#if you wanted to spend time with me you shouldn't have let me rot this long. if you move me I will crumble into punky wood full of woodlice

[neverendingford]

.

[beybaldes]

it was simple, it was sweetness, it was good to know

Roy Kent × Fem!Reader

word count : 15.1k a fucking whopper I started writing and couldn’t stop this is the longest oneshot I’ve ever written in my life

summary : the 5 times Phoebe got dropped off at your house and the 5 times Roy realised he was in love with you.

content warning : tooth rotting fluff with the whole Kent family line, a little angst if you squint really really hard, allusions to smut towards the end but non actually written, me calling Roy’s sister Molly but I can’t remember where I first saw it, no use of yn.

masterlist

a/n : if you want to see a spin off based on any part of this please dot because writing this has broke my writers block!!!! I’d love to write some more Roy <33

1. the first time

It had taken Roy about 15 seconds to decide he was going to drop Phoebe off with you.

When Molly had shown up on his doorstep at 5am, with an asleep Phoebe in her arms, citing she'd been called in for a surgery, he mentally rearranged his whole day to accommodate for his favourite girl. It wasn't until lunchtime rolled around that he remembered an important meeting with Ted and Beard that he, unfortunately, couldn't get out of. So, while brainstorming who on earth he could leave Phoebe with, his mind quickly settled on you.

You were sensible and probably good with kids considering he could remember a couple of mentions of a niece of your own, and he knew - given it was the weekend - that you'd probably be free to look after her. And, not to Roy's surprise, you'd quickly said yes when he called to ask if that was okay.

While it had only been 20 minutes since Roy called, he was already at your doorstep, Phoebe's hand held tightly in his as they waited for you to answer the door.

"Is she pretty?" Phoebe asked, eyes unmoving from the unfamiliar front door as she spoke to her uncle Roy.

Roy scoffed at the question, unsure where it had come from and why his niece couldn't have asked this in the car. If she'd asked in the car he would've given an enthusiastic yes, a smile creeping on his lips as he thought about you, and how you always looked pretty - even if you were in a Richmond pullover and sulking in your office - especially then, actually. "Why does it matter?"

Before Phoebe could answer him, your front door swung open, you behind it with a wide smile. No sooner then it had opened, you'd crouched down to Phoebe's level, giving her a small wave and a bright smile. "Hi Phoebe! I hope you don't mind that you've got to spend the day with me instead of your uncle Roy."

"I don't mind at all," Phoebe shrugged, the straps of her backpack moving greatly with the movement of her much smaller shoulders. "I see my uncle roy all the time."

The laugh that bubbled past your lips made Roy's heart skip a beat, and for a moment he forgot why he was even standing on your doorstep.

As you stood up straight, you gently took Phoebes hand in your own, pulling her closer to you and your home and giving Roy the opportunity to head off for his meeting. "We should let your uncle Roy get going then, shouldn't we?"

"Thanks again for doing this, I owe you one." Maybe I could take you to dinner as thanks? Roy wanted to add, but wasn't brave enough to do so. If he wasn't so head over heels for you, maybe it's be easier to do something about it.

"Don't worry about it," you brushed him off, gently pushing him off of your doorstep and back in the direction of his car, knowing he had places to be. "I'd like to think you'd do the same for me."

"Bye uncle Roy!" Phoebe shouted, giving him one last wave before running into your house, you quickly following after her to make sure she didn't injure herself exploring the new territory.

Thankfully, she made a b-line for your couch, climbing onto it and emptying the contents of her backpack out on the seat next to her. She pulled a colouring book into her lap and grabbed a fist full of pens, quickly pulling off the caps of her favourite colours and getting to work on her masterpiece.

"Have you had any lunch yet, Phoebe?"

"No, uncle Roy was about to make me lunch when he called you."

While you knew Roy was rushing to his meeting, you didn't realise he'd seemed to forget about it completely.

Phoebes lack of lunch had you searching through all your cupboards for something suitable to feed a 7 year old, and when you couldn't find anything you'd have wanted to eat at 7, your turned to her with a smile. "How do you feel about a trip to Tesco? You can pick out whatever you want for lunch?"

"Perfect!" Phoebe cheered, pushing her pens to the side as quickly as she'd picked them up, running back to your front door to put her shoes and coat on. As soon as she was dressed, you opened up the front door, grabbing your car keys from the dish by the door and directing her in the direction of your car as she ran ahead of you in her excitement.

"Phoebe, you don't need a booster seat do you?" While you had your own niece, she was still young enough to be in a carrier everywhere she went, so you weren't entirely sure what the protocol was for 7 year olds.

"I don't have one in my uncle Roy's car." That was good enough for you.

Phoebe spent the whole car ride to the shops chatting your ear off, bringing you up to speed on everything that was happening at school and football and how many times she'd been red carded this season alone. In many ways, she was like a miniature version of Roy, so it was easy to love being in her presence.

As you arrived at Tesco, you made Phoebe promise she'd stay close to you at all times, not wanting to lose her as soon as Roy had entrusted her in to your care - that wouldn't be good for anyone involved. Phoebe was quick to pull you by the hand in the direction of the frozen aisle, clearly set on something in particular for her lunch.

She broke free from your hold as you reached the end of the aisle, heading straight in the direction of the frozen chicken nuggets and pulling as hard as she could to open the door. Once she'd managed to pry the door open, she climbed inside of the freezer, attempting to reach one of the higher up shelves in search of what she wanted.

"Phoebe, sweetheart, let me help you." As you stood behind Phoebe, you put your hands under her arms, picking her up and bringing her to your height so that she could grab whatever she'd been looking for. "Turkey Dinosaurs? Good choice."

"The only correct choice, bruv." Isaac was right behind you, Colin on his left and Will on his right.

"Oh, boys, hi!" Phoebe leaned in closer towards you as the sudden appearance of the three men. While she'd exhumed confidence from the moment you'd met her a few hours ago, she seemed to shy away slightly at the sight of the three footballers. "What're you doing here?"

"Day off, innit." Isaac, never a man of many words, was quick to answer your question, though had one waiting for you in return. "Who's this?"

Phoebe's grip around your neck increased slightly again as Isaac pointed directly at her. You shifted her in your arms so that she'd face the three a bit better, knowing non of them posed any threat to her. "This is Phoebe. Phoebe this is Colin, Isaac and Will; say hi."

Now that she'd been introduced to them, a wide smile curled onto Phoebes face, her toothy grin making an appearance that had Colin and Isaac smiling right back.

"I didn't know you were a mum." Will spluttered out, staring at you and Phoebe with a rather surprised look on his face.

"Oh, I'm not," you were quick to reassure, though immediately regretted it as you had no clue how to explain how this child they'd never seen before had come into your care. You knew Roy well enough to know he loved his privacy more then anything, so you decided the best course of action was to keep it. "She's my niece."

"Cool." Isaac nodded, prompting the others to nod on silent acceptance of the knowledge they'd just gained. "Can you pass me a bag of the turkey dinosaurs, Phoebe?"

As soon as Isaac got his bag of turkey dinosaurs, he, Colin and Will were quick to leave, waving a goodbye to the two of you and getting on with the own shop. Once they'd left the aisle, you let out a loud sigh, pent up tension from the sudden reunion seeping out of your body. Phoebe dropped the turkey dinosaurs into the basket you'd picked up, wiggling out of your grasp and taking your hand instead.

"Why did you tell them I was your niece?" Phoebe guided you further down the frozen aisle as she questioned your actions, walking a few paces in front of you, your connect hands dangling between the two of you.

"Your uncle Roy is a very private person," you started, unsure exactly of what was the right thing to tell a 7 year old on such a matter. "I didn't want to tell them you were Roy's niece in case they decided that meant something more"

"Something more?" Phoebe wandered out loud, stopping in front of the ice cream section and pulling the door open. "Like if they though that meant you were dating my uncle Roy."

Jesus Christ, 7 year olds were so much smarter and observant then you'd thought. "Yeah, something like that."

"And why aren't you dating?" You didn't know what to say to that, instead opting to pick Phoebe up once more so that she could reach the specific tub of ice cream she was searching for. "My mum says uncle Roy should date someone nice and you're nice."

"Well I'm glad you think I'm nice, pheeb's." You ruffled the blondes hair as you placed her back on the ground, allowing her to place the ice cream in the basket before grabbing her hand once more. "How about we grab a pizza too? Just incase you're here for tea?"

Phoebe loved the idea, sprinting down to the end of the aisle in search of the pizzas with a wide smile on her face.

The rest of your day with Phoebe had flown by, you'd come home and eaten your lunch of turkey dinosaurs and potato waffles, done some colouring in, played knights and dragons, eaten your ice cream, and watched a movie. As the first spy kids had come to an end, something you'd put on at phoebes request all though you were heavily invested in it the whole time, you put the pizza she'd picked out in the oven.

"Phoebe," you shouted from the kitchen as you made your way back into the living room. "It's getting kind of late, sweetheart, do you have any pjs in your bag?"

"No," she instantly replied, licking her spoon clean of ice cream even though it only really added to the rim of vanilla that had formed around her mouth. "I don't pack pjs in my bag because I have some in my room at uncle Roy's house."

If you'd have had the common sense to ask earlier, you might've picked some up while the two of you were in Tesco, but you hadn't, and now you had to make do with what you had. "You want to get in some of my pjs pheeb's? I'll get into pjs too and then we can be all comfy while we eat our pizza and watch spy kids 2."

"I won't fit in your pjs." Phoebe countered, but got off the couch nonetheless, placing her empty bowl on your coffee table and joining you by the kitchen door. Lacing her fingers through your own she allowed you to guide her in the direction of your room.

She dove straight for the bed when you opened the door, similarly to how she'd made a b-line for your sofa earlier in the day when she'd arrived, but was quick to hop right back off of it when you opened your wardrobe doors. You stood quietly behind her as she picked out one of your T-shirts to act as a night dress.

"This one!" She proclaimed, quick to swap her current outfit for your top before sprinting out of your bedroom. Before you could ask what on earth she was doing, the oven started to beep. "Pizza's ready!"

You picked up the pile of clothes Phoebe had left behind, throwing it by her shoes at the door so that you wouldn't forget to pack them up whenever Roy came to collect her. Then you went back to the kitchen, clicking the timer off to stop the loud beeping and pulling the pizza out of the oven. Phoebe stood behind you doing some kind of 'pizza dance' as she'd called it as you cut it into 8 slices, grabbing one big plate to place it onto.

"Race you back to the sofa." Phoebe didn't need to be told twice, running for the sofa and throwing herself into the mess of blankets, pillows and felt tip pens. As soon as the two of you were comfortably settled, you put spy kids 2 on, the pair of you tucking into your dinner without a thought spared as to where Roy was or just how late it was really getting.

Though you didn't remember falling asleep, a knocking at your front door had you waking up. Sometime between pizza and now, Phoebe had crawled into your lap, and instead of waking her to go to the door, you scooped her into your arms, resting her on your hip as you stumbled sleepily from your sofa to your front door.

When you opened the door, Roy looked like he'd been prepped with an apology, something about how he'd never meant to come back so late and how he really owed you one now but his words befell him at the sight of you and Phoebe on the other side of the door.

It was a sight to behold, especially to a lovesick Roy. Your hair was all tousled and you still looked half asleep, Phoebe was fast asleep in your arms and in what he guessed was one of your shirts. "Roy," you crooned, opening the door even wider. "Come in, I just need to pack up Phoebe's stuff."

Roy shuffled into your living room, his hands still tucked stiffly in his pockets as you began to pace around the room packing phoebes things while she was still in your arms. It was a level of domesticity Roy hadn't been prepared to see when he came to pick up his niece, and it sent his head whirling.

It was almost too easy to imagine you in this position with him, and a child of your own in your arms instead. He shook the thought from his head, bending down to pick up phoebe's day clothes and shoes from beside the door as you put all her felt tips back into her bag, along with her colouring book - save the first drawing she'd done which she'd torn out, demanding you keep it to remember your day together.

When you were certain you'd collected everything from the couch that had come in her bag, and put it back where it belonged, you turned to face Roy with a sleepy smile. "How was your coaches meeting?"

A smile curled on Roy's lips, something rare that almost surprised you to see. "Good. Long. But we got shit done so I can't really complain; although it would've been nice if it could've wrapped up before fucking midnight."

"Oh my god, is it that late?" You passed Phoebe's backpack to Roy, watching fondly as he slid one strap over his shoulder like clockwork. The thought couldn't help but slip into your mind that it was a sight you'd like to see more often.

"What did you two get up to today?" Roy asked, pulling Phoebes coat from the hanger by the door and slinging it over the crook in his elbow.

"Well, we went and got some lunch, and did some colouring, and played knights and dragons and watched spy kids 1 and 2. She kept me nice and busy, don't you worry."

Roy reached out for phoebe, taking her slowly and gently from your hold in his best attempt to keep her asleep as he took her home. "Not too busy I hope."

"No just the right amount." You bit back a laugh, cautious to not wake the sleeping child now that she was safely in her uncles arms. Pushing a strand of hair that had fallen out of her ponytail back behind her ear, you thought back fondly on the day you'd shared and how easily It was to get on with Phoebe. "She's a great kid."

"Yeah, she really is." Finally, Roy was back on your doorstep, Phoebe in his arms and the pitch black of night behind him. "Thanks again, I really owe you one."

"It's no issue, really, I had a great time." You closed your door too, you leaning against the edge of the it being the only thing keeping it open. "Always happy to do it again, if you need me."

A million different responses crossed Roy's mind, some just inappropriate and some really fucking corny, so he settled on the easiest one to say. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." You responded with a small wave, creeping back into the darkness of your house without another word.

As Roy made the short walk down from your front door to his car, he tried to control the erratic beating of his heart less it wake Phoebe up. Though you'd offered to take Phoebe in again if he ever needed it, he wasn't sure he'd ever be able to take you up on the offer, not when the domestic scene of you with his niece made his feelings for you even more intense.

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2. the time when Roy had too many appointments

Though Roy had sworn he wouldn't drop Phoebe off with you again for the sake of his own feelings, he was calling you up to ask if you could look after her again less then a week later. Molly had been called into work again last minute, and it just so happened to be on the day when Roy decided to get all his check ups out of the way in one fell swoop.

You'd assured him through the phone that it was okay, and that you'd absolutely love to hang out with her again, however, when you'd asked how soon he'd be dropping her off the line went quiet.

"That's the thing," Roy started, a hesitance to his tone that told you he was reconsidering this whole request and on the verge of rescheduling his 5pm dentist appointment. "You'd need to pick her up from school. I can pick her up from 7pm, at the latest, so you'd just need to pick her up from school and give her some tea. I hope that's not too big-"

You didn't let Roy finish his sentence. "It's no problem Roy, really. Send me the address and I'll be there at 3pm?"

"Pick ups at 3:10, but that's perfect, thank you." You couldn't even see him and you could feel the smile that was pulling at his lips on the other side of the phone. "I really fucking mean that too, thank you."

"It's no problem Roy, really, I'll see you later."

You had an hour before you needed to pick Phoebe up, so you made a run for Tesco, picking up a jar of pasta sauce incase she didn't want the half a bag of turkey dinosaurs and potato waffles that were still in your freezer, a bag of popcorn incase she didn't want ice cream again, and a set of kids size 8 pjs.

Though Roy said he'd be back for her by 7pm, you doubted she'd want to stay in her school uniform, and it'd be better to get a size 8 and it be too big then pick up a size 7 and it be too small.

On a second thought, you grabbed a second pair of the plain pjs, and some tiny slippers, knowing it wouldn't harm anyone to keep a spare pair of comfy clothes and shoes for her incase she came by again at the last minute. While you were in the kids clothing section, you picked up a pair of jeans and a pack of plain T-shirts, wanting to be prepared incase she were to ever show up in her pyjamas instead of her day clothes. Deciding you'd got everything you needed, you sped through the checkouts and got in your car, not wanting to be late to pick up Phoebe from school.

Luckily, you arrived with 5 minutes to spare, lingering around the gate with the other parents that had come to pick up there kids. Only then did it dawn on you that you may have needed some kind of note to prove you weren't kidnapping Phoebe and as you pulled out your phone to text Roy in a frenzy, you'd discovered he'd already sent you a message.

Teacher knows you're coming, I got Molly to send a message. might ask you to sign some shit confirming you picked her up though.

Even though Roy wasn't here, you felt ten times calmer, moving through the gate as it opened and towards the classroom door furthest from it, as Roy had told you to go to. A loud bell rung and suddenly kids came sprinting out from all directions, some running straight to and out of the main gate and others nervously looking around for whoever was picking them up.

You watched as a head of blonde hair in two neat plaits lingered in the classroom door, eyes scanning the playground for a familiar face, her mouth dropping open in a gasp as she made eye contact with you. With a cry of your name, Phoebe came running from the classroom, a bright smile on her face at your sudden appearance outside her classroom. "What are you doing here?"

"Your uncle Roy has got the dentist, so we're going to go back to mine for tea - if that's okay pheeb's?"

"That's perfect! Lets go home." Phoebe tried to pull you out of the playground and back to your car, but you pulled her back to stand in front of you.

"One minute sweetheart, got to make sure your teacher knows I'm not kidnapping you." Phoebe lead you right back to the classroom door, calling on her teacher, Ms Bowen, as she dragged you into the room. "Hi, Ms Bowen, I'm here to pick Phoebe up; I think Molly told you I was coming?"

"Ah yes, Mrs Kent, it's a pleasure to meet you." Mrs Kent Mrs Kent Mrs Kent. Molly, Roy's sister, had told Phoebe's teacher that you were Mrs Kent. It took everything in you not to absolutely spiral with the new piece of information.

