#max parish x reader

[larabiatasstuff]

Part two 🖤

I opened it and there was a female troll figure in it much bigger than the others. "Oh Max that's so nice, I love it thank you so much." "Don't mention it Y/N. I love to see your smile when you enjoy something. Well thank you for your service and the nice talk. See you next time, stay safe." he paid and left. "He's so into you Y/N." my coworker Sally said. "I don't know. I think he's just being nice. I bet he's nice to every woman." "Honey everytime he comes here, he just wants to see you."she says "Maybe no one else was available." "God girl, he was here two weeks ago to make an appointment with you but you were on holiday. He didn't book with another person. He wants you." I felt my cheeks getting hot. Maybe he did like me. I definitely had a crush on him and how could I not. He was always so sweet and he noticed just the tyinest changes on my station. A week later, I was just taking a break when Max entered the salon." Oh hey is it time for a haircut again?" he chuckled "No actually I wanted to ask if you would maybe go out with me? Tonight is a firework at the docs and I thought we could go together." "I'd love that Max. Pick me up at six?" he smiled. "I'll be here. See you later." Time went by very fast and before I knew it Max and I were at the docs eating fries. "I have to ask you something." Max said chewing. "I'm all ears." "Why are you so obsessed with those troll figures?" "I always wanted them as a child but my parents were very strict and as soon as I moved out, I started collecting them. What's your guilty pleasure?" "Visiting small hair salons to talk to the most beautiful woman I've ever seen." my heart stopped for a second. "Max..." "It's the truth, I'm in love with you since I first laid my eyes on you. You were always so kind and you were the first person that didn't mind my jokes so... you're perfect in my eyes." I couldn't say anything, he was just the cutest. Instead of saying something I was about to place a kiss on his cheek but he turned his head in that exact moment so my lips were on his. But instead of backing away he cupped my cheek and kissed me back with so much passion that I felt dizzy afterwards. "I really love you Y/N, like alot." "I really love you too Max." he smiled and pulled me into another kiss while fireworks painted the night sky in the background.

[fangirlstorycreator]

Max Parish X Reader (Short story)

Context: Max has a very childish mind, and wants to try something with you 😏💚

You were just lead down on the bed with Max having a rather steamy and passionate makeout session. You couldn't keep your hands off eachother as yours and his hands explored every inch of eachothers bodies. You were lead next to him as your arm rested on his chest, but then you slowly started moving your hand down towards his trousers and started moving your fingers around to undo his belt.

"Babes just hold on a sec" "What's wrong babe?" "Oh trust me, there is absolutely nothing wrong" he tells you while looking really exited. "Then why did you want me to stop?" "Because I have an idea! Now bare with me on this, but there is something really funny and really stupid I want to try. And now that your magic hands have made me harder than a rock, its the perfect time to try it!" "Try what?" He smirks before sitting up on the bed while you do the same.

"I have a box of ring donuts in the kitchen, and I have a have a, may I say rather impressive hard on-" "Oh my god Max, are you serious?!" "Ah come on babes it will be fun to try!" "Are you telling me that you brought ring donuts hear tonight, in hopes that I will play hoopla with your dick?! That's......actually a very funny idea!" "Yes! I knew you'd want to give it a go! Come on-" "Wait wait babe, look down, your not as hard anymore" "Oh shit yeh"

"Come on, let's continue what we started then we can try it" He smiles happily as you both get back to your makeout session, and of course your hand moves down to his trousers again. Slowly rubbing the now growing and hard bulging cock on the inside of his trousers. Once hes hard enough, you pop into the kitchen and grab the box of donuts before going back into the bedroom. "Right Parish, take them off" You dont need to tell him twice, and he pulls his trousers and pants down to reveal his rock hard cock as it bounces out of his pants.

It's so funny when you try to throw a donut onto him, you try and try again to land on on him but you haven't had much luck with it, it doesn't help when your both giggling. Then finaly on the last one, you throw it and it lands right onto his dick and it slides down comfortable on him. You both shout out in celebration from finaly getting one on him, giggling ,you jump back onto the bed next to him. "Babes that was so funny! I cant belive we just did that!" "I know, you have the funniest ideas Max"

"I know. Right, let's get this off" "Wait, wait! Dont take it off yet" "Why not?" "Because not only have we been having fun, but.... your as hard as a rock and there is a little treat waiting for me right hear....I will take care of it....then take care of you...."

[capturethechaos]

In collaboration with - @earthlysorrows

Masterlist

Josh Kiszka x Reader x Jake Kiszka

Words - 11.8k

Warnings - jealousy, sexual tension, mentions of blood

a/n - It's time to take it back, Madi and I had way too much fun writing this chapter ♡

You hadn’t realized just yet how different your life had become. How was any six year old supposed to know her life, which had barely begun, was about to change.

