#i tried to hold on til after thanksgiving

[mulderscully]

THE X-FILES | 6.06

[vintageshanny]

Play Something For Me - Part 7 - Over the Rainbow

Content: Ruby and Elvis enjoy a sweet and smutty Thanksgiving in 1973 that involves a leather suit with rainbow fringe. 18+

Thank you to @peaceloveelvis for inspiring me with this pic of leather rainbow fringe pants that I didn’t know existed. And eternal gratitude to my lovely friends who’ve cheered me on in writing this series! 😘 @whositmcwhatsit @ellie-24 @be-my-ally @thatbanditqueen @lookingforrainbows @from-memphis-with-love @missmaywemeetagain @powerofelvis @arrolyn1114

If you need to catch up, here’s the series page:

Play Something For Me

Wednesday, November 21st, 1973

“But mom, I wanna go with you! It’s not fair!” Ella’s chocolate-brown eyes glazed over with tears as she pleaded her case. “Oh, honey, I know. There’s nothing I can do, it’s your father’s turn for Thanksgiving this year. But Elvis was very insistent that we both come for Christmas, so you’ll get to see Graceland then.” Ruby rubbed Ella’s back as she embraced her, soothing away the tears while she tried to hold her own nerves at bay.

After the week Elvis had spent in St. Louis at Halloween, he’d had to go back to Memphis to “take care of some business,” as he put it. The times they’d spent together so far had been in a sort of cocoon of love. Now she’d be entering his home and his normal daily life, whatever that entailed. After his comment about wanting her to move in, she felt a little terrified at how the visit would go.

A car horn honked outside, and Ruby gave Ella one last reassuring squeeze. “I love you, Ella-bella,” she murmured. “I’ll tell you all about Graceland when you come home on Sunday.” “You better,” Ella said with a small smile, trying to will herself into a better mood. “And I love you too.”

With Ella safely picked up, Ruby turned her attention back to her closet so she could finish packing for the long weekend. “What exactly does one wear for Thanksgiving at Graceland?” she muttered under her breath as she surveyed what looked to her like a bunch of frumpy “mom” dresses. “I wonder if I have time to alter anything…” she continued her one-way conversation when the phone interrupted her thoughts with its shrill tone.

“Hey, sweet red Ruby,” the unmistakable timbre sent butterflies swarming through her belly. “Elvis! It’s you!” Ruby squeaked out nervously. “Course it’s me baby, ya got another man callin’ ya?” he asked with a hint of suspicion in his voice. “No, no, sorry, I’m just…nervous about tomorrow,” Ruby admitted. Elvis’ tone softened instantly. “W-w-why ya nervous honey? It’s jus’ me. You ain’t never gotta be nervous or scared ‘round me.” Ruby cleared her throat a little bit. “Yeah, I know, I just hope I fit in there with you, in your home,” she said with an anxious sigh. “Ruby honey, ya ain’t gotta worry ‘bout that. Ya already know we fit together perfectly. In every way,” he added, and Ruby could almost see his cheeky grin right through the phone line as a flush rose on her face and a strained little whimper escaped her lips. Elvis laughed and teased, “Red Ruby, wait til ya get here so I can see the look on your face when ya make those noises.” Then he added more seriously, “I can’t wait ta see ya, honey. I miss ya so much.” Ruby’s heart melted right down and warmed her entire body. “Me too, baby.”

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

Ruby landed at the airport in Memphis at 11:18 Thursday morning with all the other last-minute Thanksgiving travelers. She bit down on her lip nervously as she looked around for Charlie, who she knew Elvis was sending to pick her up. She’d met Charlie in Las Vegas and he was sweet enough, although maybe a little desperate for Elvis’ approval. She inwardly chuckled, thinking how Elvis’ entourage probably thought the same about her. Charlie was polite but quiet on the drive to Graceland, as if he sensed her nerves and didn’t want to say anything that might escalate them.

Ruby gasped a little bit as they pulled up to the famed music note gate. She’d seen pictures of the house in magazines, but it was even more beautiful in person. She somehow felt Elvis’ aura and energy the moment they started up the driveway, and the nerves and excitement intensified as they parked and headed for the door. “We’ll go in the back ‘cuz he’s probably in the den waitin’ for ya,” Charlie explained. Ruby nodded anxiously and followed.

As she walked through the door and into a room filled with interesting furniture and an actual waterfall along the wall, she only had eyes for her beautiful man, who was sitting in a high-backed chair, holding court with his loyal subjects. He was talking and laughing, and his warm energy called to her. As soon as he laid eyes on her, he jumped to his feet and swooped her up in a big hug. “Ever’one, this is my sweet red Ruby,” he declared proudly, showing her off like a shiny new car. Most of the guys she recognized from Las Vegas, but she was introduced to some girlfriends and wives, plus a couple other employees. “Imma take Ruby on a tour,” Elvis said with a little wink as he grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the basement steps. As they walked away, she could swear she heard someone remark, “It’s nice to see someone closer to his age.” Elvis must have heard it too because his grip tightened slightly, but he chose to ignore it for now.

“Will I get to meet Lisa?” Ruby asked as they walked down the stairs and turned right. She could see Elvis’ jaw tighten and his eyes turn stormy. “Naw, baby, Cilla is bein’ a –” Elvis caught himself and blinked slowly, trying to calm down. “Cilla won’t let her come home til Christmas,” he said, his eyes dropping sadly. Ruby wrapped her arms around him in a comforting embrace. “I’m sorry, Elvis,” she said softly. “I know how hard it is to be without your baby at the holidays. I guess the silver lining for us is that we have some time alone right now.” Elvis glanced up at her face quickly, his sad expression turning playful. “And what did ya have in mind for the alone time, Miss Ruby? Hmm?” he questioned teasingly.

“Well,” Ruby murmured with a deep blush, “I did notice the first stop on the tour is this big couch.” She nodded toward the long couch right behind Elvis. “And you’re here looking so sexy like this,” she added as she fully took in his outfit for the first time. Along with his usual assortment of rings and necklaces, he was wearing a brown leather jacket with long rainbow-colored fringe over a green button-down shirt. His leather pants matched the jacket, rainbow fringe and all. “Ya like it? I thought it felt like a Thanksgiving thing,” he said, his crooked grin lighting up his face. Ruby had to hold back a giggle at how cute he was to try to dress on theme for the holiday. “I love it, Elvis, there’s no one quite like you,” Ruby said, letting her hands drop and her fingers run ever so lightly over the soft bulge in his leather pants, causing a shiver to run though him. “I should hope not,” he said, smiling, resting one large hand on her shoulder, his warm fingers gently brushing the bare skin of her neck.

“You look very beautiful yourself, sweet Ruby,” Elvis said as he took her in, his eyelids seeming to grow heavy with lust. Ruby beamed, happy that she had chosen the right thing to wear - a burgundy sweater dress with a short flared skirt and a scoop neckline with a drawstring bow. Elvis’ fingers’ moved a little lower down her neck until they were tracing the neckline of her dress, running gently over her cleavage. The mixture of the warmth of his hand and the cool metal of his rings raised goosebumps on her skin. “This little dress is giving me some thoughts,” he whispered lowly as he gave the drawstring a little tug, the bow coming undone and the fabric gaping open a little bit. Elvis bent down and started pressing wet kisses to the exposed area of her chest, little moans coming from both of them. “Oh, baby, you’re makin’ me weak in the knees,” Elvis chuckled. “Let’s sit down for a minute.”

Sitting was the last thing on either of their minds though as Elvis pulled Ruby onto his lap on the couch and explored her mouth, her ear, her neck, and her chest with his tongue. He pulled the front of her dress and the cup of her lacy bra down a little more until one of her breasts was exposed. As he grazed his teeth lightly over her nipple and then sucked it into his warm mouth, flicking it with his tongue, Ruby couldn’t help but instinctually grind down onto his package that had grown so hard she wasn’t sure how it hadn’t burst right through the leather. She hoped the breathy moans from the two of them weren’t wafting up the stairs, but Elvis didn’t seem worried. “Goddamn, baby, I’ve missed ya,” he moaned out as Ruby leaned in and bit softly on his lower lip, then ran her tongue over it. She reached down between them and rubbed her hand back and forth over his bulge, the friction becoming too much for him to bear. “Oh, damn, Ruby, I-I-I love ya baby,” he said with a shudder as she suddenly felt a damp warmth beneath her hand. “I love you too, Elvis,” Ruby whispered as she laid her hand over his chest, feeling his racing heartbeat trying to return to its normal rhythm.

“EP, it’s almost turkey time!” a voice shouted down from upstairs. “Shoot, what am I gonna do ‘bout my pants?” Elvis muttered, looking down at where a sticky wet spot had soaked right through the leather. “I’ll have ta sneak up and change. Baby, can you go up and tell ever’one to wait for me in the dining room?” “Of course,” Ruby smiled as she stood up and straightened out her dress, re-tying the neckline and leaning over to give him a kiss on the cheek before going back upstairs.

Twenty minutes later, everyone had gathered in the dining room for a Thanksgiving feast and Elvis appeared wearing the same jacket but with some black pants. Nancy, one of the cooks who Ruby had been briefly introduced to earlier, brought in a platter of food and looked at Elvis in surprise. “Mr. Elvis, you were so excited about your outfit! Why’d ya change your pants?” Elvis’ face turned red as he stumbled for an answer. Joe started snickering. “I think Elvis needs to know how to get something sticky out of leather. Any tips, Nancy?” Elvis gave Joe a glare that could freeze hell over, but all the guys seemed to have trouble holding back their laughter. Especially when Nancy chimed in with, “You didn’t get syrup on your pants again, did ya?”

Sitting at Elvis’ side, Ruby could feel her face burning red as she realized everyone probably could hear them in the basement. Elvis looked a bit embarrassed too, but Ruby’s presence had a way of lightening his mood. He just leaned in and whispered loudly, “Ignore these assholes Ruby.” Then he dropped his voice so only she could hear. “We’ll go up to my soundproof bedroom later and do whatever you want.” Ruby blushed again and smiled broadly at him as he winked at her. He always made her feel comfortable and protected.

After a delicious dinner, some of the guys went to the basement to play pool, but Elvis sat down and started playing gospel songs on the piano. A few others joined in singing, and Ruby leaned at the edge of the piano, watching Elvis’ passionate face as memories from long ago washed over her. As he started playing “If I Loved You,” he looked up and caught her eye with a big grin, causing her to blush and look away. She knew they were both picturing her kneeling between his legs at the piano bench fifteen years ago. Ruby could feel her pulse quicken at the thought. If only no one else was around, she’d do it all again. She thought about how soft and smooth he felt when she rolled his foreskin up and down, the inviting way his head peeked out when he was fully hard, how sensitive it was when she touched her tongue to it…her chest was starting to heave with all these fantasies racing through her mind, all while staring at this most perfect of faces. As if sensing her desire, Elvis announced they were going to turn in for the night and thanked everyone for celebrating with him. He grabbed Ruby’s hand and showed her the way to the master bedroom.

“I know what you were thinkin’ ‘bout red Ruby,” Elvis teased once they were alone. “You were thinking the same thing!” Ruby protested, swatting at his arm. Elvis smiled so big that his cute dimple flashed at her. “Maybe,” he said. “I was thinkin’ of somethin’ else though, too.” “What’s that?” Ruby asked. “I was thinkin,” Elvis said as he ran his hands down her sides and gently squeezed her waist, “that I wanna lick your pretty little kitty again. I like knowin’ I’m the first man that ever did that to ya.” “You’re the only man,” Ruby corrected as she reached up and stroked his cheek softly. “I have a few firsts with you, but I don’t think you have any with me,” she said, her voice sounding a little bit sad. Elvis looked at her in surprise. He gave her forehead a tender kiss before he spoke.

“Baby, you’re the first woman I’ve been with where I feel like ya want to spend time with me just as much as I do with you. Not spend money or get your name in the papers or any of that, but just spend time with me and and enjoy me and love me for who I am. You’re interested when I talk to ya, you’re affectionate with me all the time, ya never say ya need a break from me, you accept me completely. That’s a first for me, and probably the most important first there is.” Ruby looked up at him, her eyes misty with emotion. “Well, any woman who doesn’t see what a special person you are, even without the money and fame, must be crazy. But that’s okay, because now I get to be the lucky one.”

“You sure do, baby, and let me show ya just how lucky.” Ruby squealed with delight as Elvis tossed her on the bed so he could get to work worshipping her with his tongue.

[fluentmoviequoter]

Insidious: The Red Door

Dalton Lambert x fem!reader

blurbs and celebration fics

A Soporific Relationship

1.1k+ words | fluff | Dalton can't sleep, so his best friend sleeps next to him to help.

What I Said in the Dark

1.1k+ words | angst | When Dalton is possessed, truth comes to the light when he talks in the dark.

What We Do in the Dark (Part 2) 1.3k+ words | angst to fluff | Dalton has to deal with what he said while possessed.

You're All Mine

1.5k+ words | fluff | Dalton makes a new friend who doesn't mind his shyness.

Sunshine in the Darkness

1.7k+ words | fluff | Dalton finds shy!reader hiding in an empty room at the frat party, and his world brightens.

Sunshine in the Darkness (Part 2) 1.5k+ words | fluff | After Dalton befriends shy!reader at the frat party, he promises to tell her something tomorrow, and tomorrow has finally come.

It Ends Here

0.9k+ words | angst/fluff | After years of not seeing your childhood best friend, you are reunited and agree to join him in an unimaginable battle.

Don’t Believe Everyone You See

3k+ words | angst/fluff | Reader can astral project and meets Dalton in the Further, and assumes he's trapped there until they meet again.

Don’t Believe Everyone You See (Is Too Good to Be True) 2.3k+ words | angst\fluff | After seeing Dalton in the Further and meeting him in the real world, (astral-projecting) reader joins the fight to close the Red Door.

Rom-Com Dreams

1.2k+ words | fluff | Dalton is so in love, he creates his own rom-com.

If We Met First

2.6k+ words | angst to fluff | Reader learns that Chris and Dalton kissed and gets jealous.

On Your Team

3.2k+ words | hurt\comfort | Dalton gets possessed and hurts the people he loves.

Bloody Sheets

0.7k+ words | fluff/period fic | Dalton comforts reader while she's on her period.

I Have a Girlfriend

1.1k+ words | fluff | Reader cares for a drunk Dalton, who insists he has a girlfriend.

Heart Set on Amulets (Dalton Lambert x witch!fem!reader)

3.4k+ words | fluff | Dalton meets shy, introverted reader and they become friends. Eventually, he finds out that she's a witch and tells her about his astral projecting. She creates an amulet to help him sleep, and Dalton discovers how nice dreams can be.

Heart Set on Amulets Universe Masterlist All Dalton Lambert x witch!fem!reader fics and drabbles linked here!

One and One and One is Three (Dalton Lambert x single mom!reader)

3.8k+ words | fluff | When Dalton befriends a pregnant girl at a Halloween party, he doesn't expect to be a dad by next Thanksgiving.

A Second Chance

2.1k+ words | angst to (very brief) fluff and slight angst | Reader, Elise's granddaughter, hates the Lambert family, but when Dalton tries to close the Red Door on his own, she gives him a second chance.

Just That Girl

1.8k+ words | fluff | Dalton falls in love with a mystery girl at a masquerade party.

Beg You to Stay, Push Me Away

1k+ words | angst (high school AU?) | When Dalton forgets an important conversation after his coma, he loses his best friend.

Beg You to Stay, Push Me Away (Part 2) 1.7k+ words | angst to fluff, hurt\comfort | Years after your falling out in high school, you find yourself thinking about Dalton. Then the roles are reversed, and Dalton finds himself begging you to stay.

I See You in My Nightmares, or Not At All

1.3k+ words | angst (Please check all warnings before reading!) | When you dream, you travel to a dark realm. The nightmares are the only place you feel loved, but the boy in the dark tells you to stop visiting. When you argue, he makes you stop.

Fake It ‘til We Make It

2k+ words | fluff | Dalton tells Chris he has a girlfriend, so he enlists some help to convince Chris it's true. He's left wondering, "What if it wasn't fake?"

Fake It ‘til We Make It (Part 2) 0.9k+ words | fluff | Dalton learns was fake and what was real when he takes you on a first (or second) date.

To Hold and Be Held

1k+ words | hurt/comfort | Dalton holds you, comforting you through an anxiety attack. In the aftermath, you tell him something you've never said aloud before.

Lay Here With Me

1.6k+ words | fluff | Dalton is overworking himself, so he gets forced into a break-turned-pamper-session.

Protect What You Love

1.3k+ words | angst to fluff | Dalton is overprotective, but he has a reason.

A Masterpiece

1k+ words | fluff, hurt/comfort | Dalton helps reader with two art projects.

Is it Fun? (from Fic-tober 2023)

0.5k+ words | angst | Dalton has been avoiding you and you want to know why.

Fun While It Lasted (Part 2 to 'Is it Fun?') 2.1k+ words | angst to fluff | Months after Dalton hurts you, Chris finds out why.

The Artist and the Art

3.0k+ words | angst to fluff | While you hide your feelings for Dalton, his life changes and suddenly you don't know where you fit.

A Little More Space

2.9k+ words | fluff, hurt/comfort | After overhearing Dalton say you're clingy, you give him the space he wants. Dalton, however, needs to close the distance and remind you that he loves everything about you, including the lack of space.

Stay By Your Side

1.5k+ words | fluff | You go to Kali's birthday party with Dalton and get a gift of your own.

[friedesgreatscythe]

ARR speedruns are getting me through late winter into early spring, as well as allowing me a chance to come up with different characters to give AU Eorzea adventures. I've perfected it from about 10 days in February, to three days in the Eren Jaeger run last month, to possibly 20 hours total in my current Twilight Princess!Zelda run. I'm taking a break now because I'm holding myself accountable to productive decisions lol But considering the rate I've been going I'm almost posi I can manage at most a 24 hour run time.

I've perfected little ways to make it go by as quick as possible: start on Dynamis (NA data center that gives a massive exp boost) and always have food handy for another bit of EXP boost (if an FC invites you and has an EXP boost as well, all the better, but you don't have to rely on this); use NPCs in dungeons and pull big mobs if you're DPS or healer (the tank is beefy and the healer can keep up with him, but i haven't tested out the combo of you tanking + NPC healer yet); sign up with every chocobokeep at aetherytes so you can pass between settlements without spending much gil; use the airship service liberally to also save gil; if you go archer/bard, always use peleton to make sprinting faster; skip cutscenes (which i only condone here bc i've played the game before) and make the language Japanese and the text 9+ speed for the ones you can't skip. For the grand companies, the Immortal Flames or Twin Adders are the better choices since their headquarters are so close to major aetherytes (and will load in faster as opposed to Limsa, where everyone is all the damn time).

