#i spoke my ben truth

[starlyx0]

so I have noticed some people think Ben is boring (trust me I’ve seen it)

so I am here to talk about everything ben and try to explain his character!

This won’t be the best character analysis

as English is not my first language and I'm trying to bring more attention to stuff that's not talked about often.

So I'm going to split this into 6 categories to try to make writing this easier for me so bare with me.

Things I’ll go over!

personality 

looks 

hobbies

past & current 

relationship with family 

relationship with friends

This is going to have a bunch of stuff that are headcanons I'm only including them to show ppl if u can put some thought into it u can get some reasonable ones.

1 | personality

I see a lot of ppl reduce his character to only music and being mute? which really upsets me because he soo so much more,

but making his entire personality music makes me so mad

most headcanons I see are all the same PLEASE I AM TIRED of hearing what kind of songs he listens to that or all ship headcanons titled as Bens 

he's a shy awkward guy we all know that cuz he really just stands in a corner awkwardly scratching his neck most times and he also doesn’t like horror or anything scary (eps 11) 

hes a protective older brother not overly like Tyler where hes more protective of Tay from other people ben is more chill going and more afraid of what life throws at Lily, there’s not much here cuz more points I have fit in the other categories :)

2 | looks 

he looks kinda of basic nobody can deny that so I won't, but because of his past I imagine he would have a bunch of scars ik he doesn’t and that’s a bummer cuz I really wish he had 🥲

After he lost his voice he became super facially expressive but also really good at hiding his emotions so it’s either really easy to read him or really hard no in between. also because of his past bullying, I assume it affected him and the way he presents himself that why he sticks to basic outfits and look,

overall trying not to bring attention to himself even after therapy he stuck to his habit but if someone gave him a little push and helped him he would drop it and start putting thought into his looks,

saw this somewhere I don’t remember where they said he would have curly hair as a kid but his mom didn’t know how to take care of it so they ended up shaving it and i think curly or wavy haired Ben would be so cute also he would look amazing with an eyebrow piercing %100 and uhh I genuinely don’t remember him smiling genuinely in canon so i imagine his with a downturned smile I may be wrong about that idk

3 | hobbies

did I make this a separate category just to talk about him being an artist? yes I absolutely did 🙂↕️

I fear most people forgot about it n honestly and that is criminal 

there is not much said about it in canon but I’ll work with what I have,

he probably didn’t have much artistic skills when he was younger and only started doing it as a distraction and a way to calm down n he probably made himself draw

I feel like red projected onto him in that ifykyk😭

but from the picture Ben draws based on things that happen so he diff draws a bunch of random things he sees and thinks its cool, he would draw everything and everyone and I feel his art style would be more realistic tbh

but Ben also plays guitar, plays piano 

, fight, used to sing, and the medic of the group like what else he do?? he is literally perfect what more can I say here but most of these are not really hobbies but skills he had to learn for the sake of his life 

4 | Past & current 

I’ll talk more here about how his past affects him currently,

I love to think he has a fear of fires because of the fire that burned down his house more of a headcanon tbh

see the pan he burned in that official art? it took him half an hour in his room to calm down his heartbeat and gathering around the campfire is the opposite of relaxing for him

probably hates turtlenecks with his being 

and I want to talk about his voice as that affects him the most what really bothers me about the fandom is that a lot of people ignore the fact that he probably will never speak. 

I see plenty of ppl benlor shippers say 

“he would sing for —-🥺“ “he would whisper to comfort—🥺“ n it makes me wonder are we even talking about the same character???? which is absolute bullshit if he did that he is the one that’s gonna need comfort like please. he would probably never speak unless he sees someone's head gets ripped off there body.

It's said flat out in episode 27

That he has the option to speak but he doesn’t why? Because he hates his voice and if he hates his voice sm he chose to not speak for yearsss what makes u think he would speak for the sake of someone else's comfort when doing that only pains him? he is selectively mute for a reason I'm not saying he doesn’t have a voice but at least if u headcanon him to speak in the future at least let it be for his own sake instead of doing it for someone else or make it about ur ship.

5 | Relationship with family 

Starting with his parents I don’t think they are bad parents at all they tried to help him as much as they could but they couldn’t so they opened up other options and let him move away and heal even if he’s not with them I think what the did is a good choice for their situation and their relationship would still be great tbh considering the distance 

now onto Lily

I honestly can talk about them for days. I love them 

Their relationship is so sweet the way Lily is stuck to him every chance she gets and ah also used to sing to her can you imagine how she felt seeing her brother coming home later and later covered in bruises not singing to her to sleep anymore watching him sneak out 

she basically watched her brother spiral down and then leave she was probably too young to really understand what was going on fully so now she just wants to spend all the time she can with him and he tries to make up for lost time :(

now Aiden 

most people probably forgot Aiden is the closest person to Ben and the same goes the other way around.

Aiden is a life long friend of Ben’s

he literally trusts him, follows him everywhere and lets him decide for him 

they spent most of their time together since Ben moved in they live together there stuck together.

Aiden probably helped him a lot mentally helping him try new things and be more carefree

Ben also probably helped him mentally and physically patching him up and looking out for him overall,

I see some Aiden fics that are like “Oh no Ben’s gonna be so upset at me 😖” and they make him act like a nurse, not a friend and he just bandages him up then leaves as if nothing happened and someone else comes and in does all the comforting 

like I can count all the fics where Ben acts like a decent person and I'd still have more fingers up than down,

it’s so upsetting how ignored their relationship is in this fandom they deserve so much more honestly.

6 | Relationship with friends 

he is definitely the therapist friend 

He is that kind of friend that you can tell everything to him going from weird food to the worst time of your life and won't even realize it 

his friendship with Ash is very chill not the closest I'd say,

they're really just trying to keep their peace lmao

his friendship with Taylor

I imagine them as gossip girls tbh Ben being a quiet kid while Taylor is popular they definitely know some good gossip 

his friendship with Tyler is something he used to find him irritating but then he realized they have a lot in common especially when Tyler was teaching him guitar which was precise since he was the one who offered 

and his friendship with Logan 

it's really sweet Logan would try to teach him gardening while they talk about their interests

and be absolute nerds together lmao

overall the friendship between all of them is really sweet ik I didn’t give it justice here but the found family trope and the way they find comfort in each other is just everything to me

And I'm done yappin hope u enjoyed that because that was over 1,5k words 

if u have any questions feel free to ask 🫡

[bl00dw1tch]

I am so so so fucking embarrassed by every single idea ive ever had but i will never fucking shut up. Youd have to fucking kill me to get me to shut up again. Shame is the deadliest affliction known to man and it can be defeated by simply deciding not to feel it any more. I am not goimg to be contaminated again i am not i am Not

[entitled-fangirl]

One happy marriage.

Benedict Bridgerton x wife!reader

Summary: the reader lies about something important and finally breaks down to tell her husband about it.

Masterlist

..........................................................

"I have started our marriage with the most audacious lie, Benedict!"

He looked up from his sketchbook with a curious look, "Whatever are you talking about, my dear?"

Y/N covered her mouth with a quiet sob. The lie was eating at her every day and she knew sooner or later the truth would reveal itself. Too bad she revealed it on her own.

Benedict frowned and stood quickly. He raced towards her and sat down cautiously on the sofa next to her. One arm gently pulled her to him, "Darling? I'm sure whatever it is can be forgiven."

She shook her head quickly and spoke through hiccups, "No…. It's unspeakable. Pl… please don't leave me."

This started to worry the poor man.

His hands gently ran up and down her arms, "I promise you, my dear. Whatever has happened, we will be as we are now."

She pulls away from him and wipes her eyes. "I am so sorry, Benedict."

He felt his heart break at the sight of her tears and pleads. "You must tell me what has troubled you this badly."

She shakes her head again, "I don't know if I can."

Benedict sighs.

He was a Bridgerton. And Bridgertons are nothing if not stubborn.

He gently takes her face in his hands. "How then, darling, am I to help fix this issue if I do not know of it?"

She stared up at him. How could she deny him? He was her heart. "I… I have lied to you so dreadfully."

He nods in thought, "Alright?"

She takes a deep breath, "I am an artist."

Benedict's head tilts. "Oh."

She looks up at him to gauge his reaction. "When we were courting, you asked if I was an artist. I said no. I… I lied to you."

He nods again with his lips in a tight line, "Yes. So you did."

She felt awful.

Silence fell over the two before Benedict broke it, "And your work?"

Her head perked up. "My work?"

He gave a slight smirk, "Yes, my dear, your work."

She nodded, "The… the paintings in the parlor… I lied. I do not collect them… I ma... I made all of those."

Benedict smiled widely. A small chuckle escaped his lips as he leaned forward and kissed the crown of her head, "I know."

She stiffened. "What?"

He leaned back and his smile only grew, "I knew, darling. I've always known. I was waiting for you to tell me."

Now it was her turn to feel a bit speechless.

Benedict continued, "I understand why you lied. Those pieces are gorgeous, and the last thing you wanted was your courter... well... your husband... to feel… lowly of his own work-"

"-but your work is lovely, Ben." She quickly interrupted.

"Ah, yes, but not like yours, my dear."

"But how did you know?"

He shrugged, "John Marques is not a real painter." He leaned close to her ear, "And yet, his name is on every plaque in the house."

She let out a laugh so happy, Benedict swore he had never heard one that matched.

She jumped into his lap and held him close.

And he was beyond happy to hold her so near.

He pulled away just to kiss her.

They could feel each other's smiles as their lips pressed together.

She broke away, just close enough to feel his breath on her lips, "And you truly aren't upset at me?"

He laughed, "How could I be? My very own wife, a most talented painter? How on earth could I ever be upset? I'm the happiest husband in the ton!"

Two artists make one happy marriage.

...................................................................

[ohmyitsfaith]

The sunshine and the grump / Part 2

Pairing: Sparrow!Ben Hargreeves x Fem!Reader

Summary: Sudden visitors show up on a calm day and chaos ensues. Who are they and where did they come from? But most importantly why are they here? You, your husband and his family are ready to find some answers.

Warnings: fighting, Sparrow!Ben being sparrow!Ben

Word count: 3.3k

A/n: Hi everyone, I know, it's been a while. But here is something that should have been done sooner. The second part to The sunshine and the grump. Please forgive me for this, but in this part Viktor is refered to as "Vanya" and using she/her pronouns. This is solely for the reason that this story is from the reader's point of view and she doesn't know that he's Viktor. If there's an interest in a new part, then obviously I will incorporate him coming out as Viktor. Anyway, long a/n to the side, I hope you guys will enjoy it!

“Shit” broke out of the six people standing in front of you collectively.

Ben guided you behind him gently, sheltering you from the strangers.

“Ben?”

A soft sigh is all that could be heard from the guy wearing a cowboy hat. His eyes shimmered with unshed tears and you couldn’t even guess who he was and where he came from. You never saw him before and your husband wasn’t the type to make friends so easily. So why did this man know his name? Why did he look at him as if he saw a ghost?

“Is that really you?” the biggest guy walked forward, also looking distraught and his face twisted in confusion and grief.

“And who are those weirdos,” the walmart-batman guy yelled and you followed his line of sight, “on the balcony?”

Your eyebrows furrowed in slight anger, but before you could answer at all, Reginald spoke up.

“They are the Sparrows, my children.”

You felt, more than saw Ben standing up straighter and could only imagine the rest of the Hargreeves doing the same, up on the balcony.

“I’m sorry,” the small boy spoke up after the initial shock passed through his group. “What do you mean your children? That’s not possible, old man.”

“Of course it is!” Reginald exclaimed as your sibling-in-laws joined you downstairs. “I think I’d know, wouldn’t I?”

While most of the group looked at Reginald with untrusting gazes (which you could understand, he was your father-in-law and yet you didn’t trust the man fully), the cowboy hat guy was still looking at your husband with misty eyes.

“Everybody else can see Ben, right?” he asked, which made you even more confused. Why wouldn’t they be able to see your husband?

“Cute hat, Sundance” Ben said sarcastically, still keeping you behind him. You grabbed onto his arm lightly, to keep him grounded. But that’s exactly when the man noticed you and his eyes went even wider.

“Jennifer?” he asked louder, seemingly in shock and it prompted the rest of the group to look toward you, Ben’s arm curling around you protectively.

“Do not talk to my wife, asshole” he growled.

“Oh my gosh, it’s you! You- you guys are married!” cowboy hat guy gushed.

“Okay, that is it!” Ben moved to lash out against the guy, but Marcus stopped him.

“Enough” he said in his calming voice. “Who are you and why are you in our home?”

“They call themselves the Umbrella Academy,” Reginald answered instead. “A group of scheming, perfidious malcontents, who accosted me in the fall of 1963, when I was away on business in Dallas” he explained. “Be warned,“ he added, “they claim to be my spawn.”

That caught the attention of the woman with the very stylish cloak as she stepped forward.

“Claim?!” she then turned to her brother(?) in confusion. “Five, what the hell is going on?”

“I don’t know, but it’s concerning,” the little guy, Five, sighed.

“Is he telling the truth?” Marcus spoke up, looking at the so-called Umbrella Academy.

“Well, not the part about us being perfidious-” the other woman started, just to be immediately interrupted by the cowboy-hat guy.

“No, we’re amateur-fidious, at best” he said, which just confused you and, seemingly, the rest of the Sparrows as well.

“But we are his children. This is our house” the woman confirmed.

“Yeah, yeah, we, uh… We grew up here” the big guy jumped in.

“Oh, yeah, yeah, we grew up here” Alphonso mocked the guy, which made Fei and Jayme chuckle.

“I-” Sloane started. “Kinda think we would’ve noticed you.”

You could see the moment that the big guy realized who talked and just what kind of person she was. You saw his eyes light up and a dumb smile graced his features.

“Hi. I’m Luther” he stepped forward and offered his hand.

“Monkey-brain” you whispered and Ben scoffed.

“Okay” the stylish woman walked towards you. “None of you belong here.”

“What?” you asked at the same time Fei said sarcastically: “Oh, well then! I guess we’ll just pack our bags and move out.”

“Yeah and while we’re at it, how about we also give you our jobs. Clearly, you are so good at it” Christopher garbled. “Seriously, these idiots can’t even understand the fact that we are the ones living here, imagine what kind of heroes they are.”

This caused the Sparrows to laugh and even you let out a chuckle. He had a point.

“You slay me, Chris,” Ben shook his head.

The next moment Grace arrived with a plate filled with cookies. At her legs was your chonky cat C/n. He meowed lowly and hissed at the new people before darting across the space, toward Ben and you.

“I wasn’t expecting company,” Grace sighed as you leaned down to pick up C/n. “This is the best I could do on short-” she glitched and repeated the word again, “short… short notice.”

You winced as you stood up with C/n in your arms.

“It’s okay, darling boy” you whispered and started stroking his back. “They won’t hurt you. Daddy won’t let them.”

“Mom…” you heard wallmart-batman’s wistful voice, which immediately weirded you out.

And not just you, because Jayme spoke up as well.

“Mom? She’s a robot you perv” she scoffed.

“She’s not a robot!” wallmart-batman turned toward her defensively.

“Hey, don’t you call him that!” the big guy, Luther, snapped at Jayme.

“Or what?” Ben asked in defense of Jayme.

“Come closer and find out!” Luther stepped toward Ben as he started approaching the big guy as well.

“Luther! Guys, chill!” the smaller woman tried to stop Luther, while you reached out to stop Ben.

“Think I’m afraid?” Ben asked and you could feel his hostility roll off of him.

“Ben! Please” you asked him timidly, but your voice didn’t even reach him.

“Ben, stand down!” Marcus commanded, but Luther was speaking over him already and chaos started to form.

“Look at that, she’s got a voice!” he pointed at you.

“How about I hide that big Rubik’s Cube up your ass?” wallmart-batman asked, annoyed with Marcus.

“Enough!” Marcus finally shouted. “I don’t know what circus you escaped from,” Marcus started and you could see wallmart-batman touch his cheek, where something black just disappeared, “or how you got past our security, but we’re done here. You got 30 seconds to get out of our house” he said in a no-nonsense voice.

“And if we don’t?” the stylish woman asked just as you realized what was happening with wallmart-batman. You looked back at Jayme, who just shrugged.

“Then we’ll have to settle this the old-fashioned way” Marcus stepped forward, ever the leader.

You zeroed in on wallmart-batman, who looked totally out of it, sweat on his forehead and tears in his eyes.

“What did he hallucinate?” you whispered to Jayme.

“I’ll tell you later” she smirked.

“Look, we just fought a literal army. Okay?” the short woman tried to diffuse the situation. “This doesn’t need to get ugly. Let’s all just calm down and let’s talk.”