First it was a new school, which you were set to start at in the coming fall, but until then, the biggest change you would have to face is the new church your parents had chosen. Your mother had picked the prettiest dress in your partially unpacked wardrobe, and laid it out on your bed for you.

You were about as giddy as you could be as the three of you loaded into the car and pulled out of the parking spot at your new home. You watched the town pass by as you drew closer and closer to the church. By the time your father pulled into the parking lot, you were kicking your feet in excitement. 

Your family barely got three steps into the church before you were being greeted. First came a man that looked around the same age as your parents, followed closely by a woman with a wide smile that could light up a room. 

The man held his hand out to your father. “You must be the Y/l/n’s. Bryan was telling me all about you to prepare for your arrival.”

The woman stepped forward, and you watched as she looked to her side and made a gesture as if to usher someone over. Your gaze followed her curiously, landing on four kids that looked about your age as they barreled towards you and your family. 

Their giggles grew in volume as they approached, but when they all saw you they became silent. “Hi!” One of them waved, his elbow tucked against his side. 

The other one, who looked nearly identical to the first, playfully threw finger guns in your direction. “I’m Jake!” 

You weren’t used to being greeted with such welcome arms, so your excitement was maxed out at the fact there were now four kids your age nearly begging to get your attention. 

“We’re playing tag before everyone sits. Do you wanna come join us?” The one chimed in, looking past his sister. 

Karen stepped in, “Josh, I think it’s about time you all settle down.” The groaning and moaning from every single child almost sent Karen into a belly roll of laughter. “That doesn’t mean you can’t all sit together though.” 

Your parents didn’t even need to guide you around the church, as you were on the heels of the twins as they showed you to their pew. They all scooted into their seats, feet dangling inches from the floor. Josh elbowed Jake, rather harshly, and you couldn’t hear exactly what they bickered about but eventually Jake and Josh switched seats. 

You watched, mesmerized, as the worship team got onto the stage to greet the parish as they entered and found their seats. The curious gaze of both twins weighed heavily on you as they watched you watch the team lead the church in worship. It seemed to go on for forever before Pastor Kiszka stepped onto the stage and released the children from the sanctuary to go to Sunday school.

You looked nervously at your parents, and quickly earned smiles and thumbs up from the both of them, ushering you to go with the other kids, so you slid from the stiff wooden bench until your small feet touched the soft carpet below you. The twins were already at the door by the time you were making your way down the aisle, and though your eyes were on them, only one was looking back at you. “Come on, Y/n! Jake and I will show you the way.”

Josh talked your ear off the entire way to the Sunday school room, telling you all about the church, and himself, and his family. You simply stared back in awe, amazed by how much the boy could talk between breaths. Jake was quiet the entire time, simply watching as his twin bombarded you with information. 

The room you were led into was relatively large, though you were quite small so it was all relative. Josh planted himself on the large couch against the wall and eagerly patted the spot next to him for you to join. You smiled at him as you made your way over, hopping onto the couch and watching as the skirt of your dress puffed up around you. 

Jake was close behind you, settling into the spot next to you and quickly readjusting when he realized he had sat down on part of your dress. 

“Good morning kids.” The gentleman walked in and you instantly perked up, sitting up as straight as possible. From the corner of your eye you watched as Josh mimicked your posture, glancing in your direction to ensure he did it perfectly. 

“A would like you all to give a warm welcome to our newest kiddo. Y/n.” Everyone’s eyes locked on you, and you could feel a shy blush creeping upon your cheeks at the attention. You gave everyone a shy wave and felt Josh and Jake click their feet against yours as they swayed their legs in the same rhythm. 

“In honor of our new addition, and because of my sore throat, we will be watching Veggie tales for class today.” All the kids rejoiced, and you could see Josh’s little arms shoot upwards in celebration. 

Josh leaned closer to you to whisper. “Have you ever watched veggie tales? It’s my favorite. I love the hairbrush song.” 

You shook your head. “No. I haven’t, they sing about hair brushes?” 

“Yeah and also about Jesus.” Jake chimed in, fists clenched with excitement. “I like the tomato, he’s my favorite.” 

“My mom says tomatoes are fruits…”  Your little brain was extremely confused on how a fruit made it into a show called veggie tales, and it seemed as though you blew their minds as they stared at you with an open mouth. 

“What an imposter!” 

“Josh. Keep your voice down.”

 Josh almost jumped out of his skin and immediately turned forward. “Sorry Mr. Bryan…” he took a pause before opening his mouth again to speak in the most sheepish of tones “Can we still sing along though…”

Mr. Bryan looked back and Josh with a soft smile, nodding his head. “Yes, Josh, you can still sing along.”

Josh pumped his fist in excitement, watching as Mr. Bryan put the VHS in the machine. The second the video began, Josh was practically vibrating beside you. He looked over at you with what could have been the widest grin you had ever seen, and as the music began, you couldn’t have expected the powerful voice that came from the small boy beside you.