Using all this, I started the conjurer/white mage Zelda cosplay run yesterday at 12:30PM and got her to level 50 and unlocked Brayflox by 2AM. I did have to take a break for dinner, so that added about a half hour to the run time, and I did do two side dungeons for another boost of EXP, so that added to the time as well. I don't have gear good enough to solo dungeons at this point, but I can turn in the silver chocobo feathers I have to get some relic gear to help with iLvl and stat increase.

You may be asking yourself, "Krist, why are you doing all this?" And the answer is simply: so Twilight Princess!Zelda can get the Torgal mount and fit my own personal satisfaction of having a lore appropriate mount from her game lmao Also to keep seeing how fast I can get through ARR at this point.

The FFXVI crossover event lasts til May goddamn 8th. I have over a month to do it, but I have an awful sense of FOMO and an insatiable need to put pressure on myself to succeed, so this is how I've tried to come to terms with that. Even though I'm never satisfied with what I do. Even with all these accomplishments, I went to bed last night thinking, "What a waste of time, you're such a loser." And hey, that could be true, but as long as I'm applying myself to things that will actually help me in real life, I don't see the problem.

Which is why I'm spending the day typing up my rewrites draft notebook so I have that to work on in the oncoming draft.

Accountability. Productivity. Accomplishments. I'm capable of all of these, and now I just need to make sure I keep doing them, and that I include myself in these efforts. Looking after my mom and now my stepdad after his sciatica flare up has made me more aware of how easily and readily I'll set aside what I want and need to do for someone else. Reassuring my sister that I'm available to help whenever she needs it makes me aware of how quickly I'll reach out to someone else, but never think to offer that same support to myself.

My goal for the year is to finish this draft--polished, finished, ready for beta readers--by Thanksgiving at the latest. I know I can do it. I know I need to focus, to reach out to other writer friends who are on their indie pub journeys, or keep track of their progress and how they're handling themselves. I need to be more supportive to myself. I need to celebrate how determined I am, even through the hardship and discomfort of having no financial independence (and the BPD impulsivity of overspending when I do have money, combined with the PTSD sense of foreshortened future. Why save money when I can't imagine a need to support myself because I can't imagine wanting to live [which is different from wanting to die, it's simply a total apathy to the concept of existing and wanting to do so]).

I just... need to be better to myself. I need to jump to my own needs the way I do for others. I need to reassure myself the way I do for others. I need to set goals in the immediate and long-term future and meet them, and be proud of meeting them. I need to start looking at my life and what I'm doing in it as things that are good, and useful, and valuable, and necessary, and wonderful, because no one and nothing else is going to give me the life I'm desperate for. I don't get a second chance at this. It's not something I can start over. I'm alive now, whether I like it or not, and I have to keep dedicating myself to things that make me like it.

Even typing that out makes me scowl or cringe away from the very idea. But why? Why don't I want to make myself happy? Why don't I want to make my life better--to make my life my life, how I want it? Why can't I just... be a healthy person? Why can't I like myself--not even love, just like? Why am I repulsed by the very idea of taking care of myself? What happened to make me this way, and how can I fix it?

[theendlessrambles]

11/26/23

I have a counselors appointment the first of December. That was the soonest that could get me in. I've been waiting for about a month. I haven't skipped work, but I sleep a lot. My friends have helped a lot. After spending the night and seeing my family I saw my friends including the one who moved down from Canada. I haven't seen her in years. We all went shopping smoked and played games. We spent so much money haha we were all regretting it but we had a ton of fun.

Seeing Mya family was strange it was nice but my youngest brother is suffering clearly and they are rather sexist and racist. Mainly the boys. I spe t the night at my grandma's and the next day I went and saw my mom with my grandma, but she was busy doing work deposit us agreeing on that day to hang out cause she missed me. It was okay though and we watched half of Harriet Tubman. It was too long for us to watch since I need to go get Morgan and bring her back to my place. Thanksgiving went pretty well.

I broke up with my boyfriend. He didn't see me as a priority any more with college and his friends being his priority. It would t of been to bad if he wasn't so rude and disrespectful to me when we were together. He bought us tickets to a musical, Little Shop of Horrors. I was so excited but it did not go well. I phoned him when I broke up with him. I told him at noon I wanted to talk and he waited til he was heading to work to call me because he was playing video games with his friends. I dumped him and he told me it wasn't fair and he spoiled me with too much quality time in the beginning. I yelled at him a bit. I had been communicating how frustrated I was and he told me that this had come out of nowhere. He hasn't spoken to me since and I've messaged him about his things being returned. They may just become mine now. It's funny how you can see ones true colors after a break up. It sucks. I have his harmonica, a dnd book, and some of his clothes. I also had his gifts for what was going to be our 1 year anniversary and his Christmas gift. It was this build a bear I made him with a lavender scent in it cause it was his favorite. I was gonna put an audio of me saying I love you in it but since it was a pokemon stuffed animal I picked they wouldn't let me do to legalities so I put a heart beat in it instead. Pap claimed it right away but I'm making her wait til Christmas. In truth I wish I could still give it to him, but I don't think he would take it and I don't blame him. I want to hate him, but I don't. He just has a lot of growing up to do.

I'm thinking of moving out on my own. There's this abandoned church in sandusky and it doesn't look to bad. I think I'd like living in an old church. There's also this house across the street me and pap talked about moving in together, but I think I want to be alone. I think I just need to live by myself for awhile and figure things out. My only worry is my dog, phoebe, getting enough time and being let out. I honestly just have a lot to think about a lot to get through.

The war is still raging on. They aren't saying it's World War three, but we all know it is. Times are rough, those who hold the strings are all fighting with one another, and there's a genocide everyone knows about. It's pretty depressing. The climate is still not the best and there's talk of helping it by being extinct animals back. I don't know how those two connect. There's this think called Colosial Science and they are partnering up with some company down in Texas to bring back mammoths by 2028 for meat. They also mentioned Dodos too. I don't like the idea of it. I don't like the idea of cloning as a solution. I understand it to a point of saving us from extinction, but it feels off. Sometimes I think human downfall isn't to bad rather than scrambling to mess with nature more to ensure our survival. We have tried to remove ourselves so much from it until we surrender back into it I think we're all going to die. Maybe I'm just depressed. Who's to say why the mammoths are coming back, but one day I may be writing about it with a pack of its meat in the freezer.

[collecting-stories]

Tara - ep. 11 - Georgia

Summary: The reader’s birthday is right around the corner. Tara shares a secret with Daryl that only she knows. 

A/N: Someone recently asked about me posting pictures that inspired Georgia so I thought I would share the pinterest board I use for it.  (I’ll add more as the series moves along. If you wanna see anything specific like outfit inspo let me know lol).

Georgia Masterlist | The Walking Dead Masterlist

☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

“My baby! Look at her.” You cheered, standing in the parking lot of Dale’s autobody as Daryl drove the Jeep up and parked beside you. He had told you to come by after work to collect the Jeep at the shop, thinking it’d be better that way then you showing up at his house. “Thank you.”

“Just doing my job.” He shrugged, handing the keys over to you. “Another tussle with the cat?” He asked, catching sight of the cut on your cheek. Without thinking he reached up and brushed his hand across the cut and you flinched a little.  

You smiled though, when you met his eyes, “yeah, can’t resist ‘em.”  

“Thought maybe ya were getting into it at the diner, heard ya got arrested,” he teased.  

“I wasn’t arrested! Who told you I was arrested?”  

“Calm yerself down. Michonne said she picked ya up Friday night with Maggie Greene.” He replied. Michonne had given him an earful about it on Saturday morning when she’d seen him in the parking lot of the gas station.  

“I was at Shane’s party, there was a fight.” You replied, “but I wasn’t arrested.” You wondered if Michonne told Daryl that she called you his girlfriend and whether or not that bothered him. If he corrected her everytime or if he didn’t say one way or another. “Anyway, I went cause Aiden told me he’d tell my mom we’ve been hanging out if I didn’t. I didn’t want you to get in trouble,” you admitted.

With both of the boys only in holding over night to ‘cool off’ as the sheriff called it, you were sure that Aiden had convinced his mom to tell yours about all the time you were spending with Daryl. You’d spent all last night laying in bed freaking out over the thought of Daryl getting in trouble because you were stupid enough to not just go talk to Deanna in the moment.  

“Don’t worry ‘bout me, ya shouldn’t be spending time hanging around me anyway.” He mused, leaning against the side of your jeep. “Don’t matter anyway, going hunting for a few days...sure they’ll forget about whatever gossip they got running out their mouths by then.”

“When are you going?”

“Leavin’ in the morning why?” He asked.  

“How long you gonna be gone?”

“Why?” Daryl asked again, “ya want me ta print ya an itinerary or something?”  

“No. I’m just asking.” You frowned, hoping it looked like a glare but positive it looked much more like a pout. The thought of Daryl leaving, even for a weekend, was all kinds of awful. It was already going to be weird not going to his house three times a week to watch him work on the car and you were afraid that he would stop wanting you around now that the car was fixed. Going hunting felt like the final thing before he told you to stop bothering him for good. “You still gonna teach me car stuff when you come back?”

“Told ya I would.” He said. When Tiny called his name from the back of the shop, Daryl stood up, wiping imaginary dirt off his hands. “I gotta get back ta work, ya stay outta prison til I’m back, ya hear.”

“I wasn’t arrested!” You stressed,  

“Course ya weren’t.” He hesitated for a moment, hands in the pockets of his coveralls as he stood there, waiting to say whatever was on his mind. “I’ll only be a few days, I see ya after. Teach ya how to drive.”

“I know how to drive!” You laughed, “you told me I was good driver.”

“When was that?”  

“Daryl!”  

He grinned, brushing his hair back with his hand before shaking it out. “I’ll be seeing ya alright?”

“I’ll see you when you get back.” You nodded, finally opening the door to your jeep as Daryl headed back into the auto shop to help Tiny. You waved to Axel as you peeled out, not headed far though, you had a shift at the diner to get back to.  

You hadn’t mentioned it to Daryl then though you had been planning to. It was your birthday soon. About two weeks and you’d be eighteen. It wouldn’t matter what Deanna told your mom or what Aiden said and maybe, Michonne’s teasing wouldn’t have to be just teasing. It was all wishful thinking though. There was still the unavoidable possibility that he didn’t like you at all and that when you told him how you felt he wouldn’t reciprocate. Maggie told you that you were crazy to even think that way, Daryl was obviously into you, according to her.  

You’d spent enough time with him though, you knew he wouldn’t come around easy. But that was okay, you were pretty willing to stick it out even if all you ever got was a glimpse of a smile.  

-

The diner was packed when you got there, almost unusually so for a Thursday night but you recognized the two girls sitting at the counter the moment you walked through the front door. You waved while you ducked in the back to drop your things and clock in, fixing the apron around your dress and coming back out the double doors behind the counter.  

“What are you guys doing here?” You asked, stopping in front of Maggie and Tara before you waited on anyone else.  

Maggie only came by the diner if she was driving you home and lately she hadn’t. Tara came even more infrequently so you knew they had to want something if they were sitting there, especially at the beginning of your shift.

“Wanted to get dinner, saw you across the street with your boyfriend.” Tara teased.  

“Shut up.”

“You tell him that you’re gonna be eighteen soon.” She questioned. “You guys can-”

“Tara! Shut up!” You smacked the back of her hand with the pad of paper in your hand, “my God.”

“We came over because we were talking party ideas and wanted to know what you wanted for your birthday?” Maggie cut in, bringing the conversation back to something more appropriate for a diner full of families.

“After the other night...no party. Just us, Glenn...maybe Eugene? No one else, please.” You laughed.  

“You know what would be more fun than a party?” Lori commented, stopping behind you.  

You twisted around, looking at your co-worker, “waiting on tables?” You replied. She was always on your case, it was no surprise that she would’ve been ease-dropping on the conversation.  

“Especially since you aren’t being paid to stand here chitchatting with your friends.” She retorted.  

“I’m going, I’m going,” you muttered, “discuss without me...no party.” You insisted, walking around the counter to go wait on the tables in your section.

Tara spun in her stool, watching you chat up tables of families. “Watch her, I’ll be right back.” She instructed, hopping off the stool. Maggie was about to ask where she was headed but Tara was already across the diner, the bell on the door clattering behind her as she left. Through the picture windows Maggie could see her cut across the street to the garage. You would kill them if you found out, surely.  

-

Tara walked up the small parking lot to the garage. She’d been there once to drop you off but had never been inside. She’d only seen Daryl a handful of times and only talked to him once. Not exactly the basis for inviting him to come to a birthday dinner for you that she couldn’t even imagine him agreeing too.  

“Can I help you?” T-Dog called, spying the girl walking into the open garage a little less confident now that she was through the door.  

“Is Daryl here?”  

“D! You got a visitor.” T-Dog shouted, looking back at Tara skeptically before walking off to go back to work.  

Daryl appeared on the other side of a four-door sedan, eyes narrowing when he realized the visitor was not you. Tara smiled a little too apprehensively, walking over to him and waving. “Hey, I’m Tara...I’m friends with-”

“Yeah, I recognize ya,” Daryl replied, leaning against the car. “What’re ya doing here?”

“Well...you might not know but she’s turning eighteen in two weeks and we were planning on having a party for her, nothing special but...” Tara shrugged, “I wanted to invite you.”

“I’m busy.”  

“In two weeks? I didn’t even tell you the date.” She pointed out.  

“Yeah and? She didn’t tell me herself, ain’t something she wants me ta know.” He replied. It seemed logical enough for him. You hadn’t mentioned your birthday to him at all. Maybe the party was a surprise but you hadn’t even brought up the exact date so why would you want him at a party with your friends?  

“I think she’s probably just nervous, you know?” Tara tried to argue. Considering how much you talked about Daryl on a daily basis she wouldn’t be surprised if you didn’t mention anything to him out of sheer anxiety. You were eighteen...the implications were there.  

“What for?”

“Well,” Tara paused, was he joking? “She’s eighteen...you guys could like...date.”

Daryl brought his hand up, chewing at the tip of his thumb, cheeks going red at the word. He’d thought about it. Hell, he thought about it all the time. At Thanksgiving, in the parking lot on Christmas Eve, at the stupid winter fest, in his truck while you were driving to Woodbury, anytime he looked over at you while he was working on the car. What he wouldn’t give to have that, to kiss you whenever he wanted, to be close to you, but that kind of happiness wasn’t in the cards for him.  

You were a fluke, a weird accident that happened in his timeline and once the universe righted itself you would be fixing your eye on someone who was better for you. Someone who would live up to all the standards that people in King County had.  

“I got work.” He finally said, looking back down at the car in front of him.  

“Okay. Just, think about it?” Tara requested. “She really likes you and, I know my opinion is whatever but, she deserves some happiness.” Tara turned, leaving the shop to get back to Maggie, hoping you didn’t notice her absence too much.  

“What’d ya mean?” Daryl called after her.  

Tara paused, looking back at him, “don’t tell her I told you...no one knows.” She stressed, “things aren’t exactly...her parents aren’t what everyone thinks.”  

As she headed back to the diner Daryl exhaled, kicking the tire of the sedan as that feeling settled in the pit of his stomach. The same feeling he’d pushed away earlier when he saw the scratch on your cheek. The one he’d ignored just after Christmas when you told him you tousled with a cat at the Greene’s. It was that feeling, nagging, coupled with the smallest hint of something familiar behind your eyes.  

He knew the feeling. He lived it. But you shouldn’t have to.  

-

Taglist: @hopesxxhigh @coffeebooksandfandom @jodiereedus22 @tehfabbooty @thecaptainsgingersnap @of-storms-and-sadness @twdeadfanfic @alwaysadreamingoptimist  @mainokutan @sabertooth-potato @solllaris @bucky-barnes-babies @ly--canthrope @daryldixonandfrogs @jaycc7983 @easnuppa @imaginecrushes @tonystarkismyboy @watchmeaspire @harpersmariano @guccicloudz @sapphire-angel @buzzybhee @alexbealee @elodieyung @its-evita-here 

[arazialotis]

Long Distance

Pairing: Dean × Reader

Word Count: Around 1700

Summary: Dean and Y/N have been separated during the holidays due to a string of hunts but Dean has a thought to make the distance seem not so far apart.

Warnings: Language, General SPN spooky stuff

This is purely just for writing and wasting my time as hobby. Maybe some of you will enjoy it too. I apologize in advance for any mistakes or grammatical/spelling errors. I appreciate any feedback or suggestions!

-----

Nights came early this time of year, each day growing darker a little earlier. It was hard to fight off the fatigue that crept in every passing moment. Even harder so with Dean out of town on another string of hunts. You sat in the picture window curled up in a fuzzy blanket with a warm cup of tea and a new book. Though you had a corner lamp turned on, the Christmas lights outside bounced off the white snow, illuminating the world and keeping the dark at bay. 

Your phone had occasionally been buzzing as Dean updated you on his progress in a new town. You did what you could to not worry, to have faith, but each day he was gone you needed distractions to keep your mind off it. And of course, communication. The longer he went without an update, the more your stomach turned. 

Though you were entranced with the novel, methodically flipping pages and on the edge of your seat, as soon as the phone sounded, you threw the book down only focusing on him. 

You answered with a pant of excitement. “Hey babe.” 

Dean’s smile practically shined through the receiver. “Evenin’ Y/N. Man it's good to hear your voice.” 

“Yours too.” You echoed setting your tea down on the ledge as you started pacing the floor. “How’s the first day been?”

“Ah, you know, just getting settled and the feel for things. Wish I had your mind here to sort things out but this has been a long stretch, it’s starting to drag. It was good for you to stay home.” He paused waiting for a reply. “This’ll be the last one, promise.” 

“Don’t say that.” You chided knowing fully well he easily broke these promises. “You are doing good work. If you need to keep going, that’s alright. Just promise me you’ll come home eventually.” “You know there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”

“And besides.” You sighed. “I’m still here virtually, put me together the case details tonight and I’ll scour over them.”

Dean’s blush heated up the air around you as he shamefully admitted. “I already sent them to Sam.” 

“Ugh! What? God Da…” Dean’s chuckle cut you off. You rubbed your brow reminding yourself it wasn’t a competition. “I want to help too.” You whined. 

“Okay, okay.” His voice faded. “I’m sending them now.” 