"Yeah, lovely to meet you," You tried to avoid Ms Bowen's gaze, it having an edge to it that suggested you weren't entirely welcome here. "Roy said I might have to sign something, so you know I'm not fucking kidnapping her or anything." As soon as the words slipped from your mouth you were apologising for them. "I'm so sorry that just slipped out."

"Well, at least I can be sure you're Mrs Kent. You and Phoebe are free to go." You barely had time to say goodbye to Ms Bowen before Phoebe was dragging you towards your car, impatiently pulling at the handle in an attempt to get in quicker and spend even more time with you. If you weren't so caught up in the fact you'd just been called Mrs Kent, then maybe you'd find her excitement even more endearing.

"So, how was school, pheeb's?"

The car ride back home was filled with another update from Phoebe on what you'd missed in the 4 days you hadn't seen each other and the 3 days of school she'd had since the weekend. Since it was a slightly longer drive back home then from Tesco, you'd even got to introduce Phoebe to some of your favourite songs.

As you pulled onto your street, Phoebe was already buzzing in her seat, desperate it seemed to get inside. Letting her make a run for the door as you got out of the car, knowing she couldn't get in without your key, you made your way around to the boot, pulling out your bag of goodies. "Got you some stuff to change into pheeb's," pulling out both the pyjamas and the normal clothes, you handed them to her, keeping the slippers in the bag still. "Go get changed and bring me your uniform when your done, yeah? I'll pop it in the wash for your mum and we can put on a movie or something until tea time."

Phoebe was sprinting off in the direction of your bedroom to change within seconds of you finishing speaking. In the two times you'd had the pleasure of meeting Phoebe she always seemed to be rushing and running about, but that was what kids were like, you guessed; even if she was the calmest child ever - and she was pretty calm compared to some of those other kids you'd seen in the playground today - you reckon you'd think she was all over the place, especially compared to yourself.

When Phoebe came back out in the plaid, pink pyjama bottoms and a plain white t-shirt, she declared she wasn't hungry yet and wanted to watch spy kids 3; telling you it was basically mandatory for you finished the movie series now you'd watched the first 2. You were happy to oblige of course, Phoebe cuddling into your side as you took a seat next to her on the sofa.

Half an hour into the movie, you whispered the question of what to have for dinner to Phoebe and she perked up at the mention of pasta, allowing you to bail on the second half of the film in order to make it. It didn't take long of course, but you were wary of the fact Roy was picking her up sooner rather then later this time around.

Roy. Roy. Even thinking of the handsome coach you worked with had your thoughts spiralling. Once you'd managed to crack your way through his hard exterior, you'd found one of the most thoughtful and caring people you've ever met, and if you didn't like him already, that side of him had you falling head over heels. The Roy that brought you coffee in the mornings when he stopped to get his own, the Roy that would buy you lunch without asking if you wanted any but would kick up a fuss if anyone else tried to get him to add to that order, the Roy that left sticky note reminders on the door of your office because he knew you'd forget something, the Roy that trusted you so much he was willing to leave his niece with you on multiple occasions. Your brain had been so consumed by Roy that you'd made him up a plate of pasta, and instead of putting it back into the pot, settled with covering it in tinfoil and giving it him to take home. However, before you could call Phoebe in to ask if she wanted cheese on top of her pasta, there was a knock at your door.

In an instant, you pulled the tinfoil back off of the extra plate of pasta, and opened the bag of grated cheese, then rushed to the door, opening wide to find Roy on the other side. "You're just in time for dinner." Without thinking, or so much as a hello, how are you,��or how was the dentist, you grabbed Roy's hand, pulling him inside your house and into your kitchen. "Pheeb's dinner!"

"Uncle Roy!" Phoebe shouted, running into the brunettes arms, him bending down to pick her up. As soon as she was perched in his hold, she was quick to recount the days events like she had with you a couple of hours earlier, only pausing to answer your question of 'cheese?' and taking a fistful to sprinkle on her plate whilst finishing her recap of the day.

It was only then did Roy notice that you'd already played three bowls of pasta up, even though you shouldn't have been expecting him soon enough to eat with the two of you. Carefully he put Phoebe down, handing her her bowl of pasta and urging her to get back to the sofa and eat, promising that the two of you were right behind her.

"You made me up a plate?" Roy asked, part confused and part in complete adoration. The simplicity of it; such a small action meant so much to the retired footballer. Even in his absence you'd thought of him, made extra food for him, plated it up perfectly in time with his arrival. If he allowed his thoughts to wander, he would've revelled in the warmth of the action, in how loved it made him feel - as though normalcy was something completely within his grasps. As if it was something he could easily have with you.

"Yeah, of course I did. Can't have my favourite coach going hungry, can I?" You squeezed at his hand when you called him your favourite coach, and only god knows what would've happened if Phoebe hadn't called your name from the room over. Roy was certain he would've made a move; told you exactly the kind of effect you had on him, or squeezed your hand back, or even kissed you. Though he wasn't entirely sure, he knew he wouldn't have let the moment slip through his fingers so easily.

Although, when he walked into the living room, palate of pasta in hand, he received something better then anything that could've happened in your kitchen. You and Phoebe were curled up together on the couch, her little legs thrown over your lap and a pillow on her lap for her to balance her pasta on. Phoebe's head rested against your shoulder as she ate and you turned to see where Roy was, a smile curling on your face as you saw him in your kitchen doorway, pasta in hand.

You craved the domestic scene that was now playing out before you, like something straight out of a dream.

Phoebe's favourite place on your sofa had quickly become the corner, meaning the only space available was next to you. Roy, for once in his life, took full advantage of the opportunity, sitting as close to you as he could claim was suitable and allowing himself to really enjoy the moment.

Even when dinner was long finished, the three of you were curled up together. Spy Kids 4 had been put on in order to appease Phoebe's demands that you finish the series and Roy's arm moving to the back of your couch cushions, and in turn over your shoulders, meant he'd slowly moved closer to you. The two of you spent the movie talking in quiet whispers, you filling him in on any context needed from the first three movies and him telling you about his day full of appointments. The pair of you would've happily stayed there, on your couch, cuddled up together, forever, but Phoebe's gentle snores told you it was best for them to get going.

"She's already in pjs, so you don't have to worry about that and - oh!" You left Roy in your doorway, an asleep Phoebe in his arms in a mirror image of 4 nights before. "I washed her uniform so Molly wouldn't have to."

Roy's heart was bursting at the seams at the evening you'd shared, and now this? While it may not seem like much to most people, to Roy it was everything. Not only had you offered to look after his niece on multiple occasions at the last minute, you'd gone out of your way to buy her pyjamas that fit just because she was coming by, and you'd washed her uniform to take a weight off of her mum's shoulders - who you'd yet to even meet. It's like you were trying to make him fall ridiculously in love with you.

Love.

That wasn't a word Roy was supposed to use; at least not when you were only friends. But how could he not fall in love with you? He was sure that anyone who spent more then 10 seconds in a room with you fell in love with you; how could they not? You were so easy to love; selfless and caring in a way he'd never seen before, someone truly one of a kind.

"Seriously, thank you." Roy's face entirely softened as he spoke, tension seeping out from his features to a degree you'd never seen before. "I don't think you know exactly how much this means to me and Molly."

"Oh please Roy, It's nothing-"

Roy cut you off, his hand coming to rest on your arm, his thumb running up and down your forearm. "No. It's a fucking lot - and it means a fucking lot. Just accept the thank you, yeah?"

A bashful smile creeped onto your lips, your head ducking as you suddenly became very aware of the fact Roy was looking at you and touching you. "Okay, yeah, you're welcome."

"Perfect." Once again, you got a glimpse at the dazzling smile that Roy kept reserved for only the most important people in his life, the look of it alone making your knees weak. They only got weaker as Roy leaned in closer to you, placing a chaste yet scratchy kiss to your cheek. "Goodnight."

In a daze, you murmured a 'goodnight' back, this time waiting until he'd driven off before going back inside; and even then, you stood behind your door, processing exactly what had just happened and why you hadn't returned the sweet gesture.

Roy Kent and his adorable niece were going to be the death of you.

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3. the time you were meant to be going on a date

So far, in the three hours you'd been getting ready, you'd done your eye liner, wiped one side off, redone it, wiped the other side off and redone that, at least 200 times. You just couldn't get it to look right. And when you'd expressed to Keeley that maybe this was a sign from above you shouldn't be going on this date, she'd insisted, yet again, that you had to go because she was your perfect match.

Though you'd never met the girl, Keeley was determined to set you up with her, claiming from the very second she'd walked into KJPR asking about a job, she knew she was the one for you.

Part of you thought she just wanted to help you get over Roy, especially since this was the 9th blind date she'd set you up on since you'd confided in her about your feelings for the ruggedly handsome coach. Each one she'd claimed was your soulmate and each one, so far, had turned out to be a complete and utter douche bag. Despite her failure to actually find someone compatible for you, you greatly appreciated her enthusiasm and effort.

A knock on your door had you screeching down your phone at Keeley that you weren't ready for this, but one last twirl in front of the camera, and a 'you look hot as fuck babe' from the matchmaker herself, had you ready to face your date.

To your surprise, however, when you opened the door you were met with Roy, Molly and Phoebe, all in pyjamas and Phoebe's little hands curled into tight fists that twisted into the fabric of her uncles T-shirt. It took you a second to process the scene before you before you could offer a rather confused, "Hello?"

Though this wouldn't be the first time Roy had shown up with Phoebe on your doorstep, it was the first time he'd ever shown up unannounced and with his sister in tow. "This is a bad time, isn't it." Roy's sister, who you'd come to recognise as Molly, whispered, her gaze flickering across your knee length, fitted, red dress. "You look stunning though."

"Oh my god, thank you." With the silence finally broken, it was like your brain had brought the rest of your body up to speed, offending a hand out for Molly to shake. "Molly, right? It's great to finally meet you."

"Great to meet you too, I've heard great things." General pleasantries we're exchanged between the two of you, though it wasn't as awkward as it usually was when you were meeting new people, instead it was like bumping into someone you hadn't seen in a few years but genuinely missed.

In the noise of your small talk, Phoebe took the opportunity to whisper three little words into her uncles ear. "She's so pretty."

Roy's cheeks burned as his niece said everything he couldn't, and so easily too. It was obvious you were dressed up for a date in that long, burgundy dress that hugged you just right, and he was struggling to take his eyes off of you.

"So what brings you to my doorstep at 6pm on a Monday?" You asked, hesitant to ask at all incase you touched a sore spot. Molly had never shown up with Roy when he dropped Phoebe off, which told you this was potentially more serious then his other last minute drop offs - especially when he'd never shown up unannounced before. "Not that I'm upset that you're here or anything, just a bit confused."

"Clearly, you're on your way out, so we won't bother you, we just-"

You didn't let Molly explain, pulling out your phone, and sending to a quick message to your date and to Keeley, explaining some family stuff had come up last minute and offering to go out some other time. "My evening just freed up, actually." You offered Molly a genuine smile, taking Phoebe from Roy's hold and into your own. "Why don't you go and get into your pjs Hun, and then we'll pick out a movie?"

"Do you still have my ice cream?" Phoebe asked, tilting her head to look at you better. Now she was closer, you noticed her eyes were rubbed red, almost like she'd been crying.

"Of course I do sweetheart, and I've still got turkey dinosaurs if you've not eaten dinner yet."

A sniffly 'yes please' left phoebes lips before she got down from your hold, running into the direction of your bedroom without so much as a goodbye to her mum or her uncle Roy. When Phoebe was out of earshot, you closed the door a little, talking in hushed tones. "Is everything okay? What's going on?" And with a second thought, you added. "You don't have to tell me, I didn't mean to pry."

"Phoebes dad showed up." Molly simply stated, folding her arms across her chest protectively. "He knows he's not allowed around her, and we didn't know where else to take her while we dealt with him." Your heart ached for the little girl. In the short time you'd got to know Phoebe, you'd quickly come to absolutely love her to pieces - and you couldn't understand how anyone wold want to hurt her. Phoebe was a complete and utter ray of sunshine and, considering she was only 7 years old, was one of the kindest and smartest people you'd ever met. "You didn't have to take her, if we'd have known you had plans we wouldn't have just fucking shown up."

Molly sharply dug her elbow into Roy's side as she spoke, clearly signalling that she'd thought that Roy had had the decency to ask you if you would watch Phoebe before they showed up in your doorstep. A laugh bubbled past your lips at how offended Roy got by his sisters words, a comeback never leaving his lips as you interrupted him with a smile. "It's fine, really, I love hanging out with Phoebe. Besides, I wasn't really looking forward to this date anyway."

Now that caught Roy's attention. "Why not? You look fucking great, you'd have probably had a great time too."

Rather selfishly, Roy was incredibly thankful that they'd show up unannounced, he didn't want you to go on a date, and it seemed as if you didn't either. "Keeley keeps pushing me to go on these blind dates, it's not really my thing, but she keeps insisting she's found my soulmate, so I keep going on them to appease her." You leaned in closer to the two incase Phoebe heard your next words, though considering she was related to Roy, you knew she'd heard worse. "All of them have been fucking pricks so far though."

"Good thing we showed up then, yeah."

"Yeah."

Molly looked between the two of you with a smile bit back between her teeth, trying her hardest not to give anything away as she watched the two of you. "Well, we better get going, deal with this so we can take her off your hands as soon as."

Taking Phoebe's back pack from Molly's outstretched hands, you slung it over your shoulder. "Oh don't worry about rushing back, she's more then welcome to stay the night here. Do you need me to drop her off at school in the morning?"

"Oh no, she's all finished for summer now, so you don't have to worry about that." Molly's gaze lingered on you for a while, then she pulled you into a tight hug, cradling you in such a way you felt like a kid again. "Thank you so much for this. I really mean that."

Tears threatened to pool in your eyes at the genuine thankfulness to her words. Roy had told you before that he and Molly greatly appreciated you looking after Phoebe every now and then, but this felt so different to that - it made you understand why he'd told you to just accept the thank you.

"Yeah, of course, like I keep telling Roy, anytime you need me, I'm here."

"Oh, wait." Before Roy and Molly could head back to his car, he handed you a carrier bag that he'd been holding at his side since he appeared on your doorstep. "Your tshirt, and those pyjamas. I wasn't sure if you had anymore, and kept meaning to return them to you anyway."

"Ah, thank you!" Though you never said anything when Phoebe raided your closest, she'd picked your favourite sleep shirt, and you were glad to have it back. "I got another pair of pyjamas for her in my wardrobe anyway, or she could've just used another one of my shirts; she would've been fine either way. But, thank you Roy, I appreciate it."

"Yeah, no worries, washed them for you and everything so, they're all good to go." Molly shouted a goodbye to Phoebe who had made herself comfortable in her spot on your couch, and then said one to you, thanking you again for your help. You said one last goodbye to both her and Roy, waiting on your doorstep to wave them off before going back inside to tend to Phoebe.

Once Roy had driven out of your street and had started on the journey back to his sisters place, she turned to him with a shit-eating grin on her face. Molly had been waiting years to be able to tease Roy about someone he liked, and while he'd had plenty of flings over the years, nothing was ever serious enough, and non of them were ever nice enough, that Molly felt like she could get a rise out of Roy by teasing him. This time though, she knew it was different.

"She's incredible." Molly started, keeping her gaze intently on her brother, though his remained firmly on the road. "She cancelled her date to look after Phoebe, already had a change of clothes and food for her, and she's fucking hot." Molly let out an overly loud sigh as Roy ignored her words. "So tell me why on earth you haven't made a move on her yet? Because if you don't, I certainly will."

"Fuck off." Roy grunted, his grip on the wheel tightening at his sisters words. "She's obviously not interested in me like that if she was going on a date with a fucking stranger." Now that he'd started talking on the matter, Roy was worried he'd never stop. He'd not yet had the opportunity to talk about his feelings for you, the matter being as simple as he wasn't sure who he could tell. He even went as far as considering calling a diamond dogs meeting to get the weight off of his chest, but luckily, or rather unluckily for Roy, his sister had beaten the diamond dogs to it. "I wouldn't want to ruin what we already have anyway. She's so... good, with, like, everything. She's so kind, and she cares so much about everyone else; did I tell you she made me dinner when I asked her to pick Phoebe up when I had the dentist? And Phoebe! She's so good with Phoebe and I just- fuck!"

"That hard to get the words out, huh?" Molly teased, poking her brother sharply in the arm. "You must really like her." Before Roy could interrupt with what Molly knew would be another iteration of 'fuck off,' she added. "She likes you too, y'know."

"I'm sorry," Roy gasped, eyes tearing away from the road for only a second to stare at his sister incredulously. "Did you forget she was about to go for dinner with someone who isn't me?"

"Yeah I know that stupid," Molly scoffed, folding her arms back across her chest as she sunk into the seat of her brothers car. "But I did see the way she was looking at you - the way you were looking at each other - and I'm telling you, she likes you."

"Shut the fuck up." And that was that. Molly didn't need to tease Roy any further because she knew she'd hit a sore spot. Roy really liked you, and not that it mattered but Molly really liked you too - and Phoebe absolutely loved you - but Roy was still too scared to ask you out. That was punishment enough.

Phoebe hadn't seemed phased by the departure of her mum and uncle, and a part of you was thankful for that. Though you didn't really know anything about Phoebe's dad, apart from what you'd learnt in the past 10 minutes, you were surprised to see she'd bounced back pretty quickly.

"So pheeb's, you want dinner now, or in a little bit?" Throwing yourself next to the blonde on the sofa, she was quick to cuddle into your side, wrapping both her arms around your bigger one.

