#liz works a desk job

[pokytoad]

me: [fumbling with the office phone at work] sorry sir, I'm new

client: haha I kinda figured

me: (BITES U BITES U BITES U) ahhah! Let me transfer you now

[accidentally hangs up] shit,,

[justlemmeadoreyou]

the hot-for-teacher fantasy (ta!harry x student!y/n)**

summary: when y/n discovers her charming, handsome college teaching assistant harry styles is also a porn star, it awakens intense lust and longing. one day, harry calls her for a private study session. she wonders what he'll teach her, oblivious that harry knows everything.

words: 4k+

warnings: flirting, fluff, smut. p in v sex, fingering, oral (f receiving), unprotected sex, kissing, dirty talk, creampie.

***

Y/N tried hard not to stare at her extremely good-looking teaching assistant during her Friday college lecture. But Harry Styles was just so hot, with his messy brown curls, bright green eyes, and perfect smile. His tight polo shirt clung to his muscular chest and shoulders. Y/N had to look away before she started imagining what he looked like without his shirt on.

"Girl, you're drooling again," her friend Liz teased in a whisper, nudging her.

Y/N blushed. "No, I'm not!"

Lately, she couldn't stop thinking dirty thoughts about the charming TA. His deep voice and confidence made it impossible for her to focus. There was something really familiar about Harry too, but she couldn't figure out what.

During the break, Harry passed back their graded essays. Y/N's breath caught when he got to her row.

"Nice work on this one," he rumbled, handing her the papers with a crooked grin and letting his fingers brush hers.

"T-thanks," she stammered, flustered by his touch and scent.

After class, Y/N rushed out, head spinning. Harry was just too much for her self-control sometimes. His flirty vibe and hints of his ripped body under his clothes made her imagination go wild.

Later that night, Y/N was scrolling online when she saw a weird tweet from her friend.

"'Who knew our former classmate had such an unexpected second career?'" she read out loud. "What does that mean?"

Curious, she clicked the link...and her jaw dropped. Short video clips played of a VERY naked Harry, putting on an X-rated show! He slowly stroked himself while staring intensely at the camera.

Y/N watched with wide eyes, feeling heated. So THAT'S why Harry seemed so familiar - he was a porn star!

For the next few weeks, Y/N tried to act normal around Harry in class while secretly reeling over his shocking second job. Every time he handed back papers or leaned across her desk, new fantasies popped into her mind of him in those porn videos.

Flashes of Harry's chiseled body and sexy pouts made Y/N shift in her seat, growing wet. She started touching herself at night while rewatching his videos, wishing his large hands were on her instead of himself.

"Hey, everything okay?" Harry asked after catching Y/N spacing out for the third time that lecture. "You seem...distracted."

Y/N snapped out of her daze, cheeks burning. 

"What? Y-yeah, I'm fine. Just a little out of it today."

Harry's brow furrowed, but he let it go and continued his notes. Y/N scolded herself - she needed to be more careful or he'd suspect something!

The semester continued torturously, with Y/N longing for the sweet yet filthy TA. She devoured every new porn clip, imagining his deep groans were because of her. Harry remained perfectly charming and professional, driving Y/N crazy.

***

One evening, he asked Y/N to stay after for help studying. Her heart pounded as they were finally alone together. Harry was dressed casually in a soft t-shirt that clung to his biceps and tight jeans that left little to the imagination.

"So, what did you need help with?" Y/N asked, trying not to stare at the bulge in his crotch.

"Actually..." Harry shut the classroom door and turned to face her with a smirk. "I know what you've been up to."

Y/N paled. "W-what do you mean?"

In one swift move, Harry crowded her against the wall, hands braced on either side of her head.

"I mean, I know you've seen my...other job," he breathed, leaning so close she could smell his sandalwood cologne.  "Judging by how distracted you've been, you must be a fan.I know what you've been up to," Harry said, his voice low. "In fact, I have proof."

Y/N felt her face flush. What could he possibly know? She racked her brain but came up empty.

Harry reached into his bag and pulled out Y/N's notebook from class. He flipped through the pages until he landed on one with "H ❤️" scribbled in the margins.

"This looks an awful lot like the little doodles I've seen pop up in the chat during my streams," he said with a raised eyebrow.

Y/N's heart pounded. He knew about her watching his porn! She opened her mouth to protest, but Harry cut her off by capturing her lips in a searing kiss.

"Wanted to do this for ages," Harry growled between heated kisses down her neck. "Could feel you eye-fucking me every class."

"Harry..." she gasped as he palmed her breast. This had to be a dream!

Y/N instantly melted against him, whimpering into his mouth. They kissed hungrily, all the pent-up tension finally unleashing.  

"You taste so fucking sweet," he groaned against her racing pulse in that smoky, ruined timbre that immediately flooded her core with fresh arousal. "Been driving me mad, pretty girl. Had to have you."

She had spent countless nights alone getting herself off to the fantasy of Harry - the casual acquaintance turned porn star she had established an embarrassingly strong fixation on. In those frenzied moments of pleasure chasing, her imagination had run wild with what it might feel like to have his large hands on her, to experience his undivided intensity and passion in the flesh.

But nothing could've prepared her for the reality. For this soft, reverent side of him she never could've pictured behind that dirty-mouthed and cocky boldness of his videos. Harry was watching her with those mossy green eyes, hooded but shining, his warm gaze flickering over her flushed face like she was the most precious thing in the world.

Y/N traced her fingertips over the sharp jut of his cheekbones, down the carved column of his throat, savouring the tickle of his rough stubble. She wanted to bottle the rich, woodsy scent of his cologne and sweat, to keep this moment perfectly preserved somehow. This exact pocket in time when Harry was focused solely on her, that made her heart swell and thighs quiver.

When she nodded mutely in response to his question, Harry leaned in to capture her lips in a slow, searing kiss. One large palm cradled the back of her skull, tilting her head for the perfect angle to lick into her mouth with slow and soft sweeps of his tongue. The other hand splayed over her ribs, fingertips trailing up to graze the underside of her breast, each pass lighting tiny sparks across her sensitive skin.

A soft keen parted Y/N's lips when Harry finally palmed her fully, the rough pads of his fingers finding her peaked nipple. His mouth instantly set to work soothing her desperate whimpers with deeper, more heated sweeps of his tongue. He continued paying homage to her breasts with laving kisses until she was writhing and panting.

"So pretty," murmured that devastatingly deep rumble. "So fucking soft and perfect for me, love."

Harry punctuated the dark praise with a sharp nip to the upper swell of one breast, soothing away the faint sting with rich swirls of his talented tongue. Y/N's back arched involuntarily, a strangled moan shuddering from her chest as the flare of pleasure echoed all the way to her clenching core which was already throbbing with need.

She grabbed at Harry's broad shoulders, tugging to seek out more delicious friction. But he seemed determined to drag this out as long as possible - their position putting her at his command as he mapped every inch of her squirming form in unhurried exploration.

His talented mouth continued blazing an open-mouthed path down her sternum, across the quivering plane of her belly, all while his callused palms held her hips in a firm, grounding hold. When his lips finally met the juncture of her parted thighs, Y/N let out a garbled keen, head thrashing against the hard floor.

Harry shushed her gently, nuzzling against her damp curls as his huge hands anchored her bucking hips in place.

"I've got you, sweetheart," he rumbled, hot breath ghosting over her sensitized flesh and dragging a desperate whine from her chest. "Be a good girl and let me take care of my pretty girl, okay?"

Y/N's chest felt fit to burst from the tangled storm of arousal, tenderness, and pure longing that seemingly came out of nowhere at Harry's husked promise to "take care of her properly."

She couldn't find the brainpower to formulate any response beyond a punched-out mewl, utterly spellbound already by the wicked promise in Harry's voice. She lay pliant and trembling as he hooked one of her legs over his shoulder, fully exposing her to the hot sweep of his piercing stare and the first scorching lap of his tongue against her aching slit.

What followed was a hazy, blissed-out oblivion of sensation as Harry set to work devouring her with so much focus. Focus she had only seen on him when he was in deep, grading papers. There were no more teasing licks or tantalizing nibbles - he dove in with determination, sucking at her slick folds and swirling his tongue in swirls around her throbbing bundle of nerves until Y/N was writhing and sobbing out his name like a prayer.

Her fingers twisted in those sweat-soaked chestnut curls, tugging and desperate for an anchor as the exquisite wash of sensation threatened to unravel her completely. Every breathless whine and whimper was duly rewarded with another purposeful flick of Harry's talented tongue, coaxing her higher and higher.

He lapped at her clit, one digit opening her quivering entrance to his assault. He pushed them in, while she arched her back, giving him a deeper angle. Wet noises erupted from between her legs, his two fingers perfectly anchoring inside, swiping against her sweet spot that had her whimpering like a muse.

He fucked his fingers in and out of her, the thick nerves on his arms seeming to be erupting to life. The same hands that she had imagined about, were now inside her cunt, wet and warm with how wet she was.

His other hand joined the slick heat of his mouth, cupping and kneading her bucking hips with possessive surety, it finally pushed her over the blissful edge. Y/N's whole body convulsed as her climax detonated with blinding intensity, keening gasps punched from her chest again and again on each bottomless wave of pleasure.

Through the whiteout ecstasy, she felt her hips being released. Then, powerful arms were scooping her up against Harry's solid chest, enveloping her entirely as aftershock tremors kept rippling through her frame. Her cries were instantly muffled as he kissed her, her taste lingering in their mouths as she drank him in.

"That's my girl," Harry praised, his voice almost low and aching with want. "So fucking gorgeous falling apart on my tongue like that, sweetheart."

Y/N could only whimper helplessly in response and manoeuvred herself closer to his sweat-slicked torso, shuddering at the raspiness of his voice. Large palms stroked soothingly up and down her back as she slowly came back to earth and rejoined gravity.

One calloused thumb caught a stray tear she hadn't even realised fell, swiping it away with tenderness. The gentle gesture finally focused Y/N's senses enough to really look up at Harry - and what she saw stole the breath from her lungs all over again.

His green eyes were molten and hooded, swirling with naked want but also something more profound. Harry gazed down at her with such adoration and protectiveness that another sob rose in her tight throat, heart spasming almost painfully.

"You're so beautiful," he rasped out. One large palm cradled the back of her skull as his lips found her swollen and panting mouth in a deep, searching kiss. "So fucking strong and brilliant and incredible. I've wanted you for so damn long, Y/N. Please let me..."

Y/N couldn't formulate a coherent reply. So instead she silently nodded, her assent between kissing him back with every ounce of frenetic passion burning through her and took Harry's full weight as he rolled them until she was cradled in his lap.

Their kiss turned searing and desperate as Harry skillfully discarded their remaining clothes. Y/N's strangled whimpers and whines were swallowed by his bruising mouth, her slick heat dragging against the hardness of his erection in tortuously light strokes.

Y/N instinctively sought out more of that maddening friction - rocking her hips up to meet Harry's in a desperate grind as she tangled her legs around his trim waist. The low, reverent rumble of approval he let out at her shamelessness made her entire body bloom with heat.

"So eager for me, aren't you love?" he husked against the swollen bow of her parted lips. Not waiting for a response, he sealed his mouth over hers in a lush, filthy kiss that left them both panting for air.

He teased her exactly to that tantalising edge of overwhelming bliss and sheer frustration until she was squirming and mewling into their heated embrace, nails scrabbling at the broad expanse of his sweat-dampened shoulders. At last, Harry tore away from her lips with a ragged groan, panting heavily as they pressed their foreheads together.

She was too far gone to feel self-conscious. The last threads of her self-restraint had snapped the second Harry palmed both cheeks of her ass in those huge, calloused hands and used his grip to pull her flush against the insistent jut of his straining cock.

"Wanted this for so long," he growled against her swollen lips before venturing down to scathe his stubbled jaw along the ultra-sensitive slope of her neck, leaving a stinging trail of fresh goosebumps in his wake. "Laid awake so many nights thinking about having you in my lap just like this..."

Y/N had no capacity to formulate a reply beyond a choked-off moan, hips canting of their own accord to chase that scorching friction. She wanted to whimper out, to beg him to stop teasing them both with this exquisite torment. But he didn't give her a chance, lush mouth finding her peaked nipple and suckling hard, stealing what little coherence she had left.

"Ah! ...H-Harry, please..." she panted out as sparks of both pleasure and sweetest pain lanced through her. She fisted those decadent chestnut curls tighter until he finally released her with a final teasing graze of teeth over her swollen, rosy bud.

He peered up at her with hooded, molten eyes, his pupils blown wide and inky with naked want. His mouth glistened obscenely in the low light. The sight alone nearly cleaved what little rational thought remained.

"Since you asked so sweetly..." he husked, gifting her one more searingly deep kiss before making a trail of open-mouthed licks and nibbles down the center line of her body once more. "My gorgeous girl deserves whatever she desires.Now look at me, love," he ordered, "Need to see those gorgeous eyes when I finally get to be inside my girl."

My girl.

Y/N's whole body locked up with need at his command. Their gazes crashed together in the space separating them - Harry peering down at her, mouth hanging open in blissful agony.

Holding that heated stare, he finally guided the slick blunt head of his cock to her entrance with one broad palm on her hip. They both exhaled harsh breaths in unison as he sank past that initial tight clutch, Harry's brows creasing with reverence while Y/N's mouth fell open on a choked off moan.

"You feel so good, baby, taking my cock like this," he groaned against her neck. "Wanted this pretty pussy for months."

The crude words somehow only turned Y/N on more. She matched Harry's thrusts, overwhelmed by how amazing he felt.

"You feel that, love?" he rumbled in that rasping timbre that immediately stoked the banked embers of her core back to feverish heat. "How fucking desperate you still are for me, even after falling apart so gorgeously?"

Y/N let out a helpless, pitchy noise of agreement muffled feverishly against the solid weight of his shoulder – nodding frantically as he kept up that slick, sinfully light rutting rhythm. Her entire body felt suspended in limbo, torn between too-much and not-enough with each deliberate slide of his cock spreading her wanting folds apart.

"Christ, you should see yourself right now," Harry practically purred in a haze of lust-drunk awe, swiping the pad of his thumb in a teasing circle around her revived, aching bud. When she arched into the contact with a strangled whimper, he let out a rumbling chuckle that reverberated through both their shuddering frames. "An absolute picture...and all for me."

On his final seismic stroke, the thick crown of his erection caught against Y/N's swollen, aching entrance - teasing her to the brink of shattering all over again. She let out a garbled noise that might have been Harry's name or just an incoherent plea, fingernails scrabbling at his back.

"Look at me," he ordered in a low rasp, drawing her hooded gaze up from where their damp bodies joined. Green eyes glittered with undisguised possession when their stares finally met - searing straight through her.

Holding that smoldering eye contact, Harry pressed forward with one inch at a time until Y/N thought she might combust from the sweet stretch and burn. Every shallow exhale punched from her lungs came out a choked whimper, matched by the fevered grunts rumbling from Harry's chest as he bottomed out, again and again.

Y/N's world had narrowed entirely to the joined point of their bodies, her fluttering internal walls struggling to accommodate the exquisite impalement even as fresh arousal flooded her with boneless surrender. She could only cling helplessly to Harry's sweat-slicked shoulders and lose herself in the intoxicating visuals before her - his arm muscles bunching with the strain, those ruddy, plump lips hanging open on ragged gasps.

"Fuck...f-feel so good, baby," he gritted out, words fracturing apart as his hips gave a minute involuntary roll. "Taking me so bloody well..."

A strangled cry escaped Y/N as that tiniest motion lit up every nerve-ending with bliss. Her heels dug into the small of Harry's back in a frantic bid for leverage, for friction, for anything to alleviate this keen edge between agony and rapture. He seemed to read her desperation, dropping his sweat-slicked brow to hers as he found her lips in a sloppy, uncoordinated clash of teeth and questing tongues.

Then he was pulling back in one sinuous torso-roll, finally giving Y/N what she craved as his initial retreat turned into a soul-shaking thrust that punched the air from her lungs anew. Somewhere in the spiraling vortex of sensation, she registered the harsh slam of his hips meeting her own, the strangled cry of gratification Harry loosed against her slack mouth as he set a steadily mounting cadence.

Any hope of finesse or coordination was swiftly abandoned as their shared need mounted inexorably higher. Y/N could only cling on and ride out the tide of Harry's sharp, bouncing strokes - bordering on too much even as every shuddering nerve ending begged for more, more, more...

Before long, his forehead had dropped to brace against her shuddering sternum, the rigid line of his body trembling with restrained power and exertion as his hips jackhammered with unchecked fervor. The slick, fiery noises of their joining felt loud enough to haunt Y/N's every thought from now until the end of time.

She could feel the heated pant of his breaths gusting across her neglected nipples with each punishing grind of their movements coming brutally unhinged. Every snap of his hips shoved impossibly deeper until she was seeing stars behind her screwed-shut lids, a high-pitched whine escaping with each narrow thrust mounting her up the cliff's edge.

Heat and tension built upon itself in a dizzying spiral, a thousand tingling points of rapture spiraling from Y/N's core until her entire being felt engulfed in the storm. Harry's large hand found her sweat-dampened nape and tangled in her hair, drawing her into a searing, wild kiss that only stoked things higher.

The groan he leaked into her mouth was utterly guttural and wrecked as she matched his hectic rhythm – nails dragging down the broad expanse of his quivering shoulders until her next orgasm suddenly crested with blinding force.

