#i mentioned a few weeks ago that i wanna do this thing because my son deserves more genuine love that's about him and not ships | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

kai-anderson-whore · 2 years ago

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You promised yourself you'd never (jimmy darling x pregnant wife reader)

Summary: you and Jimmy have been married for years and are now starting a family of your own but with the heartbreak that's happened at the freak show takes its toll on your husband

Warnings: angst, alcohol abuse, labour, childbirth, mentions of death

A/n: jimmy darling got the most votes on the poll a fee days ago I'll post the next fic in the upcoming days enjoy

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To say things in the freakshow have been weird this past year is an understatement elsa is now on her way to fulfilling her dream of becoming a star with the help of Stanley but you didn't trust it call it a daughters intuition you wanted to look out for you mother and your family.

But what really got to you was the fact your marriage with jimmy was on the rocks, ever since dell came along you noticed his strange behavior like he's keeping something from you, you had a talk with Ethel and discovered that dell was infact your husbands father, Ethel trusted you enough to tell you that but you couldn't imagine how painful it must have been for her to see her sons father infront of his eyes and do nothing that was until the incident with amazon eve.

Jimmy set out to have a talk with dell in the town, you expected him to be gone an hour or two but he never returned till the next morning, you were heavily pregnant with Jimmy's child you stayed at Ethel's till Jimmy came home in the early hours shouting and bawling Clinging on to dell.

You stood outside his mother's door watching Jimmy with the look of disappointment he never drank a day in his life and here he is drunk, "where the fuck were you jimmy" you sighed annoyed holding onto your obvious bump through your nightgown, "baby I went to town" he slurred "get in the caravan jimmy" you said crossing your arms together.

Elsa told dell something you weren't really caring about, "Jimmy I gotta tell you something is the toledo code the minute you let a woman tell you what to do is the minute you hand your balls to them" dell stated making you, your mother and desiree pissed, "I wanna keep my balls" jimmy slurred going on to tell elsa things are going to change.

"Dell you get your son in that caravan and get him to sleep cause I ain't you got him in that state you deal with him" you snapped walking off, "y/n no where are you going" jimmy yelled in a slur, "to my mom's tent till you sober up" was all you said going into elsa's tent.

*a few weeks later*

From then on everything got worse Ethel passed away jimmy was out his mind with drinking all the time it wasn't jimmy anymore he wasn't the man you fell in love with and married at 17 years old.

You didn't want the baby being born with their father drinking all the time you had enough, you went to get breakfast you could hear Jimmy shouting at himself thinking it was someone trying to start drama in his own head, you made yourself a sandwich something light you couldn't eat much with worry.

"Baby" Jimmy slurred guzzling down a bottle of beer you let out a sigh through your nose trying not to get mad, but it was hard when your literally about to drop a baby any moment and your hormones are going crazy, "you talking to me or that bottle jimmy" you huffed going to sit with the others whilst they ate, "What's your problem y/n" Jimmy raised his voice throwing the last of the bottle away at the end of the table alone.

"You Jimmy, you're my problem look I get it your grieving but drinking ain't the answer not when you have a wife and a baby ready to be born at any given moment Ethel wouldn't have wanted this for you" you sighed cradling your bump.

"Well nothing we can do now y/n because she's dead she's not coming back" he slurred his eyes threatening to fall shut, you felt angry that he would say that he knew what it was like being a kid with a parent who has drinking problems why would he want his baby to be brought up the same, "you better get your act together jimmy before this baby is born the ball is on your side of the court now because I'm done trying I gave my fucking life to you darling you have responsibilities now so wise up before it's too late" you yelled slamming your fist on the wooden table before walking off to cool down desiree following behind you.

"FUCK" you could hear jimmy yelling kicking something in his way you didn't care you just went to your trailer the tears slipping out your eyes, "it's alright sweetheart it's going to be alright" desiree assured holding your frail pregnant body close to her as your sobbed into her arms.

"I'm tired of this des I'm just so so tired" you hiccuped in-between sobs, you couldn't take it anymore if he wasn't going to listen to you who would he listen to, "maybe dell could maybe get to him it's worth a try" desiree suggested you were desperate so you had to talk to del, you nodded in agreement going to find dell.

You searched everywhere for dell finally finding him near the main tent talking to Stanley, "dell I need to talk to you" you said earning the attention from the two men who noticed your tear stained eyes, "after me your first in line" Stanley chuckled trying to gain dell's attention back to their conversation, "Stanley I'd advise you not to piss me off now beat it I need to talk to you dell it's important" you urged "I'll be a moment stanley" dell excused himself his hand on the small of your back guiding you somewhere more private.

"What's wrong?" Dell asked his eyes scanning your face in concern, "it's jimmy he's going down a very bad slope with the booze dell I can't get through to him but maybe you can just tell him how much it fucked everything up for you as a dad or something just tell him anything he needs you more than ever now" you began to breakdown again sitting on a sack of hay dell didn't know what to do.

He was terrified to share his feeling with jimmy on why he abandoned him, "you at least owe him that anyway dell it might give him the closure he needs" you said dell sighed heavily taking a seat next to you, "I'll try and get through to him you and the baby needs him more than anything right now" was all dell could say you nodded staring at the ground silence filling the space.

"Why did you leave him" you suddenly asked wanting to know, "I was so scared he had what I got criticised for not having by my family and I freaked out when I saw his hands they brought up the past I know it's a shitty excuse but it's true" dell stated feeling the guilt eat him up.

"But I wanted to come back I wanted to be there for him I missed so much if his life, his first word, steps, birthdays, Christmas even his own wedding I just don't know how to make up for lost time" dell sighed a stray tear slipping out his eye letting himself be vulnerable, "just be there for him right now dell you can't make up to jimmy for all that lost time but think of it this way you can gain those memories with your grandchild all those things that you missed out you and Jimmy can make even more special memories" you smiled hoping that maybe that would lift dell's spirits up.

"You know what y/n your right maybe me coming here is really a blessing I can't turn back time and make the right choice with jimmy but maybe being there for him now and for this family" dell smiled you trying to push your body up from the sack of hay with dell's assistance to get on with your day.

Jimmy was no where in sight you thought he probably went into town or something you weren't to sure, you went into your mother's tent to talk with her but she was again talking to Stanley it seems if so whenever you wanted to your mother or anyone for that matter he was there rambling on about showbiz and their chance in Hollywood you had a feeling it was all talk about it all.

"Mom?" You tried to gain her attention like a toddler wanting to show their parents a picture they drawn, "not now y/n can you see I am busy my darling" your mother's German accent shushed you Stanley glanced over at you with a smug smile like it was a competition for anyone's attention against you, you couldn't help but roll your eyes at the pettiness of it all your mother was so dumb to fall for it.

"Just think about what I'm offering elsa" was the last thing Stanley said to her before walking past you but not without that smug grin on his face, you scrunched your face at him taking a seat on the sofa, "what was that all about?" You asked cradling your bump trying to get yourself comfortable but it was no use.

"He wants me to be on the television I don't want to be on television I prefer the beauty of the silverscreen" your mother shrugged you scoffed she's really falling for that, "what are you scoffing at my sweet child huh?" Elsa raised her eyebrow at you waiting on your answer, "mother you tried to shoot your shot at fame but look where that got you here hiding the fact that your a freak too it's not right at all" you sighed shaking your head.

"If I remember you married a man who has lobster claws as hands and your carrying his unborn child in that stomach of yours" your mother took offence to your statement pointing her finger at you, "exactly there's nothing to be ashamed of your just like the rest of them mother sure you weren't born with the disformity but you can relate to them I'm the lucky one I could have ran and had a better life but I chose not to because this is my family" you argued back with her proving your point that this is her family she would be leaving behind.

"Because you fell in love your lucky you have someone to love you I'd kill to have someone love me like jimmy loves you y/n you have it very lucky child" elsa hissed she was always jealous of you and Jimmy's relationship since she always wanted to be loved, "well I don't think that's the case anymore" you whispered your hormones now switching rapidly from pissed off to on the verge of tears.

"Why whats the matter my darling" elsa asked of course your mother hadn't noticed that your marriage was on the rocks when everyone else saw, "I tried to talk to you about it all the time of but you wouldn't have noticed since your too busy thinking about yourself as per usual" you snapped a single tear leaving your eyes, elsa's face dropped now realising how much you were hurting and how alone you felt.

"I needed you mother and you were to busy thinking about elsa Mars like always Jimmy's even too busy getting drunk every second of everyday i- I just feel so alone" you sobbed finally having enough you needed a good cry and let all of your emotions out after months of keeping them in.

"But I thought you and Jimmy were fine now" elsa thought out loud you let out another scoff, "Oh yeah mother my husband and I are getting along great Jimmy's just getting drunk all the time barely bothers with me and I'm a raging ball of hormones" you scoffed shaking your head.

"I'll so sorry my darling you and Jimmy will sort things out you always do" you just nodded at elsa's words making your way out the tent jimmy was still no where to be seen.

Later on that night you laid on you and Jimmy's shared bed your record player on to some soft music you held your bump singing softly to your unborn child. You couldn't help but smile thinking how much closer you were to seeing their little face.

You were snapped out of your peaceful mind with the door banging closed revealing the culprit jimmy, staggering in drunk of his mind, "fuck" he slurred almost tripping over his own feet you just watched him not saying anything.

His back was opposite you so you couldn't see his face as jimmy tried to take his shirt off leaving himself in his old worn out wife beater on, "this fucking shirt" he huffed throwing it on the table once he finally got the fabric off with a struggle you cleared your throat gaining your husbands attention.

"And where were you jimmy" you asked nonchalantly you were over this now this was Jimmy's problem to deal with if he wants to drink himself into the gutter then so be it, "out making a little more dough than we usually make like always" he slurred you knew about the tupperware party's for years and it did bring a decent amount of money home so you were fine with it.

"Okay I'm surprised you even made your way back home never mind getting those woman off in that state" you shrugged, "well I made it home and I made a few bucks now I want to open a beer and lay down" jimmy slurred opening the small refrigerator realising its empty from alcohol.

"Where's my beers?" He asked closing the door then opening it back it hoping that maybe the fridge would magically spawn a pack of beers, "well they went down your throat jimmy" you recalled getting yourself off the bed to make yourself some tea, "no I could have sworn I had a few-" jimmy was cut off by you latching onto your stomach in pain a loud groan of pain leaving your lips.

Your body was bent over the counter a wave of fear and panic washed over you, "What's wrong y/n" Jimmy asked also in shock and fear his body sobering up seeing you in such pain.

"I think my waters broke" you groaned your nightgown now soaked another Sharp pain overpowering your body making you let out a scream of agony, "AHH jimmy get my mom please" you begged jimmy laid you down on the bed rushing out to get your mother.

You laid there trying to get your breathing back to normal but everytime you managed to get your breathing more normal then the pain cane back as time went by the pain became more frequent.

The pain was unbearable you couldn't believe the pains of the contractions you were dreading the actual birth, the door swug open revealing jimmy, your mother and desiree all in a panic, "my darling What's wrong" your mother asked kneeling down beside you, "I think I'm having the baby I'm so scared mother" you sobbed holding your mother's hand.

"How far apart are the pains y/n" desiree asked "elsa grab some towels and a bucket of water" she instructed you mother was off in a hurry grabbing everything needed, "there about two minutes apart now" you groaned, Jimmy stood beside desiree not knowing what on earth to do, "Jimmy don't just stand there hold her hand be there for her" desiree said Jimmy was right by your side holding your hand the other stroking your damp hair.

The tears filled the brim of your eyes the pain was unbearable, desiree was checking if she could see the baby's head, "Don't worry honey I've delivered a baby or two in my time" she reassured you nodded holding into Jimmy's hand squeezing the life out of it.

What felt like forever desiree telling you to keep pushing you heard those little cries of your baby, Jimmy's eyes went wide watching as desiree wrap you baby in a blanket, "congratulations it's a gorgeous baby girl" desiree announced your face lit up in a smile hearing those words jimmy couldn't help but let tears of joy escape him.

"A girl y/n a baby girl" he whispered desiree handed your small infant to your husband his eyes never leaving the baby, "elsa can you give y/n a wash and change her into clean clothes" desiree instructed your mother took you to get washed and changed.

By the time you got back desiree was gone jimmy was still holding your daughter with a small smile, "I'll leave you two alone" your mother said leaving yours and jimmy trailer, "can I hold her?" You asked laying back on the bed you noticed the new sheets on the bed, "of course" jimmy handed you the baby you were so scared holding her like fragile China, "she's beautiful" jimmy smiled placing a kiss on your head.

"She really is" you sighed looking up at your husband with a smile and exhaustion in your eyes, "ethel" you whispered jimmy looked at you confused "what?" He chuckled sitting on the bed, "I think her name should be Ethel after your mother, after a strong woman" Jimmy's smile got brighter he couldn't have agreed more if he needed to, "Ethel darling yeah I like that, look y/n I'm sorry for the way I've been acting after seeing the baby I realised that isn't what you both need and I promise I won't ever let another drink come near me" jimmy apologised now in tears.

"Jimmy i forgive you and I know it was with everything happening but now we have a family that's all that matters now" you said placing a kiss on his lips.

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jasntodds · 2 years ago

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Caving In [15]

Pairing: Gar Logan x Fem!Powered!Reader, Jason Todd x Fem!Powered!Reader

Words: 13,783

Chapter Warnings: Swearing, angst, mentions of Jason wanting to kill himself from last chapter, canon violence, some fluff kind of

Summary: ❝Tell me Atlas: What is heavier, The world or its people’s hearts?❞ You never expected your life to end up this way, turned upside down by an infamous Gotham villain. It’s been a living hell, every single day, until Dick Grayson brings you to Titans tower where you meet Gar Logan and Jason Todd.

A/N: I am changing canon a little bit so we see Jason again next chapter lol Also, so I had issues with this chapter and ended up dropping my Gar plot 😅 I got advice from my best friend and that’s where I landed lol it was not working at all and reader seemed like such an asshole and it was not fun to write so I changed it lol Luckily, not that much of my plot changes after this chapter but ya know, that’s why this is late lol I am easily motivated to post more often when I get feedback 😂 You can add yourself to the tag list below, ask me to be tagged, or you can follow my library blog @jasntoddslibrary and turn on notifications if you prefer that!!

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Jason and you pause, looking at Dick. Jason looks a bit broken and defeated but you look like you’re about to throw Dick off the edge of the roof. After all of that, after you both get kidnapped and permanently fucked up, now Dick is gonna take some type of responsibility for it. Jason is still limping a little, he thinks no one notices but you and Gar do. And now Dick is saying it’s his fault. Where was he a week ago? Where was he fifteen minutes ago when everyone decided to attack Jason for something he didn’t even do?

“Can you come inside? I’ll explain everything.” Dick asks and you look to Jason.

Jason looks hopeless and tired. and he’s quiet. Jason is anything but quiet. Maybe you should give it all a rest. Maybe it’d be easier if you agreed with Dick and let him say whatever he has to say and just be a silent form of comfort for Jason. But, you’ve never been very good at biting your tongue, even when you should. And especially, when someone you care about is any type of pain.

You turn back around. "You've got to be fucking kidding me, right?" You snarl. "Jason nearly jumped off a roof and NOW you wanna take the blame for something?! Dick, literally what the fuck? Do you maybe wanna first tell the other Titans they're fucking assholes because they're in there defending you so fucking hard that we're out here!!!! You're supposed to protect us! And now you wanna come clean about Deathstroke's son?!" You glare at him, your jaw squared and Jason is shielded right behind you. Your hands start to glow and acid leaks from your balled fists.

Jason reaches forward, resting his hand on your shoulder and squeezing. Jason's never had anyone defend him as hard as you do. He's not sure anyone has ever even cared that much about him. You losing control of your powers in your sleep is one thing, but right now, you’re wide awake but you’re so mad at everyone that you’re losing control of it. Jason isn't going to let you completely lose it, not over him even if it means more than he'll ever say. You look back at him and Jason shakes his head, his eyes still glossy and red.

You want to keep fighting. You’re just so furious at everyone that it's like you can feel herself slipping into insanity. It's like the trauma of everything over the last few years is all coming to the surface in one go. Every ounce of anger you weren't allowed to feel, is ranging back through the back of your throat. Your entire body feels like it's being thrown into the sun but you look at Jason and it just...fades. Not completely because you think you'll mad about this forever but it fades enough for you to take breath because he doesn't want you to fight Dick on this. The glowing of your hands fade and you open and close your fists a few times and bite your tongue, for Jason's sake.

You turn back around, facing Dick. "Whatever." You groan with the roll of your eyes. "But you fucking suck, too."

“Fuck it.” Jason scoffs.

You look down at your hands, making sure they're safe before you reach back and grab Jason's hand in yours. Jason follows close behind you and keeps his hand in yours on your walk back to the kitchen. It seems to calm you down and it seems to ground him.

When the three of you reach the kitchen, everyone is still waiting in the kitchen. Everyone is mostly scattered about, even Rose has joined the party. Dick declares he has something to tell all of you so Jason lets go off your hand, taking a seat at a table and you head over towards the sink to sit by Gar. You shake your head at him and rolls your eyes.

“Is Jason okay?” Gar’s voice is laced with worry.

“I’ll tell you later.” You whisper to him before Dick addresses the room with his confession.

“I lied.” Dick states as he finishes the story. “I lied to you guys because I was afraid you guys would leave this place and me. And if that happened, there would be no Titans. And I lied to you, too.” Dick lets out a breath. “I told you guys Jericho was dead when I got to the church. But he wasn’t. He was alive. He died trying to save me from his father. I’m sorry.” Dick looks to the ground and crosses his arms. “You all deserve more.”

The room falls completely silent. Everyone processing what Dick has just confessed but Hank is the first one to make a move. Hank gets up slowly and then walks over to Dick. Everyone in the room remains completely silent, waiting to see what Hank is gonna say. But, then, Hank doesn’t say anything. He punches Dick in the face. Dawn quickly jumps up to move Hank away from Dick.

“You lying sack of shit.” Hank grits his teeth at Dick as Dawn pulls him away, Kory standing up from her spot near the living room.

“How many fucking half-truths have you told us?” Donna asks, not moving her spot by the snack bar, her voice holding annoyance.

��At least you got a half-truth.” Rachel says and just hearing her voice, you wants to explode.

You’re mad at Dick but a part of you understands why he would lie. If any of the younger Titans knew it was his fault Jericho died, none of you would trust him. You’re supposed to trust him with your lives but he went and got another kid killed and by his own father no less. Of course, you wouldn’t trust him to keep you safe. It doesn’t excuse him from lying because it caused this huge mess, for you and Jason specifically. But, you do get it and Jericho trying to save Dick, was still his decision. Mad as you might be, you’re almost certain Dick would do that for any of you. It's what you're supposed to do, right? What the Titans are supposed to do? Put your lives at risk for not only the greater good but also each other? Rachel is always on Dick's side, if anyone should understand any of this, it should be Rachel. Why is everyone flipping so easily?

“So, me and Jason got kidnapped and tortured because of you?” You ask and Dick makes eye contact with you before barely glancing at Jason and then looking to floor. “Alright then.” You scoff and Gar puts his hand over yours, giving your a look of sympathy.

“My brother’s dead because of you.” Rose states, glaring harshly at Dick. “I’m out.”

Jason stands up as Rose goes to leave the room. “I’m going with her.”

“Jason--” Dick starts, looking back to him.

“You don’t get to decide what I do anymore, what anybody does.” Jason states before turning around and heading down towards the hallway.

You look at Gar a bit panicked. Jason? Leaving? And with Rose? It makes sense given what Jason told you earlier but maybe he should go back to Gotham if he wants to leave. Dick almost got him killed, you don’t blame him but it hurts anyway. And Gar’s heart is in his stomach. Gar thought you’d all be a team and Jason is his best friend. He doesn’t want to lose him because Dick made a bad decision.

“I’m out, too.” Donna glares at Dick as she pushes herself away from the counter and heads out of the room.

“I’m going with Donna.” Rachel pipes up, hopping off of the counter. Gar snaps his attention towards them and now another friend of his is leaving. “Can I go with you?” Rachel asks as Donna stands in front of her.

“Sure?” Donna questions.

“Rachel.” Gar pipes up.

“I can’t stay here.” Rachel says before turning away from you and Gar.

“Let’s go.” Hank says to Dawnn and the two of them start to leave without another word.

Gar’s eyes grow glossy as he watches all of the Titans start to leave. “Kinda messed of Dick.” Gar’s voice is so small.

“Hold the fuck up.” You groan, not moving from your spot but the Titans look to you. “Seriously? You guys are just...giving up on him?”

“Give it a rest.” Hank’s jaw is squared.

“You defended Dick left and right and now that he comes clean about shit, you’re just gonna bail? What kind of fucking team are you people?" You don't even sound angry right now. Gar isn't sure if he be more worried about that than you being furious. "I mean if the roles were reversed and Jason were Dick, I wouldn’t leave. You guys almost got Jason to kill himself and for what? To bail because Dick lied to protect all of us? It’s fucked up, sure, but at least he had a good enough reason. What the fuck ever.” You bite the bitter taste of disappointment.

The Titans are not the heroes you once looked up to. None of them are. You’re a firm believer in not giving up people easily. You’re not an easy person to believe in and you’re aware of it. But, your best friend didn't give up on you in Gotham, your mom never did, Gar hasn't, Jason definitely hasn't, and Dick didn't. People are deserving of second-chances. As Titans, as heroes, they should know that better than anyone. But none of them have anything to say, they all just walk off.

And because things couldn’t get more disappointing, Kory’s phone goes off and she takes a second to type a quick message before she starts to walk away, too.

“You’re leaving, too?” Dick asks.

“Got some loose ends to take care of. Sorry.” Kory says softly before she closes the distance between them and rests a hand on Dick’s arm. “At least it’s out now.” She pauses. “The truth.” Dick nods. “I’m sure they’ll get over it soon.” Kory assures him before she leaves the three of you, too.

Gar has tears in his eyes and it breaks your heart. The Titans are leaving Dick but in the process, they’re also leaving Gar. Jason, completely understandable. There’s a weird history between him and Dick anyway because of Bruce. That’s understandable but Rachel. Rachel should be staying. Everyone leaving is hurting more than just Dick.

“Interesting how I’m one of two people still sitting here.” You mutter with the quick raise of your brows, Dick’s looking at you with sympathy. Surprised you even came to his defense in the first place. “Look, Dickolas,” You hop down from your place on the counter.

You can't believe you’re doing this. Defending Dick? Understanding Dick's motivation? Maybe you’ve also lost your mind. But, you just watched your best friend completely shatter and you’re not going to watch Dick do the same. Not without making an effort to prevent it. The reality is that Dick and Jason were taken in by the same person. Both of them are not great at communicating and some of that probably has to do with Bruce. This is something that's clearly eaten away at Dick and words matter. You don't want to talk another person down from the ledge today. So, you swallow the anger you feel towards him and let's yourself just feel empathy.

“Y/n, don’t.” Gar pleads with you.

“I gotta say my shit on this.” You let out a sigh and walk over to Dick. “Look, fuck you, first of all. Me and Jason almost died because of you and you started this shit here today in the grand scheme of things. But, fuck, alright you were raised by fucking Bruce who clearly isn’t very good at it. And you did try your best. Maybe, I was wrong about what it means when someone says that.” You shake your head as you shrug your shoulders. “Because you did.” There’s no snark in your voice, no sarcasm. It’s just sympathetic. “It backfired to hell and back but….at least you fucking tried to keep all of us safe and that’s doing a whole lot more than a lot of people have done for me and Jason and Gar. So, fuck you because that’s shitty. But, I don’t think everyone should give up on you either.” You suck in a breath. “You didn't give up on me.” You chew the inside of your cheek as you furrow your brows. You suck in a breath and clear your throat. “Anyway.” You spin around to look at Gar. “I’m gonna try to convince Jason to stay, wanna help?”

Gar shakes his head and there’s a hint of a smile on his lips. He didn’t think you’d say any of that to Dick, ever. He didn't think you would ever even side with Dick if Dick were right about something. But it was nice and Gar knows that probably wasn't easy for you to say, especially right now. And as for Dick, he's getting the sense you’re gonna be okay. Of all people in this tower, you’re the one siding with him. He can't believe it but it does mean something to him. Maybe he hasn't completely failed all of you.

“If he’ll listen to anyone, it’s you.” Gar nods at you.

“I’ll meet you back out here when I’m done.” You smile softly at him and head towards Jason’s room.

You walk to Jason’s room and you’re trying to think of what you can tell him to convince him to stay that isn’t about you or Gar. It’s a little selfish of you to ask him to stay for either of you. But, you need him. You chose Gar but Jason is your best friend. He means everything to the both of you and neither of you want to see him take off and make bad decisions because of one bad decision Dick made. The way you see it, Dick didn’t kill Jericho. It’s Dick’s actions that lead to Jericho getting killed but Jericho was protecting Dick. There was a reason for that. And you hold onto that. So, you knock on Jason’s door and open it slowly seeing him pack a bag by his bed.

“Hey.” You greet him sadly, leaving the door open.

“You can’t fucking stop me.” Jason snaps at you, throwing some clothes into a bag.

You look to the floor and stick your hands into your hoodie pouch. “Yeah…thought I’d try though.” Seeing him pack, it puts him leaving into reality and you really, really don't want to him to leave and it starts getting heavy again.

Jason looks over at you and see your eyes starting to gloss over. The hardened expression grows softer. You look desperate. "Are you okay?" Jason switches it to you, not just because it's what he does. You just talked him down, screamed at the Titans for ten minutes in his defense, and found out it's all Dick's fault. He is worried about how you’re going to handle all of this.

You pause and your heart is somewhere between thundering and stopping. The lump grows in your throat and this is getting to be a little too much. The adrenaline from being angry is crashing and now you just feels sad. Your eyes start to burn while your stomach grows nauseous. It’s too loud and too heavy and too fucking much.

You shake your head. "No." The word is so fragile, Jason swears if he breathes too heavily the world will shatter around you. "I'm....uh, I'm just so fucking mad at them." You suck in a heavy breath, dodging Jason's eyes. “You...you-you just...don’t deserve it.” You shake your head, looking to the ground, brows furrowed and you swear you can't breathe. "You-you deserve, you deserve better." You pull your hands out of your hoodie pouch, tugging the sleeves over your hands as they shake so bad you almost can't grab the sleeve. "It's...I don't know." You finally look up to him. "And I don't want you to leave." You suck in a breath as if that breath is gonna put all of this back together again.