You looked at your phone waiting for the email to come through. A few moments passed and it eventually did. He had sent over a few news articles, pdfs, and a word doc of his own notes. 

“Hmmm… it’s definitely a werewolf.” You teased. “Shut up.” He rolled his eyes. “I’m not stupid enough to get stumped by an oversized rabid poodle.” 

“I’ll shoot you some real ideas by tomorrow at the latest.”

 “Don’t feel rushed, I got some pretty good leads to follow up on tomorrow.” He assured. “Alright, enough work talk. What about you? How was Thanksgiving?” 

“I mean, it wasn’t the same without you and everyone else. But uh, I still tried to make the most of it. Brussels, beans, wild rice, potatoes…” You listed. “Mashed?” Dean interrupted. 

“Pfft. Of course. Cranberries. Oh, I did a cornish hen cause like, what the fuck am I going to do with a whole turkey? I already have enough leftovers to last me ‘til Christmas. Tell me you had something more than deli meat turkey.”

“Don’t worry about me babe.” He lightly chuckled. “Denny’s got me covered.” 

“Dean.” You scolded.

“Pie? Please tell me you had pie.” He begged. 

“No way I’m having pie without you.”  

“But.. But… Thanksgiving.” Dean pouted. 

You giggled at his adorable antics. “There’s one waiting in the freezer for when you get back.” “Yes! Cherry?” He pleaded. 

“Of course…” You giggled together until a knock sounded at the door. “Hey, hold on a sec.” 

“What is it?” Dean’s voice grew concerned. He heard the door open, a soft thank you, and the door closing before a bit of rustling. “Oh, nothing.” You fiddled with the box and the phone. “Just looks like a package for you.” Dean licked his lips with anticipation. “Why don’t you go ahead and open it for me?” You wrinkled your nose, unsure if you wanted to. “Really?” 

“I’m sure.” 

You grabbed a kitchen knife to hack away at the tape. Dean sat down on the motel bed anxiously waiting for you to find what was inside. 

“It’s um… it’s.” You pulled it out further inspecting it. “It’s a lamp?” 

Dean grinned ear to ear waiting for you to figure it out. “A long distance lamp? What?” “I found it online. You have one and I have one.” He explained. “I felt bad the last hunt with the bad reception. My lamp will light up when you touch it and vice versa.” 

“What?” You squealed. 

“Yeah. It’s an early Christmas gift.” Your heart melted.  “Go plug it in.” He ordered before you could respond. 

“Dean…” His thoughtfulness nearly brought you to tears. “Go!” He repeated before you got too sappy. 

After a few minutes of him guiding you through the set up, you were ready to test it out. “Okay, ready?” He asked, his hand hovering over the lamp on his end. 

“Yes.” You sat on the floor staring at the dark lamp. “Nothings happening.” You sighed. “Oh, wait!” It was dim at first but slowly turned into a green glow reminding you of his eyes. “Oh my gosh.”

“Your turn.” You pressed the top of yours sending him a warm purple glow. You could hear his smile over the phone. 

“See, now we can talk to each other even without the phones.” 

“Dean. This is… it’s… thank you.” Was all you could muster to say. “I’ll keep it by my bed so I can say good night and good morning.” “Me too sweetheart.” Dean agreed. “And in case anything happens to my phone or I get stuck in another dead area, you’ll know not to worry.”

The two of you spent another good hour talking; tentatively setting up holiday plans, explaining the unexpected twist in your book, and thrilling him with all the juicy details of exactly what you were going to do to him when he finally did make it home. You read a few more pages before finally calling it a night. Tucked into a bundle of blankets, you reached to your nightstand sending him a final thought of the night. A few moments later came the dim green glow. Though it was just a light, it made you feel as though he was there, his arms wrapped around you making your heart warm. 

When Dean awoke the next morning, the lamp next to him was already glowing purple. He smiled, typical that you would be the first to rise. After a yawn and deep stretch, he sent the thought back to you before going to freshen up and shower. The hot water and steam soothed his sore muscles and the tension he held in his shoulders if only for a brief minute. Towel wrapped around his waist and clean shaven, he came back out to get dressed in a suit for the day only to find the light had not faded. With another chuckle he assumed you must have been on the same schedule and sent another touch back before heading out for the day. 

From the morning, he was in a sprint; talking with the local police department, interviewing witnesses, consoling family members. Dutifully, he kept you updated on his progress hoping to hear back from you soon on any thoughts yet you were quiet. He wondered if he had mixed up your work schedule again. Having gone nonstop throughout the day, he opted for an early dinner back at the hotel room. 

Entering back to the room with his Chinese takeout, he immediately noticed the lamp was still on. He set down his food on the table and pulled out his phone. 

‘The lamp doesn’t need to fully replace the phones.’ He texted you, adding a little laughing emoji hoping you wouldn’t be offended by him calling out your silence today. 

He popped open his laptop and dug into the Mongolian beef hoping to review any ideas you had come up with. But you hadn’t emailed him like you said. It was still early enough in the day, and especially if you had worked, maybe hadn’t had time to get around to it. He pulled up Sam’s email instead, reviewing notes and potential leads. 

An hour had passed and the light still glowed purple. Thinking it must be broken, Dean meandered over to the plug resetting it. The only other explanation would be your hand on top of it consistently which didn’t make any sense. The lamp powered back up and momentarily was dark before the purple hue came through again. 

“This is weird.” Dean muttered to himself. 

He walked back over to the table and grabbed his phone and dialed your number. After two rings, it answered. 

Dean chuckled, thankful to finally have gotten you. “Either these things are malfunctioning or you must really miss me.” He heard a deep breath from the other side of the line. 

“Y/N?” His voice dropped. “Sweetheart, are you there?” A sinister voice crackled on the other end. “It’s been a long time Dean.” 

Dean’s heart dropped to his stomach. Panic and anger rose to his chest. It was a voice he could never forget. “Alastair.” 

“Now I was hoping to find you home when I stopped by but this pretty little lady said you were out on business.” Alastair's voice delightfully slithered. 

His jaw clenched. “If you’ve touched a single hair on her head, I swear to God…” Dean spat. 

Amusement rose into laughter. “What makes you assume I could harm such a delicate creature. Her neck as easy to snap as a sparrow's."

“You better pray that's not what I find when I get back.” Dean threatened already furiously packing his bag. 

“Its not her I want, it’s you.” Alastair clarified. “But I guess that all depends on how long you take getting back home Dean. I might become bored.” 

-----

TAGS:

Forevers: @mogaruke @deanwinchesterforpromqueen @jotink78@blushingdean @sup3r-pott3r-lock3d @dancingalone21@carryonmyswansong @atc74 @superapplepie @cassieraider@adaliamalfoy @iwriteaboutdean @spnbaby-67@monkeymcpoopoo @adoptdontshoppets @maddiepants@onceuponathreetwoone @thisismysecrethappyplace

Dean x Reader: @akshi8278 @boxywrites @its-not-a-tulpa @tacklesackles @aubreystilinski @iamabeautifulperson18@jerkbitchidjitassbutt @spn-dean-and-sam-winchester @ria132love​

[ghost-in-the-hella]

63. “I need a place to stay.” PriceMarsh

Roughly 1 million years later (in fandom years), here it is. 

CW for homophobia and implied domestic abuse. 

 --- 

When Chloe answers the door at 9pm on Christmas Eve, she isn’t expecting to see her girlfriend. She especially isn’t expecting to see her looking tear-stained and puffy-eyed in her best church clothes, soaked to the skin and carrying a hastily packed backpack. 

“Kate! What’s wrong?” she asks, heart immediately hammering anxiously in her chest. 

Kate barely manages to get the words out. “I need a place to stay.” 

“O-of course, yeah.” Chloe holds the door open and steps back, ushering her inside. It’s too cold and rainy outside for Kate to be standing there without a heavy coat. 

“I’m sorry,” Kate starts babbling as soon as she’s over the threshold. “I didn’t know where else to go; the dorms are closed until after New Years and--” 

“Hey, hey,” Chloe says soothingly, pulling Kate gently into her arms. “I’m glad you came here. I just wasn’t expecting you, that’s all. But I’m glad you’re here. I missed you.” 

Kate hiccups something between a laugh and a sob into Chloe’s shoulder as she hugs her back so hard that Chloe’s ribs ache. “I missed you, too,” she mumbles wetly. 

“What’s going on?” David barks from the living room over the sound of the television. “Shut the damn door, girlie; you’re letting all the heat out!” 

Chloe gives Kate an extra squeeze, feeling the way she tenses at David’s gruff voice. She kicks out one foot, pushing the door loudly shut. 

“Who is it?” Joyce asks, poking her head out of the kitchen, her hands still dripping soap suds. Her eyebrows rise in concern when she sees the state that Kate is in. “Kate, darlin’!” she exclaims, leaving the kitchen and wiping off her hands on a dishcloth. “What’s the matter?” 

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Madsen,” Kate says through a fresh wave of tears. “I didn’t mean to interrupt your family so close to Christmas. I’m sorry I didn’t call ahead; she took my phone.” 

Chloe’s heart sinks down to her toes and her head starts buzzing numbly. Shit. She’s been dreading this moment ever since she and Kate started dating. “Your mom?” 

Kate nods, looking heartbroken. She turns to Chloe. “I didn’t mean to tell her anything,” she says in an agonized rush. “It just slipped out. One of my cousins came out over Thanksgiving, and she was talking all about how he was going to hell and I just meant to defend him and… and… It just slipped out.” Kate’s mouth tightens into a pained snarl. “She was just so convinced that none of her perfect daughters could be ‘like that,’ so convinced it was something his parents did wrong and that he would go to hell, and I couldn’t let her. I couldn’t let her keep saying those things as if she wasn’t talking about her own daughter, too.”

“So she kicked you out,” Chloe says numbly. 

Kate nods again, and Joyce’s frown deepens as she sweeps in to put her own arm around Kate’s shoulders. “Well, you’re welcome to stay here as long as you like, Katie, darlin’. I’m sure your mother will come to her senses--” she glares at Chloe when Chloe snorts angrily “--eventually,” she continues determinedly, “but until then you just stay right here with us. Have you had supper?” 

Kate shakes her head. “Th-thank you, Mrs. Madsen. I’m sorry to impose, I just didn’t know where else to go; the dorms are closed over break.” 

“Never you mind; it’s no imposition. Chloe, would you set up a dinner plate for our guest?” 

“Yeah, ‘course.” Chloe lets go of Kate and looks her up and down. She’s sopping wet and shivering. “You wanna grab a shower and warm up while I’m heating the leftovers? You can borrow some of my pjs if you need a change of clothes.”

“Thank you,” Kate says once again, pressing her cold lips gratefully against Chloe’s cheek as Joyce returns to the kitchen and starts bustling about in the refrigerator. “I managed to grab some things before she locked me out, but I don’t know if I’ve even got a complete outfit apart from what I’m wearing.” 

Chloe scowls. “I can’t believe your dad let her do this. And on Christmas Eve; what the actual fuck.” 

Kate shrugs sadly. “He tried to reason with her, but when she gets like this…” She sighs. “Maybe he’ll be able to talk her around, eventually. At least enough that I can go back and get the rest of my things.”

“He’d fucking better. And if he doesn’t, we’ll break in and take them back,” Chloe promises. 

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.” 

“Parents kicked you out, huh?” David says, suddenly looming in the doorway with a nearly empty beer bottle dangling from one hand. “That’s rough.”

“I… Yes, it is, Mr. Madsen.” 

David nods contemplatively, eyes darting back and forth between Kate and Chloe, and Chloe wants to go over and smack his eyes shut. “Well. Sorry t’hear it. I s’pose we can fix up the couch for you ‘til the dorms reopen.” 

It’s more than Chloe expected from him but less than Kate deserves. “Kate can stay in my room. We’re both adults.” 

David’s expression sours. “Miss Marsh can stay on the couch,” he replies. “Your mother and I already tolerated enough shenanigans when that Amber girl used to stay over. This isn’t a bordello.” 

Chloe’s anger flares and she steps forward to say something well-deserved but ill-advised, halted only by Kate’s gentle hand on her elbow. “I can sleep on the couch,” Kate says. “I don’t mind. I fell asleep on the bus ride here; the couch will be much more comfortable, I’m sure. Thank you, Mr. Madsen.” 

Step-douche nods at that and disappears back into the living room like some vile ghost. Chloe wishes he’d fuck off and find some other house to haunt. Chloe’s distracted from her thoughts by the soft, cool press of Kate’s lips on the corner of her jaw. Kate slips her fingers into Chloe’s and gives them a squeeze. “I’m going to go shower and get changed. Maybe I’ll feel a bit more stable then. We can figure everything else out afterward, okay?” 

“Okay,” Chloe says, turning to kiss Kate back, just a light peck at the edge of her lips. “I’ll heat up some food for you. We can talk it out once you’re warm and dry with a full stomach.”

Kate nods. “I’m probably going to cry a whole lot,” she warns. “I feel sort of numb right now, but I don’t know how long that’s going to last before I break down again.”

“I’ve got two good shoulders,” Chloe tells her. “You can cry on them all you need. I’ve got your back, Angel.”

Kate already looks a bit teary when she pulls Chloe in for a hug. “I should be calling you Angel. You’re the one saving my life here. I don’t know what I would have done tonight if I didn’t have you to run to.”

Kate wouldn’t have to run anywhere if it weren’t for Chloe, but Chloe knows that if she says that out loud Kate will only deny it, so she gives Kate a squeeze and sends her upstairs. Chloe busies herself in the kitchen, trying to focus on setting up the best dinner she can for her girlfriend rather than on the bottomless anger welling up inside of her.

“I just can’t imagine,” Joyce sighs. “And on Christmas Eve, no less! I thought you said they were Christians. What good Christian woman would throw her daughter out on Christmas Eve?”

Chloe shrugs because if she speaks she’ll only shout, and she doesn’t want Kate to hear her yelling and get upset.

Joyce stares at Chloe’s tight shoulders for a moment, her brow furrowed and jaw tensed in contemplation, and she gently takes the plate from Chloe’s hands and puts it into the microwave. “You know that I love you, Chloe. Don’t you?” 

Chloe nods, feeling like she might cry or be sick or very possibly both. It isn’t fair. Kate’s the good one. Kate deserves a family that loves and protects her. She deserves better than her mother’s rejection, her father’s inadequacy, Chloe’s bony shoulders to cry on, David’s barely-there tolerance. She deserves the world, and Chloe doesn’t know how to give it to her.

“Oh, Chloe.” Joyce pulls her into a gentle hug, and Chloe’s upset enough that she lets her, sobbing wetly into her mother’s shoulder before she can stop herself. “Chloe, Chloe. We’ll take good care of that girl. She can stay here as long as it takes.”

“Step--”

“I’ll talk to David. Don’t you worry about anythin’, Darlin’.”

Chloe wants to say something cutting about why hasn’t Joyce ‘talked to David’ about not berating her constantly, not invading her privacy, not smacking her around whenever she talks back to him rather than take his shit. But she can hear the shower turning off upstairs and she doesn’t want to get them both kicked out on Christmas Eve with nowhere to go. “Thanks, mom,” she mumbles, wiping her eyes as she pulls out of the embrace. The microwave beeps and Chloe goes to check on the food.

Kate comes downstairs a few minutes later with damp hair hanging around her shoulders, wearing one of her own sleep shirts paired with a severely oversized pair of Chloe’s pajama pants. She’s rolled the cuffs several times and they still drag on the floor. She looks soft and sweet, and Chloe just wants to wrap her up in the protective warmth of her arms and keep her safe forever, never let her go. Chloe draws back the chair in front of Kate’s steaming dinner plate. “Hope you’re hungry. Joyce always makes enough food to feed the whole town around the holidays.”

Kate sits and picks up her fork, giving Chloe a bigger smile than Chloe would’ve expected considering how traumatizing Kate’s night has been so far. “You know, I wasn’t sure I would have an appetite at all, but I’m actually famished.” She scoops up a big dollop of mashed potatoes and gobbles it down, closing her eyes in bliss. Chloe has to smile. Kate really is just too cute. She reaches over and thumbs away a smudge of gravy at the corner of Kate’s mouth. “Your mom’s a really good cook.”

“When she has time, yeah. I, uh. I’m actually a pretty decent cook, too. Had to pick up some of her skillz when it was just the two of us and she was pulling doubles at the diner all the time, y’know?”

“Hmm, good to know.” Kate slowly sets down her fork. “You know… I keep thinking I should feel worse. I should feel worse, shouldn’t I?”

“Probably hasn’t sunk in yet.”

“Maybe. I keep thinking: I should be breaking down, my mother threw me out of the house, my sisters were crying, she’s going to tell them horrible things about me, my father failed to protect me… Most of my life is in that house. My phone, my computer, Alice. But all I can feel is relieved.”

“Relieved.” 

Kate nods pensively. “Relieved, and grateful.” She shrugs. “My family knows now. There’s no big secrets left to hide from them. I can stop worrying about what’s going to happen when they find out, because it’s already happened. I can just be my complete self now and not have to worry that it’ll get back to them somehow.” She places her hand over Chloe’s and smiles softly at her. “And grateful because I have you. Because I have a place to go and a person to go to. So many people don’t have that, but I do, and I’m so, so grateful that it’s you.”

Chloe sniffs a little even though she’s not crying - she’s not - and shifts her hand to lock her fingers with Kate’s. “I’m the one who’s grateful for you. I… I wish I had a better place for you to go. Without…” She flails her free hand inarticulately. “Fuckin’ family drama. Without having to look over your damn shoulder in case Sergeant Dickhead’s getting his rage on.” 

Kate squeezes Chloe’s hand. “Maybe… Maybe this can be a good thing. Maybe it can be an opportunity for both of us. I was thinking that when I graduate, I’ll want to move out of my parents’ place anyway, find an apartment of my own… I was, um. I was planning to ask if you wanted to join me.” 

Chloe blinks rapidly, struggling to keep up. “Wait, like… Get an apartment together? Like, move in together?” 

Kate nods shyly. “If you wanted. And now… Maybe it makes sense to start looking sooner. I don’t know if they’re going to keep paying for my dorm room now that I’ve been kicked out, and if they don’t… I mean, even if my dad is willing to keep paying for it, it’s probably better for me to get some distance.” She blushes. “If you want to, of course. It’s okay if you don’t; I didn’t mean to spring this on you so suddenly. I was going to work up to it, try to get a sense of what you wanted to do, if you even wanted to live with me--”

Chloe leans over and kisses Kate hard on the cheek to interrupt her spiral. “I’d love to.” 

Kate lights up. “Really?” 

