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aworldinsideaperson · 11 months

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Candy Cane Kisses

Pairing: Jake “Hangman” Seresin x Plus Size!AFAB!Reader

Summary: Candy Cane Kisses takes us to a Texas ranch on Christmas night, Jake “Hangman” Seresin is watching his sister’s best friend from across the room as he nurses the bottle of beer in his hand. His Bambi is somehow more beautiful than she’d been when they met three years prior, the last time they’d seen each other until only two nights before and he wonders if she can still taste him like that candy cane between her lips.

Warnings: 18+, No use of Y/N (Reader is nicknamed Bambi), No happy ending (for now). There is talk of food, relatively explicit talk of sex as well as some pretty graphic foreplay/kissing with the reader being described with vaginal anatomy but the actual smut happens behind closed doors.

Word Count: 4.8k

A/N:

First: This is part of @sailor-aviator’s Christmas Writing Challenge but it is also a companion piece to a longer story/series I’m working on so while there is no happy ending in this piece the overall story, once completed, will have a happy ending. But once again, THIS PIECE DOES NOT HAVE A HAPPY ENDING so read at your own risk.

Second: The smut was supposed to be in the story but I felt like it didn’t need it but if people want to read it separately I might consider finishing it and posting it.

Third and probably most important: Anything you’d like me to tag as warning or in a description or anything please let me know. I haven’t really posted anything longer than a couple hundred words since like 2016 so it’s been a while and I know fandom and fanfiction has changed quite a bit since I’ve been an active member of it so please bear with me while I get my bearings.

Sailor-Aviator’s Christmas Writing Challenge

December 23rd, 2013

Sometimes he replayed that kiss in his head. Sometimes he berated himself for not giving more. Sometimes he imagines pressing his lips to parts of her that he’d never seen. He knew She was older now, they both were, he’d seen the pictures on instagram and facebook, the occasional snapchat with drunk hazy eyes and the same smile she’d had the very first time he’d met her. It’d been more than three years since they’d seen each other in person but even from across a crowded bar with Christmas music blasting and chatter at an all time high, Jake could still hear her laugh and when his eyes shot in the direction of what had once been his favorite sound he knew then and there he was a goner. Even as he makes his way across the room to stand beside her at the bar he knows it’s a mistake but he’s thought about her for three years, and how much hurt could a conversation really do.

“Bambi.” A simple word, a nickname given to her that very first day as she watched the movie for the very first time with tears in her eyes. At the sound her eyes drifted closed, tension leaving her shoulders as she let out a breath before looking over to him with a smile.

A conversation. That’s what he’d told himself. What harm could it do to just say hello, just ask how she was doing, just talk like the old friends they were. It wasn’t until an hour later when he stood inside her bedroom with his hand in her hair and his cock down her throat that he realized maybe his first instinct had been right. Maybe he shouldn’t have followed the sound of her voice, maybe he should have left the bar the second he heard a laugh that made his heart skip, maybe he shouldn’t have come back home at all.

December 24th, 2013

Jake sat on the arm of the couch, his cousin Isaac standing over him gesturing wildly with his unoccupied hand as he recounted a story Jake assumed would be interesting if he could pay attention to anything other than the sound of that laugh from across the room. The cold bottle swung between his fingers nearly empty. If he finished it he’d have to get another, if he went to get another he’d have to walk past her, if he walked past her he was sure she’d smell of that sweet gingerbread lotion she’d slathered on her hands, the same as the night before. He’d have to come face to face with her and that candy cane between her soft lips. He tried not to think about those lips, tried to listen to Isaac talk about the latest ponzi scheme he’d gotten himself involved with, tried not to remember the way her lips felt wrapped around his-

“Dude I’m serious this would be a great investment opportunity! And I know you’ve got some capital, what with that military salary and all.”

Isaac’s eyes were wide with excitement but Jake’s face was contorted in pity as he sighed. “I don’t know Isaac.”

With that his face fell. “Why not man?”

Opening his mouth to give the older man an answer he really didn’t have, except to say that some guy name Brad has Isaac by the balls, Jake was saved by the voice of his mother as she quickly approached the pair.

“Jacob,” She started, laying a hand on his shoulder and looking softly at him, usually a sign she was about to ask for physical labor. “Do you think you could help Bambi bring the rest of the cookies from the basement? We’re running low up here and you know if someone doesn’t go down with her she’s gonna try to carry them all up by herself.”

He sighed but he didn’t argue. “Sure thing Mama,” He stood and clapped his cousin on the shoulder as he walked away. “I’ll catch up with you later Isaac.”

“Okay but seriously think about what I was tellin’ ya.”

With his back turned Jake nodded as he rolled his eyes. “Absolutely.” He knew would absolutely not be thinking about it as he took a few long strides towards the basement door and made his way down the steps.

The Seresin’s basement had never been a place to fear. Finished long before even their first child arrived Jake had always known it as a playroom, a game room, a movie room, whatever his family had needed it to be. He could hear his nieces and nephews to the right of the stairs, no doubt playing with the collection of toys new and old that lived in the too big toy chest in the corner of what could have been a third living room. To his left he could hear the rustling of plastic and clanging of aluminum in what was originally intended to be a second full bar for his dad but his mother had taken over as christmas cookie and bulk grocery storage. Once fully down the steps he could see her then, his back to him as she tried to stack two trays of his mother’s treats on top of one another and he smirked, that was just like her. “I know you’re not trying to carry all those containers up by yourself.” He made his way toward the woman maneuvering the stack to goodies to get the best angle, gently laying his hand on her lower back.

Relaxing at his touch Bambi looked up at Jake with a smile of her own. “I’m an independent woman who only takes one trip, especially with stairs involved.”

“Well as independent as I know you are imagine the hell mama would give me if she knew I let you carry them all up yourself. So will you spare me the wrath?”

Bambi rolled her eyes, replying with a sarcastic chuckle. “Well I suppose I could take pity on you given how well you ate pussy last night.”

The man’s shoulders dropped, “About last night,” He started, the room becoming thick with silence. “It was-“ He couldn’t finish, taking his hand off of Bambi and placing both of them on the counter as he turned from her slightly. He didn’t even know what he should say, didn’t know what the truth was, didn’t know if he should tell the truth even if he knew it.

Bambi nodded and sighed, back straightening as she toyed with the edge of the wrapped cookie trays. “A one time thing, yeah, nothing, I get it and I don’t plan on telling anyone. Not even Mary. She’ll lose her mind if she found out we almost fucked.”

‘Fucked’ the word didn’t feel right. She’d never felt anything like what she felt the night before, memories of his hands and lips trailing over every inch of her body, every square of skin an erogenous zone with his touch. Fucked was something that happened after heated arguments and on couches in frat houses and in the back of cars. She wondered if last night, even though he’d never been inside her, she wondered if that’s what sex was supposed to be like, still making her feel a need for him almost 24 hours after the fact.

“Good. I mean. I just didn’t want to give you the impression that it was more than it was.” He felt sick at his own words. ‘More than what it was’ what was it exactly? Two people who once knew each other, who’d once been friends, giving each other pleasure? No feelings? As if he didn’t still think about her once a day from sharing one single kiss three years prior.

The silence feels heavy around them but continuing to plaster a smile on her face Bambi looks up at her best friend’s brother. “I get it.” She starts. “I’m not a teenager with a crush anymore. You may have been the first person I loved but there have been others since. Other kisses, other blow jobs, other sex partners. There will be others after you too.”

Every muscle in his body was tight as he nodded. “Okay then. It’s all sorted then.” Jake’s stomach churned as he tried not to think of her underneath, on top of, in front of, with other men. He wasn’t neive, he knew last night that the blow job she’d given him had been too good to be the first time she’d done it, someone had instructed her in the past. She knew where she wanted to be kissed and touched and she hadn’t been afraid to move his hands or his mouth or ask for more or less. He knew those things came from experiences. He just hated hearing her say it. Or maybe he hated the thought of after, that there was now an after him. That someone else would touch her and be touched by her and she’d instruct them on how to make her feel the way he had. Make her feel the way he had when he knew no one would ever make him feel the same way she did.

“Yeah, now let’s get these treats up there before people start nibbling on your mom’s gingerbread houses.” With a smile on her face Bambi grabbed the top tray and quickly turned her back to Jake and made her way back upstairs.

She was trapped. Completely and totally trapped. There was no possible way out of the conversation with the man in front of her. She’d tried everything, giving uncomfortable responses, not responding at all, she’d even tried walking away and he’d just followed her. Bambi had met Billy Seresin a few times. He was always too loud and too touchy, he smelled like he smoked 3 packs a day and he never ever shut up. All she had done was give him a polite smile as she was walking past him and into the sitting room, intent on cornering Mary-Ann to pester her about the man who’d shown up to the party as her boyfriend and left 30 minutes prior seemingly losing the title. That had been her plan but of course things hardly seemed to work out the way she expected these last few days especially and nearly 45 minutes later Bambi was sure that if Billy Seresin laid so much as a finger on her again she was going to vomit. But as he raised his hand another slide along her lower back and pulled her closer to him.

“Hey Bill, I’m gonna steal the pretty girl away, hope you don’t mind.” And without waiting for a response Jake led Bambi to the front door, his hand still resting gently on her back.

As they passed the threshold out to the porch her shoulders relaxed as she took in the borderline cold night air. “You are a real hero Jake, if the navy thing doesn’t work out I could whip you up a cape and some spandex, you could go around saving the world from conversations with creeps.” Bambi chuckled as the two settled beside each other on the porch swing, Jake pulling a large blanket from the basket beside them and wrapping it around Bambi’s shoulders.

“Well I’m contractually obligated to the Navy for another few years but afterwards we’ll team up.” His hand rubbed up and down her blanket covered arm a few times before leaning into the back of the swing, his body turned completely towards the woman beside him. “Besides, how was I supposed to let him keep eye fucking you right in front of me.”

“He was not eye fucking me.” Bambi voiced with a roll of her eyes.

“He was,” Jake argued. “I can tell since I’ve done it.”

Turning lifting one knee onto the seat of the swing she turned to completely face Jake. “He’s married to Sarah who’s a fucking dream, no way he’s trying to fuck that up.”

Propping his elbow on the back to their seat, Jake smirked, resting his head on his hand. “You’re way hotter than Sarah.”

“Oh now that’s just a flat lie.” She replied, throwing her head back in laughter.

Lifting his head, Jake let his fingers reach out to slide over a piece of her hair. “I disagree. You’re the hottest woman in any room.” He smirked, giving Bambi an exaggerated wink.

Lulling her head to the side she said his name with a mildly warning tone.

He sighed, throwing his hands up in defense. “Fine I’ll stop saying it. But you can’t make me stop thinking it.” A full genuine smile spread across his face, all the way up to his eyes.

“Sometimes I think you’re too much of a flirt for your own good.” She gave him a gentle shove and her exaggeratedly leaned backwards before sitting up with a laugh.

As the sound of laughter faded Jake admired the woman before him, he’d always thought she was beautiful but the glow of the twinkle lights surrounding the porch made her look ethereal. Even three years later, he’s never gotten over the way he feels around her. For several moments the silence surrounded them, nothing but the light creak of the swing chains and nature. The peacefulness he didn’t expect to be surrounded by was somehow terrifying to him So he filled it. “How’ve you been?”

“Good.” She started, looking at her hands in her lap as she began to pick at the polish. “Mom has been seeing this guy Randy and he’s really nice to her. They’re talking about getting married and moving in together. And Mary bought this new camera and we’re setting up a studio space in the third bedroom of the loft. She’s not sure if she’s going to go back to college with me next fall but I still have plenty of time to convince her.” A soft smile turned up the corners of her lips her eyes still trained toward the fiddling fingers in her lap.

Jake reached out, rubbing his hand slowly over the blanket covering her shoulder. “That’s all great Bam but I asked about you.”

She sighed and then nodded. “Oh, well yeah, yeah. I’m good. I’m good.”

‘You sound unsure.” He pushed.

She reached out her hand to place it on his knee. “No, I'm good. Really.” She assured. “Just not totally used to thinking about it I guess.”

Reaching down to take her hand between both of his, stroking his thumb along her skin. “When’s the last time someone ask how you’ve been doing?”

“About 30 seconds ago.”

Jake looked at her with a warning glare. “Before that, smartass.”

Bambi rolled her head and smiled, her thumb sliding back and forth over Jake’s own calloused knuckles.“You’re the one in the Navy, doing big important things, shouldn’t I be the one asking you how you’re doing?”

Squeezing her hand tightly he gave Bambi a serious look. “You can ask but how you’re doing is no less important than how I’m doing. I’m of the opinion that it’s more important. How can I be okay if I know you’re not?” His question was met with silence and so with a sigh he continued. “I’ve been really good. Made some friends, made some non friends, and I love flying. Have pretty much everything I could ever want. Now you.”

Bambi smiled, giving Jake’s hands a squeeze of her own as she kept her eyes trained on their connected fingers. “I’m good, really. I’m getting my degrees in social work and criminal justice. Victim advocacy is the goal, helping people in similar situations to what Mom and I went through. Things are stressful and I’m scared I’m gonna fail like all the time but I want to help people so badly.” Finally she looked up, tears began to surface in her waterline as she willed them not to fall. “Somewhere out there is a child or a spouse who is going through some of the worst pain of their life and I think about how it felt to be helpless like that and I know I can’t give up.”

Again, Jake reached out to her, one hand still holding tightly to hers, the other gently brushing a fallen drop from her cheek. “You amaze me Bamb, stronger than me that’s for sure.” A comfortable feeling fell over them as he continued the questioning.“You still in therapy?”

With a smile she nodded, her hand still gripped tightly in Jakes. “Yeah but I’ve been in a pretty good place for a while now so we’ve cut back to once or twice a month with the option for more when I need it. It really helped me to work through a lot of the guilt and anger and sadness. And I can think about it now without wanting to throw up. I still have nightmares but nothing like it used to be.”

Jake grinned at that. “That’s really great. I’m proud of you for sticking with it, I know you were really nervous to be starting it in the first place.”

“Thank you for encouraging me back then, I don’t know if I could have done it without that extra push.” 3 years ago she’d been a girl often afraid of her own shadow. She’d thought she needed to be saved back then but Jake hadn’t been the one to do it. Instead he’d loved her and broken her heart and pushed her to help herself.

“Of course Bamb I’ve always cared about you, always wanted what’s best for my Bambi.” His hand cupped her cheek, eyes unable to break from hers.

“Jake-“

“I know, I know what we said I just,” He sighed, thumbs gliding softly over the skin of her hand and of her cheek. “I just really miss you.”

“Miss me?”

“Yeah,” Again, silence surrounded them, Jakes eyes dropping to her lips as he continued. “Bambi, about earlier I didn’t-“

“There you are!” Mary-Ann’s interruption pulled the two apart, hands now cold and cheeks warm. “Jake, I told you to interrupt my conversation with Isaac after 3 minutes. I was stuck there forever listening to him talk about whatever bullshit he’s on now. I swear that guy doesn’t know his ass from a hole in the ground.” Mary plopped down in the rocker closest to the swing.

Jake now sat with his feet planted firmly on the porch. “Says the girl about the drop out of college.” He teased.

Mary gasped, turing to her best friend who still had yet to stop reeling. “You told him!?” She exclaimed.

Bambi replied with a soft shrug. “I didn’t know it was a secret.”

With the most sincere puppy dog look she could manage Mary-Ann turned to her brother. “Please don’t tell daddy, he’d be so disappointed in me.”

Jake dropped his shoulders and stood up, placing a hand on his sister’s shoulder.“Oh don’t worry Mary-Ann, he’s already disappointed in you.”

From then on the conversation was nothing but a fit of giggles and insults between the siblings, Bambi still swinging back and forth in a fog as she wondered what he’d been about to say.

The night had slowed, most of his extended family had been long gone before it reached ten and parents retiring upstairs not long after. The house was quiet, the only light coming from the twinkling bulbs strung from corner to corner in every room in the house. Jake sat at the dining room table, his chair cocked slightly in the direction of his companion. He’d had more to drink since earlier in the night, giving his mind a soft haze. At least he thought it was the alcohol, could just as easily be the woman sitting beside him in her red dress, glowing in the soft light. He’d convinced her to have one last drink with him before she walked to Mary-Ann’s apartment over the garage. It’d been nearly an hour ago and the clock was ticking closer to midnight as the two each prolonged the last sip of their drinks.

Bambi reached over, gently patting his hand. “It’s good to have you home Jake. I worry about you a lot.”

Turning his head to look at the table Jake nodded. “I worry about you a lot too.”

“Me?” She chuckled and just like the night before he forgets how to breathe. “I’m not the one spending my days in a flying metal death trap.”

“I still worry about you. We should keep in touch more.” He traces his finger around the opening of his bottle, trying not to make eye contact as she continues to barely laugh at a memory.

“What, my occasional snapchat not enough for you?” She asks.

“Not when I want to hear from you every day.” It then when he finally looks back at her, if he didn’t know her so well he’d think maybe that smile was real and not the fake one she plastered on to keep others at a distance.

“Every day?”

He sighs and nods his head as he once again looks away from the woman beside him. “Yeah. I think about you every day.” He thinks he must be drunk, there is no other way he’d admit something so agonizing, not to himself and certainly not to her.

The silence is palpable as she throws back the last sip of her drink as she stood. “Well I should probably head out.” Her voice is quiet, if he hadn’t been standing beside her so closely he might not have heard it.

“Bambi,” Jake lifted his hand to her cheek, gently stroking her with his thumb as her eyes closed. “I wanna kiss you so bad.”

Opening her eyes she watches him through her lashes as she turns and presses her lips to his palm. “How’s that?”

“Not really what I had in mind.”

She smirked, “Disappointed?” She asked, thinking back to the very first kiss they’d shared so long ago, her first.

“Just thinking maybe you don’t know how to kiss, someone should really teach you.” He lifted his other hand, steadying her face to look up at him.

“I seem to recall my first teacher being awfully strict about what kisses he could and could not give me.”

His right hand lifted to brush the stray hairs for her face and he nodded. “Let me make that up to you?”

“I thought that’s what last night was supposed to be.”

One side of his mouth twisted up into a smirk, his hand now moving to caress the side of her neck. “I don’t remember finishing the job.”

“You made me cum, your job is done.” The memory of his lips and tongue making her knees weak.

“But it was only once.” He argued.

She was staring at his lips now, heart pounding with anticipation. “Once is more than most.” It was a true statement. She knew too many people lying about orgasms for it not to be.

His thumb stroked between her jaw and ear, eyes watching her as her eyes moved from his lips to his own chartreuse orbs. “I’m not most.”

Voice hardly above a whisper “Jake?”

“Yes?”

“Just fucking kiss me.”

Four words. Four fucking words and Jake’s mind had gone blank of all thought. All except one. ‘Bambi’. Slowly he dipped his head, gently pressing his lips to her, the familiar taste of candy cane still on her lips from his mother’s christmas cocoa cocktail. He almost pulled away; almost did the exact thing he’d done three years prior, sparing both of them the heartbreak but as she sighed and he felt her melt into his touch he needed just a little more.

Their lips moved together, slotting her bottom lips between his and gently sliding the tip of his tongue across it. Her hands reached up to tangle in his hair, the velvet locks sliding through her fingers as he began to pepper kisses first at the corner of her mouth before moving down over her jaw and down her neck causing her to moan at the feeling of his lips against her bare skin.

He smiled as he continued to kiss and lick and gently nip at her neck. Bending slightly at the knee he wrapped his arms about Bambi and lifted her to rest on the dining room table where only hours earlier his family had been gathered. She gasped and her high heels dropped to the floor and her arms now draped over his shoulders. Jake’s smile grew as he dropped his lips to hers once again, slotting himself between her thighs and pulling her to the edge allowing her to feel his length pressed between their bodies. “Do you feel that baby? Do you wanna feel it inside you?” Arrogance heavy in his voice, his lips barely brushing over hers.

Bamni’s face contorted and she whined. “Yes. Jake please please please.”

“No need to beg Bambi, whatever you want, it’s yours.” He spoke with a slight chuckle in his voice though the sound of her begging made him twitch. Again his lips trailed over the skin of her neck then to her shoulder, his hands sliding up her thighs under the red dress he’d spent the night imagining on the floor. His fingers traced over the nylon, attempting to feel every bump and curve and dimple of the flesh underneath.

”I want you to touch me.” Her tone is still begging with his lips trailing over her collar bone. Smirking Jake pulled his mouth from her skin and licked his lips, moving the fingers of his right hand to her core, touching her gently through the layers.

“Oh fuck.” He groaned, feeling her slick against the tips of his fingers. “You are so wet I can feel you through your panties and stockings.” Again he pressed his lips to hers, swallowing the moans the escaped from her lips at even his light and obstructed touch. “Stay the night with me?” He asked, lips still brushing against hers.

With an eggar nod and jagged breath she responded with a simple yes that had Jake’s heart pounding as he pulled her from the table and kissed her deeply before quietly leading her up the stairs and down the hall. He pressed her against the door of his bedroom, his thigh between her legs and her lips against his throat. “Come on baby,” He whispered. “Let me make you feel good.” And with that he pushed his door open and the two stumbled into his childhood bedroom and with a click, locked the door behind them.

It was nearly 5:30 in the morning as the lovers laid in each other's arms, fingers trace patterns over the other’s skin. Jake’s mom would be getting up soon to start Christmas breakfast. His mind reeled with thoughts, a carousel of anxiety, of leaving Bambi, of breaking her heart, breaking his own. Thoughts of his mother’s smirk if his sister’s best friend bound down the stairs with his hand in hers still smelling of sex. His mind filled with thoughts of run, and run, and run. So he ran.

Pulling his arm from around Bambi Jake moved to sit on the edge of the bed, his back to her. “You should probably get going before everyone gets up.”

She sighed before throwing the covers off and throwing her own legs over the side of the bed. “Yeah, I’d hate to have Mama Seresin see me do the walk of shame. She’d probably start planning the wedding before I made it to the end of the driveway.” She laughed as she gathered her dress and undergarments from the night before, slipping them on with little effort. She felt lighter, tension gone from her shoulders and a permanent smile plastered to her face.

“Bambi, last night, it-“ Jake started but Bambi cut him off, leaning in close for a kiss.

“Was great? I sure thought so.” She said, attempting to finish the sentence in a way he hadn’t meant to.

Jake pulled away, his eyes trained directly to his feet as he spoke. “It shouldn’t have happened. I’m sorry.”

