#i guess the weather getting so drastically cold did this to me but oh my goddddddddddd

[primordial0riginator]

Im gonna lose it

[ominous-auburn-orbs]

Yo can you do a oneshot with your human AU where Caine and Kinger are out n about in a cold place and Caine is freezing, but Kinger is one if those people who is just always really warm so Caine just clings onto him to get warmer?

You bet I can, buster!!

You can even have a little bit of Caine angst sprinkled in because if I write literally anything where he doesn't feel emotional turmoil I will simply explode.

Kinger and Caine were out buying groceries. It was winter and everything was freezing, much to Caine's displeasure. Since he'd never experienced any changes in temperature before, weather was pretty horrible for him. He already had on multiple coats, a beanie, two scarves and gloves, yet he still felt the winter air penetrate deep into his bones.

Kinger wasn't having nearly as much trouble. While, yes, the troop had also gone a while without weather, that was more of a psychological adjustment than anything. Their bodies were still more than used to drastic changes in temperature. He was naturally warm, anyway, so he was at an advantage in this particular situation.

The two had just finished getting what they needed and were walking home. Kinger's eyes eventually drifted down to Caine's shivering body. He was holding the bag of groceries tight to his body, as if it might make him warmer.

"Honey, are you still cold? You have so many layers on, it's a miracle you can feel anything through it... I mean, a bad miracle, in this case."

The ringmaster looked to the floor, embarrassed. He didn't want Kinger to worry about him, he already relied on him for too much. He should be stronger than this anyway. Kinger must think he was weak. Useless. And to think he used to be a God, for the most part.

"Caine? I'm sorry, did I word that wrong? If you're cold, you can have my jacket, too."

"Oh goodness no, my love, you mustn't! You need your jacket, you're only wearing the one, after all." He took a deep breath and calmed his voice. He was always a bit too loud when he didn't need to be. "You didn't do anything wrong, I just... overthink a bit too much."

"Hm, alright. If you do need anything, tell me." Kinger placed a hand on Caine's head and affectionately ruffled his hair through the beanie. It felt like he was talking about more than the jacket.

Caine could feel the warmth emanating off of Kinger from the touch, leaving him even colder than before when the man put his hand back to his side. After only a few moments, Caine started to miss the warmth too much to not do anything, so he grabbed onto Kinger's hand and interlocked their fingers, shifting the groceries to his other hand. Kinger glanced down and smiled before aiming his eyes ahead again.

Over the course of their walk back to their apartment, Caine got closer and closer to Kinger, clinging to his arm like a koala to a tree by the time they got home. The pair walked through the door and set down the groceries on the kitchen bench. Kinger held Caine's now far less cold body close.

"So, I take it you like using me as a portable heater?"

"It's very convenient, although I simply can't understand how you can be so warm in weather like this." The ringmaster removed his gloves to touch Kinger's hands properly with his own, making the other man jolt.

"Ah!- your hands are very, very cold!" Both of them laughed, hugging again. "I guess I just got lucky, when it comes to being warm. Well, less so in summer, but you are right about it being convenient. Also, it's cute when you cling onto me like that."

Caine buried his face in Kinger's coat. "I have to keep myself from getting hypothermia somehow. And I like hugging you."

Kinger smiled as Caine nuzzled deeper into his chest. "Believe me, I can tell."

[moralina]

WILD NIGHTS - WILD NIGHTS! | JJ MAYBANK

Summary: JJ decides to take you on an unusual date, and maybe you should've known that with him you could possibly end the night running away from security.

Warnings: nothing to do with the poem except for the title and i thought it'd be a great way to cut the scenes with lmao, also quickly edited, wanted to write more but also wanted to post this today. fem!reader.

Wc: 1.5k

Masterlist

My latest jj blurb

Not my gif

Wild nights - Wild nights!

Were I with thee

Wild nights should be

Our luxury!

Your feet met the slippery grass with a thud, making you slightly lose your balance but quickly adjusting your footing back as soon as his hands touched yours. 

"Where are we going?" you asked, hands pulling at the sleeves of your sweater trying to find warmth within. "I'm not complaining but i'd rather stay under my warm and soft blankets, y'know"

"it's worth it, i promise." he whispered even though there was no need to. Your parents were gone for a week, letting you by yourself while they visited some distant family member who you've never really met. "now c'mon" 

his right hand closed around yours, pulling your arm and bringing you with him to the parked van on the other side of the street.

"jj" you whined, sounding too much like a child but too cold to really care. 

"it's warm in the van" 

You hummed, still dreaming about your comfortable bed. 

Yesterday you had agreed to go on a date with jj - your first official date - but it didn't cross your mind to check the weather. How would you have guessed tonight would be as freezing as the inside of a freezer, when just yesterday night you were wearing a bikini and chilling in JB's backyard with the rest of your friends, relaxing in the warmth of the night. 

However, the weather betrayed you, and decided to suddenly change drastically on the exact day you and jj decided would be your date night.

"Ohmygod." You exhaled a breath of relief, relishing in the slightly warmer atmosphere of the van. 

After a few moments of staring and smiling like a fool in love, jj started the van. 

Futile - the winds -

To a Heart in port -

Done with the Compass -

Done with the Chart!

"That's our date?"

"C'mon baby! A kook's pool all to ourselves? It's the dream!" "They have a heat pump!" His eyebrows wiggled and you stared, not really sold

"No" you shook your head "no no no- jj, if we get caught we're screwed."

"Yeah but we won't."

"And how are you so sure?"

"The cameras stopped working after the storm last week and they haven't changed them yet" he spoke matter of factly "plus, there's no one taking care of the house, they're basically asking for it" you deadpanned and he smirked. 

Typical jj behavior, you thought to yourself, should've expected it.

How on earth did you fall for this reckless boy?

"Hey, be fun at least once in your life." He said, poking your side with his index finger

"Excuse me, i am fun." 

"Keep telling yourself that." He mumbled and you huffed a laugh, eyeing him up and down 

"If the cops get us-" you started saying, slowly getting closer to him "i'll throw you to the lions and run as fast as i can"

"Deal!" He exchanged his arm, a cocky grin on his face

After jumping over the gate with jj's help you waited for him to do the same, eyes traveling around the huge backyard. You've never seen a pool so big in your life. Its was probably the size of your house.

"Those kooks, man." You muttered as jj appeared beside you.

"Yeah." He said, also taking a moment to look around the whole place.

"How did you know about this?"

"I cut their grass last week" he shrugged, "heard someone talking about the security cameras not working." 

"Oh so then you decided it'd be a good idea to just… break in?"

"Yes." He said casually. 

You rolled your eyes, but followed him nonetheless as he started walking towards the pool. 

"Even the air feels different here." 

His comment made you laugh. He wasn't necessarily wrong. Everything felt different on figure eight. Didn't mean it was better, though.

"What are you doing?" You hushed when you noticed jj taking off his sweater

"What do you think im doing?" You lifted a brow quizzically "i'm not getting into the pool with my clothes on now, am i?" 

"Yeah, but it's free-"

"Freezing, i know, i know." His sweater was thrown aimlessly to the side "But the moment i turn this pretty thing on it'll be like a huge jacuzzi, baby!" 

You waited for him to do exactly that, and when the water seemed to be at a decent temperature you began to take off your shirt. However, your eyes wined when you glanced at jj and he was moments away from getting all of his clothes off.

All of it.

"Jj" you hissed "what. Are. You. Doing!?"

"I thought skinny dipping would be more romantic." He winked before finally discarding his sweatpants and underwear to the side 

Not even a second later he started running, and before jumping straight to the water he let out the loudest scream he could master.

"We're fucked." You breathed out.

Definitely the whole neighborhood heard that, and then security would get here and see you and your-not-yet-official naked boyfriend 

"Are you planning to run away from the cops with your thing dangling between your legs?" You questioned when his head finally came back to the surface

He chuckled at your comment, once again too loudly for your liking.

"I'll give them a show, princess." His hand ran through his wet hair and something inside you clicked. The urge to throw him against the pool walls and kiss him for hours being stronger than anything else "Now get in the water." 

You hesitated, but decided to go against your gut feeling, and I guess be fun for once in your life.

When your left foot touched the warm water you allowed yourself to breathe normally again, not noticing how your breath seemed shallow before. 

Slowly, you entered the pool, your underwear getting soaked in the process. You decided not to follow jj's idea for at least this one thing. You were not getting into someone else's pool naked. And you were not going to run from the cops naked either.

Rowing in Eden -

Ah - the Sea!

Might I but moor - tonight -

In thee!

"Get back here!"

"It was nice seeing you again, Carl!" Jj waved at the poor security guard. 

As he ran in front of you, with his pants worn inside out, and his shirt not making all its way through covering his torso, was definitely a funny site, but as much as you wanted to laugh, you also needed air to keep on running.

A scream of joy left his lips and you felt so much adrenaline running through your body. Something you only really felt with jj. I mean, he was the one always dragging you around and making you participate in his wild plans. 

"You're too slow!" He screamed, momentarily looking behind him to see you running a few meters behind. 

"I'm not used to running from the cops as much as you!" You exclaimed, extending your arm forward so he could grab onto you and take you with him.

When he caught your hand you almost fell to the ground, losing your balance, once again this night, for a short second, but your legs were quick to catch on to his speed.

You only stopped running when you reached the sand. The beach was dark at this time of night, a few lights coming from the street that weren't enough to illuminate the open space.

"That was-" you heaved, trying to speak but also catching your breath

"Amazing? Thrilling? The best night of your life?!"

"It's a way to put it, yeah." You nodded your head, mouth open still trying to even your breathing.

"Did you like it?" Jj asked after a moment of silence, speaking up once again after you gave him a questioning look "our date. Did you like it?"

"It was… something." You laughed. 

Definitely an adventure. It made you feel more alive than ever, but you wouldn't say that aloud, not wanting to give jj more motivation to take you to any more fun dates

"Something good or…" he trailed off.

You couldn’t see it, mostly because he wouldn't show it, but jj was nervous. He wanted to give you a memorable date. You've already gone out thousands of times together. Sometimes only the two of you, other times as a group with all of the pogues, but you never called it a date. Before tonight your relationship didn't have a label, and he really wanted it to have. He wanted you to be his girlfriend, and he wanted to be your boyfriend. 

So yeah, it was kind of a stressful night and maybe he went too far, but hey, you had the biggest smile on your face right now. You didn't look mad. Not one bit.

"Good." You told him finally

"Good" he repeated, feeling his muscles relax.

"But we're not doing this again."

"Yup! Definitely… not doing this again."

"Jj…" 

"What? You have my word."

"Yeah, no. Definitely not trusting that."

A/n: im so anxious rn, you guys have no idea. Anyway, did this so fast I'll probably edit it again when i wake up tomorrow oof

[tvdsure]

Don’t jump to conclusions

pairing: eren jaeger x fem!reader, armin Arlert x fem!reader

genre: modern au, fluff and a bit of angst if you look hard enough

word count: 5.7k+

warnings: non

summary: eren has a tour so he’s leaving for three months, you’re absolutely broken but that feeling fades when armin comes over to stay at your place; however, eren isn’t too okay with that idea.

The wind advances through my hair, the jet black locks flowing loosely. It felt magical. However, nothing good ever lasts, they say, and they're right. Eren is leaving. He’s got a huge offer in England to work for this huge band, he's really exhilarated about it and couldn't pass it off, not to mention that it was only a global tour; nonetheless, i'll miss him drastically. 

He reminded me constantly that it’s only three months and that he'll be back in the blink of an eye. I know it won't be like that though, nothing will be like that. I’ve always done everything with him, even before we got together he, armin, mikasa, annie and I were always hanging out. Me and eren were always more than childhood friends though, we both knew that, he took me on our first date when we were 14. I remember  it just like it was yesterday, him anxiously fidgeting as if I would reject him. That date was the first of many.

“Baby,” he starts as he lifts his hand from my thigh and to my hand that was on the light pink bag. He gently caresses the back of my hand as he raises it to his lips and an immediate smile sneaks it’s way to my lips. He is such a sappy romantic but I swoon for it.

“I know you don't like the fact that I have to leave, I don't too, baby. But please promise that you won't lock yourself up in the apartment till I come back. I need you to be okay, i cant handle the fact of you being devastated in our apartment.” he smiles lightly against my skin as he keeps kissing up my arm. Till he reaches my shoulder then I scoot closer to him, pressing my lips against his.

He pulls away quickly after a few seconds to keep an eye on the road and I smirk seeing his distressed face. “Baby, we’re on the road!” he whines and I chortle once again as he does too.

For the rest of the ride I mostly sit there ‘vibing with the music subconsciously as Eren keeps a hand on the steering wheel and the other holding his cigarette. His arm extends to rest on the window as he occasionally bends his arm to bring the cigarette to his mouth then back onto the window. He’s always been thoughtful, caring about my health a little more than he should. He’s so protective, whenever he was smoking he wouldn't allow me in the room and he’d tell me to exit till he’s done, seeing as it is not an hourly thing or is something that repeatedly happens, I leave him.

The music carried me as I started falling asleep. I rested my head against the window and both my hands were left against my bag. He then, quite gently, takes one of my hands to attach his lips to it once again. I swear, he makes my knees weak with every move and I’m not even standing.

“I love you so much y/n, please I’m begging you to take care of yourself, I don’t know what I’d do if you didn’t.” He tranquilly whispers while taking my hand to his lips one more time then letting them go -very gently- he would never hurt me, I know that.

Slowly, I swirl around to indicate that I’m waking up and I sense his immediate guilt forming, thinking he woke me up.

“‘We there yet?” I ask quietly. He hums, demonstrating a yes.

“Yeah, just got here.” His soft voice radiated immediate warmth towards me. Being next to him makes me so happy, I don’t want that to end, ever.

After hearing his words I stretched a bit then took the water bottle from the handle and took a sip of it when Eren suddenly hit the brakes. The cold water that was once flowing down my throat, is now all over my red outfit.

“That guy just stopped out of-“ he quickly cut himself off when he saw my soaked status.

“Oh my God, baby I’m so sorry, are you okay?” quickly, he tried to get tissues and I giggled lightly. 

“Don’t worry, it’s just water, It’ll dry in the chilly weather anyways.” He calmed down and I smiled at his actions. He’s such a caring person, I don’t know what I’ll do without him.

“Okay and…” he put an arm on my seat as he tried to park correctly. I smile as I take in his features, the white lights illustrating his demeanor. Gray piercing eyes glowing illuminatingly in the moon, he looked so handsome like that. With me. Next to me. Not away from me on the other side of the world.

“Done, let’s go, actually you stay here and I’ll move my bags, you can just get ready.” He knows that before I get out of the car I like to do a few things, it takes me three minutes to get ready. 

“Okay, I love you.” I chant as he smiles at me.

“I Love you more, gorgeous.” A blush forms on my cheeks at the cute nickname he gave me and I grin while looking at the mirror to get ready.

I fix some of my makeup then spray extra perfume. Once I’m done and feel satisfied I get out of the car only to see Eren already down with all two bags out. 

“Okay so these are the bags that I’ll let them take then this one,” he points to a smaller bag, “I’ll take with me on the flight, good?” I nod and walk over to him wrapping my hands around his neck.

“I love you.” I remind once again and he chuckles lightly then kisses my nose.

“I love you more.” 

——————-——————-——————-————-

“That’s it, I guess now I should go.” I said softly as he was showing his passport to the lady who let him in. This was the furthest I could go, I despise that.

“I’ll miss you so much, princess.” He smiles at me and I give him a sweet one back, God I’m going to miss him so much.

“Yeah, me too.” With one hand on my waist, the other lightly touches my cheek and I sigh contently at his movements, I don’t want this to ever end. His thumb rubs over my bottom lips and I instantaneously attach our lips together.

After a few seconds we both pull away and I sense tears threatening to leave my eyes. “I don’t want you to leave, Eren please don’t leave me.” I felt horrible about how selfish I am being but I was just voicing my inner thoughts, I really don’t want him to go.

“Angel…” he cooes and I feel a tear rip from my left eye. The salty, cold droplet against my skin creates a burning sensation. “You know that if that’s really what you want I can arrange it, right? If you don’t want me to go then just say it and I’ll tell them to find a drummer.”

My thoughts become clouded by supplemental cologne. I felt dizzy just hugging him. He leaned down, inching closer to me and kissed my lips.

The act of affection didn't surprise me but with tears in my eyes it was hard to focus on the kiss, so I didn't. I got lost in it.

“N-no, uh…” I stutter as I wipe my tears backing away from him completely, “I'm sorry, baby, I'm okay; plus, you have to follow your dreams, I am in no way going to stop you from that.” I smiled and he nodded lightly as he held my waist and pulled me into another hug.

After a few seconds, whilst tugging away he grabs my check and hands a light peck on my forehead.

“See you, handsome.” I chant and he laughs slightly at my enthusiastic tone.

“I’ll call you when I get there, pretty girl.” he chuckles then throws a wink my way as I fake a smile, afterwards I pull my eyes from his direction as they start to swell up with unstoppable tears.

——————-——————-——————-————-

I throw my shoes on the bedroom floor, my skirt and shirt along with it. On my bed lies an oversized hoodie, belonging to eren. I believe he left it here on purpose, for me. Without a second thought I put it on, feeling pleased with the warmth.

Just as I am about to finally close my eyes to sleep my phone rings in an obnoxiously loud way causing me to flinch and sigh heavily. “‘My baby💘👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩 & miss hottie💞🥵 & gorgeous girl💕👩‍❤️‍👩 group chat....”’ I smile slightly at my phone seeing the screen and instantaneously grab my phone to answer.

“Heyy!” I intone and the three females wave at their screens.

“Hey y/n!” Historia exclaims as I smile at her zeal while she talks with me about her day. Mikasa is sitting there listening with the same bored expression on her face, on the other hand, Annie is quite invested in whatever is behind her screen. I’ll take a wild guess and say that she’s also listening to Armin and that's why she’s muted.

“Yeah, but overall it was quite boring, although Mikasa did prank me but that’s a different story.” She laughed and I did too. She’s so adorable. I love her innocence and that pretty smile of hers, it makes me so happy knowing I'm one of her best friends.

Historia and Mikasa are roommates; when they both wanted the same apartment yet found it to somehow cost a lot of money they decided on splitting the rent.

“God I can only imagine one of Mikasa’s pranks, I would honestly just faint, you’re scary as hell.” I add and all four of us chuckle as Mika glares at me but eventually crakes up with us.

After a while I check the time ‘11:16’ it reads, that means we’ve been talking for two and a half hours. I can't stall for sleep anymore.

“Guys, I'm gonna go to sleep now.” I question and they all nod consecutively.

“Love you, bye.” after i get i love you too’s from all of them i press the large red button covering my phone as it takes over the screen with a bright red making me squint lightly.

I change my LED lights to green, get under the blankets and slip my legs round the pillow as I shift into a more comfortable position.

“‘Ocean boy💙📖’ ‘Ocean boy💙📖’ ‘Ocean boy💙📖’” siri chants as i groan once again, armin your timing could not be more impeccable!

“Hello?” I answer with a grumble as I hear him chuckle lightly. He’s actually making me feel better by just hearing his voice.

“Asleep, sweetheart?” I nod but then remember that he can’t actually see me so I just let a light ‘mhm’ out as I shift again. Me and Armin's late night calls last endless hours so I'll be here for a while.

“Well, I won't keep you up too long, just wanted to ask if I can come over right now?” a smile makes itself onto my face and i eagerly answer,

“Of course, you’re always welcome at any time, that’s kind of why you have my keys, idiot.” he laughs at my retort and hangs up. That was quick… too quick.

I was also kind of expecting a reason as to why he’s spending the night here but I guess I'll get that when he comes over.

——————-——————-——————-————-

The sunshine radiated bright light into my eyes, stingin it ever so slightly. I stretch a bit when I feel a body lying next to me. An ample of cologne fills my nose; ‘212 vip black extra’, I can recognise it from miles away. 

“Armin?” I mumble, still half asleep. 

“Yeah?” he groans when I move a minor step away, “no, please i am finally able to sleep, stay.” he pouts so I giggle then get back under the covers.

After some minutes passing I pry myself away as I replace my body with a pillow.

“I can notice the difference between a pillow and you, sweetheart.” he chuckles, still lethargic and I grin at his comment but let him sleep as I get to the kitchen to cook breakfast up.

“‘Forever and always💓💍’ facetime ‘forever and always💓💍’ facetime ‘forever and always💓💍’ facetime” my phone annotates what’s written on the screen and my face lit up almost instantly.

I answer and put the phone against a bowl so I can check on the pancakes. “Hey, beautiful.” I hear his voice say, already feeling the smirk forming on his face, because of my blush,  even from millions of kilometers away.

“Hey, baby.” I answer as I set the timer and take a piece of gum as I start leaving the kitchen to sit on the couch.

“How was the flight?” I ask randomly as I see him tidying up his bed so he can go to sleep.

“Energy-consuming but it went smoothly, want to say hi?” I nod rapidly as he chuckles.

“y’all, say hi to y/n.” He announces and I wave at ymir, pieck, Sasha and Connie, they all do the same whilst smiling kindly.

Sasha ( the lead singer) is nibbling on some chips whilst her laptop is open, some light noise is heard so i'm assuming she’s on netflix. Ymir (band leader and lead Guitarist) is on facetime with someone, probably historia, and she’s also making her bed for bed. Connie (rhythm Guitarist) has his head on Sasha's lap, watching whatever she’s watching to probably entertain himself, nothing more, it looks as if he’s bored though. Pieck (bassist) is on her guitar playing loosely on some strings - probably out of fatigueness.

“Hey girl.” Sasha greets and I blow her a kiss.

“Hi y/n.” ymir accosts then goes back to historia quickly.

“Love, how are you?” Pieck salutes with a smile and her accent brings happiness over me, finally I can hear my best friend talk to me again. She was never free and especially now with the tour but at least I got to hear her again.

“y/n! How have you been? I've missed you, y/n/n.” Connie welcomes with a rhapsodic tone, he even called me by my nickname, which hardly anyone does.

“Hey guys, I'm doing great and I've missed you so much more, I can't wait to celebrate your tour when you come home.” I told them, they all smiled at me and thanked me as eren got out of this room and to his. They’re in a hotel until he is able to actually start the tour, which should be in two days tops.

“I miss you already.” I flatter. He laughs and then tells me ‘I miss you too’ in addition to that he, and I quote, ‘can’t live without me for that long’.

“And here I am thinking I am the one who’s going to be clingy.” he rolls his eyes at my sassy comment and we both burst out laughing.

“Y’all are way too loud.” I hear Armin groan from behind me as I laugh at his comment. Looking back at Eren, I see his face drop, I don't understand why though.

“Look, y/n, i’ll talk to you in the morning.” he quickly states and i give him a weird look but comply.

“Oh, okay then, I lo-” he hung up. There has never been one call where we didn't end it with affection, with one too many i love you’s, with too many compliments, with too many hope your day is absolutely amazing’s… what’s wrong?

“Good morning, sweetheart.” Armin says and I smile at him.

“Good morning, sleepyhead.” he chuckles as i see him making two cups of coffee.

“It’s fine, I can make it. I was going to but eren called, you can just go watch something if you want.” I say as I walk up to the kitchen, but the two cups was already smelling fantastic. The smell of strong coffee beans was immaculate and it made me feel warm.

“Here.” he hands me my cup and a quick kiss on the forehead before grabbing a fork and flipping the pancakes that I forgot about completely. That is exactly why I let Eren cook everyday.

“Oh my- I’m so sorry armin, I’m horrible at this cooking thing.” I apologize laughing lightly to not sound too serious.

“Don’t worry, I do it for Annie everyday. Got used to it, sweetheart.” I nod and smile as he drinks the coffee in his hand whilst mailing breakfast and I just check Instagram.

~Jeagerbomb~ is active.

Why would he do that? Wherefore would he lie to me like that? I don’t even get why he’s so mad either, why is he making a big deal out of literally nothing!

“Hey, sweetheart, what’s with the long face?” Armin asks as he slouches next to me.

“Eren is ignoring me, he’s clearly active yet he wouldn’t talk to me because he ‘wants to sleep’ but he’s awake and scrolling through instagram,” i take a deep breath and keep going, “this is exactly what i was afraid of. I hate that he can just turn off our call at any time and I can't disagree and then not knowing what he’s doing all alone. But when we’re together I can get it out of him, I can convince him to tell me why he’s mad then we’ll fix it.” 

“y/n, Eren won’t stay mad at you for long, he never can. In the morning call him and check if everything is alright but for now you can’t be upset the whole day.” he reassures and I nod quietly.

“Enough about my problems, I want to know why you called me in the middle of the night like that and then said that you were finally able to sleep?”

“Me and annie got into a huge fight.” he explained, fidgeting with his fingers that were on his lap, “i tried fixing it but she wouldn’t listen to me, she kept saying how i don’t love her anymore and that she feels me drifting apart…” he zoned out for a second probably remembering exactly what happened.

“She even accused me of cheating on her.” I could see the tears sliding down his check as he quickly wiped them. “I love her, y/n, I really do, I don't understand why she doesn't trust me. I have never given her a reason not to, I mean, did I do something?" 

Armin looks heartbroken and it kills me that he feels like he did something wrong. Annie might be feeling insecure but it doesn't make sense to just lash out on armin like that.

“Why does she think you’re cheating?”

“I came home late yesterday and she automatically assumed the worst, I don't follow her logic though, she’s been very insecure lately which is driving me crazy. I just want her to trust me, y/n.” Practically feeling the tears he was letting go of, I hugged him tightly hoping to make him feel only a bit of reassurance. 

“Armin, I hope you don't mind me asking but why did you come home late?” he shuffled in his seat and let go of me.

“I was looking for a gift for our 2 year anniversary coming up this Wednesday, I couldn't tell her though, I kept begging her to just have some trust in me. It hurt seeing how easily she thought I could cheat on her. I give Annie everything I have and can give her, I don't know how else to prove my love to her.”

“I know Armin, I know, it's okay. Annie isnt stupid, she knows you would never do that to her, just give her sometime.” he nods and we stay in that position. It’s relaxing. Knowing that he is here for me, and me for him.

We spent the whole day together in my house. We did all kinds of things, sang a bit, danced around, baked up some brownies, had too many energy drinks and tried to call Annie but she didn't answer.

Once it was 09:30 pm, Armin went into the shower and I was on my phone, waiting for him so we could go buy some things from the grocery shop.

Scrolling through instagram i saw an article concerning Eren, normally i hated these but it actually caught my attention; ‘Eren Jeager seen with co-star Pieck Finger’. I can almost hear my heart thumping inside of my throat. It burns, badly. That isn’t true, it can’t be, Eren loves me. My first instinct is to call him but that thought is forgotten when Armin comes out of the shower, asking for something. He was still in a towel, one that covers his waist and the other around his hair as he moves it throughout.

The veins in his arms protruded beneath his pale skin, he’s drying his hair with the towel, clasping and unclasping his hand as an indication of comfort as he slid the towel on his hair down and into the laundry bin. 

