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goldenroutledge · 7 months

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par for the course

pairing ⤜ rafe cameron x fem!kook!reader

word count ⤜ 3.2k

summary ⤜ in which you forgive your childhood nemesis, rafe cameron.

a/n ⤜ season one reminiscent? i’ve had a draft of this piece forever so i decided to finish it!

rafe cameron masterlist

The slam of your bedroom door echoes through your house and the fall onto your bed is cushioned by the decorative throw pillows on top of it, drowning out your exasperation for the moment. A deep exhale fell past your lips as reality sunk in. The nags of your parents reached an all time high so far this summer, as they went on and on about how you were going to be stuck in the house with nothing to do.

Unfortunately, your explanation didn’t cut it. In the back of your mind, you were well aware that your friends would be busy doing their own things. You just chose not to believe it until it came true. John B and JJ became camp counselors for some group of kids over the summer, those poor kids. Pope decided to fill his free time with summer classes, and Kiara was tied up at The Wreck. And with John B going away, Sarah didn’t have a reason to stick around either, much to your displeasure. She’d decided to visit her cousins overseas. Not that you really blamed her, or any of your friends for that matter.

But it was slightly embarrassing to have nothing to say when it was your turn to reveal your plans for the next few months. Any other time, you’d always assumed your plans would be with any one of them.

And now, your problems were a whole lot bigger. Judging by your lack of plans, your parents went ahead and made some for you. And with the last person you would’ve wanted to spend your summer days— or any days at all— with, Rafe Cameron.

Both of your fathers had worked together in the past, and they still kept a friendship because of it. If that’s what you call two middle-aged businessmen drowning in drinks and making small talk at the occasional kook event.

To put it simply, Rafe had it out for you. Just the mention of his name made you shudder; your horrific childhood experiences with the boy forever carved in your memory.

His bratty behavior towards you began at about age 9 or 10. For instance, when you wouldn’t budge off of his favorite swing at the park. It would be impossible to forget how he popped one last bubble from his piece of bubblegum, faded pink and chewed thin, before wading it up and planting it right in your hair.

You lunged off the swing towards him immediately, screams of terror piercing the serene island air. He ran in circles, cackling mischievously as you chased him. All for Rafe to ‘take back’ his spot on the swing while he had you distracted.

As years went on, the memory became less and less vivid— except for that moment when he popped in another piece of gum, one bigger than all his teeth combined, before shouting: “Thanks for keeping’ it warm for me.”

And without an inkling of remorse, he began swinging gleefully while you ran to find your mother, hot tears cascading down your cheeks. The tear stains remained for another day or so. The sadness and frustration was simply too much for your nine year old self to handle. Not to mention the wad of gum that had to be cut out of your hair later that day. And it was all Rafe’s fault.

So it couldn’t be chalked up to anything less than betrayal, really. For your parents to coordinate summer golf lessons with your childhood nemesis. It was pure treachery. Especially after your strong argument of course, not failing to mention the dreaded gum incident. Only to be told off by your mother, as she assumed any child of Ward’s would mature into nothing short of an upstanding citizen. If she only knew.

Days later, you were throwing on a Ralph Lauren polo and a tennis skirt to match, hating every minute of it as you knew what was to come. You couldn’t deny how the material hugged your body just right; and a shred of your subconscious hoped that Rafe would notice too.

For no reason other than revenge, of course. How dare he terrorize you as a child and not be consumed with regret years later? His unforgivable acts couldn’t go unpunished.

Grabbing your keys and phone, you sped off in your car without so much as a goodbye to your mom before leaving. No amount of time could help you process what you were in for, and no amount of forethought would make this reunion any more bearable.

Scanning the cream colored walls of the Island Club, it didn’t take long to spot the tall Cameron leaning up against one of its pillars, scrolling on his phone with an expression of pure boredom. His foot tapped the floor occasionally, his eyes lifting every minute or so in search of you.

Just two taps on his shoulder was all it took to grab his attention. Rafe’s lips spread into a smirk just as quickly as he turned around to meet your irritated gaze. That stupid smirk, one you knew all too well.

“Long time no see, Y/n. Missed me?”

“Not a chance in hell. I’m here against my will.”

“Yeah, right. I bet you were just begging for a chance to see me again.” Rafe whines dramatically.

“Delusional as ever, huh, Rafe? I guess some things never change.”

“Childish as ever, huh, Y/n? Good to know we agree about something. And to think I had hope that you’d leave the hostility at home.”

“Didn’t you get suspended from the Academy for fighting? Twice?”

His expression shifts from smug to scowl.

“That was a long time ago. You ready to get started or what?”

You smile at him with faux innocence, glad to have landed a punch in this endless match between you two.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

—

The silence remained as thick as molasses, tension lingering that not even the sharpest of machetes could slash through.

Rafe steered the golf cart in silence, movements hasty and abrupt as an expression of his frustration. Your memory wasn’t as short as he’d expected; and now he was subjected to a summer of what he anticipated to be vengeful torture.

Lost in thought, he came to a stop at your destination. And by the looks of it, you were more than ready, willing and able to carry on without him as you began teeing up.

“Aren’t I supposed to be teaching you how? Isn’t that the whole reason why we’re here?”

With a sigh, your eyes darted to the clear blue sky, silently praying to a higher power to keep you sane. “I’ll ask for your help when I need it.”

You resume lining up your footing and the club with the ball, envisioning your swing before Rafe interrupts once again.

“Why bother showing up here if you’re gonna act like a bitch?”

“I was sent here against my will, remember?”

“So you say.”

“And I’m not a bitch. Not to those who don’t deserve it.”

“I couldn’t tell the difference.” Rafe scoffs. “And I never said you are a bitch, I said you’re acting like one.”

A cold chuckle makes its way out of your throat at his blatant contradiction. “You do not wanna go there with me, Cameron.”

After the mumble fell from your lips, you were set on taking a swing at the golf ball. Until Rafe opened his mouth once again, as if he was just waiting for you to swing, to piss you off even further. Provoking you at this point.

“Actually, let’s go there. I’d love to go there. Please enlighten me as to why you feel entitled to be so rude to me. Especially since I am the one doing you this little favor, aren’t I? Giving you a break from those losers on the Cut you love so much.”

“Isn’t it disrespectful to talk when I’m trying to hit a ball?” You query, quoting his very own words during an encounter with the notorious blond pogue. “Learn some etiquette, my friend.”

“Pathetic. So it’s Maybank? He’s been whispering in your ear? What, is he your boyfriend?”

“As if I haven’t experienced enough of your obnoxiousness firsthand. Trust me, I hate you plenty on my own. And he’s not my boyfriend, idiot.”

Rafe raises an eyebrow, his smirk returning at your defensiveness. “Though from what I hear you have some ‘losers’ of your own these days. Barry, isn’t it? Would be a shame if Uncle Ward found out.”

Rafe rolls his eyes at your disingenuous mention of his father. Sure, your fathers were somewhat close friends, but for some reason, it made his blood boil. “What’s it to you? Don’t tell me this is your attempt at blackmail.”

You shrug, grip still firm on the golf club. “Not necessarily. Have to admit it does feel good to get under your skin, though.”

“Touché.”

—

You moved through the golf course rather quickly, nearing its end. Both of your intentions were evident that you were eager to get home, and best of all, away from each other. Rafe slides into the driver's side of the cart, but doesn’t pull off immediately.

“You never actually answered my question, by the way. About why you’re being such a pain in the ass to me.”

You stop scrolling on your phone to look at him, trying to understand his purpose for bringing this up again. “You don’t happen to have some sort of short-term memory loss, right?”

“You said you hate me plenty on your own. But what fucking reason have I ever given you to?”

“Oh?”

“I told you to go there, didn’t I? I’m giving you a chance to let out your grievances. And that’s one more than I should, you know patience isn’t my strongsuit.”

“Can’t a girl just hate Rafe Cameron with no strings attached? I’m sure it’s not the first time.”

He looks over to you, blue eyes staring into yours. “You and I both know there’s always strings attached.”

“What can I say, Cameron? Guess it’s just par for the course. Or are you so desperate to know because you crave my validation?”

“What can I say, Y/l/n? I guess you wouldn’t be able to understand what it means to learn from your mistakes.”

“You’re full of it.”

“No more than you are, peach cake.”

“Just drive us back to the club already.”

“Not until you confess.” He protests, dangling the keys in your face before sliding them into his pocket. Rafe leans back, unintentionally manspreading as he does so, and drapes an arm over your shoulder. “We could be here all day.”

The exasperation was pretty much dripping off of you. His antics felt so familiar in the most intense way possible, and it made you want to scream. He was the same Rafe bullying you out of the playground a decade ago. The same Rafe you were now wondering had you misjudged. Or judged a little too harshly over some measly childhood rivalry.

“Primrose Park.”

“Excuse me?”

“Primrose Park.” You reiterate. “Don’t feign amnesia. I know you know.”

“How could I forget? I was the king of that place for years.”

“King? More like dictator.”

He shrugs. “I had a delicate ego back then.”

“As well as no patience or manners. If I didn’t know any better I would’ve thought you were raised by wolves.”

Rafe chuckles, amused by your memory of him as a child. “Blame it on Uncle Ward.”

“Sarah and Wheezie were always sweet as pie, so I don’t know if that’s fair.”

“Probably just caught me on a bad day, Y/n. I, too, am sweet as pie.” He defends, eyes twinkling as he smiles.

“Like hell you were! Do you recall wading up your gum and sticking it in my hair? Does that ring a bell?”

His eyebrows furrow as he recollects the memory.

“When we were kids at the park, you got all pissed that I wouldn’t give you a turn on the swings, so you spit your gum in my hair.”

He chuckles at first, but his laughs grow much louder as he ponders the memory.

“It’s really not that funny, Rafe. My mother had to cut that chunk of gum out of my hair.” You remind him. “You’re lucky I don’t shave your damn head right now!” You take a swat at his cap, knocking it to the ground as he’s struggling to get his laughter under control.

“And after all these years you never forgave me? It’s been decades, Y/n.”

“You never apologized.”

“Well I’m sorry, now. If that means anything.” He mumbles the last part, apologies being a foreign art to him. “But you should be thanking me, actually. You have no idea what you were in for had you stuck around.”

“What?”

“Henry Haberstroh. He was gonna give you another one of those stupid bouquets of weeds.”

“The dandelion bouquets?” Your mouth hangs open at the revelation, remembering the boy with an incessant crush on you. A crush so intense in fact that he wouldn’t stop giving you bouquets of dandelions he’d picked from the grass— not until you’d agreed to a playdate with him despite being painfully uninterested.

“The gum idea was more of a last resort but I thought you might wanna get out of there. I mean, dandelions? You’re allergic to bees.”

“And how do you know this exactly?”

“As King of Primrose Park I was privy to information. And was subtlety ever Henry’s thing? The kid was a blabbermouth. He never shut up about you.”

“Well I must say I’m impressed, Cameron. That’s quite a scheme you pulled off. Not that you’re forgiven or anything. But Henry was a creep.”

“Couldn’t take a hint to save his life, either. I don’t think I’ve seen you run away from someone so fast, not even from me.” Rafe teases, nudging your arm with his as you giggled.

“The bees!”

Rafe gives you a look of disbelief, knowing damn well it wasn’t the pollinated dandelions you were running from.

“Seriously, I’m really allergic! But you already knew that?”

“What kind of secret admirer doesn’t know his admiree’s allergens?”

His blue eyes lock with yours, smiles replacing the scowls on both of your faces from earlier. You raise an eyebrow at him in question.

“Shame on Henry.” Rafe critiques, realizing the implication of his words.

“Yeah. Shame on Henry. But I wouldn’t call us even quite yet, so sleep with one eye open just in case.”

The two of you share a genuine laugh for the first time all day, before Rafe begins driving towards the next hole.

“Remind me to lock my windows when I get home.”

—

You move towards your ball once again, but gaze at your target uneasily. Maybe you still had a thing or two to learn about the sport. Rafe leans up against the cart, arms crossed and biceps stretching the fabric of his shirt much thinner. The tension was almost gone in comparison to how you started the afternoon. Almost.

Now looking at Rafe, it felt different. How could you be angry anymore? Holding a vendetta against him took too much energy at this point when it was no longer warranted.

To your luck, you could excuse the fiery feeling rising to your cheeks as a result of the sweltering sun. No matter how hard you tried, your former memory of him melted away. You could no longer see Rafe as the pesky little boy he once was. Perhaps a symptom of heat stroke, you thought. Hopefully it would be temporary, you still had the whole summer with Rafe ahead of you.

“I almost forgot you’re supposed to be teaching me how to play this joke of a sport.” You gripe. “Will you show me?”

Rafe bites his bottom lip to avoid cracking a smile. That you had finally cracked, giving in to ask him for help. “That’s what I’m here for.”

Leaning off the cart, Rafe saunters over to you. “I need you to start on your form first. May I?” He offered, gesturing to set his arms over yours for some adjustment.

With a slow nod, you decide to taunt him further. He’s not gonna get away that easy. “You’re not chewing any gum are you?”

“No, Y/n.” He responds, and you can just hear the smirk in his tone. Hearing your name roll off his tongue makes your stomach flutter— now feeling his body against yours, the heat increasing tenfold.

“Hold the club firmly, and swing through the ball, not at the ball.” He guides your arms with his, mimicking how to prepare for a swing. As his head peers over your shoulder, you swear you hear his breath hitch at the faint aroma of your perfume. Rafe almost seems relaxed, doing the movements with you a few times over again before stepping back to let you try it.

You do just as he taught you, and Rafe repeats the instructions under his breath as he watches you take your swing.

From the woosh of the ball leaving the grass, your eyes follow as it lands in a close proximity to the cup. With a scream of victory, your hands collide with Rafe’s in a high five, before wrapping your arms around his neck, his hand instinctively falling to rest at your waist as he pulls you into a hug. “Atta girl!” He marvels.

“I did it!” You cheer, smile beaming off your face. Once the initial shock wears off, you realize whose arms you’re engulfed in, stepping back from the embrace abruptly. “Uhm- I’m sorry. I didn’t…” You begin, trying to explain yourself and your sudden outburst of physical affection.

“Don’t apologize.” Rafe assures, reaching his hand out for yours. You accept it with a shy smile. “You did great for your first big swing. Can’t say I’m surprised, though, you do have one hell of a teacher.”

“He’s not bad.” You confess. “Actually, better than I thought.”

Rafe quirks an eyebrow, his cerulean orbs gazing into your eyes, finding for once they held not one drop of bad blood while looking back at him. He steps forward, the space keeping you both apart dwindling. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. Don’t tell him I said that, it’ll go straight to his head.”

His eyes flicker from yours then to your glossed lips, which is the final straw before giving into your growing urge to kiss him. Rafe’s free hand clings to your cheek immediately as he deepens the kiss; as if a magnetic pull between you two had clicked.

Pulling away, the surprise on Rafe’s face is evident, but the confidence in his voice made it impossible to tell a difference. “I’m glad to see you came to your senses and forgave me.”

“Jumping to conclusions already? What makes you think you’re forgiven?”

Rafe shrugs, and that familiar look of pride returns to his expression. His thumb grazes across the apple of your cheek, and his hand gives a gentle squeeze to your waist. “Call it a wild hunch.”

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lawomi · 3 months

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The Moment Law Starts to See you Differently.

One of @grandline-fics prompts.

LinkTree for Twitter, Ao3, ext.

Summary: The artist of the Heart Pirates is invited to discuss their journal detailing their adventures by their very own Captain.

CW: gn!pronouns, SFW, Fluff, Canon compliant

You are a Heart Pirate. You had joined the notorious crew lead by the Surgeon of Death long ago, sometime after the very start of Trafalgar Law’s journey. He was 18 when you had both met and now you were sailing away from Wanokuni, a place that left your captain ranked on par with the now Yonko: Monkey D. Luffy. It had been an incredible journey so far, one beyond the simple words in your journal.

You sit scribbling in your journal within the library of the Polar Tang. It was small, but it was built alongside one of the Tang’s large portholes, allowing you to admire the vast blue of the sea or the reefs the Tang would make use for cover. A knock came from the door, bringing you out of your concentration.

In came Trafalgar Law, a man dear to you whom you wrote about often… Quite often. You close your journal a bit too hastily, standing straight and saluting your captain. He acknowledges your presence with a nod, dismissing your salute and watches as you sit back down, shyly peeling your journal open again, continuing your scrawling.

Law stands before his collection of books, the ones he does not keep in his office – most often outdated ones or ones he’d already studied several times over – and pulled out a specific one, opening it to the glossary. You can’t help but stare at his back, as was common for you, instead of write. Noticing the sound of lead on paper ceasing, Law turns his head towards you.

“Is everything alright, Y/N-ya?”

Casually, you smile and close your journal again, “I-It’s nothing, Captain. How are your wounds?”

Law absentmindedly adjusts his posture, as though testing his body. “I’m doing rather well. I still need time, of course. So do you. I’m happy to see my crew resting now.” He smiled softly at you, causing your heart to leap into your throat.

“That’s wonderful to hear, Captain.”

You respected this man so deeply, you had romantic feelings for him for years, but you knew those emotions would only distract him from his dreams. Not to mention, he never expressed interest in you. At least, nothing you could pick up on. Despite his intimidating demeanor he was rather affectionate with not only Bepo, but his other crewmates, too. He wasn’t uncomfortable with their outbursts of love, although he kept to himself otherwise. He was the same with you. You’d pat him on the back or give him a high five. Sometimes, usually while drinking, you would wrap your arm around his waist in a friendly embrace.

When you had developed feelings for him, you had made it a habit to deliver his coffee when he needed it. Bepo would always deliver his tea to help him relax, but you would deliver the snacks alongside him as Bepo was prone to eating them himself. The bond the Heart Pirates had with their captain was deep and you were no different to him than they were.

Law’s black shoes clacked along the Tang’s metal floor as he approached you, leaving comfortable space between the two of you on the library’s couch. He continued skimming his book which appeared to be a book on islands. He was likely trying to find details on Winner island in advance to reaching it. You beam in his direction, admiring his focused, pouting profile, then return to your writing.

A few minutes pass and you jump at the fact Law had leaned over to watch you write. You flush furiously, closing the journal impulsively, and stare at him. He chuckled at your response.

“Sorry, curiosity got the better of me. You’ve had that journal a long time, I don’t think I’ve ever asked you what you’ve been working on all this time.”

“Well,” you try to maintain a clear voice, confident tone. “I’ve been documenting my journey. Of course, it’s all my perspective so it isn’t too exciting.”

“Now, now, I’ll be the judge of that,” Law smirked a sly smirk, playfully lifting a hand as though he’d snatch the journal from you. You hug it to your chest tightly, “No!”

His laughter filled your ears, your face burned due to both the sound and the embarrassment. “Why don’t you tell me what you wrote; show me whatever you want to show me. I wouldn’t mind listening.” Law had a playful but affectionate gleam in his eye, one that told you he meant what he said.

You clear your throat and flip through the pages, showing Law one of your first drawings in the journal. It was of the Polar Tang. Law’s keen eyes could see as you flipped that there were portraits as well—namely of him. For now, he kept quiet.

“That’s outstanding,” he remarked, wide eyed as he looked over the drawing. “I know you’ve already done plenty of art around the sub, but this is so detailed. You even labeled it. Incredible. It reminds me of the paintings you do sometimes, but only in pencil!”

Your blush deepens, you slightly lift the journal as though you would close it, shy he was staring so intently. “Th-thank you, Captain,” you manage a warm smile.

“Show me more?” He offered, returning your expression.

Thus you begin the longwinded explanation. From the start of your journey where he’d met you on your home island on the day of an art festival and was so impressed, he invited you aboard. He had hopes in your ability to sew and had you help design and embroider many of the custom outfits he and the others wore. You tell him how proud you are to be a Heart Pirate, eyes shining and arms animated as you explain.

Law can’t help but mimic your smiles and chime in now and again as you spoke. A trend slowly became apparent to him as you delve into the journey further and further. You remembered many things, particularly about him, thanks to writing it down. When you flipped the book to show him drawings, he noticed small doodles of primarily himself as you speedily sifted through pages. He couldn’t help but feel flattered, albeit a tad curious as to why you drew him so much.

The bigger drawings you showed him were of Penguin & Shachi, too. Bepo showed up especially often. Surprise washed over him as you show him a drawing of you hugging him in farewell along with the crew as he headed for Punk Hazard. He swallowed dryly. He didn’t want to show weakness nor regret. He protected his crew by leaving them behind. Still, this drawing had feeling in every brush stroke, in every detail, it made his heart heavy.

Then came the details of your and the crew’s journey without him. He laughed at your antics together and was thankful to hear you had all worked together flawlessly to reach Zou. You told him how much you loved Zou, his eyes widening slightly at the shine in your eyes. The love seeping from you to have come to know the minks, but the absolute joy and tears that flowed out of you as you explained his return took him aback. He gazed at you, brows furrowing and frowning slightly in concentration as your eyes were averted as you spoke. Something about you had always been special to him, but now…

As your explanation came to a close, your journal reaching Wano which was still being filled out, you lean against him in an affectionate nuzzle. “Thank you for listening, Captain.” You were surprised to be met by Law’s tight shoulder, his body having tensed when you touched it. “Oh no,” you remark, gently petting where you’d leaned in. “Did I hurt something?”