Jason shakes his head and it’s agonizing listening to you try to get the words out. His chest feels like he’s being punched over and over again. “I can’t fucking stay here. He fucking lied. I almost fucking died because of that shit. You almost died.” Jason's eyes go to your hands, still shaking and he walks over to you, putting his hands on your shoulders. His eyes lock with yours, his left eye still a light shade of yellow from the healing bruise. But the action alone, grounds you. You’re able to suck in a full breath with his hands on your shoulders. "They're assholes, okay? I'll be fine once I'm away from all of them."

"You almost walked off a roof half an hour ago, Jay." Your eyes water.

"But I didn't." Jason states. "I'll be fine once I'm far the fuck away from any of them, alright?"

"They're all leaving." Your voice is almost pleading with him.

"All?" Jason questions as if to not believe you.

"Rachel's leaving with Donna, Hank and Dawn are leaving together, obviously. Kory's leaving, to. She has a thing, I guess." You pause and Jason's hands slide down your arms. "It's just..Gar, Dick, and me. Dick sucks but Gar and me are pretty okay."

"I can't, not with Dick still here." Jason keeps his stance, ignoring the feeling of his chest caving in and he drops his hands entirely away from you.

He moves back to the bed and continues to pack his clothes. It’s hard for him, too. You’ve done more for him than most people have. You mean so much to him that he can’t even imagine his life without you in it anymore. He knows it’s what’s best for him but leaving, leaving you, makes him feel like his chest is wide open and bleeding.

You hang your head. Every reason you have to convince him to stay is selfish. He’s standing here telling you he can’t stay because it’s what’s best for him. And you still want to convince him and that’s just selfish. It’s gonna be painful with him leaving. You’re going to worry about him the whole time. He means everything to you. You like hanging out with him. You like being around him. He makes you feel fucking normal. The weight of the world doesn’t feel like it could crush you at any moment when he’s around. Every single reason you come to, is about how you feel and not about what is actually best for Jason.

It’s right now, with the undeniable fact that Jason is leaving, that’s him. You like Gar, of course you do. What’s not to like? But, there’s Jason and this agonizing thunder in your chest is practically crippling and all he’s doing is leaving. He’ll call you and text you. But it feels like this is the end of everything. If it weren’t Jason, it wouldn’t hurt this bad.

You wouldn’t feel like you’re bleeding out. It’s always been Jason as much as you want to deny it because it’s easier that way, it is. Because Jason is the one you felt the most comfortable with to tell him what happened first, because he went with you to Jerry’s without any judgment or anger, because he welcomed you into his own world. Because, despite everything, Jason feels comfortable and safe and thrilling and fun. Jason feels like a rollercoaster, right before the drop or a loop. You know you’re safe, but your stomach drops anyway and there’s a thrill that comes with it. It’s safe but thrilling and that’s what it feels like around Jason. Around Jason, the world is not heavy because when it gets heavy, he crawls under it with you and he helps lift that weight so you aren’t alone in it. Because you tell Jason that you’re not okay. Jason feels like home.

But, you bite every piece of that down because you cannot tell him. He will stay if you do. You kissed him anyway and he doesn’t want that. Not right now. If you tell him, you’re terrified he will stay and get worse. It’s not what’s best for him. And you can’t leave. You want to go with him but Gar has been there for you just as much as Jason has. You can’t leave Gar alone and telling Jason would mean choosing not just between them on a romantic level, but choosing between them on a friendship level and that is something you swear you will never do. So you swallow the shards of glass with every unspoken word scribbled across the pieces.

“I understand." The words feel like chewing gravel. "I'm...I am really gonna miss you, then, Jay."

Jason almost turns around, your voice is broken and desperate. He almost turns around because he feels bad this hurts you. It shouldn't. He never should have meant that much to you but he does. He almost looks at you but if does, he'll stay and he knows he can't. He doesn't belong here. He's never fit in. Dick has never wanted here. He would rather be on his own than someplace he isn't even wanted.

There's a silence that consumes you both and it's as if you exist in your own bubble. It's always kind of like that when it's just the two of you. It's just Jason and you. The world gets quiet, you both can breathe, and the heaviness is easier to carry. When you're together, alone, you exist in a bubble that protects you both from the outside world. Even with Deathstroke. That whole experience would have been so much and so much more terrifying if you didn't have each other. And right now, your bubble surrounds you, it's filled with heartache and guilt, unsaid words that you both swear will never see the light of day. But, then your bubble gets popped.

Rose walks in, seeing you watching Jason with Jason's back to you. She plops in one of Jason's chairs before deciding to break the silence. “What? Trying to get him to stay?”

You feel the sadness completely fade into more anger with Rose speaking. It consumes every piece of sadness that embedded itself in your chest. You roll your eyes nearly into the back of your head. You don’t have the mental capacity to deal with her, too.

“Is that any concern of yours?” You ask, keeping your back to her.

“He’s coming with me.”

You look over your shoulder to Rose. “Cool.” You shrug one shoulder and turn back around to Jason. “Look, you’re our best friend and we respect your decision but….uh, ya know, we just worry about you.” You do not want to have this conversation with Rose in the room. It’s none of her fucking business. What is said between you and Jason, stays that way.

“I'm gonna be fine.” Jason shakes his head and if Dick would leave, he’d stay. But with Dick here, he can’t.

“You care about him,” Rose’s voice is snarky from behind you and you feel your entire emotional stability start to slip. You will explode again. You’re fed the fuck up with all of this shit. “But Dick treats him like shit and so do the rest of the Titans. They’ll all come back eventually.”

You narrow your eyes and there is something about Rose that doesn’t make sense. You don’t know what it is but there’s something rubbing you the wrong way. It’s not jealousy, you’re certain of that because it doesn’t feel warm like that. There’s something else and it hits you that it’s the way she just said how the tower treats Jason. Everyone treats Jason like shit besides you and Gar. You’re the only two that ever gave Jason a chance to not be a shithead. Sure, maybe Rose gave Jason the same, but you find it a little weird.

“Do you wanna shut the fuck up?” You look at her, blinking quickly.

"If you're really his friend, you'd want what's best for him." Rose quips. "Do you even have a good reason for him to stay?"

"Literally, this sounds like we're fighting over him which I'm not gonna do." You pause and turn to fully face her. "No, it's why I simply asked him instead of outright convincing him. I don't have a reason that's not fucking selfish." Jason glances over his shoulder and he wonders what the hell that could possibly mean. "Is there a reason you, specifically, want him to go with you instead of going home?" You raise the question and Jason has slowed his packing to watch the two of you argue.

"He isn't wanted there either." Rose states and you’re taken aback by the comment.

Does she know Jason at all? Home is home. It doesn't matter how fucking shitty Gotham is, that place is home. You know for a fact that is his home because he doesn't think you’re insane for wanting to go back. The only people who don't think that's completely insane are Gotham people. There is something else going on here and for a second, you want to play every single card you have against Jason to get him to stay. Regardless on if it's good for him or not because going with Rose, right about now, seems like a bad fucking decision, too.

"Interesting." You nod your head. "Right, so it's not because you're hooking up and you're choosing to go with saying he isn't wanted there to engrain more negative thoughts into his head so he'll go with you?" You question. "Which, by the way, pretty shitty fucking move considering what just happened."

Jason snickers softly to himself. He's not exactly sure who would win in a fistfight but he's certain you could win any argument you’re in. You will not back down against anyone. Especially when it's about him. Jason swears Rose has no idea what she's getting herself into and Jason isn't about to tell her. He is a little curious about what Rose's answer to any of this is.

"You still haven't given a reason for him to stay." Rose offers this condescending grin and your eye nearly twitches.

"You know what, I got one." You narrow your eyes at Rose. "I don't fucking like you." You snark, your voice stern and coursing with venom, Jason's full attention is now on the two of you. You liked Rose a few hours ago, this is getting interesting.

"Because you think we're hooking up? That's cute. What does Gar think?"

"Nope." You shake your head while a laugh leaves your lips. This isn't jealousy and you’re positive. "Why do you know it wasn't Jason?" You ask. "I mean, I know it wasn't him. But, why do you know that? You're positive it wasn't him. Why? You know him about as well as you know me or Gar or Rachel or Dick. So, why do you think it wasn't Jason? And don't say because you like him because we all know you're a lot smarter than that. So, why?"

Does it seem insane to accuse Rose? Absolutely. But the entire tower has lost their minds and you figure you might as well join them. If you shoot enough times, you’re bound to hit something. And Jason didn't do it but someone in this tower did. You’re gonna find out who it is if it's the last thing you do.

"Why would he?" Rose fires back.

"Exactly. But, see, I ask that question and you don't even point the finger at Rachel or Dick which, by the way, was who I would have said did it. So, why do you know it isn't Jason and why aren't you blaming anyone else in this tower?" You cross your arms. "If you care so much about him, that is, you'd be pointing at anyone else."

Jason glances in front of you to Rose and you’re making a point, a completely insane point but a point nonetheless. He's not entirely sure where you’re going with this but he is curious how Rose knows it wasn't him. It is nice that she knows it's not, but curious what the explanation is nonetheless.

"Okay, how do I know it wasn't you?" Rose questions.

You give a cold smile. "See, now you're using me as a scapegoat because I asked. I know it wasn't Jason because I was with him. He's either me, with Gar, with the both of us, or you. So, for you to know it wasn't Jason means you would also know it wasn't me or Gar. So, who do you think really did all of that?" You blink at her.

The dots connect right then and Jason is pretty sure you’re accusing Rose. He has no idea why she would. How would Rose know any of that shit? It's like him. He wouldn't know any of that, so Rose wouldn't. A part of him is a little annoyed by it because now it's seeming like you can't set aside your bias.

"Are you accusing her?" Jason huffs from behind you.

"Nah, just asking questions." You shrug your shoulders and Rose holds a stern face. You aren't sure how or why it would be Rose but you do find it interesting that Rose is certain without pointing the finger at anyone. You turn around, dropping the argument. Of all people, Rose isn't worth fighting. "I won't convince you." You back down and Jason is surprised. You don't back down from anything besides your game of chicken. "But, uh, just call and text, okay? Me and Gar both care about you." You offer a soft smile.

"Yeah, yeah, alright." Jason chuckles softly.

You walk over to him and pull him into a hug. "Just...promise me, you'll be careful?" You whisper to him and you feel him nod against your shoulder. "Good. If shit gets too loud..." You pauses and it really hurts saying goodbye to him. "I'll come find you, okay?" You pull away, keeping your hands on his shoulders and smile gently at him. "Always." You offer him a nod, the lump in your throat almost suffocating you.

Jason nods at you, his hands on your waist and he wishes it were just the two of you for this. It should be. It hurts him, too. You’re his best friend. She means the world to him. You’re the only person who ever understood him for who is, all the way through. His chest aches and it's like it's just bleeding, openly for you. But, he has to ignore it but he cannot stay here. It's too heavy.

"Same to you." Jason nods at you. "Just call."

You give him the saddest smile Jason has ever seen. "Of course. Have fun, Jason Todd." There's the slightest break in your voice and Jason always decides to stay. Just almost.

"Don't have too much fun." Jason winks at you and you roll your eyes.

"Shut the fuck." You groan as you head for the door, giving a quick glare to Rose on your way out.

You head back to the living room, heart heaving and aching. You sit beside Gar on the couch, Dick is outside on the balcony, likely wallowing. You rest your head on Gar's shoulder and Gar puts his arm around you, pulling you close against him. He knows you’ve gone through a lot and it'd be easier, probably, if you would leave with someone. But, he is always going to be grateful that you decided to stay with him. Gar can't give up Dick. Everyone else is and Gar believes in second chances. He has to stay. Someone has to stay. And he is so happy you’re staying with him because he needs you.

"Thank you for staying." Gar whispers to you and you pick your head up, brows furrowed. "I would just get it if you wanted to leave." Gar's voice is soft, almost expecting you to change your mind.

"I know uh, but, I've been running from things forever and..." You pause, chewing the inside of your cheek. "They're all leaving anyway and you're here. I'm not gonna leave you with just Dick." You let out a weak laugh.

"Thank you." Gar offers you a grateful smile. "Are you okay?"

You nod your head and give Gar a fake smile. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Worried for Jason's sake." You swallow every reason you’re not okay and the words stick to your throat like static.

Just then, Jason and Rose enter from the hallway. Rose is already on her way to the elevator, not offering anything to you or Gar. Jason, on the other hand, offers you both a nod of his head. Gar gives him a sad smile but the smile you give him is broken and hollow before Jason heads to the elevator.

"Think he'll be back?" Gar asks.

You shake your head. "No, I think his mind is made up. I think Dick burned him too bad this time." You say quietly. "He said he'd call and text though, both of us." You assure him.

Gar nods his head. "I'm gonna miss him."

"We'll hunt him down if he doesn't call or text." You smile at Gar. "Dick will owe us and Jason will probably end up back with Bruce so we'll figure it out." You wiggle your brows and that gets Gar to laugh.

"Got it all planned out."

"Always do." You smile widely but your smile falls as you watch Hank and Dawn head for the elevator, pausing when they see you and Gar.

"Are you guys gonna be okay here?" Dawn asks, her voice as sweet as usual.

"Yeah, if you guys want, you can come with us. You don't have to stay here." Hank nods at the both of you, earning a soft glare from you.

"I wouldn't go with either of you if someone paid me." You scoff at the both of them, Gar letting out a sigh beside you. He gets your anger towards them but Gar doesn't have it in himself to be mad at everyone.

"We're okay." Gar offers a somber closed mouth smile at them. "Thank you though."

"If you need somewhere to go, call us, okay?" Dawn asks you.

"We will." Gar assures.

"I will not." You nod your head, blinking at them. "Can't--"

"Okay." Gar lets out a sigh, lightly nudging you and shaking his head, eyes pleading you not to argue anymore. Dawn and Hank don’t say another word before they leave.

"Sorry." You let out a breath. "I'm just so fucking mad." Your voice cracks. "You didn't....you didn't see him, Gar. Just..." There's desperation in your eyes. "I'm so fucking mad at them for how they treat him."

"I know." Gar nods. "Me, too. He's my best friend and them blaming him for stuff he didn't do, that's not right. But, it's not worth arguing. They're gone anyway."

"I know." You nod your head with understanding.

The two of you sit together, comfortable in silence together as you watch Rachel and Donna leave together and then Kory following not long after. It's a sad moment. You hold a lot of bitterness but you did like having the older Titans around. It's sad to watch them deteriorate over this. You don't really get it because Dick did apologize and he did it to protect them. It wasn't right but they should understand that. If you can, everyone should. And you just can't believe you feel bad for Dick, but you do.

Dick walks in and looks at you both with sad eyes. "I'm gonna leave, too." Dick nods once at you and Gar and you sit up straight, nearly jumping from your seats. "You guys can hold down the tower. I'm gonna pack but you guys got this." Dick says as he turns around, leaving the two of you in the living room.

"Uh....yeah, what the fuck?" You look at Gar.

"I'm gonna go to talk him." Gar gets up quickly and leaves, rushing to Dick's room.

You stay in the living room while Gar chases after Dick to try and convince him. Your heart is heavy in her chest, it feels like your shoulders are going to collapse. After everything, it all just keeps falling apart. You swore this place could be home, but now everyone besides Gar is leaving. Your best friend, the one you share so much with, the one who gets you better than anyone, the one who you fight back the burning in your stomach for, is left. Gar is here which is great but having everyone else leave, is making this hole in your heart that you can't quite explain. And maybe you swear you’re just tired because it's been a long two week and trauma is exhausting.

"Yeah, hey, hi, I got a question." You hear Gar as him and Dick come walking in from the hall near the kitchen. Gar is facing Dick, stopping him from moving. "What about the unconscious naked dude down the hall?" Gar asks as you get up from your spot, getting a view of Dick with a bag. Even Gar was unsuccessful in getting him to stay and your heart sinks further.

"He's your number one job." Dick says, eyes locked on Gar. "His vitals are steady. Just check on him every few hours but nothing to worry about." Dick explains while you move to stand beside Gar. "He's probably going to outlive us all." Dick pauses for a second. "When he wakes up, call Bruce." Gar perks up with the name.

"Bruce Wayne?" Gar asks without missing a beat.

"No, Bruce Springsteen." Dick states.

"Who?" Gar mumbles, voice slightly deflated.

Dick shakes his head. "Look, Conner will probably want to get in touch with Superman. Bruce can make that happen."

Gar crosses his arm, almost vibrating with excitement as a smile splits his face and it makes the hole in your heart not feel so deep. "So, him and Superman are like..."

"Just call him, okay?" Dick asks and Gar nods. "He's your number one job." Dick nods his head at Gar. "Yours, too." Dick looks to you and then back to Gar.

"Number one job." Gar confirms.

"Number one job." You let out a sigh.

"That's all you gotta do." Dick states.

"All I gotta do." Gar repeats and you give Dick a thumbs up.

"Thanks." Dick sticks out his hand but Gar slaps it away and brings Dick for a hug.

Once they pull away, Dick turns to face you and you’re a lot more upset about him leaving than you’d like to admit. You have your issues with him but you do respect him. At the end of the day, despite everything that happened, he did save your life a few months ago. Dick did do his best and it should have been good enough.

"Yeah, I'll take the handshake." You offer Dick a smile and stick out your hand. Dick chuckles softly, shaking your hand.

"I'll be back." Dick says and he walks to the elevator, Gar and you following behind him. Dick gets into the elevator, looking back at you and Gar who are stopped outside of the hall. "Keep the faith, guys." Dick says as the elevator doors close.

The elevator takes Dick down, leaving you and Gar alone with Krypto and an unconscious Conner down the hall. It's just you. This is the emptiest the tower has been since Gar arrived and he's gotta admit, he does not like it. Gar doesn't like being alone. He has you, of course, which he knows will be nice but it felt like such a family, even with the fighting. The fighting made it seem more like a family and he's really gonna miss it, miss everyone.

"Well..." You let out a breath. "Now what?" You squat down and start to pet Krypto.

Gar joins you. "I have no idea." Gar chuckles softly. "Same as always, I guess."

"Movies, video games, training?" You raise a brow at him.

"Any other suggestions?" Gar asks.

"Nope," You laugh softly. "I’m gonna train then, wanna come?"

"You sure? I mean, we haven't done much training since..."

You nod. "Yeah, I'm fine. It just, uh," Your brows furrow as you looks past Gar for just a second. "Needed that break."

"From Jason or training?" Gar asks hesitantly.

You wince with the question. "Both." You shrug as you stand up. "Coming?" You jerk your head towards the hallway.

"Yeah, of course." Gar grins, getting to his feet and gestures for Krypto to follow you.

The two of you make your way to the training room and start to warm up. You wonder if this is what it will be like. Still having the same training sessions but with just the two of you and then having breakfast, more training. You wonder if you'll start to slack off or if this will become more of a habit because there's nothing else to do in the tower. You can't very well leave until Conner wakes up so it's just you and Gar. The one thing you do know is that training will distract you from the heaviness in your chest.

On a list of things you never thought you would have to do it, talking someone down from a roof was high up on that list, especially that someone being your best friend. And of all people, you never expected it to be Jason. Jason is resilient and hard-headed and stubborn as twelve pack mules. But, Deathstroke seemed to break some piece in him and then everyone turned on him. They confirmed every horrible thought he had ever had about himself. Even the most resilient people have a breaking point and Jason hit his today. And it's something that will haunt you and you think about it as you stretch, swearing that has to be one of the most selfish thoughts you’ve ever had.

It didn't happen to you, being haunted by it shouldn't happen but you’re worried about him. You’re here alone with Gar and your only thought is being worried about Jason because he tried to walk off a fucking roof after being dropped fifteen stories.

"You okay?" Gar pulls you out of your thoughts, you snapping your attention to him.

"Huh? Yeah, no I'm good." You fake a smile towards him.

"You were ignoring me." Gar gives you a shy chuckle.

"I'm sorry, Gar." You let out a breath. "I'm just thinking."

"You wanna talk about it?"

"Just...Jason, ya know?"

"Yeah, what, uh, what happened out there?"

"He was gonna walk off the roof so...."

"Wait, what?" Gar's entire face falls, his heart dropping into his stomach.

"Mhm, so, uh, Rachel had crucifixes drawn on her mirror I guess. She stormed into Jason's room and immediately put the blame on him but I was with him so I know he didn't do it, not that Rachel wanted to hear that side of it. Jason went to leave and the other Titans blamed him for this random shit he did not do. He just couldn't take it anymore, I guess. I don't know, worried about him."

"Why would they blame him? I know he gets on people's nerves but Jason wouldn't do any of that."

"That's what I said!" You yell, flinging a hand out dramatically. "Plus, he's always with one of us or both or Rose so we would know if he did it. It's so fucking stupid and I guess that was just his breaking point."

"That's really shitty." Gar's eyes grow sad. Gar kind of thought Jason went off to sulk somewhere and was more upset than usual. Gar did see the look of hopelessness across his face before Jason snuck off. He didn’t think it would lead him to the roof. "Do you think he'll be okay?"

"He thinks he's like a disease or something....like he ruins everything he touches. I told him it wasn't true so I don't know. I got him down which is good but I don't know. I hope he goes back with Bruce, honestly. I don't like Rose."

"Since when? You said she was cool."

"Yeah, but then she barged in when I was gonna convince Jason to say and she was being so......"

"MEAN!?"

"Yeah! And rude! Wouldn't stay out of the conversation! She was pretending like she knew best or whatever!"

"She did the same to me when you guys were....held captive by her dad."

"What!?" You shake your head. "What'd she say?"

"She was basically just blaming you and Jason for getting kidnapped as if it wasn't her dad and Dick that caused everything, not that we knew about Dick but it was her dad. And then she said not to project my guilt on her, Tiger boy." Gar mocks the way Rose said it.

"That's fucking rude, we didn't go out and—" You stop mid-sentence before furrowing your brows. "How'd she know you're a tiger?"

"That's what you're gonna focus on?"

"No, but..how'd she know? Dick doesn't tell people, I would know. He definitely wouldn't tell Rose on account of her dad. No one else would have told her besides Rachel, I guess."

"What are you getting at?" Gar didn’t think that was all that weird but you seems to think so.

"I don't know that's just like a weird ." You shake your head. "It's not that she went with Jason either, it was just the way she was that rubbed me the wrong way and I don't think she has his best interests and hearing what you said, I don't know. Bad vibe."

"Yeah, I get that. But hey, Jason is smart and he's definitely not gullible so if something is off, he'll figure it out."

"Yeah, I know." You offer Gar a soft smile and decide to drop. You know you’re probably just being paranoid given everything that’s happened over the last couple of weeks. "Well, let's train then." You get to your feet and Gar follows suit. "Spar like we always do?" You grab two of the practice swords, tossing one out to Gar.

"Works for me." Gar gets into position and you follow his lead. "Ready?"

"Go." You state and the two of you meet in the middle, you throwing the first swing, smacking Gar on the upper bicep. "You gotta block me, Garfield." You tease.

"Ha, ha, funny," Gar chuckles, taking a swing at you and missing as you jump out of the way and block him with your sword. "You know, I don't think we’ve ever done this, just us, I mean."

"That's because Jason practically lived in here." You laugh softly. "This is nice though, we never spar against each other and I'm winning. We usually lose. Today, I'll win though." Sam strikes quickly, smacking Gar's other bicep, wiggling your brows at him.

"Okay, no, I'm gonna win." Gar's smile is wide as he plants his feet firmly on the floor, a little more prepared for you to hit him again.

"Well, bring it on then." You mock him.

After two hours so training, you winning the sparring session, you call it a night and decide to order takeout. Naturally, you go with a pizza and breadsticks. While you wait, you check on Conner who's still unconscious and you head back to the living room. Gar lets you pick the movie since he got to pick the movie last time. You opt for one of your favorite comfort movies and go to Gar's room for some blankets. You prep the couch for the two of you, Krypto hopping up next to you and resting his head on your lap.

You and Gar watch the movie together and the two of you allow yourselves that time to relax. Today was a shitshow, and you should have some time to forget about it. Watching a movie together, eating pizza with Krypto, it allows that reprise. And you both deserve it.

The next morning comes around and Gar wakes up first. At some point, you both had fallen asleep and you used him as a pillow. This is different than the other times you've fallen asleep together because instead of a nightmare that drove you to him, it was just because you were tired and comfortable with him. And Gar thinks you’re the cutest person he's ever seen. You don't look so angry right now or stressed out. You actually look peaceful and he thinks you should always have peace of mind. No one deserves to go through half of what you went through. So, Gar carefully gets up, trying not to wake you, and heads to the kitchen to make coffee and breakfast for the both of you.

While Gar gets the food going, he starts thinking of a plan to get the Titans back together. They're supposed to be a team and they were once a really good team. They shouldn't be mad at each other and they can all be a team together. They should be a team together. And part of that is Gar doesn't like be alone. He never has, ever since he was little. He got separated from his parents at a zoo once and it was one of the scariest moments of his life. He hates being alone and yesterday, everyone besides you left him. So, he's taking it upon himself to get the band back together.

You wake up the sound of sizzling coming from the kitchen. You look at your legs and Krypto has made his way over to you, laying on you. A smile pulls at your lips as you pet him. You slide your legs out from under Krypto and sit up, stretching before making your way to the kitchen where you see Gar, flipping a pancake at the stove.

"Morning." Your voice is still filled with sleep and a little hoarse.

Gar turns around, a toothy smile shining bright. "Good morning."

"What're you doing?" You ask, taking a seat at the snack bar, Krypto trotting in not long after.

"Making breakfast. You like pancakes." Gar feels heat creep onto his cheeks as he turns back around.

"You're making me breakfast?"

"You made it for me." Gar chuckles softly. "You were still sleeping and you had a rough day yesterday."

You would be lying if your chest didn't still feel heavy from it. Your throat actually feels sore from all of the screaming. "Yeah, it sucked." You let out a scoff. "Thank you, that's very nice."

"Of course." Gar chimes. "How'd you sleep?"

"Uh, okay, actually. I think I was so fucking exhausted that...I didn't have problems." You laugh softly. "How about you?"

"Good." Gar states simply. "The couch is surprisingly comfortable."

"Yeah, right?" You nod your head in agreement before checking your phone.

Jaybird 🐦: Made it to a house we're fine

You: Good stay safe and wrap it before you tap it 🫡

"We doing the usual today?" You ask as Gar puts the pancakes on a plate.

"Yeah, but we should try to get the Titans back together." He states, looking over his shoulder, seeing your reaction. You’re very expressive.