And honestly, you were on her side. You didn’t want to risk the house or your sibling-in-laws or C/n for that matter. This could definitely be…

“Psst. Ben-er-ino” cowboy hat guy sing-songed as he looked at your husband. You could see his shoulders tense even more and an exasperated sigh left him. “You look so much better alive than you do dead.”

Oh no…

“Am I right?” cowboy hat guy asked from the Umbrellas and the only thing you could do is wince. From this point onward you wished that he shut up because even you wouldn’t be able to stop your husband if he was angered by the guy. “Except the haircut” he waved his hands.

“Oh no” you winced as Alphonso reached out and pushed you even further from the Umbrellas to keep you safe. He knew just as well as any of the Sparrows: this is where it gets ugly.

“What the hell did you just say?” Ben stepped forward.

“Come on, come on!” cowboy hat guy walked toward Ben. “Stop with all the hostility, Mr. Grumpy Pants” he stopped in front of your husband and leaned forward. “Oh, nice scar! Muy macho.”

“Oof” you commented and you could hear Jayme scoff as well.

“Shut. Your. Mouth!” Ben snarled and you knew, only a string held his anger.

“You shut your mouth and hug your brother!” cowboy hat guy exclaimed and opened his arms for a hug. And that’s exactly when Ben struck.

It was truly a beautiful hook that Ben delivered, you had to admit. But you wished that cowboy hat would’ve just stopped before it got ugly. You watched as he fell across the coffee table and it caused Luther to snap at Ben.

“Hey! What the hell?” he snapped. “You didn’t have to do that!”

“Oh, I’m pretty sure I did!” Ben snapped back.

“That’s right, he did!” Alphonso backed him up.

“Hey, get back! Back off!” Marcus shouted as Luther stepped closer.

“Luther!” you heard the short woman yell out as Jayme grabbed your arm and pulled you behind the counter, just as Marcus pushed Luther.

And all hell broke loose. Marcus and Luther started fighting and the Sparrows and Umbrellas paired up as well.

“Jayme, get Y/n out of here!” Ben yelled as the small Umbrella teleported toward him and started fighting with him.

You could hear yelling from both the Sparrows and the Umbrellas as they fought and you could only try to stay calm as Jayme pulled you toward the exit. But you didn’t get far as the stylish woman intercepted you and Jayme, along with the short woman. You ducked just in time as one of Fei’s ravens dived in to try and attack the stylish woman, who immediately took up the fight.

“Sloane!” Jayme yelled out and pushed you toward the woman. “Take care of her! I have a shorter problem.”

This, C/n didn’t like and he jumped out of your hands, scratching them in the process.

“Ouch!” you hissed, holding it.

“C’mon Y/n, let’s get you out of here!”

“Alright” you nodded, frantic now that the chaos started to get to you.

You could hear Jayme knock the short woman down as Sloane tried to lead you toward the stairs. But that’s exactly where Fei and the stylish lady were fighting.

“Uh… okay, plan B” Sloane stepped back and looked up at the balcony.

“Oh, please, no” you tried to plead with her. “You know I don’t…”

“Just get to your room, we’ll get you, when we’re done here” she promised and you felt her powers wrap you up and lift you toward the balcony.

You landed behind the railing and stood up. That’s when you heard the short woman say: “My turn.”

You could see her turning… white? And you knew you had to flee. Before much else could happen though, Sloane used her powers on her as well, though less gentler than she did on you.

“Shit!” you yelled out as the short woman slammed into the pictures behind you as you ducked, afraid.

But just as you stumbled through the short hallway to be able to turn right, a knife whizzed by you and you soon heard Chris’s garbled yelling.

“Y/n, be careful!”

You looked back and saw him getting chased by wallmart-batman. You quickly fell to the left, where you could turn down the corner. Just in time, because in the next moment, Chris also turned that way, knives shooting toward him. You held your head for a second, trying to gather all your courage to move. You’ve never been this close to a fight, Ben always made sure that you were in a safe distance.

“Okay, Y/n, you have to move” you told yourself, gripping your hair. You screwed your eyes shut and took a deep breath. Then you stood up and sneaked toward the walkway.

But just as you reached the main staircase that led down, you bumped into the boy. Quite literally.

“Oh, you…” he narrowed his eyes.

“Please don’t hurt me” you put your arms up, in front of your face.

“You’re harmless?” the boy arched an eyebrow, suspicious of your surrender.

“I swear! I’m just Ben’s wife, a normal human!” you pleaded.

The next moment he flashed away. You flinched, but the punch never came. Instead you heard the swooshing sound three more times and he was back at the portraits. You peered over the railing to see Jayme approach him and the stylish lady. Before you could be spotted by stylish lady, you ducked back down and continued sneaking away from the scene.

“Hey!” you were almost at the end of the hall, when you heard her yell. You tried moving forward, but she was faster. She grabbed the back of your shirt, lifting you up.

“Please, please, please, don’t hurt me” you whimpered. “I’m no one, I’m just a simple girl!”

“Yeah I don’t believe that, Jennifer!” she accused you.

“That’s the second time you called me that, but I don’t…” you breathed as you felt her grip tighten on you. “I swear I don’t know who she is! I’m just Y/n!”

“Well…”

But stylish lady couldn’t say much more as Fei appeared on the stairs.

“Y/n!” she yelled for you. “Leave her alone, you bitch!”

“That’s not a nice thing to say!” stylish lady let go of you. “I heard a rumor you couldn’t move” she whispered over you and instantly, you froze.

You couldn’t move, only watch as Fei approached her and her ravens started multiplying. Stylish lady saw this and her eyes widened.

“Actually, on second thought, screw this” she said, turning around and making a run for it.

You were left there by her, still unable to move.

“Y/n, I’ll deal with her and take care of you” Fei leaned down to you as she reached you. “I promise I’ll avenge this.”

You could only look forward as Fei left you once again. You could hear the commotion behind you as Fei’s ravens started destroying a door somewhere close to you. Not much later you actually heard the familiar swooshing sound of the boy teleporting and his frantic muttering.

Suddenly whatever spell was placed on you was broken and you fell forward.

“Oh God” you sighed out, grabbing at your elbow which you hit as you fell. You also saw the dried blood on the back of your hand where C/n scratched you. Poor kitten was probably scared out of his mind.

“Vanya, get out of there!” you suddenly heard the boy shout and you slowly stood up to peer over the railing, into the living room.

There lay the short woman on the broken table and the Sparrows slowly surrounded him. You saw her breathing hard and groaning, trying to get back up. Suddenly she started glowing white. You couldn’t make sense of it, but knew it couldn’t be any good.

“Ben, be careful!” you shouted just before she… exploded? Her energy exploded, which threw you back to the railing behind you.

It was over before you knew it and could hear the others groaning and getting up from the debris.

“Oh god…” you heard Chris garble. “What the hell was that?”

Marcus appeared in your vision and offered a hand.

“Are you okay?” he asked gently.

“Never better” you groaned, accepting his hand. He pulled you up and led you to the balcony, where he looked down at the destruction.

“It’s over” he started. “Go. Don’t come back.”

You could only focus on Ben, who stood in front of the fireplace, clutching his side. Marcus sighed next to you as him and the rest of the Sparrows watched the woman, Vanya, exit.

“Y/n” Marcus turned to you. “C’mon, I’ll take you to Grace, she’ll fix you up.”

You nodded silently, sparing another look at your husband and his family standing in the debris.

You sighed as you exited the bathroom. It’s been about an hour since you got stitched by Grace (when you hit the railing it split the skin on your head open) and then you went to take a shower to freshen up. Meanwhile though, your husband was nowhere to be found around you.

You could only guess that they got a dressing down from Marcus, blaming them for the destruction. So you headed to the only place where you knew they could be: the training room.

“Y/n!” you heard Grace’s voice call out as you headed toward the room. “Do you need a smoothie too?”

“No thanks, Grace” you smiled at the robot. “I’m fine. Is that for the guys?”

“Of course, they need their greens for their training” she said as she caught up with you.

You nodded silently and opened the door in front of you.

“The skinny one is their weak link” you heard Fei say as you entered.

“Unless hiding behind couches shouting, ‘Where’s my daddy?’ is his superpower” Ben replied sarcastically.

Grace put the tray down on the table and you leaned against the wall to watch your husband stop the treadmill and slow to a walk before getting off of it.

“Enough post-gaming. They hurt Y/n and disrespected us!” he said as he walked toward you. “We need to be out there finding these freaks and taking ‘em out!”

He reached you and put an arm around you, kissing your forehead gently, which contrasted so much from his harsh words.

“Oh, you mean like this?” Marcus asked and switched whatever video was playing to the surveillance footage of the last moment of the fight. The others sighed and stopped their treadmills as well. Marcus walked in front of them and shook his head. “Can someone explain to me how you got your asses handed to you in 30 seconds?”

You sighed, massaging Ben’s back as he stiffened at Marcus’s admonishments.

“Do you have any idea what would happen to our reputation if anyone had seen that?!” he yelled at the end, pointing to the TV screen. “I mean we hadn’t faced any decent enemies for years. This could be good for us. Good for business. But only if we’re smart with our next moves.”

“Is that all you care about?” you spoke up suddenly, annoyed to see that the version of him that only cared about missions and being famous came out.

“I’m sorry?” he turned toward you.

“Did you even try to think about what these people could be here for? That what they were saying is true?”

“Y/n…” Ben shushed you. “Don’t make things worse, darling.”

“I’m not trying to. But did you even notice their faces? When they were talking, when they looked at you?” you looked at him. “The way they fought? I mean tell me if their style doesn’t seem familiar…”

“Y/n, this discussion is not for you. Our next move is not for you to decide” Marcus spoke up sternly. “You are not a Sparrow. You are not part of the team.”

“Fine” you gritted your teeth, then pulled out of Ben’s arms and turned around, just as Reginald came in.

“Nice one dipshit” Ben snarled at Marcus.

“You summoned, Number One?” Reginald asked Marcus.

Marcus regarded Ben and you for a second, before looking at Reginald.

“Sit” he said and you walked out.

You leaned against the wall as the door closed behind you and took a deep breath. You thought about all that the Umbrellas said before the fight ensued. And one thing stuck out.

It looked like they recognised you. But not all of them. And they called you… someone. Some other name… what was it?

Oh yeah, Jennifer. But who was this Jennifer?

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Taglist: @divergentnewt23, @evie2407, @snixx2088, @inkedeye2345

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

Aita for not telling my friend that her husband is gay and cheating on her for months after I found out?

Okay so I really don't know what the right move would have been in this situation and I feel really bad about it.

So I, 28(f) have two childhood friends who I'll call Rose (28f) and Matt (28m). Rose and Matt started dating in school, married quickly after that and have been together for years. It had been a really fairytale relationship and honestly I was really jealous of their relationship for a long time, before this situation started.

So I was hanging out with a friend who didnt know Matt and Rose, who we'll call Ben (30m). We were chilling together and he got a grindr notification. We like to share like who were talking to, what the plans are etc and he showed me this guy he'd matched with and it was Matt. I freaked out, Ben was like "hey maybe theyve got an open relationship and you don't know" I was skeptical but I had to admit that there was a small possibility that was the case. Ben sent me screenshots of Matt's profile and their texts and I arranged to hang out with Matt by himself the next week.

So when we hung out I confronted him about it with the screenshots and he broke down and told me the truth. He's gay, he's known he was gay since he was 13ish, and he's terrified of his, very conservative, family finding out. I asked him if Rose knew, and he confirmed that she didn't and he's been telling her that he's visiting family/other friends and instead meeting guys from Grindr to sleep with.

I was trying to balance my support for him, because I really felt for him and his inner turmoil being closeted for so long - I'm bi myself and it took me a long time to feel comfortable sharing my sexuality with people - and my anger for him cheating on Rose. I was also concerned because he was just meeting randos and sleeping with them with nobody knowing where he was, like bad shit could happen and nobody would know. We talked for over 5 hours going over all aspects of the situation, and by the end of it he said that he was going to come clean to Rose and tell her the truth and theyd figure out what to do from there.

Matt never told her. I waited for two months before I pressed the issue because, well that's a huge thing to talk about and I didn't want to pester him any more that it needed to be pressed. But after two months, he hadn't said anything and I was like "hey, she needs to know about this. You have no idea if youve given her any stis from the number of people you've slept with. She needs to know." He said he was going to tell her when he got home. He didn't.

In fact, Matt never told her willingly. Two weeks after I confronted him for the second time, a different friend came across him on Grindr in an unconnected situation, and he sent the screenshot straight to Rose without talking to Matt first. She immediately left him. She got an sti test and he had given her gonorrhoea.

They're getting a divorce. His family is incredibly homophobic, so Rose and Matt have agreed that they will gender swap who he cheated with when talking to his family (I.e., admitting he was using dating apps to cheat and the number of times he'd cheated but claiming that all of that was with woman rather than men). Since then they haven't spoken and Rose has been staying with her family.

I've told her all of my side of what happened and while she understands why I spoke to Matt first, she says she's upset that I didn't tell her at the same time, as gonorrhoea usually takes about two weeks to develop in the system and she (direct quote) "might have walked away with a shred of dignity if I wasn't peeing fire while i come to terms with being a useful idiot."

I feel dreadful. Obviously the blame really lies with Matt for giving her gonorrhoea in the first place but I can't help but feel responsible for not telling her when it was clear he wasn't going to do it by himself.

Aita?

[coolemmasulivan2]

Rewinding Us | 2

Pairing: Mason Mount x Reader

Summary: You and Mason built a love story over five years, but after an accident, your memories are wiped away, including any feelings for your constant bickering "rival". Can you remember your love story with Mason, or will you have to start all over?

Word count: 2736

You can read part 1 here, part 3 here and part 4 here

I am thinking of you In my sleepless solitude tonight If it's wrong to love you Then my heart just won't let me be right

The villa was filled with the anxious feeling of saying goodbye. Tomorrow, everyone would go back to their own lives, leaving behind the sun and freedom of the past week.

You zipped and unzipped your suitcase, feeling that you were forgetting something. You couldn't remember what it was and that frustrated you. Your head was a confusing mess.

Things had been awkward with Mason since you brought up the kiss. Every glance, every brush of your arms, sent shivers down your spine. You tried to ignore it, pretend nothing had changed, but you would be lying. The accident hadn't just stolen your memories, it had changed something deep inside you.

"I hate you!"

"Do you really, Y/n?"

The flashback vanished, leaving you staring at your half-packed suitcase. A cold sweat ran through your skin. You knew the answer to that question. You hated him then, but now the feeling was different and it was terrifying. So, you ran.

The morning after the confrontation, a suffocating silence settled between you and Mason. You maintained your distance and were drawn to others, ensuring there was always a physical barrier between you and him.

Seeing your calculated distance hurt Mason. He wanted to tell you how much he missed the way you used to laugh with him, the way your eyes would light up when you spoke with him, your touch and your lips. But he had to give you time. More time.

"You're still packing?" Ben entered the bedroom and sat down on the bed next to the open luggage.

You were sat on the other side of the bed, folding slowly some of your clothes. "I'm getting there. What's the rush? I have all night." You smiled and he smiled back.

"Is everything okay?" His voice was gentle.

You looked up at him. "Yeah. Just tired from the beach, that's all!"

Ben's gaze held yours, amusement quickly replaced by a knowing sparkle. "You've been quiet!" He observed, his voice soft. "For these past two days." You kept folding clothes, slowly and carefully. Ben continued, his voice laced with a quiet persistence. "Does it have anything to do with… Mase?"

You paused, the question hanging heavy in the air. How could you explain the tangled mess of emotions stirring inside you?

You locked eyes with Ben, the lie a bitter flavour on your tongue. "No!" You forced out, the word barely a whisper.

Ben chuckled. "You forget I know you, Y/N. You've been ignoring him like a ghost." He paused, letting the weight of his words sink in. "Ignoring him more than usual, I mean. You haven't even started your usual arguing routine."

Frustration bubbled up, spilling over in a sigh. You slammed the suitcase shut. "It feels like everyone's lying to me." You blurted out, your voice thick with a tremor you couldn't control. "You included! Why can't anyone just tell me the truth?"

Ben raised an eyebrow, concern etched on his face. "What do you mean?"

"It's like you're all walking on eggshells." You said, throwing a frustrated hand in the air. "There's something you're not telling me. Everyone."

Ben's easy smile faltered for a moment, a flicker of unease crossing his features. "You're imagining things."

His words felt like a weak dam incapable of holding back the suspicion inside of you. "Imagining?" You scoffed. "Then tell me, Ben. What was my life like before the accident? Was I happy?"