“If you like to talk to tomatoes-”

From the opposite side of you another voice joined.

“If a squash can make you smile.”

Soon enough, the twins were leading the entire Sunday school through the theme song of Veggie Tales, and you simply sat and watched. Giggling along as the boys on either side of you sang their hearts out until the very last note.

Nine years on earth, and you had never been ice skating. The mere thought of it had Jake and Josh scratching their heads. So naturally, when their parents told them the whole family would be going skating, the two of them begged to take you along, and how could Karen and Kelly ever refuse.

Your mother insisted on wrapping you so snug in layers of warm clothing, leaving you to feel like the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man. You shed a few of the layers at the rink before getting on the ice, feeling too warm for comfort.

Jake insisted on helping you lace up your skates while Josh talked everyone’s ears off about all the fun tricks he wanted to try, but it seemed as though the twins priorities switched the moment the three of you got on the ice.

Karen and Kelly were busy watching over Sam and Ronnie, leaving the twins to help you navigate moving on ice with blades attached to your feet. Jake quickly grew impatient, gradually skating further and further ahead of you and Josh until he had lapped you, and he continued to speed around as you hugged the wall. Josh watched you like a hawk, flinching anytime it seemed like your knees were about to buckle, or your foot wobbled.

“Well, we’ve officially done one lap. Congratulations!” Josh was beaming at you as you reached the point of entry for the ice, and you could feel a blush creeping onto your cheeks from more than just the cold. 

Your eyes shot to Jake as he came to a sudden stop beside you, startling you enough that you lost your balance. You felt yourself tip for a moment before you were pulled back and bumped into the wall. “What the heck, Jake. She could have fallen!”

Jake’s eyes turned from his twin to you, a sullen look taking over his face. “Sorry, Y/n. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

You gave him a soft smile as you reached out to pat his shoulder. “It’s alright Jake, I’m all good, see!” You lifted your hands from the wall, balancing yourself as you moved slowly forward. “At least you can go fast. I’m moving like a snail here.”

You heard him laugh for a moment before falling in line with you. “You’ll get there eventually. Wanna see how fast I can go?”

You nodded eagerly at him, watching as a smile broke out on his face and he launched himself forward, leaving the spot next to you available for Josh. “It’s not all about how fast you can go. Sometimes it’s nice to go slow, you just need the right company. At least that’s what my parents say.”

For being so young, the three of you lasted for a good amount of time, that was until your ankles grew sore and you could start to feel a little blister developing right where the skate had been rubbing against your thick socks. Josh took notice of the way you were nearly limping with each push of your foot. 

“Hey. I want to get some hot chocolate, I’m cold.” Josh spoke up, earning a pout from Jake but a very enthusiastic nod from you. 

“I love hot chocolate! Do they put the tiny marshmallows on it?” You asked as you immediately took the first opportunity to leave the ice. 

You booked it to the first bench you saw and sat down immediately. “You can leave your skates on to go over there.” Jake reassured you. 

“My feet hurt, I want them off.” Tangling with the laces, you tried your best to undo the tight knots that Jake had done, and when he noticed you were struggling he went over to untie them for you. 

When the leather skate finally popped off your foot you could feel the little tingles of blood returning to your toes and you pulled your feet to your chest to give them a soft rub. 

Karen, Kelly and your mom had been watching from the sidelines for a while since Sam and Ronnie had gotten tired way before you, and they were preparing for the moment when someone tapped out so they could finally get out of the freezing air. They went to stand up from their spots, but when they saw Jake untying your shoes and Josh standing eagerly to help you back onto your feet, they all looked at each other. 

“Now, that’s just too cute.” Karen started, her hands coming up to her chest as she gave a small pout. “I have a feeling they’re going to be good friends for a lifetime.” 

They didn’t have to keep walking much further, as all three of you ran up with hands locked in a chain to beg them for hot chocolate. 

“She’s never had hot chocolate from HERE before. Please please please.” Josh started the begging, and as he kept saying please both you and Jake joined in to guilt her. 

They caved incredibly quickly, especially when Ronnie and Sam joined in on the chanting. Josh waited with his mom and your own for the hot chocolate to be made whilst Kelly attempted to keep Sam and Ronnie close. Which was easier said than done with Sam trying to escape every five seconds. 

You stood by the large clear windows, watching as snow fell outside, adding to the already large piles that had formed against the building. You felt a tap on your shoulder, breaking you from your concentration, and turned to see Jake twiddling his thumbs as he looked between you and the window. “Do you wanna go outside while we wait? I already asked our moms, they said we can go as long as we stay where they can see us.”

You looked back, seeing Josh enthusiastically explaining something to your mother, his hands waving around as he spoke. “What about Josh?” 

Jake turned to look at his twin, before turning back to you and shrugging. “He’ll come out when the hot chocolate is ready.”