Your eyes are slightly narrowed. You have no desire to get them back together. The only people you want back here are Jason and, surprisingly, Dick. Dick is at least somewhat a responsible adult and despite him being the cause for everything, you did feel safe with him at the tower. You aren't sure if that's some sort of growth on your part or if it's you still being mad the other Titans.

"Why?" You ask as your phone chimes.

Jaybird 🐦: 😏🥱

You: 🤮🤮🤢

You scrunch your nose with Jason’s reply, looking back up at Gar. Gar raises his brow, as if silently asking what the face was for.

“Jason, they’re fine.” You brush it off.

That’s kind of the thing for Gar. He likes you, he does. But he is not Jason Todd and he never will be. They’re similar enough, it’s why they’re friends. But they are drastically different people and he isn’t him. You’re smiling a goofy smile at your phone and Gar is pretty sure you’ve never looked at him in that way. Jason told him to tell you but Gar thinks he’ll go against that advice and pick a different route. Gar wants to know for certain before he gets his hopes up, since Jason isn’t here.

Jaybird 🐦: take your own advice

You: 😑 stfu

Gar places a plate in front of you. “It’s Jason…isn’t it?” There’s a solemn but understanding tone to Gar's words, making you look up at him again, confused.

“I just…I just said it was Jason?”

Gar let’s out an awkward chuckle. “No, I mean…it’s him, right?” Gar gains this soft and sad expression and you get it.

It hurts a little to confirm it but it’s for the best. Jason said Gar likes you and you alwaya felt like he did. It’s not fair to not tell him when you know for certain. That’s not right and Gar is your friend. You would never hurt him.

“Yeah.” You let out a sigh, of putting your phone on the counter. “Yeah, it is.” Your expression is sad, and sympathetic toward Gar.

Gar gives you a soft nod and he looks so sad. “How long have you known?”

“Yesterday,” You state. “I like you, too. It’s…I don’t know. Fucking Jason. I didn’t…I didn’t know until yesterday that it was him, when he was leaving. Like with Deathstroke, near-death experience, that's...too high of an emotional situation but yesterday..." You let out an exasperated sigh. "It hurt too much for it not to be. Telling off the Titans, all of that. Can’t really deny that.” You roll your eyes, more at yourself than Gar. “I’m really sorry, Gar.”

Gar nods with understanding. “It’s okay.” Gar assures you. “It sucks but it’s okay. Thank you for being honest.”

“I wish I could have been sooner.”

It does hurt but Gar also understands. Jason and you made it so obvious, he almost felt a little silly for even liking you. It aches in the center of his chest but he’s at least glad you were honest with him about it. It might not be him, but Gar isn’t the bitter type and at the end of the day, Jason and you are his friends. He just wants everyone to be happy.

“It’s okay.” Gar offers you a soft but small smile. “Did you tell him?”

“Absolutely not.” You laugh. “He would have stayed and I don't think him staying would have been good for him, he was so insistent on it and I get it. I was afraid if I told him, he’d stay.”

“Probably.” Gar chuckles and he lets the ache in his chest exist, but he pushes past it because you’re his friend. “Can I ask why you decided to stay then?” There’s a hesitance in Gar’s voice.

“You’re also my best friend.” You say it so simply that it brings a gentle smile to Gar’s face. “You’ve been there for me and he’s going off with Rose. Everyone leaving and stuff, I wasn’t gonna leave you here with just Dick. Glad I stayed since he left, too.”

Gar looks down with a gentle chuckle before looking back to you. “Thank you. It, uh, it means a lot.”

“Of course.” You give him a sweet smile and telling him feels so good. It’s actually relieving having that acknowledgment of it being Jason actually out in the open. You feel bad for hurting Gar but it’s relieving. “Anyway, what’s your plan? I trust you and if you think getting the Titans back together is a good idea, I’ll help.” You say and Gar gains a giant smile.

"We give them a few days to cool down." Gar cuts his own pancakes. "Then, we text them for random things, asking for help with some stuff. When Conner wakes up, we'll show them what he can do and they'll have to come back."

You find the mention of using Conner strange, even for Gar. But, at least that sounds like maybe it'll work. Who wouldn't want to work with some who's like Superman?

"The Conner thing might work but they might just text us the answers if we ask them?" You offer with a soft laugh.

"Which is why we keep bothering and we tell them that they're better as a team. We can convince them."

"You probably can." You laugh softly. "If they don't all hate me from yesterday, I'll be shocked." You clear your throat. "But, you, I mean you could probably convince all of them. No one likes to say to you."

"Really?"

"Yeah, you're so...you that you make it hard." You chuckle. "Like, you're so kind and innocent about everything. You never ask for anything either so if you're asking for something, we gotta say yes." Your eyes widen at him before you give him a grin. "Dick has never told you no since I've been here and neither has Jason and I think his favorite word is no." You shrug. "Well, and fuck but..."

Gar lets out a sigh. "I never noticed"

"Yeah, it's true. So, we'll come up with some stuff to bug them about and then you work your tiger magic to convince them. Plus, who doesn't want to live with a tiger?"

"Thank you." Gar's smile is grateful while the two of you continue your breakfast, discussing the Titans and what show you’ll start with all of your free time now.

As the day goes on, you and Gar train for a few hours, and order in more food. You take turns taking Krypto on short walks around the block while the other checks Conner's vitals. Jason checks in with you and Gar throughout the day, too and there is some comfort in that. At least, over text, he seems okay.

The night comes around and you opt for Gar's room where you play a few video games, Krypto still hanging out with you. That’s how you both spend the rest of the night, occasionally checking on Conner. Eventually, you head to your own room and sleep there for once, something about sleeping in Gar's room with feeling out in the open feels a little weird.

Over the next few days, you and Gar fall into your own routine. You take turns making breakfast before you go into training. You make your own training schedule, having three sessions a day and you schedule walks with Krypto while taking turns checking on Conner. You sleep in your own rooms and you deal with your nightmares alone, choosing to keep Gar out of them. You aren’t his responsibility and you decide maybe you should try and figure out how to handle those on your own. You tell Gar about them in the morning though because talking still does help a little.

And while this whole thing is nice, you’re also growing so bored. At least when Jason, Dick, and Rachel were around, you both always had people to talk to besides yourselves, people to hang out with and do things with. It’s just the two of you following the same routine for the last four days. You can’t leave the tower together so you’re just trapped here.

On top of that, you and Gar both get regular texts from Jason the first two days. Jason texts you more but he was keeping in touch. But, the last two days, he’s gone silent and makes you start to worry that something happened. Jason not texting you back just seems weird and it bothers you. It’s that gut feeling that says something just isn’t quite right.

"What are you thinking about?" Gar asks as hands you a Gatorade, the two of you taking a break from training.

"Huh?" The action snaps you out of your thoughts.

"You're thinking about something. I can always tell. What's up?" Gar asks, sitting on the bench opposite you.

"I dunno, I think I might just be paranoid." You try to shrug it off because you think you’re looking for a reason for something to be wrong. The last few days have been going well and you’re always waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"About what?" Gar lets out a chuckle.

"Jason..." Sam states hesitantly. "And Rose, ya know, it's just weird. We aren't really hearing from him."

"Yeah, no that is weird. But what does that have to do with Rose?"

It’s still bothering you. The whole interaction was five days ago. It’s not a sixth sense and maybe it’s your feelings for Jason that are clouding your judgment but it just does not feel right. And you stack Gar's conversation with Rose on top of it. The more you think about Rose coming to the tower and everything that followed after, the more it bothers you.

"I just mean....it's weird, right? Like, her showing up and being Deathstroke's daughter and everything that happened after?" You open the Gatorade bottle before taking a drink.

"I guess, but Dick brought her here and Deathstroke did try to kill her." Gar scrunches his nose, trying to be the voice of reason.

"Yeah, but....two's a coincidence and three's a pattern, right?"

"A lot of the time, sure. What exactly are you thinking?" Gar doesn’t think Rose had anything to do with anything. Gar isn’t her biggest fan because why would she? How would she have anything to do with any of it?

"Dick finds her, coincidence? Definitely. Her being Deathstroke's daughter, Dr. Light attacking the both of them at the same time, me and Jason being kidnapped, that shit with the other Titans Jason was blamed for, her knowing you tuned into a tiger. That's more than three, Gar." You suck in a breath. "And Deathstroke only even kidnapped me and Jason because Dick got Jericho killed. Why would he try to kill his last living child? That doesn't make any fucking sense."

Gar sits on for a second and you’re making a good point right now. It all does seem a little weird. But, Gar still isn’t so sure. That would mean the whole thing, Rose almost being killed and chased by the cops, all of that would have needed to be planned. Deathstroke would have needed to know one of the Titans would go off on their own in order to be kidnapped. It seems a little nuts.

"So, you think it was a setup?"

“I don’t know because I think I sound paranoid. But, who else did that shit to the other Titans? We know it was Jason or us. It wasn’t the other Titans. The only people left are Dick, Rachel, and Rose. It probably wasn’t Rachel. So Dick and Rose.”

“I do doubt it was Dick. He was acting weird, but not that weird.”

“Exactly, so we're back to Rose. How would Deathstroke even know Rose was here? The tower is supposed to be secure so he shouldn't have known Rose was here, right? How would he know and Deathstroke lost his son, but Rose lost her I brother that day, too. Rose kissed Jason and they were good but she went through the records Jason borrowed and found one that belonged to a Jericho and freaked out. So, he was important to her, it's not like they didn't know each other."

The thing about you is that you do not like unanswered questions, mysteries. Whenever there’s some unanswered question, you will dig and dig until you get an answer. You were the kid in your science classes asking why the sky was blue and refused to take “because it is” as an answer. It’s one of the reasons you always found Batman and Robin interesting. They were masked, no one knows who they are and you did not like that. A mystery. This is another mystery. The difference here is this mystery almost got your best friend killed and you’re not going to rest until you get an answer.

"So, you think Rose is working with her dad? As an inside guy?" Gar’s brows are knitted together, not buying this.

"Well, when you put it like that it sounds crazy, but yeah." You shrug casually, taking another drink of the Gatorade.

"Okay, so how did she know we went to find Dr. Light? If all of this was planned, she would have known, right? That's how you guys got kidnapped. Why else would Deathstroke have been there?"

"We aren't subtle. Maybe she saw us leave, Jason in the Robin suit and put two and two together. She did talk to Jason so it wouldn't be that hard to figure out that's where we were going. Maybe she got access to the cameras while we were all asleep and that's how she knew about the stuff with the Titans or maybe Deathstroke knew somehow. Dick said he had pictures of the Titans."

Gar lets out a sigh because you’re not gonna let this go and you’re very convincing. "Okay, come on, let's check the cameras." Gar gets up from his seat and you offer him a grateful smile.

Even when you’re being paranoid, Gar doesn't make you feel that way. He's very good about reassuring you and still letting you sort that out. He lets you weigh the reasonable and logical side of situations without being judgmental or condescending and you very much appreciate it. Gar really is a really good friend.

"Why would she leave with Jason though?" Gar asks as he sits at the computer, you sitting in the open chair next to him.

"Jason said he thinks Rose really liked him and maybe she actually does. So, maybe she does like him and doesn't want him involved in this shit anymore. If he's with her, maybe her dad won't target him again."

"It sounds a little far-fetched." Gar states as he types into the computer, pulling up security footage. "But it's at least worth looking at."

"Yeah," You let out a scoff. "I don't know. It just doesn't sit right."

"So, why would Jason suddenly not be answering?"

"Maybe, Rose thinks we'll figure it out because I don't like her. I was already suspicious of her so maybe she's gotten into his head or something. I don't know, but it's something. Jason would ignore everything else, but he would not ignore us."

"Yeah, that's true." Gar nods in agreement, mostly knowing that Jason would ignore everyone besides you so goes back to the security footage.

The two of you scan over the footage together over the last month, looking for any signs of Rose of doing anything weird. You don't find footage of her sneaking into rooms or laying anything out. But you find Dawn finding the picture of Elis and Rachel storming into the hallway following Jason. You actually didn't find anyone sneaking into the rooms of the older Titans.

"Huh." Gar hums, eyes narrowed at the screen.

"What?" You ask.

"Look, the time stamps are off." Gar points at the screen as he goes back a few hours. "Look, there's a jump here."

"Which means whoever planted the picture..."

"Also erased the footage."

"Can you recover it?"

"Maybe." Gar starts typing away quickly, trying to recover the footage. He should be able to get it back as long as the person who deleted it didn't t know about the backup server. It was one of the first things Dick taught him, just in case something were to get deleted. And sure enough, Gar finds the footage. "Wow, okay." Gar beams. "Check it." Gar pulls up the footage on the big screen and its Rose sneaking into the kitchen and planting the picture. "You were right."

"Holy shit." You stare at the screen and you can't believe you’re right. You really thought you were being paranoid.

"We gotta tell Jason."

"Yeah, I'll call him. You text him. If we're both spamming him, maybe he'll answer." You nod your head, getting up and the two of you pull out your phones.

Jason's phone starts going off, vibrating in the futon Rose is sharing with him. The vibrating wakes her up. She looks over and Jason is still sound asleep so she takes his phone. She sees a text from Gar first, telling him to call ASAP it's about Rose. Rose's heart sinks and then she sees the voicemail notification. She listens to it, hearing you tell Jason to call you back as soon as possible, you need to talk about Rose and he'll want to hear you and Gar out. Rose can't have Jason know, not yet, so she goes back to Gar's text.

Rose types out a quick and short text before hitting send. She glances over her shoulder a few times to make sure Jason isn't awake. Once the read notification goes thorough, she deletes the texts and then deletes your voicemail along with the call log.

She does like Jason, a lot. She never meant to lie to him or use him or hide any of this from him. But she knows that if he knows she's the reason the Titans attacked him, he'll never forgive her. So, she hides it to protect herself and him. Rose swears she'll tell him when the time is right, but right now is not the time. So, she hides the messages from him and puts his phone back.

Jason: She told me it's fine

Gar raises his brows and shakes his head, confused as he reads the text. "He said he knows? She told him." Gar shows you the text.

Your eyes narrow at the text. "That also seems weird."

"Hey, look, maybe she did tell him. Jason said he thinks she likes him so maybe she did come clean after they left. Maybe he does know and you're worried because of everything that happened." Gar keeps your feeling out of it. Bringing that up seems kind of like a low blow right now. Gar believes the text anyway. Why would Jason tell him he knows if he doesn't?

You let out a sigh because there's nothing you can do. It feels weird, seems weird. You thought if Jason found that out, he would tell you. Maybe not leave Rose because maybe he really, really likes her and forgives her. Maybe Jason was never supposed to get hurt in all of it anyway. The reality is that you don't know what goes on between him and Rose and you don't have a real reason not to believe his text.

"Okay," You let out a breath and decides to let it go. Maybe it's all fine and Jason is just having fun in his relationship. "Thank you for checking this out with me." You give Gar an awkward chuckle.

"Yeah, of course." Gar nods his head. "You were right." Gar laughs softly. "Let's uh, check on Conner and play Mario Kart." Gar stands up, a glowing smile on his face.

The next morning, you make you and Gar breakfast and you sit at the snack bar together, bored of your routine. But, lucky for you and Gar, Conner wakes up and joins you. You find him funny. He's very chipper, very excited, and happy-go-lucky. He actually reminds you of Gar in a way but like a little kid version of him. It's funny and kind of adorable.

The two of you explain to Conner what the tower is and who the Titans are. Gar tells him he can be a Titan because of the things he can do. He's special like all of you and you nearly rolls your eyes out of your head with the comment. But, it's kind of true. Gar then goes off to call Bruce before you and Gar take Conner into the training room to see more of what he can do, Gar explaining more about the Titans and how everything will be better once they're together again.

You’re going along with this but you really aren't sure there's anything you and Gar can do to get them back. You don't even think having Conner around is going to change their minds. Gar looks up to them and you get that but, shit got hard and they left. They gave up. They have way bigger issues to deal with and you and Gar trying to convince them to come back isn't going to be enough. But, you let Gar talk because you can't crush him.

The next day rolls around and you and Gar decide to take Conner and Krypto out, show Conner around some of the city. The two of you have gotten stir-crazy and this way, you and Gar can teach Conner more stuff he'll need to know.

"So," Gar starts, resting a hand on Conner's shoulder as the four of you walk. "Think of San Francisco as one big three-dimensional, interactive, multi-player video game. And you're Player One." Gar points at him and you think it's funny that Gar compares life to a video game. It makes perfect sense but you know you never would have thought of that and likely would have ended up confusing Conner further.

"Okay." Conner says as you round the corner.

"And it's your job to make sure everyone stays safe and no one gets hurt."

"Is that what the Titans do?" Conner asks.

"Well, we don't, but the old Titans did." Gar gives you a look as if knowing you want to fight that comment.

So, you bite it back. "Yeah, they kept everyone safe." Your voice is a little flat but luckily, Conner doesn't really pick up on speech patterns yet so he believes you.

"Dick mostly just kept us locked up in the tower. "Gar chuckles awkwardly. "Y/n, Jason, Rachel, and I talked about how we wanted more real-life experience. And once the team is back together again, I think he'll get it."

Gar has so much faith and so much optimism. You aren’t sure if Dick will be willing to allow all of you some experience but maybe you’re wrong. Maybe with everything that’s happened, he’ll see that you all can do it. You all should be allowed to so you admire Gar’s optimism.

"I know this sounds crazy but once the teams knows you're awake and can see what you can do, they'll be back in a hurry." Gar says confidently.

“Yeah, I mean, who doesn’t want to work with someone who’s half Superman.” You add in. Superman at least still seems really cool and nice.

"So, what can you guys do?" Conner asks looking between the two of you.

"I shoot acid from my hands and know when people are gonna attack me." You deadpan and Conner's brows furrow. "It's not...it's a thing." You shrug it off while Conner looks to Gar.

Gar laughs sheepishly. "It's-it's no big deal."

Your brows furrow at Gar. turning into a tiger is definitely a big deal.

"Come on. Can you show me?" Conner asks.

"Now's not the best...time." Gar winces, looking at all the people around you, minding their own business.

"Well, can you tell me?" Conner asks.

"Just tell him." You state. "It's really fucking cool, I swear." You look back at Gar. "Well, I don't really know because I have yet to see it. But It's probably cool." You say and you move next to Conner, almost expecting Gar to do something so you can finally see him turn into a tiger. In the middle of the day. In public.

"Yeah...yeah." Gar's brows furrow. "It's kind of weird but I can turn into a tiger." Gar beams with pride.

Conner looks so overjoyed and astounded. "No way!" Conner laughs.

Gar's chest fills with pride. "Yeah."

"What's a tiger?" Conner's laugh subsides.

You double over, laughing loudly. Conner’s innocence is so precious and you hope he can hold onto that. The world is a rough place and it needs more people like Conner and Gar.

"I'm sorry, it's not..." You choke out. "You just looked so excited and you don't even know what it is. You're amazing. Keep being you, Conner."

Gar deadpans at you before pulling you both over to the side. Gar is blocked by the both of you while he starts to growl and then his face starts to shift into that of a tiger, his eyes glowing green. You’ve only seen the green tint, not anything like this.

"That's awesome!" Conner yells as Krypto barks.

"That is sick and also a little terrifying. Nice." You beam, surprised Gar was so willing to show you and Conner. It’s so fucking cool.

"There's more to it. I'll show you later."

"Finally." You state.

Before any of you can say anything else, the three of you hear someone yelling for help. Conner puts his hand on Gar's shoulder, pushing past him softly and you see the guy that's yelling. That's not good. A guy is being arrested and Conner looks thrilled.

"Game on. Hero time." Conner states with excitement before he uses superspeed and grabs the cops but the back of their uniforms.

"That's really not good." You state while Gar's expression turns to panic, Conner bashing one of the cops's heads into the window of the cop car.

"Conner, no!" Gar yells but Conner throws the cop into the bushes and then pins the other cop to the ground. He looks at you and Gar, happy with what he's going. He literally does not know any better.

You both should have been a little more specific about helping people. You can't get mad at Conner though. He heard someone yelling for help and as a Titan, when someone yells for help, of course, he's going to step in. And you also should have been more clear about how you help and how you go about the whole situation. What Conner is doing is definitely not it.

"What the fuck do we do?" You start to panic. You don't want Conner to get arrested. You aren't even really sure how that would work and that would cause a whole lot more problems.

"I have no idea." There's panic etched in Gar's words. If you two step in, you risk being involved which also means getting arrested and then what do you do?

Two more cop cars pull up, four cops exiting their vehicles and pointing their guns at Conner. They start shooting Conner. Luckily, Conner is bulletproof but chaos ensues around them, pedestrians fleeing for safety. Conner starts to completely lose it and attacks one of the cops. Krypto takes that as a signal to join in, attacking another one. Gar and you hear more sirens coming forward and you hate to do it, but you look at Gar and decide to it’s time to run.

"We gotta go unless you go spend several nights in jail." You yank him by the collar of his shirt and the two of you start running in the other direction.

The two of you run all the way back to the tower, chests heaving by the time you get back. You look over your shoulder and no one's followed you. For a second, you hate thinking it, but it was kind of thrilling. It reminded you of your days back in Gotham. Running from the cops, the asphalt hard under your feet. The thrill of possibly getting caught. It's been a long time since you’ve felt something like that. But, you look back at Gar as you take the elevator up and he is panicking. Face riddled with guilt.

You feel guilty, too. You and Gar had one job and you dropped the ball. Then, you ran away. You know you and Gar couldn’t have done anything to help Conner without digging an even bigger hole but you feel guilty anyway. You and Gar abandoned him.

"Hey," You put your hand on Gar’s shoulder. "It's gonna be okay, Gar."

"How can you say that? He just attacked a bunch of cops." Gar panics, walking into the tower once the door opens.

"Uh-huh, but he's like...a carbon copy of Superman so...he can beat them. Like, they'll never catch him."

"That's not the point." Gar grits his teeth and he can't believe that's where you’re going with this.

"I mean, kind of. Like, it sucks and everything but...at least he won't get caught. We can sort it out when we find him or he finds us or something." You’re choosing to be the optimistic one this time. Gar definitely needs some optimism. And none of it is a lie. You do think Conner will escape them and you’ll find him. He doesn't have anywhere else to go and you have access to the city’s surveillance system.

"It doesn't matter that he won't get caught. He was our responsibility and because of us, he's out there! Now he's alone."

"I know." You state, feeling the guilt creep back over you. He was your responsibility but Dick left the two of you alone with a strange man as if you were supposed to know how to handle that. You did not do as asked but...that's not the point here.

"I'm gonna try to call Dick." Gar mutters, walking off towards the training room.

You let out a sigh and you aren't sure what to do. Maybe you should have tried to called Bruce more than once but now you can't since you lost Conner. It's all a mess again. Everything gets okay for a minute and then it gets messy. It's the same routine but you can't dwell on it because Gar is the one beating himself up for it. So, you follow Gar and find him in the display room, sitting in the display that says "Hawk".

Gar puts the phone to his ear while you take a seat in front of him. You rest your hands on his knees, squeezing softly.

"Dick, uh..." Gar's voice is breathy as it cracks, tears coming to his eyes. "I'm-I'm sorry. Something really bad happened and it's my fault. I need your help, so..." Gar's voice is desperate as he holds his arm with his free hand. "Call me back, yeah?" Gar pulls the phone away from his head, hanging it up.

"It's not your fault, Gar." Your voice is soft, brows knitted together.

"How?" Gar nearly whines. "He was my responsibility and now he's out there and he just--"

"Stop." You cut him off, shaking your head. "Dick left us in charge of him which was a bad idea. Now, Dick isn't answering his phone. We had no business trying to do this alone. Conner has been awake one day." You stress. "Even if we got ahold of Bruce, maybe it would have happened anyway. Dick didn't say we couldn't leave the tower." You’re very good at finding loopholes. "It's not your fault, okay? We'll find him and it'll be okay."

"How?"

You shrug. "I don't know." You laugh softly. "Because we'll work together. You survived a demon and I survived Deathstroke. We can find Conner." Your smile is gentle and soft, making Gar feel al little better about the whole thing. "I believe in you, Gar." You take your hands off of his knees and stands up, offering him your hand. "Let's get on the cameras and see if we can find him." Gar gives you a thankful but weak smile before taking your hand.

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rhymingteelookatme · 5 months ago

Text

oh he's really done it now. He's really fucking done it now. Just comes out to my desk and announces to me and only me that I "fucked everything up big time" on this one massive signing we had a couple weeks ago, where a client came in and we discovered she had too much trouble with writing her signature for us to get any of the documents done as we had previously prepared them.

It was a whole group effort between me and three of my coworkers to reprint the documents so that this client could sign by mark. This is not a thing we normally do. And none of us- none of us, particularly not the more experienced of us- realized one crucial fact, which is that the notary cannot act as a witness in such a situation. There have to be two separate witnesses. We had our handbooks out, but they were evidently out of date.

And so dadboss comes out to my desk and my desk alone, and lays into me. Then he tries to back off and talk about "we" need to ask questions and "we" need to look things up, by which he meant search online, and I wasn't going to let that slide.

Me: "Don't give me that 'we.' Don't give me that 'we.' You came out here guns blazing, don't give me that 'we.'"

It may be noted that I was crying, because I had been so flustered at the time of the original signing, and now we're going to have to re-do everything and ask the clients to come back in and all (cause it wasn't just one, it was this client and their spouse- the spouse not having the same issue vis-a-vis signature). It's not every day that you have to re-format and reprint documents on the fly while the clients are sitting around waiting. So yeah. I was upset. Not to mention that this is fucking dadboss, who unfortunately is one of the few people with enough emotional history to induce this kind of reaction.

And he did the goddamn thing. He did the fucking thing. The thing where he only genders me correctly when he's trying to be cutting or insulting.

Him: "For a guy, you sure seem to cry a lot."

Me, instantly furious: "Oh what, you don't have tear ducts? You wanna go there? You really wanna go there?"

Obviously I still have to re-do the docs, which I would have done anyway, but now I have to stay late and clear my desk of the other stuff. I don't care. I'm putting him on blast. Two can play at this game.

EDIT- I'M NOT DONE

No fuck him. Seriously. I knew I didn't know how to re-format those documents at the time. I did ask my coworkers. We did work together. We did communicate. We pulled handbooks and worked together on the fly and did our best. But I was the notary so I'm the only one who gets called out at my desk. Fuck him, fuck him, fuck him to the seventh hell. He's not gonna talk to the one who sits next to me. He's not gonna talk to the one who sits at the front desk. He's not gonna talk to the one in the office toward the far end of the hallway, no, he's gonna go after me. Front-desk was actually like "Hey, [new lawyer] is gonna hear you, enough," and dadboss goes "I don't give a fuck."