"Can we have dinner now, please." She whispered into the warm skin of your arm, her fingers scratching at the fabric of your dress.

"Of course we can sweetheart." You squeezed her in for a tight hug, before standing from the couch, quickly putting on the oven and pulling the turkey dinosaurs and potato waffles out of the freezer. You lingered in the doorway as you waited for Phoebe's dinner to cook, watching as she searched for a movie to put on while the two of you ate. She seemed so much more relaxed then when you first opened the door, and you hoped it's stay that way now she was here and safe. At the beeping of the oven, your turned away from her, plating the two of you some dinner and quickly returning to the sofa.

With a pile of dinner plates and ice cream bowls on your coffee table, and a movie minutes from ending, you turned to face Phoebe with a soft smile. Brushing back the hair that had fallen into her face, you gently woke the girl, telling her that it was time for bed now. Too sleepy to fully wake up, you picked Phoebe up, opting to carry her to your guest room instead. However, when you'd tucked her in and tried to leave, she'd gripped tightly onto your hand.

"Can you stay with me?" If her quiet and sleepy state didn't have you agreeing, the knowledge she was in an unfamiliar environment would've. Even though Phoebe had been in your house plenty of times now, she'd never stayed the night before, and it was easy to understand how that might freak her out - especially on top of the night she'd had.

"Yeah. Come on then." Instead of sleeping in the guest room, you picked Phoebe right back up, carrying her to your room and putting her down on the left side of your bed. Finally having the opportunity, you sat down at your desk, pulling out a packet of makeup wipes, and wiping off the eyeliner you'd worked so hard to get right. Even though your date never got to see it, Roy did, which was even better as far as you were concerned.

Just as you'd finished brushing your teeth, in fresh pyjamas, and making a mental note to buy a toothbrush for Phoebe next time you went to Tesco, you heard a shrill cry of 'mum.' Running back into your bedroom you found Phoebe wide awake with tears in her eyes, looking around in an urgent search for the woman she'd just cried out for.

"Hey, Pheeb's," you soothed, flicking the bedroom light back on before you approached her, not wanting to freak her out more. When she recognised your face past the haze of sleep, she was quick to reach out for you and you were quick to cross the room to meet her, pulling her into a hug and rubbing soothing circles into her back. "We're at my house remember, your mum and uncle Roy had to do some stuff so you're having a sleep over with me, okay?"

It took a good half an hour for Phoebe to fully calm down, but once she had, she was out cold again. This time, you lay in bed beside her, keeping an arm wrapped around her shoulders to  make sure she knew she was safe. Before you went to sleep yourself, however, you sent Roy a text, leaving out the details of phoebes nightmare and just keeping him updated on things.

Phoebe's out cold so don't worry about picking her up until morning. Breakfast is at 8. There will be a plate for you and Molly whenever you get here xxx

You didn't wait see if he replied, and didn't worry yourself over if three x's at the end was too many, setting an alarm for 7am and putting your phone into do not disturb.

Thankfully, you beat Phoebe and your alarm to waking up, giving you a head start on making breakfast. If you knew anything, it was that kids loved sweet stuff, and given Phoebe's affinity for ice cream, you knew waffles were exactly what she needed this morning. Ted had given you a waffle machine as part of your present in last years Secret Santa and promised you you'd find a use for it eventually, and you were slightly surprised to find out he'd been right.

You got right to work on the batter recipe that came with the machine, letting Phoebe sleep in until the point you were ready to cook them. Though she'd been reluctant to wake up at first, at the mention of waffles and ice cream for breakfast, she sprang out of bed, hesitating in your hallway as she heard a knock at the door.

"You wait here while I get it, yeah pheeb's?" Phoebe nodded silently, creeping down the rest of the hallway so that she'd be able to hear who was at the door without being seen. Although you were 90% sure it was Roy and Molly on the other side of the door, you didn't want to risk anything.

Looking through your peep hole, your suspicions were proved right. "Good morning Roy, Molly." Phoebe came sprinting round the corner at the mention of her mums name, running right into her arms as you opened the door wider for her. "Waffles and Ice cream for breakfast, think we all deserve it, yeah?"

Molly mouthed a thank you at you as Phoebe directed her towards your couch, Roy allowing you to close your front door then following you to the kitchen.

The image of you, still sleepy and in your pyjamas, hair mused and making breakfast for him and the rest of his family, made his heart twist and his stomach churn. In some cruel twist of fate, everything he wanted was right in front of him but it wasn't that which he could call his.

"I know it's non of my business," you started, placing two scoops of mix into the two waffle shaped holes in the machine Ted had bought you then closing it, flipping it over, and scooping up another spoonful of mixture ready for when these ones were done. "But, is everything okay? Are Phoebe and Molly okay now?"

Why did you have to care about his family so much? Moments like this made Roy think you knew of his feelings for you, and that you were doing every thing you could to push him to tell you. Surely you had to care for him, at the least, not everyone would do what you did for him, and definitely not with the same level of enthusiasm and genuine happiness to do it.

"Yeah, everything's okay." Roy kept it short, knowing that ultimately, it wasn't his story to share. "Are you okay? I know we kind of ruined your plans last night."

"How many times am I going to have to tell you that I didn't even want to go?" The laugh that bubbled past your lips had a smile forming on Roy's face. He loved how easy it was between the two of you here. Sure, you made him smile and laugh at Nelson road all the time, but at Nelson road he felt like he had to be Roy Kent: here, he could just be Roy, Phoebe's uncle. And you really liked Roy, Phoebe's uncle.  "Besides, I had a better evening with Phoebe, and the 10 minutes I spent with you and Molly, then I would've had on the date anyway."

"How can you be so sure of that?" Roy's voice was even deeper then usual, not that you'd ever thought that was possible, from tiredness, and you'd only just noticed that he was still in his pyjamas, much like yourself. "That you wouldn't have enjoyed yourself?"

Roy leant over you, not noticing how blood rushed to your cheeks as he took the first two waffles out of the machine for you, allowing you to get the second lot started without hurting your fingers from picking up the fresh waffles. "My hearts not in it, you know?" You turned to press your back against the counter top, now chest to chest with Roy in the closest proximity you'd ever been. Neither of you made an effort to move. "The whole dating just to date isn't for me, I don't think. And if I'm going to date to, um, to marry someone, I'd much rather it be someone I know, someone who knows me."

You were worried you'd been a little too on the nose in your explanation, but Roy didn't seem to mind. He leant forward slightly so that he could rest his palms against your countertop, caging you in between his muscular arms. "Is that right?" You nodded silently, allowing your gaze to flicker down to his lips now that he was inches away from you. There was no way you were reading too much into things this time. "And, would that someone, would they have to be anyone in particular?"

"Yeah, yeah they would." You answered breathlessly, tilting your head back up so that your gaze would meet Roy's but instead brushing your nose softly against his.

Roy was finally going to do it.

A cry of your name and the padding of footsteps had Roy stepping away from you, Phoebe running into the kitchen with Molly hot on her tail. "Are the waffles ready?"

"You came at the perfect time!" You answered, brushing the moment off of you, and turning back to the slightly cooled waffles, sliding them down the counter towards Phoebe and Molly along with the ice cream scoop. As they plated up their waffles, you took yours and Roy's out of the machine, putting them onto plates and giving them time to cool before you added your ice cream on top. You watched intently as Molly and Phoebe plated up their food, your fingers drilling against the countertop in wait.

The second they'd left the kitchen and headed back to the living room, you turned to face Roy, leaving him no time to think as you grabbed the front of his shirt and pressed your lips to his. It was hot and messy, the two of you fighting to condense several months worth of building tension into one moment. At even the slightest of noises from outside the kitchen, you pulled away, turning your back to Roy immediately and scooping some ice cream onto your cooked waffle.

"Want ice cream on yours?" You asked Roy, turning to face him. His cheeks burned red and breathes heaved from his chest as though he'd just run a mile, his hair was a little more tousled then it had been when he first walked into your house and his lips were red and wet.

"Fuck the ice cream."

Roy grabbed you by your waist, twisting his fingers into the fabric of your sleep shirt to keep you close to him as he pressed a firm kiss to your lips. Roy's free hand moved up to caress your cheek, his other hand snaking around to rest on your lower back, pulling you even more into him. Moving one hand up to his hair, you kept the other on his shirt, keeping him close to you. While you'd imagined Roy to be a smooth kisser, you'd never imagined the day would come where he would actually be kissing you.

At a call of both your names from Phoebe, you broke apart once more, passing Roy his ice-cream-less waffle and pushing him out of your kitchen, taking full advantage of the fact that if he sat down first, you'd have no choice to to sit basically on top of him. You were sure he wouldn't mind.

—————————————————————————

4. the time when Molly dropped Phoebe off instead

"And that's why the two of you need to get married."

Roy had been actively avoiding you since your kiss in the kitchen two weeks ago. And this was the 4th time in two weeks that Molly had asked if Phoebe could come over; two of them due to the fact both her and Roy were busy, and the other two being due to the fact Phoebe needed to have 'girl talk' with you. So far, girl talk had consisted of Phoebe listing reasons as to why you and Roy were perfect for each other.

"We're not going to get married, Pheeb's."

"But why not?" Phoebe dramatically collapsed into your sofa cushions, ignoring the fact her over the top tumble had knocked over one of your piles of folded washing in favour of going back to questioning you. "He talks about you all the time. And I see the way you look at him when he drops me off and picks me up."

"But he hasn't picked you up or dropped you off in two weeks sweetheart," you were back in the uncomfortable scenario of exposing something to a 7 year old, and you were trying your hardest not to let your confused feelings towards Roy interfere with what you wanted to say. "So, I don't think he wants to see me anymore. And that okay! But it also means we're not going to get married."

"But why not?"

"Phoebe." Your sterner tone had Phoebe sitting up right, her legs dangling over the edge of the sofa. Putting down the freshly washed t-shirt, you  knelt down in front of Phoebe, taking her hands in your own and squeezing gently. "It's not that simple, sweetheart," pushing a strand of hair back behind her ear, she met your eyes. "I wish it was, but it is isn't. Me and your uncle Roy aren't going to get married, Pheeb's, but I'm sure he's going to find someone amazing someday, and you're going to love them."

"But I don't want him to find someone else amazing." Phoebe sulked, tears brimming at her eyes as she thought about a future without you and Roy together. While she was definitely thinking of the worst possible outcomes, the potential it could come true alone was enough to send her to tears. "I want him to find you! I don't want my uncle Roy to marry someone else because then I'll have to hang out with them and not you and- and- and-"

"C'mere." You pulled Phoebe fully into your arms, adjusting yourself so that you were both sat comfortably on your couch. "When your uncle Roy finds someone he loves, and he wants them to be a part of your life, I'll still be here. And you can always come and hang out with me, whenever you want. That isn't going to change Phoebe. I care about you a lot, okay?"

Phoebe couldn't find the words to express what she was thinking. She wanted to scream that you were the person her uncle Roy wanted be a part of her life, that you were the one he loved. Even though she was only 7 years old, she was certain that she knew what love was: and love was the way you and her uncle Roy had sat together, eating waffles for breakfast and talking with her mum, love was the way you and her uncle Roy talked about your day in a whisper over spy kids 4 because you wanted her to enjoy the movie still, love was the way it took her uncle Roy exactly 15 seconds to decide he wanted you to look after her on that Saturday 2 months ago. But she didn't know how to say all that in a way she could get you to understand. She'd tried everything and you still wouldn't digest the crumb of Roy's love that she was trying to explain to you, so she settled on the saying the best thing she could.

"Promise?"

"On my life." You ruffled her blonde hair, causing a smile to pull at her lips. You went back to folding your washing and Phoebe went back to watching her movie, like the two of you always did.

The peaceful moment was unfortunately interrupted by a loud and quick succession of knocks at your door. You put down the shirt you'd been folding and even Phoebe paused her show to come and see who was at the door.

"Jamie? Hi, what- what are you doing here?" Phoebe seemed to have some idea, walking past you to grab Jamie by the hand and pull him to sit on your sofa.

"I invited him." You had too many questions to counter that statement, mainly how she'd contacted Jamie and why he didn't bat an eye at being invited to your house by a 7 year old. "We need to discuss uncle's day."

Phoebe had told you about uncle's day - a day to celebrate her love for her uncle Roy - but you weren't entirely sure where you and Jamie fit into that puzzle. "Why do you need me and Jamie to discuss uncle's day, Hun. I don't think your uncle Roy would want either of us to celebrate uncles day with him."

"Of course he would!" Phoebe cried, pulling out her notebook and one of her felt tip pens, flicking to a blank page in her notebook and writing 'uncles day' at the top neatly. "Jamie is his best friend and Uncle Roy loves you, of course you've got to be there!"

Before you could remind Phoebe that you'd just had a conversation about why that wasn't the case, Jamie turned to face you with a wicked smile. "I knew you and Roy had something going on."

"We don't."

"Is that why he's been all moody at training for the last two weeks?" At your silence, Jamie took it that he was correct, a gasp slipping past his lips. "Did you turn him down? Of course it's okay if you did, but why?"

"No. I didn't turn him down." Phoebe's ears pricked up at that, making you realise exactly how what you were saying sounded. "I can't turn him down if he never asked me anything."

"But something happened?" Jamie pushed, leaning his elbows on his knees, Phoebe sat in a scarily mirrored image of him beside him.

"Fuck off." You scoffed, a smile curling onto Phoebe's lips. In the weeks you'd spent hanging out with her, she'd filled you in on every inside joke she shared with her uncle Roy and everything that made him the best uncle ever. "You can bill your uncle Roy for that one Pheeb's." Phoebe flicked back to the front of her notebook, adding a line to a very long list of tally's that had accumulated there.

Jamie tightened his gaze on you, readjusting his headband so that it kept his hair out of his eyes better. If it weren't for the unwavering, and slightly creepy, nature of his gaze, you were sure you would've just kept it to yourself.

"I kissed him." You'd attempted to mouth the words at the striker, but he hadn't picked them up, instead mouthing them to himself over and over again until he loud out a loud gasp, repeating the words out loud. Phoebe let out a squeal, jumping up and down on your couch cushions in complete and utter joy. An hour ago you'd told her you and her uncle Roy would never get married and know you were admitting that you'd kissed - things were coming up Phoebe, she'd decided. "But, he hasn't spoken to me since."

"Yeah, but that's what Roy's like, you know?" Jamie extended an arm to you, encouraging you to crash down in between him and Phoebe on the couch. You took him up on the offer, curling into his side and letting Phoebe curl into yours. "He's like, super mean and cold on the outside and once he lets you get to know him, he's all... all soft. And I don't think he knows it's okay to be soft sometimes." You let your head fall against Jamie's shoulder, Phoebe nodding beside you at Jamie's words. "I think you've got to show him it's okay for him to be all soft. Cause he really does care about you, I just don't think he knows how to tell you that."

"That was," you didn't even have the words for it. Somehow, Jamie had crawled inside your brain and soothed the exact source of your worry. "That was very insightful Jamie, thank you."

"No worries, I'm proper smart when I want to be me. Plus, when you spend so much time around the guy, it's hard not to see past that façade he puts up." Jamie removed his arm from around your shoulders, rubbing his together and then loudly clapping. "So, uncles day-"

You, Phoebe and Jamie spent the rest of the after noon feasting on whatever snacks they could find in your cupboards and planning out every little detail about uncles days. The pair had convinced you to make an appearance even if you and Roy hadn't reconciled come uncles day; Phoebe wanted you there and that was enough for you. By the time 5pm had rolled around you'd offered to get started on dinner for the 3 of you, but Jamie said he'd best be heading out and Phoebe reminded you her mum was picking her up soon enough anyway.

"Pheeb's, go and get your bag your mums here."  When you opened the door, however, you were surprised to find Roy on the other side of it, his hands shoved into his pockets and half facing away from you. "Oh Roy, hi, I didn't know you were picking Phoebe up."

"Me either," he grunted, staring intently at the floor as he let out a long sigh. Finally, he looked at you, shifting nervously under your gaze. He's practiced what he wanted to say at least 200 times on the way over; he knew Molly asking him to come pick Phoebe up was her pushing him to talk to you. All he wanted was to talk to you. But he was too scared of fucking things up and loosing you entirely that he'd resigned to the fact that he would just have to avoid you for the rest of his life. For once, Roy needed to just do it, to tell you how he felt and throw sensibility to the wind. If you liked him, and that kiss wasn't a heat of the moment thing, then great; if you wanted nothing to do with him? He'd figure it out. All he had to do now was-

"Jamie? What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Jesus, Roy, hello to you too." Jamie scoffed, pushing his hair back and out of his eyes then folding his arms across his chest. "I was just dropping off something for Keeley. Don't get all jealous on me old man, I'm not here to steal your missus." Jamie then turned to you, wiggling his eyebrows at you suggestively now his back was turned to Roy. He pressed a chaste kiss to your cheek before running down your driveway, presumably to escape the clutches of a pissed of Roy. "See you later love, you too Phoebe!"

"Bye Jamie!" Phoebe shouted, waving enthusiastically at her new friend then turning to her uncle Roy with a frown. "You owe me £1, uncle Roy."

"Bill me." He took Phoebe by the hand, taking her backpack in his other and walked away from your doorstep without so much as another word to you. Phoebe yelled a goodbye before she get in Roy's car but Roy continued to ignore you, even as you waited on your doorstep to wave them one last goodbye.

Roy spent the whole drive back to molly's and the rest of the evening absolutely kicking himself. Part of him wished he'd just come out and said it while he had you alone on your doorstep, but the worse part of him - the part that didn't believe he was worthy of you - told him Jamie being there was a sign it wasn't the right moment. And maybe, he thought, the right moment would never come.

