#i wanted to send you the same ask but i worried it'd be too cheesy

[sugurouge]

sweetness, i’m here to ask how are you and noe celebrating new years? 💫

oh my god, the one and only who truly served ... in my inbox!? 😭🫶🏼 can you stop being on vacation pls imy but i adore your fits

i actually giggled when i saw the question because no matter how often noé sees fireworks, he still looks at them like it's his first time ever. like we don't get to see a blue moon in our world,smh. but hey, if it makes him happy :>

i don't share his excitement, but since he looks incredibly cute under all the lights in the night sky, i always agree to sneaking off to the human world to see their light shows

before that, it would most likely be a fully planned evening at a ball or other social gathering which is ... okay but the sneaking off part would definitely be our favourite. at least in the human world i'd get to shamelessly kiss him in public 🤭

the face he makes when i walk in with my new ball dress. don't be fooled, i drool equally over his slick back hair until i ruin it later

[shunshunrika]

> Yuuta Okkotsu, MEGUMI Fushiguro, Gojo Satoru, Geto Suguru, Kokichi Muta.

The pain of being in love, when he isn't.

When you first saw him, it was as if the world had gained vibrance. Every color bloomed around him and when your eyes met, your heart bloomed too.

You'd find yourself trying to pluck the courage to speak. Speak to him. Find anything to say, a greeting, ask about his day. He'd reply with a smile and then hurry away to join his friends. You were left alone, blushing and smiling after him, wondering when he'll say 'Hi' back.

You had chosen the longer route so many times now, because you knew it'd cross with his usual route or his classroom. You'd keep your eyes and ears wide open, maybe you would hear his voice - his cackling laughter somewhere in the distance or just a glimpse of the top of his head among a sea of students. You'd go so many days without seeing him that you'd start worrying, only to see his shadow somewhere the next day.

You kept up with his social media. He was your most searched account. You'd stare at his pictures and wonder, when will you ever appear on his feed, hands intertwined, with some cheesy lovey caption - his friends teasing him about it. You wondered when he'd create a highlight story all about you. You wondered when your chats would be full of stickers and heart emojis and "I love yous" As it lay now, you stared at the empty chat window you shared with him, never having the courage to send the first text.

You'd never dare to ask him out alone so you'd come up with group plans. He would surely come if it was with a group right? But still. Still, some part of you wanted him to be only with you. Just once. Just once, so you could feel his being all by yourself. You wanted him to be only yours so bad. Yet, his eyes always seemed to look past you and beyond you. Group or alone.

When life got busier and you stopped seeing him around for months, you'd find him one fine day - same hair, same face, same smile. Maybe be grew slightly taller? Slightly buffer? You couldn't contain your happiness. He must want to know what you've been up to. He will probably sit down and talk. That's what he'd do right?

Yet, he chooses to be on his merry way after a simple nod as a greeting.

The pain of being in love was precisely that he wasn't.

[echo-three-one]

Chapter 25

Make some dentist appointments after this chapter. (I'm not sure it applies to all)

Sorry for being late. It's my little sister's birthday today and I opted to eat food.

Table of Contents

Off the Grid

"Alex"

MacTavish Residence, Glasgow, Scotland

The worst part of being stomped on the face is that at the end of the day, your girlfriend would end up seeing it. This was what Alex was worried about the moment he heard the helicopter approached their location. But a part of him wanted to just lay down by the bed under Samantha's care. 

Alex expected Soap to be the first one greeting the women, but he wasn't around. He guessed that after all the chasing and the climbing, he opted to take a rest instead of facing them tired. The house was very accommodating on it's own. He didn't need to worry about entertaining everyone else.

Just as he expected, he already saw the frown on Samantha's face as soon as her eyes met his. The same frown from his imagination was manifested before him.

"Alex, Are you okay?" she ran towards him and touched his bruised cheek. Alex tried to look okay but he couldn't help but hiss at the pain.

"A little. I couldn't lie to you now, can't I?" he managed a chuckle. Samantha held his hair and that signaled Alex to lower himself a little so she could kiss him on the forehead.

"Let's get you healed up." She muttered.

"Not until I'm done helping unload these." He suggested. Samantha wanted him to skip out on helping but Alex's face was eager and she didn't want to argue with that.

"Fine."

"My room is the third door by the stairs… that is if you want us to stay in one room together."

"Of course I do, Alex." She smiled and blew a kiss on the air as his lip was too bruised to receive it.

Alex couldn't help but smile. He could feel his insides do a little dance of joy while he's carrying luggage to the second floor, placing both their bags beside each other. Inside their room, that they're going to share.

He knew they'd done this before, but the idea of getting the room all to themselves was different. They are able to move freely without worrying what they might do. And he wanted to hug her, kiss her and whisper soft words in her ear without making everyone else around them all judgy.

Dinner flew by and Roach took the girls out for a tour, Alex took this time to shower before Samantha would come nurse his wounds. He stood in front of the sprinkling hot water, his face looked up, letting the warm shower revitalize his tired muscles. It was no doubt relaxing as he closed his eyes, cleared his thoughts and let his mind ease a bit.

They're safe, Samantha's got her memories back, and they're together now. The New York attacks were over and both Shepherd and Nero were off the grid. They're planning something big and all they could do was prepare for the worst. He doesn't have to shoulder anything as of now and he should rest and recover.

After a few minutes of meditation, Alex was interrupted by a smooth touch that embraced him from behind. He could feel her skin sink against his as she tightly held him, her cheek leaned on his back.

"Alex." Samantha whispered, he couldn't barely hear it against the sound of the shower.