Funny you should say that, dadboss. Like father, like son.

#rhymingtee's real life #haven't even had breakfast yet #and he was trying to give me shit about coming in and not saying hello #which he just super hates for some reason #fuck him and fuck the horse he rode in on #'get another job' sure binch from where

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ladylooch · 1 year ago

Note

Don’t be shy, tell us all about how daddy Timo embarrassed himself on the phone. I just know Kevin hears Emma in the background trying to wrestle it away from him 🤣

Don't be shy ☠️

The way I made this so soft in the end 🙈 I CANT HELP IT!!! THEY’RE MY BOYS!!!!!

Kevin is unassuming when he sees Timo’s name pop up on his phone.

“Hey.” Kevin answers, putting the phone on speaker so he can continue to put the groceries away with Sam. He holds her hips to wiggle past her in the pantry, stifling a groan at the way she brushes against him just right. He can’t wait for Lena to head to her friend’s house for the night.

“Hey fucker.”

Both Kevin and Sam pause, looking at each other with questioning eyes. This is new.

“Ah, what’s up?”

“You tell me what’s up. What is this I hear about your kid dating my daughter?”

Kevin and Sam had talked to Luca a few days ago and he mentioned spending time with Livia Meier while visiting Switzerland for the summer. Kevin thought it was great. The Meiers are close friends. Him and Timo grew up together. Luca finding someone to relate to as a hockey player’s kid and growing up outside of Switzerland seemed like a great fit.

“I heard the same thing earlier this week.” Kevin confirms. He stops putting things on the shelves.

“This is fucking bullshit, Kev. My daughter deserves better than your scrub of a son.”

“Timo!” Kevin hears Emma’s voice in the background. “Give me the god damn-” Her voice cuts off with the closing of a door.

“Scrub?” Kevin scoffs, looking at Sam who is still perplexed at what is happening. She holds her hands up, decidedly staying out of it. Her husband’s eyes are beginning to get squinty. She wants no part in this discussion and smartly leaves the pantry.

“He has to be coming from your balls.”

“Dude, what the fuck?” Kevin scoffs.

“You what the fuck! How close does the apple fall to the tree? He like to whip through the rotation every week like daddy? Is Liv the Friday or Thursday girl?”

“Hey.” Kevin hisses, taking him off speaker. He prays Sam didn’t hear that. “That was one year in Sweden, okay. I’ve come a long way since then. Also, I wasn’t the one who had my dick sucks by the girls tennis team on my way out of town to Canadian Juniors.” Timo is silent on the other end. Ha, Kevin thinks.

“I am fucking serious. Your kid hurts my daughter I’ll end his life.”

“You hurt my kid and I’ll end yours.” Kevin snaps back. Tension races through the silence between the lines. “And he has more Sam in him than me.” Kevin finishes with a heavy sigh. He forces his shoulders back down, trying to relax. Timo contemplates.

“So he’s a good midwestern boy?”

“Eh, I wouldn’t go that far.” Kevin says honestly, thinking about a certain position he found his son in last year on the couch. Luca is lucky it was him who came home early and not Sam. Kevin never told his wife, but he did immediately have the safe sex talk again.

“Fuck me.” Timo wails.

“I get it, man. I’ve got two daughters.”

“Why is this so much harder with her? With Lio it was.. a breeze.”

“Because you remember what it was like being 19.” Kevin’s small smile fills his voice. Timo sighs.

“Yeah. I wanna go back and kick my own ass now.”

“I can do it for you?”

“No you can’t… pussy.” Kevin laughs, loud and easy. Damn, he’s glad him and Timo are still friends.

“I’ll take you anytime, old man.”

“You’re older.”

“Yeah but I played longer.”

“Cause you’re a pussy.” Timo can’t even get through the sentence without busting out laughing.

“Again, you’re welcome in Minnesota anytime, bud.” Kevin opens the door to the pantry, stepping into the kitchen where Sam and Lena are beginning to make chocolate chip cookies. Lena had a good grade on her final test that she was nervous about, so Sam is rewarding her with homemade cookies. Kevin watches them for a moment and thinks about their last conversation with his oldest child. “Look, I know you’re worried, but I wouldn’t be. He’s a good kid and… I think he loves your daughter already. I’ve never seen him like this.” Sam nods her head along to Kevin’s words.

“I’m still gonna scare the shit out of him when he comes over.” Timo insists.

“Good. He could use some practice for dealing with washed up veterans next season.”

“You’re an ass.” Timo hisses.

“Not as big as you though. I gotta go. See you in a couple weeks for your ass kicking on the course.”

#tm: loving & leaving #letters in your last name au #Liv X Luca

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servegrilledcheese · 2 years ago

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15 questions for 15 mutuals

thanks @nucrests for tagging me!

Are you named after anyone?

nope!

When was the last time you cried?

a few days ago, i was listening to thinking of you by katy perry while simultaneously preparing for exam week and finishing assignments

Do you have any kids?

i have rap music coursing through my veins

Do you use sarcasm a lot?

i do, even when i’m being genuine people think i’m being sarcastic because of my monotonous voice 🗿

What sports do you play/Have you played?

sport… never had that, never been though that.. never experienced that emotion, truly.

What’s the first thing you notice about other people?

their demeanor/confidence

Eye colour

black. my eyes are tapioca balls.

Scary movies or happy endings?

don’t scary movies have happy endings sometimes? i don’t see why i cant have both

Any special talents?

i competitively played piano (and won) for like two years before the panadería happened

Where were you born?

university of st. thomas aquinas hospital, manila, philippines

What are your hobbies?

sitting down at home and looking at things

Do you have any pets?

two cats! a mother-son duo.

How tall are you?

172 cm

Fave subject in school?

english and philosophy. i always got perfect scores on written assignments. shame i never learned how to read.

Dream job?

trophy husband or lottery winner.

tagging 15 mutuals in my mentions @kazuaru @cas-fulleditmode @deehya @thelastairsimblr @greenllamas @marsosims @tigo @futurelabs @estah @imageingrunge @simlishaccent @softerhaze @alelelesimz @citrlet @diwnssi

you know the drill! if you wanna do it, you do it, if you don’t, you don’t.

#text

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randomgentlefolk · 1 year ago

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CPC CHAPTER 151

Colonel Snuggles to the rescue!

I heard Lambcat said a few episodes ago were the last fun episode? Well as far as I remember at least. But nah, THIS CHAPTER WAS CHERRY ON TOP.

Frederick?? :') How do you go through around 5 years of military academy and still not know what take out means 😭 Well too be fair, it could mean MANY things, and I would most likely say similar things to him in this situation.

DANG LORENA IS SO COOL??? Like, building all these traps?? SHE MUST GET A+ ON THIS PROJECT. Not to mention she managed to create it to be fairly simple and easy to understand!

Suzie!! I see she has a pretty complicated relationship with denial huh?

DANG, It has been almost 2 weeks since the gala?! Huh. I really thought it's only been like 4 days or so.

Wait. Then how long was the Plaid Princes in that dungeon...? GODAMNNIT LELAND.

Ayyy Colonel Snuggles to the rescue!! :D

HAHA HERE COMES THE HOME ALONE CHAOS (i wish i could build smth like this)

I love it when "silly" looking defenses are use >:D Like the marbles? The chattering teeth? I'M IN FOR THESE.

Heck, how does Lorena build all of these?! DAMN SHE'S SO FRICKING COOL. THE SPIKES? THE HOLE? THE BIG ASS METAL BALL? I'M IN LOVE WITH THESE SETTINGS.

Still kinda curious though. How thick is the palace's walls? Because with all these chaos, there's no way they haven't heard a sound yet. Or maybe that will be shown in the next chapter? Hm, this was supposed to be an invasion, after all. So perhaps it does makes sense for them to not notice a thing about what's going on outside.

Also, where is Beckett and the old guard (we need his name. Please lambcat? Please tell us his name :'D)? I imagine they must be laughing the heck outta these. Either that or they are secretly getting in the palace to warn the princesses!! Maybe through the back door? That door gotta have a use other than being used by Gwen to sneak out to the cpc.

You know, writing these made me realize something. Maybe I'm just not getting something, and maybe I'm just not cut out for huge war strategy, but why didn't they (the plaid army) use the back door? Yes, there are lots of them in quantity and so getting them all in would be a pain, but who's to say they can't just sneak a few in to get the key and open the entrance? That way they can also see where the princesses are! If you want to be safer, have some of them disguised as perhaps a maid? Or a butler. You just gotta avoid Molly and you'll be fine! Well, except if the key is on Molly that is..

Also just wanna point out they are being laughed at by cursed people who Leland hates, the youngest son of the Plaid Kingdom who was deemed to be a failure, and the princels. Idk about you man, but I would feel absolutely mortified if I were you lmfao.

Aside from that, we finally got it.. the satisfying moment..

HAHA! FINALLY, Y'ALL. THANK YOU LORENA! THANK YOU SO MUCH.

OHHH THAT'S WHAT THE PREMONITION IS, ISN'T IT?? The metal ball is gonna roll into the cpc and potentially crush the tent!! That's why Nell moved the tent, right? Yeah, I'm calling it!

GWEN LMAO. She's boutta have some wild dreams with all the noises 😭😭

Well, that's all for now! Imma binge on some shows after this hehe. But honestly my mind still can't get over how the newest fast pass episode is titled "Unhappily Ever After" 😭 I guess I gotta prepare for lots of angst :')

Mono out! (But still in to hear your thoughts)

#cursed princess club #cpc

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feuqueerfire · 2 years ago

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Ghost Host, Ghost House Live Blogging

Vibie Gen Youtube

The final new show before my 3 week rewatch journey, hope it’s good! It’s got ghosts and I’ve seen such good clips of the main couple in the show and a few outside show.

Ep 1 (Nov 28/29)

1-1

So Kevin is a ghost story teller on like IG and I know from spoilers that the family is actually dead and ghosts but seems like the audience and Kevin doesn’t know yet. I guess the daughter is like apathetic towards everything because of it while the rest of the family tries to appear normal for Kevin.

1-2

So the ghosts in this can touch, hold, and carry objects, ooh

As expected, I love the girl. She’s apathetic, she’s kinda mean, she doesn’t care BUT she stops the brother from accidentally giving away they’re ghosts by telling him to go through the proper entrance. She seems the most bitter about being dead but playing alive, so I hope they dive into her character later (is she the one that’s part of the small side gl?)

1-3

lol Pluem trying to communicate with Kevin in English is cute, as is Kevin teasing him cheekily

Kevin continuously giving this family a heart attack with every mention of a ghost

The ghosts can’t leave the house.

nevermind, they can

Also, the Aunt keeps calling or is at least translated as calling Kevin her cousin but he’s her sister’s son, so in English, nephew is more apt

1-4

Territory Restriction: they can leave because at least one of them (?) thought of Kevin before dying and now that he’s arrived, they’re free to leave the home?

The mix of paranormal and merit point science and afterlife bureaucracy is fun

pls Kevin gleefully tryna summon ghosts and disturb the peace while the Aunt’s family holds the ghost family back right behind him. he’s a menace fr

So the aunt’s family died of a car crash (dunno how long ago) near the swamp, which is the highest shrine for the area

Lots of setting up of the lore and backstory but interesting to me nonetheless.

Ep 2 (Nov 29)

2-1

This family was a whole mess before their death, oof

aww, is she tryna see the girl she likes?

2-2

ooaaahhh i remember seeing gifs and clips of this scene with Kevin on the couch and Pluem gardening outside and splashing water on the glass. cute >.<

the earring?

Pluem and Kevin are cute hehe it’s teasing and friendly right now, I can’t wait to see it turn romantic

2-3

Wasn’t expecting Pluem or Kevin to get wind of the family being ghosts so quickly for some reason but we’re almost 25% through the series, so it makes sense

heh, as expected Kevin saved Pluem as Handsome Gardener on his phone

2-4

Interestingly, this ghost hunting crew is just like an over-the-top version of Kevin but we’re supposed to feel vastly differently toward them I think?

I think it’s so cute that Pluem nervously asks the family “is there anything you wanna tell me?” aww like he’s so afraid of ghosts but still came to help the family

Ep 3 (Nov 30)

3-1

The twin ghosts thing is cool

3-2

Oooaahhh I’ve seen clips of this “Do you have a boyfriend?” convo at dinner and it’s so cute >.<

Pluem being scared of the aunt’s family now is interesting, wish we’d gotten to see how they told him at the end of ep 2

3-3

Pluem’s father passed away and his sister is hospitalized after a car crash? And they don’t know who the other party involved in the crash is? I guess it’s the aunt’s family and they all passed away?

3-4

Woah, the ghosts can do telekinesis? We haven’t been seeing much of their powers since they’re hiding it from Kevin

Home Alone vibes as the family teams up to scare the robbers away

:000 Kevin found out the family is all ghosts? Or maybe he saw the ghost that See-Foon thinks is in Kevin’s room? (Cute that he called and ran to Pluem though)

Also, they’ve mentioned Pluem’s need for multiple jobs and having not as much money several times now

Ep 4 (Nov 30/Dec 1)

4-1

lol I thought they’d at least talk a bit about what Kevin saw or discovered for him to be so freaked out

Kevin and Pluem so cute and awkward in Pluem’s room, aw

lol Pluem dying over Kevin’s bare legs

pleaseeeee Kevin teasing and pushing Pluem about getting naked but then getting nervous when Kevin actually does something about it lol I love that they seem to take turns being bold and teasing but then get shy/nervous about it too (Fave scene)

ahhh

big fan of the neck sniffing and hand sniffing tbh i love sniff kisses

4-2

these bitches never stop teasing each other i’m losing my mind why is kevin teasingly moving away every time pluem tries to kiss ahhh cuteeee

Kevin choosing “you” and “I” (eng words) as the pronouns they use with each other omgggg deliberately choosing language

Rosa and Lise so cute and kinda sad that they have to defend themselves preemptively despite not doing anything wrong (Fave scene)

lmfao Pluem’s last job?! going to funerals and pretending to be someone’s friend?

4-3

Sign language appearance and even which specific term the person prefers to refer to their disability (I’m assuming/hoping it’s accurate according to deaf/HoH Thai people)

lots of heart to hearts about Kevin’s dead friend Jack and Pluem’s parents. also, Kevin tells Pluem about the aunt’s family being ghosts

4-4

Kevin hearing about the family’s death and stuff finally

as expected, Aunt’s family and Pluem’s father passed away from the same accident

omg Pluem trying to summon his father with the candles and mirror, then being upset and demanding at the shrine is so good. the ending with the car in the lake, though I don’t think it’s his dad’s gray truck. Pluem being mad and upset that the Aunt’s family are the ones who killed his dad (or so he thinks, I’m expected some other explanation) but also being mad that they could come back to see Kevin while his father isn’t back, meaning perhaps he wasn’t thinking of Pluem and his sister in the end.

Okay, as a lover of formalities and honorifics and titles, I also liked them being deliberate and specific on what to use (this type of thing shows up with younger semes sometimes like in Lovely Writer or LeonPob Don’t Say No, although this case isn’t the same as those; we also got it in terms of formality when it came to Sangwoo going from sunbae to hyung). Them choosing ‘I’ and ‘you’ pronouns instead of “Phi” and “name” oof it incorporates Kevin’s background as well.

I’m nervous to continue on though ngl because people were iffy about 1) apparently a stupid breakup, 2) side GL being short and sad and 3) the logic or reasoning for things being meh. I’m not certain about any of these because I’ve remained mostly spoiler-free but oof

Behind the scenes l EP4 Watched the behind for this ep and it’s so cute! Boy and Tod are endearing and funny together and by themselves and there’s not really any awkwardness between them.

Fave episode, really fucking good.

Ep 5 (Dec 1/2)

5-1

ooh, a little sex positivity PSA in the midst of “...did Pluem ditch Kevin after getting into his pants”

So Pluem’s father and Aunt Jeab’s family both passed away a month before the start of the show

Dang, Pluem and Kevin’s breakup(?) scene was sad, Pluem grieving his father and also bitter that the people he thinks killed his father are back but his dad isn’t while Kevin also lost his family and he also has someone (Jack) he wishes he could see as a ghost. Pluem not considering how Kevin is going through similar things vs Kevin saying things that just sound unkind even though he doesn’t mean them that way rip Neither of them is really wrong (though I admire Kevin’s resiliency in trying to keep the relationship and it’s one of the times in BL where I don’t get grossed out by ‘refusal to breakup’ because it wasn’t even that really) - (Fave scene but in a way of the writing choices, not for cute or giddiness)

5-2

dang, Pluem cruel in his grief to his sister too T.T At least they made up quickly because I don’t think I could’ve taken angry siblings on top of all that

The “Last Day” stuff is still kinda confusing to me but that’s not till later ig

5-3

Pluem putting a mosquito coil (haven’t seen those in so long) near Kevin

dang, kevin giving up seeing his ghost friend to let pluem see his ghost father

oof, a no show

pluem’s father in the past doing the “taking sadness away” gesture same as the “taking anxiety gesture” kevin did

the realization of pluem that his father chose to not come back and his lesson from his father when he was young and his mom passed away all coming back to make sense of what’s going on is sad but in a nice way (though I’m side-eyeing the father’s advice though, especially to a very young child Pluem who mother recently passed away but maybe it comes across better in Thai?)

damn, girl hundreds?! see-nam only has a few hundred points left cuz she waited for the girl at school every day (+ the 6000 points used for the ritual)

5-4

girl, Jake?!?!

I guess Jake was hidden from Kevin the whole time because he wasn’t on his own turf but See-Foon could see him because ghosts can see each other. Damn, mans has been taking care of Kevin this whole time and has seen him fall in love and give up a chance to see him to Pluem and it’s really his time to go.

our first taste of the disappearing ghost

also i just realized See-foon didn’t see Jake in the dreams, he learned about his existence by finding him lol

damn, this ep is just sad event after sad event but I quite enjoyed it.

love to see Pluem lash out and be unreasonable in his grief tbh. Does it make sense to break up with and ignore Kevin because Kevin's family came back as ghosts from the same car crash that his dad died and didn't reappear in? No because Kevin had nothing to do with it but I liked that it was overwhelming and upsetting and caused him to lash out at Kevin and his sister. I do want Pluem to sincerely apologize next ep though. I wonder if this was the stupid/avoidable break up someone mentioned because then I’m fine with that, I understood why it happened

About Jake, I was like hmm I slightly suspected that the ghost in Kevin's room is Jake but the reveal and disappearing is done in such a short time that it doesn't hit as hard but I'm fine with it since it's like the first taste of a disappearing ghost (agh I guess See-nam gonna disappear next ep? TT) and the general story of Jake was sad enough even though we didn't delve super deep into it

Ep 6 (Dec 3)

6-1

Linguistics: wait okay from what i noticed/read in notes of a post, in ep 5 Kevin was still using I/you pronouns but Pluem stopped and used gu/meung with him once or twice instead. So now, Pluem used ter again (they used rao/ter before the I/you decision) and Kevin was like “Don’t you speak rudely to me like you did?” using meung

At least Pluem apologized (and even tried doing it in English for Kevin)

6-2

Aww, See-nam and her dad apologizing to each other in general and father-daughter bonding

Having them use I/you pronouns is good for realizing how differently this is used in Thai vs English. Like I’ve heard them say “Khun/Ter/Meung” in lieu of a name many times but saying “You” makes it concretely settle in my head that, in these case, they use these pronouns in a way that we would use a name in English.

Nam’s gone?! She didn’t even meet the girl?!?! Fuckkasdfja;skldfja;sdf

bro flashbacks? so we fr not getting a bittersweet ending (Nam and her meeting and confessing and saying goodbyes) but just fucking sadness bc Nam used up so many points while waiting for the girl at school only to disappear before meeting her one last time

1 minute of See-Nam and Prim flashback but they were so cute T.T (Fave scene)

6-3

aw lol, Foon going through kittens to see which ones Nam reincarnated as

Damn, exchanging points for Last Day already - See-Fon got 4 hours left

6-4

Oof, See-Foon also gone (aside: did he say goodbye to his parents already or what?)

askldf Prim was waiting for See-Nam to come visit her at the hospital?!?!?! fuckkk

No joke, I’m boutta become a supervillain wtff I was expecting like one last sad meeting with confessions or heartfelt conversation between See-Nam and Prim but See-Nam really used up so many of her points with the Pluem’s dad summoning + going to wait for Prim at school that she used it all up?! and Prim was actually waiting for her to show up at the hospital?!?! So they just never fucking meet I’m gonna flip a table. Also, we got both kid ghosts disappearing in the same ep.

Although, them both disappearing 3/4 of the way through in quick succession makes me nervous that they’ll somehow be brought back to life or smth at the end idk but I hope that doesn’t happen.

Ep 7 (Dec 3)

7-1

please they’re so cute, this stupid fake interview and Kevin being like “off you’re not giving any time for others’ compliments” and Pluem saying “I’m afraid they won’t give me any hehe” cutee

aw shit, Kevin boutta go back to murica soon isn’t he

I think this is the second time when Kevin has looked at Pluem for help and he’s stepped in to explain Kevin’s thought process to the family (can’t remember the first time but it was last ep and this time it’s about the aunt and uncle to the beach honeymoon)

7-2

It was already beautiful but then the aunt and uncle turned young before disappearing and that’s so T.T

bro, why isn’t Kevin answering? The reason he’s not agreeing to be Pluem’s bf is for sure not because of Jake but because he’s going back to America soon, right? so correct himmmm

7-3

wait dang it really is Kevin unable to forget Jake?

Damn, did Jake and Kevin also use you/I pronouns? Pluem was the one who asked, so he just struck upon the same thing as Kevin and Jake ig

aw, cute sad conversation that they had before Jake died that basically predicted Jake becoming a ghost and looking over him till Kevin finds someone else

fr Kevin’s ghost hunting origin story

I had a pretty bad interview yesterday, so seeing Pluem be shit at his job is making me wanna off myself. nervousssss

lmfaooooo not Pluem’s adlibs for the ad that are actually for Kevin

wtf, is Kevin jealous? over a shoulder clap from Pluem’s costar? bffr Pluem was fighting against a ghost and yuo can’t handle this?

7-4

oh dang, death by awkwardness

oof, Kevin leaving for America without saying goodbye or patching up things or letting Pluem know, fuck

I wish they just said things and didn’t do this.

Ep 8 (Dec 3)

8-1

Pluem trying to repeatedly call Kevin, then going by Aunt Jeab’s house a week later only to find it empty and dusty and sitting there as he realizes Kevin’s simply not here... then getting the notification of Kevin going live on IG again and sitting in his home in the states talking about his experience in Thailand while Pluem sits alone in the empty house

girl, Kevin only talking to Pluem indirectly through the IG live rip

dang, if I were Pluem I’d just lose my mind if that happened to me tbh

8-2

is it 3 days? weeks? months? years? I wish they’d translated it because in first part they translated 7 days

dang, Kevin’s mom’s having twins? See-nam See-foon reincarnation era

you’re gonna miss each other while walking by like this?! goddamn Don’t Say No special ep flashbacks

ooh, Pluem let out a smile seeing Kevin. I don’t even know what I want the reaction to be; ideally, it’d be an angsty and apologetic and hurting and confusing reunion but considering we’ve got like 35 mins left, maybe going the happy route with little depth is a good idea

8-3

I don’t even know how I feel about Pluem’s eagerness like have some bitterness in your heartttt. I want Kevin to be apologizing and begging, not Pluem to be making moves as if Kevin didn’t rip his heart out without notice

The making out is too noisy and slightly gross to me but I can’t skip because I’m mesmerized by their hands and fingers as they run over each other’s bodies or open buttons; their beautiful, slender, ring-adorned hands

I like the filming of this - feels like we’re on a swing or a boat because of the dolano-dolano vibe

8-4

I’m losing my mind because they’re so fucking cute, this pillow talk with the teasing and flirting and agh idek

bro, I slapped my forehead like 10 times during the whole bed talking scene because they were sooo cute throughout it fml (Fave scene)

listennn in english, it’s “did you miss me the same way I missed you?” but in Thai, you don’t change the pronoun, so he said it as “did you miss I the same way I missed you” and literally said I ahhh so fun

goddamn the can rings

one last nod at the people who passed away. so grateful they never came back once they left, don’t want the ghosts returning

they’re so fucking cute for no reason

Idek how I feel about the last 1.5 eps because in terms of writing, I have some qualms but like Kevin and Pluem are so cute that I can’t even think critically.

Biggest Pulls for this show:

- Pluem and Kevin, bro they were soooooo fucking cute just unbelievable I was cheesing throughout so many of their interactions. they really felt like people who liked each other and also just bounced off each other so well. They had great off-camera chemistry as well.

- The linguistics, specifically usage of first and second person pronouns for Kevin and Pluem. I love the deliberate choice of using you/I so much and they use it throughout except !! Pluem used ‘meung’ when he got angry at the roof in ep 5 and was very rude and, in the next ep, when he used ‘ter’ during his apology, Kevin pointed it out and was like oh? you’re not speaking rudely to me anymore?

- The ghost stuff was intriguing and I’m glad they didn’t somehow make them come back or anything. I wish we got some more background in terms of how things actually worked and some more lore building but I’m still generally okay with the way it went, combining the comedy and sadness

- I wish we had more of the GL rip

All in all, despite not liking certain choices or wishing for more in other aspects, I enjoyed watching it and am so glad to have watched Pluem and Kevin, they were adorable.

Rating: 6.5/10

Tiktoks

Ep 4 Pluem distracted by Kevin’s legs (we must stay focused brothers)

Ep 6 See-Nam and Prim

Trailer Reaction: Boy tearing up at the trailer and Tod’s eyes widening and them getting shy at the NC scenes lol

Director’s Cuts

1: an extended version of ep 4 NC scene

#ep by ep commentary #ghost host ghost house

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lunaletgo · 1 year ago

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Fair is Fair

Here’s my biggest problem. I hate anything that’s unfair. I believe in fair fights, fair arguments, fair picks, ect. No this does not mean everyone gets a fucking cookie in my book. However, for example; when I broke up with the one ex from 2 years ago, he stalked, harassed and even came to Texas to try to get me back, and proceeded to fake being friendly to remain friends with me, in hopes I would come back and we’d get back together, and honestly after he left Texas he seemed completely different, so I had considered it. But I was tired of the harassment so I added his baby mama on Facebook thinking he’d shut up and go away. That didn’t happen and she started talking to me and oof, that was a fucking mess. Who offers to pay someone to testify in a child court case 🤦🏻‍♀️ the wrong people that’s who. By now the man had moved on, and honestly good for you, if you stayed consistent on the person you were going to be if you stayed in the path you expressed to me in Texas. However. When I came back, so did he. He wanted it all again, the relationship, the family, the everything. He’s broken up with the woman he found and started moving her stuff out, so I was fully convinced he’d changed and made a complete 180 and was actually being a better person, like myself and what I was working on. However, the script flipped when the man ghosted me with no explanation what-so-ever. Still had my cat and my belongings, and if you look at it, yeah, me trying to contact him to figure out what was going on, looked stalker, harassment psycho-ish.