Law was hiding under his hat, trying to disguise a blush that had bloomed from ear to ear. “You’re fine,” he said, clearing his throat. Once he recovered, he looked up at you again with intense, loving eyes. “I appreciate you. You are an important part of my crew. I’m happy to have let you join us, so – um – thank you.”

Red now yourself you giggle and nod, standing from where you sat. “I’m going to help the others for lunch. Thank you again, Captain.”

Law nodded, back to his usual stoic expression, watching you intently as you walked away. There was something about you he hadn’t realized affected him so deeply. He found himself recalling how much be loved working on uniforms with you, how much he missed you in particular throughout his journey. Something had clicked during this story you told, something he felt he may need to discuss, one day…

#trafalgar law #trafalgar law x reader #law one piece #law fanfiction #my fanfics #prompts #trafalgar d water law #long post

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laurenairay · 2 months

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I can't help it if I like it - M. Martin

Summary: Dhara Nicholls is just trying to make ends meet while working on her Masters degree. Enter Matt Martin.

This is my entry for @wyattjohnston’s summer fic exchange 2k24! My giftee is @comphy-and-cozy and I hope I incorporated everything we discussed. This is the second longest fic I’ve ever written on here and I had genuinely so much fun writing it! Definitely written with a lot of creative license, not only because Matt and Sydney are couple goals, but also because I completely fudged the season dates. I also modelled Dhara’s degree and work after one of my best friends, and her Sikh faith after another friend, so it is as accurate as I could make it without experiencing it all myself.

I hope you enjoy it C! And thank you to Demi for reading through the first half of this monster!

Words: 13.7k

Warnings: age gap, flirting, pining, extremely slow burn, implied intimate moment, some bad language, changed names of Matt’s irl wife and children

Title from Shotput by Still Woozy Lyrics used from Middle of the Night by Elley Duhé

Waiter/Waitress…

Bartender…

Tutor…

Barista…

Cashier…

Of all the things to leave to the last minute. Dhara usually prided herself on her organisational skills, but with her summer internship taking up most of the past couple of months, finding a part-time job to give her disposable income (and food, for that matter) for the final year of her postgraduate degree had slipped her mind. Rents had gone up quite significantly in the past few months, so anything extra she had last year was pouring directly into paying for her tiny apartment, and she needed to eat, damn it.

Unfortunately, now that it was already August, there was nothing truly suitable. She needed flexible hours, that was for sure – some of her data modelling work couldn’t just be stopped in the middle of a good coding flow to pick up a shift at a bar. And some of her classes were online this final year, so she wouldn’t find it as easy to travel back and forth to a job on campus. Tutoring could potentially work but it would involve a fair amount of planning and structure that she wasn’t sure she could commit to.

This was the worst timing. And she’d sworn to herself that she wouldn’t ask her parents for help, not when she was so close to finally finishing her education. But what could she do?

“Hey Dhara!”

She turned her head to the side quickly, dark curls whipping over her shoulder, before she smiled. The familiar voice indeed matched one of her former dormmates, Melissa. They had lived on the same floor in freshman year at NYU, but with limited student housing, most of the friends on that floor had gone their separate ways into private renting. She’d lost touch with a few of those girls too, after they graduated from their undergraduate degrees, but those she still kept in touch with had carried on their education like she had – only Melissa and another of their friends Janelle had taken up postgraduate study at Long Island University – Brooklyn though, so it was good to see her familiar face outside of the occasional coffee catch-ups, especially after the long summer break.

“Melissa! Hi! How are you?”

“I’m good, I’m good, glad to be back in the city. How are you? Did you travel back to LA to see your parents in the end?”

“I’m pretty good too, thanks. And no, the internship offer was too good to turn down. My parents went on a few trips by themselves anyway, so it’s not like I missed out on too much time with them,” Dhara shrugged, smiling, “Now I’m just trying to get myself set up for final year.”

She loved her parents – really, she did – but she wasn’t as close to them as she had been growing up. The downfall of choosing to study far away from home. Dhara had barely been back to Los Angeles since she moved to New York when she turned 18, if she was being honest, and her parents valued her independence as well as her dedication to her studies. At least they could rely on video calls to see each other’s faces.

“Oh man, tell me about it. Shitty rent increases, right?” Melissa groaned.

“Exactly!” Dhara laughed, “I’m just trying to find something that’ll let me be flexible so I can graduate to the best of my ability, you know?”

“I know exactly what you mean,” Melissa sighed, smiling sympathetically, “I’ve got a couple of interviews at coffee chains lined up, but the hours are going to be brutal.”

Dhara grimaced. Yeah, there was a reason she wanted to avoid working as a barista unless there was no other option.

“Hey, you like kids, right?”

Dhara raised an eyebrow at her friend’s question. “I…do. I have plenty of cousins who have kids already, if that’s what you mean. Why?”

“A friend of my roommate works for a nannying agency. Completely certified company, really well paid, you can input your available hours into their website so they match you up, and they cater to a lot of wealthy clients. She told me they’re opening their books, but I’m not a huge kids person myself. If you’re interested, I could pass you her details?”

“Wait, really? Just like that?” Dhara asked, surprised.

It almost sounded too good to be true.

“Really really. The agency do background checks and would want to see your resume as well as do an interview with you in person, but I can’t see you getting rejected from this. You’re crazy smart and super competent,” Melissa shrugged, smiling.

Nannying. For a potentially wealthy client. There were a whole host of problems that could come from that, with both the parents and the children, but could the flexibility be worth it?

Then again, what did she have to lose?

“Okay sure, pass me her details and I’ll give your roommate’s friend a call,” Dhara smiled.

She could only hope this worked out in her favour.

Time was running out, Matt knew that much. There were only a few weeks before the season started up again, and it was beyond time for him to hire a nanny for his daughter. He’d been a single dad for two years now, his marriage ending mostly amicably. Sure, his ex-wife’s announcement that she was tired of following him around for his career had been hard, but not as hard as her second announcement that she was following her own career abroad. But she’d not contested anything he'd asked of her, and hadn’t made any unreasonable demands herself, so it was as clean as a divorce could be. Being solely responsible for the upbringing of their daughter Sarah was not something he’d been prepared for, not with his lifestyle. He knew he was lucky that his mom had been willing drop everything and move in with him after his wife left them, but it was time to let his mom live her own life – and for him to move on with his.

Hockey was his first love, nothing would change that. But his daughter Sarah had taken over so much of his heart that he was struggling with the idea of hiring a stranger to take care of her when hockey took precedence. But it was time – for all of them. In the end, he’d decided to go through a reputable agency that a few of the guys on the team recommended, but after three unsuccessful interviews Matt was just about ready to beg his mom to stay a little longer.

The first interview had started well. But it had quickly deteriorated when he realised that they weren’t as flexible as he needed. It was fair enough that the nanny wanted set hours – he knew his schedule was all over the place – but he obviously couldn’t offer that, so he wished them well and cut the interview short.

The second interview had started bad and gotten worse. He didn’t know if it was the way the woman smiled at him when he saw the elegant interior of the house or how she spoke of him being a single dad with a wide-eyed pity smile, but he didn’t like the vibes she was sending at all. He didn’t need a nanny that was more interested in him than his daughter. No, just no.

The third interview sounded promising on paper. The candidate had all the right qualifications and experience, but when it came down to processes and how she handled tantrums and tears? No way. He knew Sarah sometimes got upset when he was on long roadtrips – it was only natural – and there was no way he was leaving his daughter with someone who would punish her for showing understandable emotions.

So Matt could only hope that this fourth interview – his last for the day before he gave up and started from scratch – would finally be positive.

Dhara Nicholls.

When he’d first seen the name, he hadn’t known what to expect. Dar-Rah. That was how the agency lady had pronounced it, so he could only hope she was right – the last thing he wanted was to say the nanny’s name wrong out of ignorance. While he would ask for more detail during the interview, he knew the basics about her from the information the agency had sent over. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, studied BS Computer Science at NYU, went on to study for a Masters in Computer Science at Long Island University – Brooklyn, and was currently in her final year for that. It was the flexibility that he was most intrigued by – and her apparent intelligence. He didn’t care that she didn’t have nannying experience outside of family. If she could take care of his daughter, make sure she was happy and healthy, that’s all that he cared about.

The doorbell rang right on time. Good start.

When he opened the door to greet her, Matt found himself freezing a little. He’d assumed that she wouldn’t be Caucasian based on her first name (as much as he hated assuming anything), but he somehow hadn’t been expecting the sheer beauty of the Indian woman standing in front of him now. At least he assumed she was Indian – and again with those assumptions. He would have to check for sure with some subtle questions because the last thing he wanted to do was act like an ass. But right now, her big beautiful brown eyes, smooth skin, glossy dark curls and sweet hopeful smile had his mind whirling. What was wrong with him?

“Hi! Mr Martin?”

Huh, a typical Valley girl accent. Not what he’d been expecting. Damn assumptions.

“Matt, please. Mr Martin makes me feel like my dad’s standing behind me,” he managed to force out.

The laugh that spilled from her lips sounded like music. He was doomed alright.

“Good to know. Matt it is,” she mused.

“Thanks, Dhara. Please come in,” he said, smiling warmly.

The way she smiled as he said her name let him know he’d said it right. Dar-Rah. Beautiful. No, he needed to be professional about this. He couldn’t let himself be bowled over by a beautiful girl, not when she was (hopefully) going to be employed by him. That wasn’t fair to her. Or to Sarah.

“Can I get you a drink? Water? Coffee?” he offered.

“Water would be great, if you don’t mind,” she nodded.

Matt quickly grabbed her a bottle of water from the fridge, before leading her into the living room, handing her the bottle as they sat down on opposite sofas. She was tall even in flat shoes, maybe 5ft10, and she looked around the room with a smile before her eyes landed on Matt. Captivating.

“Let’s start, shall we?” he said, trying to clear his thoughts.

Right from the get-go, she was impressive. Her upbringing in Los Angeles was very family-orientated, living near her father’s 3 siblings and all their children, her cousins. Her studies alone were remarkable but the way he could tell how passionate she was for her work was the most interesting part of all. He liked that she could be flexible with timings, happy to stay overnight in a guest room during roadtrips, and she was willing to work around her class schedule to even take classes from his house while Sarah was occupied with something she could still keep an eye on. It was more than he could have asked for, if he was being honest. It was all just a bonus that she was warm and genuine on top of it all.

Matt knew what he wanted the conclusion of this interview to be. Dhara was exactly what he’d been looking for, and he knew that Sarah would quickly accept her too. He could only hope that she felt like she’d been a good fit for them too.

“Is there anything else you wanted to know?” she asked.

“I think I have everything I need. I’m not going to lie, this whole process has been a struggle,” Matt admitted, “Trying to figure out who to trust my daughter with is the last thing I thought I’d be doing.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Dhara said softly, smiling sadly at him, “Would you like me to take any preferences back with me to the agency? So the next person is a better fit for you?”

If he hadn’t been convinced about her before, he absolutely was now.

“You don’t need to take feedback to the agency, Dhara. Because I want to offer you the job,” he said, smiling.

Her lips parted slightly in surprise, before a wide grin spread over her face. Somehow the pure joy in her expression made her even more beautiful, if that was even possible.

“Thank you, Mr Martin. Thank you so much!” Dhara said happily.

“You’re welcome. You’re exactly who I was hoping to find for my daughter. And please, call me Matt, remember?” he mused.

“Of course, whatever you want…Matt,” she said, ducking her head slightly to hide what looked like a shy smile.

Whatever you want.

Now that was just dangerous.

Dhara felt like she was dreaming. Three days ago, when Matt had actually offered her the job, she’d felt like her head was spinning, and it wasn’t until she had the official contract sorted and signed with the agency that everything started to sink in. He was willing to be as flexible as she needed, in return for her being as flexible as he needed – it was a small price to pay to stay in the guest room when he was away for her to still be able to attend all her classes. The only thing they’d had to negotiate was her one in-person class every two weeks that she couldn’t do online that was outside of Sarah’s Kindergarten hours, which he’d arranged for one of his teammate’s wives to look after Sarah for a couple of hours until she was finished. And wasn’t that a trip, learning who he was. An NHL player. She was really going to be the nanny for an NHL player’s six year old daughter, and she could still complete her degree. Mindblowing. The only thing that was still sort of in the works were the Kindergarten drop offs themselves – she wouldn’t be put on the accepted pick-up person list until after a first week’s trial, just to make sure Sarah was okay with her. It was fair enough, but still nervewracking. Matt apparently had full faith that everything would be fine though, and had already given her all the details. Drop off was between 8.30am and 9am, and pick up was at 2.30pm – Matt was happy for her to work from his house on the days she didn’t have to go into campus, to save travelling back and forth, which she was absolutely going to take him up on. It almost felt too good to be true, that everything was working out the way it was, but she wasn’t going to let such a good opportunity to balance work and her degree slip through her fingers.

When Dhara arrived at Matt’s house, having been given a brief introduction to Sarah before Sarah excused herself to the living room, she tried not to let the nerves get to her. Matt looked lighter, like a weight had been taken off his shoulders, and she could only hope it was partly to do with her. He might be nearly 10 years older than her, but he was one of the most handsome men she’d ever laid eyes on, that was for sure. Not that she’d ever tell her new employer these completely inappropriate thoughts of course.

“Now, I have some meetings and final pre-season things to film and so on at the rink today. I’m hoping it’ll all be done in a few hours but it’ll be a good little start for Sarah to get used to me and my mom not being around. I’ve already explained everything to her, and I think she understands the concept of a nanny and that it was time for grandma to get back to her own life in Canada, but if there are any major issues then please call me,” he said seriously.

“I’m sure everything will be fine, especially if you’ve already talked with her, but I absolutely will call you if Sarah needs you. And please don’t rush home? You deserve to spend some time catching up with your friends. Team bonding, and all that, especially if someone suggests lunch. Sarah and I will be fine, I promise,” Dhara said firmly, but with a smile she hoped was encouraging.

Matt let out a shaky breath but nodded, and her heart ached for him. She could tell how much this was affecting him – it was obvious – but the whole reason for her being here was to make his life easier. She could do that, she knew it.

“Sarah, I’m going to the rink!”

She smiled to herself at the sound of fast-paced walking (not running inside the house was clearly a rule) and soon enough Sarah was clinging to her dad’s legs.

“Be nice to Dhara,” Matt said, smiling warmly.

“I’m always nice!” she said, pouting.

He just ruffled her blonde hair, nodding to Dhara with a shaky smile, giving Sarah one last hug before leaving the house. This was it – Dhara was officially responsible for the wellbeing of a child.

“I’m going back to colouring. You can come if you want.”

How generous. Dhara grinned to herself at the young girl’s candour, following her quietly through the house back to the living room where Sarah had a small stack of paper and colouring pencils laid out. Sarah seemed happy enough to thump back down onto the floor and continue with her drawing, silent but focused, and Dhara watched for a little while from the doorway. The most important thing for today – and the rest of this week – was for Sarah to feel comfortable in her presence. She’d never had any problems getting her cousins’ children to like her, so she could only hope the same gentle methods would work with this child.

Sarah didn’t seem to mind Dhara sitting down next to her, barely giving her a glance, allowing her to settle in quietly. So far so good. After a few minutes of Dhara watching her peacefully, Sarah slid a piece of paper over to Dhara, and looked up at her with blue eyes eerily similar to her father’s.

“I’m drawing a picture for daddy, to make him smile when he gets home,” Sarah said simply.

“That’s very kind of you. I’m sure he’ll love it,” Dhara said, melting on the inside at the sweetness.

Sarah side-eyed her briefly before seeming to deem Dhara’s answer acceptable.

“You should draw him one too. He likes my pictures so I’m sure yours will be fine,” she said, sliding over the colouring pencil box.

Kids. You had to love them.

“I will do my very best then,” Dhara said seriously.

Sarah just nodded, going back to her drawing with all the focus a six-year-old could. Dhara just smiled to herself, picking up a pink crayon to attempt to draw some flowers. This was a good start, right?

The first month of Dhara’s employment (and final year of her degree) flew by. Somehow, everything was going well so far. There were no dramas, no big issues, and her classes weren’t unmanageable with her new schedule. She could admit that it initially felt weird to be dropping a kid off at Kindergarten that wasn’t hers, especially so early on into knowing Sarah, but that first big smile her charge had given her at pick-up time made everything better. Like, genuinely her heart felt like it had puffed up in size – yeah that’s right, I made her smile – and everything had only gotten better from there. They’d even settled into a decent routine, to the point where Matt even joked that Dhara was becoming Sarah’s favourite person (apparently her bedtime stories were the best?) – and neither of them had even looked at her like she was crazy when she explained her work for her Computer Science Masters like most people tended to.

(“Daddy she’s so smart.” “I know sweetheart.” “I want to be as smart as Dhara when I grow up!” “Well then you’d better show me the new spellings you learned at Kindergarten today.”)

She’d only needed to stay an extra night in the guest room once so far for a roadtrip, which also felt weird, but Matt’s flight had been delayed so there really wasn’t another choice. Thankfully, he’d been there by the time Sarah woke up, so there had been no major tantrums, but the bedtime tears were still an experience she hoped to avoid as much as possible. After looking at Matt’s schedule, she knew exactly how many roadtrips he was going to be on, so hopefully she could come up with some ideas for what to do if that ever happened again.

There were many things she was learning in this new world of being a nanny.

She knew she’d be learning something new tonight too. It was the first game of the pre-season and Matt was in the line-up to play. Traditionally, Sarah always went, and tonight was no exception. Dhara had been hesitant to accept the ticket initially, content with dropping Sarah off with the WAGs she knew and picking her up at the end, because she was quite literally just the nanny - but Matt insisted. He also insisted that Sarah wanted her there too, and how was she supposed to say no to that?

The plan would be that Dhara and Sarah would take the train over to the arena with plenty of time to spare ahead of warmups (so Sarah could hold her newly-made poster up against the glass), and then Matt would drive them all back to the Martin house – with the late timings, Dhara would need to stay late again. At least this time she had enough clothes in her overnight bag packed.

Nerves washed over Dhara as she entered the UBS Arena, but with Sarah chattering away, holding tight to her hand, it wasn’t too difficult to cover her nerves with a smile. She’d already met Kristy Cizikas – the teammate’s wife who covered looking after Sarah during Dhara’s class once every two weeks – so she would at least know one friendly face. Sarah led the way to the family suite, Dhara making sure her pass was clearly on display so no-one thought she was a fraud, and soon enough they arrived to a blonde-haired sea.

“Dhara! There you are!”

Kristy. Good.

She was thankful for the instantly-warm welcome – she was so out of her comfort zone that it wasn’t funny. Tonight really was her first time being thrown in at the deep end. At least she’d have a break soon to collect her thoughts when everyone in the suite (who wanted to) would head down to the ice for warm-ups. She could do this. She could totally do this. It helped that Kristy introduced her around the group, Grace Lee in particular making her feel at ease with her beaming smile.

The game itself was electric. Dhara mostly kept her eye on Sarah playing with the other kids in the family suite – you know, as it was her job – but by the start of the third period Sarah had fallen asleep on her lap, leaving her free to watch her first ever game of ice hockey with her full attention. Grace helped her out by murmuring along some of the rules and pointing out names of people that Dhara didn’t know yet, and she just felt herself getting fully entranced. She’d never seen anything so graceful and yet so physical. And the speed!

Dhara felt like a bit of an idiot for gasping when Matt full-body checked a player from the opposing team into the boards with a load crash, immediately throwing his gloves off to fight him, her eyes wide as Matt easily took him down to the ice. Fuck, that was hot. Why was that so hot? She could only thank her dark skin for hiding the worst of her blush as Grace and Kristy smiled knowingly at her. Whatever, they didn’t know anything. They could infer all they liked.

That didn’t mean her eyes stopped tracking Matt every second he was on the ice though.

“How was she tonight? Truly?”

Dhara smiled up at Matt, shifting a sleeping Sarah up on her hip as Matt unlocked the front door.

“She was so good. The way her face lit up when you saw her sign in warmups? She didn’t stop talking about it for ages. And she fell asleep on me during the third period so I just let her nap, I hope that’s okay,” Dhara said.

“Of course it is. I’m happy that she feels comfortable enough to do that around you!” he said, smiling.

She was too. She really was.

“I’ll put Sarah to bed, if you want to sort out your bandage?” she offered.

The cuts on his knuckles from his fight had needed a couple of stitches and would need to be cleaned then covered for at least one night, he’d told her that much on the drive home.

“You’re the best,” Matt said, nodding.

Dhara just grinned and headed up the stairs. It didn’t take her long to carefully lay Sarah down in her bed, pulling off her shoes before tucking the duvet over her. But as she slowly crept out of the room and gently shut the door, she could hear Matt cursing in the bathroom, and she frowned.

“Matt?” she whispered, trying not to wake up her young charge.

He cursed again, so she knocked on the bathroom door, and smiled slightly as he cursed in surprise and slowly opened the door.

“The bandage is caught on the dried blood in the stitch and I can’t get it off. Don’t want to rip it,” he murmured when her head poked around the door.