“y/n, where’s my shirt?” he asks whilst his eyes are darting around. I nuzzled my face into the soft pillow case, tear stained cheeks leaving wet smears on the fabric. 

“You’ll find it on the kitchen counter.'' I sniffle lightly and hope he doesn't notice my broken voice. It was late, almost 10:00 pm and I'm here; curled in a loose ball under a stack of velvety blankets breaking down. I pulled the t-shirt I'm wearing over my nose as I heard him mutter a ‘thank you’ then get out to get changed. 

Taking a deep inhale and drowning myself in the sweet scent of my boyfriend’s t-shirt, or atleast, I hope he’s still my boyfriend. The t-shirt was one that he said was his favourite, it’s scent drove me fanatical as I kept taking more of it in, hoping all my worries would just fade into it.

“Incoming call from ‘jaegerbomb’,Incoming call from ‘jaegerbomb’,Incoming call from ‘jaegerbomb’” 

Hesitantly, my fingers scanned the phone a couple of times before I answered.

“Hey, y/n'' I hear from the other side of the phone. His voice doesn’t sound too enthusiastic but he also didn't seem bothered. No emotion.

“Hey, Eren.” I answer back and the line goes dead silent. He doesn't talk for about a minute, why did he call if he was just going to breathe into the phone the whole time?

“Oi, y/n, I still can’t find my shirt.” Armin approaches and my eyes go wide at what he says. This may be totally normal because I understand what’s happening but eren on the other hand, may understand it in a different way.

“Oh, try the living room.” he nodded and strolled away. I can practically hear Eren trying to control his temper because of what he heard but I know my answer assured him to some extent. I mean, I wouldn't answer armin if i was actually cheating.

“y/n what’s armin doing at your place?” The vexation is visible in each syllable he pronounces.

“He got into a fight with Annie last night, decided to stay at my place till they’re fine again.” I elaborate with insureness in my voice. I'm trying to sound as confident as possible but my throat becomes too dry to form assertive words.

“Couldn’t he stay in reiner’s or even Mikasa’s?” The annoyance was quite conspicuous as he keeps complaining.

“Eren! I can't kick him out because you’re somehow jealous, he is our best friend and in need of a place to stay. What would you do if I kicked you out?”

“Not stay at Annie's…” he mumbles and that was the last straw for me. 

“Excuse me?” I semi-yell into the phone, “are you saying that I should kick him out? Eren, he trusts me enough to tell me about his problems and for me to cooperate, how dare you even say that about your childhood best friend. He has been there for you every step of the way and this is how you repay him? By being a jealous boyfriend when he’s hurting?” exasperation ran through my blood as i let it out, he is being so unreasonable and i will not stand by this behavior.

“y/n, calm down! I’m just saying that it’s weird that he came to you. I don't like the idea of this happening without your boyfriend supervising.”

“You don't trust me?”

“What? No that’s not what I'm saying, I trust you y/n, wholeheartedly.”

“However, you have the audacity to say that you need to supervise me and armin’s hangouts?”

“Don't be like that, I don't mean it that way. I trust both of you, nonetheless, it just scares me that I'm not there, I mean…” he stops for a few seconds and I somehow make out a sniffle, “baby, what if you fall for him again? I wouldn't blame you, he's everything I'm not but I just don't want you to go. Please y/n, I don't want you to leave me.” 

“Eren,” my tone immediately softens at his change, he’s feeling insecure?

“I love you, okay?”

“Okay…” 

“No, I mean it. I love you more than i love myself and any human on this earth, i love you so much eren and i would never trade this for anyone else. I promise I'm not going anywhere, baby.” it shattered me, the fact that i have to say this to remind him how in love with him i am. He’s my everything, I would never give that up for any other human.

“I love you, angel.”

“I love you more.”

——————-——————-——————-————-

After me and eren caught up on everything else, assured each other and talked over some stuff, we ended the call as he was getting called into rehearsals.

“Hey, y/n.” I hear Armin's soft voice speak from behind the door as he slowly comes in and I let him enter. He is fully dressed but his hair is still wet and it looks really cute on him.

When eren mentioned me falling for armin ‘again’ he meant when we were both best friends long ago. Five years ago, I had the biggest crush  on Armin, it was known. Everyone knew it, even he did but we never confessed to one another, too cowardly to do so. I know he used to like me back though. We joke about the situation now, a small laugh; yet, eren never got over it. He always took it quite personally because Armin is ‘everything he isn't’ in his eyes. He’s always been insecure about that but I thought he trusted me, I thought he would let go of these worries if it’s me we’re talking about. I figured out worries are worries and he’ll feel that way. The only thing I can do is assure him and help him.

“Yeah?” I answer as I reopen twitter to have a chortle before going to bed.

“I'm sorry, for everything. Being a burden on both you and eren, for what happened with Annie, with how I'm disappointing you guys and everyone else. I'm so sorry.” The break in his voice was sorrowful as his eyes diverted the gaze from me to anything else around the room.

“No, oh my God. Armin you aren't a burden and definitely disappointing anyone. Annie is mad, for an invalid reason, it’s fine. If you heard anything, which I'm guessing you did, eren was also just furious with an invalid reasoning. And to me you are nowhere near a burden or such. Don't doubt yourself, ever.”

“Thank you, y/n. Thank you for all of this, making me stay over and your constant affirmation.” I smile slightly at him and get out of bed to hug him. We stay in the position for what feels like hours, his hands on my waist, my arms slung around his neck.

When we pull apart he looks into my eyes for a few seconds, his ocean blue eyes glowing enchantingly. They were beautiful, trancing, and I couldn't stop myself from being so intrigued by the stories behind them.

Suddenly, I snap out of the stupor I was once in. quickly, i push him away as we both pant lightly, the air seemed to become limited in the room as we both gain back our consciousness.

“y/n-”

“Armin-uh. I think I'll go to bed early. If you can't find anything in the fridge you’re welcome to go to the hypermarket. Goodnight.” he looks at the floor quietly as he moves out of my room.

I'm screwed.

I can't believe we just had a moment. No, absolutely not, just two friends hugging, that’s all. Eren will despise me, how can I be such a hypocrite? I have to tell him, I just have to.

Never mind, I won't tell him, he doesn't need to know anyways.

Silent. The room was cleansed and cleaned top to bottom whilst I was asleep. The lights are renewed, I can smell pastries from downstairs and (this next one is a shock) no one is sleeping next to me.

“Armin?” I call out loudly yet no one answers.

I get up, rubbing my eyes before noticing the large cup of hot coffee on my nightstand. The steam flowing, making sure to inform me that it was just made and brought to me.

Taking the cup of coffee in my hand, I saunter down the stairs deciding to take a sip of the perfectly made coffee. He made it just right and the way I like it, but it scares me knowing that after what happened yesterday night he still did it for me. Is he catching feelings again?

“Sweetheart, hey.” I cringe slightly at the name and I can practically feel his heart race at my reaction. He’s right here in front of me, calling me sweetheart and cooking breakfast after what happened yesterday? Unacceptable.

“I mean-- y/n.” it’s no secret he’s mentally face palming himself right now but i honestly find it adorable that he did that by just seeing my reaction.

“y/n, I'm sorry. I don't know what happened yesterday but I know that you’re infuriated by it and now won't talk to me. You even hate ‘sweetheart’ and I've called you that since we were like what? 14? I just don't want things to get weird between us, you’re my best friend, eren is my literal brother and Annie is my girlfriend. I just hope you aren't mad at me. I swear I'm not going to try anything of any sort. I'm going to Mikasa and Historia's place after breakfast, just wanted to do something as a thank you before i leave.” he ranted and i giggles softly when he finished, he;s so flustered by the time he’s done i find it a miracle he remembered to breath.

“Armin, you can stay as long as you want, honestly, don't worry about what happened. In fact, nothing happened at all, we’re best friends and I don't want to lose that. The nickname is very much acceptable, don't worry, I know you’re used to it.” he smiled and nodded then pulled me into a mug as i hugged back as the coffee mug in my hand jiggled.

We lug back from each other and beam at one another. Nothing wrong happened yesterday, why am I so worried?

——————-——————-——————-————-

“How was your day, angel?” Eren's deep voice filled my ear as I held the phone in a hand, the other picking out jewelry.

“Uneventful, me and Armin just spent the day together, Annie isn't answering him and he’s too scared to actually go there in case she kicks him out again or, worse,  breaks up with him.”

“I feel bad for him, I mean he didn't do anything really, maybe he should really go and test his luck.”

“Yeah, I think that’s the best option right now. He's trying to get ready, asked for a couple of your rings ‘cause he knows it’s something she likes.” he chuckles on the other end as a light laughter comes over me.

“Really want to swoon her over.”  he adds

“Found it!” i exclaimed as i found the set of rings that were just perfect for armin, they fit him perfectly and his style too, “Okay, let’s find him now.”

“Armin?” he pops into my room within a second with a tux put on (it looked really nice, may i add), he really cleaned up well; yet, his hair is still a mess. He can't do anything about his hair even if he tries.

“Here it is.” I call and he moves over to me as he takes the box with the set in it. He tries to pu it on but looks at me with wide eyes,

“What?”

“How do you even put all that on? That’s going to look horrible.”

“Are you doubting my skills, Arlert?” I test and eren laughs from the other side.

“Is that a challenge, jaeger? Okay then, I'll prove you both wrong.” they both chuckle and i take armin’s hand in mine, starting to move around the rings. It took three minutes but I did it, I got the best combination and how to put it. He looked great in my opinion.

“Woah, y/n, I seriously didn't give you enough credit.” Armin lets out a breath and I smile at his compliment.

“Okay time to send to eren!” I take my phone off of the table that has all of our jewelry on it then snap him a picture.

“You've done well, pretty girl.” he flatters once again and I smirk proudly.

“See? I told you guys.” Armin nods as eren hums and we both burst out in laughter suddenly.

“Okay, it’s getting late. Thank you for everything y/n, I couldn't have done any of this without you, not to mention I'd probably be homeless.” I nod and smile at him as he leaves the house. 

Everything, somehow, worked out in the end.

“Baby?”

��Yeah…” i answer, putting away the rest of the jewelry.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

[reidgraygubler]

a different type of high (spencer reid/reader) pt 6

Title: A Different Type of High (part six)

Request: no

Couple: spencer reid/gender-neutral!reader

Category: spicy fluff (RATED T)

Content Warning: swearing, talk about and allusions to sex, making out, mentions of dying, mentions of drug use (Dialiludid and Oxycodone), withdrawal and symptoms of withdrawal, attending narcotics anonymous, struggling with sobriety, mildly ooc spencer

Word Count: 3,637

Summary: Spencer and the team plan a dinner party to celebrate Reader’s 6-month anniversary of being clean. Reader and Spencer make a risky decision that could hurt their friendship 

A/N: Oh goodness, I’m so sorry this part took so long to be posted. I’ve had half of it written for a few weeks, and then I’ve been sitting on the other half bc it originally contained smut. I sat and thought about it for a few days, and I decided at extreme last minute to edit it and make it just spicy fluff, with a rating of pg13-T for the allusions of and talks of sex. I had my best friend proofread this and made sure it was a-okay to post with those ratings! i also edited all the parts so they could be for a gender-neutral reader! so please let me know if this part (or any other part) has an issue with pronouns. Again, im so sorry it took so long for this part to be posted. anyways, thank you all for the love and support! check out my masterlist!

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{***}{***}{***}

"Six months," I looked down at the token in hand. My eyes stayed glued to it for what seemed like an eternity, only looking away when there was a knock on the door. It wasn’t for 6 months, though, it was still my 5-month token. We’d be going to get my 6-month chip in a little bit...

"I hope you're not doing something stupid in there!" Spencer spoke on the other side of the door. I smiled before pulling the door open. He was leaning beside the door, waiting for me to leave. “I thought you’d never leave,” he looked over at me with a smile. I stepped more out of the bathroom and looked up at him. 

“Nope, just going to the bathroom,” I lied, but still kept a smile on my lips. I try not to lie to Spencer, but for some reason, this one was different. If I had it my way, I would keep myself locked in the bathroom, and never having to leave again. “Do you have to go? It’s free now,” I gestured towards the door. Spencer looked down at me with a raised eyebrow. “Although, I’d give it a minute…” I looked down at the ground and shrugged.

“Are you okay?” He asked, following beside me as I walked towards his bedroom. I sat on the edge of the bed and looked up at him as he stood right in front of me. "Six months, that's quite the achievement,” he whispered as he sat beside me.

“I’m just nervous… That’s all,” I shrugged as I looked over at him, “I already want the day to be over… Is that bad to say?” I rested my head on his shoulder after I leaned on him. 

“No, I don’t think so,” Spencer shook his head, “I think it’s totally valid. This is the first time that you’ve made it to such a big accomplishment… It’s exciting, it’s nerve-wracking…” he whispered. 

“I think it’s more than nerve-wracking…” my voice was hardly a whisper. “We should go. The faster we go, the faster we can get this over with,” I looked up at him and shrugged. 

“We should get going. It’s a very important meeting for you today. Gotta get that coin,” Spencer laughed, before standing up. I sighed deeply before standing up. I rolled my eyes. “It’ll be over faster than you think it will,” he wrapped his arm around me as he walked me outside. The weather drastically changed over the last six months, I’ve forgotten how nice Maryland can be when it’s not cold and snowy. And, as soon as we stepped outside, a warm breeze brushed across my skin and through my hair. I smiled, relaxing my shoulders slightly.

“It’s so nice out,” I looked up at Spencer and smiled. He returned the expression and looked around the street.

“Yeah, it is nice, isn’t it?” he looked back down at me with a soft smile. 

“We should go to the Washington Monument! I want to see the cherry blossoms! I’m sure they’re nice and bloomed and super pretty,” I suggested, hoping he’d want to go.

“I mean, if I have time. We have cases coming in left and right,” Spencer replied, making me feel sadder. I pouted.

“Yeah, that’s right. I guess I’ll just have to go,” I looked up at him with a sly smile.

“And, you’ll have to take lots of photos for me,” he smiled at me again. I rolled my eyes before tucking myself closer into his side.

{***}{***}{***} 

“I’m taking you out, come on,” Spencer grabbed my hand to pull me to my feet. I looked up at him and furrowed my eyebrows.

“What? Why?” I spoke, still staying on the couch. But, when he did finally get me on my feet, I yelped and fell into his body. Spencer wrapped his arms around my body to keep me steady. “We just got back!” I looked up as I tried to escape his grip.

“Because… You’re six months clean and that’s something worth celebrating,” he smiled as he looked down at me. “And, you deserve to be celebrated,” he whispered before poking my nose. I wrinkled my face and stuck my tongue out. “Please, for me?” he added. I dropped my shoulders. See, that’s not fair. He knows I’d do anything for him. And, if anything includes going out to celebrate something, then I guess I’ll have to do it.

“Okay, fine. You win. We can go out. But I don’t have anything nice to wear,” I spoke as I stepped away from Spencer’s embrace and towards his bedroom. I’ve basically moved into his place sometime over the last 6 months. So it could be our bedroom. But, it's an unofficial move in. I still have my shit in my shit apartment. “Granted, I don’t have much clothing here,” I looked back over at him and shrugged. It was just something to be planted in his head, maybe he’ll offer me to move in with him. Or maybe not. He’ll probably say that it isn’t very smart, me living with him. 

“I guess it’s a good thing that there’s something in the bedroom for you,” Spencer smiled as he dropped his head to his shoulder. I raised an eyebrow before looking into his room. “Jennifer and Penelope helped pick it out,” his voice followed me as I entered the room. 

“You didn’t have to get me this, Spencer,” I looked at him, awe in my eyes as I looked between him and the very nice clothing that was laid out on his bed. I honestly probably wouldn’t wear it out much. But if he takes me out to celebrate big milestones, then I’ll have an excuse to wear it.

“Of course I did. You should get to wear something nice on such a big night out. You get changed, I have to make a phone call real quick.” Spencer smiled at me before leaving me alone in his bedroom. I looked back down at the clothes and sighed deeply before changing out of my dingy sweater and jeans and into the dress. I looked down at my body before slowly leaving the room.

“I hate this,” I looked at Spencer, who was sitting on the couch, reading a book while he waited for me to finish getting dressed. He was quick to stand, nearly dropping his book to the ground as he looked at me. “Whaddya think?” I smiled at him before looking down at the clothes. 

“You look… It looks good,” Spencer looked up at me with a smile. I looked back up at him for a brief moment, only to look away. I could feel a heat grow on my cheeks as I walked towards him. “Oh, uh… Are you ready?” He watched as I grabbed for a sweater he let me borrow. 

 “Only if you are, you’re the one who planned this whole thing. I was fine just staying home,” I shrugged as I followed beside him. I didn’t want to argue with him on this one, though. He wanted to do something special for me, because this was a big milestone. And, it’s the first time I’ve ever made it to 6 months. Hopefully, it’s the only time I make it this far. But, who knows, bad things happen to good people. 

“I’m not going to be embarrassed, am I?” I looked up at Spencer as we walked out of his apartment. He grasped my hand as he led me out of the building.

“No, you… You shouldn’t be embarrassed,” Spencer furrowed his eyebrows and shook his head. 

I don’t know why, but all I could think about was going to a restaurant on my birthday when I was younger… And, you know how the waiters and waitresses would crowd around and sing you their lame version of happy birthday, while forcing you to wear a hat that dozens of other people have worn… Their stupid birthday schtick? Remember? Ah, those were the good times, when Mom wasn’t out of her mind. But, I don’t think Spencer would force people to sing me a stupid song and wear a stupid hat for being clean of drugs for 6-months...

“I’m trusting you on this,” I smiled at him as we walked towards his car, “no one’s gonna sing like a song or anything?” I looked over at him as I slid into his car. He looked down at me with furrowed eyebrows, confusion on his face. Then it hit me that he had no idea what I was talking about.  

“No…. No one’s going to sing to you,” he looked at me, his tone heavily confused. 

“Nothing to worry about then,” I smiled as he pushed the door shut. I quickly buckled in and waited for Spencer to get into the driver’s side. I looked over at him with a smile as he got in. “I was just thinking… On the rare occasion when mom wasn’t awful, she’d take me out to eat, and a lot of the times it was my birthday… You remember that? And then they embarrass the fuck out of you,” I sighed as I looked at him. 

“No… That never happened to me,” he glanced at me as he started his car.

“That’s a shame, we should change that,” I smiled evilly at him as he started to drive. 

“I hate that you’re looking at me like that,” he looked at the road as he drove to our destination, “Do I even want to know?”

“No, but you’ll find out someday,” I smiled at him.

{***}{***}{***}

Spencer and I were very quiet as entered his apartment. I think that goes to show just how exhausted we both were. Considering he had brought me to his friend’s house, where the rest of his team was, to celebrate. It’s not that the people were exhausting, it’s just that we were out late, and I’m very emotional.

Which was the reason why I found myself crawling into bed in just a shirt and underwear. I could hear Spencer’s laughter as I got comfortable, but struggled with the blanket.

“I’m so tired,” I sighed as I pulled the blanket over my body. The bed shifted as Spencer climbed in beside me. “Like, all the tireds… Sleepy, mentally, emotionally, psychically,” I looked at him as I pressed my head into the pillow.

“Rossi does know how to have a dinner party. Six months is a pretty big thing to celebrate.” Spencer hummed as he moved closer to me. I looked up at him and smiled. 

“You didn’t have to plan a party for me. I would have been okay staying here,” I whispered as I got comfortable in his form.

My back was pressed right to Spencer’s chest, just like many nights before. His arm was wrapped around my middle to hold me as close as possible to him. My legs were tangled up with his. I let out a deep breath of air before smiling to myself.

“I’m proud of you, you know that?” Spencer whispered, his nose brushing over the shell of my ear. I rolled my shoulders and hummed happily. 

“Now it’s your turn,” I mumbled as I shifted slightly. I knew he was still struggling. It’s not easy… And Dilaudid seems like a kick to the ass drug. He’s trying though. He’s trying his hardest. I just wish there was a way I could help him. I knew he had been struggling more often recently. I would be too if my mentor left unexpectedly. It wasn’t fair to him, or the rest of his team. He gets to have a bit of a struggle, he shouldn’t have to though. The man who replaced Gideon though, David Rossi, is a nice guy. But I know Gideon was like his father figure to him. 

Spencer let out a breath of air through his nose. His air tickling my skin and moving my hair. “I couldn’t have done it without you, ya’ know?” I mumbled, nuzzling my head into the pillow more. It was Spencer’s turn to hum. “And, I’m more than willing to be by your side,” I whispered, hoping he didn’t hear me. But, he did, because he just hugged me harder.

I know it’s only 6 months and not the rest of my life. But, without Spencer, I don’t think I could have gotten to the 6-month point. And, to be honest, I might be dead. 

“That’d mean the world to me,” he whispered softly. I turned around so I was facing him. He looked down at me with a small smile. “I’m doing better, you know,” he spoke softly. I looked at him and nodded. “It’s just hard… With Gideon leaving… It just feels like everyone’s leaving,” he sniffled softly. 

“I’m not leaving… And, by the looks of it all, you have an entire family that isn’t leaving you, Spencer,” I kept my eyes on him, watching as he looked down at me. He stayed quiet, mulling over the words I had just said.

In fact, that left us in a comfortable silence. My eyes stayed glued to him, whereas his were closed. I knew he wasn’t asleep though. Spencer never sleeps. I knew our day wasn’t over yet. We always talked more before either of us fell asleep.

But... something scared me. The way he held onto me. He held me like I would go missing in the morning when he did eventually wake up. His grip around my waist and torso was tight, like I was a stuffed animal and he was the owner. Part of me wondered if he feared I was a drug-induced hallucination and would vanish in thin air. I wish there was a way I could tell him, to convince him that I wouldn’t ever disappear like that. 

His nose twitched as he rubbed his face into the pillow under his head. He slowly opened his eyes and looked back at me, the exhaustion of the day sitting in his eyes and expression. I understood that feeling. But, if he was anything like me, and he is a lot like me, I knew that even though he was exhausted, sleep wouldn’t find us in a while. 

“Go to sleep,” he whispered, closing his eyes as he pretended to sleep. I laughed lightly, causing him to glare at me. 

“I’m not tired, and I know you’re not either. You’re faking it,” I muttered as I shifted even closer to him. I still kept my head tilted up so I could look at him. “You know I’m right,” I whispered, a smile suddenly appearing on my lips. 

“I’m not arguing your statement, am I?” Spencer replied, a smile growing on his lips. I almost kissed him. At that moment, it felt right. Our sudden sarcastic banter just made me want to kiss him. 

“No, no you’re not,” I laughed lightly as I looked at him. Spencer kept his eyes on me, hugging me harder as he tried to bring me closer to him. But at this point if I was any closer to him, I’d probably be in him. “Can I ask you a question,” I whispered so softly. If it was daylight or any other time of day, with any sound, I wouldn’t be heard. Spencer laughed before reopening his eyes.

“You just did,” he retorted as he looked at me. I rolled my eyes as I readjusted, moving so I was more face to face with him instead of face to chest. 

“I meant a real question, Agent Reid,” I stuck my tongue out at him. The smile that grew on his lips made me feel warm, and I couldn’t help but laugh. 

“You can always ask me a question, and you don’t even have to ask,” Spencer replied, his smile becoming more genuine than before. I could feel my heart beating as I looked at him. My body felt like it was flooding with a feeling that I’ve never felt towards another person… I just couldn’t put a name to it yet.

“Can I kiss you,” I whispered. It just happened. The words fell from my mouth, like I had no control over my mouth and the words I was saying. And now that the words hung in the air, I was left just staring at Spencer, and my heart in my throat. 

The expression on his face told me he was thinking about it. But the long silence was beginning to make me feel nervous. What if I ruined it all? What if I just ruined my friendship with Spencer all because I wanted to kiss him? It’s just my luck though, I get something so beautiful and so precious, I ruin it, or it gets ruined. But in this case… It was my own fault and doing. 

The next thing I knew, Spencer’s hands were cupping my cheeks, and his lips were against mine. It felt like the wind was knocked out of me with the sudden action. I was a little caught off guard. I guess his prolonged silence just convinced me nothing was going to happen. But I was definitely happy that it did, indeed, happen. And, I definitely enjoyed it. 

His lips were soft, yet somehow slightly chapped. I could feel the moisture on his lips from when he licked them moments ago, and I could taste the tiny bit of wine he had just an hour ago. The warmth of his body made me feel safe as I gravitated closer into his body. My heart pounded in my chest, and I wondered if he could feel it against his. My hands gravitated towards his head, my fingers getting tangled in his hair. 

Spencer hummed as I gently tugged on the hair on the back of his neck. The breath from his nose tickled around my lips and nose. Every movement he made, my body was quick to follow. I just couldn’t get enough of him, and he knew that. 

He was gentle as he moved so he was over me. His arms were wrapped around my torso, holding me close to his body. I knew I wanted to further what was happening, and part of me could sense Spencer did too. I pulled my head away, pressing it into the pillow a little bit so I could look up at him. He returned the look, but a certain fire was in his eyes. 

“Can we,” I stopped myself from talking, worried that I was even more out of line for asking if we could have sex. At least I’m asking. “We don-” I continued, but failed when Spencer pressed his lips to mine. 

“Yeah… Yeah we can,” he muttered before going to take off his shirt.  

{***}{***}{***}

It was honestly better than any type of high I’ve had before. Definitely better than marijuana, or oxycodone, or Dilaudid. I wonder if Spencer thought the same about that. This was probably safer too. You can’t overdose on sex, can you? Damn, I guess if that’s how I go… That’s how I go.

“Hey,” Spencer looked down at me with a small smile. I swallowed roughly before returning the smile to him. He brushed my hair away from my face before holding both my cheeks in his hands.

“Hey,” I returned the smile with a small giggle. Spencer laughed before kissing me again. It was tender and passionate with this kiss, and I wanted to melt into him. His hands were still on my cheeks, holding my face.

“Are you okay? I didn’t hurt you or anything? Did I?” He asked, his tone heavily laced with worry. He moved his nose so it brushed against mine, smushing it to my face. I laughed and shook my head. 

“No, no, Spencer. You didn’t hurt me,” I laughed as I pressed my hands to his chest. “I don’t think you could hurt me… No matter what you do,” I quietly whispered. Spencer looked down at me and smiled.

“I promise I won’t ever hurt you,” he returned in a whisper, "and I won't ever leave you." 

“In all seriousness, though, I didn’t know I had a sex drive like that…” I laughed, watching as Spencer sat up and away from me. “I mean, after all the oxy I’ve taken…” I shrugged, sitting up and wrapping a blanket around my body. Spencer looked over at me with a raised eyebrow as he stood up. 

“Considering it’s been six months, you don’t have it in your system anymore,” he looked at me for a moment before grabbing his boxers and an undershirt. “I’m getting you water, do you want anything else?” He walked around the bed and came to stand beside me. I looked up at him and pushed out my lips, silently asking for a kiss. Spencer smiled before pecking my lips quickly. 