After I had moved on, drama then began. He randomly showed up at my dads when I was in the process of moving out, with my cat and at the time I had no idea what I was going to do with her, I was literally packing at that moment. So I sent him away, if he’d had her this long, he wouldn’t have minded keeping her a little while longer, but no. Few weeks later was greeted with. “Do you want your cat or I’m taking her to the shelter.” 🙃 so immediately tyler and I went to get her. Since then, hes popped up on random fake accounts and so has his girlfriend, they have so many accounts it’s impossible to keep track of at this point.

Now, fair is fair yeah? A few weeks after everything, as a thank you for my cat and a show of good faith towards him and an investment in his kids future, I gave him three of my most expensive paintings for his kid, for college or to keep, whatever they where for his son, and his gf went and burned them on a tiktok video, because she was mad that I was sharing information about narcissistic abusers, shitty behavior and insecurities. Did I mention him in my tiktoks, yeah for a few stories, but I never said the name of the person. In all of my healing statuses and fixing shitty behavior, I never named and names, nor directed them at anyone. How guilty to assume.

Fair is fair. In my personal opinion I walked around with guilt that I was the bad guy and I was the asshole for so long, but I see it so much differently now, now that I understand humans, human behavior and psychology, I get it. But I wanna know so opinions. I’m open to hearing what others can see in this toxic situation, and what you can learn from it.

The whole thing completely changed my life and not in the way I thought or originally hoped, but it turned out so much better than I could have expected.

0 notes

viktuurionice · 29 days ago

Text

Venting /// sorry gkdkksksk

I told my sunt that on week's where I'm working 39 hours a week, that I don't want to do dishes. I only have to do them 2 nights in a week, which isn't a lot but considering I'm exhausted and working so I can get my own place and get out of everyone's hair I don't think it's too much to not want to do dishes.

But after taking a 3 hour nap I got a lecture about how the teenagers are out of the house for 12 hours a day for school and extra curriculars (also mentioning they like and enjoy their extra curriculars. They've chosen this) and they still get their chores and stuff done. Which... Is a fair point. But they're not disabled. Neither of them are disabled. They're both fully functioning and have been doing this for years. Again, they're not fucking DISABLED. And ARE CHOOSING THINGS THEY ENJOY.

I'm disabled and this is the first time I've managed anything other than part time in VERY short increments in about 10 years. My fucking disability no one believes in is disabling and I'm not spending an hour on dishes while I've been on my feet all day.

Also wanna point out this is conveniently ignoring her son that's in his mid 20s and has never worked a job in his fucking life, who went to bed 30 minutes after I got up this morning.

I'm not spending 12 hours a day doing shit for other people. Make the NEET do it. I'm not even spending an extra hour after a full shift doing it, make the fucking NEET do it.

"what exchange are you going to give?"

Idfk me being rested enough to not be a raging cunt? Me moving into my own place as soon as I'm able? Dude I'm in PAIN. And you bitch when I take ibuprofen like it's a hard drug. I'm too tired to even remember the non over the counter pain meds. But that's sure what my family acts like ibuprofen is. Well, if I'd been able to go to a fucking urgent care for my wrist they probably would have told me to take fucking ibuprofen. Jfjskskdkdkks

Don't complain about me acting drugged, I just flipped my sleep schedule on its head and I haven't slept through the night without a sleep aid for as long as I can remember, and I don't like taking sleep aids because they make me drowsy. Lower your fucking expectations. Of course I'm fucking tired.

I'm allowed to read or draw for a bit if I have the energy, not spend an hour on dishes. I will, not be doing that. Especially after standing and moving boxes and stocking shelves and otherwise moving around for over 8 hours.

If I'm not able to do something to keep my head on straight soon I will simply kill myself and let that be your problem. I was going to do that a few months ago anyway, I am not attached to survival. If you make it unpleasant I will simply peace out. I'm done. I've been done. "Well that's life." Cool!!! I don't fucking want it. I don't care. "Cook all your meals! It saves money! All your doing is paying for other people's labor! Everyone still does their chores! Dogs are loud, so are kids!" I DO NOT CARE. I can buy ready made meals to save time! I value my time more than cheap food! I value my time more than organic food. I was able to do all my own chores before, it's called a fucking dishwasher and not having to hand wash everything before putting the dishes in. Your dog barks a lot because you treat her like a human toddler when she's a dog. You haven't trained her NOT to bark. In fact you've trained her to bark in order to get whatever she fucking wants. So SHE BARKS ALL THE FUCKING TIME. Every human child I've been around since becoming an adult is quieter than your fucking dog. "Dogs bark" yeah, no shit. I'm pretty sure I've had more dogs than you. I at least know how to train them better, but I'll never own one again.

Like lower the fucking bar for fucks sake.

#i know im being bitchy #but i think im being held to too high of a standard #is she comparkng me to her oldest daughter?#bevause she's pretty much super human #so thats too high of a bar #whatever #im not doing dishes #im too tired already and know where my limits are #im not crossing them for other people anymore #personal #yes dishes are a stupid hill to die on #i dont fucking care

0 notes

rafescoke · 3 years ago

Text

Maybank ; Rafe Cameron

masterlist

Request: how about y/n is jj’s older sister and shes dating rafe but they keep it a secret bcs rafe is a dick he doesn’t want to be seen w a pogue. jj knows that his sister is dating rafe and he kinda hates rafe for keeping they relationship as a secret. then sarah threw a party n invited the pogues n they play truth or dare n a random kook dared rafe to sniff coke on some random girl’s belly n rafe accepted it without thinking abt what y/n thinks n they fight @rafeswh0ree

Pairing: Rafe Cameron x reader

Summary: Rafe would do anything to protect his title, even if it causes the girl he loves to stray away.

Warnings: Pure angst, mentions of substance!

A/N: you know the drill. . . send requests!

(Y/N) doesn’t want to remember the day her little brother found out about her relationship with a certain kook prince.

Being a year younger than (Y/N), it’s funny how he acts like a total older brother to her; always so protective, and not letting any boys touch her.

It was a Friday, and (Y/N) had sneaked out to meet Rafe by the beach. The night sky was almost perfect; the moon was illuminating them, and the waves were calming.

Rafe pressed a kiss against her lips, mumbling how much he loves her when the sound of a backpack hitting the soft sand startled them.

“What the fuck?”

(Y/N) scampered from Rafe, fixing her fallen top and running towards JJ who was already making his way back to his bike. His eyebrows were furrowed, his heart banging.

(Y/N) pulled his shoulder, “JJ, stop. It’s not what you think!”

“Wait, wait, what do you mean? Did he drown and you had to give him CPR?” He scoffed, prying his shoulders away and walking backward slowly. “This is so low of you, (Y/N). Fuck.”

JJ noticed that something was different with his sister a few months ago. The sneaky texts under the table, the sudden smile at her phone screen. . . he had thought of the actions as nothing more than (Y/N) contacting her friends.

And when he saw her in Figure 8 two weeks ago, in a fancy restaurant he works part-time in, she had told him that her new friend had brought her there.

As if she would ever have a kook friend.

Of course it wasn’t a kook friend. It was a kook boyfriend.

“JJ, please! Why are you like this?”

JJ turned his heels to look at (Y/N) properly. His nostrils were flaring, and his eyes were wild. Trying to contain his anger, “Your fucking boyfriend is a drug addict and I’m not letting you date someone who choked my friends before!”

He waited, and extended his hands. “It’s me or Rafe. Stay if you want to stay with him, and come with me if you want to come back home.”

“You’re crazy,” she whispered, letting a tear rolled down her cheeks. She thought of many scenarios where JJ will eventually find out about her and Rafe, but this wasn’t in her list.

“Me or Rafe.”

(Y/N) remembers exactly the way JJ walked away disappointedly, his head hanging low and his hands balled up in a fist.

It took her weeks to regain JJ’s trust and fix their relationship, and though JJ still hasn’t accepted Rafe, he’s okay. He’s quiet, sometimes seething at the boy, but he knows how much (Y/N) loves him.

“Hey,” Rafe smiles, placing a kiss directly on her cheeks. Her hot body from the scorching sun slowly tempers down, and she melts into his touch.

Pulling him close, she nestles into his chest. “Sarah’s having a party tonight.”

“Yeah? You’re coming?”

“We’re coming, Rafe,” she sighs. The sprinkling water from the fast motion of the boat hits her on her face, and she wipes them away before looking up to this handsome face.

She rubs her thumb against his cheeks, feeling him soften. “If I ask you something, can you not be mad?”

“Is this about letting everyone know about us?” He asks, his hands resting above her hips. He removes them and wraps his face, sighing.

(Y/N) bites her lips, already knowing the answer to her question. “Never mind.”

“We talked about this, (Y/N).”

“I know, so I’m not going to fight with you on this again,” she sits up straight, inching away from him. “I mean, after almost a year of dating, I think you’d—”

“You’re forcing this.”

“I’m not!” She stands up, groaning. “God, you’re starting a fight again!”

The silence between them grows again, both sulking and shouting in their heads. After a while, (Y/N) moves to the front deck of the boat and Rafe curses silently, knowing that the plan he had about strolling by the stream with the girl he loves is a failure.

But it’s not his fault, is it? He just can’t show her off. It’s bad enough that her brother’s aware of their relationship, and Rafe had to make sure that son of a bitch never opens his mouth to anyone.

“Hey, yo, JJ, got a minute?”

The blonde waiter grunted, eyeing Rafe with so much hatred before placing a cold mineral bottle on the table.

“Rafe, don’t cause any scene,” Topper warned, staring at the both of them. He could sense something was wrong, but he didn’t put this mind into it. He thought of it as nothing more than Rafe’s daily fights with the pogues.

JJ didn’t reply, not wanting to see his smug face what more to talk to him, but as he tried to return back to the kitchen, Rafe gripped his wrist tightly.

“Just a minute,” he smiled.

JJ quirked his head to the back of the kitchen where the workers usually smoke. Rafe nodded, letting go of his wrist, and whispered something to Topper.

“What do you want?” JJ asked once they were in the back alley, watching as Rafe lighted a cigarette and bringing the stick to his lips.

“How’s (Y/N)?”

“Isn’t that your problem?” The blonde boy scoffed, “Hey, man, look. I appreciate this family bonding activity you’re trying to have, but you’re no family. I care about (Y/N), and I’m in no way letting her be with you.”

What angered JJ more wasn’t the fact that he didn’t reply, but it was the superior look he plastered on his face. He felt the urge to slap and hurt him more than anything else.

“If there’s one thing we can agree on—” he said, blowing a puff of smoke. JJ inched backward, not wanting the smell of tobacco to linger on his uniform or he’ll be in trouble. “—is that we both care for her. I understand if you don’t want anyone else to know about me and (Y/N), and I hope it will stay that way.”

“You don’t want me to tell anyone else?”

“Yeah,” Rafe smiled. “It’s bad enough I have to pull you away in the middle of my lunch. Can’t afford to do that with more people.”

“Is it because you’re embarrassed to be seen with her?”

“Can you do that for me?” Rafe asked, ignoring his last question.

“Fuck you, Cameron.”

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Rafe laughed, patting his shoulder and watching as he flinched away. “I think I’ll see you around more than we both want to, Maybank.”

“Hey,” (Y/N) whispers, placing a hand against his shoulder. “What’s wrong? You’re in a daze.”

“You’re not mad at me anymore?” He asks, tilting his head up. That was quick, but he likes it. She can never be mad at him for more than 30 minutes.

She crosses her arms, “You want me to be mad at you?”

He shrugs and pulls her to his lap. “You’re hotter when you’re mad.”

. . .

If there’s one thing Rafe’s sure of, he hates parties when he will be the one to clean up the mess the next morning.

Ward and Rose are out for the weekend for their anniversary, and Wheezie is somewhere for a summer camp she has been begging Ward to go to.

Like always, Sarah Cameron takes this opportunity as a way to host the biggest party of the year, inviting all of her pogue friends and letting Rafe do the honor of inviting the kooks.

(Y/N) walks in with her best friend, having to pretend to not be so familiar with the whole house as if she’s not dating the son of Ward Cameron.

“Yo, this house is huge.”

“Yeah,” (Y/N) agrees, walking towards the drinks area and grabbing boozes for her and her friend. “Hey, I’m going to see someone, can you wait for me down here?”

Before she can walk away, Sarah Cameron appears excitedly and pulls her into a tight hug. “(Y/N)! What a surprise! JJ’s outside, if you’re looking for him.”

“Trust me, I’m not looking for him,” she laughs, “Have you seen Rafe? I, um, I called him up before for some stuff.”

“Oh, yeah, he’s on the porch,” she replies, and before (Y/N) can make a move, she holds her tightly. “Be careful. He’s got the heaviest stuff with him.”

As if she doesn’t know that.

She smiles, muttering her thanks before heading towards the porch. It’s hard to pretend to not know who Rafe is after spending her whole year with him.

Sure enough, Rafe is sitting by Topper’s side with his other friends surrounding them, his hair messily parted and his nose red. She sighs, knowing exactly what state he’s in.

“Yo, Maybank,” Topper laughs, pulling the empty seat beside him. “Come sit.”

Rafe looks up to the sound of her name, and before she can register the look on his face, he bows down again.

“Hey,” she greets, sitting beside Topper. “You’re okay?”

“This party’s the shit,” he answers, obviously in a drunken state, and pats Rafe’s back. “Yo, yo, you got the same ring as my boy right here.”

Topper grabs the gold ring hanging from (Y/N)’s necklace, bringing it closer under the light and taking Rafe’s hand. “Wow, are you guys soulmates?”

The boys around them laugh, and (Y/N) pulls her necklace away before anyone can guess anything. She watches as Rafe grunts, still so busy trying to separate the powder in lines.

“Wanna try a line?”

“She can’t, Topper.”

All eyes are on Rafe now, who’s rubbing his nose and licking his lips. Rafe never stops anyone from doing a line and even asked Wheezie if she wanted to try one before, so the words that came out of his mouth appear as a shock to all of them.

“Why?” (Y/N) asks, tilting her head to one side. If he doesn’t want to show her off to his friends, he might as well stop trying to control her life. She looks back to Topper, “I’ll try a line, Tops.”

Topper smiles, giving her a rolled-up 100 dollars bill and pushing his chair back to allow her in. (Y/N) takes the chance to brush her back against Rafe’s front, hearing his ragged breath all the sudden.

She bends down, giving Rafe the perfect view of her back, and snorts a line. She falls onto Rafe’s lap as he pulls her close, breathing into her sweet smell as she throws her head back from the sudden tingling in her stomach.

“Stand up,” he orders in her ears, “Stand up, (Y/N).”

Before Rafe can push her off, she stands up quickly and makes her way back to her previous seat. She only tried coke once, way before she met Rafe, and she had thought of it as nothing more but the last time she tried the substance. She prefers drinking to get her mind off since then.

“You’re joining the game later?” Topper asks, glancing down at her short skirt. (Y/N) mindlessly pulls her dress down, and throws her head back once again.

“What game?”

“Truth or dare,” he smiles.

“I don’t play children’s games,” she fakes yawn, “Are you playing?”

“I don’t think so,” he replies, licking his lips. “Like you said, I don’t play children’s games.”

Whatever Topper’s doing to get (Y/N)’s attention; it’s just not working. She’s way too head over heels for the boy beside him, who’s still red and flustered from the brief teasing she had for him a few moments ago.

“(Y/N), wanna grab a drink?”

Both (Y/N) and Topper look up to Rafe. He’s trying his hardest not to look at her again and busies himself with the powder. “You don’t look quite comfortable with Topper.”

“Oh, I’m fine,” she replies, watching as his head snaps back to her. She licks her lips, “We’re alright, aren’t we, Tops?”

Topper nods, more than ready to have a fling with the pretty girl beside him, pogue or not pogue.

“Okay,” Rafe replies, “Whatever you say.”

Whatever (Y/N)’s doing to grab his attention; she’s doing a great job at it. Rafe’s jaw tenses at the sound of her laughter, and he has to look the other way when Topper’s hands sneak their way to around her shoulders.

He’s almost glad when Sarah comes to tell them something about the game starting. He sneaks to beside (Y/N), giving her a soft touch on her back, and off he goes to sit on the opposite side of her.

His mind’s still woozy, and he’s struggling to even open his eyes. The booming music still thrums against his eardrums, and the drinks he had earlier keeps every muscle of his active and ready to do anything crazy.

“You’re playing?” Someone asks him from the right.

What else can happen from a silly game of truth or dare?

“Yeah.”

Rafe hopes (Y/N) isn’t playing, because he knows the stupid things his friends would ask her. Always being the topic of his friends’ conversations, he’s clear with their intentions towards (Y/N).

And he’s not making any of it a reality.

“Topper, truth or dare.”

“Truth,” he answers, and Rafe’s eyes snap back to (Y/N). Surprisingly, her eyes are already on him, her stare so pierced that Rafe has to shift his position to ignore the aching in the pits of his stomach.

Rafe doesn’t care enough to listen to whatever his best friend’s saying, and his eyes stay on (Y/N). The girl smiles at him, and his eyes trail down to her chest.

Of course she would wear something like a top that doesn’t cover half of her chest.

He looks away, biting his lips.

“(Y/N)! Truth or dare?”

(Y/N) groans at Topper, crossing her arms and yelling ‘I’m not playing’. Her friends moan at her, pressuring her to keep the game going, and after a few pleas and more groans, she sighs.

She’s so easy to manipulate.

Rafe stares at her again, licking his lips.

“Dare.”

The crowd cheer, but the volume is down to mute to Rafe, who’s too busy having her glued to his brain. She looks wonderful under the dim lights, and Rafe wants nothing more than to have her screaming under him.

“I dare you to make out with the hottest person in the room.”

“Change the game,” Rafe says to no one in particular, sitting up straighter. “Change the game.”

“Yo, what?” Kelce asks, “What’s wrong with you?”

Rafe ignores his friend, and stares at the girl.

(Y/N) stands up from her seat and walks towards Topper, and Rafe can feel his heart stopping. His fear is coming to reality, and she’s so close to Topper they’re practically kissing.

He lays his head against the cushion, his heart aching.

“Yo, Rafe, it’s your turn!”

Rafe sits up straighter, rubbing his eyes and looking around the group as everyone else stares at him. He groans, feeling so tired and not having a clue where he have gone to a few minutes ago.

It might the aftermath of the coke, but it doesn’t feel as good as always.

How long did he pass out?

“Truth or dare, Rafe.”

“I’m not playing,” he mumbles, rubbing his temple.

“If you’re backing out now, you’ll have to pay a hundred bucks.”

What the fuck?

“Since when?” He asks, looking up to the random girl he has seen around the country club a few times. “That’s not the rules.”

“It is now.”

“Fine. Dare.”

Anything to put an end to this game.

“I dare you to do a line on Jessie’s back.”

The room grows silent, and Rafe can feel all stares at him. He blinks, trying to register what he just heard, and laughs. “Just a line?”

(Y/N) bites her lips. He wouldn’t do it, would he?

Somehow, JJ finds his way behind the couch (Y/N) is sitting on. He places a hand comfortably on her shoulder and watches her jerk. “You’re okay?”

She doesn’t reply, but JJ knows the answer all too well.

Rafe’s friends clear the table off from drinks and Jessie lays her bare back against the glass table. Rafe doesn’t look up to her to ask for permission or to give her any reassurances, and it feels as if he wants to do it too.

JJ’s grip around her shoulder tightens, “You should go.”

She shakes her head, staring at the scene before her.

The intoxicating powder is poured by an excited Topper directly on Jessie’s stomach, and (Y/N) feels sick to her core. She feels like screaming, because why wouldn’t he say no?

It’s not like a hundred bucks would be too much for him to stop playing.

Rafe dips his head to the same level as Jessie’s head, and (Y/N) stares at the girl bites her lips the same way (Y/N) does when Rafe’s close to her.

Except he’s close to someone else.

The crowd erupts into a loud roar again as Rafe finally stands up from the lines, his head becoming more bumping and his respiratory rate increasing.

The kook prince doing a line on some hot girl in Figure 8.

What a headline.

His eyes look up to the people around him, but (Y/N) is nowhere in sight.

“Where is she?” He asks Topper. His hands found themselves wrapped around Topper’s shoulders for balance.

“Where is who?”

“My girlfriend,” he answers, not thinking much. “I have to go.”

“What girlfriend, Rafe?” Topper laughs. “Man, you’re in too deep. The game’s not finished.”

“I’ll pay the hundred,” he replies and makes his way out of the party. His sight is becoming so blurry that he falls by the side of the pool a few times before he sees the sight of her climbing JJ’s bike.

“Hey, hey, where are you going?” He asks, standing in front of the bike and not letting JJ turn to the exit. “The party’s not finished!”

“Fuck off, Cameron,” JJ replies, blocking Rafe’s view of his girlfriend. (Y/N) stares down to her lap, not wanting to look him in the eyes, and Rafe’s breath hitches at the silence.

“What did I do?”

Before Rafe can hear any explanation, JJ pushes him down to the side road and he groans from the sudden impact. He looks up to the blonde and lunges for him, only for them to end up by the side of the road.

“Oh my god, stop!” (Y/N) yells, trying to pry her brother away from Rafe. “JJ, he’s not thinking straight. Let’s just go!”

“Don’t get near (Y/N) ever again!” JJ yells, his eyes flaring up in anger and his knuckles turning purple. “She deserves someone better than a cheating fuck like you!”

Out of all the responses Rafe can give to JJ, he lets out the coldest laugh, and the sound of his voice carries throughout the dark neighborhood.

“I’m cheating? She was cheating on me too!”

“What are you saying?” (Y/N) scoffs, “I wasn’t cheating, Rafe, I’m not you.”

“Yeah? The kiss with Topper?”

“That wasn’t a kiss! I gave him a peck on his cheeks!”

“That doesn’t excuse the fact you didn’t kiss me.”

“Is that why you’re acting like a dick? Because I didn’t kiss you when Tops asked me to kiss the hottest guy in the room?” She laughs. This whole thing seems funny all of a sudden after hearing Rafe’s side of the story. “I thought you want us to stay lowkey.”

“Whatever, can you get your fucking bodyguard off me?” Rafe replies, “And don’t call him Tops. It’s like you’re begging to get fucked by him.”

JJ makes a move again, but (Y/N) quickly pulls him away. She wipes her eyes with the back of her hands, and Rafe wishes he hadn’t said the words out loud.

JJ finally lets go of him and walks to his bike, feeling so tired but pumped at the same time from the brief fight with Rafe. He wanted more than anything for them to break up, but what just happened isn’t exactly what he had in mind.

“So you’re going?”

“There’s no reason for me to stay, Rafe,” she replies. “You don’t even want to admit that we’re dating. Are you embarrassed of me?”

When he doesn’t reply, (Y/N) pushes his chest that he staggers backward, still so woozy and lightheaded he feels like fainting.

“Are. You. Embarrassed. Of. Me?”

Rafe stays silent, looking down to the ground and wishing the world would just swallow him up.

“Go to hell, Rafe,” she replies, and Rafe inches backward when her gold ring he had bought for her to match his own ring rolls down to his feet. He quickly looks up to her.

She’s not breaking up with him, is she?

If he felt like he has gone through hell before, this feeling is a lot worse.

Part #2

@okayshoto @joselyn001 @onceuponateenagetrash @dyingsleeping @iwannabeapogue @meaganjm @rafesobxs @flossy2929 @unfortunatekiwitrash @scottybitch @asimpwriter @amaya124 @tommy-tommo @thatshithurted8 @fallincindy @marvelwhor3 @rafeswh0ree @kookap @supernaturallydc-blog @blank-velvet @alaniskauany @kiiim8 @witchywrter @kaitlyn2907 @heyimflo @overcookedpastasause @tsukkiswifeey @spidey-d00d @anonymousobxfan @gotmeinloveagain @chicagoblackhawkslover96 @lexi-writes @classydragonthingknight @belongtoyou-u @badbussylol @savannah-elliott @angelreyesgirl100 @haterpenny @beehappyyy @alwaysclassyeagle @maybankslut @kayleea122 @clearbolts @lovelyxtom @christianaevans @jemimah-b99 @opierdalacz @dangerdolns @wildflowerliv @classygirlything21 @alwaysclassyeagle @rottenstyx @wxn-drlst

#rafe cameron #rafe cameron x reader #rafe cameron smuts #rafe cameron imagines #rafe cameron one shot #drew starkey #drew starkey x reader #drew starkey imagines #outerbanks #outerbanks x reader #outerbanks one shot #outerbanks imagines

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helliontherapscallion · 4 years ago

Text

(Y/n) and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week: Thursday (Part 2)

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday (Part 1) Friday Saturday Sunday

Spotify Playlist (collaborative)

Warnings: panic attacks, swearing, puking, concussions, mentions of injuries/bullying, homophobia

Word count: 5,138

After school, you were sitting on the couch as you furiously typed on your keyboard at an extremely fast pace. You were on a roll with these essays, they were probably going to be finished by the time you had to go back to the school to get on the bus with the team. You figured that you could even finish Annie’s essay and get started on Sammy’s US history presentation on the sociopolitical climate of the United States in the mid twentieth century to today. However, instead of covering a variety of topics like the rubric requested you to do, you were only going to talk about the significant events that happened to the LGBT+ community starting with Stonewall and going to Obergefell v. Hodges. You were also going to go in depth about how even if there are more opportunities available and more laws set in place to protect for LGBT+ people in the present then there were in past, members of the LGBT+ community still suffer heavy discrimination in the workplace and in the public. With receipts of course, the assignment required a minimum of three pictures per slide, and the group chat was a perfect source.

After that was done, you would email Sammy’s teacher (you had her last year for US history and you knew that she had a son in the grade below you currently transitioning from female to male) that you were the one that did her project and send screenshots of Sammy calling you slurs. Luckily for you, you had receipts of her being transphobic in the past that you could also send. Everything was effortlessly falling into place for you today.