Silence again filled the space between them, the inches beginning to feel like a cavern as she pulled further away from him. She didn’t recognize her movements as she walked to his door, her fingers wrapping around the cool metel of the handle. With a deep breath she let the truth fall into the chasm between them. “I lied last night, when I told you it didn’t mean anything? It meant everything.”

She stood there, hand on the knob hoping her words had changed something but Jake didn’t even move “I’m sorry Bambi. I wish-“ He sighed and his head dropped into his hands. “You deserve more than this, more than a single night.”

Bambi nodded and turned the handle. “Merry Christmas Jake.”

Her words were quick though even with the speed he could hear the crack in her voice. His door was shut tight before he responded. “Merry Christmas Bambi.” And only when he heard the front door shut and the turning over of her car did he reveal his own truth.

“I love you.”

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sailor-aviator · 5 months

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I don't know what's going on and I'm scared 😭😭 i just left one toxic fandom and i didn't know that tgm was as well

Hey, Nonny!

Basically, the unthinkable has happened, and a member of our community was doxxed and lost her job because of it. I can speculate as to what exactly happened and what the cause behind it was, however, I don’t have concrete proof.

I will say, that there is no amount of petty drama or argument related to fandom that is so serious that it warrants this type of behavior. The lives of others is nothing to play about, I don’t care how mad you are about an argument. There are lines you just don’t cross, and I didn’t think that needed to be said, but here we are.

Now, I will say that I’ve made some of my dearest friends in this fandom and I feel like there are more creators on here that are kind and accepting than not, you just have to know how to treat people. Unfortunately, no matter where you go, there will be people who are so insecure in themselves that they have to tear other people down in order to try and make themselves feel better. Cheesy, I know, but it’s true.

I have found some of the most amazing people in this fandom, but you’ve gotta have thick skin and the ability to just tune it out and be willing to block to protect your peace when it comes to those who are…not so great.

I think, overall, our fandom is pretty great. Most people are kind and encouraging, and if you stick around long enough, you’ll figure out who those people are. I’ve said it before (and got yelled at for saying it), but the TGM fandom is what I would consider a “starter” fandom. It’s a small fandom where you can learn fandom etiquette if you ask fandom olds for advice and heed it, and for a lot of people here, it’s their first dip into the fandom experience.

But, I digress. Every fandom will have its ups and downs, and this one is no exception. Right now we’re in quite a doozy of a down, but I think the community will rally in the end, but who knows. Maybe I’m just being an optimist

#answered #anonymous #hey nonny nonny #long post #Liz rambles #Liz speaks

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kelli-be · 13 days

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I am proud of JK for what he said on instagram in support of his juniors and artists in general. It also goes to show that he doesn’t cower. This is not a person who lets anyone force him into anything. But I also want to address all of the people who are blabbering about the fact that he hasn’t stood up for Yoongi but can do that.

I have no doubt that there has been much support for Yoongi in private from all of the members. I also have no doubt that they would be honest with him about how they perceive the situation whether that includes concern over his behavior, advice or whatever. With the closeness they have that would be expected. However, there is nothing that any of the other six of them could’ve said publicly that would not have been picked apart or misinterpreted as excusing his behavior or inappropriate in some other way by some of this crazy fandom and by the media .

I mean, let’s face it even if they just said “We love you Yoongi” people would be coming out of the woodwork to say… ‘He is supposed to set a good example as an idol and all they can say is that they love him instead of letting him know that he should do better.’ They would be called privileged.. They would be attacked for not chastising him or apologizing for him.

There is no way that he would want or expect any of them to say anything publicly about his situation. For his sake and their own. With everything else that is going on, enough is being said all over the place without inadvertently feeding the BTS hatred frenzy.

I think people need to get a grip and understand that we don’t see 90% of the actual relationships they have with each other. But what I do know and I’m not really sure why others don’t at this point, is that they have gotten this far by knowing exactly how to support each other. They have gotten this far by choosing each other over and over again. They have gotten this far by growing and learning from mistakes with each other. They have also gotten this far by being intelligent, and the intelligent choice in this matter would be to stay silent publicly.

So how about we quit looking for a reason to attack them at all?

JK is standing up for people who need to be stood up for and he knows what he’s doing and he knows why. He was very young when he started. This has to be very important to him and carefully considered for him to go out of his way at this time to say something publicly. And I can tell you for free that this is something his friend Yoongi understands him doing.

I guess maybe I just am always looking at the reasons they amaze me as humans. They let us see their mistakes and their flaws and struggles alongside their incredible talent..It’s a lovely thing. I don’t really understand why people want to tear them down so badly. How can you call yourself ARMY and do that?

If you are so unhappy in this fandom and it no longer brings you joy perhaps it’s time to move on. I personally am staying right with them.. As they are. 💜💜

#jikook #jungkook #proud of jungkook #love bts #bts #bangtan

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cafemilk-tea · 7 months

Text

Illness

❒ pairing - evelyn x grandmother ft dino

❒ word count - 3.0K

❒ synopsis - evelyn’s grandmother calls her with unfortunate news

❒ time - late 2013

🏷️ taglist - @justmochi @ateezjuliet @itzy-eve @cosmicwintr @billboard-singer @kimhyejin3108 @cixrosie @enhacolor @allthings-fandoms @mingis-wrld @kmgfeels @peachyaeger @aysxldea @choihaneul @angie-x3 @alixnsuperstxr

⚠️ - mentions of cancer, evie getting a bruise on her arm from a staff member & food restrictions; angst

Italics = spoken in English

(a/n: tears in my eyes thinking of bby evie & bby dino swinging on swings together T_T)

School was let out early for Evelyn and Chan and they had found themselves at the little playground by the school on the swings waiting for a few of his older members to come pick them up and walk them to the company. Evelyn kicked her feet back and forth, humming the words to her evaluation song as she watched random cars drive far off in the distance. Chan giggling to himself pulled her back into reality as she glanced over at him curiously.

“What’s funny?”

“You’ve just been humming that all day long,” Chan covered his mouth with his hands laughing. Evelyn internally cringed with knowing how many people’s hands have been on these swing set chains and now here he was pressing those germs all over his face.

“I’ve got solo evaluations coming up and I’ve been slacking off too much I think,” Evelyn pouted her lips at her words. She was given SNSD’s ‘Genie’ to sing and it’s been a challenge for her, even more so since she’s doing Taeyeon’s part in the post-chorus towards the end of the song.

Chan clicked his tongue as he disagreed with her, pushing himself backwards and letting go to swing back and forth, “Nuh-uh, I’ve heard you sing especially that one part in the song and you sound really good!”

A smile crept its way onto her face as her cheeks heated up slightly at his encouragement, “Thanks Channie.”

The two swang in silence, enjoying small talks between the two of them and people watching. Evelyn always found it fascinating to just sit and watch people in their everyday life and how everyone is so different from one another.

“How’s practice going for you,” Evelyn pushes herself on the swing set, gripping the metal chains tightly between her fingers as she swung herself back and forth deciding to change the subject.

“Awful,” Chan pouted his lips out into a hard frown as he stared at the dirt underneath his feet and slowed down his swinging, “Not awful as in bad but more like it’s just so hard sometimes. I like doing it, I really do, but we got in trouble with one of the staff again and it wasn’t even our fault.”

Evelyn frowned in sympathy at his words, knowing exactly what he was going through. Earlier in the week, one of the staff had grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out into the hallway to berate her by saying she wasn’t keeping up with the other trainees and was too busy slacking off again. The slight bruising on her arm from how hard his hand had gripped her is still a clear and visible mark.

“And Soonyoung-hyung can be mean sometimes too. He keeps making us do the same routine over and over again all because Seungkwan-hyung keeps messing up this one step,” He shuffled his foot in the dirt below, scuffing up the bottom of his already worn shoes from practice.

“Channie-,” Evelyn slowed her swing down to barely moving at all, using her foot to twist her seat from side to side. Being a trainee was hard in general. It made her question why she even wanted to do it sometimes.

“I’m sure he doesn’t mean to make you upset-.” She started but was cut off by his outburst.

“He doesn’t care!” He huffed kicking the dirt making dust particles fly into the air. Evelyn couldn’t blame him for getting angry over it. She’s been there once or twice since becoming a trainee. His face turned sour as the frown sank deeper into his face, “Anytime I ask if we can learn something else, he gets mad and storms away and slams the door behind him yelling things like ‘If we get a low score, it’ll be your fault’.”

Evelyn stayed quiet and let him have time to get what he wanted off of his chest. She knows that he can’t blow up like this with his members since they’re all older, and that’s why the two of them are so close with being the only two youngest in the company.

After a moment of silence passed between the two of them, Chan let out a deep breath as he turned towards Evelyn in his seat.

“Eunji, I’m sorry I got angry-,” She looked over at him as he sucked on the inside of his cheek, “It’s just hard and it’s hard to talk to the hyungs about it when they’re all on the same page about most things.”

“It’s okay Channie,” Evelyn looked down at her shoes with a smile, nodding in agreement, “That’s why we have each other! We have to stick together through this right? It’s the only way we can make it through.”

“You’re right!”

“Soonyoung-Oppa is trying his hardest, you all are,” She tried to reason, wanting to keep the topic open to talk Chan through what she was also thinking, “He wants you guys to be so successful one day and I know you guys work really hard and I’m rooting for you to have a great debut in the future.”

Evelyn’s words made a big grin break across Chan’s face, his anger from before seemingly vanished at the mention of his group, “You’re gonna debut so big too! How cool is it that our groups are gonna debut? We’ll have to collab on a stage in the future!”

“That’ll be so much fun!” Evelyn gushed as they went back to swinging, waiting on Chan’s older members to arrive.

“Ugh I’m starving,” Chan drops his head down as his stomach rumbles with hunger, using his feet to push himself backwards on the swing again before letting himself swing forward, “Where are the hyungs anyway? This is so annoying, they said they’d be here by now.”

“I’m sure they’ll be here soon.” Evelyn tried to sound hopeful even though she was growing quite hungry as well. On the occasion, Chan’s older members would secretly buy the two of them a snack and they ate it on the way to the company, making sure to take the long way back so they had time to finish the food.

Evelyn bit the inside of her cheek as an idea popped into her head, quickly standing up from her seat and crouching down by her backpack. Chan watched curiously as she unzipped the main pocket and dug around for a few moments before grinning back at him. She raised her arm high in the sky and he followed her movements, jumping off of the swing when he noticed the money in her hand.

“Where did you even get that?” His eyes grew in size as she brought her hand down so the two of them could inspect the money closely. It was only a few dollars worth but it was more than she thought she had.

“Minji-Unnie gave me some money for-,” She used her fingers to air quote, mimicking Minji’s lower voice, “-For emergencies only.”

“I consider this a dire emergency.”

“Remember the last time though, the company found out we were eating and scolded us to no end.” Evelyn frowned at the memory. She never liked being in trouble and ever since moving to Korea, it felt like that’s all she seemed to do.

“If we eat it here we should be fine,” Chan tried to reason with her, his stomach rumbling in hunger again and Evelyn’s right after, almost like they were talking to each other. She hesitated at first but nodded her head in agreement. Chan looked behind them, pointing down the street at the convenience store on the corner.

“I can grab us a ramen and we can share it so it won’t be too much food, any requests?”

“Mmm, make it a surprise,” She grinned as she handed the money over to the antsy boy, a laugh falling from her lips as she watched him speed walk down the road to the convenience store.

Walking back to her seat on the swing set, she rocked back and forth on her heels again, going back to her people and car watching. The sound of her phone ringing broke her out of her trance, reaching over and grabbing her phone. The brightness in her eyes matched the excitement in her voice when she saw who was calling her.

“Hiya Gram,” She pressed the phone to her ear, holding onto the swing by its metal chains with her other hand.

“Hello my Sweet Pea.”

She could honestly cry after hearing her Grandmother’s voice after she hadn’t in such a long time. As trainees, they weren’t given many opportunities to speak to their loved ones and if they were, they were always heavily monitored by the staff. The female trainees were allowed back their phones for having such good evaluations last month so of course she was elated that her grandmother had decided to call now.

“Are you having lunch now? Don’t tell me you snuck out of class to talk to me young lady,” Her motherly tone caused Evelyn to bust out into a fit of giggles picturing the look of concern on her face. Evelyn shook her head even though she knew she couldn’t see it.

“Of course not! School ended early today and Channie and I went to the little playground next door. You remember Lee Chan right? One of the male trainees from my company that’s my age?” Evelyn twisted her head to look down the road to see if Chan was coming back, settling back on the swing when she saw no sight of him.

“I do remember you telling me about him, he’s a little cutie,” Her grandmother hummed on the other side of the line. Evelyn could hear the faintness of water running and knew that she was outside watering her flowers in the back garden. “How has your training been going? Are they treating you well?”

“Good actually! We’ve got our evaluations next week and I’ve been practicing on a song for that and we’ve also been doing a lot of stuff with the group!” Evelyn’s face lit up at mentioning her group. She loves those girls and even though she was the youngest of them, she would do anything and everything for them. She glanced down at her arm and decided to omit the part about the staff grabbing her, knowing that her grandmother would’ve been on the first flight out to Korea to come give them hell.

“I’m glad to hear it,” She could hear her grandmother smile into the phone, the sound of the hose shutting off in the background indicating she was down watering her flowers, “I can’t wait to meet the girls, they sound like such lovely people. Are you excited to be a group?”

“Well, we’re not technically a group yet. New trainees can be added at any time but-,” The memory of the girls meeting for the first time and everyone acting like they had known each other for years and how welcoming everyone was instantly flooded her mind, “Yeah, I am super excited!”

“I was worried about sending you out there by yourself but it seems to me like you’re in good hands,” Her grandmother makes a pause, taking in a deep breath as she gathers up her thoughts, “Sweet Pea, I’ve got to talk to you about something, something really important.”

“Hmm?” Evelyn frowned slightly at the sudden change of her tone. She was always such a cheerful and positive lady that whenever her voice shifted into this more serious side, she knew something had to be up.

“I know you were too young to remember this but a long time ago during one of my doctor appointments, they had found little masses on one of my lungs and I had went through some treatments to have them removed,” She paused to let Evelyn understand what she was saying, “Well, I just came back from an appointment yesterday and I’m going to go ahead and tell you that it was not the best of news.”

“Are you okay? What’s wrong?” Evelyn’s eyebrows pinched together in confusion, resting her head against the metal chain of the swing trying to process what was being said to her. She dragged her foot back and forth through the dirt waiting on a response back. Her poor white school shoes now the faintest shade of beige.

“Sweet Pea, there’s no easier way to tell you this-,” She hesitated on the other side of the phone, taking in a deep breath and letting it out, “The doctors have discovered a form of cancer growing in my right lung. It’s small but it was big enough that they were able to detect it.”

Tears welled up in Evelyn’s eyes as she bit her bottom lip to stop it from quivering, “D-Do I need to fly home? I-I think if I ask the company they’ll let me-.”

“Don’t you even think about it,” Her grandmother’s voice was soft yet firm, stopping Evelyn from speaking, “You stay there, I’ll be okay here Sweet Pea. The doctor is confident that we can keep it under control with treatment to ensure that I can keep on going like I always have been, okay?”

A single tear traveled down her cheek slowly as she sat in silence, the words from her grandmother sinking in one by one. Her grandmother has….cancer? Why now, why here, why at all? It felt like she was being hit with a thousand bricks all at once with this news.

“B-But you’ll be alone.”

“Sweet Pea, I’ve got plenty of support here,” Her grandmother reasoned with her. Her support system consisted only of her best friend, who Evelyn had grown to call Auntie June, living a few doors down from their house. Evelyn pulled the phone away briefly so she could choke back on a struggling to escape cry, not wanting to worry her grandmother anymore that she probably was. She always hated whenever Evelyn was upset at any point in time no matter what the situation was.

“It’s getting late out here Sweet Pea. It’s the weekend tomorrow right and then you’re off for a few days, I’ll give you a call then okay?” Evelyn could tell that her grandmother was getting tired from the yawning that she was struggling to hold onto, “I love you so much Sweet Pea, to the moon and back again.”

Evelyn hesitated, her bottom lip tucked in between her teeth as she nodded even though she knows that she wouldn’t be able to see it, “I love you too, to the moon and back again.” She managed to sniffle before her finger clicked the line dead and that’s when she dropped her head, clutching her phone to her chest.

“Eunji, guess who I ran into coming out of the store-,” Chan’s laugh echoed around the stone wall but was cut short when he saw the state of Evelyn. She couldn’t bring herself to look up from where she was staring blankly at the ground when the cluster of boys rushed closer to the swing set. A figure was quick to crouch down in front of her and he hesitated before grabbing her hand in his much larger one.

“Eunji-ah, what’s wrong?” Seungcheol rubbed his thumb gently across the rough skin of her knuckles. She kept her gaze down at the dirt as a shallow breath got caught in her throat, another set of droplets fell from her eyes and splashed down onto the skirt of her uniform.

Seungcheol looked back at where Chan and Jun were off to the side with a slight frown, Chan clutched the grocery bag in his hands, moving his shoulders up into a shrug as the unsettling feeling started to set in. She was all happy and smiley before he had left and now it’s the complete opposite. Jun had moved forward until he was just behind Evelyn, a small touch to her back to let her know that he was there. He didn’t know her to the same lengths that Seungcheol or Chan did, but he cared for her just as much as he did his own members.

A moment of silence passed between the small group, the only sounds being made were those of passing by cars on the road or the subtle sniffles Evelyn was letting out trying her best not to break down. The three boys looked around at each other, Seungcheol looking down at his watch seeing that it was inching closer and closer towards practice time. He went against his brain telling them to start heading towards the company, deciding that this was way more important and he would take the heat later for all of them being late. It wasn’t until a quiet voice broke them out of the silence, bringing their attention back onto Evelyn.

“I wanna go home.”

Seungcheol readjusted the pressure on his knees from crouching, gripping her shaking hand a little tighter, “Eunji-ah? I can take you back to the dorm if-”

But she shook her head quickly, cutting Seungcheol off from speaking any further. Evelyn bit the inside of her cheek as she couldn’t hide the whimper in her voice any longer. The tears streamed freely down her cheeks as she looked up at him for the first time since he had arrived in front of her, watery brown eyes meeting his worried ones.

“I wanna go home Oppa,” Evelyn choked out a sob before falling off the swing and into Seungcheol’s arms, knocking him backwards onto the dirt. She wrapped her hands tightly around his torso before burying her face into the crease of his neck, tears soaking through his shirt. Seungcheol held onto her tight, sharing a look with his members full of concern and worry for what’s happened to her.

#ficnetfairy #cafemilk-tea: evelyn #kpop addition #kpop oc #seventeen oc #idol!oc #14th member of seventeen #oc!idol #fake kpop idol #fake kpop oc #fake kpop addition #seventeen added member #svt.chanlyn #svt.cheolyn #svt.huive

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fandomgirlz01 · 2 months

Text

This Can’t Be The End Pt. 4

Nick Stokes X Reader

Imagine on my fandom Instagram?: No

Prompt or Request or Requested Prompt?: No

Style of Writing: Series

Rating: PG-13 ~ For fluff and cuteness, but more adult commentary or even some triggering content.

Edited: Yes

Word count: 5,812

Post Date & Time: August 4th 2024 at 11: 44 PM

Ko-fi

Masterlist

Warnings here

Listen to the story be read out loud here {coming soon}.

Summary: Based off of S5 Es24 & 25 When Nick gets kidnapped, the reader is forced to fear the worst for her husband as she and the team work the case with hopes of bringing him home safe.

Y/n’s Pov:

My eyes shoot open and I immediately sit up. I frown when I see where I am, not fully remembering how I got here. Thinking over where I remember being last, I deduce that Warrick must have brought me in here after I fell asleep.

“Did you hear they thought they found Nick only for it to actually be a dog?” Isadora, one of the other team members, asks as she leans into another from her team.

“No. What kind of dog was it?” Marcela questions in an interested tone as they keep talking like they don’t know I’m here.

“It was a Dalmatian. I hear Warrick's going over the box now,” Isadora continues on and I just listen as carefully as I can.

“Did the dog survive?” Marcela asks and Isadora shakes her head.

“Awe, that's sad. Poor dog. People are so cruel nowadays,” Marcela croons and Isadora nods.

“Yeah. Apparently Warrick lost it,” Marcela comments as she takes a sip of her drink and Isadora shrugs.

“I mean, can you blame him? That’s his team member out there,” Isadora comments back.

“Yeah, his sexy team mate,” Marcela adds on with a bounce of her eyebrows and I roll my eyes.

“Marcela, dear. He’s married,” Isadora tells her with a raised eyebrow and small chuckle of amusement.

“Doesn’t mean I can’t like him from afar,” Marcela comments with a shrug and Isadora laughs.

“I’m pretty sure it means that you can’t, but what about Warrick? He’s pretty hot too,” Isadora asks and Marcela waves her off.

“He's married too, remember? Not to mention he’s got a temper. Guys with tempers aren’t always good to have around,” Marcela explains and I roll my eyes again.

Finally I can’t take it anymore, not wanting to hear people gossip about how hot my husband or brother figure is when Nick’s out there somewhere, fighting to come home to me. I push myself up off the couch and hear gasps, making me turn to look at the two women before me. They each give me sorrowful yet horrified looks.

“Oh my gosh. Y/n, we are so sorry. We didn’t know you were there,” Isadora apologizes and I shrug ‘as if that makes it better that you were just gossiping about me… and the people who matter most to me,’ I think as I hold back a roll of my eyes.

“It’s fine, really. Uhh, I’m going to find Warrick. Do you know what lab he’s in?” I ask, starting to fidget as an uncomfortable feeling washes over me.

“Oh, yeah. I think I heard he’s in lab 345,” Isadora answers me and I nod.

“Thanks. I’ll, uhh, see you girls around,” I reply as I give them a small wave before turning and leaving in search of Warrick.

For the millionth time in the last few days I find myself walking down all the many hallways again. I walk past every lab as I look for the one that Warrick supposedly is in. I pass each lab and look at each number of labs before coming to a stop in front of 345.

When I come to a stop I see Warrick inside working on a big clear plexiglass box. With a sigh, I open the door and walk in as he continues to work. I watch him for a few minutes as he picks a few parts up and inspects them.

After a few minutes, I walk over to him and hug him from behind. He tenses for a moment before turning around and hugging me back.

“What’s up, mamas?” he asks and I blink back a few tears.

“I overheard a few of the others talking about what happened while I was asleep. They told me where you were and I came to find you,” I tell him and he sighs, nodding.

“I swear I came to tell you after it happened, but you finally looked semi-peaceful. You needed the sleep,” he explains and I nod my understanding.

