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joelsmochi · 1 year ago

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Us Against the World

A/N: How easy is it to come back after a 4 month (unplanned) hiatus? Not easy. At all. Sorry for my absence darlings, a lot has been going on from moving to health issues to new jobs… It’s been so hectic that I am willing to admit that this piece of garbage was also being worked on over the entire 4 months I hadn’t posted. This was all I could conjure up, but I wanted to polish this off so I could move onto the next project, so I also apologize for how rushed this one kind of ends + it doesn’t have the same lighthearted tone as the first 2 parts. Regardless I hope you enjoy reading (don’t judge it too critically… I’m begging.) Also I think when I pasted this it got rid of my italicized and bolded words -.- (i am serious about italics)

warnings: 18+, kinda mean!jealous!insecure!joel, cclg/ddlg [attitude] dynamic, punishment (but it’s really a reward ;]), angst, more panty kink, some useless scenes, chance of getting caught, a little sadness and a bit cheesy, lazily proofread so expect grammar issues + typos!, i don’t wanna spoil so it ends there byeee (let me know if i missed any please!)

wc: 10k (will the length make up for how bad it is? no? ok >.<)

series masterlist | main masterlist

The bar was filled with laughter and short applause from people winning their games. It smelled slightly of stale alcohol and oak wood.

You had just walked in with Joel behind you. As you were taking in your surroundings, Joel had already seen a guy or two look you up and down. He chose not to say anything. They weren’t worth the trouble.

You both sat at the bar and ordered two beers though you weren’t necessarily trying to getting drunk tonight. You just wanted to keep your promise of making him jealous.

He didn’t think you’d actually go through with it, but when he saw your eyes go from your fresh drink to scanning the men around the bar he knew he was in for a real treat.

“You’re serious ‘bout this?” He rhetorically asked.

You only gave him part of a smile and a shrug to say and what if I am?

He half rolled his eyes and sipped his beer, immediately grimacing at its subpar taste.

“Fine. Do whateeeeever you want, little girl. Just like you always do,” he said. “Gon’ and dance for other guys. I don’t give a damn.”

You glared at him when he called you a little girl, keening a dark chuckle from him. He was poking the bear inside you, waiting for the moment you would choose to give up on your cunning idea.

You stood up out of spite and slowly walked over to a man roughly your age, clad in some lousy outfit that somehow made him stand out to you.

The teasing smirk Joel was wearing replaced itself with a scowl. You swore you felt him shooting daggers into your back as you whispered in the younger man’s ear.

“Wanna dance?”

The boy looked at you with excitement and surprise, bashfully nodding and following you when you pulled him next to the other dancing couples.

You pressed your back into his and looked everywhere except for where Joel was sitting, swaying your hips in sync with your dance partner and occasionally pressing back into his crotch gently.

Joel stared long and hard at the boy who was just using the curve of your ass to jerk off, yet when his eyes wandered to you, all he could do was think about using you like that, only with fewer clothes on.

The song ended and Joel thought it would be the end of your shenanigans; he watched as you whispered in the young man’s ear again, and once you pulled away he motioned for his friend to come over.

Another young man approached the front of you, and you gave him a flirty smile as your arms linked around his neck.

Joel was gritting his teeth so hard he was sure he heard one crack. He wanted to keep his cool, not give you the satisfaction, but watching you dance for men that were your age when he was already insecure about being thirteen years older than you pissed him off.

He knew you were just having fun, but fucking hell.

He hated seeing those idiots practically fucking hump you in the middle of the bar. They were feral and inadequate compared to Joel who knew they could never take care of you the way you needed to be taken care of.

Joel had about enough when the boy in front of you began slipping his thumbs underneath your baby tee and saw how it made you tense up so he reached in his wallet for cash to pay for the drinks. Then, he stomped over you and grabbed your arm, snatching your body from between the two men.

“Fuckin’ idiots,” Joel growled at them before pulling you behind him. He felt you resisting his grip after entering the parking lot so he grabbed your hips and picked you up. He sat you in the passenger seat then got in himself, driving back home without saying a word.

You knew you were in for it.

Once you two made it to his place you were trying to get Joel to speak to you. He just gave you a hard look and tossed you over his shoulder without further resistance; he carried you to his bedroom, sat down, and forced you to bend over in his lap.

“I’m sorry, Jo—ow!”

He had landed a firm slap across the back of your thigh and then broke the zipper on your shorts from yanking them down. Your hips ached from the waistband digging into your bones. You tried wiggling from his grasp causing him to grab a fistful of your hair and yank it back.

He smoothed a hand over the peaks of your ass for a few seconds, not wanting to hurt his precious girl.

But then he remembered how you left him without a care in the world just to spite him.

He gave you another spank that burned furiously against your flesh and forced a cry out of your throat.

“I’ll never do it again,” you pleaded, “I swear! Joel—“

Another smack.

“Fuckin’ damn right, you won’t,” he grunted, watching your ass color red. “You wanna fuck some dumb college boy, huh?”

You whimpered and waved your feet around desperately.

Smack! “Answer me when I ask you a question. Do you wanna fuck people your own fucking age?”

You shook your head frighteningly fast, waving your feet around more as if it would get him to release your hair but his grip only tightened. “No, Joel! I only want you—just you. Please, Joel, I’m sorry.”

He tugged at your panties, not too harshly, just gently enough to create a wedge between your cheeks. You were thankful he didn’t notice your eyes roll back and the soft moan that left you from the friction against your throbbing clit and asshole.

“My ol’ ass not enough for you? S’that it?” He whispered in your ear.

“Of course not—“

He popped you again from your words before pulling your panties up again, hating how you said it like it should have been obvious.

He watched you grind into the taut cloth, humping his knee. Although it was a subconscious movement from your body it didn’t stop him from letting out a humorous laugh.

“So fucking needy, ain’t ya?” He cooed, releasing the fabric and trailing a thick finger down the wet spot in your panties. “M’over here punishin’ you and you’re fucking my leg.”

“M’sorry,” you mumbled.

“You like it when I spank you?” He cooed in your ear; you nodded and he chuckled softly, tickling the hairs along your neck. “Yeah?”

“I like it when—… When you pull my panties,” you bashfully admit. “Feels good.”

He slowly let your hair go and cradled your jaw softly to keep your head up. With a smirk, he toyed with the linings of your panties. “You like when I hurt that pretty little ass a’yours?”

You hummed, taking one of his fingers in your mouth. He circled the pad of his middle finger around the rim of your clothed asshole, letting out a hum or a chuckle every time he felt it pulse.

“You’re gonna be good from now on, girl?”

“Yes, Joel,” you whispered against his fingers, spit drooling into his palm.

“Good,” he hummed softly, “good.”

“Can you,” you paused, unsure of why you were still acting shy. “Can you please pull my panties again?”

He happily obliged, starting a little gentler this time. He watched the shadow of your face contort with pleasure while you moaned softly, grinding your clit into his knee some more.

He watched one of your swollen pussy lips escape from the constriction so he pulled them some more to make the other lip appear.

You moaned at the thin fabric being engulfed by your cunt, clenching so more of your juices oozed out.

You felt his finger gently slip beneath the fabric to rub your wet entrance. You exhaled at his long finger slipping inside of you, collecting your slick before sliding it up to your asshole to circle it briefly.

He removed his finger and snuggled your panties up more. The friction stung your skin deliciously. He landed a smack on your ass cheek with the noise piercing your ears; you yelped and flinched, seductively laughing afterward.

Joel noticed the outline of his hand appearing along your flesh, red and bruised. He kneaded it with his palm and told you to bend over the edge of his bed. Once you were on your stomach again you felt him pull your shorts off of you completely, then your panties. His hands warmed over your thighs, grazing your ass and touching your lower back. He pressed his thumbs in slightly to massage you there for a few seconds before he slid his hands back down again to spread your ass.

You held your lip between your teeth throughout his touches, not wanting to make any noises in case he wanted you quiet.

The cool arousal leaving your body dripped down to your clit almost making you flinch from the temperature difference. Your pussy was clenching around nothing, seeking his fingers or his tongue or his cock — anything. His laugh was taunting and raspy, seeing how desperate you were for him.

"Such a needy girl, hmm?" He took a deep breath leaning into your flesh; his tongue scooped up your juices from your clit to your ass in one long, heavy lick. You gasped, surprised by the sudden contact. You were left disappointed when he didn’t continue lapping at you, but a rush of joy ran through you at the sound of his belt unbuckling behind you.

He heard your simpering little giggle, smiling at how cute it sounded but still popping your right ass cheek where you had begun to bruise. You hissed, chewing on your lip while he undressed from the waist down.

He teased his length along your slit, spreading your wetness upwards and slapping his fat tip roughly against the tight ring of muscle.

And it fucking hurt, more than you were expecting, but judging by Joel’s chuckle he already knew it would.

You understood his need to humiliate you. That was the whole reason for doing what you did. You wanted him to have his way with you just as you had a few nights ago.

But you hurt his feelings more than you expected to and much more than he would like to admit.

He slapped your puckering hole even harder to elicit a response from you, satisfied when you groaned his name.

“Joooel, that hurts.”

He lined up with your pussy, not quite touching you yet. His only response was, “Good,” before shoving his thick cock inside of you.

You screamed at him tearing your walls apart with cruelty, clenching furiously around him to try and adjust quicker.

But he wouldn’t let you.

He pulled out of you to watch your muscles flex for a second, then rammed back inside of you; he stayed as deep as he could.

After ensuring your stomach would remain glued to the bed his lips pressed a wet kiss to the rim of your ear. He listened to your soft cries, feeling your hips wriggle beneath him.

“You gonna be good for me?” He asked again.

You panted with annoyance and told him, “If you fucking ease up on me.”

It was an absentminded comment with consequences you’d be dealing with for days. Joel just clicked his tongue at you and dug his hips into your flesh deeper. His cockhead nudged your cervix serving up a mixture of pain and pleasure throughout your stomach.

He didn’t want to be too mean, however, so he pulled back and pushed his weight into your lower back from his palms. Your stomach being smooshed into the bed made the impacts of his thrusts feel deeper than they were.

Your precum enthusiastically coated his shaft, lubing your entrance as he rammed into you. Your voice was breathy as you spoke.

“Joel—th-that feels… That feels good.” Your eyelids hung low creating a blurry line of vision, head bobbing from his stuttering hips.

“You like getting fucked like a slut?” He spat to which you confirmed. “S’that why you act like one?”

You admitted your faults, not wanting him to ease up on you.

“You wanna fucking dance on someone again?”

You didn’t respond, too immersed in how good he was touching you.

He grunted, pulling out of you leaving strings of your precum mixed with his hanging; he flipped you around and wrapped a hand around the back of your neck, using his other hand to hold you at the base of your spine. He lifted you off of the bed, making you yelp.

Once he got into a comfortable position he removed his hand from your neck, showing you how strong he was being able to hold you up on his own. Your legs looped around his waist as he stood tall, your hands clinging to the broad peaks of his shoulders.

“Look at me,” he whispered; not wanting to be scolded again you lazily obliged. He laughed like a bully at your worn-out expression. “You’re so pretty like this, already fucked out like you can’t handle it.”

“Too much,” you complained against his lips in a short breath.

His hips snapped into yours, jolting your eyes wide open. “I don’t care. You wanted to act like a slut, so you’re gonna have to get fucked like one.”

“Joel—“

He shut you up by shoving his free fingers into your mouth, while the nails of his other hand dug into your back.

He didn’t want to hear your apologies anymore, or your complaints. He wanted you to shut up and take it, like a good fucking girl.

He saw the hindrance of innocence in your eyes that tried to beckon his forgiveness. He ignored it, meeting you with a punishing frown. The heavyweight stare riddled your nerves with anxiety — you didn’t want to disappoint him again.

He ravaged your attitude, breaking you down until he got his way with you just like you had all this time.

“You gonna be a good girl?” He asked again, shoving his fingers further back. You hummed into his hand and nodded, eyes as wide as saucers. He gasped when you twirled your tongue around his digits, slurping up the taste of his flesh. “You like that?”

“Mmhmmm.”

He experimented by pushing his fingers deeper, hitting the back of your throat; you gagged and coughed, but bit down on his knuckles so that he wouldn’t take them out.

His thrusts slowed because he was too focused on feeling your throat, something that felt entirely different against his fingers versus his cock.

Seeking his approval, you took this as an opportunity to fuck yourself on him. With your shaky fingers pressing into his shoulder blades you lifted you rocked your hips up and down, clenching around his length often.

“Look at’cha… You need to cum baby?” His fingers left your mouth indicating he wanted a verbal response.

“Yes, please,” you whimpered. “I’ll be good for you.”

“You’ll be good?”

“Yes. Fuck—yes. I’ll be so good for you, Joel. I promise. I’ll be a good girl for you.”

He moaned at your cunt gripping him, smiling at how you humped him. You couldn’t hide your deprivation from him any longer, but he wanted you to earn it.

“Put your fingers in your mouth,” he instructed, smirking when you did so immediately. He gripped your ass with both of his wide hands to steady you. “Yeah, there you go. S’pretty like this…”

Your hair was glued to the sweat on your face and your eyes were low with a wave of tears waiting to spill onto your cheeks. Your teeth waned behind your red lips as you gurgled from choking on your saliva.

“You’re so pretty for me, princess,” he cooed; despite the softness in his voice, his tone was still suggestive of his anger.

He was on the verge of forgiving you, but he still wasn’t quite there yet.

Your arms and core were growing weaker the harder you worked your body on his, but you were so determined to cum — and to do it on his command.

“Tell me how pretty you are,” he said with a devilish grin widening.

You were a little lost — what exactly did he want?

“Hmm?” You hummed, unintentionally slowing down.

“Tell me… How pretty you are,” he said again.

“Um…” Your mind was blank, God, Joel could really fuck you stupid, couldn’t he? “I’m—I’m so pretty,” you whispered.

You couldn’t think of what to say.

Maybe if I compliment myself the way Joel does…

“You like how pretty I am for you?” You asked. “All fucked out from your cock?”

His eyes rolled shut as he let out an obscenely long groan.

He liked that, you thought.

“I look so pretty with your cock stretching me out, don’t I? Hmm, yes, fuck—ah! You make me so pretty when you let me fuck myself on you, Joel—gah! Do you—fuck. Do you wanna see how pretty I am when I cum like this?”

His eyes shot open at the proposal, the only words his mind was able to compute being, “Yes, princess. Yes, yes, cum for me—mnh, God. You feel so fucking good.”

His words were encouraging enough to keep you going, long enough to light that fire that tickled you red.

“Show me how fuckin’ pretty you look when you cum for me, baby.”

Your ass stung from him squeezing where his punishment landed, adding fuel to your rising orgasm.

He saw it spread across your precious body: your eyes wavering between open and close, your mouth pouting with his name leaving your tight throat, your nipples peaking, goosebumps flaring across your entire body.

You were flushed red and heaving and Joel couldn’t look away. You looked so ethereal, wrapping your fluttering pussy around the base of his dick and grinding in circular motions.

Pins and needles poked your arms from holding your weight, but the climax felt too good to let up so soon. You were sensitive, knotty, and engulfed in the stillness you were finally able to have.

“My pretty girl,” Joel whispered sweetly.

You opened your lazy eyes, giving him a soft smile. “Show me how pretty you are when you cum,” you said against his lips.

He took a moment to catch his breath before propping his arms underneath your thighs one by one. Your body thanked you for the relief.

Your cunt squelched cum onto his balls while the air thickened with the aroma of sex and sweat.

So sleepy, you felt as he continued to drive his hips into you, but he was so handsome in the low light of the moon. You felt your soul tie to his own, blending your orgasm into admiration for the man.

This was anything but the casual agreement you two had come to weeks ago, but fuck was it well worth it. His jealousy was a sign of a weakness he only possessed when it came to you.

“I’m gonna cum,” he whispered with need. You wrapped your hands around his jawline and pressed his lips against yours.

The slip of your tongue against his was nasty. It was fucking filthy. You licked each other anywhere you could reach, coating one another in saliva as if to mark your territories.

Joel whimpered against your lips, admitting his arrival in the middle of the kiss. “I’m cumming. I’m cumming. I—…”

His mouth parted as he brought you impossibly close to his body, and he felt a knee nearly give out from the intensity of his orgasm. He drifted his body to the floor so he could sit on his knees, not wanting to drop you.

His thrusts were small and deep as he continued ruining your sore walls with his ropes of cum.

Still entangled in a series of kisses, they simmered to a savory pace. You tasted each other and relished in the filthy mix of bodily fluids.

You’d never been so sweaty from sex in your life yet it felt so fucking amazing.

He pumped you so full of cum that even with his cock plugging you a little bit of it managed to leak out. You both smiled at the feeling and broke away from each other's lips.

With your head tossed back on the edge of his bed and his head resting on your chest, you just sat there in silence.

His hands gloss over your back and your fingers stroking the wet curls on his head. You wanted to stay here forever, clinging to him like a bear to a tree.

He pressed a kiss onto your collarbone before raising his head to look at you.

“You hungry?” He asked.

“Mm-hmm,” you moaned shut-eyed, obviously very tired from sex. He grunted from standing up again and laid you in the cold bed before grabbing your panties and slipping them back up your legs. You finished it for him, making sure they were snug against your entrance to keep the cum from spilling out too much.

“I’ll go get some takeout, princess.”

You hummed with a small smile at his new nickname for you, feeling him press a kiss to your temple before you fell into a deep slumber.

“What are you doin’?” Joel yawned as he entered the kitchen.

“I am making us eggs and only eggs because you have a poor selection of breakfast foods.”

He snickered, closing the space between you and wrapping his warm arms around your waist. “Well, thank you, princess,” he mumbled against the curve of your neck.

His fingers slipped beneath the shirt you borrowed from him and found the hem of your panties. You didn’t allow his hands to distract you as you spread the fluffy eggs out over two plates.

“I guess this…” His fingers slipped inside of your partially wet cunt, curling just the way you like. “…is my breakfast.”

You shivered as goosebumps poked your skin from the motion of his hand, and you smirked to yourself when his other hand tugged at your panties. Once they hit the ground he bent you over slightly to pull his cock out, gliding it along your slit to tease you. You turned the stove off and gripped the counter, careful to not burn yourself.

Not even a moment later you felt his velvety cock smack against the peak of your ass, and you moaned at how warm he felt against your cold flesh.

“Joel,” you exhaled. “You’re fucking ruining me.”

“Y’say it like it’s a bad thing,” he grunted whilst sliding inside of you.

You moaned, eyes closing softly. “Not at all.”

He rolled his hips slowly, careful not to break you any more than he did just the night before. His hot breath filled your ears with decadent compliments about how good you were for him and how much he wanted to show his appreciation.

Joel fought a moan every time he saw your eyelashes flutter shut and heard you sharply inhale between gritted teeth. His confession of admiration seemed to hold more weight than before. That knot inside of you gushes at his rasps of affection, pushing you toward the edge.

You focused on how he felt, every little thing he was doing: his left hand held you steady at your hip while his right stroked your hair calmly as if you were his new pet kitten. His hips curled into the shape of you as if his body was planting kisses anywhere you managed to still be bruised from his punishments. His thighs trembled against the back of your stiff legs, urging you to let go whenever you were ready, not quite rushing you.

His voice was staggering and cracking, the words I love you straining against his throat from him suffocating it with praises instead.

You knew all of the you’re doing so good f’me’s and you sound so beautiful’s and you look so pretty with my cock inside of you’s were just invulnerably hidden I love you’s, but it didn’t bother you.

You understood what he truly meant and that’s all you needed for now.

His lovely teeth nibbled into the valley of your ear earning a giggle from you; you were so close—so fucking close. You needed more.

You tried rubbing your swollen and throbbing clit yourself but it wasn’t enough. Joel’s need to take care of you radiated from the heat of his body and you craved more of his touch; you moved his hand from your hip to your stiff bud, guiding his fingers to perform the way you sought.

His fingers were strong and thick and just what you needed to overflow, clawing at his bicep, leaning your head back to rest upon his shoulder.

It felt so good to be held by him. A longing that burrowed itself into your soul resurfaced. Ready to be fulfilled by him.

His words turned into simpering little mewls of yes’s and cum for me’s as you clenched around him.

He knew you were just barely there and he was adamant on not changing his pace or patterns if it meant he could watch you crumble.