“I’m okay with water,” I watched as he walked away. He nodded before leaving me alone in his room (Again, I would go as far as to say our room. But I don’t exactly live with him… full time). 

  When I finished cleaning myself up in his bathroom, I grabbed one of his shirts and a pair of boxers, and I sat on the center of the bed, waiting for him to return. 

I realized something while I was waiting for him to come back to bed. And it’s something I don’t think I could ever tell him. Because, if I tell him this, I’d probably lose him. I don’t think I could handle losing Spencer.

 I loved him. I loved Spencer Reid and that was probably going to be the thing that killed me.

a different type of high taglist: @shameleswhorehourstm​ , @itsametaphorbriansblog​ , @bxtchboy69​ , @sammypotato67 , @seninjakitey , @thatsonezesty13  , @thebluetint , @honestlystop​ , @herecomesthewriterwitch​ , @mediocrity-atitsfinest​ , @honeyboysteezy​ , @aluna190​

tags that didn’t work: @exilereid  , @mediocrehamiltrash  

(if you want to be a part of the a different type of high tag list, please reply or send me a message!)

[thr-333]

Drastic Measures- Part 9

@daminette-december2019-2020

~Book~

Damian gets a book recommendation, it’s only going to get worse for Bruce from here.

Ao3

First < Previous > Next

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“So I’ve drafted up the new policies, the lawyer we hired is looking over it,” Damian explains from his desk, “Do we want to handle branch manager interviews ourselves or delegate,”

“Delegate,” Marinette hums, trying to narrow down her first fashion line, “We still need to visit the manufacturer for the line,”

“Can’t you do that yourself?”

“I suppose,” Marinette circles the one she likes best, tabling the others for later, “What are you going to do?”

“Wait,” Damian sighs, “Everything needs to be looked over before we can proceed,”

“Well don’t bore yourself out of your mind,” Marinette close her sketchbook gathering her stuff for her trip, she makes a detour to the bookshelf in search of something, “Here,”

“I’m perfectly capable of entertaining myself,” Damian huffs, as she places the book on his desk.

“I’m sure you are,” Marinette says teasingly, getting a withered glare, “How about you entertain yourself with this book, don’t worry you're still doing all the heavy lifting, besides it’s really good,”

“I’m sure it is,” Damian rolls his eyes placing the book to the side.

 ---

 Well, he had said he was sure it was; if sarcastically. Damian sits in the cave as the others dawdle in their preparations for patrol, reading the book recommended. It was fine not his usual preference. Besides he could put it down whenever he wanted… it’s just the sooner he finished the sooner he could put it down and Marinette wouldn't bother him about it anymore. Plus he has a stakeout tonight, there's nothing else to do. That's the only reason why he brought it on patrol. The only reason.

“Ohhh~ that's a good one,” Damian leaps up to attack, brandishing his sword right to Ladybug's neck… he immediately implodes, “What? didn’t hear me coming?”

“Tt, of course, I did,” He did not.

 Ladybug steps away from his blade, Damian hastens to put it down. 

“Is there another Akuma?” He asks, having only seen her at battles, he looks around warily.

“Not right now, just patrolling trying to get a lay of the city,” Ladybug looks out over the skyline.

“Don’t let Batman catch you,” Robin warns taking back up his vigilant stakeout position.

“You gonna tell on me?” Ladybug teases, fixing him with her dazzling smile. 

“No,” It’s not blushing, just shadows cast in the dark.

“So stakeout?” Robin nods as she comes to sit next to him, “A good book is a great way to pass the time,”

Damian is about to deny his enjoyment, as he would to Marinette when she inevitably asked. But… this is Ladybug and they actually have something to talk about, and neither of them has any place to be.

“It is,”

“That's great! I keep trying to recommend it but everyone turns their nose up at it, saying it's for kids,” Ladybug rants, “Even today! I’m glad at least someone enjoys it,”

“I’d hardly say it fair to relegate it just to children,” Robin frowns, “There are complex themes of freedom seamlessly interwoven into the narrative,”

“Right? A relative of mine gave it to me when I was little, it really helped me break out of my shell,” Ladybug smiles, Robin listens keenly at sharing part of her life. It was hard to imagine the confident amazing woman ever being shy.

“It’s hard to imagine you being shy,” Robin startles as she breaks down laughing.

“You have no idea! When I first started out as Ladybug she was so confident it felt like I became a different person, a hero of Paris, a savior of the people!” Ladybug strikes a pose before shrinking in on herself, “But outside the mask, I was timid and shy, not even able to stand up to a liar or a bully,”

“Bully?” Robin's hand itches towards his sword.

“Yeah back in Paris,” When’s the soonest flight to Paris? “But since being in Gotham I don’t have to be who I was, I feel like the gap between me and Ladybug is getting smaller and smaller, so it’s great being here, even if the weathers terrible,”

“That’s good,” Damian sighs, “Not the weather bit,”

“It’s just so cold!”

“I feel that's an opinion shared among many Parisians,” … I feel like I’m missing something.

“Well it will be nice to go back to Paris,” Damian's heart sinks, “When this is all over,”

“Why,” He bites out, “It doesn't sound like you were happy there,”

“Oh, I was,” Ladybug assures with a smile, “Even if I was bullied I had the love of my parents, my friends were still supportive even if they fell for a liar,”

“But you weren’t yourself,”

“Pfft, I was just as much myself as I am here, just more confident,” Ladybug shrugs, looking at something beyond the horizon, “Freedom gives you the confidence to explore parts of yourself you didn’t know, it doesn't change who you were,”

“It doesn't?”

“No- hey what's wrong,” Ladybug leans over, closer to him.

“Nothing,” Robin shifts away, only slightly, “I just thought we were more similar but I guess not,”

“Did I say something to upset you?” 

“No,”

“Correction,” Ladybug says firmly, “What did I say to upset you?”

Do not compromise your identity, do not compromise your identity.

“... I wasn't raised in Gotham, I was raised… elsewhere, not to be a hero,”

“Well that's dumb,” Robin rears back at her bluntness, “Was batman raised to be a hero?”

“No?”

“Oh good, I took a shot in the dark at that one,”

“He wasn't, but I was raised to be the opposite,” Do not compromise your identity, “By assassins,”

Great job Damian

 ---

Wow lots of kids in Gotham were raised as assassins 

This would be the point Marinette feels she is missing something.

Or maybe the league of assassins was planning something with it, not like it’s unusual for them to train kids. “So you must be pretty strong huh?” The league's training is brutal, Marinette knows her Maman did everything in her power to protect her from it for a reason.

“What?”

“Well you have an assassin's training, bet your sneaky, good at taking criminals down swiftly,” Robin was now opening and closing his mouth trying to find something to say.

Worst than the training, she had been told is the lack of freedom. You don’t get to choose who lives who dies, your own fight. Those orders come from the top, the people with the power to take you down. Or not so much in her Mamans place.

“Unfortunately the swiftest way is murder, and here that’s frowned upon,” Ladybug cracks a smile, lightening the mood.

“True, I’m sure there can be more creative uses though,” She had been trained first and foremost by her Maman, Tikki had told her no other holder fought like her. The only new ingredient was a small helping of assassination, minus the murder… well we’ll see when she takes down hawkmoth.

“Unfortunately Batman would rather I forget that particular training than apply it,”

“That doesn't sound good you shouldn-,” She's about to add more when the comms crack to life and Robin motions her to be to stay quiet.

“Robin,” She picks up on Batman's voice over the comm, “Move to the west side,”

“I’m on a stakeout,”

“I’ll send Red Robin,”

“This is my target,”

“The west side Robin,”

“Fine,” Robin stands, a sour expression on his face, “I have to go,”

“Do you?” She for one never listened to Batman.

“... it’s orders,” With that Robin leaves.

Still, following orders huh?

Of course, Batman would be nothing like the league, no matter how much he annoyed her. But still was similar in ways. Lack of choice. Following orders. He didn’t even create his own identity as a hero just following the mantel of Robin. Marinette had formed her identity as Ladybug long before she knew there was a mantel to uphold, and if she had known? There's no way she could have handled it.

How was he expected to grow this the same base structure? Her Maman was the most amazing person she knew, but though cryptid stories missing crucial details Marinette had pieced together that wasn't always the case. No, she had become the person she was by striking out on her own, by being brave enough to step out. By getting the chance to fall in love. Marinette could only wonder what kind of person Robin could be if he allowed himself to do the same.

--------

No taglist I cant keep track of them :P

[vigilvntes]

Bruises - Kylo Ren x Fem!Reader (Star Wars)

A/N: the way i had the opening of this in my drafts for ages and then at the big time of 2am i decided i wanted to rewrite the whole thing and get it published ;) i’m so much more motivated to write than usual when i should be doing uni work but oh well more kylo content for you guys <33 inbox is always open for requests while im actually writing so feel free to send and i hope you enjoy <33

Word count: 1900+

Warnings: mentions of minor injuries. 

You walked out of the casino, wincing as the harsh evening winds hit your bare arms. The dress you wore did little to nothing to protect you from the weather, but the last thing you expected to be doing was leaving the venue in search of your date.

Canto Bight was never your favourite place. In your opinion, it was filled with sleazes, who only came to the city for three things: money, booze and sex. However, you were the daughter of a noble family and despite your wishes, your family often sent you along to the gatherings they were expected to attend, assuming that you would fit in with the crowd more than they would. They thought you’d enjoy the party, enjoy the alcohol, even the attention you often seemed to draw to yourself. How wrong they were.

However, there was always one saving grace to evenings like these: Commander Kylo Ren, of the First Order.

The two of you weren’t official, as much as you would like to be. You understood that he had work to do, with his grandfather leaving big boots to fill, he barely had time to sleep, let alone date. But for some strange reason, you were different. You caught his attention, and he made sure to make time for you, whether that meant attending parties and events with you, or simply going out of his way to visit you, if only for an hour. 

Truthfully, you had spent many nights lying awake, tears in your eyes as you thought about your future, which you hoped would be with Kylo. Would he eventually ask you to be his girlfriend? Would he want to marry? To him, those questions would seem trivial, of no importance. He loved you, and would find ways to show you. But to you they meant a lot, and you were hoping for some kind of answers sometime soon. 

You shook your head as you made your way over to the short wall which surrounded the casino, leaning on it, using your elbows to keep yourself propped up as your head rested in your hand. Your gaze flitted between the city and the body of water beyond, which seemed strangely calm despite the mean winds. For a moment, you forgot about the cold, forgot about why you had even come outside in the first place as you watched the waves slowly made their way towards the shore. 

Your peace was soon interrupted.

A pair of hands snaked around your waist from behind and you let out a yelp, turning around quickly to face whoever had touched you, ready to defend yourself as much as you possibly could. Until you heard that familiar, smug chuckle come from behind a mask. You knew exactly who it was before you.

You rolled your eyes, “Way to make an entrance, Commander.” Despite your annoyance, you truly were happy to see him. Immediately you pulled him towards you and wrapped your arms around him, smiling into his chest as you felt him return the gesture. 

Eventually, you pulled away and narrowed your eyes at the man. “Don’t think you’ve gotten away with it. I still have a bone to pick with you.”

Despite how hard he tried to hide it, you heard him sigh lightly underneath the mask and mumble a disgruntled, “Go on.”

“First of all you’re late.”

“(Y/N), I had bus-”

“I’m not finished.” If anyone else spoke to him that way, they would surely be punished. But not you. He allowed you to put him in his place, mainly because he couldn’t ever bring himself to snap at you, but also because he found you too cute when you were pissed off with him.

You took his silence as a go ahead to continue with your rant. “You’re late. Your clothes are ruined. Your helmet still has smoke coming from it. Do I need to continue? How did you even get here? Where have you been?”

“Like I said-”

“Take it off.” You demanded. You were sick of hearing the robotic voice coming from the mask already. You wanted to speak with Kylo, not Commander Ren. 

An almost stunned silence washed over him and he replied to your demand with a quiet, “T-take it off?”

“The helmet, genius. Take it off.”

The two of you stared at each other for a moment, but eventually he reached his hands up and pulled the helmet from his head, revealing a mop of dark, curly hair, which had grown longer since the last time you saw one another, and just as you had expected, new cuts adorned his face, almost nicking the gauze of the scar he had attained during the destruction of Starkiller. But what really caught your attention was the black eye. 

He simply stared at you, waiting patiently for you to react, prepared to accept anything you threw his way. But for a moment you said nothing, all you could do was sigh.

After a minute, you moved closer to him and reached up, your fingers tracing the scar on his cheek, offering him a small, sympathetic smile, “If I remember correctly, the invitation said black tie, not black eye, Ren.”

Kylo couldn’t help but smile at your comment, and you were glad to hear his deep voice, which you had missed so dearly, reply with, “I must have read it wrong.”

“You wanna tell me how Kylo Ren, Commander of the First Order, has ended up with a black eye?”

His smile dropped at your inquiry to know more about his injuries, and your smile followed suit as you realised exactly what had happened. “It was them, wasn’t it?” You asked.

“Who?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, Kylo. It was the Scavenger and her Resistance friends, wasn’t it?”

His silence said everything. He pushed his tongue into his cheek and looked away from you, almost embarrassed. And truthfully, it was quite embarrassing. He was Commander Ren. He was feared. Respected. Yet he couldn’t even manage to capture and kill a scavenger girl. 

You turned away from him, moving your attention back to the sea, crossing your arms. He knew you were pissed and he’d have to talk his way out of this one somehow. His silence simply wasn’t enough.

“(Y/N). I’m sorry that I turned up so late.” You didn’t even move, let alone reply, so he continued. “And I’m sorry about the state of my attire.” No reply. “And.... I would also like to apologise for the state of my face.” He wasn’t usually one to apologise to anyone, but a genuine apology from him was the only way for him to bounce back from his fuck up’s.

You tried your hardest to keep your composure, but one of the most powerful men in the galaxy apologising for his face was enough to bring a smile to anyone’s lips. “I guess she got you good, huh?”

He came to your side after hearing your joking retort, “You could say that.” He found himself thinking this too often, but if anyone else had mocked him this way he most likely would have destroyed a wall or two. He knew you would never think of him as a failure, or an embarrassment, as many probably did. Your light-hearted jabs at him were mainly for your own comfort. To make light of any bad situation he often found himself in.

You sighed, leaning your head onto his shoulder. You hated how quickly you could melt back into him again, but you couldn’t waste any more precious time you had together being angry or upset, “I just worry about you,”

“I know. But you shouldn’t,” He mumbled. “I can be reckless. I throw myself into danger. But I also come back fine.” He knew to you those words would probably mean nothing, but he was trying his best to comfort you. 

“You make it so hard not to worry. I mean, this war you’ve got going on... It’s so much bigger than you, or me, or the Scavenger girl. And truthfully, I’m scared. Terrified, actually. For you, for me. For my family. For everyone, really.” That was the first time you had ever admitted your fears to him. There was no way he’d give up his title, give up the First Order, but you hoped he’d provide you with a little reassurance that things would be okay. 

His grip on you tightened, not so much that it would hurt you, but enough to know that he felt every word you spoke. “You know I wouldn’t ever let anything happen to you, or anyone you care about. I care about you too much to hurt you like that.” He stepped in front of you and knelt down, taking both of your hands. “As for everything else, I can’t make any promises. No one, not even the Supreme Leader knows what’s coming next. All I can ask is that you trust me enough to make the right choices.”

His words, for some reason you couldn’t quite decipher, felt like they held some hidden meaning. Like he was planning something drastic, or he knew something drastic would happen in the future. But you took these thoughts with a grain of salt, choosing not to press him any further, and instead choosing to trust him, as he asked of you. Squeezing his hand lightly, you offered him a small smile, “Of course I trust you. I’d trust you with my life. Just... Do what’s right. And if it doesn’t feel or seem right then... Don’t.”

He nodded and stood up slowly, “Of course.” After a few moments of peaceful silence shared between the two of you, as you processed each other’s words, he broke it. “You’re going to have my head the next time I see you, I know, but I have to go.”

Your eyebrows furrowed, “You have to go? As in you’re not staying?”

“I can’t tell you how sorry I am, and I know I said I’d join you for the night but given how today went, I’m not even supposed to be here.”

“Oh, and where exactly are you supposed to be?” You knew the answer already, and you knew he’d probably be in some deep trouble, you just wanted him to say it himself.

Once again, he pushed his tongue into his cheek before replying with, “The Supremacy.”

Bingo, you thought to yourself. The Supremacy. The Supreme Leader’s ship. And Kylo chose to go out of his way to see you first, prioritising you over his master. You couldn’t help but feel flattered, even though your plans for the night had been ruined. You gave him a small smile, “I suppose because you came to me first, and because I’m almost certain the Supreme Leader is gonna give you a harder time than I ever could, I’ll let this one go,”

“I appreciate that.” He leant down and pressed his lips to yours gently, and when he pulled away, he left another on your forehead. “I’ll see you soon, I promise.”

As you watched him walk away, towards the steps, you wished you could go with him. Be by his side, be able to see him everyday. Even though you knew that wasn’t exactly possible at the moment, you couldn’t help but ask. Before you could stop yourself, you had called his name, and he, already a few metres away, had turned to look back at you. 

He knew what you were going to ask, and this time his answer was more hopeful than it had been before. He couldn’t tell you what was to come, but he hoped it would work for the both of you.

“Kylo I-.... One day, will you take me with you?”

He nodded his head slowly, and spoke only one word, “Soon.”

[jonah-aesthetic]

Jingle Bells I Daniel Seavey

Daniel X Reader 

Plot:  Your best friend since childhood takes you on a sleigh ride. one you’ve only mentioned once to him. With the entire Christmas vibe he brings to life it’s hard for you to keep your feelings at bay for him.

Word count: 2.9k

Author’s Note: unedited I feel like this piece flopped for me. I didn’t want it too long, but it also dragged on a little. Yet I didn’t think I put enough detail in this one. 

Rating: 16+ (I’m 20 so I’d like my readers to be some what around there.)

MoodBoard

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Your vision was blocked by a folded bandanna tied around your head with a secured knot or two. Hand tightly locked with Daniel’s, feeling his thumb rub a top yours for comfort. Snow crunched under your Dr. Martens with ease, slightly soft from the snow fall a few days prior. Slow steps as He guided you keeping your location a surprise.

 Your senses felt heightened with your eyes looking into the dark oblivion. The vague bitter smell of horse manure and the rather oddly pleasant hay scent Reached your nose. You wouldn’t have noticed it before, almost feeling like a damn blood hound. Yet it gave a hint on where he was taking you. 

Two hours previous he woke you up, you’re nothing close to a morning person. So you cussed his ass out of your apartment so you could enjoy the fantasy dreams about him. Ones you could never endure in reality, Daniel’s your best friend who you were insufferably in love with. 

Yet he came again, using the spare you forgot you gave him. But this time he came bearing an Eggnog Latte and gingerbread cookie. Slaying the ferocious dragon into silence, the way he always knew how.  The caffeine and baked good keeping you at bay as he told you he at the day planned for the both of you. Although it was a surprise, all he said was dress appropriate for the chilly winter weather and grab a blanket. 

Analyzing everything in your head for a quick second. You realized he was bringing you on that sleigh ride you mentioned once before. Thinking it’d be fun to do during the winter months, you didn’t think he’d actually book an entire day for it. Making it a big thing, you wish he didn’t. Cause it only made butterflies flutter, tempting you to wreck your friendship. 

“Watch your step..” Daniel’s voice is more projected against the snow over ground. Heart slamming upon your rib cage and you swear you can hear it.

“Actually just bend your knees, It’s a stairwell and I’d rather not risk you eating shit. Or breaking a nose in the winter.” At his words you probably figured they were slippery or he didn’t trust you not to slip, you were no doubt clumsy as Bambi, and the man knew it. 

Bending your knees a little, which you curious on why he asked you in the first place. Yet you trusted him with your life, there’s no going back on years of friendship now Seavey. his arms scooped you under your legs and against your back. Bringing you closer to his chest, the motion fast and unexpected as you let of a small whimper. Daniel groaned as he hopped getting a more sturdy hold on you. 

“God you’re heavy.” He breathes, the air from his lungs hitting your cheeks. 

“Then put me down Asshole.” You scold him, slapping his chest, feeling a deep chuckle rumble within. 

“I was joking, you’re not heavy, you’re fine. It was a bad joke anyways. Now hold on I might drop you.” 

“Daniel That’ll be the last thing you’ll do before you end up in hell.” You threaten playfully. You instantly wrapped your arms around his neck after feeling him climb up the stairs. It was a small rocking motion almost like you were on a ride especially with the blindfold on. 

“Was that a death threat?” 

“If you drop me, yes, yes it is.” 

Gasping you felt Daniel fake drop you, it was a slower motion that you thought it would be to actually drop you. Nonetheless it still scared you, clawing on tighter to him. Whitening your knuckles as angry wasps scattered in your stomach. 

“I hate you, I hate you, I have you Seavey.” You yelled still preparing for the fall the would never come. 

Again you could feel the glorious deep chuckle of his erupt from his chest. Vibrating against you, turning angry wasps into love-sick butterflies. “We’re hear anyways.” 

“Than you can put me down and take this damn blindfold off.” You speak trying to reach for it. Daniel’s hand caught your wrist like a reflex. “Not yet, just a few more minutes.”

Opening a door and being engulfed my warmed, you shivered from the drastic temperature change. Bells rang above warning the receptionist that customers have arrived. It was around an hour, or what felt like an hour to you later. Of going over everything for the surprise, from the time to the pricing. Which you weren’t to happy about, yet after all of it nobody confirmed your theory. You knew what it was, but you wanted it to be heard. Though nothing about it was said. 

Nada. Zilp. Zitch. Nothing. Not even a damn crumb. 

Going from warm to cold wasn't as drastic of a change. Daniel still held you bridal style, scared you eat shit. Which you most likely would have, if he let you climb down the steps. You felt very natural in his arms anyways, like to pieces of a puzzle. 

Daniel began to lower you softly letting you go before your feet were on the ground again. Silently thanking him for being on your two feet again. His presence coming behind you, raising his fingers to the knots and began to pick at them. 

“Are you ready?” 

Yes I’ve been waiting all damn day for this. Take it off Seavey.” Hearing him chuckle behind a smile spread across your face. Feeling the bandanna drop, hands flying to your mouth as you gasped. You knew it, yet you were still shocked by the sight of it. 

In front of you was bright red sleigh with gold detailing all around it. Had a massive resemblance to the famous Santa Klaus one. instead of nine reindeer, a beautiful black Clydesdale stood in their place.  On of the bands resting upon his butt had a line of huge bells. Ringing every time he moved, bringing the whole Christmas vibe alive. 

whirling around gazing at him a gentle smile rested on his lips. His blonde hair half tucked under a black beaning. Light stubble dancing along his jaw, making him look older. His icy blue eyes watching you, fighting the urge to tell him you wanted him. Maybe he knew it already, that’s why he took you here, and maybe he didn’t.

“You didn’t have to.” You said shaking your head, 

“I know, I wanted to, I had the money for it.” He shrugged stuffing his hands into his pockets. Why couldn’t Daniel be less attractive! it wasn’t fair. perfect silence emerged over both of you, genuine smiles with adoration for one another hidden behind your eyes. 

“If you Two love birds are ready, I love to show you what this gorgeous winter has to offer.” The Driver spoke, sitting upon the front seat that was two or three feet higher then the main seats in the center of the sleigh. 

With giddy giggles Daniel escorted you towards it, his hand resting on the smallest part of your back. Maybe it was your mind playing tricks on you, but you swear you could’ve felt his hand reach and squeeze your hip. 

Sitting down it was a tight and cozy fit, the bench and the back rest was cushioned with a black leather material. Smooth to the touch and soft as ever, with a clicker of the chauffeur’s tongue, the sleigh bolted to life, cause you and Daniel to fall back into each other. Soon enough the jingle bells rhythm came into ear shot. Making this whole experience feel like you woke up in a fucking Christmas. Unbelievable real.

“Are you okay?” Daniel’s laugh fans your cheeks as he helps you to sit up right. 

“Never better.” You say with an undying happiness you possessed inside. Not feeling the way the cold nipped at your nose making you look like and off brand Rudolph. 

“Here.” He speaks as you watch him unfold a black blanket, a little dumbfound, the thing was massive and surprised you hadn't noticed it before. Handing you one of the corners of the blanket, and instantly wrapped it around you as Daniel did the same. Pulling you two closer together, trying to engulf your body in it as much as you. 

“Thanks” you whisper under your breathe, watching it form into an icy cloud. Glancing at the gold letters embroidered into the corner of the blanket tight. it was a gift from Daniel’s mother giving to you on the day you both graduated. Remembering the words she said to you like it was yesterday. 

“You know I wasn't to ecstatic about new neighbors moving in. But as soon as I saw this sweet little girl playing with my boy. I was glad that your parents’ pick the that house. I Watched you two laughing and giggling in the yards, I just knew you two would be in separable. It’s a shame that boy of mind doesn't see the love that you have for him...”

It shocked you to know that she knew that you were in love with him. You covered your tracks pretty well back then. Controlling yourself around him was child’s play compared to now. She never interfered with the way you felt about him, You were grateful at the time. Now not so much, but it could’ve wrecked the friendship you had-

“Y/N look.” Daniel’s voice cut your thoughts short, His attention of the right. You follow his gaze, spotting nine caribou in scattered in the woods. Or rather nine reindeer, you guessed they weren’t replaced after all. You could feel the sleigh come to a gentle stop, the jingle bells’ song vanished into the air. 

“Oh shit! Reindeer.” No filter with pure shock, 

Curiously watching them from a far, you admired each and every one. Noticing a chunky bell lacing around their necks, like they were Santa's famous reindeer's’ out of the movies. 

“And watch this.” He speaks glancing up at the driver, as if on cue he places his fingers in mouth and releases a high pitch whistle. “Keep an eye out for him,” 

“Keep an out of who?-” 

A  reindeer further into the forest walks towards us, elegant and gentle. Stalking through the snow as if he held pride, significantly larger than all the other reindeer, he must of been the alpha, the leader. 

Amazed at the whole thing you couldn't think of words to say and if you manged something. It’d definitely come out as word vomit. Reaching closer and closer to the sleigh you could her the bell jingle against his chest. Black scribble appeared on the red ribbon clasped around his neck. Soon being able to read the name ‘Rudolph’  on both side on his throat. 

“Isn’t he beautiful?” Daniel asks looking back at you expecting you to say words you couldn’t fathom at the moment. You gulped and nodded your head vigorously. He was more then beautiful he was stunningly gorgeous and massive. You’ve never seen a wild animal in person not to mention this close to one. 

Daniel held a chuckle at your reaction to this entire encounter with Rudolph. Finding your dumbfound shock, adorably cute. In moments like these he dreaded the knowledge of being your best friend and not your boyfriend. Where he could just grab the back of your neck and smash his lips hungrily to yours. 