“Don’t worry, B, I get it. Really. I do,” I promise him and he lets out a puff of air.

“Good. I thought you were going to be mad at me,” he comments and I purse my lips.

“Now doesn’t really feel like the time for anger,” I whisper out and he chuckles.

“Only you. Y/n. Only you. You get angry once, then never again even when you’re going through something bad,” he replies in astonishment and I shrug.

“Mind if I keep you company while you finish this up? It’s a lot better than hearing all the gossip about my husband,” I try to playfully joke, but it comes out sounding more half-hearted than anything and he sighs.

“You want me to go tell em’ what for?” he asks and I pause.

“As nice as that sounds… I’d rather you be here working on trying to find Nicky,” I reply and he smiles softly as I sit down.

“In that case, hang out here all you want, mamas,” he agrees and I give him a soft thankful smile before he turns around to get back to work.

He picks over what seems to be the fan that would supply the air once again before taking it apart. He puts down the tube that was connected to it before picking up his flashlight and looking down the opening of the fan itself. Then he takes the tube off of where it’s connected to the box and looks through the hole that was left from removing it.

“So I, ahh… heard you lost it out there,” I speak up as he moves around the box.

“Uhh, yeah. You weren’t supposed to know that…” he tells me as he takes the grate off the other side of the hole.

“It’s ok, you know? It’s ok you lost it,” I sympathize with him as he continues to look over the area of the box.

“No. It’s not ok. It took time off from finding Nick. I should’ve kept my head level,” he plays it off and I shake my head.

“Rick. He’s like family to you just as much as he is family to me. It’s understandable that you'd lose it. I mean, I lost it on you earlier,” I again sympathize with him and he sighs as he continues to work on the box.

“You didn’t exactly lose it, mamas. You got a little angry, there’s a difference,” he dismisses me again and I roll my eyes.

“I bit your head off. There really isn’t a difference,” I pointedly tell him as I cross my arms and he nods.

“Ok. Ok. You win,” he reluctantly agrees as he now grabs a battery and starts using the wires connected to the box, trying to see how they hook up.

Once he has it hooked up, the light turns on as well as the fan. He looks over it as the meter he has connected to it counts up higher and higher. He picks up the fan and looks at it before looking at the meter.

“Damn it,” he mutters as he puts the fan down with a sigh.

“What?” I ask him and he pauses.

“I think we need to find Catherine,” he says and I jump as he walks over to the phone.

He stands there with the phone to his ear and he waits for her to answer. When she does, he talks to her for a moment before looking over at me and moving the speaker from his mouth.

“Catherine wants you to go to the computer lab. Says Grissom needs you,” he tells me and I sigh before standing up.

“I’m on my way,” I tell him as I pass him and he goes back to talking to her.

Third Person Pov:

Gil, Archie and Sarah sit in the computer lab watching Nick, who now pulls out a recorder and holds it up to mouth to talk into it. Gil, who knows how to read lips, now decides to read Nick’s as he talks.

“My name is Nick Stokes. If anyone… finds this tape, turn it in to the Las Vegas… PD. There should be a reward…” he starts and Gil watches with sad eyes as he sits up a bit more.

“Mom. Sisko… y/n….” Gil reads Nick’s lips and decides to start writing what Nick is saying.

“Hey Sara, would you call Catherine and have her send y/n here?” he asks her as he keeps his eyes focused on what Nick is saying.

“Yeah. Ok,” Sara agrees as she picks up the phone and calls Catherine.

“…well, this is a lousy way to say goodbye, but it’s all I got,” Nick continues on and Grissom keeps his eyes trained on the screen as he writes.

“I love you. You raised me right… and I’m going to miss you,” Nick says into the recorder, getting choked up with every word.

“Y/n. I’m so sorry I can’t be with you, sweetheart, and our future child. I love you most and I’ll miss you the most too. P… promise me you’ll go on that trip I promised you, even if I’m not there to take it with you. Promise me you’ll find someone to look after you…” Nick goes on saying his goodbyes, only getting more choked up and stuttering every few minutes.

As he goes on, Grissom’s eyes widen at the mention of a child, but he quickly plays it off.

“As for the rest of you guys. I know you did the best you could to find me and get me home to my beautiful wife,” he continues on as Grissom continues to read his lips.

“Grissom…” he starts and that’s when Grissom stops writing it down, focusing on what he’s saying to him.

“No, you never did, Nick,” Grissom sighs as he replies to Nick out loud.

He continues to watch as Nick cries, but soon he starts to freak out. Grissom watches carefully as confusion washes over him.

“He’s going into convolutions. He’s losing it!” Sara comments just as y/n walks in.

Y/n walks over to Grissom, who spares her a quick look before watching alongside her as Nick seems to be thrashing around. Y/n lets out a breath as she closes her eyes, not being able to watch it anymore.

“What’s going on?!” Sara voices her exact thoughts as they continue to watch.

“Wha…?” Grissom goes to ask, but pauses when he sees it.

“Wait a minute…” he says in realization as he picks up his mouse to zoom in on Nick.

“Ants…” Grissom confirms what he zooms in on, making y/n open her eyes.

“My God, he’s being eaten alive,” Grissom observes as they all watch the ants in the box with him.

Together they all watch in sadness as he withers around, just trying anything to get the ants away and not succeeding. He pulls a glove out of his pocket and uses it to stuff up his nose.

“That’s it, Nicky… stay still… they won’t bite. As much,” Grissom proudly says before looking up at y/n.

“I have something for you,” he tells the girl and she arches an eyebrow.

He folds up the paper and hands it to her, making more confusion wash over her. He smiles softly and reassuringly at her.

“These ants could help us find him, but in the meantime, I think you should hear what he had to say to you,” Grissom tells her as he sets a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

“T…Thanks,” she whispers out as she takes the paper before turning to leave and head back to Warrick.

“Oh and y/n. Congratulations,” he replies, making her turn around and look at him.

He gives her a small knowing smile and she can’t help but to just smile back. She gives him a small ‘thank you,’ in response with a nod before fully turning and walking back to where she’d left Warrick.

Y/n’s Pov:

I start back to the lab Warrick is in before making a split second decision to go into the locker room instead. I quickly look around just to make sure I’m alone and when I find that I am I sigh as I take a seat on the bench. I hold the paper Grissom gave me and I go to open it, but pause.

I take a deep breath before trying to open it again, but again I fail. Tears of frustration make their way to my face and I sigh as I try to hold them back. With one last puff of air, I open the paper to read over it.

“My name is Nick Stokes. If anyone… finds this tape, turn it in to the Las Vegas… PD. There should be a reward…” is the first line I read and a gasp leaves my lips.

“Mom. Sisko… y/n….” Is the next line and a tear falls as I suck in a breath.

I quickly close the paper for a moment as more and more tears build up. I take a moment to let my tears fall before reopening the paper and continuing on with sniffles.

“…well, this is a lousy way to say goodbye, but it’s all I got,” I read and a choked sound leaves my throat as I put my other hand over my mouth.

“I love you. You raised me right… and I’m going to miss you,” more tears fall as my lip starts to tremble and I take another pause before starting to read again.

“Y/n. I’m so sorry I can’t be with you, sweetheart, and our future child. I love you most and I’ll miss you the most too. P… promise me you’ll go on that trip I promised you even if I’m not there to take it with you. Promise me you’ll find someone to look after you…” by the end I’m fully sobbing as I hold the paper close to my chest.

I sit there for a good few minutes before sobering up and wiping at my face. I sigh softly before getting up from the bench and standing in front of my locker. I pause a moment as I look at Nick’s locker that Grissom so nicely assigned right next to mine on our first day.

I quickly shake my head and bite my lip before opening my locker. I set the note lightly on the shelf and stand frozen for a moment before closing it. With a very heavy breath, I open Nick’s locker.

It’s then I let out another very harsh breath when I see the sonogram he has tucked under his jeans:

I read the top where Nick had nicely written out: baby Stokes 9 weeks with a small smiley face. I quickly slide it back under and close the locker. With another heavy sigh, I walk over to the sink and wash my face with cold water.

“He’ll be home. He will be,” I whisper down to my stomach before standing straight again.

I look myself over and sigh once more before walking out of the locker room. I walk back to where I had left Warrick and find Greg, Catherine, and Hodges in the room with him.

“This has got to be a prototype. It was probably built to test how long he could keep somebody alive inside,” Catherine observes out loud as she walks around the box with her flashlight.

“Hi, mamas. You doing ok?” Warrick asks me when he sees me come up next to him.

I keep quiet with my arms wrapping themselves around my stomach and I shake my head. Warrick finally catches sight of my eyes and sighs before pulling me into his side.

“Now, what are those?” Hodges questions as he bends down and points to something underneath the box, making Greg, who’s under it, pause to look at him.

“I don’t know,” Greg replies and Hodges seems to understand that it was a stupid question as he stands up.

“All right,” Warrick speaks up, getting all of our attention as he straightens up a bit, keeping me in a side hug.

“Based on this battery and what’s running off of it,” Warrick starts to explain, but pauses for a moment as if thinking over how to explain it better while glancing at me as he hesitates.

“And the fact that we kept the damn light on for as long as we did,” he continues to explain, pausing again as he takes in a big breath.

“I figure Nick’s got another 90 minutes left in there,” he concludes and I take in a harsh breath as reality slowly starts to set in even more.

It goes quiet for a moment, but Warrick lifts his arm with his watch and pulls it up past my face to set it with the hand he has around my neck still. He pulls it away and I see the watch says 1:30 on it.

“So this is it… I’m going to lose my husband…” I whisper out before sinking to the floor, but Warrick quickly grabs hold of me, slowing me down so I don’t hurt myself.

“No, no. We’re going to find him, mamas. I promised. When do I not keep my promises?” Warrick asks, but I don’t reply as I shake my head in denial and a million thoughts fly through my head.

“Y/n. Hey. Y/n. It’s going to be okay!” Catherine shouts a bit and it’s only then I realize I’m having a panic attack.

“Damn, she’s having a panic attack. Greg, go get some water, Hodges, go inform Grissom,” Catherine commands before she bends down in front of me.

Both Greg and Hodges nod, eyes wide with worry before rushing out. Warrick now sits with my back against his side as I try to breathe.

“Ok. Y/n. Honey, breath with me,” she commands me softly as she shows me how to breathe.

“Ok. In… and out… just like that,” she couches me and my breath starts to slow down, but still not where it should be.

“Ok. I’m going to have you do the five senses, ok?” she asks me softly and I nod at her.

“Ok. What do you feel?” she questions and she holds up her hand for me.

“I… I… I feel your hand a…a..and Warrick behind m…m…me,” I stutter out and she nods with a small smile.

“Good. Good. Now what do you see?” she asks and I look around.

“I see that evil b…b…box,” I tell her and she nods.

“Ok… bad place to ask that. Let’s just move on. What do you hear?” she asks and I shake my head, closing my eyes.

“I h…hear you and Warrick,” I tell her and she nods encouragingly when I reopen my eyes.

“Ok. Now taste,” she inquires and my eyebrows knit together.

“Umm, nothing. I haven’t eaten anything for a while,” I tell her in confusion and she just smiles at me.

“Panic attack averted. Here, drink this,” she comments as she holds a water out to me and it’s only then I realize Greg had come back.

“Thank you guys,” I tell them and they all smile softly at me.

“Anytime y-” Catherine starts, but she gets cut off when Hodges comes rushing back in.

Nick’s Pov:

♪ It was Christmas in Las Vegas,

when the locals take the town ♪

♪ Theresa hit a streak And laid her waitress apron down She’d been playing penny poker over at the old gold spike she’s won at Texas hold ‘em So she switched to let it ride ♪

I sing softly to myself to try and keep calm. Thinking of the lyrics rather than the situation I’m in and how much y/n must be scared.

The singing doesn’t get my mind off of things for long and soon I find myself thinking of just getting home again. I think about just wanting to sit and watch a movie from the red box with y/n again. I’m soon pulled from my thoughts though when there’s a shifting sound.

I grab another one of the glow sticks and pop it, making it come to life as the creaking noise gets louder.

“Hey! I’m, in here!” I yell out as I hit the plexiglass in hopes that I’m being saved.

“Hey!” I continue to yell, my voice cracking as I keep hitting the plexiglass.

♪ It was Christmas in Las Vegas,

when the locals take the town ♪

♪ Theresa hit a streak And laid her waitress apron down… ♪

I start to sing as loudly as I can again, but my breath slowly fails and my head falls back down as I realize nobody’s here. It’s only a few minutes later when a loud crack sound starts and I see the plexiglass start to crack slowly up the sides of the box. I keep the glow stick low as I breathe hard while watching it crack more and more.

“Stop… no, no,” I whisper out as I put my hand up to the plexiglass.

“Oh, my God,” I whisper out in fear the more it cracks with no signs of stopping. Soon dirt starts to break those and my feet are under a mountain of it.

Third Person Pov:

Once the ant crawls farther into view Grissom hits the print button and as soon as the picture of the screen prints he’s ripping it off the printer. Gil quickly rushes to his office and looks through all the books he has. Soon he’s pulling one from the shelf and flips through it till it lands on the page he’s looking for.

He pauses when he thinks he’s found it before picking up the screen shot to look at the ant again.

“Solenopsis invicta,” Grissom says out loud to himself as he confirms what kind of ant it is.

Y/n’s Pov:

“Grissom’s got something. He wants us all in evidence meeting room 4 now,” he rushes out as he stands against the door frame, panting for air.

“We’re on our way. Warrick, you got her?” Catherine asks as she looks behind me.

“Yeah. Yeah. Go. We’ll meet you guys there,” he promises and she nods before reaching out for me.

I grab her hand and she gives mine a firm squeeze. She gives a tight lipped smile before getting up and heading out of the lab. Greg bends down and puts a hand on my shoulder.

“Hang in there, y/n. Nick’s coming home,” he tells me as he squeezes my shoulder before getting up to follow Hodges and Catherine.

Warrick sits with me for a moment as I continue to just calm down. Once my breathing is fully back to normal, Warrick gets up.

“Ok. Slowly. Slowly,” Warrick tells me as he helps me up alongside him.

“Thank you, B…” I say when we’re both standing and I squeeze his forearm as I give him a light smile.

“Anytime, mamas. You know that,” he tells me as he smiles back at me.

I sigh and hold a hand to my head as I start to feel a little tired. Warrick chuckles lightly, making me look up at him in confusion.

“Tired?” he asks me and I huff at his obvious jokeful tone.

“I’m beat, but I’m not sleeping till Nick’s right next to me,” I answer his question and he smiles, shaking his head.

“I wouldn’t have guessed or suggested anything else, mamas,” he tells me as he holds his hands up in surrender, making me finally laugh for the first time since all of this happened.

“Oh please, you so would have,” I comment with a roll of my eyes and he chuckles.

“Maybe I would have, maybe not. Come on. Let’s go find your husband,” he tells me and I smile up at him as he wraps an arm around my shoulder.

Together we walk to meet up with everyone else in evidence room 4. They all rush around getting stuff ready and just Warrick and I walk in, Grissom rushes in. Warrick and I stand off to the side as he keeps his arm around me.

“They’re fire ants, very rare in Nevada. They don’t like our soil. The only places you find them around Vegas are in plant and tree nurseries,” Grissom announces as he walks around the table to where Catherine is sitting at a computer.

Warrick lets go of me before making me sit in the chair Catherine just abandoned. He starts to look at a stack of papers Catherine just printed and crosses off places not in the search grid.

“There’s 11 nurseries in the greater Las Vegas area!” Catherine adds on what she found from a quick search.

“Okay, I’ve got the webcam trace down to here,” Archie speaks next as he circles the area he narrowed it down to on the map and Warrick starts crossing things off his list.

“And the data from the black box in Walter Gordon’s truck gave us a 23-mile travel radius,” Greg adds on as he too circles his findings on the map, making the circles overlap ever so slightly.

“Okay, I’ve got two nurseries within the overlap area. Here! And here!” Warrick announces as he walks up to the table and draws two x’s over the spots.

“Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Kelly Gordon, the daughter, worked with plants,” Sara explains and we all look at her.

“Hold on. Hold on,” Sara says before she rushes out of the room, making us all wait about a minute before she comes running back in with a file in her hand.

“Hey guys, Nick is here,” she says as she points to the x on the left that Warrick had drawn.

“Well, pack up everyone, let’s go! I’ll call the owner and talk to him on the way,” Grissom exclaims and I jump up as everyone starts rushing out of the room.

“Hey. Maybe you should stay here,” Warrick tells me and I immediately shake my head.

“If you think for one minute that I’m sitting back here while you all go find my husband, you're dead wrong, B,” I reply and he sighs as he pinches the bridge of his nose.

“Mama, we don’t know what-” he starts but gets cut off.

“Let her come, Warrick. She’s allowed to,” Grissom interrupts with a soft smile my way.

“What! But-” Warrick starts, but stops when Grissom just nods at him.

“Ok… fine. At least wear your vest? Just in case,” Warrick tells me and I nod at him.

“If it’ll make you feel better for me too, I will. I’ll meet you at your car,” I promise him with a firm nod before rushing off to the locker room.

Once in the locker room, I come to stop in front of my locker and quickly open it. I grab my vest out before slamming it shut once again. I quickly strap my vest around me before rushing back out of the locker room and down the many, many hallways.

I rush out into the parking garage and I stop to watch as Grissom and Sara drive past me with their cars' emergency lights on. Once they pass, I run over to Warrick's car and hop into the passenger side. He quickly turns his lights on before pulling out of the parking space.

Soon before I know it, we’re pulling up on location and I see that almost half our police fleet are here, making relief wash over me as sirens blare all around me. Grissom’s car is just in front of us and I hold on as Warrick takes the turn into the nursery drive. We follow Grissom all the way up the drive and come to a stop next to his car.

Grissom gets out of his car and I yank my seatbelt off to follow after him. He meets up with the owner at the front of his car just as I come up beside him.

“You said on the phone you had a fire ant mound. Where is it?” he asks as he and the owner get close to one another.

“People usually prefer to stay away from it,” the owner comments as he turns and starts to lead us all over to it. We all stop pointing our flashlights at the mound as Grissom stops and looks at it for a moment.

“All right, look. Fan out. Look for loose soil. Anything that might’ve been dug up recently,” Grissom commands and we all rush off.

We all fan out like he said, officers all going in different directions. I stick by Warrick as we walk briskly while searching the ground with our lights. Everyone looks for a few minutes, but nothing seems remotely the littlest bit off.

“Hey! I’m picking up the webcam transmitter!” We hear Catherine yell out and I look at Warrick.

“She’s got something! Move, move!” An officer yells out and I smile.

“We found him, B… we really found him,” I excitedly say and Warrick smiles, nodding.

“Come on, mama. We’re close,” he agrees with a smile as we both pick up and start to jog to where Catherine is.

Soon we come up behind her and she slows down to look around. We slow down too and help in looking around with our lights. She turns to her left and continues walking until she almost trips over something, making her turn back.

She turns around and shines her light on what she tripped on, only to find a tube sticking out of the ground. She pauses a moment before turning and walking a little further only to find another tube. Her monitor picks up in its beeping and I look at Warrick as she bends down to the ground.

She drops her light and the monitor before she starts to dig around frantically with her hands. She finds what seems to be a clear bag of sorts and she rips off her glove, making it fall back to the floor.

“This is it!! I found it!!” she screams out as she scrambles to pick the bag back up and open it.

“It’s here! I found it! This is it!” she screams out again as she looks over the remote.

“Nick!” she shouts into the pipe as everyone else races over to us.

“Nick… we’re here. We’re all here! Hang on! Nicky!” she shouts into the pipe as officers run over with shovels and Warrick takes one.

They all start to shovel at the ground and Catherine wraps an arm around me as she holds her flashlight up with the other. We all watch with bated breath as they continue to pull dirt from the earth.

Nick’s Pov:

“Nicky!” I think I hear Catherine, but decide it’s just my mind playing tricks on me for the millionth time.

I feel more and more of the ants biting at me and I groan as my heart starts to pound harder. I close my eyes, but open them when there’s a click sound. It’s then I see Doc Robbins and David looking down at me before he sighs and shakes his head in sorrow.

“It’s a damn shame they didn’t get to him sooner,” Robbins says as he continues to look down at me.

“I sure will miss him,” David comments and it’s quiet for a moment.

“You know, David, I’ve seen fire ant bites in my time, but never anything like this,” Robbins tells David as he lifts my hand to inspect it.

“Do you think he suffered?” David asks as he cocks his head to the side.

“Do I think he suffered?” Doc Robbins parrots before pausing.

“Yes. Definitely,” he finishes and I try to yell, but nothing will come out.

I close my eyes before opening them again to the sound of laughter. I watch as they still stand over me, laughing.

“All right, on three,” Robbins says before pausing.

“Uno…” David starts off. “Dos…” Robbins jumps in. Tres!” They both yell out and all of a sudden Bob Newworth starts to play.

“All right. Would you care to do the ‘y’ incision?” Robbins asks David and there's an audible shing sound.

“Well ‘y’ not?” David asks as he takes the meat cleaver that passed over me and all I can do is watch.

There’s a few audible crack sounds and a lot of slouchy sounds before Doc Robbins is getting out a chainsaw. He puts the chainsaw down before looking back at me. There’s another crack as he rips my ribs from my body only to toss them aside.

“He won’t be needing this anymore,” he comments as he passes my liver to David.

“Nice!” he says as he pulls more from my body and my eyebrows knit together in confusion.

“A lung,” Doc Robbins says as he passes that over me to David as well.

Then all of a sudden my father stands over me across from Doc Robbins. He clasps his hands and gives a deadpan look.

“So Doc… how did my son die? Anaphylactic shock?” he asks Doc Robbins, who chuckles.

“No, no, he didn’t live long enough for that. COD was asphyxiation,” Doc Robbins answers in a very cheerful tone.

“Oh!” My dad says in almost awe and I just watch on in confusion.

“When the blood oxygen drops to less than 16% and the CO2 builds up there’s a rapid loss of consciousness. Death within minutes. With no disfiguring physical findings,” Doc Robbins explains in a cheery tone.

“He’ll look great at the funeral,” my father comments with no hint of sadness in his voice. “Oh. Yes,” Robbins agrees.

“His mother will appreciate that as well as his wife,” my father comments again and Robbins gives a small “good” In response.

Robbins then reaches into my open chest and rips my heart out. He holds it up and it sounds like it’s still beating.

“Your son had a good heart,” Robbins says before slapping it down into my fathers hand.

