#i was supposed to post this next week but i'm too excited to wait

[pagelets]

Teaser: Maroon- C.B

Synopsis:

The euphoria of falling in love for the first time:

The nervous giggles

The tension between two bodies

The sweaty hands

The pounding heart

The constant tingling sensation in the stomach...

You felt it all and, somehow, you know he felt it too.

So...

Why did he choose her? Why not you?

The end of an ephemeral summer affair, the beginning of a long fall stained with broken hearts.

The reason why— Choi Beomgyu.

Yayy!! Beomgyu's bday special fic 🎂

Spoiler: pairing -> skater! Beomgyu x college student fem!reader

Date release: March, 13th.

[ameliathornromance]

The Other Woman - Part 2

A/N: I'm blown away by the support you guys have given me with this part. I want to thank everyone who commented on the first post and gave me feedback! I'm always happy to recieve constructive critisim to make my work better for you all. This part 2 is a little different from how I usually handle part twos, so I hope you guys enjoy!

Link to PT 1

Your eyes itched as you dragged them open the next morning. The tears you shed last night had completely exhausted you by the time you got back to your room in the Palace, you had just flopped into bed without changing, skirts covered in melted icing.

A part of you was glad for it, as you had something to distract yourself from the soreness of heart break in your chest. You had no idea what you were going to do when you headed to court. The King’s personal guard would be there, and as far as you were aware, he hadn’t seen you the previous night.

Which means to him, nothing had gone wrong between the two of you.

You weren’t sure what to do knowing that. You could: A) Pretend nothing is wrong, carry on with this affair like you’d never seen what you had, or B) End things with the Orc and live with the guilt of what you did for the rest of your life.

Option A was just too difficult for you to do. You couldn’t bare the thought of doing something so heartless to that lovely Orc lady who worked in the kitchens. She was too kind to you, and always willing to lend a shoulder when you needed it… She would be a great mother.

So, it looks like option B is the only way to go.

As you finished remaking your bed, a shaky sigh escaped you as you leaned against your mattress, trying to steady yourself to face the day.

Leaving your quarters, you walked through the halls with your head in the clouds, thinking about how exactly you were supposed to end this affair. Would the King’s guard be angry? Upset?

After stewing on it, a wave of indignity washed over you. Really, none of this is your fault, it’s not like you were aware of his marriage. So, why should you be the one to break it off?

Of course, the last thing you wanted was to stay with the Orc, but if anything, he should be the one ending things with you! He was the one who chose to lie to you and hurt you in that way.

But how would you send that message to him? It’s not like you could just tell him what you saw. He might try to convince you to stay with him and you would not be persuaded into doing such a thing.

… Maybe, if you ignored him, he’d get the message and just leave you alone? Then that way, he’d know that you were angry with him and then, he would have no choice but to apologise to you. He’s not a stupid Orc, he should realise sooner or later what you were upset with him about.

But then, how do you regain your dignity as a Lady?

You chewed your lip as you greeted the Queen, apologised for your lateness and then followed her, alongside the other ladies in waiting to the throne room.

Thinking about this anymore would have to wait. You had a job to do as the Queens lady in waiting.

Their excited whispers brought you back down to Earth.

“Do you think that he’s handsome?”

“I don’t know, have you ever seen a forest dweller before?”

“Well no, but that doesn’t mean that he’s not good looking!”

“(Y/N) what do you think?”

“Hm?” You looked over your shoulder at the others. “What are you talking about?”

“You’ve really been all over the place this week haven’t you?” One of the ladies said, “you know we’ve been preparing for the Forest Fae? Well, the Lord of the Forest Fae, is apparently, devilishly handsome. And, he’s not married or in any other kind of commitment with a woman or man!”

Another one of the ladies giggled, “do you think he’s come here looking for someone to marry?”

“Unlikely.” The third lady said, dismissively. “Men of any species love to flounder, even when they’re married. Why make their promiscuity more complicated than it has to be? You agree with me, don’t you (Y/N)?”

You didn’t answer. Due to recent experience, you had no interest in trying to romance a Fae Lord, there was no point in trying to if he was so easily led astray. “All men seemed to be like that.” You said, callously. “Even if he is loyal to those he sleeps with, I’m not looking to marry a Fae Lord.”

“Oh come on (Y/N), don’t pretend you’re not even slightly interested!”

“Ladies,” The Queen shushed and all the other women fell silent. “Gossip is unbecoming of all of you. If any of you wish to become involved with the Lord, I’ve heard he’s not one for those who spread rumours.”

Upon reaching the throne room, all the chattering of the ladies had fallen silent.

The doors to the impressive room opened, the Queen, you and the other ladies in waiting taking their respective places next to their mistress as they waited for the Fae Lord to make his entrance.

Sunlight caught the Queen’s glittering necklace, making you look around in surprise. And infuriatingly, you caught the King’s Guard’s eye. He smiled at you, eyes kind and wide like he was expecting you to return it.

Instead, you whipped your head away from him and locked on the throne room door. Other courtiers bustled around the room, discussing whatever was on the nobles minds at that moment in time.

For now, you would just have to stick to your plan of ignoring him. What else could you do until you could think of something more suitable for vengeance?

Soon, the doors to the throne room opened and the whole room fell silent.

The first few Fae glided in like they were sliding on ice, their ethereal beauty suffocating and snuffing out any other attractive person in the room. There were eight of them, four entering from opposite sides of the doors, who twirled in what looked to be spider web like dresses, their skirts sparkling in the light as they came to a stop, their long blonde hair falling down their backs with an eery gracefulness.

One of the ladies next to you mumbled something about how the Fae were so lucky, but you were so focused on not looking around at the Orc standing beside the King, that you couldn’t hear what the rest of her sentence was about.

After the graceful – and attention stealing – dance, a Fae man, taller than the others you’d seen so far, graced the courts prescence.

His hair was so white you might have thought that he was an old man, if not for his smooth skin untouched by aging. His eyes were deep pools of black that threatened to suck you in and never let you go, while his smile was kind and serene.

The Fae Lord came to a stop a few feet away from the thrones, and bowed his head. “Your Majestys, it is so wonderful to see you all again. I’m so pleased that I could finally make this trip like my father before me.”

“And we are pleased to have you, my Lord.” The King returned. “As it’s your first time staying here at the Palace, we’ve prepared a little celebration in honour of your new position…”

As the King droned on about how he hopes that this will be the new beginning of a fruitful alliance between humans and Fae, yada-ya, a chill went down your spine.

While the King’s announcement had been going in one ear and out the other, you brought yourself back into the room and carefully searched for the source of your discomfort… only to find the Fae Lord, looking directly at you.

You stood a little taller, returning his gaze in an attempt to be polite. When you gave him a polite inclination of the head, his smile widened as the King finished his speech.

“And so, we will have this little ball to welcome you and hope that your stay will be as comfortable as possible.”

“Yes,” the Fae Lord said, airily. “I’m sure it will be.” He turned to look back at the King and inclined his head once again. “I appreciate that the ball isn’t until tonight, and since this is your court, I’d like to ask if I can be a little forward, your Majesty?”

The King frowned, but nodded his head.

“You see, I couldn’t help but notice that lovely lady standing over there,” the Fae Lord pointed at you, “and was wondering if it would be too much for me to ask her for her first dance tonight?”

Your eyes widened.

The other ladies beside you, nudged you in the ribs. “So it was you he was looking at! I was wondering why his eyes were wandering, I thought he was just bored!”

Face burning, your eyes darted to the Queen and in the process, caught sight of the Orcs face.

His nose was scrunched up as he snarled, “awfully cocky, aren’t you?”

The Fae Lord ignored the Orc as he looked at you once again, hands behind his back.

When you looked at the Queen, she smiled at you and jerked her head to the Fae. “Well? You don’t have to ask me for permission, Lady (Y/N).”

All eyes on you, you bit your lip and sucked in a deep breath. Most of all, you could feel the Orc’s eyes baring into the side of your skull, like he was trying to make you face him, daring you to accept the Lord’s offer.

But the image you saw the previous night, flashed through your mind.

Spite leading you, you answered the Fae Lord. “I’ll have my first dance with you, my Lord.” You said, firmly.

The Fae bowed his head to you, “I look forward to it, my Lady.” And with that, he said his goodbyes to the King and Queen before the entire court was dismissed.

The rest of the day went by with a bubbly air, all the ladies sneaking glances and smiles at you as you went about your day.

You, yourself, could hardly believe that you had accepted the dance. It was true, you weren’t interested in romancing this Fae Lord in the slightest… but if it meant that you could piss off the King’s Guard, then you would gladly accept anything else that the Fae Lord had to offer.

After all, it’s not like the Orc could jump in and say that you couldn’t do something, people would get suspicious then.

As soon as the Queen had sent the ladies in waiting to go and prepare for the ball later in the afternoon, they all pounced on you.

“I can’t believe it!” One of them said as they took you by the wrist. “He really asked you, in front of the whole court!”

“It’s just a dance,” you told them all as you made your way back to your apartments. And that was all it would probably be, you told yourself. “It was just formality that I accept him. It would have been an awful start to his stay if I had told him no.”

“But even so, to ask you in front of the entire court!” Another one of the ladies squawked. “He must really like you.”

“We haven’t even formally met.” You said.

“Oh can’t you just be romantic for one minute?!” The first Lady huffed. “I’m imagining a star-crossed lovers romance, where he dramatically proposes to you just before he’s about to leave, flying through the corridors, abandoning his carriage in search of you-”

“Alright.” You said, firmly. “I get it. Well you can have your fantasies all you like.” Once you reached your apartments, you yanked open the door and slammed it shut behind you, locking the other ladies outside.

Sliding to the floor, you pulled your knees to your chest and squeezed. When you’d first started seeing the Orc, all you did was fantasize like that. Dream of running away with him and sharing all sorts of romantic ventures together.

But any kind of desire for that experience had left the moment you saw his wife.

You didn’t want to colour all men with the same brush, but a betrayal like the Orcs, isn’t something that you can just shake off.

And although it gave you the slightest bit of pleasure to know that the Orc was angry with the Fae, you knew you couldn’t allow yourself to get caught up in the romance of it all. He may be the exact same as the King’s Guard for all you knew.

And… you didn’t want to end up hurt again.

Once evening finally did come around and you joined with the other ladies in waiting – who were all too eager to have you be the leader of the group – the ballroom was full of chatter, people drinking and watching couples dance in the centre of the room.

“Oh, he’s not here yet?” Frowned a lady beside you, “don’t worry, he’ll turn up soon I’m sure, most of the other Fae are here. You should sit by the entrance that way, he’ll see you as soon as he enters.”

The suggestion made you want to roll your eyes. While you were going to dance with this Fae, you didn’t want to be seen as desperate for company. Taking a glass of wine from a passing waiter, you decided to hover to the side of the room.

As you sipped on the delicate glass, your eyes scanned the room where you spied the Queen dancing with the King, the other ladies mingling and chatting animatedly with other guests.

You caught yourself glancing at the entrance to the doors a lot. Keeping an eye out for the Fae Lord. You had to keep internally slapping yourself. This was just a means of getting back at the King’s guard.

And perhaps it was because the King’s guard was standing opposite the room, within perfect line of sight of keeping an eye on you that you were eager for the Fae Lord to arrive.

The Orc’s eyes glazed over the room, mostly following the King, but occasionally, he found you.

Anger boiled in your veins as you kept your eyes firmly fixed on the doors to the ballroom.

Even now, the Orc was good at keeping his affection for you a secret.

A part of you wanted to throw the wine glass in your hand at him, just to keep him on edge.

But, before you could put your thoughts into practice, gasps echoed around the room, drawing your attention to the ballroom doors.

The crowd parted as the Fae Lord’s eyes searched the room and found you. His eyes lit up at the sight of you and he passed through the crowd of people, and held a hand out to you. “There you are,” he said, smiling. “What are you doing hiding in the shadows over here? A pretty thing like you shouldn’t be hidden away like this.”

You shook your head as he took a wine glass from a waiter and sipped from it, “do you mind if I have a drink before we dance?”

“No, not at all my Lord.” You replied.

Over his shoulder, you chanced a glance at the Orc, whose eyes were now locked onto you and the Lord.

The Fae spoke, “I’m sorry I didn’t ask for your name first before asking for your dance, my Lady…?”

“(Y/N).” You answered smiling. “Thank you, for asking me for this dance.” You held your hand out to him, which he took and pressed a kiss onto your knuckles. A pleasant chill ran up your arm.

The Fae Lord bowed his head as he took another sip from his glass. “It’s an honour that you accepted. I should be thanking you for not humiliating me in front of all those courtiers.”

You chuckled at that. “I wouldn’t have done that to you, that would’ve been cruel, even if you were being very forward.”

“I just don’t have a care for all of these silly procedures,” the Fae said, waving his free hand around the ballroom. “There’s no point in any of it, I’d have preferred that the King and I just talk about what I’m here for and then to just leave, you know. But, a simple ball isn’t so bad.”

“So, you’d say you’re a simple man?” You asked.

“Completely.” The Fae finished his drink and you rushed to do the same too.

“My Lady, please, don’t do that on my account, we have the whole evening to dance, you can take your time.” He pulled the glass by the stem away from your lips.

You frowned, holding your free hand up to cover your mouth. “But I don’t want to keep you waiting, it would be rude of me to do that.”

With a sly wink, the Fae Lord said in a low whisper, “if I didn’t want to be kept waiting by you, I wouldn’t have asked for your first dance.”

You gave him a suspicious look, to which the Lord replied, “I want to get to know you, (Y/N).”

“Why?” You asked, shortly. “We’ve never even met before.”

The Fae Lord didn’t flinch at your tone. Instead, he searched your eyes. “Because, it seemed as though you were in need of some cheering up.” He said, simply. “And I don’t like seeing people upset.”

With a gentle smile, he patted your shoulder. “Don’t feel like you have to tell me what’s going on right now, after all, we did just meet each other. But whenever you’re ready, I’m here if you want to talk.”

You stared at him. Was he being serious? As you looked into his eyes you could sense no malice, no playfulness or manipulation in his face… Maybe, it wouldn’t be so bad to give this Fae a chance?

Once you’d finished your drink the pair of you took to the dance floor.

And for the next few days, he always made a point of talking to you. At first, it was mundane things, how did you sleep? Did you eat breakfast yet? Before it became more involved questions, like what your family did for business, asked about your other ladies in waiting and if they were doing well.

And gradually, you started to look forward to your little chats and began to ask about him and his life. It turned out he was an only child and took the Lordship after his father had died of some kind of tree associated illness.

He was funny, had a quick wit and was fond of lymerics. He liked the smell of morning dew on grass and the way the forest smelt after a rain storm. Oh, and he enjoyed rum cake.