"I'm… I'm sorry…" she sobbed. Alex raised an eyebrow and held her hand, turning around to meet her beautiful face.

"What's wrong?" he asked, the question echoed against the glass walls and bounced to the rest of the bathroom.

"On the ride here. I took a nap… then I remembered something. Before I even got to that Russian hotel I…" she sobbed. Alex pulled her closer and hugged her, she didn't have to worry. They're going to fix this together.

"I gave them the I.P. Address…" she cried. Her tears mixed with the sprinkle of the shower. Despite being already wet, Alex still wiped it off with his thumbs.

"You didn't do anything wrong… You didn't give it away… They forcibly took it from you." Alex told her, his face was angry toward Shepherd. One day he'll finally get his revenge.

"B-but…" she tried to retort, but Alex cut her off by kissing her soft lips, his tongue immediately entered her mouth as soon as she gave him permission. He kissed her hoping it would soothe her worries away, making her feel that he was there no matter what. Her moans made him comfortable that he's doing the right thing, that he's telling her that he's going to be there. So he pushed her toward the cold bathroom wall, tilted his head and showed her what he really felt towards her.

The next morning Alex and Samantha were tasked to fly Nikolai back home. The guy was missing the colder environment and since they didn't have anything at the moment, it'd be best to let him go for now. The team still owed him a cargo plane which was left back at the S.A.S. base. They'll have to deal with that after all of this is over.

Alex didn't have anything to do regarding this task, Samantha just made a few special calls and the next thing they knew, they were already waving goodbye to the Russian.

"Glad we have him on our side." Alex chuckled, hovering his arm as it reached her farther shoulder. Samantha leaned toward him as soon as she caught him doing the gesture, as they took short steps, Alex's leg clumped against the cement.

"You okay with that leg?" Samantha wondered, looking down then back to Alex.

"I got used to it, really. It's not much of a bother once you get used to it." He smiled, wiggling the fake leg, almost showing off at how good he was using it. 

"Is there something wrong with it?" He asked. Samantha's cheeks started to blush red and Alex had no actual idea what was going on in her mind.

"No no. I'm just curious. That's all… Still… it must be hard walking like an incomplete part of a whole." She consoled to which Alex replied with a laugh.

"What's funny?" She asked as Alex used his already clinging hand on her shoulder to pull her closer for a kiss.

"You already complete me, Samantha." He said. His face was too serious to be joking and yet Samantha laughed.

"You know what?! All these corny and cheesy dialogue is my thing. You complete me too, Alex. I…" she paused, staring at Alex's eyes. Alex quickly saw through her gaze, there was a particular sparkle in her eyes. The same sparkle he'd been noticing every time they got intimate. It made his heart beat so fast that he could almost predict what she's going to say next.

He placed a finger on her mouth to stop her from talking. He wanted to say it first. He wanted to be the one whose life changed because of her and not the other way around.

"I love you, Samantha Coleman." he said. Tears. Tears were the first thing he saw once he let out those words. 

"How dare you… finish my sentence." she croaked. She had the idea of cracking a joke between the sweetest of moments. He really liked that about her.

"I wanted to say it first." He whispered, inching his face closer once again. Samantha's eyes were already half closed and Alex knew what he needed to do. He planted another chaste kiss on her soft lips, but this time, Samantha surprised him by gently biting his lip, making the former CIA flinch. He chuckled and kissed back once again, pushing her toward the gazebo until they found her pinned on one of its tougher beams.

"Oh." She giggled as Alex's hand trailed on her side, squeezing her soft skin gently. Alex's smile beamed wide as he knew her reaction. 

"Are we really going to cause a scene here? Mr. Alex-?" She teased, her train of thought paused after not knowing his last name.

He chuckled in a lower register, low enough that he could feel Samantha react to it.

"It's Alexander Collins. But please, just call me Alex." he muttered, planting a kiss on her neck, Samantha moaned inappropriately, sending Alex on an excited rush.

"All right Mr. Collins. I think we should stop now. Our audiences are feeling a little uncomfortable right now." she turned to France, Maxine and Roach, who were watching 'respectfully'.

Alex waved and smiled apologetically, noting the almost embarrassed expression on Maxine's face, the slightly smirking Francine and Roach's hidden thumbs up.

"I'm sorry guys. We'll be off now." he said, escorting Samantha back to the house.

The day went by and Alex was more than happy that he got to spend the rest of the day with Samantha. Hell, even the thought of waking up spooning her was more than heavenly. 

Now, he lay gently on his bed while Samantha was out to cleanse his bruises.

"Ow. Careful nurse, I'm quite vulnerable..." he winced playfully.

"Now, now, my little patient. This will just hurt a little." She played along, wiping a soft cotton ball on his bruised cheek.

"Will there be any sort of injection? I hate injections." he groaned, fake sobbing.

"Oh? You hate injections? I personally thought you were amazing administering them?" She teased, slightly blushing at her green joke.

Alex quickly caught wind of her joke about injecting and immediately burst out laughing.

"I can't believe you said that." he said, laughing in between his words, almost choking.

"Kidding aside… I almost forgot something…" She said, setting aside her medical tools. She got up and gently straddling on his body, making Alex groan a little and hold on to her waist.

"What could you have possibly forgotten?" he asked, his face full of curiosity.

She leaned in closer to him and whispered three words that made Alex smile in delight.

"I love you." she whispered and a kiss followed. Alex knew from that moment on that he was more than willing and ready to spend the rest of his life.

Next Chapter : What's Behind Door Number Two?

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