This time, there was no oblivion or sweet black voids of unknowing as Y/N came apart. Instead, she remained tethered to the blazing intensity coursing through every fiber, Harry's name escaping on a cracked litany as her release seemed to go on and on in pulsing waves. He swallowed each choked syllable, hips drilling her through the roaring tide until she arched clean off the desktop entirely.

Harry's broken cry of her name might have been reverent, might have been full of desperate adulation as he finally let go – thick spurts of wet heat joining the mess between their bodies as his tempo turned erratic and punishing. Y/N could only hang on with what little quavering strength remained,  drifting in the bliss of euphoria.

Eventually, the high tides ebbed and they collapsed in a sweaty, ruined heap upon the desk's surface. Both of their chests heaved like they'd run a marathon, senses struggling to reboot as little aftershocks kept shuddering through their temporarily departed forms.

Incrementally, Y/N floated back into her body and surroundings – the achingly pleasant stretch and ticklish trickle of Harry's slowly softening length, the damp cling of their overheated skin, the stark scent of sweat and sex and desperation sated. She cracked heavy lids, momentarily stunned all over again at the debauched vision of the handsome man draped over and still sheathed inside her.

Harry's summer green gaze was already waiting, twin pools of blown pupils shining through a heavy-lidded swath of mussed chestnut curls. Enraptured affection and lust battled for prominence as he stared down at her, sucking in air like a drowned man breaching the surface. When she met his eyes, he opened his mouth only to release a choked exhalation – clearly as adrift in the tide of their passion as she was.

Y/N lifted one shaky hand to paw clumsily at the damp curls framing his face, caressing his flushed cheek in what she hoped came across as reassurance. Her other arm snaked around Harry's shoulders, anchoring him to her as he nuzzled into the gesture with a shuddering sigh.

This time when he found her mouth, the kiss was slow and deep and almost unbearably tender. Their heartbeats gradually realigned as they savored the languid exchange, prolonging the hazy afterglow for as long as possible.

Harry finally pulled back to mouth a reverent path along the curve of her jaw, words rasping low and ardent against the hammer of her pulse.

"You're so incredible, love," he murmured like a hallowed oath. Full of naked adoration and something deeper that made Y/N's newly reawakened heart clench and squeeze impossibly tighter. "Knew you would be...but god, you fucking ruined me just now."

His raspy chuckle carried an undercurrent of disbelief and familiar self-deprecation. Kiss-swollen lips trailed along the sloped curve of her neck and shoulder as he continued pouring out those hushed, awed confessions.

"Don't think I'll ever look at this bloody classroom the same way again...not after feeling you come apart around me so beautifully..."

After, they lay panting on the classroom floor, limbs tangled together. Y/N traced the bird tattoos on Harry's abdomen, unable to believe this had happened.

"If I had known this is what you wanted, I would've bent you over my desk ages ago," Harry laughed, still looking deliciously rumpled and debauched.

Whatever came next, whatever questions arose about the status of their relationship or the unorthodox circumstances that had brought them here, for now Y/N was content to simply bask in the warmth and connection she felt . Her wondering heart could wait until the morning.

♡~~~♡~~~♡~~~♡~~~♡~~~♡~~~♡~~~♡~~~♡~~~♡~~~♡~~~♡~~~♡~~~♡

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[charmingpplincardigans]

Hello! The last real post I made here was *checks notes* mid-February. And good news! My brain has absolutely not gotten better! I'm still having trouble reaching out to people and connecting with folks. Only now my back has also joined the party and I end most days in excruciating pain for the crime of sitting at a computer desk or running an errand! Fun times!

I'm not really here to complain though. I miss...pretty much everyone, but you guys included. Think I might test out trying to be back on here more instead of just playing phone games for hours on end while the mac wheel in my brain spins. So in the spirit of getting back into it, here are some updates:

Work continues to not pay me enough to live, which is a shame because I've started a few research initiatives I would love to see through and my boss remains the best. Still looking for a new job and getting very close to the October date when I told the grand boss I'd take any job that paid me enough.

Couldn't afford to go to Con this year, so I went to see my friend and her babies instead. They're walking, which they weren't doing when I last saw them in May and I'm positive that by the next time I get down there they'll be speaking in full sentences.

Went to a cool multi-media live Cowboy Bebop concert for my birthday and it was So Cool. The band rocked.

They Maythem moved in with us. They and I are watching through Star Trek: TOS because I'd never seen it. The two of us and Kait are watching through the X-Files, another thing I'd never seen.

I've taken on the job of cooking every night now since neither Kait nor Liz has a great time doing it and I love it, so long as my back doesn't seize up. I find cooking and baking and doing the grocery run to be meditative and calming, so it's nice to be given the freedom to just find new things to make and go for it.

Unfortunately in the other direction I have made no art or done any writing since the pain became an issue, but I continue to make plans to create.

Anyway, the biggest and most important news deserves its own post, so I'll do that next. I just wanted to sat hi, I hope you're all doing okay. I'm sending love even when I'm not here, but maybe I'll be around a little more to remind you. We'll see how life goes, which is all we can do, I think.

[nijigasakilove]

“I will treasure you all my life. I love you. Please marry me. I want you. It has to be you” RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH I WON. Erhart’s fist pump under the desk was all of us at the end. Amazing conclusion to this season, couldn’t ask for more.

Where to start with this finale..

It was really nice to see Sei and Albert’s first meeting from Albert’s perspective and how it was essentially love at first sight for him. Sei in those glasses is enough to make even the most seasoned of soldiers’ hearts skip a beat. Can’t blame him. He’s been keeping his feelings bottled up for a long time, and with the whole play fiasco last week he must’ve been extremely anxious.

Episode was filled with so much romantic tension. Liz has been such a good wingman and friend to Sei. That conversation was exactly what Sei needed to get her in the right headspace about Albert. She’s always seen him as out of her league which isn’t the case at all. Clearly had a huge impact on Sei too because she was on cloud 9 the entire day, unable to really lock in at work

So to me, the hallway scene made it seem Drewes wanted to bring out Sei’s full potential as the saint which is connected to her emotions.. I.e getting she and Albert together. With the rumours from last week though, Albert was obviously nervous seeing them together. But it worked out in the end because it spurred Albert to stop messing around and just tell her how he feels. With all these suitors and rumours, just put an end to it and get your girl!

Which he did in the best possible way. Remembering details that a girl tells you and taking her to a place like an exclusive royal garden.. good job commander hawke 👍the OST they played during the confession was perfect and heightened the moment. It was so cute hearing Albert reassure Sei that she’s perfect for him and he only wants her. Exactly what we all wanted to hear.

Sad that s2 is over, it went by in such a flash. But at least we have the books!

review up on myanimelist as usual: https://myanimelist.net/reviews.php?id=509745

[afewproblems]

and there you go hurtin' me so good again with the continuation of your cheating!Eddie steddie fic.. thank you! <3

Based on Part One, and this Ask here,

I was chatting with @samcoxramblings yesterday about this and I think maybe there should be some Steve POV, as a treat.

If Steve thought about the last few weeks of his life alongside every other instant of sorrow and pain he'd experienced, his relationship with Nancy, the Upside Down, the death of Barb, his parents, he'd say he should be used to this sort of thing by now.

But perhaps he'd been spoiled.

He'd had more than twenty years of happiness, contentedness, with Eddie and their life together. He'd relaxed too much, and here was the other shoe crashing down.

The home phone line in their apartment has been ringing off the hook, reporters have been trying to get ahold of him to see his side of things, leaving messages and one bold enough to come to their apartment leaves a letter taped to their door.

Steve disconnectes the phone and installs another lock after that.

And speaking of letters, there have been a mix delivered to their shared PO Box, some in support of Steve, sympathetic to the situation, others are ecstatic --seeing it as their chance to wedge their way into his marriage just like the last person, that they've always hated Steve and can't wait to see him gone.

He only reads a few letters before letting them pile up on the side table by the door.

All because of that stupid photo.

There was no discernable face in the photo, or photos, that ended up online.

Just Eddie talking animatedly to someone facing away from the camera view. It pieces together the evening, a meet cute, a conversation, walking out of the bar together, and a passionate kiss before getting into a taxi.

Eddie confirms it, and it's like his heart breaks in two.

There are a million questions rattling around in his head.

How many times has this happened? How long has Eddie been lying to him, was this a one time thing or have they been secretly meeting one another for multiple tours? Does the band know? Have they been lying to his face as well?

Steve feels as though he's been on autopilot, walking around in a fog while at home, and mechanically moving through his lesson plans while at school.

To make matters worse, his principal calls him at home after the news breaks.

"Steve, how are you doing? I'm so sorry to hear," she tells him solemnly over the line, "if there is anything we can do please let us know".

"Thank you Liz, I, I really appreciate it," Steve hums, his voice much more level than it has been in awhile, "I'll take Spring break to finish up my marking and get my head on straight before we're back--"

"Steve, I'm sorry, I think," she hesitates, Steve can hear her pace around her office, her signature kitten heels click against the tiled floor, "I think it would be best if you take a little longer than Spring Break".

He feels his stomach drop into his shoes, no, no, they can't...

"What, what are you talking about, are you--"

"No, no, of course not," her voice shrill, panicked and tinny, over the line as she backpeddles, "no, we just think it would be better for you and the kids if you took some time away. We have a sub lined up and this wouldn't be permanent, just until it dies down".

"You can't be serious Liz, come on, their finals are coming up at the end of the month and I've never let my personal life affect my job before and I'm not about to start now, I don't need a leave of absence, I'm fine," he lies.

It has been difficult to get through class, to ignore the whispers from the kids during break or while they work in groups. He can feel curious eyes follow him in between the desks as he walks around for questions.

Liz sighs into the line and all at once knows the conversation is over, that it was never a conversation to begin with.

"Look, you're the best department head we've had in a long time Steve, and I want you back, fresh, for the kids. I can't imagine how you're feeling right now and I know this isn't what you wanted but I think it will be for the best".

"How long?" Steve manages to say, so softly that Liz asks him to repeat himself.

"Excluding the break, I'll say three weeks, so you can be back to see them through their exams," she sighs again, "the school year isn't over yet Steve, you'll still have lots of time with them".

Steve raises a shaking hand to his hair, running his fingers through it from root to tip. It could be good to take that time, Robin had asked him if he would when they initially spoke. It could give him a chance to think about what to do.

But, at this point, he worries if he stops moving, if he slows down, he won't be able to stop the grief he can feel, knocking at his window.

"Okay, okay, Liz, I'll take some time".

***

Steve finishes his marking in record time, but perhaps it's easy when one doesn't sleep.

He reorganizes the pantry twice, deep cleans all the storage closets, he throws every piece of clothing in the house into the laundry, including Eddie's, drops off the dry cleaning, and washes the walls.

He moves the furniture around and finds himself looking at rentable scaffolding to see about finally starting that painting project he's been thinking about.

It's only Wednesday.

One by one his family begin to reach out as the news begins to circulate more prominently in the regular entertainment news outlets. Hopper and Joyce call, Joyce asks Steve if he wants to come back to Hawkins for a bit, that their door is always open for him, just as it was when he was in his twenties. Hopper tells him all Steve needs to do is give him the word and he'll be in Chicago with a shovel, no questions asked.

Steve thanks Joyce and gives Hopper an emphatic, 'NO,' but he appreciates them all the same.

Dustin innocently brings up that he'll be in Chicago for a few days the following week, that Robin offered Steve's guest room to him, and Steve finds himself smiling while shaking his head at the co-conspirators.

All of the kids call at least once, but they are busy themselves, none of them are on a leave of absence after all, he thinks bitterly to himself.

Thursday afternoon there's a knock at his door, Steve is in the middle of changing out the old washer from the kitchen sink -finally getting around to fixing the small leak, he freezes at the sound.

He's not expecting anyone and even though he and Robin are nearly joined at the hip she still has the decency to call before showing up at his door.

Steve climbs out from under the sink and wipes his hands on the nearest towel before slowly walking towards the door. All the locks are still bolted from the night before, so he feels safer leaning in to peer through the peephole.

It's Wayne?

Steve feels his heart begin to race, what on earth was Wayne doing here? Was Eddie with him? Corroded Coffin was still on tour, he couldn't be.

He hazards another glance through the peephole but he can't tell if there is anyone else in the hall.

Wayne knocks again making Steve jump at the sudden noise.

Steve breathes in deeply through his nose and out through his mouth once, twice, before he unlocks both bolts and the chain with shaking hands, he opens the door a fraction.

"Wayne? What are you doing here?" Steve says softly, he steps aside to let the man through.

"I came to check on you," Wayne says after a beat, he wipes his feet on the second mat inside and shrugs off his red windbreaker. Steve tries to take the jacket to hang it up but raises his hands in surrender as Wayne waves him off and opens the closet to hang it up himself.

Steve takes him into the kitchen and puts on a pot of coffee, they never did invest in one of those single serve coffee machines, Eddie drank so much coffee when he was home that it made no sense and, 'brewed coffee just tates better Stevie'.

Steve shakes the memory away and grabs two mugs from the cupboard, "Just sugar right?"

He reaches for the empty sugar bowl as Wayne nods, he hovers awkwardly as Steve flits around the kitchen.

Steve grabs the sugar from their pantry and fills up the bowl before placing it on the table with a spoon.

"So," Steve sighs as he leans against the counter next to the coffee maker, it hisses and bubbles filling the air with the smell of brewing coffee, "Eddie put you up to this, huh?"

Wayne frowns but nods, "Call it the first good decision that dumb-ass has made in the last few weeks," he scratches the graying scruff on his cheeks and steps closer, "how are you doing son?

Steve wants to tell him about how he hasn't let himself even think about the future. How he told Eddie he couldn't come home yet, how he's so achingly lonely despite the number of people that have reached out. How he doesn't want to think about a life without Eddie, but that he also can't imagine being in the same room as him for more that a minute without wanting to just scream at him.

How, Steve firmly believed that he would lose the man standing in his doorway, how his friendship with Gareth and Chrissy would inevitably fracture over Eddie, and once again Steve would be alone, picking up the pieces of his life to start again.

Instead, he manages to say, "I'm so glad you're here," before stepping into Wayne's arms, and allowing himself to be held as he finally, finally cries.

Wayne's arms come around him firmly, he reaches one hand up to cradle Steve's head while the other rubs his back, "its okay son, I gotcha," he whispers as Steves shoulders shake and his chest stutters.

"I gotcha".

[shygirl4991]

Brewing Romance Chapter 3 By Your Side

A Collab Story with @lizaluvsthis SMG3 and SMG4 design for the AU by Liz!

Last Chapter Next Chapter

Summary:SMG4 starts to struggle with his finances when he learns living in his newly built castle is more pricey than he thought. So when he gets an invite to the grand opening of SMG3 Coffee n Bombs he manages to land himself a second job as the cafe waiter where both men will learn that coffee won't be the only thing brewing in this cafe.

Tags: Slow burn, fluff, comedy, just two idiots in love, love confession, first kiss, angst, blood and injury

SMG3 smiles as he gets up from his desk,  he stretches and flinches at the pain in his hands. He was clumsy, in his rush to finish the hat in time for the uniform to arrive he managed to constantly prick his fingers. Annoyed he walks to the bathroom fighting his sleep, he cleans up his hand and bandages them up.  He then goes to clean his mess ignoring the pain in his hands. He turned to look at the hat he made and smiled “Heh Now that idiot won't look so weird!” 

He sets the hat near his own uniform as he throws himself to bed, as he starts to drift to sleep his alarm rings. He shoots up looking at the time “Oh god…i pulled a SMG4,” he sighs realizing he has gotten zero sleep. He gets up to take a shower then gets ready for work, exhausted  he puts his bun together lazily. It was always under his hat anyways, not like something will happen to cause his bun to come loose. 

Making himself black coffee in hopes it keeps him awake for the day he looks at the hat he has hiding behind the counter. He felt his heart flutter at the thought of SMG4 wearing something he made, rolling his eyes at the strange feeling,he finished his drink to open for the day. 

SMG4 was excited as he opened the box and put on his new uniform, putting on his new skates he started to spin and do tricks in the main room.  He smiles brightly as he skates up to a mirror and checks himself out, the uniform was comfy much to his surprise. He removes his hat to tie up his hair, the only downside to the uniform was lack of hat. 

Looking at the time he decided it wouldn't hurt to visit Three and get some coffee before his shift. He heads to the cafe and uses his skates to slide up close to Three “Hello~ I know I'm early but I was hoping my awesome boss will let me drink some coffee before we open?” 

SMG3 sighs as he walks to the machine and makes two cups, once done they both take a seat together. One thing Three is thankful about is that Four and him have the same taste in coffee, it made him wonder what else they have in common while tempted to ask the man questions on his taste he decided better of it.  Remembering the hat he gets up and goes behind the counter “Hey Three, you know when we have coffee together the rule is to not walk away!” 

SMG3 walks up to Four “Hey underling, i got you something.”

Four looks up at the man confused, SMG3 wasn't the type of person to just hand you a gift. Cautious, he gets up “What's that?” he watches as he takes something from behind his back. Suddenly SMG3 slams a hat on Fours head, Three smirks at him “Your new hat enjoy~”

Confused, he reaches up and touches the hat “You bought this too?”  SMG3 hums as he sips his coffee not saying anything, getting annoyed with how cocky Three was acting he was going to give the man a piece of his mind. Then SMG3 grins at him and waves his hand, where he notices stains on the glove. Three finishes his coffee and walks off to wash the cups, Four stares at Three’s fingers getting a better look at the stains, it was blood. He takes the hat off and stares at it with wide eyes. Did SMG3 make the hat?