Suddenly my eyes fly open and find I’m still in the box with ants still crawling all over me. I let out the smallest puff of air as I fight the feeling of the ants biting me. I close my eyes again and try to think of something, anything more pleasant. My mind wanders and I see an image of me at a counter holding a little girl:

“I love you Daddy,” she whispers into my ear as she lays her head against my shoulder and I lay mine against hers. My eyes fly open once more and more tears fall as my lip trembles my fight to get out renewed.

To Be Continued…

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#nick stokes imagine #nick stokes x reader #nick stokes fanfiction #nick stokes imagines #csi imagines #csi imagine #csi #csi vegas #This Can't Be The End #TCBTE #fandomgirlz01 #this can't be the end

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luvfae · 1 year

Note

And another request for Graham with no. 1 (one bed), no. 10 (friends to lovers) & no. 15 (sexual tension) as smut, please :) could be something like them having to share a bed at the house, because the reader is scared and can’t sleep alone…or there are no other options for her to sleep etc. (whatever you think fits best), thank you x

THUNDER

1: only one bed

10: friends to lovers

15: sexual tension

fandom: daisy jones & the six

parings: graham dunne x f reader

warnings: smut, p in v, swearing

It was storming out, the roaring sound of thunder mixing with the heavy rain that tapped against your window. Lightening painted the sky white. You were terrified of storms, you always had been, which is why you were wide awake, sitting up in bed.

You attempted to turn the lights on, only to discover the power was out. You couldn’t handle it anymore, being in this dark room all alone so you stood up and walked into the hallway. You couldn’t hear anyone downstairs and everyone’s doors were shut, meaning everyone was asleep for the night.

A loud crack of thunder made you gasp and you headed for the closest room to yours. Graham’s. You didn’t even knock, you simply just threw the door open, startling Graham.

“Y/N?” He asked, sitting up and looking at the time. It was nearing 2am. “Are you okay?”

“I’m scared of storms,” you whispered. Graham chuckled softly, pulling his blankets back.

“Come on,” he said, patting the empty space beside him and you were quick to join him, laying down and letting him throw the covers over you. “I’ll protect you from the storm.”

“Thank you,” you smiled, rolling around so you were facing him. You were definitely closest with Graham out of the entire band. You spend almost every waking second with him, whether you were sitting in silence together or laughing your asses off. Graham was your best friend.

But you had never laid this close to him. Another bang of thunder made you whimper and Graham instinctively wrapped an arm around you, pulling you close. You could feel his breath against your nose, making your skin heat up.

You could cut the sexual tension with a knife. It had always been there, but the pair of you were good at ignoring it. Your friendship with Graham meant the world to you and you didn’t want to risk losing him by giving in to your dirty thoughts.

But right now, laying here with him so close, it was hard to ignore.

“Distract me?” You whispered, your hands moving to rest on his chest. Graham hummed, wondering what you were asking of him. You closed your eyes, pushing your lips against his softly, testing the waters.

Graham didn’t push you away, he was taken by surprise, but eventually he too closed his eyes. You deepened the kiss, your hands gripping around the fabric of his shirt.

Graham’s tongue ran over your bottom lip and you opened your mouth, letting his tongue explore. Your hands moved from their grip on his shirt down to his boxers, your fingers quick to tear them down his legs, letting his already hard dick spring free.

You felt his hard on against your thigh and you couldn’t stop the moan that escaped your lips. You pumped him with your hand until he pulled away from the kiss and stopped you.

“Stop doing that,” he said and you froze up, worried you had crossed the line. “Sorry… I just… if you keep doing that i’m going to cum in your hand and I don’t want that, I want us to finish together,” he pecked at your lips and you smiled.

“Okay,” you said, softly as his hand untied the drawstring on your pyjama bottoms before he pushed them down your thighs. You shimmed out of them, letting them and your panties get lost somewhere between his sheets.

Graham was looking at you like you put the stars in the sky as he gripped at your thigh, hiking your leg over his waist. You had completely forgotten about the storm outside the second you felt his member push inside of you.

You quietly whimpered as Graham kissed your forehead. “Is this okay?” He asked and you nodded your head frantically, hands tangling through his curly brown hair.

Graham let out a sigh of relief as he began to thrust into you. His pace wasn’t slow, but it wasn’t fast. It was perfect and he was hitting the deepest parts of you, places that other men hadn’t touched before. Your back was arching into him, your chest flush against his.

“You are perfect,” Graham whispered, kissing your forehead. Your moaned, your head resting in the crook of his neck, your eyes fluttering shut, submerging yourself into the pleasure.

Soft whimpers and moans escaped your lips, it was like music to Graham’s ears. “Feels so good, Graham,” you said before sobbing into his shoulder. “Please don’t stop.”

“I won’t,” he replied, quickly, his movements getting sloppier and sloppier with every second. “I don’t think I’ll last much longer, Y/N.”

“I’m so close, too,” you replied, drool falling from your open mouth and onto his shirt. Graham’s fingers dug into the skin of your thigh, your moans were getting louder, trying to conceal your noises into his neck.

“Come for me, pretty girl,” Graham whispered, afraid he was about to bust before you did. “Please Y/N, I need you to come,” he groaned, his eyes squeezing shut.

A loud moan tore from your throat at the exact same time thunder shook the windows. “I’m fucking coming, Graham, don’t stop,” you panted, your orgasm washing over you, a volcano exploding in your core making every atom in your body burn.

Graham was quick to follow after you, feeling euphoric and relieved all at once. He pressed a sweet kiss to your forehead as he pulled away. You smiled happily, nuzzling your head into his chest.

“Thanks for distracting me, Graham,” you said.

Graham cleared his throat. “Is this going to change us? Because I really don’t want it to,” Graham said. “I- I mean, I want it to change us but not in a bad way… I don’t want to be friends Y/N.”

“You don’t want to be friends?” You asked, playing dumb.

“Not like that! I meant as- as in I want you to be my girlfriend,” Graham said, holding you close. “I really like you, Y/N.”

“I really like you too, Graham,” you smiled, kissing him. “So yes, I will be your girlfriend.”

—

Y/N DUNNE: We got married 6 months later…

GRAHAM DUNNE: What can I say? I was obsessed with her… I still am.

#daisy jones and the six #graham dunne #graham dunne x reader #graham dunne x you #graham dunne x y/n #graham dunne smut

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darl-ingfics · 23 days

Text

Sicktember Day 5: Rogue Organ

Fandom: Seventeen

Sickie: DK/Seokmin (tonsilitis)

Caregiver(s): Vocal Line

Word Count: 1266

Notes: Medical inaccuracies who? Also, for the timeline, we're putting 'late award season' around early January cause I was getting overwhelmed looking at different lists. Also, was this inspired by this post by @btshurtcomfortprompts? Yes, it was, but it clearly took shape for a different group, so I do apologize for that.

“Wait. Are you sick again?” Seungkwan asked after Seokmin’s coughing fit subsided. The older vocalist shrugged noncommittally, rubbing at the base of his throat. “Hyung, that’s like… the fourth time in as many months. That’s not normal.” Seokmin mumbled something unintelligible as his head fell into his arms folded on the table. Seungkwan looked desperately between Jeonghan and Joshua. “Guys, this isn’t normal!”

The two older members exchanged a glance. No, this certainly wasn’t normal. Seungkwan wasn’t exaggerating: Seokmin had indeed fallen ill several times in the last few months. It had started near the end of award season, when a nasty cold had spread around the whole team. No one had really batted an eye when he was sick again in early February, assuming he’d jumped back into work too fast after bug from January. March had seen the members completing more solo activities, coming and going at such odd hours that his third cold had almost gone completely unnoticed, except for the watchful eye of Soonyoung and Seungkwan, who’d forced him to the doctor for antibiotics. Which had helped. Obviously, temporarily.

Joshua pulled out his phone. “I can call our company doctors and see if they…”

“No, no doctor.” Seokmin cut him off with a violent shake of his head. “I’m fine. It’s probably just overuse.” He missed the way Jeonghan and Joshua’s eyes narrowed at that excuse, how they made eye contact.

“Okay, first of all, overuse doesn’t cause a cough like that,” Jeonghan argued. He crossed his arms over his chest, worried hyung-mode activated. “Second, you take incredibly good care of your voice so it doesn’t get overused. And third, we haven’t even done anything recently that could even cause…”

“Okay, hyung, I hear you.” There was an edge in Seokmin’s voice none of them were used to hearing. Seungkwan grabbed Joshua’s shoulder, confusion and worry clear on his face.

“What’s with the attitude?” Jeonghan asked.

“It’s not an attitude. I just don’t appreciate being treated like a child.” Jeonghan scoffed at that, and Seokmin glared up at him. “I’m serious, hyung! I can make my own health decisions, and I say no doctor.”

“Seokmin, you’re being ridiculous. It can’t hurt to at least see a doctor…”

“I’M NOT GOING!” Joshua and Seungkwan both jumped at the volume of Seokmin’s voice. Jeonghan flinched away too. All three were frozen in shock as Seokmin bent over coughing again. When the fit finally left him, gasping wheezily, he whispered, “Please don’t make me go. Please.” With those words, Seokmin shrunk in on himself, hiding his face in his hands. The silence that followed was palpable. The remaining three members’ eyes volleyed back and forth.

Joshua moved first, sliding into the chair next to Seokmin. He gently wove his hands with the younger man’s, noting how Seokmin’s muscles tensed at his touch. “Why don’t you want to see a doctor?” Joshua asked, voice quiet, as if they were the only people in the room.

Seokmin finally raised his eyes. Joshua did his best not to flinch at the tears clouding his friend’s vision. “Cause last time I was there, they said it might be my tonsils and that I’d have to get them out!” The last word was choked by a sob that sent the tears pouring down his face.

“Oh, honey.” Joshua pulled Seokmin to him, allowing the younger vocalist to completely break down. Seungkwan ran to the other side of Seokmin’s chair, rubbing his friend’s back.

“It hurts so much,” Seokmin cried, words muffled in Joshua’s shoulder.

“I’m sure it does, if it’s your tonsils,” Joshua replied.

“Hyung, it might not be the worst thing to get them out, though,” Seungkwan suggested carefully. “That would stop the pain.”

“But…” Seokmin took a shuddering breath, sitting up from Joshua’s embrace to look at them both. “But what if something goes wrong?”

“Goes wrong?” Joshua asked. He gently tucked Seokmin’s hair behind his ear, attempting to maintain as much contact as possible.

Seokmin nodded, clearly trying not to sob again. “What if they ruin my voice and I can’t… I can’t sing any-anymore?!” The hiccup in his voice triggered another cough.

Joshua smoothed away a tear from Seokmin’s cheek. “Baby, that has to be so rare.”

“But not impossible!”

“Minnie, look.” Jeonghan, who had appeared without any of them realizing it, thrust his phone between the trio, pointing to a highlighted quote on the screen. “I’ve been doing research and it says that it’s a myth that tonsillectomies change your voice. They don’t even touch your vocal cords.” Seokmin took the phone, rereading the screen several times. He clicked out of the article, scrolling through other articles from Jeonghan’s search. “Plus, if you do get your tonsils out, that means unlimited popsicles.”

“That’s not helping right now,” Seokmin admitted simply, eyes still glued to the phone. Joshua patted Jeonghan’s back, a ‘thank you’ for trying.

“Well you know what might help?” Seokmin didn’t even have time to respond before Seungkwan threw his arms around him from behind, crushing him in a hug that nearly squeezed the phone from his hand. With the speed of vipers, Joshua and Jeonghan swooped in, capturing their sunshine from all sides. “What do you say now? Feel any better?”

“A little bit,” Seokmin conceded, even though fresh tears were brimming in his eyes. But that had more to do with the love of his members than the pain in his throat or the fear that came with that pain. “Thank you.”

“What else are we good for?” Jeonghan joked. A ripple of laughter passed through the group hug.

“But I still don’t want to see the doctor.”

“It’s not a matter of want anymore, hyung,” Seungkwan replied. “

Seokmin rolled his eyes. “I said I didn’t want to, not that I wouldn’t go.”

“Well now you’re just being difficult.”

“Did I… miss something?”

Instead of breaking apart, the four men assembled in the group hug simply craned their necks to see Jihoon standing in the doorway looking desperately confused.

“Dokyeomie needs to get his tonsils out,” Jeonghan explained. “So we are providing him moral support and positive vibes.”

Without a word, Jihoon hurried to join the hug. “I’m so sorry, Kyeomie.”

“It’s okay. I had a bad feeling it was coming when the doctor said it last month.” He laughed once, a tad of embarrassment hidden in the noise. “And I may or may not have overreacted a bit about it this morning.”

“What? You? Overreacting? Never!” Jeonghan gasped much to the delight of his dongsaeng who nudged him, shuffling the whole hug in the process.

“I assume that means you haven’t told anyone about this yet?” Jihoon sighed.

Joshua shook his head. “It was kinda hard to call a manager with a friend so severely upset.” Seokmin gently rested his forehead against Joshua’s shoulder, a soft ‘thank you’ for the support that shoulder had provided just moments before.

“So what I’m hearing is that you have no real confirmation that your tonsils need to come out…”

“Hyung, please don’t give me hope. I want to keep my delusions low.”

“I think that’s nearly impossible for you, hyung,” Seungkwan said in reply. “But I admire your delusion in your own delusions.” Seokmin attempted to elbow him, managing to hit Jeonghan instead and setting off a minor skirmish that ended in the breakup of the group hug. But the hug had served its purpose: all five of them, especially their precious Seokmin, were laughing together. And that laughter would carry them through, no matter what the doctor had to say.

#sicktember2024 #sicktember #sicktember day 5 #seventeen sickfic #svt sickfic #kpop sickfic #kpop fanfic #seventeen fanfic #sickie dk #caretaker jeonghan #caretaker joshua #caretaker woozi #caretaker seungkwan #darlingfics

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fairy-writes · 1 year

Note

congrats on your milestone!! <3 can I ask dialogue prompt 15 for dazai please?

HANDSOME STRANGER

Reblogs and Comments are greatly appreciated!!

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Fandom(s): Bungou Stray Dogs

Pairing(s): Dazai Osamu x Female!Reader

Prompt: “I don’t have any interest in fraternizing with handsome strangers.” (Dialogue Prompt #15)

Notes: Female!Reader, Dazai-Typical Mentions of Suicide, Mentions of Torture, Mentions of Injuries

I literally have no idea how to tag this…

ALSO CATCH MY DOCTOR WHO QUOTE (again, lol)

TW for depictions of injuries received from torture.

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Dazai Osamu was an enigma to you.

Former Port Mafia Executive.

Current Armed Detective Agency Member.

And the man currently being interrogated (tortured) by your boss.

You remained in your office, stitching up a lower-level gang member who had brought a knife to a gunfight. Literally. He had brought a switchblade to a fight with revolvers and pistols. Shaking your head, you clipped and tied off the end of the thread. How stupid could one person be?

Dazai made a noise of pain in the other room. Just on the edge of your hearing as if he was trying to stifle it, but it was there nonetheless. Your heart twanged in sympathy. Whatever information they were trying to get out of him, it sounded like it wasn’t going well.

He was brought to you nearly four hours later.

You had been mindlessly organizing your medical supplies in your various cabinets in your makeshift office the entire time.

Perhaps “office” was too kind a word. It was more of a closet in the run-down building. There was an examination table in one corner, cabinets for supplies along the other, and a rusted sink in the final corner that didn’t have a door.

The door to said office banged open, and Dazai was dragged in with arms hooked under his armpits. His head lolled to the side, and blood dripped from a head wound at his temple.

In a split second, you were on your feet, helping the tall and lanky man onto your examination table. His tan coat is missing, and he is mumbling something incoherent under his breath. His skin was pale, and you were certain at least two of his fingers were broken, the nails missing from six of them.

“Fix him.” Your boss huffed, and you gritted your teeth. You hated it when they did this. Tortured people and then expected you to magically fix them up. You weren’t the famed Armed Detective Agency’s doctor. You didn’t even have an ability. You were just an ordinary doctor trying to pay off a debt your father had left you with when he died.

“I’ll do my best.” You reply, and your head is whipped to the side with a painful slap to the face. Your boss’s hand is still raised, and you look back in shock as you cradle your already swelling cheek.

“Your best isn’t good enough. You will fix him. We still have plans for him yet.” He growls and leaves with a flourish of his trench coat.

You turn back to your patient, who is slowly coming to. You wash your hands in the sink, slide on nitrile gloves, grab some disinfectant for his injuries, and lastly, some bandages to fix him up. You’d have to replace the rest of the wrappings already on his person. They were soiled with dirt and blood, and you could see where the restraints used on him had frayed the bandages around his wrists.

Just as you began to stitch close the head wound, his right hand shot out and gripped your wrist, effectively stopping what you were doing. The grip is tight, almost painful.

“Just what do you think you’re doing?” His voice is dark and dangerous. His eyes aren’t even open yet. You huff,

“I’m trying to patch you up, jackass. Now lay back down before you tear the stitches I’m slaving away for.” You snap, already fed up with his attitude. Former Port Mafia Executive or not, he was still your patient.

Dazai does indeed lay down and let you work after that.

You finish stitching up his head and move on to his missing fingernails. They are still bleeding, so you assume it must have been one of the more recent torture techniques they utilized. You leave his side momentarily to grab some petroleum jelly and some nonstick bandages to apply to his fingers.

That turned out to be a mistake.

You are spun around to face Dazai, and a scalpel is held to your carotid artery, his hand at the base of your throat.

“Why are you helping me?” He demands, eyes calculating and analyzing your every move. You inhale, panicked, and more than a little scared.

You couldn’t die here.

“Like I said before. I’m in charge of patching you up.” You blurt, and he narrows his eyes.

“So they can torture me again?” He asks, and you nod, wincing as the scalpel starts to bite into your skin. He cocks his head, taking in your answer before abruptly letting go, and you slide down the wall to sit on the floor.

You had almost died at his hand. And that thought terrified you.

You didn’t want to die. Not yet. Not until you fulfilled your goals as rudimentary and simple as they were.

Dazai sat on the examination table and flourished his arms, splattering crimson against the wall from his bloody fingers.

“Well then, patch me up, Doc.” He says with a sardonic grin, and you get to your feet, change gloves, and get back to work.

The next time you see Dazai is two days later. They had allowed him a day to recuperate, keeping him under lock and key with multiple thugs stationed outside his room.

How kind of them.

He looks worse than before when he is dragged in. His left eye is swollen shut and bruised, and his right flutters as he stares at the ceiling. He has eyelashes that any woman would be jealous of.

Stop getting distracted. Now isn’t the time.

“Why haven’t you escaped yet? I know you can.” You ask as Dazai sits in silence. He’s unexpectedly solemn, not at all like the womanizer you had heard of through the grapevine of criminals. He was known for being an expert at information gathering, going to any lengths to recover said information, and even sleeping with people to get what he wanted.

Was he doing that here? Not sleeping with people. But getting information.

“I suppose I’m waiting for my knight in shining armor.” He muses, stiffening when you apply petroleum jelly to his fingers. They must still be tender. You lighten your touch, and as soon as you’re done, you change gloves and check his stitches. An icepack is retrieved next. You crack it and let the chemical reaction cool down the packaging. You gently place it over his eye, and he hisses.

“You don’t need a knight in shining armor. You’re too cool for that.” You mumble, more to yourself than anything else. But he hears it and perks up.

“You think I’m cool?” He asks, and you blink at the sudden change in personality. But then, a thought occurs to you. Was he trying to get you to spill intel on your boss? Would you even be willing to give him those details?

“If you’re trying to get information out of me, it won’t work. I’m not privy to that kind of knowledge.” You say simply, and he cocks his head.

He does that a lot.

“But you’re a very likable person Doc. I can see a lot of people telling you just about anything you want to know.” He says, and you bark out a laugh,

“About as likable as a cactus, maybe. I’ve been told I’m particularly prickly.” You reply, and it’s his turn to chuckle.

You try to ignore the stuttering of your heart at the sound.

The third time you talk to Dazai, it’s in his cell.

You had convinced (bribed and threatened) the thugs outside to leave you alone with him for a few moments so you could check on his injuries without being judged. If they had their way, Dazai would have been dead and buried a long time ago. That was the only intel you had gathered.

When you told Dazai, he frowned,

“What a terrible way to die.” He spat, and you look on in confusion,

“What’s your ideal way to die, then?” You find yourself asking, genuinely curious. Dazai hums, leaning his head back against the wall.

“I suppose to commit double suicide with a beautiful woman.” He muses, turning to look you directly in the eye.

You stiffen and lean back, but part of what he said caught your attention.

“You think I’m beautiful?” You whisper, and he grins,

“The most beautiful thing in here, Doc. Now, what do you say?” He asks, and you shake your head.

“I don’t have any interest in fraternizing with handsome strangers.” You reply cheekily, and his smile turns almost warm,

“You think I’m handsome?” He teases, and you nod,

“The most handsome thing in here, Dazai.” You reply, and his smile falls, blinking in surprise as if not expecting the answer.

He doesn’t say another word to you the rest of the time you’re there with him.

And you don’t see him again until three days later.

The sound of gunshots makes you jump, knocking over your jar of cotton swabs and falling to the ground as your office door bursts open. You pull out your pistol from the waistband of your trousers as someone appears.

A man with a long blond ponytail stands in the doorway. His glasses and suit are immaculate, not stained by dust or blood as you expected in a gunfight. He catches your eye and turns,

“Dazai! She’s in here!” He bellows, and there are quick footsteps before Dazai appears.

“Come with me.” He says, holding a bandaged hand out to you. You loosened your hold on your pistol, almost dropping it before flinching at the sound of shouting down the hall.

Then… without any doubt… you grabbed his hand, and he led you out of the hellhole that had been your life for the last seven years.

#dazai osamu x reader #osamu dazai x reader #dazai osamu x #dazai osamu x y/n #dazai osamu x you #osamu dazai x you #dazai x reader #dazai x you #bsd dazai x reader #bsd dazai x you #bungou stray dogs #bungo stray dogs #bsd #bsd dazai #bungou stray dogs dazai #bungo stray dogs dazai #fairy writes 900 followers #fairy 900 followers #fairy writes

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heylittlethoughts · 2 months

Text

14Days of MHA - Day 1 - Family

@Pikahula posted about fourteen days of My Hero Academia. As much as they have given us, it felt wrong to not participate. MHA and this fandom has given me so much. I’ve written fanfic in private for some time and this felt like a good time to post some of it for the first time. Hope you enjoy my take on the Family prompt.