"Happy? Yeah, of course you were. Living your life, having a job you liked, good friends…"

"And Mason? Did we still…hated each other?" You pressed on, your voice laced with a desperate need for answers. A hesitant pause followed your question.

Ben shifted uncomfortably, his gaze flitting away from yours. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again, his eyes darting around the room as if searching for an escape route. "I mean… you started to become more friendly with each other, yes… is that a bad thing?" His answer was carefully chosen, without revealing the true nature of your relationship with Mason.

You narrowed your eyes. "Friendly?" You repeated the single word dripping with disbelief. "Ben, you're lying to me."

Ben stuttered, his carefully constructed facade crumbling. "I, uh... I think it's better if you ask Mason about that, don't you think?"

The suggestion felt like a betrayal. Swallowing the lump in your throat, you mumbled: "He's probably going to lie too." Asking Mason about your relationship meant facing the possibility of something more.

Ben reached for your hand. "Look…" He said, his voice softer now. "I can't even imagine how it feels to wake up without memory. But if you want answers, maybe you should ask them to the right people." His gaze held yours for a beat longer than necessary. Then, with a quick kiss on your forehead, he turned and left the room, leaving you alone with your thoughts.

The next day, the drive to the airport was a blur of familiar views and friendly conversation. Charlotte, in the front seat, chatted excitedly about her plans, when they arrived back in London, while Ben and Mason talked quietly about an old football match.

The airport was loud with lots of people and long lines. As you checked in, you felt more and more worried. You just couldn't shake the feeling that you had left something behind.

Finally, when you got to the gate to wait for the plane, you remembered. "Wait!" You shouted. Your hand went straight to your neck. "I can't leave! I forgot my necklace."

"We can't go back, Y/n." Ben said kindly. "We'll miss our flight."

"But I have to!" Your voice was desperate. "It's a silver chain with a heart pendant. I can't leave without it!"

Surprise flickered across Mason's face. Mason knew about the necklace, he had given it to you on your first anniversary as a couple, but he hadn't realised that you had been wearing it all this time.

"Y/n, we really don't have time for this." Charlotte added.

"Then you guys go!" You snapped, the words tumbling out before youe could stop them. "I'll catch a later flight."

A tense silence descended upon the group. It confused him why the necklace meant so much to you, especially since you couldn't even recall that it was a gift from him.

"I'll go with her." Mason said. "We'll be quick, but if you need to leave, you can go!" You stared at him, your heart pounding. Why would he offer to go with you? Was it pity? "What are we waiting for? Let's go!"

You were so anxious that you kept your mouth closed and followed him out of the airport.

The car ride back to the villa was tense. The music offered a thin shield against the awkward silence that installed between you and Mason. He stole glances your way, craving to hear your voice, to see your familiar eyes. Finally, unable to bear the quiet any longer, he spoke.

"Why is the necklace so important to you?" Mason asked, his voice soft.

"Because it's mine!" You replied, looking at him. "I don't know why exactly. I woke up with it, and I just take it off to shower. Must've left it on the sink by mistake." You mumbled the last part, a hint of frustration creeping into your voice.

"Maybe you could just buy a new one. It's easier." He suggested. When you sighed heavily, he realized he was pissing you off.

"I don't want another one, Mount." You snapped, his last name slipping out in irritation. "That is my necklace."

A small smile tugged at Mason's lips. The human brain was a fascinating thing, he thought, storing away memories even when you couldn't access them.

Back at the villa, you recovered the spare key from the hidden place and hurried inside, the urgency of the situation finally sinking in. You raced upstairs, Mason following at a slower pace. He knew the chances of making the flight were slim, so there was no point in rushing.

He found you in the bathroom, kneeling on the floor and frantically searching for the silver necklace. "Oh my god, it's not here!"

"Maybe it's in the bedroom." Mason offered. "Come on, I'll help you find it."

In the bedroom, you checked the nightstand, under the bed, and even tossed the pillows aside, but it was nowhere to be found. Just as despair began to set in, Mason spotted a glint of silver on the floor.

"Found it!"

The familiar sight made your eyes light up, a spark that sent a jolt through Mason. He hadn't realized how much he missed seeing that spark in your eyes. A shy smile graced your lips, and for a moment, Mason felt like he was falling in love with you all over again.

"Oh my god, thank you." You breathed out.

"Turn around." He said, his voice barely a whisper. You hesitated for a second but then found yourself turning, allowing him to clasp the necklace around your neck.

His movements were slow, his body brushing tantalizingly close. You could feel his warm breath on your neck, sending shivers down your spine. As his fingers brushed your skin, a sudden wave of dizziness washed over you, and a memory slammed into your mind out of nowhere.

"What do you have behind your back?" You asked, your voice thick with joy.

It was your first anniversary together, and after dinner, you'd settled on the couch for a movie night. But Mason had excused himself for a few minutes, returning with a mischievous grin and his hand hidden behind his back.

He sat down beside you and brushed a kiss across your lips, his familiar cologne making you smile. "I have something for you." He announced.

He smirked as he opened a small black box, revealing a delicate silver necklace adorned with a perfectly formed heart, causing your heart to melt.

Tears welled up in your eyes, blurring your vision. "Mason, it's beautiful!" You whispered, taking the delicate gift from his hand.

He leaned in, his eyes searching yours. "Just like you." He murmured, his voice husky with emotion. And then, he closed the distance between you, his lips meeting yours in a kiss that was both tender and passionate.

The memory hit you so vividly that it took your breath away. You gasped, clutching the necklace to your chest and stepping back from Mason, your eyes wide with shock. He stood there with a confused expression on his face, his hands still hovering in the air where they'd just clasped the necklace around your neck.

"What?" He asked, concern lacing his voice.

You attempted to steady your breathing, but your mind was in turmoil.

This memory explained the strange possessiveness in his eyes when you first mentioned the necklace and the way his touch sent a familiar shiver down your spine. You didn't even know what to say. The memory left you in a sea of confusion.

"Y-You…" You stuttered, the word catching in your throat.

Mason was starting to get worried. He took a step closer, his hand reaching out hesitantly. "What is it, Y/n?"

"You were the one!" You blurted out, the words tumbling from your lips. "You gave me the necklace!"

Mason swallowed the lump in his throat and his heart was beating very fast. He wanted to say yes, that the necklace was a gift from him, a symbol of his love, but by the terrifying look in your eyes, he controlled himself.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He said, his voice a low rumble.

You took a step back, confused and terrified by what the memory had brought surging to the surface. "I saw you!" You insisted, your voice shaking. "The necklace. It was a black box."

Mason let out a nervous chuckle, the sound strained and unconvincing. "Y/n, I think you're confusing things."

"STOP LYING TO ME!" You yelled, a burst of frustration.

"YES, IT WAS ME!" He shouted in response, finally letting go. The frustration in his voice mirrored yours. He was tired. He was tired of pretending he didn't want to be by your side every single day. "I gave you the necklace. Happy now?"

You squeezed the necklace in your hand. You didn't know what to feel. Since you'd met Mason years ago, your interactions had been filled with annoyance and hatred. But now, those new feelings were scary. You were afraid. Afraid of feeling something more for the handsome footballer standing before you.

"Why?" You whispered, your voice barely audible. "Why did you give me the necklace?"

Mason ran a hand through his hair and let out a sigh. "If you remember the box was black, you also remember we kissed." His eyes locked on yours. "God, Y/n, it's not that difficult. We were together."

You shook your head in denial, the image of his lips meeting yours in the memory flashing before your eyes. "No!" You breathed.

"Yes!" He said, his voice firm.

"No. We hate each other. That's impossible." The words tumbled out, a desperate attempt to cling to the reality you remembered.

Ignoring the protest in your voice, Mason took a step forward, forcing you to back up until you felt the cool wall against your back. The gesture sent a jolt through you, a mix of fear and a strange, unfamiliar excitement. He slowly took another step, and another, until he was impossibly close, his chest brushing against yours. You could feel the heat radiating from his body.

"Do you hate me?" He asked, his voice a husky whisper. He was so close that you could count the small freckles peppered across his nose. "Do you hate me like you used to?"

You opened your mouth to respond, but the words caught in your throat. His lips were a mere breath away, distracting you. "No-- yes, y-yes, I do!"

He reached out, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. The tension was unbearable. "I don't believe you." He said.

"I don't car--"

"I love you!" The words exploded from him. His eyes holding yours captive. The force of his words left you speechless. Your legs felt like jelly, threatening to buckle beneath you. "I have been loving you for a long time."

"Don't say that, Mason."

"I missed you calling me Mason." He murmured, his gaze dropping to your lips. The air crackled with unspoken desire. "Fuck," He breathed, his voice thick with frustration. "I miss you so damn much."

There was a tense silence between you. You and Mason stared at each other, searching each other's eyes for answers. A slow smile played on Mason's lips, a hint of worry mixed in. He leaned closer, slowly, like a magnet drawn to you. Your heart pounded in your chest, a frantic drum against your ribs. Every part of you wanted to step back, to run away. But you couldn't move. Then, a second later, his lips met yours.

The kiss was passionate and gentle. Mason's hands cupped your face softly like he was afraid to break something. You wrapped your hand in his shirt, clinging to him as the kiss deepened. Without even thinking, you kissed him back, pouring all your jumbled emotions into the kiss.

It was a kiss that belonged to a different you. A you who maybe, loved Mason back. The realization slammed into you like a cold shower. You pulled away abruptly, gasping for air.

Mason's eyes searched your face. His hand brushed your cheek, a lingering touch that sent shivers down your spine. "Y/n…" He started, his voice hoarse., because of the kiss.

"I-I can't." You stuttered, the words slipping out in a rush. You stumbled away, needing distance. It was all too much.

"Wait!" Mason reached for you, but you were already running towards the exit. Tears pricked at your eyes, blurring your vision. You didn't dare look back, afraid of wanting to stay with him.

The fresh air hit you as you burst out of the villa, your lungs burning.

Focused on escaping from Mason, you hadn't noticed the car speeding down the street. It wasn't slowing down.

A screech of tyres tore through the pavement, followed by a loud honk. You heard a desperate shout - "Y/N!" - but it was too late. The world seemed to blur as the blinding headlights filled your vision.

[sunny44]

Marriage (Part 9)

Pairing: Max Verstappen x ex fiancée!reader Mason Mount x Fiancée!reader

Warnings: nothing

Summary: Max leaves his fiancée y/n at the altar on their wedding day but after years of regretting what he did, by a miracle of fate (or Lando) she appears in his life again.

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Since the day we argued, Mason had been staying at Ben's house and I had been alone since then.

The test was still in the drawer and I hadn't looked at it yet.

Since the fight, I hadn't had the courage to look, and I didn't want to do it alone.

Not without him.

I knew he wasn't thrilled about me coming to Monaco with him, but since we had already agreed that both of us would go and it would be strange if only he showed up, I ended up going too.

This time, Phil and Ruben were joining us.

Mase and I were sitting side by side, but it felt like we were miles apart.

When we arrived at the hotel, we were obviously in the same room. I dropped the bags in the corner and sat on the bed.

"Can we talk?"

"I'm heading for a shower now."

“Mase.”

“Please, don’t do this right now.”he said, entering the bathroom.

I sighed defeated and held back tears, mainly because the fault for us being like this was mine.

I kept thinking that if I had told him the truth none of this would’ve happened, the fact that I hurt him makes me sick.

So I decided to leave the room and go to the restaurant to eat something because I was very hungry. I sat at a table as discreet as possible and ordered a burger.

"Can I join you?" I heard a voice and saw Max.

"I don't think it's a good idea."

"Please?"

"Look, I don't want to be rude, but I'm not in a good mood and you've caused me a lot of problems lately."

"What do you mean?" He said, sitting. "Is everything okay?"

"Mason found your letter." I said, looking at him. "And we're not doing well."

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault."

"Apparently, it is."

"In this case, it's not." I sighed. "You apologized many times and I decided to keep dwelling on the past and not forgive."

"You're upset, and rightfully so. I hurt you, and I'm sorry for that." He said. “You don’t need to accept my apologies if you don’t feel like forgiving me.

"I know you're sorry and even though I have every reason to be upset, I choose to keep remembering our situation and Instead of moving on and stop dwelling on all the bad things that happened to me and that’s why I ended up missing out on the good things in my life." I sighed. "I wasn't unhappy. I found someone who loves me for who I am, and I didn't appreciate that. I preferred to dwell on the past instead of focusing on the future, and here I am."

"Do you love him?"

"What?"

"Do you really love Mason? Because if the answer is yes, you should go after him." He spoke calmly. "But if the answer is no because you still feel something for me, even if it's minimal, I want you to know that I still love you, and if you want to give me a chance, I'm here."

I didn't say anything, just sighed, and at that moment, my burger arrived.

"Thank you.” I thanked the waiter.

"I'll be in my room." he said, getting up. "If you show up there, I know we still have a chance. But if you don't show up, I'll understand that you chose him."

"Max."

"Just think about it, please." he said and left me alone with my thoughts.

Bonus scene!

Masonmount instagram stories

“Another weekend, another F1 GP”

Taglist: @ironmaiden1313 @dudenhaaa27 @christianpulisic10 @gaslysainz @fanboyluvr @urgirlceci @justdreamersdream @aundercoverosh @newlifeforus @depressedriches @topguncultleader @luvrrish @tyna-19 @esposadomd @formulas-bitch

Just to let you guys know, I will write to part’s 10, one is with a Max ending and the other one is with a Mason ending.

[tothosewholisten]

Forever Healed | TUA insert

Chapter: 11

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Masterlist

…

Diego was heated, he had a vengeful look in his eyes that showed that. I was asleep for most of the ride back to his house because of how early it was in the morning but when I was up I could hear him muttering things to himself. He wanted Hazel and Cha-Cha dead and I don’t blame him.

They took away his lover, I don’t know anything about their relationship but I could tell she meant everything to him. When you lose a lover you’ll do anything to bring them back and avenge them, even if they're not sensible. There was no one to stop me from the things I did when I lost Ben, but Diego doesn't have to go through the same thing.

I'll be here for him if he needs me and if he doesn't want to kill me too.

When he noticed I was awake his grip on the steering wheel was a clear indication that he was about to burst. I readied myself for anything thrown my way while activating my powers.

But he didn't do anything to harm me, instead, he took a deep breath. “What do you know about Five’s behavior since he’s been back?” Diego asked me.

“What?” I whispered confusedly.

He scoffs. "What has he been doing? You should know, since every time you leave the academy it's with him.”

Was that true? I can’t keep track of what I do anymore. There are too many side plots in my life taking away my thoughts from the actual big thing, the apocalypse.

Instead of making eye contact with him, I look out the window as I speak. “Look, Five’s not exactly an open book. The first time I found him outside of the academy, I was trying to go into Griddy’s. And what do I find? The boy surrounded by a bunch of dead soldiers?”

Diego hung onto every word I said, trying to piece together if I was as crazy as Five was or actually telling the truth. “Then he tells me to cut this tracker thing out of his arm. He blinks us into Vanya’s house to tell us the world is ending in a couple of days. I mean can you believe that?” I rambled.

He stops the car in the middle of the busy road, and the tires let out a horrible screech. “What did you say?” He whispers, turning to me slowly. Not caring about the blasting horns from cars around us.

“The world is ending in four days?”

..

Once we reached the dojo, Diego bolted out of the car not stopping for anything, not even questions from poor Al who was just wondering if he helped Eudora or not.

“Diego, don’t do something you’re going to regret. Five isn’t the enemy here.” I cut in front of his long stride.

“Well, he sure as hell isn’t innocent either.” He pushes past me and slams open his front door.

Luther and Five were in there just where we left them last night. And Five seemed to be finally sober and he sat upright on Diego’s bed, in a conversation with the man sitting in front of him.

“Piece of shit.” Diego roared out as he tried to tackle Five. “Do you have any idea what you just did?”

I grabbed onto the back of his shirt to pull him back but he slipped out of my grasp. But instead of landing on Five, Diego was met by the solid body of Luther, who stopped him. “Nope, let me— Get your ape hands off of me!” He screams.

Luther remains calm with Diego wiggling around in the air. “I can do this as long as it takes you to calm down.”

“Fine.” Diego pants and then gets dropped onto the ground. Luther stares at me from behind all of this. He gives me a what's going on type glance but all I can do is look at Five.

“Now, you wanna tell us what you’re talkin' about?” Luther asked.

“These two have been pretty busy since Five got back.” Diego starts. “They were in the middle of the shootout at Griddy’s, and then Five was at Gimble Brothers after the guys in masks attacked the Academy; looking for him.” He pieced together information that I told him during the car ride to put me and Five at the center of blame.