You nodded in agreement, feeling Jake grab your hand and pull you into the cool winter air. The two of you sat at the edge of the rinks elevated platform, swinging your feet back and forth to brush against the fresh snow beneath you. 

Before you knew it, the sound of footsteps approaching came from behind you, and the two of you turned to see Josh walking towards you with three cups in his hands. 

He let Jake take one before eagerly handing one to you. He lifted his own to his mouth, attempting to get a mouthful of whip cream, and ending up with a little whip cream moustache. You giggled, which made both twins look at you. You pointed to Josh, and Jake turned, immediately joining in on your laughter. 

Josh furrowed his brows at the two of you, and you quickly pointed to your own mouth in an attempt to explain. He reached up to touch his lip, realizing what had happened, and a deep blush creeped over his already rosy cheeks. He shuffled his hand into his sleeve and lifted it to wipe the whip cream from his mouth. 

Jake took a sip of his own hot chocolate, watching you from over the edge of his cup as you took a slow sip of your own. Soon you heard the sound of you mom, Karen and Kelly chatting as they walked out of the rink, Sam and Ronnie following close behind. 

Your gaze locked with your mothers, and she smiled, gesturing for you to come over to her. “Come on, sweetheart. It’s time to go home.”

Before you even had the chance to respond, two sets of arms wrapped tightly around you, followed closely by the sounds of both twins pleading for her to let you stay. 

Jake stuffed his day clothes into the locker, making sure everything was out of the way of the hinges. 

“Nah I think every single girl here has been kissed AT LEAST once besides Y/n.” One of his classmates continued on from a conversation that until now Jake had been toning out. 

“I mean she’s hot, but she’s kind of a weirdo. She’s always with that Josh kid, the one that won’t shut up.” The other kid responded, creating a rumble of laughter that rang off of  the metal lockers. 

Jake grew more nosey by the second as he let his head turn to the side so his ear was in a direction to hear them better. 

“Braydon, I will give you ten dollars and my Nike socks if you manage to be her first kiss. BUT, you gotta get it in film. There’s gotta be proof bro.” The room fell silent as Braydon thought over this deal of a lifetime. 

“What if I get her to make out with me? Then what do I get?” He laughed, trying to up the stakes but mostly just trying to seem like your typical middle school hard ass. 

“If you get her to make out with you ON CAMERA, I will have my older brother give you his test answers from when he was in Mrs. Marshall���s class.” 

“DUDE! Solid, consider it a deal dumbass. I got Jesus freak Abigail to make out with me in the library so this is going to be the easiest A of a lifetime.” 

Jake clenched his jaw, feeling heat nip at the tips of his earlobes as he tried his hardest not to slam his locker closed. Instead, he took a deep breath, gently shutting the locker and closing the small lock before turning to face the boys he had been listening in on. 

“It’s no use guys.” He was trying to keep his cool as he walked up to them. “She’s already had her first kiss.”

He knew they were going to ask questions, so as the boys next to him opened their mouths to speak, Jake did a silent prayer of forgiveness as he prepared to lie through his teeth. 

“No fucking way dude. With who?”

Jake gulped. “Me.”

The boys eyes widened, and they looked at each other before looking back at Jake, clearly trying to hold back some type of response. “Oh, no shit. Okay… uh, good for you dude.”

There was a piece of Jake's brain that told him he had just screwed up, and it became louder and louder as he watched the boys run out to what was known as the “popular” group of kids across the gym from him. Jake looked from them to where you were sitting on the bench, watching as Josh and Andrew argued over what they should do for the science fair. 

His palms were already sweaty as he walked over to the group, catching your gaze as he stepped closer and closer to the bench. “Hey Jake, what took you so long?”

Jake spent the entire class watching the way the popular kids would shoot you looks, turning away snickering. That had to have been his worst and least competitive gym class of his life. 

You on the other hand, you were killing it and had no idea what changed. While normally you were pummeled with the flying red balls through the air, not one person even tried to hit you, instead they were too busy giggling amongst themselves to seem to care enough about dodgeball. 

Every now and then, when you’d really nail someone good, Josh would be right by you to send a wicked high five in your direction. And with sweat dripping down your cheeks, your successes were interrupted by the sound of a whistle. 

“ALRIGHT! Class is almost over so get upstairs and get changed. You guys have ten minutes before the bell rings.” The coach’s voice bounced across the gymnasium in the same manner that the lone red dodge balls were now doing. 

Though only a short time away, you said goodbye to Jake and Josh as you and the swarm of popular girls raced up the stairs. You never liked to meander in the locker room, it always smelled of sweat and you for one didn’t enjoy the idea of your classmates watching you change. So you hurried to remove your shirt, getting insecure that you were probably one of the only ones there without a fancy push up bra. 

“He said what?” You heard one of the squeaky voices giggle from the other side of the locker room. 

You hurried to throw your shirt over your bra before your basketball shorts were even off yet but those did come off next. 