“Let me?” she offered, slowly walking into the room.

Dhara looked up at him through her lashes, holding her hand out, and Matt silently placed his hand in hers. His skin was warm, if a little callused, and it was all she could do to bite her bottom lip as she gently eased the bandage off his knuckles. Matt didn’t take his hand away as she reached for the cotton ball he’d already dipped in the cleansing liquid, allowing her to gently dab at the stitches until they were clean. The two of them stood close together, silent, only their hands touching, and yet somehow this was more intimate than she’d ever been with any man. It was intoxicating to be allowed to take this level of care with him. It was only when she gently pressed down the edges of the fresh bandage that she caught eyes with him once more, the intense blue making her breath catch in her throat, and she forced herself to break out of the moment.

Because it was a moment, and she didn’t know if it thrilled her or terrified her.

“That should be okay now,” she murmured, finally letting go of his hand.

“Thank you, Dhara. I appreciate it,” he said, voice just as soft.

Intoxicating.

Dhara just smiled, nodding her head as she slipped out of the bubble he’d unknowingly boxed her into, and stepped out of the bathroom with a racing heart. She needed to pull herself together. She needed to pull herself together, fast. Otherwise she was going to run the risk of ruining everything.

“So give us the details then.”

Matt took a sip of his beer, before frowning at Casey.

“What are you talking about?”

Casey shared a glance with Anders, who just smirked and shook his head incredulously. What?

“Seriously, what details?” Matt asked.

“About Dhara?” Anders prompted.

“Kristy and Grace told us all about meeting her at the game last week, how she was super sweet with Sarah and how much Sarah adored her. What really caught our attention was that they told us about her reaction to your fight. How her eyes lit up, how she gasped, how she was on the edge of her seat,” Casey said innocently, although the sparkle in his eyes was anything but.

“Shut up, she did not,” Matt grumbled.

Their words lit something inside of his though. It was just typical that they waited to interrogate him until they were all six beers deep at Casey’s house, Kristy and Grace having a girls night slash kids sleepover with some of the other WAGs, including Sarah. They were gossip vultures, the lot of them.

Did she really react like that?

He hadn’t been able to get that night out of his mind. The way Dhara came into the bathroom so carefully, like she was trying not to spook a horse. How she held his hand so gently, her skin surprisingly warm and soft. How her cleaning touch was so light that he’d barely felt it, how her ministrations hadn’t hurt at all. How her gaze had been so intense when they caught eyes that he’d felt his breath catch in his throat.

Matt hadn’t been able to stop thinking about that moment they’d shared, and it was driving him crazy knowing there was no way she was having the same thoughts.

But then again, if Casey and Anders were right, if Kristy and Grace were right, maybe she was?

“Bud, you know Grace wouldn’t gossip if she didn’t think there was some truth to it,” Anders mused.

He wasn’t wrong there.

“Dhara is my nanny. Sarah’s nanny. Everything is completely professional,” Matt said firmly.

“Everything is completely professional?” Casey prodded.

“Yes?”

At the hesitance in his tone, Casey and Anders grinned.

“I knew it!” Casey hooted.

“What happened?” Anders asked, eyes lighting up.

“Nothing! Literally nothing has happened. She cleaned the stitches on my knuckles for me because I couldn’t get the bandage off, that’s it,” Matt said sharply.

“Booooooo.”

“Seriously, don’t make it a thing. I don’t want her thinking that I’m some kind of creep,” he groaned.

“Now why would she think that, if you weren’t having creepy thoughts?” Anders teased.

Matt sent them both a flat look, making them hoot with laughter.

“Aww you have it so bad!” Casey cackled.

“You two are the worst. I don’t know why we’re friends,” he muttered.

“You love us,” Anders grinned, toasting him with his beer bottle.

Matt just stuck his tongue out in response, taking a big swig of his own drink. He needed to nip all of this in the bud. There was no way he wanted this to get back to Grace and Kristy, and then back to Dhara. Absolutely not.

“She is pretty,” Casey said, smirking slightly, “Kristy said her smile and her laugh lit up the whole room.”

“And Grace said that Sarah worships her, literally fell asleep on her without a care in the world,” Anders added.

They both knew his weaknesses so well. Matt groaned, tilting his head back, before staring his friends down.

“Enough, okay? Yes, Dhara is beautiful. And smart. And so beyond capable with Sarah that it isn’t funny. But I’m not going to be that guy, okay? I’m her boss and I’m not even going to consider crossing that professional boundary, understood? That’s not cool,” Matt said seriously, “I’m not that guy.”

“We know you’re not,” Casey mused, holding his hands up in surrender.

Anders just nodded his agreement. “We only tease you because we love you. And like I said, I wouldn’t have brought it up if Grace hadn’t seen something herself.”

“Just…don’t make it a thing? I don’t want to make Dhara uncomfortable around me. Sarah adores her and that’s all that matters,” Matt sighed, mostly in defeat.

“If you’re sure, then we won’t,” Anders said.

“But we reserve the right to change our minds later,” Casey grinned.

“Oh my god, get me another drink,” Matt groaned.

Seriously, the worst.

Sparkling lights, tinsel, and candy canes everywhere – it only meant one thing. Christmas was coming. With continuous snowfall and the way that she couldn’t escape Christmas songs anywhere, Dhara could hardly deny its upcoming presence, especially with how excited Sarah was getting. As usual, Dhara wasn’t going home for the two weeks break, and the moment Matt found out that her roommate was going home (leaving Dhara alone), he insisted that she came over to spend Christmas day with him, Sarah, and his parents.

(“Matt, no, I can’t intrude.” “No-one should be alone on Christmas.”)

He even tried to offer to pay her for coming over, with that she put her foot down. Christmas was Christmas, after all. In the end, they decided that, with her last class of the semester on the 19th, Dhara would stay over from the 20th to the 22nd, until his parents arrived on the 23rd. They would take over taking care of Sarah with Matt not getting home until late in the evening of the 23rd, and then Dhara would come back over on the 25th, leaving again in the evening of the 26th. It was a lot of back and forth, she could admit, but she’d never had someone in her life so insistent that she spend the holidays with them – and the fact that it was Matt? She couldn’t find it in her heart to say no, especially when he got Sarah and her puppy dog eyes on the case.

Somehow, travelling on the trains on Christmas Day wasn’t as bad as she feared, even with her overnight bag and holdall of gifts. It was only lightly snowing on her short walk to Matt’s house, so she wasn’t fully shivering when she knocked on the door but she was definitely glad that Matt didn’t take too long to open it.

“Hey, you made it! Why didn’t you call me from the station? I would’ve picked you up!” he said quickly beckoning her inside.

“I’m used to the walk now, and I didn’t want to disturb you,” she shrugged, unwinding the scarf from her neck.

“You would never have disturbed me. You’re…never mind, come into the kitchen, my mom’s making hot chocolate,” Matt murmured.

She left her bags in the hallway after taking off her boots, coat, and woolly hat, nervously following Matt into the kitchen. Why was she so nervous to meet his family?

“Guys, Dhara’s here!”

“Dhara! You made it!” Sarah cried out happily.

She knelt down to give her charge a big hug, grateful for the friendly face, before standing up with a nervous smile.

“I’ve heard so much about you – I’m Dawn,” Matt’s mom said, big smile on her face identical to Matt’s.

“And I’m Jim. It’s great to finally meet you,” Matt’s dad said warmly.

Was it really that easy?

“I’ve heard only good things about you too. Thank you for letting me join your family Christmas,” she said, smiling back at them.

“Letting you? I had to practically beg you,” Matt teased.

“Because I see you all year round – your parents don’t get that luxury,” she shot back, still smiling.

“I like you already,” Jim laughed.

“Drinks anyone?” Matt mused.

Once the hot chocolate was passed around, they made their way into the living room, Dhara having grabbed her holdall on the way with the gifts.

“I like your scarf, Dhara,” Sarah piped up, once she was settled on a big cushion on the floor.

Dhara’s fingers brushed over the lightweight blue patterned material draped over her chest and pinned in pleats at her shoulders with a smile. She didn’t usually indulge in her South Asian heritage with her outfits, but her holidays it always felt like a must. She might be wearing a casual plain grey sweater underneath, with light wash jeans, but the chanderi dupatta added a much-needed level of elegance – a casual but respectful outfit. Her mother had loved it at least when she called her this morning, and it was nice to know that Sarah did too.

“Thank you! It’s a dupatta – many South Asian women wear them in many different styles. I like to wear a chanderi dupatta, this lightweight patterned silk, over casual clothes to add a little something extra,” she said, smiling.

“It’s really pretty. Never seen you wearing anything like that,” Matt said softly.

“Thanks,” Dhara said, thankful her dark skin hid her blush, “I tend to only wear dupattas for special occasions. I don’t practice Sikhism as much as I did back in LA, and even then not nearly as much as my mother would’ve liked us all too.”

“Why not?” Sarah asked.

“Sarah!” Matt frowned.

“It’s okay, really,” she said, reassuring, “Well, my upbringing was fairly mixed. My mom’s parents came over from Punjab when they were newly married – my Baba Ji, my grandpa, is an Engineer. My mom and her brothers were born and raised Sikh in Los Angeles. Mom met Dad in university and they fell in love. The only problem was, he was Christian. Or at least, loosely Christian – and very white. While my mom didn’t care about all of that, because she’d fallen head over heels for him and him for her, her parents didn’t approve. She left home and married him anyway, and we haven’t really seen much of my mom’s side of the family ever.”

“But they fell in love!” Sarah cried.

“Culture and religion are complicated things,” Dhara said simply, smiling sadly, “my mom knew what she was giving up, she was very brave. She still had a lot of her friends in the community so she had that connection, and Dad’s family is huge and loud and welcoming, so she never felt alone. She raised me with a knowledge of Sikhism and the welcome to join her in celebrating any holidays I wanted to, but my parents left me to forge my own path, which I did. I have some contact with cousins on my mom’s side thanks to Instagram, so it’s not all a loss. I like to think I get the best of both worlds.”

She couldn’t have asked for more with her upbringing, she knew that. Dhara had been given the world, and been taught kindness for others always, and had an education that others could only dream of, and all the love she could ever want from her parents. She also knew that sometimes her mom struggled but that she had her husband, Dhara’s dad, to rely on for strength. Her mom truly was a hero of hers, and she could only be grateful for everything she’d done for her.

“Thank you for sharing that with us. It can’t always be easy, being so far away from your family,” Matt said softly.

“It isn’t always, no. But I’m following my passion with my degrees, and they understand that,” Dhara nodded, smiling at him, “Besides, we have modern technology, no?”

Matt and his parents just laughed, making her smile a bit wider.

“But Dhara, what about…”

“How about we give Dhara a break from interrogation and pass out gifts, hm?” Dawn mused, interrupting Sarah.

Dhara laughed, shrugging, Sarah just pouting.

“You can ask more questions later okay?” Matt said, glancing up at Dhara to make sure she was okay with that.

Dhara just nodded. The way he checked to confirm with her sent out butterflies she tried desperately to ignore. This was not the time.

As they all passed around presents, Dhara had been pleasantly surprised to learn that she had gifts to open too. She hadn’t expected anything from his parents but they’d still surprised her anyway, with a gorgeous earrings and necklace set that felt fancier than anything she owned in New York. Sarah had gifted her a set of pens and a pretty notebook (which she’d picked out herself, apparently) and she’d looked so pleased with herself that it warmed Dhara’s heart.

For Matt’s mom, she’d gifted her a set of Indian spices, because Matt had told her in passing that his mom liked to cook from all different cuisines – so she’d bought her cumin seeds, coriander powder, garam masala, turmeric, and green cardamom. Dawn had looked so touched when she opened them, giving Dhara a big hug that she hadn’t been expecting. Matt’s dad looked just as pleased by his craft beer tasting tour back home in Ontario, and promised to give her reviews of every single one.

Sarah had squealed in happiness at the book Dhara bought her. A Is for Awesome: 23 Iconic Women Who Changed the World. It was important for Sarah to learn about how powerful she could be as a woman, and from Matt’s smile he seemed to agree with her.

For Matt – she’d bought him a cufflink box.

“I’m always losing cufflinks on roadtrips. You remembered,” Matt murmured.

The way her heart fluttered. Wow.

“And now you have a place to store 4 sets, wherever you go,” Dhara said softly.

“Thank you, this is…I love it,” Matt grinned.

Well now she was a goner.

Her last gift to open was from Matt. Again she hadn’t expected anything from him – he was opening his home to her on Christmas, after all – but when she opened the instant camera, Fujifilm Instax Mini with multiple packs of film cards, her heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest.

“Matt, this is…wow. This is too much!” she gasped.

“You’ve talked about wanting to preserve memories and I thought this would be a fun way to do it,” he shrugged.

A fun way to preserve memories. A whole ass camera. This was just like him.

“Thank you,” she murmured, smiling so widely at him that it hurt.

Matt just smiled helplessly at her in return.

“Can you tell me more about Sikh stuff now please?”

Sarah’s pleading interruption made her laugh, saving her from the explosion of butterflies in her stomach. “If your family don’t mind, I’m happy to tell you more about Sikhism, sure.”

Dhara looked at Matt and his parents, who all nodded and smiled at her. Well, here goes nothing. Time for a basic lesson in Sikhism.

“Sikhism was founded by Guru Nanak around 500 years ago in an area called the Punjab. That’s where my grandparents came from on my mother’s side, if you remember – Punjab is an area which spans part of India and Pakistan now, and they come from the Indian side of it. There are lot of different elements to Sikhism, but some of the main things that Sikhs believe are that your actions are important, and you should lead a good life. You should keep God in your heart and mind at all times, live honestly and work hard, treat everyone equally, be generous to those less fortunate than you, and to serve others,” Dhara listed.

“That sounds really nice,” Sarah said, smiling.

Dhara smiled back at her, heart warmed by the sweet words.

“It is, yes. I don’t attend temple, the Gurdwara, as much as I should, but it’s always really peaceful there. I always try to go for Lohri, the harvest festival in January, and I definitely celebrate Diwali in late October because my family always has, but there are many more holy days that Sikhs commemorate,” Dhara explained.

“Can you tell me about them?” Sarah asked hopefully.

Dhara glanced around the room, seeing Matt and his parents listening raptly, and nodded.

“Of course I can! Firstly…”

“Watch yourself, Matthew.”

Matt lifted his head from where he was washing up, seeing his mom standing next to him with a dish towel in hand. His dad, Sarah, and Dhara were all in the living room still, playing Go Fish, but Matt and his mom had moved to the kitchen to tackle at least some of the dishes.

“What?” he said, frowning.

“Don’t think I can’t see the way you look at Dhara,” she said pointedly.

Fuck.

Matt took a shaky breath and opened his mouth to protest, but his mom quickly shook her head.

“She is a lovely young woman with a bright future. Unless you can see marriage in the cards, then don’t mess her around. She deserves the best,” his mom said firmly.

Oh.

“Yes, yes she does,” he murmured.

With Matt’s parents staying through until the 2nd January, the day before her classes started up again, Dhara had the full rest of the week to herself. The only thing she had planned was getting through work for her Database Management Systems class, but Dawn and Jim had insisted that she came to the game with them on the 28th. That whole evening had been so wholesome; it was clear exactly how much Matt’s parents loved and supported him, and to see his smiling face when they went down to see him after the game? Heartwarming. Matt had also asked her to come to the New Year’s Eve party that Anders and Grace were throwing – his parents weren’t going to that, but he’d paid for them to have a nice dinner in Manhattan for their own celebration. Dhara almost said no to Matt’s invitation (because who was she to go to a private event like that?), but when he said that Grace had invited her specifically, she couldn’t resist. An invite from Grace Lee to her own party was not something that someone turned down. She knew she’d made the right decision when Grace texted her to say how excited she was that Dhara was coming, which made her feel like a little bit less of an intruder.

What was it with these people and forgetting she was literally just the nanny?

“You look nice,” Matt murmured.

“No daddy, Dhara looks beautiful,” Sarah said firmly.

Dhara laughed, ducking her head shyly just in time to miss the way Matt blushed. Her black sparkly long-sleeved bodycon dress was something that she kept on hand as the only semi-formal thing she had in her closet – so it was really her only option for the Lee’s New Year’s Eve party tonight.

“You’re right, my apologies Sarah,” Matt mused, grinning, “You do look beautiful, Dhara.”

Even if it was prompted by his daughter, it was still spine-tingling to hear Matt say those words.

“You’re too kind, both of you,” she laughed, shaking her head.

Matt just winked before kneeling down to help Sarah put her shoes on, leaving Dhara more flustered than she’d ever been in her life. Thankfully they didn’t have to wait long for the car service that Matt had insisted on, and soon enough their party of three arrived.

“Ah, welcome Martins and Nicholls!”

Dhara giggled at Anders’ booming voice, Matt rolling his eyes fondly as they entered the house.

“Thanks for having us,” Matt mused, handing over a bottle of very nice bourbon to his Captain.

Anders just grinned. “You’re always welcome, bud. Grace is in the kitchen making cocktails for the girls – we’re not invited to that, Matt, but you should definitely head in there so you don’t miss any good gossip, Dhara.”

“Oh, but Sarah…”

“Sarah can stick with me while we go and say hi to all her uncles before they get too drunk, hm?” Matt suggested.

“Drunk Uncle Casey is funny,” Sarah giggled.

“That settles it then!” Anders said cheerfully.

He pointed Dhara in the direction the kitchen and whisked Matt and Sarah away, leaving Dhara reeling. This wasn’t what she had expected at all – and now she was being shuffled over to the WAGs like she had any right to be there?

“Dhara! There you are! Grace is just finishing a fresh batch of mojitos – join us!”

She let out a shaky breath at Kristy’s happy exclamation, but followed her with a smile. She could totally do this. She could go with the flow, especially with Matt’s insistence, and she could just get back to watching Sarah after this drink, right? If Matt was okay with it?

In truth, nothing happened the way she thought it would over the night. While she did return back to watching over Sarah, all of the other WAGs with kids insisted they she took breaks to enjoy herself because they could all chip in to watch the kids. It did make her feel weird because hello, it was literally her job to nanny, but Matt’s happy face every time she took a break to socialise was too strong to resist. The main thing that struck her though was how much she stuck out like a sore thumb. Not just in terms of appearance – she figured she was going to be one of the only people of colour there – but just in terms of importance? Not even all the team was here – the youngest ones were off clubbing apparently, which made Dhara all the more aware of how intimate this gathering was. She didn’t belong here, not in this world. What was her life coming to?

She didn’t know if Matt’s presence helped either. All through the night he made she sure had enough to drink (she stuck to water or soda after that first lethal mojito from Grace) and enough to eat. He included her in every conversation, introduced her to people she hadn’t met yet, and checked in on her when she was watching Sarah. Every time she could see a couple of his teammates and/or the WAGs smirking slightly – but not in a mean way. And certainly not mocking her. It was confusing to say the least, like the lines were blurring without giving her any way to read the meaning of the situation, and it was all she could do to try to let it go. Matt was just being a gentleman, that was all.

When it came to a couple of minutes until the ball drop though, Dhara found herself squished onto a sofa in front of the TV that Anders was setting up, with Sarah fast asleep on her lap and Matt sitting down at her side.

“Champagne?” Matt said, holding out a second glass.

“I suppose one glass couldn’t hurt to bring in the new year,” Dhara mused.

She tried to ignore the way her stomach fizzled as their fingers brushed. Eventually, with just 30 seconds to spare, the living room was packed with party guests, Dhara essentially pressed fully up into Matt’s side. All she could do was remember to breathe, keeping her focus anchored on Sarah to distract herself from the warmth of his thigh against hers. It was intoxicating to say the least, and she was grateful at least for the noise of the room drowning out her thoughts.

“3…2…1…HAPPY NEW YEAR!”

As fireworks exploded across the screen and out the windows, and couples embraced all around the room, Dhara’s breath caught in the throat as she looked up at Matt to see him already looking down at her.

“Happy New Year, Dhara,” he murmured.

“Happy New Year,” she said softly back.

The intensity in his eyes made fire burn through her skin, barely softened by the champagne she poured down her throat. The way he looked at her…it almost felt real.

Dhara’s birthday was always a strange time of year for her. She never did anything massive to celebrate it, just casual dinner and drinks with friends and a phone call with her parents, but this year it fell at the end of January on a Saturday, at the end of Matt’s bye week. He had no other plans that spending time with Sarah anyway, so he gave her the week off to relax.

Relax, hah.

She had her thesis proposal to finish, with the final submission of the full finished thing due at the beginning of May, but she’d managed to sort out the data she wanted to use in the first half of January – so she was able to use her week off from nannying to finish the proposal. She holed herself up in her bedroom, surrounded by drinks and snacks, barely taking any breaks other than to reassure her roommate that she was still alive, until she submitted it to her supervising professor.

It was worth it, to feel like she’d accomplished something she was proud of.

Dhara emerged from her ‘coding cave’ the day before her birthday, her roommate shoving her straight into the shower while she ordered them both Thai food to celebrate. It felt good to have a little time to actually relax before her birthday, because before dinner and drinks with her friends, Matt had planned a surprise lunch for her.

