could be in any of them. She could be anywhere.”

“I can post something on my socials? I’ve got a lot of fans in Europe, maybe someone will have seen her?” Beca asked.

“Would you do that?”

“Of course, it’s not even a question. Check with your mom to make sure it’s okay with the police or whatever, and when we get the okay I’ll post something. We’ll find her baby,” Beca said, kissing her wife on the head. “I don’t know if you know but I’m kind of a big deal. I’ve got 1.2 million followers.”

“Shut up,” Chloe said, laughing and hitting Beca in the arm. “I think I need to go back to Florida,” Chloe added after a small silence. “My mom doesn’t have anyone.”

“Do you want me to come?” Beca asked.

“Yes,” Chloe said. “But I think I should go alone first. Just to figure out what’s going on. Can you watch Alice while I’m gone?”

“Of course,” Beca said. “She likes her morning scotch at 9am right?”

“I hate you,” Chloe said, kissing Beca on the cheek. “I’m gonna call my mom and then try and get a flight. And then I need to beg my boss for some time off.”

They heard Alice crying over the baby monitor.

“I got her,” Beca said, standing up from the sofa.

——

Beca drove her wife to the airport the next afternoon.

She kept glancing across to the passenger seat where Chloe was on the phone to her mom.

“I land at like 5pm, but I’m just gonna hire a car you don’t need to pick me up,” Chloe said into the phone. “Hey, did you ask the cops about Beca making that post? She has like over a million followers, mom. No, she’s legit famous, and she says she has a big fanbase in Europe.”

Beca glanced over at Chloe, grinning when the redhead rolled her eyes. “They said it’s okay? Cool.”

“I’ll post it as soon as I get home,” Beca said.

Chloe mouthed a thank you at her.

“Okay, I’ll call you when I land. Love you too,” Chloe said, ending the call.

“Any news?” Beca asked.

“Well we need to work out what country she’s in. So we need to know what flights she made and what ones she missed. But I know she was doing a lot of travelling by train, and it’s harder to keep track of train passengers,” Chloe said, rubbing at the headache forming behind her eyes.

“Did she ever give you or her mom an itinerary?”

“She posted something on her instagram before she set out but it didn’t have like specific times,” Chloe said. She let out a groan of frustration. “I hate this. I feel so fucking useless.”

“I know baby,” Beca said. “But you’re doing all you can. We’ll find her.”

“How? How will we find her? She’s one tiny 18-year-old lost in a whole fucking continent,” Chloe said, hitting the car door in frustration.

The noise caused Alice to wake up and start crying.

“Sorry,” Chloe said, sighing.

“It’s okay,” Beca said, glancing back at their daughter. She turned back to see Chloe scrolling on her phone, eyebrows scrunched in concentration. “There’s aspirin in the glove compartment.”

Chloe glanced at her, confused.

“You get headaches when you look at your phone like that,” Beca said. “So take some aspirin with you.”

“You take good care of me,” Chloe said, putting the back in her bag.

“It’s my job, you’re my wife.”

They pulled up to the airport. “Call me when you land, okay?” Beca said, getting Chloe’s case from the trunk.

Chloe nodded, and hugged and kissed Beca. “I hate leaving you both,” she said, her face buried in the crook of Beca’s neck.

“I hate it too,” Beca said. “Keep me updated, yeah?”

“Yeah.” She squeezed Beca tighter. “I love you.”

“Love you too,” Beca replied as their hug ended. “Have a safe flight.”

Chloe leaned into the car to kiss Alice on the head before she picked up her case and headed into the airport.

——

One week later

“Sorry,” Beca said, shifting the weight of the screaming baby on her hip as she talked with Chloe on the phone. “She’s teething I think.”

“She has some those teething rings I think,” Chloe said on the other end of the phone. “You just need to put them in the freezer or something.”

“Yeah she has one, she’s just using it to hit me with,” Beca said.

“I’m sorry baby, I should be there,” Chloe said. She missed her wife and daughter so much, it made her heart ache.

“It’s okay, Chlo’. So she didn’t leave Germany?”

“No, at least not by plane.”

“And that was the last time she posted right?”

“Yeah,” Chloe said. Beca could hear the exhaustion in her voice. “My mom’s flying out there tomorrow, but she’s asked me to stay here in case Hayley comes home or makes contact.”

“I’ll do another post, asking people in Germany to be on the look out or come forward if anyone knows anything,” Beca said.

“Thank you,” Chloe said. “I miss you.”

“I miss you too. Are you eating? And sleeping?”

“Sort of,” Chloe said. “I can’t sleep without you.”

“I can still fly out there you know?”

“Things are just a bit crazy here at the moment, I don’t think it’s the best place for Alice. Are you coping okay?”

“Of course,” Beca said. “Don’t worry about us.”