Joel’s right hand left your hair and held your agape jaw to keep your head from bobbing too much after one of your legs buckled and your grip around his muscles tightened. He increased the force of his thrusts emphasizing the sound of his hips clapping against your heated skin.

His body was aching from the lack of rest but every moan you let out was so soft and subtle that it motivated him to continue.

Your breathing was shallow, filled with whimpers since he wouldn’t ease up on your sore cunt, but you loved it. Your body craved the sin of secrecy that had Joel’s name written all over it.

All the sneaking around, lying, and pretending you two are nothing more than long-time neighbors made all of this worth it. The games. Chasing each other. Waiting days—if not weeks just for a kiss was the thrill of it all.

Deep down you knew it couldn’t last forever; it’d either have to come out or come to an end. But couldn’t you live in the fantasy just for a little while,

moaning Joel’s name a little longer,

feeling the thick cum etched between your bodies,

feeling him stiffen up or jolt whenever your breath hit his sensitive ears,

laughing every time he accidentally slipped out,

getting so carried away that you couldn’t hear anything else…

…Like the garage door opening.

“Oh! Shit!”

You and Joel immediately pulled away, shocked by the sudden boom of Tommy’s voice; with trembling legs, you struggled your underwear back up while Joel tried to tuck in what refused to be hidden.

“Sorry, guys, I didn’t…” Tommy’s voice trailed off as he looked over and realized it was… You?

Wearing one of Joel’s big t-shirts and some rainbow-striped socks, Tommy said your name as if he couldn’t believe it was you. If you didn’t know any better you’d say he was kind of checking you out.

“Jesus, Tommy. Quit lookin’ at her like that,” Joel complained while ushering Tommy into the next room.

“Like what?”

“Like she’s a piece of meat.” Joel briefly looked back at you with those puppy eyes of his and asked if you were okay. You could only give him a tense nod in response.

You exhaled a breath you hadn’t realized you were holding in before looking at the plate of now-cold eggs.

Embarrassed wasn’t even the word. Distress curled around every crevice in the pit of your stomach making you feel nauseous.

You inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly, regaining enough composure to grab two forks from the utensils drawer and take them out to the living room where the two men sat and spoke.

“Here you go, Tommy,” you said sheepishly while trying to pretend that you weren’t avoiding eye contact. Turning to Joel you said, “I’m gonna head home.”

“You don’t have to leave ‘cus I’m here,” Tommy said, his apologetic tone emphasizing his indication. “I didn’t mean to impose or nothin’, it was… Just a surprise.”

“I gotta go shower and change my clothes anyways, so, uh…”

“Here, I’ll go help you get your things. I’ll be right back Tommy,” Joel said. You both walked up to Joel’s cluttered room where he shut the door softly and then apologized. “I forgot we picked up a job for today,” he explained.

“Well, I have been told I’m a pretty good distraction,” you teased, fumbling with last night’s clothes. He chuckled and watched as you got dressed, asking himself how it got to this point. “I probably can’t do anything until Sunday. My dad wants to take me to this new movie tomorrow, and then some event thingy Saturday.”

“Sunday, that’s…” Joel’s voice trailed off while he pretended to think about something.

You scoffed and narrowed your eyes at him for a moment before hitting his arm with his t-shirt. He caught hold of it and used it to bring you closer, the grin of a jester playing on his face.

“I’m kiddin’, princess. I know it’s your birthday,” he cooed against your lips. His kiss embraced your laughter and made him smile again, but this time much more humbly. “I got you a present—but if I give it t’ya now I’ll be empty-handed in two days.��

You cocked an eyebrow up and stared at his lips causing him to vapidly blush. “You won’t be empty-handed,” you whispered. You held his hand in yours and brought it next to your face.

“Oh?”

“Mmhmm, ‘cus I’ll make sure to keep both’a your hands busy,” you teased.

He watched carefully as you brought his index finger to your drooling mouth and took it in slowly. You somewhat forced his finger down your throat pretending it was his cock. You choked on the thick digit and pouted at him with your eyes.

He gasped at the textures of your narrow throat, frowning in a way that let you you’ve ignited something in him. He fought his moans harder than he ever needed to before, staring at you gag and slurp and slobber around his finger.

You curled your tongue against the webbing of his fingers and licked all of the excess spit up into your mouth with a swift bob of your head.

This made him bite his lip to shut himself up; you decided to not bully the poor man any longer and released his hand, smirking.

“You’re gonna regret that Sunday, princess. I’ll tell you that right now,” he threatened, however, his tone was full of defeat and his voice sounded higher from the strain of silencing moans.

“What are ya gonna do about it, old man?” You teased before walking out of his room.

Your birthday was more fun than you were expecting, more than enough people showed up (granted more than half of them were your dad’s friends), and you spent more time being the photographer than the center of attention.

Joel and Tommy showed up fashionably late (you’ve chosen to believe Joel’s watch is set two hours back). Meanwhile, their arrival earned a few giggles and stares from your high school friends.

They tried to talk to you about how much hotter Joel and Tommy had gotten while you pretended not to feel the pang of jealousy in your chest whenever they gawked at Joel a little too long.

They asked if you two had hooked up since being back and the only lie you managed to conjure was, “Joel’s either always at work or with my dad, so… I haven’t really been able to try.”

“Wait, does your dad know you two used to hook up?” One of your friends, Bri asked.

Right now you were really regretting telling all those lies…

“No,” you said almost too enthusiastically, “and I plan on keepin’ it that way. Not worth the trouble.”

“Well, if Joel’s not worth the trouble to you then you wouldn’t mind if I gave it a shot, would ya?”

You resisted rolling your eyes, wavering the drink in your hand around and mumbling, “Go ahead.”

“Hey,” another friend said after tapping you on your extended arm, “there’s plenty of fish in the sea. Joel’s just one guy.” She must have noticed the defeat in your eyes.

Maybe to you, you thought.

Before you could respond Bri was sitting back down at your patio table with an embarrassed pout on her face, and for some reason, you were surprised rather than happy (okay, you were a little happy).

“What happened?” You asked.

“He said he’s seeing someone else,” she scoffed. “Do you know if he even likes blondes? Because I can always dye my hair darker.”

You chuckled, “I don’t think he has a preference.”

The rest of them changed subjects so when your eyes went searching for Joel, you found him standing next to your dad at the grill where he was already looking at you wearing a smile. You smiled at him and then turned your focus back to your friends for the remainder of the afternoon.

Once your friends had left for the night and your dad ended up in a game of dice with his buddies, you realized you needed some time to decompress from all the socializing.

Your dad insisted on cleaning up for you the way you always did for him, so you made your way upstairs intending to lie down for a few minutes.

With your back facing the door as you flipped through a magazine Joel was able to sneak into your room; it was the lock clicking that scared you.

“Jesus fucking Christ! Joel!” You gasped while throwing your magazine at him.

He chuckled hoarsely and leaned against the wall with the doorknob sticking into his back.

“Could at least make a little more noise when you’re following me!”

“The more noise we make the quicker we get caught,” he spoke under his breath.

Your eyes were wide as you took the sight of him in; his skin was beautifully tanned from the Texas sun, his biceps straining against his almost too-small t-shirt, and his jeans hung a little lower than usual.

His glossy eyes lingered on yours as he watched you stand up and check him out. He saw the fear on your face morph into lust, increasing as you walked towards him.

“What’chu nervous for?” He teased after watching your hand fidget with your belly button ring.

You barely heard him, thoughts immersing into thoughts of all the things you wanted him to do to you. “Hmm?”

Even as you got closer to him your eyes couldn’t leave the imprints of his muscles effortlessly flexing against his shirt.

“You play with your piercing every time you get nervous,” he told you after you pressed your body against his.

Ignoring his statement, you stared at the shadow of his collarbone and the light layer of hair coating his chest.

“Look at me,” he cooed, yet you only did it for a second, fueling that same attitude he had at the bar.

He tapped underneath your chin more roughly than you liked, almost like a smack.

But when you looked at his face again you saw that darkness you knew you wanted it like that night again, despite your attempts at hiding it.

Joel could always see past your bullshit.

“You like when I’m mean to you, girl?” He asked. You opened your mouth, ready to omit, but he held a warning finger up. “Don’t. Do not lie to me.”

You swallowed the dryness in your mouth and batted your eyes at him before naively nodding your head. “Yeah,” you said. “I didn’t peg you for the mean type.”

His eyebrows raised in amusement, a sly smile tugging at his lips. “No? But you like it?”

“I fucking love it,” you whispered against his wet lips.

You didn’t need to decompress. You needed to unwind.

“I bet you did, rubbing that needy little pussy all over my leg when I was bruising you up all sweet and blue,” he bullied.

Your eyes fluttered shut as your breath left your body, remembering how good it felt for him to punish you. When you looked at him again you saw an egotistical smirk had plastered itself onto his face.

“Problem s’that you didn’t disobey me tonight, so how could I possibly punish you when you were being such a sweetheart? Sayin’ thank you after opening every one of your gifts and offerin’ to help out.“ His tone was sadistic, taunting…

“Well, it is my birthday…” You said grinning. A heat burned through the pit of your stomach and spilled into your panties. “…and no one’s given me my birthday spankings yet.”

He remained quiet opting to run his hands up your arms until they cradled your face, thumbs stroking your lips and cheeks.

“You gonna count ‘em for me?” He whispered without breaking eye contact.

You smirked and kissed him tenderly. “Yes, sir.”

He pointed at your bed where you went to bend over the edge for him.

His boots softly knocked against the hardwood floor as he paced behind you, pondering in his head how he wanted to proceed.

Despite the curiosity that made you want to turn around and ask him questions, you stayed still and quiet until he gave you your first instruction.

“Take your shorts off.”

You reached for the button and zipper before pushing the denim down until it met your knees on the floor. Your hips wiggling more than necessary.

“No panties?” He said amusedly. You heard his body move behind you so that he became eye level with your ass. “You must’a really wanted that present from me tonight, huh?”

You nodded your head and reached under your stomach, using both hands to spread yourself for him. “I’ve been touching myself all weekend thinking about it.”

Joel stifled a moan at the sight of the creamy precum that revealed itself between your swollen lips.

You flinched and yelped at the sudden feeling of his middle finger spreading your cum around your tight hole making him smile.

“Rub your clit f’me, baby,” he rasped.

Licking your lips you rested your head down on the bed before listening to him; your ring and middle fingers rubbed perfect loops on your bud while your pinkie finger kept your cunt spread for his eyes.

He glanced at your ass which was still marked from his abuse nights prior.

“My God, girl… These my bruises?” He asked wanting to hear your submission.

“No one else I’d let do this to me,” you breathed out.

His calloused hands gripped and massaged your butt for a few quiet moments until a firm smack landed on your left cheek.

His touch left your body as he anticipated a verbal response from you but it took too long for you to compose yourself.

You were just so fucking eager for his fingers to dance around your cunt that you made the mistake of forgetting the arrangement that occurred only two minutes prior.

“I don’t hear you countin’, girl,” he warned.

“Shit,” you whispered, “sorry—“

He interrupted you with another smack, only this one landed on your spread lips.

“Ah!” You yelped, quickly burying your face into your sheets. It stung ruthlessly. “One… And two…”

You couldn’t see it, but you felt the mean smirk on his face burning into the back of your skull. “Take too long t’answer me again… You get the rest on that pretty little pussy a’yours. Understand?”

Your knees braced into the floor as you nodded. “Yes, I understand, Joel.”

“Mm,” he hummed grumpily. “Good.”

Smack.

“Three,” you hissed.

Smack.

“Four…”

Smack!

The pain was starting to get to you in the best way possible.

You knew that for the next week anytime you would sit down on your bruised cheeks you’d remember how Joel took care of you in the way you wanted him to.

One spanking in exchange for one orgasm — that’s how you saw it anyway. He wasn’t into unnecessary punishment, but he went into this knowing he’d find a way to make it worth your while however you saw fit.

Joel only dominated you because you dominated him in every other aspect. When it came to sex he lived to serve you. So if 23 spankings is what you wanted, well then… What kind of man would he be to deny you of that?

By the end of the torture, you didn’t even want to think about sitting down for the next two weeks.

Joel saw your reflection in the mirror hanging from your closet, watching those red and puffy lips curl into a beautiful smile.

“Dunno how much longer we got, girl,” Joel grunted as he stood up. “Best make it quick.”

Your eyes softly close and you bite your lip, giggling and moaning at how his southern drawl sounded especially sexy tonight. He noticed how lazily you were acting and laughed.

“You already fucked stupid?” He said with a small smile.

You turned onto your back, hissing at the pressure on your ass but giggling again at his annoyed tone and pursed lips. “Hmm… Maybe.”

Joel opened his mouth to say something but you raised your feet to rub against the growing bulge in his worn jeans. He watched your bottom lip get stuck between your rows of teeth, shining a drunken smile at him.

“You wanna play around, girl?” He flirted, a crooked show of his grin sending chills throughout your body.

“Wanna feel you, deep…” You let out a strained moan, cunt gripping so tight around nothing your precum slid out.

His fingers slid to the bulky strap of his belt and pulled it from his waist so fast it ended with a snap.

“So pretty like this…” He whispered as he sprung his cock free from its restraints.

Your face warmed with blush and your nipples stiffened at the sight of his dick: so hard it only slightly curved to the right, with a red hot angry tip beaming with a thick droplet of precum.

He leveled with your body and slid into you slowly, not wanting to risk making you moan louder than the walls could handle.

“Need you to be quiet for me, baby,” he whispered, “can ya do that f’me?”

Your eyes were shut, lips still between your teeth as you hummed and mewled. You nodded, looping his curls around the webs of your fingers and legs around his soft waist.

A breathy grunt escaped his mouth. His breath hit just below your ear making your skin prickle with goosebumps.

As his hips softly crashed into yours you felt yourself tensing at the sound of people outside and downstairs. You’d managed to forget your father’s friends were still here, and any one of them could walk upstairs to use the restroom only to hear the soft squeak of your bed frame—your father could.

Joel was just so easy to get lost in. His scent, his pretty smile, his touch… The way his tongue lapped at your neck like a cat would milk. How his hands cradled your waist and thighs. When he’d move his head up just for a moment to look into your heavy eyes.

God, you were a fucking mess.

His cock slid effortlessly against your needy walls, pressing deeply into that perfect spot at an angle you’d never felt before. And fucking hell, you wanted to say his name shamelessly. Scream it and plaster it onto the fucking walls if you could.

You did everything in your power to keep quiet, struggling from how your bruised ass stung even more every time his body crashed into you.

Joel bit the meat on your shoulder to shut himself up. His body yearning to fill you up with his precious seed was almost distracting. Almost.

“Doin’ so good f’me, girl,” he whispered into your chest, the pace increasing. “Might need t’cum.”

“Joel,” you whined, not needing anything more. Your fingers tightened in his hair and your head was thrown back into the mess of your blankets.

The knot in your tummy twisted, curling tightly around itself. You let out too loud of a breath that turned into a moan, but nothing too incriminating.

“Do not make me have to pull out and stop, now,” he rasped before taking two fingers and shoving them into your desperately open mouth.

You choked at the surprise but settled down and bit at his knuckles.

His face pressed into one of your tits as another desperate attempt to keep quiet, but all he had to do was feel you cumming to finish himself. Joel’s cock was sensitive and overwhelmed, and despite his best efforts to keep going for the sake of satisfying you he just couldn’t fucking take it.

You pouted and tried to pull him back in after he slipped from inside you to no avail.

“M’sorry, princess,” he huffed, annoyed with himself. “Can’t handle you sometimes.”

You rolled your eyes but saw the disappointment on his face as he buckled his pants back up.

“Just sneak over tonight,” you flirted, “suck me dry.”

He smirked at your coy smile and slid your bottoms back onto your hips. “I’ll do what I can,” he promised.

“Don’t leave me hangin’, cowboy.”

It had been about a week since your birthday, and Joel did indeed sneak over to give you your well-deserved orgasm, give or take three more.

And his real birthday present was a small Eiffel Tower; he had remembered how you’d always wanted to visit Paris. While he wasn’t the most superstitious or spiritual man he said he’d hope it would bring you good luck with traveling for fashion.

Your dad on the other hand had been quite distant since that night and you wondered if he saw or maybe even heard something that gave your little secret away. Your dirty lies. Had they finally caught up to you?

Or were you just overthinking things? Maybe he’s just been moody or tired or in hermit mode. It could have been lots of things, right?

Needless to say, it was a shock when he called you downstairs as soon as you were done with your shower.

“Hey Dad, what’s up?” You asked as you entered the kitchen.

“You tell me,” he grumbled, eyeing you as you sat down.

“Ummm, the apocalypse is happening and flesh-eating monsters are taking over,” you answered sarcastically. When his facial expression didn’t even change in the slightest you stopped joking. “Uh, I…don’t know…”

“Whose shirt is this?”

A dull brown and red flannel was tossed onto the island and you just knew your face gave you away.

“Dad—“

“Don’t lie to me either,” he said between gritted teeth.

Your father already knew it was Joel’s, you knew that. But he always gave you the opportunity to take accountability for your actions. Not like it made him less mad, it just softened the blow.

“Where did you find it?” You asked, voice shaking.

“Yesterday,” he said after some hesitation, “you were at work for your last day. I was doin’ your laundry and there it was, as plain as day.”

You shut your eyes, a tear of embarrassment rolling down your cheek that you wiped away swiftly. “It’s Joel’s.”

“Why is it here?”

You looked at him with eyes that begged for him to not ask, but his face was hardened.

“Because Joel was here,” you reluctantly answered.

“When.”

“A… A few times.”

“Why?!”

The tension was suffocating; you figured you were already caught so you may as well admit to everything—well, not everything if you could help it.

“Because we’ve been seeing each other,” you said softly, leaning your forehead onto your hand. “Since I got back, we’ve been seeing each other. Sometimes I go there, sometimes he comes here.”

“Since you got back?”

You nodded and faced him again, fighting your tears. It wasn’t that you were sad or worried about what your dad may have done, you just wished you were more honest from the start.

“Yeah,” you answered. “I made the first move. I was trying to get over my boyfriend and… He was there… And it just sort of happened.“

“S’good thing you’re going back to New York soon.”

Your heart sank—had your dad forgotten when you said you were thinking of staying in Austin to stay close? Not just for Joel, but everybody. Your family, your friends, you wanted to be near when Sarah graduated. You missed life in Texas, too much to go back to New York State so soon.

“I—I told you I wanted to stay, that I was thinking of staying close,” you rambled, “did you forget?”

“No, I didn’t forget. You’re not allowed to see him anymore. You in New York makes sure that happens.”

“Wh—not allowed?!” You almost laughed. “I’m twenty-five, I make my own decisions.”

“He’s too old for you,” he said.

You scoffed, standing up. “I’m not some mentally incompetent eighteen-year-old, Dad. I’m a grown woman dating a grown man!”

“Not here! Not when you’re living in my house.”

“Well, then I will just fucking move out!”

You ignored his protests and calls for you, feeling like a grounded teenager all over again.

What you and Joel had was fickle, you knew that. You weren’t stupid. It wasn’t built on a foundation, it was hardly dating even though you wanted it to be more.

Your dad would come around someday. Hell, maybe he would have already had you been honest from the start.

“Hey, Sarah, is your dad home?” You stiffly asked.

She frowned at your puffy eyes and red nose, looking over her shoulder before saying, “Uh, n—no, but he’s just runnin’ a bit late from work. Why don’t you come in and wait for him? He should be back any minute.”

“No, that’s okay. I don’t wanna impose. Just tell him to call me when he gets some free time, please?”

“You sure?”

You nodded, not necessarily trusting your voice anymore with how you were choking up from your tears.

Sarah’s shoulders dropped and she insisted you come in. “Come on, it’s starting to rain.”

After a moment of hesitation, you followed her inside after picking your bag up, wiping your nose, and clearing your throat.

Sarah was kind enough to bring you a glass of water, setting it on the coffee table and sitting down a couple of cushions away.

“Are you breaking up with my dad or something?” She asked after a minute or two.

“What?”

“He told me a couple days ago, but I already figured because I heard him talking to you on the phone a while ago. Something about missing you,” she explained.

“I’m sorry, Sarah, I…” You sighed and looked at your hands. “I wish I was there to tell you.”

“No, that’s okay! I think it’s kinda cool. A little weird, but cool.” She assured. “But are you? Breaking up with him, I mean.”

“No, well at least I hope not,” you chuckled softly. “My father isn’t a very forgiving man.”

