#i know it was a good spot cause joe came and crouched in front of me for a good half a song 🙊

[quarterprioritymidnight]

'of the night' at slessor gardens, dundee (29/07/2023)

[nonstoplover]

protagonist ~ joe liebgott (band of brothers)

my masterlist  |  my hbo war masterlist

pairing: joe liebgott x female reader

short summary: joe's assigned to search for the perfect house for easy's hq in the new town they'll soon arrive to on their way through germany and finds one with a girl in there who's like the protagonist of one of the comics he's read - courageous, fearless, heroic.

words: 2.5K

a/n: first of all, sorry for disappearing, exam season has started at my uni and i've been hella busy these past weeks (and gonna be for the following few as well,  u g h ).

anyway this fic came around from a conversation i had with the lovely @now-im-a-belieber when i was telling her about an idea i had and she technically came up with the base of this. thank you, Pearl, i love you xx (i hope i did justice to your idea)

oh and let's just say i have no clue if this would have been possible, at least the exact way i wrote it.

taglist: @how-are-those-nuts-sarge @50svibes @pennyllanne @nowinnablewar

gif credit: @basilone

Four loud bangs sound against her front door right as she starts washing the dishes after they finished lunch. With her eyes widening in surprise she rushes back into the room, telling the family of three to hide as she's drying her hands in her apron before making her way to the door.

After taking a deep breath she grabs the handle and opens it. The next thing she knows is being pushed to the side as a figure storms in past her without a word. A gasp leaves her lungs as her back lightly collides with the wall, head turning to watch as the soldier barges in the house.

What is going on? Has someone found out about them?

With a hand reaching behind her back she pushes herself off the wall and hurries behind the man. Trying hard to sound completely calm and innocent she asks him what is going on, but he only barks back something almost inaudible - only a few German words reach her ears.

The soldier is moving with such speed that she hasn't got a single chance to get a better look at his uniform as he's entering every room one by one. Who is he? Worry swiftly floods her veins - more importantly, what is he looking for?

She can only pray the family has had enough time to properly hide.

As he reaches that door, she holds her breath back, repeating her little prayer like a mantra inside her head. The man comes to a sudden halt just as he steps through the doorframe and in an instant fear makes her blood turn freezing cold. She carefully moves closer to glance inside next to his body, not knowing what to expect.

And what she sees makes everything else in her mind disappear - just the thoughts of all hell breaking loose any time now move around inside.

Her best friend crouches on the other side of the room, clearly frozen mid-movement as her body is still half out of the hiding spot, eyes wide as she stares at the soldier, not a single muscle moving. It's like everyone's got frozen in time, none of the three people makes a move.

Liebgott's mind slow to catch up to what he sees - he didn't expect to see that as he rushed through the house. He's only been trying to decide whether it's a good place for Easy's HQ, as he has been ordered to do when Winters sent him ahead of the company.

His eyes then start moving around the room, trying hard to find a good reason as to why that girl is half inside the wall. A book is laying on the table next to the door, open at around the middle. With one glance at the pages he recognises the letters of the hebrew alphabet, and suddenly it all makes sense.

She's a Jew.

His breath hitches in his throat as he struggles to comprehend this new information, and just in that very moment the silence is broken by a voice. And it's not coming from either of the two girls in the room - more like it's coming from inside the wall.

One simple sentence, ending with a Yiddish term of endearment - one he can perfectly understand. It came from a woman, asking the girl crouching facing him from across the room why she's stopped moving.

There are more Jews in there.

His lungs fill with a sharp breath he's taken and he spins around, staring straight at the girl who opened the front door only minutes prior. The question must be clear in his eyes as she starts stammering in defense, her voice audibly shaking.

Joe shakes his head, stopping her mid-sentence. "No, they're Jews, I can see it," he says in perfect German, and the already pale girl suddenly seems even whiter.

He swiftly grabs her arm and pulls her in the direction he remembers finding the dining room in, trying to find a chair for her to sit down on, as she's visibly close to fainting - though the reason behind it he can't find.

(y/n) flinches with utter fear, weakly trying to resist being pulled away - he most probably is now taking her away to kill her, right? He's a German soldier, that's what his job is. But no matter how hard she tries to wiggle away, his grip is too tight around her arm and she can't do a thing.

Just when they arrive to the dining room and he kind of pushes her into one of the chairs is when Joe realises that she's scared of him - she immediately pushes the chair further away from him as soon as he lets go of her. So that's why she's shaking so bad.

"No, wait, don't be scared," he rushes to say. "I'm a Jew too."

This finally breaks the scaredness - instead her eyes fill with utter confusion. Her forehead wrinkles as she tries to make sense of what he's saying. How can a German soldier be Jewish? It makes absolutely no sense.

With a sudden wave of suspicion she moves her glance down to his uniform, examining every detail she can lay her eyes upon.

Is he not German?!

Suddenly she can see differences - details about his uniform that she's never seen on a German soldier before, and she's seen her fair share of those in the past years.

But if he's not German, who is he and what is going on?

She takes a still shaky breath and looks back up into his eyes - seeing the waiting expression on his face as he's standing there in patient silence for her to say something.

"Are you-" Her voice cracks mid-sentence. It's not good. She clears her throat and tries again. "Are you German?"

All of a sudden he bursts out laughing - so loud, and somehow so dark that her eyes widen once again. She just can't decide if it's from fear again, or only surprise.

A minute or so goes by with nothing but Joe laughing - this must be one of the most hilarious things he's heard in the past couple years. That he is a German.

Then his laughter finally quietens down to slight chuckling and he speaks up once more to confirm the truth. "No, of course not," he shakes his head in amusement. One look in her eyes tells him that somehow she still has no clue about his nationality, so he opens his lips again to give an answer to her question in advance. "I'm American. Don't worry, you're not in trouble for that," Joe points back in the direction of the room with the hiding spot above his shoulder.

A loud sigh escapes her lungs, her shoulder visibly falling a bit as she slumps more into the chair. It feels like years worth of stress and nervousness have just come to an end - it's truly like an enormous stone has rolled down from her chest and shoulders. She somehow feels free again for the first time in years.

Relief completely replaces the worry and fear in her veins as all other thoughts leave her mind. She's not gonna die. At least not today.

"They're Jewish," the soldier speaks again - and it's not a question. More like a statement.

(y/n) nods, unable to say a word as she's still overwhelmed with her new feelings.

"You're hiding them?"

She just raises an eyebrow, and Joe mentally slaps himself - what a stupid question. He could've might as well just asked her the colour of the wall.

"Since when you've been hiding them?" He corrects his question.

"Ever since the whole thing has started," she answers, her voice so quiet it almost disappears in the air between them.

"Wow," Liebgott breathes out before he can stop himself. He stares at the girl in disbelief. She looks so innocent and young - she's probably one or two years younger than him. How could she pull off something such a thing? Such a dangerous and pretty reckless thing?

"Esther is my best friend, she's been ever since we were little kids, they all are like a second family to me, I've spent most of my days with them," (y/n) explains, the relief causing her to ramble and Joe - for about the first time in his life has to struggle to keep up with the German words that come flying out past her lips. "I just had to help them, you know. I couldn't just leave them here."

"Where's your own family?"

"My parents left to France to be further away from the chaos, and my brother joined the Luftwaffe, and since then I haven't heard from none of them."

"Why didn't you leave with your parents as well?" The young soldier keeps asking, moving closer to the table and sitting down on a chair on the opposite side, facing her. Pushing his M1's strap down his shoulder he places the weapon on the table, pushing it only a little further in order to calm the girl more. He knows he probably shouldn't do this - and keep Winters waiting, but he's too curious to stop himself, he has to hear the rest of her story.

"I love this town, I was born and raised here," she shrugs as if it's obvious. "But more importantly, I didn't want to leave and let innocent people like my best friend's family suffer. I wanted to stay and fight back as good as I could."

Joe subconsciously mumbles under his breath before he can stop himself - words that praise her absolute bravery, words that give away his true feelings he suddenly feels towards her - then he has to move his gaze away from her, fearing that she sees the embarrassment in his eyes. He tries hard to think of another question while also trying hard to forget the look of the half-smiling expression that took over her face just a moment before - it does nothing good for his heart.

"Did you make that hidden room yourself?" He asks in the end, thinking back to what he saw in the room.

"Oh," she giggles - and it's the prettiest sound he's heard in a very long time. "No, my father made it when me and my brother were young and often played hide and seek. I just improved it a little so they can fit in more comfortably."

Liebgott hums, not knowing how to tell her - or if he should even tell her in the first place - how absolutely super impressed she left him with every single thing she's told him and what he's seen. It's one of the craziest things he has ever heard, and he had a fair share of unbelievable stories told to him in his life. He simply couldn't even imagine how on Earth this girl could manage to do this - and not get caught. Throughout the whole war.

In that very moment he swiftly decides that he'll go and find another house for the HQ, and that he'll somehow get back to this particular one, no matter what it takes. He wants to get to know her better. He has to get to know her better.

She's the most incredible woman he's ever heard of, read about or met. She's a woman who fits in the stories of the comics he's been reading his whole life - as the protagonist, the hero. He can't leave this town without hearing more about her, seeing her face more. That would be the biggest regret of his whole life, he can already tell.

But for now, he has to leave. It wouldn't be a good idea to keep his officers waiting even longer.

He stands up, fingers reaching out to grab his M1 before looking back into her eyes. Damn, he doesn't even know her name.

"I have to head back to my company, but I'll come back later, if that's okay with you."

Her eyes are already on his, seemingly staring straight into his soul with that intensity that lays in her (y/e/c) orbs. The girl then rises to her feet - still never breaking the eye contact.

Thoughts race inside her head, and it's like an angel and a demon are sitting on each of her shoulders, one telling her to say no whilst the other trying to convince her to say yes.

What if he only wants to use her? What if he only wants to sleep with her? Maybe force her to do so, threatening her with his knowledge of the Jewish family. He might not even be who and what he says he is. How could she know?

But on the other hand, there is this feeling she has about him. A feeling that tells her that nothing she previously thought will happen. She doesn't know what it is, but it's there, right in her chest, and she can't fight it. He seems genuinely curious and impressed, and honest. And she feels a pull towards him. She wants to see him again.

In the end, the devil on her shoulder wins, and she simply nods - right before she could change her mind.

"I'm Joe," the young soldier moves around the table, one hand held out towards her.

A glance cast down and right back up to his face she takes his hand and gives it a shake, holding onto it tightly, as if only to let him know how strong she actually is.

It probably works, 'cause he raises an eyebrow, slightly tilts his head and the corners of his lips curve up into the smallest smirk she's ever seen - but it's there.

"(y/n)," she eventually answers with her own introduction.

A few seconds pass and neither has let go of the other's hand, not yet. They just stand there, staring into each other's eyes, only the small noises of them breathin breaking the silence.

Then Liebgott blinks, clears his throat, pulls his hand out from her grip and instinctively places his fingers upon his weapon hanging from his shoulder whilst nodding towards her as a gesture of saying goodbye without words.

She watches as he turns around and walks out from the room, and after a tiny, happy sigh she follows the sound of his steps.

Just as he opens the front door and moves through it is when she arrives to the hall. Joe glances back over his shoulder for one last time, offering her a small smile, then looks back ahead of him and continues his walk as if nothing has happened. None of the past dozen of minutes.

(y/n) leans against the doorframe and watches him right until he disappears in the distance with a dreamy look in her eyes.

She can't wait until he comes back again.

.::the end::.

(might write a part two if i'll have time and you'd like to read it)

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[megalony]

We have to go

I know I’ve been absent for a few weeks but I’ve finally managed to get an imagine done. This is a murderer! Ben Hardy imagine that I might do a follow up part for if you all like it. Feedback is always lovely.

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Murderer! Ben masterlist

Summary: Ben is a hitman and that means he has to be careful that he doesn’t put his family at risk. That means that when he is in danger, they have to move, sometimes in the dead of night.

Enjoy.

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(Y/n) tiredly fluttered her eyes open, blinking to adjust to the darkness of the room before she slowly started to scan her eyes around for Ben. Her brain was so accustomed to being woken up in the night or early morning due to her husband that any noises she heard no longer set off her anxiety. It was normal to hear him looking around for his keys, his belt or his clothing when he got up early or came home late. And (Y/n) was no stranger to listening to him stumbling home from a late night, smelling of booze and crawling into bed and wrapping himself around her like a vine.

But as she slowly looked around for him, (Y/n) started to wake up a bit when she noticed Ben was moving around the room rather quickly. He was clearly moving things by the way (Y/n) could hear clothing being ruffled and items being picked up and discarded like tissue.

What was he up to?

There was no time for (Y/n) to try and formulate any words or sit herself up in bed before her heart jumped in her chest as she was suddenly staring into her husband's wild eyes. Ben was crouched down in front of the bed, his arms folded on the edge of the bed and his chin resting on his arm and (Y/n) could barely make out the small tight-lipped smile on his lips through the darkness of their shared bedroom.

"Hey baby. Sorry to wake you darlin' but I need you to get up cause we got a lot to do." Ben's voice was quiet as he knew (Y/n) had only just woken up due to him rushing around the room and he knew he would be confusing her but he needed her to be awake before he even began to explain what was going on.

He leaned forward and stole a quick but very desperate kiss from her lips, nipping at her lower lip with his teeth before he pulled back and pushed himself to his feet.

A groan escaped (Y/n)'s lips when Ben flicked on the bedside lamp before he went back to doing whatever he had been doing that woke her up. (Y/n) couldn't fathom what was happening but all she did know was that Ben was in his organised panic mood. When Ben had to get things done he made sure he did it but when it was something panicking him he started to get a bit shakey and moved and talked quicker than normal like life was moving on fast forward setting.

Ben was never a settled man, it didn't matter if he was oddly calm or if he was always thinking about something, he had to be moving and doing something. He liked to organise and reorganise the house, it helped him calm down and get his mind in order and he liked a clean tidy house more than (Y/n) did so when he was home he got to work. Sitting down to watch a movie was something he couldn't always do but he did try and relax, it just didn't seem to be in his nature.

"Ben... what are you doing?" (Y/n) slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position that made her head spin considering she had only just woken up. She wanted to go back to sleep, she wanted Ben to crawl into bed and sleep with her or even for him to just babble about his day and draw patterns on her skin until he dozed off. She just wanted to sleep rather than wake up and work out what he was doing now.

(Y/n) could feel her heart starting to pound against her ribcage in a way that made her body coil forward itch from how uncomfortable the feeling was. Ben was stuffing clothing into bags. He was packing up their stuff in a haphazard kind of way that (Y/n) had seen before.

"Ben..."

The way she slowly said his name with a warning tone caused him to momentarily stop what he was doing to look at her.

"We need to go."

Those four little words were enough to force a whine past (Y/n)'s lips and make tears well up in her eyes without her even having to know the reasons behind Ben's words. In the six years that (Y/n) had been with Ben, she had heard those words a dozen times and she knew instantly that this was going to be a bad one.

Whenever Ben said those words it meant one of two things. It either meant that something had gone wrong with a deal or a fight and they would have to go away for a few days or weeks and then come back home. Or it was more serious and meant they would have to take everything and move homes altogether. (Y/n) hated when it meant they had to move and that had happened three times in the six years she had been with Ben. She knew what he did, she knew he was a hitman and that it meant killing people for large sums of money.

Ben loved what he did and he knew what kind of a man that made him. It made him a monster for killing people who either deserved to be killed or simply needed to be killed to fit someone else's plans and life. Ben was good at what he did and he had the kind of conscience where killing people didn't play on his mind at all, he felt no remorse for what he did. Despite being a family man and being someone who would go to the ends of the Earth to keep his family safe, Ben was a killer at heart.

But none of that mattered to (Y/n) because she always saw the other side to Ben. She saw the kind, loving and caring man who would do anything for her without her having to ask. She saw the man who smiled at her when she did nothing at all, the man who would wrap himself around her and just hold her because he wanted to feel her touch. (Y/n) saw a man who would do absolutely anything for her and for their children and that made her uncaring to what he did for a living.

But part of what Ben did meant that he had to have a normal home life, or as normal of one as he could manage. If people believed he was a good family man like he actually was, then they were less likely to believe that he was a cold blooded killer.

(Y/n) was fine with that. She was fine with creating a perfect family image for Ben because it was what she wanted, she wanted a loving family and Ben was a loving husband and father despite the cruel and heartless ways he killed people without even needing a reason to clear his conscience. But (Y/n wanted to have a home that she could decorate and make feel like it was theirs that they didn't have to uproute and leave when things went wrong. (Y/n) wanted to live somewhere where she had friends and family to talk to and be around, she wanted their boys to grow up in one place and have a permanent school rather than going to different schools and nurseries whenever things went wrong.

Leaving within a few days was okay, (Y/n) could deal with quickly packing things up and moving within a space of a week. That was okay, (Y/n) took at least three months to decorate each home they had in case they had to quickly move. She left items in boxes and essentials in easy places or bags in cupboards so if Ben did something bad they didn't have to run around and look for everything to pack up.

But they had been in this house for two years.

Billy had been born in this house and (Y/n) had it decorated lovely, they had nice neighbours for a change who weren't nosy or rude or creepy. (Y/n) had a lot of old friends in this neighbourhood and it wasn't a bad area to live in. She wanted this to be their home and to stay their home, she didn't want to take another long drive to a random destination and find a new home and start again.

Ben knew this.

Ben knew (Y/n) wanted a normal family life and a permanent home and he wanted that for her too. Before he met her Ben had a few flings and one night stands but had been dead set against being a family man because it would be too hard with his job. Then (Y/n) walked into his life and changed his outlook completely. She made him fall madly in love with her without having to do anything at all. They had two boys together and Ben loved when he came home and switched to being a normal family man, it made him so close to changing his job to something normal and reliable and more to the point, legal.

But he couldn't do that, deep down he would never be able to change that much so he did everything in his power to make their family normal, loving and happy.

"No. Ben we can deal with this... we'll call Joe or we'll just go for a week or two and say it's a holiday, Ben please." (Y/n) rubbed her hands over her face as she tried to think of anything they could do without really knowing what had gone on. She didn't want to move, they couldn't move right now it was bad timing, it was so bad.

"Baby, baby look at me." Ben moved until he was sat down on the bed next to (Y/n) so he could take her hands in his own. "Someone in connection to one of my old targets is here. Now they know me and if they find out about my last target they will put two and two together. This was always a risk and I need us to move before they spot me and things get ugly."

"Can't we just go for a few weeks-"

"I can't take that risk babydoll. My last target was an hour away from this town, that was close enough to home as it is and if someone says my name around here or this person sees me it will be a lot worse. I need us to be safe cause this person is dangerous and therefore we have to go. I've got a place sorted for now and then we'll search for a permanent place soon I promise."

Ben had targets, they were the people he killed because using names or any other tags made it too real for him and for (Y/n). Targets seemed easier, it was hard to imagine a person as a target. Sometimes in order to kill people Ben had to get close or talk to people who were close to his targets and that meant he took the risk of them recognising him. If this person recognised him and found out about someone who had been murdered an hour away from Ben's hometown it would be suspicious and Ben knew this man would know enough to suspect Ben of being a killer.

His first priority was his family and that meant that if someone was threatening their safety Ben uprooted them to keep them all safe. He also made sure he didn't take any jobs for at least two months in order to make sure things blew over and quietened down.

Ben could see the tears forming in (Y/n)'s eyes and it made his stomach churn to see her so cut up. He let go of her hands so he could hold onto her hip and cup her face with his free hand. His thumb smoothed over her cheek to brush away a stray tear before he leaned close and pressed his forehead against her own like he was trying to merge their thoughts together. Ben knew (Y/n) would eventually be okay with this, once they found a house she adored they would buy it and decorate it until it was perfect and Ben would do everything he could to make sure it was a forever home for them.

But right now he just had to move them all to keep them safe.

"We can't do a midnight flit, Ben. The boys... they won't understand, it'll be hard to move everything like it always is. And the baby..."

(Y/n) closed her eyes and leaned her temple more against Ben's as she wished this was just a bad dream she was going to wake up from at any moment.