The adrenaline high was retreating in your veins, causing your mind to process again. The cage of anxiety breaking open as the glance of Daniel’s ocean eyes calmed you down.  

He’s fucking perfect. Look at those dopy eyes, various shades of blues swirled inside them. causing your heart to melt into the bottom of your stomach. All thoughts of common sense started to leave, glancing at his lips. looking pink and soft as ever, god they must taste like heaven, or at least the closest thing to it. 

Best friend. Best friend. Best friend. 

Looking forward you could’ve swore you breathed the same air as Rudolph. Still he was more beautiful up close. White creamy chest that reached to his legs, chocolate brown body. adorable nose that had the softest resemblance to a cow. Antlers sprouting from a top his head, developing towards the sky. A small white box was tethered to his left antler by a black ribbon. Throwing your best friend a suspicious glance, he nodded letting you reach for it.

Clasping the velvet box in your hand, feeling your heart pound repeatedly. Breath caught, anxious of what’s in the box. Feeling your gut tell you this was it and whatever this box contained was going to change everything. Distracting yourself you focused on Rudolph, seeing the way he looked at you. As if he knew what it was somehow. 

taking your glove off with your teeth you reached for him, pausing three inches before his nose. If you learned anything from Draco’s encounter with Buckbeck, was to be patient and let the animal come to you. Although at the end of the day it was just a fucking movie. 

Warmth exploded from your palm to your elbow, smiling you trailed your hand to rest under his chin. His fur softer than you were expecting it to be, yet you didn’t know what you were expecting. “Thank you Rudolph.” You whisper to him soon retracting your hand. Backing away he retreated to his herd, quite as if the encounter with him never happened.

Taking up your spot next to Daniel you glance up at him, “What is this?” You asked breathlessly. 

“Open it.” He says, voice a tremble and couldn’t help but think that he knows. Was this what a best friend break up was like? Staring at it you forced the top open, but you let it go. Snapping shut without a glimpse. You shake your head, gulping feeling the bile rise. “I can’t Daniel” 

His hand comes into view, twice the size of yours. Veins scattered along his knuckles, red from the cold. Taking the box from you grip you stared at your fingers, missing the feeling of his hands on yours. 

“I’m in love with you.” He blurts in out like it was nothing new to you. Your head whipped so fast you got dizzy. His eyes were genuine, you always knew he was lying. The way he would glance up and down then to side. Tongue poking out with a fiddling of handing, but he didn’t show any signs. He was a good actor though. 

“She told you.” You accuses like a defensive mechanism. You guessed Keri thought you moved on with your feelings for Daniel. There was no other reason you could think  of. 

“She did.’ He confirms, Nodding his head. Was this was this a joke to him? Cause it wasn’t fucking funny. You shook your head feeling the fire burning in your blood. 

‘I can’t do this.” You speak, removing yourself from the seat and jumping out of the sleigh. Starting to head back in the direction you think the farm was located. The cold weather bite at your body, but you hugged yourself too furious to care. 

“Y/N!” 

“Leave me alone Daniel.” You could here him chase after you, with the ay he was breathing. 

“Mom told me you wouldn’t believe me.” His voice getting louder. 

“Maybe you should’ve kept it to yourself Seavey, better yet you should’ve let me sleep in.” You were hurt, and you didn’t know how to comprehend any of this. 

“I love when you talk about things you’re passionate about. Like the colors on your paint palette, how you mixed blue and purple for the perfect shade of magenta.” 

That was two months ago and you remembered the excitement you felt. After hours of mixing you finally made the exact shade you wanted. Daniel was the first one you came to, as he was at your apartment. 

“Daniel stop.” using his name the way you were was like a sting each time. 

“Or the time you hit that sparrow, you pulled over as so soon as you felt the bird hit the grill. You dug him a grave with a used spoon in the truck of my car. Gave him a funeral and forced me to speak at it like it was lost friend. It was the day I finally realized I love you with every fiber of my being.” You could hear the strain in his voice. 

That happened two fucking years ago. 

“It’s not fair.” You speak stopping in your tracks, a good distance away from the sleigh. Feeling his presence behind you, you let him reach out for you. His hand turning you to face him yet you faced the ground feeling like you lost a damn war, defeated and drained. 

“I know it’s not and I’m so incredibly sorry.” He sounded like he was begging for you. 

“Okay.”  you didn't know exactly what it was for, but you felt like it was needed. 

His hand came to rest on your cheek wiping a tear you didn’t know slip. His touch delicate against your face, tilting your head up he caught your lips against his. His lips were soft as you fell into sync. Tasting like cinnamon and peppermint. Pulling him closer you lost yourself within him, the feel, the smell, and the touch of him. 

Kissing him was like finally finding the last piece of your puzzle, the way both of you fit perfectly together amazed you. He tasted like heaven and heaven tasted like home. 

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

Felt like I could’ve added more, but its already long.

I hope you enjoyed this piece.

Also if ya made it to the end comment which Why Don’t We guy I should do next. 

[gummygowon]

kitty | hitoshi shinso

word count: 2.8k

genre: fluff with the tiniest bit of angst

strangers to lovers!

warnings: mentions of a family member’s death

quirk: the ability to manipulate the weather

hitoshi shinso was on his way back to his dorm when it started to sprinkle. "just my luck." he grumbled.

he was nearing the 1-b dorm until he heard a soft whine coming from nearby. curiosity got the best of him and the indigo haired boy drifted towards the sound.

the boy ended up walking near a tree and found a small gray-white kitten whining for its owner. "what are you doing all by yourself sweetie?" he asked as he neared the small animal.

shinso slowly stuck out his hand for the kitten to smell. the kitten slowly crept her way towards the boy and he picked her up carefully.

"suki!" you cried out, the light rain shower not helping you look for your lost kitten. "suki!"

the indigo haired boy turned around with the cat in his arms which caught your attention right away.

"oh my god! there you are!" you ran towards the boy.

as you came closer, shinso recognized you from the sports festival. during the school's festival you made it quite far into the one on one fighting tournament you survived all the way to the third round, defeating tokoyami. a nice combination of tornadoes and lighting worked well in order to defeat your fellow classmate. unfortunately, you had to leave after that fight due to personal reasons so you truly didn't know where you stood among your classmates.

"is this your cat?" shinso asked in a tired voice.

"yes, i'm so sorry you had to stand here in the rain."  you rambled on. "suki, you naughty girl."

hitoshi didn't know how to deal with your blabbering so he stopped you short, "it's fine, i like cats anyways."

"really?" you asked, your mood brightening instantly.

the boy nodded as he handed over your kitten. he turned around to leave but you stopped him.

"excuse me, what's your name?"

"hitoshi shinso."

"nice to you meet you, shinso. i'm y/n." you introduced yourself.

"see you around, y/n." he said suddenly.

"oh bye! and thank you for finding my cat!" you yelled after him.

as you walked away with your cat snug in your arms you whispered to her, "he's an interesting one, isn't he suki?"

your cat meowed in response.

you nodded along, "that's what i was thinking too."

----------

not even a couple days later your cat escaped your dorm again

"for fuck's sake." you cried out once you noticed your room was empty.

you quickly rushed out of the complex to see a familiar looking purple haired boy nearby.

"suki?" you yelled, once you came close to him.

shinso was sitting under a tree with your cat resting in his lap.

"oh my god, i'm so sorry again." you said, flustered. you thought the boy probably assumed you were a shitty ass owner who couldn't take care of her cat.

"it's ok." he reassured. "i think she likes me."

you chuckled, "i guess so."

you sat down near the boy since you cat was sound asleep in the boy's lap and didn't want to wake her up at the moment.

"so shinso, what class are you in?" you asked, wanting to start a conversation.

he looked up at you surprised that you even wanted to talk to him. "uh, general studies."

"really, what's your quirk?" more questions were forming in your head now.

"i can brainwash people." he answered flaty.

"that's fucking cool." your eyes sparkled at the boy.

hitoshi looked at you with another surprise look. many people assumed he was some evil person because of his quirk and the dark circles under his eyes. it had been awhile since someone marveled at his power with awe and not cower away.

"how about you?" he asked, even though he already knew the answer.

"i can manipulate the weather." you explained, "if i get really moody though, i can change it without realizing. sometimes people tell me i changed the weather in the slightest bit but i can never tell unless it's drastic."

shinso nodded his head, taking in all the information.

"anyways, do you pour milk before the cereal?" you asked out the blue.

the boy shot a weird expression at you. well that was quite unexpected. just like the weather, i guess. he thought to himself.

you saw the look on his face and began to defend yourself, "hey don't give me that look. i know for a fact that you don't want to talk about school or some dumb shit."

"that's fair." shinso agreed. "i put the milk in after duh."

"oh you fucking normy." you huffed and leaned back on your hands for support.

"what? you put the milk first?" the purple haired boy asked, offended.

"uh, yeah." you replied as if the answer was obvious.

"what the fuck are you on?" he asked with a serious tone.

you laughed at him, "nah, i'm fucking with you. whoever does that deserves the death penalty."

"jesus christ, just because of milk?" the boy questioned, genuinely concerned for your mental health.

"yeah." you simply answered.

compared to battle you and normal you, you were like two seperate people. battle you was intimidating as hell and normal you was a good student of course in class but outside you seemed insane to others.

the two of you talked for what seemed like hours until you realized that the sun was going down and your pile of homework wasn't going to do itself.

"see ya, shinso." you called to him as you cradled your cat in your arms.

"you know what, bless your heart suki. i think i found a keeper." you thanked your kitten as you gave her a nice head rub.

----------

you ended up seeing shinso a lot, thanks to your cat running away to see him basically. but you didn't mind at all. it was refreshing to talk to someone else outside of your class.

the two of you learned a lot about one another which was great since you gained another friend thanks to your sneaky cat. shinso could handle your random ass and you could crack down his cold wall.

shinso wouldn't say it out loud but he noticed that the sun seemed to appear whenever he saw her even on cloudy days. it was like you subconsciously drove away all the clouds when you saw him.

until recently, the weather seemed darker than usual. even when the two of you would talk, hitoshi noticed that you seemed to get quieter each day. everytime hitoshi tried to ask what was wrong you would brush it off and blame it on your schoolwork. it got to the point where the brainwashing boy started asking the hero course students about their workload and from what everyone was saying, their load was normal as usual.

confused and slightly hurt that you wouldn't tell him what was happening, shinso decided to check up on you one day. but it was raining cats and dogs on the quick walk to the class 1-a's dorm.

he didn't know why he cared so much about what was going on but it seemed like no one else was noticing your off behavior. shinso trudged through the rain with his umbrella until he unexpectedly bumped into you.

"y/n?" he asked once he saw that you had no umbrella and was carrying your cat's cage.

as you came closer he noticed that your mascara was running down your face and your eyes were red but he couldn't tell if it was because of the rain or something else. he immediately shielded the rain away from you with his umbrella, not really caring if he got soaked.

"shinso, i need you to take care of suki for me please." you pleaded.

"ok, i will but why?" the puzzled boy asked you. he was starting to feel even more concerned for your wellbeing.

"something came up with my family and i have to leave school for a couple of days. i promise to explain later." you handed him the cage and quickly explained how to take care of your sneaky kitten.

he waved to you goodbye and watched your figure run away in the pouring rain. shinso felt a wave of regret wash over him since he felt like he should've done more for you back then or at least gave you a hug.

shinso continued the rest of his school week with a weird feeling his chest. he wouldn't admit it but he missed your presence and the warm feeling of the sun's rays on his skin. he missed your bright smile and contagious laugh.

even his classmates caught onto his sad aura but he just brushed them off saying he barely slept that night.

your cat was probably the only thing keeping him happy at this point. he would play with suki after he finished homework.

"suki, do you know what happened with y/n?" he asked the kitten as he rubbed her belly.

suki just meowed in response.

"yeah, i figured you wouldn't know."

just then your cat scratched shinso, "ow, i didn't mean it like that suki."

----------

when you came back to school, the first thing you did was go get your cat back or in other words, see hitoshi shinso. but you didn't dare admit it out loud.

there was a heavy feeling in your heart that you didn't want to talk about because if you talked about it you would start bawling your eyes out. you realized that if you went to go pick up your cat straight away shinso would probably ask what's wrong and you weren't really in the mood to talk at all. hell, you probably should just let the boy keep the cat. he was probably a better owner than you. suki would always run to him and probably spent more time with him than you ever did since you brought her to your dorm.

you stalled picking up your cat and sat down at the tree where you and shinso always talked at. you curled up at the base of the tree and just let your emotions run free.

it began pouring straight away and you didn't even notice that you were completely drenched. it felt nice to cry and have your tears be washed away with rain.

"y/n?" a familiar voice called out.

you turned your head to where the voice was coming from to see shinso standing there with his umbrella.

"y/n, oh my god what are you doing here?" he asked, worryingly.

you just shrugged.

the boy quickly pulled you to your feet and wrapped his school blazer around you. he walked you back to his dorm with an arm wrapped around your back.

shinso had so many questions forming in his mind, that he couldn't speak. out of all the times he's seen you, he has never seen you this quiet and drained before.

once the two of you reached the porch of his dorm you grabbed his wrist, preventing him from walking in.

"what's wrong?" he quickly asked.

you didn't say anything but instead pulled shinso into a hug and just started crying all over again.

the boy did his best to soothe you with his words even though he comforting people wasn't his forte.

after you finally managed to control your breathing you sat down with your head resting on shinso's shoulder. "my favorite aunt died last week. so that's why i had to leave school."

"i'm sorry, y/n. she must have been a great person." hitoshi comforted you as he rubbed your shoulder in a calming manner.

"she was." you smiled sadly. "she was the only person in my family who had such a similar quirk to me. we bonded over that along with other stupid stuff."

"if you don't mind me asking, how did she die? if you don't want to talk about it, it's fine." the purpled haired boy asked, carefully. he didn't want to make you feel worse or bring up any sad memories.

"it's alright shinso." you sniffed. "she died of brain cancer. that's why i left early during the sports festival. i went to go visit her after she just got surgery. everyone told me, even my aunt told me she was getting better. they lied."

you started crying again and the rain seemed to come down even harder as if that was anymore possible. "why did they lie, shinso? she was getting better wasn't she?"

"i don't know, y/n. but from what you're telling me, your aunt was strong a woman and fought bravely. now she's in a better place."

you nodded your head.

"come on, let's go inside. i'll make you tea while you can rest in my bed." shinso helped you up and wrapped his arm around your waist.

you were too tired to even argue against him so you let him lead you away into his dorm.

all shinso's classmates shot him weird looks but were all sent back with a glare. no one questioned the two of you as you made your way into the elevator.

the two of you arrived at his dorm that was the very top of the building and he escorted you inside. shinso quickly searched through his closet for a pair of sweatpants and an old t-shirt. you quietly thanked him as you went to go change in his bathroom.

"i'll be right back, y/n ok?"

you nodded your head and climbed on top his bed, curling up into a ball.

once he came back to his room, he saw you fast asleep. hitoshi quietly laughed at you before he went to go tuck you into the covers. he placed the mugs of tea on his desk and carefully sat down next you with a book in his hand.

he almost knocked over the mugs of tea when you instinctively wrapped your arms around his  torso.

"jesus fuck." he mumbled under his breath.

hitoshi looked back out the window to see that the rain had settled along with you. he softly smiled at you and started to comb his fingers through your h/c hair.

the boy let you sleep for what seemed like hours to you but only ending up being just one hour.

you stirred awake and rubbed your eyes, groggily. you sat up rather quickly once you noticed you weren't in your own room. your sudden abruptness gave shinso another heart attack and caused him to fall off of his own bed.

"ow." he whined.

you peered over the bed to see your friend on the floor. "where the fuck am i?"

"your in my dorm, stupid." he groaned as he rubbed his back.

"oh my god, are you okay?" you asked instantly.

"yeah, i'm just peachy." he answered sarcastically as he stood up. "but the real question is are you ok?"

"yeah, i feel better now. thanks hitoshi." you thanked him, feeling a blush spread across your cheeks.

"don't worry about it." the boy waved you off, also feeling a blush spread across his cheeks. "your tea is on my desk but i think it probably tastes like cold feet."

you laughed at his comment which caused the purple haired boy's heart to flutter just a little bit.

hitoshi's eyes quickly looked away and stared outside the window, "oh my god."

"what is it?" you asked as you quietly walk towards shinso and wrapped your arms around his torso.

"fuck." he jumped a little at your touch. "you gotta stop scaring me, y/n."

"sorry, sorry." you chuckled.

he nudged you when he realized you weren't looking outside, "look it's a rainbow."

you gasped at the ray of colors, feeling insanely better. "wow." you breathed out.

hitoshi could've sworn the rainbow got brighter once you spoke but didn't bring any attention to it whatsoever. instead he just brought you in front of him and pulled you closer.

the two of you didn't say anything until, your cat meowed.

you looked down to see your sneaky kitten, rub her face against your leg. "hi suki! did you miss me?" you cooed at the cat as you picked her up. "did mr. shinso treat you right."

the kitty just meowed for an answer.

"good, i knew he would take good care of you."

"you know y/n, if it weren't for your cat i would've never met you." shinso confessed as he stared at you.

"that's what i was saying to suki this whole time." you smiled at him and placed suki back on the floor.

you wrapped your arms again around the purple haired boy and buried your face into his chest.

"thank you." you mumbled.

"for what?"

"for existing." you simply answered.

in response you got an even tighter hug as hitoshi buried his face into your soft hair. his heart was racing but he felt at home with you in his arm. and so did you.

[twomoonstwosuns]

blackmail.

back to you [series masterlist]

previous part · next part

pairing: professor!poe dameron x reader

warning: swearing, a little angst, a little soft

word count: 3.1k

a/n: the last chapter got such an amazing response, thank you so much for that. i’m a little iffy about this chapter but i hope you still enjoy it! as always comments are very much appreciated (i've gotten some and they’ve been so lovely so thank you for that as well)

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

The beginnings of spring meant that it was becoming increasingly harder to be inside of a classroom. 

It was true for both students and professors, the shining sun coming out each day and bringing a new warmth to campus. The temptation to skip class was great, the buzz of excitement of there just being a little more than a month left of the semester making people not want to be stuck inside. 

The weather getting warm during the day meant the temperatures when the sun went down were tolerable, just shy of being able to crack the windows open overnight. You had asked Poe, since the nights had been so nice, if he wanted to go on a late night stroll with Beebs through the park. It had been a long winter cooped up inside for all three of you, the idea of being able to spend time outdoors in the summer weather tempting you to make all kinds of summer plans with Poe. 

Poe hurried through his office, grabbing everything he needed and shoving it in his bag. He was in a hurry to get home so he could eat dinner and get some more work done before he met you at the park. A small smile was on his face as he recalled the last time he was at the park with you. 

There was a knock on the door and Poe looked up to see Armitage Hux, one of the last people he’d ever expect to willingly stop by his office. The men were acquaintances, professors in the same department, but Hux thought Poe was too young and too laid back when it came to teaching, so he never bothered to talk or work with him unless absolutely necessary. In comparison to Poe’s affable, fun, and likable persona, Hux was strict, straitlaced, and uptight.

“Do you have a minute to talk?” Hux asked, his tone suggesting he’d rather be anywhere else at that moment. 

“Kind of on my way out, so make it quick.” Poe continued to grab things off of his desk to shove into his bag and when he heard the click of his door shutting, he finally looked up. 

“You’re interviewing for the department head job, right?”

Poe stood up straight, adjusting the strap of his bag on his shoulder. “What about it?”

“Did you know that job was all but promised to me? Snoke spoke to me personally and said it was mine. Instead, Organa’s got people lined up to interview for it.” Hux sneered. “Absurd, if you ask me.”

“Hey,” Poe warned.” She’s doing her job. Snoke didn’t have the authority to just give you the job.”

“Yes, apparently he doesn’t.”

Hux studied Poe, and Poe gave him a confused look. “Is that all you needed?”

“I’ve been talking with the other candidates one by one. Some have taken themselves out of consideration.”

Poe raised an eyebrow. 

“Is that what you came here to do? Talk me out of interviewing for this job?” He smirked and chuckled lowly. Hux just smirked back at him. 

“Not quite.”

He pulled his phone out of his pocket, unlocking it and handing it to Poe. Zoomed in on the screen was you, car keys in hand and a very clear view of a red spot on your neck despite the dark backdrop. Poe furrowed his brow and looked up from the phone to Hux. His pulse had quickened drastically and Poe hoped he wouldn’t see Hux couldn’t see him start to sweat. 

“She’s dog sits for me.” Poe said with an even tone. He’d had that lie in his mind from the minute you started seeing each other, just in case he’d ever need to use it. 

“See, I don’t think so,” Hux said with a twisted smirk on his face. “I have it on very good authority that she was seen in your apartment with you—“

“My dog’s been having some behavioral problems lately, so she fills me in on how he was when I was gone—“

“I guess there was a lot of clothing thrown around, including a black lace bra.” Poe’s face went white and he looked away from Hux, wondering who could’ve seen you. He then remembered what night it was when you wore it and it hit him: the pizza guy. He had made a comment about Beebs being hyperactive, which meant he got a glance inside the apartment. 

“They have a class together, that’s how he recognized her,” Hux continued, answering the other question Poe was thinking. “He told me what he saw and it only took $100 and three cases of beer to get him to hang around outside your building a few times to see if he saw her again. I have a few more pictures if you’d like to see them.”

An anger that Poe had not experienced in years burned inside of him. He slammed the phone down onto his desk, the picture of you disappearing off the screen.

“What do you want?” Poe’s voice was low and dangerous, like he was a few seconds away from putting Hux in a chokehold. 

A wide smirk crossed Hux’s face. 

》 》 》

Poe: Can you come over? We have to talk.

You stared at the ominous message on your phone, your heartbeat thumping hard against with anxiousness. The glass of water you had just poured yourself was growing cold in your hand. 

“Y/N!” Your head snapped up and you were met with a weird look from Karé, who was staring at you over her laptop on the couch. “I asked if you wanted cheese or pepperoni.”

“Oh,” you said, not even realizing she had asked for your preference. “Um…whatever you want. Cheese, I guess.”

Karé looked at you with confusion as she finished ordering the pizza. When she glanced at you again, she saw you still staring at your phone. Karé tossed her computer aside, getting up and walking over to you. She looked over your shoulder at your phone and grimaced. “Not good. Who’s that from?”

“Poe.”

Your roommate froze, her face turning into confusion. “I thought things were really good between you.”

“They were! They are!” You exclaimed, putting your phone down and crossing your arms. “Things have been amazing since we got back from spring break. We’re supposed to take Beebs on a late night walk tonight. I don’t know what happened that could’ve prompted a ‘we need to talk’ text…”

“I’m sure it’s nothing,” Karé said. “Maybe it’s about what you’re going to do after graduation.”

“Well, that’s not a nothing conversation either,” you pointed out. The front door opened and shut, Jessika’s loud voice announcing her presence to her roommates. 

“I have ice cream!” She happily exclaimed, holding up a grocery bag with three pint sized ice creams inside, but she frowned when she saw your expression. “Whoa, what happened?”

“Poe said ‘we need to talk’” Karé said and Jessika inhaled sharply. 

“Yikes.”

“Not helping, Jess! “ You ran a hand through your hair. “No, Karé’s right. It’s probably nothing.”

You looked at your roommates, both of them looking at you concernedly. 

“You’re not convincing either of us.” Jessika gave your shoulder a supportive squeeze. “Go. We’ll be here for you when you get back. Or if you don’t come back tonight, we’ll be here for you tomorrow.”

You gave her an appreciative look as you grabbed your phone and wallet and headed out the door. It made you anxious that you didn’t know what you were walking into. Was it going to blow up into a big fight or was it actually a discussion about what you were going to do come summertime when your lease was up and you were all moved in back home?

Either way, you were kind of freaking out.

The drive that was always a short one took forever, which gave your brain more time to overthink Poe’s message and come up with completely ridiculous scenarios that you somehow convinced yourself could be true. You promised yourself that if he broke up with you, you wouldn’t break down until you got back home. You attempted to calm your overly active imagination, knowing full well that neither of you expressed any interest in getting out of your relationship. 

Poe’s door was open when you got there and he was perched on the arm of the couch. His arms were crossed and his jaw clenched.

“Is everything ok?” You asked as you pulled up a chair next to him. Poe shook his head. 

“No, it’s not.”

He didn’t elaborate any further and you gave him a pleading look. “Ok, you’re really starting to scare me, Poe. What’s going on? Because I think I might know and the entire drive over here I was going over and over things in my head trying to figure out what happened that would’ve made you want to break up with me and—“

“Y/N.” Your rambling stopped immediately and Poe was staring at you with a serious look on his face. “Hux knows about our relationship and he’s threatening to expose it.”

Time stood still. You had forgotten how to breathe for a minute and you moved your mouth to speak, but nothing came out. 

“What?” Your voice was a whisper. Poe gave you a pained look as he nodded. “Oh my god.”

“I know.”

“How? We—how does Hux know? There’s no way he would’ve seen us on campus, we’re so careful not to act like a couple in public.”

“You remember the pizza guy from a few weeks ago? He recognized you from one of your classes and told Hux and Hux paid him off to stalk my building and wait for you to come out.”

A groan of disbelief came from you as your head sunk into your hands. You rubbed your face tiredly, shaking your head before looking back up at Poe. 

“What does he want?” You asked. “What does Hux get out of threatening you?”

“He wants me to withdraw my name from department head consideration.”

You exhaled deeply. “Fuck. What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know. I don’t take kindly to being threatened. I want to protect you and us, but…”

“You want this job.”

You looked at each other, both torn. If anyone asked, Poe would choose you over a job in a heartbeat, but he had worked so hard to get this opportunity, and to have it at his age so early in his teaching career was an incredible feat. It would still hurt a little bit if he lost that. And there was no way you were going to ask him to give something like this up just for you. You wanted to be selfish, have him drop the job to protect your relationship, but you knew how happy this would make him. 

Poe’s phone rang, interrupting the tense silence between you. He glanced at the screen.  

“It’s my dad.”

“Yeah, of course, take it.”

Poe answered his phone as you walked into his bedroom. You crossed your arms over your chest and paced back and forth, your mind racing with different thoughts. 

You never acted like a couple in public, but had you gotten too comfortable with each other that you became careless without realizing it? You wondered how many people saw you standing a little too close when you “coincidentally” ran into each other in the coffee line or who noticed the eye contact that lingered a little too long when talking in class.

Maybe you guys did have this coming. 

“My dad says ‘hi’.” Poe said as he came into the bedroom, sitting on the edge of his bed directly across from where you were pacing.

“I hope you told him I say ‘hi’ back,” you said with a small smile. 

“I did.”

“What did he say?”

“That I have to make this decision myself,” he said, and you nodded in agreement. Poe studied you for a moment as you resumed pacing, the worried expression on your face the same as his. “What are you thinking?”