Your stomach bubbled with excitement every morning now at the prospect of seeing him around the Palace and speaking to him in the evening, the Orc barely even crossed your mind anymore.

Except for when you were on your way to your apartments one time, and the Orc ambushed you from a dark corner of the halls.

“What is with you?” He snarled at you. “You’re completely ignoring me in favour of that pretty Fae man.”

You didn’t spare the Orc a glance and kept walking. “He’s nice to me.” You shrugged, “I can’t talk to other men?”

“It’s not just talking to other men!” The Orc hissed. “You’ve been ignoring me and the gifts I leave you, along with letters as well! Whenever I enter your rooms to give you something else, the other gift is always left unopened!”

He grabbed you by the wrist, forcing you to stop in your tracks. He tightened his grip, “did I do something wrong?” He asked you. “Tell me if I have, I will do what I have to do make up for it.”

Anger flared like a fire stoked with gunpowder. You wanted to yell at him, to shout at him that he should go back to his wife, confess that he was an adulterer and that he should be begging for her forgiveness.

But for some reason, you couldn’t let that anger escape. It refused to climb up and out of your throat. You shook your hand free of his grip. “You really want to fix it?” you hissed. “You can leave me alone. Pretend that this never happened. Take your hush gifts and give them to the person who really deserves them!”

And with that, you stormed off to your apartments.

Once you were inside the drawing room, you let out a groan of frustration. Of course, going off with the Fae Lord was definitely one way of getting revenge… but it didn’t feel like it was enough.

You still felt awful for the Orc lady, who was pregnant with that adulterers baby. There had to be something else you could do… some other way of getting back at him and really sticking it to the King’s guard.

And then, an idea came to you. It was a risk to ask, sure… but, the Fae Lord really seemed genuinely interested in you. And he did say himself that he would be open to listening to you if you had any problems. Who knows? Maybe he would be up for your revenge too.

So, that night you arranged a private dinner for the two of you, away from court to tell him what was really going on.

He was perplexed by your request to meet him in a place away from the public eye, but never the less accepted and arrived to dinner with that same pleasant smile he always gave you.

“What’s all this about?” He had asked as you finished setting the table.

You intertwined your fingers together and clasped them in front of you, as if you were about to start praying.

“… Do you remember when you told me that you could sense a sadness within me?” You asked. And over dinner, you told him everything. The secretive meetings, the presents. As you told your sombre tale, you realised how badly it all truly sounded.

Of course, the affair was awful enough on it’s own… but the fact that the Fae Lord had been unwittingly helping you in your payback, would come across as you using him.

And as you finished with the climax of your story, the Fae Lord’s fists clenched tighter around his cutlery. His jaw tightened.

You bit your lip, wanting to explain yourself. “I have to say that your asking me to dance in front of the whole court was what inspired me to continue on with this plan of revenge. I have truly enjoyed spending time with you and didn’t mean to use you my Lord…”

“You have nothing to be sorry for.” The Fae spat. “It’s an awful thing for him to do to you, it’s no wonder he was so against us dancing and being seen together in the first place. I had half a mind to complain to the King about his behaviour.”

He knocked the butt of his fork on the table as the Lord looked around your drawing room, like there would be some kind of explanation somewhere. “How dare he use someone like that to get his own rocks off!” The Fae Lord hissed. “And especially you. You should have told me sooner, this isn’t something that you should have to deal with alone!

“No, do you know what?” The Fae pointed at you, “don’t do anything else until I say so, alright? We’re going to get this bastard man-whore… or should it be Orc-whore?” He gave you smug smile as you laughed. “For this plan to work,” he continued, “I’ll need to ask permission from someone before I go through with it.”

You frowned. “Ask permission for what?”

The Fae Lord gave another sly grin, “It’s a surprise.” His smile faded as he reached out across the table with a free hand and took yours in his, “I’ve grown very fond of you, (Y/N) and I hope that you have of me too, so with that in mind, please trust me, okay?”

He was right, you had grown fond of him and his presence. It would be strange for him to not be around in court any more. Your heart sunk in your chest at the realisation that he wouldn’t be around for much longer.

You nodded. Lowering your head, you stared at your empty plate and sighed. “… I feel really silly for thinking that he could have actually liked me.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” The Fae Lord asked, frowning. “I like you.”

You sighed. “I mean honestly liked me. Not just used me as a means to have an affair… I thought that we would get married one day and…” You gripped your skirts.

For a moment, the Fae stayed silent. “You don’t deserve to be loved by trash like him.” He said, firmly. He gave another squeeze of your hand. “And we’ll make sure he knows it. So don’t put yourself down, alright? It’s not you who’s in the wrong, it’s him.”

And once again, he was right. You sniffed. It made you feel a lot better to hear someone say it out loud, and to talk to someone about this affair. It was like a huge weight had been lifted off your chest.

Weeks went by and everything continued on as it had been before. The Fae Lord acted no differently than before your dinner together and the King’s guard grew more and more furious each time he saw you and the Fae together.

He had stopped bothering you since you’d told him to leave you alone… but there was still that foreboding feeling that the Orc was still looking for ways to win back your approval, proved by his scathing looks of the Fae Lord when you and he were together.

And with that feeling hovering in the air at court, you began to realise how stupid you must have been, to believe that you were only worthy of such a deceitful kind of love. You deserved so much more, wanted so much more.

The strangest part about knowing that, was that you felt it might come true very soon. You didn’t know how you could tell, you just knew it.

You began to worry as the final days of the Fae Lord’s stay drew near. There still had been no update on the Lord’s revenge plan and when you asked him about it, he’d always reassured you and given your hands a reassuring squeeze. “I’m just making the final preparations, alright? Don’t worry about a thing, I’ve got this.”

It was all too soon that the final week of his stay around. Everyone in the Palace was suddenly mournful that the Fae Lord and his company would be departing.

The Monday of the week the Lord was going to leave, you awoke to find a gift box. It was carved of wood, the bark of the tree still on it’s exterior and top, with a mossy bow tying it shut.

And as you opened it up, you couldn’t help but gasp at the sight you saw. In a bed of moss, was a necklace made of spider web, droplets of water beads strewn around it delicately. Underneath it, was a note:

I would like to give you a surprise gift every day leading up to the final day before I leave. I hope that if you appreciate this gift, you’ll wear it today and the others that are to come.

Others to come? Was this part of the revenge plan that the Lord had cooked up?

Without a second thought, you put on the gift and when you entered the Queen’s apartments that morning, all the of other ladies practically screamed with excitement for you.

Even the Queen – who never normally allowed herself to be emotional – got involved with her ladies delighted chattering.

The next morning, it was a bracelet made of hardened tree sap – the note detailed that if you licked it, it would make for a good snack – the morning after that, a broach made of butterfly wings.

And every day you wore them, eventually looking more and more like a forest Fae than a human noblewoman.

When the day finally came of the Fae Lord’s departure, you found that there was no gift that morning. Although strange, it didn’t surprise you.

He was leaving today after all, perhaps he just didn’t have time to leave one final gift.

With a heavy heart, you made your bed, adorned yourself with all the gifts you had received that week, and set off to go to court to wish the Fae Lord a good journey home.

Following the Queen to the throne room, the rest of the ladies in waiting seemed to be uncharacteristically quiet. When you gave them strange looks, they all pursed their lips or looked away from you, as if they were trying to hide something from you.

Even the Queen refused to look at you. Although you were sure that you caught a small smile on her lips whenever you all turned a corner.

When you entered the throne room, it was packed with courtiers, all chattering as usual. But there was something different in the air. You weren��t sure what it was, but there was certainly something going on without your knowing.

Once you had taken your place beside the Queen, the doors to the throne room opened and in stepped the Fae Lord with his company.

You had hoped that he would make time for a private goodbye, or at least tell you how his plans for revenge had been progressing.

The whole time you had seen him in court or in other places in the Palace, it seemed as though he was doing nothing to try and help you with your revenge plan.

A part of you wanted to be angry with him for being so slacked about it.

But you couldn’t bring yourself to be. At the end of the day, you’d been able to get back at the Orc in some way; throughout the whole week of you wearing the gifts that the Fae Lord had been giving you, the King’s guard said nothing to you, apart from giving you foul glares from across the room whenever he saw you.

“Your Majesty's, I must thank you for your hospitality these past weeks, it has been nothing but delightful.” The Fae Lord announced.

As soon as the sentence had left his lips, the whole court went silent, hanging onto his every word.

“But, if you do not mind, your Majesty,” he looked at the Queen, “I would like to steal one of your ladies in waiting.”

You furrowed your eyebrows at him as the Queen smiled at him. “But of course, it’s been difficult to ignore that you certainly have a favourite among my girls.” She looked at you and tilted her head. “Go on, (Y/N).”

Your head darted between the two. Again, you caught the Orcs eye, who gave you a warning look of carefully concealed fury.

At that, you straightened your back and headed over to the Fae Lord. Once you had come before him, he held his hand out to you.

You took it. Sandwiching your hand between his, he looked you in the eye. “I know we’ve only known each other for a few weeks,” he said, “but they’ve been some of the best weeks of my life. You’re funny and smart,” he lowered his voice. “Vengeful.”

Rolling your eyes with a smile, he continued, “but most of all, you make me happy. So, I ask that you come back to the forest with me and be my wife?”

Your jaw dropped and you clasped your hands to your mouth. “You… you can’t be serious…”

The Fae Lord let an abashed smile come over him. “I am… so, if you’ll have me as a husband…” He pulled a ring, made of wood from his pocket, a white, misted crystal adorned the top of the ring. “This is the final gift… I’m sorry that there wasn’t one for you to wake up to this morning, but I felt you may appreciate it more if I gave it to you in front of everyone.” He gave you a knowing look.

You allowed a devious grin to broaden your lips.

An aww escaped the crowd, followed by a few claps. But before you could give your reply, a shout rang out.

“No!” You and the Fae Lord whipped around to find the King’s guard, abandoning his post. “No, this is completely inappropriate!”

The Fae Lord pushed you behind him, as the Orc towered over the pair of you. He jabbed a thick green finger at the Fae, “what makes you think you can just wander in here and take one of the ladies in waiting?!”

“Actually,” the Fae returned, plainly. “Her father gave me permission. I asked him last night before coming here… Unlike some people here, I’m actually upfront with future family.”

Your eyes widened as the court gasped and muttering began to rise from the onlookers.

You gripped the Fae’s arm and squeezed it. “No, please don’t. You’ve done enough.”

He looked at you, then back at the Orc. “Well, it’s all down to (Y/N)s decision anyway.” The Fae Lord raised an eyebrow and smirked. “After all, it’s not like you have any interest in her, is it?”

The King’s guard scowled at the Fae. But he said nothing.

“Come back here, now!” The King snapped from his throne. “Don’t ruin this moment for the Lady (Y/N) any more than you have!”

“But you can’t possibly allow this!” The Orc turned to face the Monarchs.

“I just did.” The King glared at his guard. He looked at you with kind eyes as he went on, “well, what is your answer?”

Looking directly at the Orc, you took the ring from the Fae Lord and slid the ring on your finger as slowly as possible.

The Fae Lord grinned and pulled you into a tight hug as the court let out an applause.

Wishing the court goodbye, you and the Fae Lord turned and left, without even giving a second glance to the Orc, who was left in the centre of the room, stunned.

“Now this, was a great revenge plan.” You whispered as the pair of you walked down the corridors.

You bit your lip, “I… I was worried that this was just going to be some kind of holiday fling for you.”

The Fae Lord stopped in his tracks, taking your hand. “My darling, I could never, do that to you.”

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Taglist <3

@sunndust @greenie-c @enchantedsyleveon @sofiafantasies @akiitemo @neobangverse @tacodemon @chinxinsomnia @y34hs @loudlittledemon @romula69 @holylonelyponyeatingmacaroni @eliza12 @0gum-zee0 @silencethenewscreaming @blackjack-tempest @darkleenkle @minnie-rae @etherealinthewoods @nympippi @mushie-the-monatch @ur-suffering-is-my-satisfaction @lostsoul0906 @worm-in-a-bug @loo-looland @hhtgdtbjikhtd @littlelilies @im-eating-rn @0rgans2high @a-strawberry-typing @elita1 @spencerino @manikosii @jojos-wife @silliestfella @x-ne0n-x @wingedhairdoghostpeanut-blog @greatkoalawizard @bellamys-girl1 @m-e-s-s @sorrybutimleavingyou @pinkchips @imaginationfromyou @vampykitkat @galaxygirlsblog @gigikaa @odycal-pbarnes @goths-random-world @serenaphoenix81 @reginaofmischief @cherryblossomfox @unabashedjudgefestivalllama-blog @glenxy @chaoticevilbakugo @kwashere01 @froggyreader @kolddusek @aiysan2 @yumayuu

[heartmix]

I Love It - MV1

Pairing: Max Verstappen x driver!reader

Word Count: 900+

Warning: named your pet dog, bear. Tempted to name the dog after my dog.

Twelve Fics of Christmas - Secret Santa

A/N: zhou FINALLY got a good gift this year!

F1 Masterlist / Masterlist

It was time for the annual paddock Secret Santa the F1 social team did with all the drivers. Honestly, you loved it. For the past few years, you got people you know pretty well so it was always easy to get gifts. You were one of the drivers who opted for meaningful and useful gifts instead of the silly ones, Zhou has gotten one too many Valtteri Bottas calendars. 

This year you pulled Max. Despite being so close, with you getting him a gift for Christmas every year anyway, you never pulled his name. You went back and forth if you should finally do a silly gift and save his real present for Christmas day. Your heart wouldn't allow you to do that and opted for both gifts to be sentimental. 

Max on the other hand pulled your name and to say he was freaking out was an understatement. He was also one to get you a present every year. It was always simple with a new purse or perfume, but he knew he couldn't pull that off for this silly video. He wanted to make this one special. 

As the weeks crept up you thought of the perfect gift, a neon sign with his cats' names on it so he could set it up by his streaming set-up. Sassy's name was red while Jimmy's name was blue, red bull colors of course. It was perfect and you happily handed it to the social media manager to give to him, excited to see his reaction when the video came out. 

Max was still freaking out. They would be exchanging gifts next week and he was still empty-handed. He was never good at gift-giving, opting for universally agreed upon "good presents." He needed to bring in reinforcement which was in the form of Daniel.

"What am I supposed to get her?!"

"I don't know why you are so stressed about this." That was a lie. Danny knew why he was stressed, he just wanted to see if Max wouldn't admit his crush. 

"I want to actually give a good gift, not just some expensive thing."

"Because you like her!" Daniel said with the goofiest smile on his face. He knew his best buddy had been crushing on you for years, but this was the first time he was freaking out about something so trivial. It was just an annual video the F1 media team did. He could get you a mug and you would love it.