As you were typing, the front door swung open and two overly excited fifth graders ran into the house and up the stairs. A tired Schlatt followed them. “I will never know how the hell Phil keeps up with them.”

“I dunno, maybe because he’s already raised three kids before.”

You watched as your uncle jumped and whipped his head over towards you, his hand clutching his chest. He lightly glared at you, “christ kid don’t do that, you nearly gave me a heart attack.”

You smirked at him before turning back to your laptop to continue typing the essay. You were almost done with the conclusion paragraph on Annie’s essay and you wanted to get to Sammy’s presentation as fast as possible. As you were typing, you felt a warm air fan across your neck and your uncle’s voice right next to your ear, “whatcha typin?”

You lept off the couch and almost fell into the coffee table before steadying yourself and deadpanning at Schlatt. “I was typing an essay before you interrupted me.”

He snorted, “it looked like you were on a roll, just thought I’d see what my beloved niece was writing. Can I read it?”

Your eyes lit up as an excited grin split your cheeks, “yeah, but lemme catch you up real quick. Adrian, Sammy, and Annie got mad at me a few days ago and wanted me to do some homework for them as a sort of payment. But after they pulled that little stunt in the lunchroom yesterday, they decided to be little bitches to me and call me slurs. So naturally, I decided to change the essay prompt into an in depth analysis about discrimination LGBT people face from their peers on the daily. My english teacher’s really against homophobia and the project’s worth twenty five percent of our overall grade, so it’s perfect.”

While you were rambling on and on about your detailed plot for revenge, Schlatt couldn’t help but be proud of the person you’d become. A major part of him was impressed that you came up with a detailed plan so quickly, that meant that his cunning nature was rubbing off on you and that made him ecstatic. Sure you mentioning not being straight was new to him, but he was prepared to accept you for whatever you identified as. He didn’t care how people identified, he just cared if they were good people. And his niece was one of the best kids he knew. He’d let your slip up slide for now until you felt comfortable enough to properly come out to him.

“That an amazing plan, fuckin brilliant. Though, you could do more.”

That piqued your interest, “I’m listening.”

“Do you have any blackmail?”

Your eyes glinted with sudden understanding, “why yes I do, uncle dearest. I just so happen to have thousands of texts from them talking shit about each other and basically the entire school. And them being incredibly racist. They would be destroyed if that came out.”

“Two things. One, never call me that again. Two, perfect. Keep it as leverage if they try to do something. You don’t pull out all the good cards in the first round, you wait for the right moment to strike so you can win. You need to constantly defend yourself against other players and anticipate their every move. If you leak everything right now, you won’t have anything to use against them if they have something up their sleeve you didn’t know about. Patience is key in things like this.”

You absorbed every single word that came out of his mouth like it was the holy gospel. Although he was your uncle and you loved him with all your heart, but he was a sly bastard when he wanted to be. He knew his way around fighting and manipulating people just right, so you were incredibly happy that you were on his good side and he absolutely adored you. Though questionable and morally gray, he was giving you advice because he cared about you and you’d be an idiot to not heed his advice.

“That’s genius, Uncle Schlatt. What would I do without you?”

“You’d get along just fine without me, you would’ve gotten there eventually. You’re smart. I’m just givin you a little push in the right direction.”

“I honestly would’ve never thought about waiting, I was so dead set on getting revenge that I would’ve just leaked everything all at once. I want them to feel how I felt when they were around me. I-” you paused. Would this make you the same as them? You’d be screwing up all their grades, Adrian’s job, and Sammy’s athletic career. You came to the chilling realization that you’d be the same as them. You’d be as manipulative as they were. “...Uncle Schlatt, would that make me the same as them?”

“Fuck no! You’re always gonna be better than them no matter what. When they’re at their best, you’re always gonna be a whole lot better than them. They deserve what’s happening to them, it sounds like they put you through so much shit the past few years. I actually think you could do a whole lot worse to them if you’re willing to put more work in, but it’s your plan and if you think that what you’re doing is too much,” he darkly chuckled, “you wouldn’t like my idea.”

“You’re right, they deserve everything I have planned for them. God, I don’t know what I was thinking, ‘would that make me the same as them,’” you mocked what you said earlier, “what a load of shit. Anyways, thanks Uncle Schlatt. I’m gonna get back to writing this. They’re due tomorrow and I wanna finish as much as I can before I have to go.”

“Alright, whaddya want for dinner? Phil’s gonna be like thirty minutes late from work so I’m cookin tonight.”

Oh no. No, no, no, no. That man can barley cook boxed mac n cheese, let alone anything else. He’d burn down the house if you left him alone in the kitchen with the stove. “On second thought, why don’t I help you with dinner? We can make some chicken alfredo.”

“Awe, you’d rather hang out with me than finish your homework? Ya really do love me. C’mon let’s start.”

The process of making dinner was… interesting. Multiple times, Schlatt almost spilled boiling water on himself and he even managed to burn the pasta while it was in the water. How he even managed to do that you’d never find out, you had your back turned cutting up vegetables and herbs at the time. That was when you subtly started to take over in the kitchen, giving him smaller tasks while you handled everything else. You felt bad for Tubbo, his father can’t cook for shit.

By time you finished, about an hour passed and Philza had come home and changed out of his work clothes. The two adults sat at the table discussing something that you didn’t pay attention to while your brothers and cousin were in the living room waiting for you to finish dinner. Finally, you set the table and it was time to eat.

Because you couldn’t have many fatty foods before any matches or practices, you had made a separate plate for yourself that only had plain pasta, chicken, and broccoli. You were surprised with how well it turned out, you were following an iffy recipe you found on the first link Google brought up.

After dinner, you went upstairs to put your uniform on and pack a little bag full of things you might need: a small blanket, some snacks, a water bottle, and a portable charger. Oh, and fuzzy socks and a pair of crocs. You could never go wrong with fuzzy socks and crocs. Feeling a vibration in your pocket, you pulled out your phone.

Hales : )

(Y/n), I’m omw to your house

Gonna give you a ride to the school

(Y/n)

Hales you don’t have to give me a ride, I can drive

Hales : )

Don’t care

Omw, be there in like 7 mins

You swiped out of yours and her conversation and opened up the family group chat

(Y/n)

I don’t need a ride to the school, Haley’s giving me one

She’s gonna give me a ride home too

Dadza

Alright, thank her for me

Tell her I said good luck too!

Uncle Schlatty Patty

Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do

Dadza

(Y/n), do everything he wouldn’t do

Uncle Schlatty Patty

Fuck you I’m a good influence

Dadza

You’re really not

Wilby

^^^^

Technology Sword

Uncle Schlatty Patty

Fuck all of you

You heard Haley’s car pull into the driveway and dashed out of your room with your bag. Just as you put your hand on the doorknob, a hand stopped you.

“Coat.”

You grumbled as you reached past Philza to grab your coat. After you slipped it on, you were pulled into a hug. “You’re gonna do great out there. I know you’re gonna win this, we’ll be watching in the stands.”

“Damn right she’s gonna do good, she’s my niece after all.”

Schlatt pulled you away from your father’s hug and tried to ruffle your hair before you swatted away his hand, “don’t. You have no idea how long it took me to get a perfect ponytail. I have an ungodly amount of hairspray and bobby pins in my hair right now.”

“Fine. You’re gonna kick their asses tonight.”

Tommy and Tubbo pushed past Schlatt and both tackled you into a hug making you stumble slightly back.

“Kick their asses good (y/n)!” Tommy cheered, making you crack up before one stern glance from Philza completely stopped you. “Tommy, don’t say that. (Y/n), not funny.”

“Alright, Haley’s waiting for me. I gotta go, love you guys!” As you turned to walk through the door, you could hear your family following you and shouting “good luck”. You felt heat creep up on your cheeks as Haley rolled down her window and wove at your family with the biggest grin on her face.

“Thank you! We’re gonna take home the gold for sure!”

You hopped in her car as she rolled up the window and chuckled. “I love your family, they’re always so full of energy. It’s refreshing to see compared to how boring my family is.”

You glanced at your entire family gathered on the front porch. Tommy and Tubbo were practically vibrating with excitement, Wilbur and Techno calmly smiled and wove at you, Philza was grinning widely at you as you saw his mouth forming words that you couldn’t hear or read, and Schlatt was grinning cheekily at you. You raised your hand to wave at them as they vanished from view when Haley pulled out of your driveway. You smiled softly, “I love em too.”

The car ride was relatively quick with the same soft indie pop music floating from the speakers and an easy going conversation with Haley about the match tonight. You both thought that you could beat the other team if everyone focused 100% and played exactly like you guys did in practices. If everyone did that, you would be unstoppable.

Luckily for you and Haley, you were the first ones in line to board the bus so you two got the back seat with Zara and Jazzy sitting across from you guys. The hour long bus ride passed quickly and lively with you four passing around your phone and playing some mad libs, you were sure that by the end of the last game you four were laughing and crying. Sometime in the middle of the trip, you noticed that Haley would start to lean on your shoulder and continuously glance at you as she laughed. You desperately wanted to believe that it was because she liked you, but she was straight and she was your best friend. She was probably trying to make sure you were having a good time.

When the team had gotten to the opposing school and left the locker room to stretch in the gym, you could hear your family start to scream your and Haley’s names from the front row next to you, Tommy and Tubbo being the loudest amongst them with Philza trying to get them to quiet down so you could focus. You felt your cheeks heat up as you smiled at them and Haley wove enthusiastically back at them. Zara was laughing at you two. Stretching went by in a flash and before you knew it, you were on the court facing the opposing team.

The first match was won by the opposing team by five points. The second match stretched on and on until it was won by your team narrowly by two points. The team was going to have to shape up in the third match if you guys wanted a chance at winning, the opposing team was good. Before the third match started, Coach Williams called for a time out so you guys could talk about strategy. Before Haley could go back onto the court, you pulled her aside.

“Hales, we need to do what we practiced. The other team won’t be expecting it at all, I’ve been setting you up this entire game. They’re never going to expect you setting me up for a spike.”

“When are we going to do it though? We need a better plan.”

“I’m sure the opportunity will come and both of us will recognize it. We just can’t do it too early in the game though, that’ll ruin their surprise.”

“(Y/n), I hope you know what you’re doing.”

“When do I not Hales? We gotta get gold this year.”

The third round went by with both teams constantly swapping places until you both were tied fifteen to fifteen. You saw the ball flying towards Haley, giving her the perfect opportunity to set you up for a spike. “HALEY NOW!”

You watched as her face hardened in determination as she pretended like she was going to spike it by jumping high in the air and stretching her arms back, making the opposing front row players all gather in front of her. Much to their surprise, she launched it towards you as you leaped up and went for the kill. The stinging of the ball hit by your wrist and the smack sound the ball made when it slammed onto the open gym floor was something you’d never forget as the crowd around you went wild over the unexpected play. You could hear the high pitched screaming of Tommy and Tubbo over everybody else. Glancing at them over your shoulder, you saw them jumping up and down on the gym floor and looking at you with awe filled eyes and gaping mouths. The rest of your family looked at you with similar expressions, their cheers echoing in your mind. Winking at them, you turned back to your team and went straight to Haley. Clapping a hand on her shoulder, you pulled her into a quick hug, yelling over the raving of the crowd. “HALEY WE NAILED THAT!”

“HOLY SHIT I DID NOT THINK THAT WAS ACTUALLY GONNA WORK!”

“You have such little faith in your setter! You wound me Hales.”

“Well, I would have more faith in you if you weren’t chaotic on the court, sweetheart.”

You felt yourself surge in happiness at the nickname, but you couldn’t afford to focus too much on it. Your team only needed one more point to win best in the state and go to nationals. It would be the first time in your team’s history if you reached national level, and you’d be damned if you were the one to screw it up for them.

The last rotation went on for a while, each team fighting tooth and nail for the state championship title with clashing determination. You tried your best to block every hit and try to set Haley up for a spike, and you were successful for the most part, only missing a few blocks. You saw the setter adjacent to you set the spiker up for a spike and jumped up in time to try to block it, your arms stretched upwards and your palms out. Only, the ball didn’t hit your hands. It collided painfully with your nose, ricocheted off your face with a thwack and sailed over to the other side of the court. Your head whipped back as your body followed suit and flew backwards onto the floor. Without giving you any time to react, your head bounced back and cracked against the polished hardwood floor of the gym. Everything went black.

“...(y……”

“..(y/n)......”

“(Y/n).”

You faintly heard someone calling someone’s name over the continuous ringing noise. Was it your name? It felt right, so it had to be your name. You peeled your eyes open to see a blurry figure hovering over you. It was swirled with tans, browns, and backs. After a while of the figure repeating your name, it slowly became more recognizable, albeit appearing twice in your vision. It took you a while to figure out who this was before your muddled brain recognized Haley.

“Hales! There’s two o’ya. Twice as beautiful babe…” You slurred out as you attempted to smile at her.

“Oh thank god, PLEASE WE NEED A DOCTOR SHE HIT HER HEAD!” Her usually angelic voice gritted against your brain like sandpaper making you cringe as pain exploded in your head.

“God babe you’re so loud, why’s so bright? I-wha's goin on?” You blearily tried to move your head to look around only to be stopped by a pair of large hands on each side of your head gently holding it in place. You moved your laggy eyes around to look at the figure. He was a blonde man with blue eyes and a hint of stubble on his chin. His eyebrows were knitted together and he looked… he looked… your brain worked to figure out why he looked how he looked. Who was he?

“Please don’t move hun.” His muffled voice was baritone. You squinted at him trying to figure out who this man was.

“Who th f-fuck… why?”

“I’m your dad hun. Do-do you not recognize me?” You made a noise in the back of your throat as your stuffy brain finally put a name to the face.

“Dad- wha’s goin on? I’on feel so good…”

“Shh, I know, I know. Just stop moving and talking. Everything’s fine. I’m here. You’re okay.”

“Mmk… Dad, where are we? I’ont know- you’re so quiet.”

“Stop moving so much. You’re on the floor in a gym. You just won your team the state championship. Now stop talking please.”

Huh. So that’s why everybody seemed to appear from above you. You strained your eyes to look around you, but you could only see your dad’s face hovering above you. “Shit I- who’s aroun’ me? Where’s Hales?”

“I’m right here sweetheart. I got the doctor, Mr. Minecraft.”

Your dad’s face moved away from your vision so fast that it made your head spin and your stomach twist. Another face appeared above you that you once again didn’t recognize.

“I’m Doctor Martin, can you tell me your first and last name?”

“Uh, (y/n) Minecraft?”

“Good, what month are we in right now?”

“Nov-November?”

“Close, it’s late October. Can you tell me who this,” he pointed to your dad, “is?”

“S’my dad Phillip.”

“That’s your dad Philza.”

The questioning stopped as he suddenly shined a blinding light into your sensitive eyes. You hissed as you tried to move your head away from the offending light only to be held in place by your dad’s hands. Your head spun as you moved too quickly and a wave of nausea hit you, making you groan and move your arm to cover your eyes. Your hand was stopped by something warm and soft wrapping around it and holding it tightly. Everything was so overwhelmingly and painfully bright and loud. You wanted to make it stop.

“Mr. Minecraft, your daughter appears to have a concussion. I don’t have the tools on hand to determine the severity of it, but it’s worrying that her pupils are asymmetrical, she’s delirious, and has slight memory loss. I understand you live about an hour away from here, and it’s alright for you to take her to a hospital closer to your house. Make sure you keep her alert.”

Your delirious mind only registered about half of what came out of the doctor’s mouth. You mumbled gibberish as you once again opened your eyes to look around. You were only briefly able to crane your neck to the left. Several figures large and small were standing behind your dad. Your family, your mind supplemented. Slowly, your mind was starting to recognize your surroundings even if there was currently double of everything and everything was blurry.

“I’m going to help you stand up. Do ya think you can do that?”

“Yeah Dad.” You lifted your upper body off from the ground with a gentle hand on your back helping you sit up. Fighting the wave of nausea that slapped you in the face, you reached up to rub at your eyes. A hand once again stopped you. You peeked your eyelids open and lightly glared at whomever stopped you. “Hales you’re lucky you’re so cute I woulda slapped you. I like holdin but you’re bein annoying. Stop.” You attempted to make your voice sound firm, but the words that came out of your mouth were slightly slurred.

She was silent as she helped her dad haul you to your feet. Once on your feet, you saw the room spin and felt yourself start to sway slightly. An arm wrapped itself around your shoulders and pulled you close to them so that your weight was supported. They were a little taller than you were making it easy to lean on them.

“...Can you walk?” A deep, monotone voice rumbled the chest of the person you were leaning against.

“Mhm. ‘M not weak.” Though your limbs felt like they were made of molasses, you placed one foot in front of the other slowly. The person moved alongside you, “you’re doing so good, keep going.” That sparked familiarity in you as you stopped in your tracks and tried to look up at the person you were leaning against making the person tighten their arm around your shoulders when you almost fell over.

“Tech?”

“Yeah, it’s Technoblade. Just focus on walking. You’re almost out of the gym.”

When you realized that you were out of the gym, you sighed in relief. It was so much quieter and darker. Though it was still relatively bright, it was better than the gym.

“S’better.”

“When we get her to the car we can give her some sunglasses or something if it’s still too bright for her.”

“Wilbs-”

“Focus on walking.”

You huffed in irritation, “don’ tell me what to do bitch.”

You felt Techno’s body jolt slightly as he chuckled, making your head throb at the sudden movement. “Just walk.”

When you walked outside, you shivered as you felt the cool air nip at your exposed skin. Right, you were in your volleyball uniform. “I’ll go pull the car around, you guys stay with her.”

You saw a tall brunet start to walk away from you. Uncle Splat? Uncle Schmat? Whatever his name was, you were sure he was your uncle. You tried to snuggle closer to Techno, craving warmth but never being satisfied. Where was your uncle?

After a while, you saw a car moving towards you and blinding light pointed right at you making you cringe away and groan. Techno started to slowly walk towards the car. “C’mon (y/n), you’re almost there. When you’re in the car you can relax.”

“Tommy, Tubbo, and Techno, you’re in the back row. Schlatt can drive and Wil, you’re taking the passenger seat. I’ll stay with her in the middle row so she can have some room to lay down.” Tommy and Tubbo were with you? Why weren’t they talking, they usually were very vocal.

“Tom, Tubbs didja like the game?”

They didn’t say anything as they climbed into the car. Did they not hear you?

“They’re just… tired (y/n).” Your dad’s voice reassured you as he took Techno’s place holding you up.

“I wanna nap. ‘M so tired.”

“You can’t sleep yet. We gotta get you to a doctor first.”

“Mm. Makes sense.”

“Let’s get you in the car hun.”

As he helped you climb into the car, you felt an overwhelming wave of nausea wash over you making you lose your balance and almost faceplant into the cloth seats. You felt yourself being gently, yet urgently taken out of the car and led to grass as you felt your esophagus shorten. Something burning made its way up your throat and spewed into the grass. You felt someone rubbing your back as you puked up your dinner.

When you were done, you reached up with a shaking hand to wipe your mouth. “You feelin better? Think you can get back into the car or do you need to sit down for a bit?”

“Car.”

After some difficulty, you were successfully in the middle row of the car laying down with your head on Philza’s lap. Soon enough, your shoes were taken off and a blanket was draped over you.

“(Y/n), what do you remember?”

You scrunched up your face as you squinted at Philza’s face. “I remember playing volleyball with Hales. She’s so pretty, she’s straight though. I remember the other team hitting the ball, me jumping, then nothin. Wha’ happened?”

You watched as Philza winced, “well, you got everything right so far. You got hit in the face with the ball so you fell and hit your head on the floor. You were passed out for a minute before you woke up. It was a pretty nasty fall, we’re going to the hospital now. How’re ya feelin?”

“Head hurts, ‘m seein two of everything, an I can’t think.”

“Do you know what a concussion is?” You nodded in his lap slightly, “you probably have one.”

After a while of talking, you were slowly starting to come to your senses and your speech was clearing up, but your head was still too stuffy to think about what you were saying before you said it. You didn’t have a filter.

“Do you wanna tell us about your week so far? Do you remember most of it?”

“Mhm, it was shit. On Monday I had a panic attack and Adrian, Sammy, and Annie were being bitches to me all day. They fucked up my back. On Tuesday, they got mad at me for ditching them and they had me do their homework, had another panic attack, and Haley told me that someone took pictures of our boobs ‘n stuff and they were gonna leak it to the school if Haley didn’t stop hanging out with me. Haley and I almost kissed, but she’s straight. Pulled an all nighter and Wednesday I accidentally came out to Tech and Wil and had another panic attack. Annie, Adrian, and Sammy took more pictures of me through my window, Annie outed me to the entire school and slapped me. Another panic attack, skipped the last two classes and felt like shit the entire practice. Today Adrian and Sammy told me to kill myself and I had another panic attack. ’S about it.”

As you were going through your week, the hand that was previously gently stroking your hair had frozen as the car was enveloped in a tense silence. Luckily, Tommy and Tubbo were passed out in the back seat so they didn’t hear how bad your week was. Everyone awake knew that you had a few bad days this week, but they didn’t know the full extent of it. You watched as Philza’s expression had turned downright murderous, but you didn’t really care. You were busy talking about your week.

For the rest of the car ride, Philza asked you simple questions like what your favorite color was, your favorite animal, basically your favorite everything. Eventually, the car pulled into the hospital parking lot and Philza helped you get out of the car. “Schlatt, can you take the boys home so they can get some rest? I’ll stay with her.”

“Yeah, I’m on it. Don’t cause too much trouble (y/n), we all know you can raise hell.” He watched you for a reaction, but when you didn’t react, he coughed. “Well, I’ll see ya later kid. Good luck.”

The car drove off leaving you and Philza at the front of the emergency room building. “It’s gonna be a long night (y/n).”

“I gotta finish Annie’s essay and Sammy’s presentation though.”

“No you don’t, I’ll email your teachers.”

You two checked in with the front desk before moving to sit on the uncomfortable chairs. It was going to be a long night. You were so tired.

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thera-daydreams · 3 years ago

Text

PLUS ONE

》 A TRESE TWOSHOT 《

[Maliksi x Reader]

📝 Summary: In which your beloved best friend snatches you from your apartment at dawn asking you to be his plus one for his cousin's wedding. Unbeknownst to the clueless you, everything is just going according to Maliksi's ultimate masterplan. With the help of friends and family, the Prince of the Tikbalang finally gets the girl he's been longing for. And oh, Señor Armanaz gets his dream daughter-in-law and the promise of grandchildren within the year.

📌 Warning: May contain some slight NSFW for spicy suggestiveness and cussing. No smut or anything super SPG—this girl can't write that for her life—but just be prepared. It's Maliksi we're talking about. We've got friends-to-lovers, obliviousness, pining, fluff, and a tikbalang simp. Figure it out. 😃

(word count: 7,454) ♥︎ Part Two: ?

》 AUTHOR'S NOTE 《

Not an Inday spinoff, but a lengthy oneshot in celebration of this blog getting 90 followers. Just ten more to 100, yay! Thank you so much for the love and support, everyone. I also promised that I'll be making this brainrot that @binibiningbabaylan and I have fangirled over a few days ago (find the original post here) when I finished the latest chapter of Inday. Here it is! 🥰

Before I forget, I was also inspired by the cute fic made by @crispybasil titled "Sunshowers" and the "Trese Boys As Things My Guy Friends Do" made by the amazing @smolla-than-a-bug (I bow down to your wonderful works in the Trese fandom). I definitely see Maliksi to be the type to go on spontaneous roadtrips and be the boyfriend to drive you around eveeeerywhere (while also driving you crazy). 🚘

There are also some songs mentioned throughout this work. You should probably listen to them while reading for the full experience. Ending was somewhat rushed but eh, I'm too exhausted and I've rewritten it too many times. Also, if someone makes some actual tikbalang smut, tag me please. Anyways, enjoy! 💕

The way it all started was hilarious. Absolutely fucking hilarious. It happened like a blur. Literally. One second, you were snoozing in your bed. The next? You had a seatbelt on in the shotgun seat of a sophisticated-looking car. Your brain didn't even get to process it yet.

"... So let me get this straight," you grumbled, still half-asleep from your sleep marathon. You just finished a hugely successful project at work yesterday, got promoted, and wanted to make up for the restless nights you spent overtime in the office. Of course you were irritated from being disturbed. You were on vacation leave for two entire weeks, originally planning to go into temporary isolation by deactivating your social media accounts and reserving a beach cabana for yourself in Batangas.

Well, turns out, you weren't going to Batangas anytime soon. All because your unreasonably spontaneous bestfriend of ten hectic years stole you from your apartment at 2AM. Was this considered kidnapping? Was this him just being more in touch with his tikbalang side, taking unsuspecting women in their sleep and leading them to their inevitable death? (He was going over the speed limit, so it was a valid thought.) Will wearing your shirt inside-out save you today? Lord, masyado ka pang pagod para mag-isip ngayon.

"Go on."

"You abducted picked me up in the middle of the night because you want me to be your plus one at your cousin's wedding in Tagaytay?"

"Yup. And technically, the venue is right on the outskirts of Cavite going to Tagaytay," he corrected you as a matter-of-factly.

"Same thing, whatever," you huffed tiredly. "Your cousin's wedding is at 6AM today. In a few hours. In four hours."

"Uh-huh."

You groaned exasperatedly, "Mal naman, eh! You didn't even let me bring anything. Could've at least given me a heads-up a few hours ago. I'm practically emptyhanded right now save for my phone! Sinungaling ka, you said this was just a normal midnight drive—not a freaking wedding!"

The Prinsipe ng Mga Tikbalang, son of the Great Stallion, heir to the Armanaz herd, and the Top Drag Racer of C-5 Expressway—if that was even one of his Game of Thrones-like titles—grinned as he continued driving beside you. He let you continue ranting in the passenger seat while he mulled over his ultimate masterplan that would change his entire life later on. He was a spur-of-the-moment kind of guy, so all this wasn't his thing. But for you? He'll make plans, alright.

"Wala man lang akong dinalang masusuot o kahit konting makeup para maging presentable sa harapan ng buong pamilya mo," you exclaimed, in absolute despair. "Do you know how out of my league you are? Your rich-ass family might judge me—hell, your dad might see me as a hampaslupa if I show up there in my pambahay and tsinelas!"

"Psh, I'm not out of your league," Maliksi waved it off, smoothly turning a corner. "And calm down. We've known each other for a decade! My dad practically loves you as his own daughter. Heck, the entire family knows you and keeps telling me they want you adopted in already. Lolo Andres and Lola Perlita said they'd have the paperwork settled. You just need to sign them."