You swallowed hard, tapping your fingers against your arm. 

“Your dad’s right Poe, this is your decision—“

“I know. But I want to know what you’re thinking.”

You did have an idea, though it would cause great unhappiness for the both of you. You leaned against his dresser.

“Until you get this job, maybe we should…”

Poe’s expression dropped. “Do you—do you want to break up?”

You were silent, tears starting to build in your eyes.

“No. Of course I don’t want to. Our whole relationship has been a challenge from the beginning, pretending like we aren’t together. This—this is just another challenge.” You glanced up at Poe. “But if you want to—“

“I don’t want to, either,” Poe interrupted. “I won’t let Hux take something else away from me.”

You let out the breath you didn’t realize you’d been holding onto. 

“So we…take a break?”

“Take a break…but not break up,” you said, the words sounding weird as they broke your heart. “Hux can’t blackmail you if he doesn’t have evidence of us being together, so…I won’t come over for awhile and I won’t go to your office hours unless it’s actually related to class.”

Poe nodded, swallowing back the lump in his throat. 

“We can text and call and FaceTime, but…that’s about it for awhile.”

Poe looked down at the ground, shaking his head in disbelief that this was happening.

“You’ve told me so many times how much you want this,” you said quietly, bringing Poe’s attention back to you. “What kind of girlfriend would I be if I didn’t support that? I told you I would do anything to help, and I stand by that. If I will do whatever it takes to help you achieve your goals and your dreams, even if it means not being able to see you the way I want to. Because getting this job is important to you and…”

You wanted to say it, those three little words. You wanted to tell him you were in love with him, but you were pausing your relationship and those words would only complicate things further. So you said the second thing that was on your mind. 

“You are so important to me.”

Poe stared at you for a minute before taking two long strides towards you and pulling your face to his. His hands gripped your cheeks as his mouth moved slowly over yours, his tongue meeting yours in a slow dance. Your hands gripped the front of his shirt, expressing every feeling you had into the kiss. 

Poe pulled away after a minute, his lips hovering over yours and your breathless pants mingling together. He kissed your lips once more before placing a kiss on your cheek. One arm went around your waist and the other cupped the back of your head, his fingers threading through your hair. Your head rested on his chest, your eyes closed as you took deep breaths to calm your beating heart. 

A shaky breath accompanied by a small whimper caused Poe to stop running his fingers against your scalp. 

“Y/N…” You felt tears build behind your eyes, the only thing stopping them from falling was your closed eyelids. You shook your head and you sniffled. “Y/N, look at me.”

He moved his hand from your hair to stroke your cheek and your watery eyes lifted to meet his. 

“I’m so sorry, sweetheart.” 

Your lip quivered. “Me too.”

His forehead drops against yours, his eyes closing as he places a soft kiss on your lips. 

“Stay tonight,” Poe muttered quietly against your lips. “You’re already here.”

You nodded, releasing the grip on his shirt and running your hands up to rest on the side of his neck. “I don’t—I don’t know if I want to—“

“We don’t have to do anything,” Poe said. “I just want to lay with you.”

You nodded a second time, Poe releasing you to grab a shirt for you to wear. You change out of clothes and into his shirt, crawling into his bed and curling up to him when he slid in beside you. 

“I’ll tell President Organa tomorrow that I don’t want to be considered for the job anymore,” Poe said sadly, resting his hand on top of the one you had resting on his chest. You leaned up on your elbow and looked down at him. 

“Do you really have to do that?” You asked. “Couldn’t you just tell Hux you’re backing off without actually doing it?”

Poe sighed heavily and shook his head, the hand of the arm he had around you running slowly up and down your back.

“I have a feeling he’s going to check and make sure I actually did it and if I didn’t and lied to him about it, he’ll just go ahead and tell everyone.”

You frowned, sniffling to stop yourself from letting the tears fall. “I’m so sorry, Poe.”

You rested your head back on his shoulder, the steady beat of his heart beneath your ear calming you.

“You’re important to me, too,” Poe muttered quietly, kissing the top of your head. “I’d do whatever it takes to protect you.”

You hugged Poe to you tighter, the few tears that gathered in your eyes falling and soaking his shirt. You knew this wasn’t a forever thing and maybe you were being a little overdramatic crying over it. But you couldn’t help it. Your heart was broken for so many things; that you were being blackmailed, that he was going to lose out on his dream job, and that, for the foreseeable future, you wouldn’t get to be around him.

And you loved him. Which made everything more complicated. 

Poe buried his head in your hair, the attempt to calm the sinking feeling in his stomach failing. He memorized the way you felt in his arms, the smell of your hair, and the way your face lit up whenever he said something funny. He didn’t know when he’d be able to enjoy those things in the comfort of his apartment again. 

Things were going so well. You had just spent an amazing couple of days with him, both in his hometown and at the apartment before classes resumed again. This really hurt the both of you,

You and Poe stayed up as late as you could, not really saying much but just holding onto each other tight. You were both afraid that if you closed your eyes the morning would come too soon.

Both of you were too stubborn to admit out loud just how heartbroken you were. 

taglist [open!] - @ah-callie @darksideofclarke @gloomygoregirl @leilei-draws @imaginecrushes @i-ievu @brianamaree @yeeintensifies @spider-starry @krazykatkay456 @fanfiction-trashpile @afootnoteinyourhappiness @easterncryptid @my-child-gaara @myrandom-fandomlife @onebatch--twobatch @the-cry-of-youth @p3nny4urth0ught5 @porgiez @umchrisevans @galaxy-of-stories @seeking-a-great--perhaps @behindmyeyes-insidemyhead @dameronsgalaxygal @mserynlarsen @yougottakeeponkeepinon @linibirdimagine @goddamndameron @starrykitn @cloud-leader @damnyoudameron @liadamerondjarin @april-14-blog

[lady-divine-writes]

Klaine Advent Drabble 2020 - “To Tree or Not to Tree” (Rated NC17)

Summary: When Blaine tells Kurt that they're going out to "get a tree", Kurt never imagined they'd be trekking up a freezing cold mountainside to chop one down. (2820 words)

Notes: A re-vamp for the @klaineadvent Drabble Challenge 2020 prompt 'farm'.

Read on AO3.

“Oh. My. God!” Kurt groans, hopping out of his SUV and sinking up to his ankles in snow. “I thought you were kidding about this!”

“Nope.” Blaine rounds to the hatch of Kurt’s Navigator and pops it. He unzips a duffel he brought with, one Kurt had hoped was filled with fun surprises like a picnic lunch that they could enjoy in the vehicle with the heater blasting before they braved the weather to get their Christmas tree from a quaint but upscale tree farm, the kind that smells strongly of cinnamon pine cones and which offers customers plastic flutes filled with sparkling cider as they pass over the threshold into an idyllic Winter Wonderland lit by twinkling white fairy lights beneath the cover of a gigantic canopy. 

He’d dressed entirely in brands that Vogue recently featured in their center spread and had planned on snapping a few shots for the website - kill two birds with one stone. He’d even lent Blaine a few pieces he’d squirreled from The Vault. He could see the whole layout in his head. Behind his eyelids, the slideshow of images he had planned was fabulous.

But no. 

Disturbingly, Blaine pulls out a wood-handled ax, along with a pair of safety goggles; thick, brown gloves; and some rope. He holds them up for Kurt to see. “Totally not kidding."

“Do we really have to cut down a tree?” Kurt asks, watching Blaine gear up, a one-man wrecking crew, leading Kurt to the conclusion that he should stay at the SUV and let Blaine go on this ridiculous errand alone. 

“Yes, we do.” Rope looped over his arm and dangling across his chest, Blaine hoists his ax over one shoulder and begins the journey, carving a neat path up the slowly rising incline as Kurt follows behind, contemplating his options. He has the keys. He could definitely implement the stay behind and keep the heater company fantasy. But there is the small matter of he loves Blaine. He would be miserable and lonely waiting hours in the SUV without him. Besides, considering how well Blaine fills out those North Face pants and Carhartt jacket, Kurt sees how he can make this work in his favor. The new outdoorsman, who can go from big city to big country in the blink of an eye (courtesy of the right separates).

He’s not married to that headline, but he can hash it out as he goes.

“You do know there’s a Christmas tree farm right there,” Kurt points out, raising his voice to be heard over the howling wind. When Blaine peeks over his shoulder, Kurt throws out an arm in the direction that they came. Past the snow-covered asphalt lot, where Kurt’s SUV is currently one of five cars parked, stretch miles of evergreens, cut down and mounted onto wooden stands, waiting to be plucked, flocked, and paid for.

“Cutting down a tree has been a tradition in my family since before I was born,” Blaine says. 

Kurt looks at him sideways. “I ... didn’t know that.”

“Yup."

"How did I not know that? We've been married for three years!"

Blaine turns a full circle as he walks and gives Kurt a wink. "I guess I'm just full of surprises."

"You're full of something," Kurt mumbles under his breath.

"It's a tradition," Blaine continues, unaware of his husband's grousing. "One I want to hand down to our children someday.”

“Can’t we get them a pony instead?”

“I recommend not stomping up this incline,” Blaine advises, changing the subject, “or you’re going to exhaust yourself. I’m not sure I can carry you and a tree back down this mountain.”

"Hmph. Not with that attitude, you can't."

It’s a crisp December day, almost too cold to bear. The difference in temperature between the city and where they ended up is so drastic, it’s hard to believe they’re still in the same state. A perfect day to sit by the fire while binge-watching Netflix, with a cup of hot cocoa beside a beautifully decorated Christmas tree. Kurt had everything he needed to make that happen, too, except the tree. 

Kurt and Blaine had yet to have a day off together to pick one out. 

So when Blaine came home, tossed Kurt a coat, and said, “Grab your keys! We’re getting a tree!” Kurt had been ecstatic! Until he discovered that Blaine’s idea of “getting a tree” wasn’t a simple matter of driving to a tree farm and picking out a decent six-foot Scotch Pine. 

No. 

Blaine had Kurt drive over an hour away from civilization to a place where there are no Starbucks, spotty WiFi, and no doors on the bathroom stalls.

The snow on the ground at this altitude is deep, becoming deeper as the slope of the mountain rises. And as breathtaking as the world looks from this elevation, Kurt hates everything about this. He hates the snow getting into his boots, soaking his three pairs of socks. He hates the wind that seems to purposefully sweep down the mountain straight into his face. Blaine walking ahead, right in front of him, does nothing to provide a barrier from the wind.

That’s because Blaine is loving this. And as a reward, the wind must be going right through him.

Blaine leads them deeper into woods that climb higher and higher. Even though the man who greeted them at the entrance, dressed in head-to-toe red flannel and brown corduroy, directed them up the mountain, saying this was the place locals preferred to get their trees, Blaine and Kurt don’t see anyone else past the tree line. The air gets thinner. The sunlight off the snow is brighter, blindingly bright, but it doesn’t offer Kurt or his rapidly chapping cheeks any warmth. He folds his arms over his chest and shoves his gloved hands underneath his armpits, but it doesn’t help thaw the tips of his fingers, which he can’t feel anymore.

“There are trees everywhere up here!” Kurt complains.

“Yeah! Isn’t it great!”

“Pick one! What are you doing?” Kurt gripes when they pass a swath of gorgeous trees and yet keep walking.

“I'm searching.”

“For what?”

“I’m looking for the perfect tree.”

“And what constitutes the perfect tree, in your opinion? Because from what I can see, we passed over two dozen perfect trees getting here!”

“When you see the perfect tree, you’ll know the perfect tree.”

Kurt has no idea what the heck that means but decides not to ask for clarification in an effort to get them off this frickin’ mountain and home quicker. Home equals warmth, comfort, and not succumbing to hypothermia. “Well, what about this one?” Kurt asks, pointing to a tree on his right.

“Ooo! That’s a good one!” Blaine says.

“Really?” Kurt asks, surprised that he got it right on the first try. Maybe he has a knack for this, like his knack for fashion. He does have an eye for aesthetics. “So this is the perfect tree?”

“Nope.”

Kurt stumbles. "Oh." He did not expect that answer. Eager to prevail, he points out another one. “This one?”

“No.”

“O-kay, what about this one?”

“Not quite, but good try.”

Kurt would throw his hands up in frustration, but his arms are locked in place, hugging his chest. 

“How did you become the tree authority?”

“Years of practice.”

“If you’re the one with the tree picking knowledge, what am I doing here that I couldn’t do at home where we have eggnog and cable?”

“You get to marvel in awe at my magnificent strength and skill.”

“I can’t help but remind you that I could be marveling at your strength and skill at home while you hold me up against the wall in our bedroom and make love to me.”

“True. But seeing as we did that all of last night and Mr. Mulroney has the night shift tonight, I thought it would be nice if we let the poor man sleep.”

“The walls in our apartment are thin, aren’t they?”

“They really are.”

They pass through a tight cluster of trees and enter a small clearing, coming upon a scene right out of a Hallmark Channel movie. God rays shine through the foliage overhead, lighting a single tree in the center. In the quiet of this enclosed glade, Kurt can’t hear the whistling wind, and he immediately begins to feel warmer. All they need now are cartoon animals bringing them presents and an angelic choir singing carols and they’ll be starring in their own Christmas special. 

It would be ideal, Kurt thinks, considering he’s a motherless child and he’s standing beside an elf. He puts a pin in it, with a plan to write up a treatment as soon as they get back to their apartment.

Provided he doesn’t lose any of his fingers before then.

Blaine tosses the rope aside. He walks reverently up to the center tree and stops in front of it. He opens his arms wide, ax clutched in his right fist. “Here,” he declares. “Here it is.”

Kurt looks at the tree in front of them, then at all the identical trees surrounding it. “Here what is?”

“Our perfect tree.”

“And what makes this tree any different from the sixty or more trees we passed hiking up here?”

“This one’s fuller, more symmetrical, with an almost pyramid top.” When Kurt doesn’t immediately agree, Blaine motions to the tree more vehemently, trying to get his point across. “It’s just more … more tree than those other trees. More Christmas …” Blaine turns to his husband standing off to the side behind him, arms crossed, head tilted. Blaine sighs. “You obviously don’t know your Christmas trees. If you can’t see why this one’s superior, I don’t know how to explain it to you.”

Kurt shakes his head. “Sorry.” 

“You’ll see the difference when it’s up in our apartment.” Blaine grips his ax with both hands and gets into position. “Okay! Stand back!”

“You don’t need to tell me twice. I love you, Blaine, but I have no intention of getting anywhere near you and that instrument of death.” 

Kurt takes a step back, then three more as Blaine hoists the ax behind him. Kurt fishes his iPhone out of his pocket, preparing to document what is either going to be the sexiest thing Blaine has ever done, or evidence for the investigators who might try to pin Blaine's grisly death on him. Either way, watching Blaine attempt to chop down a tree might actually be worth wet socks and a nightmare case of the flu.

Kurt holds up his phone with the camera app accessed, ready to film as Blaine takes his first swing, which, surprisingly, buries the blade a respectable depth into the wood. But it’s the pullback that gets Kurt, the way Blaine locks his feet in the snow, bends at the knees, and dislodges the ax. Kurt can’t see Blaine’s back through his coat, but he imagines the play of his muscles, the rise and fall of his shoulders, the cut of his delts showing through as they strain with effort. Kurt has seen Blaine naked over a hundred times, has watched the man make love to him in videos they’ve made. He envisions everything going on beneath Blaine’s clothes as he swings that ax … and the frigid air around him doesn't feel quite as cold anymore.

“Mmmm …” Kurt hits record and focuses his camera on his husband’s assets. After a minute of chopping, Blaine realizes Kurt has stopped commenting. He lowers his ax and takes a breather, catching the tail end of his husband's complimentary hum.

“Mmmm what?” Blaine turns, curious to see what Kurt has been doing that’s kept him quiet this whole time. He raises an eyebrow when he sees the phone in Kurt’s hands. “Are you ... recording me?”

“Maybe,” Kurt says, biting his lower lip. “You know, now that I get a good look at it, you did find the best tree on the mountain. And watching you cut it down is becoming a massive turn on. You being all lumberjack-ish is kind of hot.”

Blaine grins, leveling the ax over his shoulder. “Only kind of?”

“Well, yeah.” Kurt switches off his camera app and puts his phone back in his pocket, seeing a make-out break forthcoming. “The walk up the mountain took a lot out of me.”

Blaine leans his ax against the trunk of a tree and saunters up to his husband. “Well then … perhaps I can put something in you.”

Kurt snorts. “Okay, that’s cheesy as hell ... but I wish you would."

With a suggestive smile on his frosty lips, Blaine wraps one arm around Kurt’s waist and pulls him closer, his other hand reaching between them to fondle the bulge growing in the front of Kurt’s jeans. He tugs at the buttons of Kurt’s fly, and Kurt knows Blaine has more on his mind than kissing. He shoots an anxious look around their private nook. “What? Here?”

“Why not? We’re alone. There’s no one else around. No one will see us or hear us. You can scream all you want.”

“When you put it like that, it sounds like we're in a horror movie!"

"Is that your only objection?"

"No. I'm objecting because it’s freezing!”

“Come on …” Blaine takes off his gloves and begins unbuttoning Kurt’s wet coat, starting at the middle and working down. “I’m not going to strip us naked or anything. Besides, you’ll warm up in no time. You know what they say about body heat …”

“This reminds me of one of those bad amateur porn videos on the Internet. The ones that try to have a storyline, but the acting is so awful it turns into a comedy?”

“As a professional actor, I think I take offense to that.” Blaine nuzzles past Kurt’s icy jaw and into the warm skin of his neck. “What videos are you watching anyway?”

“I can show you. Maybe we can … you know … watch one or two … when we get home …” Kurt stutters, shivering when Blaine’s cold lips connect with his flesh, then melting beneath the heat of his husband’s tongue. Blaine walks Kurt backward, away from their half-chopped pine to the shelter of a different tree, moving them a safe distance on the off chance the poor thing decides to finish itself off without their help.

“Oh, God! Kurt!” Blaine moans, warming his hands by wedging them between the soft skin of Kurt’s groin and his growing erection.

“Blaine,” Kurt murmurs as his husband sucks a mark into the sensitive skin of his collarbone, “I just … I just want you to know that … if we freeze to death … or get eaten by a bear … I’m blaming you entirely.”

Blaine grabs Kurt’s trembling hands and brings them to the zipper of his pants. “Fair enough.”

***

“Welp. That was less than memorable,” Kurt grumbles, trying to re-button his jeans with numb fingers. “I hope that doesn’t become part of the tradition.”

“For the ninth time, I slipped!” an embarrassed Blaine says, teeth chattering, rushing to help Kurt do up his now useless coat. “I didn’t mean for us to take a nose dive into the snow!”

“Who would have thunk that fucking on ice would be dangerous!?" Kurt says sarcastically. "Christ! I must look like a wet French poodle!"

"That's ... oddly specific."

In an attempt to salvage the look he had going, Kurt tries combing his fingers through his hair but hits resistance. “Ugh! I think I’ve got sap in my hair.” He tugs and tugs, abandoning his attempts with a huff after he manages to get his fingers free … along with a sizeable chunk of hair. 

“Fucking on ice,” Blaine repeats with a chuckle. “That sounds like an X-rated skating show.”

Kurt glares at his husband, unamused. “Yeah. Hilarious. Can we go back to getting our perfect tree now, Grizzly Adams?”

“I don’t know …” Blaine looks at the tree they’d been fucking against before his enthusiastic thrusting caused them to slip and take a header into the snow. “I think I like this one now.” He pats the trunk, shaking loose a minor avalanche from the branches that contains more needles than snow.

Kurt steps back, making a face as he judges the less than spectacular tree. “Why?”

“We had sex on it. That makes it ours.”

“This isn’t a department store, Blaine. I don’t think you break it, you buy it applies here.”

“I think this falls more under the guidelines of I licked it, now it’s mine.”

“I understand the sentiment, but this one’s got a dent in it.” Kurt snickers. “A dent shaped like your ass.”

“That’s a good thing,” Blaine says, walking off to retrieve his ax. “We’ll know which side to face toward the wall.”

[walkingaline]

The ghost of Christmas present

Summary:  You finally join the boys for the holidays, with Crowley shadowing you. Dean decides to show Jack another sliver of the Christmas experience, and brings him to cut down the Christmas tree for the bunker. You and Crowley are supposed to look for the decorations, while Sam and Eileen bake some Christmas treats. The plan is destined to change drastically when someone unexpected shows up at the bunker.

Written for: @spnchristmasbingo

Square filled: Christmas tree

Pairings: Crowley x reader, Dean x Castiel, Sam x Eileen

Word count: 4936

Warning/s: none

A/N: beta reading done by @raspberrymama​ . Make sure to check out her works! This story is crossposted on AO3, and you cand find it, along with the rest of the series, here. All mistakes are mine.

When you finally make it to the bunker and kill the engine, the sun is already setting. You pull the handbrake and look at the last rays of sunlight playing between the branches of the trees, taking a deep breath before opening your car door and letting the cold air hit you.

It's been a long trip, mostly because of the bad weather, closed lanes and deviations, but this made you appreciate Crowley’s company all the more. You weren't really expecting him to join you, just like you didn't suspect that bickering with someone could make the road seem shorter, and yet it worked. Crowley comes out from the car, fixes his peacoat and looks at you, visibly pleased with himself.

“See? I told you we'd make it before sunset.”

“Oh, you certainly did. Also, consider this: if you say ‘I told you so’ another time, I'm stabbing you,” you threaten him in a flat tone.

“You would never kill me,” he scoffs with a confidence that almost makes you laugh.

“I never said I'd kill you. In fact, I can freely stab you without killing you. Must have a knife somewhere around here, let me just fix my bags” you answer.

You're still picking up your bag from the trunk of your car when the Impala comes out from the bunker's garage. The car halts and Dean and Jack walk out of it.

“What's he doing here?” is the first thing that Dean barks, hinting at the demon. You simply shrug, not giving him any answer.

“Ah, yes. Two days on the road are so worth this warm welcome. Hello Dean, nice to see you,” Crowley tries to convey his snark, but it looks like Dean doesn’t mean to repent.

Jack giggles at Dean's expression and comes over to greet you with a proper hug, to which you happily respond. You definitely appreciate this new side of the kid. Physical affection always seemed somehow taboo around the boys, but thankfully it looks like you can add that to the list of things changing.

Crowley just waves a hand at Jack, who obviously doesn't get the hint and moves to hug him anyway, even if just for a quick squeeze. Crowley seems distressed by the thing, but he just smooths his coat with a vaguely disapproving look, without verbally complaining about it.

A pretty amused Dean finally imitates Jack and briefly wraps you in a quick hug. He just shoots a cold glance at Crowley, who smiles at him, obviously very pleased with his retained ability to ruffle Dean's feathers. Speaking of feathers, Crowley notices Castiel’s absence.

“Aren't you an angel short, Squirrel?”

“Not that it concerns you, but Cas is going to be back tonight, I think. Sam and Eileen are inside, hunkered down in the kitchen. Just... just make yourself heard when you walk in.”

You laugh at Dean's expression, easily guessing what's prompting the advice. The mention of Castiel visibly made him uneasy, so you grace him with a change of subject.

“What's with the lumberjack gear?” you ask, pointing at the axe laying on the backseat of the Impala.

Dean seems extremely grateful about the chance you offered him, and quickly takes advantage of it. “Oh, I'm teaching Jack how to pick a Christmas tree! I haven't done it in a million years,” he explains, looking proud about it.

“You've done it before?”

“Yeah, years ago. I worked in one of those Christmas villages. I cut down trees, found hidden spots with the sexy ladies... fun times!”

You ignore the poorly hidden bragging attempt in favour of the easy mocking “... please, tell me you were dressed as an overgrown elf and had to wear a hat with little bells and stuff.”

“… I only had to wear a hat, but thanks for picking this up. You'll love the Christmas picture.”

You need to look for answers right away. That hadn't been mentioned in any of the calls or texts. “Christmas picture? What Christmas picture?”

“Ask Sammy, it was his idea!” Dean answers as he literally drags Jack over to the Impala, and waves a hand at you and Crowley, pretending not to hear your protests, until he turns on the engine and drives away.

You shake your head, more convinced than ever that they came up with something terrible and ridiculous that will haunt you for years to come. You grab your bag and walk inside the bunker, with Crowley right behind you.

“Well, it surely looks better when you're not dragged inside in chains.” he casually muses.

“I wouldn't know, I lack the chained perspective,” you reply, hoping that he’ll understand that he’s making futile efforts if he hopes for compassion from you.

“We could easily fix that, if you'd like,” he offers you, obviously taking advantage of the opening you just offered him.

You thank the fact that he can see only your shoulders, since you barely retain enough control not to choke on your own breath. While he's always been a flirty bastard, the attitude seems amplified since he came back. Boredom renders him even more explicit, and way more attentive about where he swings his punches... and you surely are an easy target. You doubt he's genuinely interested in you, but this doesn't mean that you're not still gloating about the attention you get from him, or the way you woke up that morning.

You call for Sam once you’ve made it to the war room and see him coming out from the kitchen wearing an apron, half covered in flour, and with something that looks like powdered sugar in his hair. You laugh and dodge his hug, but he grabs you anyway. While you try to wiggle free of him, you see Eileen coming out of the kitchen.

She signs a swift arch from her temple, smiling. “Hello!”

You finally break free from Sam’s hold, now covered in whatever was on his apron, and walk to Eileen, replicating her gesture. You hug her, as well, and you notice that she's definitely cleaner than Sam.

“... what happened back there?”

“Uh... Christmas magic?” Sam tries. Eileen, calling him out, taps her palm with her other hand and rolls it over, then signs a small square. The sign for “kitchen” is immediately followed by a quick touch on her chin with a closed hand and both her indexes pointing down, “accident”.

You laugh and Sam tilts his head, bemused. “You know ASL?”

“Just a few words, and believe me, accident is one of those I've learnt first,” you explain.

“... what about ‘kitchen’?”

“I always need to know where I can find the food, Sam. Always”, you reply with a very serious face, a second before cracking up. Just then Sam seems to notice Crowley.

“What are you doing here?”

Crowley rolls his eyes, annoyed. “Oh, yes. I can definitely tell you and Squirrel are related, you know? She needed a co-pilot, so I volunteered. I planned on leaving, but since it looks like you and your brother are equally overjoyed by my presence… I'm staying.”

“Oh, no. Not...”

Eileen tugs firmly at the sleeve of Sam’s shirt, making him sigh and shrug. He looks at you, trying to ignore the smug triumph look on Crowley’s face.

“Fine. Whatever. Uh... we still have something to do here, can you go looking for the decorations? They should be in one of the closets.”

“Yeah, sure. I'll set my stuff down and go... where?”

“Basement, right after the dungeon. In case you want to throw him in there, you're more than welcome,” he floats the idea, shooting a sour look at Crowley.