Jamie was right. You were going to have to be the one to show Roy it was okay to be soft; especially with you.

—————————————————————————

5. the time where Roy told you how he felt

Phoebe had kicked up a fuss when she found out she was going to have to spend the night at her uncle Roy's, which was a massive surprise to everyone involved. It was well known that Phoebe loved spending time with her uncle Roy, and no matter what Molly or Roy said to her, they couldn't get a confession out of her as to why she didn't want to sleep at her uncle Roy's tonight.

When Molly had dropped her off, for the first time in years, Phoebe cried at the though of her mum going to work, and that told Roy enough that he was in for an eventful night.

He'd tried absolutely everything. He'd offered pizza, turkey dinosaurs, spaghetti, ice cream, popcorn and every favourite food she'd ever had in an attempt to wipe that frown off of her face, but nothing had worked. He'd even willingly been the princess in princess and dragons, put on a fucking tiara and tutu and she still didn't budge from her place on his couch. When bed time finally rolled around, he'd spent 6 hours in silence with Phoebe, a frown etched onto her poor, little face that all he wanted to do was turn into a smile.

The first sound he got out of Phoebe all day was a loud and shrill cry of your name at 4am. Roy ran for the first time in months from his bedroom to hers, terrified as to what could have his niece crying out for you in the early house of the morning. When he arrived on the scene, he was met with Phoebe sat upright in her bed, tears spilling down her cheeks and her hair sticking up in every direction. Her tiny fingers were death gripping a teddy bear that Roy had bought her when she was a baby and when she saw Roy in her doorway, her sobs only got louder.

Roy was quick to cross the length of the room, scooping his niece into his arms and holding her tightly against him, whispering soothing words into the crown of her head and running his fingers up and down her arm. Usually, this method would have Phoebe back asleep within half an hour, but as the clock pushed closer to 5am then 4am, he knew things were different this time. With each sob came a long pause, filled with shaking of shoulders and sniffles galore, and the occasional whimper of your name. Whatever had upset her, clearly wasn't going to be fixed with the usual uncle Roy remedy, and so Roy picked Phoebe up, slipping on his slippers and walking out his front door with his car keys in hand.

While the drive to your house had never been quick, it felt even longer then usual today. Phoebe spent the whole drive over still sniffling, and even though her tears had stopped flowing, the ache it caused in Roy's heart made it feel like they'd never stopped. In his whole life, he'd only seen phoebe this inconsolable a handful of times, and even then, she'd always been responsive to his attempts to find out what was wrong. The fact she kept calling out your name amidst her tears made his heart ache all the more.

It was no secret that since he first dropped phoebe off at your house all those weeks ago, the two of you had become practically attached at the hip. He loved phoebe, and as much as he tried to deny it, he loved you, and he loved that two of the most important women in his life loved each other, but he didn't think he was ever going to be brave enough to let you in in the way the he wanted to. Phoebe had happily voiced her opinions on the matter the last time he'd picked her up from your house, happily proclaiming that the two of you needed to get married yesterday and live happily ever after with 2 dogs and a family trip to Disney world. Roy had told her the two of you weren't going to get married and Phoebe had scoffed, saying that you'd said the exact same thing and she didn't understand why when you loved each other.

If he wasn't so distracted by how distraught Phoebe seemed, he'd have maybe taken the time to consider this was some wicked scheme she'd concocted.

When he pulled up outside your house, like he expected for 5am, all your lights were off, but with a still teary-eyed phoebe in his arms, he didn't think twice about knocking on your door with enough vigour you'd think his life depended on it. As far as Roy was concerned, it did.

Once he saw your hallway light flicker on, he let out a sigh of relief, a weight being lifted from his shoulders as you approached the door. The soft glow of the hallway light far behind you made you look more like the Angel Roy thought you were, your hands wiping at your eyes as you tried to wake up. Before you could ask what was going on, or why Roy and Phoebe were on your doorstep so early on this summers morning, Phoebe was throwing herself from Roy's arms with a cry of your name, blubbering into you shoulder the most words she'd said in the past 12 hours. "I had a nightmare."

In that moment as Roy watched you take his niece into your arms and comfort her more in 10 seconds then he had seemed to be able to do in an hour, he knew Phoebe was right that day in the car.

He was in love with you, and he was pretty sure you were in love with him too.

Roy closed your front door behind him, following behind you as you carried phoebe towards your bedroom. He couldn't hear what you were saying to her, but he could see how easily she relaxed in your hold - it made him relax knowing that whatever had plagued her nightmares was being calmed, even if it wasn't by him.

As you finally entered your bedroom, your bedsheets tousled from when you'd got up to answer the door minutes ago, Phoebe had dropped back to sleep in your arms. You weren't entirely sure if it was your words that had sent her back to sleep or if she'd tired herself out from crying so much, but you didn't dwell on it, tucking her into your bed and pressing a kiss to her head. Turning around, you found Roy leaning against your doorframe, the tight, grey shirt not leaving much to the imagination as to what was underneath it. Taking him by the hand, you pulled him back down your hallway and into your kitchen, leaving him in the doorway, you clicked the kettle on and pulled two large mugs out of your cupboard.

"Can't believe you got her talking." Roy whispered, suddenly very conscious of the fact it was 5:30 in the morning and you were no where near awake as he was. "I couldn't get a word out of her, except your fucking name."

You nodded as he spoke, putting a tea bag into each before and then, when the kettle had whistled and clicked, filling them 3/4 full of hot water. "So, she didn't tell you what her nightmare was about?"

"Wasn't even entirely sure it was just a nightmare until I heard her say it here."

"She thinks you're not going to let her see me anymore if you marry someone else." You'd both heard tearful stories from Phoebe about how scared she was that you two weren't talking anymore, but you'd never realised just how much it was affecting her. "I've talked to her about it before, you know, promised her I'd always be apart of her life even when you found someone you were going to marry, but I didn't think it was stressing her out this bad."

Roy didn't take a sip of his coffee when you passed it to him, instead looking at you confused while you took a long sip of yours. "What makes you think I'm going to marry someone else?"

"Well, you know what I mean Roy." You took another long sip of coffee, waking up more and more with each drink. "We're not going to get married, and I don't want phoebe thinking that you're not allowed to live your life and keep me in it."

"Why are we not getting married?" Roy's question had you stuttering and stumbling to try and make a sensible and coherent answer. It was one thing for him to show up at the crack of dawn and speak to you for the first time in weeks. It was another for him to now be suggesting he wanted to marry you. "I'm not sure if you realised, but I don't just go around introducing Phoebe and Molly to everyone... and I don't go around kissing just anyone either."

"Well, that's rich," you scoffed, using both hands to bring the warmth of your coffee closer to your face. "I'm not sure if you realised, but a normal person doesn't kiss someone like that, and then go no contact with them for nearly a month."

"Kiss someone like that, huh." Roy placed his untouched coffee down on your kitchen counter and took two steps closer to you, his hands coming to rest on your hips as he was now right in front of you. Though when you thought on it, he always had been. "And what exactly does that mean." Roy let his thumbs run over the exposed skin between your T-shirt and your pyjama shorts, the gentle motion sending tingles down your spine and causing you to arch yourself slightly into him. The smirk that formed on his face told you things were playing out how he wanted.

"You know," you whispered, letting Roy take your coffee cup from your hands and place it beside you on the counter. "Like," he gently cradled your hands in his larger ones, moving them to rest on his shoulders becket letting his fall back to your hips. "Like you want to be with them, like you-"

Roy cut your words off by pressing his lips to yours, using the momentum of his movement to tilt your head back, allowing him to get a better angle as he pushed his tongue past your lips. Quickly, you pushed him off of you, not giving him the chance to get a word in edge ways before you began to speak. "You can't keep kissing me like that, or at all actually, if you don't want this, us, whatever we are, to become something. Because I want it to become something." Jamie's words echoed though your head. Maybe you had to be the one to show Roy that it was okay to be soft sometimes, to let people in.

"I love how kind you are beneath all the gruff and cold exterior you try to put up. I love how fiercely you love Molly and Phoebe. I love how you leave little sticky notes on my office door so I don't forget to do things. I love how you bring me coffee in the mornings when you get your own. I love that you buy me lunch and get all grumpy when someone else tries to add on to the order." Sweeping your thumb across the middle of his brown, you brushed away the tension that had clearly been building there since the moment you'd pushed away from his kiss. "I love how your face gets all scrunched up when your confused and how you have the most wonderful smile I've ever seen but only let the people you love get a glimpse at it. I- I love you, Roy, but I can't handle you liking me one minute and ignoring me the next. I need you to open up to me about what's going on inside you head."

Roy pressed a kiss to your forehead, moving one hand up to cradle your face. If his heart wasn't already so full of you, it would've been now. Even though he'd known he was in love with you before this conversation in your kitchen, it had really consolidated to him why he was in love with you. You loved Roy Kent, Phoebe's uncle, lunch buyer and wonderful smiler.

"I've never been told I have a wonderful smile before." He pressed another kiss though this time it was to your temple, and the another to the end of your brow. "That's probably because you're right, I only show it to the people I love." Another kiss was pressed just below your eye, the scratchiness of his beard against your cheeks eliciting a giggle from you. "And I really fucking love you."

Roy leaned in for another, proper, kiss, though you dodged it allowing it to land on your cheek instead. "Is there anything else you wanted to say?"

Roy let out a loud groan, your head thrown back in laughter at the image before you. He shook his head at you though the wide and bright smile you loved never left his face. "I'm sorry I ignored you for 3 and a half weeks because I was a grumpy sod who couldn't talk about his feelings like a fucking grown up."

You hummed happily, nudging your nose against his, a smile now curled onto your own lips. "Yeah, that'll do just nice." Standing on the tips of your toes, you wrapped both your arms around his neck, pulling the two of you together. "Now, C'mere."

Roy happily complied, pressing his lips firmly to your own in a mess of groans and tongue, only pulling apart when you couldn't contain your smile any longer. Even then, he pressed a series of quick kisses to your lips moving them up across your cheek, along the tip of your ear and then down the side of your neck. You tilted your head to rest against his left shoulder, giving him better access to the right side of your neck, but before things could escalate any further, you gently pushed him away from you. "Phoebe is a room away."

"You've got a guest bedroom though, right?" Roy purred, resuming his attack on your neck, the scruff of his beard scratching against your skin sending shivers down your spine.

"She'll be up in an hour or so." You tried to deter Roy further although you didn't particularly have your heart in it, wanting more then anything to continue what you'd started now that the pair of you had everything out in the open.

"I can do a lot in half that time." He countered, his grip on you tightening a fraction and the kisses he was pressing against your neck now having scrapes of teeth to them.

Grabbing Roy by the chin, you turned him to face you, pressing a soft and slow kiss to his lips. "Please, with what I've got in mind, it's going to take at least twice the time we have." You revelled in the look of pleasant surprise that crossed Roy's features, pressing another kiss to his lips. Now that that was something you could do whenever you wanted, you weren't sure you were ever going to stop; he was just so kissable. "Want to help me make breakfast?"

"Where do you need me?"

You and Roy danced seamlessly around each other as you prepared breakfast for the two of you and Phoebe, sneaking kisses between exchanges of ingredients or just because you could. When things were nearly ready and it was just past 7am, you went to wake Phoebe up, careful not to startle her after the long night she'd had. Since you hadn't discussed with Roy anything about you telling Phoebe, you didn't mention it, letting her sandwich herself between the two of you as you ate breakfast together over reruns of adventure time.

Part of you couldn't believe that everything had pretty much worked out how you wanted it. Sure, it wasn't a nice feeling when Roy left you in the dark after sweeping you off your feet, but ultimately, the two of you were together, and with Phoebe snuggled between the two of you on your couch, you had a glimpse of the domestic life you'd dreamed of.

Roy was thinking something similar, looking at you and phoebe beside him. Something so simple as eating breakfast together had him dreaming of a future, that a few months ago, he never would've thought would be within his grasp. He could already picture a scene like this but with you slightly older, and still as beautiful as ever, two kids snuggled between you and a dog or 3 curled up at his feet. He hoped one day the image would be as real as the one before him right now.

"Shit, what time is it?"

"8am."

"We need to get going soon." Both you and Phoebe turned to Roy in confusion, heads similarly tilted in a way that had him fawning over the both of you. "Your mum is picking you up at 9am and you need to be dressed and ready to go, Pheeb's."

"Tell Molly to pick her up from here," you said, taking Phoebe's empty plate and stacking it on top of your own. Placing them both down on the coffee table, you turned to Phoebe with a soft smile. "There T-shirts, jeans and some shoes in my wardrobe, next to where I keep your pj's, yeah? And you know where your tooth brush is, don't you?" Phoebe nodded her head, still chewing her food, but with a kissed pressed to her temple, she was sprinting off in the direction your bedroom.

"You have day clothes here for phoebe? As well as pyjamas?" Roy whispered, a bright smile forming on his face for the millionth time this morning. This was a sight you were never going to get sick of.

"Yeah. I picked the day clothes up when you asked me to pick her up from school the first time, and then after you and Molly took her home after she slept over, I figured it couldn't hurt to also get a tooth brush and some other stuff. Just incase she ever needed them."

You'd never seen so much love and adoration in one persons eyes. "I fucking love you, did you know?"

Before you could respond, the padding of feet all the way down your hallway and across your living room filled your ears. "So you are getting Married?"

a/n : if you made it this far hello!! thank you for reading my first ted lasso fic, feel free to leave feedback and/or send in a request to my inbox!! much love <33 mwah

[ghostofhyuck]

NCT Dream finding out that you're not eating. 

Mark Lee ; lying about not eating

Mark would be disappointed that you lied to him about not eating. He knows how you're cramming your thesis and at the same time rotting in bed. If it wasn't for your roommate snitching you to your boyfriend, he wouldn't know that you're starving yourself. He'll go to your dorm and bring you not only food but also groceries that you can cook easily. "Most of these are instant noodles, but! it's better than not eating at all, don't make me worry okay?" 

Huang Renjun ; caught you not having a dinner

When Renjun left your apartment, you were in the middle of studying for your exam. He's going out with Dreamies and promised that he'll be home late. But before he left, he reminded you to eat dinner. When Renjun returned, you're still in your seat, not even moving. When Renjun asked if you ate dinner, you stopped. You totally forgot about it but it was enough to be nagged by Renjun, "Okay time out, get up and come with me, you need food. How can you review well with an empty stomach?" 

Lee Jeno ; not having energy

Jeno noticed how quiet you are when you two met. He picked you up from your Uni and while walking home, he noticed how you barely respond to his stories. He asked you what's wrong and you shrugged it, that's when he began poking around. "Why are you pale today, did you eat anything?" you were caught-off guard with his question, you remember not having a decent meal since yesterday. When you confessed it to Jeno, you can see how disappointed he is, but then he drags you to the nearest restaurant to feed you. "Stop starving yourself, it's unhealthy! Look at you, you don't even have the energy today."

Lee Donghyuck ; stomach growling

You visited Haechan during his practice and just in time, he's all alone while the rest of Dreamies went to buy food. When he asked if you want some, you quietly rejected it, but your stomach sudddenly growled. It was embarrassing but Haechan laughed and even teased you that you're hungry, but you became quiet, making your boyfriend suspicious. "What do you mean you haven't eaten yet? It's almost midnight!? What --- okay I'll text the boys to buy a portion for you, that's final. You think I'll let you starve?"

Na Jaemin ; fainting

It was an accident. You attest to your boyfriend who's worried sick. You look pale and your lips are dry. "You fainted," he pointed out. "It's because I played sports," you rebutted. "Without eating anything! You're bound to faint." He justified, and then proceed to give you an earful leacture of not eating and how you should engage in sports with a full stomach. He couldn't be angry that long, but asked you to promise him to never do it again. "Do it again, and I'll deliver food to your place everyday." 

Zhong Chenle ; seeing the fridge empty

Chenle decided to visit you even though you're in the middle of exams week. He just wanted to spend time with you even though you're focused with your studies. It was nearing dinner when he volunteered to cook dinner for both of you. As he went to the fridge, he was surprised to see your fridge empty. Chenle looked at every cupboards in your kitchen and found nothing, not even a cup of instant ramen. He asked you about it and that's when you realized that you haven't done any groceries yet. When asked when did you had a decent meal, you were quiet. Chenle could only shake his head in disbelief, grabbing his phone to order food for you two. "We should buy some groceries for you tomorrow, you shouldn't be starving yourself you know that?"

Park Jisung ; not having any appetite

When asked what you want, you only shrugged. Jisung was confused because usually, you're the one who chooses what food to buy. He scrolled through the food app and since he's indecisive, Jisung let you do the decision. "Anything Ji, I'm not hungry," you said quietly. Jisung asked why but you only shrugged, when he asked if you had any meal today you repeated your words again. "That's unhealthy you know that!? You should eat something, okay I'll choose this time, and you need to eat! You can't just starve yourself just because you're not hungry." he nagged, choosing the nearest restaurant at your place. 

[dixons-sunshine]

Yielding Isn't My Middle Name—Chapter 1 | Daryl Dixon x Fem!Reader

Chapter Summary: You and Daryl went on a run for some supplies when you stumbled across an injured man. While discussing whether or not to help the man with his injuries, something happened that instantly changed things for the two of you.

Genre: Fluff, angst towards the end.

Era: Alexandria, no Negan era.

Warnings: Swearing, mentions of being knocked out and drugged.

Word count: 2.3k.