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Content warning/context: Festival Day included a family event. Reader, gender neutral, Class 1-A, family/childhood trauma (emotional, narcissist abuse, CPTSD). Found family fluff, Katsuki x Reader fluff. Word count: 1.8k

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Class 1-A made their way to the courtyard for their turns to meet up with their family members. You followed along quietly lost in a world of thoughts.

You understood why the school decided to add the family event. It was jarring for some students to be away from family. A part of you was worried that yours would show up today though, just to berate you yet again for picking a life they didn’t agree with. They signed off on the dorms more as way to get you out of their life than in acceptance of your choice to be a hero. Whatever their motive, you were excited to have a layer of protection from your family trying to antagonize you daily.

Mina interrupted your thoughts with a bubbly bump into your shoulder “Hey, are you excited?!”

“Oh, yeah for sure” you forced a cheerful smile.

“Raccoon eyes, what are you doing bumping into people?” Katsuki barked at her.

“I’m just excited.” she spun around in a circle while walking. “I haven’t seen them since…” You tuned out the conversation as you caught Katsuki’s gaze giving him an appreciative smile.

When families came up in conversation you brushed it off, kept things vague, or found some excuse to leave the conversation. It’s not like you remembered much of your childhood to have anything to tell. Therapist said that was the CPTSD trying to protect you, the build up of painful little moment after little moment over the years.

The only person who knew anything was Katsuki. Because of course he was observant of that too. One night studying at his house, he noticed you getting sad watching him interact with his parents, pressing it until you explained your situation. You don’t know if he fully understood being low or no contact with family. Even so, he helped take the attention off you when it came up in group conversations after that.

You found a bench on the edge of the courtyard and leaned back on your hands as you sat down. Seeing everyone smile and hug their families made you smile. Everyone was so happy, some of them crying with joy, others laughing, some bubbly excitement at catching up with family in person.

It all was almost enough to make you get up and join. Some of the groups were mingling together, it’s not like anyone would turn you away. As you started to shift to stand, you stopped yourself. This event isn’t for you. Let them all have their time with their families. Don’t be a burden, you thought.

That familiar wave of sadness, loneliness, anxiety, whatever it was, it washed over you. You threw your head back to look up at the sky. Blinking to the adjustment of light, or to blink away the tears that pricked at your eyes.

A woman’s voice forced your head to whip back forward. “Hi there.” It was Mitsuki.

“Hello.” You said as you sat up straight on the bench. You hadn’t notice how sprawled out your arms where. “Sorry, did you want to sit down?” you offered nervously. Had she seen me tearing up?

“Thank you, could use the break from all that commotion.” She laughed lightly as her hand motioned back towards Katsuki barking at Kaminari, while Masaru was apologizing to Kaminari’s family.

You couldn’t help the snicker that escaped and the genuine smile that crossed your face. For whatever reason Katsuki did that to you. Him just existing was like a bright star in the dark sky always leading you back to where you should be.

Mitsuki caught you watching her son. “That boy of ours is such a handful” she had the tone of years of exhaustion from raising him. It was the layer of love and admiration mixed in, that caught you off guard.

That was the difference, you thought. Your family would say you were exhausting but meant it to hurt, that they would have preferred not to have you, that you were a burden. Mitsuki loved her son through it all, his attitude, his explosive energy, she loved him. What does it feels like to have a family that actually loves you, you let your mind wonder before cutting the thought off and steadying your mind back to the conversation.

“He’s not all that bad.” you smiled “It’s just how he communicates.” You couldn’t help the flutter of butterflies in your stomach as you looked at Katsuki, now laughing with the group. He had the most amazing smile.

Before either of you could say anything else, you saw Katsuki notice you and his face change. Something of surprise, annoyance maybe, or was he flustered it was you talking to his mother. “Hey Hag, what are you doing bothering people?” He yelled.

“Katsuki!” Mitsuki stood with authority. “Could you behave yourself for once?” she yelled back at him. She turned back to you, “I’m so sorry for him.” she said with a sweet apologetic smile.

“None needed” you smiled as you laughed. You’d seen them interact before and knew he was nothing but bark towards her. You found it cute how they yelled and argued with each other, knowing it wasn’t from any place of anger or actual resentment, it was endearing.

As they continued to bicker from across the courtyard, your smile and laughter faded. You couldn’t stop the waves of emotions crashing into you. Your face slipped into your thoughts. I was so behaved, and yet they never treated me with such love. Why? What did I do wrong? Why wasn’t I good enough? Why couldn’t they just love me?

Even from his distance across the courtyard, Katsuki noticed your face drop. “YN, you good?” he called over, calmer, concerned. Their fighting put on pause as Mitsuki turned to look at you as well with that same concern across her face.

Tears were pooled at the rim of your eyes. “Huh?” you said as you blinked and they streamed down your cheeks, tuning you into why they were you looking at you with such concern. No, no, don’t be a burden.

You shook your head and brushed your eyes with the back of your hands. “I’m fine.” you called out, you didn’t even believe yourself. “I don’t know what happened” you steadied yourself a bit more. “Must have been a bug or something in my eye. I’ll be right back” you were already standing and a step towards the direction of the bathrooms before all the words were out.

“Dear.” Mitsuki said almost a whisper. She took the stride towards you and wrapped you in a tight hug.

What was happening? The mix of intrusive thoughts and the warmth of a genuine hug were pulling you at opposite ends. “I’m ok-ay” your voice breaking from the now full crying that was happening.

She gently shushed you as she pulled you in tighter. “It’s okay if this is hard.” How does she- Did Katsuki tell her?

“You’ve done so much for my son, please let me be here for you.” she pulled you back to arms length to look in your eyes. Her voice sterned, she made sure you were listening before saying “Family doesn’t have to blood. It’s who you want it to be. You are not robbed of new love because of any lack of it in the past.”

Your chin trembled as you held back sodding, tears escaping down your cheeks. She pulled you back into a hug. Maybe so you don’t embarrass her, crying out in the open like this. your sinical thought intruding. You forced it away. Maybe because this is how real parents comfort their kids. You thought to yourself in a softer voice. You wrapped your arms around her and pulled yourself into the embrace.

She continued “We will be here for you, anytime you need it.”

You let yourself sob, muffled into her.

She continued “You are important to my son, so you are important to me. More than that, you are amazing on your own. You don’t deserve to feel so alone, my dear.” You could feel her head shift looking back to everyone in the courtyard. “You have so many people here who are your family. I know any of them will let you lean on them when you need it. Okay?”

You nodded against her as your breath steadied. You weren’t sure if you fully believed her. You knew everyone here was your friend, but you never wanted to burden someone else with your mess of trauma. Would they still truly want to be there for you if they knew how much of a mess you actually were?

Your thoughts were interrupted at the sound of Katsuki barking from somewhere next to you. “What are you doing hag? Trying to suffocate them?”

You felt yourself move before you realized where you were going. Mitsuki had turned and softly pushed you into Katsuki’s arms. He hesitantly held you not sure what was happening.

“Katsuki, Stop yelling.” Mitsuki said as she hit the top of his hand passing by him back to Masaru in the courtyard. You saw her turn and smile sweetly towards you. Almost a giving permission or maybe giving the mom order of let it happen, let us love you.

Katsuki’s energy shifted, concerned, feeling the tension in your body and the jagged breaths from your crying. You were still sniffling as you regained composure. “Family shit get to you?” he said in a soft grumble as he hugged you with more intention.

“Yeah” you said softly curling into his chest. He was warm and smelled sweet. Something about him always calmed your nerves. Taking a deep breath, “I’m such a mess. I was trying so hard to not let it ruin anyone’s day.”

“Fuck that!” he barked above you. Taken aback, you looked up towards him. That cocky smile across his face. “You’re amazing. The only way you’re ruining anyone’s day is by sulking over here by yourself.” he said with confidence and a hint of pink crossing his face.

A soft smile settled on your face as you leaned into him. “Thank you” you mumbled sweetly into him. You could just barely see the pink turn a shade darker.

“Come on already.” he said turning away from you while grabbing you hand. “Let’s go back to the idiots.” This version of him was one of your favorites. He was softer, gentle even. He made you feel safe and important.

As you walked back to the groups of friends and their families, their bright faces washing away any anxiety you might have had joining in on their fun. You smiled and laughed and thought, maybe it was true. That it’s okay to be loved. It’s okay to make a new family.

That even though it was chance that you all were in the same class, that this was your family and you are forever grateful for them all.

#14DaysofMHA #my hero academia #mha #boku no hero academia #bnha #bakugou katsuki x reader #katsuki x reader #fluff #found family trauma healing

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cuddlepilefics · 1 year

Text

Sick and injured

Fandom: Stray Kids

Sickie: Minho

Caregivers: Hyunjin and Felix

Prompt @sicktember

No one’s POV.:

Minho groaned as he pushed himself off the floor. “Gosh, you okay?”, Hyunjin gasped as he knelt next to the older. Though Minho nodded, his eyes seemed a little out of focus and the motion sent his head spinning. Seeing his hyung try to get up, Felix denied: “Take it easy for a moment.” To keep Minho from getting up, the Aussie rested his hand on the other’s shoulder, making him flinch. Felix’ brows furrowed with worry as his touch had been light. “It’s okay”, Minho panted, squeezing his eyes shut, “It’s okay, probably bruised my shoulder or something.” – “What about your head”, Hyunjin inquired, brushing a few sweaty strands of hair out of his hyung’s face, “Woah, you’re burning, hyung.” Sighing, Minho laid back on the floor and drew a shaky breath.

He had barely gotten any sleep the previous night. Coming down with a cold, Minho had had a hard time breathing through his nose, which made it incredibly difficult for him to fall asleep. He had probably already been running a fever, thinking back to how restless he had felt all night. The congestion in his sinuses had been messing with his balance all day and combined with the fever, he had been tripping himself frequently. Minho was honestly surprised that his fellow dance-liners had only noticed it now. He hadn’t been himself at all today and since they were the only ones there, he would’ve expected to be called out for his clumsiness immediately.

“I’m kinda sick but no, I didn’t hit my head”, Minho breathed, keeping his eyes closed to avoid the ceiling light aggravating his headache, “Only fell on my shoulder and it feels pretty sore but I’m not sure there’s much damage aside from a bruise.” – Kinda sick means?”, Hyunjin pressed, studying his hyung more closely while Felix got to his feet to collect the other’s water bottle. Lifting his left hand to rub at his nose, Minho sniffled: “Wasn’t much more than a runny nose and headache. I’m pretty stuffed up and it’s messing with my balance a bit.” – “Well, dancing most certainly didn’t help”, Felix sighed as he uncapped his hyung’s water bottle, “Your fever seems to be pretty high now. Do you think you can sit up to have some water?” Minho nodded and sat up with a grimace. His shoulder really did hurt now.

Accepting the bottle from his dongsaeng, Minho downed a few sips and shuddered as goosebumps spread down his arms. Felix took the bottle and screwed on the lid before holding it to the other’s forehead. It eased Minho’s headache some but he was already starting to shiver. “How’s your shoulder? I think we should get you back to the dorm to rest if your shoulder isn’t too bad”, Hyunjin asked softly, afraid they’d have to take the older to the hospital to get his injury looked at.

Considering his entire body ached already and his shoulder wasn’t significantly worse, Minho didn’t think his shoulder was seriously hurt, so they agreed to head back to their dorms. He had intended to take a hot shower to soothe the chills but was growing increasingly stiff and the task just sounded way too exhausting. Most movements of his right arm sent a sharp pain through his shoulder, so Minho slipped his right hand into the pocket of his hoodie to try and keep it as still as possible. Felix had linked his arm with Minho’s left afraid the older would fall again with how badly his balance was lacking. He felt Minho stiffen next to him as his breath hitched. “You okay, hyung?”, the Aussie asked worriedly, letting go of the other’s arm. The older gave a quick nod before bringing his hand up to his face, catching two itchy sneezes. His eyes welled up with tears as his face contorted in pain. Running his wrist under his nose, Minho sniffled: “M-my shoulder really didn’t like that.”

Minho had gone straight to his room to rest, foregoing the shower he had so been looking forward to earlier that day. Most of the members still had schedule but Hyunjin and Felix had decided to stay with him. After checking Minho’s shoulder for bruises, Felix helped the older try to get comfortable. There was no bruise to be seen yet but with how stiff he seemed, it had to hurt a lot. “Do you want me to get you an icepack?”, Felix asked once they had sorted his hyung’s pillows in a way that would support his shoulder just right. Tiredly relaxing into the soft material beneath him, Minho breathed: “I dunno. Feel cold enough already. Ugh, huh- ndo… I-I n-need to- need to s-snee-“ Panicking, the dancer scrubbed at his nose. Minho tried to keep his breath from hitching, fearing the pain that would inevitably come with sneezing. He was stressing so bad, he barely felt the two small hands on his arm and shoulder. “It’s okay, hyung. I got you”, Felix hummed, bracing his friend’s arm. The Aussie felt the muscles tense under his fingers as Minho stifled two forceful sneezes. Shakily releasing a breath, the older admitted: “That didn’t hurt as bad as I thought it would. Thanks, Lix.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to get that looked at?”, Hyunjin asked from the doorway, “How are you going to get any rest like this?” Defeatedly dropping his head onto his pillow, Minho sighed: “I know. I just- I feel like I pulled a muscle with the way I fell on it and there’s nothing a doctor can really do about it but tell me to give it time to heal. A trip to the hospital just sounds way to exhausting just to get advice that I already know.” – “True”, the younger agreed, chewing his lip, “Uhm, I could make you some soup. You know, so you can take painkillers after eating a bit.” They were dancers and each of them had pulled muscles on numerous occasions, so if Minho said that was what was going on with his shoulder, chances were high that he was right about it. Hyunjin just wished there was more they could do to help their hyung. “That sounds really nice actually”, Minho mumbled, “I don’t really have an appetite and my throat’s scratchy but it’d be awesome to take something for the pain. Might bring the fever down too.” The younger nodded before making his way to the kitchen to prepare his hyung some food.

Felix promised Minho he’d be right back for cuddles but quickly rushed to the bathroom to get a cold washcloth. “Let me put that on your forehead”, the Aussie muttered, brushing the hair out of Minho’s face, “That should help with the fever and headache till you’re able to take some medicine.” With Felix running his fingers though his hair and the cold cloth on his forehead soothing the headache, Minho soon found himself growing drowsy. His body wrecked by the sleepless night and hours of dancing before. Whenever Minho’s breathing would waver, Felix hands wandered to his shoulder, ready to brace it so it wouldn’t get jerked if the older had to sneeze.

By the time Hyunjin joined them with a steaming bowl of soup, Minho was close to drifting off. Everything felt fuzzy and he struggled to wake himself back up to eat something. Only when he had to sneeze and his shoulder tensed despite Felix’ support, did the pain bring him back to focus. It was frustrating having to sit back up after taking so long to find a comfortable position but the promise of medicine and a nap afterwards made it bearable. Minho realized just how lucky he had been to have fallen onto his right arm. Sure, he had learned to eat with his right hand too but with the fever making him clumsy, it sure would’ve been difficult to feed himself. “Thanks”, Minho whispered as he accepted the spoon. Hyunjin held the bowl for him while Felix went to trade the washcloth for medicine and also retrieved a small tub of ointment.

“Here’s your medicine and if you stay like this for a moment, I’ll rub some ointment on your shoulder”, Felix hummed as he handed his hyung the pills. Minho quickly rinsed them down with a few sips of water and leant into Hyunjin’s side for support while Felix dabbed the ointment onto his shoulder. Lightly grazing the other’s skin with his fingers, Felix commented: “There’s still no bruise, which is good but if my touch hurts anywhere, please let me know.” The older gave a soft hum and closed his eyes. Trusting his dongsaeng fully, Minho was able to relax and it was easy to see how the tension melted away. Well, anywhere but in his shoulder, which remained still at his side. Felix’ hands were gentle and it didn’t necessarily but there were a few spots that felt overly sore and sensitive. Seeing the older wince, Felix reduced the pressure and lightly brushed his fingertips over the spot in hopes of easing the discomfort.

Confused when Hyunjin nodded at him, Felix looked at Minho’s face and had to suppress a giggle. The older had fallen asleep against Hyunjin’s side, his face peaceful. Wanting their hyung to get as much rest as possible, the two decided to lay him down. Felix carefully guided Minho’s arm, so it wouldn’t get twisted again while Hyunjin eased him down on the pillows. “I’ll fetch an icepack for his head”, the Aussie announced, leaving it to Hyunjin to tuck Minho in. The dorm was quiet aside from the occasional stuffy snore and Felix quickly shot their maknaes a text to be quiet when they got home, so they wouldn’t wake Minho, who obviously needed that rest dearly.

Minho had woken up for a moment when Hyunjin tucked the blanket around his shoulder, glancing up at his dongsaeng with a feverish gloss in his eyes. “You can go back to sleep, hyung”, the younger whispered, “We’ll either be in Felix’ or the living room if you need anything.” Accepting the icepack from Felix, Hyunjin carefully draped it across Minho’s forehead before drawing the blinds.

Not wanting to disturb their hyung, Hyunjin and Felix settled on the Aussie’s bed and watched a drama together. Their phones buzzed with messages from their group chat. The members were telling Minho to feel better while Chan announced 3racha would be bringing home takeout for dinner, so they could eat together at the dorm Minho shared with the maknae-line. Everything would be taken care of and there’d be more than enough people to help Minho out shoulder he need anything or change his mind about seeing a doctor.

Luckily, he did manage to sleep for the entire three hours before their groupmates returned from their schedules. It was only after dinner that Minho shyly approached Felix. He had been holding back his sneezes all evening, afraid of hurting himself but the tickle was slowly growing unbearable. “L-Lix?”, Minho mumbled quietly, “I k-kinda- I kinda need your… your help.” The younger looked at him, head tilted curiously as his hyung blushed. Motioning to his face, Minho scrunched up his nose and whispered: “’s so itchy.” Felix finally got the hint and took Minho’s left hand, guiding him to the bathroom. “Here, sit”, the Aussie directed, pulling a few tissues from the box. Pressing the tissues into Minho’s hand, he gently felt around the other’s shoulder before tightening his grip to hold it securely. Minho doubted he could feel anymore embarrassed than he did, drawing a shaking breath through his nose. Sniffling, he tried to trigger the sneeze he had been fighting all evening but by now it was stuck.

Minho lightly traced the edge of a tissue against his septum, making his breath hitch. A soft whimper escaped his lips before he was thrown into an itchy sneezing fit. “Bless”, Felix smiled sympathetically, “You done?” Urgently shaking his head, Minho caught two more sneezes. “Ndow I’b done”, he rasped behind his tissues, ready to blow his nose as soon as Felix let go of him. Tossing the tissues into the trash, Minho went to wash his hands and sighed in relief: “Thanks Lix, those were really bothering me.”

#skz #stray kids #sickfic #fanfiction #sick #fanfic #fluff #comfort #snz #sicktember2023 #sicktember 2023 #minlix #hyunlix #hyunho

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kissingghouls · 1 year

Text

The King

Part Three - The Consequences // ao3 // part one // part two Vampire Secondo x Female Reader

Summary: Complications arise following Mary's call. What are you and a vampire man to do?

tags: NSFW, MDNI, 18+, horror themes, VAMPIRE VIOLENCE, violence, smut, BLOOD, poisoning, minor character death, so much blood, so much smut, more tags on ao3.

15k words, my loves.

I want to thank @ramblingoak for everything. The hand holding, the cheerleading, the pre-approval of just about every word in this thing. I could not have done this without you. 💖 shouts out to all my discord ghesties and everyone who liked, commented and/or reblogged this work, The Count, and the Suck Club extended universe. There is so much incredible talent and love in this fandom 💖💕✨

Part Three: The Consequences

It took seven men to bring Mina down, five of which she took with her. Had the outcome been different you would have been in complete awe of the woman. Instead, you were left mourning her.

It was only after her death that you learned anything about Mina. She had trained in several disciplines, all of which drew Secondo’s attention years ago. She was a Doll first, but over time she became a trusted member of his security detail, someone he relied on to keep him and the others safe. You were angry with yourself for only learning this now.

You curled up on the bed, drawing your knees tight to your chest as Secondo paced the length of his room. He hadn’t spoken much since hanging up with Mary. The silence pressed hard on the room, growing heavier with each of his steps until you couldn’t stand it any longer. You crawled from the bed and blocked his path, forcing him to stop long enough to get your arms around his middle. As you pressed your face into his chest the dam broke, and tears spilled from your eyes.

He stiffened under your touch. “Tesorino, I—”

You shook your head and maneuvered his strong arms around your body, urging him to hold you. “Please, just…just for a second. Please.”

There was a part of you that knew he didn’t understand what you were doing or what you might need, that he didn’t know what he might need. This was the best that you had to offer without words that would surely come out wrong and fuck everything up. His hold began to tighten as it sunk in and neither of you needed to say anything about it at all.

And you fell so much more madly in love with him.

When the tears stopped, he reluctantly let you go in favor of swiping his thumbs under your eyes to dry your cheeks. He cradled your face, dipping down just enough to softly press his lips to yours.

“I need to go to the club,” he told you quietly. There was no question in it, just a flat statement that burst the little bubble the two of you had inhabited for the past few hours.

“I’m coming with you,” you countered. It didn’t matter whether he wanted you to or not. If these people had no problem killing Mina, you knew they were far more dangerous than he would ever say. You were never going to let him out of your sight again.

He studied you for a moment, debating whether he wanted to argue. He relented and took your hand, leading you into his ridiculously sized closet. His suits lined the walls, neatly tucked into a set order, followed by his shirts and his shoes. Rows of drawers housed his collection of watches and cuff links, and he watched you open and close each one with a fond smile, delighted by your growing fascination with his things.

None of the things mattered anymore now that you were his. He couldn’t stop himself from shuffling over and draping his body over yours.

Idolatry looked abandoned, the husk of the building unlit and cast in shadow. The front parking lot was completely empty, all those neat rows of spaces normally filled with luxury cars left bare. Secondo pulled around the back, parking his own stupidly expensive car next to that ridiculous SUV Mary had cursed the day before.

Inside it was quiet, all the normal hum and buzz of thumping music shut off in favor of Mary barking directions. The sharp smell of bleach stung your nostrils and you pinned yourself to Secondo’s side, gripping his arm to try to avoid looking too closely at the room. Aside from a few overturned tables and the handful of body bags against the wall, the club was largely still in order, just heavily soaked in a chemical smell.

Lucy stood in the middle of the room without a stitch of makeup, her face puffy and red even under the dim lights. It was odd, almost uncomfortable to see her wearing casual clothes—a pair of grey sweatpants that were at least a size too big, probably thrown on hastily once she heard the news. Her head turned slowly toward you and Secondo, her expression changing to something harsh.