The boys were five and two, they weren't going to understand why they were leaving in the middle of the night and not going back to the place they knew to be their home. They would be confused, leaving their friends behind and going to a new home, a new school where they would have to make new friends and get used to a new school system. It would be a lot for them to take in, the last time they had moved Billy hadn't even been born but it was a lot for Harvey to cope with since he had only been three at the time.

Billy had been born in this house, (Y/n) had hoped that was a sign that this might be their forever home and she wanted this baby to be born in this home too. She wanted to get through this pregnancy without anymore problems or worries happening to make everything turn upside down.

Ben knew this was bad timing, he had been afraid of something like this happening and he wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't the only option he had right now. (Y/n) had suffered a miscarriage when Billy had only been ten months old, it had been a short time between his birth and getting pregnant again only for (Y/n) to lose the baby and suffer a very bad haemorrhage which hospitalized her for a week. That traumatic event had panicked Ben because it had taken a toll on (Y/n) and Ben couldn't take any jobs for four months because he had to look after (Y/n) and the boys.

They had finally gotten to a better point in their lives where the boys were fine, their relationship was great and (Y/n)'s depression caused by the miscarriage was under control. Learning they were pregnant again had been a worry and a shock and (Y/n) had been scared of losing this baby too.

Ben didn't want to uproot their family right now when (Y/n) had been put on bedrest for the remainder of her pregnancy due to complications. He didn't want to take any risks when it came to this baby because (Y/n) losing another baby would kill her too and she was his whole world. But if he didn't move them all now he risked someone finding out about him and either the police would get involved or it would get a lot worse and he would have the risk of his family being put in harms way.

"I know, I know it's shit timing baby but we have to go now. I'm gonna go pack the car and I'll try and keep the boys asleep and move them to the car. You know the drill, doll."

He pressed another longing kiss to (Y/n)'s temple, carding his fingers through the hair at the back of her head before he slowly pulled away and stood to his feet. Whenever this happened, and it had only happened three times before, they had a drill to go through. They packed clothing, paperwork, money and any other essentials into backpacks and carry on bags to stuff into the car and then Ben or Joe would come back to the house in a few days and clear it out. They took the essentials and came back for everything else when it was clear and Ben would sort out the house in terms of cancelling the rental and cutting off the electric and giving back the keys.

A sigh escaped (Y/n)'s lips as she rubbed at her eyes that were so desperate to shed tears but she had no effort or will to cry. She was too tired and numb to cry no matter how badly she felt she needed to in order to feel better.

(Y/n) tried to busy herself getting dressed but she kept stopping and staring at the wall in front of her or finding her eyes locked onto Ben, watching his every movement. He had managed to rather neatly pack their clothes into two carry on bags within minutes and was now kneeling down at the foot of the bed in order to get the dark grey box he always kept there.

(Y/n) watched the way Ben's silver chain around his neck hung forward like a medallion trying to show him some kind of sign. The silver ring that hung so neatly at the end of the chain was slowly swaying back and forth, repeatedly tapping against Ben's chest each time it fell back towards him. With what Ben did for a living, he knew it was best to keep his wedding ring around his neck so no one could see it. If people did end up finding him and knowing what he did then at least they wouldn't know he was married and had a family.

It had only now dawned on (Y/n) that Ben was only wearing his black work jeans and nothing else, no shirt, no hoodie, not even any socks. She wondered what he had been doing before he woke her up, maybe he had gotten blood on his clothes and therefore had washed them or even binned them. Maybe he worked himself into a state and stripped off in a hot flush which had happened a few times before. Maybe he had been in the midst of changing clothes and felt he had to pack up before he finished getting dressed.

Without his shirt it allowed all of Ben's marks and tattoos to be on display, not that (Y/n) hadn't already gotten each one memorised so that when she closed her eyes she could still see a map of his body.

There was something about Ben's look that was so calming and affectionate despite the many marks covering his skin. He had scars littering his skin from where knives had cut through him during bad and drunken fights in the dead of night, he never seemed to go a single day without bruises of some sort forming somewhere on his person. And the tattoos he had made his body look like a road map. Ben had dates inked into his skin of when the boys had been born and the date of when he had married (Y/n), plus a few designs on his arms and his lower abdomen.

Ben had roman numerals tattooed onto each knuckle on both hands and he had the same design on the back of his neck in large black ink. All of these marks would normally warn people away from him, they made him look dangerous and as if he was a threat or just made him intimidating. But (Y/n) always seemed to overlook all the marks and the ink, it was as if the colours faded and she just saw the person Ben was. He seemed to loving and inviting to everyone despite his outlook.

(Y/n)'s staring didn't go unnoticed by Ben, he could feel her eyes boring into his skin like she was trying to burn him with her intense gaze but he paid no mind to her staring. It was something (Y/n) naturally seemed to do and it never bothered him.

He found the box under the bed that he had been searching for and when he took off the lid, he started placing all the documents into the small backpack he had gotten ready. The grey box was something they took everywhere with them, it contained their passports, the boys' birth certificates, their insurance numbers and documents. But it also held a plastic wallet filled with fake documents. Ben had fake passports, driving licenses, insurance numbers and legal documents created so that if things got tricky they could switch identities in emergencies.

It was harder now they had the boys because they couldn't go changing the boys' names and think that they would understand but Ben had to have the documents made just in case a new identity was needed.

He also kept a lot of money and credit cards stashed away because when they had to disappear like this, cash was the best way to pay for things because it couldn't be tracked like a credit card could.

Breaking out of her trance, (Y/n) slowly padded across the carpet to where Ben was knelt down in front of the bed. Without saying anything, she held her hand out to her husband who placed two credit cards, a driving licence and an unknown amount of cash into her hand. (Y/n) knew the drill, she would place all of those items into the seam of her handbag so if they got stuck or had to improvise, she could take them out of the hidden seam and start using them.

She leaned over and pressed a quick kiss to Ben's temple before she headed out of the room and quietly made her way downstairs. They had to be quick but they couldn't be too loud in case they woke the boys.

It felt like they were both in a trance or placed on autopilot because they knew what they were doing. The first time this happened they had been rushing around like headless chickens trying to remain calm. They had talked about what they would do if this situation ever happened but actually going through it was a lot different. But now it was a drill, it was a fire drill and they had to do what they always did to make sure everything went smoothly.

The couple bypassed one another in the hall and when going up or down the stairs to get the bags to pack the car.

(Y/n) went into Harvey's room and Ben went into Billy's room, both of them working in the darkness to pack up their son's clothes, essential toys that they couldn't go without and the bits such as bottles and beakers and nappies.

"Double-check there isn't anything you need to take tonight then go get in the car, I'll get the boys." Ben rested his hands on (Y/n)'s shoulders, slowly massaging his fingers into her skin before he turned and made his way into Harvey's room.

Ben grabbed a pair of socks and sat down on the end of Harvey's bed, slowly moving the cover so he could slide the socks onto his eldest boy's feet so he wouldn't get cold. He pulled the navy blue fluffy blanket from the end of the bed and was carful when wrapping it around his son before he effortlessly eased Harvey from the bed. His look-alike stayed motionless and in a sleeping state just like Ben expected, nothing every seemed to wake Harvey up, not even a thunderstorm or an earthquake.

He hated to do this.

Ben hated himself as he walked down the stairs, holding his son to his chest tighter with every step he went down. He didn't want to imagine how the conversation would go when the five year old woke up to realise he was no longer at home but was in the car driving to a new home in a new town. But it had to be done, and this was easier than waking Harvey and trying to explain everything to him right now.

It didn't take long for Ben to kneel in the car and slowly settle Harvey into his car seat with the blanket still tucked around him and his rabbit toy cocooned under his arm. Ben made sure the small emergency light in the front of the car was switched off for now so it wouldn't wake Harvey who couldn't stand any lights on in his room when he went to sleep.

He made his way back into the house and up to Billy's room, slipping a pair of socks onto the two year old and a jumper to make sure he stayed warm before he wrapped Billy's sleeping blanket around him and cradled him in the crook of his left arm.

Ben felt his heart jumping in his chest when Billy curled up into his chest, sighing as he tucked his face into Ben's side in his sleep. This was why Ben was doing this, he couldn't have anything happening to (Y/n) or their boys, he couldn't have them in danger because of him.

When Billy was curled up in his car seat safe and sound, Ben headed back inside, doing a double check of the house to make sure the essentials were in the car and all that was left were the decorations and household items that didn't need to be taken with them. He could see the pain in (Y/n)'s eyes as she looked around the house whilst pulling her cardigan tighter around her frame to fight out the bitter old of the early morning.

"I'm sorry, doll."

"I know. But can we just... try and make the next one a bit more permanent?" (Y/n) looked up at Ben with tired eyes that softened like melting chocolate when Ben wound his arms around her waist so he could pull her closer to his chest.

"We will, I promise. And this is just a precaution, I wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't to keep you all safe. We have a good cover up, anyway." Ben inched his hand under (Y/n)'s cardigan until the palm of his hand was resting against the side of her stomach.

He was only moving them for their safety, and their family was the best cover they could ask for. They had two young boys and a baby on the way, no one was going to think they were anything but an ordinary, loving family.

[queenmylovely]

Wedding Party II

Summary: Ben hardy x fem!reader. A game night between friends will surely take off the tension from whatever’s going on with you and Ben. 

Word Count: 3.4k

Warnings: cussing, building tension, charades 

A/N: This is the third and final (multiple) part(s) of my 500 follower celebration!! Thank you so much again to everyone who follows me, including the people that have since I hit 500, cause it’s been a minute, whoops. I was planning three parts for this, but I got into the charades so we’re looking at four instead! (p.s. if you want to try to guess the charade movies before the characters do that’s how I tried to write it lol) Any feedback is super appreciated but especially replies, messages, and asks are super helpful for my writing ‘cause I get to hear what you think!

Part I, Part III, Part IV, Mini i, Mini ii, Masterlist

(yet again wonderful gif by @mrbenhardys) 

💖💖💖

Ben couldn’t believe how close he had come to kissing you the other night. He had diverted it last second by kissing your cheek, but even that teetered too far over the line of what was supposed to happen. If fucking someone at Rami’s wedding wasn’t allowed, then developing a full-on crush wasn’t either. But boy was he.

Even though you were the one that had mentioned hearing about him when the two of you first met, he was surprised to see that all of the references to you by his friends hadn’t failed to live up. In fact, he would probably say that what they said didn’t do you justice. Though he wouldn’t advertise it, he had also done a quick instagram stalk and thought you were even more beautiful in person.

Rami hadn’t slipped up like Lucy and mentioned your name specifically when telling him not to sleep with anyone at the wedding, but even so, Ben found all of his focus on you when it came to that rule. Whether it was because you had known of but never met each other for so long or simply because of who you were, you fascinated him.

Which he knew was dangerous in this particular situation. But he reminded himself that he would only have to see you at the rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, wedding, and reception. He thought that maybe after that something more could develop, but until then he would have to stay on track.

_

But when Ben got out of the car to head into Rami and Lucy’s building and held the door open for someone behind him, his whole plan was ruined when that person was you.

“Oh, hi!” you said cheerily and he said hi back; you were trying to mask the mixture of excitement and dread you were feeling. Excitement at seeing Ben and spending time with him and dread at seeing Ben and spending time with him.

The two of you walked across the lobby and to the elevator. Ben pushed the button and you waited together. He had the same internal dilemma going on but he just smiled and said, “I can assume you’re going to game night too then?”

“That’s a safe assumption. Haven’t seen you at one of these before,” you pointed out, trying to make casual conversation. The elevator dinged and you both got on, Ben again hitting the button for the correct floor.

“Yeah, my last film had a lot of night scenes and stuff so I was always busy. But that’s in post and my next one will be mainly day shoots so I’ll be able to come to more of these,” Ben explained as the elevator doors opened and the two of you walked into the hallway.

“We’ll be seeing a lot of each other then,” you commented during the short walk to their front door. You reached up and knocked twice.

“Yep.”

Then at the same time, the two of you sighed. Your heads whipped towards each other in confusion and you were both about to say something in response or question when the door opened.

“Ben! Y/N! You made it, and look at you arriving together, already practicing for the wedding, huh?” was Joe’s excited greeting when he opened the door.

“Hey mate, good to see you,” Ben told Joe, giving him a hug.

“Hey Joe,” you said with a smile as you hugged him. Then you teased, “Did Lucy and Rami hire you as their butler or do you just really enjoy opening doors?”

Ben laughed at what you said even though he didn’t have the full context and you felt your cheeks heat up.

As the three of you walked into the apartment Joe just barked out a laugh and told you, “You’re hilarious.”

You smiled at him, “I try.”

Once you reached the living room, you saw both Rami and Lucy there, setting up the snacks. Gwilym was there as well, but he was pouring a couple glasses of wine. They all put down what they were holding and came over to do the usual greetings and such. Apparently, it was only to be you six because some of the other regulars had other obligations.

After everyone had a little plate of snacks and a glass of red or white, Rami began his usual little spiel at the beginning of game nights, “Alright everyone, welcome to game night. We will be playing team games, so partner up now.”

“Dibs on Gwil,” Joe called out, looking directly at you with a smirk. If only he knew how good he had really gotten you.

You shot back, “That’s fine by me. I’m sure Ben will be a great teammate.”

All the same, Ben shot Joe a quick look that he didn’t understand and you shot Lucy a quick this-wasn’t-my-fault look that she accepted with a nod.

Rami continued, “Great, we have three games lined up, but we can play as many times as we like. Lastly, remember that this is strictly a friendly competition, so no sore losers when Lucy and I beat all of you,”

“Oh it’s on,” Joe replied. Then he and Rami got into a little trash-talk.

Ben laughed and turned to you, “Are you competitive?”

“Well… I suppose that’s something one could say about me,” you said with a sheepish smile.

“I hope I’m not too big of a disappointment then, I’m not the best at these types of things,” Ben said with a slightly awkward smile.

“I’m sure you’ll be great,” you said, placing your hand on his shoulder. “Anyway I’m not nearly as competitive as them.”

You nodded towards Rami and Joe who were jokingly getting in each other’s faces, unable to hold back their own laughter. Ben and you burst into laughter, joining Gwil and Lucy’s at the sight. It took you a second longer to realize that your hand was still on Ben’s shoulder. You only did because Ben had looked at it and you removed it before it became so awkward you had to leave.  

Luckily, Rami and Joe were done with their shenanigans and everyone was ready to start the first game. It turned out to be charades and little slips of paper were quickly divided between the three groups.

Rami and Lucy went first and both were ridiculously quick at guessing each other’s answers. You supposed it came with living together and such as well as being actors.

Then Gwil and Joe were up and they didn’t fare quite as well. For some reason, Joe was being far too elaborate with his acting and would mime putting on a swimsuit, putting on sunscreen, swimming, and then being chased by something just to get Jaws. Gwil was good at the charade as soon as he actually started, but he seemed to overthink every word before he started.

Finally, it was you and Ben. You went first, saying before you started, “Sorry I’m literally the only non-actor here.”

Ben waved you off with a laugh. Then Lucy flipped the timer over and you quickly opened the first slip. It said Jurassic Park and you breathed a quick sigh of relief. Then you pointed at Joe, put your hand to the height of a little kid and did T-Rex arms.

“Jurassic Park!” Ben exclaimed and though Joe said something about that not being fair, you moved on.

Next you mimed taking a ring off and holding it up to your eyes, staring at it intensely.

“Lord of the Rings, next!”

The next one was harder, but you got going. First, you pretended to be eating toast and coffee. Second, you did some characters: one with crossed arms and a frown, one flexing muscles, one reading a book and pushing up glasses, one flipping their hair and giggling, and one pulling their hair and shaking their head.

“Okay, okay, eating and drinking, a meal? Breakfast? Breakfast. And these are different people? I don’t know that first one. Then a jock? A nerd? A pretty girl? Oh, oh! The Breakfast Club!” Ben shouted, looking proud of himself for getting it and you couldn’t help but smile before moving onto the next one.

You ended up getting five before time ran out, just one less than Lucy had on her turn. Now it was Ben’s turn to do the charading and you were ready to be the one guessing.

As you switched spots, Ben whispered to you with a smile, “Good job.”

Trying not to show your happiness at his little praise, you just nodded and returned a whisper of, “Thanks.”

Ben got ready, doing a little jog in place warmup as a joke and you probably laughed harder than necessary. Then Lucy counted down from three and flipped over the timer.

As Ben picked up the first slip, you leaned forward to pay attention.

With a nod, Ben started his first charade. He mimed someone in the shower and for a quick second you pictured what he would look like in the shower. But once you said shower, he moved to the next part, getting out of the “shower” and then whipping back the curtain and pumping his from near his head to in front of him again and again. Then you realized that he was pretending to stab someone.

“Psycho!” you yelled and Ben grinned.

After picking up the next slip the first thing Ben did was scrunch up his face in a snarl, crouching down to all fours and making a hand into a claw, stalking closer to you. You felt a weird mixture of apprehensiveness and something else as he got closer and had to remind yourself this was a clue.

Ben was only about a foot away from your legs before you blurted out, “Cat, uh, lion, tiger!”

Tiger was the one so Ben stood up and then mimed rowing a boat. You thought for a second before quickly stating, “Life of Pi.”

Two more slips later, you were only two away from a tie with Lucy and Rami and you had about thirty seconds on the clock.

Ben snatched up another slip and read it, a frown taking over his face for a second. Then he recovered and started miming drumming. Next he did guitar and keyboards then singing.

“Drums. Ok, guitar, keyboards, oh a band!” you said and Ben nodded before moving on.

Next he started dancing, which you could hardly stop from laughing at, but just because it was cute. He was doing lots of 70’s moves like the hustle, YMCA, John Travolta’s move from Saturday Night Fever, and others you didn’t know the name for.

“The hustle. Um, YMCA? The Village People? Disco?” you said as you tried to stifle your giggles.

Ben nodded quickly and then motioned to keep going.

“Um… a disco… band?” you questioned and got another carry on gesture from Ben. “ABBA?”

After a thumbs up, Ben mimed the sign for movies and then singing and it came to you and you jumped up, “Mamma Mia!”

“Yes!” Ben exclaimed right as Lucy called out time. He came over to you by the couch and brought you into a tight hug that almost lifted you off the ground and you laughed out loud in surprise.

Lucy cleared her throat and you and Ben let each other go quickly, turning to look at her. She just raised an eyebrow and smirked, “You know you two didn’t actually get enough to tie me and Rami.”

“Good thing it was just a friendly competition,” you pointed out with an equally fraught with meaning smile.

“And we have two more games to try and beat you guys,” Ben pointed out, with a regular smile.

“Actually, I think you mean that you have two more games to lose to us,” Joe cut in, breaking all the tension and making everyone laugh good-naturedly.

_

The night went on and in the end Rami and Lucy did win because while they lost to you and Ben in trivia, they beat everyone during taboo. Poor Gwil and Joe didn’t win anything, though they claimed that was because they were out of practice.

Once the games were done, music was turned on and everyone got to chatting. You were talking with Joe and Rami about New York and the other three were talking about their upcoming projects more in depth.

Then you realized your drink was running low and excused yourself to go refill it. What you didn’t see as you were walking over to where the wine was was Ben jumping up and excusing himself to do the same.

Just as you were reaching to grab a bottle, you heard him say, “Allow me.”

You turned to realize he was standing just a step behind you and you slowly placed the bottle in his outstretched hand. Then he reached around you to set down his glass and grab yours and you sucked in a breath at the feeling of him just barely brushing against you.

Ben started pouring the wine and as he was doing so, looked up at you with a hint of a smirk on his face.

You realized you were probably just staring at him with your mouth open so you fixed your face and said, “So is this becoming a thing? Are you always going to make my drinks for me?”

Ben laughed lightly and handed your glass back to you. As he picked up his glass, his arm grazed your waist and you had to physically take a step back so you wouldn’t take one forward and kiss him.

Then you heard loud laughter coming from the couches and you both looked to see Rami sitting on Lucy’s lap, both of them laughing so hard they could barely breathe. You smiled at the joy and Ben looked at you with a smile.

“They’re so in love,” he commented and you nodded, a dreamy look in your eyes.

“I’m so excited for the wedding. It’ll be beautiful,” you replied. “I’ve been to a lot of weddings and not everyone’s meant for it but they are.”