“Really. Seriously. I can’t think of anything I’d like better. Our own place? Just you and me, able to decorate shit the way we want, to not have to lie or hide anything or walk on eggshells to keep from pissing off our parents?? Hella yes, I want that!”

“We probably won’t be able to afford anything too nice, and we’ll have to get jobs, but--” 

“Fuck, I’m game if you are. I’ll wait tables at the fucking Two Whales if I have to.” Chloe shuts up so that Kate can kiss her. “You and me, Katydid.” 

Kate rests her head on Chloe’s shoulder. “You and me. We’re going to make it work.” 

“Hell yeah, we are.” Chloe presses another kiss into Kate’s wet hair, and she sits and holds Kate and, for the first time in years, looks forward to the future.

[mermaidchansons]

Thanksgiving w/ Mr. Stevens & the Udakus

SoftBoi!Erik Killmonger x Black Reader

A/N: Hey, friends! This is my first time writing for Erik so drag me if need be lol. It’s just a quick imagine that I needed to get out since I was feeling lonely today. Let me know what you think! Love y’all; Happy Thanksgiving!

You were stirred out of your sleep by the alarm on your phone. 8:30 pm. It was the day before thanksgiving and after prepping all morning, you decided to treat yourself to a nap. Cooking, prepping, and generally being awake was exhausting around this time of year.

Every Thanksgiving was the same with your family; you’d plan everything by yourself, set the table by yourself, and force people to cook with you. Everyone wanted to eat but no one everyone wanted to help. You always felt alone, even when you were at the dinner table surrounded by family. Be it seasonal depression or a lack of holiday committment from your family, you were sure you were done with the holiday season. But not this year. This year, you had Erik.

Here you were a year and a half into your relationship, staying with him and his family in Wakanda. It took you a while to get used the to the new scenery; and the fact that you were dating a fomerly lost prince.

“Yo, cakes, you up yet?! I heard your alarm go off,” you heard the prince yell from across the room. You groaned in response, hiding your face in your pillow.

Erik stripped the covers of the bed and smacked your mostly bare ass.

“Erik,” you yelped,” why do you have to be so rough, damn!”

“I’m sorry, cakes, but you gotta get up; we got cooking to do,” he said, sitting next to you.

You sat up and pouted as he rubbed your leg.

“Daddy, I’m tired-“

“No, don’t ‘daddy’ me; unless you tryna get fucked right now, I suggest you get your cute ass up and follow me to kitchen,” Erik said sternly.

“Firstly, I’m always tryna get fucked,” you stated, smiling. He laughed, shaking his head.

“You’re a fool. Come on, y/n.” He said kissing your lips softly.

After putting on a onesie and taking off your bonnet, you followed Erik to the kitchen. His cousins Shuri and T’Challa were already in there, doing there best at following the instructions Erik had given them. Even queen-mother was helping; mixing the ingredients for the sweet potato pie.

“Goodmorning, sis,” Shuri yelled,” I see my cousin has decided to wake you up the proper way.” You tried your best to keep your laugh in but once she started, so did you.

“Fuck that supposed to mean?” Erik chided, mean mugging her from across the kitchen. Shuri shrugged her shoulders as she continued to peel the softened sweet potatoes.

“Nothing,” you giggled, rubbing his arms as he cut up some vegetables.

You love the way his scarred biceps looked in a tight white tshirt; the apron he wore was even more excruciatingly sexy than it needed to be and you knew you’d have a hard time focusing.

“You make food prep hella sexy, N’Jadaka,” you whispered. His gold fangs flashed as he smiled.

“You better stop playing before I take you to the bathroom, y/n,” Erik said, biting his lip.

“Alright, alright, put me in coach.”

“Aight, go help T with the mac and cheese. Then come back over here and you can mix the turkey drippings into the dressing; got it, cakes?” You nodded as Erik instructed you then went over to gather the cheeses to help T’Challa.

“Why do you call y/n ‘cakes’?” T’Challa asked innocently. You laughed quietly, placing the cheeses next to T’Challa’s workspace.

“Nigga, you don’t see all that cake she got? Matter fact, nevermind; I don’t need you looking.” Erik said, shaking his head.

“N’Jadaka, please do not discuss y/n in that matter while we are cooking,” Ramonda reprimanded.

“My bad, auntie,” Erik said shooting T’Challa an incredulous look.

“It’s okay, T. It’s an AAVE term,” you consoled him.

“It means she has a big ass,” Shuri said nonchalantly.

“Shuri, what did I just tell your cousin?!” Ramonda yelled.

“Sorry, mother!”

After putting the mac and cheese in the oven and mixing the dressing, you headed to the dining hall to see how the tablescape was coming along. You took your time at each seat, adjusting and folding the napkins and place settings.

“Is everything to your liking, y/n?”

You looked up to see the queen-mother looking at you lovingly.

“Everything is so beautiful, queen-mother. I’m elated to be here. Everything and everyone is so open and warm and inviting,” you said as she took a seat next to you. She placed her hand on yours, smiling warmly.

“I’m glad you feel safe enough to share this holiday with us. You’ve brought such happiness with you. Especially to N’Jadaka; this means a lot to him,” Ramonda noted.

“Here me when I say this, Y/N; you are filling a void in his heart that no one ever could. For so long he was lost and isolated; even after the challeneg had commenced he never celebrated like this until you. His love for you is so apparrent, he practically floats into the room when you are by his side,” Ramonda said, laughing. You laughed as well, looking down at your hand.

“Thank you for keeping him happy. I appreciate you. May your love span a thousand years. I will you see you for the festivities tomorrow; good night my dear,” she sighed, squeezing your hand.

“Good night, queen-mother.”

***

You heard Erik’s alarm go off at 6am and groaned. You felt him stir beneath you and you held on to him tighter.

“Baby, I gotta go check the food,” he yawned, rubbing your back.

“It can wait,” you said, yawning in response.

“I’ll bring you back a taste,” Erik bribed.

And with that, you rolled off of him with a quickness, causing him to chuckle. You drifted back to sleep for what felt like 5 seconds before Erik shook you awake. Once you sat up, he handed you a plate of dressing, a small piece of slow cooked pork, and a fork. You practically went to heaven as you took your first bite.

“Damn.. I still got it,” you moaned, silently congratulating yourself on how well seasoned the dressing was. Erik walked around to his side of the bed and shuffled through his drawer.

“If you’re looking for your kimoyo beads, you left them on the bathroom counter,” you informed him with your mouth full of dressing. You looked up to see him staring at you with his hands behind his back. He shuffled side to side and rolled his shoulders; it was telling. Erik usually did this when he was nervous. Or if he was about to ask you a favor.

“Alright, what you want?” you asked him.

“Damn, y/n, why you always think I want something? Why you gotta be like that?” He was stalling. But for what?

“Boy, stop playing and tell me what you want!” You watched as he knelt before you with a small black box in his hand.

“Aight then, cakes, I’ma tell you what I want. I want to spend every Thanksgiving and Christmas with you. I want to wake up knowing you’ll be next to me every morning. I want you to mother my children and help me put them in they place when they fuck up. I want to love you until the end of my days and that’s all I wanted since I first laid eyes on you in that record store; with your pretty brown eyes lighting up at the sight of that old ass Earth, Wind, & Fire vinyl. I want you, y/n, and only you. Forever.”

You watched with teary eyes as he opened the tiny black velvet box that held a black opal ring; lined with diamonds and vibranium scalloping. You placed your plate of food on the end table and reached forward to hold Erik’s face in your hands.

“I need to hear it. I need you to ask me, E,” you cried softly.

“Y/N, will you be my wife?” Erik asked, searching your eyes for an answer.

“Yes, N’Jadaka; I will be your wife til the end of time!” You were full on crying now, kissing all over his face as he struggled to hold in his emotions.

“Cakes, you gone let this stay in the box or..,” he trailed off, chuckling as you showered him with kisses. You held out your hand and he slid the ring onto your finger.

“There you are, Mrs. Stevens,” he smirked, wiping the tears that had fell on his face. You kissed his full lips passionately, wanting to savor every moment.

“I love you, N’Jadaka,” you hummed.

“I love you more, cakes,” Erik said, kissing from your cheek to your neck. You heard a knock and the door cracked open to reveal Shuri smiling giddly.

“Good, she said yes! I was beginning to think you had chickened out,” Shuri noted, clapping her hands.

“Nigga, you couldn’t have waited like I told you to? I’m tryna have a moment here, damn,” Erik berated.

“Aye, be glad I kept your secret til now; you were taking too long! I almost told her!” Shuri yelled in her defense. You laughed as you kissed your fiance’s cheek; taking in the banter of your soon to be family.

Best Thanksgiving ever.

[three-drink-amy]

All the Shine of a Thousand Spotlights

masterlist - AO3

My entire schedule for this second arc and when it would start came down to posting this around Christmas. I hope you enjoy this and have a lovely Christmas! 

Chapter Twelve: I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas

The day that John had expected me at our shared workspace, I marched in with a plan in mind. I hadn’t talked it out with Jamie because I was fairly sure he’d try to talk me out of it. He was a bit afraid that if I changed my work life for him that I’d regret it. Well, he hadn’t said as much, but I could tell. 

Both of us had been a bit anxious about the changes awaiting us. The first night that Jamie went to the theater without me, he’d paused at the door, looking back at me. For all the bravado he’d had and promises that we’d be fine, he’d seemed a bit unsure. Pulling me in, he’d given me a long kiss and promised me that he’d be back after his show. I’d smiled and told him that I’d be waiting. That night had set the scene for the next week of shows before I had to start work again. John had given me til the next Monday and I planned to make use of every minute I had before I was expected to work again. When Jamie left for the theater the Saturday before I was to return to work, my plan struck me. 

My bag was draped over my arm, a coffee in hand as I sat down at my desk. John, of course, had beaten me into the small loft that we shared as our workspace. Until we were attached to a show and assigned to a theater, this was where we did the nitty gritty parts. We’d made it our own as best we could. The day we’d finally upgraded ourselves to a workspace and not just working from one of our homes had been an exciting day. 

It felt different today as I walked in there. John was surely going to try to convince me against my plan, but I was sure of what I wanted to do. Ultimately, it was my life. I should get to decide what I want to do with it. Having a ten year career based on never taking a break made it hard to finally take one, but I was ready. And Jamie was the reason why. 

John’s head turned as he heard me enter the room. “Claire! You’re here!” 

“Did you think I wouldn’t show up?” 

“I wondered,” he replied with a shrug. 

“Well, I’m here.” My bag sat on my desk, but I stood and watched John as I took a drink of my coffee. I needed to read his mood before I sprung my plan on him. 

He glanced over as I still watched him. “Have I something on my face?” I shook my head. “Then what are you doing?” 

“We need to talk,” I informed him as I walked closer to his desk. One of his brows raised suspiciously. “Don’t worry, it’s nothing serious.” 

“Are you sure? Because you’ve been acting odd for the last several months.” He ignored my glare. “Fine, what’s up?” 

“So, I’m here –” 

“Clearly.” 

I rolled my eyes. “I’m here because you demanded I come. And I have come up with a plan that I think will suit us both a bit better.” His brow furrowed as he stared back at me. “I’m not coming back full time. I meant what I said about wanting a break. In ten years, I’ve really never taken one.” I took a deep breath, settling down in a chair by his desk. “So, I will be here Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Then I’m working some, but not all the damn time. If I don’t find a project that absolutely captivates me, I’m not going to commit to something. I think we both know that there have been times in the past we’ve both committed to shows because we felt we had to.” 

John nodded. “Is this about Fraser?” 

I sighed deeply. “No, John, it’s about me.” He encouraged me to continue. “Perhaps it was Jamie who  made me realize it, but I haven’t been in a real romantic relationship since I was in college. And even then, it was half-assed because I was more focused on my studies. I’ve always, always put my career ahead of my personal life.” 

“Including with him,” John added. 

Nodding, I sidestepped the lie I was perpetuating. “When Uncle Lamb got sick, he didn’t have anyone there but me. He’d spent his life on his career and so when his career ended because of his illness, he had nothing to fall back on. When I’m on my deathbed, I want to have had a life outside of the theater. And I’m not going to do that if I’m always running at this speed. So, this is my solution.” 

John watched me for a long moment of silence. “I suppose I understand where you’re coming from. But what are you going to do if we find a show we’re passionate about? What about your break, then?” 

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” I said with a shrug. I didn’t really foresee it being a problem. There were more crappy plays wanting to be produced and directed that came to us than actual quality ones. I held out my hand for John to shake. He shook his head with a grin and grabbed my hand. 

“If you’re not careful, I’m going to start working with another director.” 

“John, you know I’d never hold you back from that. Especially not right now.” 

He smiled. “You know there’s no one else I’d rather work with.” 

* * *

The new schedule and system had been working. I only worked three days a week which left me plenty of time to spend with Jamie. He initially felt guilty for my idea of shortening my week, but after some convincing, he came around to my way of thinking. A few mindblowing sexual acts made it pretty easy to sway his mind. 

And so that became our pattern. Only a few days a week we saw each other in passing, or at night after Jamie’s show. But the rest of the week, we worked at deepening our relationship. Both of us were already invested and really just wanted to spend time together. Jamie was always happy to regale me with stories from growing up in Scotland. I’d share stories of growing up on Broadway that he always marveled at. Our lives quickly became intertwined. It had been weeks since Jamie had been to his own apartment. After giving him a key, he took it as permission to never spend a night elsewhere. Not that I ever minded. My favorite way to wake up was in his arms. 

Two months passed in the blink of an eye. Being together was now our new normal. 

I was somewhere between sleeping and waking one night when I heard the door open and close. Jamie must have purposefully crept over to the couch because I didn’t hear him. The first thing that processed after the sound of the door was his lips against my forehead. Smiling, my eyes slowly opened to find him sitting on the couch next to my legs. 

“Hi.” 

“Good evening,” he teased. 

I sat up, pulling the blanket with me. “How was the show?” Before he could answer, I leaned in to kiss him quickly. 

“That depends. Were ye asking as my girlfriend or as my director?” 

I squinted at him suspiciously. “Well it was as your girlfriend –” 

“Then it went great!” 

Grabbing him by the shirt, I brought him in closer. “Now it’s as your director. What happened?” 

He shook his head, feigning ignorance. “Nothing. It went perfectly. Same as always.” 

“Jamie Fraser,” I scolded. 

“Fine,” he said with a sigh. “There was a jagged part of the table and Laoghaire stood too close to it. When she turned away it ripped her skirt.” I gaped at him. “But it was fine because any skin that showed was upstage and no one could have seen anything.” 

“Oh my god.” 

“And Louise walks off with her in that scene and she changed sides so that she could cover it up with her body,” Jamie recapped. “So, it all ended up fine. It was just a moment of shock.” 

“That’s ridiculous.” 

“There could be far worse things, no?” 

I nodded. “Of course there could.” I shook my head with a sigh. “I’m going to say something to you, my boyfriend, and not to you, the lead of the show.” 

He got an eager grin on his face. “Okay.” 

“Of course it was bloody Laoghaire that messed it up.” 

Jamie laid against the back of the couch as he laughed. “I appreciate your candor. What other dark secrets about the cast have ye been keeping from me all these months?” 

I rolled my eyes. “I would have thought you already knew I didn’t like Laoghaire.” 

He shrugged, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “I had an inkling.” 

“What, from that night at the bar?” 

Jamie scooted closer to me, pulling my legs across his lap. “Perhaps even a bit before then.” 

I tried to think back to a time that I’d been more obvious about my dislike of Laoghaire. “When?” 

He grinned as he played with one of my hands. “Do ye recall that night that we stayed late at the theater, just the two of us?” I covered my face with the hand he wasn’t holding. “When you yelled at her to leave me alone, I had to wonder.” 

“Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ. I didn’t realize I was so bloody obvious.” 

Jamie laughed, taking my other hand as well. “Ye werena, I promise. It just made me wonder if you were annoyed by her in general or just because of me.” 

I was silent for a moment. “It was you,” I admitted. “God, I didn’t want it to be because of you, but it just was.” 

He leaned toward me and I met him the rest of the way. “I’m fine wi’ yer reasoning.” His lips pressed to mine and I cupped his face in my hands. 

When we broke apart, he sighed like he had something on his mind. All it took was one raised eyebrow for him to talk. “I had something I wanted to run by ye.” 

“Well, go ahead.” 

“Usually at Christmas, I go home to Scotland. But since I only have the 24th and 25th off, I wanted to invite my family to come to New York this year.” 

I nodded. “Okay. That’s not surprising. But you do realize that Christmas is a month away. I mean, tomorrow is Thanksgiving.” 

“Aye, I realize. But I wanted to ask you before I asked them because...well, I’d like ye to celebrate Christmas wi’ my family,” Jamie told me. He almost seemed nervous. 

I laid my hand against his cheek as a smile spread across my face. “You want me to spend Christmas with your family?” He nodded insistently. I leaned in and kissed him again. “Jamie, I would love that.” 

“Really?” 

“Yes!” I looked around the room. “In fact, you should have them come here. You know it’s a lot better than yours.” I grimaced until he agreed. “There’s more space at least.” 

“Are you sure?” His eyes held mine. 

I nodded happily to him. “I’m positive. It sounds lovely. Besides, Lamb has never been much of a Christmas person so I’ve spent many Christmases basically by myself or invited to someone’s open house. It will be a really nice change to spend it with your family.” 

Jamie surged forward and kissed me into the arm of the couch. “I love you,” he sighed. 

I laughed. “I love you too.” 

* * *

Another month passed just as quickly and I was preoccupied by Christmas plans for a family I really only knew through stories. 

I sat at my desk, not doing any work, but instead, focusing on Christmas decorations. I loved Christmas, but spending it alone made it seem sad to decorate. It was for no one but me. So this year, I was trying to do more. 

I held up a paper link chain for John. “How does this look?” 

John swiveled in his chair, glancing over at me. His brow furrowed. “Is that a chain made from scraps of wrapping paper?” I nodded with a smile. “Have you given up on attempting to work?” 

I shrugged. “Answer the question first.” 

He eyed the chain critically. “It’s cute.” 

“Thanks. I haven’t given up totally on work. I’m just trying to do more for Christmas this year and I wanted to run with the idea I had.” 

“Don’t you usually spend Christmas alone?” John asked. 

With a sigh, I tried to come up with a plausible explanation. “Yes, I do.” 

“So then, why do all this?” 

I tilted my head thoughtfully. “I guess it just fits in with the whole ‘doing more for myself’ kick I’ve been on.” 

“Well good for you, I suppose.” John turned to go back to work while I eyed my creation. “That would look charming over the window seat just past your office.” 