She should have expected the restaurant he chose to be a fancy one. She’d never eaten anywhere so nice, not even when her parents came up for her undergraduate degree graduation.

“I have one more surprise for you,” Matt announced, just as he paid the bill, “if you have time to come back to the house with us.”

Sarah was basically wriggling in her seat, quietly begging please please please, and how could Dhara say no to that? All through the drive back to Matt’s house, Sarah was whispering to him and giggling away, making Dhara smile to herself. Seeing the young girl so excited made her excited – and after the incredible surprise Christmas gift he’d gotten her? She could only hope it wasn’t something crazy.

“Okay Sarah, you go ahead and open the door while I make sure Dhara isn’t peeking,” Matt said with a smile.

“What,” she said flatly.

Matt just smiled innocently, stepping behind her, and it was all Dhara could to do gasp as he gently placed his hands over her eyes from behind. Fuck.

“Door’s open daddy!”

“Okay sweetheart, why don’t you take Dhara’s hands and slowly guide her indoors,” Matt instructed, “if you’re okay with that?”

“Yeah sure, go for it,” Dhara laughed.

As if her today could get any stranger than this. So with Sarah’s small hands in hers and Matt’s large hands over her eyes (his cologne smelled so good this close, it was unreal), Dhara was slowly guided into the Martin house, taking heed of Sarah’s instructions not to bash into things, until she was standing in what she was sure was the rarely-used dining room. Matt and Sarah always preferred to eat at the kitchen island, but she knew where this room was. Why was she here?

“Ready?” Matt asked.

“Ready. I think,” Dhara mused.

Sarah let go of her hands at the same time as Matt removed his, and as soon as she opened her eyes, her breath caught in her throat. What the hell. In front of her, on the dining room table, were two computer screens, high definition and huge, with a docking station and all the appropriate wires to connect them to a laptop. To her laptop? What the hell.

“Matt…” she breathed.

Sarah just giggled at her reaction before skipping out of the room, leaving them alone. Leaving Dhara with her mind whirling.

“I know you were talking about how it’s easier to see your code side by side, and rather than doing the split screen thing you have been doing on just your laptop, I thought this would be more helpful,” he explained.

He remembered that from her rambling? He was listening?

“I can’t believe you bought me two computer screens. And a docking station. This is too much, Matt, really. I can’t accept them,” she murmured.

This was so personal – no-one had ever paid attention to her like this, and it was coming from him?

“Hey, no, this is important for you. For your work. I want to make sure that you have everything that you need to finish your degree in the best way possible – you’ve done so much for us and I just wanted to do this little thing for you. Besides, you only turn 25 once, right?”

“This isn’t little, Matt. And I’m just a nanny, I’ve barely done anything,” Dhara protested.

“If that’s all that you think you are to Sarah, and to me, then I’m clearly not doing enough to show you differently,” he said firmly.

The tone of his voice made her shiver in all the right ways.

“Matt, I…”

She trailed off at the intense look he was giving her.

“Happy birthday, Dhara,” Matt murmured, smiling softly.

It was all she could do to hug him tightly, sinking slightly into his chest as his arms immediately wrapped around her too. His shirt was soft against her cheek, that intoxicating cologne filling her senses, so much so that as she moved to break the hug, she impulsively kissed his cheek. Fuck. Dhara froze for a moment, stunned at her own audacity, but as she leaned back, Matt looked just as stunned – other than the pleased smile on his lips.

“Sarah! Come and say goodbye to Dhara so she can go out with her friends!” he called out, dropping his arms to let her go.

Dhara smiled at the sound of pattering footsteps, even more so as Sarah hugged her legs tightly.

“Dhara! You’re still my friend too, right?”

Be still her beating heart.

“Of course I am. I’ll be back here on Monday, ready for Kindergarten as usual,” she promised.

“Good. Happy birthday Dhara!” Sarah said happily.

Matt’s eyes never left her once.

With only a few weeks left until Spring Break, Dhara didn’t know where her final year of her degree was going. She knew she was going to use that Spring Break time to finish as much of her thesis as possible – and she knew she was going to be spending the whole week at Matt’s. Her new computer screens had stayed at his house as there was way more room for her to work there, and the couple of occasions she’d used them there for her classwork and he’d been home, he always smiled a pleased little smile like he was proud of himself for providing for her. It was…strange.

Everything was strange.

Since that kiss on the cheek, the dynamic between them had grown even more tense. Every stolen glance, brushed fingers, sweet smile, all felt like she was getting away with something forbidden. If anyone knew the illicit way she thought of Matt, she knew she’d burst into flames. And it wasn’t like she could be sure about how he felt about her either. Sure, he looked – but she was a beautiful Indian woman, and many men looked. It just felt different when she felt Matt’s eyes on her body, that was all.

She knew it was futile though. She was his nanny, nothing else. And she didn’t dare mess anything up with her employment now that she was only a couple of months away from turning in her thesis and finishing her Masters in Computer Science. She knew that she had to seriously start applying for jobs for starting in June, knew she didn’t want her years of hard work to go to waste – but it was so hard to decide exactly what she wanted when her head was spinning.

In a dream world, she’d have the career she’d always fantasised about, with Matt and Sarah by her side. But this was reality – girls like her didn’t get the career and the guy. She had to be realistic with herself, otherwise she was going to drown. She knew she had to stop indulging her daydreams and wake up – it wasn’t worth the inevitable heartache, as much as those dreams were nice to fall asleep to.

Still, when Spring Break arrived and Matt refused to let her nanny for him, rather than holing herself up in the bedroom of her tiny apartment, she holed herself up in Matt’s dining room, only emerging when Matt dragged her out to get some sleep or Sarah begged her to eat dinner with them. It was a weird but welcome change, to have people care about her wellbeing like that (her current roommate had her own weird work hours), so when she finally came out of her week of thesis writing and showered, she felt more human than she usually did after a data spree like that. It was refreshing to say the least.

“I can’t believe you spent your final ever Spring Break sitting at my dining room table,” Matt teased, handing her a plate of sliced apples.

Dhara stuck her tongue out at Matt as she happily took the plate, making him laugh.

“I needed to get my thesis finished as soon as possible so I can work on editing it and proving the data works. And I managed to get it nearly finished – now it’s just concluding it and all the weeks of editing to get done. Otherwise, all the hard work of the past three years will come to nothing, and I won’t be able to get a good job like I deserve,”

“Right, yes, of course. A job using computer science,” Matt nodded.

The way he said it though, and the way he looked like a kicked puppy, made her heart ache. “Matt, you knew I would only be able to work for you for a year. We talked about this, right from the start.”

“I know,” he said quickly, shaking his head with a smile, “It’s just going to be strange not having you around. You feel like part of the family already, and you know that Sarah loves you.”

Fuck.

“Matt, you’re killing me,” she murmured.

“Sorry,” he quickly said.

“No you’re not,” she said dryly.

“I am a little bit.”

Dhara huffed out a laugh, shaking her head. “I love systems analysis and the increase in importance of connectivity to keep up with modern systems within growing infrastructure, and I would love to work in something like that because it’s where my passion is. I just…I hope I can find something that takes a chance on a nobody like me.”

“You are the furthest thing from a nobody, Dhara. You’re incredible and talented and a beautiful person inside and out, and you deserve the best. Whatever you need, whatever I can help with, I will, okay? References, making calls, whatever. You name it and I’m there.”

Her lips parted in surprise at his supportive words, eyes stinging with tears, but she found herself smiling. He was such a sweetheart.

“That might be the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me,” Dhara said, voice thick with emotion as she stepped forward to hug him.

She felt herself tremble slightly at the warmth of Matt’s hands on her back, even more so at the way he buried his face in her long thick curls, and tried to savour the feeling of his arms around her while she still could. How had their time together come to an end so quickly? How was this fair?

“Yeah, well, you deserve everything and more,” Matt said gruffly as he stepped back.

If only she could read his mind right now, to see what thoughts were running behind the complicated expression on his face, then she would do it in an instant.

“Thank you, Matt,” she murmured.

“You’re welcome. Make sure you start applying soon, okay?”

Network Operations Engineer – Madison Square Garden Entertainment – full time.

Submission – completed.

March.

April.

May.

His fleeting time left with Dhara was slipping through his fingers. The harder he tried to hold on, the faster the days flew by, until she submitted her thesis and the end was in sight. He couldn’t blame her for being excited – fuck knows he wouldn’t be sane after all the years of education she’d gone through – but he couldn’t stop the anxiety that built in his chest when he thought of how, soon, she wouldn’t be laughing and smiling and typing away at her computer in his house.

The Islanders had barely lost the first round of the playoffs, kicking and scraping to the last minute, and now with the whole summer stretched out in front of him, the thought of spending it without her was excruciating. But Matt knew he had no claim on Dhara, had no right to feel this way, no matter how she looked at him or smiled sweetly at him or that one time she’d kissed his cheek. She was everything he hadn’t known he’d wanted and needed, and now she was soon to be gone from his life forever.

He, Matt Martin, was completely gone for Dhara Nicholls, and he didn’t know what the hell he was supposed to do about it.

“Dhara, come on, you’re not watching!”

Matt rolled his eyes fondly at Sarah’s petulant whining. “Sarah Dawn Martin, that’s not how we speak to our friends.”

He could see Dhara biting her lip to hide a smile as Sarah huffed dramatically.

“Dhara, please will you watch this with me? You said you would!”

“Of course, why don’t I just get us some more water each and we can settle in, hm?”

“Deal!”

Matt watched Dhara walk over to where he was putting together lunch in the kitchen, unable to stop himself smiling at her the moment she smiled at him.

“Hey.”

She giggled, shaking her head at herself as she pulled a couple of bottles of water out the fridge.

“How’s it going in there with the Drill Sergeant?” he mused.

“Oh it’s tough, but I think I’ll make it out alive,” she grinned.

Why was everything so easy between them? Nothing had ever been this easy before.

“Look, I, uh…I was hoping to ask you something?”

Dhara raised an eyebrow with a bemused smile but nodded, leaning against the counter next to him. “Go for it.”

“So you know it’s my birthday on Saturday?” he started.

Dhara just nodded, smiling.

“Okay cool, so I know you have things to finalise this week, with administration at your university, but Casey and the guys and girls have organised a night out and I was hoping you’d come? So yeah, come out with us, please,” he said, cursing himself for rambling.

“Oh, thank you – I just…what about Sarah?” she asked.

So sweet.

“She’s having a sleepover with a friend from Kindergarten, I already sorted that,” Matt said simply, smiling.

“Well in that case, I’d love to. If you’re sure?” Dhara said, uncertainly.

“Of course I’m sure. I want you out celebrating with me,” he said firmly.

While he couldn’t tell if she was blushing or not, the flash of surprise and something else in her eyes satisfied something inside of him that felt distinctly feral. He really was losing his control around her, wasn’t he?

“Then I’ll be there,” she said sweetly, “You only turn 35 once after all.”

Matt just grinned.

Saturday night rolled around quicker than he’d expected. The WAGs had taken Dhara out with them to get ready – the full works apparently, hair, make-up, and manicures, all of which he paid for Dhara because it was last minute – and when the ladies finally arrived to the restaurant he’d booked out for dinner? Well, it felt like he’d been punched in the face. It wasn’t that her dark curls were glossy and teased to volumed perfection. It wasn’t that her make-up was flawless, full glam like she never did herself. No, it was the emerald green mid-thigh strappy silk dress she’d clearly borrowed from one of the other ladies. The dress was so dainty and unlike anything he’d ever seen her wear, close enough to a negligee that it sent his mind reeling. He knew she had a great figure already, and that her legs were long and toned, but seeing them like this? It was mindblowing. And, obviously, it had taken everything in his power not to drool or let his jaw drop.

Naturally he missed Casey and Anders smirking at their wives and receiving triumphant grins in response from Grace and Kristy. Dhara’s sweet greeting and warm hug made everyone else in the room disappear.

Still, after dinner and going to a couple of bars, they ended up in a night club nearing midnight, Anders having booked a couple of tables upstairs in the VIP area. The whole group had a couple of shots together, toasting Matt’s 35th birthday, before the WAGs all dragged Dhara off to dance with them. From their table he could just about see her in the middle of the dancefloor, looking like she was having the time of her life, body swaying and moving in a way that had his full attention. Captivating.

He watched her on and off for the next half hour, switching between talking to the guys, sipping on his whisky and coke. But it wasn’t until Casey thumped down next down next to him and clapped him on the shoulder with a huff that he realised anyone had noticed.

“Come on man, just go down to the dancefloor and put us all out of our misery,” Casey groaned.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Matt frowned.

“You’re pining after Dhara and it’s driving us crazy,” he retorted.

“We’ve talked about this. She’s my nanny,” Matt said sharply.

“Yeah okay, like that even matters. I’ve seen the way you look at her and Kristy’s seen the way she looks at you, and it’s not like she’s going to be your nanny for much longer, right?” Casey smirked.

“Oh fuck you.”

“Fuck her.”

“Don’t talk about her like that,” Matt all but growled.

Casey just grinned, clearly getting the answer he wanted, goading Matt just like he intended. Damn it, he really did know him too well.

“Love you too bud. Stop being a coward,” Casey just snickered, patting Matt on the shoulder, a clear indication to just get out of there.

And if the desire to dance with Dhara hadn’t won out, he knew he’d be scowling at his friend. Instead, he found himself drifting down the stairs from the VIP area to where he lasted spotted Dhara in the crowd, and soon enough he found her. She looked like a goddess: swaying from side to side, multi-coloured lights brushing across her brown skin like a Picasso painting, and he felt himself mesmerised. She turned her head slightly at the prompting of Grace, wide smile stretching across her lips when she spotted him.

“Mind if I join you?” Matt said, raising his voice.

“Of course not birthday boy!” Dhara said happily.

Matt stepped closer to her, barely registering the rest of the ladies grinning at each other and slipping away through the crowd to leave them alone. His attention was completely captured – Dhara’s hips swaying so close to him were a massive distraction – and it wasn’t until a familiar song started playing that he finally looked up at her face.

“I love this song!” she said happily.

Dhara turned her back to him, confusing him slightly, until she looked back over her shoulder expectantly. He knew they’d both had a fair amount of alcohol to drink at this point, but her eyes were clear enough – dance with me. He could barely control himself as he stepped up behind her fully, hands on her hips, pulling her gently back against him, the soft moan that sounded from her lips making him feel wild. Fuck, he could feel himself stirring where his crotch was pressed just above her ass, even more so as she continued to sway her hips.

“Come, lay me down, 'Cause you know this, 'Cause you know this sound

In the middle of the night, In the middle of the night, Just call my name, I'm yours to tame...”

“Matt,” Dhara murmured, looking up at him.

He followed his base instincts for once, staying silent as he used the grip he had on her hips to spin her around to face him, taking pleasure in the look of surprise on her face and the flash of lust in her eyes, swaying their bodies together again.

“…I'm wide awake, I crave your taste all night long, 'Til morning comes, I'm getting what is mine, You gon' get yours, oh no, ooh, In the middle of the night.”

“Matt please.”

It was all he could do to guide her quickly through the crowd to the edge of the dancefloor, to an empty spot against the wall, leaving them mostly in the shadow, the bright flashes of light illuminating them just about enough to see each other’s faces.

“Tell me to stop,” Matt murmured into her ear, hands threading into her thick curls.

“Kiss me,” she replied, lifting her head in challenge.

He didn’t hesitate to press his lips to hers, kissing her just as she’d demanded, his heart immediately soaring. Dhara moaned into his mouth, moaned again when he pushed her firmly up against the wall, kissing him back just as eagerly as her hands clutched at his shirt. It was like she melted against his body as he slid his tongue past her lips, fire zipping through his blood, his head swirling. Matt kissed Dhara over and over again, one hand leaving her hair to clutch at her hip, the silk of her dress driving him mad and doing nothing to mask the heat of her skin, and while the music washed over them, he wanted nothing more than to get her away from this crowded dancefloor and take her home.

Fuck, it was intoxicating how well she fit into his arms, how her body was moulded to his, how their tongues danced together as intimately as their bodies had done. In all the times he’d thought about kissing her, about holding her, nothing could compare to the real thing. Nothing could compare to this.

But he needed to know that it wasn’t just him, that she wasn’t just kissing him because she was drunk. He didn’t think he would survive that. The confused noise she made when he broke the kiss just about broke his heart though.

“Dhara, baby, I gotta know…”

He groaned, kissing down her neck, feeling like he was shaking apart at her soft moans.

“What, Matt?” she gasped as he nipped at her skin.

“You’re not…you’re not too drunk right now, right? You want this?”

“Matt, I’ve been drinking water throughout the night between drinks. I want this. I want you. I just didn’t know if you wanted me,” she said, shrugging with a sheepish smile.

She didn’t know if he wanted her?

He rested his forehead against hers, pressing her fully into the wall again so she could feel where he was half hard in his jeans. Dhara giggled, pulling him down into another kiss with her grip on his shirt, and Matt was all too happy to oblige her, knowing he’d never get enough of her now that he’d tasted her.

“It’s not just sex, baby, I swear. I want all of you,” Matt murmured, breaking their kiss again to suck on the thin skin behind her ear.

“You promise?” she asked softly into his ear, almost shyly.

“I promise,” he nodded, as serious as he could manage in this moment.

“Then take me home.”

“Yeah?” he grinned.

“Yeah, take me home Matt,” she grinned back.

Dhara woke with a soft groan, eyes feeling gritty and mouth as dry as an old sock. She blearily lifted her head, grabbing the glass of water on the side table and chugging it, body not recognising the weight of an arm over her waist until her head was a bit clearer.

An arm over her waist.

Over her bare waist.

Matt’s arm.

She let out a shaky breath as all the memories of the night before flooded into her head. Dancing intimately with Matt in the nightclub where anyone could see them. Making out on the side of the dancefloor. The two of them leaving the club without telling anyone, barely keeping their hands off each other in the uber back to his. Then a rush of lips and hands and teeth and bare skin, and waves of pleasure over and over again, crying out his name without a care in the world.

It was everything she’d ever dreamed over, and now, waking up in his bed with his bare body pressed to hers, it was her nightmare all the same.

She’d never acted like this before in her life. Never slept with a man she wasn’t dating. Absolutely never slept with her boss. What kind of trashy behaviour was that? How could he ever think she was worth his time if this is the way she acted the first time he showed interest? Fuck.

But she remembered his words too. How he checked that she wasn’t too drunk, that she wanted this. How he swore it wasn’t just sex, that he wanted her. How insistent he was on promising that it wasn’t just talk to get her into bed. And in between each of the many orgasms he brought her to, he checked in with her each time, making sure she was okay, just because that’s who he was.

He was Matt Martin, gentleman under a rough handsome exterior, and he wanted her.

None of that changed her insecurities though, how all of this was so out of character for her. Not to mention, she knew damn well that everyone knew what they did last night, why they left the club early, and wasn’t that mortifying? No, she needed some air, she needed to think. And to maybe put on some clothes she’d left in the spare room because there was no way she could wear Kristy’s tiny silk dress home in broad daylight.

With a shaky breath, Dhara gently picked up Matt’s arm, moving it off of her body, before slowly sitting upright. If she could just stand up without waking him it would be…

“Good morning. Going somewhere?”

Matt’s husky voice made her freeze, a wave of guilt washing over her, before she turned to face him, sheets clutched to her bare chest.

“I…I don’t know. I don’t know what I’m doing,” she murmured, more honest than she cared to be.

And if that wasn’t a metaphor for her life since she met him, what was?

He just frowned, sitting upright, and she couldn’t stop her gaze from raking over his chest, his biceps, his shoulders. Damn. “What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong? Where should I start?” Dhara said, feeling a little hysterical.

“I thought we were on the same page last night,” Matt said hesitantly, “I thought we both wanted this.”

“We did,” she said quickly, “I did. But…you know this doesn’t make any sense right?”

“Why not? You like me, I like you. You want me, I want you. It’s simple,” he frowned.

If only.

“It’s not simple at all, Matt. Not for me. It’s one thing for you to have the hots for your young pretty nanny, but to actually hook up with her? And to say you want something more? People are going to think I’m a gold digger! That I trapped you! That I manipulated my way into your life!”

“Dhara, all of that is bullshit. I don’t care what people think. Anyone who dares to call you a gold digger is an asshole who doesn’t know us. Everyone who knows us knows it isn’t like that at all. You’ve already got a job lined up waiting for you with Madison Square Garden Entertainment Group and you only just handed in your thesis – like, you’re going to be making your own money so it’s not like you only like me for that, right?”

“Well, no, but…”

“And you didn’t even know who I was when you first interviewed with me, so it’s not like you planned this, right?”

“Of course I didn’t, but…”

“If you don’t want anything more than this one night with me then obviously I would accept that. It would suck and the last few weeks of you working for me would be really awkward, but damn Dhara, I want a future with you,” Matt finished, taking one of her hands in his, the other still clutching at the bed sheet.

He really wants a future with her?

“You do?” she asked softly, almost as if she didn’t believe it.

“Yeah, I do,” he nodded, smiling warmly, “I mean, I’m not sure what you see in me – I’m a 35 year old hockey player who’s nearing the end of his career, already divorced once with a kid who doesn’t have an off switch or a volume control, and I have no idea what I’m going to do with my life…but I just know that I want you in my life, however I can have you.”