“Really?” Ben asked.

“Yeah, some of them are more in it for the wedding than the actual marriage you know?” Ben nodded. “Luce and Rami want a special day, but it’s more important to them who’s there than what it looks like.”

“I had a mate from primary who must’ve had over 300 people at his wedding. I didn’t even get to talk to him and we had been best mates when we were young, so they’re definitely doing the right thing with quality over quantity too,” Ben told you.

“Wow, yeah. I guess along the same lines I can see what Lucy means. But it was a little much to tell me we couldn’t--” you stopped yourself right before revealing that you weren’t allowed to sleep with Ben to Ben. You hoped that Ben didn’t notice your abrupt stop, but he did, his brows furrowing.

“We couldn’t…?” he asked, his thoughts flashing to his conversation with Rami.

“I just-- we, like, the guests, couldn’t-- well shouldn’t-- or it’d be better to--”

“Hey Y/N, who was it from our class that got married recently with that wild theme wedding?” Lucy called over to you, and you quickly took it as a chance to get out of this conversation with Ben.

So you turned to Lucy and as you spoke, and slowly walked over to where they were, leaving Ben to either stay where he was alone or join everyone else in the conversation, “It was Amanda. And the theme was that elf… village? From Lord of the Rings, the one where Cate Blanchett lived.”

“Lothlórien,” Gwil informed everyone.

“Sure. Some of it went over my head, but it was pretty,” you commented. By that time, Ben had taken a seat next to you, his thigh touching yours. The conversation turned into a debate about theme weddings but it was hard to stay fully focused with Ben’s warmth interrupting your thoughts. Those damn thighs aren’t fair, you complained to yourself.

_

This time, you were the first to get up to leave since you had brunch with a friend the next morning.

“Are you good to drive?” Lucy asked since you had had three glasses of wine.

“Oh, I took an uber here, so I was just going to take another one back,” you answered.

“This late at night?” she asked, a worried look on her face.

“Well I always kinda take ubers this late…” you mumbled.

“You know what? I have something tomorrow too, I can take you home. I’ve only had a glass and a half,” Ben suggested, holding up his half full glass as proof.

“Oh, you don’t have--” you started but were interrupted.

“Per-fect!” Lucy said with a smile and you resigned yourself to accepting the ride.

You and Ben gathered your things and then said your goodbyes, getting hugs and kisses from all, especially Lucy who was four glasses in and a little tipsy.

Then you and Ben walked out of the apartment, following the same path you had taken together only a couple hours ago. You chatted about this and that but you were more focused on how your hands would brush against each other every fifth step or so than the conversation.

That is until Ben said, “So you’ve never used my number.”

You weren’t expecting that so you coughed in surprise before answering, “Well, I texted you saying it was me so you had mine too.”

“Well… okay,” Ben said a little sheepishly.

“Okay,” you responded before pulling out your phone. You went to your Instagram dms and found a meme that you thought he would like and sent it to him. “There you go, I used it.”

Ben took out his phone when he got the notification and opened it, laughing when he saw what it was, “Oh my gosh, this is so cute. You know I have a dog.”

“You do?” you asked, getting excited.

“Yeah her name’s Frankie. Here,” he replied, going to his home screen where you could see a picture of just about the cutest beagle you’ve ever seen.

“Oh my goodness, she’s adorable. Ugh I love her,” you said, going a little goo-goo at the sight of the dog. It helped that owning a dog was always an item on your pro list for guys.

“She’s the best. Oh, here we are,” Ben said, gesturing to his car.

The two of you got in, but before he turned on the engine Ben said, “Here, watch this video of her.”

Ben leaned over the console to show you and you met him halfway, both of you turning your eyes down to the phone to watch Frankie running around what you would assume is Ben’s apartment, fresh from a bath. You and Ben laughed at her antics and when she jumped up on the couch and wiggled around on her back, Ben’s groan in the video and groan in real life synched up and you lost it.

Ben couldn’t help but laugh too, but he said, “Hey, that left a stain, that’s a suede couch.”

That just made you laugh harder and soon both you and Ben were leaning on each other for support as you tried to catch your breath. As your laughter finally died down, you looked up at Ben, whose face was only a few inches from yours and as a couple more giggles passed your lips, you couldn’t help but steal a glance at Ben’s. You looked back at his eyes and caught him doing the same, biting your lip in anticipation. Both of you leaned a little closer, a little closer, until you were so close you could feel Ben’s breath on your lips.

Then your phone’s ringtone went off, louder than reasonable and you both jumped in surprise. You picked it up again and saw that it was Lucy calling.

“Yes, Lucy?” you answered with a bit of a sigh, your rational mind returning and reminding you that you weren’t supposed to kiss Ben.

“I forgot to tell you to text me when you get home!” she practically yelled and you held the phone away from your ear. You could hear Rami shushing her on the other end.

“Okay, I will, don’t worry, Luce,” you reassured her before saying a quick goodbye and hanging up.

Ben had turned on the engine and was starting to pull out of the parking space.

“She just wanted me to let her know when I get home,” you explained.

“Yeah I heard,” Ben said with a laugh. “Just, uh, tell me where to go.”

“Oh yeah,” you replied, remembering that he was taking you to your house and not back to his.

💖💖💖

Permanent taglist: @riseetothesun @caborhapch @drowseoftaylor @queenlover05 @johndeaconshands @supersonicfreddie

Series taglist: @killer-queen-87 @theprettyandthereckless @radiob-l-a-hblah @theonsasheart @hannafuckingsucks​

If you would like to be added to the taglist for this little series or my permanent one, just send me a message or ask!

[radiosteve]

Need Your Loving Tonight Ch. 8

Summary: The night of the band’s first show with John as the bassist takes a few dips and turns beforehand. Everything is changing so quickly and the tension you feel with Roger certainly doesn’t help. But maybe John can make you feel better at the end of the day.

 Note: I tried to amp up Freddie’s friendship with the reader because it feels so natural. Things are getting angsty with Rog and fluffy with Deaky, I love it. As always, the italicized part is the reader’s thoughts. The photo is one that I found on google. I do not own any rights to it. If you want to be added to the taglist send me a message or an ask and I’ll add you!  

 Warnings: Language, mentions of smut, angst, fluff

 Pairing: Roger Taylor x Reader, John Deacon x Reader

Words: 3.5k+

  July 2, 1971

 “Y/n, darling,” Freddie called out from the ‘dressing room’, trying to get your attention. The area that the boys had deemed to be their ‘dressing room’ was really just a small classroom near the back of the auditorium that they were playing in at Surrey College. You had been kicked out earlier because Roger had forgotten to put on underwear and needed to change his pants, but here Freddie was calling you to come back in. When you had walked out of the room earlier, you ran into a cute guy and had been talking to him ever since. “Please come back in darling, Roger is fully clothed I swear. I need you to do my makeup,” you rolled your eyes at Freddie’s shouts from behind the mostly closed door and turned to the man in front of you.

 “I guess that’s my cue to leave. It was nice talking to you…” you fumbled for his name, mentally cursing yourself for forgetting.

 “Joe,” he quickly answered and gently grabbed your hand, bringing it to his lips. A giggle trailed from your mouth as he pulled away with a smile. He turned around to walk away and you brought your hand up to your chest, holding it as you watched him step further down the hallway. 

 “What a sap,” Roger spoke loudly, leaning against the doorframe. You quickly snapped your gaze in his direction and narrowed your eyes. 

 “I think he was sweet, love,” Brian poked his head up from behind Roger and shot you a soft smile. 

 “God, were you all spying on me?” 

“Not all of us. Johnny is sitting over on the sofa tuning his bass,” Freddie said, appearing next to Roger. A sigh escaped your lips as you walked towards the door while Brian and Roger went back into the dressing room. “That boy kind of looked like Deaky don’t you think?” Freddie whispered as you entered the room. You felt a blush creep across your cheeks as Freddie gave you a wide smirk. There may have been one night when Freddie came over to hang out with you and Sally and instead you all got super drunk. And you might have, maybe, mentioned that you thought John was a little cute. Ever since then, Freddie took the idea and ran with it. He used every opportunity possible to tease you about your mini crush on John. 

 “Just sit down before I change my mind about helping you,” you pushed Freddie’s shoulder over to a chair across the room. 

 “I don’t really need your help darling; I just want to spend time with you. It seems like you hardly ever leave your flat these days. And when you do, it’s usually just so you can go to work. How dull,” Freddie sat back, looking up at you as your dug around his makeup bag, trying to find his eyeliner.

 “He’s got a point,” Brian piped up from the couch where he sat next to Deaky. You shot him a mean glare and John giggled from beside him.

 “You guys do know that I graduated and got a real job, don’t you? I can’t spend every night out partying like a Rockstar,” you finally found the eyeliner and bent over in front of Freddie to begin applying it to his face. As soon as you did you heard a chorus of ‘whoas’ and whistles, causing you to quickly stand back up. Your eyebrows furrowed as you scanned the boys sitting around the room. Brian looked like he had just seen a ghost, John’s face was as red as a tomato, and Roger stood against the wall with a smirk plastered across his face.

 “That dress is a little too short for you to lean over like that, love,” Roger spoke, his eyes trailing up and down your body as his tongue swiped out across his bottom lip. You could have melted on the spot, before you remembered that it wasn’t just Roger that got a glimpse underneath your dress. Your eyes landed on Brian as his mouth hung open and his eyes stared blankly at the floor. 

 “I just saw my best friend’s bum,” he mumbled under his breath, before slowly looking up at you. “That’s basically like seeing my sister’s bum, oh god,” Brian stood up and rushed over to a table in the corner of the room that had a few glasses of water on it. He gulped down one cup before slowly making his way back to the couch. He slumped down on the cushion and John gave him a comforting pat on the arm. The blush on John’s cheeks had faded after Brian’s freak out, but he still wouldn’t look you in the eye. 

 “I-uh, I guess I’ll just crouch down to do Fred’s makeup then,” you muttered and moved to comfortably apply Freddie’s eyeliner, without exposing yourself. He gave you a cheeky grin and you knew that you’d never hear the end of this. After you put the finishing touches on Freddie’s makeup, you stood up and put the eyeliner back into the makeup bag. “I should probably go out front so I can meet up with Sally,” you turned towards the door. 

 “Sally’s here? Oh god please don’t bring her back here. She hates my guts,” Roger spoke with wide eyes as he stepped closer to you. 

 “All the more reason to give her a backstage tour,” you quipped while Freddie giggled at your words. A silence flooded the room as you and Roger stared at each other intently, your eyes playfully narrowed. 

 “Who’s Sally and why does she hate Roger?” John’s voice broke through the wall of tension, shifting everyone’s attention to the timid bassist. He shrunk into the couch cushions at the sight of everyone’s eye fixed onto him. 

 “Sally is Y/n’s roommate. She doesn’t come to many shows because of our darling boy Roger over here,” Freddie pointed his thumb in Roger’s direction as Roger settled down onto a chair near the door. “Sally hasn’t been much of a fan of Roger ever since he slept with…” Freddie went on to finish his sentence, but you quickly cut him off.

 “Her!” you screeched trying to drown out Freddie’s words. “Yeah, Roger slept with her one night and then told her that he just wanted to be friends. She’s still pissed about it, ya know?” Everything you said rushed out into a jumble of words, but John still nodded along. 

 “I slept with Sally?” Roger’s voice was higher than normal as he shot you a confused look. You snapped your head in his direction, a mixture of anger and desperation plastered on your face. “I mean, yeah I slept with Sally. She-uh really hates me, uh huh,” Roger struggled out as John watched the two of you intently. It was a damn good thing that Roger was a musician instead of an actor because man, this guy can’t act for shit. 

 “Well, I’d love to stay and chat but I’ve got to go out front and you guys have a show to play in 15 minutes,” you shuffled towards the exit, eyes sweeping across the boys faces as you stood in the doorway. “Good luck! Have a good first show Johnny!” with a thumbs up and a quick wave you went out to the front of the stage to look for Sally. 

 “There you are,” Sally grabbed your shoulder and pulled you back to face her after you passed right by her. “How is Queen’s favorite groupie?” Sally asked with a huge grin. 

 “You know, I’d really appreciate it if you stopped calling me that, especially when we’re in public,” you rolled your eyes as she laughed and threw her arm around your shoulders. 

 “I wouldn’t say it if it weren’t true. I mean I’m not the one that slept with the drummer,” Sally teased as you began to shush her. 

 “Actually, you did,” Sally gave you a confused stare as her eyebrows furrowed. “Freddie was running his mouth and almost told John about me and Roger, so I saved it by saying that you slept with Roger. So if John asks, please, please, please, go along with it,” you clasped your hands together and held them to your chest as if you were begging. 

 “You want me, a giant lesbian, to act as if I slept with Roger Taylor?” you frantically nodded your head as she spoke. “Fine, I’ll do it. But only because you’re my best friend and I love you,” Sally pulled you closer and you rested your head against hers. 

 “Oh, and I said that you’re really pissed at Roger because he just wanted to be friends afterwards,” you rushed out, glancing down at your watch that read 8 o’clock. The lights in the auditorium went out and a hush fell over the crowd.

 “Well that should be easy. Roger already knows how to piss me off in all the right ways,” Sally whispered just before the stage lights came on, illuminating the four figures in front of you.

 -----------------------------

 Throughout the concert, you and Sally danced, cheered, and sang along. You felt every note pounding throughout your chest. It’s so different to be out in the crowd rather than backstage. The last time you’d out by the stage was back when Mike was still the band’s bassist and the only reason you’d opted out of going backstage was because you wanted to get a drink from the bar. The energy that pulsed from the stage felt so surreal, especially when you remembered that those were some of your best friends up there. They felt like a real band. Not just some ragtag group of misfit college students. The group of men standing up in front of you seemed as though they were professional musicians with number one albums, mansions, fame, and fortune. The only things reminding you of the truth were Freddie, Brian, and John’s frequent winks and smiles in your direction.

 When the lights on stage faded out and the overhead lights flickered on instead, you felt everything. Without knowing it, tears flooded your eyes and streamed down your cheeks. But they weren’t tears of sadness, no. The streaks in your makeup came from joy. The feeling that coincided with watching the boys that you love so much play their hearts out and do something that they genuinely enjoyed. Things had changed so much since the first day that you met the same curly haired boy that just performed in front of you. It wasn’t until Sally grabbed your hand that you realized that you were just standing below an empty stage with tears in your eyes as people shuffled out around you. 

 “You alright, love?” Sally’s gaze met yours as you wiped the tears from your eyes with the back of your hand. You nodded and followed her as she made her way towards the stairs leading backstage. The door to the boys dressing room was closed so Sally knocked while you still worked on fixing the smudges in your makeup. Brian opened the door, greeting the two of you with a big smile. He backed away, allowing you to walk in, but not before he noticed the redness in your eyes. He grabbed your wrist, pulling you out into the hallway just as you stepped through the door. 

 “What’s wrong? Have you been crying?” Brian asked with concern laced throughout his voice. You nodded and tried to explain, but Brian cut you off. “Was it someone backstage or in the crowd? Was someone mean to you? I’ll kick somebody’s ass if I have to,” he rambled on despite the fact that you kept shaking your head no to all of his questions. “Did one of the guys do something when I wasn’t looking? I’m pretty sure I could take any of them in a fight. Except maybe John, I feel like he could easily kill someone and get away with it, for some reason.”

 “No, Bri,” you finally got a chance to talk and Brian looked at you expectantly. “I’m honestly not sure why I was crying. I guess I just got a little emotional being out in the crowd like that. You guys have progressed so much over the years. I hardly feel like I’m watching the same band that was up on stage a few months ago.”

 “Well technically you weren’t. I mean with us having John now,” you shot Brian a look and he chuckled.

 “I just mean that everything about the band is so different. In a good way,” you gazed up at Brian, eyes locked as a smile poked at the corners of his lips. “I really think you guys could make it big. And god, do I want to be around for it.”

 “You’ll always be there for us and we’ll be there for you. That’s just how this whole thing works, Y/n,” Brian pulled you in for a hug. His head rested on top of yours, before you both pulled away and walked inside the dressing room.

 “So, what are you still doing here? Thought you’d have some poor innocent girl in the back of your van by now,” Sally’s voice rang throughout the small room and you had to hide your giggle in Brian’s shoulder. Freddie didn’t take the same measures to hide his laugh like you did, and his chuckle echoed off the walls, earning a groan from Roger. 

 “Just need a break from all the girls tonight. It’s quite exhausting having so many of them fawn all over me like that. I’ve had enough of girls screaming my name on stage, don’t think I need to hear any more for the night,” Roger licked his lips, his eyes landing on you and the way you were clinging to Brian’s arm. The cocky smile slipped off his face and he moved to get closer to you. “Can I talk to you in the hall for a minute?” Roger said in a hushed tone, trying not to interrupt the conversation that John, Brian, and Freddie had just begun. You looked over at Sally who violently shook her head no. But you decided to ignore her and followed Roger out the door. Once Roger had made sure that the door was properly closed behind him, he turned towards you.

 “What’s this whole thing about me supposedly sleeping with Sally?” Roger crossed his arms in front of his chest. 

 “I-uh, I just,” you stuttered out, trying your best to not give away the true reasoning behind why you want to keep this secret. “I just don’t think the whole band needs to hear about every fling I’ve ever had, especially if it was with you,” your voice wavered as the words fell from your lips. You noticed how Roger’s body seemed to deflate at what you said, but you didn’t think much of it.  

 “Everyone already knows though,” a panic spread throughout your body. John knows about Roger and I? Oh god. “Well, besides John,” a wave of relief crashed over you as Roger continued talking. “But it’s not really a big deal anyway. So what if we slept together,” you felt a sudden overpowering feeling of anger and your face grew hot.

 “It’s a big deal to me, you ass. I don’t want to be known as the girl that fucked Roger Taylor or to be written off as some crazed groupie that hangs all over the band. So, if you could swallow your pride enough for one second, maybe I can go on and pretend like I didn’t sleep with you,” your tone laced with vexation as every word spewed from your mouth. It almost looked like Roger was hurt by your words, but he fired back nonetheless.

 “If I knew you were going to act all pissy and demented about it, then I never would have fucked you in the first place,” Roger’s voice raised, but he controlled it enough so that no one in the dressing room could hear him. A part of you wanted to be sad, to ache at the emotion behind Roger’s words. But for some reason, you just couldn’t get yourself to believe the word that fell from his lips.

 “Maybe you shouldn’t have,” your words were icy and cut through Roger like a blade. “I know that it’s the one mistake that I certainly would do over if I could,” the truth expelled from you before you could stop it. You didn’t necessarily mean to say it maliciously, but that was how Roger took it. And what you said wasn’t a lie. If you could go back to that night, you never would have gone home with Roger. But that wasn’t because you didn’t want to sleep with him. It was more so due to everything that happened afterwards between the two of you. A piece of your heart would forever and always be attached to Roger, whether you liked it or not. But you would erase the tension, uneasiness, and arguments that followed in a heartbeat. And you would give anything for that. Roger’s eyes watched yours as the tears that pooled within them began to roll down your face. He brushed them away with his thumb and you stared at him incredulously.

 “I’m sorry,” his words were quiet as his hand cupped your cheek and rubbed circles with his thumb. Your eyes trailed up his face before meeting his. 

 “I’m sorry too,” sincerity evident through your expression as you spoke.

 “I know,” his words were barely above a whisper. The two of you stood like that, his hand resting against your face, for a moment longer before you went back inside the dressing room. It took everything inside Roger to hold himself back from leaning down to kiss you. You were welcomed back into the dressing room by the sound of Freddie’s laughter and the tightness that you felt around your chest loosened. You sat between Sally and Brian, resting your head against Brian’s shoulder as Sally grabbed for your hand. You smiled at her ability to read your emotions and how she always knew when to cheer you up. Everyone stayed in the dressing room to chat for a little longer. It wasn’t until you saw the clock on the wall that you realized how late it was.

 “We should get going,” Sally said, letting go of your hand so she could stand up. “I’ll go pull the car around, yeah?” she looked down at you and you nodded sleepily. Sally left the room and you got up, saying goodbye and giving everyone a quick hug. 