You roll your eyes and chuckle, but Crowley doesn't seem particularly amused by Sam’s suggestion. He bows his head at Eileen, ignores Sam, then follows you to what used to be your room. When you pass the door and keep walking, Crowley is hot on your heels, curiously questioning your choice.

“Didn't you use to sleep in there?”

“Yes. Before.”

“Before what?”

You walk inside your new room, smiling. “Before Sam and Eileen, and before Dean and Castiel” you answer, leaving your bag on the floor next to the door and walking to the small sink to wash your face.

“Dean and Castiel?” Crowley is forced to ask, but he's distracted. You're taking off your scarf and coat, and the thing is capturing a considerable portion of his attention. He bites his lip, narrowing his eyes on you and following even your smallest movement.

You move your hand in a “so and so” gesture, completely oblivious of what's going on with him. “Not yet, but soon. Very soon, if Christmas magic works.”

Crowley grins, far too happy about the excuse you just provided him. “I can't miss that. I'm very glad I decided to stay.”

You shrug, wash your face and dry it off with a clean towel, then turn to him, surrendering to the idea of being forced to deal with him most of the holidays. “Fine. Bugger off now, I need to take a shower. After that, you'll make yourself useful and help me with the decorations.”

After a bow that somehow feels more taunting than anything else he could have done, Crowley leaves you alone.

Walking through the woods, Dean stops suddenly and points at a pine tree. It looks pretty solid, not too tall, and just perfect for the purpose, with lush branches and shiny deep green needles.

Dean moves closer to the tree and shows Jack how to check for animals’ nests on the branches, and where it’s best to cut down the trunk.

Jack patiently absorbs every bit of information, and looks at Dean trying to prove his skills. It looks like everything is going for the best, but when the axe gets stuck inside the bark and doesn't seem willing to come out in any way, a clear “son of a bitch!” echoes through the calm woods, followed by a few other curses.

Trying not to laugh too openly and practice some sort of empathy for Dean’s predicament, Jack approaches the tree. “May I?”

Dean gives up and takes a couple of steps back, knowing well that the problem is about to be solved. “Be my guest.”

Apparently without the slightest effort and using just one hand, Jack pulls away the axe. After that, he puts a hand on the cut in the bark, and the tree slowly and softly leans on one side, falling elegantly to the ground in an almost choreographed drop. Dean looks at the tree, then at Jack, then back at the tree. He wisely decides to shut up about the whole thing.

“Alright kid, well done. Time to drag that thing to the car. I know it's not funny, but it has to be done.”

“Dean, you know I could...”

“I said let's drag that thing, alright?” Dean repeats, moving closer to the tree and grabbing some of the rope he’s brought along.

Jack nods and starts trying to help Dean, with mixed results, but after a couple of failed attempts, no one of them seems able to stop laughing.

Walking through the woods, Dean stops suddenly and points at a pine tree. It looks pretty solid, not too tall, and just perfect for the purpose, with lush branches and shiny deep green needles.

Dean moves closer to the tree and shows Jack how to check for animals’ nests on the branches, and where it’s best to cut down the trunk.

Jack patiently absorbs every bit of information, and looks at Dean trying to prove his skills. It looks like everything is going for the best, but when the axe gets stuck inside the bark and doesn't seem willing to come out in any way, a clear “son of a bitch!” echoes through the calm woods, followed by a few other curses.

Trying not to laugh too openly and practice some sort of empathy for Dean’s predicament, Jack approaches the tree. “May I?”

Dean gives up and takes a couple of steps back, knowing well that the problem is about to be solved. “Be my guest.”

Apparently without the slightest effort and using just one hand, Jack pulls away the axe. After that, he puts a hand on the cut in the bark, and the tree slowly and softly leans on one side, falling elegantly to the ground in an almost choreographed drop. Dean looks at the tree, then at Jack, then back at the tree. He wisely decides to shut up about the whole thing.

“Alright kid, well done. Time to drag that thing to the car. I know it's not funny, but it has to be done.”

“Dean, you know I could...”

“I said let's drag that thing, alright?” Dean repeats, moving closer to the tree and grabbing some of the rope he’s brought along.

Jack nods and starts trying to help Dean, with mixed results, but after a couple of failed attempts, no one of them seems able to stop laughing.

The tree has finally been placed at the entrance of the library. Dean stands by it and admires it in utter adoration, looking at it like a proud father would stare at his kid during the Christmas play. Sam joins him after a few minutes, bringing him a beer.

“Look at that, Sammy. Isn't it beautiful?”

“Yeah, it's pretty neat. Will you stay here looking at it for the rest of the evening?”

“You know, I might. Where are the decorations?”

“Uh... I don't know.”

“You don't know. I left you and Eileen to take care of the kitchen, and Y/N just had to pick up the boxes,” Dean recaps, before starting what sounds like a formal complaint. “The cookies aren't ready, I see no candy canes, there's not a single wreath anywhere, no mistletoe even, not a single...”

Sam interrupts him, explaining why he doesn't mean to investigate the lack of decorations. “Crowley is in there, with her. They've been there... a while, I guess.”

Dean stops, surprised by the news, then he chuckles, a smug grin on his face. “Well, I ain't setting foot in there. You can pay me later. Oh, and... Sammy?”

“Yeah?” Sam asks, trying to keep his contempt to a minimum.

“You got flour on your ass,” Dean lets him know, far too amused by his brother’s expression at the news.

Dean doesn't even try to hide his laughter while Sam walks away, blushing like a teenager caught in the act. He takes another sip from his beer and shivers. He is immediately on the halts as he perceives a sudden drop in the air temperature around him.

In the closet, things are actually quite different from what the Winchesters have imagined. At the moment, you're sitting on the floor, wrestling the lights and trying to untangle the cable with very poor results, while Crowley keeps muttering curses under his breath and rummaging in the boxes.

“Why does it have to be an angel?” he protests again.

You turn to him, stopping to pull on the thread for a moment before you unwittingly end up in a trap of your own making “... pardon?”

“Why does it have to be an angel on top of the tree? We already have a real one, can't we skip this one, at least?” he complains.

“What do you mean, we have a real one?” you ask, more tired than what you’d expect. “It's not like we're tying up Cas and heaving him up on the top of the tree.”

“We should at least consider it. It’d be very scenic,” Crowley insists. “And if we don’t want ropes showing, we could always shove the tip… ”

“Crowley, I swear to God,” you interrupt him before he can get to some very crass idea.

“You're no fun, kitten,” he chides you, “I bet Dean would appreciate a Christmas bondage edition of his beau. Why do the Men of Letters have an angel figurine, anyway? Didn’t they use to kill angels?”

Exasperated by your fruitless efforts, you finally lift your head from the tangled mess of lights and look at him “Why are you still here, Crowley?”

“To poke fun at Squirrel and Feathers dancing around each other, and to irk Moose. Why?”

“Because they are not here. And yet you are , even pretending to help me. Maybe there's something else that keeps you here. And it’s not spite,” you consider, the last bit of the sentence slipping past your lips before you even thought it properly, but whatever. You’re curious. Crowley simply shrugs in response, offering you an intrigued expression with furrowed brows.

“Do you really think I am here because I care about this tomfoolery of Christmas, family, and sappiness?” he asks, in the tone of someone disproving a ridiculous claim. He is not there for Christmas. He decided to go with you. Surely you noticed that, you must have noticed. He travelled with you, for fuck's sake. A demon on your passenger seat is pretty hard to miss.

“I'm just saying you're in here, complaining with me about… an angel figurine that we can't even find, instead of being up there, annoying them.”

You start to pull and twist the wire once again, mindlessly trying to keep your hands busy and your head low, but not wanting to look up at him. You probably read the whole thing in the wrong way. Why should you be spared? You’re just as much on the opposite side of him as Sam and Dean are.

Crowley looks at you, sitting on the floor, looking at him with an expectant look on your face. Perhaps he could take a risk and confess that, after all, you’re right about the boys not being his priority. Of course, if he did that he would then be forced to explain more things, and it could lead to some unwanted tension. It’d be selfish on his part, wouldn’t it?

“I'm not complaining, I'm trying to be rational,” he sneers with his customary haughtiness, clearly annoyed. “Their symbol is a bloody star. Couldn't they use that? There's a bloody comet in that fairytale, isn't there?”

“Oh God, Crowley, yes, alright, no angel! No angel, ok? Just shut your mouth, I beg of you,” you snap, far too angry for him to think that it’s just about the decoration. For a moment, you contemplated the idea that he wasn't exclusively interested in being a sort of Grinch, but you were blatantly wrong. It's been stupid to keep your hopes high, even for a second.

Ignoring completely the way you snapped at him, he looks at you. “You know... there are more interesting ways to make me shut up, and funnier reasons to beg.”

That’s the last drop. You’re almost sure he’s doing it on purpose, and right now you’re not in the mood to be taunted and ridiculed like that. In a bout of annoyance, you try to stand up from the floor, on the verge of exasperation. Unfortunately, to add to the discomfort, you're so tangled up in the Christmas lights thread that you can't really move. Already regretting the words that are about to leave your mouth, you address the demon.

“Crowley... can you help me?” you ask through gritted teeth.

“Oh, sure I can. But will I?” is the predictable answer you get. You start thrashing against the improvised festive chains, but he laughs and walks closer to you. “Don't make it worse.”

You stay still, with a very annoyed expression, looking away while Crowley's hands work on the apparently inextricable mass around you, chuckling.

“How in Hell's name did you manage...”

“... I thought to pass it around my arm to have a wider loop, but I guess it wasn't a great plan.” you mutter through your teeth, prompting more laughter from Crowley. When his fingertips graze the naked skin on your arms, you jump a little. He mercifully pretends not to notice, applying a bit more pressure and lingering more than necessary.

For a while you just sit there, feeling clumsy and awkward as Crowley makes small appreciations, almost admiring how the hell you managed to entangle yourself in that mess in such a short time. Somehow, you’re enjoying the fact that his attention is focused exclusively on you, even if you’d rather cut off your own tongue than admitting it.

As soon as you're free from your improvised snare, you scramble on your feet and try to open the door. You know it would be much better to simply leave it open to carry the boxes more easily, but when you try the handle, you find it locked.

“Uh. That's weird.”

“What's weird?” Crowley immediately asks.

“The door's locked,” you explain, thinking about some dull prank from Sam.

“You don't need excuses to spend time with me, you know,” Crowley simpers, looking at you.

“Try for yourself, smartass,” you almost snarl at him, moving back from the door and watching him trying the door and failing to open.

After a few attempts, both from you and Crowley, the door is still obstinately shut. You exchange a confused stare, before you try to text Sam or Dean, but your phone obviously has no signal.

“That's weirder. Can't you open it with your powers?” you suggest, tapping your fingers on the door.

“Iron encrusted with salt, same goes for the walls. Even touching the handle wasn’t a nice experience,” Crowley explains, showing you a thin line crossing his palm. While his powers are actually useless in there, he doesn't exactly mind being locked in there with you.

He goes to sit on one of the lower cabinets, then studies you. “So... it looks like we have some time to kill,” he observes with a pleased expression.

Sam is telling Eileen why he was so upset when he came back in the kitchen, putting all his emphasis on the signs for "idiot" and "jerk" when talking about Dean. Eileen quietly shrugs.

"It's not exactly a secret, Sam. No need to be shy about this," she signs, accompanying her hands with a sweet smile. She knows Sam is still coming to terms with letting a new person join their family, and while she’s patient, she doesn’t necessarily need to be merciful about it. Sam indeed blushes violently and tries to explain himself, but he gets interrupted by the door slamming behind him.

He tilts his head, confused, and he goes to try to open it, with no success.  A moment later, the air becomes colder. Eileen looks at him and immediately hits her open palm, lifting her hand in a wavy motion, spelling a single word.

“Ghost.”

Sam furrows his eyebrows in surprise, but he doesn't question her. After all, she is quite the expert on the subject. They both rush to the tool shelf, grabbing anything made of iron they can reach and all the salt they can get. They then move to the middle of the kitchen, standing back to back and looking around for anything wrong.

“How did it come in here?” Sam asks, only to feel a sharp elbow against his back.

He turns just in time to see a vaguely human form charging at him, violently shoving Eileen against one of the walls.

The ghost then attacks Sam, who doesn’t manage to swing his piece of iron fast enough, and it locks its hands on his throat. Sam struggles, trying to fight back, but without success.

The piece of iron is yanked away from his hand, and he's pushed on his knees first, then with his back on the floor. His lungs start to ache for air when the ghost suddenly disappears.

Eileen stands there, where the ghost was a moment ago, holding an iron bar. Her hair is stuck to her face, her eyes wide with worry.

“Are you okay?” she asks, looking down at Sam.

He just nods and touches his throat, then takes a deep breath, coughing a couple of times. He then grabs the hand Eileen’s offering him, standing up. Apparently, the ghost decided to leave them alone, at least for now.

“Where did that thing come from?” Sam asks Eileen, signing with shaky hands but knowing that she will understand him.

“We really should get out of here and find out”, she answers, already starting to look around for something they can use to get out of the kitchen.

While Eileen tries to find some useful tool, Sam hurls himself at the door a couple of times. Predictably, once he's done, the only thing that’s changed is the status of Sam’s shoulder: sore and swollen. The door hasn’t given an inch, and Eileen gives Sam a disapproving look.

“When has that ever worked against a ghost?” she points out.

“There might always be a first time...” Sam answers, awkward, massaging his arm with an awkward expression.

“Looks like it's not today. Help me find something useful, come on.”

When Castiel appears back in the bunker, he experiences a long moment of intense confusion. He sees Dean, pinned against the floor, apparently choking, clawing at his own chest with a hand, while desperately reaching for a pry bar not too far from him.

“Dean!”

The hunter doesn't seem to hear him, as he goes paler by the second. That's when Castiel realizes what's happening, and his eyes start beaming blue. He immediately identifies the source of danger and strides to the ghost, now clearly visible to him, crouched over Dean's chest.

He grabs the shadow as firmly as possible and hauls it away from Dean’s chest. As he does so, he catches the surprised stare of the ghost, hardly a second before blasting him back in the Veil. Hopefully, this time a reaper will be able to find the soul and lead it to Heaven or Hell, according to its merits and faults.

Castiel then immediately kneels next to Dean, touching his forehead. The angel’s grace flows freely for a moment, rushing under his skin to find and heal the minor wounds left by the attack of the ghost, and Dean takes a deep breath.

“Hey... nice timing,” he grinds out in a hoarse voice, more than happy to breathe again.

“What happened?” Castiel immediately asks, trying to understand why this time it was a bad idea to leave the boys unsupervised for more than ten minutes.

“I… there was a ghost,” Dean simply says.

Castiel rolls his eyes, helping Dean to sit on the floor. “I gathered that much. How did it get in here? This place is supposed to be protected.”

“Yeah, well... Kevin walked in, when he was a ghost.”

“That was different. He wasn't a vengeful spirit, he didn't mean you any harm, and he died here. This man was murdered more than fifty years ago, and not here.”

“Why was he here, then?”

Castiel's worry is quickly substituted by relief while he helps Dean back on his feet. “That's what I'm asking you. Have you brought in anything that might be connected to a murder?”

“What? No! We didn't bring anything, we just... oh, crap!” Dean mutters, looking at the tree. Castiel follows his stare and guesses what he's thinking.

“Dean. Are you joking?”

“Well… ”

Castiel stands up, goes to check the tree, then turns back to Dean, raising his arms in a rare display of incredulity and exasperation.

“There is a whole forest out there. A forest. And you manage to pick the only tree that doubles as a tombstone for a vengeful spirit, probably killed by the Men of Letters, and drag it back in here?”

Dean just shrugs, unsure about what to say, then he nods, soft and apparently discouraged. “Yeah, I'm lucky like that. Anyway, Cas… thank you for showing up. It wasn’t going very well.”

“Of course, Dean. You know I… ”

“You always come when I call, yes. I know. That's… “ he trails off, not knowing well how to proceed, but resolute to make something out of that accident. “That's incredible, you know? Knowing you got my back… I don’t know what would happen without you, at this point.”

Cas sighs, not sure about how to read the implications of what Dean just said. He's never sure about the implications with him. “You had already made it quite far. I'm sure you would figure something out.”

Dean scoffs. “I wouldn't like it. I'm very glad you're around for our first real Christmas. Where were you, by the way?”

Castiel smiles, finally giving Dean a playful look. “You will have to wait until Christmas morning to find out. As per tradition. Come on, let's go to check on the others.”

For a moment, Dean just stands still, just studying the angel's face. He's amazed by how gracefully his vessel aged, and at the same time he finds unfair the fact that he won't ever be able to see his true form.

Just as he's moving a hand towards Castiel, the sound of a slamming door echoes from the corridor leading to the kitchen, followed by steps and voices. Dean rolls his eyes, slightly annoyed and immediately feeling guilty about it. He's supposed to first check on everyone else.

“That's the sound of someone doing good. Hey, Cas?”

“Yes?”

“Wanna… you know, go pick another tree, once we're sure everyone's doing good and maybe burn down this one?”

Castiel hesitates for a second, then nods. “It's probably the safer way to proceed, yes. I'll go check on Jack, you make sure Sam and the girls are alright,” he replies with a nod, heading for Jack's room.

Thank you for reading my fic! If you enjoyed, like and reblog, or just let me know what you think about it with a comment or a gif, in true Supernatural style!

Please DO NOT REPOST MY WORKS OR PART/S OF THEM, even giving credit.

[shirehobbit]

Secret Santa for Raj ( @gilbertblyythes ) for @awaenetwork! ♥♥♥♥

Letters between Anne and Gilbert during their courtship.

→ Preview: Deep into the night, Anne continued writing all that was on her mind, largely the things she missed about Avonlea and Green Gables. Eventually, she finished her letter addressed to the person she missed the most...

NB: letters are in italic

Dear Gilbert,

I look like my mother. She is a radiant goddess, with the most perfectly serene smile. My father captured her likeness, including her own fiery hair that is an unbelievable match to my own. I think I am ready to admire this carrot colour now, rather than desperately wish it away for locks of true beauty. Perhaps I have gotten ahead of myself in this letter. Now, let me be a playwright and set the scene. Moments after you left Charlottetown, I thought nothing more could heighten my elation then if you were to stay back just one minute more. However, as if called upon by providence, my dearest Cuthbert’s arrived to present me with my life wish. They gave me a divine book of wildflowers. But most importantly, it belonged to my mother, Bertha Shirley, given to her by my dear father Walter Shirley. You probably know, better than most, the deep feeling of belonging that comes with possessing a tangible heirloom, as if a new string of connection has been created between my parents and I through time. I can trace my father’s penmanship, and joyfully tell people that I want to become a teacher, in honour of my favourite teacher and my own mother! This past day has given me so much joy, and as much as I enjoy class, I eagerly anticipate when our paths shall next cross, so I can share my family with you. 

Oh Gilbert, I said I have follow up questions, and perhaps I can answer some of your own at the same time. Mostly, I gather that the letter you wrote to me went much differently than I had presumed. A few days after our exams, my mind became clear, and I wrote you how I love you. I cannot conjecture how, but I can guess that, somehow, the letter did not reach you, based on dear Diana’s recount of your shared train ride. (And I had left it so carefully under the water pitcher!) When you did not respond to my letter, I thought you were promised to Winifred. Finally, when you left a response (in my eyes, of course) I was quite temperamental to have only a letter from you after days of silence, and in my rage, tore the poor thing to shreds and threw it out my window of Green Gables. What a fool I was! One of my dearest wishes now is to know the true contents of that letter, as I hope and imagine it’s not a letter of heartbreak and rejection as I so thought it was when i tried to rearrange it in the dirt. By happenstance, I saw Winifred preparing to leave Charlottetown, and I naturally thought she was leaving for Paris with you. Only, when I asked, she told me all that I had been blind to. In my heart and mind, all that she related could not possibly be true. That you felt too much for me, enough to give up all your dreams at the Sorbonne! Perhaps you can imagine the desperation in me to find you instantly. Of course, I do not need to recount the rest as you were there as much as I. But I wholeheartedly wish that we could repeat such happy events. Diana looked half mortified after you left, and warned me not to go beyond the proper boundaries and into the realm of scandal. I think that might be a little trying, as I am scandalously in love with you. 

Deep into the night, Anne continued writing all that was on her mind, largely the things she missed about Avonlea and Green Gables. Eventually, she finished her letter addressed to the person she missed the most, and signed off with,

Write soon, as each day without news from you is a new torment. Especially, as I could have had a fresh letter to add to my box of small treasures, if I had not been so temperamental and ripped it up... 

Love, Anne Shirley Cuthbert. 

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

Dearest Anne, 

Your mother sounds as beautiful and unique as you. I wish I could have met her, but I would be honoured to peruse such a book with you. It fills me with joy that you have something of your parents.Losing my father’s medal felt like losing a connection to him, and when I received it back recently, it made me feel whole again.  

I will never forget how you feel about the subject of your wonderful hair. (I can still feel that phantom sting in my cheek to this day). But, I have long thought, to me your hair has always been a point of admiration. I could never not turn your way, whenever I caught a glimpse of your braids. Even if you change your mind towards your hair, my opinion will be steadfast that it is the most lovely in all of Avonlea. I am certain that your beauty and wit will be greatly admired in Charlottetown and that, without me there to be your rival of course, you will top all your classes with great ease. 

In answer to your question, I can readily give you an approximation of what was in my letter, but perhaps not the exact words. Though I sincerely hope that I can not only repeat them now, but for many letters to come, over and over until you are sick of reading such romantic notions. I am grateful to Winifred for relating to you my feelings, and very much appreciative of her sincerity, after I treated her abysmally so. I attached myself to her after convincing my head that you did not feel anything towards me, when I should have followed my heart, as it belongs to you and you alone.I could not engage myself to Winifred when I knew I would always and forever be irrevocably in love with you, my Anne. It would have been the greatest betrayal to my own heart.

Now, that I have gained your favour (something I had deemed impossible on all accounts) I will never stop writing you Anne, and only wish to know where and when your feelings began. Diana seems to have related to you the particulars of what occured on the train to Charlottetown. I will say that she correctly put me in my place regarding my actions that night after exams. If you are a fool for tearing up my letter, than I am a dunce for cornering you about my own feelings at the bonfire. I do wish to add, that your carefree spirit and divine appearance that night assured me that there is no one for me, but you. Now, is it too much to ask you for the journey of your feelings, as I think they might be a little more recent than my own

Yours always, Gilbert.   

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

Anne was walking back to her room at in Charlottetown, feeling the crisp winter air redden her cheeks, and creep in under her collar. The landscape had changed drastically since the old Avonlea students had first started at Queens, having lost its green vibrancy to the red and gold autumn leaves, before these dropped to cover the ground below. Autumn had just left, but it felt as if Winter had already been there forever. The trees were now sharp bony spurs, softened for a small period of time by some early snowfall that was fast melting away. 

As Anne meanders her favourite places, the cold air is almost stinging her face. The latest cold weather has caused the throng of students normally mingling about to dwindle. Anne herself is not deterred, as the air is sharp in such a way that makes her feel present and so, so alive. 

She is walking is to help time pass quicker, to sooner get to Gilbert’s arrival. Gilbert. 

Anne had spent many evenings (And mornings. And afternoons. And nights) thinking about Gilbert. She had readily replied to his query for when her feelings had taken such a turn. 

‘In regards to my feelings, ‘I was in the middle before I knew that I’d begun.’ Those words are not my own, but it perfectly encapsulates the journey my own feelings were on. It was not until my friendship with dearest Diana had been mended, and all was still in my mind that I came to the realisation that I was in love with you.’

Gilbert is arriving on the ferry to accompany Anne back to Avonlea for the Christmas holidays. Diana will be chaperoning, of course, to keep all things proper. (Diana had also hinted that she would keep a generous but still respectable distance for small periods of time.) She expects him later after noon, which is still many hours away. 

Thinking that, perhaps another check that she has everything needed in her small luggage trunk, will do well to pass another half an hour, Anne turns to head back to her room. Before long, she is turning the corner into the grounds and is struck by the vision of a tall, handsome young man loitering outside the house. 

Oh? Oh.

Without a coherent thought crossing her mind, Anne lets out a carefree, wild laugh. Gilbert, her Gilbert, turns on the spot to face Anne. It has been months since they have seen each other, but somehow their reunion is only paces away from when they were last in each other’s company. Metres from the place they had had their first kiss. (And second, and third.) Anne runs forward as Gilbert breaks into the widest grin, and greets her with open arms. Suddenly, she is spun around merrily, and her feet and heart are flying. Once she is back on solid ground, he leans down towards her but,

“No,” Anne laughs, “let’s go somewhere more new.” 

Instead, she drags him to a side wall, partially covered by a large tree. Somehow she has time to regret the season, and that the lack of foliage means they’re more exposed then she’d like, (the girls are still around, and are all magnificent snoops) and then think about how much the seasons have changed since they last did this. But when Gilbert leans down, brings his lips to hers, and tightens his embrace, her mind goes quiet. Still. While her heart soars.

[the-gedonelune-times]

Oh What Fun!

Luca is feeling a little overwhelmed with this year’s visit to the Goldstein estate, luckily Elias has a plan to help ease his worries and bring fun for the whole family, thanks to a recent snowfall!

"I've already been here a few times and despite that, I don't know if I'll ever get used to this."

Luca commented as he put his luggage down and began brushing away the snow that still clung to him. After a long walk in the harsh weather conditions, he was relieved to be inside where it was warmer. Even the others let out a sigh of relief when they too dropped their luggage down to the floor the moment they entered the estate. 

"Well, since you're dating our brother, you should probably start getting used to it. Our parents have already considered you to be a part of the family."

Alfonse teased, which prompted Elias to blush from head to toe, all while desperately trying to stop Alfonse from saying any more embarrassing.things. Of course, the whole commotion had alerted the attention of their parents who were now walking down the grand staircase to come and greet them.

"Boys!"

Marissa gripped the edges of her dress and pulled up enough so that she wouldn't trip over her dress as she ran to greet her sons. Once at the bottom of the stairs she quickly hugged all three of them until they began to complain of not being able to breathe. Then it was Luca's turn who was also now begging for her to stop before his bones turned to dust by such crushing force.

"I'm so glad to see my boys are okay. We heard about the weather taking a turn for the worse and your father and I were so worried. We were going to wait another fifteen minutes before sending out a search party to go and locate you."

"Yes, the weather is bad, but there's no need to even think of using such drastic measures."

"Perhaps in your eyes, but in mine, there's nothing I wouldn't do to ensure that my children are safe."

"Your mother can be quite careless sometimes, but her heart is in the right place."

"Oh dear me? I'm careless you say?" Suddenly, Mrs. Goldstein brought out her small paper fan and gently smacked it in Walter's face. "I suppose I am. I also suppose your father will be sleeping on the couch tonight."

With a triumphant smile, she turned away and left the area, leaving Walter to sigh and place a hand to his forehead.

"I'm going to ahead and have a word with your mother. You boys go ahead upstairs; put your things away, warm up and all that. We'll have dinner ready in a couple of hours. So enjoy your free time until then."