New, angry tears streamed down her face as she gritted her teeth and stomped toward her boss. She began to hurl insults at him with every step, balling her hands into fists while she screamed. She struck him hard in the chest once she was close enough, then again and again until she slammed both of her fists into him with all her might. She was screaming incoherently with each heavy blow, but Secondo simply tucked you behind him and let her swing.

“This is all your fault!” she wailed. “You didn’t keep her safe. You fucking left to save yourself and it’s your fucking fault. Do you hear me? Mina is fucking dead because of you.”

“Lucy, I—” he tried.

“I don’t want to hear it! You tell me. You tell me right now what you’re going to do about this.”

“I—I—”

“I know what you are,” she seethed her chest heaving as she stared him down. “You hear me? I know what you are and you better fucking fix this before more innocent people get killed.”

“Lucy!” Mary hissed, bounding across the room to pull her away from their boss.

“Lucy,” he tried again. “I’m—”

She shook off Mary’s hold and swung wide, punching the vampire in the mouth. Her fist connected hard enough that Secondo brought his hand to his face in shock.

“Lucy!” Mary yelled, grabbing at her again.

He drew his hand away, his lip bloodied. He didn’t react, just stared down at the blood on his fingers. The room fell painfully silent as Lucy launched herself away from Mary and spat directly in Secondo’s face.

“You fucking fix it,” she hissed, finally letting Mary grab her and pull her from the room. The rest of the security team followed suit, no one wanting to stick around to see what his reaction might be.

No one but you.

He dropped onto the edge of the stage with a heavy sigh but kept silent. You could feel the anger radiating off him, the waves almost visible like heat on asphalt. You pulled the cuff of your sleeve over the edge of your hand and carefully swiped Lucy’s spit from his face while urging him to look at you.

“Talk to me,” you offered.

He shook his head. “You should go.”

You brought your other hand to his face, forcing him to look at you. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“She’s right. What I am…they killed Mina because of me.”

“I like what you are.”

He scoffed at you. “No, you don’t. You have no idea what I really am.”

“Show me.”

He pulled away from you, shaking his head. “No.”

You grabbed his collar and pulled yourself up on the stage, your legs resting on either side of his. You made a show of lowering yourself onto his thighs, his every muscle flexing as you leaned down to whisper in his ear. “Show me.”

“I can’t,” he whispered back.

“Baby,” you purred, drawing your lips and teeth over his strong jaw. “You’re not going to scare me off. I knew you were a vampire before you fucked me on that desk, remember? I like what you are.”

“Baby?” he asked with an eyebrow raised.

“What? You want me to call you Daddy?”

He groaned and shifted under you, his hands coming to rest on your hips. “I told you; you have to stop calling me that.”

“Fucking make me then.”

A low rumble rose from his chest, a growl meant to warn you away from his true nature, but all it really did was make you soak through your panties. You rocked your core against him, heat rising through your belly as you felt him growing hard beneath you. You were his now, no matter what, and if you had to prove it by dragging this side out of him, then you wouldn’t hesitate.

You watched his eyes darken; pupils blown out completely as you pulled the bandages from your neck. You brought his hand to your throat, holding his fingers over the wound he’d made.

“I’m still yours, Secondo.”

His grip tightened, fingers closing slightly around your throat as he captured you in a bruising kiss. His teeth caught your lip, easily splitting it open to have your blood mix with his as his tongue invaded your mouth. You felt the bite reopen against his touch, blood slowly beading on the surface.

“I need—” he pleaded.

“Do it.”

He dropped his hand and pressed his teeth into the bite, drinking deep as a guttural sound left him. His arms locked around you, keeping you close as he rutted against you desperately. He pulled off your neck, panting hard as he drew the traces of you from his teeth. He smiled and shoved his hand down your panties, curling his fingers into your entrance without warning.

“Gonna make you mine all over again,” he growled into your ear as he withdrew his fingers. He slipped out from under you and ripped your shirt over your head before pushing you down on the stage.

A small whimper escaped your lips as you looked over your shoulder to catch him stroking himself while watching you, his trousers hanging halfway off the edge of the stage. He slipped one hand under you, easing your hips up so he could tease the head of his thick cock against your entrance, sliding himself through your folds while praising you with pretty words that didn’t match his tone.

“Baby, please,” you begged.

He folded himself over you, fisting a hand in your hair and yanking your head back. “Please what?”

You mewled under him, trying to push back against his body as you searched for relief. You knew he was strong, much stronger than he let on. Feeling him position you just how he wanted, knowing he was going to take you how he wanted was a bigger turn on than you could’ve imagined. “Please,” you begged again. “Please show me I’m yours.”

He smiled, using the hand in your hair to turn your face toward the mirror at the back of the stage. “Is that what you want to see, tesorino?”

Before you could answer, he pushed into you, burying himself with a quick thrust that left your mouth hanging open and your eyes rolling back. The stretch of him inside your cunt burned despite how wet you were, but he gave you a moment to adjust as his hand left your hair in favor of your tits. He pinched your nipple between his fingers, waiting for you to whine and writhe against him as he drew his hips back slowly.

You clawed helplessly at the glossy floor, trying to anchor yourself to anything as he brought his hands to your hips and pushed back into you. He set a steady pace, pulling at your hips to meet each rough thrust. You watched him in the mirror, biting into his own lip as he pounded into that spot inside you that brought you screaming over the edge. He fucked you even harder through your orgasm, almost immediately drawing a second wave of bliss from you. Your knees were killing you and you were fairly sure you wouldn’t be able to walk after this, but you begged him not to stop, to take what he needed from you.

He wrapped a hand around your throat again, squeezing tight as he pulled you back against him and thrust deep. He bit into the other side of your neck as he came, grunting hard as he pumped each hot pulse into you. You came apart completely, your body going limp against his. Gently, he eased you down, laying you across the stage as he pulled out and withdrew his teeth from your neck. He collapsed next to you, breathing hard.

“Tesorino,” he sighed. “Are you ok?”

“I’m better than ok.”

He huffed out a small laugh and dropped a kiss on your shoulder. “Thank you, tesorino.”

It took every ounce of strength, but you turned your head to face him. “For what?”

He shrugged. “Everything.”

Somewhere behind you, Mary cleared their throat. “Guys, I’m really not trying to interrupt, but can you please take it upstairs? There are still bodies I have to get rid of.”

Secondo let you recover on the velvet chaise in his office, his suit jacket draped over you like a blanket. He busied himself digging through the security footage, trying to figure out exactly how this could have happened. Idolatry was supposed to be safe. He’d built a fortress in the middle of the city to protect himself and the people he’d tried so hard not to get attached to and it still failed. These hunters had destroyed everything he’d worked for in a matter of hours, taking one of his precious Dolls with them.

Whoever the hunters were, they didn’t seem to operate under the same moral codes of the past. Mina should have been off limits to any of them, no matter how hard she fought back. The security tapes showed exactly how hard she fought, a sequence of events even he found difficult to watch. They’d killed his friend. Before you, he knew he would’ve never admitted that even to himself, but now his entire world was different.

No one was going to touch you or his friends again.

A knock on the door pulled his attention away from the horrific video. Mary gave a slight wave from the open door, their arms full of random objects as they waited for permission to enter. Secondo raised an eyebrow and gestured for them to come inside, not quite understanding until Mary nodded toward you. He realized Mary was trying to give him space with you, not sure how much room the two of you needed to be comfortable. He thought maybe you would’ve been fine with anything, but Mary knew him well enough to consider just how weird the entire situation was. But when he really thought about it, he hadn’t been uncomfortable around you at all—not after you’d kissed him.

He watched as Mary gently pulled you into a seated position and pressed a juice box into your hand, urging you to drink. They squinted at the marks on your neck before digging into a first aid kit and motioned for Secondo to join them. He held your hand while Mary dabbed at your wounds, cleaning up the bloody mess he’d made of you. They showed him every step, each little piece of the human needs puzzle so he would know how to fix you up better next time. There were more pink bandages covered in cartoon cats because Mary simply couldn’t help themselves, but the newer bite was worse than he’d intended. That one required him to hold a patch against your neck while Mary stretched medical tape over the edges with a sigh.

“You should get her out of here,” Mary suggested flatly.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he argued gruffly. “I can’t leave. I have to find out who these people are.”

“You need to take care of your very human girlfriend, Boss—”

“I am,” he snapped in a tone that suggested Mary should be very, very careful.

“You are,” Mary agreed quickly. “But she’s very weak, Boss. If they could do that to Mina…They already got in once. There’s nothing stopping them from coming back and if they did? Right now? What do you think would happen?”

Secondo watched you take a long pull from the straw poking out from the top of the juice box, its insides caving in as you went.

“Mary’s right,” you added drowsily, your voice quieted by your efforts not to move your neck. “If they can kill Mina like that, they wouldn’t hesitate to kill me in front of you.”

“Tesorino—”

“I’m not saying you shouldn’t fight back, but strategy is probably the better option here.”

He brought a hand to your face, smoothing a thumb over your cheek. “You’re very smart, tesorino.”

“Hmm, I thought I was ‘kind of hopeless.’”

His face fell, eyes darting back and forth as he thought hard, the realization hitting him like a truck. Idolatry had so many patrons it was impossible to know them all, but the people in that video were somehow familiar. “They’ve been here before.”

“Yeah, Boss. We’re still trying to figure out how they got in—”

“No, they’ve been here before. They’re…they’re members. They must have been for a while now. That man that grabbed you right after Halloween, the one at that club—”

“Oh, fuck,” Mary groaned. “Ok now you two really need to get out of here. Go back to the penthouse and lay low, ok? I’ll reach out to some of my contacts and see if we can find these assholes.”

“Mary, it’ll be fine—” he tried.

“I’m not worried about you,” Mary hissed through gritted teeth.

Both of their painted faces turned to look at you.

“What did I do?”

“Well, for one, you fucked a vampire—”

“Ok Mary,” Secondo said loudly as he stood. “We get it. We’re going. Just…she’s not the only human I worry about.”

Mary cringed. “You’re not going to try to kiss me, are you?”

Secondo scowled at them; every line of his face exaggerated by the paint. “Don’t die.”

The ride back to the penthouse was quiet. Secondo’s hand rested protectively on your thigh the entire time, using the occasional squeeze to ground him in his thoughts. You didn’t want to say it, but you suspected that one little phrase was the most he’d ever expressed how he felt toward Mary. As much as it would be great to have Secondo finally in touch with his feelings, you doubted that was truly the case. It was something you’d only noticed a handful of times, that look on his face when he was deeply concerned. It was there when you’d been attacked and that night he tucked you into your bed. And it was there when he said goodbye to Mary at Idolatry.

The vampire was worried.

He kept it to himself, of course, locked up behind the tight line of his lips. When you arrived at the penthouse, he didn’t bother to join you on the sofa. Instead, he went straight to the kitchen and busied himself with whatever he could find. You shuffled over and wrapped your arms around his middle, pressing your face into his back as you tried to mimic his pose from earlier. You were nowhere near tall enough to completely envelope the man, but you latched on with all your strength anyway.

He placed a hand against your arms, letting his frantic movements slow with a soft hum. “Are you hungry, tesorino?”

You shrugged against him, not wanting to give up your position.

“I…It helps me sometimes. Cooking. It helps me calm down,” he admitted.

“That explains the lasagna,” you said with a light laugh. “And I believe I was promised food anyway?”

“Did I not satisfy your hunger last night, tesorino?”

You groaned, your cheeks heating up as you pushed your face even harder against him. “You’re so obnoxious.”

“Only for you.”

“Wow, I’m so lucky,” you teased sarcastically.

“Yeah, you really are.”

You rolled your eyes and pretended to dry heave as you peeled yourself off him and hopped on the counter. He grew quiet again, opting to tap a finger against your nose before shifting your leg out of the way. He reached into the cabinet below, grabbing whatever cookware he needed to distract himself from everything that was going on.

You watched him with a soft smile as he moved through the kitchen he knew so well, wondering how often it was he indulged in such things. There was a flow and a familiarity to his movements, like a muscle memory he couldn’t unlearn if he wanted to. Someday, you’d ask him about these things, about his past and who’d taught him to prepare food with such graceful movements. But today you were happy to watch silently as this man who had captured all your attention continued to surprise you.

When he finished, he passed you a plate before jumping up on the counter next to you. You sat shoulder to shoulder, still in silence aside from the occasional scrape of a fork. It was a comfortable quiet the two of you hadn’t yet been afforded. A brief moment of normalcy where you could rest your head on his shoulder and just exist together. It didn’t last long, but it was more than enough when he dropped a kiss on the top of your head and completely relaxed against you. You wanted to stay in that feeling forever, the soft and warm safety of belonging to someone who wanted to belong to you, but the quiet burst like a bubble, collapsing around you as his phone rumbled to life in his pocket.

He checked it quickly, letting you know Mary had sent an update as he read the lines of text. His teeth found his lip, chewing on the painted skin as his eyes darted back and forth. A heavy sigh left him before he heaved himself off the counter and gave you a worried look.

“These hunters…they’ve attacked others already. Mary said they have a poison—some kind of toxin that weakens us and they—” He swallowed hard, before continuing in a serious tone. “There’s something you should know.”

“If you’re going to start another ‘you shouldn’t be with me’ speech, I swear—”

“No, tesorino. I feel no guilt about my part in what happened. But all of this may be my own fault.”

“Ok,” you said slowly, sliding off the counter to reach for him. “You can tell me anything. Anything.”

He licked his lips as he looked down at you, some nervous gesture you hadn’t yet seen from him. He took your hand in his, running his thumb over your knuckles. “Our existence is…complicated. That’s part of the reason my brothers and I have settled so far apart. But before you started working for me, Terzo and I went to visit Copia. He was…being threatened by a religious organization—”

“You mean like a church?”

“An abbey full of satanic nuns, actually. They occupied part of his castle as some half-baked safety measure. I guess it kept curious townspeople away.”

“Huh. So, what happened?”

“They threatened him—threatened to kill him, to expose him. So, the three of us tore through the entire abbey in one night. It…it wasn’t pretty.”

You squeezed his hand. “Why would they threaten him? If they lived there…if they knew who he was…”

Secondo let a soft, shy smile grace his lips. “He fell in love with one of their nuns.”

You nodded slowly. “The Countess is a nun? A vampire Count and a nun?”

“She was. But the Sisters of Sin are far from your typical nuns, tesorino.”

“But if these nuns threatened him, all you did was protect him.”

“I suppose.”

“Baby, your brother needed help and you helped him. I don’t see how that could be a bad thing. Especially under the circumstances if his only crime was falling for someone. Unless that’s…” you trailed off, not wanting to say it aloud.

He cupped your face. “Tesorino, no. It should have been no one’s business, but it was. And unfortunately, killing that many humans doesn’t usually go unnoticed. And Copia turned the Countess without even thinking about it first.”

“What, you guys have some governing body to answer to?”

He shook his head. “Not in so many words, no. There are just…rules. Things that are supposed to keep us safe or keep you safe from us.”

“I’m safe with you.”

He shrugged. “You might not be.”

“Stop. I told you I don’t want to do that again—”

“I know, I’m not—I don’t want you to go, but these people are dangerous. You could get hurt or…they killed Mina without a second thought, and I don’t know what they’re going to do next.”

“What about your brothers?” you asked softly.

“What about them?”

“Couldn’t you call them and have them help you? Like you helped them?”

He shook his head. “It would only make things worse.”

“I don’t—”

“No, you don’t. There is no quick fix for what is happening. If I call them, if they come here—it has consequences, worse than the ones we’re facing now. We don’t even know who these people are; all we know is that they’re after me. I won’t bring my brothers here and deliver them to fucking vampire hunters.”

“But couldn’t they help you—”

“No,” he snapped harshly and quickly began to panic, a thousand apologies falling from his lips. “I’m sorry, amore. But no. I know you mean to help but I can’t. I couldn’t bring them here any easier than I could send you away.”

“So, what do we do?” you asked and looked up at him. Tears threatened to spill from your eyes, a dam ready to burst as you tried to hold back every worry. You could care less about what happened to you, but the thought of losing him hurt so much, an ache so deep you felt it with everything you were—bones and teeth and blood. Nothing was free from that horrible feeling as you reached for him, desperately wrapping yourself around him and hiding your face against his chest.

He slid an arm around you, holding you there as his phone began to ring again. He frowned at the screen, the indication that Mary was calling made both of your stomachs sink. He slid his thumb across the screen to accept the call, immediately switching to speaker as his grip on you tightened.

“Mary?” he asked carefully.

“Boss don’t—” Mary yelled, but the voice was far from the phone.

“We have your little pet,�� a man spat into the phone over the sound of Mary struggling. “We normally wouldn’t bother, but you have an unusual attachment to your humans, Secondo. Is the girl with you?”

“Who are you?” he asked through gritted teeth. His fingers dug hard into your side; whatever calm he’d managed to find was long gone now, buried beneath a seething rage. It was coming off him in the same waves as before, when Lucy had shouted at him, but this time he wasn’t holding it back.

“You’ll find out soon enough, Mr. Emeritus,” the man teased. “That is, if you ever want to see them again.”

Secondo bared his teeth, an animalistic growl rising from his chest. “If you hurt them—”

“What? What will the big bad vampire do to little old me? Relax, old man. We’re not interested in hurting the familiar, we want you. So, what do you say, hm? What if I give you three days to make up your mind? You give yourself up or I kill your familiar. You choose.”

His chest heaved, fingernails breaking the skin and cutting into you as the man made his sickening offer. He didn’t bother letting Secondo answer. The man dropped this horrible ultimatum and ended the call before either of you could think.

“Baby?” you asked softly, shifting under his arm to alleviate the pressure from his hand.

He let up as he stared down at his phone, eyebrows knitted together. “Sorry,” he whispered softly. “I didn’t mean—”

“It’s ok,” you assured him. “What can I do?”

He shook his head. “Nothing, tesorino. You stay right here. I’m going to call my brothers.”

It wasn’t the sound of the elevator that woke you, but the sudden absence of Secondo’s body. That chime had pulled him from you faster than you thought possible. He’d barely left your side after the phone call, some part of him always touching you for reassurance that you were there, that you were ok. It was hard to see him so tense, but you did your best to offer him comfort in whatever way he seemed to accept. Staying within arm’s reach, tucking yourself into his side, occasionally pressing a soft kiss against the corner of his mouth; it was a simple list of things, but he’d relaxed against each one and finally allowed himself to doze off next to you.

As you slipped from the bed, you could hear him speaking distantly. A conversation moved between voices you didn’t recognize, the living room full of more life than ever. His brothers had arrived, their tones a little more easygoing than yours would’ve been, given the situation. Truthfully, you still didn’t know much about them. It was possible they had faced much worse in however many years of existence.

“I can’t believe you would show up like this,” Secondo groaned, his voice growing louder as you moved out of the bedroom and down the hallway.

“What is the problem, fratello?” the slightly smaller man asked. His face was painted like Secondo’s, though the design was different. He was dressed in an elaborate military uniform, complete with tails and gold accents. “You said war.”

“Epaulets?” Secondo barked. “The two of you in matching outfits is already too much, but epaulets? Seriously?”

“Hey,” the woman snapped, pushing herself between the two men. She was dressed in a uniform of her own, perfectly matched to the vampire next to her. Her paint was slightly more subtle with thick black rings surrounding her eyes. You realized they must be the Count and the Countess. “Little Lord Terzo walked in wearing a tux and you’re not yelling at him.”

“Yes, because I look amazing,” Terzo said proudly, dramatically sweeping a white glove over his outfit. His face was painted as well, but still different from his brothers with bold geometric lines drawn over his skin.

“Fuck, this was a terrible idea,” Secondo whined, burying his face in his hands as he dropped onto the sofa.

The Countess’s eyes went wide. Without Secondo’s massive form blocking out the room, she could see right to where you were standing.

“Hey Twos? Did you forget to mention something else on the phone?” the Countess asked lightly.

“What?”

Terzo turned and followed her line of sight, his eyes landing straight on you skirting the edge of the room. “Oh, fratello. Are you playing with your food now?”

Secondo moved too fast. Barely a blink, and he was across the room with Terzo hauled up by the collar, feet kicking wildly. “Watch your mouth, stronzino,” he ground out and dropped Terzo like dead weight before turning to you. “Tesorino, these are my idiot brothers Copia and Terzo,” he explained, pointing at the two men. “And this is the Countess, who is only dressed like an idiot.”

“This is vintage,” Terzo hissed from the ground.

“I don’t care,” Secondo sang.

The Countess looked back and forth from Secondo to you, a slight look of worry gracing her face before it changed to something happier. She crossed the room, tears spilling from her eyes as she ran toward you and pulled you into a hug. Her strength rivaled Secondo’s as she dragged you around like a rag doll. “The accountant.”

“Yes,” Secondo groaned and told them your name. “Now put her down, she’s a human not a kitten.”

“Um, hello,” you managed awkwardly as the Countess set you back down. “Sorry we’re not meeting under different circumstances.”

“Under different circumstances this stronzo would have kept you to himself,” Terzo said with a snort. He stepped toward you, giving you an appreciative look up and down. The action was not at all subtle, nor was the way he brought a gloved hand to your face, caressing your cheek. “Though I can see why.”

He let out a helpless yelp as Secondo grabbed the back of his jacket and tossed him across the room. “I’ll kill you far more painfully than those hunters, fratellino. Apologize.”

“Mi dispiace,” Terzo squeaked from the ground.

Copia cleared his throat. “He does have a point, Secondo. You also hide in your castle, it’s just—” He made a disgusted face. “Hideously box shaped.”

“I don’t know, amore,” the Countess argued. “It kind of suits him.”

“So glad you came all the way here to hate my apartment and hit on my girlfriend. Can we please focus? Mary is in trouble.”

You felt the mood shift in the room as Secondo all but admitted he was scared for his familiar. The others grew serious for the first time as they settled around the coffee table, each waiting for Secondo’s direction. When he finally spoke, the other vampires began shouting at him. He had delivered the worst plan any of you had ever heard—giving himself up. Whatever he’d said after that didn’t matter.

Copia began to pace, a long string of Italian swears and phrases falling effortlessly from his lips as he traced the length of the room and back. Any other time the family resemblance would have delighted you, but you barely noticed as Secondo’s words fully sunk in.

“You invited us here to watch you die?” Terzo spat venomously, saying exactly what everyone was thinking without any delicacy at all.

“Were none of you listening?” Secondo snapped back.