“You’re the kindest, sweetest, most handsome man I’ve ever met, with a daughter who loves you so much, and you see me for more than the Indian girl stuck behind a computer screen. I…I never expected this, any of this Matt, but I want to try?” she said, biting her bottom lip.

The way his face lit up with sweet genuine smile made her heart soar.

“You have no idea how happy that makes me. I’m going to do my best to make you so happy too, Dhara, I swear,” he grinned.

Dhara huffed out a laugh, laughing properly as he tugged the sheet out of her hand and guided her to lie down again in the messy bed, sliding his thick arm over her waist to tug their bare bodies together, lying face to face in the most intimate yet soft way she’d ever lain with another man.

And in that moment, it didn’t matter that her career was just about to kick off while his was in its hockey-twilight. And it didn’t matter than he was 10 years older than her, a whole wealth of life experience that she barely had. And it didn’t matter what people would whisper about them, or what judgemental looks she was get, or that her mother had never met him, or even that none of this would ever have happened in her wildest dreams.

All that mattered was that he wanted her, in his bed, in his family, in his life.

“Can I kiss you, baby?”

“Yes.”

Tagging a few people: @jostyriggslover96 @misshoneyimhome @senditcolton @fallinallincurls @2manytabsopen

#my writing #matt martin fic #the summer fic exchange 2k24 #matt martin x oc #matt martin fanfic #matt martin imagine #nhl fic #nhl imagine #hockey fic #hockey imagine

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heaven4lostgirls · 2 years

Note

Poly!marauders meeting y/ns family? Its okay if you dont want to write this! I get it can be hard to write something you dont have inspo for!

beautiful boys

poly!marauders x reader

a/n: ty for the request i really enjoyed writing this!!

summary: marauders meeting your parents for the first time<3

tags: fluffff!!!

you, james, sirius and remus had been dating for a little over 3 months. you weren’t sure when the perfect time would come for you to introduce them to your parents but you knew that it had to happen at some point and apparently today was that day.

you all stood outside your parents home, as a halfblood, your parents were fairly well off however you knew that because they had to send you off to hogwarts so young that they had become a bit more protective.

now in your 6th year your parents were aware that you had found interest in people around you and never expressed any distain to who you should date. they were never against you dating someone that was a different blood purity than you or someone of the same gender.

as you all walked up to the gate of your parents house you felt sirius shift nervously next to remus who kept double checking if his clothes were okay. james seemed to be the only calm one out of the three but maybe that was because he’d already been introduced to your parents as one of your best friends.

you knocked on the door softly and softly squeezed sirius’ and remus’ hands in comfort. you’re mother opened the door to see four beaming faces, albeit two of them looked a bit more nervous than the others.

“y/n! come in! i’ve missed you honey!” you mother cooes at you as she pulls you into a hug and ushering you and your boyfriends inside.

“i missed you too mum, where’s dad?” you smile as you wrap your arm around remus’ waist.

“he’s in his study, he’ll be down in a minute. last minute ministry cases and whatnot” she smiles before she turns to the four of you.

“and? who might be these lovely gentlemen? when you said you were bringing people home i didnt expect this!”

“well actually mum, these are my boyfriends. james, sirius and remus. you’ve met james before at kings cross station remember?”

“oh yes! what a delight, it’s wonderful to see you sweetheart” your mother hugs them all and you can see the relief that flood from remus and sirius’ shoulders.

“you boys must be famished, come let’s do the kitchen and we can chat a bit before your father comes down”

you all make your way to the kitchen and sit around the island, your mother pours you all some water as she asks some questions.

they all answer very willingly with little hesitance and you can see the admiration they hold for your mother as she dotes on all of you as if they’re her own children.

the heavy footsteps of your father interrupts the conversation between sirius and your mum.

“y/n! i’ve missed you sweetheart” your father stated before wrapping you in a big hug, almost squeezing the life out of you before he lets go and looks curiously at the boys behind you.

he cocks an eyebrow which makes james gulp and remus fidget nervously before his face breaks out into a big smile.

“nice to meet you boys, i’ve heard that you’ve been helping my y/n around school” a chorus of ‘yes sirs’ is heard throughout the kitchen before you introduce them.

“dad, these are my boyfriends. you know james, and that’s sirius and the one next to him is remus” they all lift their hands up accordingly to wave at your old man.

“ah i see, well since we’ve already met why don’t we dig in to my wife’s delicious cooking” he laughs and pats sirius and remus on the back.

you usher them to the table where your dad and mom sit at the heads and you and james sit next to each other. across from you is remus and across from james is sirius.

you all eat happily and make small talk and you can almost feel the love and warmth in the air, your parents never once mentioned the scars on remus’ face or questioned why sirius lived with james and that he seemed to hesitate talking about his family.

all in all they all seemed so at peace with one another you couldn’t ask for anything more, your dad looks at you whilst everyone else talks and winks at you.

you know you’ve found a family in these boys and as have they in you.

#juliwrites #harry potter #marauders #james potter #remus lupin #sirius black #james potter x reader #remus lupin x reader #sirius black x reader #marauders angst #poly!marauders #poly!marauders x reader #poly!marauders x girlfriend!reader

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hannahbarberra162 · 1 month

Text

Squace of Hearts, Pt. 2

18+ MDNI on Ao3

Part one

I'm not completely satisfied with this. I don't know that one shots are for me - I kept adding detail for later chapters but there aren't going to be any more...unless?

You arrived at the ship bright and early, carrying two large cups of coffee bearing the Marine emblem on their sides. You portaled to the deck and found Ace surveying the damage. You were tired from staying up late with Ace the night before but you were in good spirits at least.

“G’morning, sunshine.” You handed him his cup and drank deeply from your own.

“Thank god, this is just what I needed.” Ace eagerly accepted his coffee and chugged it.

“Wow, never seen someone drink coffee that fast, doesn’t that burn your - oh. You probably can’t get burned, huh?”

“Yeah, but I can’t get into Marine bases to grab fresh cups of coffee either, so things are pretty fair between us. How’d you know where to go in the base to get this, anyway? Weren’t you worried about being arrested?”

“Nah, it’s easy to predict where the guards will be. Besides, they only build like five or six different styles of bases unless the geography of the island prohibits it. So once you know the variations, they’re easy to navigate and not get caught.” Ace’s eyes went wide.

“Could you draw them for us? The different base styles? That would be helpful information for us to know, in case anyone gets imprisoned.” You hummed. Marine base information was something you kept to yourself in case you needed to either save your own hide or sell it if you needed cash and couldn’t use your power for whatever reason.

“Maybe, but let’s fix the deck first. We’ll have bigger problems if Marco doesn’t see us working.”

“You’re right, here, take this.” Ace had a large tome in his hand. “Marco gave this to me, he says that directions on how to fix scorched wood are listed under “wood repair.” You didn’t take the book, raising your cup of coffee.

“You do it! I’m still drinking my coffee, you chugged yours. I’m down a hand.” Ace shrugged and looked up the steps in the book. It would take time and effort but it could be done with sandpaper. You hadn’t worked hard in…a few years. You hadn’t missed it. Ace went below deck to find the needed supplies while you chilled on the deck.

Other crew members were milling about, doing their chores. One of the Commanders from the previous night, Thatch, came up to you while you were waiting.

“So, you’re the reason for the deck looking like this?” he said with a grin.

“Not entirely. I provided the method, Ace provided the means.” You smiled back, hoping he wasn’t too mad about the ship. After all, they did have to sail on it.

“I was gonna ask you about that - I’m so curious about your portals. For example, can you make one right now to the kitchen on the ship? Or could you make a never ending loop? There’s so many possibilities.” You were used to these kinds of questions, a lot of people found it interesting. You didn’t always answer them, but you didn’t see how it would hurt.

“For the never ending loop, yes. I’ve gotten stuck before and I’ve put people in them. The problem is that I can only make one set of portals at a time. So if I’m fighting and I put someone in the loop, I can’t use them until I remove at least one of the portals.” Being in the loop was so annoying, it had taken you 5 minutes to get yourself out of it.

“So you do fight with them. I knew you weren’t just a mover. So, what are you really? Mercenary? Pirate? Thief?” He wasn’t quite suspicious but you’d walked right into that one. You held your free hand up defensively.

“No, no, really. I was on a few crews a long time ago, but I haven’t been a pirate in years. Sometimes I get into a tough spot and need to fight, but it doesn’t happen often. I really do move stuff for money. It’s easy money and I don’t have to work hard, which are my two favorite things. ” And yes, you stole, but not as a career. Thatch narrowed his eyes but still wore a smile.

“Alright, I believe you for now. If you ever want to spar -” Ace stomped up to the deck with his gigantic-ass boots.

“Thatch, leave her alone, she doesn’t want to train with you,” Ace said while reading the instructions. You took the sandpaper from under his arm. Ace looked serious about this work thing. He flipped back and forth between two pages. “Ok, we have the sandpaper but we’re going to need to go to the island at some point to get some oil for the wood. We don’t have that on board.” You nodded.

“Yes, sir!” You gave Ace a jaunty salute. He grinned at you and put the book down, taking some of the sandpaper.

“Let’s get to it.”

~~~

An hour later and your forearms and shoulders were aching. Turned out you’d scorched more of the deck than you’d thought. You flopped down on the deck, throwing your sandpaper dramatically to the side.

“That’s it, I think we’re finally done with the sanding.” You laid down flat on your back, hands behind your head.

“But we have so much more work to do,” Ace whined. He laid down on the deck next to you. “We have to get mineral oil and put a buncha of coats on the wood, it’s gonna be a pain.”

“Surely we can take a short break? Even a stern taskmaster like yourself would permit a poor, weak woman like myself to have a break?” You turned to face him, pouting with your lip out. Ace snorted.

“You’ve never been weak. I had the broken nose to prove it. And the broken arm.”

“That one I won’t take credit for, that was all on your own. I didn’t tell you to go to that waterfall looking for flowers. And I certainly didn’t tell you to fall down it.” Ace had been a sweet little kid, bringing you presents from the woods and island. He’d show up, frowning, bruised and covered in bandages, and hand you a beautiful rock or a fistfull of flowers he’d found on his hunts with his brother. It had been the nicest thing anyone gave you for your entire childhood.

“Yeah, but it was worth it. You dove in after me and I got to see your nipples through your shirt,” Ace smiled. “I remember them well, it’s a fond childhood memory.” You laughed, you remembered him staring at your boobs like they were the One Piece. You were feeling the mood and interested in feeling him. It was still the morning, but you didn’t think fun should be limited to the night.

“Doesn’t have to be a memory, cowboy. But we might want to find a better place, we’re on the deck surrounded by your crew.” You sat up, and pulled him to sit too. “Whaddya say we go find some mineral oil?” You raised a brow, opening a portal to the island. Ace grinned.

~~~

You portaled to the main street of the island, which is what you could see from the boat. You grabbed Ace’s warm, calloused hand in your own smaller one and pulled him straight into a secondary portal, landing in your hotel room. It was easier to portal to places you’d already been - you just had to be within a reasonable range, you didn’t necessarily have to see where you were going. Ace, still getting used to going through portals, was a little disoriented as he landed with you in the hotel room. He made contact with the bed, almost falling into a seated position. You wasted no time, straddling his lap, facing him. He put his arms around your hips, hugging you to him. You’d barely even started touching but you were feeling flushed. You couldn’t help yourself - you smiled mischievously at him. This was almost nostalgic, you and him hiding away to kiss before being needed somewhere. He smiled back at you as you pushed his hair away from his face.

“Now, let’s see if you remember what I taught you,” you said, bringing your face close to his. You didn’t need to close the distance, Ace met you halfway, pressing his lips to yours. Your eyes slid closed as you cupped his face in your hands, moving them to the back of his head and kissed him back. You opened your mouth, nipping his lip, and he opened his own. You dipped your tongue in his mouth, feeling his own rolling against yours. You kissed like that for a few minutes, just savoring the feel of Ace back in your arms. You felt his cock hardening in his shorts and you rocked on it, making him groan. You weren’t surprised Ace was a moaner, but it was welcome. You removed your hands from his face and pushed him down with a gentle tap to the shoulder. You laid down next to him, facing him. He slotted a leg through your own as he continued to kiss you - your neck, your jaw, your earlobe. Ace was peppering kisses along any available skin he could find. You sighed in pleasure.

“It seems you’ve learned a few things along the way,” you said. Your breath hitched as he bit where your neck met your shoulder, barely missing the necklace you were wearing.

“Had a good teacher,” he rasped. He rolled you onto your back as his nimble fingers were unbuttoning your shirt, opening you up for his view. When you were bared to him, he took in the sight of you before he frowned in concentration as he fingered a small rock on a necklace you were wearing. It was a small but beautiful golden rock, glinting in the light. It clearly had no value other than sentimental.

“First time someone frowned when they saw me half naked,” you joked. His eyes flicked to yours.

“I gave you this rock,” he said, still fiddling with the chain around your neck. This time you weren’t blushing from the physical contact. You looked off to the side, turning your head away from him.

“Yeah well. I kept it.” You were embarrassed, which wasn’t something that happened to you often. You knew Ace had gone on to bigger and better things in life, and you didn’t want to seem like you were clinging to him or that you needed him. You’d just always liked it and had made it into a necklace pendant long ago. It was the only thing you’d kept from your childhood and you wore it every day. You didn’t like talking about your feelings and you didn’t want to start now. Ace took two of his fingers and turned you to face him once more.

“I missed you too,” he whispered and kissed you again. This time it wasn’t leisurely and sweet like you’d been doing before. Ace kissed you like you were his last breath of air, frantically kissing you deeply while tearing off his clothes. You were rapidly taking your own off as you kissed him back just as needy. You felt like you were being consumed by him, the air between you and Ace was electrified. Soon there were no barriers between you, just the two of you naked and kissing on the hotel bed. Your hands were wound in his hair and his were beneath your ass, grinding himself on you while his tongue licked inside your ear.

As soon as your clothes were all off, Ace was a man possessed. He stopped kissing your mouth for a moment and looked down at your breasts. “Just as perfect as I remember,” he said, “been waitin’ years for this.” He dipped his head down and sucked one of your nipples into his mouth, hard. Your lower back arched off the bed as you keened, trying to bring your nipples even closer to his mouth. He popped one out before quickly licking the other, swirling his tongue around the hardened bud. He gently bit it between his front teeth, causing you to moan. He sucked it and laved it with his tongue while massaging your other breast in his large hand. “I don’t think you understand what a chokehold these had on my teenage years,” Ace told you.

“I’m glad I was able to help you out,” you choked out, barely able to string a sentence together. You knew you were wet, you could feel it between your legs. Ace was still sucking on and biting your nipples, pushing your breasts together so he could access both easily.

“I’ve thought a lot about your tits over the years. There’s a lot I want to try,” he purred at you.

“Just with my tits?” you asked. You hoped not.

“No, I’ve had some other questions I want answered too. I wanna know what you taste like.” Ace started kissing the underside of your breasts, slowly working his way down your stomach. You giggled as he kissed a ticklish spot. Ace looked up, raising an eyebrow. “Interesting, the invincible woman has a weak spot.”

“A lot of weak spots for you.” You flushed even as you said the cheesy line. You didn’t know why it came out, Ace made you feel weird things. Ace laughed lightly and continued his journey down your eager body. He spread your legs and planted himself between them. He put his hands under the backs of your thighs and spread you even wider.

“Fuck, you’re even prettier than I imagined,” he muttered, “so wet for me, so good for me.” You didn’t have time to respond before he dove tongue first into your pussy. He stroked the flat of his tongue up and down your slit, like he was trying to memorize it with his tongue. Pushing your thighs even farther apart, he licked in between your labia, gathering the slick you’d already made. He moaned into you, like you were the finest meal he’d ever had. He touched your clit with the tip of his tongue for the briefest moment before sliding it back down to your hole, making you growl. He nipped your inner thigh. “Hush, you’ll get it,” he answered. He took his time, licking you like a bowl of cream from bottom to top. You were wriggling, trying to get him back to your clit, but his strong arms kept you from moving too much. You weren’t used to Ace taking the reins but you definitely weren’t complaining.

He had just put his tongue back on your clit to your complete satisfaction when you heard the jingle of keys in the door. You’d deadbolted it as a precaution when you took the room, but that wouldn’t last for long. Ace picked up his head from between your legs, your juice dripping down his face.

“Uh, we should go now. Grab everything,” you whispered. Total buzzkill. But, being arrested for using a hotel room without paying would also be a buzzkill. Ace jumped up, throwing on his clothes. You did the same, throwing on your clothes, grabbing your pack, and making a portal. The two of you had just made it through when the door to the room opened. But by then, you were on Ace’s ship, breathing heavily. You threw down your pack and sat down. You readjusted your clothes and caught your breath.

“Forgot housekeeping comes through sometimes,” you said to Ace. He looked over at you grinning and licking his lips. Your face heated as you realized he hadn’t cleaned up.

“Take it you weren’t paying for the room,” Ace said dryly.

“Not like they were using it,” you replied. “I don’t want to hear from a pirate about the morality of borrowing a hotel room.”

“Where were the two of you yoi? It’s been an hour and a half,” an annoyed Marco towered over your sitting form. Ace at least looked embarrassed, maybe Marco would forgive him.

“Uh, getting mineral oil?” you replied. “Which we, uh, forgot back on the island,” you finished sheepishly. Marco gave you and Ace a knowing look.

“Quit it yoi. Have fun on your own time. Mineral oil is in the secondary supply room, next to the engine oil.” Marco walked away muttering something about crushes and time wasted.

~~~

Ace retrieved the mineral oil while you repacked your bag. You just wanted to make sure that you had everything with you and didn’t forget anything in the room. As you finished, he returned with the book from earlier under his arm as well as the oil and some dry cleaning cloths.

“Hey, grab the book before I drop it.” You took the book from under his arm as he put down the other things. “Ok, the instructions are on page 294. How do we apply the oil? I think it said multiple thin layers but I might be misremembering.” You fiddled with the pages and opened it to 294. Once on the page you looked down at it, there were a lot of different instructions on the page. You fiddled with the stone on your necklace. “Well, what’s it say?” Ace peered over your shoulder at the book in your hands.

“Umm… let me see…” Ace looked at you. He gave you a strange look as you got more flustered. “Here, you take it, I can’t find the right directions.” You shrugged and handed him the book nonchalantly. He took the book and put it on the deck, seemingly forgetting about the task at hand. He reached out and gently squeezed your upper arm, guiding you to the railing of the ship.

“Dreamy, can you - can you read?” Ace asked quietly, looking at your face as you registered his words.

“What do you mean can I read? Of course I can read, I just didn’t see -” you started off indignantly, trailing off when you looked at Ace’s concerned face.

“The directions were at the top of the page. If I give you the book, can you read to me what it says?” Ace was still speaking to you like you’d been hurt and he was trying not to startle you.

“I don’t - that’s not - you don’t -” you sputtered. You were red in the face, and yanked your arm away from Ace’s grasp. But he wasn’t letting go of the topic and he wasn’t letting you escape from him either.

“It’s OK if you can’t, we can teach you.” You bristled at Ace’s calm and non-judgemental words.

“I don’t need you to teach me anything . I’ve been fine all these years, and I’m fine now.” Ace shrugged, still pinning you with a look.

“Read me the directions and I’ll drop it.” You felt tears pricking the corners of your eyes. You weren’t sad, you were angry. He was prodding, in public, at your deepest source of shame.

“Fuck off, Ace.”

“It’s ok, it’s not a big deal. Everyone has to learn -”

“And who was going to teach me, hm? My dad who abandoned me? My mom who died? Or maybe the townspeople who made my life a living hell?” You were furious, hissing words at Ace. You saw a few of Ace’s crew members looking over at the two of you. You knew you were getting louder and making a scene but you couldn’t stop.

“I’m not trying to upset -”

“Well, you’re not trying but you succeeded. At least you had some people who cared about you. You had Luffy and Dadan and your grandpa. And your…friend Makino.” You were furious but you stopped yourself from mentioning his brother. He’d told you once, the only time you’d ever seen him cry, about his brother who’d died, who’d taught him to read before you’d come along. You couldn’t break that confidence.

“I cared about you,” Ace said softly. With that, a tear fell down your cheek. “I still do.” He reached for you again, while you shifted backwards, avoiding his touch. You felt ashamed, overwhelmed, and embarrassed. You were also remorseful that you’d lashed out at Ace who had just been trying to help. You wanted to fix things between you but you were always better at running away than mending.

“I’m gonna go.” You picked up your pack, making a portal with one hand. You needed to get away, to break away from this emotional scene. “Bye, Ace.” You walked through the portal, leaving Ace behind. Again.

~~~

Or so you thought. As you came through the second portal to an alleyway behind the main street of the town, you were tackled to the ground. “You’re not leaving like that,” you heard Ace say from behind you. You didn’t realize he was so fast - no one had ever chased you through your own portals like that before. He had you on the ground, keeping you in place with his weight. He had your arms pinned to the ground, preventing you from making portals.

“You can’t just - you can’t -” you couldn’t compute what was happening.