Walter hurried away and Alfonse and Klaus were the first ones to pick up their stuff and head upstairs.

"I suppose we should go ahead upstairs as well. Besides, taking a hot shower and getting into some clean clothes would be the best course of action considering we just trudged towards some crazy snowstorm after our carriage incident.."

"Prince Elias, if you're worried so much about me, just go ahead and say it."

Luca ended his sentence with a wink which caused Elias to grab his things and race up the stairs, but only after denying his statement with a flustered face. All Luca could do was laugh at how in denial his precious boyfriend was at the moment.

The minute that Luca got to his room, he shut the door, walked over to the bed and tossed the luggage down before plopping down on the bed. Probably not the best idea considering he was in rather cold and wet clothes. But he was exhausted and he wasn't sure if it was because of all the walking he had done already or if it was the feeling of stress that he still carried every time he set foot in the Goldstein estate. Probably both.

As he rolled over to the side, Luca got a good view of the outside through the large window in his room. It looked like the storm had died down significantly, leaving only a few snowflakes to be seen fluttering by the window. But the storm left its mark alright; everything was covered in a thick blanket of snow. There had to have been at least a few inches of snow covering the ground. 

There was a knock on his door which was followed up with it opening after Luca had given permission for whoever was out there, to come in. To his surprise, Elias was now standing in his room.

"Oh hey, miss me already Prince?".

"T-That's not it, so shut up." Blushing, Elias looked away with a huff.

"If that's not the case, then why exactly are you in my room?"

A few moments of silence passed by before Elias let out a sigh and walked over and sat on the edge of the bed Luca was lying on. 

"I came because I guess I was a little worried. You can be a pretty bad liar at times, like when you say you're fine with being here. Yet when I look in those eyes of yours, I see nothing but doubt. So.." Elias paused for a second. "I decided to come in and check on you to make sure you were doing alright."

"I appreciate it, but really, I'm okay right now. I'll admit, it's a little daunting coming here. I'm grateful that your family has been so accepting of our relationship, not to mention how nonchalantly they call me their son-in-law. It's almost like they want to hear those wedding bells toll soon."

Watching Elias go silent and practically go into shut-down mode from embarrassment, Luca decided to speak up.,

"Sorry, that was probably a little too much. But hey, if it makes anything better, I'll go ahead and say it right now; I'm not opposed to that happening soon in the future. But enough teasing. Is there something on your mind too?"

"Huh?"

"Did you not hear a word I said?"

"Yes and no. I zoned out with an idea. Although I did hear your teasing remarks, and in response to that, I say this. Prepare yourself Luca Orlem, for you'll regret teasing me so."

"What?"

"Hurry and get up out of bed, I want you to come outside with me for a surprise."

"What kind of surprise?"

"If I tell you, then what's the point in having it be a surprise?"

"Alright, fine, we'll do it your way. Just give me a few minutes."

"Meet me downstairs when you're done then."

It had been about ten minutes and Elias still found himself pacing back and forth at the bottom of the stairs. It seemed that he was in a bit of a trance, or perhaps he looked like he was about to solve the unsolvable. Whatever the case, Luca found it rather funny and chose not to disturb him until he got down to the last step. At that point, Elias stopped what he was doing and turned to look Luca in the eyes with a smile.

"Are you ready?"

"Sure, but what for?"

"As I said, you'll find out."

The opening of the front doors revealed much more snow than Luca though had fallen. There had to have been close to eight inches of snow on the ground right now. To think that much had fallen within a couple of hours was a bit mind-blowing;. But not as much as when he felt something cold smack him right in the face, blinding his vision for a few seconds. He began hearing laughter as he brushed away the cold from his face and when he looked over at the laughing, he saw Elias hunched over.

"Did you just throw that?"

"Yeah. What are you going to do about it?"

"Heh."

Scooping up snow in his gloves, Luca began to carefully shape it into a good size ball before lobbing it at Elias, hitting him directly in the face with such force that Elias found himself staggering backward from impact.

"Are you trying to kill me, you idiot?!"

"Nah, why would I want to do that to my prince? I'm just here to teach him a few tricks or snowball fighting."

"Hah! I'm not the one who needs teaching. Besides, what would you know about teaching anyone, you barely come to class."

"Ouch." Luca laughed before scooping up more snow. "Incoming!"

Elias was quick to dodge Luca's attack and quickly retaliated. But just like Elias, Luca had managed to dodge the attack and at the last second too.

"Nice one, princey, I guess you do know how to have fun."

Luca laughed while reaching down to grab some more snow. He was about to throw it when he heard a voice from behind him.

"What do you think you guys are do- ack!"

Luca had watched the scene unfold with wide eyes. A snowball was only mere inches from hitting his face, but had hit someone else entirely; yes, Klaus Goldstein took a snowball right to the face. Time stood still and no one said anything. Elias was frozen in fear, worried about the scolding he was about to get. Luca tried to form words and was unable too and Alfonse? Well, Alfonse hunched over and holding his stomach as he laughed.

"Oh, so I see that someone here thinks that this is funny."

"I'm hahaha! Sorry! I can't help it!"

"That so? Then you join in too!"

Klaus scooped up snow and didn't even bother forming it into a snowball before slapping it into Alfonse's face with a smile.

"You're right." Klaus started laughing. "This is funny." 

What started as a friendly snowball throwing between Elias and Luca had now evolved into a full out snowball war between everyone. It was a battle royale on the snowfield and everyone was having a blast. Or they were until Mr. and Mrs. Goldstein walked out.to investigate what at the commotion was. That's when it hit them, or rather, Walter. Time stopped and everyone's face went pale as the snowballs they had dropped to the ground below, except for Klaus who put a hand to his mouth after having been the one to throw the snowball that had made a direct hit in the face of his father.

"Boys..." Marissa looked at her husband and then at them. "Great shot!"

"W-What?" Elias spoke up with wide eyes

"That was a perfect aim Klaus, but if you want to really do some damage then make sure you do it like so."

With her gloved hands, Marissa began to form a rather big and perfectly shaped snowball before lobbing it right at Walter who had just removed the last bit of snow from his face.

"See?" She began to laugh before being cut off mid-laugh with snow being tossed in her face from Walter.

"Are you boys just going to stand there like statues all day? Come on, let's start a snowball war like the old days."

Without another moment's hesitation, Walter and his wife began making snowballs, while Alfonse, Klaus, Elias, and Luca did the same. After a thrilling half-hour snow battle, everyone was now inside in a new fresh change of clothes and blankets. While everyone else was making some hot chocolate, Elias and Luca were sitting by the fireplace huddled up close to one another.

"So that snowball fight outside, was that your surprise."

"Yes." Elias smiled.

"But why?

"When I was younger my family and I would have snowball fights whenever it snowed. It usually happened when we were on breaks and we could take a step away from all the stress from work and academics. When I saw that look in your eyes, I decided to try eliminating any stress you had through some methods that I thought you'd like."

"Huh...you went through all this trouble for me. I guess I should actually thank you."

"This is probably the first time I've heard you thank me or pretty much anyone."

"Hey, now that's just mean."

"Heh.." 

Leaning over, Elias gave a small peck on Luca's cheek before leaning back and sighing. Luca on the other hand just sat there with a small smile forming on his face before he made himself comfortable by resting his head against Elias's shoulder. They say that home is where the heart is and Luca, finally felt at home.

[highfivecalum]

Love and Communication {CH}

Lena sighed happily as the sun gleamed down on her. It had been a horrible winter and she couldn’t wait for warm weather and the sun to shine. It was a particularly nice day, the sun shining and it in the seventies making it the perfect weather for a run. With her long hair tied up, Lena pressed play on her phone and started her run through Central Park. Since she moved back to New York City in the winter she hadn’t been able to do much of what she used to do, like running in the park.

She was enjoying her run, smiling at passersby and little kids who were running around the grass. There were people having picnics, walking their dogs, or simply sitting on the benches reading. It seemed like she wasn’t the only one who was looking forward to warmer weather. She liked winter because of the holidays and hot chocolate, but she would trade in cold weather for warm no questions asked.

After thirty minutes of running and only breaking a light sweat, Lena slowed down, coming to a walk. She hadn’t gone on a run in months and she didn’t want to overwork her body, so she opted for walking the rest of the time. She was on a mission to get back home and chug some more water, but stopped when a small dog came running towards her. It wasn’t on a leash and she looked around in hopes for an owner, but nobody around her seemed to have lost their dog.

Bending down, Lena pet the dog, laughing as it jumped up to lick her face. “Hi buddy.” Lena checked it for a collar of any sort and was relieved when she saw a name and phone number. The phone number looked oddly familiar, but she didn’t think anything of it. “Hi Duke. Where are you parents?”

Duke barked and panted slightly and Lena frowned. She opened her water bottle that was almost empty and squirted it in the dog's mouth. He looked like he was thirsty and it was hot, so she didn’t want him to be dehydrated or anything. “Duke!” An almost familiar voice made Lena look up from the dog and her eyes widened at who was approaching her and Duke. He slowed down, his eyes widening as well, though they were hidden behind his sunglasses. “Lena? Lena Clements?”

“Oh my god, Calum!” Lena laughed and stood up, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and he happily returned the hug. They swayed back and forth before Lena stepped away, not wanting to get the small amount of sweat that was on her body on Calum’s, and shook her head in disbelief at the man in front of her. “Holy shit! It’s so good to see you!”

Calum Hood was a good friend of Lena’s, well, a good friend of her ex-boyfriend’s. Lena and Luke were together for two years and in those years, Lena became close friends with Luke’s and he with hers. They were all a little group of friends turned family and when Luke broke up with Lena, the boys took his side and the girls took hers, naturally.

Calum was Lena’s favorite friend of Luke’s. She wasn’t sure why, they just had similar personalities and got along well. They were the closest out of the bunch, minus Luke and Lena, of course. So, when the couple broke up, Calum and Lena tried to stay in touch, but eventually grew apart due to Luke’s constant nagging about their friendship.

“What are you doing back here?” Calum had Duke in his arms now, scratching behind his ear absentmindedly while he talked to the girl he was once so close with. “I thought you moved to Chicago?”

“I did for a while, but my job transferred me back here.” Lena explained. She loved Chicago, but New York City was her home and she missed it, so when her boss told her that they were transferring, she wasted no time in packing and moving into a new apartment that was paid for by Corporate. “How is everything with you? Still writing?”

“Everything is good. And yeah, still writing.” Calum smiled widely. He loved to write; music, poetry, stories, anything. Writing was his passion and his calling. He was surprised that Lena remembered, but he shouldn’t have been. He knew she had an impeccable memory and they were once good friends. They once knew everything about each other. “You look great.”

Lena rolled her eyes, knowing full well that she looked like a sweaty mess, but thanked him nonetheless. “You do too.” And it was true. He had grown a few inches taller since she had seen him last. It had only been two years, buthis appearance had changed drastically. He built up more muscle, gotten more tattoos, and died his hair from brown to a blonde color. “How is everyone? Ash? Mikey? Um… Luke?”

Lena hated bringing up Luke. He broke her heart in two without reason and left her when she thought they would be together forever. She wanted to marry him and she swore that she would never get over him and the heartbreak he caused her, but moving to Chicago a few months ago the breakup helped her. She met new friends, new guys, and busied herself with work so much that she almost forgot Luke even existed.

“They’re all good. I haven’t talked to Luke in awhile, though.”

“Oh?” Lena tilted her head in confusion. Luke and Calum were attached by the hip at one point in time, inseparable, brothers. So to hear that they haven’t spoken confused Lena. She never would have guessed that. “Why’s that?”

“He moved to California for work and has been busy.” Calum shrugged as if it was no big deal, but he missed his best friend. Work and new friends in California took over Luke’s life and he kind of left Calum and the rest of the guys behind. “But I’m busy, too, so it’s alright.” Lena nodded her head and smiled sadly, knowing it upset Calum, but said nothing. “Hey, are you doing anything tonight?”

“Not a thing.”

“Wanna grab a drink? I would stay and catch up with you here, but you look like you’re busy running and I have to go meet my mom and sister for lunch.” Calum suggested. He didn’t realize how much he missed Lena until she was standing right in front of him.

“That sounds great,” Lena smiled and pulled out her phone. She had gotten a new phone and hadn’t backed it up, so she lost basically everything, including all of her friends phone numbers. “I lost all of my contacts. What’s your number?”

Calum gave her his number and she texted him just in case he didn’t have hers still. He still did and it made Lena happy that he hadn’t deleted her out of his life after she and Luke broke up. He continued to follow her on all social media and like her Instagram pictures and laugh at her tweets, but they never spoke.

“I’ll text you a place and time?” Calum asked, pocketing his phone and adjusting Duke who was now asleep with his head resting on Calum’s shoulder. Lena nodded her head with a smile and the two hugged before going their separate way.

✧✧✧

The nervousness that Calum felt was unwarranted. He had no reason to be nervous. He and Lena had hung out one on one plenty of times. Sure, he used to have a small crush on her when she was dating Luke, but he was positive it wasn’t serious and that it went away. But when he saw her step inside the bar/restaurant he chose to meet at in a black dress and wedges with her hair and makeup done, he could feel his feelings coming back to him in full force. He couldn’t make a move on her, he knew that much. It was guy code. Never date your best friend’s ex. But was Luke really even considered his best friend anymore? He didn’t know.

He watched as she looked around the semi-crowded restaurant for Calum, smiling at how she still bit her lip when she was focused or deep in thought. Finally, he raised his hand up and called out her name. “Lena!” Her head snapped to the side and her confused expression turned into a smile.

She said excuse me to the few people standing in the middle of the place and quickly made her way over to Calum who was sitting at the round bar. She gave him a half side hug before sitting down on the empty chair next to him. “Hey.” She exhaled, hanging her small purse on the arm of the chair, she rested her elbow on the bar and propped her head up on it. “I’ve never been here before.”

“It just opened a few months ago.”

“Hm,” Lena looked around. There were reds and blacks and the lights were dim. The tables on the restaurant side had candles and flowers on them and on the bar they sat at was a circle, with the bartenders and liquor inside of it. It was a unique place, very fancy, and Lena was glad she dressed right for the occasion. “It’s really nice.”

“What are you drinkin’?” Calum flagged down the bartender and ordered himself a whiskey neat and ordered Lena the Martini she wanted.

The air between them was different. They hung out when they were nineteen and twenty, but now they were reaching twenty-three and twenty-four and something felt different. More personal, mature, intimate. Maybe it was because they had downed a few drinks, never stopped talking, and had somehow ended up closer than before with their knees brushing against one another. Whatever it was - it was different.

Lena giggled into her glass at something Calum had said and lightly placed it back down on the marble bar. She swirled the uneaten olive around and glanced up when she felt Calum’s eyes burning into the side of her head. “What?” She exhaled a breathy laugh. Calum looked at her lips, they were covered red and so was her Martini glass from the lipstick she was wearing.

Calum had never seen her wear lipstick. Only lip gloss, but she had grown up a lot, matured, since the last time he saw her as a freshly turned twenty-one year old. When he knew her before, he never thought she could get any more gorgeous, but God, was he wrong.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Lena’s voice was quieter now.

“You’re just fucking beautiful,” Calum couldn’t help but tell her. He watched her blush and duck her head, her face hidden behind her hair to hide the blush on her cheeks, but Calum wanted to see it. Gingerly, he tucked her hair behind her ear, showing off the earrings she had on. Calum watched her throat work as he lightly grazed his thumb against her red cheeks. Red from the blush she put on earlier and from Calum’s words. “I’ve always thought you were too good for Luke.”

“Calum…” Lena shook her head.

“‘M serious, Lena. He treated you like shit. He didn’t deserve you.” Calum wasn’t sure if it was the few glasses of whiskey he had consumed or how overwhelming and good it felt to finally be around her again, but he was telling her everything he had wished he told her before. “And I told him that, too. Told him he that he didn’t deserve a girl like you. Told him that if he didn’t stop treatin’ you like shit he would lose you.” Calum scoffed at the memory of his cocky best friend. “Can’t believe you’re the one that lost him.”

Lena frowned at the memory of her and Luke’s break up. She invited him over to her house, it was almost their two and a half year anniversary. She had cooked his favorite meal and bought an expensive bottle of wine and new set of lingerie just for him, only for him show up dressed in sweats, empty handed, with an break up speech prepared.

Lena wasn’t expecting it. She didn’t see it coming, so it hit her even harder, broke her heart into even more pieces than it should have. She thought she would never recover. Calum was scared she wouldn’t. 

Lena downed the rest of her Martini. “He broke my heart.” She whispered. The bartender saw their empty glasses and refilled them without question which Lena was going to tip him well for. “And I didn’t even see it coming.”

“I know he did.” Calum took her hand in his and brought them up to his lips. He kissed them lightly, waiting for any sign of reaction or rejection, but when Lena did nothing, stayed there staring at him with admiration in her eyes, Calum leaned closer. “And he’s a fucking idiot for that.”

Their lips were close, closer than they ever were or ever should have been, and Lena was hyper aware of that. She wasn’t going to deny that she found Calum attractive, but it was nothing more than that. Or that’s what she told herself.

“Calum…” Lena breathed. “We-we can’t. You’re Luke’s best friend.”

“Am I?” Calum questioned. “Haven’t heard from him in three months, Lena. He left, made new friends, and left us all behind. Wouldn’t consider him my best friend anymore, would you?”

“No,” Lena shook her head. “I wouldn’t.”

That’s all it took for Calum to press his lips together and nearly moan into Lena’s mouth when she kissed back and deepened it. She slid off of the wooden chair, her satin dress making it easy for her to do so, and found home in between Calum’s legs. His hands found her waist and he squeezed them when he felt Lena’s fingers lace through his hair.

He kissed her like he always wanted to and then it hit him. Fuck, he once loved her. He never thought it was love, just a small crush, but maybe that’s just what he convinced himself to believe. He didn’t love her anymore, the time and distance mixed with the lack of speaking and seeing each other had it fading away as time went by, but being with her; touching, tasting, and feeling her lips, he was sure he was going to fall in love all over again.

✧✧✧

Taglist: @wrappedaroundcal @cosmocalum @roselukes @kinglyhood @cantbehandled-ever @hereforlukescruff @astroashtonio @monsteramongmikey @5secsofsomewhere @gosh-im-short @emma070900 @youmaycallmemrshemmings @grittyisathot @cakesunflower

(if you want to be added or taken off the taglist send me an ask!)

[txladyj-blog]

Chapter 3 - This Time Around

a Daryl Dixon x OFC collaboration written by @xmistressmistrustx​

Rating: Explicit

Relationship: Daryl Dixon/Original Female Character

Tags: Friendship, Friends to Lovers, Awkwardness, Awkward Flirting, Awkward Crush, Fluff and Humor, Angst and Humor, Mild Smut, Strong Language, Eventual Sex, Eventual Romance, Slow Burn, Canon Divergence, Some Canon Scenes and Dialogue

Chapters 15/?

On her way down to the water, Jess blinked the sun from her eyes and slapped her baseball cap on. They still had many more weeks left of the relentless sun and heat, the only let up being the late afternoons and early evenings when there was a little respite from the heat. Only then, when night crept in did the temperature change drastically, becoming colder but not enough for Jess to wear a jacket or sweater. She never really seemed to feel the cold all that much, she put it down to having lived in so many different places with such differing weather. Sarah had quite loudly blamed the fact that she had more layers of fat than most. Jess grit her teeth and shoved the comment away, hoping that not too many people from the group had heard her.

Her sneakers flapped against the dusty surface of the slope as she neared the bottom. Carol was in the corner by the shore, Ed watching her closely as she washed his shirt. Sophia sat on a rock nearby playing with her doll. Her soft chatter like a delightful tune to Jess’s ears. On the opposite side, was Daryl, knee deep in the water and holding up a sopping wet shirt with a huge bloodstain right in the middle. She scuffed towards him and stopped by the waters edge.

“How you doing, Stinky?” She chirped.

Daryl glanced over his shoulder at her. He was wearing a simple, off-white vest that was turning transparent from the water.

“Fine.” He called back.

She tilted her head to one side as she observed him trying to remove the stubborn stain from the garment. Her knowledge of history and attendance at many, authentic renaissance fairs had led to a vast knowledge of life without washer dryers and laundromats. She kicked off her sneakers, rolled her jeans up and waded into the water.

“Give it here, you’re making a pigs ear of that.” She chuckled.

“Been washin’ my stuff in rivers all my life, you can’t teach me shit, girl” he shot back, although he didn’t sound angry, more intrigued than anything else. She stopped beside him, the water lapping at her thighs. In the blistering heat, it was a welcome respite. Her body temperate cooled and she really wanted to just dive in and submerge herself in the tantalizing freshness of the water.

“You’re so stubborn. Just humor me, c’mon.” She said, reaching out for the shirt.

He reluctantly dragged it up from the water. Once again, she couldn’t help but notice his strong arms and dragged her lower lip under her front teeth. When her eyes lifted to his face, she was alarmed to find him staring right at her.

“Jess?” He asked with one eyebrow raised.

“Um. Sorry. I wasn’t looking- I mean...” She pointed a finger at him “…give me the damn shirt” and snatched it from his grasp. “Uh…” She shook the image from her head and waded a couple of steps to her left, meeting a large rock protruding from the water. “You need to use a rock. Like this.”

Swirling the shirt around in the water, she kept her eyes firmly on what she was doing, knowing that if she risked a peek, he would be able to see straight through her and her inability to ignore his two best features. Gathering the shirt up, she began massaging it into the smooth rock. He silently looked on from behind her, craning his neck to see what she was doing. Then, she took hold of one end of the shirt and beat it against the surface with a loud slap that echoed across the quarry each time. Daryl thought it looked like she was taking some serious anger out on his one and only shirt and hoped it would still be in one piece when she was done. When she stepped back, dipped it in the water and held it up, the stain had visibly diminished

“That was a lot of blood.” She remarked with a small pant. The last thing she wanted was for him to know how out of breath she was from battering a rock with a large piece of fabric.

“Yeah” He agreed. “Aint mine.”

“I know.” She said quickly, meaning he was now staring at her again. “That’s what I-I was looking for” She stammered, motioning to his arm. “Injuries.”

He nodded, feigning agreement. “Yeah, sure.”

“Damn right. That’s me. Always checking folks for injuries.” She babbled as she wrung the shirt out and attempted to slosh past him.

“No ya aint.” He argued with a small smile.

She sighed and turned to him “Alright. No, I don’t. But I really was with you. Honestly.”

“Right” He grinned.  

“Here.” She said, tossing the twisted ball of fabric at him “I’m going before I embarrass myself even more.”

“Sure” He grunted. “Oh, don’t forget to check Merle for injuries.”

She stopped and slowly looked over her shoulder, her lips pushed into a thin line before she released a bashful laugh and flapped her hands at her sides, tilting her head back and sighing at the sky.

“That’s for callin’ me Stinky.” He confirmed while wading back to the shore and passing her.

“OK. We’re even. I’ll leave checking Merle over to twisted sister number 2” she mentioned, her hands coming up and dramatically shielding her mouth as she gasped and giggled loudly, the sound bouncing from the cliffs around the water. Daryl let himself go and laughed along with her as they both paddled through the water and back to dry land.

Gives as good as she gets, this girl.

Carol looked up when she heard Daryl and Jess laughing with one another as she walked out of the water, her lips curled into a smile when she saw Daryl beaming from ear to ear, a sight she had never seen since she’d met him for the first time. She’d assumed he never displayed such an expression, but it was now clear that he just didn’t have anything to smile about before.

“I say you could stop?” Ed snapped from behind her. “I need that damn shirt.”

She resumed her task without argument, the happy scene she’d witnessed making it all a little easier.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

That night, Jess was taken off guard when she passed the RV. She held an empty, metal bowl after eating alone in her tent and was distracted by a whistle from the top of the vehicle. She looked up to see Daryl reclined in his seat, in his usual spot but a lot earlier than usual. He nudged his head up, beckoning for her to join him. It had been weeks since they’d first met and she felt a sense of pride when she thought of how far they’d come and how they'd managed to at least partially break down each others barriers. She wasn’t yet sure about saying they were friends, but she was certain they enjoyed each other’s company.

Returning her plastic cutlery and her camping bowl to the bucket in the food prep area, she passed Sarah and Jodie who were immersed in hushed whispers as usual. Also, around the campfire, was Glenn, Andrea, her sister Amy, Merle, Dale and T-dog. She offered them all a polite smile, receiving the same back. Carol and Rick retreated into their tents with their families and Shane was out checking the fences. Having never really seen Daryl and Jess on their regular perch, everyone exchanged glances when she climbed the ladder to the RV, their nightly routine now revealed to the group.

Appearing beside him, she sat down and caught his eye. Saying nothing, they sat side by side for a while until the chatter resumed below and both of them were certain the topic of conversation was not directed at them. Jess slumped down in her seat, rested her head on the backrest and closed her eyes while Daryl lit a cigarette. After a while, Jess found she’d drifted off into a light sleep and woke only when she heard Sarah wish Daryl a good night in her typical, flirtatious high school cheerleader voice. Daryl ignored her.

Jess sat up and rubbed at her face, clearing her throat and raising her eyebrows at the distance Daryl was able to flick his cigarette end out into the distance.

“What were you doing when the word ended?” She wanted to know. The sound of her voice seemed to slice through the atmosphere like a knife and she smarted at the sound. “Wow, never thought I’d say that sentence.” She added more quietly.

He flicked his lighter on and off over and over again as he struggled to decide if he should tell her the truth or not. Concluding that he had previously snapped at her and offended her and she was still sat with him, he guessed she would be able to handle it.

“Was workin’ my way through four lines of coke when I looked up and saw the TV had that national guard alert thing on it.” He disclosed.

“Yeah, we saw that on our phones. My friend and I. We were at a renaissance fair.” She said casually.

He briefly wondered why she didn’t seem bothered that he confessed so openly to being a cocaine user when it occurred to him that she simply took people as they were, flaws or not.

“A what?” He questioned.  

“A Renaissance fair. It’s a recreation of a historical setting with costumes and role play and stuff, for a whole weekend.”

His expression was one of pure bafflement as he stared at her.  

“So, you like… get all dressed up and run around in a field pretending to’ to fight or some shit?”

“Well, that’s the battle reenactment part. But it happens, Yeah.” She affirmed.

His brow furrowed. “You’re kinda weird, y’know that?”

“I think that’s what you like about me.” She grinned as she leaned towards him and nudged his elbow with hers. It was the first time she’d actually physically touched him aside from letting him help her up from the ground in the woods. He didn’t react which she could only take as a good sign.

“I don’t like nobody.” He scoffed.  

Jess huffed and rolled her eyes, a bright smile on her face that he could see clearly enough due to light from a lantern between them.

“Yes, you do. Just accept that you’re as weird as me and that’s why we get along.” She grinned.

Part of him hated that she was able to draw smiles out of him like no one else he had ever known, but the other part of him liked the fact that when he was with her, things seemed that little bit easier.