“He just wants to protect you. My dad said that’s just what fathers do. I’m sure he’ll come around someday.”

“Thanks, Sarah.”

The lock clicks soon followed by the door creaking open; you and Sarah watch as Joel walks in with empty hands before he notices you sitting on his couch. A look of worry spread across his face.

“Everything alright?” He asked.

“Yeah!” Sarah chirped while standing up. “She just came by to see us.” Sarah walked into the kitchen to give you some privacy.

Joel sat next to you and gestured at the ground. “Why do you have a bag?”

“Oh, I’m just going to stay with a friend for a few days,” you said.

He nodded reluctantly, sensing your nervousness. “Your dad find out?”

A wave of sadness took over you again, but you managed your tears away better this time. You only offered a nod, nails picking at a loose thread on your jeans.

“Why don’t you stay the night? I was gonna make steak for dinner.”

“I—I don’t wanna… Impose.”

He chuckled. “What d’you mean impose? You’re my girlfriend.”

Letting out a surprised sound, you frowned and looked around the room incredulously while Joel just stared at you anxiously.

“Girlfriend?”

He shrugged, leaning his elbows onto his knees. “Well. You are my girlfriend, right?”

“You never asked,” you laughed.

His eyes were a mix of amusement and surprise. “My apologies, darlin’. Forgive me for not having been gentleman enough.” He takes your hand earning a laugh from you. “Will you be my girlfriend?”

“You’re so sappy,” you teased before giving him a peck on the cheek. “I would love to be your girlfriend.”

“I dunno what I’m gon’ do,” you said softly.

You and Joel had been in bed for a couple of hours just talking about everything, with Sarah sound asleep in her room; the three of you had watched one of Joel’s favorite movies and Sarah gave him a fixed watch.

You shifted up to rest on your elbow and looked down at him. “How much longer you think he’ll be mad?”

“I don’t know, princess,” he said after sucking his teeth. “He doesn’t tend to hold grudges but I know he’s more mad at me. F’it’s any consolation.”

You let out a weak chuckle and leaned down to kiss him. His hand cupped your jaw just firm enough to keep you still. Your lips tangled with his, fingers reaching up to clasp his curls; he climbed on top of you carefully, humming on the tip of your tongue.

He began to grind and hump eliciting moans from you both while his right hand got to work beneath your shirt, thumbing the nipple just enough to tickle you.

Your hand snaked between your bodies to find the opening of his boxers; you pulled his velvety cock out and pumped it gently whilst not bothering to touch yourself as your panties were already pooling.

Your heart ached with so much pain and at the same time so much love. You needed Joel. In every fucking way possible for as long as you’d be blessed to have him.

His lips broke free from yours to greet your neck, then your collarbone, before planting around your now exposed breast.

You exhaled at his warm tongue swirling saliva around your peaked bud, sending waves of shivers down your arching spine.

“Joel,” you whispered leaning into his gentle touch.

With a throbbing clit and a slippery cunt you felt weak beneath him. You were enamored with pleasure that it overtook your body. You couldn’t control your breathing or your trembling. Hand awkwardly shifting around his shaft.

He took your other nipple into his hot mouth, shirt bunched around your arching neck. With daunting hands he traced the hem of your panties, pulling at them carefully.

He sat on his knees to undress your legs, adjusting so his cock lined up with your entrance. He slid in slowly, knowing the lack of foreplay could ruin this.

But it didn’t.

Your walls burned with a stretch so delicious it set your skin on fire. It took everything in you to not moan as loudly as your body begged to.

A soft gasp only leaving your lips, your head lolling back, eyes clenching shut… Yeah. Joel knew how to fucking work you.

Your walls clung to him fearing even just a moment of loss. His eyes burned into your feverish skin, watching the rise and fall of your chest and stomach as you took in deep breaths.

“You feel so good,” he whispered into your collarbone, placing a sloppy kiss on it afterward. “I lo—“

A pause in his voice made your eyes fly open; his hips stuttered the same way his voice did signaling something was wrong.

Joel’s heart punched against yours, but he kept grinding into you like he hadn’t spoken at all. Oh, but all the worry was written in his eyes.

“Joel?” You softly asked between moans.

He took in the softness of your hands cradling his uneven stubble. He hummed and kissed the meat of your palm before biting it gently.

You fought the nerves in your voice. Everything inside your body screamed that this was wrong, yet as you looked into his eyes your heart swelled with admiration for the man that helped you find pieces of yourself again.

“I love you too,” you finally said.

He stopped moving his body against yours and he just stared at you. He was conflicted with whether or not you said that only because he almost did.

But when you said it again and tightened your legs around his waist to affirm it he gave you a gentle kiss, finding his tongue bumping into yours along the way. Pulling back, Joel finished his sentence.

“I love you.”

“You love me?” You teased.

But his face remained serious, eyes boring into yours.

After a few more silent seconds Joel laid his head into the curve of your neck and began riding into you again. Hips rolling into you, breath hitting your neck, and hands gripping the sheets.

Your body was hot as molten lava, melting into the mattress. Joel felt so safe, so beautifully safe. Safe enough to say, “I love you,” in his ear over and over again, his voice overlapping yours with the same words.

He took care of you that night. Letting you immerse yourself into enjoying every damn thing he gave you. His grunts staggered and turned into short hisses of pain as you bit into his shoulder to keep quiet. That’s what fueled him: the pain of your undying desire.

He reached deeper inside of you than he ever dared to before, reaching reaching reaching to find your soul and bear all commitment to it. To serve you, as his gravelly voice whispered, “I fucking live for you.”

“I love you, Joel,” you responded. “It’s you and me. Forever. Us against the world.” A tear made its way from your eye to his forehead.

He kissed the trail the tear left and repeated you. “Us against the world.”

It was just sex talk — usually is, but Joel always knew what words would just make you fucking cum. Those words dripped from his lips like a poisonous honey for you to lap up and savor.

He wanted you cumming all over his sheets cock to fucking mean something. To permeate his love anywhere it could stain.

Joel had started to cum just a second before you did, forcing him to let out a moan. You held his head to your chest while he cradled your back.

Your head buzzed the same way it would when you got high, only it felt better. Quieter. More immersive. Your back arched into his touch and the rolling of his hips kept you in that limbo. Not here nor there. You were right where you needed to be, whatever that fucking meant.

You managed to keep quiet a little better than him, giggling softly when he just plopped down onto you after you had both come down.

He stayed like that for a few minutes while you just stroked the curls by his ear, his other one listening to your heartbeat slow down.

“I’ll get ya cleaned up,” he cooed, and just as he finished dressing his phone began to ring. He just answered it as he walked to the bathroom, letting you rest some more. A few minutes later, he came back and wiped wherever you asked. “I gotta go help Tommy real quick with somethin’. W’ya stay here, keep an eye and ear out for Sarah?” He asked.

“Yeah, for sure. Be safe.”

You shared a kiss with him again before looking at the alarm clock on his nightstand. Shit. 11:32 PM.

“Joel?” He looked back at you with a raised eyebrow. “Happy Birthday,” you said with a smile.

“Thank you, princess.”

taglist: @paleidiot @sarap-77 @mmeereaa (cant tag) @ssweetart42

#pedro pascal #joel miller #pedro pascal fic #pedro pascal smut #pedro pascal fanfiction #joel miller fic #joel miller smut #joel miller fanfiction #joel miller fluff #tlou smut #tlou

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kpopbestie96 · 1 month ago

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Looking for you - Bang Chan Cinderella story

Hi lovelies! I know I said I was on a break but I was watching Cinderella with my little cousin when I came up with this short story. So I just wanted to do a quick write, it took me like two hours. So please don't judge it, it was something fun I made because why not. If it's stupid just scroll past it. If you like it...well I hope you do❤❤

Its kind of long, so I separated it by chapters. Hope you all enjoy!

Pairing: Bang Chan x female reader

Notes: When you see italicize, bold it means they're speaking in Korean.

Warnings: cussing, multiple parts, very delusional. Please don't take any of it seriously, it's just for fun.

Chapter One:

"There was an error with your ticket, I'm sorry," your friend Sarah said with a pouty face.

"What do you mean??" You panicked as it was you and your two friends Sarah and Melissa on face time the night before going to see Stray Kids in concert. "I already took off work, we have an outfit planned together, we-."

"I know, I'm sorry," Sarah interrupted you as Melissa sat quiet on the other end. "For some reason I'm only seeing two tickets in my Ticketmaster."

"Did you try calling or emailing them??" Your head was thumping, making it hard to think properly.

"I did! And they gave me an excuse, saying they couldn't do anything." You heard her voice go high pitch, an indicator that you know she is lying as you saw Melissa put her head down. Are they seriously lying to me?? You three have been best friends for years and know every little detail about them.

You stared at your outfit that sat on the chair in front of your vanity, waiting to be worn tomorrow. We were all going to match wearing their case 143 outfits but guess that's not happening now.

"Are you okay?" Sarah asked as you were too pissed to even look at her through the phone.

"Yup..." Is all you could let out before piercing your lips tightly together, trying to hold yours tears from falling.

"We'll talk to you tomorrow..."

"K...bye." You hung up the phone and let the tears stream down, frustrated and confused. You tossed your phone away from you, couldn't stand to look at it right now.

Why didn't they want me to go? There's no way there could have been a problem with the tickets...this fucking sucks...

A ding went off, grabbing your phone to see Sarah sending your money back since you paid for your half. And we had floor seats too...this whole day is fucking ass.

You turned your body around and stared up to the ceiling, wonder what you could do. You figured if you go on to the websites, tickets will be marked up to a crazy amount. Let me see if there's a person out there selling tickets online... There's always another way.

You went on to Facebook in the Stray Kids group chat that was purposely made for the city you live in, where they were performing. You typed your question, seeing if anyone was selling tickets for tomorrow night. You even posted your question on Twitter as last resort.

A few hours go by while you tried watching TV, reading A03 stories just to past the time away when you finally heard a notification from your phone, quickly checking to see if it was someone from the group.

Gabby: Hi there! I saw your post in the Stray Kids group chat and I actually have an extra ticket if you're willing to sit with me and my friends. We can get a little loud lol

You: Hi! 🙋🏻‍♀️ That's not a problem at all! I'm ready to fan girl! I don't care where we are sitting but how much?

Gabby: so they're $589 because we're on the floor with sound check. Our friend couldn't make it because she got sick and didn't want anyone else to catch the flu. Is that something within your price range?

You: Yes! I can send you the money. But just want to make sure you're a real person. Lol 😅

Gabby: 😂 I understand! Here, we can face time that way I can tell you what time to be there and everything!

You: sounds good!

You fixed your hair a tiny bit, wiped away the tears that were left and saw her using face time through Facebook messenger.

"Hi there!" Gabby waved.

"Hi, thank you so much for reaching out! And I love your hair, you're so pretty!" You complimented her hair that was black with dark blue highlights.

"Of course! And thank you! I got it done just in time for the concert," she laughed. "Here are the tickets, since I bought them." She held up her laptop, showing them.

"Cool, what's your Venmo so I can send the money?" She told you her Venmo as you typed it in, "thanks!"

"Of course! But may I ask why your asking for tickets so late?"

You could tell she was being sincere and you didn't know why but before you knew it, you were explaining everything that happened.

"Fuck, I'm so sorry, that's fucking terrible! They're not good friends."

"Yeah...im realizing it now. It's just...they're the ones who got me into K-pop. My other friends could care less about the music."

"Well, consider us your new friends! We're going to have a fun time! I just got your money...so can't wait to see you tomorrow. Lineup to check in is at 10 and sound check is at four. I'll send you my number so you can call me when you get there. We're planning to arrive at like 9:30 since the seats on the floor are assigned."

"Okay, perfect. Sounds great! See you tomorrow morning!"

You hung up and threw your body back on to the bed with a smile on your face, couldn't believe someone so nice reached out to you. And not with any ticket...but floor seats, plus sound check! Great, I'll run into Sarah and Melissa. You rolled your eyes annoyed but knew you were going to ignore them and have the best time of your life.

You looked over at the outfit you had originally planned, making you think of something else.

You got up, threw the outfit into the hamper and searched your closet for a last minute outfit.

You found a thin yellow long sleeve shirt that your mom got you one year and have only worn once. Paired it with a washout denim short skirt that sat on your thighs and found your light brown Dr. Martens boots that made your a bit taller from the thick bottom. I'll add some jewelry in the morning and I'll be good to go. Maybe I can stop at the store in the morning to get a can of blue hairspray to match his from the music video?

You got ready for bed and quickly fell asleep, excited for tomorrow.

Next Chapter >

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ladykailitha · 2 years ago

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The Eddie Munson Guide to Dating an Oblivious Jock Part 1

When I reached 1000 followers I put up a poll for what people wanted me to do to celebrate and the top two options (separated by less than one percent) were between doing nothing and just continue to do my regularly scheduled posting and doing a fun little one shot. Which I told people to put their suggestion in the comments. The only one to actually do that was @artiststarme who requested a pining Eddie and an oblivious Steve. I got half of that LOL! I have an actively wooing Eddie and an oblivious Steve. So I hope you like it anyway.

There is no set posting schedule on this one. I will be putting it out when possible as it’s still a WIP.

Summary: After Vecna Max is having trouble convincing Lucas to date her again so she turns to the one member of the party who is dating a jock: Eddie Munson. He breaks down his tips for dating an oblivious jock. Bold = the guide. Italicized = their conversation. Standard = examples Eddie is giving Max for each step.

The Eddie Munson Guide to Dating an Oblivious Jock

Foreword:

Eddie Munson had the best functioning gaydar in all of Hawkins. Perhaps even the surrounding areas. He hadn’t been wrong yet. Mainly because it only used it on actual teenagers and they weren’t as good as hiding it as they thought they were.

So far he had clocked Robin Buckley, Vickie Lawrence, Will Byers, Mike Wheeler, Tommy Hagen, and few others around their school. But his absolute favorite was Steve Harrington.

Now, some of them were bisexual instead of gay, but the radar worked all the same. Mike, Vickie, and Steve to be precise. Although he was pretty sure Hagen was feeding Harrington a line about it not being gay unless their dicks touch or whatever and passing off his crush on King Steve as just being bros or some shit.

He honestly felt sorry for Carol Perkins because she most certainly was straight and her boyfriend and his best friend were not.

Eddie thought about telling her, but then he remembered she was a bitch and just didn’t.

Now, King Steve was a bitch too. He wasn’t going to deny that. But that was what attracted Eddie to him the first place. His bitchy little remarks, his snide comments, his lip curling sneer.

He was pissed when Nancy tried to stomp it out while they were dating. He didn’t think she succeeded. At least not all the way if the little glances Steve gave him during his famous lunchroom rants were any indication.

And then the world came crashing down around Steve and Eddie got see a whole new side of Harrington that he hadn’t seen before. Steve would still sneer at Eddie’s rants, laugh at Eddie’s attempts to wound him, but there was something else.

He began flinching at loud noises. He went from the top of most of his classes to barely skating by. He started wearing sunglasses all the time. He would turn to his right side when people talked.

That’s when the start of Eddie’s crush happened. This deposed king, was quieter, rougher around the edges, but also the same time gentler, too.

Steve graduated and Eddie did not. It lessened their interactions a great deal, but when Eddie found that Steve was working at the mall in the most ridiculous outfit. It wasn’t even cute, but fuck did it do a number on Eddie’s libido. His attraction turned into full on lust.

And then they ended up saving the world together. And Steve full on saved his life. That’s when Eddie knew he was trouble. That’s when he fell in love with Steve. Head over heels.

That’s when he knew he was going to need a game plan to woo this bastard. This beautiful, sassy, completely oblivious bastard.

Step One: Determine if you are their flavor of partner.

There is nothing worse than assuming a guy might into dating you and then for him not be. Now, everyone Eddie had pegged as gay or bisexual had been correct, but there was always that chance. That first time he was wrong.

And considering that they had become friends after all that, Eddie had be sure.

“I’m just saying that Luke was prettier in the first one,” Eddie defended. He was harassing his favorite Family Video employee, Steve Harrington.

“Come on,” Steve argued back. “That’s not fair. The actor got into a really bad accident between the first and second one. But I would say he looked best in the third one with the teddy bears.”

“They’re called Ewoks,” Eddie moaned. “They aren’t teddy bears.”

Steve rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Besides everyone knows that Han Solo is the hottest guy in the Star Wars trilogy.”

Eddie slammed both hands on the counter making Robin and Steve both jump. “You take that back. This Lando Calrissian slander and I won’t have it!”

Steve laughed.

“Since when did you have an opinion on hot guys anyway?” Robin asked from the candy display in front of the counter, where she was restocking the Reese’s Pieces.

Steve frowned. “Since always?” Eddie and Robin both raised an eyebrow at him. “Me and Carol and Tommy would rate the guys in every movie we saw. Doesn’t everybody do that?”

Robin raised the other eyebrow. “No. I certainly don’t. But I’m gay, so guys just don’t do it for me.”

Steve turned to Eddie. “So what’s your excuse then?”

Eddie grinned. “Because I’m gay and guys do do it for me?”

Steve blinked. “But I like boobies, too. Unless there’s a thing for both?”

Eddie grinned. Gotcha! “Sure there is, beautiful. It’s called being bisexual. Freddie Mercury from Queen and David Bowie are both bisexual.”

Steve frowned. “Is that what Vickie is?” he asked Robin. “Does she like both, too?”

Robin blinked. “Oh. I mean, yeah. I hadn’t thought of that. Yeah, I mean she could like both.”

Steve bumped her with his hip. “There you go. Now ask her out already!”

He laughed and ducked when she threw a packet of Reese’s Pieces at his head.

He bent to pick them up, but they were a little abused and a corner was torn. “Shit.”

Steve held it up so they could see.

Robin grimaced. “Oops!”

“I’ll buy it,” Eddie said. “That way you guys won’t get into trouble.”

Steve smiled wide. “You’d do that?”

“Sure thing, princess,” Eddie said returning the smile. He paid for it and then bid them goodbye.

As he walked out the door he heard Robin say, “I thought he hated Reese’s Pieces.”

Eddie laughed.

Max laughed. “That one’s easy. Being straight has its privileges. I know Lucas is straight, so I have that one in the bag.”

Eddie grinned. “It certainly makes it easier, that’s for sure.”

She laughed even harder.

“Now do you want to hear the rest of these or not?” Eddie growled.

Max waved her hand. “Yeah, yeah. Go on. I’m the one that asked for this.”

Step Two: Find Common Interests

On the surface, you couldn’t find two people more fundamentally opposed than Steve and Eddie. Rich, prep, jock, alt rock, pretty boy. Poor, metalhead, nerd, did I mention metalhead?

In the Venn diagram of life it should be two completely separate circles. But there were overlaps. Their taste in movies for a start. Steve Harrington loves horror movies.

“Hold up,” Max interrupted. “There is no way in hell that Steve can even stand horror movies. Have you met the guy?”

“I am dating him,” Eddie said with a laugh. “I would certainly hope so.”

“He really likes horror movies?” she asked incredulously.

“He thinks they’re great date movies,” Eddie said with a grin. “It’s great for cuddling.”

“Ew, gross!” Max said with a sneer.

“Don’t knock until you try it kid.”

They were all at Steve’s for movie night and they were having a hard time choosing a film that they could all agree on.

“We aren’t watching Gremlins!” Robin protested. “They’re too creepy.”

Jonathan threw his arms in the air. “That’s the point. They’re supposed to be creepy.”

Nancy wrinkled her nose. “I don’t like it either. I don’t think I saw more than five minutes of it when Steve took me.”

Steve laughed. “That was rather the point of taking you.”

You could almost hear the record scratch the universe made when every head in that room turned to Steve.

Steve smirked. “What? The point of taking any date to a horror film is to get cuddles when it scares them.”

“Ooh...” Jonathan said. “That makes sense. I never pegged you for a horror guy, but you were always on top of when they came out in theaters.”

“Hey,” Steve said, “I do enjoy them for their own merit. And I always pre-screen them so I know it won’t be too gory or too scary. Because giving the date nightmares is the last thing I want.”

Eddie ran his tongue over his teeth. “You like horror movies? You’ll pardon my skepticism, but like what?”

Steve hummed for a moment and then scratched his cheek. He snapped his fingers. “Damn it, I’m really bad at movie names. Just give me a minute.”

He ran up to his room and brought down about four or five VHS tapes.