 “I’ll walk you out,” John’s voice trailed behind you as you walked to the door. “I need to leave too,” he gave you a small smile before picking up the case that contained his bass and gestured for you to go first through the door. The two of you walked along the hallway in a comfortable silence, although you could tell that he seemed a little nervous. “I think that it’s really great how much support you show for the band. It’s really nice to have you around,” John’s words broke through the warm air as the two of you stepped outside.

 “Well, I like being around,” you spoke with soft smile taking over your face. When you glanced up at John you noticed how his upturned lips reflected yours. It took you a few seconds to tear your gaze from his mouth, pushing out all of the impulses within you that told you to kiss him. You both stopped walking as you neared the edge of the building that led out into the parking lot. “Can I tell you something?” the words left your lips before you could process that you were speaking.

 “Of course. What is it?” his eyes stayed locked on yours as your heart beat out of your chest.

 “I think that you really bring the band together. You’re kind of like the glue. I mean, I’ve seen these guys perform with three or so other bassists, but none of those shows even come close to this one. There’s just something about the four of you all together that seems so right. The music, the energy, everything,” John cheeks turned bright red as you went on, but he hid it behind his long hair.

 “Thank you. That’s very kind of you to say,” John’s voice recoiled back into being shy and bashful.

 “I mean it, John. I really do,” he looked up from the ground, his eyes locked on yours as the smile fell from his face. Oh, how he wanted to kiss you. To feel the sensation of your lips pressed against his. The desperate touch of his tongue in your mouth as his hands traveled down your sides. The connection of your fingers tugging through his hair. He wanted it. He wanted it all. The honk of a horn and the flash of headlights tore John from his ever-swirling thoughts. All of his desperate desires had to wait. Instead, he would have to survive on a hug and a wave as you slid into the passenger side of Sally’s car. And that was enough. For now. 

 Taglist: @Retromusicsalad @bohemiansweede @deaconsroger @queen-crue @ohtheseboysilove @Queeniesteiins @kemeryyyy @onceuponadetectivedemigod @ixchel-9275 @luvborhap @ziggymay @deakysmisfire @rogertaylorsfalsettogivesmehives @briarrose26

[chyrstis]

I won’t ask for much (but just this once, I’d like you) 3/10

Slipped a little bit on getting this one out the other day, but better late than never! And poor Sharky’s in need of a break, big time, but things might just be starting to swing in his favor.

Pairing: Sharky Boshaw x John Seed Rating: E (but only for Ch. 10, the rest are a solid T) Word Count: 4.7K  

Link to AO3!

Ch. 1 / Ch. 2 / Ch. 3 / Ch. 4 / Ch. 5 / Ch. 6 / Ch. 7 / Ch. 8 / Ch. 9 / Ch. 10

—

Sharky steals a boat. It just happens to be John’s boat, and when it’s damaged along with his boathouse, John proceeds to lay out a means of having Sharky pay him back. [No Cult AU]

———–

It hadn’t been his best moment.

Drenched, nearly buck-ass naked behind the wheel, and feeling his underwear starting to chafe, Sharky knew he hadn’t made the best choice either. Maybe it’d been the fumes, maybe it’d been the embarrassment, but he’d had it, and needed to clear out fast.

Luckily he always had a spare set of underwear on hand– seriously, an extra pair was not a thing to overlook in an emergency– but that philosophy had never extended towards actual clothes, leaving him in a dicier spot than normal.

Because heading home, pissed off, and speeding didn’t do him any favors. Especially not when one of the Deputies pulled him over only to ask what the hell he was doing. Deputy Rook hadn’t really busted his chops too many times before, but he didn’t have high hopes heading into it.

Full-on expecting a public indecency charge, he’d launched right into the story only for her to catch some of the eau de skunk he was still wearing. Wrinkling her nose, she’d waved him off, told him to get right back to fixing that problem, and she’d see about forgetting this ever happened.

Not that he’d flashed her or anything, but she kept her eyes on his face the entire time and refused to lower them.

And when she let him drive off, he doubled down on that pledge to at least pack a spare pair of jeans.

When tomorrow hit, he reset everything. Decided to take on this new day and start from scratch all while scrubbing himself off furiously, because the previous one blew from hell and back, and he wasn’t going to finish any of this without a clear head.

And much as he didn’t like to admit it, John hadn’t gone out of his way to make things worse for him. Not directly, so he let part of the mental grudge he’d been nursing go.

With Hurk’s help he snagged a replacement phone, pulling strings Sharky didn’t need to know the finer details of, and when his next time out was due, he went back, ready to dive into the old routine again.

Not bullshit-free, but at the very least skunk-free.

And he was hit with the bullshit end of things almost immediately when John all but threw him into the waiting arms of Joseph’s people. John had volunteered to help too, but didn’t ask, simply relayed this to him all while being guided towards a set of trucks. Filled with ‘essentials’ they were to be taken to the compound, off-loaded, then brought back.

While any danger sense Sharky had would’ve gone off in any other situation than this, he hadn’t been too pissed about it. Joseph hadn’t hesitated to help him before, and he wasn’t about to forget what the woman from last time had done for him, and kicked himself repeatedly for not managing to get her name. Yeah, he’d been embarrassed as fuck, covered in skunk funk, and standing in his underwear, but he’d dropped the ball on that one, and hoped he’d have a chance to meet her again later on.

As morning turned into the afternoon, and more items were hefted onto the trucks to move, he lost track of time, focusing only on what he could grab, pass, and carry. He’d even lost track of John, seeing no sign of blue anywhere in the tide of white and beige, figuring he’d find him when he needed him, and was eventually proven right when he’d stepped out for a small smoke break.

Tapping him twice on the shoulder, John gestured back towards the cars out front, signaling he was free to go back to the boathouse. And when John mentioned he was staying behind to finish up and not to wait for him, Sharky blinked at him for a good minute before double-timing it out of there. Opportunities like this weren’t to be passed up, and he left before John decided to change his mind after all.

Winded, but not really feeling it yet, he figured he still had a good half a day to go before really needing to tap out, and could burn off the rest while getting more of the boathouse’s roof down.

But when he reached the spot down there, taking a decent drag of his cigarette as he relaxed, he took the moment for what it was. A break. A moment where he didn’t have a microscope on him for once, and the tension bled right out.

Suddenly beat, he sat himself down on the ground by the boathouse. Flopped down onto his back as soon as he’d finished off his cigarette, and looked up into the sky. Clear and blue, it was about as gorgeous of a day as it could get for early fall around there, and he tugged his cap down to cover his eyes.

Just for a sec. He’d earned it.

The water helped drag him along towards it. To that peaceful place where he didn’t have to worry about much for once.

Delightful, isn’t it?

He smiled as the breeze blew by, feeling it pull him that much closer to sleep.

Isn’t it just so? Too peaceful, almost. Calm. Quiet, the voice from the dream said, pleasant to listen to itself. A shame, really.

He frowned. Why?

Because wouldn’t it be better spent on the river? On the water? On a boat?

“Yeah. Hell yeah,” he murmured.

Speeding along. Leaning into the wind as it whips around you. Just…perfect.

Perfect.

I’m glad you agree. But it wouldn’t be on just any boat. No, but the rather expensive one that you so happened to smash directly into my boathouse.

Sharky tensed.

“Which you should be working on right this very instant, if memory serves me right.”

Slapping the brim of his hat in his panic, it flew up and off of his head. John was crouched down next to him, blue sunglasses down over his eyes, and wearing a smile that showed too many teeth to be friendly.

Frozen in place, both stared the other down as the seconds ticked by, and Sharky couldn’t kick his brain in the ass enough to get it to respond. No, it seemed set on adding its own running commentary to this, all of which he was worried would spill out the moment he opened his mouth.

“Uh, yo.”

“Yo,” John replied, dropping the smile altogether. “Enjoying the break?”

“Well, I was. Actually.” John’s eyes narrowed, and Sharky swallowed hard. Felt his head bob as he tried to get past the haze the nap had put him in. “Got a little tired, and figured I’d rest some of it off, but…”

“But what?”

Sharky watched John’s teeth come out again in that odd non-smile of his, and forced his attention back up to his eyes instead. “Uhh…”

Blue on blue, the lenses of his sunglasses covered his eyes but didn’t conceal them completely.

That left Sharky wondering how the hell he’d managed to get the shade that close to begin with. It wasn’t a perfect match, but no one was going to split hairs over a color pretty as that being a compromise. At least he wouldn’t, but he wasn’t John, or trying to color match like John, and different strokes for different folks, he guessed, but there was no need to be so damn-

John cleared his throat. “Well?”

Shit. Losing it twice in less than five minutes? Maybe he really did need the shut-eye after all.

“Ah, fuck. But I guess it’s over now,” Sharky said, shaking the last of the haze off, “and I don’t see any reason to keep on dragging this shit out any longer than I have to, so…”

He clambered up after recovering his hat, breathing in deep as he did, and swiped a hand at his forehead. It hadn’t been a quick hop and a skip up, but the weird floating feeling that came with it, didn’t help much.

Not bothering to look back at John as he shadowed him, he grabbed for one of the boards sitting on the grass, and dragged it up. Setting it on his shoulder, it bobbed like an off-balance seesaw until he was able to steady it enough to walk with.

After that, it was only a matter of taking it over to the ladder and carrying it up. Simple.

“Are you sure you have a handle on this?”

Tossing the board on the ground, Sharky reached for the ladder. “What? Johnny Law’s worried for once?”

He was on the second rung before he glanced back, and whistled at the strength of John’s glare.

“Damn. That bad, huh? Guess I’d better start praying then. Maybe ol’ Joe could give me a few pointers. Give me some of that higher learning you all love so- fuck!”

The next step should’ve connected. In some ways he was glad it didn’t, because any higher and he would’ve been nursing a broken neck and not what he was thinking was shaping up to be a broken ass.

Groaning into the grass, he heard rushed footsteps as John ran over to him.“Tell Joe I’m sorry,” he wheezed. “I take it all back. Just in case he’s got some way of putting the holy god-fearing evil eye on me, ‘cause I did not like that one bit.”

John was definitely worried now, looking a lot more concerned than he would’ve given him credit for as he crouched down next to him.

“I’ll let you do that yourself. Provided you can get back up from this.”

Placing a hand on his shoulder, John examined him closely. Narrowed his eyes as he checked for whatever the hell kind of injury he was expecting, and Sharky cleared his throat.

“What?” John snapped.

“Yo, uh. Don’t think you’re going to see much up topside. ‘Cause in case you were wondering, I’m clenching the thing that’s smarting the most.”

Following his thread, John checked. Actually looked over at where his hands had moved to, both resting right over his ass, and Sharky almost couldn’t believe it. So, he did what any other guy in his position would've done. Took the shot.

Curling his hand into okay sign, he moved it close enough to his balls to count, and struggled not to go into a coughing fit. “Made you look.”

It took a second to click, but the dawning realization of what John was looking at exactly was priceless. Spinning back on him, he didn’t waste time on being irritated. Just went straight to pissed and didn’t look back.

“What the hell were you thinking?” John asked through clenched teeth.

“That I had this? Put one foot up, then two.” Pushing himself up so he could sit, Sharky sucked in a breath. “Least I thought I did.”

“Oh, did you? Get up.” John reached for his arm, and pulled him bodily to his feet.

The pain faded to a dull throbbing, telling him he was okay enough to move around at least, but balance? He found his mostly shot as he rocked, leaning on John only long enough to take a tentative step towards the picnic table nearby.

Feeling John’s eyes burning a hole into his back, Sharky kept on going. Didn’t think John was going to let him get far without saying anything else, but as he hobbled over to the table he had to check over his shoulder. To see what exactly John’s deal was if he wasn’t going to keep on yelling at him, only to find him watching closely.

“Yo, don’t make it weird.”

John’s eyes flicked up to his. “You would be the one doing that.”

“…I mean, that shot to my moneymaker was pretty bad, but it ain’t broke, so I don’t think it’ll need any fixing.” Considering it briefly, Sharky shrugged. “Not that I guess I mind you looking much either, seeing as it’s-“

“I wasn’t,” John replied, unamused. Crossing his arms, he glanced skyward and sighed. “But maybe you had the right idea to begin with.”

“Right idea with what?”

“The resting part. Not…whatever this is supposed to be.” John eyed him skeptically as he walked up next to him, and held out his hand. “Let me see your keys.”

“Why?”

“You’re exhausted. More than you’re willing to admit to after helping Joseph. So, I propose a break. Not down here, but up at the ranch instead. There’s water, better seats available, and if you do end up needing some form of treatment, an actual first aid kit.”

“Like I said, it’s not exactly busted. And I really don’t think you wanna-”

“And alcohol.”

Sharky’s eyes lit up. “For real?” John nodded, and Sharky immediately started fishing for his keys.

“Ah, ah,” John said, wagging his finger at him. “Only if you hand them over first. I’d rather not add loss of life or limb to the things you would need to compensate me for if we end up crashing, so I don’t want you anywhere near the wheel.“

“Dude, if I’m dead I can’t pay you back for shit. Hell, if we’re both dead, that debt’s pretty much kaput.”

“Exactly,” John stated, “and precisely why I should be the one driving us there, not you, so if you could?”

Staring down at his open palm, Sharky frowned. Checked the keys clenched in his fist, and weighed his options.

Sighing again, John gave him a look. “Sometime today.”

The beer won out. “Eh, fuck it.”

He placed the keys in John’s hand, and in exchange earned something he didn’t expect. A smile.

---

It actually didn’t bother him all that much. Being chauffeured around by John was an idea he wouldn’t have come up with in a thousand years, but watching John struggle to get into his car and figure it out was funny enough on its own before he even got around to starting it.

The driver’s seat cover was a blanket, and there was a hole worn into the cushion just from age and use which John made a face at soon after sinking into it, but after cramming more of the blanket into the spot to get comfortable – a move Sharky often did himself – he started the car.

The motor let out a loud whine. Wrinkling his nose, John threw a critical look Sharky’s way as he shrugged a shoulder back at him. Turning the key again, this time the car kicked to life, and John managed not to stall it when he pulled out.

The rest of the ride up wasn’t eventful, even when John skidded over the dirt due to the worn tires. Just corrected for it, tensing behind the wheel as Sharky casually talked him through it, and spent the last stretch of the trip telling him how the last time he’d done that the tire had blown.

“Seriously! Popped. Got me spinning and I nearly threw up by the time I stopped. It was pretty fucking awesome.”

John, however, didn’t seem to agree. Not by the way he’d gripped the wheel, and not with the look he shot him shortly after saying that.

So, when they pulled up to the hangar, John all but jumped out of the car.

Stifling a laugh, Sharky followed him inside, and couldn’t help but rub his hands together at the kind of stash John had to have waiting out here. Probably high-proof, aged shit, the kind of stuff that was usually too rich for his blood and would’ve been charged for just by looking at it.

But first? Those chairs set off to the side were calling his name, and he headed straight for them.

Setting himself down gently, Sharky didn’t care if he was half hanging out of it as he oozed down and adjusted. There was nothing left to do but focus on chilling, and he let his eyes slip closed as he did just that.

He heard humming. It wasn’t anything he recognized, but John kept up with it as he rummaged around nearby. Light little notes that were strange coming from him, but not bad to listen to.

The sound drifted closer, becoming whistling, and Sharky glanced over at him from under the brim of his hat.

John pulled up the chair next to him and handed him a bottle. The rest of the six-pack he set down in the space between them.

“I was going to give it to you on the way out, but it seems a waste to keep on waiting when now’s the perfect time.”

“Oh, fuck yeah,” Sharky said, cracking the beer open.

It wasn’t anything that he was familiar with, however, and after taking a drink of it, eyed the label. Smooth and with a coffee-taste chasing it, it wasn’t his usual combo by any means.

He took another drink, rolling it around in his mouth, and noticed John was watching him. His eyebrows had drawn together as he studied him, and Sharky tried not to choke down the rest of the mouthful before clearing his throat.

“You, uh, wanna tell me what that means?”

“Hmm?” John tilted his head as the look intensified, but his eyes widened. “That wasn’t- it wasn’t supposed to mean anything. I was checking to see if you liked it, and clearly there’s something lacking.”

Fuck. Now he’d done it. “What? Nah, it’s all good, man. I’d never look a gift horse in the mouth, especially not with beer and shit, it’s just not what I’d buy. Not down at the Eagle when I’m three beers in and looking to get blasted fast, at least.”

John considered this for a few seconds and nodded. “I see.”

“And don’t go thinking I’m being ungrateful or nothing. ‘Cause after a day like this, you want something to take the edge off right. This works. Well, that and, er, just…”

He didn’t think blurting out, ‘Man, just really getting fucked,’ was something worth sharing. Not with John at least, no matter how true it would’ve been. So, he let the sentence stay unfinished for a few while he tried to come up with another way to end it.

It wasn’t easy, and as Sharky idly scratched his goatee, he mostly gave up the fight. “You know. Just burning that shit off. Constructively."

That got an eyebrow raise. “Constructively?”

“Yeah, constructively. Least that’s how I like my fucking to go.” John blinked at him, clearly waiting for him to explain further, and Sharky made his go-to gesture a little more suggestive just to mess around a bit. “Teamwork makes the dream work, am I right?”

That was a look he’d never think he’d get out of John. Ever. And ranking the others he’d been able to score so far that day, it shot straight to number one. “Ah.”

“But failing that, drinking works. And if you want one too, go right ahead. Sucks drinking alone anyway. Never been a fan of it before, and you won’t find me liking it now.”

He grabbed one of the bottles, holding it out to John directly.

Left blinking slowly at him, Sharky had to wiggle the bottle at him to break John out of the daze he’d settled into, but once he did, John held his hand up.

“No, that’s…I don’t drink. Not often at least. Not anymore.”

“No?” Sharky frowned, taking it back. “Not liking it? Needed a break from it? Like no judging or anything, you do you. Just curious is all.”

John thought it over, tapping his fingers against his thigh as he sat back in the chair. It almost seemed like he was going to drop it all together, but eventually broke the silence.

“Let’s say that drinking to excess was a habit that came easily to me when I was younger. It wasn’t easy to work my way back from it. Or even to cut it down to a level that was manageable, but I had help. And without that, there’s no telling what state I would be in right now.”

“But this…me drinking in front of you, that’s not bothering you any?”

He shook his head. “In limited numbers and in limited company I find no problem with it. Bars can make it complicated, but with the right people even that can be tuned out as well. I can focus on them and what they’re saying. Enjoying what they’re sharing with me instead of thinking about how fine the whiskey at the table nearby must be.”

John closed his eyes for a few seconds, and tapped a finger against his lips.

“A shame, really. But it’s for the best.”

“Huh.” Sharky gave the label another once-over, and held it up. “Who picked this out then?”

“Why, I did. It was a gift. Handing that off to someone else, especially to either of my brothers, though I love them dearly, would’ve been unacceptable. Joseph has zero interest in alcohol, and Jacob is…straightforward with what he likes. There’s little nuance to it, and I suspect anything would do given the opportunity. So, lucky for you,” he said, smirking, “though I haven’t tried it, I still have an eye for taste.”

Sharky scrunched up his face mid-drink, showing John exactly what he thought of that.

John took one look at him, his puffed-up cheeks rounding out a scowl, and laughed.

The sound made Sharky go into a coughing fit, pounding on his chest to clear it all out. All while John continued, holding a hand over his mouth as it tapered off into a soft chuckle.

“Not cool, man. Not fucking cool,” Sharky rasped, downing more liquid to help soothe his throat.

“Me? I’m not the one at fault here. In fact, I think you were about to disagree with me.”

“Whatever.” Sharky needed a topic change and fast. “So, how’d you get it?”

He raised the bottle in the direction of the plane. From what he could see of it under the edge of the tarp, it was pretty slick, like something out of an old World War II movie, and John’s eyes followed him to it.

“Affirmation?”

“Affirm-what?” Sharky gave him a look. “Seriously? You into the power of positive thinking, or something?”

“…The name does have importance to me, yes,” John said, quickly following up the statement with, “but the story’s a little long-winded. And I don’t think you want to hear me talk on and on, for the sake of talking, to begin with.”

He looked uncomfortable. More so than Sharky had seen him yet, and he got the impression it was a touchy subject.