SMG4 blushes and smiles at the hat, “Oi! Finish your coffee, it's almost time to open, I don't hire lazy workers!”

Hearing this he chugs his coffee and places the hat back on his head, he turns giving a thumbs up to three. Once three walks to the back room Four whispers “Thank you,” then goes to wash his own cup. 

The work day started as SMG4 delivered orders and did tricks with his skates, his two assistants Eggdog and Beeg would help him with small dances and moves to keep customers entertained. SMG3 rolls his eyes watching the man “Feels like Memewarts all over again,” he grabs a tray to hand to Four. His hand starts to shake as he feels the pain from his hand, he was so asleep he didn't notice how badly he hurt himself. 

SMG4 turns around with a huge smile to show off to Three when he notices the man's hand shaking, flashes of the past hit him seeing the pain in SMG3's face. In a panic he skates up to his boss taking the tray “I got it!” In a flash he drops off the coffees. SMG3 glares at him, his feelings on things being a lot like Memewarts only grew. Later that day someone called in an order of bombs, SMG3 kissed the last bomb he put in the box as his way of saying goodbye before shutting the box. He was going to lift it up before he flinched from the pain, out of nowhere SMG4 showed up and started to push the box “I got it!” SMG3 glares then gets next to four and pushes “No,  i got it!” The pair kept pushing the box that at the end the two delivered the package leaving Karen in charge till they returned. 

The way SMG4 was acting felt familiar to him, as he thinks back on it, it clicks. Slowly he touches his right eye, that's right SMG4 was strangely protective and overly helpful when he almost lost his eye. He found it odd that Four would suddenly act this way with him, he groans feeling he can't do anything in his own cafe due to SMG4 being overly helpful. 

SMG3 was sick of this, he couldn't pick anything up without Four coming out of nowhere “Would you stop! THIS ISN'T LIKE WHAT HAPPENED WITH ZERO!” SMG4 freezes hearing the man's words. He takes a step back “I know this isn't the same…but your hand is shaking holding trays..your gloves have blood stains on them. DO YOU EXPECT ME TO DO NOTHING!” 

SMG3 glares at four “Don't worry about my gloves, just do your job,” suddenly SMG4 grabs Three tie and pulls him close “DON'T WORRY?! I CARE ABOUT YOU ASSHOLE IS THAT SO WRONG!” Noticing that the screaming was bringing attention he drags SMG3 to the back room

Once in the backroom he pushes SMG3 to the couch “Listen Three, i don't know how you hurt your hand. But I can tell your hands can't handle a lot of weight.” he gently holds Three’s hand making the man blush. He looks down making eye contact “Remember what i promise you, let me take care of everything and for the love of memes change your gloves!” 

Three sighs pulling his hand back “Fine…sorry for bringing up zero,” he gets up and smiles softly at SMG4 “Thanks for the help,” he walks off to clean his hands and change gloves. SMG4 stays standing there with his heart racing, has SMG3 always had such a charming smile?

He turns to go back to work, his face still pink from seeing the soft smile Three gave him. Sure he has seen SMG3 smile before with Eggdog but something about this smile felt different, he hopes he can see it again as he grabs a tray. 

Every Time he saw SMG3  about to lift something heavy he would skate up with a glare, only to get an annoyed comment before he let Four take over. It was obvious that Three wasn't happy about the arrangement, the glares and insults he would throw at SMG4 made it clear. Four sighs as the day came to an end, he was thankful that it was almost time to close. He wasn't sure how much longer he could withstand the glares his boss was giving him.

He locks the door with a smile, he waves goodbye to Karen as he goes to clean the tables. SMG3 watches the man cleaning then frowns, thanks to his mistake SMG4 didn't even get to enjoy his lunch.  He decides to make coffee and sets it on the counter with two donuts “Hey four come here, seems we had left over coffee and snacks...want some?”

He looks away hoping the man wouldn't notice his blush, SMG4 smiles brightly as he sips the coffee “Wow and the leftover coffee happens to be my favorite, I must be lucky!” he teases as he takes a bite from his donut. Seeing the second donut he picks it up and hands it to Three “I know i must have been annoying mister do it yourself, but you're not alone anymore.”

SMG3 glares at Four as he takes the donut. “I lived my life alone, it's not something I can just flip a switch and suddenly I'm all for you helping me. Being a villain…it's not as easy as you think, it's lonely…painful.” he frowns looking at the donut in his hand.

SMG4 walks closer to three, finishing his donut. “I know it's easy for me to say, but we are friends now so I hope one day you will let me in.”

SMG3 sets the donut down then turns to face SMG4 “And i hope one day you will stop holding the guilt of what happened…you keep everything to yourself like an idiot. Not like I care if you're taking your mental health seriously.”  He rubs his arm thinking about what he should do. Even though he still can't stand the idiot, he knows that Four’s fear is losing his loved ones which is why the man never talks about his problems. He wasn't one for physical contact like Four, thinking of what to do he turns and takes out a red sticky note and starts to fold it. Then he hands a tiny origami rose to SMG4 “Don't take this the wrong way! But no matter what I will always be by your side. So if you need to talk..i'm here.”

SMG4 blushes as he takes the origami flower, a hat now this, he wasn't sure if he was dead or SMG3 was replaced. Three sighs looking out the window as Four stares at him “Thank you Three, it means a lot to hear you say that.” SMG3 grabs the donut and breaks it in half, he then hands one of the halves to Four. He takes it and they eat in silence, seeing Three’s softer side stir something in SMG4. He felt himself getting nervous, his face felt warm looking at the origami rose. 

He then looks at SMG3's hand, remembering the pained face he had brought back horrible memories, slowly he reaches out and holds Three’s hand “Please don't leave me..” hearing four’s words made SMG3 bite his tongue to complain how gay it was for them to hold hands in the cafe. “I’m not going anywhere,” slowly he intertwined his fingers with SMG4.  They both stand next to each other in silence holding hands for comfort. 

[babbling-idiot2]

(I have found the show Night Court and it was a mistake on my mothers part. You'll lover it she said. A guy from the original IT movie is in it she said. Yes Harry Anderson is in it. But my god, Dan Fielding is so fine. I would use different a word but I'm trying to be calm. I will continue to write for this man. So please, Request for him. I beg of you! Enjoy!!)

Harry T. Stone, best friend, and court judge. He had been your best friend since you could remember. He was always there for you, and of course, you were always there for him. It was surprising to hear that he had finally gotten the job at Manhattan Criminal Court. You were very happy for him and even went out of your way to go and see him on his first day. Harry knew the chance of you making it slim. You lived so far away, and you even had a job of your own. He had no idea you were in the building and was in for a surprise, but little did you know, so we're you.

When you arrived in the court house, you asked for directions. When you were told the 8th floor, you were immediately on your way. After finding his office, you walked in and waited. Luckily, he wasn't there to greet you. It was a perfect time to surprise him.

Thankfully, you didn't have to wait long. Harry walked in, looking down at some mail in his hands. You were on his couch and silently watching him. He walked to his desk and around it. His hand grabbed the chair, and right before he could sit down, you spoke up.

"How's your first day on the job, Judge Stone?"

He lets out a short yelp and looks over at you. His eyes are wide, and a huge smile spreads over his face.

"Y/n? What in the world. I thought you were working?"

He says as he starts to round his desk towards you. When he gets to you, he pulls you into a bone crushing hug.

"What and miss my best friends' first day as a judge? Not in a million years."

You say as you hug back.

"So, tell me everything. I'm dying to hear all about your day."

He smiles wide and goes to start talking but stops when the door to his office opens. In walks two men and two women. One of the men and both of the women seems to immediately want to leave to give some privacy. But the other man is in a very nice suit, is looking at you. Pratically undressing you with his eyes.

"Hey, come on in. I'd like you to meet my best friend y/n. Y/n, meet Bull one of our baillifs. Lana, our court clerk. Liz, our public defender. And that is Dan, our public defender."

You smile at everyone. Nodding your head their way. Dan smiles as well and walks forward.

"Dan Fielding. It's nice to meet you. It's so rare that we get to meet new people here who don't have priors. Especially one as attractive as you."

Smiling, you look over to Harry before turning back to Dan.

"I'm flattered. It's nice to meet you, Dan."

His smile never falters.

"Would like to get drinks later tonight? I would be happy to take you on the town, show you things you haven't seen before."

"Lovely offer. I'd like to get drinks, but I grew up in this city, I've seen it all."

He shrugs his shoulder and reaches for your hand. He grasps it and leans forward, kissing the top of it.

"You may have grown up here, but there is one place you haven't seen before."

Raising your eye brow in question.

"Oh, and where would that be?"

Smirking, he steps closer.

"My bed."

Oh, so clever and cheesy at the same time. You smile in shock but also the fact that, besides the simple fact that he is very forward, he's so attractive. You might just let this take you wherever it may lead, even if it is to his bed. Harry steps forward and looks at Dan. Sending a warning glare his way.

"Dan, Y/n is not here to be harassed by you."

Dan throws his hands down to his sides, and his smiles drop slightly.

"He is correct. I'm not here to get asked out by any means. I'm here to see Harry work his magic in the courtroom. But that doesn't mean I don't accept the offer still. What time did you have in mind, Dan?"

Dan's head perks up, and he smiles yet again.

"When we are done here. I'm not sure what time that will be, but if you hang around, I'll definitely still be here."

Nodding your head, you turn back to Harry. Linking your arm with his, you point to the door.

"I think i am feeling a bit peckish. Lead the way, Judge Stone!"

Harry smiles and starts to walk towards the door, all the while sending Dan an angry look.

After you both have left and the others are still standing there. Dan sighs and sits on the couch.

"My god, did you see that?"

The others look at each other for a moment until Lana speaks up.

"You mean the way you oggled the poor thing? Yeah, we saw. You got to get ahold of yourself."

He shakes his head against the couch arm.

"If there's a god, he's taken pity on me."

He says as he looks up at the ceiling. After a few seconds, go by he mouths a silent 'Thank you.'

[unapologeticallytheworst]

Hi, posting for a bit of peer review of the idea.

Celebrity CEO/Scientist!Tony Stark/Flight Attendant!Peter Parker

Notes: 3k words. Peter is 18 and in the summer between high school and college. Tony is indeterminately in his 40s and some non-superhero-y but still action-movie-y version of IM1 played out about 5ish years ago. Weirdly not Pepper Potts or Liz Toomes friendly. I swear I don't dislike either of those characters, but I wanted everyone in a weird headspace.

Fair warning, this just kinda stops and is in a rough draft state. But I gotta know if anyone would want to read more of this before I devote more time to it. Like I'll probably still finish it but I'll probably finish my main wip first, ya know?

Peter finds himself fidgeting with his tie, but he can't help it. He is just so nervous. Mr. Toomes has already made it clear that if he messes this up he's out. And he gets it, this The Tony Stark's private plane. He isn't even supposed to be on this flight, but he was the one on standby. Today is the company team building/party and as the newest he gets to sit it out. He hadn't minded at the time, it sounded like a class and that was the last thing that he wanted to do with his summer off. Then the caterers arrived and decked out the meeting room. He got what kind of team building exercise it was then. Ned had fixed him a plate and assured him he would get to enjoy it next time. To enjoy getting paid to sit at the desk doing nothing but eat good food and wait for a phone that wouldn't ring.

But the phone did ring, and not just any phone at that. The line everyone calls the red phone, the one reserved for the clients that pay consistent 24/7 availability. He actually let it ring for second longer than he should have because he was in so much shock. He has never even seen it ring and now it was his responsibly to not only answer it but work whatever flight is being requested. Because everyone else was definitely already too far gone on the large amounts of champagne being passed around.

When he did pick up, it was one Happy Hogan saying that Tony Stark wanted his jet wheels up as fast as possible. Which wouldn't have been a problem except he wasn't cleared to work for Mr. Stark who has his own special designation. Only a select few are allowed to work his flights, because he's so valuable to the agency. Mr. Toomes even personally greets him whenever possible. He had immediately alerted everyone who needed to be told, including Toomes,who took fifteen minutes to figure out what he already knew. It was going to have to be him that worked this one.

Lost in the nervousness of an hour ago, Peter almost manages to forget about the current anxiety. But the nearly blinding gleam of the slick black town car as it rolls directly onto the tarmac swiftly reminds him. Toomes shifts next to him and Peter wishes he would have just stayed at the party. His boss isn't drunk precisely… just probably more than he should be to greet their most important client for what sounded like an emergency. What kind of emergency requires an immediate long haul flight to Hawaii he's not sure, but if there's one thing that this job has taught him, don't try to understand the whims of the rich and famous. It will drive him insane.

It doesn't even seem like the car has fully stopped, before Mr. Stark is out and striding toward the waiting plane. Their eyes meet for the briefest moment, as he passes at the bottom of the stairs, and Peter feels thirteen again. Watching the press conference, where even battered, bruised, and clearly exhausted, Tony Stark was suddenly the sexiest person he had ever seen.

He only doesn't manage to make a fool of himself by virtue of the fact that he freezes. Not that it matters much since Toomes seems plenty willing to be embarrassing enough for both of them, trailing after Mr. Stark in spite of the obvious brush offs. Peter recognizes Mr. Hogan purely because he's seen him in the background of enough paparazzi photos. He rushes to help him with the bags, thankfully only two small duffels. Happy hands them off with nothing more than a nod, dashing up the steps still seemingly as frantic as he had seemed on the phone.

Walking up the steps is equal parts terrifying and exciting. He's about to be stuck with his celebrity crush for eleven hours and if he messes it up he'll lose his job. No big deal. Not a problem at all.

Toomes is still hovering, babbling completely missing the unspoken cues that Mr. Stark isn't in the mood. He's already seated and buckled even, clearly signaling his desire to get a move on. Peter cuts through their line of sight to stow the bags, hoping it will shake Toomes. The last thing he needs is Mr. Stark in a bad mood, because his boss won't back off. That he had gleaned in his conversation with one of Mr. Stark's regular flight attendants. Sometimes Tony is lonely and looking for someone to vent to, but just as much he wants to be left alone. It's up to him to figure out which is which. Engage if he engages him. Well she had used different words, because she was quite drunk, but he got the gist. He's glad it's not a party, she made those sound worse. He can leave Mr. Stark alone and if he needs someone to listen to his problems that's okay. Maybe he can forget his own for a while.

His move does disrupt the conversation but not in the way Peter is expecting. Mr. Stark interrupts whatever Mr. Toomes is babbling about, to say, “He's new.” Peter busies himself with making sure the bags are secure, pretending not to be interested in the conversation.

His boss is quiet for a moment, before launching into, “Yeah I guess it was bound to happen. One day you were going to call on a day when the rookie was the one on standby. He's a little wet behind the ears, but he's good. It was actually Cathy, one of your regulars, that plucked him out of janitorial.” Mr. Stark's statement didn't really require that response, but at least they are talking about something he brought up. Toomes speaks again when he doesn't get a response, “She said he is too cute, smart, and polite to be wasting time cleaning.”

Peter is flooded with regret that he let this conversation happen and feels his face heat at the description. He stands and spins in time to catch Mr. Stark giving him a once over as he says, “Well, I think I can trust Catherine's judgment.” Peter knows he's probably blushing even worse. It wasn't even that kind of look, more just taking his measure. But enough to remind him that he would very much like for it to be that kind of look.

Peter blurts, “Are you ready to go, Mr. Stark? Or has anything changed since I spoke to Mr. Hogan?” It's a bit rude to cut into their conversation, but he's getting desperate to get Toomes off the plane. Happy is no help pacing towards the back of the plane with a phone to his ear.

There's a hint of a smirk on Mr. Stark's lips as he responds, “Nope. We're good to go…” his eyes flick down the little gold name tag dangling off his vest, “Peter.” As Mr. Stark looks at him, Peter gets the distinct impression that he is fighting the urge to laugh. And he gets it, Mr. Stark understands his predicament and finds it deeply amusing. Which is something… at least he's not mad.

“Well, we better get going so we can get in line with ATC,” Peter drags the sentence out hoping it will work, but instead Mr. Stark just makes an interested noise and he has to explain, “The only private runway big enough for your jet is closed out of an abundance of caution due to an issue with the TAWS system, sir.” Then trying to rescue the purpose of the conversation, “So we really should get moving, because the commercial lanes are always busy.”

They stand there in a brief awkward silence, as Peter begs with every fibre of his being for his boss to leave and his body stop noticing the way that Mr. Stark looks sprawled in the plush leather armchair. He's still clearly deeply amused at Peter's problem, which helps with his libido some, cooled by embarrassment.

Mr. Stark goes to speak, to help or hurt Peter is not sure, but Happy abruptly rejoins the conversation, “The house will be ready, Tony. The staff will come out with Rhodey, because you know he'll complain, but I figured you would like the peace.”

Moment forgotten, Mr. Stark turns to talk to Mr. Hogan and Peter does his best to pretend that he isn't listening as he does a final check of the galley. Toomes still stands in the middle of the walkway seemingly lost by the conversation.

“So he can make it?” “Of course he's coming. It will take a couple of days, but he's coming. Think he's going to try and get Banner and Strange to come out too.” ”So we can all braid each other's hair and eat ice cream? - Sorry, I didn't mean that. Thank you for putting this together, Hap.”