“Seriously Diego?” I ask.

“None of which is any of your concern.” Five spoke up for the first time since we walked in.

“It is now, they just killed my friend.”

Luther looks at me “You’re involved with this Y/n?”

Before I get a chance to defend myself I'm cut off by Five. “No, she’s not, I just needed her for her abilities.” Who answers too quickly for that to be true.

“Yes, her perfect abilities. Y/n, you wanna tell Luther what you told me.”

“I barely know the details, Diego, this isn’t my story to tell, ask the time traveler who was there!”

We were all rapid-fire arguing with one another. And no one could hear the exact words we were saying because of how much we spoke over each other. But overall was Diego not believing me, me trying to say how lost I was and Five explaining this was still none of his business. Luther just stared blankly.

“Hey, hey, hey hey,” Luther yells.

“What!” The three of us yell back.

“Shut the hell up. Five I want answers, who are these masked people and what does Y/n mean about the end of the world? I want these answers now, the two of you wait your turn.” Probably the first time Luther has gotten anyone to be quiet, he sounds like a leader.

Five looks down “They work for my former employer. A woman called The Handler. She sent them.. to stop me. Then, as soon as Diego’s friend got in their way, well, fair game.”

“That’s cruel Five.” I cut in.

Diego takes a step closer to him and gets up in his face. “And now they’re my fair game. And I'm gonna see to it they pay.” He grits his teeth.

“That would be a mistake, Diego. They’ve killed people far more dangerous than you.”

“Oh yeah well we’ll see about that.”

Diego was ready to take action and leave but Luther held him in place for the answer to his final question. “So when is it supposed to happen? This apocalypse.”

“Well I can’t give you the exact hour, but.. from what I could gather. We have four days left.”

Luther gawks at him. “Why didn't you mention it to all of us sooner?”

“It wouldn't have mattered.” He sighs.

“Of course, it would! We could’ve banded together and helped you try and stop this thing.”

“For the record, you already tried.”

“What do you mean?” Diego asks grumpily.

Five is quiet, he tries to find the best way to say this so that his brothers don’t go crazy. “I found you guys. Your bodies.”

“We all die?” I questioned. That couldn’t have been right, in his journal someone was alive. But I couldn’t make out the name since Diego pulled all of us away to find Five.

“Horribly.” Five says, “all except for one.” He gazes at me.

My body shutters. “The one you wrote about in your book. The one who was still alive in all of the rummage, that was me?”

Why didn't my future self come back with Five to this timeline. What happened?

He answered my suspicions like he was reading my mind. “You were dying slowly Y/n, whoever ended the world did more damage to you than the regular human. We were together for a while and you aged the same as me, slowly. But when The Handler came to me, you didn’t want anything to do with it. Said you had gone through enough pain.”

“I don’t know what happened to you after.” Five said with an undertone of sadness, the best he could probably give without sobbing.

I think I have an idea what happened, I told myself I would never do it. But life has been hard ever since I was young, especially after losing Ben. In the future, I think I killed myself and forced my body to not heal.

This is what Reginald feared I'd do, but even if he made my blood into a healing solution he wouldn't be there to use it on me. It’s a scary thought, but I won't bring it up to them.

Five went on to explain that we worked as a team since all of our bodies were lying in rubble. And the MeriTech eye was worn by the person we were fighting since it was in Luther’s clasped hand. And then he told us about where he worked, the commission.

He went to all kinds of different time periods and killed people who messed with the timeline, and in exchange, he would eventually get to go home. But while being sent out on a mission to kill John F. Kennedy decided that he was going to disobey. And tried to get back to us on his own, so he could save us and save the world.

That's what we saw during Reginald’s funeral. But he messed up the equations and got stuck as a kid. Luther looked on in horror at Five's actions but this only seemed to fuel Diego's rage against Hazel and Cha-Cha.

Me though, I just wanted to go hug Benny.

“So where do we go from now?” I quietly ask the group.

“I'm tracking down those lunatics,” Diego mutters while leaving the room. Luther gasps. “I gotta find Allison and tell her.” Leaving me and Five, in Diego’s room.

“I just have one more question,” I say. “Did I tell you who ends the world?”

“No, all you said was, it wasn't her fault.” he says disappointed. I rack my brain trying to understand what that meant. I know this person personally.

“I know this doesn't make sense, I wish I knew more too. The best thing we can do is keep trying to solve this.” He says.

“I can’t go back to the academy right now, Five. Diego needs someone, even if he doesn't want it to be me. I need to do something.”

He sighs. “You always feel the need to help us Y/n, and what about yourself? Diego will chase you away and make you feel small then what, you're gonna force yourself to help him anyways?”

“I know I can’t fix everything, I can't heal emotions. But I can give someone an avenue to take their feelings out. Even if that's at my own expense. I don’t care.”

Five eyes widen when he looks at me. “Y/n..”

“It’ll be fine, trust me. And if it doesn't work, I'll come back to the academy and find you okay?” I say as I try to lighten the mood.

He only nods but lets me go anyway. I give him a meaningless smile as I leave the room, knowing I shared too much information and gave away a part of myself I hoped others would never comment on.

..

I let her leave to help him, even though it's going to amount to nothing. I just couldn’t help it, her kind but harmful manner got to me, and she’s too nice for her own good. Just like she was in the apocalypse..

But they had their differences too, even though their brains only differed a couple of days from each other. That Y/n lost her spark and this one is slowly draining herself of it. Delores tells me not to think too much about her, but how can I not? I left her there to die. And it's haunted me ever since.

I remember that day when I found her in the rummage. I was young and scared since I couldn’t blink back home. It took me a while to recognize whose body lay with my siblings, but it was the newest addition to the fucked up regiment Reginald made.

She was faintly moving before she started to cough up blood and debris. She was also very malnourished and scared, so once she was able to get up we started to talk. Not about the apocalypse because every time I asked she dodged the topic.

We stayed together in the wasteland of crushed buildings and fire, eating scraps that made her throw up. Her body wasn’t retaining any food, sleep, or healing abilities but she always told me she was okay.

I caught her a few times talking to herself, about my siblings and how sorry she was that she couldn’t save them from her. It was just us, and Delores for so many years.

I aged into an old man at the same time she did. But during that, she stayed small and weak. Like she was on the brink of dying, a fact I didn't want to think about. I couldn’t survive without her, I'd go crazy.

Then The Handler arrived and offered us both a chance to get out of there. I looked at her for an answer but she looked lost. I was glad to get out of this hellhole but weary for the future with this not trustworthy company. But I had her, the two of us could get through it.

Instead of sharing my excitement, she tells me to go without her. Saying that she’s likely to die anyway and that she’s tired of chasing a perfect world that doesn't exist. I explained to her I'd go through that with her but she’s dead set on going.

“My life is over Five.” She wheezes. “And I'm okay with that, I got to live it with you and everyone else. But you, you can keep going. Avenge this world and maybe someday we can be happy again.”

I try to speak but she cuts me off. “Maybe if I'm lucky enough, I'll finally get to see Ben!”

That broke me the most and with a lot of convincing from her, I was finally ready to take The Handlers offer. After goodbyes, she hugs me. “When did you get so tall?”

It was our final laugh together.

Before I left she whispered something to me away from prying eyes. “Promise me something Five.”

“Anything you want.”

“Promise me, you’ll break out of this bullshit and go back to the past.”

“What?”

“Listen. Go back to the past, how I don’t know but you're smart enough to figure it out. And stop all of this from happening, I know that's a huge thing to ask. But at least give it a try. Get back to us, get back to me, okay?”

“Of course, I'll try.” I sniffled.

“Don’t cry, do your best, live your life and try not to think about me too much.” Even then she still found a way to laugh.

“Now go before I cry too!”

She never wanted me to see her sad, or hurting even though I knew every move she made broke another part of herself. Y/n gave me one more hug before I stepped through The Handler’s briefcase portal.

I spent years trying to forget about a woman I should’ve never met. A woman I wouldn’t meet again until fulfilling her wish of going back to the past. But that version of her barely knew me, and all the things we did together. But that didn’t stop me from including her in all I did, to track down the person who ended the world. Even if she would never know about the love I had for that woman.

I was going to save my siblings and her from the apocalypse. Because I promised her I would.

…

I tried smth different this chapter tell me what u think!

Taglist: @aloflapse @isomehowexist @elenalovestoread @miscrying @gabriella-aesthetic @solarbeanz @theoriginalone1111 @water-hemlock18 @tialovesyoutoo @dakotapaigelove

[a-heart-of-kyber]

No, no cuz listen.

@dealingdreams and I have discussed how Qimir/The Stranger gives trapped animal vibes. And she mentioned how maybe it was something similar to Ben wherein someone spoke to him from a young age in his mind.

(Kylo theme plays in the distance)

(It literally also played while Kelnacca...had someone else...in his head.)

And idk where, but someone pointed out that his cave has those Cortosis veins. So it, or maybe even the whole island, potentially has a similar veil of protection as the helmet aka blocking thoughts/energy etc.

Which means, if that's the case, this dude is hiding and has been hiding for a long time.

He only seemed to take on the "Qimir smuggler rat man" persona because Mae wasn't doing what she was supposed too and he wasn't even sensed by the Jedi in the force. Overall, he probably assumed he had laid low long enough to go unnoticed without the helmet.

Then he made himself very obvious, and if someone were looking/feeling/sensing they probably found him. Aka, his display on Khofar led Plagueis to the Unknown Planet.

Cuz remember...the helmet broke. He didn't have it on for hours after that fight.

I am personally not going to assume EU stuff is canon until it is made canon. So, while it could be Bal'Demnic, that has not been confirmed. Additionally, just because it could be Bal'Demnic it doesn't mean Plagueis has tapped that resource yet. It could still be unknown to even him until right now.

Now, whatever happened between Qimir and Vernestra, we know she thought he was dead. Aka, he was either actually dead or very close to dead.

(Additionally, this would mean that he initially had no reason to hide from her if he could assume she thinks him dead. So, if he has been hiding, he's been hiding from someone else.)

Plagueis most likely scooped that boy up and treated him like a science project for a bit. Screwing with him mentally in the process (a nice bit of further Sith ideological brainwashing). Then, of course, Qimir became the Apprentice.

(This would make him a bit of an analog of Darth Venamis. Far from the same, but taking bits of him...but also, surviving/escaping being an experiment.)

Which could mean he has been fed the Sith code and the Jedi code by those masters, but he has already had traumatic experiences with Both sides...leading to this lack of care for rules/wanting freedom.

(Aka Power of Two, not Rule of Two "rules rules rules if you never follow them, you never have to break them.")

And Qimir has repeatedly been compared to a Vampire in interviews and has comments and imagery within the narrative that lean that way as well.

(The floating/disappearing, "it was a very long time ago", the implication that when Sol knew him Sol was probably a child...being carried away in a swarm of bats-I mean moths)

I know so many people think Plagueis is involved with Osha and Mae...but I don't think he is, yet.

At the moment, I still think he's there for Qimir.

(Also, I'm not really pro having this guy show up for 3 seconds and suddenly literally everything is about him and he did it all. If he already did everything, where is he meant to go within the narrative exactly? If he already knows how to create life and Has Created Life?...anyways)

I think he's checking in on his potentially immortal or at least inhumanly long-lived test subject... I mean Apprentice (who may or may not have actually been resurrected). And, somehow, said Apprentice has linked up with a woman who was created using the force.

These two are literally Plagueis's version of Christmas.

P.S. I think he wants an acolyte for exactly the reasons he said. We have been repeatedly shown and told that Qimir/The Stranger speaks the truth...or, at least, his truth.

But...this doesn't necessarily disprove my other idea that he wants to draw out Vernestra have her go against Plagueis so he does not have to do that.

Going back to the idea that both of these Masters are powerful and they have both screwed him up royally.

And despite this, he can still fight blind in the force.

He is extremely balanced for someone who realistically shouldn't be if he's fully dark.

[alltoolewis]

Mine, forever- Mason mount 💐

I'm back!!! So happy to finally be back writing, I am so sorry for the long hiatus... I just needed some time away from social media to clear my head but now I'm back with more ideas than ever 😊 This one is random but super cute and fluffy! I am a little rusty from writing so this isn't my best but I really hope you all enjoy... love you guys 🧡

(This GIF is random but I just love how cute and fluffy he looks...)

Summary- When Mason tells you he told his mum that you were his date to the wedding, you immediately say no... but after thought and a deep conversation with your best friend... would being Mason Mounts girl be that bad...

You knew there was something up with him from the second he entered your flat. His eyes barely looking at you as he mumbled a quite hello, eyebrows furrowed together to which you know from your 6 years of friendship meant he was nervous.

“What have you done now?” You sighed, watching as he threw himself dramatically on the sofa hands covering his face like he complementing all of his life choices. “Had an argument with Ben again?” You questioned, to which he shook his head “a dirty tackle in training..?” Again your suspicions were met with a shake of a head. “Got a girl pregnant?”

His head shot up with disgust as he glared at you “what the fuck (y/n)? No! Of course not!”

“Then why the sour face..?” You laugh, not understanding your best friend’s dramatics “you haven’t had an argument, your not in trouble with the team… not got a girl pregnant” you had to sniffle a laugh as he side eyed you once more “what possibly could be worst than that, mase?”

His head fell back once more as his hands squished his face, mumbling a response in his palms that you could barely make out. “What was that again, captain?” His lips pulled slightly as you spoke the nickname you had used since his first captaincy in youth games, but that was quickly changed to a frown as he realised he still had to tell you.

“I may have told my mum I was bringing you along to the wedding” he breathed out all in one, voice shaking as he looked over to you where you were stood even more confused than before.

“Okay…” you spoke, voiced laced with confusion “what’s so wrong with that?”

“She asked if I had a plus one…”

“And you said I was going with you as your plus one…” you said calmly, trying your best to piece together why he was shook up over something that you knew about. Your eyes pierced his as you watched him wince, realisation suddenly hitting you “you said we were going as friends right?”

His head dipped down as he stared at his feet, to scared to look up at the horror on your face. “Mason tony mount, please tell me you didn’t?” You sighed, already knowing what’s next.

“I told her you were my date..” he groaned, hating saying the words out loud to you, just as much as he hated seeing your face scrunch up in disgust. “Mason…” you groaned back, throwing yourself down on the couch next to him, your hands now covering your own face.

“I’m sorry!”

“let me get this straight” letting go of your face, you looked at his dark hazel eyes trying to piece together why he told the worst lie he could ever have done “you told your mom you had a date to bring to the wedding when she asked, even when you could’ve just said that you’re just bringing a friend—me!—along with you.”

Nodding, he looked at you sheepishly “...i didn’t want my aunties to bully me again because i was single. they were ruthless at the last wedding.”

“You could have told the truth tho mase!” You scr each, throwing your hands up “you could of just said you don’t have a date but was bringing me as your friend!”

“They would have still rinsed us tho!” He argued back, trying his best to convince you even when he hasn’t convinced himself that this was not as bad as it seemed “They would have seen you next to me and questioned us all night! Atleast this way we don’t get questioned… I’ve done us a favour really”

Sitting up, you clapped your hands together taking him slightly off guard “oh sounds like a great plan Mason!” You laugh “perfect even… there’s just one thing your forgetting!”

“What?”

“We are not fucking dating!!!” You scream, causing him to flinch “what the hell is wrong with you! Why would you make things even more complicated than they are?!”

Ever since you’ve been friends your families have been rooting- begging even- for you to get together, his being a little more intense than yours! They could see the chemistry a mile away, even before you and Mason could. It wasn’t that you wasn’t attracted to the Chelsea star, your were head over heels for him, almost as much as he was for you. You were each others weaknesses and as much as you wanted to fall even further for him, you refused to get involved in his crazy world of screaming fans and the media. So you did the one thing you wished you never did- put him in the friend zone… a strong, painful friendzone! & it was going well… until he just ruined it!!

“You are overreacting now, (y/nn)” he huffed, feeling a bit deflated by your reaction “it’s one day, one day where we have to act like we are in love… which shouldn’t be hard to do” although his voice faded out at the end of the sentence you heard him crystal clear, causing a dramatic sigh to leave your lips.

Mason watched as you covered your face, for a moment he was able to see the tears brim your eyes causing his heart to break. He knew how hard it was for you deny your feelings- although they were clear to everyone & he understood why you didn’t want to get involved romantically with him although he though that you would be unstoppable together and he would protect you from the hard side of his world! But that didn’t mean your reaction didn’t hurt…

Kneeling down in front of you, he placed his hand gently on your knee causing you to peer at him from in between your fingers “we don’t have to you know…” he whispered softly, not wanting to catch you off guard “I’m sorry- It’s my fault for dragging you into this mess, especially since you don’t want to get involved with me in the first place”

The tremble and purity in his voice made your heart melt as you gazed up to him “you know it’s not because of that mase..”