“I don’t know. Could be some pretty neat shit. The plane, that is. Better if it’s an older one too, ‘cause it might’ve been in some real dogfights. …But that’s the kind of thing that gets you ghosts, and hauntings, and all sorts of weird events like the kind they document only to leave a bunch of VHS tapes behind. Which I’m down for any of that, but you need a camcorder and I roasted mine the last time Hurk and I tried-“

“It’s not haunted.”

Sharky gave him a skeptical look. “Like, you sure? ‘Cause sometimes this shit don’t start until years after you get it.”

“It’s not, and I’ve had no such ‘events’ since acquiring it. But it does have history.” John leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees before aiming an amused look Sharky’s way. “And since you’ve twisted my arm into it, I suppose I’ll just have to tell it.”

Not that he twisted it too hard, or at all. Sharky almost told him so too, choosing to down the rest of his beer instead.

But over the next hour John told him everything he knew about it. Where the original planes were first built, when they were used, and how many were made at the time. How this model had seen light use decades back, was now in need of serious repairs to bring it back into working shape, and had been about to be junked. John had caught word of it due to hanging in those circles - plus making way too many model planes as a kid - and shoved a wad of cash in the collector’s face before any no’s could be thrown around.

Because John had fallen in love with the thing on sight. Known he’d wanted that plane to be his, but had to get behind the controls to be sure.

And when he was in the air?

“Perfection,” he said, his tone soft. “Nothing compared to it. To the rush that came from rising high above the world below. Losing yourself in it. Completely.”

A faraway look fell over him after that.

It hung around long enough for Sharky to realize he’d been holding his breath and waiting for him to continue. But John shrugged it off, going back to the animated way he’d been talking before. If he’d thought the humming was weird earlier, this was right in the same ballpark.

Because John was John. A grade-A asshole inside and out.

This? This wasn’t John.

This John kept on talking. Didn’t drop the conversation as they crossed from planes to history, but Sharky found he didn’t want to stop him either. Just let him go on, using his hands to show off various flying techniques, or to draw out in the air what was running through his head as he described it. Those same motions drew his attention to the tattoos lining the inside of his wrist.

The inked planes resting below John’s watch stood out, and it reminded Sharky of the flames running up his own forearm. How much of an impact that alone had on him as a whole, and he wondered how far that love of flying ran.

It was always cool to listen to someone that was really into what they were talking about. Like seriously digging it to the point that they’d perk up whenever asked, and you could read it clear as day.

John was no exception to this, content to keep on talking however long Sharky would allow him to. He just didn’t expect any of that to be shared with him. Ever.

When Sharky eventually stopped the conversation to mention heading back, John almost looked disappointed. Sighing dejectedly, John admitted that maybe he’d taken up more of his time than intended, but there was no need to worry about the boathouse after that.

Stunned, Sharky waited for the correction. Some sign that John was pulling his leg or fucking with him, but none came. And calling him on that hadn’t earned the reaction he’d expected either. Only a repeat of what John had told him before.

“You’re free to go. Today’s work is done, and after indulging me for as long as you have, I thought you’d be happy to leave.”

“Uh, yeah. Fuck yeah, but…this is kind of like one of those moments where you’re wondering if there’s like, some kinda hidden catch to it.”

“Catch? You’ve helped not only me, but Joseph as well, so I believe today’s portion of your debt has been paid in full. And don’t worry, there’s no fine print you’re missing here. Not this time,” he said, growing more amused by the second. “But if you’re so set on staying, I’m sure I can come up with plenty of other things for you to tend to.“

“Nah, I’m just-I’m going.”

“And as for the beer, you’re more than welcome to leave the rest-“

Sharky grabbed for it as well, and he could’ve sworn John looked pleased he did. “Gift beers, you don’t leave. You know, like horses. ‘Cause you know with gift horses, mouths, and shit like that, it’s just fucking rude not to appreciate it.”

“Horses and mouths notwithstanding, of course.”

Setting his chin on top of his hand, John watched him fumble for another minute through an attempt to peace out before finally shooing him away instead. The added push was all Sharky needed, and he left.

He walked all the way to his car, clutching a six-pack that he pledged to polish off before the day was out, and the minute the door was closed behind him, slapped his cheek. Did so at least two more times to make sure he was still sitting in that seat, beer in hand, and not sleeping it off somewhere.

Nope. He was there. The beer – also present – was cold by his side, and after popping the next bottle open, found it more refreshing on the second go.

Horses and mouths indeed.

[rogerina-deacon]

Bracing For Your Love // Gwilym Lee X Reader

Pairing: Gwilym Lee X Reader Request: Would you be able to write something for either Gwil or joe where the reader deals with chronic pain and they help her feel better? I’ve had to wear a brace for 5 years and it just sucks because everyone thinks I’m making it up and I just wanna cry right now Summary: Getting back from grocery shopping, you were struggling to get comfortable on the couch, and Gwil was eager to try to help. Warnings: None! Just pure fluff Word Count: 994

A/N: Thank you so much for requesting this! As soon as I saw it I started writing it, and I really hope you like it! I personally don’t experience chronic pain, so I really hope this is what you wanted! Feel free to send me a message/ask if you sent this in if you have any feedback, I’d love to hear it! I hope you enjoy!

Sitting on the couch of the flat you shared with your boyfriend Gwil, you couldn’t help but wince and groan as you adjusted, still unable to find the right position for the last five minutes. You tried to be as quiet as you could, not wanting to seem overly-affected by the pains in your back even though the truth was it was practically killing you each time you moved your hip. Gwil was in the kitchen putting away groceries, as he had insisted you go and relax on the couch while he did it. Once he was done, he came to find you on the couch, a pained look on your face and he instantly sat next to you, placing one arm gently around you shoulder, the other across his lap with his hand resting atop yours.

“Love, what’s wrong?” He asked, concern laced throughout his voice as he witnessed you try yet another position, recoiling as you realized this one was no better than the last.

“It-It’s my back, I ca-can’t seem to get comfortable” You hissed as your hands flew to your back.

“Let me make you some tea, bub. How does lavender chamomile with honey sound?”

“Amazing, thank you Gwil.” You sighed as he slowly got up, placing a kiss to your forehead before returning to the kitchen. You tried position after position as the kettle boiled, finally finding the perfect spot as Gwil made his way back to you.

“Bub, why don’t I go get you your brace?” He said as he handed you the mug, his hand resting on your shoulder as he crouched down beside the couch.

“No, Gwil, you know I hate that thing,” You said before taking a sip of tea, which your boyfriend never failed to make perfectly. “It makes me feel like some 12 year old with bad posture.” You pouted, Gwil letting out a chuckle as he brushed the hair out of your face.

“Just cause you don’t have scoliosis doesn’t mean you don’t need it, love. C’mon, from what I’ve witnessed it works.”

“But I’ve already found a good position! Look, it only hurts a little, and it’s bearable!” You said, arms held out as if to say ‘ta-da!’, and Gwil just shook his head lovingly.

“Yes, that may be, but think of how miniscule the pain would be with the brace, bub. We could cuddle, I could hold you, we could be all curled up and watch shitty reality tv on the telle.”

“I would like to cuddle…” You trailed off, weighing your options. On one hand, you could be sat in a weird position with a cup of tea, and have your way. On the other, you could be cuddled up against Gwil, with a cup of tea, feeling loved, but you’d have to wear that damned brace. You figured Gwil was only doing this because he cared about you, wanted you to not have to settle for laying in weird positions in the couch when he could be holding you and showing his love. He hated to see you in pain, especially pain he had no true way of curing, he could only help in giving you your brace and helping you through it. You knew this, and as much as you loved being right, you loved Gwil more, so you simply nodded. His face lit up, and he quickly kissed you before rushing to the bedroom to find it. You sighed, taking a bigger gulp of tea, hoping it would prepare you for the brace, but all it did was burn your throat. He emerged what felt like seconds later, fumbling with it to get it ready to put on you. You got up, wincing through the pain as you waddled towards him across the hardwood floor. Once you reached him, he had figured it out and helped you lift up your shirt just enough for him to put it on, and you hissed at the constriction. Once he was done, he pulled your shirt back over it, and he rubbed circles into your back gently, but enough so you could feel it.

“There, love, now you go get comfortable and I’ll get some popcorn going, yeah?” He asked as he made his way in front of you, his hands cupping your cheeks as his eyes met yours. Nodding your head, he pulled you in for a kiss before returning to the kitchen once more. You made your way back to the couch, and thanks to Gwil you did feel better. Grabbing the remote, you flipped through the channels until you found something bearable, and Gwil appeared almost on command with a bowl of popcorn in hand, tossing pieces into his mouth before plopping down beside you. You grabbed a handful as he wrapped his arm around your shoulder, and you settled against his side as he placed a lingering kiss to the top of your forehead. Once you finished chewing you looked up to him, and he was staring right back at you, a smile on his face as he admired you. He was in awe of you, so strong and loving, and he couldn’t believe what you go through and how well you deal with it.

“I love you, Y/N” He said as his eyes gleamed at yours, his brows slightly furrowed as he studied your face.

“I love you too, Gwilym” You said before leaning upwards to kiss him, your hand that wasn’t behind his back moving to rest on his neck as his moved to wrap around your waist.

“You taste like popcorn” He observed once he pulled away, and you giggled at the random statement.

“Yeah, so do you” You said as you pressed your nose against his, your smiles less than an inch away from each others. And you stayed like that for a few minutes, staring into each other’s eyes, basking in each others company as the night went on.

If you liked this, check out my masterlist!

[blueboxesandtrafficcones]

Affairs of the Heart - Chapter 5

Our last chapter!  Thank you for joining me on this journey - I’ve so enjoyed this little story!  Never fear though - this is only the first story in a planned series set in this universe under the umbrella ‘Hardy Investigations’.  Story #2 eta: 2020.

Many thanks to @stupidsatsuma for her beta’ing!  Y’all have NO IDEA how much she puts up with me, haha.

General warnings: mature content, occasional language.  (Canon[ish]) Cheating by secondary characters.

Masterlist

Summary

September 1948 - Mrs. Mark Latimer hires Hardy Investigations to find out if her husband is having an affair, requiring some duplicity and ingenuity to find the truth as they go undercover.

They raced for the car, Ellie beating him there and climbing into the driver’s seat.  “Come on!”

“Where do you think she went?” he asked rhetorically.  “She could’ve gone for a walk.”

“Car was gone.  I know where she’s headed.”  She peeled out onto the road, speeding through town to the High Street where Trader’s was situated.

Alec glanced at her in confusion.  “You think she went to confront Becca?”

“Without a doubt.  If Mark’s there I’m sure he’ll get an earful, but she’ll blame the mistress.”

Pulling into the lot at the hotel she ran towards the front entrance, Alec's long legs easily outpacing her.  Even as she opened the door the sound of glass smashing was audible.  He pushed in front of her as they entered, throwing an arm out to keep her behind him.

A tiny bar sat just off the main lobby, and this was where Mrs. Latimer was trashing the place.  “He’s my husband!” she yelled, throwing another wine glass at the floor.  Becca Fisher was cowering in the corner with the local reverend, and the irate wife had made quite a mess for having only a minute or two’s head start.

“What the hell’s going on here?” Mark Latimer burst into the room, not paying Alec and Ellie any attention as he caught sight of his wife.  Going stock still for only a moment, he moved forward carefully as one would approach a wounded wild animal.  “Beth?  What’re you doing?”

“You!  You bastard!”  She threw a brandy snifter at his head, which he ducked easily.  “How could you?  How could you do this to me!  To our children!  You selfish, arrogant, brute of a wanker!”  Out of glasses to throw Mrs. Latimer sagged to her knees, tears running down her cheeks.  “I loved you.  Why wasn’t I enough?”

“Oh, Beth.”  Still moving slowly he crouched in front of her, resting his hand on her back for only a moment before she shrugged it off.  “Sweetheart-”

“Don’t.”  Her head snapped up, righteous fury burning in her gaze.  “Don’t you dare.  You’ve made a fool of me!”

“You’re making a fool of yourself,” Becca ventured, untwisting from where she huddled in the debris.  “You’re the one throwing a fit in a public space.”

Mrs. Latimer let out a primal scream, turning as she rose and lunged at the other woman.  Her husband caught her round the waist and held her back, even as she tried to kick and flail her way free.

“How’d you even know?”

“I hired a detective to follow you,” she snarled.

Mr. Latimer and Becca’s eyes met before they both slowly turned to look at Alec and Ellie lingering in the doorway, Ellie waving sheepishly when they were spotted.

“Mrs. Latimer, please?” Alec spoke quietly, gesturing.  “Can you join us in the other room?”

Sniffling the woman nodded, shaking free of her husband’s grip and taking a moment to straighten her skirt and spine, holding her head high as she stepped carefully around the glass.  As soon as she was near enough Ellie wrapped her arm around her shoulders, guiding her across the lobby to the library.

Once they were in Alec shut the doors, affording them a semblance of privacy as the women sat on the loveseat together.

“I’m so glad you took that well,” Ellie started conversationally, “I was worried you might fly off the handle.”

That earned her a laugh and a sniffle, as Mrs. Latimer wiped her eyes.  “I was overcome with rage.”

“I understand, but you realize why this was a terrible idea, no?”  Alec settled on the coffee table in front of the women, sighing softly.  “I assure you, we both are intimately familiar with the pain you’re feeling right now.  But the best thing you can do, for yourself and your children, is pull it together.  If you’re going to leave him, do it.  If not, find a way past this, but know that if he did it once he’ll do it again.”

“How did you find out?”  The grieving woman looked up from where she stared at her hands.  “I mean, you didn’t give me many details.  What- How long-”

Ellie patted her forearm reassuringly.  “We found out where and when they would meet, and put ourselves in their path.  Obviously they didn’t know who we were, and were quite willing to share a number of personal details.  After, we followed them to the bluff where we took the photos.”

“What did you do?”  Mrs. Latimer turned to Ellie, eyes pleading.

“How do you mean?”

“I presume your husband- well, he said-”

Ellie swallowed harshly; though the pain had faded, the memory still ached.  “Yes.  He was working in London during the war as a medic, and… found comfort in someone else while there.”

“What did you do?  How did you find out?”

The memory flashed before her eyes as if it had only been the day before.  “Alec- I was his secretary then as well, though we were both part of the war effort- had business in London.  While there, he spotted Joe kissing another woman.  It was, in his words, undeniable.  Came home, told me.  I wrecked his office, so I understand your need to take it out on the glassware.”

“Did you confront him?”

Ellie shook her head, smiling sadly.  “No. I planned to, on his next visit home, but he was killed in a bombing before he could.  It took time, but eventually I saw it as the blessing it was – he had someone to care for him in his last weeks.  I never found out who she was, and I wouldn’t say I’d thank her, but… I think any happiness stolen in the midst of the Blitz is a good thing.”

“You’re a better woman than I am,” Mrs. Latimer sighed, staring down at her wedding rings again.  “I just want to claw her eyes out.”

“Obviously.  But cooler heads must prevail; you want to give them no cause to use against you in the divorce proceedings.”

The other woman slumped back on the sofa, unseeing eyes focused on the ceiling.  “I suppose.  Erm, can I stop by your offices later this week to settle the bill?  The next few days may be hectic, I suspect.”

“Take until Monday next,” Alec agreed, rising.  “We will have everything fully prepared for your lawyer; if you hire one in the meantime, give him our name so as to coordinate the handover of the evidence.”

“Thank you.”  Mrs. Latimer climbed to her feet, looking tired, though the fire that had been lit in her by rage still sparked beneath the surface.  “Truly.”

“Good luck.”  On impulse Ellie gave her a hug that was happily reciprocated, even as Alec let out a heavy sigh behind them.

Letting go Ellie moved towards the door to the room, Alec a step behind her with his hand on the small of her back.  Sweeping the door open she found Mr. Latimer and Becca loitering in the hall.

“Well?” the man snapped, glaring between them.  “What nonsense have you put in her head?”

Alec drew himself to his full height, and despite his slim frame still cut an imposing figure.  “Nothing but the truth. I suggest you speak to your wife.”

They exited the inn without incident, though this time he settled behind the wheel, Ellie curled up to his side as he drove back to the office.

“Don’t bother,” she said once they were on the road, smirking slightly up at his frown.  “I liked her, and she needed a hug.”

“Every time Ellie!  They’re clients, not friends,” he complained, even as he wrapped his left arm around her shoulder.  “Stop treating them as such.”

Ellie blew a raspberry, earning herself a scowl.  “I shall if I want to.  Our differences in approach, that’s what makes us a good team, or so you say.  Well, a team when it doesn’t come to my salary.”

His unimpressed look made her giggle and press her lips to his cheeks.

“Anyway-” he changed the subject abruptly, only to further amuse her, “I made the reservations for this weekend.  Three nights in the Cotswolds.”

“What’d you do that for?”

He glanced down at her, raising an eyebrow before beginning to laugh.  “You forgot.”

“No I didn’t!” she protested, though it rang hollow as she had, indeed, forgotten.  “But tell me anyway.”

“El…”

“It’s not a birthday,” Ellie scrunched her nose in thought as he parked the car in their designated spot, following him out the driver’s side door.

“No, it’s not,” he agreed, shaking his head as they headed up the path arm in arm.  “Another year or two of you forgetting this and my feelings’ll start to be hurt.”

Eyes widening in horror she stopped dead in front of the sliding door, remaining there after he opened them.

“D’you remember now?”

His irritatingly smug expression made her whack the back of her hand at his stomach, finally entering the office.  “Sod off.”

“We can’t even do this right,” Alec chuckled, tugging her with him as he walked backwards towards the bedroom.  “Aren’t I the one meant to forget every year?”

“Oh, I’m grateful you don’t,” she reassured him, “Joe certainly did enough.  I am sorry, though.  I can’t believe it’s been three years.”

They collided in front of the bed, and he dipped his head to hers as his fingers reached for the buttons on her shirt.  The kisses remained soft and gentle as they undressed each other, only deepening once they sank to the mattress together.

“I love you, Alec Hardy,” Ellie whispered, smoothing his fringe out of his face as he hovered above her.

He lowered himself to her, and they let out twin sighs of delight as they were pressed together from head to toe, warm flesh meeting and melding effortlessly.  Kissing her he slipped his tongue between her lips even as he entered her body, nuzzling her nose with his once he was fully seated inside her.

“I love you too, Ellie Hardy.  Happy wedding anniversary.”

“To many more,” she smiled, wrapping her limbs around him as he began to move.

To outsiders they made a strange pair, too dissimilar to make a happy marriage, but when commented on Ellie would just shrug and grin.

“C’est une affaire de coeur.”

[tae-nado]

BTS SCENARIO: Moaning their name in your sleep

Pairing: BTS x Reader

Genre: Fluff // Slight-Smut

Word Count: 6K+

Summary: The boys all have some kind of varying degree of love for you, so what happens when you murmur some pretty incriminating things in your sleep.

Kim Seokjin

Jin had let you stay the night after you’d come over for condolences. You’d broken up with another boyfriend at the four month marker, as if that was some kind of magical (or cursed) number. You had bemoaned to him the lack of love you felt, and he stored it away with the catalog of other reasons you’d given for past flames. Too distant, too clingy, too short, too something.

He couldn't help himself but to sigh, upset as he moved around your now resting body, sprawled against his couch. He quickly picked up a few discarded beer cans and discarded them, before throwing himself against the couch next to you. He glanced the digital clock on the far side of the wall and noted his brothers would probably be out for another hour or two. He should probably move you to his bed for now. No way were you going home in this state.

Jin moved his head to look at you, noting the way your hair caught against your lips and how you cutely swiped it away subconsciously, not before wrinkling your nose in annoyance. He couldn't help the way his eyes softened or the small chuckle he gave at your actions. He couldn't help it. Everything you did endeared him to you. The way you laughed, the way you fiddled with your hands nervously, or even something as trivial as how you ate, made his heart clench. His heart was clenching now too, at the frustration beginning to bubble within him at the circumstances. Another day, another ex, you really ran through them like water. He didn’t know if you had commitment issues or you were just picky. It made him second guess ever confessing to you, in fear he’d be just another one on a list. He should give you enough benefit, and trust that he was slightly more special than the average joe, but his doubts ran rampant. Besides, he was skimming over the very real chance that he might be all out rejected.