A/n: I'm so excited to get started on this! It's not my usual writing but this is such a cool idea that was requested. Not a lot of things going on in this chapter, but I promise that the next chapter will be better and longer. Anyways, I hope you like this!

The groans of an unsuspecting walker were effectively silenced by the flying of an arrow through its rotting skull. The owner of that very arrow, Daryl Dixon, stepped forward and aggressively removed the object from the monster's skull, blood splattering everywhere, including on the archer's face.

“Fuck,” Daryl cursed, wiping at his face to get rid of the foul smelling black liquid that spattered on his face, but instead of ridding himself of it, the blood instead just smeared across his face. “Fuckin' dickhead.”

Soft giggles reached Daryl's ears, making a small smile tug at the corners of his lips. Daryl turned around and locked eyes with you, an amused smile painting your beautiful features.

“Wha's so funny?” Daryl questioned, his eyes following your movements as you carefully hoisted yourself over the table that was previously used to block the door.

You shook your head, your smile never leaving your face. “Nothing,” you began, placing your hand in his when he offered it to you. “Just thinking about all my hard work that has gone to waste.”

“Wha' are ya talkin' 'bout?” Daryl asked, helping you jump down from the large object. Even when you were on the ground, the archer's hand remained in yours, a rare occurrence that you treasured greatly.

“Just the fact that I meticulously cleaned you up in the shower earlier this morning, and not even three hours later, you're already dirty again,” you explained, playfully bumping your hip against his. “I don't think there's ever been a time when you were clean for more than a day.”

“S'wha' ya signed up fer when ya agreed to marry me, sunshine,” Daryl began playfully, eyeing the ring on your finger fondly. “In sickness and in health. In cleanliness and in filth.”

“That's not how it goes,” you laughed, rolling your eyes.

“S'how I remember it.”

You rolled your eyes, shaking your head in mock annoyance. “Let's just get the supplies and get home. I'm hungry and Carol promised she'd make that lasagna of hers for me.”

Daryl chuckled. “Told ya tha' ya should'a stayed home,” he began, holding his crossbow up as the two of you entered a different room of the small store Eugene had found on one of his maps. “Ya've been feelin' sick lately. Ain't managed to keep any food down fer a while now. Ya should rest, take tha' medicine Denise gave ya.”

You laughed nervously and let your hand drift down to your stomach once you were sure your husband wasn't looking, slightly rubbing your hand over the nonexistent baby bump—a bump that soon wouldn't be nonexistent. A bump that would change everything for you and Daryl. Something you had yet to tell your husband of, too nervous about his reaction to even approach the topic at all.

You knew you shouldn't have kept something like that from the man you wanted to spend the rest of your life with. The life that was growing inside of you was just as much his as it was yours, and he deserved to know. He deserved to know so that he could choose whether or not he wanted to embark on the journey of parenthood with you. If he didn't want to be a father, you would never make him feel obligated to stay with you and raise a child he didn't want. However, you selfishly wanted to prolong the inevitable discussion of your impending motherhood, wanting instead to enjoy moments like these with the man you loved; moments where you bickered playfully, where it felt like the two of you were the only people in the world.

“Peach?” Daryl questioned, snapping you from your train of thought. “Ya alrigh'?” he finished, looking over at you worriedly. You looked like a deer caught in headlights, and he didn't like that.

You quickly sent him, what you hoped was, a reassuring smile. “I'm fine. Just got a little woozy there for a second.”

“Ya wanna head on back?” Daryl asked quietly, his eyes holding that softness that he reserved only for you. “I can get some things by myself. Ya dun' need to be here.”

You shook your head in denial. “No, I'm fine. I promise. I wanna help you.”

“Peach—”

Before your husband could continue his concerned persuading, a loud crash came from somewhere in the relatively small building. Both you and Daryl spun in the direction of the loud sound, both of you raising your respective weapons—you raising your gun, and Daryl raising his crossbow.

Daryl's eyes flickered back towards you, a cautious glint in his eyes. You were sure your eyes mirrored his apprehension. Without speaking a word, the archer moved forward, his footsteps silent from years of hunting practice. Following closely behind him, the two of you moved towards the one of the only other doors in the whole building. You knew the noise couldn't have come from the fire escape door, so there was only one other option; the one that led down to the basement.

Making sure to keep an eye out for any potential walkers, the two of you carefully walked down the stairs. Daryl made sure to be ahead of you, his need to protect you from any danger overshadowing everything else. If there was danger down there, whether it be from a walker or another human being, he wanted you to be able to flee first. He'd rather die himself than have to lose you.

You heard the injured person long before you saw them. The muffled cries of someone reached your ears instantly when you reached the bottom of the stairs. In the old world, you would've run to the person to help, no questions asked, but the apocalypse hardened you. You couldn't trust anyone, even if they were injured. You just had to be cautious. That was the way of life in the new world.

Daryl raised his crossbow more, steadying the heavy object in his arms. You moved to stand beside your husband, raising both your gun and your flashlight to illuminate the small room. The beam of the flashlight landed on a man, his tear filled brown eyes squinting against the harsh glare of the light. He was gripping his side hardly, but streams of blood still pooled from the open wound.

“Hello?” the man rasped out in a broken whisper. Daryl remained silent, opting instead to keep his weapon trained on the man, obviously making him even more nervous. “I'm not dangerous, I swear.”

“Are you armed?” you questioned, not lowering your gun until you were certain of the safety of your current predicament.

The man slowly nodded. “I have a knife,” he began, unsheathing his knife and sliding it over to the two of you. “And a gun in my bag over there, but it's practically useless. I don't have any bullets for the thing. I came down here hoping to find more, but then I fell and knocked against that shelf over there. That jagged piece of metal stabbed my side.”

“So now yer cryin' on the floor 'bout it?” Daryl questioned gruffly. “Ya couldn't walk it off? Yer the perfect bait fer the walkers righ' now.”

“Daryl,” you addressed him in a low, warning tone. “He's hurt and he hasn't pulled anything on us. He gave us his knife. I don't think we have to be that harsh right now.”

“I dun' trust him,” Daryl grunted, eyeing the man distastefully. “It was too easy. Would ya give yer weapons over to complete strangers tha' easily?”

“I'm right here, you know,” the man groaned out, wincing at the pain in his side.

“Ain't talkin' to ya. Shut up.” Daryl turned back to you, his eyebrows furrowed into a frown. “We can't trust him, Peach.”

You hesitated for a moment, your eyes flickering between the unknown man and your husband. “Can we at least help get him cleaned up and bandaged? He's gonna bleed out if we don't.”

Daryl sighed. “Yer too nice fer yer own good sometimes.”

“I'm gonna choose to see that as a compliment,” you began, a small smile spreading over your face. “Does that mean we can help him?”

“That isn't going to be necessary.”

A loud gunshot echoed through the room, the man you had wanted to help being murdered right in front of your eyes with a single bullet to the head. You gasped and instinctively raised your gun. However, before you could spin around and assess the threat head-on, you felt a harsh blow to the back of your head.

You fell to the floor, black spots coating your vision. A strident pain flooded through you, and you couldn't think clearly anymore. The last thing you remembered was Daryl calling out to you, your husband vigorously thrashing against the hold of your ambushers.

Then everything went black.

You groaned in pain when you awoke. Your head was throbbing painfully, but when you tried to bring your hand up to rub at the pain, you realized you couldn't. Your hands were tightly bound behind your back, and you soon discovered that your legs were in the same predicament. You opened your eyes to scan your surroundings, but just to rub salt into the wound, you found that you couldn't see anything. A coarse material rubbed against your face, and you quickly figured out that you had a bag over your head, successfully obscuring your vision.

All at once, the memories about the events leading up to your predicament rushed back to you. The store, the basement, the man you wanted to help getting murdered, Daryl calling out to you—

You gasped and tried to sit up, worry flooding through you like an unstoppable river. “Daryl?” you frantically called out, your words muffled by the sack over your head. “Daryl?!”

“Y/n?” came the raspy reply from your husband.

You instantly felt relieved. “Daryl, oh my god.” You could feel tears welling up in your eyes, a lump forming in your throat. “You're okay.”

“M'okay,” Daryl replied in a hoarse voice. “Ain't me ya need to worry 'bout. They only drugged me with somethin'. Put a rag up to my mouth tha' made me pass out. They hit ya over the head with a gun. Tha's way worse.”

“I don't think that really matters right now,” you began, a bitter chuckle leaving you. “We need to get out of here.”

“We will,” Daryl confirmed, a sense of sureness in his voice. “I promise I'll get us outta here.”

The vehicle unexpectedly lurched to a stop. You fell back against the metal wall, your head banging against the hard surface, only adding to your already growing pain. You winced and cried out, unwillingly letting a tear slip from your eye.

“Fuck, Y/n!” Daryl called out to you. “I swear, I'll fuckin' kill these—”

Daryl didn't get to finish his threat. The back doors to the vehicle were flung open, the squeaking of the hinges alerting you to that fact. Before you could properly process what was happening, you were abruptly grabbed and pulled out of the vehicle.

You were thrown down to the gravely ground, your captors only doing you one favour, which was to cut the rope that bound your feet together.

You were forced onto your knees, the little rocks painfully digging into your jeans. The sack was ripped off of your head, and you had to shut your eyes against the blinding rays the sun emitted. However, you heard a grunt to your left, making you look over. Your eyes fell on your husband, and you were relieved to note that he didn't seem to have any physical injuries, except for a cut on his cheek.

Daryl looked over to you and his eyes held both worry and anger in them. However, he couldn't say anything, because a man quickly made his presence known.

“Bloody hell, darling,” the man drawled, his British accent thick. “You look like shit. My men really did a number on you.”

You looked up at the man with a glare. You remained silent, eliciting a laugh from the green eyed man. He shook his head and walked over to Daryl, regarding the man with a smirk on his face.

“All you got was a cut?” he tsked. “Your girl over here have to protect you?” He laughed before continuing. “What's your name, soldier?”

Daryl clenched his jaw in anger, his blue eyes glaring daggers at the man who seemed to be in charge. He refused to break, refused to give the man a sliver of anything that could reveal too much about the two of you.

“Not gonna give me a name?” he asked rhetorically. His smirk widened into a wicked smile. “Okay, then allow me to introduce myself instead.” He extended his arms, as if basking in the sunlight. “I'm Liam Davis, head of the Knights. Welcome to Sunny Meadows, and a new, better life for the two of you. That is, if you do your part, of course. We don't take well to freeloaders. No more life on the road for you. We're here to ensure a better tomorrow for all of us.”

You frowned and glanced over at Daryl, meeting his eyes. Both of you were confused beyond belief, but there was one thing you were deathly certain of:

The two of you were in crap ton of trouble.

©dixons-sunshine 2024. I do not give permission for my works to be copied, modified, adapted or translated to any other site or platform without evidence of my given consent.

[starswritewhispers]

cozy confessions- nalu

this fic was written for @natsudragneelswh0re for the @allaboutnalu 2024 gift exchange !!

hi hannah!! im your secret santa, omg surprise!!! i tried to follow the fake dating, one bed, and general tooth-rotting sweet fluffinesss prompts (and also found from a mutual friend [shout out lauren] ur general fic tastes) so i hope you love this!! happy holidays, i hope you enjoy your gift aaaaaa

fic below cut

Lucy was really starting to question Natsu’s–and maybe her own– sanity as her eyes trailed over the rustic-styled lodge and the various frat brothers and their dates who were grabbing keys from Loke. She leaned up on her tiptoes, angling her head to shield her lips as she pressed them against the pink-haired man’s ears, voice dripping with syrupy sweetness.

“I’m going to kill you,” she murmured, for what had to be the hundredth time of the night. “This was supposed to be one date.”

“It wasn’t me who forgot that my friends were dating my fake date’s brothers, was it?” Natsu hissed back, faux smile gleaming on his face as his hand easily wrapped around her waist. “Not on me, this time, princess.”

“For once,” she grumbled, settling back down on flat feet to send a quick glower up at her best friend. “I swear–”

“Trouble in paradise?” Loke’s chipper voice cut her off, an all too knowing smirk playing at his lips. “How odd for such a happy couple.”

“We’re fine, mane for brains,” Lucy didn’t even want to begin to try and understand what Natsu meant by that. “Thanks for checkin though.”

“Always a pleasure,” Loke grinned, bright eyes drifting to Lucy. “If you ever wnat to spend time with a real fairytail man, let me know, Luce?”

“I will beat your ass,”

“Oh, I’m sure,”

“Boys, boys,” Lucy cut them off, rolling her eyes as she stepped in-between them. “You’re both pretty, now can we get our room key?” Loke snickered at her words, but easily opened his fist, dropping the key into her waiting palm.

“Sorry, but you two are sharing a queen bed,” Loke began, with a grin that didn’t seem the least bit apologetic. “All the remaining kings were booked so hope you two are cuddly.”

“I’m telling Aries you cried during Finding Nemo,” Lucy threatened, folding her arms over her chest. “And showing her photographic evidence.”

“Girls love a man who is in turn with his emotions,” Loke waved a hand, turning back to his own group. “Have a fun night, you two.”

“I’m seriously going to kill him,” Natsu grumbled, shaking his head. “I’m sorry about that, are ya sure you’re good sharing?”

“Nothing to do about it now,” Lucy mumbled, turning to walk up the stairs. “It’ll be fine, just like freshman year sleepovers.”

“You kicked me onto the floor during those, if I remember right,” Natsu teased, following her. “Usually, quite harshly.”

“Shouldn't have hogged the blankets, then.”

“Hogged?” Natsu placed a hand over his chest and Lucy scoffed, shaking her head. “You wound me with your falsities, woman.”

“Studying Shakespeare in Lit?” Lucy guessed, coming to a stop outside of their room and bending down to slot the key in. “You forgive him yet?”

“No, this shit is ass,” Natsu groaned, a light thud sounding from where he had let his head slam into the wooden door. “I don’t understand half of what he’s saying and Mavis dating my brother can only carry my grade so far.”

“It shouldn’t carry it at all,” she countered, pushing the door open and snickering at Natsu’s startled yelp. “You’re lucky she hasn’t failed you.”

“Shakespeare’s lucky he was born in a time before me or I’d kick his ass,” Lucy didn’t bother to dignity his retort with a response other than a mocking scoff as she walked over to flip the light switch on. “Oh.”

“Fuck me,” Lucy groaned, glancing over the small room. In any other time, she would’ve used the term cozy but when she’d be sharing it with her best friend that she idiotically agreed to fake-date despite being in love with the fool for the past two years claustrophobic would probably be the better choice. “I’m going to give Aries a list of Loke’s roster.”

“Hey!” Natsu protested, ever the loyal frat brother. “She’s different–”

“I know, idiot,” Lucy dragged a hand down her face. “I’m just joking and pissed off.” She turned back to Natsu, blinking at the strange expression that passed over his face. “You good, Natsu?”

“Yeah, of course, it’s just–” he cut himself off with a laugh that sounded almost sheepish, shaking his head. “Nothing.”

“Now I know it’s not nothing,” she walked over to the bed, sitting on the edge to stare up at him. If anything, he grew more nervous, his adam apple bobbing as he swallowed. “Seriously, Natsu, what’s up?”

“Nothing, Luce,” he put his hands up in a mock placating manner. “Just don’t want to know how much shit Loke has planned.” He added, walking over to her to sit beside her.

“He’s really suspicious, huh?” She sighed, folding one ankle over the other. “I guess because we’ve been friends for so long.”

“Shouldn’t that make him less suspicious?” Natsu argued, gaze locked on his hands as he spoke. “I mean, friends fall in love all the time, right?” Lucy tensed, forcing the panging feeling in the chest to subside before she answered. Natsu had never been the best at understanding emotions and he was always far from cruel–he had no way of knowing just how close to the truth he was.

“Yeah, but usually they make a move,” she pointed out, bumping her shoulder against his. “Loke’s probably convinced one of us would’ve said something years ago and that’s why he thinks you’re cheating your way out of the bet–” she shrugged, forcing a smile over her lips. “Which, I mean, you are–”

“Would you?” Natsu cut her off, finally tearing his eyes from where he’d been focused on his hands before. “Tell a friend, I mean.” Another oddly sheepish laugh fell from his lips. “If you loved them.”

Lucy swallowed, ignoring the ache in her heart. “I mean, it depends, I guess?” She fell back onto the bed, letting her head hit the softness of the plush pillow and tried not to wonder if Natsu would still smell of smoke and sandalwood–the way he did during their freshman year sleepovers whenever he’d tangle their legs together in the night before she’d push him out of her bed, before she had realized her feelings and stopped inviting him–or if giving into the cliche was worth it to build a pillow wall.

“On what?” Natsu’s uncharacteristically soft voice was followed by the soft sound of his head hitting the pillow next to her own and she tilted her head, a faint blushing spreading over her cheeks at the near non-existent distance.

“On the friend and our dynamic,” he nodded as she spoke, a pink strand curling over his forehead in an absurdly adorable way. “If I was willing to lose them, if it’d ruin what we have.” If you’d run away screaming, she added, watching the way Natsu’s forehead crinkled in thought.

“Sounds like ya think about it a lot,” Natsu murmured, a soft, nervous, smile playing at his lips. “Anyone in particular?”

“You’re the one asking all the questions,” Lucy reminded him, forcing an easy laugh to tumble from her lips. “Should I be wondering if you’re considering confessing to anyone anytime soon?” She regretted the words the second they left her lips, wished she could reach into the air and gag them back down her throat. She hated herself for uttering them the second a blush as pink as Natsu’s dyed hair spread over his cheeks and a smile so endearing she could feel the yearning in her chest turn to something sharp and green tinged.