There's silence then Mr. Hogan seems to understand what the holdup is, because he starts ushering Mr. Toomes towards the door, spouting random nonsense about how they need to get moving. Peter rushes after them pulling the door closed as soon as Toomes is clear. He turns and thanks Happy, who gives him a long look before speaking, “Sure, no problem, kid. Listen, be gentle with Tony, okay? He's just had a bad break up.” Peter just nods, trying to hide his surprise. It always seemed like Mr. Stark and Ms. Potts were so stable from the outside. Happy nods and goes, presumably to take a seat.

The two soft beeps from his ear piece remind him that he still needs to do his actual job now. So he tells the cockpit that the stairs and car are out of the way, who inform him of the situation so he hurries to get everything ready. Bouncing lightly with nervous energy he takes his place at the front of the cabin and says, “ATC said they can squeeze us in real quick, because there's a traffic jam on the JFK side. So if you two are all ready, we can be airborne in five.”

Mr. Stark's lips twist and he says, “You're going to skip your little safety briefing?” Most people wouldn't complain about that, but then again Mr. Stark isn't actually complaining. He's messing with him. That much is obvious. Why he's not sure, but it's definitely what's happening.

Still not sure why, Peter finds himself playing back by pointing out, deadpan, “Either of you could legally fly this plane, sir. I think you understand the safety procedures.” He can tell that he surprises Mr. Stark with the statement, but thankfully not in a bad way.

In fact given the way that Mr. Stark lights up a little and starts eyeing him in a new way, Peter would say that it's exactly the right thing to say. Mr. Stark relaxes back into his chair in a way that accidentally shows off the long lean lines of his body, looking more rock star than celebrity ceo and scientist. And Peter has to get a grip on himself, because they're not that kind of staffing agency. He almost misses what Mr. Stark says, so lost in the fantasy, “Maybe I just wanted to see you do your thing.”

Peter replies, “You can watch me do my thing once we're airborne,” and then feels the blush explode across his face as he realizes how dirty that sounds. Desperate to regain his professionalism, he adds, “But if you would rather wait an hour, because we ended up at the back of the line…” he lets the sentence trail off with a hint of challenge, because that's what this has to be about. Mr. Stark is just trying to see if he can rattle him.

He gets the impression that Mr. Stark is laughing at him as he says, “As much fun as watching you do your thing sounds,” and Mr. Stark definitely makes it sound dirty, “how about you just bring out the bar cart when we hit cruising?”

Relieved to escape whatever game Mr. Stark is playing with him, Peter tosses out, “Sure thing, Mr. Stark,” before disappearing into the galley to let the pilots know they're good to go and buckle himself into the four point harness of his jumpseat. It almost sounded like Mr. Stark was flirting with him for a second there, but that's crazy. Plus there have never been any complaints about Mr. Stark coming on to the staff. Then he wouldn't exactly complain would he? And Mr. Stark had been in a relationship.

The jolt as they start taxiing knocks him out of his thoughts and it seems like they'll make the window so he grabs the gum out of his standby bag. Toomes would kill him if he knew about the gum, but the last thing he needs is to be half deaf because his ears didn't pop right. On impulse he slips his book on the bar cart, secured to the wall next to him.

Peter finds himself weirdly excited to do bar cart for Mr. Stark. The bartending lessons had been his best scores when he had done his training. He can't do any of the fun flipping and spinning, that would be a disaster with his clumsiness, but chemistry had prepared him for mixing things. Plus the rider made Mr. Stark's drink preferences sound easy. A little bit of over pouring, but not enough to make it a single into a double. No need for anything fancy, just very well made drinks.

The chime in his ear letting him know that they've hit cruising altitude comes at him like a surprise and brings with it some of his earlier stress. He busies himself with triple checking the cart as the captain announces their flight time and ETA. Unlocking the cart from the wall and rolling into the main cabin, Peter resolves to give Mr. Stark the best experience he can. The thought that he is hurting over his broken engagement is way better motivator than the threat to his job. Especially since he doesn't need the job anymore.

Resolutely not thinking about the letter at the bottom of his bag, Peter notices that Mr. Hogan appears to have fallen asleep during take off. He did seem very tired earlier. Mr. Stark catches him looking and speaks softly, “He's been running himself ragged for me.” Peter can see how touched Mr. Stark is by what Happy has done for him, but he seems almost mad about it.

“He's your friend, he just wants to make sure that you're okay,” slips out of Peter's mouth without him meaning for it to happen as he parks the cart close, but out of the way.

Mr. Stark gives him another long indecipherable look, before speaking again, voice still soft not to disturb sleeping man a few feet away, “He said something didn't he?” Peter feels like he is betraying Happy's trust as he nods, but it's clear that Mr. Stark already knows.

Feeling the need to defend Mr. Hogan a little, “He's just worried about you. It's just because he cares.” Mr. Stark sighs at him and actually looks every bit the guy that just had a very serious break up, whose friends are worried about him. There's an exhaustion there, not the physical kind like Happy, he doesn't need a nap. He needs a break.

Mr. Stark's soft, “I know,” almost gets lost in the gentle hum of the cabin. Then he shakes himself and goes back to being the billionaire, former playboy, philanthropist that has been staring back at Peter from the glossy pages of the checkout for years. It's jarring and he gets the sense he just saw Tony, not Tony Stark, not Mr. Stark, but Tony the person. When he speaks again it's with a joking conspiratorial tone, “What do you say you help me convince him to go take a real nap? And fix me a gin and tonic?”

Peter rolls with mood change as smoothly as he can, “Sure thing Mr. Stark. Double or single?” he begins assembling the drink on automatic, he's thankful for the familiar task in the unfamiliar situation.

Mr. Stark seems relieved he doesn't make a thing of it, so Peter counts that as a win, ”Single. Shake him for me will you?” Shaking awake a stranger is one of those things that was one of those things that had felt very strange the first time but he had gotten used to with this job. Happy startles awake under his touch apparently not having realized that he fell asleep. Peter leaves Mr. Stark to deal with him as he starts pouring. “Hap, grab your cpap and go sleep in the real bed.”

Happy starts trying to protest, about how he's fine, how he doesn't need to, and Peter knows easy points when he sees them. So he tosses out lightly, “The sheets are fresh and the pillows are fluffed, Mr. Hogan. I checked myself,” then to Mr. Stark, ”Twist of lime, sir? I forgot to ask.”

Mr. Stark's smirk suggests that his, “Yes,” is about more than limes and that Peter just scored some points in whatever game they're playing. Then with a voice like honey, that makes Peter immediately understand exactly how the man in front of him gained a reputation as a world class playboy, he says to Happy, “See you can't let the kid's hard work go to waste like that. Go take a nap at least.”

[pokytoad]

yeah its either I go to work and I'm swamped with 1,235 envelopes to address correctly and stuff with state-mandated fliers or,,...,.,

..or I go to work and read the news on Microsoft Edge for 6 hours straight out of sheer boredom and now I know that China is gonna steal the moon, a woman crashed into a towtruck head-on the I-90, and a 9 y/o girl just found a megalodon tooth in the Chesapeake Bay, and Biden's classified files were in his garage,

[evanspresso]

when darkness met innocent magic

listen to mr. march and y/n's song

note: I wrote this on a whim and I didn't proof read so if you see a typo... nOOooO you don't 🪄🪄🪄

The heels of her shoes clicked against the pavement while she skipped across the busy Los Angeles street, her heart bouncing up and down as she made her way to the large steel doors.

She had found a job request on Indeed, working the front desk at a hotel, which was something that she had done before. Back when she was taking a year off from university and that year turned into two, but who was counting?

She wasn't sure where she was headed in her life, and she found herself quitting her minimum wage job in New York before biting the bullet and moving to Los Angeles, where she found another front desk agent job. She figured she would start with something she already knew so the whole transition wouldn't be too hard on her.

Her interview was over the phone which she thought was odd, but she figured it was a win for her. She hates interviews and she was always nervous- so when they requested she call the hotel for the interview, she just went for it.

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

The Hotel Cortez was bigger than she had imagined, her mouth fell agape as she walked further and further inside. Y/n's eyes furrowed when she noticed barley anyone was in the common area, empty seats, and and empty bar was something she was not used to, especially in the hotel business that was based in a popular city.

She shrugged it off and continued to make her way towards the desk, which was of course, empty. She puffed out her chest and stood in front of the desk for a minuet, looking around in confusion before finally tapping on the bell causing her to cringe.

"Can I help you?" a dark and seemingly sarcastic voice dragged from behind her, causing her to jump in bewilderment.

"I- I'm y/n and I'm here for my first day." she said awkwardly as she turned around, revealing a shorter women with large, outdated glasses and another woman with dramatic, glittery makeup and a beautiful silk dress.

-

"Since today is your first day and you are probably going to be in training with me for a week, let's take it slow today." Liz said, smiling down at y/n.

"Okay" Y/n nodded.

They stood behind the desk after Liz showed her what was behind the door behind the desk, where the cameras were and where she could hide out if it was a slow evening.

"We're not tech savvy here, and we're not up to date on the latest computer systems that you might be used to." Liz said.

Liz slid a large dark red book that had 'reservations' written in big gold letters across the front. "We really use a book?" Y/n said in disbelief.

"Were authentic to tradition here at the Cortez." Liz chuckled. "We go by the books here." she added causing them to both giggle lightly.

"Um, okay." y/n said wearily as she opened the book, she knew it would take her longer to learn how to book a reservation and how to check and check people out. Y/n had her work cut out for her, but she knew she could do it.

"What do we have planned today?" she finally asked after writing down some notes in the small notebook that Liz had given her.

"A tour of the hotel my darling." Liz gleamed making y/n smile excitedly.

"After you!" y/n said happily, following Liz as they made their way around the extravagant lobby.

They walked the left and right, here and there, and all around the common areas that were still eerily empty. Y/n felt out of breath as she followed Liz around like a lost puppy and they both laughed at how y/n would "ohh" and "ahh" at the architecture that surrounded them.

"Okay, let's go up the elevator, I'll go show you the hallways and what kind of room types we offer here." Liz said, motioning y/n into the elevator.

-

"This is our most popular room type. This is the studio queen which is equipped with a queen bed, a kitchenette and bathroom." Liz started as she stood in the middle of the room, letting y/n soak up her surroundings.

"And before you ask, no. We do not have a room that had two queen beds. Our studio King room does have a couch that pulls out into a bed as well if guests need two beds." Liz explained.

"Do we have long term guest that stay here?" Y/n questioned causing Liz to lift up her brow.

"Are you familiar with long term stay hotels?"

"At my old property, it was a catered to more longterm guest than short term.We had a mixture of both, especially when it was peak tourist season in the city." y/n smiled as she looked around the room.

"I see." Liz nodded. "Well, in fact we do have quite a few long term residences." she said as her eyes traveled around the room, not being able to stay in one place at a time causing y/n to give her a funny look.

"Good to know."

-

They strode back to the desk, joining Iris who stayed behind while y/n was getting the grand tour. The lobby was still as quiet as can be and y/n sighed as she looked around, her cheeks burning as she looked over at her two coworkers.

"Are we at high occupancy?"

Iris and Liz glanced at one another before iris flipped through the pages of the book and shook her head, "We're at 63 percent." she announced.

"I have a question." y/n said timidly.

"What is it dear?" Liz said quietly as Iris shifted from one foot to the other.

"Do you think it would be okay if I stayed here while I look for an apartment? It's so competitive out there and I lost the one I had my eyes on." y/n shrugged.

The pair laughed making y/n blush lightly as she watched Iris reach towards the keys and hand one to y/n. "There three of us will be living here then. It's going to be hard for you to call out now." she joked making all three of them laugh.

"You two live here?"

"It's basically the same as living in an apartment downtown. We've been living here for years." Liz said quickly making Iris nod.

-

When evening finally rolled in, it was time for y/n to punch out and head up to her room after running back to the car to retrieve her bags she had stuffed in her trunk.

She waved goodnight to her two new favorite coworkers and made her way up to her new home, which she hoped she wouldn't have to stay in for very long.

The ride up to room sixty three was quiet and y/n couldn't help but feel that this hotel had an aura hat she couldn't quite understand.

It was grand and beautiful, yet it felt empty and sad somehow. She walked down the quiet and dimly lit hallway, not passing anyone the whole time she had been here.

weird.

Y/n jolted causing her to giggle as her phone started to vibrate against her jean pocket. She had gotten a text from her best friend back home and smiled to herself as she read the text, stopping in her tracks as she looked at the screen.

Sarah: How's the first day on the job?

Y/n looked around and shuddered at the quietness before pressing her thumb down to speak into the phone as she made her way towards her room.

"Good. I'm just surprised that the people here don't hang out in the lobby or the bar, you know? Like, You'd think this place would be packed with people. It's a beautiful hotel." she sent.

As she placed her key into the key slot she squealed loudly- she heard a raspy voice boom behind her, causing her to drop her bag onto the carpeted floor.

"It is a beautiful hotel indeed. Thank you." The voice boomed as she turned around to face the culprit.

Y/n's features scrunched up as she turned to face a man who towered over her, his dark features popping out of the shadows of the dimly lit hall that engulfed them.

They were the only two people around and she gulped as she looked up at him through her lashes. He smelled of bergamot and vanilla and she pressed her lips together as her eyes scanned his tall and strong frame, his business attire causing her to give him questionable look as he smirked.

"I-"

The man laughed as she backed away from him, her body hitting into her door causing her to gasp as he followed her movements, making her back stick up against her door.

"Are you a guest?" she questioned.

"I own this hotel." He said proudly, lifting his arms up cockily. "This is all mine, my dear."

Y/n giggled at his choice of words and he furrowed his brows at her as she cleared her throat to stop herself from laughing right in front of this man's face.

"I- I'm sorry. Long day, I actually work here. Today was my first day." she mused making him look at her in shock. "It's nice to meet you." she added, pushing her hand out to greet him.

The man gave her a surprised look before taking her small hand into his, causing her to gasp at his ice cold touch as he brought it up towards his lips.

Y/n's mouth fell agape as she looked up at him, his breath fanning her soft skin before his lips greeted her hand softly. "Pleasure is all mine." he said in a dark voice. "What is you name?" he wanted to know.

"Y/n." she stammered.

"Well. I am sure I will se you around y/n, we seem to be neighbors." he smirked, pointing to the door across from hers.

"O-oh." she blushed.

She watched as he bent down to pick up her bag, butterflies erupting as he handed it back to her.

His dark eyes bore into her's while he backed up towards his door, watching her shift awkwardly under his gaze causing him to bite his bottom lip at the way her innocent eyes watched him move. "Goodnight."

"W-wait!" she squeaked making her clear her throat as he chuckled lightly, pausing with his hand on the door handle. "Whats your name?"

"Mr. March."

[armpirate]

Kalla | Choi San || Chapter 3

MASTERLIST Previous || Next

Pairings: CEO!San x fem!reader

Genre: smut, angst, fluff, strangers to lovers.

Warnings: dom!San, sub!reader, voyeourism, use of sex toys, bondage, dirty talk, BDSM, exhibitionism, rough sex.

Summary: She was surprised by how fast her life went from the perfect fairytale to the destructive mess it had turned into. Dealing with a cheater ex boyfriend, having to move out to a different place because the house she lived in belonged to that man she once dreamed of spending the rest of her life with, while continuously being underappreciated at work... It was as if life was telling her to stop dreaming big, to go back to her small town, Bibury, and help her parents run the small farm her family had owned for decades.

At least until she received a call from her friend.

A sudden vacancy as an assistant showed up on one of her friend's system, having her being encouraged to take that big step and apply for it. She had no hopes for it. Mainly because she didn't have any experience on the field, and she didn't comply with most of the requirements that were added on the offer -and which most of them sounded ridiculous and exaggerated for the position, making her wonder who was the freak who needed so many guidelines in order to hire someone to pick up the phone and schedule events. 

Although that hotel she'd be working on was much more than anything she could've come up with. 

Choi San wasn't someone easy to deal with. After his previous assistant presented his resignation letter on his desk, he felt forced to start the whole selection process again -after merely two months. 

Sure that he was being way too strict, enough to find that anyone who applied for the position wasn't enough, he asked one of his friends to be in charge of the interviews and the selection of the most adequate candidate. 

Little did he know Wooyoung would hire the imperfectly perfect candidate for him, sure that she'd help him in many ways other than just in dealing with the responsibilities of his position. 

A new challenge will come their way as soon as she steps inside the hotel. 

Y/n will have to learn how to mold onto him and deal with all his small habits and requirements, and San will find himself trying to open up and let out all those same things that turned him into the person he was. 

The more she digs in Kalla and all of its secrets and exciting corners, the deeper she'll dive into San's heart and soul... Although, maybe, she won't be able to take it. 

Kalla opens its doors to you, sharing the vast amount of filthy and erotic plans it offers, and that you can join with a partner... Or maybe just by yourself. 

Hope you enjoy your stay.

Chapter duration: 12 minutes

The glass made a dry sound as she placed it back on the table after taking a long sip from it, feeling the ice against her lips as she just gulped the bitter drink.

—I shouldn't have gone —Y/n shook her head slowly, too hooked up on her own pity to care about the concerned looks her friends were giving her—. You should've seen the look on his face when he started speaking, and I looked dumb as fuck catching random words in the air. He probably wondered if I was stupid or something. Who'd apply to a job offer in a language you barely understand?

After pouting, Y/n hid her head between her arms folded over the table, hiding herself from the embarrassing environment that had been following her since she did the interview.