He surveyed your sleeping form once more, going to adjust your shirt, which had ridden up against your stomach. He had just lifted it to bring it down when your voice startled him.

“Jinnie.”

He all but held his breath, his hand snatched away in fear you’d woken to thinking he was doing something less than gentlemanly, but when he called your name and apologized he got no reply save the soft pattern of your breathing. He sat still for a long time, not coming to the realization you’d just said his name --nickname-- until you said it again.

“Ah~ Seokjin~”

At this point the cogs immediately started to move and Jin snapped up from the couch. He felt his face become hotter than it had in a very long time, his heart overclocking as you shifted slightly on the couch. He didn’t know how to react, and his brain was weighing if you should be woken up or if he should flee the building, but he lost the ability for cognizant thought once you really started to moan.

Jin wasn’t sure how long he stood there watching and listening to you. He felt like he was invading on something, but that was his name. His best friend. The girl he was in love with was moaning his name. A million and a half questions ran through his head. Was it just because you just thought he was attractive, or maybe you were just sexually frustrated? He wanted to know, he really wanted to know. And not only did his brain want to know, not only his heart, but by the way his cock started to inflate, his more primal side wanted an answer as well. Every moan and mention of his name was riling something he’d promised himself to put away a long time ago. He felt awful for multiple reasons. For listening in, for this going to haunt every night for the rest of his life, for you most likely using him in your dreams sexually just for kick. He hated it.

He’d had wet dreams about you, sure, but that was because he pined after you all this time and, in his dreams, every time you two would finish, he’d look in your beautiful eyes and whisper--

“I love you! Seokjin~”

He hadn’t realized he’d closed his eyes until he felt himself open them, training his eyes to lock in on you, as you seemed to climax in some faraway dream. He couldn't breath or blink, not sparing you from his senses for even a moment. What was a boy supposed to do in a circumstance like this?

As whatever passion within seemed to subside, so did any noises coming from you, and you fell back into quiet breathing, the only difference with pre-wet dream being a soft smile resting on your pink lips. Jin licked his own.

Gulping, he moved away from the living room and into the attached kitchen. His cheeks still burning and the memory of your voice imprinted like a newly burned CD in his brain. He bent down and reached around randomly in a few drawers, purposefully causing a ruckus, to which he stilled when he heard a whine come from you. A tell tale sign you were waking.

“Jin?”

He heard his name called from back in the living room, softer and nowhere near as sexual. He reached a hand up to hold his heart. When he stood, he was going to do it. He was going to tell you how he felt, and he was going to pray he could hear those noises again.

Min Yoongi

You’d been with him in his studio, having brought him some take out upon your insistence. He knew you knew that if he didn’t get brought food in circumstances like this, he might very well go hungry.

The both of you had long consumed and discarded of the chicken’s carcass, and he had set back to work, adjusting some final production issues before Supreme Boi came and went over it with him tomorrow. The clock in the corner of his computer told Yoongi that it was well into the night, and he quickly glanced over his shoulder trying to spot you. Last time he checked on you (though admittedly that’d been about two hours ago) you’d been gently laughing at something on your phone, but now your phone lay on the precipice of the small couch, your head against the wall, and a small amount of drool threatening to go the way of gravity. Yoongi couldn't help the small scoff he gave. He glanced back to his computer for just a second, saving per his habit once more, and standing up.

The rapper reached up and turned down the AC of his room, knowing you were rather susceptible to the cold when you were asleep. He made his way over to you and resisted the urge to take a photo as he slipped your phone from your weak grip, eyeing a playlist of what seemed to be an abundance of vines that still played. He pressed the home button, noting fondly the homescreen image of you and him, a photo you’d forced him to take part of. He glanced back at you for just a moment, before quickly pulling up his own contact in his phone, forwarding himself a plethora of the photos he once declined when offered. He’d never admit it.

After deleting the evidence, he placed the phone to the side and worked on pushing you down to lay on your side. Your body quite easily acquiesced with the demand and fell gently to rest against the soft cushions. Yoongi briefly wondered if he should maybe trade the couch out for a futon just for you. You definitely spent enough time in this room to warrant one.

He brushed a hesitant hand against your bare arm, ignoring the shot of electricity that seemed to channel through him at the touch. After another secret moment of staring at your sleeping face, he stood to make his way back to his computer when a whimper from you had him stopping in his tracks. He glanced back down at you, raising an eyebrow when you whimpered once more. Were you having a bad dream?

Yoongi shrugged guessing he should probably just wake you up, and went to place a hand on your shoulder when he heard his name.

“Yoongi.”

He heard his name, but he certainly had never heard it like that before. He was taken aback, unsure if he was making the correct connections in his mind.

“Yes, Yoongi~”

Yoongi cursed under his breath, removing his hand from your shoulder as he felt a red hot rush of something begin to burn up his neck and his ears. There was just no way, no way.

But there you were, moaning and your face twisting in a way Yoongi never thought he’d have the pleasure to see. The room and he burned at one hundred degrees and he regretted turning down the A/C.

He could only watch you in shocked silence as you grew louder and louder and while he knew maybe he should wake you up and have you stop, he couldn't, he really didn’t want to. Maybe he was betraying something. Wet dreams happened with random people right? You’d been spending a lot of time with him recently. Your subconscious just probably latched on, but he was burning with lust, embarrassment and hope.

It was only when you said the next thing Yoongi actually smiled.

“Yoongi! I love you.”

His hand reached up and shook you awake, before you could grow louder. And you shot awake, sitting up from the couch and looking down at him, who had been crouched in front of you. You gave him a lazy smile, rubbing your eyes, and Yoongi couldn't help but think you looked like you were shining.

“Good morning, Yoongs,” your voice croaked and he wondered if you were even slightly aware what kind of voices you were making before. He looked down, and rubbed at his hair, trying to build his courage. He shook his head, his hand falling to his neck before he looked back up to you. You tilted your head.

The rapper opened his mouth, “I have a question.”

Jung Hoseok

Hoseok was good enough friends with you to earn a copy of your apartment key. He was allowed to pop in whenever he decided was okay. He’d come in before when you were showering, when you were cooking, when you were reading, whenever. You had assured him you’d go out to the way to let him know when he couldn't come over, so unless he received a blackout date, it was free reign.

So he came over quite a lot. He enjoyed being here. Though he had to dress to cover his identity, so that no tabloids got the wrong ideas, he made a concerted effort to come over when he came.

It was so warm at your house.

Whenever he had a bad day, sometimes he’d pop over to talk to you. It was seven out of ten times when you already had some kind of tea brewing, warm chamomile or jasmine. You two would talk about the problems he was experiencing over tea, or the two of you would let the silence heal him, picking up one of the books he kept at your home as you read side by side. 

He could be his hyper self, but he could also chill out and just read with you. It was a solace and for that he was thankful. It was no surprise when he’d fallen for you. When he’d peek up from his book and you’d catch him staring and you’d smile, or when he complimented your tea and snacks and you’d blush a bit and laugh in embarrassment. You were always so bad at taking compliments, but he meant every one. With all his heart.

When he entered your house this time, the house wasn’t filled with the smell of chamomile and honey, or wasn’t alive with the sound of a movie or television show, but was quiet and smelled regularly of the lavender house cleaner you adored.

He listened for it, but didn’t hear any kind of shower running. He checked the last place you could be. He leaned against the door frame and spotted your sleeping figure indulging in what seemed like a mid-afternoon nap. He smiled and his heart skipped when he thought this felt all very domestic, like he was returning to his wife after finishing up his shift. He loved that idea.

Not wanting to bother you, Hobi went back out to the kitchen where he retrieved his previously bookmarked novel and went to work brewing himself a bit of tea. Once he’d finished he moved everything into your bedroom. Luckily you had a queen, ample room for him to slip on the edge and sit next to you as he read his own story.

Strangely enough, it wasn’t long till he grew tired of his story. His tea also tasted a bit bland. It wasn’t as good as when you made it, or maybe he just enjoyed your company and voice so much it distracted him from the honest taste, but either way, he wanted to talk to you now. He was working on another song for his mixtape and he wanted to bounce some ideas off of you. He valued your opinion just as much as Suga or Namjoon.

He slid off his side of the bed and made his way back in the kitchen, quickly heating up some of the tea. You liked to wake up to the smell of tea. Sure, he just admitted it didn’t taste as good as yours but you would at least appreciate the effort.

Hobi held the tea against him as he bent down, hoping the smell would waft to your noise. He whispered your name a few times, hoping to coax you awake softly. He called your name, and he heard his name in response.

“Hobi.”

It came out with a breath and he smiled, satisfied when he thought he’d woken you up, but your eyes didn’t open, and he furrowed his brows. He called your name again.

“Hobi harder.”

It was like a match trying to strike but couldn’t. He titled his head and gave a confused laugh, not really knowing what else to do. What were you murmuring about?

“Hobi...good”

The rapper might have misinterpreted that as well, until a barrage of soft cute moans began to ambush his ears. And when you arched off the bed and your mouth fell open, the match finally lit. And it burned.

Just like the tea he’d newly heated up did as he dropped it on his crotch in shock.

Hoeseok’s screech pulled you quickly from any dream you were having, and you immediately woke up completely when you saw the young man pulling his jeans away from his skin.

“Oh my god! Hobi, what happened?”

Hobi didn’t respond to you, simply getting up and running to the attached bathroom, only allowing you to catch sight of the way his ears and cheeks looked more scarlet than anything you’ve seen. Hobi closed the bathroom door behind him.

“Make sure you strip, Hobi! You can borrow one of my sweats! And fill the tub with cold water! Get inside! Don’t worry about cleaning up!” You shouted instruction after instruction, and soon heard the bathtub filling. It wasn’t until another ten minutes when you asked if you could come inside. A patethic yes granting you permission. The curtain was drawn and you quickly asked if he was okay.

“Y-yeah,” he voice coming out low. The crack in his voice led you to believe otherwise though, and you stood outside the bathtub.

You fiddled with your fingers, “We can go to the hospital if you want. I’m worried.”

Silence.

It wasn’t until you had sighed and began to pick up his discarded clothes, your hand going to close the bathroom door that he called your name, poking his head past the curtain. He looked wrecked. You opened your mouth to ask if he was okay, but he cut you off with his own words, all in one breath saying:

“This is a bad time, but--”

Kim Namjoon

The city passed by Namjoon in the rear view mirror of his vehicle. He insisted on taking you home from the dorms. The boys had all offered to come with him for the ride, but the tired looks on all their faces, Namjoon sent them all to bed. He was more than capable than to take you safely home himself.

You lived a bit of drive away, unfortunately. You were always so stubborn about it, not letting the boys come to pick you up until you reached the gates of their community. You didn’t want them to worry about being your chauffeur. You were too sweet.

Luckily, you had been too tired to argue with him tonight as he had loaded you into his vehicle. You had drunk a few shots in their name as you watched them stand up and collect their Daesang on repeat. You had cried and laughed and generally been an emotional mess the whole night. He wasn’t able to indulge in the fun as much, but it was quite a show to watch you and the rest of the team fall into a stupor.

No way, was Namjoon going to let you go home at this point. You’d end up sleeping all the way to Busan. He cared too much about your safety to risk that. You were so pretty, he was sure some stranger might do things to you in your drunk coma.

He spotted you in his peripheral and watched you adjust your head against the cool glass of his car. You’d fallen asleep as soon as you’d been loaded into the vehicle and Namjoon enjoyed the silence. Just the sounds of the his engine humming gently and the cute snores coming from his passenger to accompany him.

The leader was actually a bit worried he might crash his car if he kept looking over at his precious cargo so often, but really it wasn’t his fault.

He nearly ran off the road for real though when he heard a moan come from his right. The blaring horn of a car he nearly hit, bounced off his ears and he didn’t even see the other driver flick him off. He licked his lips and his eyebrows scrunched up in confusion as he quickly stole a few glances towards you. Maybe he heard that wrong? That was a regular moan and groan. But that was quite pronounced.

“Namjoonie~”

Namjoon’s grip against the steering wheel tightened, his knuckles becoming white against the strain. Maybe you knew another Namjoon? It wasn’t the most common name, but he surely couldn't be the only one. You couldn't be having a wet dream about him. You’d been friends for years. Sure he’d had feelings for you for a while, but you couldn't feel the same. It was impossible--

“Ahn~”

The options at this point were to wake you up or crash as he pumped the brakes in shock, causing another angry driver to tell Namjoon exactly how he felt with his horn. Namjoon couldn't give a flying fuck, because his car was a million degrees, his best friend was moaning his name in their sleep and he had a raging hard on at this point.

“You better stop,” Namjoon muttered under his breath, trying his best not to palm at himself, anything to relieve the burning pit in his stomach. A few more curses from him and few more moans from you and few more horns from drivers and Namjoon pressed play on his radio and in came the blaring vocals of NCT.

You jumped at the sudden loud noise, and Namjoon had to hide the sigh of relief. He prayed you were either too out of it or too drunk to notice the way his pants tented. He also prayed you wouldn’t fall back asleep.

“God damn Joon, are you deaf? You need it this loud?” You rubbed at your ears and jut out your bottom lip like a pouty baby. Namjoon didn’t trust himself to speak at this point. The only words forming at the back of his throat were questions. So many questions.

Was it okay to hope that dream meant something?

Was it okay to do something about it?

Not tonight. You were too drunk for this, he wanted you awake and completely sober, but he knew, the countdown to the day he admitted his feelings for you was coming soon, and he could only pray for a happy resolution, and maybe a chance to get you to make that sound while you were awake.

Park Jimin

Jimin pokes your cheek for what must have been the umpteenth time, giggling at the way you automatically swatted his hand away. He took another photo of you as he squished your cheeks together with one hand. He would be sure to tease you with his new blackmail when you woke up. You’d be a bit mad, sure, but you were cute when you were angry and it’s your fault for falling asleep in the dance studio.

You two had honestly just been fooling around. You had decided to learn the choreography for Not Today directly from the horse’s mouth after not being able to self teach it. It had started out functional enough, but Jimin couldn't help the way he would devolve with you into a silly giggling mess. Right before you’d passed out, the two of you had been ballroom dancing to your “wedding” song. You’d tried to act mad, but the way you’d eventually throw your head back and laugh with him made him melt into a puddle.

He hadn’t realized how late into the night it'd gotten and at your insistence, he went to secure a few sport drinks for his tired friend, who he had “failed” at teaching. It couldn't have been more than ten minutes when he returned to you asleep and dead to the world. He knew he’d have to wake you eventually, no matter how much he wanted you to sleep, since this was very much a dance studio and not his dorm’s couch or bed, but for now he’d get his photoshoot over. It was a rare chance, with the way you avoided camera’s like the plague, no matter how many times he tried to catch you candidly or otherwise. His lock screen was him laughing as you attempted (keyword: attempted) to hide your face. He didn’t know why you did that. You were beautiful, or least staggeringly so to him.

After a few more solo shots, he moved himself to sit besides you, moving your head to fall on his shoulder. He held the camera above you two, throwing up a victory sign as he smiled. He brought the phone down to inspect the camera and couldn't help the small blush at the idea that you two looked like a couple. He giggled in embarrassment to himself. Maybe a few more photos.

He held the phone up again, when a sigh that was his name escaped your pink lips, making him nearly drop his phone. He laughed again, thinking he just got caught taking photos of you, but when you didn’t join him or hit him playfully he realized you were still asleep and he smiled brightly. Were you really dreaming about him? Jimin felt the onslaught of butterflies in his stomach at the idea, feeling a bit special. He switched the camera over to video and pressed play.

“She’s dreaming about me~ Cute. Say my name again,” Jimin narrated into the camera, before moving it to just fit you in frame. He waited patiently a few more seconds, looking through his phone to you, when you finally made another noise.

‘“Feels good~ Jimin. Ah...”

Jimin laughed, obviously not connecting the dots, “Am I giving you a massage? She’s silly.” That was until your next moment separated a massage from at least a friendly massage.

Jimin’s eyes went wide when he saw you arch your back off the wall, your head nearly falling off his shoulder as you moaned, your brows scrunching up in pleasure. Jimin quickly hit the stop button on his phone and covered his mouth. He couldn't believe it.

A few more whimpers came from you as you quieted down, a sleepy but satisfied look on your face. Jimin felt like he broke out in a cold sweat, as he slipped your head quickly off his shoulder and moved away from you. The singer stared at you for a good long second, as if still coming to terms with what just happened, and when he finally did, he had what felt like ice and fire run through his blood. Well, as his blood rushed to hibernate south.

Jimin smacked his cheeks and giggled incredulously, his cheeks a dangerous red. He was in a weird spot of feeling hopeful, giddy, and excited for the fact you looked so happy to dream of him and the lusty, turned on and excited for totally different reasons.

He stood up, uncomfortable with the way his pants stood at attention. You two should head home, but he should probably go take care of this first. He bit his bottom lip, sucking it in as he looked down at his phone. He had the moment recorded. He left the room, with the thought that he’d use it just this once, and then after that he’d make his own mental videos with you soon.

Kim Taehyung

At this point Taehyung had made it clear that cuddling didn’t require any kind of romantic relationship to happen. He did it with anyone he deemed worthy, whether that be a begrudging Jungkook, or you, though he could willingly admit he did prefer to do it with you. Whether that had to do with the fact you smelled like vanilla, or how he loved the way your soft hair would feel against his skin, or how his skin would feel against your skin, or how perfectly you felt in his embrace, or the way you never complained about being little spoon, or how you were just as needy as him, or the fact he was madly in love with you.

Woah, woah, hold on. He needed to focus on going to sleep right now.

Not that it wasn’t easy. Even with you between his arms, and his heart skipping every time you’d sigh in your slumber, blowing your warm breathe against his skin, he was usually comfortable enough to drift off. For some reason though, he couldn't stop staring down at you. Only the top of your head and bangs and a bit of your nose were really view able from this position, but he still showered the view with the same amount of adoration he did everywhere else.

Maybe he was just feeling a bit stronger of his feelings. After spending the whole day with each other, hitting the arcade, watching a movie, pigging out on things he surely would get scolded for eating, playing with his puppy, he really didn’t want the day to end. He’d be going on tour next week, and that meant prep from tomorrow onward.

Taehyung was terrified at the idea that once he shut his eyes he’d wake up and you’d already be gone, slipping out of his hold like you so often did, seeing as you usually woke up first. You’d probably leave a note, saying you didn’t want to disturb his busy schedule and something about wishing him luck on his tour. You might even have tried to cook something, but he knows how bad you are at that.

The thought causes him to laugh, and causing you to stir as the vibrations from his deep chuckle apparently rock you. He stills, in fear that you will wake. He doesn’t know why the idea of that scares him, but it does.

“Tae~”

He hears your voice coo his name and he ignores the initial cute way you say it, going to apologize for waking you up, but after he had, he notices the lack of a response and pulls away from you enough to finally see your full expression: Sleeping beauty.

The singer’s face scrunches up in confusion when you say his name again, in the same voice and inflection. He laughs again, his square smile lighting up his features. He loves that nickname. Though many call him that, he especially loves it when you do. It seems so personal. He thanks Jimin every day for getting you on it.

He waits at this point for you to say it again, amused by the small show, and trying to keep himself from laughing again. He didn’t want to wake you and ruin it for himself. He hears a whimper and gets ready to hear his name again, laughter already bubbling in his gut.

“Tae~ there...”

Tae feels his breath hold, and it releases in a gasp when you follow up with a small moan. He feels an immediate hot ball form in the pit of his stomach and he subconsciously licks his lips.

“No way,” he can’t help himself from whispering as he feels your hands clutch harder at the back of his shirt and your face begin to scrunch up in what is apparently pleasure. He almost moans when he feels you pull yourself closer to him with another small whimper which he now understands the origin of. He should wake you up, he really, really should, but instead he feels your leg jut against his stiffening erection and he can’t handle it anymore.

He grabs your shoulder and shakes you awake, your name being whispered in the dark. You are a bit groggy and obviously a bit confused at the way he’s licking his lips and staring at you, which you make out against the full moon. Your even more surprised when you feel something poking your leg, and your brain wonders if you left a remote in the bed. Before you can investigate, Tae rolls over to straddle you, and you feel your face heat up to a million different temperatures. You open your mouth to question what was going on. Your heart beating and you try not to get your hopes up, but he speaks instead.