“What I can’t do is watch you walk away. I did it once and I can’t do it again. Not like this.” He touched his forehead to yours. “Please, let me help you. I want - I need to. I need to help you like you helped me. Please.” Ace finished his statement with a kiss, still holding your arms down above your head.

“Ace I -”

“Come with me for a little bit. Not forever. Just until the next island. It’s not a commitment, it’s just for now.” He ghosted his lips over yours, looking for you. You didn’t know what to say. You could leave this island, it didn’t really matter when or where you went. Going with Ace was appealing, but you’d had bad experiences with other crews. But maybe this time would be different, you’d be with Ace.

“Just until the next island?” you asked cautiously.

“Or you can break my nose again.”

“I’d break more than that this time,” you said with a small smile.

“Yeah, maybe my heart,” Ace replied with a cheeky grin. You rolled your eyes with a wider smile before it dropped suddenly off your face.

“Ace, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said those things to you. I - I - you’re right.” You couldn’t say the words that you were illiterate, it was too painful. Ace gave you a kind smile.

“You don’t need to apologize. Just say you’ll come with me, don’t run away.” Ace’s eyes bored into your own, not giving you anywhere to hide.

“Alright, alright. Until the next island.” You picked your head off the ground, pushing your lips against his. “Besides, I have a lot more to teach you,” you said with a grin, "you haven't even tried portal sex yet." Ace's eyes widened. It was going to be a fun journey.

#portgas d ace #portgas ace x you #ace x you #ace x reader #x reader #reader insert

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everlasting-rainfall · 5 months

Note

Hi Rainfall how are you?😊 I hope that you're doing well. This is my first request i hope you don't mind answering Can you please do a scenario of yandere Sabo falling in love with a member of the strawhat pirates please? And you're always welcome to add nsfw and please Keep up the nice writing and stay hydrated 😊

Sure! I’ll do my best and since you told me to stay hydrated, I’m gonna take a big gulp of water right now! This one is probably going to be quite short though as I’ve never been quite good at writing canon

Sincerest of apologies and I certainly do hope that you still enjoy it regardless! Now then…

Let’s get into it!

!-MINORS DO NOT INTERACT AT ALL-!

!-POTENTIAL TRIGGER WARNINGS-!

A Yandere Fighting his Urges, Masturbation, Delusions, Celestial Dragon Mention, Sexual Fantasies, Anger, Kidnapping

!-POTENTIAL TRIGGER WARNINGS-!

!-MINORS DO NOT INTERACT AT ALL-!

So honestly I can imagine that you might have potentially encountered Sabo during the time skip like let’s say that you wound up encountering him for a little while during those two years

Maybe he saved you like you were in trouble with the Marines due to your wanted poster and Sabo noticing that you were running for your life decided to pull you into his hiding place out of sight as he was running too

Of course you were probably freaking out a little when he suddenly grabbed you but he kept you quiet and held you with your back against his chest until the coast was clear which is when he finally let go

Once you realized that you had been saved and had not in fact wound up in a worse scenario, that’s when you took a lot of deep breaths to calm yourself before you thanked him

It was after that is when he said that the two of you should stick together until you can get off this island as it was gonna be a while with how the Marines had locked the place down and despite everything. You knew trying to leave was a bad idea right now

During the time that the two of you spent waiting, you found out a lot about each other. He was a revolutionary that had been sent to this island on a mission, you were a pirate who had been separated from your crew

Honestly the two of you became quite close and eventually when the Marines calmed down thinking you both must be long gone. That’s when the two of you tried to leave only for Sabo to offer you to join the revolutionary army

You would make for a pretty good member after all and Sabo even offered to personally teach you everything that you needed to know

He was almost a little too insistent about it even when you said “I couldn’t just abandon my crew”. After a while though, you put your foot down and told him that you were going to find your crew and get back to them as nice as his offer was

Part of Sabo honestly felt the urge to just grab you and forcefully take you with him as how could a life on the seas possibly be better than fighting for what was truly right?

But nonetheless he held himself back for now and the two of you went your separate ways…

However as soon as he was away from your side and returning back to the others, he found that he simply couldn’t stop thinking about you as there was always a little bit of his mind that was thinking about you

It started off as him simply imagining what would have happened if you said yes and what you’re doing now then it progressed into forgetting that you weren’t here with him and occasionally slipping up like “I don’t know… What do you think, Y/N?”

Weirded the shit out of whoever he was talking to but regardless, he soon starts to imagine a complete life for the two of you in the world that the revolutionary army would bring about

He imagined living with you and letting you know just how much he loved you just about every single day, he wouldn’t have to worry about coming home and finding you missing or worse because some Celestial Dragon thought you were cute

There would be no need to fear that at all and even if there were still some fears in the world, he could protect you… He could protect you and any children that the two of you might have together

And as he thought about these scenarios in his head, he began to think to himself as the two of you were so close back on that island together… You knew so much about each other and not only that but some of your actions as well

You allowed him to sleep on the bed of the little inn room that you both managed to get instead of sleeping on the floor, you hugged him just a bit longer than you should have that one time, you even shared quite a few personal details with him that you probably haven’t told anyone else

Could it be that you felt the same way about him? Yeah, yeah! Of course you did, there’s absolutely no other explanation in his mind!

He just has to find you now and take you back with him when the time is right, he’ll tell you about how he feels the exact same way that you do and you’ll leap into his arms like it’s some kind of fairy tale! You’ll tell him that you’re so happy he realized and kiss him

These fantasies are truly some of the best things that he could ever think of and in all honesty, he even starts to dream about you sitting in his lap and riding him as you cry out that you’re so happy that you get to do this finally as you’ve wanted to do this since you’ve met him

Of course he usually has to take care of himself after these dreams which usually results in him moaning out your name as he rubs his cock to the visual of you bouncing on him or taking him into your mouth like a good girl

God, he needs to find you… He can’t wait for this any longer…

So Dressrosa winds up happening and of course you’re part of Luffy’s crew so as much as he would like to confess his feelings to you and steal you away, he’s sure that Luffy would never allow it plus he just can’t find the right moment to tell you how he feels

And due to this, he becomes more and more frustrated as sure the city is in absolute chaos and is about to be destroyed but he would just like at least ten seconds where shit isn’t going to hell so he can at least kiss you or say “I love you!” or something!

Even when the chaos is over, he still can’t find the correct moment and this man is very close to just coming up behind you and stealing you away

But as he’s coming up behind you planning to grab you from behind when it seems like you’re all alone, he’s just about to touch you when you suddenly turn around and say that you’ve been looking for him with a smile on your face

He thinks that you’re about to confess first and his heart is pounding in his chest as he’s so excited only for you to thank him so much for everything that he’s done before entering a conversation with him

You eventually let it slip that you have a bit of a crush on your captain and you can practically hear the cracking noise coming from Sabo before someone calls you away and you say that it was nice to see him again before leaving

Sabo is probably standing there just frozen and watching you go

So many things in his head are telling him to go after you to grab you and kiss you senseless so you realize that he’s the one for you but his Yandere Tendencies aren’t fully brought to the surface as he shakes his head and tries to fight the urge to do so as he leaves

He can’t bring himself to steal what’s potentially going to be his younger brothers girl someday… At least not yet…

Besides he’s absolutely sure that Luffy can keep you safe! Maybe even better than he can… Yeah! You’re in the safest hands with his younger brother! Sabo can definitely trust him to keep you safe and treat you EXACTLY how you deserve to be treated

And he couldn’t possibly bring himself to steal you away and protect you from all the dangers in the world that might try to hurt you! You’re part of Luffy’s crew after all and he doesn’t even mind if he someday gets an invite to the wedding that the two of you might have

If you heard a pop then that was Sabo’s stress ball… He’s on his fifth one today…

Regardless despite all of his wants, he gets back to his work as a revolutionary and tries to just ignore his feelings

That is until a certain country known as Lulusia gets wiped from existence and suddenly that last shred of sanity that Sabo had is completely gone

There is absolutely no way in hell that Luffy can keep you safe after what he just witnessed… He knew that the nagging feeling in the back of his head was right!

Luffy has too many crew members to watch out for after all and Sabo is certain that there could come a time when you’ll get hurt in some horrible awful way

And although Sabo does love his brother and would trust him with his life… He just wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he continued to let you stay there only for you to get hurt

Sabo will keep you safe, he’ll keep you safe and secure until the day finally comes when the revolutionary army has won

And when that day comes if the world is still just a bit too dangerous for his liking, he’ll continue to keep you safe even if it means locking you away inside of the home that he’ll share with you someday

He knows what’s best for you after all

#minors dni #the rain talks back #yandere #yandere one piece #reader insert #read the trigger warnings #yandere male #Yandere Sabo

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one-idea · 7 months

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I’ve been thinking more about my idea of the spade pirates coming after Ace and saving him from Blackbeard

So they get to him on Banaro island. They can’t beat Blackbeard but they can retreat. And Ace is mad because he hates running from a fight. But also Teach said he’s going to kill Luffy. Ace didn’t stop him and now he’s going to go after Luffy.

Deuce and the others are reassuring him. Better to live another day, we can get to Luffy first. Deuce is treating Ace while Mihar and Skull and navigating them away from Banaro and towards Water 7.

And Ace is furious but for so many reason. He’s angry he couldn’t beat Teach. That he couldn’t avenge his friend. There’s still the anger of Teach’s betrayal in the first place. But there’s also fear. He’s going after Luffy. Luffy who fights with his fist. If he touches Teach will that activate Teach’s devil fruit and take Luffy’s powers? He knows Teach’s powers take a devil fruit users ability when he touches them but does it work the other way around? He’s not sure, he had kept all of his attack from a distance just to be safe, but Luffy can’t do that. He physically hits his opponents. If Ace couldn’t beat Blackbeard when he has three years of experience on Luffy, how will his little brother hold up?

He’s hardcore spiraling. All he wants to do is turn back and fight. He knows how to fight, and he hates worrying. If Teach is defeated then there’s nothing to worry over.

“Stop that.” Deuce tells him. “You’re hurt and you don’t have a plan. Turning back is just going to put you in the same position as before. We’ll beat him to Water 7, meet up with your brother and come up with a plan. A real plan this time. Not you running off with no idea where you’re going.”

And that’s another thing Ace is angry about. The fact that his old crew is here. The fact that his actions put all of them in danger to. Cause Deuce is right. He ran off with no plan other than find Blackbeard and avenge Thatch. But he had been operating under the belief that Blackbeard wasn’t any stronger then he was on Whitebeard’s crew. He hadn’t planned for the devil fruit he ate to be such an issue.

But Deuce and the others get through to him, a bit, but he’s still going to blame himself for most of this.

They get to Water 7 and rush to find the Stawhats. Ace hasn’t seen Blackbeard’s ship anywhere near them on their travels but that doesn’t mean he isn’t here. (Though the town being in one piece is a little reassuring that they won the race here) Luckly the whole town seems to be all to happy to tell them about the amazing pirate crew who just saved the mayor’s life, beat the government, destroyed Enies Lobby, and threw the party of the century. Ace is both impress with his brother and also flabbergasted at the towns people who just point them in the direction of where the Strawhats are staying. Like no questions on who Ace and the others are, they could be here to kill the Strawhats and these people are just happily showing them the way. (Once again he’s desperately hoping they beat Blackbeard because these people just gave his brother away)

They make it to the Galley-La company right after Zoro’s speech about Usopp. They just finished having the conversation about how when they leave tomorrow Usopp can join them, but only if he apologizes first. When the doors are violently thrown open.

The crew whips around, some hoping it’s Usopp being dramatic. (Luffy and Chopper) others worried about Marines (Zoro, Sanji, Nami, and Robin) but it’s neither, its Ace making an entrance.

“ACE!!!” Luffy launches himself at his brother. Why is he here? Who cares! Ace is here!

Ace is so relieved as Luffy rockets into him. His rubbery arms wrapped around him several times, and Ace holds on just as tight. His three crew members are behind him, the rubbery body is a bit of a shock to see even though Ace had told them in advance. They’re all relieved that they beat Blackbeard to Ace’s brother.

After a second of just holding his brother and breathing in his relief, listening to Luffy babble a mile a minute, Ace finally pulls back. “It’s good to see you Lu. But we need to talk.” Ace tells them all about the hunt for Blackbeard. There are quick introductions between the crews, Ace asking after Usopp and hearing about the lose of the Merry. His heart drops. They don’t have a ship. They don’t have a ship! They need to leave NOW, before Blackbeard gets here. And they don’t have a ship. The ones the Spades chased him down on is fast but small, the whole crew won’t fit and Luffy would never leave them, Ace would never ask him to.

“Good thing Franky’s almost done with our new ship.” Robin reads the panic in the four new comers faces and easily reassures them that their ship is almost ready. It’s a tense night. People are taking watch incase Blackbeard Arrives and even those not on watch are barely sleeping.

The only one who’s sleeping well is Luffy, leaning against his brother. Ace can’t sleep and sat down to take watch, Luffy sat right beside him and fell asleep against him. Who could hurt him when Ace is here? A sentiment. Ace will do anything to keep true. Honored and touched by his brother’s trust.

The next morning is chaos. The Franky family shows up to tell them about the ship being ready but also the bounties. Ace is so proud of his brother and his crews new bounties! But then the Franky family shows them Franky’s bounty and beg them to take Franky with them. Luffy’s already decided that though. They head down to see their new ship.

Ace love it. He can’t think of a better ship for his little brother. It’s colorful and the perfect size for a small crew (Luffy has only ever wanted a ten person crew and right now Ace and his friends are pushing them over that limit, not that Luffy minds)

Mihar and Skull go to their smaller boat and bring it along side the new strawhat vessels. They can leave the boat here but they had found Stricker before they found Ace and had brought the boat along with them this far. Strikers coming along. (Franky probs stores it in ones of the bays)

The chaos of getting Franky to join occurs and boy I can’t imagine how Ace, Deuce and the others respond to watching Robin’s…. persuasion.

They get going, Ace knows Luffy wants to wait for Usopp but his own anxiety is getting to him. If Blackbeard catches up they’re in trouble. They still have yet to come up with a solid plan for fighting the man. Ace never thought he’d be happy to see Garp throwing cannon balls at them but what can he say it’s been a crazy few days.

Zoro tells the Spades to sit this one out. After all they don’t want to give Ace’s presence away to the marines (even if it’s Garp) might make it look like the Strawhats have an alliance with the Whitebeard pirates. Plus he and the crew kinda want to show off. They’ve gotten better since Alabasta. Luffy’s all in for showing off to Ace.

So the spades sit out of the chaos. Usopp arrives and everything feels like it’s going alright. Usopp’s so confused why Ace and these strangers are here, and wait…. Is that a sniper? Did Luffy replace him already? No it’s Mihar, they’ll explain later.

Garp’s getting to be a little much and Ace is about to offer assistance when he sees it…..Blackbeards ship heading for them. He did say he was going to kill Luffy as a favor to the marines. And who better to impress then Garp the Fist, Hero of the Marines. Blackbeard couldn’t think of a better set up. (He has no clue how crazy their family tree is)

Ace freezes and starts to panic because what can they do. If Blackbeard locks on to Luffy, he can pull him to his boat and Ace won’t get there in time. How far is Blackbeard range? He seemed to still be getting a hang of it, but how far is it? Should Ace jump to his ship and fight him there, no matter the consequences.

He’s about to make a dumb decision when Deuce grabs him “don’t you dare-”

“Everyone hold on to something” Franky calls “Coup de Burst!” And the ship rockets forward. All the spades are shocked. The ship is flying. They just avoided Garp’s giant ball and chain and Blackbeard all in one maneuver. They made it out. Bought some time. Ace can figure out how to handle Blackbeard. He also gets to adventure with his brother for a bit.

They den den call Whitebeard and set up a rendezvous at Sabaody.

The adventure continues.

#one piece #monkey d. luffy #straw hat pirates #portagas d. ace #one piece ace #fire fist ace #masked deuce #acedeuce #asl brothers #asl trio #need to add Sabo into this nonsense later.#will I keep finding new ways to keep Ace alive. yes I will.#the spades save Ace

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honeybeezgobzzzzz · 8 months

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☠️ Something Dread, Something Red: Chapter Eight

Something Dread, Something Red: Stuck in a proposal to a Marine Commodore, you escape minutes before your wedding in one last ditch effort to avoid getting married to a tyrant. Barely making it to the port of your town, you stumble across a ship just starting to leave and beg for passage off the island. You fail to notice that the people you beg for help, are pirates.

Warnings: None.

To Note: “Red Haired” Shanks x FemReader

Word Count: ~2.5k

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It's the last day the crew will be spending on the island, and the men have left you in the bar while they load the supplies onto the ship. You don't mind, as you're mending some of their torn clothes while chatting with Cerise, the woman who owns the bar. Cerise is well-informed about the Red Haired Pirates. At least, that's what you surmise from her familiarity and jokes with the crew. The Red Force has stopped on this island before, and their faces are well known in these parts.

Setting Yasopp’s now-mended sash aside, you move on to Lucky’s favorite striped shirt. He owns many striped shirts, as you’ve discovered doing the laundry, but how he’s chosen this one as his favorite is beyond you. Perhaps it’s because of the stain at the bottom; none of his other shirts have a stain like it. Or perhaps it's the most worn in and feels nice against his skin. You can’t figure it out, no matter how long you ponder the topic, and simply deduce it to be a male thing. Or perhaps a pirate thing?

“Certainly not in my repertoire,” you softly say, reaching for a thread color in the set you’ve been provided that best matches the stripes. Lucky Roux is fortunate that his shirt has ripped at the edge of one of the stripes; you can easily hide the repair with your skill set. At least your mother’s intensive needlework lessons are finally coming in handy. There’s something therapeutic about repairing clothing, far more so than mindlessly stitching on a circle loom in some fancy design that will never see the light of day. You like feeling useful around the ship; it makes you feel less guilty about being there in the first place. “I told them I only needed passage, not a place to live on board their ship.”

“Oh, they’d never give passage to a woman in distress and then just drop her off at the nearest port,” Cerise comments, walking over while drying her hands with a towel. “I’ve known those boys for twenty-some-odd years. Shanks isn’t letting you go free because he knows you still need help.”

You pause in your mending, lowering your hands to your lap while contemplating her words. She has a point. Shanks is an honorable man and wouldn’t just ditch you the moment he’d completed what you had asked of him. He hadn’t even wanted to take your pendant as payment! Yes, he took you on board and kept you with him and his crew for three weeks without asking for a single thing.

“I feel like I can take care of myself,” you state, your eyebrows pinching ever so slightly. “I am not well-versed in living by myself, but I am not an invalid nor am I entirely naive to how our world works. All I needed from them was safe passage off Kuri Island, nothing more.”

“You are under the assumption that you have to do everything yourself, Aria,” Cerise wisely informs you, observing you sitting regally on a barstool. Your posture stands out and clearly marks you as someone who doesn’t belong in her bar. “Do you want some advice from an old woman who’s seen a thing or two?”

“I would be honored,” you reply, giving her your full attention. If anything, you know that Cerise’s words are both law and religion to be heeded by everyone in Ingles. When she speaks, you listen.

“The Red Haired Pirates are pirates at heart. The sea is their calling, and they will never be tied down by anything or anyone.” Cerise starts in a frank tone. “They’re fully capable of taking care of themselves, cleaning up after their messes, and mending their own clothing.” Her chin nods to the shirt in your lap. “The only reason why they’re letting you clean up and take care of them is because they want you to feel comfortable on the ship, and if that means you’re doing their laundry and mending their clothes, so be it.”

“They’re… letting me…?” you repeat, trying to control your tone and voice so you don’t show off how upset you are to know this. You want to pull your weight on the ship! Not do things because they let you!! Cerise can see the way your eyes flash in anger and teeth grind together. You’re quite good at controlling your emotions, but she has decades of experience reading people. Leaning against the bar, she pats your hand gripping your water glass.

“Don’t take that the wrong way, missy. They might be pirates, but they are gentlemen, and no woman is going to be cleaning up after them because it’s a societal expectation.” You purse your lips and breathe out through your nose, reigning in your temper.

“I’m essentially freeloading aboard their ship, eating and drinking their supplies, using their facilities and bed… and the only reason why I think I’m pulling some of my weight is because they are allowing me to do so?” Your face is painfully hot and your mind is seething. It’s not quite betrayal material to you, but your heart is very much injured by this knowledge. Is there anything in your life that you are doing because you want to and not because someone else is allowing you to do it?

“Now don’t be getting upset that the gentlemen want to be gentlemen,” Cerise tutts at you sternly. “Besides, it won’t do to have you jump right into an independent life. You’ll get overwhelmed and get yourself into trouble. Sea Lord knows you’ve got the beauty for it. They’re easing you into your new life in a responsible way. You’re lucky to have encountered as honorable men as they are.”

“I just wanted to be treated like every other person,” you say dejectedly, dropping your head into your hand and pushing your nails into your scalp. Cerise hums at you and goes back to cutting up slices of lime and lemon for the night rush.

“Oh dear, they are,” she states. “They treat everyone with the respect that is expected and earned. It is nothing personal to you and your situation. Let them help you, and sneak in things to help them. Just don’t get caught.” You eye the older woman at her last comment.