—I thought you said it'd cheer her up —Joanne accused.

—Yeah, after breaking up and getting rid of that asshole she should be feeling untouchable, not deeper in the bottom —Rosie murmured.

—I just wanted to give her hope —Lizzie excused herself—. I thought it'd help her to stop settling up for a shitty job and a dumb boyfriend, because there are way too many good chances out there for her.

—Liz —Y/n raised her head, supporting it on the palm of her hand—, shut up.

Her friend's full red lips disappeared inside her mouth as she pressed them tight, too scared of her younger friend to say a single word about the topic.

—Rose is right. I have a shitty job, I always end up crying on my way back home or on my way to the office, and I wasted four years of my life next to a douchebag. And now they also know I'm pathetic in Korea —she whined.

—Why did you have to say that? —Rosie scolded her.

—Well, since we're already in a depressed mood, I have something to say —Joanne interrupted—. I broke up with Chad.

Y/n's problems suddenly moved to a second place after her friend's announcement, having all of her friends looking at her concerned as they tried to read through her neutral expression.

—What happened? —Lizzie asked first.

—We haven't been doing well lately. And being offered a higher position in the company on the other side of the world didn't help either —she calmly answered, taking a sip of her glass.

—You were offered a higher position in your law firm? —Rosie asked.

—No, he was offered a higher position in his company, and expected me to follow right after him and leave it all behind —after the silence from her friends, she felt forced to continue—. I have everything here: my family, my job, my friends, my house… Giving everything up for someone I spent more time arguing with than fucking was a no.

—But… what if it got better in that other place? —Y/n softly asked— You've been together for three years —she tried to justify.

—Honey, it never gets better —Rosie answered—. I thought the same after I followed my ex-husband around from Ohio to London, after seven years together, and it only got worse until we divorced and I was left with nothing. Jo took the right decision.

She remembered how Joanne introduced Rosie to their group of friends shortly after meeting her in one of those weird workshops she used to attend to distract herself. Rosie had just divorced her ex-husband, she was in a pretty dark place, until she finally started getting her life back together to become the person she was in that moment. If there was someone who could give either of them good advice, that was Rosie.

Although her bright moment of wisdom only lasted until the sixth shot of tequila. At that point of the night, Lizzie and her were everywhere but at the table where they started.

Despite the loud music and the cheers on the dance floor, Y/n could still feel the silence and quietness coming from Joanne, who was left at their table while she looked at her glass with a sad look.

—Are you alright? —Y/n asked first.

—Of course. Look at them —Joanne giggled, pointing at their friends.

Her tongue clicked, aware of what her friend was trying to do before she sat next to her, instantly allowing her real feelings to break through.

—I'm okay —she assured her—. It's not the end of the world. This isn't my first break up, and I'm sure it won't be the last either.

The only difference is that she genuinely saw a future with Chad, opposite to what she thought she had with any of the other men she dated in the past.

—It hurts. Of course it does —she finally admitted, nodding—. He's the person I love the most, I really love our relationship. But that's exactly why we needed to go different ways —her lips slightly grimaced with that comment—. I'm sure he wouldn't have taken the promotion if I had insisted. We weren't doing okay, but there is still so much love that I was afraid he'd allow it to get on the way to his future —Y/n could see the way her eyes started to water as she spoke—. Love could fight it all right now, but would it be as useful in the future? When he looks back and realizes the opportunity he missed? He'd have been selfish if he had insisted on me to leave with him, and I didn't want to be the selfish one making him choose me over his dream. It just wasn't fair.

Y/n nodded silently, rubbing her friend's shoulder in an attempt to give her some comfort through her words filled with pain.

—Maybe right now isn't the time, but it could be that you'll meet again in a few years and come back stronger than ever.

As Joanne's eyes squinted immediately after she smiled at Y/n comment, a sneaky teardrop rolled down her cheek over her makeup.

—You will never change, won't you?

—I'm just hopeful your story is just going through one of those "wrong time" situations.

—You should stop reading so many rom-coms —Joanne squeezed her knee, shaking her head—. So closed to love, yet the first one encouraging others to believe in it. You're unbelievable.

Y/n smiled to the ground, trying to make her smile disappear when she sipped on her drink with the golden straw. She had said it, she had sentenced love to a dark place in her life she didn't want to know anything about. She had lost so much in those four years, that only now that she was free did she realize the level of conformism she had reached.

—What about you? Are you okay? —Joanne asked.

—Of course. Andy is the one missing the…

—You know what I'm asking for.

—Yes, I guess I'm okay —she shrugged—. I think I just got too ahead of myself. I knew they were going to give me a "No" before I started the interview, but still my hopes got up because I saw the chance to kick all the things that annoyed me away. I saw a new opportunity to start something new, and get the feeling that they actually wanted me there. So when I heard the answer I already knew, but didn't want to believe, my heart broke a bit —her breathing dropped for a second—. It was too good to be true, either way.

—You'll get a similar chance soon. I have a good feeling about this —Joanne kicked her arm playfully.

Her head raised among the pile of pillows, and her upper body emerged through Rosie's arms wrapping tight around her as if she were going to escape. She first woke up with the unfamiliar sound that came from somewhere in the room but, a few seconds later -and after getting some sense back from her sleep-, she was able to recognize her ringtone.

—Turn that off —Rosie complained.

Still with her eyes closed, and with eyesight a little bit too blurry to adapt to the new light in the room, she picked up the call.

—Hello? —she mumbled, falling back on the bed and feeling Rosie's arms holding her tight again.

—Good morning. Is this Y/n?

—Yeah —her mouth moved, trying to get rid of how pasty it felt—, who is it?

—Jung Wooyoung, we had an interview yesterday…

Y/n didn't need him to explain what he knew her from, she already knew by just hearing his name. She quickly got rid of her friend's grip, sitting back on the bed to pay more attention to the call, aware of how quickly her five senses activated with just those words.

—I promise I didn't mean to lie —she assured—. That resume was sent without my supervision, but the person who sent it had no ill intentions either. Please don't sue us.

She was drunk, but she could perfectly remember Rosie's words before she was too high to be aware of her surroundings. She didn't think lying in a resume could have such big consequences as being sued for fraud, until Joanne also confirmed it, remembering one case she worked on a few years back.

She spent the whole night hoping she wouldn't ever hear anything from Wooyoung or Kalla.

—Suing? For what? —Wooyoung interrupted.

—That's not why you called?

—No. I actually wanted to speak to you about the interview. Could we hold a meeting…?

—I can —she rushed to answer.

—Great —he cheered with a melodic smile—. I'll be waiting for you at the restaurant of my hotel at eleven.

Y/n said goodbye and assured she'd be there before hanging up, relaxed and taking some time to celebrate, only to realize she was only thirty minutes away from the time of the meeting.

A muted whine announced the sudden move of her body, hopping over Rosie to get to the floor, only to fall right after. When she dared to check, she could see Joanne curled up, covering her body with a random blanket.

—What are you doing there? —Y/n asked, suddenly getting up to pick up her shoes.

—Liz kicked me out of the sofa —she pouted—. And you both looked so cute while sleeping that I didn't want to wake you up.

—Have you been there all night? —Rosie lifted her head to look at their friend.

Joanne simply nodded, moving her head slightly.

—Come on here —she invited her—. Where are you going, by the way? —her eyes moved back to Y/n, who was battling to put her shoes on.

—They called me from the job interview —she answered with a shaky voice—. I don't know what it is about, but let's hope for the best.

—Of course. That's the spirit —Rosie slowly went back to lie on the bed—. Call us when you know more things.

Before Y/n could even say goodbye to the both of them, Rosie and Joanne were already cuddling to each other with their eyes closed.

Those thirty minutes had been the craziest -and most stressful- ones in her life. She managed to stop by Lizzie's place first, get a fast shower, get rid of all of her make up and dress with a pair of straight jeans and a white shirt before she got inside the taxi she called to get faster to the hotel.

The thin coat of sweat on her forehead made some of the locks of her head stick on it, as she walked quickly through the reception of the hotel, trying to guess where the restaurant was before she saw the golden sign.

Wooyoung was sitting in one of the tables in the middle, with his back lying over the backrest while one of his hands fell over his crossed leg.

—Hello —she greeted.

—Hey —he smiled, offering her the seat in front of him—. Five minutes early, but with the evidence of how much you struggled all over you.

Y/n frowned as she sat down, breathing through her parted lips. He was criticizing her, but he looked completely casual about it, to the point that she wondered if he indeed was analyzing her looks.

—Sweat, messy hair, wrinkled shirt… —he pointed out her flaws one by one—. Sometimes it's better to be on time, or five minutes late, looking your best and giving a good impression, than showing up early looking like you've just gotten out of a marathon.

—That's… a whole new perspective —she nodded—. I'll keep it in mind.

—You should —he seconded—. What I told you isn't the type of things I pay attention to. You were here on time, I called you all of a sudden, that's alright. But San is the one who pays close attention to those details. It's over if he ever has to point them out.

—Excuse me —she interrupted him—. Why are you even telling me this?

—I thought you did the interview to be his assistant —his eyebrows raised, while his lips puckered as he spoke—. If you want to start well with him, I should give you all the tips you could use.

Her heart started to race inside her chest when she thought she caught the meaning behind those words, hoping she wasn't projecting or daydreaming as usual.

—He keeps losing assistants. At this point, we'll run out of candidates —he shook his head.

—I don't think I'm understanding what's going on —she interrupted him again—. Yesterday you said my profile didn't adapt to what you're looking for.

—It'd be better if you were fluent in Korean —he replied back—, but it isn't something you can't work on eventually. Most of the clients are foreigners, and most of the suppliers as well. You'll be alright. Also you said you were a fast learner, didn't you? —he quickly called her out— It'll be easy for you.

Before they could keep discussing the details about the interview, Wooyoung asked her to order something to drink or eat while they were there, going back to the main conversation as soon as she had her coffee in front of her.

—Can I ask why you changed your mind?

—I told you: I liked you as a candidate. Although you don't have direct experience in this position, I could tell you'd be a good hire by how you spoke. I also liked your honesty towards the end, probably it was what I enjoyed the most about your interview —he admitted—. Patience, empathy and honesty —she thought out loud, moving the spoon inside his macchiato—; I think the person you will assist could really get some benefits out of those traits.

—If this is a joke, it isn't funny —she warned him.

—I'm not laughing —his eyebrows moved up quickly, before he reached his cup to take a short sip—. But before we go on, I need to make sure with the type of hotel you'll be working at. I know you'll assist San, but he spends most of his day there.

—Will I have to see anything?

—No, no —he quickly shook his head—. San is really strict with that, but some people are uncomfortable with just working in that environment —he shrugged.

—What's the salary?

—Fifty million won per year.

Y/n stopped, not allowing herself to get fooled by that big number as she tried to make the math in her head.

—Almost forty thousand dollars.

—Shit —she breathed, almost choking on the air.

Wooyoung giggled at her comment, and how she quickly regretted it after being aware of it.

—We'll pay for your airplane ticket, we'll give you an accommodation at the hotel while you look for a place to stay in Seoul, and we'll help you with all the necessary documentation and visa permits you will need.

—Why does this sound like a scam? —she squinted her eyes— This sounds like the perfect trap to get me to an isolated place, and traffic with my organs.

—Honestly, it's the price he has to pay for being so exigent and annoying —Wooyoung admitted—. If he wasn't like this, probably he'd have ended up hiring someone from Korea. Just be happy I chose you —he suddenly attacked.

—I am happy. I'm just not used to such good things —she admitted—. It almost sounds too good to be true. By the way, what will happen when I get there? Will I just start straightaway?

—Hmm no —he lowly answered—. You'll meet the team you'll work with directly, you'll meet San, and Mingi will sit with you and teach you how everything works for a few days. He was one of San's assistants, before he applied for a different position —Wooyoung added—. Are you in? —he stretched his hand over the table and the cups, offering it to Y/n.

It didn't matter how bad Wooyoung was picturing her future boss. She could tell by the tone that he was probably just joking around because they both are close friends, she could almost bet San wouldn't be as bad.

—I'm in —she nodded, finally lifting her hand to stretch it with his.

[a-reader-and-a-writer-for-all]

Bake Me a Cake (Stephen Holder Drabble)

Fandom: The Killing, Stephen Holder, f!reader

Summary: An offhanded joke leads to unexpected places.

Word Count: 562

“Bake me a cake, and we’ll talk.”

It had been a joke. An off-the-cuff response to Holder’s incessant flirting. After all, you had never seen him eat anything other than take-out or junk food. There was no way this man knew how to bake anything, even something as easy as a cake.

And yet, when you came into work the next morning, there was a fresh cake sitting on your side of your shared desk. Holder was nowhere to be seen, but it was obviously from him. Besides the obvious fact that the two of you had been discussing it yesterday, on top of the pink frosting he had spelled out “Let’s talk” with chocolate chips.

There was a fork and a CD next to the cake that had “Just ta prove it” scrawled on it in Holder’s messy writing. Popping the disc into your computer, you were greeted by slides of pictures and videos of Holder in his kitchen. He had exchanged his hoodie for an apron, and he was smiling goofily at the camera. As the slides progressed, it showed Holder making the cake through every step of the progress. There was no doubt about it. The pastry on your desk was made from scratch by your partner.

You eyed it cautiously. Even though it had seemed as if Holder had followed all the correct steps in the video, you were still hesitant to try it. But then again, how bad could he really screw up cake?

Picking up the fork, you broke off a small bite and brought it to your lips. As soon as the flavor hit your tongue, you couldn’t help the moan of pleasure that escaped your mouth.

“Ah snap! I knew I could get you to make that sound one way or another.” You whipped around to see Holder leaning against the doorframe, the same goofy smile as from the video spread across his face.

“What the hell, Holder!”

His face dropped immediately. “No, I…it was just a joke…I didn’t-”

You waved him off. “Not that. You’ve said worse in front of suspects or the boss. No, how the hell did you never tell me you knew how to bake like this!”

“Oh!” He seemed momentarily surprised but then he shrugged. “You never asked. When my moms left and Liz started takin’ care of me, I taught myself to cook so I could help out some.”

“Wait….so it’s not just cake? You can cook real meal food too?”

“Sure. Whatever you want, mama.”

You crossed your arms. “You realize if you would have told me that a long time ago, I would have agreed to this date a lot sooner.”

“Really?” he asked.

“Sure. Haven’t you ever heard the expression, ‘a way to a woman’s heart is through her stomach’?”

“Yeah but-” he paused as he finally realized what you had said. “Wait…so does that mean you’ll go out with me?”

You shrugged. “Why not. Turns out, there’s still a lot I don’t know about you. Maybe it’ll be nice to learn more once we’re away from the job.”

Holder practically leaped for joy. “Ah yeah, that’s what I’m talkin’ ‘bout! And if you think I’m good in the kitchen, just wait ‘til you see what I can do in the bedroom.”

You rolled your eyes, but you had to admit….you were pretty excited to find out.

[storiesofsvu]

Second Chair Spark Ch 1

Warnings: language, usual SVU case type conversations/topics.

You took a heavy sigh before you knocked on the door jam of A.D.A. Casey Novak’s office, she didn’t even bother to look up from her paperwork as she called out for you to come in. You were a Junior A.D.A. in New York, you’d graduated top of your class and been working for the D.A.’s office for longer than a few months now. You usually tried homicide but McCoy wanted you to shift your focus more over to SVU, he said you were tough, and it wasn’t cut out for everybody, plus homicide was overrun with A.D.A.’s and Casey was practically drowning in cases. But just to make sure (and since you were still new blood) he wanted you to work alongside Casey, sit second chair on a few cases before he let you run free.

“You picked up the Martin case earlier today?” She barely glanced up at you, 

“Yeah, why? Homicide trying to steal it?” You huffed out at that,

“No…McCoy wants me as your second chair…” Casey stopped her movements, actually taking the time to look up at you. She knew a bit about you, mainly that you worked homicide and were pretty fresh on the scene, and someone like that wasn’t about to do very well working special victims cases, you weren’t used to dealing with live victims. She’d already gotten into it with the detectives and chewed out by Liz today, and really didn’t want to have to deal with a shadow trailing along asking a million questions for the next few weeks.

“Why? Does he seriously think I can’t handle it on my own?”

“Well it’s not exactly like I need a babysitter. I have a 62% win rate.” You countered, 

“Yeah…”Casey practically rolled her eyes, “Because you’ve been here six months.”

“Eleven…but who's counting.” She did roll her eyes at that, “Can I at least see the files?” Casey made a very pointed move of stopping her work, pushing her chair slightly back so she could dig through her desk, shoving the file folders into your hand.

“Copy them if you need to, I need them back in an hour. This is a solid case.”

God, you’d heard some whisperings around the D.A.’s office that Casey could be standoffish, but she was treating you like some kind of 1st year law student shadow. 

“You do realize that second chair means I work the entire case with you right?”

She quirked a brow, you were more resilient than she’d expected. She didn’t know why McCoy was making her do this, there were more senior A.D.A.’s that could work with you if you needed help, wasn’t she dealing with enough already?

“Yeah.” She replied curtly, “I’ll call you when I need you. Now do I need to tell you to make yourself useful and take a coffee run or will you do that on your own?” You couldn’t control yourself at the laugh you let out to her reply, was she actually serious right now? You’d already proved yourself in homicide, why did she have such a stick up her ass? A coffee run was barely a paralegal’s job, much less a second chair’s.