“Can I ask what you were dreaming about?”

Jeon Jungkook

“God dammit,” Jungkook watched his television as Hanzo’s Dragonstrike completely obliterated his already dying Widow. Another few curses rang through him when the match ended, much against his team’s favor. “No one goes to defense in Escort anymore! Do you see this?” Jungkook turned around to face you, ready for his best friend to share in his indigence, but instead all he got was you already comfortably resting under his blanket.

“Just make yourself at home,” Jungkook murmured sarcastically, throwing down his controller after exiting the game’s lobby. He got up to sit on the bed, bouncing heavily on his mattress, in an effort to wake you, but you remained asleep, that or you were pretending to be asleep.

The maknae slapped your arm, “Let’s play Mario.” Nothing. If Mario didn’t get you up, nothing would. Guess you were really asleep. Jungkook scooted back against the wall, where he could afford a view of your face. You were indeed asleep, wrapped up tightly in his blanket in the room you always complained was ‘too damn cold’. It wasn’t, you were just a big baby.

He did have to admit you did look cute all wrapped up like that, and after awkwardly glancing around, even though you two were the only ones in the room, Jungkook reached over to run a tentative hand through your locks. He always had like to touch your hair, it was just kind of hard to admit. You were the first person to tap your lap during movies at his dorm and have him give you full access to his locks. It was really embarrassing but he did it because he liked the happy look on your face he could see from the corner of his eyes when he let you.

Jungkook would like nothing else but to reciprocate the act of affection, but he thought maybe that was a bit too ‘coupley?’ Was that a word?

So in the dark of night, with the sound of Overwatch’s title screen playing as a soundtrack, he finally had the chance to touch the hair he loved so much.

He really wanted to just touch you all the time, but there was no way he could do that, not with the fact he’d sworn you off as just his best friend for the rest of his life. You were too precious to lose for something as ridiculous as his heart, because there was no way you could reciprocate any type of feeling for him. You were too funny, and easy going, and talented, and beautiful, and kind, and, ah, he really was whipped.

It certainly didn’t help either how jealous he could get. Whether that be one of his hyungs touching you, or a random guy on the street giving you the up-down, he couldn't handle it. He’d like nothing more than just put an arm around your shoulder and glare the stranger down, or not have to share you with his hyungs and keep you in his room, where you two would do all sorts of things and then you’d hold his hand and say something like--

“I love you.”

Yeah, something like that.

Wait, what?!

Jungkook whipped his head over to you, not realizing his day dream had led his eyes to glaze over, like a schoolgirl. Did you just say I love you? Were you sleep talking? Who was in your dream? Were you possibly, talking to him? No, Jungkook don’t get ahead of yourself. He couldn't help the sick clawing in his stomach though at the thought that one of his hyungs was currently in your mind’s eye. Feeling a bit pouty, Jungkook closed in on the hand resting over the blanket and timidly put his fingers through yours. It did make him feel better, though a bit lame.

“Kookie.”

Before he could even register it in his head, it’s like his body automatically made the connection, his lips spreading wide in a bunny smile, before his brain told him that she was dreaming about him right?

Even if that I love you, was probably the most platonic I love you in the world, at least it wasn’t in reference for you. Jungkook sighed. He kept friendzoning himself, without any input from you. That’s how hopeless this whole thing seemed. But it had to be right? Platonic? You told him all the time jokingly how you loved him. That’s all he could take from you.

Then he felt your fingers wrap harshly around his own.

“Fuck~ Hah”

Jungkook actually yelped, and tried to tug his fingers quickly away, but as you canted your hips forward slightly, looking for friction in your dream world, the poor boy couldn't escape. He would have run out of the room, but between the way your fingers held on to his, and your mouth fell open in soft moans and whimpers the boy was rendered speechless. He couldn't get up and run, but something else was definitely coming up.

Jungkook was mortified as he looked down to his sweatpants the outline of his cock prevalent against his boxers. This was so pathetic. Holding hands with his one sided love, getting hard over the wet dream with... him...

“Oh my god!” Jungkook shouting, all the implications hitting him at once. The ‘I Love you,’ his name, the moans. Holy shit. Oh my god, oh my god, OH MY GOD.

His loud yell was enough to wake you up from your dreams rather unpleasantly and he slipped quickly from your grip and booked it from the room, leaving you confused and rather confused on why you felt so horny.

OMg I hope this wasn’t ASS. It’s my first time I’ve written anything close to smut or reactions but this website had corrupted my one innocent stanning (lol jk when was it ever)

[superheroabc]

The Storm

Request: Can you write a snowbarry fanfic

Thinking of doing a part 2 to this request. let me know what you guys think.

It was dark and cold in the entire city. The snow fell harder and harder every second. Thank goodness this snow storm wasn’t caused by killer frost, it was just natural.Central City hasn’t seen a snow storm like this in years. It was almost as if it came out of no where. The snow was falling so hard that no one was allowed to be outside. Even the Flash and Killer Frost didn’t even dare to go outside. The whole team was stuck inside the lab today.

Everyone simply sat in the dark. Cisco and Harry sat in their chairs while everyone else sat on the floor. Wally and Caitlin, leaned against a desk while Joe, Iris and Barry leaned agains the wall, Iris’ head resting on Barry’s shoulder. 

“I’m. So. BORED!” Whined Cisco, his voice echoing through the cortex.

“Oh calm down. It’s not like the rest of us is having a good time listening to you complain.” Said Harry.

“You know what, Harry? I’m gonna-”

“How about we all stop arguing and play a game or something.” Suggested Iris, tired of their constant bickering.

“Sure, why not.” Agreed Joe.

“What are we going to play? We don’t really have any game. Plus it’s too dark to see anything.” Barry asked, wishing for the tiniest bit of power to be turned on.

“I have an idea.” Said Cisco. You could here the smirk on his face. “Ladies and gentlemen, one of the greatest games of time... hide and go seek.” Everyone in the room busted out in laughter. “Well unless you have a better idea I think the laughter should stop.”

“Alright I’m in if you guys are.” Barry shrugged. After everyone agreed rules were made. No powers, No giving up other peoples hiding spots, only one person in each hiding spot and no hiding in the particle accelerator. 

Once the rules were settled they did nose goes and somehow Barry lost, him being the first it. He counted to 100, giving everyone enough time to make it far enough from the cortex. He immediately found Harry first since he thought the game was stupid and didn’t understand the purpose of it. He then found Iris found Iris hiding inside of the race track. 

The others were definitely harder to find that was until Barry saw a bright blue light flashing at the en of the hallway. He slowly crept towards it, eventually seeing Caitlin crouched down on the floor, with cold fog surrounding her.

“Cait? You alright?” Barry asked kneeling down so that his face was in front of her’s. Her face quickly shot up, letting Barry see the blue fighting for dominance with her natural brown eyes. “Caitlin you need to fight this. Your so strong, I know you can do this.”

This only made her chuckle.

“Sorry handsome, but Caitlin was getting a little tired, so I decided to come out and play.” She said before striking Barry with a blast of ice. By the time Barry pulled himself together Killer Frost was gone. He ran around the building to look for her but found nothing. 

“Dammit!” He yelled, combing his fingers through his hair. As Barry was trying to think, he heard a taunting giggle.

“Oh don’t worry Flash. I still wanna finish the game. I’m still here.” Just as she finished those words the building started to shake. Barry ran to the nearest window and saw that it was snowing ten times harder than it originally was and the wind’s speed increased by at least thirty miles, which is really dangerous considering how bad the storm was to begin with. 

Barry did another run through the building, finding Joe then Wally then Cisco.

“Dude, I thought we said no powers.” Said Cisco, offended that the rules of hid and seek were not being respected.

“Who cares about the rules right now! Did you not feel the entire building shake right now? Killer Frost is back, in the building somewhere and is currently making the storm worse than it is and if we don’t stop this soon central city is going to be like Frozen but without the happy ending.”

“Well let’s go then.” Said Cisco running past Barry, to the cortex where everyone else was. Once Cisco and Barry got in the cortex they saw the computers shattered from pieces of ceiling that fell and everyone standing in the middle of the room.

“What’s going on?” Asked Wally. Just as Barry was about to answer Killer Frost appeared behind them, freezing both speedsters feet so they wouldn’t catch her that easily.

“Don’t worry, I just wanted to cause a little bit of destruction... well maybe you should worry.” She said before blowing a cloud a frost into the room, making it impossible for them to see where she went.

After the fog cleared up a bit Barry and Wally got out of the ice around there feet and everyone suited up while Harry went to get guns for him Joe and Iris. They made a game plan deciding that Harry and Iris would search together while Cisco and Joe did the same, Wally and Barry looking by themselves. 

It seemed impossible for them to find her. It was as if she wasn’t in the building anymore, causing Cisco to start searching outside. As everyone started  to search who knows where, Barry decided to look through the part of the building that was sill destroyed from the article accelerator explosion. After a few minuets of looking under old piles of metal and walls Barry saw that blue light again. He carefully walked towards it in hopes that Caitlin was coming back.

Just like before, he saw her balled up on the floor. The colors of her eyes changing back and forth, both sides of her fighting each other.

“Barry?” Said Caitlin pleading out to Barry.

“Yeah it’s me Cait.”

“I’m not Caitlin!”

“Go away!” Caitlin yelled back at Killer Frost.

“Caitlin, look at me, alright? I need you to fight this, okay? Not just to stop the storm but because I need Caitlin. I don’t know what I would do if I lost you again, so please come back to me.” Almost immediately her eyes softened, turning back to that beautiful light brown color. “Cait?”

She quickly nodded her head as Barry wrapped his arms around her. They sat on the floor like  this for awhile. Complete silence as Barry just eld her, relieved that she was back.

“You okay?” He asked.

“Yeah.” 

“I’m glad you’re back. I meant it Caitlin, I don’t know what I would do if I lost you again. I know I was busy saving Iris and everything but I hate myself for not trying to stop her from taking over you. Killer Frost should’ve been a higher priority for me. I should’ve saved you and Iris and I’m sorry.” Barry wrapped his arms around her a little tighter, afraid that somehow Caitlin would disappear.

“It’s okay Barr. I’m... mostly okay now. I understand why you did everything you did. You needed to save Iris. You’ll always save Iris.” She said sounding more bitter than she intended to.

“Yeah but I’ll always save you too Cait. I’ll save everyone in this building but especially you. There’s nothing going on between Iris and I. Not anymore Cait.” Caitlin stood up from Barry’s arms, shaking her head at his words.

“That’s the thing Barry. There will always be something between the both of you and after Ronnie and Jay, I can’t afford to be hurt anymore especially by you.” Said Caitlin before turning on her heals and walking away, leaving Barry alone.

[nowitsdarkfic]

chapter nine - part one (the first hockey game)

“Can't see the sky, nothing's on the horizon. Can't feel my hands and the water keeps risin'. Can't fall asleep 'cause I wake up dead. I just keep polling, I just keep rowing...” -“Rowing”, Soundgarden 

October 14, 1988. Oswego, New York.

I awake the next morning to the feeling of warmth all around me, but I lay there without opening my eyes for a split second. The blankets cradle me and hold me so close like a toasty warm cocoon, and I don’t ever want to leave it. It’s all good right here, and I don’t wanna break away this spot here inside my bed because I know it won’t feel the same once I come back to it.

I have my knees pulled up towards my waist and my arms relaxed before my chest. There’s a warm feeling inside my stomach and a little full feeling between my thighs. Mmm. This is too good for words. The blankets resemble to silk while my pillow feels like the softest and plushest marshmallow from the top of the bag.

But then again, I feel that little tug in the pit of my stomach, that one that will morph into that uneasy feeling of not having eaten anything for hours. I also remember today is a hockey day.

I have to get up to pee, anyways. And see how she’s doing in the other room.

Oh, shit, Maya!

I take my hand out from underneath the blankets so as to rub my eyes. I glance about the dim lit room, at the shadows on the ceiling overhead. Without lifting my head, I take a peek down at the foot of my bed to make sure Vera’s not down there leering at me.

Okay, good.

Sigh.

I catch a glance of the clock on the nightstand next to me: eight thirty. Alright then.

I slither out from underneath the covers and step my feet onto the chilly carpet. I want to crawl back into bed, but I have to see if Maya’s awake, or if she made her way to the couch. I slept like a rock last night: I probably never would’ve heard her if she came in here with me.

I shiver as I make my way to the door and tug it open. The whole apartment is still dark with night, and then I wonder if it snowed again last night. It’s utterly freezing in here, after all. If it snowed, it’ll be hell of a hockey game today.

I step into the front room right as Mrs. Snow vanishes into thin silver wisps of smoke and nothing else. My eyes wander over the floor, over to the couch, and she’s laying there on her side with her black hair covering her face. She never took off her clothes; but she lays there with her knees knitted together and her hands hanging off over the edge of the couch.

I creep closer to her and crouch down before her face. Her eyes are sealed shut: the scar meanwhile seems to have receded into her skin. Maybe it’s just the darkness covering her face but it’s hard to say. After she behaved as though I had shocked her last night, I’m not taking any chances in hopes for a closer look.

“Maya--” I whisper to her. Her hair smells of mildew--who knows when she last washed it and I know laying in the storm drain doesn’t count. I feel gross and dirty after I had been sweating a bunch following a concert: I can’t imagine not washing to such an extent that I smell so utterly foul.

“Maya--?” I repeat myself. “Maya, can you hear me?”

Her breathing picks up like she can’t hardly keep up with something. I linger back to give her space.

“Maya?” I say in a low voice. Her lips part by just a sliver but it’s enough for her to whimper something.

“What’s that?” I gently ask her. She breathes it out again and I lean in closer to her face.

“Maya?”

“--va--vat-her--”

“Huh?”

She sighs and closes her mouth so as to swallow. I watch her return to sleep. I was going to tell her about my leaving in about an hour and a half or so, but I guess I’ll have to leave a note.

**********************************

At a quarter to ten, I step out to the gray morning in my parka over my leather jacket, and my big black boots, and with my mask, my stick, and my skates slung over my shoulder. It’s quite the grim day here in upstate New York to everyone else, but to me, it’s the perfect day for playing hockey with my guys, the other four members of my little club, the Frozen Circle Jerks.

I wind through the courtyard to the front of the property, and I recognize Spence’s old rust colored car parked at the curb, and Spence himself leaned up against the panel next to the rear passenger door. He’s about five years younger than me but he looks like he’s got about five years on me with the cowlicks of silver hair near his temples and peppered throughout his shoulder length dark brown hair. His skin’s also a lot more pallid than mine, and he’s got those high Germanic cheekbones that remind me of Lars and brilliant blue eyes.

“Joey Belladonna, I’ve been wondering about you as of late,” he greets me with a mischievous smirk upon his face once I come within earshot.

“Well, Spencer Morrison,” I retort to him as I round the door of the trunk to lay down my stick, my skates, and my mask, “let’s just say... things didn’t go quite as planned in Anthrax.”

“Oh, really?” He raises his eyebrows at me, stunned.

“Yeah. It was a total shock to me, too. I don’t know what was going through anyone’s minds, either. Jonny Z just told me I was out as lead singer.”

He gapes at me, shocked.

“Well, shit, man.” He folds his arms over his chest. “What’re you gonna do now?”

“I dunno,” I confess, closing the lid. “But I have to do something, though. You know, with my voice and my drumming and whatnot.”

I run my fingers through the hair on the side of my head, which is still a little bit damp from my shower last night. I hope it dries out by the time we start playing.

“I assume we’re gonna go pick up the three B’s?” I ask him.

“Oh, yeah. Barney and Billy are over at Brick’s place right now. They’ve got breakfast, too.”

“Good, I’m starving--” I climb into the passenger seat and we drive four blocks from the complex to Brick’s small blue and black house nestled in the trees overlooking the black waters. I dare not tell Spence about Maya given I’d have to retell it three more times. I’ll probably break it about her when we’re at the rink.

He pulls up to the curb, and the tires slip out a bit at the feeling of black ice on pavement.

“Be careful getting out, man,” he advises me once I open the door. Indeed, I feel a bit of ice underneath me and I’m somewhat inclined to slide over to the front door, but if I’m gonna do that, it’d be on my skates.

I’m cautious to climb onto the curb and that’s when the front door swings open up the walkway. Barney’s gray eyes glimmer against the blanket of snow around me on the front yard.

“There he is!” he declares. “Our captain!”

“Oh, captain, my captain,” I retort back to him, and I catch a whiff of coffee once I approach the front step.

“Oh my God, it smells so good in there.”

“Yeah, come on in, man--” Billy calls from the foyer. I’m greeted by a wave of warmth and the smells of coffee and bacon in conjunction with each other. I take off my coat once Spence steps into the house and shuts the door right behind me. Barney and Billy Grey are two brown haired brothers, three years separating them both, and yet they live down the block from me in what they call “the House of Grey” even though the house itself is an ugly olive green color; Spence, meanwhile, is their cousin on their mom’s side, the side bestowing them their pale gray eyes, and even though their dad’s from Wales, they both sound like they walked right out from the City.

I turn to the kitchen table right in front of me and my old friend Brick hunched over the newspaper with a cup of coffee in hand. His real name is Walter but I have referred to him as Brick since we met in sixth grade, because he’s always struggled with his weight and he broke more windows than me growing up. If I was the skinny black haired Indian boy, he’s the chunky sandy blond French Canadian who could never run too fast. Thus, I always told him it’s better if he’s goalie.

He lifts his head to see me and extends a hand for me.

“’Mornin’, Joe,” he greets me, taking my hand.

“Hey, man--” I lean in once our fingers interlock in a tight curl. Then I take my seat at the head of the table, my being captain and everything.

“Alright, so today’s just practice, right?” Billy asks me as he reaches for a clean mug from one of the cabinets.

“Every day’s practice,” Barney points out to him.

“Yeah, it’s not like we’re part of the NHL,” I join in with a chuckle. “I’d like for us to go to the next level at some point, though. You know. See what we can actually do.”

Brick hesitates with the cup of coffee near his mouth.

“Wait, what?”

“He got fired,” Spence says in a low voice as he enters the kitchen behind me.

“Oh, man, I’m so sorry to hear that.” I nod my head and show them a grim smile.

“Ah shit, man, that blows!” Barney declares.

“Holy crap, what was going on?” Billy demands, taking a seat in between me and Brick.

“I wish I knew. Jonny called me up the day before yesterday--before my birthday, too, no less--”

“Happy birthday, by the way,” Brick interjects.

“Thank you,” I can’t help but smile at that. “But anyways, Jonny Z called me up and said the decision was unanimous and you’re done, and it was like everything went sideways from there.”

“God... talk about getting fucked up,” Brick notes. “Worse than any fucking up courtesy of the Man in Black.”

I nibble on my bottom lip and glance up at Barney and Billy: the Man in Black, which haunts my nightmares whenever I’m without my dream catcher, resides at the House of Grey.

“Have you guys been seeing the Man in Black lately?” I ask Barney.

“Like once and it was the other night. I remember telling Bill about it and he rolled his eyes at it. As long as we’ve lived in the House of Grey, he’s never believed in the Man in Black.”

“It’s probably just the old man down the lane here,” Billy scoffs.

“Be careful,” Barney warns, “if the old man down the street wants to fuck us up, what makes you think the Man in Black won’t want to do the same?”

“I still don’t understand the gist of the Man in Black.”

“You know how he is, Bill.”

“Oh, come on, Barney--you and Joe here actually believe in that mumbo-jumbo?”

“It ain’t mumbo-jumbo,” I point out to him, shifting my weight as Barney sets a mug of coffee before me.

“Hey, I’d believe Joey if I were you, little bro. The man lives with four ghosts and a dark cloud.”

“Yeah, he sleeps with a dream catcher because they’ll haunt his dreams,” Brick adds.

“I actually burn incense for one of them.”

“Is that--Vera?” Brick asks me.

“Nah, that’s the little girl who stares at me whenever I doze off. I’m talking about Mrs. Snow.”

“Mrs. Snow, that’s it!”