“Whatever.” He dismissed.

She laughed to herself and got up, reaching her arms high above her head and stretching her muscles.  

“Where ya goin?” He questioned.  

“Back to my tent.” She yawned. “Tired”

“Ya ain’t got no more weird hobbies to tell me about?” He continued.

Jess was mildly shocked by the question, he wanted her to tell him about her hobbies? He wanted to talk to her at all? It no longer felt like she was forcing him to converse with her, he’d taken the lead this time and she was more than happy to let him have it.  

“Wasn’t aware you were that interested.” She admitted.

“I ain’t. Just nothin better to do.” He shrugged.

Jess plonked herself back in the rickety chair again and shifted her body to face him, throwing one leg over the other.

“OK, so if my hobbies are weird, what are yours?” She challenged.

At the prospect of being asked more about himself and his life, his desire to talk lessened considerably in seconds.

“Ain’t talkin’ ‘bout me” He mumbled.

“I am.” She glared at him with a bold and entertained look.  

Accepting that he wasn’t going to get out of answering her probing and he was partly to blame for encouraging her to stay, he nibbled his bottom lip and answered her question.

“Fine. Huntin’, drinkin’, gettin’ high”

"And spittin' chaw in a bucket?" She joked.

"Asshole" He grumbled as she covered her mouth with her hand and stifled a giggle.

Birds flew overhead, a now rare sight that meant there were still some species out there somewhere, flourishing away from all the decay. Jess swayed back and forth in her seat with her arms wrapped around herself.

“Maybe you can teach me how to hunt, drink and get high one day.” She suggested breezily.

“Nah, I ain’t wastin’ time with no lightweight.” He declined.

“Just makes me a cheap date.” She realized instantly that she’d just come out with something unintentionally flirtatious and panicked. “I mean, yeah…uh… probably a lightweight.” She laughed awkwardly as she played with the hem of her T-shirt.

“Ya ever been huntin’?” He wanted to know, ignoring her outward discomfort and wondering what it was that made her so fidgety sometimes.

“No. I’d like to.” She said.

He nodded, leaning forward and picking up a leaf from the roof of the RV. He fiddled with it, folded it in half and then in half again.

“Too dangerous to be out there without knowin’ whatcha doin’.” He expressed.

“Yeah. Guess you’re right. And I wouldn’t.” She agreed.

Believing she’d murdered the conversation with her careless chit chat, she stopped talking and resigned herself to sitting quietly and tapping her sneaker on the edge of the roof again. More time passed and Jess couldn’t think of a way to get up and leave without seeming embarrassed or strange. She knew she was overthinking everything but being in the presence of someone she was actually starting to find highly attractive was unsettling and she wasn’t used to it.

“So, what’s the difference?” She heard him utter out of nowhere.

“What?”

“Said ya ain’t shy, ya introverted. What’s the difference?”

Two enquiries into her personality and interests in one night meant that she may have been all over the place and afraid to do something wrong, but the night had still been a small triumph in itself.

“Shy means you’re anxious about talking to people. Nervous and timid. Introverts aren’t always like that; we just need to re-charge sometimes. We’re confident with people we’re comfortable around. I’ll talk to people but I usually find most folks just drain me. I guess I’m just quiet by nature, but I’m not shy.” She explained.

“Hm.” He grunted. “Some kind of head shrinker tell you that?”

“No. It’s kind of common knowledge. Or at least I thought it was.” She disclosed “I think maybe your introverted too, it’s something we have in common.”

“Nah. I just think most folks are assholes.” He countered quickly

Jess giggled at his stubborn streak and for the second time Daryl realized that he liked the fact that she thought him funny. His mouth quirked up into a half smile.

“I’ll leave you alone to recharge your introvert batteries.” She winked at him. “Goodnight.”

She didn’t hear him protest or call her back as she descended the ladder so when her feet hit the ground, she made straight for her tent, longing for her sleeping bag and wishing she had a pen so she could record the events of her time spent sat with someone she really would have liked to have called her friend.

“Hey.” A voice called out. She turned back and saw him smoking yet another cigarette and leaning forward in his seat. “Ya wanna learn how to track animals?” A thin line of smoke rose from where he sat, high up into the air before it vanished.

A rush of excitement thundered through her and she wrestled with the urge not to grin too widely.

“Yeah, that sounds good.” She squeaked, her voice emerging in higher pitch than she’d expected.

“Sunrise. Meet me at the tree line over there” he lifted his arm, pointing across the camp. “Make sure ya have somethin to eat first. Ya pass out on me i’ma leave ya ass out there.”

Jess knew it was a playful dig at her making him eat a bowl of berries before going hunting and liked the fact that he’d remembered and used it on her. Turning the tables and proving that their jibing at one another was enjoyed as much by him as it was by her.

“OK. I will.” She beamed. “See you at sunrise”

“One more thing” He rasped, standing up and driving a hand into his jeans pocket. Her eyes grew larger when she saw the plastic box clasped in his fingers as he tugged them out of his pocket. He threw it down to her, the box clattering in the dust at her feet. She looked down at it and wanted nothing more than to run back to the ladder and hug him. Five precious, black, ballpoint pens.

“Yours stopped workin’, right?” He checked.

“Yeah.” She responded as she gingerly bent down to pick them up.

“Saw ‘em when I was out on a run with Rick the other day.”

He thought of me when he was out on a run?

She opened her mouth to speak, but what was a simple gesture from Daryl was a huge deal to Jess. He had just given her back the ability to express her emotions and keep her sanity in check. Now, she would need no more dangerous walks in the woods alone and she could write until she fell asleep.

“This is um…you don’t know how grateful I am for this. Thank you, Daryl.” She said, swallowing hard and looking right at him.

“No problem.” He grunted, raising a hand at her in a small wave “Night.”

Before she succumbed to sleep, Jess sat cross legged on her sleeping bag with her torch in her mouth, shining down on the page and began to write.

It’s funny, I never thought someone throwing a box of pens at me would mean so much. Daryl knew I couldn’t write because my one and only pen stopped working, so he brought me back a box from a supply run. I must have looked at him like he had grown an extra head. I just couldn’t believe he thought of me while he was out there. I can write again, my mind feels clearer already and I’m happier. All because he got me some stupid pens.

OK, maybe it isn’t just the pens. He seems to be coming around to the idea of us being friends. Tonight, he didn’t actually say it but he wanted me to go sit with him on the RV and then tried to act as though he wasn’t interested in me at all while asking me questions about myself. He’s actually got a sense of humor and a personality that he’s slowly but surely letting me see and it’s awesome. He’s pretty awesome.  

But he caught me looking at him today. It was mortifying and I’m so angry at myself. Yeah, the guy is hot. But I thought I was stronger than to get caught practically drooling at him. He knew too. He knew exactly what was going on and I feel like my life is officially over.

Hopefully, I’ll get eaten by a walker or he’ll get a bout of amnesia.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Her T-shirt was sticking to her back with sweat. She really wanted to know how Daryl did this every day in such heat and sometimes even with his leather vest on. She was sure she’d pass out and had consumed most of the water she brought with her before they’d even been out for an hour. Daryl crept along in front of her, examining the ground and snapped branches of foliage In the woods. Try as she might, she kept falling behind and her legs felt like they were made of cement.

I really should have used that gym membership.

“C’mon, keep up. Stay close to me.” Daryl instructed from in front of her. She could see that the back of his shirt was also dampened with sweat, but unlike her, he showed little to no signs of fatigue.

“It’s so damn hot out here” she complained “am I in hell?!”

“Purgatory at best.” He mumbled

She dragged the back of her hand through the perspiration on her top lip.

Great. A sweat moustache. Sexy.

“Looooord. I’m MEEELTING!” She cried.

“Shh!” He whirled around, bundling her against a tree with his fingers wrapped around the top of one of her arms. The movement was so quick and unexpected and her flesh stung but she didn’t flinch, his temper too short for her to react. She couldn’t deny that fear tickled her veins and she was rooted to the spot. “You stupid or somethin?! Ain’t just animals out here. Place is full of Walkers and ya gonna get us both bit if ya don’t keep ya god damn voice down.” He hissed at her through gritted teeth.

“OK. I’m sorry.” She whispered. “You’re hurting me”

In a split second, he was full of guilt for losing his temper at her as he examined her alarmed expression. He looked down at his hand clamped tightly around her arm. He quickly let go as if her skin was made from lava, seeing the red mark he’d left behind. An angry handprint. He shrank back and she noticed his eyes kept dropping and coming back to the burning patch around her bicep.

“I-I didn’t mean to-“ he mumbled.

“-It’s OK.” She interrupted “really, it’s OK.”

He dragged a hand over his face, his crossbow rattling against his legs as he held it loosely in his grasp with his other hand.

“Come on, let’s keep going.” She suggested, stepping away from the tree and motioning with her hand for him to pass her.

“Wait” he grunted. She stopped and stood still, witnessing what she could only describe as pure, genuine regret in the angry, aggressive redneck.

“I wouldn’t hurt ya. Not on purpose.” He told her

“Daryl, I know” Jess tried

“Naw, Naw” He dismissed, waving a hand at her. “I saw it. in your eyes. Ya scared of me.”

Jess exhaled slowly and tried to ground herself. This was a conversation she had definitely not anticipated and one with which she knew she needed to exercise extreme caution with.

“You just surprised me. I’m not scared of you. I wouldn’t spend half as much time with you if I was. I understand why you got mad at me, I’m kind of annoying and I don’t know how to handle this new world like you do.”

He paced about in the small space between the trees in front of her. Back to front, side to side, before he finally stopped and began to bite his thumbnail.

“Sorry.” He muttered from behind his hand.

Jess smiled at him. In that moment, she knew that Daryl was not good at apologies and had very likely, hardly ever, genuinely apologized for anything in his life.

“I told you. It’s OK”

He nodded once, raised his crossbow again and charged past her.

“Ya gotta keep up so I can keep an eye on ya.” He grumbled

She took a quick swig of water from the bottle that was fastened to a plastic strap on her belt and carried on after him, wishing that it was raining, or snowing, or that she was standing in the water of the quarry washing clothes. But the view made up for it and she couldn’t lie to herself, watching Daryl stalk about between the trees, concentration etched on his face, his crossbow at the ready and his strong physique shining in the light of the sun as he moved was almost enough to make her forget what she was doing there altogether.  But while she thought Daryl nice to look at, she remained platonically interested in him and what he had to teach her there and then, knowing that someday, she might need to use the information presented to her.

“See this right here.” He stopped and pointed with his boot to a nibbled patch of grass “deer.”

Jess finally caught up, standing next to him and regarding the slightly disturbed area on the ground.

“How do you know that?!” She asked with surprise.

“They’re messy eaters. They press it against their top palette and yank it right outta the ground.”

Her face changed and she thought for a moment as her lips rose into a smile.

“Like a really cute lawn mower.” She commented.

He just looked at her as if she was crazy.

“What about Walkers? Can you track them?” She wanted to know as she peered down at the missing grass, noting the disturbed earth under it.

“Walkers and live humans are easiest to track. We leave footprints, stamped down grass, broken twigs and messed up foliage. That kinda shit.” He explained.

She began to back away with a glint in her eye that he didn’t like the look of.

“So if I ran off, you’d be able to track me?” She asked.

He followed her, walking with her as she stepped backwards. She was challenging him and he didn’t like it one bit. Not out there in the open. Not where she could get killed.

“I could, but runnin’ off would be a real dumb thing to do.” He warned.

“Look at me, it’s not like I’m going to get far.” She gestured to her torso with her hands.

“Stop.” He ordered firmly

“Maybe I should try, could use the exercise” she shrugged lightheartedly, aware she was once again prodding at his temper but caring very little. Angry Daryl wasn’t all that bad to look at either.

He was glaring at her, his blue eyes intense. For such a mysterious, introverted and antisocial person, she couldn’t figure out why it was that he seemed to manage and maintain eye contact with her on a number of occasions. Not that she was complaining.

“Ya stay with me, so I can keep ya safe.” He affirmed.

His switch in tone from relaxed to stern and protective stirred something in Jess. She liked the way his eyes locked with hers as he talked about keeping her safe. She hadn’t expected this level of care from him and could only hazard a guess that it was because he actually did like her enough to want her around. She nodded and gestured with her hand for him to continue leading the way.

“How did you learn this?” She queried.

“My ol’ man used to take me out into the woods. Blindfold me and bail. Had to track him.”

“Well, it worked.”

“Yeah. He’d tan my hide every time I got it wrong.”

Jess smiled at the ground as she walked but it soon dawned on her that he could be serious and that there was the possibility that Daryl didn’t have the best upbringing in the world.

“You taught anyone else how to do this?” She continued in her quest to find out more about him.

“Naw.”

“Don’t you and Merle usually hunt together?”

“Not no more. We split up. He’s more interested in getting’ laid. Stop askin’ questions, every animal in Georgia can hear ya.” He scolded.

“Sorry.” She muttered as she scanned the area around them. A darkened, bumpy patch around a tree stump caught her eye and she skirted away from Daryl, approaching it with some hesitation.

“Are those edible?” She questioned while leaning forwards over the gathering of mushrooms.

“Again with the damn questions” he complained as he stomped over to where she stood and followed her gaze.

“I have to ask questions to learn” she corrected, straightening up and raising an eyebrow at him.

“Yeah, can eat those” He answered, ignoring her last statement.. “But don’t eat nothin’ like that without askin’ me or Merle or someone that knows what the hell they’re talkin’ ‘bout. The wrong ones could kill ya.”

“Or get me real high.” She suggested with a wink.

“You ever done shrooms?” His face was unimpressed, not taken in by her playful line of questioning.

She placed both hands on her hips and let out a small laugh “Do I look like I’ve done shrooms?”

“Right. No. Don’t touch any unless ya desperate.” He told her before resuming her lesson about different types of tracks. He explained how animals have certain ways of moving which leave footprints that signal what they are. Along with how to identify bird tracks and how to cover her own path if she ever need to escape Into the woods.

“Why would I run away from another live human?” She asked.

“Can’t trust people no more. Some of ‘em are worse than the Walkers.” He replied. “Ya see another person, keep ya distance and ya weapon ready. They could steal your shit or wanna eat ya with the way things are goin’.”

That’s food for thought.

“I’m a catch. I’d keep them fed for at least a fortnight.” She chirped.

He suddenly stopped and glared back at her. She couldn’t read his expression, somewhere between irritation and confusion. He said nothing and carried on walking.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The majority of the day was highly educational for Jess and she took a vested interest in being able to hunt her own food and escape without trace into the trees. She’d even been able to practice a few things. Daryl let her use his crossbow to shoot a squirrel and she shocked herself when she celebrated the animals demise instead of crying about it. That was her squirrel, he had told her. She was going to skin it and eat it because it was her first ever successful hunt. She felt a swelling sense of pride in her chest when he handed it to her and made sure she carried it back to camp.

As they neared the tree line that separated them from the clearing in which the fire was being started for the evening, Jess and Daryl slowly wandered along, neither of them really wanting to go back and sit among the others. Their time alone in the woods had been mutually enjoyable and peaceful and Daryl considered asking her if she wanted to do the same again the next day. Before he could speak, she beat him to it.

“I enjoyed today.” She confessed. “It was very educational.”

“Me too.” He replied quietly, keeping his vision on his path and hoisting the string of squirrels and various other small, dead animals further up his shoulder.

“Where’s your vest?” She enquired, using it as an excuse to catch a glimpse of his arms.

Screw it. I’ve earned this.

He looked up at her briefly, catching her eyes sweeping his upper arm and chose to ignore it as as he prepared for her reaction to what he was about to tell her.

“Washed it this mornin’. Was dryin’ when I left.” She began to giggle to herself and felt him shove her in the arm in jest. “Shut up.”  He grunted.

“He actually listened to me. Oh my god.” She said to herself with a wide grin.

“It’s a one off. Don’t act so smug.” He grumbled as they both stepped out of the trees into the open area of the camp. Activity was at a minimum. Shane and Lori were talking in the corner, Carol sat with Sophia by the fire as Glenn fanned the initial flames. Andrea was atop of the RV while Dale was at the food station. Jess turned to Daryl with her squirrel gripped in her hand by its tail.

“Thank you. For taking me out.” She said sincerely.

“You’re welcome.” He said with a nod.

It was a clear and sincere acceptance and strangely polite for him. But she appreciated it all the same. He intended to follow it up with an invitation to do the same the next day, but something shattered his plan.

“Thank you for taking me out Daryl I love youuuuu!” A high-pitched voice mocked from behind them.

Daryl whirled around and locked his sights on Sarah.

“What’s up? You jealous or somethin?! Huh?” He raged as he stormed towards them. Jess managed to grab one of his arms to stop him but she shrugged her off and told her in no uncertain terms that she was going to let him say his piece.

”I should ram this squirrel down her throat” Jess said under her breath.

Daryl’s rage was evidently scaring Sarah into submission to an extent. When he stopped in front of her and loomed over as she perched on a tree stump, his eyes narrowed and Jodie, who was sat beside Sarah, instinctively moved away and stood nearby like the true coward she was.

“You deaf as well as stupid?” He seethed.

“N-no.” She said with an air of fake confidence..

“You wouldn’t wanna go out there anyways, I’d feed ya skinny ass to the Walkers before the heat melts that plastic shit in ya face.” He hissed. “You got a thing for Rednecks? That why ya jealous?”

“No”

“Funny. Ain’t what I’ve seen.”

“Don’t you dare.” Sarah warned

“C’mere. I gotta tell ya somethin.” He leaned closer, curling his index finger at her and gesturing for her to move forwards. She refused, so he defiantly positioned his face by her ear. “Threatenin’ me ain’t wise, bitch. Not with what I saw ya doin with my brother in the woods.”

“You didn’t see anything. I wasn’t doing anything.” She protested through gritted teeth.

He moved back slightly, looking right at her. His lip curling in disgust. He hated girls like Sarah and Jodie as much as Jess seemed to. He too had endured their persecution at high school.

“Harder, Merle. Harder.” He mocked quietly adapting his voice and making it higher-pitched.

Sarah’s face twisted into pure panic.

“Oh my god. Shut your mouth. You some kind of pervert?” She fumed, quickly looking over her shoulder at a petrified Jodie, stood hugging herself and biting her nails.

“Nah, that’s Merle. But ya know that already, don’t ya?” He leaned close to her again, hearing her draw in a jagged breath. “Maybe next time he’s balls deep in ya, you should keep it down. Just a suggestion.”

Jess was impressed at his ability to render them both silent and reasonably terrified in seconds and she only wished she could do the same. His comment regarding Sarah’s badly executed lip fillers had almost made her bellow with laughter. But she exercised some restraint and watched on with dignity. Then came his graphic ridicule of her sexual activity with Merle in the woods. She hadn’t seen this side to him. Spiteful and savage and she had felt a twinge of discomfort at his brash and crude references. However, she struggled to find a reason why it wasn’t justified and decided that it all boiled down to the fact that Sarah shouldn’t be dishing it out if she couldn't take it.

It was some time before Daryl finally backed down after an intense stare off between then, but when he did, Sarah sat motionless and humiliated in her spot, her hands clasped in her lap and her jaw pulled tight.

“C’mon” Daryl said to Jess as he passed “let’s cook this shit up.”

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

I think I have a crush on him. I’m so pissed at myself. Why do I always like guys that wouldn’t look at me twice?! Who am I trying to kid? No one looks at me twice anyway. Suppose I’ll just have to window shop, as usual. The world ended. Only a few survived and my brain thinks it’s an appropriate time to develop a crush on someone. It seems it’s been noticed by the twisted sisters too. No doubt I’ll have to endure more mockery at their hands. Or maybe What Daryl said to Sarah will make her think twice in the future. I don’t know. It was kind of…hot. Watching him shut her up like that. I can only hope it’s stays with her and she leaves us alone. Us. That’s strange. Me. Leave me alone.

Sometimes, I feel like they’re how I’m supposed to be. Maybe if I were more like them, things would be easier. Are they roses and I’m just a Dandelion? Roses may have thorns but if you breathe in instead of out at a Dandelion, it’ll choke you.

Choosing to sit with Rick and Carl after everyone had eaten, Jess jotted down words in her journal, tilting it to avoid Carl’s curious gaze. After weeks at the camp, Jess concluded that the cop next to her and his young son were actually quite nice company and decent conversation in the late evening hours when the sun would set and she’d start to look forward to retreating to the top of the RV with someone who had become her favorite individual to be around. Daryl.

Glenn and T-dog sat on the other side of Jess, with Andrea beside them, Dale on the RV and Merle next to Daryl, who was positioned square in her sightline when she looked up. He carved bolts and sharpened his hunting knife while Carl, Rick and Jess conversed quietly between themselves.

Merle nudged his brothers arm and Daryl’s hands stilled, his knife poised and still over a rock in case he sliced his hand off as a result of Merle’s careless action.

“Hey, Darlina. What ya say we head into the city at some point? Pick us up a little whiskey for these cold nights.”

“City’s full of walkers. Ain’t worth it.” Daryl replied with a shake of his head.

“Ahh, don’t be no sissy! Be in and out faster’n a bat outta hell.” Merle reasoned.

It was the worst idea Daryl had heard in a long time. In fact, the last bad idea he’d heard had also come from Merle and all the bad ideas before that. A pattern had formed and Daryl was no longer interested in being involved in any of his big brothers hairbrained and dangerous schemes.

“Yeah, maybe.” He mumbled in an attempt to quieten him.

Rick, who had overheard what was said, lifted his head from watching his son sitting on the floor next to Jess.

“It’s wise to keep a clear head right now. you both know Walkers are working their way up the mountains” He offered.

Merle stood up. A lit cigarette hung from his lips, the ash from the end flittering down from the orange end like confetti.

“Yo, Sherriff good boy? This don’t concern you” Merle snapped with a point of his finger. In a second, he was gone, vanished into the approaching darkness and not a single soul sat around the fire cared where.  

Rick sighed and looked sideways at Jess, who was offering him a sympathetic smile as she turned a page in her journal and carried on scribbling.

“What are you writing?” He asked.

“Nothing exciting. Haikus.” She muttered. Making a mistake on the page, she scribbled it out, her tongue emerging from the corner of her mouth in concentration.

“Haikus” Rick repeated.

“Dad, a Haiku is a short, Japanese poem that has a 5-7-5 syllable rule.” Carl interrupted. Rick was more than aware of what a Haiku was, but decided to humor his son anyway and presented his best, faked surprised look.

“Yeah, that’s right.” Jess grinned at Carl.

“I see. Can we hear one?” Rick asked.

Jess never shared any of the fruits of her labor when she was writing, always finding it too personal and revealing to read out to anyone, let alone people she hadn’t known all that long. She was no Haiku expert, nor was she all that into them, but the short, direct nature of them was both an appealing hurdle for her to overcome and something that keep her mind sharp.

“Oh, I don’t know…” She mused.

“Yeah! Please?” Carl begged, shifting around so he could peer at her with inquisitive eyes.

Daryl looked up from across the fire and paused his task. He slid his knife back into its holster and leaned against the wooden box behind him, bending one leg and draping an arm over it.  

“Uh… OK. sure.” Jess reluctantly agreed. She cleared her throat and tried to speak without her voice shaking. Suddenly feeling like she was stood up at the front of class at high school with a room full of judgement staring right back at her. But she wasn’t at high school, this was different and the young boy on tenterhooks in front of her was so enthusiastic, she felt too bad to decline.

“I stand taller to

Overcome the shadows

Of those who doubt me.”

Her cheeks reddened and she stared at her handwriting on the page, noticing one letter ‘a’ that wasn’t quite joined up enough. The silence around her was deafening.

“That’s… personal.” Rick remarked “but good. I mean, I don’t know what I’m talking about but-”

“-it is good. I think it’s good.” Carl affirms. “You should write more of those.”

His encouragement was endearing and she could only hope that his happy demeanor would continue, despite their dire situation.

“Thanks.” She muttered bashfully as she drew a star in the corner of the page.

“Should write a Haiku for everyone.” Glenn suggested from her other side. “Merle’s would be interesting, that’s for sure”

He was right. What could she say about Merle? With an out of the blue surge of confidence, she wrote down what was in her head, smirking at the words on the page and giving Glenn a quick wink. Before sharing her Haiku, she checked that Merle was well out of earshot or she would have some serious explaining to do.

“Bug zapper becomes

Merle’s entertainment after

TV repossessed.”

Nervous giggles filtered through the group around the fire as most of them also checked over their shoulders to make sure Merle wasn’t present. Jess scanned the laughing faces to see Daryl dip his head and smile into his lap. A rush of pride and self-satisfaction surged through her at the thought that she’d managed to make at least five people laugh, including the brother of the man she was making fun of and the person she had developed a crush on.

As the chuckling subsided, Daryl tilted his head back and rested a cigarette between his lips. Lighting it, his eyes never left hers and she began to wonder what he was doing and how strange it must have looked to everyone else. Luckily, no one was paying them any mind. Crickets chirped in the surrounding long grass in the tree line and the chilled, nightly breeze arrived, Andrea pulled her jacket closer around her and shivered.

“Bout me?” Daryl rasped.

The group fell silent, all exchanging intrigued glances. Jess stifled a huge grin, knowing it was quite something for him to pipe up in a social situation like this and put himself in the spotlight.

“OK.” She giggled “Daryl…. Lets see.” She began to write on the page again as the others grinned and waited for the most anticipated Haiku of what had become the nights entertainment. When Jess was ready, she flashed him a wide, perfectly white smile and the brightness and life in her eyes seemed to hit him like a lightning bolt.

“Daryl. Person who

Lacks class but enjoys a life

Without rich folks rules”

Rick couldn’t help but snort with laughter along with Carl. Jess joined them and had to build up the bravery to look back at Daryl. When she did, she saw him pick up a smell pebble and throw it at her. It bounced off her sneaker and skittered across the dirt. But his smile was missed with a blink, wanting to hide how amused he really was from those around him.

“Dunno whatcha talkin’ ‘bout. I got class”, He muttered.

“I have more class in my little finger” Andrea commented.

Instead of acknowledging Andrea, he continued to focus on the Haiku writing girl in the vintage Batgirl T-shirt that was able to make him feel more like himself than he ever did before. She was self-aware, able to make fun of herself, different and smart and she was as much of a mystery to him as he was to her. Neither one of them had experienced such an unconventional friendship with a person that under normal circumstances, they never would have crossed paths with anyway. But as she watched him with her unassuming, innocent and dark features, it dawned on him. Something he never thought about anyone. Ever. She was pretty.

For the first time in as far back as he could remember, he’d had a decent and enjoyable day. Not only was he able to do what he loved most and did most days, he was able to share it with someone that genuinely wanted to learn something from him and respected his ways of doing things. She wasn’t Merle, inpatient and arrogant. She was receptive, fascinated and soaked up information quicker than he’d expected. He was looking forward to sitting with her on the RV after dark.

Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 4 / Chapter 5