“Let’s see,” he said absently. “Evil Dead, Nightmare on Elm Street...The Dead Zone. That one is really good. Went right out and read the book after that one. And Poltergeist.”

Eddie made grabby hands for the tapes and Steve handed them over. Eddie looked them over.

“Got some pretty good taste here, Harrington,” he said after a moment. “But why aren’t they down here with the rest of the tapes?”

Steve blushed. “My mom said I had to keep them in my room so her friends didn’t think she liked that trash.”

Robin’s eyes went wide. “I don’t like horror either, but to call it trash is a bit harsh.”

Steve shrugged. “Not all horror is created equal. Like the one about the dog in the Antarctic killing people? No thanks.”

Eddie’s eyes went wide. “You’ve seen The Thing?”

“Is that what it’s called?” Eddie nodded. “Yeah. It was too gross even for me.”

Eddie licked his lips. “Did you know it was a remake from the 1951 classic, The Thing from Another Planet?”

Steve’s eyes lit up. “Really? Maybe I’ll like that one better.”

Eddie grinned. “My Uncle Wayne owns it. Why don’t you come over on your next day off, and we can watch together without these heathens.”

Steve laughed as Nancy and Robin squawked indignantly. Jonathan just shook his head.

“Sound like you’ve got a deal, Munson,” he said with a grin.

They ended up watching Pretty in Pink again, because Nancy and Robin strong-armed the boys into agreeing.

“And he still didn’t get you were flirting with him?” Max asked.

“Nope!” Eddie cackled. “But remember we are dealing with oblivious jockus. They aren’t known for picking up on subtle clues.”

Max laughed. “Fair Enough. What’s next?”

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Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

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equallyshaw · 1 year ago

Text

come back to me. | matthew knies.

•

Warnings: light swearing, sad stuff, slightly acknowledges toxic and abusive parent. harassment and bullying.

Word count: 2.2k

italicized is russian.

——

amelia watched from across the across the dinner table, that was a mixture of players and their partners. it was american thanksgiving and the two had been invited to auston's place to celebrate the holiday with the other american's on he team, and a few canadians joined as well. matthew was laughing at whatever mitch had said, as amelia was in her own world; as she had been the entire evening. the two had fought on their way over about something stupid that pissed matthew off. with matthew going a little too hard at the girl who had just uprooted herself over the thanksgiving break to be with him. throughout the evening, she minded her business talking in bit's to some of the other wags, while matthew was having a great time relieving some stress.

it was around 11 now and she was quite tired, the flight getting to her and all she wanted to do was go to bed. she began her dissent towards matthew, and auston smiled widely as she walked up to the two of them. "hey...hope the food was decent. not much of a cook but tried my very best." auston said and she smiled, "it was really good! don't sell yourself to short." she said easing his anxiety. he nodded, and then excused himself to get himself another drink. "hey..do you know when you want to leave?" she questioned and matthew shrugged. "well id like to get going soon, I've had a long 24 hours." she said hoping he'd take them home. "you can take my keys, and go back. I'm gonna hang with the boys." he said pulling out his keys and pushing it into his hands without meeting her eye. she nodded, swallowing back tears. "alright." she said raspy, fighting back tears. she set her cup down in front of him, turned around and headed towards the door to retrieve her coat.

she exited into the night, without daring to say goodbye to anybody. she was embarrassed and pissed off. she quickly sped off back to his apartment on the other side of the city, debating if she should stay and try to fight it out with him or leave. she was sick of the constant cycle the two had had since senior year back in arizona. they were up when they were up, and then low when they got low. she was sick of him being immature and not taking responsibility for his actions or comments. after replaying the fight from that evening, she knew that she had to go home.

matthew got dropped off two hours later, to an empty house. "amelia?!" he asked jogging down the hallway. he saw that her suitcase was gone and the keys left on his dresser. he cursed himself, pulling out his phone. it went straight to voicemail, and so he began texting her. apologizing for that night and apologizing that he did not go home with her. apologizing for not talking through everything, and she read them all. but she never responded.

•

it just so happened that the leafs were in town at cristmas time, and amelia was hoping that she would not run into him since the two lived down the block from one another. and had since they were in preschool. it was around 9 am on the 24th when she heard laughing and voices talking loudly downstairs, and she sighed knowing it was probably the knies here for the annual christmas eve breakfast the families had had for years. she pulled her comforter over her head, trying to block it all out. she did not hear the knocks from the hallway, her mom letting her know the knies were there. and that one in particular wanted to speak to her privately. "amelia ann!" her mom said pulling back her comforter a bit, and amelia fought. she fought until she saw matthew step in. she sighed and sat up defeatedly. "ill leave you two." her mom said slipping out and amelia sighed throwing her hair up in a messy bun. "yes, matthew?" she quipped looking at him, really looking at him more than she had had in months. he sighed sitting down on her bed in front of her, "i was an idiot-" she cut him off, "damn right you were. you made me look like an ass leaving without you matthew! you fucking embarrassed me in front of people i barely know, do you know how that made me feel, huh? huh!?" she said getting heated, and he took it all in. his eyes filling with tears, as he looked at her. "this- this keeps happening matt, we're good and then we fight and its like the whole world is ending. its exhausting and i don't want to to keep doing this shit. we don't even talk anymore...and when we do it becomes a problem! its like were scared and apprehensive to, and im sick of it. we never learn, and were never going to are we?" she rambled feeling a few tears fall down her olive skin, cheeks. matthew sniffled, wiping his tears away.

he sighed, "but i dont want to let you go mia. i don't want too. youve been my best friend practically our whole lives, my constant person through everything and most important my first love who i want to be my final love." he said pausing to wipe his eyes. watching him do so, broke her heart, and grabbed ahold of his hand, both their lips quivering. "i - i can't be with somebody that i don't love..i don't love this version of you matty, i don't like this version that hurts me with words and sly comments thinking ill just take it. others might, but not me. i wont take what my mom took for so long. I'm not being a doormat or a punching bag and i know it isn't intentional matt, i know but it still hurts nonetheless." she said placing her other hand on his cheek, tears fully streaming from both. he remembers. he remembers her rocky childhood, her dad always going after her mom physically and psychologically, it was hard for the girl understandably. so many sleepovers took place at the knies, at the drop of a hat. and he knew that she promised herself years ago she'd never be in a relationship like that. before they got together, she vowed to herself and when they got together, matthew promised and vowed to never turn into her father. and he wasn't but she had grown nervous recently.

"i love you my love." she whispered placing one last peck on matthew's lips, before he stood up and walked out. she fell back onto her bed and sobbed. she lost her first love and best friend in one moment. it was going to be a long christmas break.

•

it was now the beginning of june and amelia was spending time on her mom and step dad's lake house, finally through her junior year of college and she was quite happy with the way it had finished. once her and matthew had broken up, she refocused on her studies and focused on her friends around her at school, something she had been lacking at the beginning of the school year. she was laying out on the boat they had. around march she began seeing a guy, she thought merely was a fling. though it had turned in to so much more, and it had meant a lot to the both of them that they took the weekend to spend out on the lake. amelia sat up, looking over at anthony and smiled who caught her staring. she leaned over and pecked him, moved a few inches up to look at him. she pushed back his long front locks, and kissed him again. he was completely different than matthew, in the best ways. though every once in a while, she thought about where here and matthew's relationship could have been but quickly dismissed those thoughts. she moved back onto her back, before deciding it was time to jump in. anthony skipped a song on the shuffle, and it was 'i wanna dance with somebody.' and she felt her body go numb. that was her and Matthews song, the uptempo version by whitney houston and a slower cover that was found. she skipped the song and wannabe by the spice girls came up, and she stood up giggling. she took off her sun hat and looked back at anthony who had sat up, and as she turned around she caught sight of a familiar boat that she knew all to well. she knew it was his parents, and she knew it was him on the boat. she quickly jumped off the boat, anthony followed suit behind her. he came up behind her and pulled her into his chest, and she rested her head on his shoulder briefly before heading back to the boat as her phone dinged. she hoisted herself up, and took a glance down at her phone. she sighed seeing it was from matthew. she deleted it and helped anthony up into the boat. "hey, im not feeling very well." she said wrapping herself in a towel, and Anthony nodded. "lets get back to the house." he said kissing her temple and taking the two back to the house.

it was about 30 minutes later when anthony left and she made her way back to the boat, to talk to matthew. he was in the same area as before, and she got over as quickly as she could. matthew could see the girl speed over, as soon as saw her figure making her way out. "can i help you matthew, or do i need to go find somebody to help you?" she screamed at him as soon as she came up next to him. he only chuckled, "why do you feel inclined to comment on my relationship, huh?" she screamed at him. "so what if I'm out here on my parents boat with him, its not illegal y'know!" she screamed at him again and he just took it all in. "you find this amusing, don't ya?" she said crossing her arms in front of her, "but its understandable. i broke up with you, i broke your heart and you're still upset about." she said without thinking. she saw the change in his mood, and stepped back. nervously. "obviously mia, obviously I'm still upset! how can you throw away three years in mere weeks?" he questioned standing up now. "you didn't even give me a chance to grieve mia! you didn't give me a chance to process everything before you went on and started posting it!" he screamed at her, and she looked down and sighed. he shook her head, "i had to move on matty, i had too! if i showed people that i had moved on, maybe then they wouldn't find the need every second to harass and bully me through dms matt! i had to show the world i moved on, even if i wasn't completely. all the while knowing it would hurt you, i had to. i just had to." she said biting the inside of her cheek. matt was taken back by her comments, were people still dming her hate?

"im sorry that i broke your heart, i really am...but you gave me the opportunity to do so matty- so many." she said with her chin hitting her chest as she began to cry. matthew's heart broke, before he climbed over the boats to her. once she felt his arms wrap around her, she began to sob. "you hurt me matt, i had to leave. i had to protect myself." she whispered and he nodded, chin hitting her head. "i know baby, i know." he whispered back, feeling his own tears begin to form. "i still love you so much mia, i never stopped and truthfully never will." he now sobbed and that warmed her heart, because she felt the same. she looked up at him, and the two stared at one another - taking in each others presence. "come back to me mia, come back." he said softly, and she nodded. it was if the question, "really" was written over his face and she nodded again. he smiled widely before pulling her in for a kiss. tasting one another's lips as if they'd never kissed before. ones that held history and so much pain and yet, so much love. they moved in synch, their arms wrapping around one another. the pulled apart after a minute and breathed heavily.

"i love you." he hummed as he wrapped his arms around her waist, looking at the mountains that lined the lake, now as the sun was setting. "i love you too, my love." she whispered back before leaning back to kiss him. the two boated back to their respective docks before matthew walked over towards her parent's house. "took you long enough." the two heard as soon as they walked in. both sets of their parents sat at the dining room table eating dinner. "oh." mia said shocked, while matthew blushed. "nice little show yall put on." his dad said, "the neighbors were invested." her dad added and the mia turned to put her face in his chest. "sit down and eat, foods getting cold." his mom said and the two made their way over.

——

ahh hope you all enjoyed! pls like and reblog if you did--- id appreaice it 🫶🏻

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endofradio · 6 months ago

Text

FRAGMENTS OF FEAR — CHAPTER 5: I HATE YOU, I LOVE YOU

PROLOGUE | CHAPTER 1 | CHAPTER 2 | CHAPTER 3 | CHAPTER 4

WARNINGS: NSFW (*extremely loud cheering and applause*)

NOTES: the frank simps are gonna love this one… anyways this chapter’s gonna be a bit unique in the sense i’m gonna be doing some perspective switching. there’ll be some flashback scenes that’ll be italicized to distinguish them from the main scene.

also i couldn’t find a gif to use for this chapter so i just used a random frank one.

SUMMARY: FRANK AND SYLVIE FINALLY SMASH!!! 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

WORD COUNT: 2,375

TAGS: @reclaimedbythesea @creelmalfoylaufeyson69 @blackwolfstabs @atcarpenter @evildarliing @maggotmommys @maggotssmichael @xashleyo03x @witchy-weve-monbebe

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“If you take one step closer…”

Adam took another step towards the jail cell, leaning against the wall. “Then what?” He asked, staring at Sylvie with that signature cocky smirk that pissed her off to no end. “What are you gonna do about it? You’re stuck in there, y’know.”

Sylvie narrowed her eyes at the man, her expression full of irritation. “Fuck you…” was all she could respond with.

Adam toyed with the ID badge that was around his neck. “Look, I know you really wanna get out of here…”

Sylvie rolled her eyes, letting out a scoff. “No shit.” She grumbled. “Being stuck in a jail cell was the very last thing on my mind, y’know.”

Adam chuckled. “You got yourself into this mess. You realize that, right? You were the one driving around drunk off your ass. I just happened to be there when it happened.”

“What were you doing at that party, anyway?” Sylvie asked, her eyes narrowing further. “There was nothing to investigate. It was just a typical college party.”

Adam shrugged. “That would be confidential information.” He muttered. “I don’t have to tell you anything, anyway.”

He looked back at Sylvie. “Tell you what…”

Sylvie raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“I’ll let you out early if you give me a little kiss.”

Sylvie let out a scoff. “Fuck off.”

“Just one quick, little kiss. Could be your ticket to freedom. Nobody’s watching, if you’re worried about that.”

“You have a fucking wife.”

“She doesn’t have to know. She doesn’t know about half the shit I’m up to, anyway… like going to strip clubs with the other lieutenants.” Adam let out a mischievous chuckle. “Besides… you’re prettier than her, anyway.”

Sylvie didn’t answer, her silence combined with her annoyed stare being enough of a response.

“Aw, c’mon. It’s not like I’m askin’ you to fuck me. Though, I wouldn’t exactly be opposed to that idea, either…”

“I’m not fucking kissing you, you creep.”

Adam moved away from the wall. “Your loss, then.”

As annoyed as Sylvie was, she wasn’t bothering to back away from the man.

Why?

Sylvie reached for Frank’s glasses, taking them off of his face and placing them on the bedside table. As soon as she did that, he captured her lips in another rough kiss, pulling her impossibly closer to him, his hand firmly gripping her hip. Hell, this was like a dream come true for him.

And then, it happened.

Both of them quietly gasped against each other’s lips, and Sylvie quickly wrapped an arm around Frank’s neck. Slowly, he began to take her right then and there, and as she looked up at him, Sylvie could see his eyes darkening with desire.

She couldn’t believe this was happening. This was the man she was supposed to hate, yet here she was, underneath him. All the memories started to hit her like a truck.

Sylvie felt Frank’s lips touch her neck again, and she tightly shut her eyes as she tried to suppress a whimper. Each time he rocked his hips against hers, Sylvie felt herself drowning — drowning in a sea of ecstasy. She actually didn’t want him to stop.

She felt Frank nip at her neck, and that sent another jolt of pleasure through her. She tried so hard not to make a sound, but the smallest of a whimper left her lips.

She had never felt anything during sex… until now. With him. Why?

All the other times had just simply been poor decisions fueled by intoxication — one-night stands that never made her feel anything except for regret, emptiness, and shame. She didn’t even feel anything for the men she hooked up with. The majority of the time, she never even saw them again.

But… no. This… this was different. Five years later, Frank ended up back in her life again. Was this meant to happen? Fate, perhaps?

Sylvie wanted to hate Frank, but it seemed that especially now, she couldn’t bring herself to. It was like he had gotten under her skin, and she couldn’t get him out. Why was she feeling this way? He wasn’t any good for her. He wasn’t a good person.

Why do I become attached to what isn’t right for me?

But… this, all of this… it felt so good.

“I’ve dreamed of havin’ you at my mercy.” Frank quietly whispered against Sylvie’s neck. The words sent feverish chills down her spine. “It’s nice to have you not being a smart-ass for a change…”

Sylvie wanted to tell him to shut up, but she couldn’t. All she could manage was another quiet gasp as Frank continued to nip at the sensitive skin on her neck. She was fighting an internal battle with her own mind. He was putting her under a spell at this very moment, and she couldn’t break out of it, even if she tried.

Frank pulled away from Sylvie’s neck, grabbing her face with his hand and moving it so she was looking directly at him. He looked down at her and noticed how her face was flushed, her lips were parted, and her eyes were flickering with desire. It stroked his ego even further to know that he was the one responsible for it. Yeah, he had been attracted to her before, but he was even more attracted to her now.

“I’ve spent the past five years thinking about you.”

“But… how? We… only knew each other for… a few months.”

“You’re still driving me fuckin’ insane. You always have. The way you look, the way you talk, the way you act… y’know what would be nice?”

Frank leaned in closer than he already was, his lips brushing against hers. “You whispering my name… like a prayer to God. Over and over again. I would kill just to hear that…”

Am I dying? Am I dead? Is this what it feels like to die?

Sylvie couldn’t take it anymore. He was genuinely killing her. Every word that came out of his mouth was dangerous. Fatal.

Frank’s pace increased just a little, and even that was just about sending her into overdrive. There was almost a primal look in his eyes now as he looked at her, and then he pulled her into another deep kiss, unable to get enough of her taste. It was like a drug that he was hooked on. He wanted more, more, more.

“You’re liking this, aren’t you?” Frank quietly asked against Sylvie’s lips. “I think I know how you really feel about me. You need my attention, my touch.”

Yes. She needed to feel wanted. Desired.

“Let me…” Sylvie then whispered.

Frank rolled the two of them over so that way Sylvie was now on top of him, her legs wrapping around his waist.

And then, she lowered herself onto him.

“What’s your deal with me?”

Adam shrugged, leaning against the wall. “What do you mean by that?” He asked, his voice dripping with mock innocence.

“Why you just won’t leave me alone.”

Adam let out a small chuckle as he looked at Sylvie, noticing how she was looking at him with that irritated expression that he honestly loved seeing. “It’s because it’s fun.”

“Fun?” Sylvie repeated, narrowing her eyes at him. “The fuck do you mean fun?”

“It’s just the way you get,” Adam answered casually, walking towards the cell door until he was standing right in front of it. “I don’t know if anyone’s told you this, but ‘angry’ is a good look on you. Maybe that’s why I like getting on your nerves so much… you look good when you’re pissed at me.”

Ignoring Adam’s words, Sylvie instead chose to focus on the fact he was standing right in front of her, the only thing separating them being the cell door. “You’re… close.” She commented.

Adam smirked, taking out a key from his pocket and waving it in front of her. “I could get closer…” He whispered, almost teasingly.

Sylvie found herself genuinely considering it. Did she dare let him in? Her eyes darted to the chair in the corner of the cell before meeting Adam’s gaze again.

“Fine.” She muttered. “Just… keep your distance.”

Sylvie went to sit on the bed, watching nervously as Adam unlocked the door, closing it behind him as he slowly stepped inside. He walked over to the chair and sat down on it, staring directly at Sylvie.

“Let me ask you something.”

Sylvie tilted her head as she looked at the man. “Like… what?” She questioned.

“How does it feel to be alone?”

Sylvie sighed. “Not good.”

“I suppose we have that in common.”

“You’re alone, too?”

Adam nodded. “Very much so.”

With each roll of her hips, Sylvie felt the heat gradually pooling in her abdomen starting to grow in intensity. She was gasping for breath at this point, the ecstasy making her feel dizzy.

As she looked down at him, Sylvie watched Frank’s eyes flutter closed as he tried to bite back a noise, but he couldn’t, a small groan escaping his lips. In all honesty, seeing Frank at her mercy now was somewhat satisfying. It was as though the two of them were both trying to have control over each other. In Sylvie’s case, it was a form of revenge against Frank. Instead of him having power over her, she now had power over him… and it felt great.

“I thought you said to be quiet,” Sylvie whispered, her voice slightly teasing.

Frank’s eyes blinked open, and he looked up at Sylvie, his eyes narrowing. “You bitch.” He muttered, a small smirk tugging at his lips. “You’re the one who’s fuckin’ doing this shit to me.”

Then, he unexpectedly pulled her further down onto him, claiming her lips in yet another heated kiss. In reaction, Sylvie let out a stifled yelp against his lips. Frank tightened his grip on her writhing body, his brows furrowing as he fought to maintain what was left of his self-control. His hips met hers with every movement, his muscles tensing up.

“You’re strugglin’ to be quiet yourself, sweetheart.”

Frank then sat up, pulling Sylvie closer to him as he started to lavish her neck with kisses and bites again. She was firmly gripping onto his shoulders, her nails starting to dig into his skin as her pace started to quicken. As she tilted her head back, Frank’s name — his real name — slipped from her lips in a whisper.