“But she was all over Josh today? How does that make any sense?” You heard another one reply through horrible whispers. 

Once your Jean shorts were on and secured with the button you spritzed yourself with a little bit of your favorite Cotton Candy perfume to hide the scent of gym class, and when you turned around you immediately stopped in your tracks. 

“So, she’s a total slut then!” One of the girls chimed in, this one sounding the most familiar to you. You had gone to church enough to know Abigail’s voice without even needing to see her face. “Because only sluts try to date two guys at once. Especially twins.” 

“Don’t worry Abbie, you and Josh were totally made for each other. I saw the way he looked at you today. She’s nothing to him.”  Abigail let out a sharp laugh at her friend's remark. 

“I wonder if Jake knows that she’s totally into his brother. I mean, Brayden said he was so quick to tell them that he was her first kiss, he must be heartbroken.”

It took every fiber of your being to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall as you walked out of the locker room. You watched as the twins caught sight of you leaving, both of them kicking off of the wall to make their way over to you. 

You walked right past them, weaving through the other students in the hallway as you made a b-line for your next class. You knew they wouldn’t be far behind you, but by the time they walked into the classroom, you were talking to Andrew, asking if he would be your lab partner that day so that you didn’t have to talk any more with the twins. 

He agreed, unwilling to ask why you looked like you were about to burst into tears. You sat at the desk in silence, pulling out your green binder and placing it in front of you. Andrew walked over to the twins to tell Josh that he was going to be partnering with you for the lab, and Jake immediately knew something was wrong. 

He looked over to you, and caught your eyes, his heart wrenching as he watched the way you quickly looked back at your binder and wiped below your eye. He made his way over, leaving Josh and Andrew to talk. “Y/n, can I explain, please.”

“Explain what? That you wanted to look cool and lied about kissing me? No Jake , you don’t get to explain that.”  You tried to whisper, hiding your attention by going through the papers in your folder. They had no significance to what you were doing but it made you appear busy. 

“Please, Y/n. The guys were making bets about being your first kiss…  and I just- I didn’t know what to do, so I just said the first thing that came to my head. I’m sorry, I just didn’t want one of them to hurt your feelings.” It was a struggle for him, trying to ramble out his explanation without raising his voice loud enough for everybody to hear. 

“I don’t care, Jake. Because of you, now all the girls are calling me a slut. So no matter what your intentions were, I’m hurt, and it’s your fault.”

Jake opened his mouth to speak but couldn’t find the words in his brain that would fix it. He knew he messed up and his posture just slouched forward in defeat. “I was trying to protect you.” He whispered before he took a few steps away, looked over his shoulder, and sat back down at his desk. 

Jake left you alone for the remainder of the day. Occasionally looking over at you and having to watch as you went about your schoolwork with swollen eyes and a permanent frown on your lips. He considered approaching you at your locker after the final bell rang, but what he found there was Josh leaning against his locker beside yours, trading books with you as you decided what you needed to bring home. 

“What’s got you so down?” Josh approached calmly, hoping to not chase you away. 

“A lot. Actually.” Your reply was short and blunt but it was a reply nonetheless. You stashed your homework into your backpack and slung  it over your shoulder. 

“Do you wanna miss the bus and go across the street to that ice cream place? My mom accidently gave me extra money for lunch so I can get us one to share.” His voice was so delicate, like if he dared to raise it you’d crack like fresh ice during the first winter day. 

You could feel it, Jake’s eyes gnawing at your neck, and while you believed him, it wouldn’t take back the repercussions of his actions. You didn’t say a word to Josh, instead you just nodded shyly. 

Josh turned away from you, quickly jogging over to his brother. “Hey. Y/n is feeling super down, so we’re gonna skip the bus and go grab some ice cream. Are you alright catching the bus on your own?”

The whole walk to the shop was silent, but Josh respected that by not asking about why you were upset on repeat. When you opened the glass doors the scent of freshly churned ice cream almost instantly raised your spirit. “Can I get a -“

“Chocolate fudge sundae, extra whip cream and two spoons.” Josh interrupted with your order reiterated perfectly. You let your thumbs twiddle together as the two of you took a seat and waited for the order to come to you. 

“So… Do you feel like you can talk about it now?” The ice cream was placed between the two of you and he was the first to reach for a spoon.

You looked down at the sundae, reaching for a spoon and shoving it past the mountain of whip cream. “Apparently Jake overheard a couple of the guys in our class making bets about being my first kiss, and decided to tell them that he was my first kiss. Now all the popular girls are calling me a slut, and I just… I don’t know.” You took a spoonful of ice cream, lifting it to your lips as you finished your sentence. 

He wasn’t entirely sure as to why, but he could feel a heaviness in his stomach at your words. He immediately blamed this weight in his stomach on the sweetness of the ice cream. “But I’m sure half of those girls have kissed someone too.” He tried to comfort you. 