"Daniel don't start." He couldn't help the sigh that came out. If he liked you or not he still wanted to get a decent gift. Maybe he was stressing too much, but he couldn't help it. 

"Okay okay. What does she like?"

"Music, sports, movies, animal-" As Max went on Daniel couldn't help but roll his eyes. Maybe that wasn't the right question to ask. He should've known to be more specific or the Dutchman would talk his ears off about you for hours. 

"I'm going to stop you right there. Let me ask again. What does she love most in this world."

"Her dog," Max said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

"Okay get her something relating to her dog." 

A huge grin slowly made its way onto Max's face, "I got it! thanks, Daniel!" Before Daniel could respond the facetime call ended.

When it was Max's turn to hand in his present he couldn't help but do it with a smile. Since he was stressing so much he didn't have much time to get it ready, but nothing a little money to rush the order couldn't help. Just like you, he can't wait for the reaction to be posted. 

"Okay, here you go." the media personnel said handing you the gift as the camera was rolling. 

"I can't wait." You excitedly said tearing open the wrapping paper.

As you tore open the gift you couldn't help the smile that broke out on your face, as you slapped a hand over your mouth in shock. "oh my god!"

"What is it?"

"It's a painting of my dog, bear! He's sitting in my car!" You happily flipped the painting to show the camera. "Max pulled my name?" You asked which shocked the people behind the camera at how fast you guessed.

"How did you know?"

"I just know." You said with the biggest smile running your hands all over the picture. "Did you give him his gift yet?"

"Yeah, we did him before you."

"I need to go find him." You rushed out before they needed anything else from you.

"Max!" You called out his name. Before he could process who called him you tackled him in a hug almost making him trip. 

"Woah, what's all of this for." He chuckled wrapping his arm around you to brace the both of you.

Slowly you pulled away from him holding the painting up with glee, "I love my gift, it's the best thing I ever got."

At this, he couldn't help but smile as he could feel heat rush right to his cheeks. You loved the gift. He swears your smile was bigger over the gift than your first win. Or maybe he was tricking himself into thinking that. Either way, you loved your gift and that's the reaction he was hoping for. 

"Looks like you're not the only good gift giver on the grid." He nudged your shoulder earning a giggle.

"How did you even think to get this?" 

Now it was your turn for your cheeks to heat up. "Well some of the best gifts I ever got are based around my cats so I took a page out of your book." 

"Well I love it, thank you." Again you pulled him into a hug not knowing what else to say besides thank you. If Secret Santa earned him this type of hug, he hoped to pull your name every year.  

"Anytime Schatje."

[rookienando]

our secret moments | 𝓯. 𝓪𝓵𝓸𝓷𝓼𝓸

pairing: fernando alonso x f!actress!reader, socmed!au

synopsis: you and fernando's rumored relationship isn't really a rumor at all. pt. ii

a/n: nando needs more fics on this app. also, i just KNOW my pinterest feed will be filled with rich couple things and yachts bc i was so picky with the pics😭

yourusername

Liked by carmenmmundt, fernandoalo_official, oscarpiastri and others

yourusername i'll take any excuse to go back to monaco. thanks for having me, @/astonmartinf1 💞

View all comments

username omggg, i didn't know y/n was an f1 fan

username she's not tho? all of these celebs are just here bc f1's more popular now

username lmao what are you talking abt?💀 she's been a fan since forever

username proof?

username google is free

username i see nando in her likes👀

username duh??😭 she was literally invited by aston martin

username pls even her past posts were liked by him

username y'all are delulu af

astonmartinf1 we were so happy to have you in the paddock today

yourusername any chance i'll be back there again?☺️

astonmartinf1 of course, entire crew loved you🤗

fernandoalo_official

Liked by carlossainz55, francolapinto, yourusername and others

fernandoalo_official Love spending the summer break on the sea🌊⛵️

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username someone cooked and i'm 90% sure it isn't the pr team

username who then?

username they prolly think it's y/n but be fr

username the last pic🥵🔥

username forrealll

username man's supposed to be on break but he's already prepping for the next race😭

username omg is that y/n on the other jetski in the second pic???

username y'all need to stop being so crazy

username no wait, look at y/n's ig

yourusername

Liked by fernandoalo_official, charles_leclerc, lilymhe and others

yourusername two weeks of this before filming starts 🌊

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username BOTH FERNANDO AND Y/N HAVING SIMILAR POSTS AT THE SAME TIME OHMYGOD

username i'm officially joining the fernandoy/n train bc what the hell this can't be a coincidence

username and they've been consistently liking each other's posts too😭

username ugh that swimsuit looks sooo good on her i'm in love😍

username you're not the only one in love

username unless they actually confirm it, i'm not believing anything

yourcostar so gorgeous! can't wait to see you 🤩

yourusername liked this comment

yourusername can't wait to see you too, bbg!!

username i'm soo excited for the next season

yourprivateaccount

Liked by fernandoalo_official, georgerussell63, and others

yourprivateaccount just me, the sea, and my love ❤️

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carmenmmundt you look so lovely together🫶

yourprivateaccount liked this comment

yourprivateaccount we should def plan a couples trip one day, carm!

carmenmmundt yes please!

georgerussell63 wait what?

fernandoalo_official i see enough of george already

fernandoalo_official I can't wait to see you again, mi corazón ❤️

yourprivateaccount liked this comment

yourprivateaccount me too. i miss you already, nando ❤️

landonorris get a room

yourprivateaccount stfu or i'll make nando gift you coal for this year's secret santa

fernandoalo_official You give me reasons to love you more and more

landonorris it's actually hilarious how the internet is going crazy over whether or not you're together

yourprivateaccount we love being a menace to society🥰

oscarpiastri a fan came up to me the other day and actually asked me if you two are together or not

yourprivateaccount omg osc i'm so sorry😭

fernandoalo_official posted a story!

yourusername

Liked by fernandoalo_official, carmenmmundt, yourcostar and others

yourusername just lace sleeves and roses in the dressing room

Comments on this post have been restricted.

[writingoddess1125]

Over Achiever

Simon 'Ghost' Riley x FemReader

This is just Corny Corn Fluff!

Enjoy!

Next Part >>>

Support me on Ko-Fi!

Sitting on your couch you stared at the stack of papers before you in total shock- it was suppose to be a simple checkup.. not something like this.

You especially felt unsure since your husband wasn't here- He should have been here for something as important as this.. However his missions were important for the world- That and its what you signed up for when you married Simon 'Ghost' Riley.

You and Simon had been married for 3 years and dated for nearly 5 before then, Meeting at a resturant you owned when he showed up during leave to grab some take away. That was the humble start to a beautiful and gentle relationship the two of you shared.

You two had every conversation in the book about what you both expected in life and what the plans were.. This however was not one of them..

"Fuck- I've got to tell him.."

It was still a good month out till he returned and didn't use his phone while out on missions so you knew it was off in his pocket- he needed to know however.. so you figured a letter would be fine- it would be a cute and easiest way so he wasnt surprised with a heart attack when he got home and saw you like that... jumping to your feet you grab the car keys quickly and rushed to the closest store and then the post office- How bad could it be anyway?

WEEK LATER

On the other side of the world Ghost leaned against an outdoor wall, they were just back from their latest mission and had a cool down before the next one.

He missed you- terribly.. he missed his home and truthfully didn't want to be sweating his arse off when he could be with you. It surprised him in truth, before he used missions to escape the idea of a home- However now he was excited to return home... to you.

Simon was still highly secretive however so no one knew he was married, besides Price who had been invited to the wedding. He had to protect you, his little slice of sunshine in a overall dark life.

"Riley, you've got a letter" Price called out snapping the man from his thoughts, Ghost surprised to hear this- He never really got mail even from you since he insisted it was emergency only to avoid any information leaks.

Stepping forward quickly he grabbed the pale blue envelope- Soap now also curious as he peaked at his Lieutenant.

"Oh? Someone special?" Soap teased, however curiosity burning in his gaze.

Rolling his eyes Ghost opened the letter and saw a tiny plain card, a spike of anxiety hitting his chest as he slowly opened the card and felt the air suddently sucked directly from his lungs.

The team watched Ghost eyes widen like big blue saucers, worry now blanketing the group as Ghost closed the card and then opened it again like to confirm.

"Eh, Lieutenant?.. You alright there?" Soap said softly as he stepped forward to touch the man's shoulder. Price and Gaz also getting closer to see if the masked man was okay-

"Y-Yes I'm fine.. move" He grunted out, the men stepping back as Ghost went to step forward before passing out misstep and falling into the dirt.

"Holy Fuck!!" They all yelled as Ghost fashionably face planted into the dirt and Soap and Gaz scrambling to help the man to his legs which had seemed to suddently turn to jello- Ghost wobbling up as his mass seemed to suddently be too much for him, dropping the paper into the dirt which Price quickly scooped up to keep from getting damaged.

"Take him to the medical bay" Price said quickly as they could hear Ghost muttering something about a van and other random shit- worried their hardened killer had finally lost his mind as they dragged him off to the medbay.

Price holding the card in hand and cracking open to take a peak at what just laid out his Lieutenant-

Congratulations!

You Over Achiever!

Si I'm pregnant and they are triplets!

You over achieving Ass-!!!

I love you and can't wait to see you home!

- Love (Y/N) ♡

The ultrasound picture with the clearly labeled 1,2,3 in red over the black and white images. Price couldnt help but crack a smile and chuckle softly as he closed the card- Looking as he saw Ghost still being rushed to the medical bay.

"I'll be damned-"

A tiny cornerstore card had knocked out one of the world's best solders.

[imaginesig]

"I think he knows... he's gorgeous"

Paul Aron x singer!Reader

SMAU

I had such a hard time hunting down f2 wags so only Estelle is mentioned despite me wanting others-- sorry! Also the timeline doesn't fit reality but I do what I want and I made up a new gp for my own personal gain

Inspired by: Eras Tour Stockholm Night 1 Mashup

All songs mentioned are tagged at the very bottom

yourusername

liked by taylorswift, paularon_, user54, and 829,938 others

yourusername: I've taken my final bow on the eras tour stage today... I'm so upset it's over but so so happy to have had the experience. Taylor, you've been such a fantastic mentor and supporter! Thank you for bringing me along 🫶🫶🫶

tagged: taylorswift

taylorswift it ws an honor to have you!! Can't wait to work with you in the future 🫶🫶🫶

user1 omg collab????

paularon_ you were incredible! now hurry up and get to Melbourne

yourusername otw 🏃‍♀️‍➡️

taylorswift thank you for letting me borrow her on off season!!

user2 my fav opener!!!

user5 lmao Paul's comment 💀

user6 they're literally my fab couple on the grid

user7 same!! I need more songs about him

user3 im so glad I got you for my show!!!!

user4 ugh you put the rest of us swifties to shame

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Paularon_

liked by yourusername, kimi.antonelli, dinobeganovic, and 927,838 others

Paularon_: "I remember how we felt sitting by the water, and every time I look at you it's like the first time"

tagged: yourusername

yourusername you did not need to expose me playing mermaids

paularon_ you looked to cute, what's a man supposed to do 🤷‍♂️

oscarpiastri enjoying Melbourne then??

paularon_ you know it

hitechgp our fav couple 😍😍

user1 the rings 😭

user2 ok Paul with the Taylor caption

user3 he's every girls dream man

user4 I need to know where Y/n got her swimsuit-- I love that color

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yourusername

liked by lettiemng, olliebearman, taylorswift, and 783,939 others

yourusername: 🏄‍♀️🌺

tagged: lettiemng

paularon_ so nice to see you left me out of all the fun

olliebearman right

yourusername you guys had gp stuff

lettiemng plus being a surfing wag was way more entertaining and I got to work on my tan

lettiemng please teach me soon!!!

yourusername ofc ofc

user1 Aussie surfing is the best

user2 this post is to Pinterest

user3 you look gorgeous

load more

paularon_

liked by user5, user58, hitechgp, and 968,976 others

paularon_: thats P1 in Melbourne!! My good luck charm is back baby🍀❤️

tagged no one

yourusername THATS MY MAN

yourusername WHOOOP WHOOP

yourusername CELEBRATION TIME!!!!!!!

yourusername I LOVE YOU MY CHAMPIONSHIP LEADER

paularon_ I LOVE YOU TOO

user5 I love that they match each others energy

user1 Y/n is the gf we all need

hitechgp there's no way to beat Y/n, but congratulations anyway 👏

user2 yes sir 💪💪

user3 not him calling her his lucky charm 🥹

user4 ugh Pauls out here raising relationship standards one post at a time

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Time Skip: a few races later, about midseason

yourusername

liked by paularon_, danielseavey, user54, and 928,938 others

yourusername: I've spent these past few weeks traveling the world with the love of my life and the best group of friends I could've ever asked for!! I've enjoyed our endless lights of exploring, partying, and racing 🩵 To celebrate, my newest album, "Little Calm," will drop next Friday!!

tagged: no one

taylorswift so excited!!! I can't wait to hear the rest of what you cooked up, Enchanted is already so special 🫶

yourusername thank you for adding you special sparkle to the mix 🫶

danielseavey best writing season ever, thank you for reaching out

yourusername ofc!! It was magical to see how closely our experiences were and how they shaped into such a beautiful song

paularon_ so so proud!! I can't wait to hear it ❤️

yourusername I love you much ❤️ but you've def heard all of these to some degree

paularon_ but I can't wait to hear them all put together

lettiemng ugh the perfect soundtrack for our epic summer ☀️

lettiemng I say we have a windows down in the car listening session

yourusername yesssssss

user1 oh please have songs about Paul!!

user2 right I've listen to Gorgeous so much we NEED more

user3 and they weren't even together when she wrote it, imagine the stuff now!!!

user4 AHHHHH TAYLOR COLLAB

user5 yk its a good summer when Y/n covers One Direction and Billy Joel

user6 duality of man

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paularon_

liked by yourusername, hitechgp, user84, and 244,937 others

paularon_: wonderful album, kullakallis 🩵

tagged: yourusrname

yourusername ma armastan sind 🩵

dinobenganovic wonderful album, me and my gf love it!!

user1 Im not crying you are

user2 who's cutting onions in here 🥹

user3 "we can follow the sparks, ill drive"

user4 not Paul beating all of us (including Y/n) with the post

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yourusername

liked by user4, lettiemnd, user5, and 928,389 others

yourusername: "Little Calm" out now!!

tagged paularon_

user1 omg I NEED surfer Paul content

user2 this IS the summer of Y/n with this drop

paularon_ so so so amazed by you

yourusername so so so amazed by YOU

danielseavey on repeat 🔁

taylorswift adding to the pre-eras playlist now!!!