“Adam…”

Frank could’ve sworn his heart stopped for a second when he heard Sylvie say his name like that. He needed to hear it again and again until he could vividly hear her sweet little voice in his head.

“Say it again.” He murmured, his voice bordering on pleading. “And again…”

Sylvie was almost on the verge of tears from the pleasure she was experiencing. It was nothing like she had felt before. It was almost too much for her to handle at this point, evident in the way she was beginning to tremble in Frank’s arms. “A… Adam…”

She was whispering his name like she was quietly calling out to God, each repetition sounding more desperate than the last. Both of them knew that she was close, just about teetering on the edge. So was Frank, but he was barely hanging on, waiting to witness Sylvie reach the end first — he needed to see it, knowing it would probably be the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his life.

Sylvie pushed Frank back down on the bed, her knuckles just about turning white as she gripped the bedsheets. The heat in her abdomen was getting stronger and stronger, and she felt like a coil that was mere seconds away from snapping.

Her hips started to stutter as she got closer and closer, her eyes fluttering closed as her breath hitched. “Oh my God…” She gasped. “Oh my… God…”

Frank let out another quiet groan, and then another…

And then, Sylvie finally snapped. When her climax came over her, it was the most intense thing she had experienced in her life. Her head was pounding, she felt dizzier than before, and her body began to tremble even more. Her entire body felt heavy, and she felt like she couldn’t support herself anymore. She shut her eyes even tighter, letting out a strangled yelp as she felt her release completely possess her.

Frank rolled the two of them over again, finishing himself off, muffling his own sounds by burrowing his face in the crook of Sylvie’s neck. When it was all over, Frank just lay there on top of her, both of them struggling to catch their breaths. He eventually lifted his head to look at her, noticing how she looked completely wrecked, and it was all because of him.

“You’re shaking.”

Sylvie looked up at Frank, her eyes wide as the reality of what had just happened sunk in. She didn’t even know what to say. Nothing felt real to her right now.

“I… am…?” She quietly asked, her voice unsteady.

Frank slowly nodded, a shit-eating grin slowly forming on his face. “That good, huh?”

Sylvie tried to fight back a small smile, but she couldn’t resist. “Shut up…” She muttered. “It’s just…”

“Just what?” Frank asked, shifting to lie down next to her.

“No one’s… ever…” Sylvie’s voice trailed off as she tried to steady her breathing. “No one’s… ever… made me feel like… this…”

She took a deep breath, her eyes wandering up towards the ceiling. She then looked back at Frank, noticing the stupid cocky grin on his face. “What’s the look for?” She asked.

“So, was I right?”

“Right about what?”

“You lying about hating my guts.”

Sylvie sighed. “Yeah… maybe. Maybe I was lying.”

“That’s three things you’ve lied about. Well, technically four, because you said you never lie… which was a lie in itself.”

Sylvie rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I know…”

“You’re an awful liar.”

“And you have quite the ego.”

Sylvie tried to sit up as if she was considering leaving the bed, but Frank pulled her down against his chest. “You’re not goin’ anywhere.”

“Go to sleep.”

Sylvie fell asleep before Frank, and when she did, he couldn’t help but find it strangely… endearing.

#fragments of fear #dan stevens #abigail #abigail 2024 #abigail movie #horror movies #horror #frank abigail #adam barrett #fanfiction author #my fic #fic authors #fic writing

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simpxxstan · 1 year ago

Text

perfect complements (ch. 2)

pairing: professor!seungcheol x professor!f.reader

genre: fluff, enemies to lovers, angst, smut

series summary: four and a half years of working together breeds familiarity, resentment, and everything in between. it's almost like living together.

chapter word count: 2.4k

warnings: bickering.

a/n: i have never been to a therapist/counsellor, so i apologise if there are factual inaccuracies in how the process of counselling goes. the italicized portion is an excerpt from the past, and that's how it'll be indicated in the rest of the story!

thank you so much for reading! your reblogs, likes and comments make my day!

series masterlist

GIF by coupsnim

The walls of the counsellor’s office are painted blue and green- quite contrary to what you had thought would be clinically white and even more depressing. There’s no sign of Seungcheol though, as you sit in the small waiting space outside the office, reading a magazine off the coffee table, your legs shaking nervously.

The man you’re waiting for storms in through the door, his shirt unbuttoned at the top, and his slightly longer hair all fluffy and messy. “Sorry I’m late,” he says to no one, especially not you since he’s averted his glance from you as soon as he entered, and there’s no one else in the space. “Dr. Lee is waiting for us.” You speak softly, trying to level your tone. He takes a minute to brace himself before looking at you, fixing his hair, fixing his crumpled shirt, and breathing in.

In the past sixteen hours, you’ve thought about this moment a million times at least. It’s been a long time coming, and you know Seungcheol knows it as well as you. Wonwoo has spoken to the two of you multiple times, and yet- things never seem to improve.

It’s not like you purposely piss him off, well, most of the time. He is a dickhead, but it’s not like you have a lot of free time just to educate him on being a better human in the world. It’s mostly a slip here and there, and the spark blasts.

It started on a rainy day, in the middle of August. You really didn’t like the rain, to make it worse you’d got your period that morning. You wanted to go home as soon as possible, but all public transport had suddenly disappeared, leaving you stranded in the monsoon on a busy street where no one cared about you, no matter how desperately you called for a taxi. It was just not your day-

But all that had a hope of reversing when you noticed a familiar smile and a wave through a car window, which was right next to you now. “Seungcheol-ssi?” you asked. “Can I give you a ride, Prof Y/L/N?” You started refusing him, hands moving animatedly, but then he gave you a look- oh- and you couldn’t refuse him anymore. “Please. You’ve been standing here for the past twenty minutes,” he said, as you shuffled into his car, trying to not wet the seats but in vain. “You’ve been watching me?” “Uh-” he was nervous now, “no I was just…” “Hey, I really appreciate your offer. I was really having a difficult time. Thank you so much, Seungcheol-ssi.” Three months into his new job, and you both had developed a good relationship, being of nearly the same age. The three other professors in your department were all above fifty, two even due to retire that year, leaving you two as the youngest of the department, and it was a good partnership. You enjoyed talking about the subjects that you had chosen as the first loves of your lives over a cup of coffee, sometimes you would smile at him for a second too long when he would speak of his pet dog Kkuma, sometimes he would return the smile when you spoke fondly about your favourite students.

The car ride was also just as smooth as the rest of Choi Seungcheol. As much as he was an eye candy, you had decided you were certainly not interested in him, having noticed how well he got along with every female (and most male) faculty members of the university, and his smiles were just not reserved for you. Within weeks, he had students fawning over him, and soon he was becoming the most popular professor in the university, not just among students but also among your colleagues. While you had no fancies for these titles, it felt a little weird losing the good rapport you had worked hard in building, being the only female professor in the department. Or maybe it was just you being too competitive.

Anyhow, when Seungcheol played the music of your favourite idol group, you couldn’t complain. The depressive mood from the rains had already mellowed out. You raised your eyebrows at him in query, he replied, “What? I’ve seen their photocard behind your phone.” He smiled again, and you smiled back. So attentive.

Just then, there was a crazy sound from his car. Alarmed, he instantly got out of the car to check- soon there was smoke coming up from the front of the car. You felt guilty sitting in the dry shade of the rain while he lifted the front hood of the car, drenched in the rain, trying to figure out the issue, so you stepped out. “I’m sorry- I really-” “No, hey, why are you apologising to me?” “I don’t know what’s wrong. I think I’ll have to call a mechanic.” You looked around, it was a shockingly deserted area, maybe the rain had washed away all people into their homes. As evening began to descend, your cramps got worse, not improving as the wetness of the rain began settling into your bones.

“Should we wait inside the car? I’ve called for the mechanic, but they’ll definitely take some time.”

“Sure. I mean, we don’t have an option, do we?” You chuckled, trying to reduce the tension. “I’m sorry I got you stuck in this.” “Nah, it’s okay.” “You can try looking for a cab-” “Do you see a cab out there, Choi Seungcheol?” you snapped out a bit too harshly, recoiling instantly. He was taken aback too, wincing. “Sorry, I just…” Then he grew quiet, and so did you.

Seconds became minutes.

Minutes to hours.

Precisely, two and a quarter hours, before the mechanic arrived.

Your water bottle was empty, your lunch long finished, the cramps growing worse in the confined space and the anxiety, and Seungcheol wasn’t a close friend who you could become casual around. So you kept your legs down, your heels on, even if your ankles hurt. You kept your hair tied, even if the hair tie began to hurt your scalp, because your hair was too unruly to let down. You couldn’t even take off your jacket, because your body was too cold to let go of even one piece of clothing.

This was really not your day.

There was no conversation, mainly because you were afraid of snapping again. He stepped out to help the mechanic, and you closed your eyes tight in the car, trying to hold back the pain. Wordlessly, the mechanic left after the issue was fixed, the rain still pouring relentlessly, and Seungcheol came back into the car.

Thankfully, this time when he tried to start the car, it roared to life. After travelling slowly for fifteen minutes, Seungcheol spoke up, “It’s almost seven- do you want to get some ramyeon before heading home?” You weren’t even looking at him, but you could sense the expectation in his voice. “My treat, to make up for the-”

“I want to go home, Seungcheol.” Your voice was bitterer than you had thought. Seungcheol extended his hand to your arm, and you flinched. “Can you please drive me to my neighbourhood? I don’t want to stay here a minute more.” He took back his hand in a second, and amped up the speed of the car. In less than twenty minutes you were in the front of your home, the address you had input into the Google Maps of the car dashboard earlier.

Without a word, you stepped out of the car, into the rain that had fizzled down to a drizzle now. Seungcheol was looking at you, and you had no way to avoid his eyes now. “I’m sorry for making your day so bad. Really, if I could make it-” “Bye, Choi Seungcheol-ssi. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

And you had turned your back on the man who had drove you home that evening, the hopeful glint in his eyes burning in your head but other feelings like exhaustion, pain and desperation overwhelming you.

“Has anger always been an issue for you?”

Ouch, that was harsh. You had thought counsellors were soft with their words- but then, you’d never been to one’s office before. Seungcheol seemed calmer than before now, honestly that irked you more. Was he actually okay with sitting here? Being reprimanded for how you couldn’t help but behave around each other, at the age of thirty-three?

“I don’t know… I guess I’ve always had a slightly sharp tongue. Quick to lose my temper.”

Seungcheol sighed next to you. You can feel his eyes poring into your face, but you can’t bring yourself to look at him.

“And you, Prof. Choi?”

“I don’t think so. I think Prof. Y/L/N brings out the worst in me.”

Now you’re looking straight at him, and you know he’s facing you while saying the words. “Excuse me?”

“Prof. Y/L/N-”

“I’ve never faced issues with my temper before, you know. Yes, some may call me an alpha but-”

A laugh escaped from your lips before you could help it.

“Prof. Y/L/N, please refrain from scoffing here. Remember the common goal.” Dr. Lee reminded you.

“I can’t help it, Dr. Lee. It’s blatantly obnoxious for Prof. Choi to think of himself as an alpha. Why, the man’s scared of ghosts! As if ghosts even exist.”

“Prof. Y/L/N-”

“Might I inform you, Dr. Lee, than Prof. Y/L/N has a phobia of thunderstorms. She can’t stand seeing lightning, absoltely shivers like-”

“Professors!”

Again the dreadful feeling of being reprimanded.

“Laughing at each other’s phobias are petty and not acceptable. This is a safe space. We are all respectful of each other’s fears, irrespective of how they appear to us. We have a common goal of resolution, please be mindful.” Your eyes were cast downward, fingers fiddling with the hem of your dress. “I’m sorry, Dr. Lee.”

There was a sharp intake of air from Choi Seungcheol.

“But I don’t think this can ever reach resolution,” you complete, nearly standing up from your chair. Seungcheol openly scoffs at you now, laughing at your surrender. Exactly what he was pushing you for.

“There, there! No need to rush, Professor. How about, we move on to the first activity I’ve planned for you both?”

You pause, sitting back in your chair.

“Activity?” Seungcheol asks, running fingers through his hair.

“Yes! It’s part of my toolkit for couples’ therapy-”

“This isn’t couple’s therapy,” you both chime together. It’s getting annoying how often people think of you as a couple.

Dr. Lee only chuckles, as if they had laid the bait out for you to hold on to, and you both had caught on to it like fishes. You gasp, realising this session may be more complicated than you thought.

“Of course! Now, have either of you done colouring before? Ever heard of art therapy?”

Seungcheol shakes his head, while you nod. “I colour on my phone sometimes- numbered colouring. Stress relieving, it is for me.” Dr. Lee smiles. “Yes! Except, we’ll not be doing numbered colouring.” They pull out a sheet of paper from underneath their desk, and lay it right in front of you both.

It’s a beautiful picture of a scene from nature- trees, foliage, flowers, even a river through the grass. But in black and white outline, and more spaces marked in between indicating where to fill in colours.

Then Dr. Lee brings out a pack of colour pencils, and keeps it beside the sheet of paper.

“Can I trust you both to fill this in?”

Seungcheol’s jaw actually drops. You don’t think you’ve ever seen him more surprised.

“You want us to fill this with colours? Colour pencils?”

“Yes! It’s really quite simple, and really would be great for healing you through all the stress of work during the day.” Dr. Lee’s smile is genial, but you don’t feel it catching on to you. The thought of colouring this- with Seungcheol- does nothing but add up to your stress.

“Alright.” Seungcheol is doing it again- pushing you to surrender. He even picks up the sheet and colour pencils and stands up, looking at you expectantly.

But you’re not going to give up so easily.

It’s a matter of your pride after all.

“We’ll bring this to you, all complete and pretty, at our next session!” You’re staring into Seungcheol’s soul, seeing the panic flash momentarily before he dons his standard pretty smile, gums threatening to show.

“Yes, Dr. Lee!” And for a second, you wonder if this was how he used to suck up to his teachers in school, all cute and excited- but, you forget the thought quickly, as Dr. Lee stands up, a very knowing smile in their eyes, waiting to bid you goodbye. As you both shuffle out of the room, you face Seungcheol outside the office. “Our next session is day after tomorrow. What were you thinking when you promised to complete this, like a little good girl, so eager to please?” he snaps, standing inches away from you.

“Seungcheol, spare me your nonsense. I’ll take it home today and complete the top half, and you can take it home tomorrow and complete the bottom half.”

“Impossible. I have at least two dozens of projects to go through. I’ll not be coming to work tomorrow. No time for this” he points at the sheet in his hand.

“Then I’ll just come over tomorrow evening, after your project corrections are done. We can complete it together. Makes the process quicker.” You know you’re stepping into extremely risky territory, but hell, even you didn’t want to go home and colour on a lovely day like this. Wine and jazz sounded much better.

He seems to ponder over the offer for a second. Then he takes out his right hand from his pocket, and holds it out to you. “Deal,” he says, and you almost scoff at his childish behaviour. Then you shake your right hand with his, and take a step back.

“See you tomorrow, then.”

“Yeah, my place, at 8?”

“Hmm.”

“I’ll text you the address-”

“I have it already, Prof. Choi.” you say quietly, before turning your back on him and walking away slowly, ignoring his eyes on your back.

#choi seungcheol #s.coups #s.coups x reader #seventeen x reader #seventeen fanfiction #seventeen fluff #seventeen series #s.coups series #s.coups fluff #s.coups fanfiction #seungcheol fanfiction #seungcheol x y/n #seungcheol series #seungcheol fanfic #seungcheol x reader #seventeen fanfic #perfect complements series #simpxxstan

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skolworthy · 2 years ago

Text

Time Knows No Bounds - Part Two

Warnings: None that need apology

Info: When the font is like this, it means Ragnar is speaking in his native tongue. When he is speaking English it will just be italicized. The reader's text is just normal and anyone other than Ragnar or the reader will be in bold.

Spoilers: None, because this is completely my creation (apart from the character/legend of Ragnar Lothbrok and other historical names) it has nothing to really do with the tv series.

Plot: Ragnar, in this series, is unattached to anyone romantically. No Lagertha or Aslaug or any other baby momma's out there. No children. He has met and learned with Athelstan, because that contributes to his ability to speak with the reader. Other than that, he's just a simple gorgeous viking that lives on his farm in Kattegat, dreaming of adventure.

Summary: Now that you had a living, breathing piece of history fall into your lap...what were you supposed to do with him? Now that the brief taxi ride was over, it was time to survive the almost two hour train ride back home.

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The taxi ride to the train station was quieter than you thought it would be, Ragnar simply gazing out of the window and taking in everything as you passed it by. For someone suddenly thrown into a different time period, he was remaining incredibly calm. Though, you had absolutely no idea what was going on inside that head of his. The train station seemed to knock Ragnar out of his silent stupor, making waiting in line to obtain your tickets a difficulty. He had kept trying to wander off, his curiosity getting the better of him and you ended up at the point where you had a firm grip against his sleeve. Any time he began to move away from you, you gave it a tug and he would glance over at you, give that smirk and commented. "Desperate to keep me at your side?" To which you replied: "Hey, if you want to get lost in a completely different time period that you know nothing about, go right ahead." Promptly letting go of his sleeve, giving your own smirk up at him. As he had looked down at you, you couldn't help but notice a slight twinkle within his eye, perhaps of amusement due to your sassy quip, either way, it made your breath hitch inside your chest for a moment.

Despite having to be confined by your side, Ragnar still asked numerous questions about anything his eyes settled on. While you knew what everything that he was asking about was and how it worked, it was an entirely different matter when he would ask the purpose. Much like when a small child constantly asked 'Why?' when you had already answered the question. There even came a moment where Ragnar said that he needed to urinate, though he literally just said "I need to piss" and went over to the nearest potted tree in the train station and began to unlace his trousers, thankfully you managed to stop him. Again, like a toddler, you had to explain to him where to relieve himself that was appropriate and that in itself was a challenge. You had to describe the urinal and also tell him that he had to wash his hands, which he simply stared at you about. "Wash, why?" "There was a reason vikings and people from the past always died young: germs." you said as you described how the soap dispenser worked and the sink. Lord...maybe you ought to have someone that was about to go into the men's room help him out, perhaps they would believe he suffered from amnesia and forgot how to use the bathroom properly? Was that believable? Hell, you didn't know. Your mind once again went to 'Why am I doing this?' and you answered yourself once more with 'For science!'. Or at least for your huge sense of curiosity, that and you just knew that you couldn't abandon him in a cruel world like this. He would either end up dead, or...possibly even end up killing someone himself, he was viking after all and it was in their blood to fight.

The time came to wait for your train's arrival and you brought Ragnar over to the numbered gate and walked with him forward a bit, to where he was able to look down at the tracks, then his eyes moved to other trains that were on different tracks slowly running hither and yon. He pointed at the tracks and tilted his head. "This is how they move?" You gave a smile and nodded. "How?" "Electricity." He stared at you, bit his bottom lip slightly and then rubbed the back of his neck. "Eeeee...lec...tricity?" he said, actually doing a decent job with pronunciation, and you gave him a nod again. "A form of energy made up of charged particles." You knew that this would go completely over his head, but the facial expression he gave you was totally worth it and you gave a chuckle. "Sorry, I'm doing my best to answer your questions, but they just bring up more questions. This is the future, and we have evolved quite a bit since Viking times. Sometimes it's best not to ask questions, just to observe in wonder." Ragnar just smiled down at you, his bright blue eyes gazing into yours until he finally gave his own nod. "I do appreciate your effort in trying to educate me. I am afraid that I make a poor student." You grinned at him and then clapped him on the shoulder, which made his eyebrow raise a bit and his lips to curl upward more. "Don't worry, you'll catch up eventually. Or at least until we can get you back home." At this, you noted how his smile faltered ever so slightly, and a small flicker of disappointment appeared in his gaze.