They began to argue, each vampire trying to shout over the others as you removed yourself from the scene. You closed the bedroom door behind you, trying to dampen the sounds of the argument. You curled up on the bed, hugging your knees to your chest as you chewed on your lip. You had listened, of course, just as the others did, and handing himself over to the hunters was only the first part of his plan, it was still the part that was hardest for any of you to hear.

The idea of losing him knocked the breath from your lungs, a pain that spread and burned deep in your chest. You wanted to scream until your throat bled, but you settled for crying alone in the dark of his room. A handful of days. That’s all the two of you had and it was nowhere near enough. Maybe if you had just said something earlier, maybe if you hadn’t doubted yourself so much the two of you could have had so much more.

“Tesorino?” he called quietly from the doorway.

There was silence behind him, the disagreement between the vampires long settled. You didn’t know how long you had been laying there crying in his bed. He didn’t wait for you to answer; he settled next to you and pulled you into his lap like he had done so many times now. The tears fell harder as you wondered if it would be the last.

“Amore, per favore,” he whispered into your hair. “What happened?”

You shook your head and wrapped your arms around his neck. “I don’t…I can’t…”

“Tesorino, it will be ok. I will find Mary; my brothers will find me, and I will come back to you.”

“It’s just…we—"

“Amore mio, mio cuore—”

You choked out a small laugh. “I’m your heart now?”

“You have always been my heart, tesorino,” he said and held your hand against his chest. “Who taught you these words, hmm?”

“You think I would have a crush on a sexy Italian man and not do a little research?”

“Who is he? I’ll kill him.”

“Shut up,” you said softly and brought your lips to his.

“Tesorino, mio cuore, ti—”

You covered his mouth with your hands, gently shaking your head. “Don’t,” you begged in a whisper. “I know what you’re going to say, and I feel the same way about you. But right now, I need you to fuck me so hard I can’t remember how scared I am.”

He wrapped his hands around your wrists, pulling your hands away from his mouth. “Need?”

“Please?” you begged again, rocking your hips against him. “I just need—”

He brought his hands to your hips, guiding your movement. “Tell me.”

“I need to feel something else, Secondo. I need you.”

With a growl he turned his body, quickly pinning yours to the bed beneath him. He attacked the space where his borrowed t-shirt fell away from you, leaving your shoulder exposed like a target. He drew his teeth across your collarbone, pressing hard enough you were sure it would leave an angry red line. But you didn’t care what he did as long as he didn’t stop touching you. Somehow you had managed to have the best day of your life and the worst all at the same time, like some cosmic fucking joke about everything having a price. You didn’t want to think anymore, didn’t want to mourn your lost friend, or worry about what might happen to Mary or Secondo in the next few hours. You wanted a moment to just exist, where you and your lover were the only things left.

He moved down your chest, leaving a trail of hot kisses as his hands worked your shirt away from you. He took his sweet time, his mouth wrapping around one nipple, teasing it with his teeth while he pinched the other roughly between his fingers. A pleased hum reverberated in his chest as your hips bucked against him.

“So needy, tesorino,” he whispered against your skin, his thumbs dipping under the waistband of the shorts he’d set aside for you. He jerked them away from your hips, carelessly tossing them over his shoulder in a subtle display of his strength that made your core ache for him.

A new chorus of pleading and begging fell from your lips as he pushed your knees apart and hooked your legs over his shoulders.

“Oh god,” you whimpered as he flicked his tongue across your clit.

“No, not god,” he corrected with a light slap against your ass.

The feeling of his fingers against your entrance chased away whatever thoughts you had in your head. He pushed two fingers inside, slowly drawing them in and out as his mouth worked at your clit. You were a writhing mess beneath him, tears forming in the corners of your eyes as he brought you closer to your end.

And then the smug bastard stopped and looked up at you. “Do you want to cum, tesorino?”

“Secondo, please,” you whined.

He curved his fingers, pressing against the spot inside you that brought your hips off the bed. “You forget who I am, tesorino,” he said with a grin and withdrew his fingers, making a show of sucking them into his mouth. “If you need something from me, you need to ask for it.”

“Please,” you whispered. You tried to squeeze your legs together to relieve the growing pressure, but he was too strong. He kept you where he wanted you, making you want him, need him that much more. “Baby, please,” you asked again, tears of frustration spilling from your eyes. “Will you please make me cum?”

He clicked his tongue and looked down at you. “What if I say no?”

A pathetic, needy whimper escaped you in response. A sound he smiled at all too happily as he grabbed your hips. You braced yourself, ready for him to return his mouth to your aching core, but he flipped you onto your stomach, tossing you around like it was nothing. He drew his fingers over your cunt, gathering slick as he dipped his fingers back inside you, adding a third this time. He pushed you back to the edge, watching as you grasped for the sheets before sliding his fingers back out. You let out a hollow groan that he quickly shushed and slipped his thick, heavy cock between your folds. You shuddered as his tip caught against your clit again and again before he finally lined himself up and pushed into you.

The stretch of him was something you hoped you’d never get used to, the way he claimed your body with his own. It was everything you needed; he was everything you needed, and you loved him so completely you hoped you’d have the courage to tell him. This was hardly the right time, so you swallowed it back down as he wrapped your hair in his fist. He fucked you hard just like you asked, relentlessly pounding into you as you came apart beneath him. His skilled fingers found your clit, toying with your nerves as you arched back against him. It didn’t take long for him to bring you to your end, grunting as you tensed around him. He pressed soft kisses into your shoulder as you rode out the waves of your orgasm, holding you tight to his chest until your body stopped shaking.

“Are you ok, amore?” he asked, lips ghosting over your neck. He leaned down to whisper into your ear. “Can you take more?”

You mewled and nodded, searching for the words to beg him to keep going. A soft “please” was all you could manage. He pulled out of you slowly, groaning at the feeling as his hands found your hips again and guided you onto your back. He bent down, catching your lips in a hungry kiss that was all tongues and teeth as he pushed back into you. He drew his hips back slowly, the drag of him torturous. He kissed every space of your neck he could reach, all the places that weren’t covered with bandages or marks healing slowly from his previous attacks. He urged your legs around him, thrusting deep into you to find that spot that felt so good you thought you might cry. He pushed against it over and over, his mouth crushing against yours as he fucked you slower than he ever had. His hips stuttered as your breath caught in your throat, that familiar pull building in your stomach.

He looked down, a filthy moan escaping as he watched your bodies connect. He pleaded with you, asking you to look at him, to cum for him as his pace picked up and his fingers dug into your hips. You threw your arms around his neck, bringing him down to press your forehead to his as you let go. He gasped softly, his eyes on yours as his muscles went stiff and he spilled inside you with a loud moan.

He kissed you again, lazily drawing his tongue over yours as you both struggled to catch your breath. He pulled out and rolled onto the bed next to you, draping his arm over your stomach and pulling you close with a tired smile.

“You are, you know,” he said softly.

“What’s that?”

He brought your hand to his chest. “Mio cuore.”

“You know you’re mine too, right?” you asked, barely fighting back the tears.

“I do, amore. It might be the only thing I’m sure of anymore.”

You turned to bury your face against his chest, mumbling into his skin. “Please don’t leave me.”

“Never,” he promised and kissed the top of your head.

Secondo pulled away from you carefully, checking to make sure he didn’t wake you as he climbed out of bed. He had felt restless for days now, an itch under the skin that only seemed to stop as long as he had his hands on you. But now it was no longer working, the worries too immense to bury by proximity to you alone. For the first time in hundreds of years, he had someone else to consider. He was more than happy about it, but he didn’t want you to feel smothered by his new need to be close to you. Especially with everything that had already happened.

He left you to sleep as he padded softly toward the kitchen, surprised by the faint light of the open fridge. He cleared his throat causing Copia to lean around the door and reveal his disheveled state. His hair was a mess, and his shirt was long gone, paints smeared to hell and back as he clutched a juice box in one hand and a block of cheese in the other.

“Buongiorno fratello,” he said in a scratchy tone. “Can’t sleep?”

“That stuff is for my human guests, you decrepit old man,” Secondo grumbled. He moved around Copia to fetch two rocks glasses and a bottle of whiskey from the nearby bar.

Copia shook his head. “I may be new to all of this, but I don’t think you should call your amore a ‘guest.’”

“Shut up and put the cheese back,” he huffed. Twisting the lid from the bottle, he tossed it aside and poured a glass for his youngest brother, setting it in front of him.

Copia returned the cheese to the fridge and closed the door behind him, the faint light disappearing as it snapped shut. He shuffled over, making a face as he sniffed at the amber liquid in the glass. “Eh—”

“Drink it old man.”

“You’re older than me,” Copia reminded him, grimacing as he chased the statement with a taste of whiskey. “Or does the girl make you feel young again?”

“What makes you think we’re going to talk about this?” Secondo groaned.

“What makes you think we won’t? It is nice to see you happy, fratello. It’s been a long time.”

Secondo shrugged and downed his whiskey in one go. “Could say the same for you.”

“Sì, the Countess has made me a very happy man,” he said with a dreamy sigh. “But that does not solve all my problems.”

The older man snorted. “Not enough room in your castle for two collections of capes?”

“She is young, fratello,” he said and clapped Secondo on the shoulder. “You know how new vampires are, hungry, impulsive. She’s fearless and I love her for that, but I also worry. A lot.”

“You and I both know she can take care of herself—”

“Sì, sì, I have no doubts about that, but it doesn’t stop me from worrying. Doesn’t stop me from loving her more than I love myself. It—love—changes you, fratello.”

Secondo said nothing as he poured himself another glass and swallowed it down as quickly as the first.

“Have you heard from Primo?” Copia asked, mercifully changing the subject.

“I couldn’t reach him. I left a message for him, but I don’t know where he is.”

“That’s—”

“It’s not something we need to worry about right now, fratellino.”

The elevator chimed, cutting off their conversation completely. Both men tensed, ready to advance on any intruder who might emerge. Instead, a drunken Terzo spilled out of the elevator, his bowtie and shirt undone with at least three distinct colors of lipstick around his collar and blood around his mouth.

“Uomini,” Terzo hiccupped and tucked a hand against his stomach as he bowed.

“Idiota,” Secondo ground out, rushing across the room to grab the smaller man. “You stupid, selfish bastard—”

“What did I do?” he squeaked, wrestling against Secondo’s hold.

Secondo shook his head and shoved his brother into the wall. “This city is full of vampire hunters, Terzo. You can’t possibly be this stupid.”

“Do I look dead to you?” he snapped back. “No? I look good and you two look like a couple of old, boring cunts.”

Copia sighed and shook his head, completely uninterested in engaging in Terzo’s games. “I’m going back to the Countess. Secondo, do you mind if I borrow that ice pack?” he asked, but didn’t wait for an answer as he fetched the small pack from the freezer. “My back is killing me.”

Terzo grinned widely. “Can’t keep up with your woman, old man?”

Copia narrowed his eyes. “You wouldn’t know the first thing about satisfying anyone but yourself, stronzo.”

Secondo smacked the back of Terzo’s head, sending him forward several steps. “Everyone go back to bed, for the love of Satan. Do not leave again.”

Terzo huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. “It’s fine, stronzo. I wasn’t—”

“Shut up and go to sleep or so help me I will put you out that window,” Secondo snapped, pretending not to hear Terzo’s smartass retort. Instead, he let his tired legs carry him back to the bedroom, back to you.

With every step he began to regret several moments of his long life. Buying this ridiculous penthouse with far too many bedrooms against Mary’s advice. Buying the SUV Mary hated driving. Severing whatever bond he’d had with his brothers while seeking his own independence and letting that same attitude grow enough to keep him from recognizing his feelings for you. Wandering away from you just before dawn in favor of an argument with those same idiot brothers. And being unable to protect you or Mina or Mary from the things that chased monsters like him in the dark. Maybe after all this he could take you away and live someplace quiet like his brothers did.

He was sure now he would do anything it took to keep you safe.

He slipped back between the blankets, pressing himself to you as close as he could manage. It didn’t do much to quiet his racing thoughts, new worries swirling around the old as you stirred just a little. You turned to face him, gracing him with that sleepy smile he used to daydream about. He pressed a kiss against your forehead as you nuzzled against him, seeking the safety and comfort of his touch. He couldn’t say it. He knew it wasn’t the right time after you stopped him before, but he would tell you soon.

The mattress dipped under the weight of your lover returning to the bed once again. He’d been so anxious while you slept, carefully and quietly leaving your side to return moments later. You assumed he was pacing again, taking long strides through the penthouse and back as he checked on the wellbeing of everyone else in the house. You could only hope it helped. You had no more calming words left to give him; you’d used them all on yourself.

But here he was, back by your side again. You were all too happy to shift closer and let him wrap his strong arms around you. When he didn’t, you rolled over hoping to ask if everything was ok. As you opened your eyes, you realized things were far from ok.

You threw a punch, your fist connecting with the intruder’s nose. Your vision was still blurred, bleary eyed from sleep and an extremely dimly lit room, but you could tell Secondo from anyone. And he didn’t wear silk pajamas.

“Oh, Satan’s dick!” Terzo wailed, a rush of dark blood pouring from his presumably broken nose. It spilled through his fingers, droplets soaking into the sheets. “Satanas, why, dolce?”

“What the fuck are you doing?” you screamed back at him, scrambling to get away. You fell over the far edge, your body hitting the floor with a solid thud.

“I was bored!” Terzo howled behind his hands. “There is nothing to do in this ugly grey box!”

“So what? You thought you’d try your luck with your brother’s girlfriend?”

“Satanas, no! One, he would kill me, and I am quite enjoying my eternal life, thank you very much. Two, I’m here to protect you, not take advantage of you—”

You jumped to your feet, frantically looking back and forth. “Why? Where is Secondo?”

“Eh—”

“You want me to break another bone?”

Terzo grinned widely, the blood from his nose now staining his teeth. “I see why he likes you.”

“Start talking,” you growled as you reached for the lamp on the nightstand.

“Ok, ok, ok,” he said quickly, holding his hands up in surrender. “Secondo and the others…left.”

“What?”

“He didn’t want to wake you,” he explained, shaking his head. “The Countess tried to tell him it was a stupid idea, but Secondo doesn’t really listen to anyone. You know how he is. Unless he listens to you. Does he listen to you?”

You sank to the floor. “He just…left? Without saying anything?”

“Maybe he thought it was the only way he could go through with it?”

“Stop. Talking.”

“But how will I tell you about the note?” he asked and produced an envelope from his pocket with a Cheshire grin.

“Terzo,” you started slowly. “Has anyone ever told you how insufferable you are?”

He licked his lips. “What’s that mean?”

“It means even though we just met, I already want to kill you.”

“Take a number,” he said with a shrug. He tossed the note toward you, letting it fall onto the bed. “I’ll give you two some time alone.”

Terzo sauntered out of the room and closed the door behind him, unbothered by the trail of blood he left in his wake.

You fetched the note from the bed and sat cross-legged on the floor. You took a deep breath as you traced over the way Secondo had written your name in his overly elaborate penmanship. It was yet another thing about him that was a product of another time that he still carried around. All the things you’d pushed back, the things you’d left to ask him later were beginning to pile up and now you might never get those answers. You tried so hard not to think of it that way, but the fact was none of you knew who these hunters were or what they truly wanted. It made them dangerous and unpredictable even if your lover was a fucking immortal vampire.

You tore into the envelope, freeing the page inside.

Tesorino,

I am not saying goodbye, because this isn’t truly goodbye. I have lived many unhappy lifetimes alone only to find you in this one. I will come back to you, amore. I will always come back to you.

Tuo cuore, Secondo

PS Be patient with Terzo. He’s an ass, but he will fight for you just as hard as I will.

You felt your heart crack in your chest, a broken sob leaving your lips as you curled up on the floor. You didn’t have many tears left after the last few days, but you shed what you could before you pulled yourself up, determined to let that be the last sense of desperation you felt.

Secondo’s things lined the edges of his closet, still waiting for him in neat rows of black and green. You helped yourself to his wardrobe, dressing yourself like him as you had on Halloween to somehow make yourself feel better, before emerging from the room.

Terzo had dressed himself in the tuxedo again and draped himself lazily across the sofa with a bottle of wine and no apparent worries. He raised an eyebrow as you fiddled with one of Secondo’s watches, the band not suited to your wrist.

“Eh—”

“I don’t have clothes here,” you explained, cutting off whatever smartass thing he was about to say.

“The velvet suits you,” he said with a shrug. “I thought you lived here?”

“He really doesn’t tell you anything, does he?”

“No, but that’s nothing new. He’s always been like that—private. But he didn’t even tell the Countess you were here, so it’s not like my feelings are hurt.”

You managed a nod as you moved into the kitchen, uninterested in learning things about Secondo from Terzo’s perspective before you heard them from the man himself. Armed with a snack, you sat on the opposite end of the sofa, keeping your distance from Terzo and his bare feet. He held out the bottle of wine, offering it to you with a little wave.

“I’m good,” you said quietly.

“You’re sulking in your boyfriend’s clothes.”

“You say that like he went to the fucking store. He’s turning himself over to vampire hunters who apparently have some sort of poison that works on you to hopefully save his familiar and putting the rest of his trust in the Count and Countess to get him out of there. Why are you so fucking calm about this?”

“He also has Alpha and Omega with him.”

“Who the fuck is that?”

“My Ghouls,” Terzo stated simply. “Like I would just show up here empty handed? Please, bambina.”

“Ok, even if I knew what the fuck you were talking about—”

“Ghouls,” he snapped impatiently. “Are beings I summoned from hell to protect me—”

“Is that supposed to make me worry less?”

Terzo sat up and regarded you carefully. “He hasn’t…told you very much, eh?”

You sighed. “We haven’t exactly had time to talk about these things.”

He nodded once, pushing the bottle toward you again. This time you accepted. “What…how can I help? I cannot speak for him, but I do have some answers.”

You took a long pull from the bottle and swallowed hard. “Who are they?”

“Who?” Terzo asked.

“The hunters.”

“Oh, eh.” He shrugged, waving a noncommittal hand through the air.

“Ok, but do they call themselves something?”

“...Hunters?”

“Thanks for being so helpful Terzo!”

“What the fuck I'm supposed to stop eating them to ask them twenty questions?” he snapped.

“Well maybe there are more of them!”

“There's always more! Just a bunch of poorly dressed stronzos with pointy things. Boring. Who cares?”

“Terzo!”

“What? Bambina, I have lived many, many years. These hunters never worried me before, they will not worry me now.”

“But your brother—”

“Sì, mio fratello is a big, strong man who can take care of himself, always has. Do you think he will not fight harder now that he has someone waiting for him to return? Read a book.”

“How can you be so calm about this?” you screamed.

“What is the alternative?” he screamed back. “You get all worked up and worried and he comes back fine? You kiss and make up. It’s all very simple. Very boring. Why waste the energy?”

“You’re the worst.”

“Why? Because I don’t show my feelings the same way as you? I am here, bambina. Secondo called and I am here sitting with you, keeping you safe. Copia and the Countess came too. You’re not yelling at them for going!”

“But…he might—”

Terzo brought a gloved hand to your face. “No, bambina. No what if. He has you now and he will come back to you. I have never seen him so…eh,” he paused and waved his hand around. “Mittens.”

“Smitten?”

“Sì, sì, smitten. Me? I fall in love every day. Exciting, no? But Secondo?”

“Don’t. Don’t say it.”

He tilted his head. “He has not told you this?”

“That…that’s between me and him, ok?”

He sucked his teeth. “You’re unsure?”

You shook your head. “It’s not that. I know he—he cares about me. It’s just—you’re not who I want to hear it from. No offense.”

“None taken, bambina. But you should trust me when I say he will be back for you, ok?”

“I think we need more wine.”

“That I can help with!” he said happily and jumped up from the sofa.

Secondo parked behind the club, nervously tapping his fingers along the steering wheel as he searched the darkened lot. The place should have been completely empty, but there were a handful of nondescript trucks parked around Mary’s SUV, boxing it in.

“Take a breath, Twos,” The Countess ordered from the speaker phone.

He wasn’t sure where she and Copia had set up to keep an eye on him. The element of surprise was the only thing they really had going for them. He didn’t know how much these hunters knew about him or his family, whether they were expecting them or if they were stupid enough to think he’d come alone.

He hoped they were just cocky and stupid.

“You two all set?” he asked as he unclicked the seatbelt, letting it slide back into its housing.

“Yes,” Copia confirmed. “Eh, fratello?”

“Don’t start,” Secondo warned. “Alpha? Omega?”

“We’re set,” Omega said. “But are you sure we can’t just eat them?”

“Not until everyone is safe.”

“Fine,” Omega agreed.

He ended the call without another word, pocketing his phone before sliding out of the car. It was the first time he’d ever felt wrong approaching Idolatry. The building still sat unlit and empty of patrons, occupied now by who knows how many hunters. They swarmed like plague locusts, crawling over and destroying everything he’d worked so hard to build. Bits of broken glass crunched under his shoes as he made his way into the main stage area. Not a single mirror or light had been left untouched, everything smashed to hell like the hunters had taken bats to every inch of the place. The entire inventory of liquor behind the bar was gone, a rainbow of broken glass now floating atop a disgusting puddle of who-knows-what and a splash of Blue Curacao.

Mary was on the main stage, bound to the pole with a gag in their mouth. Some wretched little shit knelt beside them, shoving them as they spoke and taunting them with a large knife. The kid caught Secondo’s reflection in one of the busted mirrors, a sick grin spreading over his face as he turned to face the vampire.

“Holy shit. You really do paint your face like that? Like all the time?” the kid asked and jumped off the stage.

He couldn’t have been any older than twenty-four. Young. Cocky. Hopefully stupid too. Secondo had no fucking idea who he was.

“Who the hell are you?”

“Hunter.”

“I said who not what—”

“My name is Hunter,” the kid said slowly.

“A hunter named Hunter,” Secondo mumbled back. “Unbelievable.”

“That’s funny coming from a guy who runs around calling himself the Second.”

“Listen, you little shit—”

“Did you forget why we’re here, Mr. Emeritus? I’d be happy to gut your familiar if that reminds you.”

Secondo took a step back. “You can let them go. You have me now.”

Hunter laughed. “Did you really think that would be how this worked out? Neither one of you are going anywhere now.”

“Look, whatever your deal is Mary’s not a part of it.”

“Man, you really do love your little humans,” he said with a chuckle, shaking his head. “The problem here, Mr. Emeritus, is that I can’t use Mary to get what I want anymore—”

“Are you ever going to say what it is you want? Or are you just going to keep going on like a child?”