user3 this album is gonna own my sporty wrapped

load more

paularon_

liked by yourusername, user5, user9, and 893,039 others

paularon_: "Feels like I'm falling and I / I'm lost in your eyes / You make me crazier"

tagged: yourusername

lettiemng I just looked at my boyfriend and signed

olliebearman HEY

yourusername LMAO ESTELLE

username awww baby 🥹

paularon_ ❤️❤️

user1 God its me again

user2 yes marriage is scary, what if he doesn't treat me like Paul does Y/n

user3 live laugh love PaulY/n

user4 the paddock pic 😭 she's so us

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yourusername

liked by user3, taylorswift, lettiemng, and 829,093 others

yourusername: I'm going on tour!!! Dates/tickets on my website 🩵🩵

tagged: no one

user1 not the tour dates lining up so she can be at Paul's races

user2 we praise him for being the ultimate boyfriend, but Y/n is the ultimate girlfriend

lettiemng do I like that you'll be away from me, no, am I still so so happy, yes

yourusername 💋💋

paularon_ so proud!! You're gonna kill it

yourusername with your support?? Yes I am!!

taylorswift brb grabbing tickets now

user3 just got my tickets!!!

user4 im so excited

user5 wdym Y/n's going on her own tour?? Didn't she just drop her first album?? She's not popular enough for her own?? She's still out little secret??

user6 me fr fr

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Time Skip- a few more races

paularon_

liked by yourusername, hitehcgp, user54, and 839,928 others

paularon_ so blessed to win at my home race!! Thank you to my family for supporting me

tagged: no one

yourusername so so proud baby!!

paularon_ ❤️❤️

user1 this was enough to make me cry

user2 more points closer to the championship

user3 I love this!!!

user4 first I get to watch Paul win and tomorrow I get to see Y/n perform

user5 what a life!!

load more

paularon_

liked by user3, yourusername, aronralph, and 827,720 others

paularon_: ma armastan sind ❤️

tagged yourusername

yourusername ma armastan sind ❤️

user1 estonia won best show

user2 right im so jelous

user3 a Paul win and a love mashup?? I can't take it

user4 when will it be my turn

user5 looks like ill be sleeping in traffic tonight

load more

yourusername

liked by taylorswift, paularon_, olliebearman, and 823,929 others

yourusername: Estonia you've been my favorite show, but im a bit bias ;)

tagged paularon_

comments have been disabled

Bonus, sometime in the future

paularon_

liked by auroralf, dinobeganovic, lukebrownracing, and 983, 938 others

paularon_: "Home was a place, now home is a person and you're looking at rings 'cause you swear that you're certain"

tagged yourusername

yourusername ❤️

aronralf I've waited too long for this, congrats!!

lettiemng ahhhh im crying!!!

olliebearman congrats!

dinobeganovic so happy man!!

lukebrownracing party time!!