“Are you telling me to sneak behind their backs?” Cerise shrugs and waves her paring knife around.

“They’re men, not always the brightest in situations and can be too stupid to take care of themselves at times.” You can agree with that statement. You watched Hongo argue with Lucky Roux over a cut he’d gotten trying to juggle knives. It took three days before the cook finally relented to putting a simple bandage on it so it didn’t get infected. “It’s also our job as women to mother them, make them remember that they aren’t invincible, and that having someone take care of them is just as rewarding as it is for them to take care of us. Give and take, girl, no one has to do everything by themselves.”

“You have a point, but the most I can do is sew.” Your sewing skills are actually pretty well-honed… but where does sewing have a place on a ship besides mending clothing? “I don’t even know how to cook.”

“Well, that’s a place to start: learning to feed yourself,” Cerise muses, eyes flickering to the faded oak clock hanging above the bar. It’s seen its fair share of drunk bar fights and revelry. It even weathered being knocked off the wall a time or two. “Tell you what, Aria,” Cerise starts, head tilted to the side in contemplation. “Dinner rush isn’t for another two hours. You come back with me and I’ll put you through my mother’s ringer.”

“Your mother’s ringer?” you repeat in confusion.

“Aye, culinary boot camp.”

Tears stream down your face, welling from your eyes and dripping down your cheeks as you struggle to continue with your lesson. But your eyes sting so bad! You’re fairly certain at this point that what Cerise has you doing could be utilized for torture, not cooking purposes. Who knew simply cutting this root vegetable would cause so much pain and tears?

“Ow,” you weakly mutter, rubbing your watery eye for the thousandth time with the back of your hand. Even with your eyes watering so heavily that it looks like you have been sobbing, you are still persistent in finishing cutting up the onions Cerise has planted in front of you and ordered you to chop.

They all have to be cut a certain way, she told you, showing you the basic knife skill with the first onion of your lesson. It didn’t look hard, and you actually felt comfortable holding the knife, that is until the sting in your eyes bloomed and the tears came. Oh, how it burned, and oh, the look Cerise gave you when you paused in your chopping. A strict teacher she is.

“The faster you cut, the quicker the tears will leave,” she told you, standing across the table from you and chopping vegetable after vegetable without so much as a stutter. You are in awe at how fast she can chop vegetables, barely even glancing at the produce she is cutting. On the bar menu tonight is an Ingles town soup made from vegetables and lamb, the staple meat on the island. According to the bar mistress, a large batch is made, and once it is gone, it is gone.

It is quite the popular soup among the regulars, meaning the bar is going to be packed and the drinks flowing. So you continue cutting these damn onions until you have no tears left in your body, and then continue cutting. She might be teaching you how to cook, but you are eager to contribute and pull your weight for once… and that apparently means cutting an endless amount of onions. You’ll get good at cutting onions by the end of this at least.

Additionally, you can learn to wield a blade by learning how to cook, so you wouldn’t be entirely defenseless before you learn how to defend yourself. It’s not exactly a sword, but a knife is better than a hairpin. Blinking several more tears away from your eyes, you focus back on the onion you are currently chopping. Chop. Peel. Slice. You have to constantly remind yourself to focus on where your blade is going. The three nicks you have on your fingers are proof of that.

Shifting your grip on the knife, you finish chopping the onion and gather the slices to drop into the large bowl next to you. Grabbing the next onion, because Cerise happily dumped another basket of onions next to you, you repeat the same process as you had before.

“Not to be rude, but how is this teaching me how to cook?” you ask, tilting your head to the side as you peel the halved onion in front of you. Cerise chuckles at your words and lifts a large bowl full of cut vegetables to dump it in an even larger pot.

“Chopping vegetables is a large part of cooking easy meals on ships,” Cerise explains. “Get you comfortable with knives, and that’s one hurdle that won’t hold you back. Prepping ingredients is also a good idea. It keeps your kitchen clean and saves time. I’ve got a soup and stew book I’ll give you. I taught you everything you need to know to cook the recipes in the book earlier, and I’m sure that by watching Lucky Roux, you can pick up more skills.”

“Well, I think I can manage to cook scrambled eggs,” you admit, wondering how many eggs you have cracked by now. At least you’ve gotten good at doing that. “Lucky lets me crack the eggs in the morning before Shanks is up, sometimes lets me cook the precooked breakfast sausage. I burned myself on the cooktop once, and he forbade me from going within three paces of it for a week after that.”

“Aye, told you the men were protective. You just have to be firm with them and they’ll eventually see reason,” Cerise says while lighting the giant stove beneath the equally giant pot. The kitchen is soon filled with the soft crackles of vegetables sautéing. While the older woman fusses over the cooking vegetables, you finally cut up the rest of the onions without further incident, much to the relief of your fingers and eyes. You carry the bowl of onions over the large pot and drop the sliced onions into the pot to be cooked as well.

“So, I understand everything you’ve taught me about soups and stews, and you’re going to give me a few books to read… but seasoning is a large part of cooking, and I don’t even know what half the spices are in Lucky’s cabinet.” Your nose wrinkles at the picture of Lucky’s spice cabinet. He keeps it meticulously organized and alphabetized. That’s helpful when learning, but it doesn’t help you in using such spices. “Do I just taste them raw and see what goes well flavor-wise?”

“If you like bad flavor,” she answers dryly before turning to face you. “In your case, I’d suggest following recipes and noting what spices are in them to develop the flavor profile. Then, when you are comfortable, you can start dabbling. Like, mint goes well with artichoke, and cumin with chicken. It’s about what you like. What did you like to eat growing up?” Your brain freezes for a moment.

Freedom of food choice is still a novel idea to you. You don’t know what you like or dislike because your mother fed you what she decided. You have a few food items that you positively loathe due to your mother, but you’ve never had the luxury of deciding to eat or not eat something based on flavor and like alone.

“I… don’t really know,” you admit with a soft shrug of your shoulders. “My mother controlled my diet until I left three weeks ago. I don’t have many memories of foods that I enjoyed eating. It was mostly out of necessity.” Cerise hums in understanding and pauses to think. She has a basic understanding of your situation thanks to a quick word from Shanks. Hongo is trying to ease your stomach into new foods so you don’t get sick like you did the first week on board the Red Force. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have small bites here and there.

“I’d suggest that you try bites of food from different dishes to see what you like and don’t like then, Aria. Not big bites, mind you, sneaky ones so you don’t get Shanks or Hongo on the up and up… but just enough to taste.” That’s actually a good idea. Nodding your head in agreement, you smile, pleased that you have a plan for once. You feel better about staying on the Red Force now. The idea of leaning on the men for help is still difficult for you, but learning to cook puts wind back in your sails.

Date Published: 1/20/24

Last Edit: 7/29/24

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#shanks x you #shanks x reader #red haired shanks #one piece shanks #shanks

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cameronspecial · 10 months

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Before The Last Petal Falls (Part 7)

Pairing: Rafe Cameron x Reader

Warnings: Mentions of Drug Use, Drinking and a Relapse.

Pronouns: She/Her

Word Count: 2.0K

Summary: Time flies by when Y/N is home but eventually she has to go back to London. One argument leads Rafe to his next spiral.

Masterlist

Y/N sits at the kitchen island with her laptop in front of her and a mug of Earl Grey tea beside it. She is looking at different flights back to London. Cole has finished his scouting of the Outer Banks for work, which means he is heading back home, so Y/N thought it would be a good time to go too. She takes a sip of her tea as Mason enters the kitchen. “Ugh, we should’ve figured you would’ve stayed in England forever when you started drinking tea,” he grumbles tiredly, rounding the counter to rest his head on her shoulder. He takes a chance to look at her laptop. “No… You can’t go back. You just got home.” Y/N turns her head to look at Mason, “I’ve been here for almost two months, Mace. London is my home now. Just like how Toronto is now also your home. I need to get back to watch over the bookstore.” Mason gives her a pouty look.

“But, dude, I miss my sister. You haven’t been back in five years.”

“I know, but it’s not like you can’t visit me in London. I have lots of space there for you. Sparky would love to share his dog bed with you.”

“Haha. That’s hilarious. Please stay a little longer.”

“I can’t, Mason. I love you, but I’m going back in a week. See, I’ve already booked my ticket.”

She points towards her laptop screen at the ticket she bought while he was trying to convince her to stay. At this, he groans and runs his hand down his face. “Dude, you suck,” he complains. Y/N looks at him with sad eyes, “I’m sorry. I’ll pay for a ticket for you to come visit me. I promise.” Mason looks at her with reluctant eyes and gives her a small smile. “Fine, but you have to buy me all the food that I want.” “Deal,” she agrees with a massive grin face, happy that she could cheer her brother up.

——

Why the universe kept leading her to her ex-boyfriend’s ex is beyond her comprehension. Blythe stares at Y/N working on her laptop in the booth near the window. Blythe honestly likes Y/N, but with her recent break-up with Rafe fresh in her mind, she doesn’t really feel like sitting next to the girl that plagues his mind. Seeing as the coffee shop is filled with customers and she does not want to go back to the hotel to work, she has no choice but to ask the girl to sit across from her. She is tired of seeing the four walls of her hotel room. “Can I sit here?” she asks Y/N. The bright smile on Y/N’s face makes Blythe think that Y/N isn’t aware of the break-up, “Yeah, of course.” She takes her seat and gets to work on the paperwork she needs to do today.

After about an hour of doing work, it’s clear the girls are running on steam, so Y/N offers to get them something to eat and drink. She returns to the table with a smile, placing the food in front of Blythe. “So what’s it like working for a hotel franchise?” she inquiries to Blythe. The hotel heiress awkwardly looks at her because she really doesn’t feel like talking, “You know, it’s here and there. I love doing the work but I’m nowhere near ready to take over.”

“Makes sense. I mean with the wedding, I’d imagine it would be hard to juggle planning and a CEO change.”

“So you really haven’t heard?”

“Heard what?”

“Rafe and I broke up.”

“Was it because of the drugs?”

“Well, that certainly explains his behaviour. I guess in a way it is because it has changed how he acts. But I think it was mostly because of you.”

“Me? I promise you that I haven’t told him to break up with you or hinted that I wanted to get back together with him.”

Blythe gives her a raised eyebrow, not because she doesn’t believe her, but because the answer should be obvious. “I know you would never do that, Y/N. It’s just that, even after all these years, you’ve had this big place in his heart that I or any other person, I think, couldn’t fill. He was always meant to be for you and I think seeing you again triggered this realization for him. The universe wants him with you,” Blythe explains as gently as possible.

Y/N looks at her with questioning eyes, “If the universe really thought that Rafe and I were meant to be, then why did it bring Cole back into my life the day we saw each other at the club? I felt pulled to go to the pool there, which doesn’t normally happen.” Blythe gives her a tight-lipped smile. “Don’t you get it? A part of your healing was being able to move on from the past. The universe might have brought you to Cole, but why does it keep bringing you back to me? I think, as some cruel joke, I meant to help you come to the same realization that Rafe came to a long time ago. That he is the one for you.” Not having anything more to say, Blythe packs up her stuff and leaves the coffee shop, leaving Y/N to wonder if what the outgoing girl said was true.

——

Rafe had been going strong with resisting the temptation of putting any substance that could intoxicate him inside of his body. He has been doing anything that could keep his mind off of her, getting high or drunk. Working until early in the morning, helping his sisters with whatever abstract thing they could think of, doing garden work. Thankfully, it helps. Rafe enters the house on the phone with Mason. As he walks through the door, he sees his dad waiting for him at the front entrance. “Mace, I gotta go,” he mutters into the phone before hanging up. He has been avoiding his father since the break-up, knowing that Ward wouldn’t be too pleased with what happened. However, it seems Rafe couldn’t run any longer. “I don’t want to talk about it, Dad.” Ward shakes his head and approaches the boy, “Well, too bad because that’s what I want to do. How could you break up with Bltyhe? She’s perfect for the family!”

“She was going to break up with me anyway, I just did it before she could. And she may have been perfect for the family, but she isn’t perfect for me.”

“Then who is Rafe? You haven’t been on a date with anyone other than Blythe since high school. How are you supposed to find that person if you don’t give anyone a chance?”

“We both know that I already found her. I just don’t know where we stand at the moment.”

“Y/N is not perfect for you. You are going to take over the company, here. She lives in England.”

“What if I wanted to go to England with her? You’ve never asked me what I wanted when you were planning my whole life for me. You never asked me what I had planned. You’re lucky that I didn’t get into any of the English universities that I applied to. Because if I did, you’d probably never see me again.”

“Yeah, It’s because you weren’t smart enough for the British universities! Did you ever stop to think that maybe I didn’t think you would be good enough for anything else? That maybe that’s why I insist on you taking over Cameron Development! Because you aren’t capable of doing anything not handed to you on a silver platter.” Ward’s cruel words are like a slap in the face. All of Rafe’s insecurities come back to him and all he knows is that he needs to escape.

——

Y/N wakes up to the buzzing of her phone. Not bothering to check who it is, she answers it, “Hello?” His slurred speech is the first thing she notices. “I need you to pick me up,” he demands into the phone, even if she can’t see him, she knows he is waving his arms around as he gives the order. She sits up completely and rubs the sleep out of her eyes, “Rafe, are you drunk? Where are you?” He slurs out a couple of words she can’t understand and then hangs up. She tries to call him again but he doesn’t answer. She swings her feet over her bed and goes to wake up Mason.

——

She drives up to the address Mason gave her, thanks to Find My Friend, to find Rafe stumbling around the front yard. She parks the car and then hops out to retrieve him. “There she is! The girl I should be marrying,” he mumbles, walking right into her arms. She shakes her head, dragging him towards the passenger side of the car. “What are you talking about? Rafe, are you drunk?” she asks, but when she sees his dilated eyes, she knows the truth. “Please tell me you aren’t high. Tell me that you kept your promise.” He hops into the passenger seat and looks at her as though he has been caught committing a crime, which he technically is. Y/N looks at him with a broken heart, “I really wish you kept your promise.” He just sighs and she goes to the driver's side. “You don’t know what I had to deal with this afternoon,” he grumbles, crossing his arm and turning toward the window.

“Was it your dad? About the engagement?”

“Of course, it was my dad! WHO ELSE WOULD IT BE?”

“You don’t need to yell at me. You shouldn’t let your father get to you like this. And drugs aren’t going to solve all your problems, Rafe. You need to talk to someone.”

“Like you’re one to talk. I know part of the reason you broke up with me is because of my dad. Plus, the only person I want to talk to is currently upset at me for doing drugs. You don’t get it. I need the drugs to forget about you.”

“Rafe… I don’t even know how to process any of that, let alone answer it. I had my reasons for our break up. You know that.”

“That’s what you keep saying. But I don’t know why you couldn’t talk to me about what was wrong. We told each other we would always tell each other about what we were worried about. And you didn’t do that. Why didn’t you do that?”

She looks over at him with dejected eyes, turning her head back towards the road. Y/N doesn’t want to answer his question, telling the truth would make her too vulnerable and she doesn’t need to feel like that right now. She continues the journey towards his house. She parks in front of it and doesn’t say anything as he gets out of the car. “Thank you. I’ll stop bothering you from now on. You won’t hear from me again,” he murmurs without giving a single glance towards her. When she sees he entered his house, she starts hitting the steering wheel with tears running down her face. Y/N couldn’t keep her feelings in anymore.

Rafe gets into his room and yells without a care as to who he might be waking up. He grabs the glass on his bedside table, throwing it onto the ground. He watches it shatter into millions of pieces and chucks something else onto the ground. The door to his room creaks open. Wheezie peeks her head through the door, “Rafe, are you okay?” All he can do is scream at her, launching the alarm cloak he is holding at the door. She yips in fear, closing the door to protect herself. He finishes his attacks and slams his back against the wall. He lets himself slide down so he is sitting. Rafe buries his head into his hands and lets out a gut-wrenching sob. Both Y/N and Rafe went to bed that night with pain in their hearts and one question in their minds. Will they ever find a way back to each other?

Taglist: @sublimepenguinpeach-blog @gillybear17 @f4ll-for-you @winterrrnight @maggiecc @magicwithaknife @loves0phelia @jiarapamuk @blisslove @baby19sthings @thelomlisrafecameron

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little-diable · 1 year

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Mind Games - Aaron Hotchner (1/5)

It was time for a new series! This is a product of a brainstorming session with @deathofpeaceofmind – and we're very excited about this one. Please like and reblog if you enjoyed reading this. Enjoy my loves. xxx

Summary: The reader had once worked with the CBI, trying to help Patrick Jane catch Red John. Now, as she is part of the BAU and dating Aaron Hotchner, her past is coming back to haunt her. Will her team be able to support her through it? Will her relationship survive her clash with old times, memories she had been running from and a run in with her ex-lover?

Warnings: 18+, smut, oral (f), unprotected piv, mentions trauma and PTSD but no in-depth description of it

Pairing: Aaron Hotchner x fem!reader, past Patrick Jane x fem!reader (about 2k words)

header by @deathofpeaceofmind

Part 2 Part 3

“(Y/n)? Are you alright?” The team had turned towards their newest addition, taking in the wide eyes of hers, how she had tensed up. (Y/n) couldn’t tear her eyes away from the screen, staring at the picture Penelope was showing to the team. Her hands had a slight tremble to them, not expecting to come across this again, at least not after joining the BAU.

“(Y/n), talk to us.” Aaron spoke up, hand finding her knee to squeeze softly. Her boyfriend’s touch seemed to do the trick, snapping her out of her trance to look at the concerned faces of her team members. Her heart was racing, pounding in her chest as if she was drowning, unable to keep on breathing as the massive waves of her trauma kept pulling her under.

“I,” a shaky breath was inhaled into her lungs, jaw muscles clenching as she was trying to find the right words. Once again her eyes moved back to the screen, staring at the all too familiar red smiley face that had been painted onto a wall of a hotel bedroom. “We’re dealing with a serial killer, Red John. I’ve been working on this case for years with my old team at the CBI. This is a whole new level of brutality and mind games.”

For a few moments the team was wrapped up in silence, lost in their thoughts, trying to process the information (y/n) had just shared. And yet Aaron’s eyes never left her distraught features, not liking the way she seemed overwhelmed by this, an inner conflict she was currently fighting.

“Do you want to sit this one out?” Her eyes met Aaron’s concerned ones, projecting the emotions he was caught in, the way he cared for the woman he had met months ago. She and Aaron had crossed paths at an FBI training, allowing them to work together before he had asked her to join the BAU. It had taken her a while to give in, even though she had already left the CBI at that point.

Something had driven her away from the place and the people she had once called her friends and her home, caught in her PTSD, and the memories of one of the worst nights she had ever been forced to live through. Something about Aaron Hotchner had pulled her in from the first moment their eyes met, burying her in a blanket of safety, finally able to let loose.

“No, I have to be part of this. I couldn’t let this go, even if I wanted to.”

……

“Hey, look at me.” Aaron’s soft voice echoed through her kitchen, forcing (y/n) to blink away the hazy memories she had been trapped in ever since this very morning. He took a step closer, finding rest between her thighs. She had been sitting on her kitchen island as she watched her boyfriend do the wash-up of their cooking session, relishing in the calm moments the two got to share. Aaron’s hands cupped her cheeks, not giving (y/n) even the slightest chance to back away from this conversation.

“I’m sorry, I just didn’t expect I’d ever have to deal with these kinds of cases again.” Her eyes fluttered close as Aaron pulled her against his chest, strong arms wrapped around her middle. Her mind brought her back to all those years ago, to her old team at the CBI, and to Patrick Jane. The mentalist had been her closest companion from her first day at the CBI, lured in by his playful ways, by the smirk he wore on his lips, and by the teasing words he’d use to rile up those around him. Back then her heart had only beaten for him, one with the man she had shared one too many kisses with, heart breaking in her chest as she had made the rash decision to leave California and to start anew in another state.

“If it gets too much, too intense, I need you to be honest with me, as your boss and as your boyfriend. Promise?” Aaron’s voice vibrated through his chest, forcing (y/n) to lift her head once again. Her glassy eyes wandered over Aaron’s soft features, cherishing every moment he smiled at her, leaving his frown behind. The man that carried himself with a dark aura, towering over those that dared to stare it him for too long, making the ones that crossed his path tremble, the one she had sworn to love till she'd run out of time. She nodded her head before she drew him in for a breathless kiss, hoping to find a much needed distraction in his touches, in the way he’d love on her.

Without breaking the kiss, Aaron grasped her thighs, picking her up to make his way into her bedroom. She was placed down on the mattress they’ve fucked on numerous times before, searching one another’s touch after rough cases, finding their love in the moments that grew all too daunting. His skilled hands worked on her blouse, popping open one button after another, set on distracting (y/n) from the memories that had her trapped, calling her back in as if she was stuck in a nightmare.

“Let me, this is about you tonight.” Aaron pushed her wandering hands away from his belt, kissing her again before he gave her a careful push, watching her settle down on the mattress, raising her hips for him to pull her trousers down her legs. His hands knew her body as if it was his own, knowing how and where to touch her, grasping her limbs with just enough strength to leave her trembling and shuddering. With her eyes closed, (y/n) tried to focus on her boyfriend’s touch, on the way he kissed his way up her thighs, fingers pushing her panties aside to let his tongue brush over her folds.