I smiled as I looked over at him. “Thanks for the suggestion. I think you’re right.” 

Later that morning, I called it a day, heading home to decorate some before Jamie brought his family back from the airport. He was on his way out as I ran in, my hands full of bags. Glancing down, he frowned. “What’s this?” 

I shrugged, deciding to surprise him too. “Oh, just some stuff I picked up on the way back from work.” I set them down before turning to him. “Shouldn’t you be heading to the airport?” I asked as my arms wrapped around his neck. 

His hands found my waist and squeezed. “Probably,” he admitted before kissing me softly. “Are ye still sure about this?” 

I laughed. “No, I decided just now to tell you that I changed my mind. I thought an hour and a half out would be a good time to do so.” 

He shook his head. “That would be rather terrible timing.”  

I leaned up on my toes and pressed my lips to his. “Go get your family. I’ll be here when you get back.” 

Jamie left and I quickly ran around stringing up lights and making my home as festive as possible. He’d tried reassuring me repeatedly that I didn’t have to decorate or do anything special. But the fact was, I was excited about spending Christmas with the Frasers. I was looking forward to a Christmas I wasn’t spending alone. And that was all because of Jamie. 

Twenty minutes before I expected them back, I threw some cookies in the oven, trying to make the apartment smell nice. Perhaps I was doing a bit much — throwing around decorations and baking — but I wanted to make a good impression on Jamie’s family. I’d met them before, but not as his girlfriend. Not as the woman who was keeping her relationship with their son and brother a secret. It was to his benefit, but I worried that they’d hold it against me. 

I’d never really met someone’s family before. The last time I’d dated someone seriously enough to warrant meeting the person’s family had been college. He never asked and neither did I. Lamb was a natural intimidator. There was a reason Jamie had yet to meet him as well. 

No matter how many times Jamie reassured me, it was a big deal to me. I’d liked them when I’d briefly met them on Opening Night. I only hoped they’d return that feeling once they really got to know me. 

I texted Jamie, hoping he’d tell me how far away they were. Walking from my phone, I went to my room to change clothes quickly. A green jumper seemed festive enough without being too on the nose. I paired it with a pair of black and white checked pants. Maybe a bit overdressed for my own apartment, but I was nervous. I’d rather be overdressed than underdressed. Suddenly, I wished Jamie had sent a car for them. He’d be able to wrangle in my nerves better than I could on my own. I wondered belatedly if Jamie insisted on picking them up so he could prepare them for meeting me. What if there was something about me he had to prepare them for? 

I was getting away from myself. The oven beeped, reminding me about the cookies. I shook my head, trying to get away from my previous train of thought. I loved Jamie and Jamie loved me. Hopefully, that would be enough for his family. 

A sound from the hallway grabbed my attention. I could hear Jamie’s laugh carrying down the corridor. The sound alone warmed me. I finished putting the cookies on a plate and straightened my sweater a bit. I heard the sound of the key in the door as I fluffed my hair slightly. 

Jamie had a happy look on his face as he walked in. His expression quickly turned to surprise as he took in the decorations I’d hung in his absence. He’d stopped in his tracks, making his family linger behind him. His eyes glanced to me before looking back around again. “I was here an hour ago,” he commented as he walked toward me. “Ye didna have to do this, Sassenach.” 

I shrugged. “It was fun.” 

He shook his head at me before his arm came around my shoulder. Gesturing to his family, he said, “Welcome! As you all might remember, this is Claire.” 

I waved timidly to them, wishing I had some of my professional confidence to get me through this moment. 

Really, I shouldn’t have been worried. Same as when she met me, Ellen Fraser ran over to me and wrapped me in a big hug. “Claire, it’s so lovely to see ye again!” 

“And you,” I agreed, returning the hug. “Welcome!”

After Ellen, the rest of the Frasers followed suit and hugged me. It was the reaction I should have expected. They were all so warm and friendly, just like Jamie. We stood in a small circle in my kitchen, Jamie’s arm around my shoulders. 

“I’m so glad you could all make it for Christmas,” I said, unsure of what else to say. 

“Well Jamie usually comes home, but I suppose he has a good reason not to,” Jenny remarked. “Besides, Jamie’s never brought a lass home for Christmas, so we had to jump at the opportunity.” 

I started to chuckle, feeling Jamie tense next to me. Squeezing his waist, I leaned my head on his shoulder. “Thanks, Janet,” he said. 

She shrugged, a grin on her face. “Facts are facts, James,” she replied, pointedly saying his full name as he’d said hers. 

“Thank ye for having us to yer home, Claire,” Brian said, gesturing to my home. “Tis a nice place ye have here.” 

I started to feel a bit shy again. Jamie must have been able to sense it, holding me slightly closer. “Thank you,” I replied in a small voice. “I, uh, I like it here.” I shot an uncertain look at Jamie and he grinned down at me before kissing my temple. 

We congregated towards the other room, sitting down and letting the pressure of the moment dissipate. Ian started talking about the flight to New York and cracked a joke about a loud child onboard. Jamie joined in, sharing a story about a rude theatergoer and the conversation shifted as Ellen pressed Jamie to tell stories from the show. I sat back, listening to stories he’d told me each night as he came home. But there was a comfortability there as he told them to me and his family together. 

After a few hours, it was time for Jamie to get ready to go to the theater. It was his last show before his short break for Christmas. Ellen stood up and went to grab her jacket. “Well if Jamie has to go, I suppose we should be off to our hotel.” 

“You don’t have to!” I offered. They all looked at me. “Just because Jamie’s leaving doesn’t mean you have to retire for the evening. You’re welcome to stay. If you’d like.” 

“Claire, ye dinna have to do that just to impress us or something,” Ian assured me. 

I laughed, shaking my head. “I really meant it. You’re welcome to stay.” 

They shared looks before Jenny and Ian plopped back down on the couch. “Okay then.” 

Brian sat back down too but Ellen looked unsure. “I dinna want to offend ye, Claire. I rather thought that when Jamie left, we would too.” I nodded in understanding. “And so I planned a surprise for Brian and me for this evening.” Brian’s eyebrows rose as he looked at his wife. 

“And what is this surprise?” Jenny asked. 

“Well it’s still a surprise,” Ellen said pointedly. 

“And ye were just going to leave Ian and me to our own devices?” Jenny pressed. 

Ellen shrugged. “Ye’re both adults. I figured ye could find something that sounded fun to ye. I didna think we had to babysit ye both.” 

I couldn’t help but laugh. Jenny clucked her tongue loudly. “Well, I see. I suppose we’ll just stay here and hang out wi’ Claire, then.” She glanced over at me. “If that’s still alright wi’ ye, of course.” 

I nodded to her with a smile. “Fine by me.” 

Jamie walked back into the room, throwing on his coat. “Ye ken the hotel I made ye a reservation at, right?” he asked. 

“We do,” Jenny informed him. “But Claire invited us to stay.” 

Jamie looked over at me, a confused expression crossing his face. He walked back toward my office, nodding his head for me to follow. I walked after him. When I entered the office, he brought me into his embrace. “I ken ye wanted to make a good impression wi’ my family, but you don’t have to entertain them this evening.” 

I looked up at him. “Well I think it’s really just going to be Jenny and Ian. Apparently your mother made plans for her and your father. And I’m happy to spend time with them, Jamie. I want to get to know your family and this is my opportunity.” 

He raised one brow at me. “Are ye sure?” 

I leaned up and kissed him softly. “I’m sure. Besides, it’ll be nice be nice to spend time with someone who actually knows about our relationship.” 

Jamie laughed, kissing my forehead. “I can understand that. Just ken that if they start to annoy ye, ye’re more than welcome to send them back to their hotel.” 

I rolled my eyes. “I doubt they’ll annoy me. But if they do, I know plenty of tricks to put up with annoying people. I did work with Laoghaire for several months.” 

He chuckled. “Alright. Tis yer decision. Have a good time. Dinna let them lie about me.” 

It was my turn to laugh. “Oh, my biggest motivation to spend time with them is to hear all the best stories about you. I’m sure your sister and best friend have the best ones.” 

Jamie shook his head, narrowing his eyes at me. “You canna believe everything they tell ye.” 

“Sure, Darling.” I kissed him before walking from the office. 

Jamie said goodbye to his family and shot me a look before he left the apartment. Ellen and Brian lingered for a bit, not needing to leave just yet. We sat around my living room as we had been earlier. It was surprising to me how comfortable I still felt with them, even without Jamie there. 

Ian stood up and wandered over to my bookcase. “So, this is yer Tony, huh?” he asked, touching one finger to the award. 

“Yep.” I watched as he stared at it. “Jamie will have one too.” 

“Ye think so?” Ellen asked. 

I looked over at her with a smile. “Oh yes. Even if it’s not for this show, he will. He’s a brilliant actor. I mean, you know. You’ve seen him.” 

She smiled fondly. “We used to go to his performances in school. Or in the community theater shows that he was cast in. And we always thought he was wonderful. We could see how much joy it brought him.” I could see the memories playing across her face. “When he told us he wanted to move to New York, none of us were exactly surprised. He’d tried to find success in Edinburgh, but the opportunities just weren’t there. We hated to see him go, but it makes it all worth it now.” 

I tilted my head as I watched her. It was a story I’d heard before — actors moving to New York to find success. All too many times it didn’t end up that way. Families were unsupportive and roles didn’t happen. It made my heart so happy that it wasn’t the case for Jamie. He’d found the part, and even if he hadn’t, his family was there for him. 

“Of course, we ken he flubbed the truth a bit,” Brian added. “When he actually called us with news of a real show he was in, it was obvious that he’d stretched things a bit.” 

I chuckled to myself. “He told me that. It was part of why I wouldn’t let him pass on the part. I mean, obviously, he was perfect for it. But I knew he deserved his shot. His big break.” 

“I havena read any reviews, I’ll admit. Jamie said it got good reviews,” Jenny pressed. “I wanted to read something but I didn’t want to come across someone saying Jamie was shite. I knew I’d just get angry.” 

Shaking my head, I laughed. “I read a ton of them. More than I should have. But I never came across one who said that. Thankfully. Having a terrible lead rather tanks a show.” 

There was a silence that hung in the room. “It’s nice to hear it from a professional,” Ian said, interrupting the quiet. “We always thought he was good, but to hear it from someone wi’ experience in this line of work is nice.” 

“There’s a strong chance I’m a bit biased,” I admitted. “But I wasn’t the only one who wanted him for this role. It was all of us.” 

“Well, I am glad you did,” Ellen said. “I’ll say this now while Jamie’s no’ around. I’ve never seen him so happy. And tis no’ just the show.” I smiled, my hand resting over my heart. 

“Thank you,” I replied, almost a bit choked up. 

“He calls us a lot, usually when he’s heading to the theater,” Jenny told me. I knew he did that. “And you can tell, even over the phone, that he’s just happy.” 

“I appreciate that.” I took a breath. “I know I am. And realistically, I know he is. But that observation from the people who know him best...well, it’s nice to hear.” 

“Ye’re good for him,” Ian said as he walked back over and sat on the couch. I nodded to him with a smile of thanks. 

“We better get going,” Ellen announced, standing up to get her coat. “But Claire, thank ye for having us. And I believe we’ll be back here tomorrow, as well?” 

“I think that’s the plan.” I stood up, accepting another hug from both of Jamie’s parents. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

They bid goodbye to Jenny and Ian, setting up a time for the morning before departing. Ian sat down with his hands behind his head. “Okay, now that the old people are gone, what are we going to get up to?” 

Jenny shook her head at him, but I laughed. “Claire, what do ye think we should do?” Jenny asked. 

“Well you’re the ones who don’t live here. What do you want to do?” 

“We went to most of the tourist spots when we came back in September. So as a New Yorker, what would give us a good New York experience?” Jenny continued. 

I bit my lip, trying to think of the best ideas. “We can always start with dinner and see what we feel like doing after that.” 

Ian threw his hands up. “Sounds good to me.” He jumped up, holding a hand out to pull Jenny off the couch. “You pick the restaurant.” I groaned. I hated having to pick places to eat for everyone. It made it even worse that I barely knew them. 

We ended up at a restaurant in Little Italy that I was fond of. They seemed alright with Italian. As we chatted over dinner, I could see how Ian and Jamie had been best friends for so long. They had remarkably similar senses of humor. Jenny and Ian regaled me with plenty of entertaining stories about growing up with Jamie. I loved hearing each story. The one that amused me the most was Jamie dressing up and putting on an elaborate one man show for the children of the small village they lived in. It seemed to certainly be in line with the man I knew now. 

I laughed hysterically as I told them about the time that I came home from work on Halloween and found Jamie dressed as the Phantom. 

“Christ, please tell me he didna try to sing for ye,” Jenny said as she laughed with me. 

“That was my mistake. I asked him to sing “Music of the Night” to me and I shut that down after about five notes,” I informed them through my laughter. 

“Why the Phantom?” Ian asked. “Did he bring ye an elaborate dress to be Christine?” 

“He did actually find me a dress. It was ridiculous and rather hilarious.” Grabbing my phone, I pulled up the picture of the two of us from Halloween and showed it to them. We hadn’t gone anywhere, but it had been fun. I took a sip of my drink before answering his original question. “He dressed as the Phantom because one time, before we were even dating, I’d told him that when I first saw that show, I was attracted to the Phantom.” 

Ian burst out laughing. “Oh, Jamie.” 

“I will say,” I continued, “he worked that half mask quite well.” 

“It looks very becoming on him,” Jenny joked. 

After dinner, I let Jenny and Ian decide what we would do next. Jenny apologized, but dragged me to Rockefeller Center to go ice skating. I assured them it would be an insanely long line, but they had already made up their minds. I didn’t even try to keep track of how long we waited. We kept up conversation as we made our way through the line. Once we were allowed in, it was crowded, but admittedly, kind of fun. 

Ian gathered us together with the tree in the background. He pulled out his phone and took a picture of all of us. Showing it to us, we all commented that it was a good picture before Jenny and I skated off again. He caught up to us after a moment. “I sent it to Jamie,” he commented. “Thought he’d want a picture of all his favorite people.” 

I slowed unconsciously as I skated. It felt like an honor to be considered one of Jamie’s favorite people. Especially considering who the others were. 

That night, I had only been home for ten minutes when Jamie walked in the door. I turned around and he wrapped me in his arms, kissing me soundly. “Hi,” I greeted. 

“Hi,” he said, kissing me again. “How was yer evening?” 

I laid my head against his chest, wrapping my arms around him tighter. “It was really fun! I had a great time with Jenny and Ian.” 

He planted a kiss in my hair. “Good, I’m glad.” Standing back, he gave me a look. “So, I heard ye went ice skating at Rockefeller Center.” 

“I did.” 

“Isn’t that a bit touristy?” I rolled my eyes, knowing where this was going. “I once told ye that we should go to the top of the Empire State Building and you told me you wouldna be caught dead doing something so touristy.” 

“And I stand by that. We are both New Yorkers and don’t need to do that. But Jenny and Ian wanted to go ice skating, so we went. It wasn’t my decision,” I defended. “Also, I was with two tourists.” 

He shook his head, but I saw a small smile on his lips. “Whatever.” Jamie walked over to get a glass of water. “But ye had a nice time?” 

I nodded happily. “They’re great.” 

A broad smile crossed Jamie’s face. “I’m glad ye think so.” 

I walked over to where he was standing, tucking into his side. “Did they have anything to say?” 

His arm came around my waist. “Ian might have texted me to tell me how much fun they were having wi’ ye.” I glanced up at him and could tell by the look on his face how much it meant that we all got along. 

“So, how was the show?” I asked, changing the subject. Jamie started telling me, walking into our room as he changed clothes. I sat on the bed and listened. Once he was finished changing, he stood in front of me. Starting with a kiss, he laid me back on the bed and we were done talking about our evenings. 

* * *

I woke on Christmas morning to the feeling of lips against my cheek. Turning my head, I saw Jamie smiling next to me. Instinctively, I wrapped my arms around him, pulling him in close. His arms came around me, holding me to him. 

The day before we’d spent with his family. It had been a fun day where the Frasers shared their Christmas traditions with me. There had been several times I’d glanced over at Jamie and saw the touched look on his face. If it meant a lot to me that his family was making me so welcome, it meant more to him. 

“What time is your family coming over today?” I asked as he started to kiss a trail down my neck. 

“Eleven.” 

“That’s rather late.” 

“Not to me,” he remarked. I peeled open one eye and looked at him. He met my gaze before moving his lips to my chest. “I wanted to have time to do what I wanted this morning.” 

“And what’s that?” 

His head lifted and he shot me a confused look. “If ye dinna ken the answer to that, then ye’re no’ really paying attention, are ye?” He pulled my pajama top up and brought his mouth down again. A groan escaped my lips before I could stop it. “There ye go.” I pulled my top up the rest of the way and threw it to the floor. His hand was at my other breast as he moved his way down my torso. 

He placed a kiss at my belly button when my hand went to his hair. “You realize you haven’t even kissed me yet this morning.” 

“What do ye consider this?” he asked, pointedly placing a kiss to my hip. 

I tugged at his hair, pulling him up toward me. “You know what I mean,” I said before crushing my mouth to his. He responded happily, chuckling against my lips. I held him to me as we shared a long, deep kiss. His body settled between my legs and I could tell he was ready for more. I was fine taking our time. 

He started pushing at my pajama pants and I shimmied them off with his help. We got him out of his and he returned to me with a heated kiss. Taking our time was out of the question now. His hands roved across my body, stoking the fire building within me. I shot my hips up to his and he ground against me. Wrapping my legs around his waist, I reached down and grabbed him. He groaned into my neck but took my hint. We moved together, paying attention to the other’s tells that we’d grown so familiar with in the last few months. It was a dance and we followed each other, finding our mutual pleasure in the other. Today, it was a slow dance, as we climbed higher and higher til we reached the crest together. 

Jamie laid next to me, my hand in his. Once I had enough energy, I rolled onto my side, facing him. “Can I say something in full sincerity?” He nodded. “This is probably the best Christmas morning I’ve ever had.” Jamie laughed and pulled me closer, kissing me soundly. 

A couple hours and a second round in the shower later, Jamie’s family arrived to celebrate Christmas with us. We opened presents and drank eggnog, told stories, and generally enjoyed everyone’s company. 