comments have been limited

~~~

Songs mentioned:

I Think He Knows by Taylor Swift

San Franciso by 5 Seconds of Summer

Fearless by Taylor Swift

You, Me, and the Beat from Liv and Maddie

Crazier from Hannah Montana

You're On Your Own, Kid by Taylor Swift

The Older You Get by Daniel Seavey

Enchanted by Taylor Swift

Live While We're Young by One Direction

Vienna by Billy Joel

Gorgeous by Taylor Swift

[hispg]

Between royalty and vows

Pairings: Prince! Leon x Fem! Reader

Summary: A forced marriage, a fate set in stone, nothing could change that.

In the world of royalty, there were no choices, only obligations to fulfill. What you didn't expect was to become engaged to a renowned prince, ready to succeed the lineage.

Until that moment, you still had some hope that everything would work out, maybe it wasn't so bad. But it would be a shame if your future husband had a mistress.

Wouldn't it?

Wc:2.6k

Warnings: slow burn, angst, hurt/ comfort, cheating, arranged marriage, eventual smut, one-sided love, affairs, (I'll put more once things start to progress).

Prologue | 1 |

An:It took me a little longer to post, sorry! I'm in my week of college exams, the finals are approaching. I'm studying a lot, feeling very tired. Thanks for the sweet messages! I didn't expect to receive so much support! I appreciate it!💕💕💕

Chapter 1: Sunset

As soon as the sun rose, Leon was already awake, it's not as if he'd managed to sleep through the night in any case, he was too anxious for that. That morning you would arrive at the castle, and consequently start living here. It was a big step, certainly, but it was more than necessary, especially as the wedding approached.

He himself couldn't believe that he was getting married in the next few days, it had all happened so quickly that he hadn't even had time to think about it properly. Just like that, his life was turned upside down, a pang in his heart every time he thought about it. Every time he thought that he was being forced to marry a stranger, someone he didn't have a shred of affection for.

All these thoughts disappeared once there was a knock on his door, causing him to push down his sheets and start getting ready for the day.

"Your Highness, your father wants to speak to you." The familiar voice of his butler, Ausdret.

Leon lets out a tired sigh, only muttering a small, "I'll be there."

He knows what his father wants to talk to him about, to reinforce his duty once again, to remind him about the dynasty.

There was no escape, and that was all that was on his mind as he got ready. He took longer than necessary, on purpose, just not to leave his bedroom now.

After he'd finally finished, he went to look in the mirror, just to make sure he was properly dressed and polished, after all it was supposed to be a big day. But his eyes stopped wandering over his face, and hovered on a lipstick mark on the collar of his shirt, enough to bring a small smile to his face, eyes sparkling with the memory of his beloved, his only one.

Knowing he would have to hide it, he took one last look before tucking the collar back into place. Making sure no one else could see.

As soon as he left his room, his butler was waiting for him outside, making several attempts at small talk, which Leon wasn't interested in, though. His mind was far away, as if he had never been here in the first place.

Once he arrived in his father's chamber, he was greeted with a big smile, which was not reciprocated by Leon. Only a small nod came from him.

"So everything's settled?" A small whisper, a question that Leon already knew the answer to.

His father proudly replied, "Yes, I've already arranged everything with Vladimir. You and she are getting married in the next few days." His father speaks, looking at the other man in the room, Duke Vladimir, his father's best friend.

However, Leon didn't seem at all excited about the situation, in fact, he seemed rather upset.

"This will be great, we'll finally be able to expand our business." This sentence came from Leon's father, who was more than happy with the pact.

It was a long-standing interest of the king, of course, who wouldn't want to expand their business with one of the richest royal families?

But on the other hand, Leon had other plans. Plans that were not accepted by his father.

"Cheer up, the girl is a beautiful princess, very kind from what I've seen. I'm sure you'll get on well." Vladimir says, trying to console Leon, but frankly, it only seems to have gotten worse.

"How long do we have to stay in this marriage?" Perhaps he was still hoping it would only be for a short time.

"Indefinitely. They will be the source of our success, especially the princess. We need to collaborate with them, just as they collaborate with us." The king says, somewhat obviously, that he won't be breaking the contract any time soon.

"If you'll excuse me, I'll talk to the other servants. We need to organize the wedding invitations." Vladimir says as he leaves, just after bowing to the two members of royalty in the room.

Silence followed, Leon too upset with his father to speak a single word, while the king was daydreaming.

An ambitious king who would slowly make his reign the most prosperous in history, he couldn't ask for more. This would make everything perfect for Leon to take the throne and make the nation of Italy even prouder.

"I don't know how far your greed will go." A plausible complaint coming from Leon, directly confronting his father.

"I only want what's best for you and, consequently, for my nation." They both knew where this conversation was going, but since they were both hard-headed, they would continue anyway.

"What's best for me? You've arranged a marriage with a stranger and you think that's what's best for me?" By now, Leon's voice had changed considerably.

King Leonardo didn't like arguing, least of all with his own son. However, he would never tolerate his disobedience, never.

"And what would be better for you? Marry a paltry lady? Honestly, you need to think bigger." And the king hit the nail on the head, because that's exactly what Leon was getting at.

Ashley did come from an affluent family, but she wasn't as rich as the British family. Which in this case was yours.

"Don't you dare talk about her like that." Leon was once again affronting his father, which would certainly have serious consequences.

"Listen, if you want to continue your affair with this so-called Ashley, go ahead, I won't stop you. Now don't expect me to let you ruin your own future, too."

The two of them looked at each other not very kindly, especially Leon.

It seemed like he was being generous. What's the point? Living a life on the sly with the woman he loved? It didn't seem fair. It wasn't fair.

"You still have a lot to learn, my son." The king spoke with a certain heavy heart, and at the same time a jaw-dropping arrogance.

But how could Leon calm down? He didn't even know the woman he was going to marry and, even worse, he couldn't commit to the person he loved, Ashley.

But what irritated him even more was the fact that he knew it was all his father's whim.

But even this marriage wouldn't stop the prince from having a relationship with this woman, even if it meant an extramarital affair. And Leon didn't care if that had consequences, not even for his future wife.

"All I ask is that you don't complicate things. I'm still being kind enough to allow you to have these affairs, whether with Ashley or any other woman." That would even sound gentle if he wasn't talking about extramarital affairs.

"... Alright, Father." Once again, Leon swallowed his pride and let it happen. But then again, it's not as if he could do anything against his father's wishes.

Leon stormed out of his father's chamber, strong, heavy footsteps echoing down the so far empty corridor, and he didn't even look back. His mind was in the purest of shambles, fists clenched and an expression that wasn't the friendliest.

As he walked quickly through the corridors, he couldn't help but notice the commotion outside, expensive carriages arriving in the castle courtyard, making room for butlers to work and remove whatever was inside.

He imagined it was the arrangements for the marriage, since it would take place in the next few weeks. So it wasn't anything that caught his attention for long.

However, as soon as he looked up from the mezzanine, he saw the familiar figure, it was you. Wearing a simple blue dress, delicate gloves that covered up to your forearms, and of course, he couldn't forget your soft features.

As soon as you saw him from the hall, you gave him a discreet smile, making him let out the breath he didn't even know he was holding. Even for a brief second, his expression softened, but that didn't make him any less upset by the whole situation.

Queen Sarah spoke to you politely, saying how grateful she was for the courteous company of the princess, who was in fact being awaited by the other residents of the castle, at least most of them.

In fact, the queen felt lonely, since apart from the governesses, she had no other female companion to talk to during the day.

Slowly, Leon descended the grand staircase, stepping onto the red carpet, his steps light and slow, as if he were analyzing what he would do next.

Your eyes met his, and you smiled gently, bowing to him as you should. And he reciprocated, of course.

"Princess." He said, giving a nod to his mother, who politely curtsied to you.

"I'll get your bedroom ready." She says, her voice sweet and calm, as she moves gracefully through the castle.

You felt a shiver run up your spine at the thought that you were about to share a room with him. Since you weren't married yet, you were just going to sleep next to each other, a door that could be opened to connect one room to the other, since couples who hadn't made a commitment weren't supposed to sleep together until they were married.

"You have a beautiful home, prince." You murmur, the sweet smile always on your lips.

He chuckles a little, offering you his arm to hold, "Let me introduce you to the castle itself."

You smile, taking his arm and letting him lead you, obviously he was only doing it out of politeness, but you'd love to spend a little more time with him.

When your covered fingers curled around his arm, you couldn't help but feel the muscles that flexed with every slight movement, without any effort. Just as you couldn't help but notice his eyes every time he looked at you and explained something, the way his voice echoed through the empty corridors.

You walked side by side, your footsteps echoing through the unoccupied hallways, giving off a calm and intimate atmosphere somehow. You noticed the paintings, the properly placed decorations.

Even the curtains matched the carpets, as much as you were used to this sort of thing, it was still breathtaking to see such a sophisticated place.

You felt that despite your enchantment with the prince, you could see his lack of enthusiasm for you, you could see that it sounded more like a duty than anything else.

What did you expect? That it would be a fairy tale? In this life you were leading, the heart didn't always follow the rules of fairy tales.

"Let me take you to the courtyard, it's a nice day." You notice the sigh at the end of the sentence, as well as the distance he kept.

Even with all his explanations, all the talk about royal life, homework, the explanations for every painting in the corridor, you didn't pay much attention. Your attention was focused completely on him, perhaps because you were hoping for a hint of feeling, whatever that was.

Too bad you wouldn't find it even if you looked hard enough.

As soon as you left the large building, you were presented with a landscape that looked more like a hand-painted picture.

The courtyard was perfect, full of roses and other types of flowers, a wooded area, the grass all at the same length, without a single flaw. Meticulously cut bushes, flowers that adorned the greenery and gave it extra life, it seemed magical.

The afternoon sun shone down on the whole place, bringing everything to life. The birds humming and bathing in the water fountain, nature stretching as far as the eye could see.

"I hope you are pleased, princess." Leon says, his calm, velvety voice immediately making you look at him.

"Certainly, it's very well appreciated." With a sweet, polite smile you answered him, approaching the fountain and sitting down on one of the edges.

And he repeated the gesture, sitting down next to you.

Just as you were about to engage him in conversation, a strong wind whipped against you, causing your hair to tangle, the softly combed strands to fall into your face, undoing a good few minutes' work in an instant.

Then you felt a warm, robust hand on your cheek, brushing the strands behind your ear.

A gesture that was intimate, no doubt about it, and that was able to make you blush slightly as soon as you felt his hand graze your cheek, but which he pulled away.

"Thank you." You say with a gentle, shy smile, tidying up a few more of the strands that were still getting messy.

Despite his smile, you could see the piercing blue gaze, without much emotion. His gaze, which seemed to be as cold as ice, was still so attractive.

"My pleasure, princess." The warm tone didn't change his placid expression, not even if he tried very hard.

As the two of you stood in silence, all you could hear was the gentle breeze and the birds singing, everything seemed so peaceful.

Except for the restlessness of your heart, which stubbornly pounded every time he looked at you. And you mentally plagued yourself every time this happened.

Why was he doing that? Out of courtesy? Politeness? Decorum? Or were you thinking too much? Creating too many expectations?

And so you remained, gazing at the horizon and watching the sun slowly set, watching the magic of nature while your minds were in a whirl.

Your hand on the edge of the fountain, as well as his, fingers almost grazing each other, and you were tempted to make a move.

However, it would have been inappropriate for a lady, to say the least. Especially knowing that the chances of him taking your hand away were high.

So you'd better make the most of what you had.

As the garden began to darken a little and the sunlight slowly faded, Leon stood and looked around, seeing that it was already getting dark.

You've spent the whole day walking around the castle, so time has passed too quickly. At least for you.

"We should go, dinner should be ready by now." He was the first to break the silence, once again offering his arm and his company to take you to the dining area.

And there you went again, walking slowly through the courtyard back into the castle.

However, halfway there Leon stopped, picking up a red rose that had fallen to the ground. As soon as he knelt down to pick it up, he turned to you and planted a soft kiss on the back of your hand, his warm lips brushing against your gloved hand. It sent shivers through your body.

"Red looks good on you." He murmurs, placing the flower in your hair, very gently so as not to mess it up.

You made a little chuckle, the blush clear on your cheeks. Was he doing it out of politeness? Or just to keep up appearances?

It would have been a beautiful, subtle, gentle and even romantic gesture. That's if you hadn't noticed the lipstick staining the collar of his shirt.

Oh oh, poor you.

[allthelovehes]

Easter Egg Hunt

Summary: Just a little blurb about Harry and Y/N having an easter egg hunt with their little niece.

Pairing: Harry x reader

Word count: 1.3K

Warnings: Pure fluff

Taglist: @justmystyles @bitchybabyharry @harrysslut7 @swiftmendeshoran @lucasandharold @harrysbabycherry @htaylor18 @rose-garden-dreamz @myalovesharry @mellamolayla @hsonlyangelxo @yousunshineyoutempter @heartateasee @blueheisenbergtragedy Let me know if you want to be added to my taglist! 🤗

Support my work by joining my Patreon!

A/N: My plan is to post content every weekday for the next four weeks so bear with me lol. We are starting off slow ;)

Masterlist

“Let's get these.” Harry says as he picks up a bag of small Easter eggs. He is so excited for this year's Easter as Gemma's daughter, Hailey, is finally old enough to go hunting for Easter eggs.

“Those are way too small for her.” Y/N says and points at the package he has in hand. “Here, try these. They're just the right size.” She then hands him another bag that has bigger chocolate eggs.

“These will look huge in her tiny hands.” He laughs and puts pack in their cart. “What else do we need?”

“Baskets.” Y/N says and starts to push the cart towards the next aisle.

“I'll grab a few. Do you want the wicker ones or plastic?”

“I think we should go with plastic they last longer.” She looks over at him. “And then we can still use them when we have kids.”

Harry's head snaps up to meet her eyes. “Really?” His voice cracks as he asks.

“Well yeah, I mean one day. We talked about this and I thought that was the plan.”

“We are, but I didn't know if you were ready to talk about having kids.” He says as he picks up some of the plastic baskets.

“It's not like we have to do it right away. But we should be thinking about it. We should probably start looking for a new house before we start a family.”

“Y/N.” Harry says, stopping her from grabbing any more candy and pulling her into his chest. “Are you serious? Are we really going to start looking for houses and have a family?”

“If that's what you want.” She smiles up at him and then looks back over at their cart. “Do you think that's enough candy?”

“Oh god, Hailey is going to eat all of these and then throw up all night.” He laughs and wraps his arm around her shoulders as they make their way back towards the cashier.

“I'm sure Gemma will have enough common sense to not let her eat them all at once.”

“She is her mother's daughter, so I wouldn't be so sure.”

Y/N giggles and shakes her head. “Maybe you're right, but she's a kid, they're supposed to have candy.”

***

It's Easter morning and they are on their way to Gemma's house for the big hunt. Y/N is holding the basket in her lap and playing with the ribbon while Harry drives. He's been watching her out of the corner of his eye and is smiling the entire time.

“What's on your mind, love?”

“How cute our kids are going to be. Hailey is such a cutie and I can't wait until we have one.”

“Yeah.” Harry sighs. “Me too.”

“Have you thought anymore about moving?”

“I have. I'm not sure if I want to live in London anymore. I was thinking we could find a house near Gemma, so our little one can grow up with their cousin.”

“Harry, that would be so sweet. I bet Gemma would love that.”

“Me too.”

“Okay, so after Easter we should start looking.”

“Deal.” Harry smiles and pulls the car to a stop.

Gemma is standing in the driveway with a smile and waves to them. Little Hailey is standing beside her, excited to welcome her favourite uncle and aunt.

“Uncle Harry!” Hailey yells as she comes running towards them. Harry jumps out of the car and kneels down with his arms wide open for her. She runs straight into his arms and wraps her little ones around his neck.

“Happy Easter, Bunny.” Harry says and hugs her tightly.

“Where's my hug, sweet girl?” Y/N says with her arms outstretched.

“Aunt Y/N!” Hailey smiles and lets go of Harry. She walks over to her and gives her a quick hug. Y/N wraps her arms around her and picks her up to carry her inside.

“Wow, you're getting big, aren't you?”

“My mummy said I'll be as tall as you soon.”

“Oh, did she?” Y/N laughs and nods her head.

“I can't wait. I can't wait for the egg hunt, and then the chocolate.”

“Are you sure you're not excited about the chocolate?” Y/N laughs and sets her back down when they get into the living room.

Harry goes into the backyard after he greets Michal. Anne and Darren are supposed to arrive any second now and knowing how excited Hailey is, he wants to have the hunt set up so they're ready to go. He scatters the eggs and hides a few little stuffed bunnies for Hailey to find.

“Look at my pretty girl.” Anne says as she enters the living room. Hailey's face lights up when she sees her grandma and she rushes over to her. 

“Granny!”

“Hey, baby. How's my beautiful girl doing?” Anne picks her up and kisses her cheek.

“She's excited for the egg hunt.” Gemma says. “You're the last ones here, so let's get it started.”

“Where's Uncle Harry?”

“He's setting up outside. Are you ready?” Y/N explains and Hailey nods her head as she squirms in her grandmother's arms. Anne carries her outside and Harry greets his family. Most of the treasures are hidden in plain sight as Hailey is only three, so he didn't want to make it too difficult for her.