“Then what is it…?” He pushed gently, eager to her your thoughts.

“It’s just when… if… I go with you as your ‘date’ I’m going to feel what it’d be like to be your girlfriend“ you sniffled, glancing up at him once more with tears in your eyes “I don’t know if my heart can handle it knowing it’ll only be a day and I can’t be it forever…”

Not being able to handle the urge any more, he wraps his arm tight around you allowing you to let silent tears fall on his sweatshirt. Once he knew you were calming down he allowed your head to rest on his shoulder, only then allowing his voice to break the silence “would it be bad tho?…”

“What?” You whispered back

“Being my girl forever…” his voice was the most vulnerable you had ever heard it, even after a loss you had never heard him speak with so much brokenness “is it really that bad for me to love you so open??”

You wanted to scream no… that you’ve never wished for anything more than to be his and only his. To be able to watch his matches with much more than just your best friends name on your back. To be able to take him to family occasions without questions, to be able to kiss him so openly in front of your friends, family and the world… but you couldn’t…

“Yes…” you whispered so lightly so lightly you were afraid he wouldn’t hear, but as his arms tightened around you, you knew he had “it would be awful Mason… ”

————

Since that day the wedding hadn’t been brought up since. Mason decided to tell his mum that you weren’t able to make it after all, while you decided to avoid Mason at all costs. Whenever he planned to come round you would make an excuse as to why he shouldn’t, Everytime he rang youd just as quickly make sure that it didn’t take longer than 5 minutes. He knew you were avoiding him on purpose, of course he did! He knew you better than you knew yourself, but that almost meant he knew you were just as desperate see him as he was to see you & it would only be time until you’d crack… little did he know you’d crack sooner rather than later!

“I don’t know if I can do this Lauren…” you sighed, holding the dress you had carefully picked for the wedding which was taking place in just 3 hours time “what if he’s already got someone else to go with him now!”

“Oh behave (y/n)!” Lauren laughed as she rocked Jude gently “that boy wouldn’t have anybody else as his wedding date but you… fake or not!”

Even after her words of comfort your hand still trembled against the silk fabric, your mind running with what ifs and maybes “what are you so scared off?” She spoke in a soft motherly voice as if she was talking to her own “falling in love with him?”

“No..” you sighed, sitting down on the edge of your bed, the camera on face time now only being able to catch the small crown of your head “I’m well past that point Lauren, I’m already in love with him..”

“Then why are you afraid?”

“He’s… him” you mumbled, glancing over to your vanity to where a picture of you and mase was sat. It was from the champions league after party, his hand wrapped around your waist as his medal was displayed proudly against your neck each of you holding an ear of the famous trophy “I’m not good enough for him… I don’t fit into that world!”

“I you think I fit into dec’s” Lauren smiled back “god (y/n)! I’m not a made name or a famous model, but he loves me… just like Mason loves you!”

“But what if we don’t work?” Your voice cracked as you spoke the possibility “what if it fails and we end up running what we have…” that’s always been your main fear, losing him. Not only because you don’t fit into his crazy world but also because you not good enough for him… or that’s what you think.

“You won’t!” Lauren cooed “you are perfect for eachother, I know it, dec knows it! Your whole family knows it, even Mason knows it… and deep down you do too! Go to that wedding, pretend to be his date and then follow your heart… if that’s to go back to being friends or more! Let your heart choose..”

You knew if you went to this wedding as his date there was no going back, there was no way you’d only be able to hold him, cuddle up to him, even place your lips on his (if needed to) for only one day!

“I can do this!” You breathed out, holding the dress in front of you “ I can do it!”

———

The second you arrived at the venue you spotted him, even when there was a huge group of people outside all wearing similar tux’s… you knew which one was your Mason!

You could already see his aunties huddled around him, nosy looks on there faces only telling you that they were doing the one thing that Mason didn’t want to happen… quizzing him on his love life! Even from here you could see the discomfort on his face, his eyebrows furrowed together as his hands messed with the edge of his navy blue tie- the same colour as the dress lauren helped you pick out! Not being able to let him struggle for much more, you hopped out your car with shaky hands, making your way over to save your boyfriend for the day.

“So your single?” His aunt asked, causing Mason to wince at her bluntness not really knowing what to say. “Sort off- no… I’m..” he wanted to mention you, just like he did to his mum but he couldn’t do that to you again. His aunt was just about to speak again when a hand was placed on his shoulder and the scent of your strawberry tinkled his senses.

“Hi… I’m so sorry for being late!” You breathed out, from anybody else’s ears they would of thought you ran over but to Mason he knew it was nerves that was causing your voice to shake. His cheeks turned crimson as you leant up to him,before you could stop yourself your lips touch his cheek in a subtle PDA greeting “the traffic was crazy and I couldn’t find a parking space, it was a nightmare!”

“Your here now tho” Mason smiled down to you; placing his arm around your shoulder as he pulled you slightly “that’s all that matters!” His eyes gazed straight back into yours, nothing but love and gratitude in them.

Impatiently his aunts cleared there and throats, causing you to break from your moment & that’s when it came reality in what this really was. “Aunt Jane. Aunt sue. This is (y/n), my fr-“

“Girlfriend…” you cut in, causing his eyes to grow wide alongside his aunties “it’s really lovely to finally meet you both…” from the side of your eyes you could see the big grin on his face and for the moment it felt like you could say it forever!

“Oh my goodness, we know who you are sweetheart!” His aunt gasped, grabbing you into a hug “we have been rooting for the two of you for years… you’ve got to tell us everything!”

Mason was just about to open his mouth when you cut him of once more “I’m so sorry for the wait, it’s been my fault…” looking up to him, you give him a soft smile “I didn’t want to ruin what we had before, but then I realized we can have so much more… as-long as we stick together!”

“You’ve got nothing to apologise for darling… your both together and that’s the important thing!”

Grabbing your hand, he squeezed it tight looking down at you with adoration “The wait was worth it in the end”

Once his aunts got enough gossip out the two of you, it was finally time to head into the church. Leaving you and Mason to walk in alone- hand in hand!

“What’s this about..?” Mason whispered in your ear as he sat down next to you. Although he loved your little surprise entrance he couldn’t help but be confused into what has happened.

“You needed me..” you whispered back, looking into his hazel eyes “and what fake girlfriend would I be if I left you here alone…” His chest rumbled lightly as he tugged you closer to him. “Your amazing you know that?” He grinned, pecking your temple gently as if he forgot it was all fake “plus you look absolutely incredible today.. could barely breathe when I looked down at you- prettier than the bride I swear!”

“Mason!” You gasp, smacking his chest gently as you looked around to make sure no heard his words “you can’t say that!”

“Yes I can!” He laughed “especially when my girl looks like this!”

Looking at him with a twinkle in your eye you smirked “I’m only your girl for a day tho champ, don’t get lost in your thoughts!”

“Does it have to be tho??”

“Be what?” You questioned, furrowing your eyebrows together in slight confusion

“For a day… could you not be my girl forever?” The same vulnerability as last week flashed in his eyes “please (y/n) , let me love you in the open? Would it be that bad?” This time you couldn’t say it would

Just as the lights dimmed and the sound of the wedding march began, you moved his cheek to the side planting an awaiting kiss onto his lips. Even tho it was just a peck, the fireworks shot off between you too leaving you desperate for more…

“No Mase…” you whispered softly squeezing hand tight “it would perfect!”

[thissuser]

Hello! If you accept request, I would looove to read Klaus Hargreeves x GN!Reader. Perhaps something about the Reader rescuing him after he's being kidnapped/tortured by Hazel and Chacha in S1? Thank you in advance!

Yeah, of course! I made them like siblings like everyone else is in the series. I hope that's not a problem. It's not mentioned at all I think, but still... I can change it if you're uncomfortable with it.

Rescued| Klaus Hargreeves x gn!reader

summary: Klaus is kidnapped and tortured. And his favorite sibling came to the rescue.

warnings: torture, violence, mentions of drugs, mentions of dead people, swearing

word count: 4.8k

Klaus pov:

"Number Five, where is he?" Cha-Cha asked while choking Klaus. It's funny, really. Five came back not too long ago and already two crazy people are trying to hunt him down with these creepy masks.

"Don't... stop...I'm almost there." Klaus said with a grunt. Cha-Cha's face scrunched from confusion. "Is that a...?"

Hazel standing not too far behind her answered "Yep" and hurriedly turned away from the scene. Cha-Cha's face became green with disgust as Klaus moaned. She as well turned around to sit on the bed next to the bed where Hazel was already sitting.

Klaus was still gasping for air and coughing. He groaned again. "Ah, there's nothing like a little... stanglin' to get the blood flowin', am I right?" Klaus stated while sifting in the chair he was tied to. A grunt and a chuckle escaped his mouth.

Hazel stood up faster than light itself. "What is so funny, you asshole?" Hazel smacked Klaus on the back of his head. "Ow! Well, for one... you spent the last ten hours... beating me senseless, and... you've learned absolutely nothing." there was evident pain and exhaustion in his voice. he chuckled painfully. "I mean, nobody tells me shit. The truth is, I'm the one person in that house nobody would notice is gone. You assholes kidnapped the wrong guy!" he laughed.

Even though that speech didn't spark some sympathy in them, it did spark annoyance which resulted in him getting smacked on the back of his head again by Hazel. "Ow! I'm sorry, okay?"

"Please make him stop talking" Hazel said turning around.

"Let's waterboard him" Cha-Cha said as she put a small orange towel on his face.

"No" Klaus said with another grunt.

Hazel took the pot and poured it over Klaus's face. Klaus was struggling with breathing. The gasps for air sounding painful. Klaus gurgled while Hazel crunched on something. Cha-Cha removed the towel from his head.

"Ah! Oh, I needed that" Klaus said so nonchalantly like it didn't faze him at all.

"Oh, come on!" Hazel yelled.

"I was... so parched" Klaus belched.

"Thank you" he laughed "Thank you"

...

"Maybe we're not hitting him hard enough" Hazel said while crunching on something again.

"Me? You're the one with the stupid orthopedic bracelet" Cha-Cha argued back.

"I told you already, it's just for support" Hazel defended himself.

"Withdrawal... it's starting now, isn't it? Must be" Ben said while leaning one of the furniture. "Otherwise, who's the dead babushka?"

The old woman looked out the window and spoke something in Russian.

"I don't know, but it's driving me crazy" Klaus sighed. "The bitch won't shut up!"

Hazel looked at Klaus. "Hey! Watch your mouth. What did I say about eyes front!?"

"Stay calm, Klaus" Ben said.

"Maybe we're going at this the wrong way. Remember section 76, sub A, of the training manual?" Cha-cha looked at Hazel.

"I barely remember what we had for breakfast at this point" he mumbled with his mouth full.

"To paraphrase, torturing works best when you know who you're torturing. Hand me his coat."

Hazel walked up to the and picked it up, handing it to Cha-Cha.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait..." Klaus mumbled.

"Let's see" Cha-Cha started feeling for anything in the pockets of the coat.

"That's mine. That's my personal stuff" Klaus said offended.

"Oh! What do we have here?" Cha-Cha pulled drugs out of his coat.

"Let me see that" Hazel caught it after Cha-Cha threw it to him.

"Hey, no, no, no, no Be- Be carful with that. It's- It's my... asthma medication." Klaus panicked.

Hazel threw it to the floor and crushed it with his foot. "Now we're getting somewhere"

"Hey... No, hey! Whoa! No, hey, hold on! Hold on! We can... have a conversation. We're adults." Klaus tried to stop Hazel.

"Okay, you want more?" Hazel threw more pills and crushed them.

"No! No! No, no, no! Stop! Stop! Please, listen" Klaus jumped in the chair. "Listen, I can... I can get you cash. Amputee hookers, whatever. Hey, just, please, just listen. Just don't... No... Please"

"Chocolate. Mm-mm-mm" He said while opening the package of chocolate he found and eating it.

"Please..." Klaus begged.

"You want a piece?" Hazel munched on the chocolate.

Cha-Cha gasped as she took the chocolate.

"You gonna tell him it's special chocolate?" Ben asked with a disappointed look.

"Not untill they're high as kites" Klaus smiled and winced from pain.

"Klaus be strong" Ben told him.

"This could all be yours for the low, low price of telling us everything." Cha-Cha walk around Klaus while holding his 'asthma medication'.

"Okay, fine" Klaus cried softly."Okay, I don't... I don't know where Five is. I wasn't lying about that. But I can tell you that he's... hasn't - hasn't been making much sense since he came back."

"Elaborate" Hazel gestured with his hand to continue talking.

"He's just... He's been acting like a-a-a lunatic. He's sitting in his van in front of a- a lab or something, and... looking for the owner of an eyeball. One of those fake ones" Klaus continued.

"That makes no sense" Hazel sounded annoyed.

"Hold on, just hold on. Tell us more about this eye, and why is it so important?" Cha-Cha said.

"He said it had something to do with the end of times, or something" Klaus explained

...

Klaus screamed trough the tape. Great, he was now stuck in a closet.

"Klaus. Klaus. Breath. You're in the worst of it now. Just try to stay calm." Ben tried calming down Klaus.

Klaus nodded while keeping his eyes shut.

There was a sound. Someone was in the room. It was a vacuum. There was the cleaning lady. This was his chance.

He tried to scream, but it was silenced by the tape. She didn't hear him.

"She can't hear you" Ben said. "You know what the worst part of being dead is? You're stuck. Nowhere to go. Nowhere to change. That's the real torture, if you gotta know. Watching your brother take for granted everything you lost and pissing it all away"

...

Reader pov:

What is worse than when your brother with drug problems goes missing? Finding a message on a car that say's "Your brother say's hi."

Many people in this situation would believe it's a prank. But when crazy people with creepy masks broke into the old house where you used to live and attacked your siblings just last night, you will take that message more seriously.

People looked at you like you were crazy. Asking about 6'0 ft thin brunette grown man who puts eyeliner and likes to wear skirts, people are going to assume a lot about you.

But in the end, all that was worth it. You did find a piece of information about his whereabouts. 4535 Calhoun. He was last seen with A dark skinned woman in a suit and a chubby tall white male, who was, surprisingly enough, also in a suit. And where are they? At 4535 Calhoun.

Maybe it does all seem crazy at first. But booking a room just to try to break in to their room is even crazier. But you might just find something that will lead you to Klaus, or you will find him. Who knows.

...

Walking down the hallway, listening, looking, trying to find something, anything that sticks out.

And then a noise. A thump.

And then a another one.

Followed by more.

This isn't normal.

Thankfully the cleaning lady was there, she heard all of it. So when you asked her to give you the key for the room. She gave it, no questions asked and hurriedly walked away.

And of course you came prepared. With a gun in one hand, you opened the. door slowly.

And the sight you saw. It was horrifying. Klaus all bloody. Tied to a chair. With tape over his mouth. No shirt. No clothes at all. It was hard to watch.

His eyes light up when he saw u. Hope. He had it again. He won't die. You came to rescue him. To save him. You were his hero right now.

Klaus whimpered. He pointed with his head towards the other end of the room. They were still here.

You took out the a knife and cut the rope je was tied with. He winced. The relief. He finally had blood circulation in his right hand. And when you cut the other rope too? Heaven. It felt amazing.

Then something shifted. Someone tried to shoot you. You pulled out your gun and threw Klaus on the bed.

While you were busy making the man drop the gun. Klaus found a way out.

You saw how the man's eyes slightly shifted. Someone was behind you. You quickly turned around and grabbed the pepper spray spraying the woman. You turned just in time to pepper spray the man before he could reach the gun.

You took the chance and weng the same way that Klaus went.

...

You two were now almost near Umbrella Academy. Neither of you spoke a word after all that happened.

"Thank you for saving me... I wasn't really expecting you to show up." He said.

"Why is that?" You tilted your head to the side a little.

"I thought no one would notice If I was gone..." He said quietly.

"I did. And I will always notice..."

Okay, so this was something. I hope I did a decent job. Sorry for the shitty ending. I think it's obvious which pov I'm more comfortable writing. But I hoped you enjoyed it. It's my first time writing something like this and I hope I did a good job. Sorry If i wrote something wrong, English is not my first language and this was written while sleep deprived.

[aristaspark]

My Chaos Theory... well, theory.

Who's the villain?

I thought about it hard, and I think I came to a pretty solid conclusion as to who's the villain.

And the best candidate is...

Matteo.

There are so many things not adding up with his character, but I'm going to lay out why I think that.