“Besides, the old man isn’t that old,” I remind them, “he just has a family is all.”

“Not that old?” Billy flashes me a perplexed look.

“He’s Joey and Brick’s age,” Barney adds.

“He just acts like an old man,” I elaborate, bringing the mug up to my mouth. “He’s got like five kids or something like that. Total curmudgeon...” I take a sip of the hot black coffee and that by itself is enough to motivate me and wake me to a better day ahead, probably more than a little game of hockey.

**********************************

A thick gray cloud covers the late morning sun as we set up on the rink on the edge of town, coincidentally en route to Black Orchid. Sometimes we like to come out here for hours on end, all the way until dinner time, but we’re often so pumped with piss, vinegar, and adrenaline that we don’t eat dinner until after ten o’clock at night.

I had taken off my boots and laced up my black leather skates, and stepped out onto the rink first with my stick over my shoulder. The edge of the blade grinds over the ice as I make my way to the middle of the rink.

“Ice, ice, baby!” I declare, my voice echoing over the slick sheet of ice before me. I spin around to face my guys. “Who’s got the puck?”

“The Barn-meister!” Spence calls out from behind the wall.

I then feel something grab onto my shoulder and whirl me around. I recognize Maya’s gaunt face glaring back at me, her eyes wide and shimmering bright blue. Her veins are poking out of her skin, bright blue as if made from electronics. Her pale skin almost looks artificial. Her black hair is standing on end as if she’s being electrocuted.

But the very sight of her is enough to make me almost lose my balance.

“JESUS FUCK, MAYA!” I shout. I brandish my stick around and she vanishes into thin air. Breathing heavy, I regather myself and turn around right as Barney, Billy, Spence, and Brick are skating towards me with looks of concern upon their faces.

“You alright?” Brick asks me.

“I think so?” I reply. “I almost slipped and lost my balance.”

“Don’t do that,” Barney teases me. I roll my eyes and chuckle at him.

“Let’s just get to it,” Billy suggests to us, pulling away to the other side of the rink, and Brick and Barney follow suit. But Spence lingers in front of me with his eyebrows knitted together.

“Who’s Maya?” he asks in a low enough voice for them not to hear us.

“I’ll tell you later,” I vow to him, slipping my mask over the crown of my head.

I don’t know what that was all about, but that has me concerned now. Oops.

[fereality-indy]

Wendip Week 2017 Handcuffed/Bound Together

Handcuffed/Bound Together

February 29, 2020 Gravity Falls Forest

Twenty year old Dipper Pines and his twenty-three year old fiancé Wendy Corduroy are running through the woods. Now normally this would not be out of the ordinary, but ordinarily they are not held together by a pair of handcuffs and a pair of leg irons.

“Huff, huff.” Dipper breathed as he leaned against a tree while they paused. After the last several years he normally would have no problem keeping up with the red headed lumberjill but the restraints are throwing him off more so than her.

“So, huff, your mom and dad, huff, did this before they were able to get married?” Dipper asked as he caught his breath.

Wendy was keeping an eye and ear open to make sure their pursuers. “According to dad they did. And grandpa and my uncles hunted them down also.”

“Man I know survival is big in your family, but what in the world started this tradition.” He pondered as he did a couple of deep knee bends before he continued, “Well we should probably get a move on. Wait a minute, do you hear that?”

Wendy listened for a moment before scratching her head, “Is that a banjo? Why would there be a banjo playing out here?”

“Oh no, McGuket!” Dipper said before as one they started heading towards the sound.

As they came upon the clearing the music was coming from, they could tell that it was not McGuket.

In the clearing ahead of them, sat three cat like humanoids. But there was something different about them. They had a rustic appearance about them. Dipper pulled out his phone and snapped a photo of them, thinking it cost before useful when he added the dossier of these creatures into the journal.

Unfortunately this caught the attention of the biggest of the three redneck cat men. He sprung forward and caught a hold of the handcuffs. He jerked Wendy and Dipper into the clearing where he was quickly flanked by the others.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here boys?”, said the brown furred cat like creature that was in a camouflage vest and a loincloth that looked like it was made from a discarded t-shirt. Noticing the handcuffs he continued, “Looks like we got us a couple of escapees .”

“I dunno Lem, they look like a coupla lost hikers ta me.”, the one to Lem’s right said with a smirk. He too was in a loincloth that was made from an old t-shirt. His has a faded Bubba Joe’s Barbeque City logo on the front of it.

“I dunno, Pyle. Remember what the Gnome PD said after that lumberjack went missing last spring,” the third said. He was skinnier than the other two and had what would have been a mulllet on a human. His loincloth looked like it was one of the panther shirts sold at the Shack.

“Quiet Cid, what those lil busybodies don’t know won’t hurt us.”, Lem said as he walked towards the twins, “But it just might hurt these two.”

“Who, what are you guys?” Dipper asked as he felt Wendy shift just slightly, ready to strike if needed.

“We’re the Hick Cats and we run this lil holler.” Lem said as he tried focusing the two lovebirds. There was something familiar about these two. What was it… was it the red hair, the flannel. Wait a minute red hair and flannel, and he turned and looked at her partner. There it is a blue and white truckers’ cap with a pine tree emblem.

“Brothers, fortune shines upon us. These are two of the foes of ‘The White’.” Lem said he looked towards his two companions.

“The White?” Dipper asked as he was sliding his hand into pocket. Dan and boys had taken most of his equipment but they couldn’t begrudge him his Dutch army knife and a pen light. He felt around the bottom of the pocket and found the small lens cap that fits over the end of the flashlight. Sliding it on the end he felt ready.

“The White is the one who gave us this land. Before that we just slept where ever we could find a spot, with no place to call home. Then he came, in a flash of blue polyester. He knew our names and everything.” the one called Pyle said as he worked his way towards Dipper’s left side, “He told us he was in a feud with a local shopkeep who was keeping his beloved from him. He done described all y'all n told us to wait for him ya need us.”

Wendy took a hold of Dipper’s hand and gave it two rapid squeezes.

“But that was three or four freezes ago. Since then, because this was our land, we done built ourselves a house.” The one named Cid said as he pointed towards a structure that Wendy would vaguely call house. It looked more like a lean-to with walls. “We hunt local critters, swim in the crick over yonder, I even made us these here clothes we found in a backpack, and wait for The White to return and tell us what he needs from us.”

Dipper squeezed back once, and two more times in rapid succession.

“But since fate done brought you two here to our door.I bet he would be pleased as punch if'n we took int..inti.. if'n we done grab you for him.” And with that Lem lurched forward as if to attack.

That was all Wendy had been waiting for. Keeping a hold of Dipper’s hand she called out “Now!” and leapt up as much as she could. Dipper in turn crouched his left leg and began pulling her into an arch. She snapped her leg out and caught Lem square in the jaw with her weighted boot. And thanks to the momentum Dipper was providing she was able to catch Pyle also, though his was only a glancing blow.

Dipper meanwhile had pulled out the flashlight and as soon as he had poor Cod insight he turned on the beam and shrunk him down to the size of a Soldier Hank action figure.

By this time Pyle had started to rise back to his feet. Wendy gave Dipper’s hand a squeeze signaling him to shut off the flashlight. He did so and gripped the flashlight tightly in his fist. She then pulled him around and he called out “Left Hook!” as swung around and caught Pyle square on the other side of his jaw. Pyle crumbled to the ground.

Turning back towards the shrunken Cid, Wendy picked him up by the scruff of his neck. Turning him the face the both of them she started, “Now you seem like the most reasonable of the three of you. So you are the one chosen to pass this message on to your friends back there.”

She turned him so he could see the unconscious bodies of his two friends before she pulled him back and faced home towards Dipper. He had pulled out his phone and had opened the contacts to Gideon’s photo. She asked Cid, “Is this the one you call The White?”

“Yes, that’s him.” the barely audible voice of the shrunken Cid said.

“Well tell the others that the reason you never heard from The White again is because the feud is over and has been since the weirdness about eight years ago happened. We now consider him an ally and dare I say it a friend.” Dipper said as he closed his contacts and placed his phone back in his right pocket. “So tell them to leave the Pines alone, cause if just two of us could do this shackled imagine what we could do while we’re unrestrained and armed.”

Cid gulped at the thought.

“Besides, the GnomePD aren’t the only law in these woods anymore.” Wendy said as she pulled out her State Forest Ranger badge. “Now we’re gonna bring you back to your normal size and then take your friends into your house. Ok?”

“Yes ma'am,” Cid said as he was placed on the ground. As the light hit him he returned to full size. He then rapidly rushed over to Lem and picked him up.

As they watched him take the Lem to the shelter, Wendy looked deep in thought. Dipper asked “What’s up?”

“We’ve been here about twenty minutes or so, right?” she asked with a scowl.

“I’d say something like that,” Dipper agreed as Cid headed back towards Pyle.

“And before that we were rushing around cause we heard the banjo music, right?” Wendy asked as Cid pulled Pyle over his shoulder.

“Yeah, so?” he asked as he saw Cid turn and save before he headed back inside the shelter.

“So we have spent an hour or so being loud enough they may have heard us at the Mystery Shack and that was after, I hate to say it, we left a trail Waddles could have followed.” Dipper started to protest but she shushed him before continuing, “ I know you tried but being shackled threw us both off. But back to what I was saying. Dad and the boys should’ve been here by now bragging about besting us and what not. They’Re not even out here.”

“Those, I’m sorry Honey, jerks.” Dipper said as he caressed Wendy’s hand.

“We need get them back,” Wendy said with a mischievous look.

Dipper suddenly smiled “I’ve got just the idea.”

Later that night Corduroy Cabin

“and then your grandpa slapped me on the shoulder and said it was my choice on who I married.” Manly Dan said he and the eldest two boys were drinking mugs of expired apple cider. Lil Seth had just finished a can of Pitt and decided to go get an another can from the kitchen.

A couple of minutes later Dan heard a knock at the front door and for once he decided to go get it.

Meanwhile Lucas decided to go check on Seth as he was taking forever to just get a drink. He better not be trying to get into the cider.

Dan opened the front door and saw a battered and bruised Dipper at the door. His shirt was partially shredded and the chains on the handcuffs and shackls were snapped. “Sir, help.”

“What happened my boy, where’s Wendy? Where’s my daughter?” Dan asked as he grabbed Dipper by the shoulder.

“We were attacked by a creature, she broke the chains and tossed me across the river bank. She told me to go find help in town, that you and her brothers should be there soon to help her fight.” Dipper said as he grimaced “I saw the light on in the cabin and came to check. You guys were supposed to be out in the woods hunting us, what happened?”

“Boys, we have to head back out.” Dan bellowed as he turned and ran to the living room, “We have to go save your…”

He stopped as soon as he got to the living room and got a good look. Wendy was seated in the recliner and using a hogtied Rudy as a foot rest. Her other two brothers were in a similar situation next to him.

“Well dad, you wanna tell me and my fiancé why you took us out in the woods for a ‘relationship test’ and just left us there?” Wendy asked while Dipper worked his way over to her side.

Manly Dan seemed to Dipper to be the angriest he had ever seen, before he burst out laughing.

“Wait. What?” the couple say in unison.

“You guys sure do go well together,” Dan bellowed while he was doubled over, “Reminds me of your mother and I. Though it took us nearly two days to figure it out. Then again you were born around nine months later.”

“DAD!” Wendy called out as her face went as red as her hair.

[singledarkshade]

Settling In

Part Twelve – Old, New Friends “It was an interesting idea,” Rip said as he and Cisco stood rewrapping the miles of cables from Cisco’s latest experiment, “But you need to start thinking of things that don’t take more time to tidy up than the actual experiment does.”

Cisco chuckled, “But they’re not as much fun.”

Rolling his eyes Rip continued to wrap the cable glancing over to check the time, Clarissa was expecting them in a few hours for dinner to finish off the leftovers from the day before.

He’d been surprised how much he’d enjoyed Thanksgiving. They’d all gathered at Clarissa’s for dinner who seemed to think there were three-times as many of them to feed than normal.

They’d swapped stories about previous family holidays which had become a game of who could come up with the funniest incident.

Joe won hands down.

Then they sat watching one of Jonas’ favourite movies before it became the battle of the board games.

Rip had decided against telling them he’d actually been at the first Thanksgiving, mostly due to the fact he’d been there to stop a Time Pirate and got nowhere near the event. The Pirate had been to see a parade in New York and someone had stood on his foot so he’d decided to eliminate the whole event.

Rip had ended up with a broken arm, a concussion and had nearly drowned stopping him.

It was not one of his favourite stories.

 “Can I ask you something?” Cisco spoke up bringing Rip back to the room.

He shrugged, “Sure.”

“It’s about Gideon,” Cisco told him.

Rip frowned, “I am not letting you look at her systems or code, Cisco. You know that. The tech and software within her is far too advanced and it is something you need to reach yourselves. Thawne caused enough damage to the timeline by building the particle accelerator early.”

Cisco waved him away, “Yeah, I know when I’ve lost an argument. What I wanted to ask was about your connection to her.”

“Okay,” Rip replied dubiously, “Why?”

“You said that you’re connected to her on what you can only describe as a psychic level,” Cisco reminded him, “And when you were attacked she drew you into a safe place.”

Rip nodded still confused about where this was going.

“Was she there?” Cisco asked, “And if so how did you perceive her.”

Folding his arms Rip grimaced, “Yes, she was there. I see her as a woman because she identifies as female, it’s not very interesting. Why are you asking?”

Cisco shrugged, “Just thinking about something.”

Rip shook his head, he’d learned quickly not to get too drawn into Cisco’s thought processes when he was brainstorming. It could lead to some strange scary places as well as a headache.

“I also meant to check with you how the other Gideon was working out on the Waverider,” Cisco said, “I didn’t get a chance to talk about her with Sara.”

Rip shrugged, “I didn’t ask.”

Cisco stared at him confused, “Why not?”

“Because it’s not done to ask another Captain about...” he trailed off and frowned, “Huh. I guess I fell into the trap of thinking that I’m still a Time Master.”

“Which means?” Cisco asked motioning for him to elaborate.

Rip frowned, “The connection between a Captain and AI has always been a private thing, it was a taboo subject and never something that was discussed. If for any reason you were on another Captain’s ship it was polite not to interact with the AI unless completely necessary. It never occurred to me to ask Sara or talk to the Gideon on the Waverider.”

“You talk about Gideon with us?” Cisco reminded him.

“Firstly you don’t let me say nothing,” Rip said before smiling, “Besides Gideon is part of your lives and she was never like any other AI.”

  “A breach has been opened,” Gideon suddenly spoke up, “I am locking down the room.”

“Thank you, Gideon,” Rip called as he and Cisco ran, meeting Joe and Caitlin just outside. Rip catching the weapon Joe brought for him.

“Does Gideon know anything?” Caitlin asked.

Rip shook his head, “I don’t think our visitor has arrived yet. Gideon, open the door.”

Entering the room the breach between worlds shimmered in front of them as they took up their defensive positions.

Two figures appeared suddenly and Cisco chuckled.

“You can lift the lockdown, Gideon, we know them,” he called before turning to the arrivals, “I thought you weren’t coming till next week, Harry?”

Dr Harrison Wells from Earth-2 frowned at Cisco, “Well someone insisted on coming early.”

Cisco chuckled turning to Jessie who was standing quietly at her father’s side, “The Wells we’re happy to see.”

Jessie laughed and quickly hugged him before turning to Caitlin then Joe. Both citizens of Earth-2 stalled when they saw the final member of the team.

Harry frowned, “Who’s this?”

“You’re still as subtle as ever, Harry,” Cisco noted with a roll of his eyes, “Harry, Jessie, meet Rip Hunter. He now runs this place for us.”

Harry turned to Rip suspicion filling his voice, “Where did you come from?”

“The future,” Rip replied with a slight amused smile.

“Have you been playing with time travel again?” Harry demanded annoyed.

Cisco shook his head, “Don’t worry, Rip. He’s a dick to everyone at first.”

“And you trust him?” Harry questioned, still not letting go of his suspicion.

Cisco shrugged before clapping his arm, “More than we did when we first met you.”

  Jessie disappeared to find Wally while Caitlin returned to her office leaving Rip with Cisco, Joe and Harry.

Rip could feel the suspicious stare from Harrison Wells as they returned to the main lab, he was well aware who the man was and had once again met him in the future. The younger version was not much different especially in his relationship with Cisco.

“My name is Rip Hunter,” he introduced himself properly, “I was formerly a Time Master but due to events I am not going through I settled here to raise my son. The team here were kind enough to take me in and I use my experience to help as well as run Star Labs as a meta-human research centre.”

“Oh come on,” Cisco cried annoyed, “You took all the fun out it.”

Joe chuckled leaning against the wall while Rip shrugged.

“We’re due at Clarissa’s in under an hour,” Rip reminded his friend, “I’m not letting this go on around Jonas. Especially as you said Harry would be another uncle to him.”

“What?” Harry asked looking a little bemused.

Cisco waved him away, “You’ll love the kid. Remind me to show you his school project before we head for dinner.”

Rip shook his head turning back to the other man, “I understand why you’re protective of them all, I am as well. I am not going to try to persuade you in the next few minutes but I will advise you not to be anything other than polite in front of my son or we will have a problem.”

Harry studied him for a moment before nodding.

“Gideon,” Rip called, “Please provide full lab access to Dr Wells.”

“Of course, Captain Hunter,” Gideon replied.

At Harry’s surprised stare Cisco chuckled again, “There’ve been some other changes since you were last here.”

                                  *********************************************

  “Daddy!!”

Rip caught Jonas who came barrelling towards him excitedly when he walked into Clarissa’s living room. He’d been with Iris, Barry and Lily at a concert of Disney music which Iris had been given tickets for.

“The band played all my favourite songs,” Jonas told him without giving Rip a chance to say anything, “And the characters danced and I got popcorn and...”

“Were you good?” Rip cut him off with an amused smile.

Jonas nodded, “Lily said I was so good that I could come with her anytime.”

Rip laughed hugging him before letting him slide down, Jonas turned to say hello to the others stopping at the new people.

“Hello,” the little boy said.

Jessie stepped forward first, “Hi, I’m Jessie. You must be Jonas, it’s really nice to meet you.”

“Jessie likes science,” Wally spoke up a grin seeing Jonas’ eyes light up.

Jonas looked up at her, “Just like Lily and Caitlin,” before he whispered slightly, “Iris doesn’t like science much but she likes Disney movies.”

“I like both,” Jessie told him.

Jonas grinned before turning to the new man, “Are you Harry?”

A little surprised Harry nodded, “Yes.”

“Cisco told me all about you,” Jonas told him, “He said you’ll like my project.”

Harry crouched down to his eye level, “Cisco showed me your project and I thought it was amazing.”

Jonas beamed at this.

Rip spotted Clarissa was about to call them all to take their seats, “Jonas, go wash your hands for dinner.”

“Okay, daddy,” the little boy scampered away.

Rip watched Harry stand to his full height once more, a slight smile on his face after his conversation with the boy.

“Jessie was just the same,” Harry chuckled to himself, “So full of enthusiasm and joy.”

Rip nodded with a smile but didn’t get a chance to say anything else as Clarissa called them for dinner.

“I hope you skipped lunch,” Rip told him, “There’s a lot of food to be eaten.”

  Harry sat sipping his coffee watching the newest member of the team sitting in the back garden drinking his tea staring out into the distance.

“He’s trustworthy,” Joe appeared at his side, “This is his way of getting a few minutes of solitude while Jonas is being looked after by people he trusts.”

Harry glanced at the other man, “What exactly is a Time Master?”

“From what we’ve been told he travelled in time to fix any changes made by people who try to amend the timeline,” Joe shrugged, “Rip married, against their rules and when his wife was killed leaving him with Jonas he gave it up. We took him in and made him family, a bit like you were. He’s a good man, bit hard to get to know but then you’re not the easiest person either.”

Hearing Jonas giggle Harry turned to where the child was playing snap with Cisco.

“That boy is his everything,” Joe said softly.

Harry nodded, “I know the feeling,” he looked round where Jessie was sitting with Wally, “I’ll give him a chance.”

Joe chuckled, “He runs Star Labs these days with a super computer that can make your life hell, hope he gives you one.”