“I–” Natsu swallowed, his usual cocky swagger seeming to fail him. “You have to promise not to hate me?”

“Is it someone I don’t like?” Lucy guessed, ignoring the sinking feeling twisting within her gut. “I don’t even think there is a girl I don’t like–is there–or is it like my cousin or–”

“Lucy,” Natsu cut off her rambling, his eyes momentarily dropping her own to glance down at her lips before slowly trailing back up. “If you don’t want this, I really need you to tell me now.”

Lucy could feel the dangerous glimmer of hope grow to a wildfire as she swallowed, forcing the words to slip off her tongue. “Want what?” Again, Natsu’s eyes drifted down to her lips, his tongue darting out to wet his own. “Natsu?” Anything else she considered saying was silenced by the soft feel of Natsu’s lips pressing against her own, and honestly, she didn’t feel like talking much after that, anyway.

Lucy practically melted into the kiss, letting her eyes flutter shut as she tangled her fingers in silky, smoke-scented pink, feeling Natsu’s hand wrap around her waist before tugging her closer, a relieved sigh slipping in the space between them. The books she had always gushed to Levy about were wrong about what kissing someone you love was really like, they were so wrong because it was so much better than anything anyone could put in writing. When they finally broke apart, a slightly dumb-struck, dopey grin was painted over Natsu’s face, one Lucy was sure matched the one on her own.

“If that was just for the bet I’m–” she cut herself off with her own shriek as a pillow slammed into her head. “Natsu–” she squealed, raising her arms up to defend herself from the sudden pillow onslaught.

“Don’t ever insult yourself like that again,” he grumbled, holding himself up by one elbow. “Obviously, I like you, I have for years.” Lucy could feel warmth spread over her cheeks, but she was too distracted by being consumed by the warmth within her to care much about her blush.

“Say that again?”

“For years?” Natsu repeated, his usual shit-eating grin back at home on his face. “Weird request, princess.”

“Not that part.”

“I like you,” he said, a warm smile replacing his grin as he ducked his head down, placing a soft kiss on her cheek. “I like you so much,” her other cheek, “It’s embarrassing,” he added, pressing his lips against her forehead. “Couldn’t even be mad at Loke because I finally had an excuse to try and make a move.”

“You could’ve always made a move, idiot,” Lucy’s words were laced in an almost sickening fondness as she grinned up at him, half-waiting to hear the blaring of her alarm clock. “Clearly, it would’ve worked.”

“Well, I see that now,” Natsu teased, rolling his eyes. “But, like you said,” he shrugged, pulling her even closer. “Didn’t want to risk losing you.”

“You have me,” she muttered, pressing a kiss to his chest before burying her face against it. “As a best friend and–”

“My girlfriend?” Natsu cut her off, excitement working its way into his tone. “Well, both, but–”

“Both, yes,” it was Lucy’s turn to cut him off, a wide grin spreading over her features. “You have me as both.”

“Forever,” Natsu mused into her hair, his smile evident in his tone. A moment of comfortable silence passed before he spoke again, something akin to dread in his voice. “We have Loke to thank for this.”

“He can never know,” Lucy wasn’t sure if she had ever spoken so fast in her life. “We stick with our old story.”

“Agreed.”

Even if they did have Loke’s stupid bet to thank for them finally getting their shit together, Lucy would never be another reason that man’s ego grew faster than the Grinch’s heart.

[galactic-rhea]

You’re so right when you said that Anakin and Padmé are actually really good at communicating! This is an aspect of their relationship that I never see being discussed! And it’s so unfortunate! In the Rots novelization, this is actually shown more so with how Padmé doesn’t even ask Anakin to open up about his fears (his visions) because she trusts that he will, on his own. Proof that he lets himself be vulnerable around her and confides in her with everything. (this part of the book was said from Anakin’s POV.) Even in the scene where Bail asks the senate group not to utter a word of the Rebellion to anyone and Padmé basically having a meltdown over having to keep a secret from her husband now. (She literally says the words “don’t make me lie to my husband! It’ll break his heart.”) keeping secrets and not communicating obviously isn’t a thing they’re use too, and that’s why their issues in ROTS becomes even more tragic, Sidious really did everything to turn them against one another. I do wanna elaborate more on a more accurate and ‘in character’ way Anakin and Padmé would’ve handled things during the Clovis arc, but that deserves a separate post 😭 I don’t wanna dump that in your inbox!

I do think there's miscommunication and some problems and insecurities because they both come with such complex tangle of emotions and traumas, and because they barely ever get time at all to like, actually spend time together.

But yee! When it comes to their feelings they're fairly open, imo. The whole AOTC had them (particularly Anakin) being painfully honest. Even Padmé, after spending what, one day with him was already saying stuff like she didn't actually want that much to be senator or that she was too young to be queen at the time. And Anakin does quite literally confess child murder, even without reading the comics and novels I think I'm safe to assume that neither of them is that closed.

In ROTS everything is a mess, but even then he does outrightly tell her his dream, and the "I'm not the jedi i'm supposed to be, i want more and i shouldn't" etcetc, Padmé is perhaps the person he can be the most honest ever.

With Padmé sadly we get less examples in the movies (not counting deleted scenes), but she is a politician and a more experienced and mature, she knows things need to be talked, especially when Anakin is involved. And likewise, she feels like she can be honest with him the most, because only he does know her (all her other friends are work-friends).

So yep! That's my assumption about them! Glad you agree, and since you have read way more material that's very validating <3

also if you ever want to dump lots on info on my asks be my guest dsfndfjsdfdf

[burning-sol]

Written ver under the cut :)

[*intro*]

Charlie: What do you remember her looking like?

Grizzly: Well back in highschool, she had very straight long black hair.. Very, know you, like pale skin like.... *fades out*

Kian: You know, nothing changes! (she hasn't changed)

[Kiss me (kiss me), down by the broken treehouse.]

Becky: I didn't uh, I didn't know you'd be here either! I was just..back for the weekend visiting my parents.

[Swing me (swing me), upon its hanging tire.]

Becky: But uh, shit, we' got a lot of catching up to do, huh?

[Bring bring (bring bring), bring your flower hat, we'll take the trail marked on your father's map.]

Kian: 'Actually got invited to a.. You know, sort of a party for tonight if you uh wanna head over there. ..you know, with me?

[Ooo~!]

Becky: Yeah.

[Kiss me, down by the faded warnings.]

Becky: I'm... Supposed to be spending the weekend with my parents but..

Kian: Fuck it right?

[Lead me, out through the crumbling wall.]

Becky: Honestly, they're- Yeah, they're treating me like I'm um, like I'm in highschool again. *chuckles*

[Lift the barricade.]

Becky: So.. I'd really like that

[Strike up the band and make the blowflies dance..]

Kian: Alright, yeah, let's uh.. Let's fucking do it then!

[..SILVER MOON'S DARKENING...]

Kian: See where the night takes us!

Becky: Let's do it.

[..so kiss me.]

[*chipper tune plays*]

Kian: Y-Yo-u just end up wak-wa ki n g  next to some b-b-b-bodies that that that you forget in a few ho u h ours. fa ce- You know faces pass but..

Becky: ..faces pass, 《but hey you're home bound》. *she will not be leaving galloway*

[*song sounds stranger in tone*]

[Kiss me (kiss me), besides the melting tree stumps.]

Kian: I dunno ha-ha-have.... Since you've been home for the weekend,

[Kiss me (kiss me), down on the dead grey grass.]

Kian: -has anything been like weird for you like..? Anything feel strange.?

[Sniff sniff (sniff sniff), it smells so sickly sweet, but everywhere I turn there's ROTTING MEAT..]

Charlie: You can tell she's trying to play it kind of cool but li-like... She seems a little awkward about something.

Becky: Kian Stone.. You nervous?

[Ooo~!]

[Kiss me, down by the bubbling crow skulls.]

Kian: You know for old time's sake, you wanna take a walk? You know, down to Willot street? *he wants to believe*

[Kiss me, beneath the black wet chains.]

Kian: Like we used to, you know. That's kind of what I came here for if you- I-If you're-

[It's impossible..?]

Becky: Yeah!

Kian: Oh you're down? Cool!

Becky: Yeah! Okay, okay.. *she knows she shouldn't*

[I hear the voice of long-dead loved ones calling to leave quickly...]

Becky: Oh man.. Well 《at least there's one good thing》 about being back!

Kian: I'll say...

[..so kiss me.]

[*ominous interlude*]

Becky: *lets out a snicker, sounding like she's working herself up to tearing up* You know shit just happened and i i i i t kept happening and I I I.. You know, 《SIGNED ON》 with -> s o m e  th i n g <-   sh[]  y (I) shouldn't of and t h  e e n-n... I guess I got so caught up in it all.

[Kiss me (hold me), (hold me) the air got cold so quickly (kiss me).]

Becky: Eventually I- I figured it out.. But um... *she hesitates*

[Kiss me (hold me), perhaps we should go in (kiss me).]

Charlie: I-It's quiet. And you feel your eyes pull back to hers.

[Wait wait!! (WAIT WAIT)]

Becky: I didn't know you were waitin'. *she was alone*

[What was your father's name?]

Becky: I didn't know I left you waitin'...... *she lost hope*

[(KISS ME)]

[Why does this map feel just like human skin? (HOLD ME)]

Kian: *reassuring* Hey I mean.. We're here now.

[oooh...]

[KISS ME]

Charlie: She's (already dead) crying man.

Becky: *laughs full of mourning*

[HELP ME (kiss me), beside the boiling tendrils.]

Becky: I.. Even though we both have to go.. 《WHEREVER WE'RE GOING AFTER THIS》..

[HELP ME (kiss me), why do the trees have veins??]

Becky: ..I think we should make this last.

[Are there bugs on me!?? (WAIT WAIT!!!)]

Becky: I think I'm in a memory I want to be making.

[I FEEL THE OOZING CREEPING THROBBING EGGS ALL SHIFTING INSIDE ME..]

Becky: ..you know that feeling?

Kian: Yeah, uh..

[So help me.]

Kian: If you wanna run away..

[..(wait wait)....]

Kian: There's still time.

[Help me.]

Kian: ..right? (..right?)

[..(w a  i tt w a ii t.).....]

[*unsettling interlude*]

BecKY(¿): It's It's It's not all that I mean  I'm sure y ou ou ou .. I'm sure you kno o  *breathes out eerily* w w ..

[*music builds*]

Kian: Uh.. *he doesn't want to believe it*

[*bitb track is introduced, adding to the buildup*]

what remains of rebecca jones: Y-You know I.I... I I I shot my shot!! (she tried her best) *breathes out with a smile*

[*music halts on some disquietening notes*]

[*LOUD DISTORTED NOISE*]

[K I  S S   M E]

[...]

[Kiss me (kiss me), I'm feeling so much better!!]

Charlie: So she's writing this song with you and her behaviour is becoming increasingly st- r  a a n g e  as she's like [Kiss ] flitting through the [m] n n [m] n [me]  otes [Kiss me]  repeatedly and repeatedly [AND I CAN MAKE YOU STRONG] and then like  l-l--looking back to you  like [..hide hide...! (hide hide!!!)] *jumbled* noth  wrong  things were  then like  scribling  sense non on the page.

[I'LL FIND YOU SOON ENOUGH]

she made an honest mistake: This song's al(it hasn't) been inside me and [ ^.^ Your bones will harden and your skin will slough!! \(^.^)/ ] it just wants to (KIAN) GET OUT- OUT- OUT!! *she's pleading*

Kian: Like metaphorically oo o r..?

[OOOooOoOOOO~!!]

[KISS ME. YOU CAN'T ESCAPE FOREVER]

Charlie: You start to notice as you guys are kind of singing it together like testing out the..

[KISS ME. I KNOW YOU'LL LIKE THE CHANGE.]

Charlie: The lyrics and stuff and you flit back your eyes to the page she's writing on.

[THE EGGS WILL FILL YOUR VEINS. LET ME EXPLAIN A SECOND'S PAIN GIVES WAY TO PLEASURES ONLY DREAMED OF.]

Charlie: ..and it feels like the words, the letters are almost 《C CR R A W L ING》 and you blink for a second and she is [SO KISS MEEE] NOT [EE] human. [EE] SH[E] IS SOM[E]THING ELS[E].. [EEE]

[Kiss me...]

Charlie: And you blink again and once again it's you and.. Her.

[Kiss me...]

Charlie: At the base of this tree. And you blink and it's gone-

[kIsS m.e..]

Charlie: -and you just see her nice, very cute legible handwriting again.

[k..s.....e......]

[*music fades out*]

[*the music takes on a hopeful note*]

Becky: *stops his hand* Kian that's uh.. That's really good.... I'm sorry, I'm sorry.... *she leans her head against him* I'm sorry, I didn't know.. (it would turn out this way)

Forgive her: I j-just.. (wanted to be with you one last time)

[Kill me... I won't stay down much longer...]

[Kill me... I'll only wake up stronger...]

[Kill me...]

She's sorry: You know the only thing not so shitty..

[I've opened up the path..]

I'm sorry: About this 《SHITTY TOWN》..

[You'll wake up from this scary dream and laugh..]

Was you: ..is you.

[*song cuts out*]

*END.*

[lanawinterscigarettes]

Cozy Birthday (Clara Oswald x fem reader)

Summary: you spend a cozy day in celebrating your birthday with Clara

Warnings: tooth rotting birthday fluff <3

A/N: this is my birthday gift to the fabulous star anon! I hope you enjoy it and I hope your birthday's as wonderful as you are 🥰

Birthdays were always something you sort of dreaded. Not other people's birthdays per say, but rather yours specifically. You hated having all of that scrutinizing attention on you during what was supposed to be a happy and fun filled day.

Luckily, Clara understood that perfectly. She suggested that perhaps for your birthday this year the two of you could just stay in and enjoy some time together rather than having a big party full of people who'd only make you feel nervous.

While you'd never done anything like that before, you had to admit it sounded pretty enticing and naturally agreed. The morning of your birthday, you woke up to her softly humming while watching you with a gentle gaze.

"Good morning, my love. Happy birthday," she murmured affectionately before giving you a loving kiss.

Already you felt relaxed and comfortable. No large groups of people, no unrealistic expectations, no feeling of extensional dread. Everything was calm and peaceful, just the way you wanted it to be.

"I'm going to make us some hot chocolate, then we can find something on the telly to watch," she told you while getting up, clearly just as excited as you were (if not more so).

She returned not long after with two cups of hot chocolate, yours made exactly the way you liked it to be. Slipping back under the covers, she turned on the television while you cuddled up close. It was cold outside, but the blankets you were under and the heat coming from your girlfriend kept you nice and warm.

The two of you laid there for a bit, just enjoying each other's presence as you drank your hot chocolate and watched TV before Clara got up from the bed for a second time, a gleam of mischief in her eyes.

"Hey, come back," you whined like a petulant child, crossing your arms while sticking out your bottom lip in a displeased pout.

"I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere," she commanded while exiting the bedroom. When she walked back in a few minutes later, her hands were behind her back, as if she had something she was trying to hide from you.

"What's that?" You questioned curiously while sitting up some, your previously pouty demeanor caused by her leaving forgotten by this point.

"Just a few things I decided to pick up for you," she said with a grin as she moved her hands out from behind her back to reveal a gift bag in one hand and a plate containing a cupcake with a lit candle stuck on top in the other. "I know you said you didn't want a cake, so I thought a cupcake would be a bit more appropriate."

"Honey, you shouldn't have," you spoke with a voice full of genuine gratitude as you gingerly took the plate from her.

Sitting down next to you on the bed, she watched you with a gleeful expression. "Blow out the candle and make a wish."

You did as she said and blew it out, moving the candle from the cupcake once it was no longer lit and setting it down on the plate before peeling back the wrapper so you could take a bite. She'd gotten your favorite cake and icing flavor combination, meaning it was delicious.

"Are you going to tell me what you wished for?" She asked after a moment or so, to which you merely shook your head in response.

"Nope, but I can tell you that my wish already came true," you replied with a soft and grateful smile.

That made the corners of her lips turn upwards in an expression matching yours, and she leaned in to press a tender kiss to your lips. "I love you," she muttered affectionately, her chocolate brown eyes staring at you with a gentle gaze once she finally pulled away again.

"I love you, too." Your heart felt like it was bursting full of joy at just how thoughtful she was. "Can I open my gift now?"

She let out an amused laugh at the question while grabbing the gift bag from where it had been placed off to the side, holding it out in your direction. "Of course, darling. Here you go."

You were delighted with what she got you, it being something that only a person who truly knew you would get. It really showed just how much she cared, and you expressed your gratitude by giving her another kiss, one that quickly led to many as the gift and half eaten cupcake were shortly forgotten.

Maybe your birthday wasn't something to dread after all.

End notes: I know this is a little late and I'm so sorry about that star anon, the holiday stress got to me �� but I hope you enjoyed it regardless 💞

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[phightingaus]

Info dumping about the gear switch au because I'm so normal about it lol

Story wise this au would take place 6 months after Darkheart did the switcheroo and would switch perspectives of the different phighters.

Sword is now being trained by both Venomshank and Illumina (since he has lumi's sword now).

Illumina isn't happy about having Sword's gear since it's just a basic sword, until he finds out he can make it explode and now he's just concerned.

Venom, now having Icedagger's sword, freezes people when he bites them so the lock in mask is still there cuz he is not turning his son into an ice sculpture.

Icedagger feels like he shouldn't be trusted with an actual sword instead of his dagger so he's just kinda contemplating life.

Ghostwalker just sees this as an inconvenience and wants his OG sword back.

Windforce is still just doing her thing, she checks in with Banhammer a lot since he is not happy about any of this.