“It’s because we’re friends. They think I’m kissing both of you. And I’m not.” You dramatically shoved a spoonful of ice cream into your mouth. You were muffled when you spoke again. “Abigail is being the worst about it because apparently she has a crush on you.”

You watched as Josh turned a brilliant shade of red, slowly swallowing his ice cream before speaking up. “Abigail likes… me?” 

You hated the feeling that bubbled inside of you when he said it. You hated the bewildered look on his face, and the blush on his cheeks, and the fact that it was because of Abigail. 

You wanted to backtrack so badly but it was too late. “That’s what I heard in the locker room, right after she called me a slut.” You were dry and cold when you said it, hoping the negativity would take that blush off of Josh’s cheeks.

“Oh. She’s the one that said that to you?” Josh’s expression softened, the bewildered look morphed into sympathy. 

“Yeah. Before everyone else picked it up.” Your eyes fell towards the table as you just played with the now melting ice cream. “I don’t want to go to school tomorrow, Josh.” 

“Now don't run and hide.” He stood from his place at the booth and looped around to sit beside you. “You’re too strong to run and hide.” Softly, he pressed his hand to your arm and gave it a squeeze. 

“I don’t want to deal with the looks. I don’t want to be the laughing stock of the school.” 

“But it’s not true and that’s what matters.” He didn’t really know what to do so he just tapped your shoulder, and instinctively your head swirled towards him. 

The only thing he could think to do was to lean forward and shyly press a soft peck to your lips before tugging his head back aggressively. You couldn’t even begin to explain how your body was able to send so much heat to your face in such a short period of time. 

“Josh why did you just…” you began but with your flustered state you couldn’t even finish your sentence. 

“I uh. I don’t know, it just felt like what I should do.” Josh was equally as shaken up, his whole body shivering slightly with adrenaline. After a few silent seconds he began. “ We should uh. We should eat this before it turns into soup. 

When you got home you nearly ran to your bedroom and slammed the door shut. Despite the rumors you had just endured you finally received your true first kiss. Josh. 

You felt pitiful. No matter how many of your friends came up to tell you how bad they felt. No matter how many times the twins said he was an idiot. Nothing made you feel better about the fact that you had been stood up, and all of your friends either had dates, or came as a group. 

You had been dating him for three months. Three months and he chose tonight to stand you up and leave you in the dust. An event that he knew meant a lot to you. “Maybe he’s just late” you told yourself as you sat upon your couch. When you looked at the clock and realized that Prom began in less than half an hour the tears started to flow. 

You managed to pick yourself up, and drive yourself to the high school, and when you walked in empty handed everyone’s face dropped. Leaving you to where you were now, standing alone as you watched everyone around you dance to Crimson and Clover. You sat upon the bleachers, heart heavy. You went to check your phone but the lack of signal prevented you from entertaining yourself that way. 

From across the gymnasium you saw him, walking in with arms interlocked around another girl. You stood from your seat to get a better look but it was impossible to miss the tie that perfectly matched your dress. Your date was there alright, just not with you. 

You could feel the boiling rage coming from deep within you as you watched his new date waltz over to her friends and started giggling with them. You weren’t sure where the motivation came from, but as you watched him scan the room for his friends, you slid off your shoes and marched over to him. 

“So no text, no call. I'm just expected to know that we’re over, then you just show up to prom with another girl.” He was startled by your sudden appearance, his eyes widening as you stood defensively in front of him. 

It took him a second to get his bearings, but as soon as he could, you watched as his posture straightened, and his jaw clenched. “I figured it was safe to say we were through after you said you were done with this.” 

“I meant the conversation, not our relationship. You can’t blame me for not wanting to continue arguing after you called me a prude.”

You watched as the snide smirk creeped up across his face. “We’re high schoolers, going to prom together, and you don’t expect me to get upset because my girlfriend refuses to fuck me?” He laughed, almost directly in your face and you could smell the slight aroma of alcohol on his breath. “So you’re a prude, AND a bitch?”

Just as quickly as the rage boiled over, it simmered away, leaving you with the burning feeling of tears welling in your eyes as you attempted to steady your breath. “I told you I wasn’t ready.” 

“God, you’re lucky I even tried to wait for as long as I did. Now I have to tell everyone that WE were a thing for longer than a week.” His words cut through you like a freshly sharpened blade. “I’m sure it wouldn’t have even been worth the wait anyways.” 

You felt a hand brush against your shoulder, and Matt turned his gaze to whoever had walked up behind you. 

“Is everything alright here?” You knew the voice, and you dreaded having to deal with what you figured was about to go down. 

Matt kept his cool, relaxing his shoulders as he spoke to Josh. “Everything is fine. My ex and I were just clearing the air.”

“Let me rephrase that. You were harassing your ex, who you didn’t even have the balls to break up with. I think that sounds better don’t you?”  Josh looked over at you, expecting you to answer his question, and all you could respond with was a raise of your eyebrow and a tilt of your head in agreement. 