A few days later, Chloe answered the door to a delivery of brownies from her favourite local bakery, with a note attached.

Make sure you eat all of these. Miss you and love you. Beca xx

Chloe smiled for the first time in a week.

——

One week later

Chloe was broken from her thoughts by a knock at the door. Her heart summersaulted as it always did when there was a knock at the door, or when her phone rang. She was forever preparing herself for bad news.

She opened the door and her heart melted when she saw Beca standing there.

“Hey,” Chloe said, dissolving into tears. “What are you doing here?”

“You shouldn’t be alone right now,” Beca said, pulling Chloe into a hug. “My mom is watching Alice, I’m here for as long as you need me.”

“I always need you,” Chloe said. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

“Any news?” Beca asked, making coffee for her and Chloe.

“Not yet. My mom’s in a different part of the country so she’s travelling there now.” Chloe broke down in tears.

“It might not be her,” Beca said, pulling her into a hug.

Last night, a girl’s body was pulled from the river of a small German town. The girl was thought to be between 17 and 20 years old, around 5ft4, and with short ginger hair.

Beca had gotten the next flight out to Florida.

They were just waiting on a phone call now.

“Have you eaten?” Beca asked, rubbing a hand up and down Chloe’s bank. Chloe shook her head, wiping her eyes. “I’ll fix you something.”

“I’m not hungry,” Chloe said. “I feel sick.”

“Just a sandwich,” Beca said, standing.

Chloe gripped her arm. “Please, baby,” Chloe said. “Just sit with me. I’ll eat later, I promise.”

“Okay,” Beca said, sitting down. She put her arm around Chloe. “Okay.”

And they waited.

After an hour, Beca lead them into the living room because Chloe was falling asleep at the table, and Beca wanted her to be more comfortable.

“Why haven’t we heard anything?” Chloe asked, her voice rough and tired.

“I don’t know,” Beca said, running her hand through Chloe’s hair, as she rested her head on her lap. “Can I get you anything?”

“Just stay here,” Chloe said.

“Of course.”

“I missed you so much.”

“I missed you too,” Beca said.

When the phone rang an hour later, both girls woke with a start.

“Oh fuck,” Chloe said, scrambling to find the phone. “Fuck, fuck fuck.”

“It’s okay,” Beca said, pulling the phone out of a gap in the couch cushions. “I’m right here.”

Chloe took the phone and answered.

“Mom?”

Beca couldn’t hear the other side of the conversation, but she saw Chloe visibly deflate with relief and sink back against the couch.

“It isn’t her? Okay. Okay, good. Thank god. Are you okay?”

Beca kissed Chloe on the side of the head.

“No, Beca’s here. Yeah she flew out this morning. Okay. Go get some rest mom, call me later? Love you, bye.”

“It wasn’t her?”

“It wasn’t her,” Chloe said, crying with a mixture of guilt and relief. “Some other poor girl is dead, but it’s not my sister.”

“I’m gonna order a pizza, and then you’re gonna get some rest, okay?”

“Okay,” Chloe said, too tired to argue.

——

“Prague?” Chloe said on the phone, a few days later. “Yeah, I think that was on her list.”

Beca pulled up Hayley’s instagram page, and scrolled to the picture of Hayley’s list of destinations.

“Yeah,” Beca said, showing Chloe. “Vienna, to Munich, to Prague. She was in Munich right?”

“Yeah, but she never flew out of Germany,” Chloe turned her attention back to her phone call. “Mom? You still there? Yeah, Prague was on her list.”

“I think you can get a train,” Beca said, scrolling on her phone. “It’s just long as hell.”

“So when did they see her? Okay, call me later.”

“Someone’s seen her?” Beca asked when Chloe ended the call.

“A couple of weeks ago, someone saw her in a hostel in Prague. Or… Or someone who looks like her. Obviously they didn’t think anything of it, but apparently they saw your latest post on instagram and it clicked in their head. So… The police there circulated a picture of her, and there’s a girl in a hospital who matches that description,” Chloe said, her head spinning.

“Your mom’s on her way?”

“Yeah,” Chloe said. “God, I hope they’ve found her.”

A few hours later, Chloe’s mom called to confirm.

They’d found her.

Hayley Beale was in a medically induced coma in a hospital in Prague with a serious head injury.

She’d been found in an alley with no phone, bag or purse, so they assumed she’d been mugged.

But she was alive.

“Give your mom my love,” Beca said, kissing Chloe at the airport.

“I will. Give Alice a kiss from me,” Chloe said.

Chloe was flying out to her mom and sister in Prague, and Beca was flying back to Atlanta.

“See you in a week?” Beca asked.

“Yeah,” Chloe replied. “You’ve been so amazing through this, Beca. I really couldn’t have done it without you.”