Subspace has had to spend a lot of time trying to make his new gear work with him since he has Coil's gear and his main way of phighting was punching n stuff. Subspace created gauntlets so he could at least hit harder (bc bro is built like a twig) and he is studying how his crystal could work with Coil's gear.

Also since his OG gear was switched his rot has slowed down and some areas are starting to scar.

Coil on the other hand is not doing okay. In an attempt to at least get comfortable with using the Subspace trip mine he ended up blowing himself up. He's okay dw, he just has the rot now and lost both his arms to it... Eh bionic replacements it is!

Him and my OC Rainbow still steals crystals from Blackrock so he can slow down his rot. Rain steals them to give to Vinestaff so she can effectively use her gear.

Vinestaff has Rainbow's magic carpet, it acts kind of like a hoverboard but can switch between a single rider and passenger modes. The crystals allow Vine to use the RMC's (rainbow magic carpet) trail as a weapon. Basically; the crystals freezing properties allow the user to essentially harness hard light in the form of shuriken like stars to throw at their target.

Speaking of Shuriken he's still up to the vigilante shenanigans. With Slingshot's gear it's harder to be stealthy, since it's so big, and so he has to be extra careful when he's out.

Slingshot is doing fine, he's still running the cafe and is kinda just there tbh.

Katana and Hyperlaser often give each other tips on how to properly use their gears. They're still drinking buddies too btw.

Medkit is the normal amount of stressed, having Scythe's gear sure isn't difficult at all and he totally knows how to use it effectively/j.

Scythe isn't too thrilled about being a support class now, but she sure as hell looks good with a revolver (when I get to drawing her she will look fine as hell). She's not used to staying on the sidelines to help and is dying to go out and phight her way, even though she doesn't really have much offensive power. On the plus side she was given a crystal like Medkit's so she can use his gear more effectively.

Rocket is just unhappy about the whole situation, he has the gear of someone he hates (Skateboard), using said gear is difficult due to his prosthetic leg and he just wants to blow something up but can't.

Skateboard on the other hand is having the time of his life. Do not trust this man with explosives he has caused an ungodly amount of property damage.

Banhammer is having a hard time being the Warden of the Banlands with a Boombox, I mean how are you gonna inflict blunt force trauma on your target? Other than that he blasts metal music constantly which is the only thing he likes about this.

Boombox is still an indie music producer, he just has a massive freaking hammer now. Believe me it is not easy to pick that thing up, let alone use it. BB isn't really the offensive type either so he's just gonna stay home and make music until things either go back to normal or he can actually lift the banhammer.

All of the SFOTH know damn well Darkheart is behind all this and Illumina wants to stab him so bad but uh oh! He's missing, better get searching lol.

Welp that was a lot, enjoy my brainrot :D

ok:

SHUT THE PHUCK UP MEDS CAM PHIGHT STUPIDLY WELL

ban's be going thru his emo phase/j

ha, twigspace

boom in this AU is a mood tbh

my poor boy rocket, though he does know he can just use it as a blunt force weapon

explosive fanatic skate is something i never thought i would see

i mean shurri could just swap to being a sniper

ice dagg is also a mood

yoo lets goo ice zambie

[not-goldy]

I'm a little surprised Jikook haven't come on live to explain away their enlistment. I kinda been expecting it, cause they know all eyes are on them considering their sus behavior over the years and what this means for them. Then again, I hope they don't even speak on it, cause they earned this big fuck you to the world and shouldn't have to explain shit. I would love that Jikook live before they leave. I don't even need to see them flirt. I just wanna see them happy before leaving. I'm gonna miss them so much, but especially Jimin. I'm sorry, but he owns my heart and I am petrified for him. Yes, I'm relieved he will have JK, but I am still petrified and throwing up over this. I am really scared for him. Like really scared. I can sleep easy knowing Jikook have each other, but I also can't sleep cause I am terrified for them and the day is getting closer. I'm not ready.

I also suspect Tae will probably leave Tkk with some crumbs and do something since they've been demolished and taking reality hit after reality hit all year and he probably wanna make sure he has his delusional fanbase to come back too. They begged him while Jikook was in Japan and he did. I imagine he will again. If it were me tho, I'd let them miserable fucks rot and not give them shit the entire time I am gone, after they harassed my GF for an entire year. I wouldn't want to return to same group of nasty fucking toxic disgusting people. All they've done is tarnish his and Jk's name and reputation. Tae being the mentally abused tortured soul and Jk being the abusive, possessive, manipulating, cheating, fanservice king breaking Tae's heart. I saw a lot of tkk saying they were leaving if Jikook go through with enlisting cause they can't explain away Jikook being together by choice for 18 months, when they had other options. Lets hope they keep their word. Taek down your leaders who gaslit you, you'll feel better. That's my advice.

I know Jimin wanna throw hands but I'm waiting to see his bald head🥲

Until then I'm gonna pretend he's not going and we are gonna get his 10/13 birthday live as scheduled on my calendar 😔

They probably have their reasons for choosing to do this together. Reality is they could have done it with any member they wanted. I personally would have loved if Vmin had gone together 🤧

It wouldn't be so surprising if the best friends soul mates went. Chingus doing chingu things- we have no choice but to look away.

However Jikook, the entire Fandom think you hate eachother and spend a lot of time trying to ridicule and diminish your bond. 18 months is Ike 1000 years a day in hell for someone who hates Jimin at his core.

He hates Jimin so much he can't wait to follow him to military to hate him some more.

Never underestimate the power of hate.

It's such a strong emotion.

And ooooh will Jimin burn under his hateful gaze as he fires hateful beams out of his eyes while Jimin jumps around camp bald head with his gun pressed against his chest.

He's been practicing his mini hateful hugs too

He can't wait to hatefully spoon him till he's begging for mercy

[ddiidi]

Secrets and Danger (weekend special)

idol!Leeknow x fem!reader (ot8 mentioned)

Masterlist

Part 7- PART 7.5(not proof read!) - Part 8

Synopsis: Since you and Minho are together now, Minhoo also wants to spend time with you, and what kind of boyfriend would he be, to not take a day off on the prefect day after an annoying meet up with your mother?

!Warnings: non, fluff, fluff and more fluff, name calling (Princess), pet names (kitten), (lmk if i missed anything)

You were awoken by the feeling of the bed dipping and someone giving you a kiss on the forhead.

A familiar smell, a familiar touch, the smell and touch you missed all day. "What..time is it..?" you mumble out, half asleep, "2am. I'm sorry I woke you, go back to sleep princess, hm?" Minho whispers, before giving you another kiss, getting off the bed, walking towards his bathroom to take a shower.

You watched him, with half lidded eyes, disappear into the room before deciding to take the blanket and your favorite plush, following him into the bathroom. You've seen him shirtless and as long as you don't open your eyes, you also won't see anything else by accident, you thought to yourself, so you pushed the door open and sat down on the toilet lid, hugging your plushy.

"Didn't I tell you to go back to sleep?" Minho asked, taking a short look at you, before rinsing his hair out, "Can't. Miss you too much.." you utter out quietly, too tired to open your eyes. Minho grins to himself and steps out the shower, drying himself off a little before putting his bathrobe on, "I missed you too" he whispered against your head, before picking you up, carrying you back to bed.

He gently laid you down, gets dressed, dries his hair and crawls into bed with you. As soon as you felt him laying down, you curled up in his arms, snuggled to him as close as humanly possible and took a deep breath, taking in his scent, "I missed you.." "I missed you too, but let's sleep a little longer okay princess?" he quietly cooed in your ear, closely holding you to his chest, while you just nod. Rightnow, you just wanted to stay in his arms like that forever, warmly curled up on his chest, in his arms. Being able to smell his scent and listen to his heartbeat, just his whole presence made you feel sleepy again and before you fell asleep, you whisper, "I love you..so much..thank you for being with me Min..". You noticed him mumbling something, but you were too tired to hear it and fell asleep.

You must have woken up pretty late, since the sun was shining bright outside, but you swear, you've never slept that good in your whole life of a human being. If it wouldn't be midday, you would go back to sleep again, but you can't rot in bed all day, even if you wanted to. It would be way too boring since you have no one to bug at. So you get out of bed and are a little disappointed and sad to not see a single text from Minho. Even when you were just friends and he'd be super busy, he always texted you good morning.

You sigh and lazily stomp over to the kitchen, just to be suprised by Minho, standing there, cooking. He picks up two mugs and placed them on the table, when you approached him.

"Love why are you here? Shouldn't you be at work?" "Good morning to you too kitten. I bugged the boys and got one day off because I wanted a nice day with my girl, since I wasn't there yesterday already." he pressed a long kiss on your forhead, before pulling a chair out for you to sit down. "But won't you get in trouble?" you ask worried. "I'll worry about that some other day. Today, all my attention is on you. And you only."

(≧∇≦)/Decided to sneek in a lil weekend day imagine in my story bc i dreamed abt it, js imagine the rest

[snowb3rryy]

Leviathan x F!MC

The Diary

Well, I name it F!MC because this one is dedicated to my best friend, but I don't think I mention gender anywhere, so yeah.

Summary:

You decide to start keeping a diary, yet it falls on the wrong hands.

Warnings: Mentions of: Suicide, Depression, Anxiety.

This is also my first kinda angst story here and not NSFW, how about that😂😃

"Dear diary,

It's as normal as a day in the devildom is, I needed to do something to get outside this boring routine. It was eating me apart, I felt myself getting eaten by depression again. I didn't want to let it happen.

I didn't want a shopping spree with Asmo, I didn't want to team up with Belphie and Satan to prank Lucifer...

I didn't even want to stay with Levi in his room and rot all day in a chair playing games and watching shows. I'm sick of it. I used to have so much fun that way since they are my hobbies to, yet I feel a bit burned out. Maybe I should take a trip back to the human world.

No, that would be catastrophic. I don't want to return to the hell I was born in. Devildom is much better than back home. It's almost equal to commiting suicide.

What should I do? I feel helpless. I want to do so many things yet I feel like doing nothing. Wait, since there are things I want to achieve, why am I not actually trying to cross things off my list? Oh right, I don't have money, and I also really don't have the energy right now.

All I want to do is lay all day... It's nice and warm in my bed. I can listen to songs... I can daydream, I can cry... I wish I could share my comfort with someone... A spesific "someone".

Levi. Yes, Levi. The moment I first arrived here I didn't really think much of him yet, suddenly that change. Almost overnight. I want to spend time with him, I want to hug him and kiss him, I want to make love to him yet... Yet his shyness is always an obstacle I can't beat. Maybe because we both share it, maybe I'm more scared than him. Scared to hurt myself in the process, scared to trust someone, anyone. Scared to hurt him, scared of the world, scared of my feelings.

My dear diary, I write to you so long and yet I came to no conclusion once again. I still don't know what to do, when to do it... Maybe I will do it... Maybe I'm too scared for that too."

A person holding the diary no they're knees, sitting down on the floor. A million thoughts in their mind, one reaction. Tears. Tears is all they could produce, not a word not an action, just tears.

That person is Levi, he's sitting in my room, reading the last page of my diary I left open in my bed. I don't know it yet since I'm in the kitchen making sweets with Luke and Simeon.

Time passes, night is here and the dinner is served. Levi is nowhere to be seen. Lucifer asks me to get him. I roll my eyes at him, like I couldn't think of it myself?? "I'm sick of you and your arrognace Lucifer!" I want to say yet I swallow my words and go to Levi's room.

I knock once.

I knock twice.

- Levi, Come down for dinner

My voice soft, yet maybe it shouldn't since his probably playing and he has his headset on.

- Levi!

I say indeed louder this time. No response. I get worried so I open the door. No one is inside.

I am puzzled yet the worry inside me rises. I take a deep breath and try to think realistically, I try not to let worry and anxiety get the better of me. Yet I lose this battle once again.

I go to the dinning room and inform everyone. They don't seem to care. They all name a different reason. Only Beel said something actually useful. "He may be in your room" he said.

I immediately nod positively and walk to my room. There he is, sleeping on the floor with swollen eyes and a notebook in his arms. No, not a notebook. My diary.

Why did I need a diary? What for? Did he read everything? Am I exposed? I don't like it when others know things about me that I haven't allowed them to!

Panic and my ego disappear when I see his eyes once again. Was he crying? Did I read something bad that I forgot about? Or... is he feeling bad for me? No way, that's not it. He could never. Not because he's unable, no. Because I'm not worthy of it.

I sit by him after I cover him with a blanket. I smile and move his hair out of his face. His so cute, so adorable. I want him, I'm in love with him. Why did he have to read my diary?

A few hours pass but I haven't manage to sleep, and I slowly see him wake up. His eyes slowly open and his face turns red when he notices me. Typical.

He tries to speak yet none of it makes sense for the first seconds. I let him taje his time. He takes a few breaths while looking away from me and he turns at me when his ready. Face red, covering his mouth as he speaks.

Levi: MC... I, I'm sorry I never meant to read your personal things! Never! Please don't hate me for it. I know it's bad I know I messed up I know you're mad but I didn't meant to hurt you.

Then it hit me. He's in the same boat as me. Scared, shaking, I see myself in him yet in the same time I see a whole different person. I smile as I realise what I have to do, how to get out of my routine.

- It's okay. I shouldn't have let it open, don't feel bad alright? No need for that. Just.. well pretend you never have read it alright?

Levi: I want to but... I-i'ts hard. All these things you wrote... all these things you feel... Why did you never speak to me?.. To, to anyone I mean! Not me specifically, like anyone you know?

He hides away again and I smile, he always has that effect, that innocence that won over me.

- My thoughts are mine, and I don't won't to share them. But since you did read them, just know that... Everything will be fine... I think, or at least I'll try. Levi, I can't lie and I don't want to. I've been in a dark place and I don't think I'll escape it soon but, you can heal me or help me but you can make the process hurt less. And i want to do the same for you, to help you beat your problems away.

Levi: H-how?

- I wanted to do this for so long.

I hold his face and I close my eyes as i lean closer to him, touching my lips on his. Softly, with care and a bit of love that's missing from the both of us.

Levi's eyes get wide open and i feel his body tremble. He really didn't expect it.

- Too much? Maybe I should have hugged you first and then.. do this

Levi: No no, it's... it's fine really. Does this mean that... you too... see me as more than a friend?

I simply nod, not wanting to appear more embarrassed or anxious than I already am.

- I want us to do this, to try beating our dark side together, hm? What do you say?

Levi tries to find his words but when he fails, he shakes his head and kisses me. Now that was unexpected.

Levi: This is the energy I had for a week, be greatful.

We both laugh, and i get him in my arms. This day ended better than I though.

Take a look at this story on my Ao3 too<3

https://archiveofourown.org/works/52806115

[salternateunreality2]

The Untamed aka Zackiroth brain rot updates for episodes 12 and 13 because HECK I am eating well today.

Spoilers below:

Heidegger: bring him out

Sephiroth: *injured, on the sad side of genocide, hostage, still standing tall, suffering*

Zack: SEPH! 😁 Genesis, look, it's Seph! My Seph! Hi Sephiroth! Hey! Hey, hey, hey, hey Sephiroth! How's it going? You good? Hi! Hi Sephiroth! *Waves* Hi! 🐶🐶🐶❤️😁❤️

Sephiroth: 😐 *trying not to let Zack get in trouble, secretly really wants a hug*

-------

Heidegger: Sephiroth, recite the rules of Shinra!

Sephiroth: No.

Heidegger: Random Guy, recite the rules of Shinra!

Random Guy: I cannot.

Heidegger: SOMEONE HAD BETTER ANSWER. Zack, recite the rules of Shinra!

Zack: Ok! I studied, so I should be good *starts doing squats, winking at Sephiroth, posturing, stretching*

Heidegger: NOW!

Zack: alright, alright, keep your shorts on...*ahem* Be on time. Do not be late. Have good posture. Always be sober. Do not laugh at your elders. D-

Heidegger: *apoplectic* HOW DARE YOU RECITE THE RULES OF THE CRESCENT CLAN?!?!!!??!

Zack: oops, lol, I'm a dumb dumb 😂

Heidegger: TO THE POOP DECK, ALL THREE OF YOU!!!

------

At the poop deck, Zack gets in trouble and there is a glorious series of Sephiroth and Zack standing up for each other. Heidegger almost hits Zack, Sephiroth's wounded leg gets it instead, while he's on the ground, Zack draws Heidegger's hits, Sephiroth tries to stop Zack from being thrown in the dungeon, Heidegger almost throws Sephiroth in the dungeon, Zack saves his butt, just lots of self-sacrifice for bae on both ends ❤️

If you need me I'll be crying and petting their heads.

-------

IN THE DUNGEON THERE IS A PUPPER AND I THOUGHT ZACK WOULD BEFRIEND IT AND I WAS WRONG AND NOW AM VERY SAD 😭😭😭

Instead, pupper did a CHOMP on Zack.

Bb Cloud sneaks in to stop the pupper and give Zack meds.

Zack: wazzup?

Cloud: the Crescents were half-killed

Zack: *skips right over the entire clan* IS SEPHIROTH INJURED?!

Cloud: yeah

Zack: *saves the meds Cloud brought instead of using them on his FeStErInG dOg BiTe*

-------

Later, they all go on a walk and Zack spends the whole time Bothering Sephiroth, asking if he wants a piggyback, getting Red Lady to stop the march, and fetching water for his boo.

10/10 good pupper.

Genesis the whole time: brother, we are in a HOSTAGE SITUATION, keep it in your pants!

Zack:

--------

During their walk, they go spelunking! ...it doesn't go great.