It would be even better (and easier) if you married into the family. To him, specifically (as if he'd let anyone else have you). God, he was already being so obvious in his advances, but you were just so damn oblivious whenever it came to romance. None of this needed to happen if you just got it through your thick skull that he was madly in love with you.

"That's not the point, idiot!" you slumped back into your seat, hopeless. "Do you think the bride and the groom will get offended? Shit, baka masumpaan ako kung magagalit sila, Mal. Mukha akong patay galing sa South Cemetery."

The long-haired tikbalang rolled his eyes, "Huwag kang mag-alala. Nothing's going to go wrong. Chill ka lang diyan. I've got everything under control, babe."

Babe. Yes, he even called you babe but you thought it was him being a himbo and a massive flirt. Now, it was his common term of endearment for you, but you still assumed it was him just being irksome to you and that you couldn't stop the man from saying it anymore. Thus, you let it be (the most obvious hint of his attraction to you, bestie).

"... Ugh, why didn't you ask Hannah or Amie to go with you?"

He just smiled knowingly, shrugging and making up an excuse, "Nagmamadali ako, eh. Hannah and Amie are also coming, but they already have the other tikbalang as dates."

"'Luh, ako pala ang backup choice mo?"

"Heh. Whatever you want to think."

Little did you know that you were always his first choice. Always. Even when he pursued Alexandra Trese many years ago, trying to convince himself you were just his best friend, it was always you. How did he come to that realization? Well, an international band he was a fan of released a song a couple years ago and he heard it being played in a club in BGC. The song title?

It Was Always You by Maroon 5.

Needless to say, after hearing the song and being unable to get it—get you—out of his mind at night, he stopped courting Alexandra. Unfortunately for him, that time, you'd started dating other men. Therefore, he was left on the sidelines... until your latest and most painful breakup, at least. That was five years ago. You still hadn't dated anyone since then, kind of traumatized from getting into another failed relationship like that.

In the present day, as if the fates were playing on you two, one of your favorite artists played on the radio. A very ironic song given the situation you two were in.

Best Friend by Rex Orange County.

Maliksi knew it was a favorite of yours. He knew it by the way your eyes lit up like a star brightening the twinkling night sky. Like the sun first rising in the morning at Apolaki's command. Like the moon extending its gentle rays from the magic of Mayari herself. If there was anything he wanted to ask of the old gods, it was you—everything else be damned.

"I wanna be the one that makes your day, the one you think about as you lie awake," you half-sang and half-screamed happily, somewhat out-of-tune. "I can't wait to be your number oooooone! I'll be your biggest fan and you'll be mine—"

Maliksi glanced at you, not minding that his eardrums were probably getting microscopic ruptures from your aggressive singing. As much as he wanted to stare at you all day, he had to keep his eyes on the road. But the lyrics you were singing were wrong; the Prince of the Tikbalang was already yours from day one.

"Babe, McDo drive-through tayo for breakfast. Let me make it up to you. Gusto mo ng caramel sundae for your promotion gift? Sige. Ako bahala. Chicken nuggets din? Mabubusog ka ba niyan? I don't think they serve those this early..."

》》》

"Sandali lang!" you shouted out from inside an empty room. You'd just arrived at the venue—the Alta Veranda de Tibig in Silang, Cavite (practically the gateway to Tagaytay)—an hour or so ago. The hired makeup artist just left so that you could privately change into the outfit that had been bought specifically for you. Curse Mal and his ability to buy anything (perhaps anyone) he wanted. "Bwiset, Mal, you didn't tell me we'd be part of the damn entourage. We have to be walking the aisle in thirty minutes, simbako! You just love rushing me, don't you!?"

If only you were the one walking down the aisle today towards him.

When you exited the room, Maliksi couldn't help but let his jaw drop as he skimmed your figure, clad in the luxurious, silky satin blush midi dress he bought in one of those fancy stores in Makati yesterday. He imagined that it would look great on you, but now, seeing it on you in person... you looked divine (and frankly, he wanted to see it off your body to see what was underneath—but don't get too ahead of yourself, Mal). It was a whole 'nother level from his imagination. The deep cowl neckline and thin spaghetti straps showed your lovely collarbones... as well as a peek of your cleavage. His favorite and the best part of it all? It was backless, allowing him to gaze at the tempting curve of your spine.

He hadn't realized he had grown silent until you smiled and closed his mouth, tapping his chin.

"Lalangawin ang bibig mo, Mal," you laughed softly. Never had you seen him so speechless. You then flicked your hair back, ridiculously posing for him like you were on the cover of Vogue magazine (haba ng hair mo, gurl!). "Do I look that good? Char lang."

"... You look absolutely ravishing—I mean, uh, stunning. Hot. Yeah." That was all he could say. He mentally punched himself for not showering you with more suave compliments.

Still, your face brightened up, not knowing that the man in front of you just fell for you a thousand times harder, "Wow! Really? Damn. Ang galing talaga ng MUA na kinuha mo, ginawa akong artista. Give me their contact number later! May work event pa naman ako in two months. I'm shocked, it's like they made me rise from the dead! Even my eyebags are gone, Mal! How'd they do that?" Heck yeah, your confidence was boosted. He offered his arm to you like a gentleman, making you half-heartedly roll your eyes (you took it anyway). From holding it alone, you could tell that your best friend was a sinewy man (well, you knew that already after seeing his tikbalang form before—the little shit didn't even wear a loincloth like all his clanmates; your poor eyes were eternally scarred).

You looked him up and down. You wouldn't lie—Maliksi is and always has been an attractive man. Now? With his hair in a ponytail (pun not intended), definitely one of the hunkiest men you've ever known. "You're not looking too bad yourself, horsey."

"Ako pa!" He puffed his chest out in pride. You chuckled at his reaction.

"By the way, how do you even know my dress size and my shoe size?"

"Babe, I've known you too long. You know almost everything about me, I know everything about you."

You snorted at his confident tone, "'Di nga? You don't know every single thing about me, Mal. Assuming ka masyado."

"Alam ko nga anong cup size mo. Wala lang 'yang shoe and dress size."

You slapped his shoulder, cheeks quickly flushing red, "Huy, umayos ka! Walang hiyang tikbalang na 'to." With this guy as your best friend? You heard dirty jokes at least once a day. "Don't be inappropriate here!"

"What? It's only fair I know!" He looked down on you suggestively, wiggling his eyebrows. "You already know I always go commando, so of course I know that your bra is a size—"

"Shhh! Baka marinig ka, 'nyeta."

"So? Let them hear. My best friend has a nice set of melons!" he shouted. You were grateful there was no one around. Hopefully.

"Oh my God..."

Your best friend chortled at how flustered you'd become. He led you to where some of his family was waiting, with a couple of his relatives already greeting you. You instantly and quite easily mingled with them, your worries of them not accepting you far from even true (they all knew how much their prince loved the innocent you).

"Kayo na talaga, pare?" one of his older tikbalang clanmates asked while you went away to be fawned over by his aunts.

Maliksi chuckled, crossing his arms as he watched you from afar, "Heh. Hindi pa."

Another one of his clanmates—a younger one—laughed, wrapping an arm around his shoulder, "Talaga? That's cap, bro. You two are like a married couple already and you guys still aren't a thing?"

"Ilang taon na ba kayong magkakaibigan?" the older one asked him.

"Almost ten years," Maliksi responded, a smile unconsciously pulling his lips up as he remembered your moments together. He watched you converse with his female relatives (who adored you the moment Maliksi brought you to a family event many moons ago).

The two tikbalang snickered as they saw the look on the Great Stallion's heir.

"You're down bad," the younger one said, snapping a photo of his lovestruck kuya. "You've got it so bad for her, dudeparechong!"

"Balak mong ligawan anytime soon?" the older tikbalang inquired.

"Heh. Balak ko na ngang pakasalan. Kung pwede, ngayon."

They looked at Maliksi as if he was crazy. He was very much serious, though, even if there was a huge, lopsided smile on his face. The Prince of the Tikbalang raised a brow at them.

"What? Don't give me that look. Our ten years of being best friends is practically the courting and the dating stage already."

"Eh... you're right. Don't waste anymore time. Go and marry her today, dude. Suporta kami sa'yo, basta groomsmen kami sa kasal niyo, ha!"

"Ge. Without question."

Meanwhile, on your end with the ladies of the family, they started pestering you on your love life (like all typical Filipino aunties). Chismis everywhere.

"O, iha, single ka pa ba?"

"Kailan ka magpapakasal? Malapit ka nang pumasok sa thirties mo."

"Do you want kids? How many?"

"Are you and Maliksi a couple? You look good together! Kayo na, 'di ba?"

"Will you be getting married next? Are you engaged? When's the wedding? Invite niyo kami!"

Before you could get overwhelmed by their questions, Maliksi swept you off your feet to lead you to the entourage that was lining up outside the chapel area. Again, it happened like a blur. He laughed at the partially nauseated look on your face.

"You okay there?" he asked, grinning.

"Your family thinks we're together," you muttered quietly, not meeting his eyes. You weren't sure why you felt... tingly about their statements.

He tilted his head at you curiously, gently setting you down on your feet and helping you stand.

"Do you hate the idea?" It hurt him to ask you the question, but he wanted your thoughts on it. Perhaps doing this was a bad idea. Maliksi was competitive in many things, including wanting you to be his, but if you were so opposed to it, he would never force you into something you didn't want. He let go of your hand; you didn't even notice he'd been holding it until he let go. "Am I making you uncomfortable?"

Your wide-eyed gaze snapped back to look up at him, "No! No, it's not that! And... it's not bad." Your hand felt strangely empty now that his was gone. Biting your lip, you disclosed, "You're not making me uncomfortable, Mal. Don't ever think that."

With that, you shyly interlocked your arm with his, tearing your eyes from his to mask the growing warmth you felt spreading in your veins. You two didn't say anything else when the ushers let you walk down the beautiful, petal-covered aisle together.

The man beside you was starstruck. Hopeful. Maybe both of you did have a chance. Maybe somewhere in the depths of your soul, his feelings for you were being reciprocated. For the rest of the sacred ceremony in the gorgeous main pavilion, both of you relished in short, comfortable, and low conversations. He even cracked jokes every once in a while—really funny ones that made it challenging for you to you stifle your laughter.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife! You may kiss the bride."

Maliksi fervently prayed to Bathala that he'd experience the same opportunity he was seeing with you someday. One day.

Even while the sun was brightly out, the sky began showering down light rain onto the land. You were in awe as you looked out the window.

"Hala, totoo nga pala! Tignan mo!" you laughed, tugging Maliksi's suit sleeve, pointing at the window.

"Na ano?" he curiously inquired, not understanding what you were referring to.

"Na kapag may tikbalang na kinakasal, umuulan habang may araw pa," you replied, eyes filled with childlike mirth and wonder. A rainbow had even begun to form by the clouds. "Look, it's magical! Ang ganda pala ng view dito kasama ang old Spanish architecture. Timeless na timeless. It's so pretty, 'no? Picture tayo 'maya, Mal."

Unlike you, it wasn't the sky outside that the prince was looking at. Amidst the loud cheers for the newlywed couple and the bubbles the guests were blowing, his vision could only focus on how magnificent you looked while being amazed. You were his best view. (Ed from 90-Day Fiancé, kabahan ka na, may katapat ka sa pickup line mo.)

》》》

"Smile for the picture!"

You giggled as Maliksi was dragged into a photo-op with the bridesmaids and the important older wedding sponsors a few feet away (funnily, he looked a little constipated around them). All of a sudden, when he was heading back to your direction, you were roughly pushed into the said man's arms. When you turned around, there was nothing (except maybe a gust of wind that came out of nowhere).

"Ooh, gotcha. Careful," the tikbalang steadied you, strong hands holding your biceps. "Natapilok ka?"

"... Huh, hindi naman," you wondered suspiciously, looking around. "I think someone pushed me? Parang tinulak ako... but wala namang tao."

"Weird. Maybe it was just the wind."

It actually was. Really. Maliksi knew for a fact that it was those two taong hangin who were spying on you from the corner, trying to pair you up. He gave them a thumbs-up while your back was turned in the opposite direction. Hannah and Amie returned the thumbs-up before vanishing. Suddenly, the two wedding photographers had moved on from the bridesmaids and were right beside you.

"What a lovely couple you two are!" she praised. Before you could correct her, she held up the black contraption she held towards you two. "Pose for the camera, lovelies!"

And so you did, the photographer guiding you two on what to do. Maliksi wrapped his arm around your waist and you leaned on his side, looking sidewards to the camera with one leg cocked in front of the other. Her assistant, who was holding a polaroid camera, printed out two photos for you.

"Thank you," you told him, taking the photos from his hands then flicking them rapidly to make the images develop. You and Mal were about to walk to the reception area when the photographer stopped you, handing the male beside you a business card.

"If you two need a photographer or a videographer for your wedding, call me," she signaled to both of you before running to another guest, bringing her assistant with her.

You gawked, "Mal, did you just hear what she said?"

"Loud and clear." A grin was on his face. He seemed very pleased at what he heard.

"... How can she even tell if someone is married or not?"

Maliksi's free hand took your left hand, tapping the ring finger, "Nothing here."

"Ooooooh. I get it now." Your brows creased. "Huh. This is like the fifth time today the people here have mistaken us for a couple."

Maliksi shrugged, teasing you, "Who knows? Baka may potential tayo, babe."

Before you could ask him what he meant, he was hurriedly towing you to the reception venue. While he was doing that, you stared at the now-developed polaroid photos you were holding. Huh. Maybe you two did look like a couple.

"Come on, they're serving some snacks at the welcome reception area. Peach pie and mango float-flavored. Paborito mo, babe."

》》》

The rest of the night went by without a hitch. You were actually enjoying the event—the host was great, the food was great, the music was great. Everything was great... that was, until the games.

"Alright! Now that the bride's garter has been removed, let's have the bouquet and garter toss... starting with the females!" the host announced. "Dear bride, please stay here in front. And all single ladies—and by single I mean ready to mingle and are not married—please rise and stand here on the dance floor. Let's play matchmaker tonight, everyone!"

"Uy, single ladies daw," Maliksi nudged your side. "Sign mo na 'yan." You snorted like a pig.

"Nope, ayokong madamay sa bouquet toss," you whisper-yelled at your best friend. "Do you know how embarrassing that is?! Besides, they won't notice if I don't join! Special tactic ko 'yan sa weddings: pretending I'm not single. Katabi naman kita."

More women came to the front, making you feel assured that you didn't need to participate. The host was about to say something, when the bride interrupted to whisper something into his ear.

"Hala, halaaa! Sabi ko all single ladies, pero may isang single lady na nagtatago pa!" he announced, making you freeze. Please don't let it be you. "What's her name, beloved bride?"

"Y/N L/N." You nearly spat out your champagne. You? Did they just call out your name? How did they know?

"Oh fuck," you cursed quietly.

"'Di ka makakatakas dito, babe," Maliksi jabbed, making you stand up. "Tinatawag ka na."

"Baka may ibang Y/N L/N dito," you resisted, attempting to sit back down. "I can't do this, Mal."

"'Sus, ikaw pa. And it's just a symbolic ceremony!" he encouraged, as if he didn't have any underlying intentions. "I doubt the bouquet will go to you anyway."

Sheesh, what a big fat liar you are, tikbalang prince.

You expressed your dissatisfaction with the situation, "Bwiset, fine. I'll just... dodge it. Or evade it. God, I swear..." You calmed down, confident. "I'm not going to worry. I've never caught the bouquet at my own friends' weddings anyway."

When you were at the dance floor, Maliksi snickered, seeing the bride—his cousin—wink at him. After all, he had thoroughly bribed her earlier.

《《《

"It's about time you settled down with someone, Mal," the bride commented while he slipped her the newest Hermés designer bag filled with a bunch of jewelry (plus some bills) two hours ago, right before the reception began and while you were in the restroom freshening up. "Hehehe, this is why you're my favorite cousin."

"Do we have a deal?"

"Of course. I'll make sure she participates. I'll also try to throw it in her direction."

"Good. Thanks."

"You better invite me to your beach wedding. I can tell how much you love her."

"Not a problem. I'll even make you a sponsor."

The bride stared at her bouquet, already practicing how she was going to throw it, "Tito's going to thank me so much for ensuring that he's going to get grandkids soon, hihi."

》》》

Back to the present, on the other end of the room, Maliksi saw a familiar duo give him a sign that they were ready. Bingo. Time to execute the most important part of his plan.

《《《

"I don't care how you do it," he told the two wind elementals after he bribed the bride. "I've already instructed the bride on what she should do, pero siguraduhin niyo lang talagang lumipad sa kanya ang bouquet."

"Mmhmm," Amie flipped her hair, a hand on her cocked hip. "And what do we get in return, oh great Señorito Armanaz?"

"Sagot ko bar-hopping niyo for one month."

The two girls pretended to think about it, making Maliksi roll his eyes. He had to pull out the big guns, huh?

"Fine. Magbibigay ako ng cash deposit plus pwede niyong gamitin ang black card ko for a one-week shopping spree in Ortigas." There. Bullseye. That's what they liked.

"Deal!" they exclaimed excitedly.

Hannah let a cool gust of wind enter one of the nearby windows, testing out how they're going to do this. "Ano pa bang pinaplano mo for Y/N mamaya?"

Maliksi hummed, "Basta."

》》》

You tried your best to hide within the densest part of the group of women. The bride seemed to have her eyes on you, weirdly enough, and she looked almost feral wanting to throw her flowers into someone's face.

That someone being you. Most likely.

"Target locked on," you saw her mouth move. She positioned herself like she was about to throw a football at someone (ahem, you). Holy shit, was she talking to you? Miss ma'am, it was a bouquet toss not a bouquet throw. The bride seemed to notice this, and once more regained her elegant composure.

"3, 2, 1," the host counted down. "Go!"

Surprisingly, the bouquet flew very high into the air (it was a wonder it didn't get tangled in the ceiling decor), but quite a distance away from you. You grinned, knowing it was too far to even touch you. Squeezing through the crowd of women eagerly awaiting the bouquet, you went to return to your assigned table.

Ah, what a wonderful evening.

Sike!

Something painfully landed right into your face, leaves and flowers getting into your hair and mouth.

... Wait, leaves and flowers?

Before you could comprehend it, the bouquet dropped right into your arms. What kind of ungodly, inhuman force allowed this to even happen?

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have our lucky girl for the night!" Everyone clapped, with some—those guests you knew—even cheering your name unbelievably loud. The host approached you, a glint in his eye which you couldn't understand. "Miss Y/N, kindly sit here while we await the lucky guy who catches the garter from the groom."

What just happened?

"All single gentlemen, please proceed to the dance floor. Remember, the man who gets the garter gets to slip it onto the lucky lady's leg later!"

Oh, God. You pinched the bridge of your nose. What you'd give to be back at home or to be in that resort in Batangas you'd planned on going to for a solo vacation.

"To make this even more exciting," the host stated, handing you a black blindfold. "Our lucky lady has to keep her eyes closed until her lucky man for the night captures the bride's garter! When the music plays, only then can she uncover her eyes."

See? Humiliating, just as you expected. Still, you wrapped the blindfold around your head (albeit hesitantly). You attempted to guess who it might be, thinking of all the tikbalang friends Maliksi had introduced to you back then whenever he invited you to his clan reunions.

"Groom, are you ready?" the host asked, microphone loud and clear.

"Ready na ready!"

"Single gentlemen, are you ready?!"

"Ready na ready! Awoo, awoo!" they loudly chorused, exactly mimicking Spartans about to engage in battle. You sweatdropped in the seat you were in. This was actually kind of scary. Maybe you felt a bit objectified.

"3, 2, 1, go!"

There was a brief moment of silence, which made you concerned. Ba't ang tahimik? Then, everyone erupted into roars and bravoes much louder than when you caught the bouquet—perhaps even louder by tenfold. What the heck was happening?!

The music played. Very raunchy, spicy, babymaking music. You expected it to be the typical Careless Whisper by George Michael or Pony by Ginuwine (corny songs which you could probably laugh at, at least), but no. Nuh-uh, this was probably worse. The DJ must be pretty young, the song of their choosing being a slowed, bass-boosted, sexier remix of Earned It by the Weeknd.

Ano 'to, bold? Fifty Shades of Grey? The hell was this?

Alright. This was embarrassing. Thank the heavens there were no children at this party. From the music alone and its implications, this was strictly for adults.

You removed your blindfold (that was okay now, right?) as the guests whistled playfully. You peeked one eye open reluctantly, then inwardly groaned. Oh, no. You should've expected it to be him of all people from how loud the reactions were. And all those yells from the crowd were from his family.

Son of a—

"Well, this has proven to be a very interesting arrangement!" the host proclaimed. "Our lucky man for tonight is none other than our great clan leader's heir, Maliksi Armanaz! Congratulations, sir! You get to slip the lacey little garter on Miss Y/N!"

The said very smug tikbalang stood a few feet away from the chair you were sitting on, smirking at you. His hair was no longer in that mesmerizing ponytail—instead, he'd tied it into a more sinfully attractive man-bun, loose strands framing his face and accentuating that sharp, angled jaw of his (say yes and thank you to Manny Jacinto's jawline, besties).

"Let's cheer him on in his new mission, everybody!" the host pushed. Was this that glint in his eye earlier? And was that a one thousand peso bill sticking out of his pocket?

The groomsmen, Mal's cousins and uncles whom you've met before, hollered words of encouragement to the tall man (who was, oddly enough, not one bit fazed). In fact, Maliksi seemed like he was famished as he stared you down.

You swallowed, feeling like you were going to get eaten (heh, say that again). Maliksi had shrugged off his dark suit blazer to the beat of the song (holy fuck, he also unclasped the suspenders attached to his pants right before your eyes—asdfghjkl). Were you prepared for this? No. Will you ever be prepared? No!

"Mr. Armanaz, before you begin," the host interrupted. "We have an additional challenge for you in this mission. Kaya mo ba? It was a request of the newlywed couple."

"What is it?"

"Use your teeth!" the bride and the groom cheerfully shouted, clapping with the other guests. Whatdidtheysaaaaay???

The cocky bastard didn't even hesitate, his smirk at you growing wider; those pearly whites of his on full display. Was it just you or were his canines a little sharper than usual?

"Anything for the newlyweds. Challenge accepted," he dashingly replied, winking at you. You sputtered indignantly. Pisteng yawa. Putangina. Putek. Pakshet. You swore you thought of every swear word in the book at that moment. What did that YouTube parody song about Filipino mythological creatures say again? About the tikbalang? Ah, yes. Half-macho dancer and half-stallion. Maybe the joke was true, especially when you saw what Maliksi did next.

He bit the shred of lace, loosening his necktie (bestie, you good there?), unbuttoning some top buttons, and rolling up the sleeves of his collared white undershirt up to his elbows (consequently showing off his toned, veiny forearms—those lucky bridesmaids behind him nearly fainted). Honestly, you felt like you were about to lose your mind from embarrassment. With how tantalizing your guy best friend was being? Let our response be: San Pedro, kunin mo na ako. Was he doing all this to tease you? To rile you up?

Because damn it all, it was working. In your ten years of knowing Maliksi Armanaz, withstanding all his daily dirty jokes and flirtatious attempts, never had you seen him like this. So... wolfish. Ravenous. Like he was a man that hadn't been fed in years.

He stalked closer towards you, falling to his knees in front of your legs. Your gown had a long slit that extended up to an inch or two below where your left leg began—your best friend was eyeing his target already, knowing where to place the garter. Normally, you would never even wear something as revealing as this gown. It just wasn't your type, but Maliksi was the one who bought this for you for this specific occasion, so you had no choice. It was this or your pantulog he stole you in just hours ago. At first, you were confident in the gown. Now? You felt too... naked.

Somehow, in the heat of it all, you'd muted out the noise of the venue. Maliksi teasingly lifted your foot up, fingertips slyly grazing the thin shoe straps around your left foot—his calculated touch leaving fire in its trail. Once the garter had been successfuly inserted past your high-heeled stilettos, the man kneeling in front of you kept his hands to himself. Despite the fact that now there was absolutely zero skin-to-skin contact between you and this man, your body felt hotter than it ever was before as he expertly slid the lacy bit of cloth up your ankle at an agonizingly slow pace.

Maliksi's warm eyes had turned dark, his pupils blown, a tinge of red in them—of his true beast—while he maintained striking eye contact with you, pulling the garter up your calf with his teeth. Smoothly tugging... tugging... tugging. Tangina, it was like he was undressing you with his eyes alone; like he was telepathically telling you to keep your eyes open.

To keep your eyes on him, where he was knelt inbetween your legs, his hands intentionally locked on his back. Did you ever imagine this? Him between your legs? Maybe. Once or twice. But you never thought about it seriously; Maliksi dated girls left and right in the past.

His lips... his lips were so close... so close to your leg that you could feel the heat of his breath along with the lace. Were you about to die? Perhaps you already did. Maybe you were in heaven. Up... up... up... snap!

Suddenly, he stopped, grinning up at you mischievously and letting the elastic bounce back to the skin of your left knee.

"I'm not going any further, don't worry, babe," he whispered, noting that your eyes had become misty and glazed over. Internally, he grew worried. "That's enough." Did he think it was from discomfort? From you being uncomfortable? Bitch, no. It was the exact opposite. You had never been this turned on in your entire life.

You felt like your soul had left your body at that moment. Did you just have a heart attack? Was your blood pressure okay? Before you or Maliksi could stand, however, someone bellowed from the wedding sponsor tables.

"Higher! That's an order!"

Fucking hell, it was Maliksi's father who shouted. He wasn't in the huge tikbalang form you'd normally meet him in, but he was still very intimidating in his humanoid form, commanding attention and subservience wherever he went. You could tell where Maliksi got it from.

Instantly, the other guests—already half-drunk and wanting the spirit of partying to continue on—joined in.

"Higher! Higher!"

The host cheered, "You heard Señor Armanaz! Higher!"

Maliksi gave you a questioning look. Even if it was his father who spoke up, he still wouldn't do anything you didn't want. Well, you two made it this far; there was no point in getting embarrassed now. You bit the inside of your cheek, nodding. You probably couldn't erase the redness on your skin with how much you'd blushed from this night. It was as if the heat was tattooed onto your skin.

"Go on, Mal," you whispered to him, bending your torso down closer to his face, eyes half-lidded from want. "Finish what you started, babe."