“Wow…” You muttered more to yourself as you turned, making your way out of her office with the files you’d requested. It looked like you were in a rough next couple of months. 

Quickly making copies of the files for the Martin case you had an assistant run them back over to Novak’s office while you poured over them. SVU had picked up Andrew Martin on a string of sexual assaults and rapes during his time working as a driver for Uber. As you read through the barely there file you started to realize that this wasn’t as solid as Novak had made it out to be. His car and appearance had matched most of the victims descriptions, though considering ninety percent of the vic’s were picked up absolutely drunk outside of a bar or club, their line up ID was shaky at best, especially since the driver’s picture showed up in the app. Even more so, the one vic who’d been picked up after her shift as a bartender, totally sober, had not ID’d Martin. You rolled your eyes, had none of your new coworkers ever taken an Uber before?

***

A few hours later Novak had sent you a curt text telling you she would be at the 16th at three pm to go over the case with the squad. Since you had significantly less work going on, you’d managed to beat her there, thankful to have at least a little bit of more information as you talked with the squad. She didn’t even bother greeting you, dropping her briefcase in a chair as she approached the white board,

“We’re charging this asshole with 8 counts of Rape 1, arrest him, I’ll arraign him in the morning.” You were quick to cut her off, 

“8 counts of accessory to Rape 1 maybe….”

Her brows furrowed, wasn’t she your superior? She certainly hadn’t expected you to talk back this much.

“Excuse me??” 

“You heard me. Accessory.”

“It was HIS car that picked up all of these girls, it’s literally tracked in the app! What, you think he drove while his identical twin raped these girls in the back seat?!”

You stood from where you were sitting at Amanda’s desk,

“All we actually know, is that his car drove the routes that these girls went and that whoever assaulted these girls looks similar enough to Martin to be ID’d be some very unreliable victims. Tell me Counsellor, have you ever had to identify a Hyundai Elantra amongst sixteen other cars on a dark street when you’re ten tequila shots deep?” You cocked a brow, giving her a stern look, “These girls all stumbled out of a club at god knows what hour and made their way to some silver looking car waiting out front all they had to do was ask if he was Andrew before they thought they were getting a safe ride home.”

“Less than a day working with SVU and you’re blaming the victims…nice…what’s next, they were dressed provocatively so you’re saying they deserved it?”

The squad was tense around the two of you, they’d all seen Casey get defensive before but there was fire spitting between the two of you that they weren’t about to get in the middle of.

“No. I’m saying give me twenty minutes with Martin and I’ll prove you wrong.” You gave her a once over, solidifying that you weren’t to be messed with, a tense air hung between you, Casey’s face furrowing with frustration as you didn’t flinch an inch.

“Fine.” She finally submitted, “Go make a fool of yourself.” You tossed her a smirk, pulling a file from your bag before moving over to interrogation two. 

You gently entered the room, a soft smile on your face when Andrew looked up, you cracked open the can of soda, sliding it across the table.

“You’ve been here a while Andrew, must be thirsty.” 

“DNA’s not gonna match.” He grumbled, taking a swig. You chuckled lightly, settling into the chair across from him,

“Of course it’s not going to match. How could it if you’re innocent?”

He stared across the table at you, a questioning look on his face, “They bring in another detective to play good cop with me?”

“I’m A.D.A. Y/N Gerard. And I know you didn’t rape those girls.” You settled against the table, arms folded neatly, 

“The cops said they ID’d me…”

“Andrew…those girls were wasted, they couldn’t tell left from right when they got into whomever’s car they did. I know it wasn’t you…” You opened the folder you’d brought with you, sliding photos across the table, “What I don’t know is which one of your friends you’re protecting….” In the time since getting the case file you’d spent hours digging into Martin’s social media, from his family, old jobs, schools and everything else you could find. He had four friends who you figured would match his description who also happened to drive cars very similar to his. You could see him tense up as he looked at the photos, 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

You stood, moving your hands down on the edges of the table, leaning closer into him, 

“You do realize if you don’t give him up you’re facing a minimum of forty years in prison…guess that means you’ll be…hmm..seventy five by the time you get out? I’m sure you’d hate to miss your daughter’s graduation….oooh, not getting to walk her down the aisle…you sure you wanna give that up for some college buddy?” You pushed off the table, threatening to leave the room before he shouted out, 

“No! Please….”he protested and you turned back, a fake sympathetic look on your face, “I’ll tell you everything…”

You made a small turn on your heels, giving the two way glass a knowing smirk. You made your way out of interrogation, a brow raised to Novak before turning to Olivia.

“Read him his rights and arrest him for accessory, I don’t want this getting messed up before he gives us a name. If has a lawyer call them so we can make a deal.”

As it turned out after Martin lawyered up, he would only speak to you, your little show in the interrogation had worked, and he didn’t want to talk to Casey much to her dismay. You were called back in and entered the interrogation room a little annoyed.

“First case Ms Gerard?” Buchanan greeted and you rolled your eyes, “My client didn’t rape those poor girls.” You chuckled lightly, settling in your chair,

“John..I’m already well aware of that, Andrew and I had a lovely chat earlier.” Buchanan stumbled at your boldness to use his first name, “If we’re here to cut a deal it’s because he’s going to tell us who his friend was that came up with the idea to follow him around on his Uber runs in a similar car to assault girls.” You folded your hands under your chin, an expectant look on your face.

“My client doesn’t know anything.”

You rolled your eyes, moving to stand from the table, “Then no deal and he serves time for the assaults.” Andrew flinched, shouting out

“It was Mark Plaquin!” You stilled, a smile on your face as you moved back to sit down, 

“Now we’re talking.”

***

Casey couldn’t fucking believe it. Her so called second chair had swooped in and practically taken her case away from right under her feet in less than 5 hours. There was something about you that just lit a fire in her blood the second she heard your heels outside her office. She was more than pissed at the detectives for not doing enough of their job and arresting someone who wasn’t actually their perp, leaving him out there to assault more girls before collared him. You’d managed to dig up enough information to clear his name in a matter of hours, and now Martin would only talk to you or Buchanan. Thankfully, back at her office you stepped back, simply handing over all the information you’d dug up and let her start to put arguments together. 

[maskofmilves]

True Detective: Shadow Land

Part 2: The Tired And The Hurt

Tw: everything, child death, r@pe PTSD

Also on my ao3!

August 3, 2024

Liz always works on Saturdays. She had nothing else to do but paperwork and telling the folks in jail to shut up and they’ll be out in no time, and to be honest she could never admit it, but she enjoyed it, doing paperwork. She really liked peace and quiet. Except when it isn’t, and the case is fucked beyond belief. Danvers was a hard person to navigate. The only things keeping her sane were Leah and Evangeline.

She was finishing writing up a report when Leah came into her office upset asking questions Liz did not have answers to. “I don’t know Leah! We don’t have any idea why it’s happening. The feds don’t get here till Thursday for whatever reason!”

“Well actually do something instead of writing up shit!”

“I can’t.”

“Why?”

“I don’t want to get in trouble. I ain’t losin’ this job, Leah-”

“You do unlawful shit with Evangeline all the time?!”

“Go home Leah!”

Leah slammed her office door which made everyone including Pete to look into the office windows. This wasn’t uncommon for their relationship to be like this but it was very much more critical than anything, even the pollution of the mines. Children were missing. Native children, and the entire town seemed to hate her, for a good reason, the affairs and all, but that didn’t mean she doesn’t know how to do her job.

Liz opened her door and made a hand gesture to Navarro who was sitting on one of the chairs in the lobby part. Looked back at everyone who was staring at her. “Stop looking at me and get back to work!”

Navarro came and sat down without a second thought.

“Find anything?”

“No…our examiners are still going through each one of where the kids were last seen. Although I got something for you.” Liz smiled, opening up the one drawer of her desk. “Stand up.”

Navarro didn’t need to be told twice. “Do I want to know?”

Liz held out a badge from the department towards her. “This is for your outstanding dedication from the Tsalal case, Sergeant Navarro.”

Evangeline took it into her hand, running her thumb over the insignia. “Liz, why? You’re going to get in trouble for this-”

“Ange, don’t worry about it. It’s the least I can do. You deserve it. Plus I know how miserable the trooper position can be okay?” Liz put on her black uniform jacket and walked towards the door. 

“Liz-”

“Just go with it. We have missing kids for christ sake. Get your shit and meet me in the car outside.”

Navarro went to the supply closet and Liz went over to Pete’s desk. “Anything?”

“I was just about to tell you. You’re right about it being pure hydrogen peroxide. It was most definitely used to clean up the blood, but they said they have no idea how much there was. No cameras, no nothing from the community.” Pete handed her a chunky manila folder. “This is everything on the registered sex offenders within that 15 mile radius, if that's what you're thinking.”

The gears in Liz’s head were turning. “Send some folks to go knock on houses. Ask if they saw anything. I’m going to check out more of that Lawrence house, see if there’s anything. Did they take anything from it?”

“Shouldn’t of, because we have limited space to hold evidence.”

Liz grunted and grabbed her keys. “These people could have gone anywhere in the state, the probability of them being within that 15 miles is low. Or maybe they aren’t even in the state…”

“Ask the right questions, Liz.”

Liz hit his shoulder with a fille folder. “You don’t get to ask the questions with me you little shit.”

“Alright alright! Oh…Evangeline ate your sandwich earlier.” Peter smirked.

“Of course she did.” 

***

Liz started the car and tossed the empty sandwich bag into the Sergeant’s lap. “I promote you and you eat my fucking sandwich? I fed you last night, right? You're not helpless.”

“I threw up last night.”

Liz paused and turned to her, feeling bad about the comment. Navarro’s face was pale like she saw a ghost. Liz made sure she was giving her full attention to her. “Why didn’t you tell me? Was it the food-”

“I had a vision a few nights ago Liz…”

“So, just nightmare shit? I’m not trying to minimize it just…”

“No, my nightmares never get this bad. I was looking for Clark again, except, this time when I went outside, you were leaning against Clark's body, just there in the snow…just motionless, breathing in puffs. There was blood…” Navarro leaned her elbow on the window and held up her head, her voice cracking. She sniffles.

Liz's eyes grew bigger, she didn't know how to react.

“So much blood…” She let her tears fall. “You looked at me…you were holding your own heart in your hand, Liz.”

The woman stared at her with tears forming in her ducts. She gulped. Her teeth gritted together. She turned away and started the car, put it into drive, and drove out onto the dirt road.

“I don't have time for this. This fucking bullshit. I moved on! Pete moved on! I moved on- w-why can’t you, huh? What happened at Tsalal was fucking terrible but at least I have the balls to fuck off and put it behind me!”

Liz sped down the dirt path not even looking at her partner for a while. Eventually, Evangeline broke the silence, whipping the wetness from her eyes.

“Not everyone takes the darkest shit that happens to them and shoves it deep down instead of taking care of the issue, Danvers! Yes, it took you a decade to let Holden go but you did get there and you’ve been doing better because of that.”

“How would you know? You weren’t fucking there. I waited a little bit each day thinking one day you’d show up with something good to say. Instead, I get news there’s missing Native kids all around this fuckin’ place.”

“Holden loved you Liz and you know that.”

“Leave him out of this or I swear I’ll punch you right fucking here-”

“Do it. It won’t make your problems go away. He’s watching you, Liz. He sees you like this.”

The other woman pulls to a stop, not even going over it. Liz’s face was pale, her pupils bigger than normal. She tried her hardest not to let her emotions get the best of her, but she failed. A single drop ran down her cheek. Navarro wanted to get rid of it for her. Instead of going to do that, Liz turned her whole body to her, giving her the full attention that was needed. She gulped and spoke through her thin lips, the corners being pulled with defiance.

“I failed him. He would not want the person I became after.”

Liz took off her two layers of gloves on her left hand and reached over to brush against Navarro’s cheek. She knew she could continue when the younger woman didn’t flinch. Navarro stared into those beautiful blue eyes of hers, they always had a shimmer to them but at this moment the sparkle was clouded by the pain from her heart that still held onto Holden. Liz’s hand was warm on her face, her thumb rubbing her skin repeatedly. Navarro yearned for Danvers since the beginning, but with the constant fighting and dominance over cases over who does what, their mindsets being drastically different, it never took off.

“You’re who I wish I was.” Liz said gently with a soft smile. Her hand lingered on the younger one’s cheek. “And more.” She gulped and when she went to remove her hand, Evangeline put her own on top of hers.

“You’re all you need to be. You just need help picking yourself back up. Just because you’ve done bad things, doesn’t make you a bad person.”

Navarro let Liz take her hand away. Liz made an “o” shape with her mouth and took Evangeline’s hand, kissing her fingers and breathing hot air onto them. “You’re my heart.” Her face lit up with a cute smirk.

“Aren’t you a smooth talker?”

“You’re freezing. Let’s check out our places, huh?”

When they arrived at the scene. They separated. Danvers went into the forest with the entire APF, while Navarro stayed at the Lawrence house with Gavin’s mom. Liz was drawn deeper and further into the sea of trees as a voice called her, which led to the voice showing her Gavin’s already decaying body. Liz was 2 miles out from the house, and the atmosphere grew dry and cold. She hyperventilated as she spoke into her walkie strapped to her coat.

“This is Chief Danvers, 10-55d. Oh god-”

The longer she looked the worse her body reacted, she was practically dry-heaving by the time they arrived at her position. Her thoughts raced as images of the corpse didn’t leave her head. She’s seen dead children several times, including her own, and it always hit her the worst.

Danvers watched from behind the double-sided mirror, watching the autopsy right before her eyes. She wiped up the tears right away trying to not relate the situation to Holden’s in any way.

“He seemed to suffer from Hyperhidrosis right before passing. Extreme bruising on the collarbones, which both are broken. Fellatio was performed on the boy’s anus-”

As Liz listened to the static words that came from the other side of the barrier between her and the autopsy. She felt nauseous, even though she, out of all people could not handle it. Danvers looked away and walked at a quick pace to the door.

“When it’s over and done with, send the info to everyone at the station. Tell Seargent Navarro she’s dismissed for the day.” She said to the officer standing next to the doorway. Liz yanked the metal door open and rushed past the several medical personnel, and officers from the station. They wanted answers and looked at her like she had them. The corners of her lips twitched and her breathing grew uneven. She exited the building and went straight for the SUV, not caring that it was pouring like crazy. She slammed the door shut and watched her breath ease out into the cold atmosphere. The hurt woman sobbed into the steering wheel.

“Where’s Danvers!” Navarro raised her voice at the guarding officer.

“Ma’am, once again, I cannot give out that information.”

“I am the Chief’s partner. You tell me where she is or I’ll have you suspended. Choose wisely.” The man sighed and rolled his eyes.

“I don’t know where she went but people are saying she went home, also she told me to tell you you’re dismissed for the day. She looked like shit and I think she’s sick-”

Evangeline sighed and rushed out the door. Putting her hood on, covering herself from the harsh rain that soon turned into sleet. Cold and wet. She slammed on the gas and went down the highway. Even at the wiper’s fastest speed, the sleet still disrupted her vision of the road. She thought of every possible thing Liz could be doing right now. She didn’t know which one of those things she would end up choosing but either way, Liz would be fucked.

If there was one thing Navarro wished for, out of everything, was to take away Liz’s pain if she could. Wanting to rid her of that terrible weight left a dent in both of them at the end of each day. Navarro didn’t know if she regretted disappearing or not, she enjoyed being away, but not from Liz. Liz was her person. A single star in the dark night sky. Evangeline didn’t want that light to die out.

Navarro turned off the engine and exited the vehicle. There was a soft warm light illuminating from Liz’s windows. She had to be home because her car was there. As she went up to open the door she noticed that it was cracked open for anyone to come in.

“Liz?”

“Here.”

Navarro could tell she was tired by her voice cracking. She was presented with a musky smell when she entered the dimly lit house. She saw Danvers’ discarded clothes leading her through the hallway. Liz was slunched over on her sofa naked as a baby pouring another glass of vodka.

“Liz what the fuck!”

“Why are you here?” She asks acting slap-happy.

Navarro tosses her the discarded shirt. “Everyone was alarmed because of how you left the fucking place and I have nowhere else to go- can you cover yourself up?”

“Sorry, wasn’t expecting visitors.” She laughed. Her hair looked wet and filthy.

“How much have you had.”

“Mmm…I don’t know.”

“Okay, you’re done-”

“Take it away and it won’t be good for you.”

“How can I convince you?”

“I don’t fucking know. Give me a reason.”

“Leah.”

“Fuck off.”

“I’m dead serious, what if she walked in here and saw her mom drunk and naked-”

“Fine. Turn around.”

Navarro complied. “ I heard what happened.”

Liz scoffed. “Then you can figure out how much I’ve had…I can’t even think about it. She headed towards her bedroom where she changed into some sweats again. “It’s worse, physically, than what happened to Annie K…”

“Do I get to listen to the tape?”

“I wouldn’t let you do that to yourself under good consciousness. If you truly want to-”

“It’s my job, Liz, I need to know what we’re dealing with.”

“I’m not going to force you to do anything. It’s all up to you- but please, the photos they’re-”

“I understand.”

Liz flopped belly-first onto the mattress and turned over to see Navarro. The taller woman standing over the edge of the bed. “You’re staring. I know I know I’m so irresistible.”

“You’re so fucking drunk.”

“I am for sure I guess but at least I’m a functional alcoholic.”