In the early afternoon, Ellen started making some Christmas cookies from scratch. She had a recipe she knew by heart — passed down from her mother and her grandmother before that. I felt overly emotional when she called me in to help her. As I stood in the kitchen with her, following her instructions and creating something with her, I started to miss my own mother. It had been years since I’d felt it so strongly. I’d been so young when she and my father passed, that often, I just didn’t recognize what I was missing. But as I stood there with Ellen Fraser, acting nearly like mother and daughter, I was overcome with emotion. Tears stung my eyes and I helped form the cookies and put them on the pan. She put them in the oven and I excused myself to my bedroom. 

Jamie followed me into the room, not saying anything, but wrapping me in a tight hug. He’d given me a family again — one that was more than just an orphaned girl and an overworked uncle. It was a strange sensation, but I knew I didn’t want to lose it. 

I pulled myself together and the rest of the day was spent working on the typical Fraser Christmas dinner. Jamie and I were far from experienced cooks, but we helped where we could. In the end, we all crammed around my small kitchen table and shared a lovely home cooked meal together. They told me stories of Scotland and made me yearn to go there someday. Jamie echoed his promise that he’d take me to see his home. 

When they were leaving, we all shared long goodbyes. Jamie was going to see them off tomorrow, but I wasn’t able to. In the few days they’d been here, they’d made me feel like part of the family. Like they were my family. I hugged them all tightly and told them, honestly, that I hoped I’d get to see them again soon. 

The next day when Jamie got back from taking them to the airport, I’d finished up a call with John that we’d scheduled. Neither of us had wanted to go into the office, but had things to discuss. I was walking out of my home office when he walked in. We met in the middle and shared a quick kiss. 

Jamie had a fond smile on his face. “They loved you, mo nighean donn.” 

“Really?” 

“Oh aye. It was all Mam could talk about. She kept saying that someday when I have more time, I have to bring ye to Scotland,” he informed me with a shake of his head. 

“Well, you know I’d like that.” 

He kissed my forehead. “Me too.” 

I took a deep breath, thinking on the conclusion I’d come to as he left to take his family back to the airport. I’d treasured the time with his family and how it had made me feel. They’d made me a part of their family in the few days that they’d been here and I loved it. 

But it only reminded me of how I’d never introduced Jamie to Uncle Lamb. He knew why I hadn’t and assured me it was fine. I was always worried about how Uncle Lamb would react. The odds of him approving of me dating an actor were slim to none. Still, when Ian had mentioned “Jamie’s favorite people” it made me feel bad that my favorite people had yet to meet. And they lived in the same city. Our relationship was a secret for a reason, but it didn’t need to be a secret from Lamb any longer. 

I held Jamie close and pressed my forehead to his. “So, I came to a conclusion.” 

His eyes opened and looked back at me. “Oh?” 

Taking a deep breath, I stood back and grabbed his hands. His eyebrows lifted as he watched me. 

“I want you to meet Lamb.”

Next chapter

[amanda-teaches]

Handle with Care

Summary: While cooking Dean a special Thanksgiving pie, you have a little “accident” in the kitchen, leading to some fun with a fire extinguisher.

Pairing: Dean x Reader

Square filled: Pie for @spndeanbingo​ and Free Space for @spngenrebingo​

Word Count: 1421

Warnings: A tiny bit of language, mostly fluff

A/N: This was written for @stunudo​ for my Fall “drabbles”, a term I use loosely because none of them have actually been drabbles. Her request was “Reader tries to bake Dean a pie he's never had before? (I suck at fluff, idk but I wanted to send something fun in.) xoxo.” You do not suck at fluff, Stu, I loved this request!

It was no secret that there were very few things in this world that Dean Winchester loved more than pie. 

Well, of course, Sam and Baby were definitely up there for sure, but pie was, without a doubt, in the top 5 of Dean’s favorite things.

So, when Thanksgiving rolled around, you’d been excited to volunteer for dessert duty. You’d thought that if you could make Dean the best pumpkin pie he’d ever had, you’d be able to show him how much he meant to you, something you could never get up the nerve to tell him yourself. But, when you’d overheard Dean talking to Sam about not having much to be thankful for this year, you became even more determined to make this a Thanksgiving he’d never forget.

You quickly decided that the traditional pumpkin pie wouldn’t be special enough for Dean this year. If you really wanted him to have something special, you’d need to get a little more creative to knock it out of the park. So, you decided to look up recipes for pies that Dean had never had before, something he would really love. After a lot (and lot) of research, you finally settled on a pie that combined all of Dean’s favorite things: Whiskey Bacon Irish Apple.

You wanted it to be perfect, so you decided to do a test run before Thanksgiving, gathering all of the ingredients and locking yourself away in the kitchen. You had just started cutting the apples when the door cracked open, and Dean popped his head in. “Hey…” he started hopefully.

“Nuh uh,” you interrupted, holding your hand up to stop him. “I told you, Dean, no sneak peeks.”

“Oh, come on,” he begged, pushing the door open fully and shuffling in, his hands folded in a silent plea. His eyes were as big as a puppy’s, and you bit your lip to keep from laughing, turning away from him so he wouldn’t see.

“No, Dean. It’s supposed to be a surprise. No. Sneak. Peeks.”

He raised his hand, pushing his index finger and thumb together until they were just a few centimeters apart. “Just a little one? Please….”

You rolled your eyes, chuckling softly to yourself. Damn, he was hard to resist. “Fine, you can stay, but only while I mix the filling. After that, you’re out, got it?”

“Got it,” Dean promised solemnly, plopping down on one of the island stools with a grin. “Scout’s honor.”

“Ha!” you laughed. “Like you were ever a boy scout.”

Dean chuckled deeply as you turned back to your apples, making the last few cuts. When you were finished, you threw them into a pan, turning the flame on low. “Alright,” you whispered. “Time for the magic touch.”

You pulled a few pieces of bacon from the package on the table and added them to a second, already hot pan. As they began to crackle and sizzle, you heard Dean moan behind you. “Ohhh…”

“Like what you see?” you laughed. Pausing, you picked up the whiskey bottle sitting on the counter next to you, smiling knowingly. “Just wait ‘til you see what’s next.”

Dean stared at you in anticipation, and you couldn’t help but show off, moving a little slower as you spun back to your pans. The bacon was still sizzling in the hottest one, so you turned towards the low-heat pan with the apples, preparing to add the whiskey. But, before you could, you looked over your shoulder, making the mistake of establishing eye contact with Dean’s intensely eager gaze. You smiled back at him and tipped the bottle to pour it, but your divided attention led you to accidentally push your hand a little too far to the left, right towards the bacon.

It felt like it all happened in slow motion, tipping the bottle, looking back to see it hit the scalding, bacon-coated plan, the cloud of burning hot steam flying back at you. Before you knew it, the flames were rising up, the alcohol feeding them up and into the air.

“Oh my God!” you screamed, raising your hand to shield your face. Within seconds, Dean was there, having catapulted over the island to stand in front of you. He grabbed a towel and began beating back the flame, trying to reach the burners.

“Y/N, quick, get back!”

You stepped back, watching as Dean continued to use the towel as half-weapon, half-shield against the high flames. Looking around, you struggled to find a way to help him, your eyes eventually landing on the fire extinguisher Sam had insisted on mounting in the corner. You ran over and grabbed it before sprinting back to Dean.

“Okay, okay, okay,” you yelled, adjusting the extinguisher in your hand, pointing the hose at Dean and feeling for the lever. “Hold on, Dean, I got it!”

“Y/N, wait!” Dean warned, his hand already on the burner, but it was too late. You pulled the lever, spraying thick, white foam all over the stove, and all over Dean.

When you looked up, you gasped, one hand flying to your mouth to cover the laugh that you couldn’t stop from escaping. In front of you, the fire was out, but Dean was covered head to toe in the white, soapy fire-killing foam. 

He looked like a giant, grumpy marshmallow.

You giggled and placed the fire extinguisher on the ground. “Dean, I am so, so sorry…” you started, but your continued laughter took some of the sincerity from your words.

“You know…” Dean grumbled, wiping the foam away from his face with the back of his hand. “I think I could’ve handled that one without your ‘help’.”

“Sorry?” you repeated, but the smile on your face told a different story, and Dean noticed.

“Oh, you think this is funny, huh?” Dean sassed, crossing his arms over his chest, the movement making them slip and slide.

“A little,” you laughed, nodding vigorously.

Dean grinned, his eyes twinkling. “Well, then, maybe I should give some to you.” He opened his arms wide, moving to hug you, but you shook your head, stepping back.

“Oh, no, Dean, don’t you dare!” You held up your finger in warning, but he ignored it, his grin widening.

“Oh, I dare,” Dean growled, moving at lightning speed towards you. You shrieked and rushed away, running around the kitchen, but he quickly caught you, wrapping his arms around your waist and lifting you high up off the floor. You squealed and struggled a little, but he had you, pulling you down until you were both lying on the floor, covered in foam, with Dean hovering over you, his weight propped up on one forearm while his other arm stayed firmly wrapped around your waist.

He gently lifted one hand and brushed the hair out of your face, leaving a streak of foam behind. “There that’s better.”

You grinned, letting out a sigh. “I guess that recipe was a fail, huh?”

He cracked a smile, shaking his head. “Nah, definitely not a fail. You kidding me? Bacon and whiskey? Home run. Maybe next time, I’ll actually get to try it before you set the place on fire.”

You laughed before stilling in his arms, your breath catching as you stared into his eyes. “I just wanted to make you happy, give you something to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. I heard you talking to Sam…”

His eyes widened, understanding dawning on him. “Is that what this is about? Y/N…” He smiled softly, resting a hand on your cheek. “Darlin’, you give me something to be thankful for every single day. Don’t you know how important you are to me, how happy you make me, how much I lov…”

He paused, his voice trailing off, but you could see the emotions written all over his face and you beamed. “Dean, I love you, too.”

His grin widened, happiness radiating out of it. “You do? Cause, I mean, you don’t have to say it just ‘cause you thought I was gonna say it. If you don’t really…”

“Shut up,” you laughed, leaning up to kiss him, your hands tangling with the foam blended in his hair as his arm tightened around your waist.

When you pulled back, both of your lips were covered in foam, but you didn’t care. “I think I should make pies more often,” you laughed.

“Mmm, hell yeah, you should,” he concurred, grinning as he leaned back in. “Although, maybe a little less fire extinguisher next time, huh?”

Forevers- @hamartiamacguffin​ @mrsdeanfuckingwinchester​ @katymacsupernatural​ @impandagrl​ @cyrilconnelly​ @impala-dreamer​ @castielhasthetardis​ @jarpadandjensenaremyheroes​ @be-amaziing​ @jalove-wecallhimdean​ @there-must-be-a-lock​ @mysterious-398​ @hannahindie​ @emoryhemsworth​ @ohmychuckitssamanddean​ @wi-deangirl77​ @carryonmywaywardcaptain​ @ericaprice2008​ @masksandtruths​ @roxyspearing​ @squirrel-moose-winchester​ @sweetpeamoose​ @babypieandwhiskey​ @deans-dirty-writer​ @roxy-davenport​ @heyitscam99​ @starry-chaos @spnbaby-67​ @mogaruke​ @atc74​ @dolphincliffs​ @closetspngirl​ @maddiepants​

Dean Tags- @akshi8278​ @whimsicalrobots​ @dean-winchesters-bacon​ @adoptdontshoppets​ @alexwinchester23​

[krisdreaming]

Could I please request a scenario with Hinata? Maybe with a fem s/o that was feeling a little homesick so he tries to make a thanksgiving dinner (to his best abilities)? If not, just any scenario with him is fine 🧡

Hi there! Since it’s a bit past thanksgiving at this point, I just changed it up so it’s s/o’s birthday instead ^^ hope that’s alright!

-

You haven’t quite been yourself lately, and it hasn’t escaped Hinata’s notice. “What can I do to cheer you up?” He finally asks you one day, out of the blue, when he can’t take it anymore. Surprised, you manage a small smile for him.

“I’m fine, Sho. But thanks.” He frowns.

“You’re not fine. Something’s bothering you! What is it?” He wraps his hands around yours, looking so earnest you feel tears prickling at the backs of your eyes.

“I’m just feeling kinda homesick, that’s all.” You admit softly, ducking your head so you don’t have to look at his face as the concern washes over it. “It just kind of hits me every year around my birthday. I’ll be alright once that’s over.”

When you finally look up at him, surprised by his silence, you see a look of determination filling his face. “Leave it to me.” He finally announces, giving your hands a squeeze and leaning in to press a quick kiss to your forehead.

Over the next few days, it’s obvious that he’s up to something. He’s being as loving as always, but very secretive. You try your best to get something out of him, but his lips are sealed.

The morning of your birthday, you wake up to a bright, sunshiny smile. “Happy birthday!” Before you’re even fully awake, he’s peppering your face with kisses. “How are you feeling?” He asks between kisses, pulling away for a moment to await your answer. You smile - you can’t help it.

“I’m doing alright. Thank you.” His grin grows wider, and he gives you a few more kisses for good measure.

“Great. Just wait ‘til after you get home from work. I’ll make sure it only gets better from here.” If nothing else, your curiosity does keep your mind off of your homesickness, at least a little. It makes your work day pass by a little faster, anyway. A short phone call from your Dad over your lunch break makes it even better.

When your day is finally in, your curiosity has reached its peak. By the time you arrive home, you’re actually a little excited (and maybe a tiny bit scared) to see exactly what Hinata has in store for you.

When you step into your apartment, you come to a stop. The air is filled with a familiar aroma, and right then and there you almost want to burst into tears. It has to be your favorite meal. Hinata is standing at the stove, and when he sees you, he quickly sets down the spoon he’s holding and crosses the room to wrap you up in a tight hug.

“Surprise!” He says brightly, pressing a kiss to your lips. “It’s your favorite!” 

“Shouyou.” You say softly, releasing a small, pleasantly surprised chuckle. “I didn’t even know you could cook this well.”

“Ah, well.” He says sheepishly, pulling away and tugging you a little closer to the stove. There, propped on the counter, is his tablet, and your Mom’s face is on the screen. She breaks into a smile when she catches sight of you.

“Happy Birthday, y/n. Did we surprise you?” The tears that had filled your eyes are now spilling over.

“Mom?” You can’t say anything more than that at the moment. She laughs.

“Shouyou called me and asked what your favorite birthday meal was, and if I could help him make it for you. I told him this is what I always made on your birthday every year. I helped him a bit, but he really did a great job on it.” She pauses. “Oh, Shouyou, you might want to give that a stir.”

“Right.” He jumps, his wide grin turning more serious, and turns back to the stove.

“I can’t believe this.” You look between the two of them. “I can’t believe you kept this a secret from me!”

“I wanted to cheer you up.” Hinata explains, back at your side. He wraps an arm around your middle. “Did it work?” You rest your palms on either side of his face, your grin slowly growing to match his in size.

“Definitely.” You nod, leaning in for a kiss. “I love you.” You press your face into his neck in an attempt to hide the stubborn tears that won’t stop falling.

“I love you too.” He presses a kiss to your temple and holds you close for a few more moments before he has to turn back to the stove again. Watching him with a smile, you’re surprised to find that nearly every trace of your homesickness is gone.

[randomoranges]

here is a very self-indulgent blurb for a very self-indulgent au. 

teaching is fucking hard ok. one day is like 4 weeks of work. 

Friday Nights

The first thing Étienne does when he’s out of his winter gear is crash face first onto the sofa. There’s a pile of laundry that still needs to be folded, but he’ll get to it later. From the entrance, he hears his boyfriend chuckle and before long, there’s a dip in the sofa as Edward joins him. Étienne believes he’s moved some to give Edward room, but he realises it’s a thought he never put to action, when Edward nudges his legs so that they can properly take over the couch and have enough space for each other, the laundry and their accumulated fatigue.

 “I thought this week would never end,” Edward groans from somewhere beside him. Étienne would like to snuggle up to him, put his head on Edward’s chest and get lulled by the rhythmic beating of his heart, but moving requires energy that he no longer has. Instead, he stays in his position, with a vague notion that some part of Edward is close by.

 “I’m convinced today lasted seventy-two hours. I feel like I’ve been run over by a train.” He doesn’t even bother to properly turn his head so that Edward can hear him and if it comes out partially muffled by the sofa, he doesn’t care.

 Étienne remembers a time when, not even some ten years ago, Friday nights were synonymous with fun and the words “good time.” He would go out, meet up with his friends, stay up late, and paint the town. Now, if he makes it ‘til midnight on a Friday night, he considers it a minor miracle. If they do anything exciting on a Friday night, he considers it an act of God.

 To think, he used to be a fun guy.

 Now his idea of fun is sleeping in on Saturday and maybe spend five minutes with his boyfriend, before catching up with the neglected housework, the grading, the planning, the e-mails he never got around to and preparing for the week to come.

 Hell, Edward could strip before his very eyes and Étienne isn’t even sure he’d manage to remain awake to fully enjoy the show.

 He silently mourns for all the things he could be doing now that it’s the weekend and that he’s not.

 “When d’we get borin’?” He slurs and asks. He hopes Edward heard him. Shifting and turning his head sounds exhausting.

 “When the school year started.” Edward replies bluntly.

 A laugh manages to bubble past Étienne’s lips and Edward responds with a gentle squeeze to his leg.

 Edward is right though. It’s the same thing every year. Just as they start recouping somewhere in the middle of July, summer comes to an end and when the school year starts, they’re perpetually playing catch up with their rest until the next break when they can recharge their batteries.

 Oftentimes, Étienne wonders why he picked this job. It often feels as though he’s running a marathon without any proper training.

 “I know we said we’d get the cleaning done today so we wouldn’t have to do it over the weekend, but I’m so tired. Can we get to it tomorrow?” Edward pleads, sounding desperate.

 Étienne’s been living with him for three years now and every summer since he’s moved in, they’ve tried (and failed) to set New Methods to keep the house in order and every year, without fail, once October rolls in, it’s the same thing. The laundry accumulates, the dishwasher doesn’t get emptied out right away and the dust bunnies seem to have a more exciting sex life than they do.

 It’s a miracle there’s food in the refrigerator.

 He sees 750 students in a week, 150 per day, has to deal with their moods, needs to be entertaining enough, discipline the group and also keep them motivated, explain, clean, grade, prepare, plan, respond to e-mails, to administration, to calls and to meetings. He barely has any breaks in a day and lunch is an hour’s worth of catch-up. The chores can indeed wait.

 “I think that’s the sexiest proposition you’ve made me since Thanksgiving.”

 This time, it’s Edward who laughs. He feels more than sees Edward shift and manoeuvre them until they’re more comfortably placed on the sofa, laying on it together, Edward holding him close. He finally has his head on his boyfriend’s chest and Étienne lets out a content sigh.