“Ready, Bunny?” Harry says as Anne puts her with both feet on the ground.

“Yes!” She beams before her little feet start running towards the first egg she sees. Everyone takes a seat and watches Hailey scurry around the yard, picking up every egg she can find. Harry makes sure to stick close to her, in case she trips he is right there to pick her up. Every time she finds an egg she runs over to show someone. When she finds a small bunny she squeals and runs over to Y/N to show her.

“Oh wow! That's a really good find.”

“Thank you.” Hailey smiles and then takes off again.

When all the eggs are found, Harry brings the basket full of candy inside and Hailey sits down on the floor. All the adults gather around her and watch as she digs through her basket. She picks up each egg, inspects it, and then sets it back down. Her little tongue is sticking out as she concentrates. She does the same thing with each and every egg. She's so focused on finding the biggest one, not even the chocolate is tempting her.

“Hailey, what are you doing?” Gemma asks as she sits down beside her.

“Trying to find the bestest egg.”

Y/N is helping Anne in the kitchen to prepare the Easter brunch. They are keeping an eye on the ham in the oven while the rest of the food is on the stove. Darren is sitting at the island drinking his coffee while Harry and Michal are setting the table.

“Mummy, it's hard!” Hailey whines and pouts her lips.

“What's wrong, sweetheart?”

“I can't open it.”

“Let's save it for after we have some proper food.” Gemma tells her, taking the chocolate from her hand and putting it back in the basket. She sets the entire basket aside and helps her up off the floor. “Go wash your hands and then we can eat.”

After a big brunch and a lot of candy, Hailey is getting tired. She's lying down on the sofa with her head in Y/N's lap, nearly falling asleep. Harry sits down next to her with his arm draped across her shoulders.

“I can't wait for us to have a little one like her someday.” He whispers into her ear.

“Me either.” She smiles and leans her head against his shoulder. “You'd be the best daddy.”

“And you'll be the best mummy.”

“We'll be great together.”

“Yes, we will.” Harry says and kisses her cheek.

[keyboardsmashess]

The Siren, or The Heart of the Matter

Chapter Three: The Hospital Room, or Give My Best to Ovid

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x OFC

Warnings: language, eventual smut (but not in this chapter), fluff, eventual canon-typical violence (but not in this chapter) MINORS DNI. A/N: Okay, okay, I'm way too excited about this story so I'm posting the first three chapters (which I will probably regret later when I contract writer's block and wish I had more of a backlog - oh well, that's for future me to worry about). Expect Chapter 4 sometime next week! Every comment and reblog give an angel their wings (probably)

Summary: Cleo is taken... somewhere by the World's Mightiest Heroes. What will they discover?

Chapter Directory

I’m dreaming - I have to be. Why else would I be swimming through the ocean? The last thing I remember was trying not to hurl on Captain America’s pristine loafers before everything went dark; that feels pretty unrealistic to me. Besides, last time I checked I can’t breathe underwater. 

I decide I don’t really care that I’m dreaming, instead feeling grateful that at least my subconscious has transformed whatever nightmare I was having into something much more enjoyable. I do some flips underwater, pet a dolphin, wave to a sea turtle. I’m getting ready to see if I can pop out of the water and do that rad hair flip thing from The Little Mermaid (and why wouldn’t I? It’s my dream, after all) when I see a speck of shining light in the distance. I decide that cosplaying Ariel can wait and kick my legs with dream-enhanced grace to get closer. 

As I approach, the speck grows, spreading to cover my entire field of vision. It’s getting brighter now, so bright I can hardly stand it. I throw a hand up over my eyes and squeeze them shut, it’s absolutely blinding, and then -

My eyes blink open drowsily, and I have to fight not to close them immediately against the pristine whiteness of the room. If it even is a room. Maybe I’m still dreaming.

A man clears his voice in the corner, drawing my attention immediately. So, definitely still dreaming then. I feel the faintest vestiges of anger, like I’m supposed to be mad at this guy, but I just can’t convince the feeling to stick around. I’m floaty and happy and honestly, if he’s going to invade my dream, we may as well have a good time.

“What’re you doing in my dream, Grumpy?” Is that his name? I can’t remember. My voice comes out slurred. It’s probably very difficult to talk in dreams.

His eyebrows shoot up, surprise taking over the expressionless mask for the briefest moment before he schools his face. It’s much easier to see now that his hair is pulled back in a bun.

“I’m here because I drew the short straw. And you’re not dreaming, much as I’m sure you’ll wish you were.” His voice is low, gravely - like he rarely has the chance to use it. 

I try to sit up then, to get closer or get my bearings or just to move my body, but I find my arms strapped down to the table with cool silvery restraints. I panic, trying to kick my legs only to find that they’re in the same condition. Not dreaming, and very very fucked.

Whatever sleep or drug-induced haze I’ve been enjoying up until now wears off, shoved out of my system by my old pal adrenaline, and I whip my head around, taking in my surroundings with a little more clarity and a lot more panic.

White tiles and beeping machines say hospital room, but the mirrored wall that is so obviously one-way screams law enforcement. I examine my arms, finding an IV in the crook of my left elbow. I look down and realize I’m wearing a hospital gown. Fuck. 

FUCK. 

My breathing is a roller coaster, an out-of-control-train, moving rapidly out of my grasp and into hyperventilation territory. The metal clamps around my arms and legs start to feel increasingly uncomfortable, almost burning, and spots appear in my vision.

I try to organize my options, run my mental risk analysis, but everything is getting so damn fuzzy around the edges and I don’t know what’s real and what isn’t. I’m moving through molasses, slowing down considerably, and I can barely remember what I’m supposed to be doing. Confidence? I’m fading again, but I don’t want to - I don’t want to dream, I don’t want to lose control.

“Hey Morpheus,” I whisper. 

His steps are hesitant as he comes closer to my bed, but he surprises me with a chuckle. “No, doll, not the Matrix either.”

“Wrong Morpheus, and don’t call me ‘doll’.” I sigh. “Can you just call your dad and give me the sleep without the dreams this time?”

He’s confused. He doesn’t understand. Oh well, can’t blame a girl for trying. 

“Give my best to Ovid, yeah?” I mumble, and then everything goes dark once more.

******

This time when I come to, it’s to the sound of a hushed but intense conversation. I keep my eyes closed, hoping they can’t tell I’m awake just yet.

“We can’t just keep her here forever, she hasn’t hurt anyone.” That would be Captain America, I think, and I mentally kick myself for not recognizing his voice earlier. I’d only heard it a million times on TV.

“Yet, Capsicle - she hasn’t hurt anyone yet. We still don’t know what she’s capable of.” The tone, the snark - that’ll definitely be Iron Man. Tony Stark. Whichever.

There’s a beat of silence, before a third voice pipes up. “I didn’t know you made a habit of taking prisoners, Stark. Thought I was special.” This voice is familiar, too, but only because it had been weaving through whatever dream I’d just been having. It isn’t one I remember from the news, but my wits are a little more present and process of elimination tells me it’s the Winter Soldier, or whatever he’s going by these days.

Tony Stark chuckles darkly, more threat than humor in it. “Watch it, Barnes, I’m not above -”

A fourth voice - a woman - cuts him off. “Maybe we should just try talking to her. If you weren’t so busy with your catfight, you’d know she’s been awake for a few minutes.”

“Fuck,” I whisper, and the woman laughs faintly.

When I open my eyes, I’m circled by four people I’d previously only seen on TV and in magazines. Well, if you didn’t count the three that had broken into my apartment and apparently kidnapped me. I briefly reconsider my earlier thought that this could all be a dream. Unfortunately, the stinging in my wrists and ankles tells me I am, alas, very much awake. On the plus side, the restraints and IV have disappeared.

“Hi?” I start nervously. What else do you say when you open your eyes to find yourself in some sort of private hospital room surrounded by four superheroes?

“She lives!” Stark says, throwing up his arms. 

Captain America smiles gently at me. “You feeling alright, Miss Blake?”

I wipe some sleep from my eyes and sit up, not missing the way four sets of very trained eyes track my movement carefully. I grab my glasses off the side table and slowly put them on and, to my surprise, only the grumpy one twitches a hand toward his hip.

“Come on, Captain. You kidnapped me and strapped me to a bed - no need to be so formal.”

Stark grins boyishly. “Oh, I like her.”

The woman - Black Widow, I suppose - quirks an eyebrow. “You didn’t like her when she was melting your vibranium restraints.”

“When she was what?” I squeak, looking down at my wrists. Wrists that are, now that she mentions it, wrapped in rings of gauze and hurting pretty badly. 

Stark rolls his eyes. “No need to play coy, sweetheart, we’ve all seen enough to know what’s going on here.”

My brain is static, thoughts on the run. Every ounce of preparedness I’ve gathered is out the window. “What’s going on here…” I whisper, looking at my wrists, my ankles, around the room. I’m not sure if I’m asking a question or just repeating Stark. Finally, my frantic eyes meet the only person who’s been remotely warm to me through this entire endeavor. He returns my look with compassion.

Captain America flicks his eyes to Stark. “I had my suspicions after the way the mission went, but now I’m certain. She has no idea what she is, Tony.”

Did he say ‘what she is?’

Stark huffs. “Yeah, like I haven’t heard that one before.” He makes his voice higher, mocking. “I melted the vibranium on accident, I didn’t mean to level an apartment building, promise!”

“I don’t sound like that,” I mumble, almost missing the chuckle behind me. Then I freeze. “Wait, who leveled a what now?”

The Winter Soldier speaks up next, completely ignoring my question. “To be fair, Stark, I was the only one present both times, and I could tell she was definitely out of it. She didn’t seem like she was in control of herself.”

Stark levels a glare. “You would know, Manchurian Candidate,” he mutters.

The Black Widow starts to respond, but the Winter Soldier speaks over her. Captain America joins in and I lose all ability to track what’s going on.

I feel myself drifting again, that now-familiar sense of losing consciousness, but I fight it. Hard. I close my eyes and pretend I’m at the front of a lecture hall, the chaos nothing more than a group of freshmen who very much do not want to be sitting in an Intro to Lit class.

“That’s enough,” I say, not shouting but not quiet either. It’s my professor voice, and it never fails to disappoint. This time is no exception, because when I open my eyes I’m greeted by the full attention of four very surprised Avengers.

I keep my gaze stern, fighting to maintain control. Confidence. Don’t let them see you falter. “If someone doesn’t sit the fuck down and explain what the hell is going on here, I’m going to start screaming bloody murder.”

They exchange uncertain looks with one another, but nobody speaks. “Have it your way, then.” I take a deep yoga breath, filling my entire stomach, then open my mouth and let loose the shrillest and loudest scream I can muster. It’s pretty good, if I do say so myself, given that the Winter Soldier is the only one who doesn’t slam his hands over his ears. Every one of them look absolutely shocked.

The Soldier stalks over to my bed and claps a metal hand over my mouth to silence me, which I allow because I very likely don’t have any other choice. A very anxious-looking man in a white coat pokes his head in the door, but he immediately withdraws without saying a word when he sees the expression on Stark’s face. As the door closes, a faint crack spiderwebs up the one-way glass.

Black Widow sighs, giving the Soldier a pointed look. “He’s going to remove his hand and, as long as you keep your mouth shut, we can start over. Got it?” I nod. If his hand wasn’t metal, I’d have bitten it by now, but they don’t need to know that. 

“Good.” She drags a chair over to the side of my bed and sits down, leveling me with an appraising stare. “You want to know what’s going on here?” I nod again. “Well, we do, too. So let’s make a deal. You can ask a question for every answer you give us. And tell the truth - I’ll know if you’re lying.”

I look around the room, thinking. Stark looks downright mutinous, but mostly resigned. Captain America looks interested and, despite my screech, still somewhat gentle. The Winter Soldier is back in his spot by the door looking completely blank, which I’m beginning to understand is his default expression.

“Fine,” I say. 

She nods once. “Let’s start at the beginning.”

[daydreamingmia]

First Day on Set🌊🔱

Walker Scobell X Reader | Series | You Belong With Me🔱 Part 1

A/n: Sorry, I didn't re-read the story, so there might be spelling errors.

Y/n's bio: The reader is just a few weeks younger than Walker. She got her start on Good Luck Charlie as Charlie. But Taylor Swift discovered her musically. She has released three record-breaking albums so far. Once Taylor took her under her wing, things were never the same. Not that you didn't like it. You loved it!! But sometimes the paparazzi can be annoying. Especially when your best friends are huge stars.

When she gets the part of Annabeth in Percy Jackson, she becomes best friends with the cast. Especially her co-star, Walker Scobell. But will they become more than just friends?

The alarm clock goes off and you look over to see it is 7 am.

You groan as you turn it off

"Come on y/n! We are going to be late!"

You hop out of bed as your remembered what day it was. Today was the first day of filming Percy Jackson! You have loved Percy Jackson since you were very little and you were so excited to play Annabeth! You hop out of bed and rush to get dressed.

This is just the first thing I found on pinterest

(You can change it if you'd like)

By the time you are ready it is 7:35. You run out to the car and jumped in. Then you saw a text from the group. You have gotten very close to all of them in the last few months. Especially Walker.

Camp Halfblood GC

Walker🔱: Y/n! You were supposed

to be here 20 minutes ago! Are

you still asleep?🙄🙄🙄

Aryan🐐: Oh no! The monsters got y/n!!😱😱

Y/n: I just fought one off!! I'm on my way now!!

Y/n: I just fought one off!! I'm on my way now!!

Walker🔱: On second thought

maybe don't come here. 😬

Y/n: She says she'll let me live

if I tell her where Walker is hiding.

Walker🔱: What?!

Y/n: I'm on my way!! She let me go😁

Walker🔱: Oh no! You are the one

who is gonna betray me 😱😱

Y/n:🤣🤣🤣

Y/n: I'm pulling in now.

Walker🔱: Cool. You want some Chick fil a? I'm ordering delivery.

Y/n: YES PLEASE!!!😁

×��FLASHBACK××

You and the cast of Percy Jackson were going to a Party to meet one another.

You get out of the car and are half way there when you realize you forgot your phone.

"Ugh! Mom I forgot my phone ill run back and meet you there."

She nidded

You were running back when you ran into someone.

"Hey!" He said jokingly as you both fell to the ground.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't look where I was going!" You apologized

"Don't worry about it!" He said with a chuckle as he stood up and offered you his hand. You took it and he pulled you up

"Hey aren't you that girl from Avengers?" He asked

"Please to make your acquaintance." You said in a funny voice bowing

You both laugehd

"Y/c/n is such a badass!"

You talked for a little but then parted way so you could get your phone.

××END FLASHBACK××

When you got to set you parking in your marked spot and went to your trailer to meet your hair and makeup artists(Gina and Natalie). They were very nice and sat you down as you got to know each other.

Walker walked in with Chick Fil A and sat next to you.

"I got you a cookies and cream milkshake too" He said sitting down I the seat next to you.

"Thank you!! Your makeup is done already?" You asked while grabbing the milkshake he was taking a sip out of.

"IT WAS DONE AN HOUR AGO! YOU WERE LATE!" He screamed and you both laughed.

You take a picture of him and the food and post it.

The first scene you did was the bathroom scene.

You were talking with Dior when the director yelled action. You got yourself into character.

"I can explain" Walker said nervously

"No you can't" I replied

"Okay. Wait...I know you dont I?"

"No you don't" I replied channeling my inner Annabeth

"You were there that night in the infirmary"

"Yes. I'm Annabeth"

"Are you stalking me Annabeth?"

"Yes" I say like it's totally normal

"Okay" He said caught off guard

"Well, I've been waiting to see if something like this would happen so I know if you can help me"

"Help you do what?"

"Win capture the flag of course"

The director yelled cut and Walker walked up to you dripping wet

"Hey great job! You were born to play Annabeth!" He said as you backed away from him

"What's wrong?" He asked a little confused

"I don't want to get wet" you said continuing to set back

"Well in that case..." He said with a mischievous grin in his face

He then lunged forward and had you in and bear hug and was spining you.

The hug you didn't mind but now you were covered in water too.

"WALKER! PUT ME DOWN!" You demand

"Fine" He said putting you down

"That's what you get for eating my nuggets" He said with a fake stern face

"I hate you! You said looking at how soaked you were.

"You love me" He said with a smile

"I do" you sighed

A/N: This is my first attempt at fanfiction!! I hope you like it!

[pablitosgf]

𝐆𝐈𝐅𝐓 ! — jb05

𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 ! — jude bellingham x fem!reader

𝐈𝐍𝐅𝐎 ! — in which you surprise jude with a special vacation.

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 ! — nothing!!

𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄 ! — this has been sitting in my drafts for MONTHS! even before i posted on this blog. so i hope y'all love it. btw i wrote this before he turned to the big 20 thats why it says 19. <3

𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐓 ! — writing

As you sat in your office chair, you couldn't help but smile as you thought about your anniversary with Jude. You had met him back in grade 11, and now he was a professional football player while you were studying to become a pediatrician one day. You had always wanted to have children, but of course, not at the moment. You and Jude were only 19 and had graduated high school a year ago. However, you had it all planned out – from engagement to marriage, pregnancy, and kids – for the future.

But for now, you needed to focus on finding the perfect anniversary gift for your beloved boyfriend of four years. You didn't want to give him something too basic, but you knew that he had always wanted to visit the Bahamas. Unfortunately, with his hectic schedule, there had never been a good time to make the trip. As you brainstormed ideas, you couldn't help but feel grateful for the time you had spent with Jude so far and excited for all the adventures that lay ahead for the two of you.

"That's it!" you exclaimed, a grin spreading across your face. "I'll surprise him with plane tickets for a week in the Bahamas. He has the whole next week off, so it's perfect timing." You couldn't wait to see the look on Jude's face when you told him.

With the apartment to yourself for a few hours due to his training, you quickly went to your laptop and booked a flight from Dortmund to the Bahamas. As you clicked "confirm" on the booking page, your heart raced with excitement. You knew that this trip would be a lifetime experience for the both of you, and you couldn't wait to share it with Jude.