The two of you stood there looking at one another for a few moments until the train passed by you on the tracks that you were standing near on the platform, startling you both. Ragnar's hand instinctively moved down to where his axe would have been, had you not convinced him to allow you to keep it in your bag. You had tagged it and bagged it, much like you would have an artifact for the museum, and once you showed the security guards your credentials and documentation from the museum stating that your team had been on an excavation nearby, they allowed the axe to remain within your bag. Not good to have a man wielding an axe board a train after all. The train came to a slow stop and then you took hold of Ragnar's sleeve again and moving him back some as the doors hissed open and people began to file out. "I have a perfectly good hand to guide me with, you know?" He said as he leaned down slightly and spoke the words into your ear, goosebumps forming on your skin from the feeling of his breath against it. "And yet, how do I know that you washed them like I told you to after relieving yourself, hmm?" At this you noticed a slight blush to Ragnar's face and your mouth opened slightly. "You didn't do it, did you?" You said, speaking to him like a mother would chastise their child. "Nothing was happening, so...I may have torn it off of the wall?" Your mouth opened more and your eyes widened. "What?!" You said in a hushed breath. "No one saw." You made a face of disbelief but then it began to contort into one of amusement as you tried to hold back your laughter, ultimately failing as a loud snort came out of you and you covered your mouth and shook your head. "I actually would have loved to see that." You said after having removed your hand from over your mouth and proceeded to giggle, your imagination bringing forth that image. Ragnar, sticking his hand under the sensor and waiting, nothing happening, waving his hand, then slamming his hand against the soap dispenser, then finally becoming so frustrated that he simply ripped it off of the wall, then shifty eyed, set it down and slid on out of the bathroom as if nothing had even happened. Oh, that would have been a sight.

You were about to turn and lead the way to the train when you noticed Ragnar looking down at you, his ever present smirk plastered on his face. "What?" you asked, your eyes shifting around for a moment. "Your laugh, I enjoy it. I am sure to make more mistakes, which I hope will make you laugh like that again." At first you thought that he was not serious, but the longer you looked up into his eyes, you were able to see the sincerity behind them. It was a good thing that you were not one to easily swoon, despite how gorgeous this man was...or how sweet the words were that came out of his mouth. He then held up his arm toward you a bit, clearly giving you permission to grab hold of his sleeve again to lead the way. Instead, you leaned to the side a bit, your arm and hand outstretched toward a sanitizing station and waited as it spat out foam upon your open palm. His eyebrows furrowed together as he watched you do this, and then you took his hands and lathered them up with yours, before you took hold of one of his hands and began to lead him toward the train door. Once the two of you had found some seats, you heaved out a sigh and sunk down into the cushion a bit, closing your eyes. Now that you were officially heading home, thoughts began to swirl within your brain of what to do next. What were you going to tell people, should they ask who Ragnar was? No doubt your friends and coworkers would check up to make sure that you had returned home safely, but now you had a man in tow. One that was strangely dressed, spoke in Old Norse (but thankfully knew some decent English), and also knew absolutely nothing about the world.

One thing was for sure: you needed to get Ragnar into some clothing that didn't raise questions, thankfully people that rode trains often saw some strange characters traveling, so the most you were met with at this point were questionable looks. First thing was first, once you were back in Copenhagen, you ought to take him to get some new (and modern) clothing. You knew that there was a nice vintage store not too far from the train station that you could easily walk to, and you knew that the staff there, while helpful, would keep from bothering you unlike a more upscale retail store. You took your phone from your pocket and began to type the store's website link into your internet browser, soon bringing up an array of clothing to the screen and you scrolled through them. Feeling a sudden pressure against your shoulder, you glanced over and up to find Ragnar leaning over from his seat to look at your phone, his eyebrows knitted together in curiosity. Smiling you continued to scroll with your finger. "See anything you like?" He tilted his head a little and then raised an eyebrow. "These are...clothes?" You grinned, still with your eyes upon the phone screen as you continued to peruse the selection. "Yes, you will need to have something different to wear, what you've got on will bring on a lot of attention in the big city." Ragnar gave a small snort. "What is wrong with attention?" "I just do not want to have to explain why you are dressed the way you are, why your hair is the way it is.." as you mentioned his hair, your hand went up and brought the braids forward a bit, looking at them more closely. You noted how it was almost like dreadlocks, bound together with cord down its length. Then your eyes went to the tattoos that wrapped around from one side of his head, around the back, and to the other side, your fingers moving from his hair to lightly trace against the patterns.

Upon looking at them, there was no mistake that they were viking tattoos, the symbols and patterns were some you had witnessed carved upon ancient relics and even upon parts of shipwrecked viking boats. There was speculation on how tattoos were done in ancient times, but there was no doubt that whatever method it was, it most likely proved to be quite painful. After a moment of further inspection of his tattoos, your eyes found his as he simply gazed down at you and you felt heat begin to rise beneath your cheeks, realizing what you had been doing. You quickly removed your fingers from his skin and cleared your throat, looking back down at the phone in your other hand. "I just do not want to have to deal with a lot of questions about where you came from, because it could go one of two ways: either they think we are both crazy and lock us up, or they will take you away and there will be no chance of getting back home." You said as your finger kept scrolling through the clothing site, until Ragnar's hand moved from his lap and took yours suddenly, bringing your attention back to him. He looked at you with what you could tell was concern. "You are serious?" You looked at his hand that was holding yours for a moment and then traveled your eyes up to meet his intense blue ones. "The world does not like things that it cannot explain." His blue eyes gazed into yours, searching them for more answers, but sadly you did not have anything else to give him other than what you knew. "It may sound silly to say this, but I think your best option when it comes to your safety, is to stay with me." Ragnar continued to look down at you, though his expression softened a bit and you felt him give your hand a gentle squeeze before he lifted them and held them upright between the two of you. You felt his breath against the back of your hand as he then said: "Then I shall not be leaving your side, y/n." It was a good thing that you were sitting down, for the way that he looked at you, and the way that he had said this, all but melted you into a puddle upon the floor.

The remainder of the train ride, you were able to put together a selection of clothing for Ragnar in your cart on the website. You purchased them and by the time that you both would reach Copenhagen and walk to the store, they would be bagged up and ready to go. Then the two of you just needed to hail another taxi and head back to your loft and at that point, decide what to do from there. The train eventually came to a stop and after letting everyone else get off of the train first, the two of you finally stood from your seats and headed to the doors, Ragnar close on your heels, apparently holding true to the whole 'not leaving your side' comment. You lead the way out of the train station, pausing for a moment once you were both outside and you turned to look at Ragnar, knowing that he was going to be in awe of the city that now surrounded you. He had been mesmerized from what he could see through the window on the train, but that was nothing in comparison to this. He did a slow turn, tilting his head to look at the tops of buildings and town homes and then finally he turned and looked at you, his mouth slightly open. "I promise, I will take you on a tour once we have had time to rest and for you to try on your clothes. I was just guessing on the sizes, so we will have to see what fits." You gave a nod of your head in the direction over your shoulder as you then began to turn to walk that way, Ragnar following suit. It didn't take long for you to arrive at the clothing store, where you asked him to stay right outside the door as you hurried in to get the bags of clothes. Thankfully nothing happened during the time it took you to do this, and Ragnar stayed put despite his escalating curiosity.

You held out one of the heavier bags toward him and he smirked, taking it from you and then followed after as you raised your hand as you stood by the edge of the road, a taxi pulling up alongside the curb not long after. Soon enough you were pulling up in front of the building that you lived in, quickly paying the driver before you motioned Ragnar to scoot out of the taxi, handing the bags that had been between you in the backseat. Then you dug in your satchel for your keys and opened the main door, holding it open for Ragnar, who had been tilting his head backward a bit to take in the height of the building before he realized you were entering it. He quickly followed after you, watching every move that you made as you went about checking your mail box in the main corridor and then headed up the stairs until you got to the top where your loft was. You unlocked the door and turned the handle, pushing the door open with your back and your foot a bit as you gave Ragnar a small smile. Once he came all the way inside, you let the door shut and then locked it once more, before letting the bags in your grip drop to the floor and you held your arms out to the side a little. "Well...home sweet home."

Tag List: @cullenswife @hypocritic-trash-baby @blueeclipsepaperstudent

*Gif not mine, credit goes to its' lovely creator: angelcb7

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flipchild · 1 year ago

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OK I need to rest but now it's pissing me off I forgot to italicize SAW in the auguree post

For the unaware: historic augury

& pop magic augury

#SORRY FOR PINGING YOU!

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adultswim2021 · 1 month ago

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HIGH-ATE-US

Hey, everyone. It's me, your erstwhile blogster. Sorry or not updating this blog for months. Things got "real weird", as they like to say in the UK. But now is the time to resume my bad life's bad work: blogging about all of Adult Swim (within reason). Umm... here we go! (I am doing an insulting gay-voice when I italicize)

It is thanksgiving. I cooked myself a nice big steak and decided to get high for the first time in a while. Really! It has actually been a while! I mostly just been doing low-dose THC CBD gummies to manage anxiety, and have not touched my more potent "fun" edibles in months. The CBD ones sorta work? I haven't intentionally highed-myself in a big while, and me being high is your big boon: in this state I have decided to come back here and start posting again. I need to get back into writing. It may still save my life yet... (sigh!)

I am watching old Letterman clips (from 1985; Milos Foreman is talking about god-knows-what). Old Letterman is very soothing to me. It is one of the first shows I ever fell in love with. I am keeping a text list of my favorite bits from a big collection of clips that I cut up into chronological order so one could roughly experience the timewarp effect of watching not only an old thing, but a lot of the same old thing in chronological order as some facsimile of time travel, or express some desire to live a parallel life where I am the same age I currently am now, but it's the 1980s. I can't be a kid again? Okay, fine. But can't I at least continue being an adult in some other time? I have be here RIGHT NOW? NO. THAT SUCKS.

why I'm trying to keep track of my favorite bits have to do with some absolutely delusional idea that I have, where I create some kind of monument to some idea of an all-encompassing television canon that I have. I'm too embarrassed to speak of it in depth, because it is truly loser shit. It isn't exactly this, but it is close to it in some spiritual way: imagine ranking every single comedy sketch you've ever seen. Is there a website that lets you do this.

I yearn for a simpler life where I live an era where physical media perfection was laserdisc, and you had to spend over $100 on a movie if Criterion happens to be the ones releasing it. That is to say, I'm in a pretty good, fairly productive mood. Let's face it: pontification is stimulating, and sadly, it's been a long while since I've felt STIMULATED. Let's take the old thinking cap out for a spin shall weee!

This post is not an episode recap, but it is me catching up on all my mails that piled up during my "real weird" exile. Some messages may be very old/irrelevant and I'm sorry if I can't answer them correctly. I will do my best.

snusuwiwjs asked:

Have you watched Jellystone S3E14 - Space Con?

I saw the RELEVANT CLIPS. This show looks very fun. I haven't been watching it for some reason. Too busy watching old Letterman. I watch stuff that doesn't require me to sit down and ACTIVELY watch it because I moved and don't have a nice big TV yet, because logistical issues persist (I received "TV Money" from my parents in the form of a Target gift card and buying the TV I want from them would require a third party such as u-haul because for some fucked up reason they won't deliver large televisions). I watch everything on a computer monitor, and I stray towards podcast and youtube junk as a result of that.

I have issues with procrastinating, too, so it's taken me this long just to get myself a couch, a laptop table for use with a couch, and a coffee table for nearby supplies and devices. I am in a very slow-moving phase lately. Pray for me that it ends soon. Anyway, I wasn't pissed off about Jellystone recasting Zorak and Moltar, unless they were going to try and have them voice Coast to Coast versions of them.

Sorta related: I have an idea for a Space Ghost finale, that would be in book-form, and I don't know if it'd be inappropriate to try and give the IP-holders in charge the idea for it, and also I think it is lame and embarrassing to have ideas for things like this when you're not actually in charge of this type of decision-making. It makes me almost worse than a fan-fiction writer. I on some level imagine myself in a pitch room saying this stuff, and that is objectively gay.

I am just going to talk about that here, because fuck it. It would be a post show-biz memoir from Space Ghost, at least by the cover that's what it'd look like. Then the memoir part (which is insane and full of very untrue sounding things) ends abruptly, because Space ghost didn't know how to fill up the required page length. So the book switches gears to make up for that, and it becomes an in-character oral history of the show, with the characters talking about the making of the show, focusing on fictional installments of the show, the conceit being that there are episodes of Coast to Coast that never aired on Earth.

Because you're describing all new-episodes, you could get famous people to riff out a fake talk show scenario they supposedly experienced in one of these unseen episodes. The cornerstone of this section of the book will be the characters describing the finale of Coast to Coast. Maybe they honor Toonami canon and have Moltar depart the galaxy, never to be hard from again. Oh yeah the book would also go out of it's way to include this as is the in-universe reason that Moltar's sections in the oral history are all specifically said to be from archival sources and attributed to previous publications, like he wasn't interviewed specifically for the book.

I do not have actual story ideas for this. Just concepts. I am sorry if you thought there'd be more. I am just describing a Space Ghost book that I would be very excited to read. Anyway, that section of the book ends and then there's a series of all-black pages with white text, resembling adult swim bumpers. They read: "Space Ghost and co. are not real. They're not even human; they're cartoons. Some of the things they do would cause a person to get hurt, expelled, arrested, possibly deported. To put it another way: don't try this at home."

Then the rest of the book will be an actual making-of the real show, like an for-real oral history (and there will be glossy pages with cool Space Ghost art and behind-the-scenes photos), and then the cornerstone of THAT section will be a big list of every guest star they could possibly ask or piece together anecdotally what every guest star on the show thought of their episode after it aired. Give Sean Medlock an entire page to vent.

THAT IS MY IDEA FOR A SPACE GHOST BOOK AND I HOPE THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE ACCESS TO THAT PARTICULAR IP READ THIS AND STEAL ALL OF THESE IDEAS (please let me come to one pitch meeting for it)

Here's another from snusuwiwjs!

Oh hey, you watched Barenaked Ladies! Honestly that’s the only GameTap episode I liked. It is also the only one I watched because I got baited by the title. Anyway, you said there was a Fox fakeout promo for Family Guy on Adult Swim, but I don’t think I could find anything? All reuploads only show the Adult Swim bump, so it would be nice if you could show some proof, mister.

Found a reupload here! Barenaked Ladies is the closest the Gametap episodes came to feeling like a real episode.

I’m sorry to jump ahead, but are you keeping up with the apparent falling-out between Eric Andre and his writing partner Dan Curry over Johnny Knoxville? Curry alleges Knoxville tased him like a week into that ABC prank panel show that Knoxville and Andre were part of, causing Curry a broken bone, and Curry further claims Andre told him not to make a big deal about it. He also claims Andre canceled some of their book tour over this dispute.

I didn't know Eric Andre would ever accuse someone of being a drama queen. I have not followed this, I'm not sure I care about it though just sayin!!! I respect you with peace and love but I don't now if I can have an opinion about this. I need to receive a big check from my car insurance before I can start thinking about stuff like that. I am sorry, but some parts of my brain are simply on hold right now.

Another from snusuwiwjs

member the antenna episode of athf? it’s kind of sad how adult swim fucked their employees over, isn’t it? george, clay, andy were often portrayed as living in the dumps and looking for a job, but it isn’t too far from truth, is it?

No it is not far from the truth at all! It is very sad. The elites ruling over us are denying us god's grace and we must become evil and violent towards them soon. I am parroting something frequent mail-bagger KON said to me while chatting in PRIVATE CHANNELS: They really should just do a Jellystone spin-off with that iteration of Brak. Or "The Calarts Brak Show" as he called it. Get Andy out of those trucks. Somebody could get hurt in those things.

simpsons

That's nice slugger... (BIGGEST EYEROLL IN THE UNIVERSE)

From KON, who is actually just a character I do:

it's time for the blog to come back

No Kon! NOT YET

janeane garofalo in the cable guy

I once had a phase where I tried to become a Janeane completist and I watched all of her movies I think up to MATCHMAKER, which was too bad to bear and made me stop doing that. I still love her. I wish that I could meet her. I had a very good chance once and I let it slip by me. I should maybe attend one of her standing-up comedy engagements, if she still does that.

If anybody has a copy of that Mr. Show commercial where she's dressed like a mallrat and mary lynn rajskub does the Macar-anus but it's an actual HQ video taped from TV and not a guy pointing their phone at the TV screen please let me know.

There are a small number of Promos for Mr. Show that have not been collected on DVD. I want them all! GIVE ME THEM! (the series of ones where they jump through paper hoops for season 4, for example). Also I do not have a nice copy of the season 2 best-of, which was supposed to bet put on DVD but wasn't. That's the one where they are doing a news conference.

i have a special late-breaking scoop just for you: Justin Roiland has passed. he's gone, for good. you have my blessing to inform your readers of this JUICY story

Goodbye Justin Roiland! We loved your funny video games and rabble-rousing rhetoric on bluesky. I hope you thrive in him/he-aven

happy "jimmy carter gets to vote for kamala harris day" to those who celebrate. which adult swim chars do you think are cheering him on :)

Everyone in town is expected to turn out

FROM KON:

Blog's gotta be coming back any day now

♪♫ OH, KON... :D ♪♫

#adultswim2021

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0m3g45n1p3r4lph4 · 2 months ago

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Can't find the post I made about Bionicle Heroes' Wii Port, but I'm playing it again because I can't play Takua 64 rn lol

I likened it before to "a worse version of the GameCube port, that itself being a weaker version of the PS2 port" and I still mostly stand by that. But I realize a lot of that was bitterness at the game's control scheme (which still pisses me off IT COULD'VE BEEN THE BEST ONE)

And now I'm noticing other things. Sure, the graphical quality is shit compared to the PS2 version, but there's two odd things I haven't seen in the other ports (haven't played the XBox or PC ones yet)

1. The loading screen in each other version always shows Jaller. The Wii version cycles through (or randomly selects?) a Toa.

2. The opening cutscene with Clawed Balta has extended dialogue! This actually makes the dialogue make more sense in the Wii Version than the PS2 and GCN versions.

"You're not one of them, are you? Who are you? Are you... our saviour? Are you a Toa?"

Italicized sections not included in other releases. This paired with the instruction manual transcribing the opening as "I know who you are - you are our rescuer." Leading young me to think Balta almost spoke like Yoda.

Anyways I wish I could mod the hell out of this game. Change the controls so the pointer actually aims at enemies instead of exclusively moving the camera, change character stats to reflect their characters instead of weapon classes, swap Hewkii's and Nuparu's standard abilities (building and climbing, respectively), find some way to incorporate mask powers, etc. But that'll never happen, I wouldn't have the patience

#bionicle #bionicle heroes #bionicle heroes wii

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khoicesbyk · 9 months ago

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The Royal Romance.

Forevermore.

A/N: this is the next chapter in the journey of my OTP. Follow along for the fun.

Rated: Mature (at times can and will be Explicit. I'll be sure to change the rating when and if that happens). | Contains sexual content and strong language. (You know? The usual. Y'all should be used to this from me by now 😁) | Bolded and/or italicized words are conversations and thoughts of the characters. | Main Characters: King Marquise Rys (LI) and Queen Shanelle Miller-Rys (MC) | All Characters and names: (except MC and original characters created by me and/or other authors [their characters have been mentioned and/or used in the story with their permission] ) are property of Pixelberry.

Current Word Count: 8,600 words. (may be slightly more or may be slightly less. Look, I stop counting after editing and re-editing and driving myself insane. 🤷🏾‍♀️)

If you’d like to be added to my tag list. Just reblog or DM me and I will gladly add you! 😁😘

This series is rated Mature and/or Explicit. It is NOT reading material that is safe for those under 18. Reader discretion is STRONGLY advised!

Missing a chapter or want to read a chapter again? I got you covered! Click ——> Here!

Tag List: @choicesficwriterscreations

TW: mentions of child cancer, child death, trauma, mentions of murder. READER DISCRETION IS STRONGLY ADVISED!

Chapter 6.) Auld Lang Syne. Part one.

January 2024 came in like a lamb and left out like a lion.

Many in the kingdom were still buzzing about the arrest and pending murder trial of Countess Alicia Jacquier-Barbaroux as well as the active eviction of the former King and Queen of South Cordonia.

While many nobles decried the eviction, there was ultimately nothing they could do about it. Especially when they were evicted for helping Countess Alicia evade being arrested and charged with murder.

The day before the trial’s official start, Their Majesties were having a breakfast meeting with Carlo, the prosecutor, to discuss the case.

“Charging another female noble with murder? You’re beginning to have a knack for these things, cousin.”

Marquise snorted into his coffee.

“I wouldn't have to charge them at all if these female nobles would quit killing their husbands out of rage, spite, or jealousy.”

“Hmm I don’t know, I think you got a kick out of charging the soon-to-be former Countess.” Shanelle quipped.

“That's only because it pissed off her step-sister. Which brings me joy.”