Evangeline rolled her eyes. “That’s not- Goodnight Danvers!”

“Wait.” Liz reached for her wrist and held it gently. She didn’t want her to go. For neither of them to be alone again all cold and scared. “…stay, please, if it’s no trouble.”

Somber memories of them came into Evangeline’s head. Back to shaking Liz, praying she would stay awake. Holding her head like a baby, each tap she gave her frozen face reminded her of the time going by each second. Evangeline took her hand and rubbed the top of it with her thumb. She didn’t even bother changing, she just removed her coat and boots and laid on top of the covers with Liz. They faced each other and locked eyes for a while. “I have no one.” A minute goes by with them looking at each other in silence. “You’re everything to me…”

“I’m scared of losing you too. You’re still a pain in my ass sometimes but…you’re a part of my family, and whatever happens on this case going forward- just- we know it’s not going to go well. Shit is definitely going to happen to us. Let’s just, take care of each other okay? You check up on me…I baby your drunk ass?”

Liz thought she was so beautiful, she was jealous in a way, mostly admiration, smooth youthful skin, everything. She compared her to a blooming flower in her head. Its pedals so vibrant. Liz chuckled. “I haven’t had one drink since the beginning of June so I think I’m doing well all things considered. What about you?”

Evangeline loved Liz’s face, her neck, the wrinkles from a long life wearing it proudly. Her crow’s feet by her soft eyes. She was a tough cookie for sure, but during times like these, she was as delicate as paper-thin glass. The slightest pressure and she could break. “Not since a week ago.” She smiled back to giving her full attention to Liz’s ice blue eyes.

2:07am

First, she couldn’t feel her face. When she walked out into the long bright dark that was the first thing she felt. Searching for her partner, she felt shitty enough for the whole thing. Now she knew if she chose to do anything she would be guilty for the rest of her life, carrying that guilt on her back.

“Navarro!”

Nothing, no answer, no one in sight. When she blinked she instantly found herself under the ice, taking water into her lungs and feeling them get filled up, no hole in the ice. Not being able to kick herself higher. She gave up trying, there was nowhere to go anyway. She stopped moving, letting the earth take her anywhere. She opened her eyes to take it in only to find Holden under the water with her kicking and struggling, she tried to get over to him, the darkness eventually taking them deeper and deeper into the void, getting to hold him one last time before it all went dark.

Liz woke up with a shake being given to her shoulder, gasping when her eyes opened and she was back on the ground in reality.

“Liz! Are you okay?”

Liz grunted, shifting herself to be on her back. Navarro’s hand still lingered on the soft olive-patterned skin of her forearm. She sat up throwing her legs over the side of the bed and rubbed her eyes. She sniffled. “I’m fine…”

“Liz…”

“I’m fine.”

Evangeline knew she couldn’t pry anything out of her. The only thing she could do was maybe with a little poke get into her mind. They both had nightmares but Liz never wanted to admit it or talk to anyone about them. “You were saying things, Liz. You were scared.”

“Go back to sleep. Long day tomorrow.”

***

Liz wiped the cold water dripping down her chin from the glass of ice she was drinking. The back of her shirt was stained with sweat. She was overheated and couldn’t get Gavin out of her head. Evangeline walked into the kitchen looking at her leaning against the counter. “You want to tell me what’s going on since you clearly aren’t sleeping worth a shit?”

Liz scoffed once again. “It was Holden again. I was back outside searching for you. I called for you. Ended up back under the ice, something holding me down. I was okay under there. I let myself go because I couldn’t pull myself up. It was peaceful. Then Holden was there, I tried to save him. I could feel him again…I held him-”

Liz placed the glass down and sniffed again. “I lost him 12 years ago it shouldn’t crush me like this. I can- I can feel too much but I wish it’d go away-”

The younger woman walked over to her and embraced her with a tight hug, she towered over Liz, one hand holding the back of her head, her thumb rubbing the nape of her neck gently. Liz breathed in the homey scent from her t-shirt.

“There are things that are weighing you down. You need to befriend them.”

There was a minute of silence shared. Just holding each other in comfort. Liz’s breathing settled down after a bit. She looked up at Evangeline. “Thank you…”

“Don’t thank me.” She twitches her nose. “You stink.”

“I know.”

[anyalovesu]

tolerate it.

viii. always taking up too much space or time.

—“being taken care of by him was weird. it doesn’t feel real to let him take all necessary ministrations to make sure i’m on track, that was my job. even long before we fell apart. i was the one who made sure he was in line, and he rarely ever was. he didn’t seem to want this before, why does he keep on acting like he’s suddenly willing to make this work?”

2 weeks passed after the engagement party and to say the least, Elijah hasn’t recovered from what had just been exposed that day. 

If she was distant to Leon before that, she was even more distant now. She was leaving the house too early in the morning before Leon was even up just so she wouldn’t get to see his face before she leaves. After work, she goes home to their old apartment with the girls before going home when it was already too late and she was sure that Leon was asleep. 

Eli has been missing hours of sleep just so she could avoid him and on top of that she hasn’t been eating well either, even if Leon consistently sent her food in the office. She kept on giving it to her co-workers and chose to eat cafeteria food that wasn’t half as good as the food that was sent to her. 

Everything related to Leon made her feel like she was going to have a breakdown and it wasn’t even his fault. It was all hers. She was the one who leaned in to kiss him. It wasn’t him. It was her fault but Leon was a reminder, as clear as day, that she was the reason why Bianca and Liz are not talking and why Liz hates her now. Even Isaac probably hates her too. 

“Babes, you have bisita,” Ynes knocked on their office door. “Papasukin ko ba?”

Mindlessly, Eli nodded and gave her a thumbs up. 

“Hey.” Elijah almost had a whiplash with how quick her head turned to the person who had just entered her cubicle.

“Bakit ka andito?” She asked, sounding more upset than she intended to.

“To bring you food?” He replied with a matter of factly tone, even raising the bags of take out from Din Tai Fung. 

She softens at the thought that he remembered Din Tai Fung was her favorite restaurant.

But that was before.

Was her favorite.

Not anymore.

They had grown too far apart when she decided that she was done with Din Tai Fung and preferred eating Korean cuisine instead. Everyone else in her life knew that shift, except him.

“But I don’t like Chinese food anymore,” Eli replied curtly, looking at him with a blank expression on her face.

“I like it and wala kang choice. Kakain ka kasama ako.”

“I already ate.”

“Sinungaling. Sabi ni Architect Hwang hindi ka pa lumalabas dito mula noong dumating ka kaninang umaga,” he replied, raising a brow at her. 

Why was he being like this? Why is he acting like he still cares? Hindi naman kailangan dahil wala namang nanonood na hindi alam.

“Hindi pa ako gutom,” she argued, trying to go back to what she was doing but Leon is one persistent motherfucker. He pulled the swivel chair away from her desk and turned it towards him.

“Hindi mo kailangan magutom para kumain,” Leon stated, pulling her up from her chair. Close to practically manhandling her if Eli was a little more persistent and refused to stand up. 

“Bakit mo ba ginagawa pa ‘to? Hindi naman na kailangan! Wala namang nanonood, Leon,” she snapped at him.

“I was starting to miss you,” Leon answered truthfully. 

It surprised Eli to hear that from him. It was a bold answer to hear especially from Leon himself. But at the end of the day, she should’ve expected it. Leon was always more honest than her. He was much more of an open book compared to her. Notorious for speaking before even thinking things through. It was very Leon to say that.

But why did it still surprise her?

Most probably because she never thought she mattered that much to Leon to be missed. 

“Bakit?”

“Ilang araw ka nang umiiwas sa akin,” he replied, patiently, even if the answer was right under her nose.

Elijah was silenced by the honesty. “I have a lot of work to do, ang dami kong naiwan na trabaho dahil doon sa party. Tapos may appointment pa uli next week, inaayos ko na ang mga trabaho ko para hindi na sumagabal sa isang linggo.”

“Why do you always have to lie to me?” he blurted out, sighing as he continued to shock Elijah with his responses. “Kakain lang naman tayo. I’m not gonna do anything that will cause you trouble.

“I know I’ve done enough for you. Hindi ko na dadagdagan.”

—

“Good afternoon, Miss Yang,” one of the interns greeted her in the cafeteria of the building where she and Leon were eating. “Congratulations on your engagement!”

“Sweet naman, oo,” Ynes laughed, placing her food next to Elijah and fitting herself on the chair next to her. “Buti kumain ka?”

“Ayaw ako tantanan,” she replied dryly. “By the way, baka ma-late ako ng uwi later. May pupuntahan pa ako after naka-leave rin ako tomorrow. So no need to wait for me to get home.”

“Samahan na kita?” Leon offered.

“Uuwi ako ng Batangas, ‘wag na. Magaaway lang tayo sa byahe.”

“Sama ako,” Ynes offered. 

“I’m going to Myla’s house,” Elijah replied blandly. “You’re not gonna like how you’ll see me. It’s best kung umuwi nalang kayo at magpahinga sa inyo inyong mga bahay.”

“Palagi akong kasama kela Myla?” Leon looked offended that he was being refused an invitation to visit her grandmother when he has always gone to her home every time ever since she could remember. Even then they were too young to drive cars, Leon commuted with Eli if it meant he’ll come to go to Myla’s home.

“You haven’t for the past few years,” she responded, seemingly not caring about how he’ll react. “And I’ve gone alone ever since. Hindi mo naman kailangan magpanggap na importante rin sa’yo na umuwi roon. It’s not like you remember why I’m going.”

Ynes knew exactly why she was going back. She always went home alone and never let anyone go with her tuwing uuwi siya roon. Even in the four years that she was with Isaac, she never let him go with her. She went there tuwing malapit na ang birthday n’ya. It’s always a day before her birthday, she would go home and spend time with Myla even two years after she passed.

“Si Myla ‘yon, bakit hindi ako p’wedeng kasama?” Leon pouted like a little kid.

“See? Hindi mo nga naalalala,” Elijah sighed. Bakit pa nga ba s’ya nag-expect? It’s Leon.

“Bakit ka nga ba pupunta?” 

“If you can’t remember it, then it’s not important to you. P’wedeng hindi ka na sumama,” she replied.

Ynes couldn’t help but notice the shift in Elijah’s mood. Seeing how upset she was getting over Leon not remembering why she had to take the leave and go back to their hometown. Ynes looked at him, as if trying to give him a hint why. But he only proved that he was just as dense as Eli told he was.

“Hindi ka ba nahihiya ka Myla na inaaway mo ako?”

“I told Myla you left me.”

“Ang sama ng ugali mo,” he pouted. “Ipagda-drive ka na nga eh.”

“Kung hindi importante sa’yo hindi ka kailangan doon, Leon. And masama talaga ang ugali ko, right? That’s what Krizal told you kaya you left me.”

“Bumabawi na nga eh,” he kept on pouting like a child which annoyed Elijah to see him looking like that just across her. “Hindi kita aawayin. Promise.”

“Anong oras ang labas mo?” Elijah scoffed, rolling her eyes, honestly in disbelief that she was giving in. But it would be beneficial. 

There’s nothing to hide anyway. Leon already saw her in what she thought was already her worst state and to top it all off, she promised Myla she would only bring a guy for her to meet if she’s sure that she’s going to marry that person. 

It was disgusting to think that promise was made when she was very young and the only boy she ever went to see her Myla with was Leon. Lo and behold, he is the only guy she brought for her to meet. She never really expected that Leon would actually end up being that person that she’ll marry. But then again, in four years, she never felt like it was the right time for Isaac to meet Myla even in her own wake when she passed. 

Leon was the only guy Myla met and the only guy she’ll ever meet because it was going to end there. She’s stuck with Leon for the rest of her life once they tie the knot in a few months.

“5PM, sunduin kita dito.”

“6 pa ang tapos ko.”

“Antayin kita.”

“Ayaw ko ng magulo kapag nagtatrabaho ako.”

“You act like magkaiba tayo ng field.”

“Yeah? I’m creative and you’re one of those minimalist and functional people.”

“Grabe ang minimalist shaming ha?”

“Nothing against it, I just personally think your works specifically might be functional but they’re boring.”

Ynes snorted which broke the already building tension between the two. “Nagaaway na kayo agad,” she laughed.

“So quiet, Ruby,” Leon mumbled, keeping his eyes on the road as they entered the tollway to get to Batangas. “Okay ka lang?”

“Did you know Isaac is going out with someone already?” Eli sniffled, turning to look at him, resting the back of her head against the glass window.

Elijah watched Leon shake his head, curiously glancing only to see Eli’s eyes glossing with tears. “Hindi ko alam.”

“Alam ni Kuya Tobi. Alam ni Jas. Now my entire friend group know. I couldn’t ask kung sino but I have a feeling na yun yung maganda nilang intern.”

“I don’t even know why I’m crying. Ako naman ang dahilan kung bakit kami nagbreak,” Eli shrugged using the back of her hand to wipe the tears that had already fallen from her cheeks. “Kasalanan ko naman.”

Leon couldn’t help but feel his heart squeeze. Something about Elijah hinting that she is still in love with Isaac made his heart twinge a little. Maybe he was hopeful that after the kiss, there would be something but as he sees it now and the past few days, that was an honest mistake. A mistake no one would have expected from Eli, but a big mistake nonetheless.

“If it hurts, then okay lang umiyak,” Leon replied quietly. “Tapos matulog at magpahinga ka. Malayo pa tayo, umidlip ka muna.”

“Sasakit ang ulo ko mamaya.”

Elijah did not seem to want to make an argument out of it, but he was right. Crying is humanizing after all. What hurts will make you cry. Elijah has feelings after all, no matter how hard she tries to pretend like it doesn’t exist and it doesn’t bother her.

“Sasakit rin naman ang ulo mo kapag umiyak ka ng umiyak,” he replied softly. “Matulog ka na muna. Gigisingin kita kapag malapit na.”

Elijah was oddly undefiant today. She didn’t want to seem to argue or pick a fight about everything, which worried Leon. He takes a mental note to ask his brother what he knows that he doesn’t after all these, just so he would have an idea how to handle the situation.

Once they got to Batangas, to that old familiar house by the beach, Leon had no choice but to ruin Eli’s peaceful slumber. He tried tapping her shoulder from the open passenger door of her own car but she did not respond.

“Ruby, andito na tayo,” Leon hummed, carefully caressing her cheek, successfully waking her up. “Lika na, naipasok ko na ang gamit mo. Inaantay na tayo ni Mamay sa loob.”

“Anong niluto ni Mamay?” she asked, sleepily. Leon couldn't help but smile at the wonder in front of him, sitting there in all of its glory with slightly tousled hair and sleepy eyes.

“Sinigang na salmon,” he replied with a soft smile, knowing how she used to love that dish when they were kids. “Nakahuli daw si Tatay kaninang umaga, inuwi nalang dito dahil uuwi ka raw.”

Even Leon noticed the glint in her sleepy eyes. It really was as beautiful as he remembers it, especially the way the bright front door light reflected in the corner of her eyes. She rubbed her eyes with a small smile on her face before allowing Leon to help her out of the car.

Mamay could not contain her happiness upon seeing Eli. Considering that she visits only once a year with her schedule and everything, it was always a delight to see her back in the house, especially now with Leon. Someone Mamay noticed she hasn’t gone with for the past few years. After all, her grandmother’s very loyal housekeepers treated her like their own granddaughter long before Carmine Yang passed away.

Batangas was always a place she looked back to whenever she felt unloved. This was the first place she ran to when Leon left her, she cried to Myla for hours until she fell asleep. Very vividly, Eli remembers Myla never saying anything against Leon. Maybe somehow, she always knew. She was one of the people who built Yang Enterprises after all, she had every right to know what was going on. Eli is positive now that she knew, she just had to keep the secret.

“Ay jusko, anak, bat mugto ang mata?” Dolores asks, carefully holding the woman’s face as she examines the tear stains that were still on her face. “Kaawa-awa naman ang anak ko. Buti at pinagdrive ka ni Leon! Mahaba ang byahe tapos hindi pala maganda ang pakiramdam mo.”

They’re Eli’s safe space, of course they knew about the diagnosis. They went the extra mile to go to a computer shop and ask for assistance to learn about Elijah’s illness just so they would know how to treat her whenever she comes home. Despite the generational gap, they managed to pick up that Eli was sick and she needed all the love she could have and love is what they gave. Unconditional and unwavering. They never had a child again after their only daughter died when she was young, after all. Somehow, Eli healed them as well.

“Parine na at kumain, anak,” she enthusiastically guided her towards the table where the bowl of Sinigang sat, hot and freshly cooked. “Kumain ka ng madami ha?”

Leon could only watch as Dolores doted on the young woman. The peaceful look on Elijah’s face tells him that she is okay for now. What happens after dinner is another story, it’s not that he knew. Even after Carmine Yang’s wake, this is the first time that he was back. He has been gone for too long to know what happens after. 

In the same way that Eli sees him as a stranger now, it’s exactly how it is for Leon too now that he’s taken the time to see how much Eli has changed in a couple of years.

How much of her color has faded, and how much of her spirit was torn away. 

“Hi, Myla,” Eli sighs as she sits in front of the altar where the urn sat at the end of the hall. “I went with Leon today. Again, after years.”

She talked to her as if her grandmother sat there beside her and listened to every word she said. It was delusional to say the least, but it was comforting—how the idea of telling all your worries to a dead person’s ashes can never make you feel judged.