 “Are you turned on by my proposition, Curly?”

 Étienne looks up in time to see Edward waggle his eyebrows in a comical suggestive way and he manages a tired grin and a weak swat to his chest.

 “Maybe if it did a little dance for me, I would.”

 They share a tired smile at that and settle against each other. Edward makes an attempt to rub Étienne’s back, but after a few strokes, his hand remains comfortably on Étienne’s back and even just that is nice.

 “I don’t know how teachers’ who have kids do it.” Edward says suddenly, out of the blue.

 “Maybe they’re not having them with a teacher partner. Maybe they’re super-humans. Honestly though, I don’t know. We can’t even manage to fold the friggin’ laundry. Can you image having to care for another kid after dealing with a whole bunch of them all day long? Doing more homework and assignments and whatnot after grading a whole stack?”

 “Just the thought of it makes me even more tired. I have mad respect for them though. There was a girl in uni with me who was a single mom and was already teaching and finishing her degree. I honestly don’t know how she did it.”

 Étienne whistles low. He doesn’t think he would have been able to do it. Hell, he didn’t even move out of his parents’ home until Edward asked him to move in. He’d tried. For a short while. But he hadn’t been able to properly care for his apartment, while teaching, grading, prepping, planning and trying to keep himself fed and alive. By Christmas he had moved back home.

 At least Edward gets it. At least Edward feels the same as he does. It’s a perk to their relationship amongst many.

 They both agree to the statement and get lost in their own scenarios of having to find even more energy to care for a child after a draining day of teaching. In fact, they get so lost in their own thoughts that when Étienne next mentions something, he realises that they both fell asleep for close to an hour.

 He shakes his head, partially amused, a little annoyed and he watches him sleep for a moment. He considers waking him up, but then thinks better of it. He could get up and get a start on dinner, but even that sounds too complicated and draining. Instead, he decides, to lay his head back down and rest a little more. Maybe they’ll order in and call it a day afterwards. Tomorrow will be another day anyways.

[flcksin]

“i’m pregnant” / @salices​

she's been acting strangely all day. clingier than usual. following him around as if she’s his shadow and something about her eyes not giving off the same usual gleam as usual. he’s been trying to ignore it and find justifiable reasons as to why this may be. an ignorant man might say ‘ oh, must be that time of the month ’ but francois knows willow enough and they’re both open with each other enough to know when such a thing occurs. he knows she just demands more food more than anything else. for him to hold her and to feed her as though she’s but a pet for him to take care of. but this is different. willow, is mostly, silent for the entire day so far. as though she is a mute. and when he looks at her, there’s a sort of faraway look on her face as though she hasn’t quite realised she’s been tracking his every movement as he goes from room to room. tidying. organising himself. ‘ willow, you’ve been following me around all day. do you want something? ’ he wonders if this is another tactic so that she can get something she wants. ‘ i know i said no to getting takeout but that’s only because cheat days aren’t meant to be everyday ’ he’s tried to say, to reason with her despite how her she doesn’t seem to reprimand his words. ‘ but...i guess we could get pizza, or chinese ’ he gives in even when she doesn’t defend her proposition. 

he’s stood in the kitchen now to his apartment, rolling up the sleeves of his linen shirt before he’s pulling out a bottle of wine from the wine rack rested on the surface. ‘ i got you your favourite wine. want to have a glass now? we can drink til the food arrives and then watch- ’ but everything seems to go silent. eerily so at her words. pregnant. the word makes his ears buzz and his heart start to move on its own accord. it beats violently with its rhythm in his chest. “ willow, ” he starts, still holding the wine bottle that he has yet to pop the cork out of. he wants to cut her short of her before she makes a bad punchline to an inappropriate joke. “ i know you might think this is funny since your uterus is like an incineterator, ” her words. not his. “ but it’s not april fools, it’s winter. this can’t be something you say that...leads into a thanksgiving joke or a christmas joke so.. ” he trails off, trying to just shrug the words away. he doesn’t believe her. and of course he doesn’t. 

they’ve been a lot more comfortable at having sex recently. more regularly. after their discussion of sin and religion, it seems eventually willow has made some sense hinder into his brain. he comes home from being away from her and finds himself more prone to initiating sex with her. sometimes it’s serious and passionate. other times they’re laughing until they hit the mattress and he’s whispering prayers against her skin. “ do you want some wine? ” he asks this but something about the atmosphere still feels off. his throat, croaking a little with the question. “ you’re serious, aren’t you? ” 

[turtle-steverogers]

Race vs the hot RA

Or the couple times race pined after the hot RA and the time the hot RA pined back

Hi! im back at school after thanksgiving break, so i decided to write some college fluff.  like for real guys.  its j us t fluff

enjoy!

ship: ralbert

warnings: lots of fucking smiling ;)

word count: something like 3k?

editing: nein

-

1.

“This is BULLSHIT.”

Race takes out an earbud and stares, mildly alarmed, at the bathroom door of their suite.  Abruptly, the shower shuts off, despite having been on for all of thirty seconds and a moment later, Spot emerges with a towel wrapped around his waist, shivering hard enough to rival a chihuahua left out in front of a grocery store in the rain.  He looks angry, scowling hard enough to bare his teeth and eyes narrowed in a way that would probably be murderous if he didn’t also look entirely pathetic.  

Race quirks an amused eyebrow, “Everything okay?”

“No,” Spot growls, “there’s no fucking hot water.”

Race frowns, “Like, none?”

“Yes, Race,” Now Race can see the goosebumps that line Spot’s arms and notes with faint concern that his lips look a little blue, “None.  Like, it’s fucking Antarctica in that fucking shower.  I feel like Steve Rogers after he crashed that fucking plane into the Arctic.”

“Shit, that’s not good.”

Spot scoffs, giving him a ‘no shit’ look and crosses to his drawer to pull out a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt.

“Maybe too many people are using the showers?” Race suggests, “and like, maybe the hot water got all used up.  That happens sometimes at home.”

“Don’t think it works like that,” Spot says, padding back towards the bathroom, “M’pretty sure this place operates more like a hotel, so lack of hot water shouldn’t be an issue.  Can you go let the RA know something’s wrong with the plumbing?”

Race’s stomach drops, face coloring a bit at the thought of talking to Albert, their engineering SLO’s attractive resident’s assistant.  Like Race and Spot, he’s a junior, but this was Race’s first year living in the engineering housing, so he hadn’t seen him around before.  Which was weird considering they should have at least had a freshman seminar together or something of the sort. 

But nope.  On upperclassmen move in day, Race was completely blindsided by the pretty redhead coming around to the dorms, introducing himself with a disarmingly charming smile and an overly peppy, “If you ever need anything, I’m in 311b!”

Which was unfair, really, because naturally, Race had to see Albert fairly often at various floor events and as smooth as he’d like to believe he is, Albert made him basically incoherent.

And Spot knows that.

So, fuck Spot.

“Can’t you go tell him?” Race calls, trying not to sound pathetic but missing that mark by miles.

“No!” Spot shouts back, still sounding irritated, “I got class soon, dude, stop being a pussy and go!”

Race groans, steeling himself for a moment before pushing himself up from his desk and crossing towards the door, stopping at the bathroom to yell a quick, “I hate you!” at Spot before exiting and ambling down the hall towards Albert’s single.  The sign outside Albert’s door says that he’s on duty, so he knocks twice and bounces on his toes while he waits, stomach swooping when he hears a, “Just a sec!” from inside the room.

A second later, Albert opens the door, looking relaxed in a pair of running shorts and long sleeved shirt, feet tucked into a fluffy pair of moccasins.  The outfit is stupid and entirely adorable and Race has to forcably log his brain back online.  By the time he’s gotten a grip on himself, he realizes that Albert was saying something and is now looking at him with a mildly concerned and expectant smile on his face.

“Shit, sorry,” Race stammers, “What?”

The easy smile doesn’t drop, but an almost knowing glint flashes through Albert’s eyes, “I just asked what’s up.  Everything okay?”

“Oh,” Race feels himself blush, “Yeah, no, the hot water’s just fucked in our bathroom.  Thought I should let you know.”

“Ah, fuck,” Even disgruntled, Albert looks easy-going.  It’s unfair really.  For someone majoring in astrophysics, Albert always look entirely too relaxed, “Yeah, Mush came to me earlier about that.  I called in a ‘fix-it’ and they said someone should be coming to look at it around 5 o’clock.  Sorry, though.  I know cold showers are fucking awful.”

“Oh, it’s okay,” Race says, “Spot was the one who got the brunt of it, not me.”

“Bet he was thrilled,” Albert says, “Kid’s a ray of sunshine.”

Albert even manages to make biting sarcasm sound entirely welcome.  Race isn’t convinced he doesn’t have super powers or something.

“Yeah, he was super chill about it,” Race plays along, “Kindly asked me to let you know and everything.”

“Mhm, I’m sure.”

There’s a small lapse of silence and Race starts to feel the nerves in his stomach come back, suddenly overwhelmed again by Albert’s alluring nature.  He’s about to turn and leave when Albert opens his door wider.

“You wanna come in for a bit?” He asks, “Was just making some ramen if you’re interested.”

“Oh,” Race’s heart soars for a second before dropping again, “Fuck, I’d love to, but I can’t,” Albert’s face falls a fraction and Race tries not to read too deep into that, “I have to finish studying for that astro 212 exam.”

Albert lights up again, “Oh! I gotta study for that, too.  We can study together?  If you want, I mean.  Like, you totally don’t have to if you, like, study better alone or something, I just thought it might be fun to-”

“Albert,” Race cuts him off, feeling oddly elated to see Albert flustered for once, “No, that’s perfect.  I’d love to eat ramen and study with you, just give me a minute to go grab my notes.”

“Sweet!” Albert says, smiling again, “I’ll keep my door open, so just come on in whenever!”

Race gives him a thumbs up and tries not to run back to his room.  Once he’s inside, it’s a mad dash to grab his things, cursing as he drops his graphing calculator twice.  He doesn’t even notice Spot on the floor, tying his shoes, until he laughs.

“Got a hot study date?” He quips.

“No,” Race says, “Shut up.  RAs aren’t technically allowed to date residents.”

Spot holds up his hands in the universal sign of surrender, “Rules can be bent.”

Race rolls his eyes, rushing back out of the room.

2.

Race fucking hates calculus.  Well, actually, that’s a lie.  He fucking loves calculus.  Numbers have always made sense to him, theorems and equations melding into one beautiful web of logic that always pulled him into a comfortable rhythm.  But right now, surface integrals were fucking him in the ass.  

Which is why he’s holed up in the library on a Sunday morning, staving off a wicked hangover and trying not to vomit as he stares dejectedly at his textbook, praying that the words on the page will magically make sense.  Sighing probably too dramatically, he pulls his notebook towards himself and copies down another problem, working through it at a snail’s pace before checking the answer in the back of the book…

...And it’s wrong.  Again.  Fuck.

He groans, dropping his head down and thumping it a few times against the table.  It makes his head hurt worse, so he stops, inwardly reviewing all the ways he’s a fucking dumbass who shouldn’t be in college, because college is hard.  

And fuck multivariable calculus.

Just kidding, sorry, Race thinks, I love you, multivar.  

“Doing okay?” 

Race looks up too fast, groaning again at the movement.  Albert’s hovering across the table from him, backpack slung on his back and iced coffee in hand, an amused smirk resting on his face.  He looks entirely too awake for a 10 am on a Sunday, but then again he wasn’t drinking last night.  

“Depends,” Race answers, apparently too hungover to be too affected by Albert’s presence, “Are surface integrals really worth my sweat and tears?”

“For our major, yes,” Albert says, “Mind if I sit?”

Race waves him off, dropping his head back onto the table, “Go ahead.  What’re you doing up so early?”

“Same as you it seems,” Race can hear him taking out his books, “Guess we all got a little behind on calc homework.”

“Guess so,” Race forces himself to sit back up, “I don’t get it.”

“What don’t you get?”

“Any of it,” Race feels his stress start to peak, “I haven’t gotten a single fucking problem right and I’ve been here since fucking 8 and really, I don’t know why I did that to myself, ‘cause I was up ‘til god knows when last night dri-” He cuts off, eyeing Albert warily.  

Albert shakes his head, “It’s okay, call me a bad RA, but as long as you all are being safe with it and there are no complaints, do what you want.”

Race nods, “Well, then, yeah.  So, I was up ‘til god knows when and now I’m hungover, but I gotta spend more time on this fucking class so I don’t fail this unit, because I’ve never failed a unit of math before and I don’t wanna start now, because then I’ll fail everything and fail out of college and-”

“Whoa,” Albert reaches across the table and places a hand on Race’s forearm, “Slow down, dude, breathe,” he waits for Race to take a deep breath, “It’s going to be alright, man.  Everyone’s got a bad unit, doesn’t mean you’re gonna fail it all.  Just gotta make a game plan.  I’m decent at this stuff if you want some help? I can’t say I’m as good as a TA or something might be, but I can help you get this assignment done.”

Race takes another deep breath, trying not to focus on Albert’s lingering grip on his arm.  Albert seems to come back to himself though, because he clears his throat, coloring a little as he squeezes Race’s arm and lets go.

“Sorry,” Race says sheepishly, “Didn’t mean to lose it there.”

“Happens to the best of us.”

And there’s Albert again, putting Race at ease with the tone of his voice alone.  Fucking magic, Race swears.

Maybe it’s an RA thing.  They all seem to have that scarily open demeanor.  Race could never.

“You don’t gotta help me, man,” Race says, “I’d feel bad making you-”

“Don’t,” Albert says, smiling.  Jeez, does he ever stop smiling? “You’re not making me do anything, I offered.  Plus, I gotta get this shit done, too.  We’d really just be doing it together.  It’s better practice to go in depth anyway.”

A swell of admiration grips Race and he has to look back down at his notebook to keep from doing something stupid like kiss Albert or something.  

“C’mon,” Albert prompts lightly, scooching so he’s next to Race instead of across from him and knocking their knees together.  Race tries not to lean into the touch, “What’s the first problem? 34?”

They work through the math at a steady pace, and with Albert’s instruction (which lacks a certain condescending air that Spot always gets when he tries to help Race out), Race starts to understand the content better.  He’ll still need to go to office hours, probably, but for the moment, he feels less panicked.  

By the time they’re finished, their bodies are pressed together from shoulder to thigh, both of them hunched over their work only inches apart.  Race tries not to stare, but he can’t help but notice the way Albert bites his lip and narrows his eyes when he’s focused.  Even with his guard down, he’s magnetic- effortlessly charming.  He must feel Race looking, because he glances up from where he’s completing the final problem.  They’re very close- too close, really and Race can see him flick his gaze down to his lips for a second before locking on his eyes.  In his peripheral, Race can see his ears color.  He’s a blusher, Race has come to realize.  It’s kind of precious.

“Thanks,” Race says, unable to stand the growing tension.  

Albert blinks a couple times, eyes clearing, “Yeah, no prob.”

“Like, really, thanks.  I get it more now and I’m infinitely less stressed.”

Albert grins, “I’m really glad.”

It’s quiet for another second, then Race shifts, glancing at his watch and realizing he’s done with homework and it’s not even 1:00 pm yet.

“Shit, what time is it,” Albert asks, leaning in again to look at Race’s watch, “Fuck, I have duty in a half hour, I gotta go.”

Race tries not to feel disappointed at the prospect of Albert leaving, “Yeah, I might try to go back to sleep to be honest.”

Albert laughs, “Good plan, drink water.”

“Will do.”

They pack up in silence and walk out of the library, pausing again when they get back to their hall.  

“Obviously fuck math, but I had fun hanging out with you,” Albert says.

Race feels his heartbeat pick up, “I had fun too.”

There’s another pause, this time a little more loaded, then Albert claps him on the shoulder, “Catch those Zs, bro, I’ll see you around.”

“See you.” Race says, waving as Albert begins to head down the hall.

“Don’t forget to eat!”

“I won’t.”

Albert turns around, fixing him with a playfully serious glare, “Promise me, Higgins.  Can’t have any residents sick if I have something to do with it.”

Race laughs, “I promise.”

“Good,” Albert winks and Race feels himself blush down to his chest.

3.

“Albert?”

The situation feels oddly flipped when Race walks into Panera to find Albert slumped at a table, head in his hands and knee bouncing rapidly under the table.  It’s a Tuesday afternoon and Race figured he’d grab his weekly cup of broccoli cheddar soup before english.

Albert lifts his head from his hands and Race feels his concern grow when he notices the red that rims his eyes.  He’s only ever seen Albert cool and collected, but he supposes even freakishly bubbly people have bad days, too.

“Hey, Race,” Albert tries to smile at him, but it falls short, “What’s up? You okay?”

“I’m good,” Race says, “Just grabbing a bite.  What about you?  Are you okay?”

Albert deflates a little, dropping his eyes down to his laptop, “I’m alright.”

“You sure?” Race ventures.  Fuck it, he thinks and sits down, “You’re looking a little stressed.  Is something up?”

He sincerely hopes he isn’t pushing boundaries here, but Albert looks like he needs a friend right now.  Or maybe a shot of really strong tequila.  Or both.

Albert shrugs, letting out a breath.  It sounds shaky and shallow.  He fixes Race with a self-deprecating smile.

“Shouldn’t this be the other way around?”

“Hey, man, just because you’re an RA doesn’t mean you can’t ask for help or some bullshit.  I’m not gonna make you talk to me or anything, that would be shitty, but I’m here for you and so’s everyone else on the floor.  If something’s bothering you, then it’s valid and you deserve support.”

Albert has such a starkly vulnerable look in his eyes that Race almost has to look away.  The corners of his lips are turned down and his eyes are wide and almost pleading and he looks so goddamn defeated and beautiful at the same time and Race really wants to hug him.

Albert’s jaw shifts and he turns his gaze down towards his hands.  His voice cracks a bit when he says, “I’m technically here on a hockey scholarship, right?” Race nods and Albert continues, “And our team is losing national ranking, ‘cause our new coach fucking sucks, so I might lose aspects of that scholarship and my parents can’t pay for my tuition on their own and-” he stops, shaking his head, “I’m scared, I think.  I don’t wanna have to drop out or something.”

Race takes a moment to mull over a good response and reaches across the table, hoping he’s been reading their interactions correctly as he places a hand over Albert’s.  To his relief (and delight) Albert flips his hand so their fingers are laced together.  

Race squeezes it encouragingly, “I can’t promise you that everything will be alright and I can’t make you false reassurances, but I bet if you talked to the financial aid office, they could help you figure out a plan?  But throughout all of this, I’m going to be here for you, alright?  Anything you need, just let me know.  If that’s a place to talk shit out, I gotchu, but I’m also here if you just need a friend.  I’m here for you, Al.”