Carlo turned his smirk to Shanelle.

“And you, my Queen, have evicted the former King and Queen of South Cordonia from their home?!” he asked in feigned shock.

Shanelle shrugged nonchalantly.

“First of all, Your Highness, that's MY palace to begin with. I gained control of it the day I said I do to your pigheaded cousin. That means I can evict anyone I choose from there at any given point and/or time. Secondly, they wouldn't have gotten evicted so abruptly if they hadn't instructed the palace guards to prevent The King’s Guardsmen from removing Countess Alicia from the premises. And besides, all they did was move from the old palace to Genevieve’s duchy. Thank you very much.” Shanelle said matter of factly.

Marquise arched an eyebrow at his wife.

“Oh please! You have been dying to throw them out of the old palace for years. And second, who are you calling pigheaded?” Marquise asked her.

“You! Who else?”

Carlo just snickered.

“I love seeing you two together.”

Marquise shook his head.

“Now we should get down to business.”

“Indeed Your Majesty. Now have either of you seen the security footage from the night of the murder?” Carlo asked them.

Shanelle shuddered.

“Yes, we have. And it's absolutely gruesome,” she replied.

Marquise nodded.

“Indeed it is. Part of me doesn't want you to show it but the Parliament needs to see the footage.”

“And what of their youngest daughter Alexis? The one who found Lord Amos?” Carlo asked.

Marquise paused.

“If you have to call her as a witness, please be gentle in your questioning. She's only 12.”

Carlo nodded.

“Very well Your Majesty. I will go prepare my opening statement, and see you both at the trial tomorrow.” Carlo said before taking his leave.

Shanelle looked at her husband.

“Are you sure calling that little girl as a witness is a good idea? She's already been through enough.”

Marquise sighed.

“I don't like it any more than you do but to know the full story the Parliament will want to hear from her. Which is why I told Carlo to be gentle in his questioning. I don't want to put her through any unnecessary trauma.”

Shanelle nodded.

“Okay. Thank goodness my parents are here until June. With Khari at school, they'll happily keep the boys busy.”

“Indeed. So get ready my love. This will be another trial of a lifetime.”

“How long will this trial be?” she asks.

“Standard week-long trial,” he replied.

“I will be ready for the start of the trial tomorrow.”

“As will I, my Goddess.”

The murder trial of Countess Alicia started promptly at 8:00 AM the following morning. With many in attendance wanting answers for the Earl’s death. Especially his daughters. After opening statements were made Carlo took two days and went to work laying out the very tumultuous marriage between Earl Amos and Countess Alicia. Including revealing that the youngest three weren't Earl Amos’s biological children and playing the full security footage that showed the murder of the deceased. Even hearing his youngest daughter’s pleas.

“Help! Help! Someone help! My father is bleeding!” she yelled as the video rolled on.

“Mama! What did you do? Why did you do this?” she begged her mother.

“Please, Papa! Hang on! Please don't leave me!” the poor girl cried.

When Shanelle looked over to her, she had her head down and her eyes closed. It broke Shanelle's heart to see her.

“As everyone can see, while young Alexis tried valiantly to save her father, it was too late. By the time Emergency Services got to the estate, Earl Amos had died. He unfortunately bled out in his youngest daughter’s lap.” Carlo explained as he stopped the video.

“Marquise, I don't like this. I don't like seeing that poor girl like this. She shouldn't have to be here,” Shanelle whispered to her husband.

Marquise rubbed her knee in sympathy.

“I know you don't. I don't like it either. But at least now the world knows what happened that night.” he whispered back to his wife.

“It is now where I’d like to ask Lady Alexis Barbaroux to the stand,” Carlo announced to the room.

Shanelle had a pit In her stomach.

“Marquise, don't do this to her. She's been through enough.” Shanelle said quietly to her husband.

“I don't have a choice, my love,” he said back to her.

The 12-year-old apprehensively walked to the stand. When she looked up at Their Majesties, she was scared.

“She's terrified! Stop this!” Shanelle pleaded.

“Carlo. Remember my warning. You get to ask no more than three questions.” Marquise warned Carlo.

Carlo nodded.

“Of course my King,” he replies before turning to the little girl with a warm comforting smile. “Hello, my lady. Thank you for being brave enough to join us today. As I promised His Majesty, I won't take very long. Okay?”

She simply nodded.

“Now can you tell everyone what you remember from that night?”

The little girl fidgeted with her hands before speaking.

“I…I was in my room. Practicing for my solo recital, when I heard Mama and Papa arguing. But that was…that was…it was nothing new.” she said before letting out a small sob.

Carlo nodded with sympathy.

“I promise I’m almost done. Is there anything else you remember?” he asked.

Alexis nodded.

“They always argued and I started to ignore it, until I heard Papa scream. And when I went to see what was wrong…that's when I found him on the floor. And Mama was standing over him with a bloody…”

“Letter opener?” Carlo asked.

Alexis nodded tearily.

“Yes. She stabbed him. I tried to help him. I tried to…save him. I couldn't save him. I couldn't save my Papa…” the little girl broke down and cried.

That's when Shanelle had seen enough.

“Enough Marquise! End this now!” she demanded.

“Carlo! It's alright. You don't need to question Lady Alexis any further.” Marquise said to him.

Carlo nodded.

“Yes, my King.”

Marquise looked to the Countess’s oldest daughter.

“Baroness Amanda. Take your younger sisters home. There is no need for them to be here anymore.” he instructed her.

“Thank you, Your Majesty.” the Baroness replied.

That's when Lady Alexis looked up at Marquise.

“May I…may I speak to my mother?” she asked.

Marquise nodded.

“Go ahead.”

The little girl nodded to him before getting up and walking gingerly to her mother.

“Mama?” she asked gently.

Countess Alicia finally looked at her daughter.

“Why did you do this Mama? Why did you take Papa away from us? Why couldn't you love him like he loved you?” she asked her mother.

“Alexis…” Alicia said softly.

“I love you. Despite everything you've done. I still love you. I forgive you, Mama. I forgive you.” Alexis said before sobbing.

That's when her older sister came to get her.

“Come on sweetheart. Let's get you home. Okay?” Amanda said to her sister.

“Amanda, wait!” Alicia said to her.

When the Baroness looked furiously at her mother.

“Don't you dare speak to me!” she snapped at her mother.

“Amanda, I didn't–” she started to say before her daughter cut her off, “You didn't what? You didn't mean to ruin the lives of your children? You didn't mean to kill my father? Too little too late!”

“You don't understand Amanda.” Alicia tried to explain.

The Baroness scoffed.

“Oh, I understand perfectly. I understand that you murdered my father. I understand that you chose your own selfish, self-centered greed, over your children! How could you? How could you be so cruel, so cold, so goddamn callous? Do you know that because of your actions, I now have to raise YOUR children? Because as we all found out the girls were never his. You and especially your step-sister and brother-in-law forced him to raise another man’s children. On top of having that innocent man executed. Just so the world wouldn't know how much of a no-good whore you actually are!” The Baroness said to her mother.

Alicia went to speak but her daughter cut her off.

“I've known for years that you and Papa didn't always get along. It was something I just accepted and lived with. But never did I think you'd blatantly cheat on him let alone kill him. And for what? My father was killed for nothing! No wait. I take that back. He was killed because you couldn't get over being rejected by Her Majesty’s father. It's a good thing he chose Duchess Shantel over you because I can only imagine the hell you would've put poor Prince Damien through if he had actually gone through with the betrothal and married you.”

That's when Genevieve stood up furious.

“How in God’s name can you speak to your mother like that?!” she asked her niece.

“Simple. Because of you and Uncle Edward. You two may not have put the letter opener in her hand but you certainly contributed to the way she acts! You enabled her to treat my father like shit! When without him she’d just be another noble whore. There's a bunch of them in this kingdom. Your husband would know.” the Baroness replied.

Genevieve just seethed.

“You know Aunt Genevieve, growing up I used to think Uncle Edward was the only sniveling coward in our family. Turns out I was wrong. That title now belongs to her.” The Baroness said to her aunt.

“Amanda, please! I’m sorry!” Alicia cried.

But her daughter wasn't having any of it.

“No, you're not. Because being sorry means you're remorseful for what you've done. And we both know you're not the least bit remorseful about killing my father. You’re just mad that since your sister can't save you, you now have to face the consequences of your actions. Because of your actions, I was forced to not only bury him alone but now I have three more children to raise. All while you tried to hide out at the old palace to avoid facing justice. So please spare me the crocodile tears and lengthy excuses.”

The Baroness turned to leave before saying one more thing.

“Alexis and even my sisters may forgive you, but just know that for the rest of my life, I will not. I will never forgive you for being such a callous, coldhearted bitch. You took my father from me! You murdered him for no other reason than your incessant greed, self-centeredness, and bitter selfishness! You had a good life and a good man. But you just had to ruin it. Because that's who you are. You're no better than your step-sister, grandfather, and especially your mother. May the latter two rest in hell. I will never again look at you and ever see my mother. All I will ever see is the monster you turned out to be.”

With that, the Baroness led her younger sisters out of the courtroom. Shanelle let out a breath she had been holding in.

“And now I rest my case,” Carlo announced.

“I think we can take a rest now,” Shanelle whispered to her husband.

Marquise nodded.

“Here is where we will stop for the day and reconvene tomorrow.” he said as he addressed the room, "Lord Pollard, as the defense, I expect you to be ready to present your case to the Parliament in the morning.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Lord Pollard replied.

“Very well. Everyone is dismissed for the afternoon.” Marquise announced before leading Shanelle out of the courtroom.

When they got to an alcove Shanelle sat down, rubbing her temples.

“Are you alright?” Marquise asked as he sat down next to her.

“Physically? I'm fine,” she replied with a sigh, “but that was just awful to have to sit through.”

“I know. I wish it didn't have to come to this but unfortunately, this is the situation we find ourselves in,” he said as he rubbed her shoulders.

“I shudder to think what the defense will come up with.”

“More than likely they'll look for a scapegoat.”

“You mean my mother?” she asked.

“I would hope not. But I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't try to blame all of this on your mother,” he replied.

“I swear to God if they dare…”

He kissed the top of her left shoulder.

“Let us worry about tomorrow when it comes.”

Shanelle nodded.

“I still need to warn mom.”

“Later. Right now I need a drink and you, my gorgeous wife, you look like you need a nap.”

“Only If you carry me to bed.”

His Majesty happily obliged. Lifting his wife off her feet.

“I will never get used to that,” she said with a chuckle.

“The day that you get used to me adoring you is the day I know I've failed as your husband.”

Shanelle playfully rolled her eyes.

“Lead the way, my knight.”

“As Her Majesty commands.”

He carried her from the courtroom across the palace to their bedroom with ease. Later that night after her children were asleep, Shanelle spent time with her mother.

“How was the trial butterfly?” Shantel asked.

Shanelle groaned.

“In a word? Absolutely horrible.” Shanelle replied.

“That's two words, baby.”

The two laughed.

“My heart breaks for those girls. Especially the younger ones.”

“What happened?” Shantel asked.

Shanelle gave her mother a rundown of the trial.

“Not even their oldest daughter knew?” Shantel asked.

“No. No one knew. All thanks to your brother-in-law and his wife. But you should've seen The Baroness. She let her mother have it.” Shanelle replied.

“I can only imagine. She was lied to. On top of the fact, her father was killed by her mother. Hell, all of those girls were lied to. It's a sad situation all around.”

“Yeah, but that's not what's worrying me.”

“What is it, baby?” Shantel asked.

“I’m worried that the defense will use you as a scapegoat,” Shanelle replied.

Shantel rolled her eyes.

“It wouldn't be Alicia if she didn't try to blame it all on me.”

“I will do all that I can to make sure that doesn't happen.”

“No need to baby. I can handle myself. Let her come after me.”

Shanelle shook her head with a smile.

“And people say I never know when to back down.”

“You must've never met my mother. You used to call her Grammy.”

Shanelle snorted.

“Fair.”

“Even if her defense does try to blame me for her actions, I didn't put the letter opener in her hand. And I certainly didn't force her to stab the poor man to death. Those were the decisions she made so those are her demons to face.”

“True.”

“Don't worry about me butterfly. I'll be just fine.”

“I know you will.”

Over the next 3 days, it was the defense’s turn in the trial. And as expected they went after Shantel and named her as the cause of Alicia’s spiral. They even alleged that Earl Amos was physically and mentally abusive to the Countess. And that she only stabbed him because she felt it would be the only to keep herself and their children safe. Even calling Queen Genevieve and King Edward as star witnesses. Once the defense rested its case, it was turned over to the Parliament. After 3 days of deliberation, they came to a decision.

“Have you reached a verdict, Duke Ramsford?” Marquise asked.

“Yes sire. We have.” Bertrand replied.

“What say you?” Marquise asked.

“After much discussion, and an 18-2 vote, the Parliament has decided to convict Countess Alicia Jacquier-Barbaroux of malicious intent of murder,” Bertrand replies.

Marquise nodded as many sat stunned by the news.

“No!” Alicia shouted.

“This is not right! My sister doesn't deserve this!” Genevieve proclaimed.

“The Parliament has spoken, so shall it be.” Marquise said to the courtroom before addressing Alicia, “Countess Alicia, you have been convicted of murder, and will be sentenced in the coming days.”

“No! No! No! I don't deserve this!” Alicia cried.

“Guards, you can take her away,” Marquise said to the guards.

As the guards went to escort Alicia out, her step-sister tried to block them.

“Get away from her! You will not lay a hand on my sister!” she snapped at them.

Shanelle rolled her eyes.

“Since Queen Genevieve wants to join Alicia so badly you can arrest her as well,” Marquise instructed the guards.

That's when Edward stood up shouting.

“Don't you idiots dare touch my wife! Or I will have your heads!” He yelled at the guards.

Marquise groaned while rubbing his brow.

“Hell with it! Arrest him too! And for the love of God, gag him!” he commanded.

Many watched as the three were taken out of the courtroom screaming at Marquise.

“Now that the circus is over, I want to thank the Parliament for your time and service to this trial and your kingdom. You are all dismissed.” Marquise announced.

He and Shanelle watched as everyone filed out of the courtroom. Leaving them alone.

“Well that's finally over,” he said.

Shanelle nodded.

“To be honest I half expected them to come back split down the middle.”

“True. But I’m glad that they didn't. Otherwise, we would've been here for a few more days than I wanted to be here.”

“When will she be sentenced?” Shanelle asks.

“Before we leave for Paris,” he replied.

“Paris? Why are we going to Paris?”

“I mean do you not want to go to Paris Fashion Week, my love?”

Shanelle squealed happily.

“Yes, I thought you might.”

True to his word, Alicia’s sentencing was the day before they were set to leave for Paris. Before issuing the final sentence, Alicia’s three youngest daughters asked to speak publicly on their mother’s behalf.

“While we understand what our mother has done is wrong and unforgivable. And that our Papa is dead because of her, we ask you, Your Majesty, to be lenient in your sentencing.” her daughter Allyson read in a statement, “we have already lost one parent, we don't want to lose another. Instead of sentencing her to death, we are asking you and Her Majesty to sentence our mother to solitary confinement in the dungeons of the old palace if Her Majesty will allow it.”

Marquise looked at his wife.

“Well, my Queen? Shall we honor their ask?” he asked her.

Shanelle looked at him then to Alicia and finally to the girls.

“As a mother, my heart breaks for you girls. You have been robbed of your father by your mother’s greed and bitterness. Your lives have been destroyed. I can't imagine what you girls must be feeling. Anger, sadness, shock, disgust, and maybe even resentment. As a Queen, I must decide with His Majesty that both serves justice and keeps the people safe. This was not just a random mistake. Your mother poses a great threat to us all. I can not overlook that. But since you three have bravely come forward to ask, I will allow your mother to be held in confinement at the old palace. But only for the sake of you three girls.”

Marquise nodded before looking at Alicia.

“Very well. Alicia Jacquier-Barbaroux you have been sentenced to life in solitary confinement within the dungeons of the old palace. You will be under 24/7 guard and will only be permitted to visit with your daughters. Supervised visitations will be three days a week for only 4 hours each day.”

He then looked at the girls.

“I want you girls to listen very carefully, while you will be permitted to see your mother, you three will not take advantage of this opportunity. You will not abuse this opportunity. Because if I hear that you have, I will revoke it from you and your mother will then be sent to the prison island of Grandevarea. Is that understood?”

The three young girls nodded.

“Good.” he said before addressing the guards, “you may take her to the dungeons and will await further instruction.”

After everyone watched as Alicia was escorted out of the throne room, the couple stepped off the daises.

“You did good by them,” Marquise whispered to his wife as they walked to the side entrance.

“I had to. Those girls have been through enough. They don't deserve to have to suffer any more than they already have.”

He brought her right knuckles to his lips for a soft kiss.

“And because you've done good by them, you deserve a reward.”

A slow smile started to break across her face.

“Mon amour. Paris attend sa reine.”

“I can't wait!”

“Let's go!”

After saying goodbye to their little ones, The Royals were on a flight to the city of Love.

Paris is one of their favorite cities in the world. And being there during Fashion Week has always been a dream of Shanelle’s. A dream her husband made come true. They were standing on the rooftop deck of their private residence enjoying the sunset view of the Eiffel Tower.

“I love Paris,” Shanelle said with a contented sigh.

He wrapped his arms around her with glasses of Lowyn Prosecco in hand.

“I love you in Paris,” he whispered in her ear as he handed her a glass.

“You love me everywhere.”

“Guilty.”

They smirked at each other as they clinked their glasses together.

“I'm sad we got here too late. I would kill for a ham and cheese omelet from our favorite brasserie.”

“I will have one here first thing in the morning.”

“You're a sap. You know that right?” she teased him.

“Always and forever. Especially for you.”

“That's not how the song goes.”

“Improvising.”

Shanelle snickered.

“Your improv needs work.”

“You are such a damn critic.”

“And your biggest fan.”

“I'm sure Khari would have objections to that.”

Shanelle rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

“This view is perfect. And here I thought you were going to this home into one of those AirBnB things.”

“Nah. I decided to keep a few places the family owns to myself. Although the AirBnB idea isn't bad. I'm glad I thought of it.”

“I would pinch you but I like my jaw right where it is.”

“Smart man.”

The pair watched the sun go down and the moon rise in the sky before it became a tad too chilly for Shanelle.

“Are you cold love?” he asked.

“A little bit.”

He wrapped his jacket around her.

“Let's get you inside.”

The two walked inside and down the steps to the main living area. Where bags of groceries and their guards were waiting.

“As requested, my Liege.” their guard Geraldo said to them.

“Thank you,” Marquise replied

Shanelle became slightly curious.

“What's in the bags Your Majesty?” she asked.

“Guanciale, Pecorino, Parmigiano, grani di pepe nero, aglio, rigatoni e uova,” he replied.

“You're making Carbonara, which is Italian food mind you, in France?”

“That a problem?”

Shanelle shrugged and grabbed the bottle of Prosecco.

“Hurry up and get that sexy ass of yours in the kitchen!”

“By your command my Queen.”

She sat at the counter with a glass in her hand as she watched him roll up his sleeves and lay out his ingredients.

“I love watching you cook.”

“If I remember correctly my cooking is what seduced you in the first place.”

“True. Now I get the guanciale, the cheese, the garlic, the black pepper, and I even get the eggs, but why Rigatoni? Especially when you normally use Bucatini?”

Marquise shrugged.

“I thought I’d try something new.”

“Your daughter made you watch someone make it like on TikTok again didn't she?” she asked.

Marquise cut his eyes at her.

“Like I said earlier, you are a sap.”

“Whatever.”

She watched as started the process of making his Spaghetti Carbonara.

“Yay! You’re not dicing them into small lardons this time.”

“I should because those will render faster but I also want us to have something to snack on.”

“That works for me!”

“And now! We slice the garlic!” he announced.

“Like Goodfellas?” she asks.

“Yes! Razor thin! You want it to almost melt into the guanciale fat.”

She watched him slice the garlic and then separate the eggs, grate the cheeses, crack the pepper, and whisk it all together.

“This is gonna be so good!”

“Indeed. And now we add the guanciale to a cold pan and heat it slowly so the fat renders and we have snacks.”

Shanelle clapped happily.

“Enjoying the show beautiful?”

“Don't I always?”

“True enough,” he said as he opened a new bottle of Prosecco and poured himself a glass. “God this stuff is good.”