I mean, it goes great for me, I get lots of SephZack saving each other from giant dick heads (literal and figurative; if you know, you know #murdertortoise)

---------

Heidegger: *starts a fight*

Zack: Anyone who's a giant dickhead and starts fights because he's got a big scary clan backing him will be executed and beheaded and spat on!

Heidegger: HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT SHIT?!

Zack: ...that's literally in your clan's handbook. Line 213. The handbook you forced everyone to memorize and made my lil buddy pass out over (btw that happened). It ALSO says don't insult your ancestors like a dick, and you just did. The punishment, as outlined on line 376, is ALSO DEATH because wtf man y'all are metal.

Heidegger's cronies: ohhhh snap, oh no he didn't!

Heidegger: 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

-------

Zack puts the sexy in sexy wound care by, I shit you not, threatening to undress Sephiroth, then undressing himself until Sephiroth COUGHS UP BLOOD OUT OF SHEER GAY PANIC, which Zack is happy about because apparently it's a vital step in the healing process. 😂😂😂😂😂

--------

Zack: hah, I'm glad I got branded by the crazy woman (btw that happened) instead of her getting that cute chick, because that would SUCK for the chick. She was totally into me, and will remember me forever after this *smug dumb bi noises*.

Sephiroth: 😳🫠*sad gay rejection noises* 😡 *angry noises* You shouldn't flirt if you don't mean it.

Zack: awww, are you jealous?

Sephiroth: 🫠*gay panic noises*

Zack: you have a crush on her, don't you! 😂 *idiot bi noises of denial*

Sephiroth: 👁️👄👁️ *stares into Zack's soul with the gayest longing ever* 🫠 no.

-------

Zack-approved medical care:

* not treating your dog bites because bae might need treatment later

* JUST GOING SWIMMING with open wounds

* forcing bae into gay panic so severe that he coughs up "stale blood"

* wrapping the shortest sticks ever DIRECTLY ONTO OPEN WOUNDS presumably to stabilize the bone that was broken? Months? Ago?

* shrugging

* patting open wounds with dirty, unwashed hands

* leaving bae in wet clothes but it's ok because you dried your coat and put it over his wet clothes.

-------

Also Zack makes Sephiroth cry, which is probably good for him, and likely the first and only time Sephiroth has opened up this much to anyone in his adult life I AM DECEASED IN A PUDDLE OF MY OWN TEARS 😭😭😭

[tenrose]

I gave up, the website is too shitty, literally nothing functions. Idk if the payment really failed or if those suckers are just not able to properly write 'it's sold out'

Now that I'm slightly annoyed...

I'm gonna rant.

First of all theaters can go fuck themselves if they are not able to provide proper services. The cinema I'm talking about in particular is not indie by the way, it's one of the biggest chains here (fuck you UGC) so the bare minimum they could do is provide with actual functional website so people can actually use it and make reservations. Don't even get me started on the price. 11,60€ for me to fucking go out and see people???? And we know seats aren't as good as they used to be in the past. Don't know about the snack prices, I bet it costs two kidneys.

That being said...

FUCK STREAMING PLATFORMS TOO OR EVEN ESPECIALLY

obviously I ain't paying for any. I won't pay for 10 different platforms, and especially not Amazon they can literally rot in hell. Don't even get me started on netflix. I used to pay sometimes back then. Honestly they had something. They used to do an actual effort and trying to show different stuff. They let creative direction to their writers. We wouldn't never have sense8 with today mentality tbh. Everything is just a reboot, a book adaptation emptied from its substance, a reboot, and book adaptation a reboot, a book a- you see the thing. I mean I shouldn't be bitching as pretty much never watch anything new for years so what do I know? I mean I would like to, but every time I watch a trailer, I'm tired just by watching it. Latest exemple I'm thinking about is the three body problem... Like having read the book just watching the trailer you could see the Americanism all over it... For a chinese book. And it's the problem with everything. I mean American TV shows have always be like this, maybe being younger I wasn't aware back then idk. But it feels so empty, so soulless? They can give me all the diversity they want, that doesn't change that it's still empty. And for TV shows (actually I'm talking more specifically about TV shows cause I'm not a big cinephile so I don't have the legitimacy to criticise) I know it's because of that stupid ass 8 episodes format. I've already talked about it. But it's literally draining the whole industry imo. Also writers clearly having little creative freedom since they have to make stuff that sells. But yeah, TV shows lasted physically and in memories because we were watching them slowly instead of this boulimie stuff we have now. Everything is like consume, forget, consume forget and pay shit ton of money.

And I'm thinking I am actually not built for this shit. I felt so burn out not being able to enjoy anything. So now I don't even try. I don't try new shows cause it's not worth it even when there's an actual good one. Because it's gonna be cancelled anyway. Who wants to emotionally invest in shows that get cancelled (I did so many time).

But when I do.

Be sure I will pirate the shit out of it. None of these industries deserve our money.

To finish on a positive note, if there's one thing I'm really happy for in the end. It's books. Sure the book industry is oversaturated too and there's ton of shit to criticise too (but I won't here). But it's so vast there are books everywhere for everyone, and even if tomorrow not a single book would be published (which I don't believe in), there are enough books for my entire life anyway. But yes books, even if formatted too (looking at us french snobs with our novel format), are like the only place writers can still let go of their creativity. Plus you can have cheap books (I'm starting to get there) and obviously free books thanks to libraries, and also you can pirate books too. Yes I pirate books too but tbh it doesn't even compensate how much I spend buying books so I'm not feeling guilty and I either pirate popular books or old books (if they are really old it's free anyway). But yes if you go out unlike me go buy books if you have money, to your local bookstore, or if you can't library is your way.

Reading is my anchor ⚓

[justagalwhowrites]

I was watching greys anatomy and it was about medical trials, and because you’ve given me BRAIN ROT, I couldn’t help but think about Ellie’s clinical trial in Lavender modern AU, and how Joel knowing nothing about medicine would freak at any side effect, throw out a fuck tonne of babygirl’s and holding hair back when she’s puking, having to go part time at work to look after her, just be a SUPER DAD. And like, Doc fucking LOVES super dad so they bang a lot of course.

Joel taking care of a sick Ellie is my favourite. Like, the kid was barely cared about before and now she’s SMOTHERED and she fucking LOVES IT!

You have RUINED ME! (Ily lots babe x)

OMG Bestie, Joel and Ellie when she's sick? Cannot. Even.

Joel fawns over his daughters at every opportunity ANYWAY. Like give him any excuse to be looking out for his girls and he's ON. IT. Early in the trial Doc tries to be the one to stay home when Ellie needs it, monitoring things and cuddling with her and making her homemade soup in a very Mom way. But after a few rounds and they know what to expect, Joel talks her into him being the one to stay home.

"Shouldn't just be you," he says. "You've got other kids at work who need you, too. And I want to take care of our girl."

Doc is really hesitant - not that she doesn't trust Joel to look out for her (she does, Joel would do ANYTHING for that girl) but because she's a doctor and Ellie is her baby and it makes her nervous to be away from her when she's sick. But she agrees and Joel stays home during the worst of it.

He makes a joke about the Exorcist when she pukes to make her laugh when she looks particularly downtrodden. He lets her win at the zombie killing video games - just barely, though, it has to be believable. He gets her Chef Boyardee and she's thrilled about it (extra thrilled because she knows Doc wouldn't be happy about the lack of nutritional value so it feels like they're being sneaky.)

The Joel/Ellie days become kind of sacred. Even after the trial is over and Ellie is all better, they both play hooky now and then and do all that stuff. Ellie doesn't know that Doc knows all about it - she seems to have fun with the idea that it's a sneaky and inside thing just for her and Joel so he lets her believe her mom has no clue - and, now that her stomach can take it, they eat junk food all day and play video games and play guitar. Ellie is always so excited for it the night before that she doesn't sleep and ends up passing out on Joel in the afternoon and he just lets her rest, never moving no matter how uncomfortable he gets.

And Ellie had to get used to being absolutely SMOTHERED in affection very very fast. Evie was still living at home when Ellie moved in and she was SO EXCITED to get a little sister (and just have a sister around again at all) that she was all over her immediately. And Doc has always been a caretaker, so she was always checking in with Ellie and taking a genuine interest and figuring out the best way to make Ellie feel loved (does she want little treats? Is it better to do favors for her? Plan to spend lots of time with her?) and then just doing all. the. things. Joel is just fully Joel about it, all in with his daughter because that's his whole child right there and she's now one of the most important things in the world whether she realizes that or not.

It just gets worse once Evie has moved out because both Joel and Doc are dealing with their second baby girl going to college and then bam there's baby girl number three and they just focus on her SO MUCH. And Ellie doesn't want to admit that she likes it (she groans "mooooom" or "ugh DAD" like all the time) but she loves it. She loves knowing that she matters and that she's important and a priority to them and every day is so happy she came to Austin for that trial.

Thank you for making me think about this, this was so lovely!! LOVE YOUUUUUUUUU!

[thefoxtrot008]

Dialogue Prompts

Alright, here's part 7 of the dialogue prompts! But surprise, surprise! This one is a heist prompt (one of the favs.) and is pretty long. So enjoy! :)

"You're going over there with hi?" "You're not going to get anywhere with that." "What? What is wrong with that?"

"Try again." "I'd know that line anywhere."

"There we go." " "Why didn't you just start with that?"

"You know who I am?" "You're gonna buy me a drink first?"

"He's in a meeting." "If he's in a meeting, then I know he'll see me now." "I'm sorry, sir. I tried stopping her." "It's quite alright."

"Sweetheart, time to go."

"You're planning a heist without me?"

"How dare you?" "I suppose I should go after her?" "Nice try, buttercup. I'll do it."

"he's in trouble. he could use your help."

"Look, if you didn't want me to be apart of this, you shouldn't have told me where you were going." "She's got you there." "You were saying?" "I figured out your little problem."

"You're too smart for your own good." "You can blame dad for that one. I get it from him, clearly."

"Do you want to hear it?" "You got all of that?"

"Perfect timing. I'm getting married!"

"We can have the biggest wedding, okay? We can spend whatever we want! We've got the money for it!" "Or not? okay? I just want to make you happy."

"You really are perfect."

"Question. Won't he know I stole it from him, if I'm the only one that has been in contact with him?" "That's the brilliant part." "You'll slip it back into his pocket then."

"Somebody help him!"

"I'm feeling a bit faint."

"You look so handsome in that suit."

"And that's where I come in." "And pray tell, what can you do sweetheart?"

"Is that the only word you know?"

"keep your thoughts to yourself." "sorry dad."

"You can beat anyone to a pulp and you're afraid of heights?" "It's not ideal, no."

"I give you the finest food around and you don't eat it." "That's because I don't trust you."

"Mom, I need some marriage advice." "What makes you think I'm the best person to come to for that, well, with your father and everything?"

"You have two weeks."

"There's a bit of a hiccup."

"All I'm trying to do is get my wife back!" "It's a fine job that you're doing." "Look, I didn't get a chance to apologize to my wife before, and now I'm trying to get her back, so I can do that properly!"

"You really love her, don't you?"

"I sent her home!"

"you're the only person to get in and out of jail multiple times."

"do you know how embarrassing it is to have your mom come and get you?" "how could you tell dad?!" "he's never going to let that go huh?"

"What loyalty to you have to them?"

"What did you do to get arrested?" "Do you really wanna know?" "well, yea. that's why I asked the question."

"You didn't really think that I'd let all of you rot in the cells now, right?"

"This is a break out." "I'm so happy to see you right now."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Believe me. We won't be here that long."

"You can't or you won't?"

"You created that fight on purpose didn't you?"

"Where's my wife?!" "She's perfectly safe. Believe me."

"I'm getting a sister?!"

"He should be doing fine. Taking over the plan. I should know. Taught him everything." "That makes us feel better."

"Right on time. Perfect."

"Show off."

"Our old spot how nice."

"If you want to want escape you have to do it now."

"We told you to stay in the car!"

"I love it when they argue."

"They're just kids in love Let em' be." "I told you. They're not in love." "I beg to differ. Have you seen the way he looks at her?"

"We are not done talking about this young lady."

"It got boring waiting in the car. What do you expect?"

"You take orders... Or you get left behind."

"That's the way the cookie crumbles."

"I need it to be an exact replica of everything in this room." "You've got it boss."

"What was that?" "I don't know I panicked!"

"I had nothing to do with this." "Save it for the court."

"That's a fake kinda name." "She's good."

"The boss wants to have a word."

"And here we have the original master."

"Take it or leave it. The choice is yours."

"Runs in the family, I suppose."

"I won't call."

"Tell me I'm wrong and I'll stop."

"I have a plan. You're not going to like it."

"You got out of prison and you didn't come and see me first?!"

"I know some who has the blueprints. Now shush."

"I can do it."

"It's never been done before." "They didn't have a plan. We do."

"I win now."

"I told you. I don't do that line of work anymore." "Like hell you do."

"You're the only one that can convince him to do anything."

"You don't even know that you're being followed."

"Oi! Take it outside!"

"I'll come with you."

"I think you just stole something from me. I'd like it back."

"I like that one. You should get that one. You look amazing."

"Hey. I've got some news."

"What? I'm just... very good at determining the worst possibilities that could potentially happen. Why does no one consider these when doing these missions?"

"I think it's rather fitting."

"You're not going to win her back this way! You've hurt her too many times to count!"

"The best part of my evening."

"Is that what you want?"

"thank you for coming back for me."

"You wanna take charge here pretty boy?" "Gladly baby."

"You had him tailed? When were you going to tell me about this?"

"I'm a demolitions expert."

"We can't leave the kid."

"You don't pull that stunt again. You copy?"

"Do it, but play nice."

"I've come to pay a visit."

"I haven't really spent any of it."

"We just spoke-" "I'm calling bullshit on that!" "Why's that?" "You don't like him!" "I can be civil to people I don't like." "No, you can't! You're passive aggressive!"

"Who's side are you on?"

"You're putting all of us at risk!"

"My family, my wife especially, need to be left out of this!" "Last time I checked, she was involved in this last time. So, I'm taking her as part of my consolation prize. I want my money."

"I'm wearing heals!" "So then take them off!"

"We could just throw a chair... or do that. That works too."

"Get a room." "If you would get out, we'd have one."

"Just pretend you're talking to me, baby. That's it. There you go."

"You have such pretty eyes. Just look up."

"I can't stand it when we fight... Look, can we just talk?" "I don't know can we?" "Don't give me that look."

"You. You put her in danger." "He did not! I wanted to go! Am I not allowed to do things?!"

"Don't let go of my hand."

"I've got it!"

"We don't want him here."

"How do you know that? I've never told told anyone that?" "It's a gift."

"I have no sense of smell."

"There must be a reason."

"You married into this. Remember that."

"We have orders to take care of you." "Be my guest."

"That's... not a bad idea."

"Is that the best you got?"

"Well, you couldn't do this on your own."

"You already knew part of the plan?"

"You can't have any part in this either." "What?!" "You have to take one for team!"

"Good to see you."

"I've been here the whole time! How could I possibly be in two places at the once?"

"I have to say goodbye!"

"We have to do this for her."

"That man would give up his girl for power. That's all I'm saying."

"If you're going to accuse me, I have five witnesses who saw me somewhere else, okay?"

"I think we can pull this off."

"Get out of there. Get out of there now!"

"I don't know what my mother sees in you."

"You hurt my daughter, I'll kick your ass." "Not my intention, to do so, but that's fair."

"If you're going to tell me to stay behind, like everyone else, I swear-" "I'm not here to do that."

"I'm gambling of course. There's nothing wrong with that is there?"

"You're on very thin ice." "Is this how you treat your customers? How disappointing."

"You look like your mother."

"They did what you asked! Now let me go!" "Not quite yet." "You can't keep me forever."

"And there we go. We're online!"

"I mean... unless we..." *partners share a look* "that's dangerous." "it is... but I'd reckon we could make it work." "oi! psychic twins. you want to involve us in this discussion?" *share look again and nudge each other* "you explain it."

"You can't tell me what to do. You are not my mother."

"You both are terrible liars." "Who said we were lying?"

"You're not dying are you? Please, tell me you're not dying."

"Let. Go. Of. My. Hand!"

"I don't see you coming up with any bright ideas."

"Hello handsome."

"If it's any consolation, you had me convinced." "It's not."

"You're only agreeing with him, because he's your father-in-law." "well, maybe it's because I have to!" "Yea, thanks for the backup there."

"You're tying that wrong. here. Let me help."

"At the first sight of trouble you are leaving. you hear me?" "yea, okay." "I'm serious. Your mom would kill me if you got into any trouble."

"That was so hot."

"You watch your language son."

"I learned a few things in the club."

"Since when did they become my responsibility?!"

"I don't know how you run in those things, sweetheart."

"Fine then. I'll tell mom the real reason you're here." "you wouldn't." "you wanna take that chance?"

"I knew it! You weren't here for me!"

"My wife says I need to take charge more." "It's not my fault that you're hot when you do it, babe!"

"God. You're so cute. I can't."

"Call me that again."

"What? What was wrong with that?" "Sweetheart. Just a little side bar. I know you feel bad about doing this, but if we don't do this, we're going to die, okay? Okay. Think of it as doing something bad for the common good." "She's right. Let's keep perspective."

"We got into a fight." "You just had to get into a fight now?! We're in the middle of-" "we'll get it the job done. you told us that the first rule is leave you're emotions at the door!" "yea, cause you've done such a good job at that already!"

"Look who I'm talking to! You've taught me every trick in the book and you expect me not to use it?" "Not this time."

"I could do it single handedly."

"Married couples am I right?!"

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And that's a wrap folks! Enjoy! :)