1: He's way.too.nice. I don't buy his whole naive persona, sorry, I still have PTSD from Tiff and Mitch.

2: The night Brooklynn "died". His story is awfully convenient and can actually seem believable from Darius and Kenji POV, but from an audience standpoint? Hell no. We know Brooklynn is alive. She was saved by someone that night (there was only a puddle of blood so it's certain she was picked up by someone with a car). I don't care how strongly he claims he covered his ears, he would have seen or heard something/movements (her screams because she lost her arm, for starters). The fact that, if he tells the truth, he would have magically waited for Brooklynn to be taken away by someone before coming out of the bushes is ridiculous.

3: His reaction when Kenji and Darius are shocked that she had a secret apartment. I swear, I found the delivery of his line suspicious the first time I heard it. "You didn't know she had a secret appartment? 🥴" It seems like he was saying "Well, how could you not know your friend was the kind of person to have a secret apartment, even I KNOW THAT since she's been after my ass for months before I tried to kill her.

4: I don't remember the line exactly, but when the DPW agents said the boss didn't like when things weren't "done right", basically, which made me sure we had already seen the villain.

5: Sorry it took me so long to give the phone of your dead friend back to you, I just conveniently waited for you to be targeted by a psychopath to do so. Just because.

6: Why did he take the phone in the first place? 😂 Even in the scenario he gave to Darius and Kenji that part isn't explained like dude wanted a new phone??? Like in his scenario he had no reason to hide it, if he was who he claims to be he would have given it to Darius right away.

7: The fact that he was the one at the crime scene is suspiscious enough. If it hadn't been deemed a dinosaur attack, he would have been interrogated by the police right away.

So my theory is that:

Brooklynn discovered that someone was doing some horrible things using the DPW to dinosaurs. She pretty much had all the informations, except for one thing: the identity of the person who was doing these things (aka Matteo). Maybe Matteo's daughter is real, and she is the one who told him Brooklynn was getting closer to him (possible she's the one Ben spoke to on DarkJurassic) (or Matteo's lying about that too and is actually really good at tech). The night Brooklynn died was an ambush and he had planned on killing her, but he wasn't actually there, only his subordinates. Brooklynn was saved by someone though, which is why now he is so hell bent on finishing things. When he arrived, he discovered her phone and took it, in case it could be of some use (and maybe to erase all the things she had on him), and that's when Darius arrived. He decided to leave the campers alone since they didn't suspect anything anyway, but when Ben started questioning the night Brook died on Dark Jurassic, he panicked. For the time being he knows Brooklynn didn't tell anything to her friends and probably doesn't know his identity, but he knows that if the campers start investigating, he's in danger. So I think he has two reasons to target them: So that they don't investigate further but the main reason: to make Brooklynn come out of hiding, and to kill her for good (he now has a personal vendetta kind of thing). Maybe he's the one who put the money in her appartment, I'm not sure about that, he might be willing to put the blame on her so that when she reappears everyone will think whatever he is doing was her doing all along (since poor Brooklynn already appears to be suspicious for faking her own death) and that's why he decided to try and gain the trust of the campers.

I think that's about it.

[mountttmase]

Okay so what if the reader and Mason have known each other for a while and they have an ons and the reader expects him to be selfish and only trying to make himself cum, but actually he’s attentive and makes it obvious he wants her to cum first and somehow calls her baby too and is overall sweet and stuff and maybe cuddly at the end? :)

A Little Problem - Part One

Note - thank you anon for the request 😊 I hope you like it. Feedback is always appreciated and requests are still open so feel free to send anything my way 💕 Part two can be found here.

Pairing - Mason Mount x Reader

Word count - 4.1k

Warnings - smut and fluff

‘I tell you what else I didn’t like’ Mason exclaimed as you opened the door to your villa. ‘The way he crossed his legs when he was sat down, always made me feel mad uncomfortable’ he laughed as he followed you into the kitchen, grabbing two bottles of water as you pulled yourself up onto the countertop not too far from him.

‘I feel like these are getting oddly specific now’ you laughed as he passed you the bottle, leaning on the cupboard just to the side of you and he laughed at your scrunched up face.

You’d known Mason for a few years having met him through your best friend Ben and in the last year or so you’d grown close. He was sweet and charming and was always looking out for you, so when you told him you’d broken up with your boyfriend of seven months, he was quick to comfort you and make you feel better.

It was the end of the season and you we’re currently in Greece with Mason, Ben and a few of the other boys. You’d been out for a fairly low-key dinner and a few drinks, but after two you weren’t really feeling it and let Mason know you were heading back. Not wanting to mention it to Ben as you know he wanted to let his hair down a bit, but Mason had offered to come back with you as he’d overdone it in the pool that day and was a bit sleepy.

You’d started talking about your ex on the walk back and he was quick to list off all the things he didn’t like about him from his hair, to the shoes he wore to the way he sat apparently and you knew he was only saying all these things to make you feel better and you’d be lying if you said you weren’t enjoying it.

‘Sorry I ruined your night, Mase’ you pouted and he looked at you with a confused face.

‘What do you mean?’

‘Come on, you’re on holiday surrounded by gorgeous girls but you’re spending your evening here’

‘Nothing wrong with that’ he chuckled, stepping between your legs with his hands planted on the counter. You thought nothing of it as he was always very touchy but you noticed his eyes glance down to your lips for a split second. ‘Why don’t we get ready for bed? We can hang out in my room and watch a film if you want’ he asked and you agreed immediately.

You took a quick shower before popping on some cute pyjamas. The shorts were a little too short but you figured it was only Mason and he wouldn’t mind. Plus he’d seen you in a lot less the past few days so you thought nothing of it. You quietly knocked on his door before stepping inside and he smiled at you brightly before patting the empty side of the bed next to him.

‘I got us some snacks’ he told you, nodding to the table besides you and you smiled back as he pulled you to him. You lay on your side as the tv was facing that way and he positioned himself right behind you resting his head on his hand so his face was just above yours behind you and he’d settled his arm on your hips as he searched through the channels. ‘You wanna watch anything in particular?’

‘No you can choose’ you told him, but the truth was you couldn’t think straight enough to pick anything, not with all the physical contact he was giving you. Yes he was touchy and the two of you were close but you’d never been this close to him before. You could feel his breath on your neck and you knew he felt you shudder when he spoke in your ear but you willed yourself to relax into him.

It was just Mason. Your good friend Mason. Your extremely handsome, funny and attractive friend Mason who’s legs we’re currently tangled in yours.

You hadn’t had any physical contact with a boy like this in a couple of months so you blamed your sudden feelings on this and when he put some random film on you didn’t catch the name of you took a deep breath and tried to relax.

You weren’t paying attention too much, you spent most of your time focusing on the way Mason was breathing and the feeling of him absentmindedly tracing circles on your hip. That was until a bit of a sexy scene came on and you felt him shuffle behind you uncomfortably. He’d moved away from you but you were missing his warmth so you shuffled back a bit, soon figuring out why he’d moved as you felt him digging into your lower back. You stiffened immediately but felt the laughter bubbling up in your throat so you covered your face with hands as you began to giggle, your face pressing into the mattress as you rolled forward.

‘Shut up’ he groaned, his head falling in between your shoulder blades and you knew he was blushing as his skin felt hot against yours. ‘It’s perfectly natural and it’s been a while so hush up’ he complained but you could detect the humour is his voice. He reached out for you again to pull you back up and you rolled onto your back so he could lean forward over you as you spoke.

‘Sorry, Mase. I didn’t mean to laugh’ you told him and he brushed some hair from your face. ‘I mean I get it, she’s pretty sexy’ you winked and he rolled his eyes and his arm came across your waist to tickle up your side.

‘Yeah well she’s not totally to blame’ he huffed and you looked up at him with a confused expression but he just shook his head lightly before focusing back on the tv. You didn’t though, continuing to look at him as he carried on touching you lightly, his hard length still pressed up against your leg with no sign of disappearing soon. You were still curious about what he’d said though so you gently nudged your head into him so he’d look down at you.

‘What did you mean by its been a while?’ You asked him and he scrunched his face up whilst letting out a short breath.

‘How do I put this?’ He laughed before his eyes came back to yours. ‘I have got any in a ages. I’ve had other things on my mind and sex apparently hasnt been one of them’ he shrugged and looked away again, but you carried on talking.

‘Surely it’s not that difficult for you? You’ve got girls all over you all the time’

‘It’s not that simple though. I don’t like the thought of a one night stand. I like to have a little bit of a connection with someone before I stick my dick in them’ he told you and you laughed at his brashness.

‘But you have girls you talk to and stuff right?’

‘Yeah, just not really been in the mood for all that lately you know? Talking to someone for weeks, going on a few dates, maybe we fuck and then It fizzles out? Just a bit bored of it all you know?’

You nodded even though you hadn’t so much as looked at a boy in weeks. You weren’t quite ready to get back out there but you missed being close with someone like you were right now with mason.

‘Anyway, don’t put all this on me, when was the last time you got any action’ he winked and you giggled as you shook your head.

‘Longer than I’d care to admit’

‘You mean to tell me you didn’t go out and fuck another guy out of spite when it all ended?’

‘No Mason, is that what you think we do?’ You asked him with your brows raised and he just shrugged.

‘I don’t know, maybe you should though. I’m sure we can find you someone out here’

‘I don’t know about that, I’ve never had a one night stand and I don’t intend to start now’ you mumbled as you turned to carry on watching the film. Masons fingers were now stroking gently up and down your sides but you were enjoying his gentle touches and you couldn’t ignore the butterflies that were fluttering in your tummy.

‘That’s a shame’ he shrugged and you were confused about his statement until he carried on talking. ‘I’m still hard as fuck and I was hoping you’d help me out since it’s half your fault’ he whispered in your ear before kissing your temple.

You froze in shock as the words fell from his lips, your heart racing as they sunk in. ‘W-what?’ You breathed, looking up him and into his dark eyes that seemed to be eating you up. His hand moved from your side to cup your jaw so you couldn’t turn away from him but at this point you couldn’t if you wanted to as he had you captivated.

Sex with Mason wasn’t something you’d ever thought about not because you didn’t want it, but because he was your friend and friends don’t think about each other like that. Plus you knew Ben would be fuming if you both went behind his back.

‘It makes sense doesn’t it?’ He shrugged as he stroked your cheek. ‘We both have a itch that needs scratching. Don’t even deny it cause I know you do. We could help each other out without having to go and find someone else and wondering if we even like them cause we know we like each other. We don’t even have to speak about it ever again if you don’t want’ he explained like he was asking you to go and grab him a glass of water from the kitchen. He seemed so nonchalant and you couldn’t deny he’d peeked your interest. ‘We don’t have to, was just an idea. But if you want to, I’m all yours’ he whispered but you shook your head.

‘No, I think I want to’ you mumbled and the side of his mouth raised slightly.

‘Okay, perfect’ he smiled before his face got a little more serious. ‘Am I allowed to kiss you?’

‘Of course you can, you don’t have to ask’

‘Just wanted to make sure you’re comfortable with it’ he laughed as he brushed his thumb over your bottom lip making you gasp at the contact. His eyes flickered all over your face one last time before he dipped his head to attach his lips to yours.

He was so gentle, giving you one kiss before pulling back to make sure you were okay before diving in again. He slowly kissed you like he had all the time in the world as his hand traveled to the hem of your top before dipping underneath and traveling up to your chest.

Mason kissed better than you expected him to, not that you thought he’d be bad, but you were expecting this to be a little rushed and for him to just get straight down to business but the way he was touching you and kissing you made you melt. You couldn’t stop yourself from moaning into his mouth when his thumb brushed over your nipple and he smiled at the sound.

You felt him begun to shuffle, and he sat you both up before he gripped your shirt and began to tug it off of you. You sat up to help him pull it from you and you caught the look he was giving your body as you laid back down. Like he was in awe of you and he had to swallow down a nervous lump. His fingers came to your waistband and before he could ask you if it was okay, you lifted your hips for him so he could pull your shorts down and you head him whimper when he realised you didn’t have any underwear on underneath.

‘Are you trying to kill me’ he breathed as he lent down to pepper your chest with kisses but you couldn’t reply as he took your nipple into his mouth and sucked on it. You arched your back into him at the feeling and you felt his smirk on your skin and he trailed his lips down your body. Still fully dressed as you were laid bare underneath him. ‘I’ve had to look at you in a bikini all week, and then you come in here wearing those sexy little pyjamas. If I didn’t know any better I’d think you were trying to seduce me on purpose’ he whispered against your skin and his lightly traced his fingertips all over you.

He laid back down beside you and leant down so he could kiss you again. You fisted your fingers into his hair so he wouldn’t pull away as his fingers drifted down your body and you opened your legs for him to get better access. You were surprised at how quickly you fallen under his spell and were willing to do anything at this point just so he would touch you when it hasn’t even been a thought of yours to be intimate with someone until about ten minutes ago

As soon as he touched you, you were moaning into his mouth, not realising his touch starved you actually were. You almost felt embarrassed by the noises you were making but Mason seemed to have only one thing in his mind and that was making you feel good. Again you were surprised at the time he was taking with you and the fact he wanted to focus on you first even though he’d been hard for so long. You bucked your hips into his hand as he circled your clit before pushing his fingers into you. He pulled away from your lips but kept his face close to yours as you breathed into each others mouths.

‘How’s that feel, hmm?’

‘So good’ you managed to choke out as he trailed his kisses along your jaw when you nuzzled into his shoulder ’fuck, Mase’ you breathed as he began circling your clit with his thumb whilst his fingers still worked away inside you.

You were in desperate need to feel him, trailing your hands down his body until you did, trying to touch him over his shorts and he groaned as he bucked into your touch.

‘Is that what you want? Want me inside you?’ He whispered lowly in your ear and your whole body shivered at the sound of his voice.

‘Please, Mase’ you begged as he pressed barely there kisses all over your face.

‘You can soon yeah? I need you to cum for me first and then I’ll take care of you’ he told you as you lifted your head to look back into his eyes. You agreed with your eyes and he smiled down at you with his bottom lip between his teeth. ‘Good girl’ he breathed and you moaned at his praise.

‘Mase, I’m close’ you mumbled, focusing on the feeling that was fizzing in your core and it only took a matter of seconds before you were moaning his name repeatedly as you cum around his fingers.

‘Fuck’ he breathed, watching your face as he rode you through it and you wrapped your fingers around his wrist to still his movements. He pulled his fingers from you, popping them straight in his mouth so he could taste you, but you were too dazed to take in whatever what happening. He gave you a quick kiss, humming as you tasted yourself before he rose up to take his clothes off.

Your eyes widened as you caught sight of his length but you can’t say you were entirely surprised. Mason always looked like he was hiding something down there but seeing it in all its glory made your insides flutter. He positioned himself at your entrance, making eye contact with you and only when you nodded did he start to push in.

It took you a little bit to adjust to his size but once he could see you were enjoying it, he let himself go. Pounding into you at a relentless pace that hand your nails scratching his back and the most filthy noises pouring from your throat.

‘You keep making those noises and we’re gonna have a problem’ he laughed but carried on going, his eyes constantly on your face so he could watch how you reacted to him. ‘You feel so fucking good wrapped around me baby’ he breathed into your mouth as you let out a loud moan at the pet name. ‘Come on, i know you’ve got another one in there’

You continued moaning his name and he pounded you harder each time before he grabbed one of your hands and linked your fingers together before placing it next to your head. Your heart was hammering at how affectionate he was being with you. This was supposed to be a one time thing but the way he was was touching at you and looked at you sent you crazy and you were craving more of him with each passing second.

You moaned loudly when you finally came, the feel of you making him buck into you even faster before he spilled into you and he rested his forehead on yours as you both got your breath back. Soon you were both in a fit of giggles and he had to kiss you again to keep you quiet.

You quickly ran to his en-suite to sort yourself out but when you returned you were unsure of if he wanted you to stay. He was laying on his front with his face towards you but his eyes were shut and you didn’t want to outstay your welcome. You searched around for your shorts and the sound must of woken him as you heard him grumble before looking at you.

‘What you doing?’

‘Just trying to find my stuff’ you whispered but he pulled back the duvet before patting the space next to him.

‘You don’t need it. Come on get in, I’m starting to get cold’ he moaned and you quickly slid in besides him. Both turning to face each other as he wrapped his arms around you and pulled you into his chest.

‘Sorry, I thought you might want me to head back to my room’ you explained, stroking his cheek as he bumped his nose against yours.

‘Nah, don’t be silly. I’ll always want you with me’ he laughed and you shook your head with a smile as you settled down next to him. He let out a massive yawn but you could tell he was trying to keep himself away for you.