“We will be drunk by the end of the night.”

“With full bellies.”

“Why don't we do this all the time?” she asked.

“Kids.”

“That's why we don't do this all the time.”

She loved watching him be so at ease. It had been a stressful time and she was happy to be able to spend time alone with him.

“A snack for the lady,” he said as he passed her a small bowl of cooked guanciale.

“Mmm! I swear this stuff is like bacon!” she said as she popped a small handful into her mouth.

“It is pork cheek so…”

“True. It still amazes me that a King can cook. And cook quite well actually.”

“I had to eat somehow while I went to Harvard.”

“You coulda just bought the meal plan.”

Marquise scoffed.

“No thank you.”

“Why not? Were there no caviar and foie gras options for the Prince?”

He snatched her bowl away.

“Gimme my bowl back!”

“No! You just insulted me!”

“Gimme!”

Marquise cut his eyes at her before handing her the bowl back. He left a little bit of fat in the pan to fry off the garlic.

“Ahh! Finally, it is time for the marriage of egg yolks, cheeses, cracked pepper, guanciale fat, and pasta water!”

While the meal normally didn't take him long to make, he enjoyed giving his wife a show. Plus both of them were halfway through their third bottle of Prosecco and feeling it.

“And with just a smidge more pepper and more Pecorino on top dinner is served!”

“Shut up and pass me a fork!”

He handed her a bowl before they went and sat down on the couch to enjoy each other’s company and their food.

“Okay I like the rigatoni but I think I prefer bucatini,” Shanelle said in between bites.

“Agreed. Although I won't complain about this.”

“Not at all. You have mastered the art of Carbonara. Y’know if this whole being a King thing doesn't work out you could be a chef.”

Marquise snorted into his glass.

“And give Jenna a reason to boss me around even more than she already does? No, thank you.”

Shanelle snickered.

After dinner was done, they laid on the couch under a handmade quilt.

“I am sated, satisfied, drunk, and happy about it.

He kissed her forehead.

“Anything for you.”

“Thank you for dinner babe. It was delicious as always.”

“My pleasure. It was a last-minute shopping request I sent out to the guards here.”

“I’m glad you did.”

She snuggled against him.

“This is why I married you.”

“Why?”

“Because of these little romantic moments. You didn't have to cook for me.”

“Well, I sure as hell wasn't about to sit here all night and starve.”

Shanelle snorted.

“Besides you know I love cooking for you.”

“I know. It's one of your most redeeming qualities.”

He smiled softly.

“You know what?”

“Hmm?”

"I can't stop thinking about kissing you."

"And what are you going to do about that?"

“This…” he said before he leaned and captured her lips in his for a soft sweet kiss.

“I hate it when you do that.”

“Why?”

“Because I always wind up agreeing to anything.”

“Good.”

He kissed her again. Slower and more sensual than before. A slow smile crossed her face.

“Stop.”

“Make me,” he whispers against her lips as he tightens his arms around her.

As they lay together, she started to get sleepy.

“I think it's past your bedtime, my love.”

“But.”, she said with a yawn, “I don't want to move from this spot.”

“Very well. This is where we will be until the morning.”

“Fine by me.”

“Goodnight beautiful.”

“Goodnight handsome.”

He watched her slowly drift off to sleep in his arms before going to sleep himself.

They spent the next few days attending various shows. While Marquiss didn't understand many of the runway looks he saw, seeing his wife have the time of her life was worth it to him. As they flew home, she was still gushing about their trip.

“That was amazing! I loved everything. And when I say everything I mean everything!”

“I noticed. Which show was your favorite?” he asks.

“Schiaparelli. Hands down. They were amazing. And all the outfits I got!” she replies.

“As if your closet isn't big enough as is.”

Shanelle rolled her eyes.

“But in all seriousness, I am happy you enjoyed yourself.”

“And what was your favorite part of the trip, Your Majesty?” she asked.

He merely tapped the diamond cufflinks on his wrist.

“You know I never come to Paris without seeing Pierre François.”

“True.”

Once back at home, it was back to normal for them. Or so they thought.

Their daughter had been having bad stomach aches for days but no one could figure out why. It wasn't until she started to catch a fever that they became concerned.

“Marquise, she is on fire,” Shanelle said to her husband.

Khari moaned in pain.

“Mommy…”

Shanelle rubbed her forehead.

“I’m right here baby,” she said to her daughter before speaking to him, “call Nadia. Now.”

Marquise nodded.

“I'll be right back.”

“No Daddy. Don't go, please.” Khari pleaded.

“I won't be gone long, my love.”

“Noooooooo!” she whined.

“Come here, my angel. Come here,” he said as he scooped her up into his arms.

“I don't feel good Daddy.” Khari cried.

His daughter was in pain and it broke his heart to watch.

“I know you don't. I will only be gone for just a second. I have to call Nadia. I'll even leave your door cracked. Okay?”

“You promise?”

He kissed her forehead.

“I swear it on my life.”

“Okay.”

He gave her back to her mother.

“I'll be right outside,” he whispered to Khari.

Marquise stepped out to call Nadia when Damien walked up.

“How is she?” Damien asked.

“Her fever has spiked. So I’m going to call Nadia.” Marquise replied.

“What do you need from me?” Damien asks.

“To stand here and keep me calm. If you don't mind.”

“Consider it done.”

Marquise nodded and called her pediatrician. When he hung up with her, he had a look on his face.

“How bad is it?” Damien asks.

“She wants us to bring Khari to the ER at St. Michael’s,” Marquise replied.

“Go. I will handle the day-to-day here. And don't worry about the boys. Their grandmothers will keep them company.”

“If I don't say it enough, thank you, Damien.”

Damien nodded.

“No need. You forget I have a daughter too.”

“I know.”

“Go on then. I'll go let Shantel and Margo know.”

Marquise stepped back into his daughter's room.

“Who was that Daddy?”

“Your grandfather, my love. He was coming to check on you.”

“What did Nadia say?” Shanelle asks.

“To bring her to the ER at St. Michael’s.”

“Okay. I'll get her dressed. You call the car.”

Marquise modded before kissing his daughter’s cheek and leaving the room. Once Khari was dressed they were off to the ER in the wee hours of the morning. When they got there Khari wouldn't leave her Daddy’s arms after they were settled into a room.

“Hello hello everyone. We have got to stop meeting like this. I need my little ones to be okay.” Dr. Nadia said as she entered the room.

She looked at Khari who was clinging to her Daddy as she sat down.

“Hello, sweet girl. What's wrong?” Nadia asked.

“My tummy doesn't feel good,” Khari replied in tears.

“Oh, you poor thing. Well, I’m here now. And I’m going to make sure we find out why your tummy hurts so bad and we’ll make you all better. Alright?”

“Okay,” Khari replied quietly.

“That's my girl.”

Just then there was a soft knock at the door. The head of the ER Dr. Hadley.

“Your Majesties, do you both remember Dr. Hadley?” Nadia asked as he walked in.

They both nodded.

“Yes, we do. It's good to see you, Doctor,” Shanelle replied.

Dr. Hadley nodded politely.

“It's good to see you both as well,” he said to Shanelle before addressing Khari, “and it is a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness. I'm sorry it's under these circumstances though.”

“Hi doctor,” Khari said quietly.

Dr. Hadley smiled at her.

“I know you don't feel well but that's why your great-aunt and I are here. We're going to find out what's bothering you and make sure you get all better. But first I need you to do something for me.”

“What’s that?” Khari asks.

“I need you to be big and brave. Can you do that for me?” he asked.

Khari thought for a moment then nodded.

“I can do that,” she replies.

“Atta girl! That's what I like to hear. Now we're going to get you changed, get an IV going, and get some scans done. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Dr. Hadley looked at her parents.

“She’s doing great. And Your Majesties, you both have my word, she will be well taken care of while she's here.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” Marquise said to him.

“Alright, sweetheart. Let's get you changed.” Nadia said to Khari.

Once Khari was changed into a hospital gown, a nurse came in to start an IV and had a wheelchair.

“Princess, Your Majesties, this is Yvonne. She's one of the nurses here. She's going to start Khari’s IV so we can get some pain medicine in her then take her down for an X-ray and CT Scan.”

Yvonne bowed.

“Your Majesties, it's an honor,” she said to the couple.

“Can my mommy and daddy come too?” Khari asked Nadia.

“Sure they can. But they'll have to wait in the waiting room. Okay?”

“Alright.”

“Good girl. Now let's get going.”

Once Khari’s IV was in, she was in the wheelchair and they were off. While they took Khari back, her parents sat out in the waiting area. It's when they sat down, that Shanelle broke down in her husband's arms.

“I know. I know. You’re scared. I am too. But it's gonna be okay. Khari is here and she's safe. And she's with some of the best pediatric doctors in the world. Shhh. Don't cry.” he whispered to her.

“I’m trying to be strong, I promise. It's just…” Shanelle tried to say before her words were choked off by a sob.

“I know. I know you are,” he said as he rubbed her back.

“Your Majesties?” a voice asked softly.

When they both looked up a woman was standing in front of them.

“Please pardon my intrusion. But I was sitting over there in the corner and I couldn't help but overhear you both say that the Princess is here.”

“Yes, she is. They just took her back. Who are you by the way?” Marquise asked.

“Oh pardon my manners. I'm just a little nervous. My name is Lady Selene De Michele-Charroux. My daughter Elena is in school with the Princess.” the lady replied.

“She's one of Khari’s classmates?” Shanelle asked.

“Yes ma'am. They took her back before you all got here.” Selene replied.

“If you don't mind my asking, why?” Marquise asked.

They watched the lady wring her hands nervously.

“My lady, why don't you sit down? You look about as stable as I feel.” Shanelle said to her.

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” Selene said gratefully before sitting down next to them, “to answer your question, my King, my daughter has a rare form of neuroblastoma. She's had it since she was 8 months old. She was being taken back for an MRI.”

“Oh my God! I'm so sorry!”

Selene nodded gratefully to Shanelle.

“Thank you, my Queen. When my daughter was at school a few months ago, before she got really sick, she was being picked on by another group of children. And the Princess stood up for her. She told the children picking on her that if they didn't stop picking on my daughter, she was going to tell her father. And she told them that her father doesn't like bullies.” Selene explained.

Marquise just shook his head with a smile while Shanelle chuckled softly.

“For the record, she never told me.”

“I’m sure she didn't but it was the thought that counted for my daughter. She considered your daughter her only friend. And I just wanted to say thank you to you both for raising such an amazing young girl.”

“Thank you, my lady. You said your last name was De Michele?” Marquise asked.

“Yes. It's my maiden name. You probably don't remember but I went to boarding school with Leo.”

Marquise nodded.

“That's why your name sounds familiar.”

“Yes. As it just so happens you went to school with my cousin.”

“I did?” he asked.

“Yes. Does the name Jean-Marc Archambeau ring a bell?” she asked.

“As in Commander Hervè Archambeau?” he replied.

“Yes. He and my mother Countess Gladys De Michele are brother and sister. According to him, you two were always butting heads.”

Marquise chuckled.

“Yes, we were. How is Jean-Marc?” he asked.

“He’s doing well. Thank you.”

“I haven't heard that name in years. I was told they had moved. What happened?”

Selene cleared her throat.

“Your father is what happened to them.”

Marquise groaned.

“What did he do?”

As she was about to answer, both little girls were wheeled out.

“Mommy! Look! My friend Elena is here too!” Khari squealed happily.

It made Shanelle smile.

“Hello, Khari’s mommy and daddy! It's very nice to meet you.” Elena said to them.

Marquise bowed to the little girl.

“Hello, my dear. How are you?”

Elena smiled at him.

“I’m doing good.”

Selene tapped Marquise on the shoulder.

“Your Majesty, is it okay if we speak privately?” she asked.

“Of course my lady,” he said to her before turning to his wife and daughter, “you two go on back I'll be there soon.”

Shanelle nodded as she and Khari left.

“I'll be right there sweetheart,” Selene said to her daughter. .

“Let's have a seat,” he suggested to Selene.

They sat down.

“I’m sure you didn't want to have this conversation in front of them.”

“Yes sire.”

“Now what happened?” he asked.

Lady Selene cleared her throat.

“Do you remember getting into a fight with my cousin?” she replied.

Marquise thought for a moment.

“Yes, sort of. We were 15 and if memory serves, and it was over a score at a football game,” he replies.

“Yes. He swears you stole a goal from him.”

Marquise snorted.

“Oh geez! Now I remember.” he said with a chuckle, “And for the record, I didn't steal the goal from him. He was being too slow and I took the shot.”

“I believe you. Anyway, you two had words, started shoving each other then fists went flying and you gave him a black eye and he busted your lip.”

“Yup. I remember now we had to be separated. And Headmaster Boisseau gave us each a tongue lashing before we were suspended for a few days.”

“Unfortunately for my cousin, it didn't end there.”

“I don’t like the sound of this.”

“What should've been handled by the school, was handled by your father.”

Marquise let out a breath.

“What did he do?”

Selene paused for a second.

“He had my cousin arrested and charged as an enemy of the crown.”

Marquise was shocked.

“What?! Over a petty fistfight?”

“Yes. He sent a summons to my aunt and uncle and demanded an audience with them after he was arrested,” she said before taking a deep breath and continuing, “When they had their audience with him and Regina, he told them they could either pay a fine that would've bankrupted our whole family, be exiled, or worse, he would execute my cousin.”

Marquise groaned.

“My God.”

“King Constantine said he sentenced him to exile because my cousin assaulted an active member of the Royal Family. But my uncle knew the real reason why.”

“What was the real reason?”

“Revenge.”

Marquise nodded.

“Because of Sebastian. He still blamed your uncle for the ambush that killed him.”

“Yes. I'm sure you didn't know.”

“No, I didn't. But now that I think about it, his not coming back to school makes sense.”

“I swear I didn't tell you for sympathy I promise. But you deserved to know.”

“Thank you, my Lady. If you don't mind telling me, where is your cousin now?”

“Norway. They moved there after they were exiled. My aunt was originally from there.”

“And what about your uncle?” he asked.

Lady Selene went quiet.

“I’m sorry. I didn't mean to pry.”

“No no. It's okay. He passed away after my daughter turned 2.”

Marquise nodded before pulling out his wallet.

“Here. Take this.” he said as he handed her a small business card, “have your cousin contact my office as soon as possible.”

“Yes sire. Thank you so much. I wish you and the Princess all the best.”

Marquise shook her hand.

“The same to you and your daughter as well my lady,” he said before they went their separate ways.

When he got back to Khari’s room, they and his aunt were waiting.

“I’m so sorry I took so long. I didn't mean to make you all wait.”

Nadia smiled.

“It's alright nephew. You’re just in time. I have the results of Khari’s scans.”

Marquise sat down next to his wife and daughter.

“As it turns out, Khari has a ruptured appendix,” Nadia said to them.

“What's that?” Khari asked.

“It's one of your organs, sweetie. It's one of the things we all have. Except for your dad.”

“Daddy doesn't have one?”

“No. He had his appendix taken out as a teenager. I would know. I had to treat him.”

“I wasn't that bad.”

“Hmm…I don't know about that.” Nadia teased.

Khari giggled.

“Now because it's ruptured it has to be taken out. That will require surgery.”

“What's that?” Khari asked.

“It’s where a doctor has to make a small cut in your stomach.”

Khari reared back.

“No! No!”

Nadia laid a reassuring hand on hers.

“It's not bad my dear. I promise. You won't feel anything. You'll be asleep the whole time.”

“I will?”

Nadia nodded.

“And I will be there with you every step of the way.”

Khari chewed her bottom lip.

“Do you remember what Dr. Hadley asked you?”

“To be brave.”

“Can you be brave for me?”

Khari nodded.

“Yes, Aunt Nadia. I can be brave. Very brave.”

“That's my girl. Now I have to talk to your father for a second outside okay?”

“Okay.”

Nadia pulled Marquise outside.

“She’ll be transferred upstairs to a private room for surgery prep.”

“When is her surgery?”

“Because it's the weekend, it'll be tomorrow at 9:00 AM.”

Marquise nodded.

“Thank you, Nadia. I appreciate it so much.”

She patted his arm fondly.

“Of course, nephew. I'll see you tomorrow.”

When Marquise returned to his daughter and his wife.

“What did she say?” Shanelle asked.

“She said that Khari’s surgery is scheduled for tomorrow at 9:00 AM so she’ll be sent upstairs for prep.”

Shanelle nodded as she held Khari.

“Okay. We’ll be ready.”

“Indeed we will.”

There was a knock at the door. It was the transporter. Marquise recognized him.

“I remember you,” Marquise said to him.

“Hello, Your Majesties. My name is Sammy. I'm here to take the Princess upstairs.” the transporter said as he introduced himself. “I was here when His Majesty had his surgery when he was 16.”

“It's good to see you again.”

Sammy smiled.

“It's good to see you too, Your Majesty.”

Sammy turned to Khari.

“Are you ready Princess?”

“Yes sir.”

Khari climbed into the wheelchair.

“And off we go!”

Once Khari was transported and settled into her room, it was time to meet her surgeon.

“Hello! Hello! Good morning Your Majesties, and to you too, Your Highness. My name is Dr. Gaston Cormier. I am the head of surgery here at the hospital. It's good to have you all here. Although I am pretty sure one of you swore to me years ago they'd never come back.”

Marquise shook his head with a smile.

“Hello again doctor. Thank you for coming to greet us.”

“And now that you all are here I want you all to know that the Princess is in very good hands. We will do everything in our power to make sure this process goes as smoothly as possible. And Princess you have my word, I will be very gentle. You won't feel a thing. Okay?”

Khari nodded.

“Yes sir.”

“Very good.”

“Will I be able to eat?” Khari asked.

“Yes. You can eat until midnight tonight but no later. Alright?”

“Okay.”

“Now I have some consent to surgery forms that I will leave for you both to sign and I will see you all in the morning.” Dr. Cormier said before taking his leave.

After signing the consent forms, Shanelle let out a breath she had been holding in.

“You look exhausted, my love,” Marquise said to her.

“It's been a long morning.”

“Indeed. Why don't you go home and get some rest?” Marquise asked.

“I can't. I can't leave her here.” Shanelle replied.

“It'll be okay. I'll be here with her.”

Shanelle shook her head no.

“No Marquise. No. I'm not leaving.”

That's when Khari spoke up.

“It's okay Mommy. You can go. Besides the boys need you, they're probably wondering where everybody is.”

“But baby…”

Khari held her mother's hands.

“We gotta be brave Mommy. Just like Dr. Hadley said. We have to be big girls. Okay?” Khari asked.

Shanelle took a shuddering breath.

“Okay.”

“I'll be okay. I'll get to boss Daddy around while you’re gone.”

Marquise made a face.

“You always boss me around.”

“I know but now I get to be extra bossy.”

Shanelle shook her head.

“Okay, you and your daddy win. I'll go home and check on the boys. But I'll be back later okay?”

“Okay, Mommy.”

“And I'll bring you your favorite things.”

“Yay! Thank you, Mommy.”

Shanelle kissed her daughter on her forehead.

“I'll see you later Peanut.”

“Okie doke! Now we can eat!”

“How can you think of food at a time like this?” Shanelle asked.

“The same way Daddy always does,” Khari replied with a shrug.

“I beg your pardon madam!” he protested.

Khari giggled.

“Alright, I’m going. I love you, baby girl.”

Khari hugged her mother.

“I love you too Mommy.”

“I'll walk you out love,” Marquise said to her.

Marquise walked his wife outside before calling for a guard.

“Take Her Majesty home,” he told the two guards outside.

The guards nodded curtly. Marquise’s phone buzzed in his pocket.

“Who is that?” Shanelle asks.

“Your father. I texted him to put a statement out about Khari being in the hospital,” he replied.

Shanelle checked her phone.

“Thank you for naming him the new herald of the Monarchy.”

“He was happy to accept the job. Now let's get you home.”

Marquise pulled her into a loving hug.

“It'll be okay my love. Khari is a big girl. And she's brave. Hell, she's braver than you and I will ever be. We should hold on to that.” he whispered.

Shanelle held onto her husband.

“I know. And I’m trying. It's just…I want to scream. And I just wanna hold her and make the pain go away.”

He kissed below her left ear.

“I know you do and so do I. Now go. Go check on our boys. I'll hold down the fort here.”

Shanelle smiled at him before leaving with the guards.

You have reached the end of part one! Stay tuned for part two!

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