With those sultry bedroom eyes he'd never once seen you show him before—plus you turning the tables with that familiar term of endearment, how could he refuse? Like a switch had been flipped inside him, he immediately complied, taking the frilly scrap of stretchy lace between his teeth once more, moving it further up to your thighs until where your high slit ended—centimeters below the warming juncture between your legs.

Your legs felt wobbly... boneless, as you stood up from the chair, the fabric of your gown cascading over where the lace sat securely on your upper left thigh. The party was still going strong even after you two finished the garter wearing tradition.

"'Atta boy! That's my son!" Señor Armanaz blazoned, standing up and raising his glass for a toast. "Cheers to the newlywed couple! May they last forever!"

You guys weren't the newlyweds, but it did sure feel like it. If the clan leader was hyped up, everyone was hyped up. Heck, the groom and the bride didn't mind one bit what had just transpired on their dance floor. In all the chaos, Maliksi took you out of the reception area and somewhere quieter. More private.

You would need to have a serious, urgent talk with your boy best friend.

》》》

You two silently sat on a stone bench in a gazebo somewhere in the reserved venue for the wedding, trying to cool down and get yourselves back together (at this point, you needed ice from that steamy, half-scandalous event you just went through). Here, there was no one else except for the chirping of crickets, the lush trees surrounding the area, and the golden fairy lights strewn all over the roof. Awkwardness was something you'd expected after what just happened, but somehow, you still felt comfort in this man's presence. For the past thirty minutes, both of you just stayed still, lost in your thoughts and reflecting.

"Mal?" you finally spoke up.

"... Hmm?"

"Ano tayo?"

"Whatever you want us to be."

Your fingers instinctively reached out for his, just like they always did when you were anxious. Sensing this, he grasped your hand and squeezed it reassuringly. Soothingly. He massaged the skin of your fingers, distracting you from your nervousness. It seemed like both nothing and everything changed between both of you. The gesture was the same, but so different at the same time.

"Mahal mo ako." It was not a question. It was a statement. A truth—one that you'd been too blind to see before. One that you only discovered while you stared into each other's eyes in that party not as best friends. You realized with a jolt in your heart what he really felt for you, and now, what you really felt for him. In those thirty minutes of silence, you knew. You just knew.

"Yes. I do."

"... Just as a best friend?" you probed.

"..."

Finally, you gazed into his eyes, previously so dark and full of hunger. Now? Just reluctant. Vulnerable. Open. Unsure of what to do next.

Seems like you had to be the one to take initiative tonight. Taking out your phone, you opened your music app and pressed play on a certain song. Ikaw at Ako by Johnoy Danao. You removed your heels (which were starting to blister your ankles and toes), then pulled him up to stand.

"Dance with me," you murmured, grabbing his arms to wrap them around your waist. He was stiff. Tense. What was he to do when the woman he's been pining after for so long let him hold her? All his gallantry and ability to romance disappeared out the window the moment you let him touch you so intimately.

You two weren't even waltzing. Just swaying. Slowly, you leaned your head on his broad chest, listening to the steady thump of his heart.

"... I love you," Maliksi admitted in the middle of it all, feeling like he was dreaming. Your head on his chest kept him grounded to reality, however. "More than anything in the universe. I fell for you ever since you patched me up when you were nineteen and I was a reckless drag racer who didn't have a purpose in life. 'Nung dinala mo ako pabalik sa Armanaz Tower on the verge of death. Simula noon, ikaw lang."

"I realized that," you smiled, reminiscing the old memory. You were just a broke college student that time, coming back to your dorm from making your group thesis at a classmate's house. Imagine your panic when you found a half-man, half-horse bleeding out by some bushes on the way home at night. Despite your fear and your little money (only enough to feed you for the week), you went out of your way to buy a first-aid kit at the nearest 7/11. It was scary, but you managed to mend the creature's wounds by the side of the road. When he was finally able to speak, turning fully human (which you admit, freaked you out initially), you arduously carried him back to his address—to his father and his clan, even if you had classes the very next morning. Because of your heroic deed of saving their precious heir, the tikbalang clan had become indebted to you: a teenage girl on the verge of a mental academic breakdown, just making her way through the cruel adult world. How old of a memory that was, you thought, yet you still recalled it in perfect detail. "Just a while ago."

"Ah." He swayed you gently.

"Lahat ng ito, plano mo?"

"... Yes," Maliksi fessed up. "Except for this part where we're here dancing in this belvedere. Wala sa plano ko. Gusto ko sanang magconfess doon sa may fountain para sweet, pero..."

You lifted your head off his chest, smiling at him with one brow raised, "You know, between both of us, you're supposed to be the spontaneous one. Planning isn't usually your thing."

"I know. It's a failure, huh?" Maliksi sighed.

"Nah." You shook your head, then suddenly locked lips with him. It was so fast and surprising he didn't even get the chance to return your first kiss. For once, you caught him off guard. You pecked him on the lips again. "It's not a failure."

"Wha—"

"I'm sorry for making you wait, Maliksi. Ten years. We're twenty-nine now, and only tonight do I realize how blind I've been. We've been going around in circles, wasting so much time. Ayoko nang mag-aksaya ng oras," you whispered guiltily against his lips. How could you have been so blind? Andaming nasayang na taon. Making up your mind, you told him, "Yes. Sige, I accept. I'll be your plus one."

The tikbalang was flustered and baffled from the kiss, as well as your revelation, "... But, you already are?"

"No, silly. I meant that I'll be your plus one for life. For as long as you'll have me," you laughed, now processing that you were currently dancing barefoot with your boy best friend and had just kissed him in a wedding you didn't even plan on going to. The universe had a mysterious way of doing things. "Guess I'm the spontaneous one now, huh?"

Maliksi was tongue-tied. "Seryoso ka ba? Is... Is this a marriage proposal?"

"Whatever you want it to be," you echoed his words back to him. "Best friend, plus one, girlfriend, wife—mmpf!"

He kissed you so hard your lips bruised. After an impromptu makeout session which was definitely more in character for Maliksi, you both pulled away, panting heavily in search for air, still desperate for passion. He cupped your cheeks, giving you a sweet, featherlight Eskimo kiss.

"You're missing one more title."

"Hm? What do you mean, Mal?"

"Love of my life." He kissed you again, this time lifting you off your feet and spinning you around (his sneaky right hand was resting on your bum, too, giving it a tight squeeze). You know in the Princess Diaries where the main character's foot just... pops whenever the prince charming kissed her? Yeah, that happened to you on that humid summer night. This was right. You two were meant to be together. Everything was falling into place.

The bungalow you reserved for your Batangas vacation leave ended up being the site of your very eventful honeymoon with the Prince of the Tikbalang (with his libido, it wasn't that difficult to continue where you'd left off in the garter toss; that scrap of lace came off your leg the same way it went on). Actually, nauna pa ang honeymoon sa actual wedding (it was definitely spontaneous). Right after your confession in that alcove, you two went to Maliksi's father to ask for his blessing (which he gladly gave, cackling and saying that it took you long enough) before you guys went driving off to Batangas that night. You and Mal indeed had lots and lots of fun in that resort (I'll let you imagine the rest). More beautiful memories were made from that point on—this time, not just as best friends.

All that and your small, intimate wedding occurred in early April. Just when you thought that it'd be impossible to fulfill Maliksi's life goal of having a baby within the year (nine months of pregnancy meant that the earliest you'd give birth would be January next year), the impossible happened.

Exactly thirty-two weeks later, on New Year's Eve, the Armanaz herd welcomed one prince and two new princesses into the world. Triplets who were instantly adored by everyone in the clan.

Señor Armanaz had never been happier, and so were you and your husband. Your best friend. The love of your life. Your forever plus one.

Maybe being spontaneous wasn't so bad after all.

Taglist: @belladaises @binibiningbabaylan @4kodzuk3n @sparklingmallow @severuslovebot @holyshxtangel @marinac15 @space-flamingo @pippethealien @kashasenpai @disappointmentpastry @hornehlittleweeblet2 @seijohoe @monimiin @ibelievein2dmensupremacy @tinybonksharkcop @methehipster @banisuoh @genshin-idiot @lemonnie-kimmie

#trese #trese 2021 #trese netflix #maliksi #maliksi x reader #tikbalang #trese fic #x reader #trese x reader #thera.writes

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toomanystoriessolittletime · 4 years ago

Text

late night calls

Summary: It all started with a phone call to the DEA office to tell Javier about the surgery of his father. You had insisted to take care of him after Chucho told you about the surgery. That you would fall in love with his son you had never met before? Just as surprising to you as it was to Javier.

Pairing: Javier Peña x F!Plus size reader

Wordcount: 4.1k+

Warnings: fluff, phone sex, mentions of bomb attacks, sexism, self doubt, yearning?

A/N: I know that probably more time passed between the bombing and Javier being send back to the states but I chose to ignore it. For the plot. Hope you enjoy it :)

Masterlist

*taglist in reblog

You still weren’t used to the heat. Yes, you did move to Texas because you wanted a fresh start. But the fucking heat would take some time to get used to. Nothing was holding you back in Maine. You had spent the last years taking care of your sick mother. She had died just before Christmas and with her all the family you had left.

So coming with the new year you took a leap of faith, packed your things, and moved to a little town close to the Mexican border. You got a job at the local police station as a secretary that made a decent sum of money each month. Life was good. At least you told yourself so.

You had made a couple of friends. Mostly the older generation of the town. You weren’t big on going out, nor had the town a big nightlife in the first place. That’s why you insisted on taking care of Chucho after he told you one day at the diner that he had to get a hip replacement. His wife had died a long time ago and his son wasn’t able to leave work.

“Don’t you have some better stuff to do cariño?” He had asked.

“What better way to start your day than on your Farm, Senior Peña.” You had winked at him.

Chucho might have been a stubborn old man, but once he got out of surgery and was in pain he was thankful that he accepted your help. That was also the first time you heard him talk about his son. Javier.

“Be a dear and call him to tell him I’m okay?” He had mumbled before he dozed off again. You had chuckled, kissed his cheek before you left him for the day to went over to his farm. Once you had taken care of everything for the day you sat down on his kitchen island and grabbed the phone, dialing the first number he had written down.

You had suggested moving into his place in his recovery time. It was a beautiful place. Mexico was just on the other side of the river down the property. But the best part about this place was the air conditioning. Okay… You really loved this place and it definitely was an upgrade to the small apartment you were renting in the city.

Waiting for his son to pick up the phone you wondered what kind of job he would have that he wasn’t able to take care of his father. You didn’t judge him, okay maybe a little, you were more curious. You had seen some pictures of him spread through the house. But you had never asked about him.

“DEA Office, how may I help you?” A woman answered your call.

“Uhm… Is Javier Peña available? It’s about his father,” you tried.

“Oh of course. Agent Peña just got in. Please hold.”

Agent Peña? DEA? You had so many questions but they died on your tongue when the call connected again.

“This is Peña.” A deep voice said. He reminded you of his father.

“Hello Mr. Peña. I’m only calling to let you know that your father’s surgery went fine. He wanted me to forward this to you.”

“Javier, please. Not even my father likes to be called Mr. Peña.”

“Oh I noticed that,” you chuckled.

“He’s fine yeah?” You heard something shuffle on the other end of the line.

“Yeah. Already made some jokes and told me to make sure I feed the horses in the right order.”

“You’re taking care of the horses?”

“Yeah. I’m temporarily moving in to help your father.”

“That’s very nice of you. He never told me about you.”

“There’s not much to tell.” You got up and took out a bottle of water from the fridge. “I’m only here for the air conditioning.” You joked. He laughed.

“Fuck I miss air conditioning. Hold on.” You sat down again, hearing only damp voices.

“Fuck. I need to go. Please call me if something comes up. Dad has my home number too, right?” He was speaking quickly and you wondered what was happening.

“Yes, he wrote it down for me. Everything okay?”

“Yeah hopefully. Just some work stuff. Keep in touch, yeah?”

“Will do Javier.”

Chucho got home a week later and he was the worst at listening to doctors’ orders. You still had to go into the station to work, but you spend your whole time worrying about him. It was funny to you how he seemingly had become a father figure to you in less than a couple of weeks.

Of course you found him standing at the kitchen counter when you got to the ranch, the phone tugged between his shoulder and his ear, making himself a sandwich.

“Shouldn’t you be resting?” You asked, crossing your arms in front of your chest.

“I was. Then Javi called and I got hungry.”

“Stubborn old man,” you grumbled and he rolled his eyes.

“Come on, I brought dinner.”

“Fine. Here. Javi wants to say Hello,” he handed you the phone before he slowly trotted towards the couch. Shaking your head you put the phone to your ear.

“You are really strict with him,” Javier said.

“Someone has to. Are all you Peña men this stubborn?”

He chuckled. “You have no idea. How is he doing?”

“Overall good. Not complaining as much as in the beginning but then again I am bribing him with my delicious cooking.”

Javier and you had spoken to each other at least two times per week since the first time you called to tell him about his father’s surgery. You learned that he was a DEA agent on the hunt for Pablo Escobar. You learned that he was feeling guilty about not being there for his father and to take care of the ranch. You learned lots of things about Javier Peña.

“Ah... Delicious cooking. Maybe one day you get to cook for me?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” You teased, hearing him take a sip of his drink. Whiskey probably.

“Just that my father is praising your cooking so much I wonder if it really is that good.”

“Oh, it is, Peña.” You found yourself smiling. You heard him sigh.

“Everything’s okay over there?” You asked.

“Yeah,” he said too quickly. Definitely a lie. You nodded.

“You wanna stay on the phone while I prepare dinner?” you asked.

“Yeah,” he whispered.

The better Chucho got, the longer the phone calls between Javier and you seem to get. It was mostly at night after he got home from whatever he had been doing at work that day intending to check in on his father. But after a few sentences, he asked about your day. About how you felt. What your plans for the coming weekend were.

“You sound exhausted Hermosa,” he sighed. It had been a long day at work and all you wanted was to grab a pint of ice cream and drown your sorrows.

“Just the usual sexist bullshit at the PD,” you groaned.

“Want me to kill them?” Javier joked.

“You take care of your nemesis, I take care of mine. But I appreciate the help.” You sat down on your bed, knowing that this was usually the room he occupied when he was here to visit his father.

“Noted. But if it’s any help, I had a shit day too. They seem to get more frequent the longer I stay in this shithole.”

“Maybe you have to focus on the good things of being in this country. There have to be some. The food probably. I always enjoy new food. Maybe go to a museum? I don’t want to intrude but you don’t seem like you do anything besides work and well…”

It was pure accident that you had heard the voice of a woman one night when you had called him for a change. You knew that he looked good, you had seen the pictures, so it shouldn’t be a surprise to you, that he did have a girlfriend. He clarified that he didn’t, that this was just a woman he got intel from. You didn’t ask any more questions, it wasn’t your right. That it hurt to think of him and another woman was something you chose to ignore.

“I never thanked you,” Javier said. You let yourself fall back into bed, staring at the stars outside the window.

“What for?” you asked quietly.

“Thanking care of Dad and the ranch. Listening to my drunken ramblings. You’re a good friend,” he said. You smiled, a warm feeling spreading in your chest.

“You’re a good friend too, Javi.”

Chucho didn’t need anyone to take care of him. Not when he was back to his old health after a couple of months. But he had asked you to move in with him anyway. And you loved to live with the old man. Enjoying not being on your own all the time. And you loved helping him out at the ranch. The PD was still getting on your nerves and you were seriously considering just quitting.

“I hate it. I fucking hate it. I get one dumb line after another, just because I’m a woman. That I helped to get together the evidence to put that fucker away that killed all those women last year is not even of interest. FUCK!” you complained to Chucho. He knew about all of this already. Yet he jumped from his seat when he saw that you did cut yourself while making dinner.

“Careful.” He took your hand in his, leading you over to the sink to look at your wound. It didn’t hurt that much.

“What about if I take care of dinner today, and you go and take a bath? Javier is probably gonna call in a bit…” Chucho winked, putting a bandaid on your finger.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” you frowned.

“Just that I see the way you smile every time my son calls.”

“Two whole days off? What are you gonna do with yourself?” You joked. You were laying in the bathtub, the phone in your hand as you talked to Javier.

“Don’t know. I feel like I need a home-cooked meal so I’m gonna nag Connie to cook one.”

You chuckled, crossing your legs.

“Is that water I hear?” he asked and you blushed. Why? You didn’t know. You had undressed numerous times while on the phone with him, but being completely naked and him knowing about it…

“I’m in the bathtub. Chucho’s orders. He’s making dinner before I kill myself doing it.”

You were met with silence.

“You okay, Javi?” You sucked your bottom lip in. “I did only cut my finger,” you joked.

“Just trying to get the picture of you naked in the bathtub out of my head.”

“You don’t even know what I look like.”

“Doesn’t matter. All I need is to hear your voice and I’m hard…”

“Javi…” you whispered, feeling hot all of the sudden.

“Will you tell me?” he asked.

“Tell you what?”

“If you think about me? Because you are on my mind all the time. I keep picturing how you look. If you have long hair or short hair. What color your eyes have. If your smile is only half as beautiful as your laugh. Fuck… I just wanna see you. I wanna feel you. I wanna taste you Hermosa.”

Unintentionally your unoccupied hand had made its way down your body, your breath coming in short pants.

“Keep talking Javier…” you whispered, your hand slipping in between your legs.

“I want to touch you. Fuck I bet your skin is so soft. I’d worship you. I stay up at night wondering if I could fit your boobs in my hands. What sound you would make when I close my mouth around your nipple…”

“Shit Javi…” You moaned.

“I wonder how you taste. Are you wet for me baby?” he asked and you heard a zipper being undone on his end of the line.

“So wet. You always make me wet. I touch myself when we get off the phone, wondering how it would feel to have you here…” you whimpered.

“I would have fucked you on every flat surface in the house if I was there. The thought of you sleeping in my bed is making me lose my mind.”

You circled your clit with your fingers, a low moan coming from your lips.

“I wonder how you feel wrapped around my cock. I wonder how you sound when I make you cum. I want to hear it so badly…” You were sure he was fucking his hand and you whimpered at the thought.

“I wish it was my hand wrapped around your big cock right now. God, I wish it was your hand between my legs and not mine…” You bit your lips, keeping yourself quiet.

“Put two fingers into that cunt and make yourself cum. I wanna hear you…” he groaned on the phone.

“Fuck Javi…” you cried quietly, two fingers inside your cunt. “I wish it was your cock and not my fingers.”

“Me too… Me too babe.” he moaned. “Circle that clit for me. Cum for me.”

Circling your clit you almost let the phone fall into the tub when you came with a low moan. You heard him cry out your name on the other end of the line before all that was heard was both of your heavy breathing.

“Javi…?” you asked after a while, still high from one of the best orgasms you ever had. You heard the familiar sound of him lighting a cigarette.

“I meant every single word Hermosa. I want you.” You never thought you would hear these words from him or any man for that matter. You weren’t a typical beauty. You weren’t skinny, you loved food and your curves showed it. On most days you were happy with the way you looked. But you also knew how Javier looked. He was an attractive man and you knew he did indeed have a new woman every other night if he felt like it. He might be interested now, but once he would meet you, there was no way he would make true to all the things he said.

“You’re quiet.” he noticed.

“Yeah. Just coming down from the best orgasm I’ve had in a while,” you joked and he sighed.

“I might not see you, but I know that you’re lying.”

“Okay, it was the best orgasm I ever had.”

“Hermosa…”

“I don’t want to talk about it. Just let me enjoy the illusion of a handsome DEA Agent being interested in little ol’ me.”

“I’ll make sure you believe that it isn’t an illusion until we do see each other.”

Months went by and by now you were pretty sure you were in love with Javier Peña. The phone bill was taking dimensions you were almost guilty about, but Chucho only smiled not taking your money, telling you to make his boy happy. Safe to say he approved.

You had told him about your insecurities and Javier made sure to tell you every time you talked to each other that it didn’t matter how you looked. He told you that you could be green and he’d still go down on you the first time he would meet you.

And you wanted to believe him, you really did. You had told him how you looked after he tried to talk you into sending pictures of yourself “with or without clothes, I don’t care. Though you can guess what I prefer.” he had teased. Javier never made a secret about how much he liked you. Enjoyed talking to you. He told you he had stopped sleeping around for god’s sake.

He was supposed to visit his father in a couple of weeks and the more time passed, the more nervous you became. You didn’t doubt that he meant every single word he said to you. It was years of being on the receiving end of jokes and being the ugly friend that automatically let you feel like you weren’t good enough.

The worst part was that you knew, deep down, that you were beautiful. You loved how you looked. But there still was this voice inside your head, telling you that you would never be good enough for anyone. That there was no way someone would ever fall in love with you.

It was a typical morning at work. You had your coffee and all the files you had to update. Javier had talked to you until you fell asleep, telling you that he felt like he was failing in taking Escobar down. He didn’t tell you much, not wanting you to worry or to risk someone listening, but you could tell that he was exhausted. “I fucked up, Hermosa. I really fucked up and I have no idea how to fix this,” were the words that he had whispered to you in the middle of the night.

You didn’t ask what he meant, just telling him that you’d be there for him, no matter what.

Typing as usual you stopped as the song on the radio was, interrupted by a news report of a bombing in Bogota, Colombia. You knew that there were bombings all the time over there, and Javier always assured you that he was perfectly fine. But with how he was last night, you had a bad feeling.

“Fuck. When are they going to stop that shit over there? If I was there I’d caught Escobar years ago,” one of the officers said. You closed your eyes, breathing in deeply.

“Isn’t Chucho’s son over there pretty face?” The officer stopped in front of your desk and you opened your eyes.

“Yeah he is,” you said.

“Maybe if he would know how to do his job, shit like that wouldn’t go down like that,” he grinned and you wanted to stop, but your hand was faster. Slapping his cheek you got off your seat.

“And maybe if you would know how to use your dick your wife wouldn’t fuck your colleague over there, but you’ll never know, right?” You grinned, picking your purse and walking out.

“I’m taking today off.” You yelled over your shoulder as you walked to your car.

Javier didn’t pick up the phone. Which wasn’t what concerned you on the first day. He would have to deal with the shit that had happened over there. But when three days passed and you could see Chucho getting nervous as well you became restless. The ranch had never been so spotless. The horses had been fed in record time, and you took long rides along the river. If something had happened to him someone would have called, right? You couldn’t even reach his partner Murphy who you had talked to occasionally when Javier wasn’t at his desk.

When a week passed and you hadn’t heard anything you were close to making your way to the airport to just fly down there. What if he died? What if he was gone and you hadn’t told him that you loved him? That you fell in love with a man you had never met before? Getting off the horse you sat down at the tree closest to the river. It was quiet here. This was the outer area of Chucho’s ranch, your favorite spot. You had joked about building a house here once when you were out with the old man and he had agreed that it would be the perfect spot. Sighing you drank from the bottle of water you brought.

Where the fuck are you Javier?

Another week went by without any sign of life from him. You had called the DEA office again but no one seemed to be able to give you an answer. You were growing restless. Working seemed to be the only thing that could get you off the spiraling thoughts of what if? You really had it bad for the man. Shaking your head to yourself you sighed as you parked your car on the usual spot in front of the ranch. Chucho’s truck was gone, he had a doctor's appointment to check on his hip and would meet his lady friend for dinner afterward. You had met her, Estella, once. She was a beautiful woman and Chucho seemed very happy with her. With a sad smile you killed the engine, getting out of the car. On your way to the house you groaned, turning around because you forgot your take out. You weren’t in the mood to cook and the pizza from that place that Javier had told you about was the best you had ever had. While you opened the passenger door of your car you heard the front door of the house open.

Shit. Burglars? You didn’t have anything on you, you could use as a gun. You knew you could probably make it to the horse stable to find something, but not in these fucking heels. Why did you wear these fucking heels? Maybe you could make them choke on the pizza? But then again you were looking forward to eating it.

“Just take what you want, I won’t look.” You called over your shoulder, hoping to just be spared for the day. Closing your eyes you sighed when you were met with no reaction. You heard footsteps on the porch that stopped.

“Look, I’m really not in the mood for this bullshit today. So either take whatever the fuck you want or kill me….” you turned around and all the words died on your lips.

Standing there, leaning against the porch was no other than Javier fucking Peña. Alive. And looking even better than on the various pictures hanging in the house. He was bare feet, wearing tight jeans and a green shirt that was half undone. Opening your mouth to talk, all that came out was a gasp. He looked at you, his eyes mirroring the million emotions inside of you. Looking down at yourself you felt shy all of the sudden. This isn’t how you imagined meeting him for the first time. You wanted to be pretty. To wear some spanx. To have some make-up on. Closing your eyes you breathed in deep. You were happy to see him, you really were. But the ride of emotions you had gone through in the last couple of days took hold of you. Walking quickly towards him, you pushed against his chest, the air leaving his lungs in a puff.

“You fucking idiot. I thought you died.” You pushed him again.

“Do you have any idea how awful I felt since I heard the news of the bombing? You…” You pushed against his chest again, but this time he was faster, grabbing your wrists as he looked down at you. You felt the tears in your eyes as you finally looked up at him. Almost a year of phone calls and now he was standing here in front of you. Alive and warm. And smelling so fucking good.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, holding both of your wrists against his chest as he looked at you.

“I should have called but I told you I fucked up. Badly. And I had to fix it and…” he shook his head. “It doesn’t matter now. I’m here and fuck… you’re even more beautiful than I pictured you,” he smiled a little.

“Flattery will get you nowhere.” You huffed, still annoyed.

“No?” he asked teasingly, smirking at you as he leaned down. You shook your head, biting your lip. God, you wanted to kiss him.

“Can I at least try?” he asked, his lips brushing over your temple. You swallowed, shivering when you felt his cheek against yours. Fuck. Why did he smell so good?

“You may try, but I’m really, really mad at you Javier.”

You closed your eyes when he released your wrists and put one of his hands on your back to push you closer against him. He kissed your cheek before he straightened to his full height and looked down at you, his other hand coming to rest on your cheek.

“You’re really sexy when you’re angry,” he teased before he leaned down to kiss you. You melted against him, your hands running up his chest, holding on to the back of his neck as one hand ran through his hair, to pull him down. Kissing him didn’t come close to anything you could have imagined, his tongue parting your lips and you couldn’t help the moan against his lips.

“Still angry?” he whispered out of breath against your lips.

“Slightly less angry,” you whispered back before you found yourself in his arms as he carried you into the house.

#my writing #Javier Peña #Javier Pena x reader #Javier Pena x you #pedro pascal #javier pena x plus size reader #fanfic #fanfiction

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