He shrugged. “You know, if this was my first dance you would probably be very intimidating, so don’t feel bad that it’s not working. But the thing is, you’re not the first vampire to threaten me. My sister and I have been doing this for a very long time.”

Secondo flinched. “Sister?”

A sinister smile crept across Hunter’s face. “You vampires think you’re the only ones who can keep secrets.”

Mary yelled something unintelligible against their gag as Secondo felt a sharp, stinging pain in the back of his arm. He dropped to his knees, the poison working almost instantly to weaken him. He felt a hand grab the collar of his jacket, jerking his head back to see just who had snuck up on him.

“Hey Bone Daddy,” Lucy said with a sneer before stabbing another syringe into his neck.

“Well, that was almost too easy,” Hunter said with a smirk. He hopped up on the stage and cut through the cable tie that held Mary to the pole. “C’mon buddy,” he snapped as he dragged Mary to their feet. “Let’s give these two some privacy, huh? How about we go and have a chat on the roof?”

Secondo watched helplessly as Mary struggled against the hunter. His veins filled with fire, whatever poison they’d discovered painfully burning its way through his system. Lucy knelt in front of him, a sick, satisfied smile on her face.

“Hurts, huh?”

“Fuck you,” he spat.

“No, see that’s what keeps getting you and your brothers in trouble. You keep finding these weak humans to become your pets. It’s kind of gross, honestly.”

“If you’re going to kill me, just kill me,” he groaned.

“Oh, don’t worry. We will. But not until we get what we want.”

“What is it you want? Why are you even doing this?”

She smiled again. “We’re going to destroy your whole family.”

“What?”

“Did you really think we wouldn’t know you’d bring your brothers here? After what you all did at that abbey you should’ve expected this. Did you think we wouldn’t set traps for them the same way we set traps for you? Honestly, Secondo this whole thing was far too easy. I think you’ve all gotten soft in your old age.”

His phone rang inside his pocket, finally shutting the girl up. He couldn’t move to answer it or stop her from fishing it out herself, his body no longer cooperating with his mind. Lucy offered another evil grin before holding the phone up to his face to unlock it, the Countess’ name scrolling across the screen.

“Twos? What the fuck? Where are you?” her voice was frantic, barely audible over Copia’s shouting. “Sec—” she broke off and let out a horrible, piercing scream.

Secondo’s stomach turned as Lucy ended the call, raising an eyebrow. “Oops.”

Terzo yelled something inaudible from Secondo’s closet as you climbed over the sofa to reach for the remote to the stereo. ABBA blared from the speakers surrounding the room, the product of too much wine and the vampire’s “need” to dance. You slipped and drunkenly fell to the floor, spilling an entire glass on the rug as you landed hard.

“What?” you yelled back, knowing he likely couldn’t hear you either. On the other end of the room, the intercom buzzed. The screen next to the elevator lit up, the camera downstairs now displaying a visitor. You squinted at the image but couldn’t make it out from where you were. You fought with the remote, finally silencing the Swedes as you climbed to your feet and crossed the room.

Lucy stood under the camera in the lobby, patiently waiting for a response from the penthouse.

“Hey Lucy,” you said into the intercom. “What are you doing here?”

She looked up at the camera, chewing on her bottom lip. “Bone Daddy said I’d be safe here. Didn’t he call you?”

“I must not have heard it. Come on up,” you said happily and pressed the button to call the elevator.

You wandered back to the kitchen to refill your glass, grabbing one for Lucy in case she wanted to join you. As the elevator chimed to note her arrival, you carried the drinks toward the doors, a silly grin on your face. When they slid open you dropped both, the fragile glass shattering on impact as you brought your hands to your face.

Secondo was slumped against some kid, his face and clothes covered in blood. The kid dropped him at your feet, the vampire unable to move to break his own fall as he and Lucy walked in like they owned the place.

“Lucy? What—”

“Hunter, shut her up,” she barked and grabbed Secondo by the collar, dragging his dead weight through the broken glass.

Hunter moved behind you, grabbing your arm as he forced you to the ground. “Do it,” he said into your ear. “Call for help.”

You shook your head, biting down on your lip to keep quiet. Your resolve lasted only a moment, breaking as soon as he pressed a knife into your skin. You screamed, howling in pain as your skin split under the pressure of the blade. Secondo twitched, trying to pull himself up to stop the kid from cutting into you. He collapsed on the floor again with a heavy thud, Lucy’s laugh ringing evilly in the air as you lost sight of her.

“Bambina,” Terzo sang as he emerged from the bedroom dressed in Secondo’s clothes. He stopped short as he spotted you bleeding in the hunter’s arms. “Who the fuck—AH!”

Tears pricked your eyes as Terzo sank like a stone, the ugly sight of a syringe sticking out of his neck now burned into your memory. Lucy bent down, grabbing a handful of his black hair to pull his head back up.

“You know, I really thought you might put up more of a fight, Terzo Emeritus. I’m almost disappointed,” she said with a click of her tongue.

Terzo grabbed her ankle and pulled, knocking her completely off balance. She fell hard, her face smashing into the floor with a sickening crunch. Blood sprayed everywhere as she lifted her head, laughing as she spit out a tooth.

“That’s more like it.”

“Who the fuck are you?” Terzo growled, fighting hard against the poison.

“Oh, I’m Lucy and that’s my brother, Hunter.”

“Is that supposed to mean something?”

“Not at all, actually,” she confirmed and spat a mouthful of blood on the floor. “Now,” she said and placed her foot on Terzo’s back, forcing him to the floor. “Which one of you wants to tell us where Primo is?”

“Get fucked,” Terzo snapped. “Preferably with a cactus.”

“Primo?” Secondo asked weakly. “That’s what this is about?”

“Oh, I think we have a winner, Terzo.” Lucy left him on the floor and walked back to Secondo. She pulled him into a seated position and grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at her. “Secondo, where is your brother?”

He shook his head. “Even if I knew, what makes you think I’d tell you?”

“Oh, my stupid little vampire man,” she sighed. “That might have been a possibility before you started fucking your accountant. But now you have a very human girlfriend who I can hurt a lot before she runs out of blood. Honestly, you made this insultingly easy.”

“Don’t,” he begged. “I don’t know where Primo is and hurting her isn’t going to get you an answer.”

“We’ll see.” She settled in front of you and pushed her fingernails into a cut on your arm, a horrible cry erupting from your chest. She clicked her tongue. “What do you think, Secondo? Should I pull out her fingernails or teeth first? I wonder which hurts worse?”

He shook his head wildly. “Please, I don’t know where he is. None of us do.”

“Hmm. That’s really too bad for your girlfriend,” she said with a false sadness, taking the knife from Hunter’s hand.

She pointed the tip just below your collarbone and pushed. A horrible, white-hot pain erupted from the spot, growing as the knife sank deeper into your chest. You couldn’t control the sound you made, an awful, wounded cry that was soon drowned out by Lucy’s own wail. Something warm and wet dripped onto your face, the scent of copper flooding your nostrils. You looked up, trying not to pass out from the pain as Lucy quickly jerked the knife from your chest. She swung the thing wildly, reaching for something beyond you. More blood spilled onto the floor, falling into the rhythm of your heartbeat.

Another vampire stood above you, his mouth and long white hair stained red, hanging over the familiar shape of skeletal paint. He pulled his teeth out of the remains of Hunter’s neck as his headless, lifeless body hit the ground. Lucy was screaming so loud you thought she would break all the windows, stopping only as the older vampire dropped the head of her brother in her lap.

You tried to crawl away, your hands slipping out from under you as they lost traction on the blood. Too weak to push yourself back up, too cold to move, you laid there helplessly trying to make sense of the scene around you. The vampire you didn’t know seemed unconcerned with Lucy’s presence, instead he moved through the room, a blur in your vision as he tended to the others with syringes of his own. Secondo dragged himself toward you as soon as he could manage, pulling you into his lap and asking you questions you didn’t understand. You felt something else hit your face, barely registering that your vampire was crying.

“Tesorino,” he whispered, holding you tight to his chest. “Mi dispiace tanto, amore mio. Ti amo. Ti amo.”

“I love you, too,” you whispered back. “Even if you are the worst.”

He cracked a smile, trying not to laugh. “Really? Now?”

“S’why you love me,” you slurred, struggling to keep your eyes open.

“Of course, it is, tesorino. And why I always will.” He kissed your forehead and tightened his grip even more. “But…I can hear your heart, mio cuore. If I don’t,” he paused to let out a shaky breath. “If I don’t… you’ll…”

“I want,” you tried weakly.

“It’s forever, amore,” he warned quietly.

“It’s forever with you.”

He bit into his wrist and pressed the wound against your lips. Thick, warm blood quickly filled your mouth. It was unlike anything you’d ever tasted. Not that metallic tinge you knew from biting your tongue or busting your lip. It was sweet like honey, as though you could taste how much he loved you, how he carried it with him always, his veins full of you. You drank it down, savoring every drop as he continued to profess his love, whispering adoration into your ear. Your heart stuttered painfully, kicking against your ribcage as it slowed to a stop, your vision going dark.

You woke up cradled in Secondo’s arms, pressed tight against his chest. You were covered in blood, just as you were when you’d passed out in his office all those weeks ago. Only this time, a lot of it was your own. Pain shot down your spine as your heart beat once, twice, and again, stuttering into a steady rhythm to pump a mixture of what was left of your blood with Secondo’s through your now-dead veins. Each wound burned down to a cellular level, your nerves and skin slowly stitching themselves back together to fill in the gaps left by the hunter’s knife.

You groaned, turning against your lover to find a less painful position. No respite was granted no matter how you situated yourself. Your jaw ached; your teeth felt brand new in your mouth, foreign and sore like a filling that needed to be grinded down. Fangs now jutted out of your gums, the edges sharp as any blade.

“Welcome back, tesorino,” he said softly and caressed the side of your face that wasn’t pushing into him. “How do you feel?”

You held onto him, breathing deep with a satisfied moan. Secondo’s cologne filled your nostrils as you rubbed your face against his jacket, the velvet fabric tickling your cheek. “I feel…everything.”

He ran a hand through your hair. “You will probably feel like that for a while, amore. Transition can be…intense.”

You flinched as you closed your eyes, everything too bright. “It kind of…hurts.”

“I know, amore. I’m sorry for that,” he whispered, his lips against your forehead. “But I think I can help you feel better. Would you like to try?”

You nodded as he placed a hand under your chin, tilting your face up so he could place a soft kiss on your lips. You tried to deepen the kiss, but he pulled away and set you against the sofa. His footsteps sounded like thunder in your ears, and you pressed your face into the fabric, trying to dampen it. You found more smells there, the fabric covering the cushions and the padding inside. You could smell the wood that composed the frame, down to the marks burned in by the manufacturers stamp. But there was something else under it, something acrid and familiar that made your stomach growl.

Oh, you’d never been so painfully hungry in your entire life. Even those times when you’d get too busy or simply just forget to eat never felt like this.

You turned your head, blinking hard as you tried to adjust to the light of the room. Secondo dragged Lucy toward you, ignoring her tearful pleas as he dropped her in front of you.

Blood.

You could smell blood.

You looked up at your lover, tracing a finger over your new teeth. He offered you a soft, fond smile.

“You should eat something,” he said as easily as he had when he would deliver those amazing croissants to your desk.

“You mean…?”

He nodded.

A low growl rumbled in your chest as you remembered Lucy’s face grinning happily as she stabbed you.

She tried to struggle, but Secondo placed his foot on her back, pinning her down. You crawled toward her, approaching slowly as you watched your prey. Pitiful, useless tears fell from her eyes as she begged you with words that didn’t make it far enough past your ears to be understood. It surprised you as much as her when your palm connected with her cheek. It surprised you less when your fist connected.

Her lip split against your fist just as Secondo’s had when she hit him. It didn’t make you even. Nothing she said or did could ever make up for trying to kill you, to kill Secondo. To kill his family. He looked on, a flicker of pride behind his eyes as you wrenched Lucy from the floor and dug your teeth deep into her neck. Blood filled your mouth, an odd mixture of bitter and satisfying tastes dancing on your tongue. It was different from Secondo’s; Lucy’s blood wasn’t filled with love for you, but you could somehow taste her life as you drank. Taste it flickering and fading as her heart slowed to a crawl and her whimpers turned to gasping breaths. You dropped her body there on the floor, discarding her as easily as she was willing to do to you. Trading her life for your own.

You closed your eyes, body shuddering as you licked the blood from your teeth.

“How do you feel now, tesorino?” Secondo asked, slightly amused.

A low growl rumbled in your chest as you scrambled across the floor, crawling over Lucy’s dead body to reach him. You grabbed at the waistband of his trousers, not bothering with the fastenings as you ripped the fabric apart. He let out a surprised sound as the seams ripped and fell away, leaving his half-hard cock hanging heavy in front of you.

“You like to watch?” you asked as you took him in your hand, slowly pumping his length.

“Only you,” he said with a grunt, letting his eyes close as his cock fattened up.

“Look at me then,” you commanded, waiting for him to obey. Slowly, his eyes met yours and he struggled to keep them open as you took him in your mouth. His hand shot into your hair, grabbing a fistful as you swirled your tongue around the head of his cock. You pulled off and grinned up at him. “Good boy.”

He let out a filthy moan as you swallowed him back down, working your mouth and hands over him as best as you could. His knees jerked as he hit the back of your throat, the hand in your hair tightening as you pressed your nose into the dark patch of hair at the base of his cock. You looked up at him, batting your lashes as tears formed at the corners of your eyes. You grabbed his hips and forced him down further, an absolutely unholy sound leaving your lover as you worked him over.

“Fuck, tesorino, amore, please,” he begged, stomach muscles tightening as he tried to fight his orgasm.

You hummed around him, granting the man no mercy as the salt of him hit the back of your tongue. He swore loudly as he spilled down your throat, his eyes still lovingly focused on you. His mouth hung open wordlessly as you swallowed his spend and you knew he was memorizing the image of you on your knees for him. He pulled away, his cock slipping from your mouth so he could reach down and pull you to your feet. He kissed you hard, unbothered by the taste of himself.

“I love you, I love you, I love you,” he whispered against your lips.

“I love you,” you whispered back. “So fucking much.”

He picked you up, throwing you over his shoulder to carry you into the bedroom, completely ignoring the carnage in the living room. He dropped you on the bed, shedding his shirt as he kicked off what was left of his pants. He crawled up your body, fingers quickly ripping the buttons of your borrowed shirt apart. You raised your hips, helping him to pull your bottoms from your body.

You cupped his face, bringing him down to kiss you once again. Your body felt electric, all your nerves sparking where he touched. He pushed your knees apart, settling between your legs as he moved his mouth to your neck. His thumb swiped over your clit as he bit down, placing a new bite over the freshly healed space. Moans left both of you as your blood filled his mouth, his hand still working quickly as he teased his fingers against your entrance.

As he pulled his mouth away, you shoved him onto his back, both of you surprised by your strength. You ground your hips against him, his cock already growing hard again beneath you. You swatted his hands away as he reached for you, pinning his wrists above his head as you bent down and sank your teeth into his neck. He moaned loudly, his hips jerking under you as you sucked at the bite. You moved and bit into the other side, wanting to hear him make that sound again.

“Amore, please,” he whined, lifting his hips again to gain more contact.

You pulled back and grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at you. “If you need something from me, you need to ask for it.”

He raised an eyebrow as you repeated his words back to him. “You know I’m going to get you for this.”

“I��m counting on it.”

He swallowed hard. “Please, amore,” he said softly, pretending to struggle against your hold. “I need—oh—”

You rocked yourself over his length before he could finish the thought. Guiding his hands to your hips, you reached between your bodies and lined your entrance against his cock, slowly sinking down until he filled you completely. You threw your head back as you set a slow pace, pressing your hand against his chest to keep him still. You fucked yourself on his thick cock, all kinds of praise and swears falling from your lips as he looked up at you. His pupils were blown wide, eyes filled with a look so full of lust it almost made you cum on its own. That tight band formed in your stomach as you looked down and watched him push into you. He could tell you were close, bringing his thumb to your clit once again to roll over the sensitive spot as you moved a little faster. You chased the feeling until the band snapped and you came with a desperate shout.

He watched you come down, a lazy smile on his face as your body tensed against his. He pulled you down to rest against his chest, softly kissing your cheek as you struggled to catch your breath. He smacked your ass hard before grabbing your hips and thrusting deep into you. You mewled, holding onto him as he fucked up into you hard and fast.

“I told you,” he grunted.

“Harder,” you begged, your nails digging into his arms.

He slammed into you relentlessly, the wet sound of sex almost as loud as the filthy moans leaving both of you. You came again, almost without warning as he panted into your ear, his hand gripped tight around your throat. He followed soon after, a guttural sound rising from his throat as he gritted his teeth and emptied himself into you.

“I fucking love you,” he said desperately and pulled you up to meet his lips in a bruising kiss. “Ti amo, amore mio.”

“Mio cuore,” you hummed against him. “I love you too.”

Everything smelled like fire. The scent was overwhelming, consuming every sense until it was the only thing you knew. You tried to focus, eyes adjusting to the surrounding blaze as you blinked. Smoke stung your eyes as the wind shifted, carrying the smell right over you.

Idolatry was on fire.

Secondo joined you, a hand on the small of your back as a window burst somewhere from the heat. You brought a hand to your mouth, shocked by the sight, shocked by how calm he was. You could make out the figures of Copia and the Countess, silhouetted by flames as they danced to a song only they could hear. There were more forms on the opposite end of the parking lot, shapes you didn’t quite recognize accompanied by another scent you were growing too familiar with.

The smell was growing stronger now, wind whipping and soaking the scent into your hair just as the pools soaked into the parking lot under the piles of bodies.

The smell of blood and death surrounded you as the roof of your former workplace caved in.

Mary lit a cigarette, the flame of the lighter revealing smeared blood and gore all over their face. “Well, shit,” they said with a huff. “What do we do now, Boss?”

Secondo shrugged. “I have insurance.”

“Does it cover acts of murderous vampire hunters?” the older vampire you still hadn’t met asked, swatting bits of sinew from his pants.

“Probably qualifies as arson,” Secondo said with a wave of his hand.

The other vampire reached for your hand, carefully bringing it to his lips as he introduced himself.

“It’s such a shame we had to meet like this, piccolina. I am Primo,” he said and dipped into a bow. “The eldest Emeritus brother.”

“I’m—”

“Oh, I know who you are, piccolina,” he said, casting a glance at his brother. Secondo wrapped an arm around Mary’s shoulder and ushered them away, giving you and Primo space to speak privately.

“I’m sorry. He hasn’t really told me much about you.”

“That doesn’t surprise me. He’s always been a little…secretive. Distant. Protective.”

“And you came to protect him.”

He nodded once. “He is my family. And now so are you.”

“Secondo’s not…in trouble for that, is he?” you asked carefully, remembering what Secondo had told you about Copia and the Countess.

Primo tilted his head and stared down at you. The resemblance was strong even under the paint; the vampires weren’t carbon copies—not in looks or personality—but they all seemed to carry themselves in the same way. Their mannerisms mirrored one another, from the way Primo looked at you now, to the flamboyant gestures of Terzo and Copia. You wondered where they all got it from, who they all got it from. If they would even tell you.

“He didn’t have much of a choice, did he?” Primo replied with a tap on your nose, pulling you out of your thoughts.

“No, I guess he didn’t.”

“He did his best to give you a choice, piccolina,” he said with a sigh. “Please remember that in the coming weeks. Becoming a vampire is not such an easy thing. But I knew the second he called asking about that recipe that it was only a matter of time.”

“What does that mean?”

Primo shrugged. “Perhaps nothing.”

“I’m not getting any answers out of you, am I?”

He smiled. “I can see why he likes you.”

“You two talking about me?” Secondo asked as he wandered back over. He wrapped his arms around you and grinned at his brother, the paint at the corners of his mouth cracking.

“You’re so full of yourself,” you shot back.

“Act like you don’t like it,” he whispered lowly in your ear.

“Get a room, Twos,” the Countess yelled over the distant sound of sirens. “Ooh, firemen,” she said a little too excitedly, clapping her hands.

“Dolce, you just ate ten men,” Copia reminded her.

“I just like firemen,” she pouted. No one missed the pleased smile that crossed Copia’s face.

“Now who needs a room?” Secondo asked, rolling his eyes. “We should go before they get here. I’m not explaining all these fucking bodies.”

“Hey,” Mary snapped. “They started it.”

“Yeah, what the fuck happened here?” you asked.

“Long story,” Mary, Copia and the Countess said in unison.

You shrugged and turned your attention to Terzo. He’d said nothing since the two of you had arrived, which seemed exceedingly strange given how mouthy he’d been from the moment you met. You wandered over to where he sat, two hulking figures in masks watching over him—his Ghouls.

“It’s fine, boys,” he said softly as they began to growl at you. He patted the cement next to him, offering you a seat. “Ciao, bambina.”

“You ok?”

“Of course! I am always ok,” he said with a fake smile.

You narrowed your eyes at him. “Very convincing.”

He looked up and gestured for the Ghouls to step away before turning to you. “I am sorry I failed you today, bambina.”

“What? You didn’t—”

“You died and I did nothing to stop it.”

“That’s not true. You knocked at least two of Lucy’s teeth out.”

He huffed out a laugh and patted your hand. “I’m afraid that was not enough.”

“Terzo, I don’t think this day turned out how any of us planned. But I’m still here and I’m ok.”

“For now,” he scoffed. “This…isn’t an easy life, bambina.”

“Well, why don’t you let me worry about it?”

“If only it worked like that.” He jumped up and walked away quickly, snapping his fingers at the Ghouls. They followed him out of the parking lot and into the night.

“Amore,” Second said softly, settling next to you. “Yes, Terzo has always been that dramatic, but he is very capable of taking care of himself.”

“But—”

“Don’t worry, tesorino. It’s over. We won. And you and I have forever between us now.”

You rested your head on his shoulder. “Are you going to be ok with that?”

“Of course, amore mio. But I’m not looking forward to finding another accountant.”

“Are you firing me?”

He hummed as he turned and caught you in a kiss. “I’d like to think it’s a promotion.”

“For your business that is currently on fire?”

He smiled. “Did you think this was my only club?”

THANK YOU AGAIN for your time and comments and likes and reblogs. I will be back and I'm bringing Terzo with me.

#my fic #papa emeritus ii x reader #papa emeritus ii fanfic #secondo x reader #secondo fanfiction #vampire secondo x reader #vampire secondo #ghost band fanfiction #the band ghost fanfiction #suck club forever

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