After printing out the tickets, you headed to the store to pick up a fancy box and some accessories to go with it. As you were putting the finishing touches on your surprise, you heard the doorbell ring. Your heart racing with excitement, you ran to the door to greet Jude.

"Baby, you're finally here!" you exclaimed, barely containing your excitement. "I know we were supposed to exchange presents after our date, but I just can't wait any longer."

Jude raised his eyebrows, intrigued by your eagerness. "I can't wait to see what you've got for me," he said, leaning in to give you a light kiss.

You took his hand and led him to the box you had prepared, a huge grin on your face. Jude looked at you with a mix of confusion and anticipation as you urged him to open it. "Just open it," you said, barely able to contain your excitement.

Jude eagerly unlatched the box to reveal the tickets inside. At first, he looked confused, but as he examined them more closely, his eyes widened in disbelief. "What is this?" he asked, his voice filled with astonishment.

"You're joking, right?" he exclaimed, unable to believe his luck. But as he looked at you and saw the excitement written all over your face, he knew that this was real.

“You've always talked about how much you wanted to go," you said, smiling at him. "So I thought, why not make it happen?"

Jude's response was immediate - he wrapped his arms around you and began showering you with kisses all over your face, murmuring countless "thank yous" in your ear.

“You're welcome, my love," you said, feeling your heart swell with happiness.

You woke up to an enthusiastic and energetic Jude. "Come on, babe, get up!" Jude exclaimed, pulling your arm. You groaned and tried to resist, but Jude's excitement was contagious.

"Ugh, I'm too tired. Let me sleep," you complained, sinking back into the bed.

"No way! We have to get ready," Jude insisted.

"I just wanna sleep…" you muttered groggily.

"What did you say?" Jude asked, looking confused.

"Nothing," you replied, shaking your head and trying to shake off your sleepiness.

You posted a story on your Instagram and now you were sitting at the gate, waiting for the plane. You let out a sigh of boredom, and Jude noticed. "Hey, do you want to play chopsticks?" he asked.

You looked at him quizzically, "What's chopsticks?"

Jude was taken aback, "What?! How do you not know what chopsticks is?"

You just shrugged, which earned a loud puff from Jude.

"Fine, I'll teach you," he said, shaking his head in disbelief. He explained the rules and how to play, but you made snarky remarks here and there, calling it "boring" and "not fun." Jude being Jude, responded with a sassy retort.

As Jude turned his head to you, he exclaimed, "We're actually here!" His lips barely missed yours as he spoke, and you couldn't help but smile at his excitement.

"Of course, my love," you replied, returning the almost-kiss with a soft one of your own. "I'm so happy we're finally here in the Bahamas together." You intertwined your fingers with his, feeling the warmth of his hand as you headed towards the exit, eager to start your week-long adventure in paradise.

[poppadom0912]

Together (II)

Warnings: Mentions of violence, kidnappings, blood, shootings, injuries and scary men

Summary: As it all starts to unfold, the Murray's don't make it any easier.

A/N: I was supposed to post this next week friday but I couldn't wait. I'm way too excited to here you go. Enjoy!!!!

Previous Chapter / Series Masterlist / Next Chapter

Coming back to wasn't pleasant.

The effects of whatever drug he'd been injected with were still present but were slowly wearing off. With heavy eyes, Jay surveyed the room he didn't recognise but could identify as a basement.

"You're finally awake." Will sighed in relief at the sight of his now conscious brother. He looked as bad as he felt but the blood painting his hand, that wasn't there beforehand.

"Whose blood is that?" Jay asked, clearing his throat as he did so. Water would be the biggest luxury right about now but torture was the route the Murray brothers were taking today.

"Jacksons." Will plainly said, not really bothered by the blood on his hands. "His wound needed stitches and I was available I guess you could say."

"We're not at the cabin anymore." Jay stated but his tone came across unsure because he never actually thought if the cabin had a basement.

"Yup. We're in the middle of nowhere." Will nodded, confirming both their fears. Not only did they have absolutely no idea where they were but no one in the outside world knew of their location if someone were to notice their disappearance.

"Where the hell is Y/N?" Jay asked, only now realising that you weren't in the basement with them. Now that the drugs were fully disappearing, he was slowly starting to think straight.

"I haven't seen her." Will said solemnly. "She's probably with those bastards."

Jay couldn't believe this. Not only had they been kidnapped but you were nowhere to be seen. There was no way of knowing what they were doing to you or if you were even still alive right now and he hated how helpless he was.

Both brothers remained in zip ties but Will more restrained since Jay's ankles were free. Will had been awake much more longer than Jay and while reluctantly stitching Jackson back up, he accumulated a plan that would only be successful if they moved fast.

"Jay, listen to me very carefully." Will caught his younger brothers attention, stopping him from fiddling with the zip ties. "What I'm about to say is going to sound crazy but you have to trust me on this."

"Always." Jay nodded with no hesitation. They were brothers for goodness sakes, he'd trust Will and you with his life any day.

"You have to dislocate your arm."

"What?!" Jay looked at Will incredulously despite what was said five seconds prior.

Will looked at Jay pointedly before carrying on. "You can pop it right back into place. Anyways, you dislocate it and you're out the zip ties. There's a window right above me so if I give you a boost, all you have to do is kick it open and you're out."

Jay sat in silence, digesting the decent plan Will thought through during the time Jay was unconscious. It actually sounded like it could work.

With no other options, Jay agreed and carefully listened to Will's instructions on how to pop his shoulder out its socket.

Jay groaned through his gritted teeth, his shoulder screaming in pain after he very aggressively bashed it against the concrete wall but it was just like Will said, with a quick tug he was able to slip out the zip ties.

Quickly exhaling, Jay got to his feet and went over to Will where the window was located. Even if he wanted to, Will pushed him away when he tried to get his restraints off of him. It would take ages and there was no point in slowing Jay down.

Bickering like children, Will smacked Jay's hands away from his own, glaring at him when his jaw ticked in frustration. Jay was one hundred percent on his own from here.

With a boost from Will, mumbling several apologies under his breath, Jay repeatedly elbowed the window till the glass shattered into millions of pieces, falling onto both of them.

With several few more apologies towards Will, Jay squeezed himself out the window and was finally met with fresh air.

Both brothers chuckled in disbelief that it'd actually worked and with Jay being free, their rescue was soon to be guaranteed.

"I swear, I'll be back in an hour." Jay promised Will, poking his head back inside the damp basement.

"Good luck." Will said earnestly, craning his neck to watch Jay fully disappear from his view. All he could do now was sit and wait.

Landing on his feet, Jay groaned at the pain his shoulder brought him but he could handle it, he'd have to for yours and Will's sake.

He couldn't recognise the area but the snow was still ploughing down meaning they were still in Wisconsin. Even while squinting, it was difficult to see so he was basically walking blind.

He'd probably have hypothermia once he got back home but that was a problem for future Jay. Present Jay's biggest priority was getting out, finding a person or phone to contact Voight so he could free you and Will.

Ignoring the cold seeping into his bones, squinting through the fog, Jay searched down the road for anything that could help him. Luck was on his side for just a minute because apparently, phone booths still existed.

With heavy breaths, Jay punched in the three letters known universally to be the one number that would always help anyone during an emergency. Realistically, they were the actual first responders.

"911, What's your emergency?"

"Detective Jay Halstead, badge number 51163, reporting the kidnapping of a Chicago firefighter, cop and-"

Jay was cut off by a sudden kick to his ribs to his back. The sudden force knocking him off his balance. The plastic phone fell out of his hand and the operators voice faded away as several men attempted to drag him away.

Apparently, Jay didn't get too far because he'd been caught or he was followed the second he escaped.

Obviously, moving to a new location was a very strategic move. The Murray brothers were smart and had found the time to recruit trustworthy men who had the skill set to be their 'guards' of sorts.

As harshly as he could, Jay pushed the man off him. Brushing off the burning in his torso, Jay fought off as many of the men dressed in black as he could; elbowing one in the gut, tripping up one, half strangling another and giving one of the best right hooks he'd ever done to what he assumed was the last man.

But the detective miscalculated. Several gunshots were fired but one lucky bullet managed to lodge itself in Jay's thigh causing him to stumble. Completely caught off guard and already struggling in the cold, Jay fell to his knees, his blood coating the snow.

Groaning, Jay refused to looked back and tried getting onto his feet, even trying to crawl as far away as he could before the Murray henchmen could take him back.

No matter how hard Jay tried defending himself; using his one good leg to kick the men away, jabbing one in his private and shoving the others head into the snow, his attempts were fruitless because he was soon outnumbered and on the receiving end of several blows to the head.

*****

Jay hadn't been gone for long but as soon as Will heard the latch on the door unlock, he knew things were about to go to shit.

Ezra casually strolled into the basement, with one of the biggest smiles on his face but when he noticed that only one Halstead was present, his smile dropped.

It didn't take him too long to figure it out. The abandoned zip ties on the ground, the broken window, shards of glass on and around Will; it was quite easy to determine Jay had escaped.

In a bout of fury, the younger Murray brother scoffed, shaking his head in much disappointment that he could only torture one person now. He was looking forward to having his fun with two men since his brother was being selfish with you but things had taken a turn.

"What a shame." Ezra tutted, taking slow steps towards Will. "I was looking forward to playing with your baby brother."

And before Will could register what was happening, as fast as lightning, Ezra brandished a knife that was immediately plunged into Will's gut.

Will almost shouted out from the pain but opted for gritting his teeth instead. He found it better to bite into his lip where he may bleed but at least Ezra wouldn't get off on his excruciating pain.

"Anyways, I didn't even need to do that." Ezra had the audacity to laugh, looking at the blood coating his blade that he extracted from Will in pure fascination. "We've got a job for you."

Hazy from the pain and the blood gushing out his abdomen, Will poorly shrugged Ezra's hands off his shoulder and was pushed forward so he would start walking.

His whiskey coloured eyes scanned the dimly lit corridors. All the doors looked the same, all made of the same colour wood unlike the basement door which was metal.

Inhaling sharply, Will felt additional physical pain from seeing the state you were in.

A lone tear fell down your now pale cheek from the utter pain inflicted upon you. It was a wonder no one heard your cries and screams you let out in anguish. The pain had become blinding and at some point, you'd begun begging for death because being killed was one hundred times better than what you were experiencing.

Your older brother was breathless, even as he was pushed into the room and a bunch of medical supplies were shoved into his arms, his eyes remained glued to you.

Within seconds, he forced himself back to reality and sat down on his knees, ignoring his own body screaming out for help. As long as he could mask his own pain from you seeing it, all would be well.

"Hey Y/N, it's Will." He whispered, pushing back your blood soaked hair from sticking to your forehead. Even from his gentle and loving touch, you flinched because of who you thought it was but relaxed when you actually heard his words.

You knew that voice, you'd grown up with it. Through the mist building up around your eye, you could see his red curls and that smile, even if it was forced at the moment, it brought you comfort.

"Will?" You whispered, the corner of your chapped lips tugging upwards that you finally weren't alone.

"Yeah kiddo, it's me." He whispered back, letting his eyes inspect your body but he didn't know what to address first.

"Where's Jay? Are you okay?" In typical Y/N nature, you ignored your own wellbeing and put others before you, even in your dire condition. Your brothers were your world and it would end if anything were to happen to them.

"Don't worry about us, just focus on you're breathing."

Will watched you with bated breath as you complied and tried your best to breathe normally but with that stabbing pain in your chest, you continuously winced.

"Hey, these zip ties have to come off." Will practically ordered, his stare not faltering under the brothers blazing glares. If they wouldn't do it, then he'd do it himself because nothing was stopping him from helping you. 

Series Taglist:

@mads-weasley

@sowrongitslottie

@elite4cekalyma

@senjoritanana

[moodymelanist]

you look so pretty (and i love this view)

happy @sjmromanceweek everyone! I'm so excited to be doing this event for the third year running and I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with this week 🤍🤍🤍

I’m planning to post at least 3 or 4 fics this week, starting off with some good old fashioned Nemerie. Stay tuned for some Elucien, Nezriel, Nessian, and perhaps even some Azris this week if I can get to them 👀👀

Summary: Nesta's Hinge date doesn't show, so Emerie steps in.

Word Count: 1.7k

Read on AO3 here!

♡♡♡♡♡ Emerie

After a long day at work, Emerie was more than happy to stop at one of the bars on her way home for a much-needed drink. She’d had to stay much later at the office than usual because of someone else’s fuck up, and although she was more than ready to fall into bed, she’d much rather do it with some alcohol and a warm dinner in her stomach. 

Emerie signaled the bartender and ordered her usual drink, taking slow sips as she looked around the place. For a Thursday night things weren’t as busy as she’d expected, but she supposed the happy hour crew had came and left while she was still mentally cursing out her coworkers. There were more than a few empty seats at the bar, but there was a decent crowd spread out amongst the booths and tables ready to have dinner. 

Nobody really caught her eye until she noticed a gorgeous woman sitting at one of the booths near the door, and Emerie watched as she periodically kept checking her phone and looking over her shoulder every time someone came in. If Emerie had to guess, it looked like she was waiting for a date to show up, and Emerie hoped whoever it was didn’t keep the woman waiting much longer. 

You didn’t keep someone who looked like that waiting. With her golden brown hair, pretty eyes, and the way her dark dress was clinging to her, Emerie would kill for an excuse to get to know her. Dating had been pretty… uneventful for her after her last relationship had imploded, so maybe it was just wishful thinking that maybe this woman would look back, but that wouldn’t stop Emerie from wishing. 

Emerie kept her eye on the woman over the next fifteen minutes, watching as her expression grew more and more pinched. Her server came by to check on her several times, and each time the woman declined to order anything while she waited for her so-called date to show up. Emerie half hoped whoever the woman was waiting on would show up just to keep that expression off her pretty face, but the much larger part of Emerie was hoping that the date never showed so she could swoop in. 

Swoop in to do what exactly, Emerie wasn’t quite sure; clearly, her wishful thinking mentality was still in effect.

The next time the woman’s server came by, the woman heaved a heavy sigh before she started talking. She seemed more… defeated, this time, and Emerie hated to see it.

I guess they’re not coming, Emerie saw the woman say to her server. Emerie had a flash of panic — what if the woman left before she could say anything to her, or even get her name? 

Looking back on this moment later, Emerie wouldn’t be able to put her finger on what made her do it, but something made her get out of her stool. Before she could second-guess herself too strongly, she tossed back the rest of her drink, walked around the bar, and sat herself down right at the woman’s table. 

“Hi,” Emerie said, her heart pounding in her chest at all the different ways this could go wrong. The woman’s eyes were piercing this close up, and Emerie thanked her lucky stars she’d decided to take a little extra time getting ready this morning for work. “I’m really sorry I’m late. I’m Emerie.”

The woman blinked at her for several long moments before reaching out and offering her hand. “Nesta.”

Their server — a pretty, brown-skinned woman named Clare — gave Emerie some serious side eye before flipping her notepad back open and clicking her pen. “Glad you could make it. Would you like any appetizers?”

Nesta ordered some calamari for the table and waited a few seconds for Clare to be out of earshot before looking back at Emerie. “You’re not my date.”

“You can tell me to leave if you want,” Emerie said, already mentally preparing herself to get right back up again, “but I think you’re gorgeous, and gorgeous women should never be kept waiting.”

“Oh,” Nesta said back, her cheeks turning a pretty shade of pink. Emerie half wondered how far that blush could go, given the chance, but she forced herself to stay focused on the task at hand. “Well. I suppose you’re right.”

“You suppose?” Emerie replied with a hopeful little smile. 

“Yes,” Nesta answered, raising one of her eyebrows. “But don’t get used to it. I’m the one who’s always right.”

Emerie laughed. “Maybe that’s because you haven’t met your match yet.”

“Are you saying that’s you?” Nesta fired back without missing a beat. 

“Only one way to find out, right?” Emerie replied. She couldn’t believe her luck — here she was, sitting across from a beautiful woman, and the two of them were already going back and forth effortlessly. 

“Yeah,” Nesta agreed slowly, her eyes taking their time trailing over Emerie’s top half. “I guess there is.”

As they talked over their appetizers and eventually their meals, Emerie fell a little more head over heels with every detail she learned about Nesta. She was an attorney working in intellectual property, she had a cat, and most importantly, she had indeed been stood up on a date. 

“I mean, it’s not that hard to send a text if you changed your mind,” Nesta grumbled over her eggplant Parmesan. “It only takes a couple of seconds.”

“She sounds like she sucks,” Emerie replied, pulling a huff of a laugh out of Nesta.

“Yeah,” Nesta agreed. “I never got to meet up with her, but this is a much better date than whatever excuse she would’ve pulled out of her ass if she ever showed up.”

“It definitely wouldn’t have been good enough for you,” Emerie told her, picking up a few pieces of her penne alle vodka with her fork. 

“After almost twenty minutes? Definitely not.” Nesta took a sip of her soda before fixing Emerie with a considering stare. “But that’s enough about me. Tell me about you.”

Emerie was more than happy to share details about herself, and found herself preening a little bit that Nesta seemed to like what she was hearing. Emerie was more than happy to talk about her marketing job, but the real fun started when they realized they had similar tastes in books. They easily killed another twenty minutes just talking about the newest Sellyn Drake release, and Emerie couldn’t remember the last time she’d smiled and laughed so much talking to a stranger.