Unbeknownst to her, Leon sat by the doorway of his separate room at the other end of the hallway. He watched her quietly, enjoying the sight of Eli completely laying her armors down to open up to Myla. 

“I’m getting married, Myla,” she mumbled, choking on the word married as if she wasn’t ready for it at all. Well, she wasn’t, neither was Leon. But is there anything that they can do? “Kaya dinala ko si Leon dito. We’re gonna get married by May this year. 24th. That’s gonna be your death anniversary too, right? Next week, makikipagkita kami ni Ynes sa designer. Maghahanap na kami ng damit na susuotin sa kasal. Dad suggested that I wear Papa’s necklace, yung bigay mo when they got married? Sabi nya I wear that kapag kinasal ako. My something old yon. My something new naman I don’t know pa.

“I don’t know what’s gonna happen after this Myla. Everyone is moving on, adjusting and everything and I’m still here taking up too much time to move on. I feel like naiwan na ako ng lahat and no one will ever be willing enough to wait for me and be patient with me whenever I take up too much space and time. Para namang makakahanap pa ako ng iba, ikakasal na nga ako eh.

“Ewan ko. Everytime na magbbirthday ako, hindi ko mapigilang malungkot. I mean, I have been malungkot for weeks now. I’m afraid I’m gonna have an episode na uli, I’m scared, Myla. I have so much to do, okay naman ako noong mga nakaraang araw. I’m getting sick again, Myla. I’m sorry.”

That broke Leon’s heart to hear her keep on talking to her grandmother like that with a voice longing for comfort that cannot be given anymore.

“I feel bad for breaking Isaac’s heart, Myla,” she mumbled. “Kasalanan ko naman. He had every right to look for someone new, but it hurt to feel guilty, La. I should learn to love Leon, no? He’s not too bad naman, I know he’s not a bad person. He took care of me during the engagement party and made sure I was okay the entire time dahil sa nangyari bago magsimula. He’s not the same person you knew, but he’s keeping his promise naman sa’yo. Everyone keeps saying na he just needs to warm up and he will be okay, pero parang ako ‘yung may kailangan noon. Ako ang may problema, Myla.”

She kept on talking which only broke Leon’s heart further but he knew it wasn’t only his heart that was breaking. If that hurt for him, how much more would it feel for someone who experiences it first-hand? How does that feel for Eli?

For a moment, Leon no longer sees the Eli he is engaged to. It felt like he was looking at the younger version of Eli, venting to Carmine about her troubles. It used to be people ignoring her or Soren Yang preferring to look at either of her brothers instead of her—it used to be things Carmine could fix or resolve. But now that Carmine is gone and her problems are now so deeply ingrained inside her, Leon could not help but feel bad that he couldn’t fix it for her in place of Carmine. 

He was just as helpless as the next person is but was he going to let that stop him?

“Halika dito,” Leon mumbled as soon as Eli noticed him sitting down in the back. He stood up to rise to her level and pulled her into a hug. “I’m sorry I wasn’t a very good person.”

“Hindi ko kailangan ang awa mo,” she replied to him softly while still engulfed in his hug that she could not get herself to return.

“Alam ko,” he replied, placing a firm kiss on her forehead. “I’m sorry. Tell me what I have to do to make you feel better, okay?” 

Elijah looked at him with glossy eyes, his own eyes glossing at the sight of his best friend looking so lost and broken. What is this for? Why is he doing this?

“Tell me the truth, Leo,” she choked out, never feeling more pathetic before. “When are you going to stop?”

“Gusto mo ba akong tumigil ako?”

The question stunned her, rendering her unable to speak and frozen while still staring at the stars that were only mere reflections of light in the gloss over his eyes. 

Does she want him to stop?

Or was she simply afraid that she’ll get used to it only to watch him walk out the door again?

She didn’t know what to tell him out of fear to break his heart to protect her own peace. She really wanted to make this work, mend the broken friendship that had faded over time — perhaps really try if she’d find herself loving him the same way she did before. But the fear was too big — bigger than her, she could say. If she was going to love him, she doesn’t know what was going to happen if she’ll have to watch him leave her again to rot like the insignificant little thing she always thought she was.

“Do you want me to stop, Ellie?” He asked again, in a more hopeful tone this time that she would say ‘no’ and let him truly love her this time. “Tell me, Ellie. Titigil ako kung iyon ang gusto mo.”

The thing that hurt the most was the fact that he didn’t say it in a way that was abrasive to pressure her to give an answer. It was assuring. An assurance that the decision was in her hands, and that whatever her decision would be, he would respect it even if it would cost him his own peace.

Tears began falling from Leon’s eyes before Eli could even feel hers.  “I want you to stop leaving me, Leon,” she finally says. “Hindi ko alam kung kakayanin ko pa uling iwan mo ako. I want you to stop making me feel like I matter tapos bukas parang hindi na ako tao sa paningin mo. Kung iyon lang din ang gagawin mo, tumigil ka na, Leo.”

Leon could not help but feel his lips curve at her vague response. He finds himself shutting his eyes in happiness that he was given a chance to fix his fuck ups, kissing her forehead once more. 

“I’m sorry I left you, Ellie,” he could not help but sob as he held her closer, finally feeling Eli wrap her arms around his waist. “I will be better.”

(click here for: texts with tobi, leon, and bianca)

⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ characters ⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

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[callsign-magnolia]

Lost In Translation // Don't Crush Me

Warning: Angst, cursing, & smut

Collaboration w/: @alltimereverie

Bradley Bradshaw as Noah

Bob Floyd as Harrison

Bitching At Your Girlfriend | Masterlist

We were nearing the end of Noah’s deployment, which made me a little nervous because things have been tense between us. Noah seems to have this dislike for Harrison, which I couldn’t figure out why. And while Harrison wasn’t Noah’s biggest fan he understands how important our relationship is to me. I hope they can get along with each other, I don’t want to let either of them go. Our relationship has grown ever since we recognized our feelings, admitting them to each other. It was almost like we were living in the honeymoon stage, all soft touches and searing kisses. I would be perfectly content if we stayed this way forever. “Here’s your coffee, pretty girl.” Harrison said as he stopped at my desk, setting the large cup on my desk. “Oh, babe! YOu’re a lifesaver!” I said as I stood, pulling him into a quick kiss. His hand rested on the back of my neck, attempting to keep me there as I pulled away. “We’re at work.” He shrugged. “So, I have an office.” I giggled, smacking his chest. “Go before you get us both in trouble.” He chuckled, kissing me one more time. “I’ll see you at lunch, pretty girl.” I nodded, flashing him a smile as he walked to his office. 

I sat down, sipping the coffee as I logged into my computer. I finished a few specs before getting pulled into the hangar to look at a jet that had a malfunction with the landing gear. “I don’t know what happened. I had to fly by and try again.” I nodded, looking under the jet. “Looks like some of the wiring is messed up.” I said as I reached in, looking at the frayed wiring. “Mechanics should’ve fixed this.” I groaned. “Give me a few minutes and I’ll make sure that this gets fixed, properly.” The pilot nodded, shaking my hand before walking inside. “Donny!” I yelled, catching the head of mechanics' attention. “What can I do you for, Liz?” My jaw was set, tensed up. “What the hell is going on with your guys? We have a pilot with malfunctioning landing gear and by the looks of it, he was in here for a tune up a week ago! I cannot and will not have these pilots risking their lives simply because your guys decided to half ass their jobs!” I yelled as I waved the clipboard around. He furrowed his brows, putting his hands up in defense. “Okay. Okay, Liz. I get it. Can I see that and see what pilot worked on this one?” I nodded, handing him the clipboard. He stared at it for a moment before groaning. “Son of a bitch.” He mumbled. “So, who is it?” I asked, hands resting on my hips. “Sam. He’s a new kid fresh out of school. He’s good at his job when he’s paying attention, but I can’t get him off his phone half the time.” I nodded. “Want me to talk to him?” He nodded. “Be my guest.” He led me over to a tall scrawny kid kicked back in a chair with his nose in his phone. I stormed over, knocking his feet off the table and snatching his phone, placing it face down on the table. “Sam, right?”

He furrowed his brows, looking up at me. “Yeah, and who are you?” I smirked. “Liz, the engineer who caught your mistake.” He furrowed his brows in confusion. “Mistake?” I nodded. “Have you ever been up in one of these jets?” He shook his head. “Safety is paramount for these pilots. All parts have to be in working order for them to do their jobs properly.” I motioned him to follow me. He did and I showed him the wiring. “This shit won’t fly. Literally. This pilot had to fight to get his landing gear down. That is completely unacceptable.” He seemed so lost on how to respond, as if he didn’t do it. “I’m friends with many of these pilots, and so help me god if they go down because of your negligence I will have your ass on trial. You will be stripped of all credentials and I will make sure you never work on so much as a bicycle ever again!” He nodded, seeming to finally get the big picture. “Next time Donny comes to me and says you were on your phone on the shop floor or lazing about. You’re done. Am I understood?” He nodded, standing straight. “Yes ma’am.” He said before wandering off and grabbing his tools. “Well I’ll be damned.” I chuckled, crossing my arms over my chest. “Surprising what the fear of an angry woman can do.” I turned to head back inside but saw my boss Daniel walking up to me. “Liz, you got a second?” I nodded and he motioned me to follow him. Once in his office, he motioned for me to sit down. Once I did he closed the door, taking a seat in his office chair. “I’ll cut to the chase. A decision has been made.” 

I raised a brow before he slapped a bunch of papers down in front of me. Looking them over I saw they were papers about the new F/A-19. “Holy shit, I’m on the team?” He laughed. “Kid, you’re leading the team.” I almost fell out of my chair. “What?” He nodded. “The board was very pleased with your work and wants you to run the team.” My heart was beating so fast, trying to comprehend this. “You want to lead the team, don’t you?” I nodded quickly. “Yes! Yes. I do. I really do!” He smiled and nodded. “First meeting with the board is next month. You don’t have to have anything ready, it’s just their expectations.” I nodded, gathering the papers and standing. “Thank you, Daniel! Thank you!” I said as I walked out. I felt like I was on cloud nine! I practically skipped to my desk, setting the papers down. I took a quick look around, making sure no one was watching before I dipped into Harrison’s office. “Lizzy? What are you doing?” I didn’t answer as I locked the door, and closed the blinds looking out onto the floor. I turned, biting my lip before rushing over and straddling him in his chair. “Woah.” Was all he got out before I pressed my lips against his. My hands rested on the sides of his neck while his held my hips. “What’s this for?” 

The next day Harrison came over to cook. Watching him in the kitchen was usually a sight to behold. He was flawless, moving about as if he was water. But tonight he was off. He was tense, unfocused, burning the shrimp which he usually watches like a hawk. I pulled the wine from the fridge, pouring him a glass of red and my own glass of riesling. “Honey. What’s going on?” I asked, rubbing his back as he dumped the pasts into a strainer. “Nothing.” I furrowed my brows. Something was clearly bothering him, but I didn’t wanna push. We sat through dinner, the conversation remaining light and airy, avoiding all talk about work. After dinner we sat on the couch, watching a movie and Harrison seemed so distant. He sat next to me, our legs touching, but his arm wasn’t around my shoulder like usual and he was being super quiet. “Okay.” I said as I grabbed the remote, pausing the movie and turning to him. “What is going on? You’re not acting like yourself.” He sighed, avoiding my gaze as he looked down at his hands in his lap. “Honey. Please, talk to me.” I said as I gently grabbed his chin, turning him to me. “I’m being relocated.” “What?” I asked, baffled at what he was telling me. “Where?” Tears welled in his eyes and I did my best to wipe them away. “Japan. Kanagawa.” It felt like my heart cracked. 

“I got it.” He furrowed his brows before realization washed over him. “What?” I nodded. “I’m not only on the team, I’m leading it.” He grinned before jumping up, holding me in his arms. “I am so proud of you!” I giggled as he kissed me again. “Let’s celebrate tonight!” He nodded. “I can’t tonight, remember?” I nodded, remembering he had to coach his little league practice. “How about tomorrow? I’ll come over and cook your favorite pasta.” I hummed as his nose bumped mine. “Ooh, that sounds nice.” He chuckled. “You know what else sounds nice?” I asked as I nipped his bottom lip. “What?” I grinned, worming my way out of his arms so I sat on his desk. “An office quickie.” He grinned, pushing me onto my back as he leaned over me. “I like the way you think.” He said before kissing me. It was quick, he only pulled off my dress pants and pulled his down low enough to pull himself out. I fought to keep quiet, which was hard with Harrison. My nails raked down his back so hard, I was scared I drew blood. Once we finished we straightened ourselves out before sharing a kiss and getting back to work. 

“And you can’t say no?” He shook his head. “No. I have no choice.” I sniffled. “When do you leave?” His shoulders fell as the tears fell faster. “Two weeks.” I flew back, surprised. “How long have you known?” He sighed. “Three days.” I stood up, stepping away from him. “You’ve known for three days and you're only saying something now?” He sighed, standing. “I didn’t want us to spend our last few weeks together upset. I was going to tell you, just not so soon!” I put my hand up. “You were going to wait longer?” I couldn’t believe it. “I didn’t want things to change.” “They were going to change when you boarded a fucking flight to Japan!” He ran his hands through his hair, pulling on it. “It doesn’t change the fact that I love you!” He said as he grabbed my face, cradling it as he stepped closer. “I don’t want to leave. But I have no choice. Leaving you here is the hardest part about all of this.” I sniffled again, tears of my own falling. “I don’t want you to leave.” He nodded, resting his forehead on mine. “I know. I know and I don’t wanna leave either. But you’ll be okay, I’ll visit when I get the chance and maybe you can come out.” It was all grand in theory. 

“Do you really think we can maintain a relationship like that? You know as well as I do that you’re going to be out there for a few years at least.” His face fell. “You think we won’t make it?” I shrugged . “I don’t know.” My voice cracked as he pulled me into his chest. “Maybe if we break it off now, it won’t hurt as bad.” He sighed, a few tears falling into my hair. “Give me one last night?” I nodded, pulling him into a soft kiss that soon deepened before he carried me off to the bedroom. The next morning I woke up to a note on his pillow telling me he left before I woke up because he couldn’t stand to see me cry and he didn’t think he would be able to leave if I did. I laid in bed that morning, sobbing as I held the note to my chest. Finally, I managed to drag myself out of bed, getting ready for work. I dreaded seeing him, but I couldn’t be mad at him, it just hurt. We managed to avoid each other for a few days but soon we bumped into each other. Our eyes were red and puffy, the lack of sleep showing plain as day. “Excuse me.” I said as I pushed past him. He grabbed my arm, stopping me. “Lizzy? You don’t… hate me do you?” I shook my head, smiling at him. “I could never hate you, Harrison. I just hate that we had to end things.” I said before I gently slipped my arm from his grasp, walking away. 

I did the only thing he asked of me and that was take him to the airport. “Okay. Have a safe flight.” I said as I pursed my lips. He hiked his bag higher on his shoulder, looking at me. “I”m sorry, Lizzy.” I nodded as I rubbed my arms. “Me too.” He looked back at the security line before looking back to me. He dropped his bags, taking me in his arms, squeezing me tightly. “For what it’s worth. I do love you.” I shook my head, pulling away. “Don’t make this any harder than it has to be.” He gripped my chin, making me look at him. “I’m always gonna tell you. I will always make sure you know that you will always carry my heart with you Lizzy.” I had tears streaming down my face, surely ruining my mascara as he rested his forehead on mine. “Please. Let me kiss you one last time.” I couldn’t help myself, wrapping a hand around the back of his neck and pulling him into a passionate kiss. His hands gripped my waist, pulling me flush against his body as we poured all of our love into this last kiss. We slowly pulled away, keeping his forehead on mine. “I really do love you Lizzy.” I gave him a teary smile. “I know you love me too.” I nodded as he pressed his lips to my forehead. “Bye Lizzy.” He said as he picked his bag back up, slowly but surely making his way through security. Once he was on the other side he waved at me before slowly walking away.

When I made it home, I threw myself on the couch, tears streaming my face. I couldn’t believe that this had happened. We were happy and one little decision from someone else has ripped us apart. I’m not sure how long I laid there crying but eventually I got myself into the shower, washing my face and tossing a pizza in the oven. I sat on my couch, staring at the black tv screen, feeling numb when my phone rang. I didn’t even look at the screen before answering, a small part of me hoping it was Harrison but I knew he was still on his flight. “Hello?” I croaked. It was almost a whisper. “Liz? You okay?” I sighed, my eyes closing at the sound of Noah’s voice. “No. Not really.” I decided to just be honest, needing my best friend right now. “What happened?” I took a deep breath. “Um…” My voice was shaky as I held back a sob. “Harrison got relocated to Japan.” He sighed. “Are you two still together?” I shook my head. “No.” I could practically hear the words that rested on the tip of his tongue. “I swear to god Noah, if you tell me any form of ‘I told you so’, I will hang up and never speak to you again. I need my best friend right now, not some dick who wants to prove a fucking point.” I snapped. “Okay. I love you, Liz.” I smiled, wiping my tears. “I love you too. How’s Katy?” He hissed. “She’s not talking to me.” I raised a brow in confusion. “Why?” I asked as the oven went off. “She’s mad I’ve been talking to you and I told her she couldn’t split us up.” A sense of joy filled my chest, knowing he would choose me over his girlfriend. “Thanks, Noah.” He hummed in response. “I can practically smell that pizza you're cooking.” I laughed loudly at how well he knew me.

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