‘Go to sleep, Mase. You said you were tired earlier I bet you’re exhausted now’

‘It was worth it’ he chucked with a wink before kissing your forehead. ‘Night gorgeous’

‘Night Mase’ you breathed, kissing his jaw lightly before you shut your eyes.

——————————

You were awoken the next morning by Mason poking you in the back again, but also by him kissing the back of your neck lightly. You smiled as you turned to face him and were met with his sleepy but happy face.

‘Morning’ you whispered shyly as he looked at you adoringly.

‘Morning, baby’ he whispered back and you felt your heart thud at his seemingly new name for you. ‘I think we may have a little problem’

‘What’s up?’ You questioned, but you knew as soon as he pressed his hips into you what he meant. ‘Well Mason, from my memory it’s not that little. I’d say we have a pretty big problem’ you teased

‘You fancy extending this one night thing into a one night and one morning thing’ he quizzed and you nodded shyly, eager to feel him again. ‘Then maybe when we’re home you’ll let me take you out properly and we can turn it into an everyday thing?’

‘What?’ You breathed, confused as that was the last thing you expected him to say but you immediately liked the idea.

‘If it’s not what you want then it’s fine, and if you’re not ready then that’s fine too. I’ve just been thinking about it for a little while and I think we’d be good together. Like I said last night we already know we like each other, we don’t have to worry too much about trying to impress each other cause I’ve seen you on your bad days and I still think you’re the best person I know. Now we know we like having sex with each other, well I did at least anyway’ he chuckled and you nodded at him shyly.

‘I did too’

‘Good’ he laughed. ‘And you know I think you’re gorgeous. I just think it makes sense you know? Like why are we trying so hard with other people when what we want is right under our nose?’

‘I guess I’ve always held back on thinking about it because of Ben, I get the feeling he wouldn’t approve’

‘All the more reason to go for it then’ he joked ‘we don’t have to tell anyone straight away, let’s just work it out for ourselves and then see what happens’

‘What if in like two months you realise you don’t want me anymore? I like having you in my life.’

‘Firstly that’s never gonna happen. And secondly even if it does, you’re like my best friend and if doesn’t work then fine but I still want you in my life too. I’d rather give us a go and it fail than we not try at all and always wonder if’

‘You’re speaking far too much sense’ you giggled and he kissed your cheek before slipping his body in between your legs whilst keeping the covers fully over you. ‘You best make this the best first date I’ve ever been on’ you told him and he smiled down at you lovingly, before dipping his head to kiss you gently.

‘Don’t worry, I’ve got a few ideas’ he laughed but his face got serious again pretty quickly. ‘You can trust me though. I’d never hurt you, you know that right? I’d never even think of suggesting this if I didn’t think it would work. I get if I wanna take your time and think about things cause I know this has sort of come out of nowhere but I’ve been thinking about you a lot lately’

‘Yeah?’ You whispered, overwhelmed by his words and how much respect he seemed to have for you. You were melting under his stare and when he flashed you his pretty smile your heart fluttered in your chest. ‘What have you been thinking?’

‘What don’t I show you’ he whispered before kissing you a bit deeper and rolling his hips into your core. ‘We can sort my massive problem out while we’re at it’ he winked before silencing your laugh with his lips as he slowly pushed himself into you. He’d just bottomed out when his bedroom door swung open to reveal a scruffy looking Ben.

‘Hey mate, have you seen- ah fuck my eyes’ he shouted, covering his face with his hands as he turned away. ‘What the fuck is going on’

‘Can you stop fucking shouting and get out’ Mason shouted back but you could tell he was holding in a laugh.

‘I’ve been looking for you all morning y/n’ he moaned, turning around to face you both again, his eyebrows scrunched together as Mason tried to cover the both of you up more. He looked like he wanted to say something else but the words were stuck in this throat so he stood there scowling at you both. ‘Y/n I swear to god, get out of there’

‘I can’t, Ben’

‘Yes you can’ he scowled as he started walking into the room but Mason flopped down on you gently to cover you up before he held out a hand to make Ben stop.

‘Ben, I’m naked and Mason is currently inside of me’ you told him, trying to be serious but you couldn’t help but laugh a bit and he looked at you in disgust before looking at Mason.

‘Look mate, can we talk about this later?’ Mason tried to reason but he just kept starting at him horrified. ‘Just fuck off, you’re giving me a softie’ Mason joked and you hit his arm as Ben walked out and slammed the door behind him leaving the pair of you alone again. Mason let out a loud laugh as he caught your horrified face but he kissed you gently. ‘He’s probably more upset that he thinks we’ve been doing this behind his back than us actually fucking. Just give him some time to cool off he’ll be fine’

‘God, I’m mortified’ you laughed as you tried to hide your face but he pressed his lips to yours to comfort you and soon enough he was gently rocking his hips into yours again.

‘Let me help you forget’ he whispered and your mind went blank as you focused on the boy and the growing feeling in between your thighs.

[hopepaigeturner]

Benophie Week 2024: Lake

A little piece from a WIP about Benedict and Sophie learning to cope and heal from their various traumas through their marriage.

*~*~*~*~*

Three months into their marriage, Benedict wakes to find the bed cold and empty beside him. The spidering fingertips return to the base of his spine when he does not find Sophie in the window nr in her dressing room. The skeletal hand crawling further up his spine and across his chest as every room is empty and every member of staff is bewildered. The hand starts to squeeze on his heart as he paces the grounds and is fruitless in his search.

 Finally, he notices shoeprints in the mud leading to the track to the lake.

Benedict stumbles and trips his way through the trees until he burst into the clearing.

And finally, he finds Sophie and the world suspends.

The lake is tinted blue from the dawning sky and perfectly flat. Sophie floats with her nightdress billowing around her and her hair in a halo—utterly motionless.

The world cascades back in and he is running, shouting, crashing through the water barely undressing. The coldness of the lake takes the rest of his breath and makes his eyes blur.

And perhaps that is why he does not register Sophie’s voice until she is in his arms and her hands are cupping his face.

“Ben—”

“Never do that again!”

“Ben—”

“Promise me!” He grasps the back of her head so she must look him in the eye. Her eyes are impossibly wide. “You must promise!”

“I was just clearing my head,” Sophie says softly as her thumb caresses his cheek.

“Why would you do that?” he still cries for his breaths have yet to calm. “Why would you? I thought…I thought…” His breaths stagger around the truth. “I cannot—do not…I cannot lose you, not again,”

Ben…” Sophie's voice is soft and he lifts his head to find questions in her eyes. It takes him a couple more staggering breaths before he can speak once more, because the skeletal hand still grips his heart.

“I have lost you so may times I could not live if I lost you again.”

“I am not leaving, my love,” she whispers, and Benedict clings to the depths in her moss-green eyes. “I never want to leave you nor will I ever leave you. I am yours until death parts us.”

“Until death do us part,” he whispers back and clings onto her even tighter.

It took a while for Benedict to fully calm his breaths even when the pair were enwrapped together in the towel on the shore.

“I did not mean to frighten you,” Sophie whispers, her hand brushing soothingly along the arm that is draped across her chest. “I woke with my head clamouring with noise and I tried the window and the book but nothing settled me—not even my usual wander through the gardens. Then I thought, well, lakes…”

“They were your solace as a child. They were the only place you enjoyed being moorless,” Benedict says, all too clearly remembering that very first lake trip at he beginning fo their twisting story.

“Yes, and the floating did help.”

“I see…”

“I did not wish to worry you and I would have never done this if I knew the distress it would cause." She shifted to drape her legs to the side so she could face him.

Benedict kept running his hands through her hair as he spoke.

“I know you meant no harm and there is noting to apologise for, but you must understand,” he gently detangled a knot, “I have spent my entire life looking for you in some manner or other, and I found you at the masquerade ball, but then I lost you. Then I lost you to Araminta when she put you in jail and if we had not come to you…” he shudders. “I still have nightmares even when I know you lie right next to me.”

“Oh, Ben,” Sophie started rubbing her thumb over his jawbone.

“And then I watched you die.”

Sophie rears back slightly. Benedict uses his fingers to trace over her features as if cataloguing them for a final memory.

“I finally had you with the promise of forever, then three days into our honeymoon you dropped like a stone on the village green. And I couldn’t feel your pulse and you were so lifeless” His fingers tremored. “In that moment I have never felt such dread, it felt as if my entire self, my organs, my heart, my soul had been ripped out of me.”

Sophie’s eyes brimmed with tears at the hoarseness in his voice.

“I am sorry.”

“You do not need to apologise,” Benedict replied with a little more force than necessary. He took a deep breath. “I only need you to understand. You are the love of my life, and you have my half my heart and half my soul, so I cannot lose you.”

Sophie nodded solemly then took his hand and placed it on her heart. Then she put her own hand on his heart.

“I understand you, just as you understand me. And I promise to keep your heart and soul safe.”

Benedict’s eyes brimmed with tears but he blinked them away so he could say,

“And I promise to keep your heart and soul safe.”

They kissed softly, as if to seal the pact, just as the morning sun filtered through the trees.

And after they had blessed the morning with soft moans and the binding of souls and bodies, Sophie whispered,

“So, no more clandestine lake trips?”

“No, no!” Benedict turned her to him. “Ofcourse you can swim whenever you need to. I stand by that first promise to help you process and cope with your thoughts and emotions. I want to hold your hand as you heal from the scars and I want to enable that journey rather than hinder it. But…perphas you could leave a note?”

Sophie grinned and rolled on top of him, the sun outlining her form in gold.

“I think I can manage that.”

And the next time, Benedict finds a note attached to her pillow, his dresser and on the window seat. And many times, he takes his sketchbook and sits by the shore until she can return to him with a clear mind.  In future years he brings the children. And even when the children are gone to their own newly wedded bliss, Benedict sits by the shore of the lake and sketches his wife in her billowing gown and halo of white streaked hair.

In the end that is how they find her; aged 83, grandmother to twelve, mother to four, and wife for over fifty years and a widow with half a heart for ten. Sophie had kept her word--she had never left Benedict.

On that day, her gown billows around her and her white hair is a halo. A final moment of moorless-ness, until she finds her anchor and never needs to float again.

[padfootagain]

Something Good (XXIII)

Chapter 23 : The Talk

Hello! Here is a new chapter for my Ben Barnes series!

A tiny bit of trouble because of a certain asshole, and then some fluff. I would be lying if I claimed I didn’t cry for this chapter, because I did…

Also, we’ve officially reached the 80k words for this series, which makes for 155 pages on my word document… Holy molly! Thanks for tagging along for this looooong ride!

Hope you like it!!! Tell me what you think!

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Pairing: Ben Barnes x Reader

Warnings: Fluff,  Slow burn, professor AU.!

Summary: Coming out of a divorce and trying to get used to being a single mom, while teaching your classes at University, you thought your life could not get more complicated than it already is. But when you are asked to take care of the theatre club with the colleague that you really can’t get along with, you realize that everything can still get ten times more complicated in your life. And when you start actually liking Professor Barnes, the troubles only grow exponentially…

Word Count: 4619

Masterlist for the series – Ben Barnes’ Masterlist – Main Masterlist

You were nervous that morning, Ben could hardly have missed the signs.

As you stared into your cup of coffee, eyes shadowed by a lack of sleep, he heaved a sigh. Of course, he understood why you were nervous. You had decided to talk with Liam tonight, to finally tell him about you and Ben. It was the end of January, your relationship with Ben was coming close to be two-months old. It was time, and you knew it. You wanted to be free to show affection towards Ben in front of Sally, and you could only do that if you told Liam first.

You almost jumped when Ben reached across the table to hold your hand in his. There was no one around in the cafeteria, no colleague to see the intimate gesture, although, you wouldn’t have cared. You were tired of keeping a low profile. You longed to be close to him all the time.

“Everything’s gonna be fine,” Ben offered a reassuring smile while his voice was warm and honeyed. “Stop being worried. His reaction won’t change anything, anyway.”

You heaved a sigh.

“Is it that obvious that I’m worried about tonight?”

“I mean… the last time I saw you this distraught was when you were paired with me on the theatre club, back in September.”

You couldn’t refrain a chuckle, rolling your eyes.

“Things have changed so much in just a few months,” you smiled.

Ben hummed in agreement, rubbing his thumb across your knuckles, gesture simple and yet infinitely soothing.

“I just think that he might get… defensive.”

“No, what you meant to say is “an absolute git”.”

You laughed at that, but couldn’t deny it. You had talked a lot about your former relationship with Ben, and he had shared a lot of his relationship with Julia with you as well. And one could have said that you both held no tenderness towards the other’s ex.

“Yeah… yeah, I’m quite worried he’s gonna be like that. That he’s not going to take well the fact that I’m in a relationship again.”

“But he’s not the one to decide for you. He’s…”

But Ben grew quiet, didn’t finish voicing his thought. He didn’t want you to worry even more by telling you the obvious truth that you seemed too blind to notice.

Liam was still in love with you, it was obvious. When Ben and Liam met that evening at your apartment, it took Ben but a second to notice it. The way he followed you, the way he glared at Ben, the way he stared at you with longing…

But you didn’t know that, and it was easier not to tell you.

“He’s probably going to be a little upset that you’re replacing him,” Ben changed his words, but it made you frown a little more with worry all the same.

“Yeah… yeah, probably.”

Ben looked down at his own coffee cup, empty by now, only stained by remnants of the bitter liquid in brown marks, without pattern.

“Would you be upset if he found someone else?”

You took your time to answer, and Ben was grateful for it. It showed that you were earnest when you spoke again.

“I think I would be worried for Sally. And… it would be a little weird, because… we were married. But I wouldn’t be upset, or jealous. More… uncomfortable, I reckon.”

Slowly, Ben nodded.

You heaved a sigh, intertwining your fingers with his, at last.

“I just hope it will go fine.”

He gave you an encouraging smile, but didn’t voice his own worry. He wasn’t sure if it would upset you, how you would react to his words, if it were wise to say it out loud…

But he was worried nonetheless.

If Liam disapproved of your relationship with Ben, would you leave him?

And if Liam really did try to get you back, would you choose him, instead of Ben?

But he didn’t say anything. Instead, he tightened his hold on your fingers, traced the line crossing your palm with the pad of his thumb and looked at you as you drank what remained of your coffee. And he drank in your sight, the warmth of your skin, the reassurance in your hold, worried it would end too soon.

“So, what did you want to talk about?” Liam asked, surprised when he found you nervous, turning your mug between your fingers.

You went to see Liam straight after work. Sally was spending the night at a friend’s house for a birthday party, you had the entire evening to talk to your ex-husband about your new love. It was hard not to look nervous though, as you sat down in his kitchen and accepted the warm beverage he offered you. You had planned this conversation in your head, but it wasn’t easy. Nothing was easy with him…

“I just… I have something to tell you, and I think it’s better if you learn it from me.”

“You’re scaring me now. What’s wrong, baby?”

You tensed at the pet name. He noticed it. He pushed it away, at the back of his mind, ignored it, brushed it off as tiredness or as nothing at all. It was too painful to acknowledge it.

“Nothing’s wrong,” you answered, your tone cautious. “I just…”

You reckoned that there was no other way to say all of this but clearly, with simple words.

“I’ve met someone.”

Liam blinked. He didn’t seem to understand your words, so you repeated them.

“I’ve met someone. I’m not single anymore.”

Liam cleared his throat. He could barely breathe. He shook his head.

This couldn’t… you… you couldn’t… the two of you were soulmates…

“What do you mean?”

“I have a boyfriend.”

“A boyfriend? You?”

You frowned at that, quite taken aback by his tone. You were unsure if it sounded simply aghast or mocking.

“Yes, what about it? I’m still young enough to date, you know?”

He rolled his eyes.

“But why would you date anyone?”

It was your time to be puzzled.

“Because… I like him. Because I want to.”

“Who is it? For how long have you known him? Has he met Sally?”

You shuffled on your chair, more uncomfortable than you thought you would be about all this.

Why did you feel almost guilty? Liam and you had been divorced for more than year, separated for almost two… you were perfectly free to date whoever you wanted. And as Liam was Sally’s father, you reckoned that you owed him to warn him that a new person would enter your daughter’s life. You were doing everything right. So, why did you feel so bad when you looked up at him again and recognized sorrow and anger in his gaze?

“It’s Ben. I’m going out with Ben.”

“Your colleague? The theatre guy? The one who ate with you and Sally the other day?”

“Yeah. That’s him.”

He let out a breathy, bitter laughter, and you hated the sound.

“I knew it. I knew he was trouble.”

“Trouble? He’s not trouble…”

“Y/N, he’s playing with you.”

You frowned hard at that.