“Shut your mouth, you dumb virgin, you have no place to come in here telling me what I should say.” He was getting defensive, and slowly Josh pulled you to stand further from him, essentially framing himself in front of you. 

“I hate to break it to you Matt, but I know your history, and if Y/n wouldn’t sleep with you, that means you’re still a virgin too.” 

Matt took a step closer to Joshua and you were surprised to see that Josh didn’t submit to him. “You don’t know shit about me, pansy ass bitch.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.” Josh turned back towards you, his eyes looking past you before a rumble of laughter escaped his chest. “Oh, and by the way. I think your date is currently making out with your best friend.” 

Sure enough, when all of you turned around, she was tongue deep inside of his best friend, pushed up against the back of the bleachers as though no one could see them. Matt’s face was nearly swollen with anger and he pushed Josh rather forcefully aside to prance on over to the scene. You and Josh looked at one another, and while you were still actively holding back tears, you couldn’t help but enjoy the sweet satisfaction that irony had bestowed upon you. 

Your eyes wandered across the gym, landing on Jake as he chatted with his girlfriend, the both of them facing your direction, presumably having watched what just happened. His eyes locked with yours, and even with the distance between you, you knew he could see that you were trying not to cry, and his expression fell. 

It looked almost like he was going to come over to you, but as the next slow song began to play, his girlfriend pulled his attention back to her and the two of them made their way onto the dance floor. 

A part of you wanted to have both of them by your side, as it always had been. You didn’t hold it against him though, if you were in his date’s shoes you would want to spend the dance with him instead of worrying about drama revolving around his childhood friend.  In the corner of your vision you could see the tips of Josh’s fingers extended out to you.

“Care for a dance?” He questioned, using his other hand to slightly adjust his bowtie. When it took you a few seconds to answer he wiggled his fingers in front of your face. “This song is only about three minutes long, you know.”

Your hand was shaking a bit when you placed it in his, and though he noted the movement, he simply squeezed it tight as he led you to the dance floor. “Let’s show Matt exactly what he’s missing.”

He pulled you along behind him, stopping only briefly to place your shoes with your bag before swiftly moving to the floor. It seemed as though you were no longer the only one that was nervous, you could feel the trembling of Josh’s fingers as he gently placed them on your waist. 

His touch was so shy, so gentle, that you couldn’t help but smile. Before you tried to loop your arms around his neck, you took a step closer. His breath hitched at the lack of space between the two of you, and you used this moment to loop your hand around and pull his arms tighter around your back, forcing his fingers to land upon the small of it. 

Once you were satisfied with his positioning you then looped your arms around his neck, and began to sway. He caught on quick and soon enough the two of you were talking about whatever you could think of. That was until you took it upon yourself to rest your forehead against his shoulder.

His grip on you tightened, causing the butterflies in your stomach to flutter as the two of you swayed. Your eyes were closed, simply taking in the feeling of being held by your best friend, listening to the song playing in the background, and you could smell what you could only assume was his fathers cologne on the jacket of his suit. 

He let his head rest upon yours. “I don’t understand how anyone could stand you up.” The music almost drowned his words out, but you heard it and as soon as you did those butterflies grew uncontrollably. 

From across the dance floor, despite being wrapped up with his girlfriend, Jake couldn’t help but let his eyes wander to where you and Josh were dancing. He watched as Josh whispered things to you that made you laugh. If he tried hard enough, he could imagine the sweet sound of your laughter over all the noise. 

The song eventually came to an end, but even as a brighter pop melody played over the speakers, you and Josh continued to sway. It wasn’t until ‘Call Me Maybe’ by Carly Rae Jepsen began to play that the two of you pulled away from each other. 

Your eyes fell to the floor, looking to avoid his at all cost, knowing that your cheeks were burning with the blush he had caused. 

“Hey. Wanna ditch the rest of this and go grab some pizza? I’m starving.” You finally looked up at him, and we’re thankful when you saw that his eyes were locked on his phone as he checked the time. 

“Uh, sure- yeah, let’s get out of here.” His eyes lifted to look at you, what was a slight smile on his face quickly breaking into a wide grin.

He reached for your hand again, pulling you along behind him until you were standing in front of Jake and his girlfriend. “Hey. Y/n and I are gonna get out of here and go get pizza. Do you guys wanna come along?”

Jake's face lit up, and he turned to his girlfriend, who’s eyes softened at him as she leaned in to whisper something so that only he could hear. When he looked back at the two of you, his face had fallen a bit, but he was clearly trying to hide his disappointment. “We already promised her friends that we were gonna stick around and go to the after party, but you two have fun.”

Josh’s hand tightened around yours as he shrugged and turned to look at you. “Looks like it’s just you and me. Let’s get your stuff and get out of here.”