Albert’s looking at him again, that same vulnerable look on his face, but something else is there a well.  Something softer underlying the worry lines on his face.

“Next semester I’m not going to be an RA anymore.” He blurts.

Race blinks, “Alright?”

Albert huffs out a laugh, “Sorry, I mean like,” he shakes himself, starting over, “I like you, Race.”

Race’s stomach jolts, “Wait, really?”

“Yeah,” Albert says slowly.  They’re hands are still linked together and Race can feel Albert’s hand sweating.  Or maybe that’s his.  Fuck, they both seem keyed up.

“Fuck, I mean, Albert, I like you too.  Have since the beginning of the semester,” Race knows he’s talking too fast, but the smile on Albert’s face tells him it doesn’t matter.

“Yeah?” And Albert looks so damn appeased that Race laughs.

“Yeah.”

“So, if I’m not an RA next semester, then we could…”

“You tryna ask me out, Dasilva?” Race asks, a teasing lilt to his tone.

“Eventually, yes I am,” Albert says.

On a whim, Race lifts Albert’s hand to his lips, kissing the knuckles.  

“After Winter break, I’m taking you to that thai place in town.”

Albert’s smile takes on a genuinity that Race hasn’t seen before, “I’d like that.”

A month later...

“Feels good to actually be able to, like, do this shit publicly.”

Race leans in, pressing a kiss to Albert’s chin.  They’re in the library, trying to get ahead of their physics homework before it picks up too much.  Technically, they’d gotten together after admitting to liking each other last semester, but they weren’t allowed to have a relationship until Albert was out of his RA position.

“Yeah, that was like some star crossed lovers bullshit,” Albert laughs, “Hiding you in my dorm room and stealing kisses in dark hallways.”

“How romantic,” Race teases.

“I know.”

They kiss for real, both leaning into it.  Race feels Albert grip his arm right above his elbow, rubbing his thumb in circles around his bicep.  In turn, he brushes Albert’s hair behind his ears, tilting his jaw to deepen the kiss.

They pull apart and lean their foreheads together, smiling.

“I’m thinking about becoming an RA next semester,” Race murmurs.

Albert pulls back, looking alarmed until he sees the smirk on Race’s face, “you ass, I actually believed you!”

“Pfft, I wouldn’t do that when we just got this,” Race says, pulling Albert back in and kissing him again, “I like you too much.”

Albert smiles, giddy and exultant, “I like you, too, I think.”

“You think?”

“I know, I think.”

Race swats him, “Be serious and love me.”

They both freeze, the weight of the words they have yet to actually say suddenly hanging in the air.

Albert sobers up, taking Race’s hand, “I do love you.  A lot, actually.”

And really, that’s unfair, because sometimes Race still gets so goddamn enamored by Albert and he can’t really believe he actually likes him back and he can feel his face flushing and oh god, he’s not going to revert back to incoherence is he? Oh god-

“Don’t have an aneurysm,” Albert says, kissing his nose, “I love you.  That’s all.”

When Race smiles, it feels too big for his face, “I love you, too.”

END

-

thanks for reading, chiefs

yell at me to start writing again cuz i really been slacking

hmu to be added to my tag

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[askmidam]

The Holiday Special

“I don’t like being away from our home after dark,” Michael said stubbornly, sitting in the passenger seat, “Your holiday is tomorrow, not tonight.”

“It’s…” Adam trailed off, laughing, “It’s not my holiday, Mike. And it’s Christmas Eve, we’ll spend tomorrow together.”

“Your family doesn’t trust me,” Michael commented, “Or like me for that matter. Your grandfather is very suspicious of me and thinks I had something to do with your ‘kidnapping’,” he grumbled, resting his head on the window, “I never wished for any of this to happen to you, Adam, and for them to think that I did-”

“Whoa,” Adam said, glancing in the mirror before signaling, pulling off to the side of the road and putting the car in park. He turned to Michael, “Mike, I know you never wanted anything to happen to me.”

Michael stared at him.

“I wouldn’t be with you if you did,” Adam took his hand, “I wouldn’t want to wake up every single day next to you if you did.”

Michael swallowed, looking down at their linked hands for a moment, like he was still fascinated by it after being together for months. He quickly checked his coat pockets with his free hand, pulling out a small box, “I know this isn’t technically for today according to your traditions but it’s important to me that you have it now. It feels right.”

Adam smiled weakly, “I left yours at home, Mike.”

“I want you to have this now,” Michael told him, pulling his hand away, “It’s very important to me that you have this. It could help you in a situation where I would not be there o-or if you couldn’t find me.”

Adam blinked in shock at the serious tone of his voice, “Nothing is gonna happen, Mike.”

Michael just stared at him for a moment before opening the box.

Adam tilted his head, staring at the small vial attached to a chain, “A glowstick?”

Michael rolled his eyes, an oddly human thing to do, before handing it to him, putting it in his palm.

Adam blinked in shock at the familiar, warm feeling, “Oh...Michael, is this…?” he trailed off.

“A vial of my Grace, yes,” Michael explained, “If I were to ever disappear, you could use this to track me. There’s a lot of other...things we should discuss about it, but we are going to be late,” he quickly took the necklace from Adam’s hand, helping him put it on, “It will always keep me close to your heart.”

Adam grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him into a kiss.

Michael blinked in surprise before melting into the kiss. He fumbled slightly for Adam’s seatbelt, only to be stopped by his hand on his.

“We can’t be late,” Adam told him quietly, “We have all the time in the world for that later.”

Michael let out a sigh before nodding in agreement, sitting back in his seat. He quickly grabbed Adam’s hand, not saying a word as they sat in comfortable silence.

                                                               ...........…

“Why are we only here just to leave again?” Michael huffed, “It is a waste of time. I could easily teleport us.”

“We’re all going to the tree ceremony together,” Adam laughed quietly, “And then coming back here for cookies and we’re gonna watch a Charlie Brown Christmas…”

Michael just continued to be huffy about it, crossing his arms, “It is a waste of time.”

“Like I said, Mike, all the time in the world,” Adam rubbed his arm before getting out of the car.

Michael sighed before getting out of the car as well, following after Adam quickly. He smiled a little when Adam took his hand and walked up on the porch of the older looking big house with him.

Michael went to knock on the door but Adam simply opened it, walking inside and pulling Michael along with him.

“Nan?” Adam called, “We’re here!”

“Right on time,” Adam’s grandmother, Katherine, laughed as she walked out, “At least one of my grandkids can manage to show up on time.”

Michael watched as she pulled Adam into a tight hug and blinked in shock when she pulled him into one right after.

“It’s good to see you two,” Katherine said, “C’mon in, you’re going to catch a cold out there,” she said quickly, closing the door behind them, “Go on in the living room, we’re still waiting on Keith and the kids.”

“C’mon, Mike,” Adam said softly, pulling him into the living room and smiling, “Oh, Mr. They-Don’t-Like-Me.”

Michael huffed, crossing his arms and sitting beside him on the couch. He’d never had time to dwell on human comforts until he met Adam. But sitting in a warm house in front of a fireplace in a very cozy living room with Adam sitting so close their legs touched? That was what comfort felt like to Michael.

“They know we are together,” Michael said softly.

“I think they always kind of assumed,” Adam laughed quietly, “Pretty sure it was just you and me that weren’t aware we were dating before we were, Mike,” he said, resting his head on Michael’s shoulder.

“I have learned that it isn’t normal for friends to sleep together every night,” Michael said softly.

“Felt right though,” Adam whispered.

“Yes,” Michael agreed softly, linking their hands again, “It did.”

The archangel was a little frustrated when Adam moved over as soon as his grandfather came into the room, but didn’t comment on it. Humans were odd...they loved to show affection -in Adam’s case, at least- but not in front of people they knew...especially elder relatives.

“Good to see at least someone made it on time,” James grunted, sitting back down, “I swear, ever since…” he trailed off, “Well, no one’s been showin’ up to anything ‘til now. Biggest turnout we’ve had was on Thanksgiving and it’s ‘cause you came back.”

Adam smiled softly, “You’re gonna make people think I’m your favorite, granddad.”

“Well, you showed up on time!” James gestured around wildly, “Already doin’ better than your uncle.”

Adam just smiled softly, going silent.

“So, Mike, what do you do for a living?” James asked, causing Adam to choke on the air he was breathing.

Michael stared at him, confusion written all over his face.

“Mike is between jobs,” Adam said quickly, rubbing Michael’s arm.

“Did you…” James trailed off, clearing his throat, “Did you escape with Adam?”

“Granddad-” Adam started.

“Yes,” Michael nodded, “We escaped together.”

“Well,” James told him, “Thank you, Michael...you got Adam back to us.”

Michael stared at him for a moment before clearing his throat, “Excuse me,” he said, getting up and walking out of the room as quickly as possible. 

He knew Adam would follow him, a part of him hoped he wouldn’t, but he knew him too well at this point.

Michael shoved his hands in his pockets, staring off the porch. Adam’s grandparents didn’t even live that far and they lived on a small farm. 

It was so peaceful.

“Hey, you okay?” Adam asked quickly, struggling to get his coat on as he walked out. 

“Yes, I…” Michael trailed off and sighed, looking up at the stars.

“Words, Mike,” Adam encouraged softly.

Michael swallowed, “I was uncomfortable when your grandfather insinuated that I got you back to them when I was the reason you were gone in the first place.”

“God was the reason I was gone, not you,” Adam sighed, grabbing his hand, “You just did what your father said. I don’t blame you, I blame him.”

Michael stared down at him with a sigh, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

“You don’t believe me,” Adam said softly.

“I don’t,” Michael shook his head, “I blame myself. I try to see things your way but I do not.”

“I love you, Michael...nothing about what happened is going to change that,” Adam said, holding on his arm and looking out at the farm as well, “Let’s go inside, it’s cold.”

Michael just nodded, putting his arm around Adam as they walked back inside.

                                                              ...........…

“Adam!” Joy yelled happily as Adam walked in hand-in-hand with Michael to Windom’s little town square. They ran up, Martin following close behind with identical grins on their faces.

“Watch it, bro, Erick is around and wants a story,” Martin added before they could even say hello.

“Erick?” Michael asked seriously.

“He’s a reporter for our town’s paper,” Adam explained, rolling his eyes, “We went to high school with him.”

“He’s a little asshole is what he is,” Ryka said, walking up with her hands stuffed in her pockets and Dawson following close behind, “He just made a professional career after being a gossip in high school,” she scoffed.

“Is he a threat?” Michael asked seriously.

Adam elbowed him, “He’s just a jerk, Mike, don’t get all...you,” he said quietly, but there was a fond smile on his face.

“I haven’t seen this thing light up in ten years,” Dawson commented, looking up at the huge, unlit tree, “Pretty sure the last time I saw it was when all of us were together.”

Adam’s lips twitched, like he wanted to smile but he didn’t. He stared at Dawson for another moment before tearing his eyes away, looking up at the tree, “I swear, they find a bigger one every year,” he said, changing the subject.

Michael watched Adam, not saying anything.

“Joy said that you were trying to find Jared,” Dawson said suddenly, looking at Michael, “Any luck?”

“No,” Michael said simply, not taking his eyes away from Adam despite the feeling of guilt in his chest for not telling Adam and his friends about the fate of their friend.

“Good detective you got there,” Dawson snorted, “Don’t worry, me and Ryka are already looking into it.”

Michael went to say something, but was cut off by someone calling out “Adam Milligan!”

“Tried to warn you,” Martin chuckled, stepping aside as who only Michael could assume was Erick ran over.

“I’ve been trying to get ahold of you,” Erick explained, “I talked to your grandparents, have they not been forwarding my messages?”

Adam shrugged, “Sorry, must have missed the memo,” he said, smiling weakly, holding onto Michael’s arm. 

“And who is this?” Erick asked.

“Off the record, this is Michael,” Adam smiled, though there was a little bit of sarcasm in his tone.

“Could we possibly talk on the record?” Erick asked, “It’s a big story for our little town, y’know…would be nice to get the big scoop.”

“There is no scoop, I’m back now,” Adam said, shrugging, “There’s no story to tell.”

“You look the same,” Erick commented.

“Good genes,” Adam said simply, gripping Michael’s arm a little tighter.

Michael could sense the anxiety starting to radiate off of his former vessel, he knew it was either the questions or the amount of people, he wasn’t sure which was making it worse.

He went to say something, but Adam’s grandmother did before he could.

“I thought we told you to beat it,” Katherine snapped, practically shoving Adam and Michael behind her shorter figure, but Michael swore she had enough fury to even scare him.

Erick put his hands up in surrender, “I was just seeing if he had gotten my message, Kat, calm down,” he said, taking a step back.

Katherine just continued to glare until Erick just sighed, nodding, and walking away.

“I admire your grandmother’s fury,” Michael said quietly to Adam, causing him to laugh and bury his face in his shoulder.

                                                              ...........…

“I will say,” Michael said softly, looking up at the now-lit tree before looking around at the crowd, “Your tiny town is nice, for a bunch of humans. It is nice they found something to do with their brief existence.”

Adam rolled his eyes, but smiled fondly, holding Michael’s gloved hand with his own as they walked back to their truck.

“I’ve always enjoyed observing human holidays,” Michael explained, “But I never actually took part in celebration before.”

Adam smiled slightly, “Not even Michaelmas?”

Michael smiled softly, “While I do appreciate your people celebrating me...no.”

“Well, next year we’re just gonna have to celebrate our birthdays together,” Adam said, linking their arms and pulling him close.

“I do not have a birthday,” Michael huffed.

“We’ll just have to go to the next closest thing then,” Adam smiled, “Just so happens to be my birthday as well.”

Michael scoffed, “That is not a coincidence, you were meant to be my vessel. Originally that was intended to be your brother’s birthday, but that date was pushed up in hopes of starting the apocalypse sooner.”

Adam rolled his eyes, “Well, tough luck, buddy, I’m your boyfriend now.”

“That is not tough luck,” Michael said, leaning down and pressing his lips against his.

                                                         ...........…

“Eat your food, Mike,” Adam whispered encouragingly as they sat at the dinner table.

“I enjoy pizza,” Michael whispered back, looking down at the plate.

“I know, but you can try new things too,” Adam bumped his shoulder, “Just try it and if you don’t like it you don’t have to eat it.”

“Can we get pizza after?” Michael huffed.

Adam just pressed a soft kiss to his jaw line, patting his leg as he continued eating.

“So, Michael,” Keith said suddenly, “What do you do for a living? I feel like you and Addy are so close and we know nothing about you.”

“I recently acquired a job at the shipping yard,” Michael said before taking a bite of the ham and making a face, but swallowed it.

“How’d you meet Adam?” Keith asked.

“Keith,” Katherine snapped at him, “Eat your food.”

Keith rolled his eyes, “Oh, I’m just grilling the new guy, ma. I’m an uncle, it’s my job to make sure little Addy is being safe.”

Adam narrowed his eyes, “Thanks, Uncle Keith,” he said sarcastically.

                                                      ...........…

“We all have ornaments with our names on them,” Adam explained, “The tree is already decorated, but we always hang our family ornaments on Christmas Eve,” he told Michael, “Gran makes them, her dad used to make them before he died,” he said before going to hang a few on the tree that Michael recognized as some earlier people in the Milligan line. 

“We also celebrate the Winter Solstice,” Katherine added, smiling at Michael.

Michael nodded, staring at her, “Happy Yule, ma’am,” he said quietly, not loud enough for Adam to hear.

Katherine smiled, “You’re pretty smart, Mike,” she said before handing an ornament with his name on it.

Michael stared down at it, “It is not traditional for a new boyfriend to be welcomed into a family this fast.”

“Do we seem like a normal family, Mike?” Katherine raised an eyebrow.

“No, ma’am, you don’t,” Michael explained, “The Milligan line has many witches and I believe that you are one of them.”

“And I believe that you’re the Michael and not just Michael,” Katherine smiled at him before handing him a clear looking ornament, “This is for the tree in your new home.”

“A new home blessing,” Michael said quietly, admiring it and then his vessel’s cheeks tinged slightly, “I’ve always found witch traditions sort of fascinating.”

“Do you sense it in him?” Katherine asked.

Michael went silent.

“It’s late for him, I know, but...after everything he’s been through…” she trailed off, “He didn’t have his mother to guide him and James and I think that the time away might have...stunted his growth, if you know what I mean.”

Michael pursed his lips, “The Milligan line has a very high number of witches in your blood...I sense that in Adam, but it’s not as strong as with you or your husband. I do not know if he will ever grow into his powers after the time we spent in Hell. He did not age.”

Katherine nodded, smiling sadly, “Well...if you do sense anything, you know where to find us. We’ll take him in as soon as it happens, it’s what we do.”

“Did gran give you your ornament?” Adam asked, walking over quickly and looking at it, “I told her the colors you like.”

“It is nice,” Michael told him, slipping the other one into his pocket for when they got home. He smiled at Adam, taking his focus back to him, “Show me where you’d like me to hang it?”

Adam nodded, grabbing his free hand and leading him over to the large tree where his ornament was hanging along with his mother’s. He quickly adjusted it a little more, making sure her name was on the outside before smiling at Michael, “You can hang it beside ours.”

Michael hung his ornament before his lips twitched, looking at the tree names together.

                                                              ...........…

“Maybe you’re vegetarian,” Adam considered on the way back to their house, driving their truck.

“Maybe,” Michael said, staring out the window while holding his hand, “I do not appreciate eating things that were once alive.”

“We’ll start getting pizza with just cheese on it, then,” Adam smiled at him as he pulled in their driveway and put the truck in park before hopping out and running to the front door quickly, “I have to give you your present now, since you gave me mine,” he said, fumbling to unlock the door.

Michael smiled softly, leaning on the truck for a moment and watching Adam run inside, picking up Aira as he did and holding her close. He shut the door before hurrying after him, watching as his partner ran over to the tree, grabbing a small box.

Michael closed the door and locked it behind them before walking over to the tree as well. He discreetly hung the ornament from Adam’s grandmother before turning to smile at Adam.

Adam handed it to the archangel, an excited look on his face, “Open it!”

Michael opened it, blushing slightly at Adam’s gaze on him. 

“I-I know we’re not ready to get married or anything, but...I still wanted to give you something to remind you of me while you’re working. I-I’m so proud of you for getting that job, Mike.”

Michael opened the box, smiling down at the ring, “I love it, Adam,” he told him, pressing his lips against his, “I love you.”

“And I love you.”