“Of course not, what are you talking about? You don’t even know him…”

“Come on, now. Why would a man like him want to go out with a single mother? With someone like you?”

He noticed how much his words hurt. He almost liked it. Actually, he hated himself for saying all of this.

But he loved you. He loved you so much, he would have done anything to get you back. Even if it had to hurt, at first��

“He’s handsome, I’ll give him that. He could have anyone, I bet. I’m sure you’ve thought about that already. Then why you? Why would he go to all the trouble of going out with a divorced single mother with her life still in shambles… when he can get any woman he wants? Why you? Why all the trouble?”

He shook his head.

“Babe, he wants to sleep with you, and that’s it. He’ll grow tired of you soon. What else could all this be about?”

You didn’t answer. You didn’t answer because the words echoed too deeply. Words Liam had carved into your brain and heart and marrow after proving them time and time again, speaking them out loud even, during the darkest of your fights.

You’re not worth it.

You got up. He was surprised by it, but you did anyway. And if there were tears in your eyes, your voice was still firm, deadly cold as you spoke.

“Ben and I are together. I’m not asking for your blessing. I’m simply letting you know because you’re Sally’s father, and I reckon I owe you the truth because Ben is going to spend more and more time with Sally. But this is not me asking you what you think of my love life. I’m simply having the courtesy of warning you. I don’t care about your opinion. Ben is amazing with Sally. He’s amazing with me. And I don’t care what you think about my love life, it’s none of your business.”

“I’ve never said I agreed for him to be in Sally’s life…”

“You don’t have a say in this. Sally loves him, Ben adores her… they’re getting along perfectly fine.”

“Does she know you’re together?”

“Not yet. We waited for a few weeks, we wanted to be sure about this before telling her. And I wanted to tell you first, I didn’t want Sally to let it slip. But we’ll tell her this weekend, we’ll explain things to her.”

“You can’t do this… you can’t…”

He shook his head vehemently, but you stepped away from the table.

“Have a good evening, Liam.”

“No… wait! Y/N! Babe, wait!”

“Stop calling me like that!”

You spun around, facing him again. You were on the verge of tears, but there wasn’t really any sadness in your eyes. There wasn’t love either, or longing, or regret. There was anger, frustration, fear…

Why would you look at him without any love in your eyes?

“We’re not together anymore, Liam. We’ve been divorced for a while now. I’m allowed to build myself a life again, with whoever I choose. You can talk with Ben and I if you want, I get that you can be worried that he’s going to spend time with Sally when you don’t know him. But I’m not asking for your opinion, or your permission. Ben is amazing, he’s doing great with Sally… You know how much I love her. You know I would never take a decision that could hurt her…”

“I know, but he… I don’t trust him.”

“You don’t know him.”

“He’s using you. He’s using you, and then he’ll leave!”

“Of course not! He would never do that…”

“Why else would he be with you?”

The question again. And you hated Liam at this moment. Not because he was being mean, not because he was clearly jealous, but because he was right. You had asked yourself this question every day since that first night with Ben…

“I’ve had enough of this.”

You strode to the door, walked out before Liam could hold you back. The same question rang in your head, the answer never changing…

Why would he be with you?

You’re not worth it.

Ben was worried when you didn’t call that night. He sent you a couple of texts but you didn’t answer. He was ready to go to your place by 9pm, pacing across his flat, imagining a million scenarios…

But then his phone buzzed, at long last, by half past nine, and he heaved a relieved sigh as he read your text.

I’m alright, don’t worry. I’ve talked to Liam. I just needed some time after that. I’m fine though.

He had barely finished reading your text when another appeared on the screen.

Can we talk?

Ben frowned at that. This kind of messages… it was never a good sign.

He was quick to answer.

Of course, I’ll come over. Have you eaten anything?

He had barely received your answer that he was ordering some take-out. He hadn’t eaten anything either, he was too nervous for that.

It was past 10pm when Ben arrived, carrying some Indian food, and a warm smile that he wanted reassuring on his lips.

He had barely stepped inside that you were hugging him tight. He chuckled at your warm welcome.

“Well, hello to you too.”

He dropped a peck on your hair, holding you tight as well, letting you relax in his embrace, breathe deeply the scent of his cologne…

“I knew you’d bring food as soon as you asked about dinner,” you mumbled into his coat.

“Indian.”

“Good choice. Thank you.”

“Come on, I’m famished. Let’s talk while we eat.”

“You haven’t eaten anything?”

“No, I… I was a little nervous?”

“Oh…”

You finally released him, walked inside your kitchen to get some plates and forks and knives and earn as much time as you could before you would have to talk to Ben.

Because you were terrified by this conversation you needed to have and yet… yet it was necessary.

The words were too loud as they echoed, they resembled shouts you couldn’t shush down. You were scared of his answer, and yet, you were too worried not to crave for it. If Ben was to disappoint you, then the sooner the better.

Half of you knew that he was different from Liam. Half of you believed you were not worthy of him and that one day he would have enough and walk away.

Which part of you was right?

Ben walked inside the living room, left the food there, on the table. He knew he wouldn’t like this conversation. He knew there was something wrong. He had recognized the way you were clinging to his coat just then, as if you were afraid he would leave.

“So… how did it go with Liam?”

You came out of the kitchen, bringing your dishware with you, fleeing his intense gaze.

“As expected.”

Your answer was elusive. Ben nodded.

“That bad, huh?”

“He… he didn’t really like the news.”

“He was jealous.”

It was more of a statement than a question, you heaved a sigh.

“I guess so, yes.”

“He doesn’t want you to see me like this.”

“He doesn’t have a say in this.”

Ben nodded, but you were still not looking at him. There was something more. The real reason for you to have called for him tonight.

“What else did he say?”

You didn’t answer, opening a box of food, breathing in deeply the scent of spices. But Ben took your hand in his, forcing you to turn to him.

“What’s wrong, darling? Tell me.”

Your eyes filled with tears at the sound of the affectionate name. You loved it when he called you that, perhaps too much. It made you feel… loved.

Were you though? Was all of this real?

How could it be? Liam was right, you were too much trouble, and Ben was kind and smart and funny and absolutely stunning with his dark irises, his cute glasses, the beauty spot under his right eye, his bright grin…

You’re not worth it…

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Ben cooed, reaching up to cup your cheek and guide your gaze to his. “What happened?”

You sniffed, unable to not look up when he more firmly guided your face upwards, and the first tear fell as soon as you caught his gaze.

“It’s just… I don’t know. I’m just worried,” you answered with a shrug.

“What did he do? What did he say?” Ben asked, his voice lower now, almost threatening. It was so strange to hear this tone on him, his voice was usually so warm.

You heaved a sigh.

“It’s not just what he said. I… I’ve been asking myself the same questions about us.”

Ben frowned hard at that, but let you continue. You took your time to do so, to take a deep breath and gather your strengths and… find the right words. You didn’t though. You didn’t speak the words you wished you could find, instead they were messy and stumbling. But they were let out anyway, and you reckoned it was good enough.

“I just… I don’t… why are you with me?”

Ben’s frown deepened.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean… I… why are you with me? Why would you want to be with me?”

Ben blinked. Once, twice, thrice, but he ended up shaking his head anyway.

“I don’t understand,” he admitted.

“Why do you want to be with me? I mean… do you really want to be with me?”

“Of course, I want to be with you. Don’t you want to be with me?”

“I do. I want you.”

“Then what is this all about? I don’t understand.”

He hated it. How your lower lip trembled, how a tear rolled all the way down your cheek, leaving a glimmering path across your soft skin, how you needed to swallow back the lump in your throat, how your next intake of breath shook…

Ben had never really longed for violence, but if Liam was the cause of your sorrow now, he would have gladly punched the bastard in the face…

You took a couple of steps back, and Ben hated it. The distance you forced between your two selves. Like a barrier. Like an armour. And you hated it too, but you needed it to be able to talk.

“I just… Liam said… things I’ve been asking myself too and I guess… I’ve always pushed the thought away because I thought that it was just me not being confident but… if he said it too, then maybe there’s more to it, you know?”

You took a deep breath, still staring in these dark brown eyes you adored.

“I don’t really understand why you would choose me, of all people,” you explained, and you were surprised when the tears you withheld with all your might didn’t fall. “I mean… You’re… You’re brilliant, and funny, and kind, and loving, and handsome and… you’re… amazing. And on the other hand I’m a shitty single-mother struggling with everything, with my life in shambles and… why would you want that? Why would you want to take care of Sally? Why would you want me and my mess when you can get so much better than this? Better than me? Someone… someone who would be worth the trouble.”

You were surprised by Ben’s reaction. You expected him to get defensive, or on the contrary, to heave a sigh and admit that you were right and that he couldn’t do this, that all of this was a mistake…

But instead, he looked at you with the most confused expression you had ever seen on his features.

And before his silence, you asked your question one last time.

“Why would you want to be with me, Ben?”

He let out a long exhale. When he spoke again, his words were so earnest, you could see it all painted in his eyes. And he confessed it all as if it were obvious, as if you were silly for not seeing it on your own before. As if it was the most obvious answer in the entire world…

“Because I’m in love with you.”

Your gasp was shaky, barely audible, but here all the same, paired with wide eyes and a stunned look that showed him that you were blinder than he had thought. Had there not been so much tension in the room, had he not been so afraid you could leave, had there been no tears still shining in your eyes… he might have laughed at you for being so oblivious. But he didn’t. Instead, he waited for your reaction, and when it didn’t come, he took a step closer.

“I’m in love with you,” he repeated. “I love you. There’s no other reason… why I want you. I just… I just want to be with the woman I love, that’s all.”

He clenched his jaw, shook his head, looked down at his feet for a second. He didn’t speak again before his stare was once more locked with yours.

“I am well aware that you’re a mother, that I’m picking up responsibilities towards Sally as well by being with you. We’ve discussed this before, and I know what it means to be with you. You’re right, it means having a much more chaotic life than I do now. It means helping you raise Sally. It means dealing with your shitty ex. It means helping you put your life back together. But it doesn’t only mean troubles. It also means taking care of an amazing little girl I genuinely love and care about. It means kissing you whenever I want to without asking for permission to do so. It means locking ourselves in our office to make out. It means waking up beside you. Looking at you while you read. Listening to you talk about everything and nothing. Laughing with you and having my belly ache because you’re too funny for me to handle. It means taking long walks with you while we talk for hours and you hold my arm until it grows numb and yet I still don’t want you to let go. It means making love to you on Sunday mornings and spending sleepless nights in your bed. It means watching you brush your teeth and complain about the flavour of my toothpaste cause it’s too minty for you. Baking pancakes for you. Listening to you sing along to songs you don’t remember the lyrics of… I could go one like this for days, but what I’m trying to say is… I’m not going to pretend that there aren’t obstacles to our relationship. Because there are. Your situation… just like mine. With my own shitty ex, and my stupid broken heart and yet… I want this. At the end of the day, all of these obstacles, all of these arguments that could go against us being together… I don’t care. I don’t care about any of them. All of these amazing moments I share with you every day are worth it. All of it. I would do anything to be with you. And perhaps it sounds crazy, because it’s so early on in our relationship, but that’s the truth. You are worth every sacrifice. Every bit of trouble. You are worth everything, much more than what I can give you, as a matter of fact. I love you, Y/N. It makes it all worth it. It’s the reason behind every single one of my choices when it comes to you.”

He fell silent, knowing he was speaking too much, but you were still speechless. And he grew scared of this stillness in the air, the look of statue on your motionless frame and face.

So, he took another step, reached up to cup your cheeks, stared at you so intensely you were certain your soul was burning…

“I love you, Y/N. I want to be with you. I want this. All of it. I know what I’m getting myself into, and I want it. Every second of it. Do you understand? I’m not messing around, Y/N. I’m serious about this, about us. My own heart is on the line. Do you think it’s not hard for me too? To trust someone again like this after Julia? But for you I’m willing to try. And if you break my heart one day, then so be it. I love you enough to take the risk. I love you enough that all I want is to be with you, for as long as you’ll be foolish enough to have me. You are worth every bit of pain and heartbreak that could come my way if you left. You are worth everything, Y/N. Why do I want to be with you? Because I don’t think that I could be happy without you now, Y/N. Because I love you, and that means I don’t have a choice at all. Or rather… I have a choice. I can play it safe and push you away, and I’ve tried that before we got together. I was absolutely miserable. Or I can choose to be with you, and fight for you, for us. And that’s the choice I’ve made. I have no regrets. You’re making me happier than I’ve ever been.”

He fell silent again, but this time you reacted. Instead of merely staring blankly at him, suspended to his words, you rushed into his arms, held him so tight he could barely breathe, but he didn’t mind and he held you with the same fervour.

You were crying by now.

“I love you too,” you whispered into his ear, and he couldn’t refrain a grin. “I love you so much, Ben. I know it sounds crazy because it’s so early on in our relationship, but I love you. I was already in love with you that evening in the theatre when we kissed. I’ve been in love with you for a while now.”

“I loved you already too by then. I fell for you in this Italian restaurant in London, where we talked so much our food grew cold.”

You smiled at the memory, nodding.

“I don’t know when it started. But I know that this evening at the party, and during that talk on the bench by the Thames… I was already yours. My heart became yours for good that night.”

You chuckled, pulling away just enough to be able to look at him.

“Don’t get me wrong. I still find you insufferable.”

“You are driving me absolutely nuts.”

“You’re so annoying.”

“Not as much as you are. And I love it. Every second of it.”

“I love it too.”

“I love you.”

“I love you.”

You leaned up towards his lips and he met you halfway, guiding your mouth closer as he kept his palms on your cheeks, brushing away the tears that kept on falling there.

And it lasted a long time, until you weren’t crying anymore, until you were reminded that if he kissed you like this, if he made you feel like this… it ought to be real…

“What did Liam say to get you so upset?” Ben asked in a quiet voice as you held him close again, your ear pressed to his heart to listen to the steady beating.

“I already had these thoughts. He just… voiced them, I guess.”

“What thoughts? That I had doubts about us?”

You nodded, felt him tensing against you, the hold on your body tightening.

“I don’t have any doubts about this.”

“I know it now. I know.”

“Can I be honest about your ex?”

“Of course.”

“I think he’s a jerk. He shouldn’t say things like that. He shouldn’t upset you this way. You don’t say things that could hurt someone so much they’ll cry and think lowly of themselves.”

You nodded, burying your face into his warm woollen jumper.

“I know, he’s an arse. That’s why I left him.”

“And you were right to do so. What a jerk...”

You chuckled, and he wondered why.

“It’s just…” you answered, still quietly laughing. “I want to murder your ex every time I learn something new about her, and it looks like you’re ready to throw hands with Liam.”

“Of course, I want to. I want to punch him into oblivion for making you cry…”

“We really do have shitty exes, huh?”

“Yeah… but we’ve got it better this time around, right?”

You grinned at that, looking up at him.

“True. Much, so much better…”

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

Taglist: @reg-arcturus-black @sergeantbuckybarnes @wolfmoonmusic @idek-what-to-put @kpicard @rhapsodyonthethames @friendly-philosopher

[dinosaursgowoof]

CHAOS THEORY SPOILERS BELOW THE DOTS

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Okay but what if, and hear me out it’s all down to Ben AKA welcome to my ted talk conspiracy theory AKA I just finished chaos theory it’s 1am and I have wild thoughts:

-the handler was a clone of Ben

-Ben got onto the island because his mum worked for Simon Masrani (according to google) so theoretically she has access to that sort of technology

-So when Ben got back from the island and was like “I completely bonded with a dinosaur” the science people were like ‘ah right. Here’s a boy Compatible with dinos. How can we use this but make it more messed up’.

- Ben and Brooklyn shared a joke about clones on the rooftop. Foreshadowing?

- The handler looks very similar to Ben when he was younger and they share a similar eye colour now even though ben’s eye colour was a brownish colour at one point (I think)?

-the handler is tweaked so is telepathic or part raptor? We know that the science people weren’t shy from playing with DNA

-what if ben’s mum is now working with Dr Wu and she’s running things now?

-it would kind of make sense to me why Brooklyn faked her own death. She wanted to uncover the truth but found out it was ben’s mum and she saw what happened to kenji when his dad was revealed as evil so didn’t want that for Ben and wanted to be sure before pulling that out of the bag.

-the handler is going rogue chasing down the campfam especially Ben. We know the Boss doesn’t like loose ends but what if the handler sees Ben as a loose end (like emotionally) and by killing Ben ends are tied.

-Ben spoke in Italian when his van sunk. What if his European “girlfriend” was from Italy? What if they met on dark Jurassic but have never met in person? What if he was being catfished by the handler?

What other wild theories does everyone have? I want to hear them!