“Fuck me, Aaron, I need to feel you, please.” Her words were almost pained, pressed from her squeezed together lips and her locked jaw. It took him a moment to pull away, to rise back to his feet, undressing in front of his girlfriend. (Y/n)’s eyes watched his every movement, like a siren calling him into the ocean, claiming his body as if he was a treasure others were set on finding. A claim she had made months ago.

“I got you, sweetheart, I won’t let you go.” A silent promise Aaron would cling to till his last breath would leave his lips, making it his mission to protect the woman he loved with all his heart. Their naked bodies found together, eyes interlocked, just like their fingers, not parting as he pushed into her. Her body easily adjusted to his movements, walls squeezing his cock in an almost teasing way, very well knowing that both won't last long.

With his forehead pressed against hers, Aaron fucked her closer towards the edge, adding just the right amount of pressure to distract her from the past hours, pushing her into another dimension where she couldn’t even remember her own name. This is what she had been aching for, the perfect distraction.

Their bodies met with every rough thrust, moans reverberating through the bedroom that knew all their sounds, gasps, and moans. Cold fingertips worked on her pulsing bundle of nerves, set on robbing her of the strength lingering inside her fleshcage, slowly breaking beneath him.

“It’s okay, let go.” Aaron’s murmurs were enough to make her eyes squeeze shut, toes curled to give her orgasm enough room to flush through her. (Y/n) was choking on her moans, arching her front against Aaron’s chest as he was chasing his own high, pulling out of her to release himself on her stomach.

Both were heavily panting, bodies searching one another for a few moments before they rose from her bed, wordlessly making their way into her bathroom. By now it had turned into a routine, chasing any and every opportunity to shower together after sleeping with one another, not yet ready to break through the bubble of intimacy they were trapped in.

“I love you.” Aaron whispered his words against her forehead as he let his hands wander up and down her sides, cleaning the stress of this very day off her body. (Y/n) murmured the loving three words into the calm atmosphere, hugging Aaron tightly before she let go of him, leaving the shower to give the tall man enough space to properly wash himself.

With a towel wrapped around herself, (y/n) stepped back into her bedroom, putting on an old shirt and some worn out sweatpants, freezing in her step as she caught the reflection of herself in her mirror. Only now did (y/n) seem to realise that the shirt she was wearing had once belonged to Patrick Jane. Absentmindedly she stroked her fingers along the fabric, trying not to give into the call of old times, the way she had once loved the mentalist all those years ago.

“A shirt? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you wearing something this casual.” Her chuckles echoed through the night, eyes catching Patrick bright ones. He stepped closer, chest bare, back covered in marks from her fingernails. Patrick dipped his head down, searching her lips for a soft kiss before he pulled the shirt over her naked body.

“You’re right, you can keep it, since I don't wear it.”

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of somebody ringing her door bell, forcing (y/n) to make her way back out of her bedroom. Slowly she walked towards the door, eyebrows furrowed, wondering who’d visit her this late at night. Her breath hitched in her chest, glassy eyes meeting an all too familiar pair of blue ones.

Patrick’s eyes wandered from (y/n) to behind her, and with a small smile tugging on his lips he murmured an almost teasing “Well, hello there” to the tall, confused agent standing behind (y/n).

“Who is this, (y/n)?”

#Aaron Hotchner smut #aaron hotch imagine #mind games #patrick jane

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corvusalbus93 · 10 months

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Wish Rewrite

Once a year my aunt and her family come to visit the rest of us and we do something together. Her little daughter really wanted to see the new Disney movie, so we all went with. I have thoughts, but everything that needs to be said, probably has somewhere and that’s not why I’m here.

Just for fun I started to come up with two complete rewrites, however. One is committing to Magnifico as a sympathetic antagonist, by fleshing out his backstory and motivations more. The other is him being a more classic villain, along with the earlier concept of his wife being evil as well. Still working out the classic villain version, besides there are already several rewrites based on that premise from what I’ve seen, so that version I upload some other time, if I find the time to write it down.

One other thing to note, I feel Asha should have been a princess; of all the callbacks to classic Disney movies that would not have felt shoehorned in, how was she not a literal princess. Her family is half Iberian, half North African? Okay, Magnifico is from Iberia, we change Amaya’s design a little and have her be from Northern Africa, done. Now we can cut out grandpa and mum, who really didn’t do much in the movie, the conflict gets even more personal and we have a bit more time to flesh out the characters.

Wish with a Sympathetic Antagonist

Let’s start with the backstory:

Once upon a time, a region on the Iberian Peninsula suffered under a horrible drought. The citizens begged for rain, until one night a star fell from the skies, to which the people felt drawn to. It seemed like their prayers had been answered, as even their deepest wishes began to manifest in close enough proximity and people figured out, the star’s power could also make them come true. But not all wishes were benign. Some people were suddenly forced against their will to love another, others became incurably sick as if cursed, others yet wished for power and soon fought those with the same ambitions. Or to claim the star for themselves.

A young Magnifico left to find a way to stop this madness and save his home, but when he returned a sorcerer his country had already gone up in flames and was completely devastated, all but abandoned. He trapped the star in a crystal, vowing to safeguard it until he found a way to be rid of it for good. Since the star is sentient, he was unwilling to simply destroy it (that’s more of a last option), but people were literally going mad over this power, so something had to be done, or other kingdoms would suffer the same fate. He moved to an island in the Mediterranean, but people found their way there, feeling drawn to the place, because the star’s powers were not completely concealed, it’s too powerful, more so than Magnifico actually, and even wishes still manifested as the orbs we’ve seen in the movie.

Magnifico kept the star itself a secret, and decided to collect the wishes, carefully granting only those he deemed safe, without dooming the island, haunted by what had happened to his home. It borders a bit on paranoia, like when seeing a wish, his first thought is “how can this be harmful?” and more often than not, he comes up with a scenario in his head, where even a benign seeming wish has some horrible consequence. He honestly doesn’t like fulfilling them, as a selection process is usually unfair in some way or another, aside from being time-consuming, while granting everything or the wrong thing could lead to disaster. Plus, he only has very limited control on how the star fulfills the wish, which means that in some cases the star acts like a monkey’s paw. Like you wish for money, but there is a difference between finding some hidden treasure in your backyard or your parents suddenly dying and leaving it to you in their will.

The star isn’t a malicious spirit though; it simply does its thing, granting the wish, but just like water, seeking the way of least resistance. It doesn’t have an understanding of good and evil. Best Magnifico can do is find specific enough wishes, or use his own magic to make them specific enough, so the star has less room for catastrophic interpretations. When granting wishes he does it as a show, and he knows how to put one on, to keep the people happy/content, so they let him continue his work in peace, rather than beg for every little thing, and pretends like it’s his magic doing it, to preserve order. He’s worried that if he loses control, or others learn of the star, everyone will go mad over this power again.

Still, he loves the adoration he receives. He was too late to save his home country, he failed in what he set out to do, when he first became a sorcerer, but here not only does he get to use his powers for their intended purpose, but is also celebrated for it.

However he needed help. After all, now there was a country to run; not his area of expertise, so Magnifico reached out to the nearest realms. He eventually made friends with a king/sultan in northern Africa, who helped him build his island into a proper kingdom and soon Magnifico fell in love with the sultan’s daughter, Amaya. Lucky for him she was also quickly smitten with him and after one of his visits returned with him to the island as his wife. Rosas soon thrived, developing into a trading hub, Magnifico could focus more on the star again, even began collecting other dangerous artifacts for safekeeping. And eventually, the happy couple had a daughter, Asha.

Now to the real meat, the actual story:

Asha grew up quite happy, but with very busy parents. They run the country, her mother actually being quite involved as well, to give Magnifico more time to deal with any magical problems that arise (and I very much include mythical monsters in that list) and his studies around the star. They still love her (and of course each other) dearly, but their parenting leaves something to be desired, in some areas.

Her dad, who is afraid of what will happen if he himself messes up, can be a bit perfectionistic and thus has little patience for his own or other people’s mistakes. That, along with him not trusting people that much (aside from his wife), leads to him having a “I know best”-attitude and a bit of vanity. Her parents do also have somewhat high expectations, when it comes to their daughter, teaching her early on how to act proper and starting to prepare her for role as princess and future Queen.

Let’s cut down the number of close friends (two or three will probably suffice), animal side-kick optional, and have the rest of the supporting cast be adults, mostly members of the castle’s staff, some of which spent more time with Asha as a kid than her actual parents. Now, once Asha is old enough, her father begins to teach her a bit of magic, something she was always fascinated by and honestly she just wants to spend more time with him. But since she’s still a kid she uses it in more playful manners, like concealing herself during hide-&-seek-games, which would also be a great opportunity to show Magnifico’s sillier and caring side. A scene to really show us that he loves his daughter and spending time with her, when he isn’t preoccupied with ten other things.

Once Asha becomes a teenager (still younger than she is in the movie), she’s ready to learn more and her father shows her what he’s been working on all these years. A spell that will banish the star back to the heavens. His work is almost completed; he only needs to figure out the final lines of the spell he’s been creating, one capable of overpowering the star, which has been able to resist his magic so far. Remember, he trapped it using a crystal, not via spell. He tells her what the star does, enticing people when they sense its presence, drawing out the deepest wishes to the surface until they manifest as one of those whish-orbs. Only then you can use the star’s power directly to make the wish within come true, though it’s not always certain how it comes true or if there will be a consequence, which finally explains to her why her father doesn’t make more wishes come true, something that had always bothered her as a kid.

The orbs are also the reason why most adults in the kingdom seem complacent, as many are simply waiting for theirs to come true during one of the ceremonies. They haven’t forgotten their wishes though, just lack the drive to pursue them, but returning them to the people is fruitless anyway, as soon enough the wish only gets drawn out again. So, they need to be kept save; destroy an orb and the wish within is destroyed as well, forever, and that’s when they forget. She now also understands why the star’s room was always so alluring, despite only know learning about it; until now, she, like the citizens, thought it was Magnifico’s own magic.

In addition he warns her to be careful, when she studies, as there are plenty of dangerous books that either hold unsafe spells, evil spirits, or harm those using or even just reading them. They are locked up in their own room for a reason, no touching, better yet, don’t even enter that section. Asha is certain she can hear something whispering, before he closes the door again, but hopes she’s imagining it. When she asks, why he keeps them in the first place, he explains that there are saver here, than out there in the wrong hands. He sees them as a similar threat to the star, so he collects any he finds. Unfortunately, destroying them would only unleash the powers held within, which could be devastating, so it’s a problem he can focus on, once the star has been dealt with. He tells/teaches her, in case he should not be able to finish his work in his lifetime and needs someone he can trust to continue in his stead. He doesn’t want to pass this burden on to her, but he has to prepare for that eventuality.

Asha is determined to meet all lofty expectations her parents have and continues studying, learning more spells and how her father managed to trap the star in the first place. Seeing her father continue to struggle with his research, even seeing him fail in sending the star back and literally losing sleep over it, Asha eventually gets the idea to wish for the star to return to the heavens (remember she younger in this version); surely such a simple wish won’t have consequences or will be fulfilled in a convoluted way. She also hopes that once the star is gone, her dad will finally be free from this burden, and maybe in the end both her parents will have more time to spend with their daughter…as a family. So, one night she sneaks out, to the room where her father keeps the trapped star, dispels the wards (using her father’s books/notes) and breaks in.

However, as she tries to draw out that one specific wish by force, so the star can fulfill it, she messes up. At first she draws out the wrong orb, as her deepest wish is technically her family being together, sending the star back is just a means to it. Which is also why she doesn’t use that orb; if the star fulfills that wish by making her father just forget or not care about the star, it would be bad for everyone.

Thus, she lets the orb float away for now, but as she tries harder, she accidently draws the star out of the crystal instead and it disappears into the night. Asha panics and is terrified to tell her parents, especially her father, as many kids are, when they mess up. Therefore, she gets her best friends to help instead and goes after the star, hoping to recapture it in another crystal before it can do any damage, or people go mad over it.

Magnifico of course is alerted about the break in and doesn’t suspect his daughter, because he can’t believe she would be that foolish (he hasn’t been around kids that much) and panics when not only the star is gone, but Asha as well. His conclusion is that someone, possibly another sorcerer, broke in, stole the star, and has his daughter as a hostage, because evil magic-wielders kidnapping princesses is kind of a thing in fairy tales. He begins his search, enforces a lockdown, so no one can come across the star or whoever stole it, and creates a spell-circle around the island, like a seal, so no one can enter or leave without his say-so. Amaya tries to calm him down, tells him how he’s rushing to the worst possible conclusions again, but he’s already having flashbacks to what happened in his home country, his family there, and now not just the kingdom is on the line, but his daughter…rational thinking is becoming difficult. He lost everything once already, and that was before he was a parent. He departs promising to get their daughter back and claiming that he would destroy the star before letting anything happen to her. Amaya flinches at that, since she also knows that the star is a sentient being, but knowing that in this state arguing with him won’t help, just reassures him in the calmest possible manner (despite her own worries/fears) that she trust him and has no doubt he’ll get Asha back safe.

Meanwhile, Asha and friends catch up with the star, which is granting wishes to random people in the countryside and it’s causing a bit of chaos. They even see what happens when an orb gets destroyed; one man grabs another’s wish and literally crushes it in a fit of anger, the other person suddenly collapsing, looking absolutely distraught, color draining from their face like they just lost a loved one. Asha uses some of the spells she knows to make them fall asleep, stopping them from fighting each other, hopefully until she can sort this mess out. But in trying to calm those people down, the star escapes again and the hunt continues. Her friends also suggest maybe just telling her father, because he is the expert in dealing with magical problems, but Asha is determined to handle this, to proof herself. And she’s still scared/ashamed for betraying his trust.

Magnifico arrives a bit later and wakes up the villagers, trying to get some information, but they can’t tell him much, other than the star passing through, and he has those altered by the wish-magic brought to the castle, so they can be fixed up at a later point. Right now he needs to find that star and his daughter. In the meantime, Amaya finds Asha’s wish orb floating in the corner of the star-room, and sees her daughter’s deepest wish, taken aback to see the three of them just united, though quickly admits to herself that they haven’t been the best/most attentive parents. And she starts to suspect that Asha was responsible for the break in, wondering how desperate she was.

Outside the cat-&-mouse game continues for a bit (probably a good place for a song & montage); star makes random wishes true, Asha fixes what she can, Magnifico arrives to see the aftermath. He’s getting ever more frustrated, because he can’t find the thief, the star or his daughter and he sees many rather selfish wishes having come true. There are also some actual positive wishes, like someone having recovered from a long illness, but since it hasn’t harmed anyone/is causing chaos, he doesn’t notice it.

Eventually, Asha catches the star and tries to get it back into a crystal she brought with her for just that purpose…but she can’t bring herself to do it, as during her pursuit she’s figured out the star isn’t merely some magical object, but a sentient, shape-shifting being, which is really happy to be moving freely again. Though as cute and friendly as it is, she’s certain it would be happier in the skies, not trapped and used by humans. Her friends by now are also convinced that the star is too dangerous to stay around, and they discuss how many of the good things it has done, could have been done without its magic. Still, Asha tries talking to the star and though it can’t talk back, it can communicate via shape shifting, and she finds out the star is actually scared of Magnifico, since he trapped it, and has always resented it.

Shortly after, Asha notices her father nearby, and uses her magic to hide them (call-back to the hide and seek games),because she feels so close to fixing this mess, and doesn’t want to confront him until she’s made up for her mistake. She’s surprised her spell was powerful enough, once he’s gone again, only to realize that the star helped her out. Asha now plans to sneak back into the castle and use her father’s spell herself, hoping the star trust her enough not to fight the magic like it did when her father attempted it.

Unfortunately, Magnifico becomes so desperate that he goes back to the castle, arriving first, and gets one of the really dangerous books out. He hesitates, but assures himself that the spirit bound within only demands a price from the person using it; better him than the entire kingdom and his family. Besides, it’s only for one night, if all goes as planned.

The spirit trapped within the pages demands to know what he wants, and Magnifico tells it that he needs the spells to summon the star stolen from him, and get rid of it. The spirit explains that this requires power; it will share its own with Magnifico, until the star is dealt with and as a price will take some of the sorcerers powers away. Magnifico hesitates for a moment, before glancing at a picture of his family that he keeps in his study and agrees. The spirit merges with him and they conduct a ritual, capable of overpowering and summoning the star. But it’s draining Magnifico both physically and mentally. His hair changes from greying to the pure white we saw in the concept art, and the spirit’s malicious side begins to poison his thoughts.

Since Asha is holding star, she gets dragged along with it, leaving her friends behind. Magnifico is shocked and disappointed, when he finds out his daughter is responsible for the whole mess and didn’t tell him, which then turns to anger, amplified by the spirit. Queen Amaya, who has been informed that Magnifico is back, joins the two, and noticing the change in her husband, tries her best to get through to him, getting between him and their daughter. Unfortunately, he locks them both up, before she has a chance to show him Asha’s wish, while he “fixes” everything, speaking with a voice that isn’t quite his own. The deal was to summon the star and then get rid of it, after all, and the spirit is intent on upholding its end of the bargain, acting very much like the metaphorical devil on Magnifico’s shoulder.

Locked in together mother and daughter have a much needed heart-to-heart, during which Asha apologizes for everything and explains why she did what she did. Her mother also apologizes for spending so little time with her and the pressure they put Asha under. Amaya shows her the orb she found and as they both hold it promises her daughter they will make this right together (hugs, tears, all the good stuff). Asha’s friends have made it back to the castle by then, free the two and together they go to get Magnifico back to his senses.

They find him in the library, where he’s preparing a spell that will destroy the star. At this point he’s so done with the star, with all of it, after wasting most of his life on that thing. It destroyed everything and everyone he cared about, when he was young, now its keeping him from his family, a constant threat that is stealing away his life, forcing him to deal with everyone’s wishes but his own (yes, he too has a wish orb, because he’s been closer to the star than anyone else and for longer…and different from the citizens he sees it daily, is constantly reminded of what he can’t have). He sacrificed everything to keep them all save and in return he constantly has to worry about people abusing the star, betraying him…even his own daughter. Magnifico doesn’t know what her true intentions were at this point and the spirit is whispering in his mind to keep him on track, also reasoning that destroying the star is the only way to make sure it can never cause harm again…and with all the resentments and trauma Magnifico has, he listens. It ends tonight.

As he begins the spell, the star quivers and so do the wish orbs, causing the people they belong to (among them Asha herself) to experience pain. He does too, but fueled by the spirit he pushes through. Asha tries to reason with her father despite this, apologizing to him, reminding him how the star is a living being, but he’s dismissive, his voice even more alien to her and as she approaches he pushes her aside with magic, knocking her into one of the shelves. Her mum cries out, also trying to stop her husbands, but fares no better. He doesn’t even seem to care he’s hurting people, just coldly states that everything is better than have the whole kingdom burn down or worse countless others, should the star get loose ever again.

(You may have noticed the escalation of the “better x than y”-argumentation)

Amaya shouts to him that he’s hurting their daughter, which makes him hesitate just long enough to interrupt the spell. But it doesn’t last.

Meanwhile, a friend helps Asha back on her feet, but she notices one of the books she crashed into, the one containing the spell her father used to trap the star, which gives her an idea. At first she uses it to try to get the star into the crystal she still has, but Magnifico’s grip on it is too strong. So, desperate to save the people of Rosas, their wishes, the star, seeing her father so twisted that he’s hurting everyone he cares about, she heavy heartedly decides to trap him instead. She casts the spell, her mum hugs Magnifico, so he can’t raise his arms for a counter spell and a friend wrestles the staff from his hand.

Asha succeeds despite the pain she’s in and her father is now trapped in her crystal.

Asha tells the star that she will send it home now, not sure if it really understands, so gestures to the night sky to make her intentions clear. The star trusts her, thus doesn’t fight the spell as it did with Magnifico, and so, using her father’s staff, she sends it back to the heavens, reappearing in the night sky for all to see. This also causes the wish orbs to return to the people, as nothing is keeping them manifested any longer. Asha and Amaya also get to see Magnifico’s wish, before the orb merges with the crystal he’s trapped in…and it’s the exact same as Asha’s. The three of them together. Happy.

The people get their drive back, the kingdom turning into a much more vibrant place, in the weeks after, as people now strife to fulfill their dreams on their own. Asha keeps studying to help the people affected by the star’s magic and she vows to find a way to free her father from the corruptive spirit that has taken hold of him. Something she feels very much responsible for and due to the bargain the spirit won’t leave, since Magnifico wasn’t the one to deal with the star. Amaya is supporting her daughter, assuring her that this wasn’t all her fault, how all three of them allowed things to get to this point. Now it’s up to them to make their shared wish of a united family come true together.

It’s not an entirely happy ending, but sometimes actions have long lasting consequences. Sometimes it takes time to fix everything, you have to keep working on it and not give up.

This would also keep the door open to a sequel, in which a now older Asha (pretty much movie Asha in age) could go travel, searching for a way to save her father and set him free.

#disney wish #wish 2023 #wish rewrite #king magnifico #asha wish #queen amaya #princess asha

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