As much fun as they were having, though, the night eventually had to come to a close. Clare came by to drop off the check and Emerie had to hold in a sigh as she realized she and Nesta would probably be parting ways in the next ten to fifteen minutes.

“Please, it’s the least I can do,” Nesta said, grabbing the check before Emerie could even take a look at what they owed. Emerie opened her mouth to argue, but Nesta fixed her with a look that made her close her mouth almost immediately. “Don’t even think about it.”

“Fine,” Emerie said back. “But next time’s on me.”

“Mhmm,” Nesta replied, though the playful look in her eyes told a different story. Emerie couldn’t wait to tell Gwyn about all this.

Once they settled their tab, they ended up outside and walking down the street. Nesta had driven to the bar after work, but Emerie had taken the train, so she offered to walk Nesta to her car. It was the opposite direction from the closest station, but she didn’t mind a few extra minutes if it meant she could spend them with Nesta.

“Thanks for saving me, Emerie,” Nesta said once they got to her car. Her hand had brushed Emerie’s a few times during the walk and Emerie swore her skin was tingling a little bit. “I had a really good time tonight.”

“You’re very welcome,” Emerie said back, seriously distracted by the way her name sounded coming out of Nesta’s mouth. “I’m happy to rescue you anytime you want, Nesta.”

“Is that what you did?” Nesta teased. She cocked her head ever so slightly and Emerie fell a little in love with the way her hair looked brushing across her shoulders when she did. “Those are some strong words.”

“I feel strongly about it,” Emerie replied, stepping just a little closer into Nesta’s personal space. Nesta was just an inch or two shorter than Emerie, and as a woman on the taller side, it was nice to not have to look too far down when they were speaking.

Nesta’s eyes darted quickly to Emerie’s lips and back up. “Is that the only thing you feel strongly about?”

“No,” Emerie whispered, and then she was leaning down while Nesta was leaning slightly up. Nesta’s lips were soft against Emerie’s, her kiss slow and sweet and absolutely perfect. Emerie brought her hand up to gently cup the side of Nesta’s face and was immediately rewarded with one of Nesta’s hands plunging into her hair.

“Okay, okay,” Nesta said after a few minutes, smiling as she pulled back from Emerie. Her lips were a little pink from where they’d been kissing, and Emerie knew she’d never get that image out of her mind. “It’s tempting, but we can’t be out here all night.”

“Whatever you say, counselor,” Emerie teased, even though they both knew Nesta wasn’t that kind of lawyer. “Can I at least have your phone number so we can see each other again?”

“I was starting to think you’d never ask,” Nesta responded. She pulled out her phone and offered it to Emerie, waiting patiently while Emerie typed in her number. Emerie triple-checked to make sure it was right – no way was she letting Nesta get away from her over something as simple as a mixed-up phone number – before handing it back over.

“I’ll text you,” Nesta promised, leaning in for one last kiss before starting to walk toward the driver’s side of her car. “Have a good night, Emerie.”

“You too,” Emerie replied, taking a few steps back from the edge of the sidewalk. 

As Emerie started to head toward the train, she couldn’t help but touch her fingers to her still-warm lips. Whatever she’d done to get so lucky to suddenly be living out a romance novel, she certainly wasn’t complaining.

tag list: @perseusannabeth | @bookstantrash | @charming-butt-insane | @oversizedbats | @melphss | @sv0430 | @podemechamardek | @autumnbabylon | @live-the-fangirl-life | @julemmaes | @that-little-red-head | @jmoonjones | @sayosdreams | @thewayshedreamed | @hiimheresworld | @brieq | @pearlfortears | @swankii-art-teacher | @nerdperson524 | @snickerdoodlechittybangbang | @imsointobooks | @nesquik-arccheron | @sweet-pea1 | @champanheandluxxury | @dustjacketmusings | @mrs-shadowsinger04 | @unlikelypersonalknight1 | @goddess-aelin | @arinbelle | @talkfantasytome | @simpingfornestaarcheron | @duskandstarlight | @letstakethedawn | @vidalinav | @c-e-d-dreamer | @dealfea | @katekatpattywack | @burningsnowleopard | @thatsowlmazing | @avidromancereader | @a-little-disguised | @kale-theteaqueen

[fayedartmouth]

Weekly update of the OBX car accident fic. I feel like I don't love this as a standalone scene because it's not exciting, but it is necessarily advancing the plot to where I'm trying to go. LOL, I'm at a point with this fic where the snippets are not always super exciting but they're necessary to the architecture of the story.

So anyway, a few more weeks until I think I finally get them all back together. There's some necessary meandering first and possibly a medical complication. We'll see, lol. I have five scenes sketched out, but I think it'll end up being more because I haven't spent any time on the resolution at all in my outline.

So sorry that this is a boring one! Thank you to everyone reading!

Full master post is here.

Shoupe was spending too much time on this damn case, and he knew it.  It was open and shut, <i>an accident</i>.  He just had to sign the paperwork already.

Yet, here he was.  Back the next day for more.

He told Peterkin it was because there were unattended minors involved.  The hospital said no one had showed up for John B or JJ yet.  Uncle Teddy was coming in from the mainland; Luke Maybank was drying out.  He had an obligation.

She raised her eyebrows at him.  “I mean, social services will appreciate not having the paperwork.”

Because everyone knew.  Investigations could be opened.  With kids like that, they never went anywhere.  And it just seemed wrong, right?  They were sure to clean up the roadway debris.  They impounded the vehicle.  But no one cared about a pair of boys without parental supervision, still laid up in the ICU.

Whatever the official reason why, he knew the personal ones.  That he probably just cared, more than he had a right to, as he flashed his badge and checked in with the morning doctor on call.  The news, at least, was mixed.  Pope and Kiara were doing much better.  Kiara would be discharged later today, her vitals having fully stabilized.  Pope’s cognition was improving, but he was still disoriented and unsteady.  They wanted another day of observation with a repeat series of scans just to be sure.

John B was stable and apparently recovering well.  He would need time – he still wasn’t mobile – but things looked to be moving in the right direction, at least.  

JJ, of course, was making things difficult.  That was what he did, after all.  He was still deeply sedated and on life support.  Wait and see, the doctor said with a shrug, like they hadn’t been waiting and seeing since yesterday.  Like JJ hadn’t been waiting and seeing bullshit his whole life.

He thanked the man anyway and made his way up to the ICU.  He’d come all this way; he might as well check in.  That was the plan, however.  

Making plans with Pogues?

Never a good idea.

He barely got to the floor when he ran into Kiara Carrera.

She looked fine, for the record.  In a wheelchair, sure.  Hooked up to an IV.  But awake, alert, good color.  Pissed as hell.

He looked around, seeing no sign of her parents.  No sign of her friends.  “Are you supposed to be here?”

She had a split second of sheepish denial, but she got over that fast.  She seemed to see him and decide something, right then and there.  “I’ve been trying to talk to JJ’s doctor, but they keep telling me bullshit about patient confidentiality.”

“Well, that is a thing–”

Kiara shook her head.  “It’s bullshit,” she said.  “You know that we’re family to JJ.”

He sighed.  It wasn’t like he didn’t know those kids were joined at the hip.  And it wasn’t like he didn’t know that JJ’s real family wasn’t going to show up for him anyway.

Yet, there was only so much Shoupe could do.  

“Look, I want to help, I do, but it’s not my call–”

He was going to defer – deflect.

He should have remembered.  Kiara Carrera was just privileged enough not to give a shit.  She was also just convicted enough to do whatever the hell she wanted anyway.  Her idea of justice wasn’t all wrong, but it was a little naive, if only because she still believed that pure conviction could make a difference

“They’d listen to you,” she said, and her eyes seemed to brighten at the idea.  “Shoupe, you can help me.”

His eyes narrowed despite himself.  He wanted to help; that was why he was here.

But why did he feel like he was about to be recruited to something untoward?  He knew these Pogues were good kids.  But they were good kids with the worst ideas, hands down.  It didn’t help that the Kooks were against them, sure.  But they were their own worst enemies.

“Kiara,” he said, pursing his lips as he looked anxiously down the hall.  “Where are your parents?”

She straightened up, clearly indignant.  “You don’t need my parents.”

He rolled his eyes.  “I don’t need anything,” he agreed.  “But do they know you’re out here?”

She scoffed.  “It’s a free country.  Women are allowed to go anywhere without an escort, you know.”

He gave her a pointed look, exasperated.  “But you’re a minor.  In a hospital.”

She reddened slightly.  “They let me go to John B’s room.  Took me there themselves and everything.”

He didn’t think she was lying to him.  About that, anyway.

And yet–  “So why are you here?  In the hall?”

“Because,” she said.  “No one’s been able to see JJ yet.”

He hesitated at that.

Her eyes widened.  “You’ve seen JJ?”

“I’ve seen him,” Shoupe acknowledged.

She leaned forward, intent now.  “See, you <i>can</i> help us.”

He let out a breath, hot and short.  “Kiara–”

“We need to see JJ,” she insisted.

His chest tightened, gut twisted.  “He’s still in very critical condition–”

“Which is why it matters!” she said, voice rising a little.

He reddened, as a few people around the waiting area looked at him.  He dropped his voice.  “Kiara, that’s not my call–”

She shook her head, adamant.  “You know he’ll be better with us,” she said.  There was no hint of compromise in her eyes, not about this.  “And we’ll be better with him.”

They’d be less trouble, he was sure.  If he didn’t reunite them, these Pogues were going to be hatching escape plans all over the hospital, their injuries be damned.

And yet, he had the Heywards and the Carreras to worry about.  The last thing he needed was for someone to file a formal complaint.  The Carreras would, in a heartbeat.

Yet, he knew why he was here.  He knew what he wanted.

He wanted to make sure they were okay.

Each and every one of these dumb idiots.  They hated him; they thought he was the bad guy.  And he just wanted to help, despite his better judgement, despite his legal jurisdiction, despite <i>everything</i>.

Sighing, he looked down the hall again as he considered his options.  “There’s really not a lot I can do.”

She latched onto his hesitation.  “But there is <i>something</i>.”

That figured, didn’t it?  That she would believe that.

That she <i>knew</i> that.

For being the one with the power and the badge here, Shoupe felt pretty damn helpless.  

Mostly because he wanted to help.

God help him – save his job – he really, really did.  

But a badge was persuasive.  And Shoupe was damn good at making personal appeals.

If he could just convince the doctors that it was in the medical interest to let these four, injured, unsupervised teens spend their time together–

Well, if Shoupe could pull that off, then he was in the wrong profession.  A career in acting would have been appropriate.

Yet, why was he here anyway?  It wasn’t to finish paperwork.  It wasn’t witness statements.

It was because he couldn't stand the thought of these dumb kids being on their own.

He was too soft for this bullshit.

But no one else was looking, were they?  No one else wanted to see?

He couldn’t let them slip through the cracks, could he?

<i>Would</i> he?

“Maybe,” he relented, quick to hold his hand up to the look of triumph on Kiara’s face.  “But it’ll take a little time for me to work it out, and you all have to play by the rules.”

She smiled, nodding quickly in agreement.  “Fine.”

He huffed, shaking his head at her.  “And that starts by getting you back to your room.”

“I’m fine–” she started to protest.

He pinned her with a look.  She had the decency to close her mouth.  “Come on,” he cajoled.

He took the back of her wheelchair, starting them off down the hall.  “Which one is yours again?”

She made a face, tilting her head to the side.  “Just take me out to John B’s.”

He was ready to argue.

She glanced up at him.  “I wasn’t supposed to leave that room,” she admitted.  “They’d be pissed–”

He sighed.  “Really, Kiara?”

She smiled, innocent as she pleased.  “You said you wanted to help.”

He huffed, turning her down the hall to John B’s room anyway.  “I don’t suppose I’ll get any credit for that later.”

“You’re part of an oppressive system with so many inherent biases–”

He shook his head, keeping them moving.  “That’s what I thought.”

[hippolotamus]

Tease Tidbit Tuesday

Thanks for the tags @jesuisici33 @disasterbuckdiaz @daffi-990 and anyone who tagged me for Sunday 🥰 It's not quite Tuesday yet, but I'm excited and not sure when I'll be able to post tomorrow.

IDK if anyone else remembers this WIP from... a while ago, but, uh, may I present pole dancer!Buck, with a hint of baby gay!Eddie. This was formed from one too many listens to T Swift's Mirrorball, which came up on the playlist tonight and demanded I work on this. Tomorrow it's back to a WIP I should be working on (she says as if logic is useful here).

From behind the sparkling, glittery curtain, designed to mimic a shimmering night sky, Buck extends one leg toward the stage. The warm, hazy spotlight envelops the exposed skin, from mid-calf to his toes, positioned in a perfect demi point. If only Maddie’s old ballet instructor could see him now. She always fussed that he was all leg and no balance. Take that Mrs. Lahn.   Cheers and whistles from the Saturday night crowd add to the warmth, reaching, caressing, pulling at him. The regulars and newcomers alike know what’s coming, what to expect. Buck has become somewhat of a local celebrity, drawing patrons – and business – away from other clubs on the nights he performs. He knows what they’re waiting for and his body hums with the anticipation of providing it, of pleasing and being worthy of their praise. The emcee finishes Buck’s introduction and the opening beat of his music begins to play. A rhythmic snare drum that momentarily slices through the floaty feeling already encasing him. The disruption lasts only as long as it takes to slip past the curtain and emerge on the stage. A switch flips in his head, reminding him he’s on. Any remaining traces of Buck fall away, left backstage in a heap just like his civilian clothes and makeup case in the dressing room. The only person left now is an alter ego who is fluid, confident, sensual. An unforgettable presence for the next five minutes and forty seven seconds. He’s barely reached the twenty second mark before he notices. Before he connects with dark eyes and a piercing stare. The same one that’s been growing more intense in the weeks since the man first took up residence at a high top table in the last row. Gradually shifting from hesitant but curious to devastatingly certain, as if something slotted into place.  Buck’s vision narrows to that single point of focus even though he should be periodically scanning the crowd. The dancers are never supposed to appear as if they’re playing favorites. Like they aren’t equally enthusiastic about each and every warm-bodied potential tip in the room. Even if they’re personally responsible for a spike in revenue, like Buck and one or two others. He figures he can save his charms for when he’s working the floor. It’ll be easier then to slip on the other mask that makes every lap dance feel exclusive, like he’s not doing the same for anyone else with enough cash.

no pressure tagging @shortsighted-owl @eddiebabygirldiaz @stereopticons @911onabc @apothecarose @barbiediaz @buckaroosheart @buddierights @chaosandwolves @elvensorceress @eowon @fionaswhvre @fortheloveofbuddie @gayedmundodiaz @giddyupbuck @heartshapedvows @honestlydarkprincess @hoodie-buck @indestructibleheart @jamespearce9-1-1 @ladydorian05 @lemonzestywrites @loserdiaz @messyhairdiaz @monsterrae1 @singlethread @spaceprincessem @spotsandsocks @statueinthestone @steadfastsaturnsrings @the-likesofus @thekristen999 @theplaceyoustillrememberdreaming @thewolvesof1998 @underwater-ninja-13 @watchyourbuck @weewootruck @wikiangela @wildlife4life @your-catfish-friend and anyone else who wants to share 😘

[cornballl]

would yall still fw me if i made ANOTHER post announcing my return but i don’t return…….

i hope yall would………….. cause my ass is tryna come back and conclude sadist gauntlet (it’s outlined and in-progress) and post this hijikata thing i’m really excited to work on again…………………… i hope yall still fw me and aren’t sick of my SHENANIGANS

and even if you have no interest in me or my shenanigans, i hope you can still consider reading and supporting once i DO actually post lol

pls stay tuned :) just cause i'm excited abt the hiji fic in particular, under the break is a TEASER......

It has been four weeks since Hijikata and the Shinsengumi left to travel North toward the sea for a sting operation. 

It’s obviously very serious business, but you can’t help but pout at your phone, which is notably lacking notifications from a certain someone. The best you could settle for was asking Yamazaki how everything was going, and his responses weren’t exactly refreshing and welcome; one-word replies of “good” or a simple thumbs up emoji were what you had to settle with until Hijikata could actually respond. 

It’s been radio silence for a few days now, however. It seems that the time has come for them to execute their operation, and all you can do is hope and wait everything turned out as expected. 

It’s been hard without him around, the house you both call a home is extremely drab and quiet when he’s not there. You have no motivation to cook whole meals, opting for walking down the street to the corner store and getting boxed lunches; it’s one of the few times of day you get out of the house, too. 

You don’t necessarily let him control your life, it’s not usually this debilitating, but something about this trip didn’t let you rest easily. 

You made your rounds around the home to make sure every entrance was fastened shut. “It’s about that time I guess, he didn’t text me today either, huh?” You pull out your phone to no avail. You set it down beside your desk, hopefully the screen will light up and disturb your sleep with a lovely notification. You walked toward the shoji leading outside to the very small courtyard in your home. You look up at the moon beaming through the foliage, scattering casts of its light everywhere. “Let’s see if your stash is still where I remember it, Toshi.” You chuckle and walk next door to the guest room. Thoughtfully, you head to the closet and rummage inside the spare futon you both have; “I know you too well, it seems.” You allocate and stare at his emergency pack of Mayoboro Reds. You return to the doorway and commence your ritual, flicking the bottom of the pack before gently gosling a stick between your lips straight from the box. You always had a lighter handy just in case he needs one, but it’s just you tonight. 

The smoke starts to dance and wisp away into the night. Smoking is a rare indulgence for you, but you just need to feel closer to him. You fight the urge to cough as you burn and puff through the harshest tobacco taste imaginable. “My eyes are watering, damn cigarette.” You spat and stomped it out, quickly dismissing the welling emotions behind them. “Nothing today either, it seems. I suppose it’s time for bed.” You stare regrettably at the smudge on the floor, wishing you hadn’t put that out yet - directly on the wooden floor, for that matter. It was a problem for future you to deal with. You turned your back on the bittersweet reminder you left for yourself tomorrow, weakly sliding the door shut behind you. 

As soon as that screen clicked in place, you could’ve sworn you heard your phone vibrate. It’s not uncommon for you to hear this illusion, so you shrug it off and continue all the same. Opening the closet, you huffed and struggled the lusciously dense futon out and unceremoniously onto the floor with a loud PLOP. Again, you heard the vibrating. “Toshi?”