You made your way to the bleachers with Josh to grab your bag and shoes before exiting the school and making your way over to your car. When you reached the worn down vehicle, Josh turned to you and stuck out his arm, making grabby hands at you. “Keys please.”

You took the keys from your purse and held them up high in your hand. “Work for it.” You were being fueled by those butterflies in your stomach as you watched Josh reach to grab at the keys, and you purposefully pushed him away with your hip. The feeling of him pressed against you again nearly had your face igniting. 

“Oh come on I’m starving!” He giggled with every failed attempt to grab your keys from you. 

You squeezed the keys in your fist and tucked them behind your back. “Why can’t I drive? It is my car after all.”

You were frightened to see the lightbulb in Josh’s head go off, and he quickly inched away from you before lifting his hands until they sat centimeters away from your waist. “Because I’m trying to be a gentleman, plus I know you want to take those shoes off, and it’s not safe for you to drive with bare feet.”

“Who said I was going to drive with bare feet, I’ve got slippers in my car for a reason.” You were smirking far too much for his liking, so he took his chance, reaching out and tickling you until he heard the sound of the keys hitting the concrete.

He was faster than you, dipping down to grab the keys before straightening back up and wrapping his arms around you. He lifted you up and carried you around the car until you were in front of the passenger's side door, and he gently put you down, unlocking the car and opening the door for you. 

Once you were settled into your seat, he closed the door and jogged back around to the drivers side and slid into the seat. “Alright. Let’s go get some pizza.”

Summer. Finally, after your first year of college, it was summer, and you could relax. You woke up to the harsh beams of sun coming through your window, a single shadow blocking out light for seemingly everything but your eyes. You groaned, shoving your face into your pillow in an attempt to fall back into the peaceful bliss of sleep, but you weren’t so lucky as the weight of someone’s body fell across your body. “Wake up, lazy bones, everyone wants to go to the lake.” 

You wiggled beneath him, a sad attempt to push him off of yourself. “Well, I’m not going to be able to get up with you crushing me, Josh.”

His weight lifted off of you slowly, and when you turned over, your eyes landed on Josh as he stood in front of your window, the sunshine framing him in a golden glow. “Better get out of bed quick, Jake made waffles, and I don’t know if there will be any left if you take your time.”

You shot up from your comfortable position, your eyes widening at him. “You know, if you had started with that, I would have been out of bed by now.”

The sun reflected off of his smile as his lips moved upwards, and you took a moment to just appreciate the beauty of it. Of him. You reached your hand up to wipe the sleep from the corners of your eye, rapidly trying to make yourself look presentable before walking away from the comfort of your bed. 

“If I had started with that, it wouldn’t have been as much fun.” Josh teased, throwing his shoulder gently against yours to knock you off balance. You stumbled a bit, your socks slipping against the hardwood floor and sending you into a very clumsy downwards fall. 

Josh watched as you fell back into your bed, immediately offering a hand to help you back onto your feet. You took it, feeling the pull as you stood from the soft mattress, locking your gaze with his once again. “And God forbid Joshua Michael Kiszka ever leads with the point.”

He chuckled, offering a simple shrug as he let go of your hand. You rolled your eyes playfully before making a shooing motion at him with your hands. “Alright, get out so I can change. And don’t let anyone eat my waffles.”

He straightened his posture, offering you a salute before marking out of your room. “Yes ma’am.”

You laughed, popping your head out as he walked down the hallway. “And don’t ever call me ma’am again.”

You could hear him laugh as he rounded the corner, and immediately dipped back into your room, sliding over to your suitcase and digging through your clothes for a bathing suit.  

You couldn’t quite decide upon which swimsuit you should bring with you, you weren’t sure why it was such a tough decision but as you thought about who all would be at the lake with you, you grew insecure. You laid out your options on your bed, narrowing it down to a light blue strappy bikini, and a green one piece with ladder like cutouts along the sides. 

You stared at the two of them for a couple minutes before plucking your phone from the nightstand and texting Josh. ‘SOS, need assistance.’ 

Within seconds, you heard footsteps barreling towards your room, followed closely by a rapid knocking on your bedroom door. “Are you alright, what’s going on?”

You opened the door, your face flush as you took in his worried expression. “I uh… I can’t decide which swimsuit to wear.”

He went to judge you, until he saw the options laid out on your bed. One drew his attention more than the other but for the sake of having some decency he pretended to ponder. “The one piece might give you weird tan lines.” The excuse was good, and if he were alone he’d even pat himself on the back for that. “I’d say go with the two piece.”

You stood still, nodding aimlessly as you stared at the two piece ensemble, until he waved his hand in front of your face to snap you out of your trance. “Was that all, princess? Or does the damsel in distress require any further assistance?”

“Hmm. I believe you can be dismissed. I hope you know you’re just the funny sidekick, and not the prince.” You tease as a little way to poke back at him for how he woke you up. “I’ll be out in a moment.”

“The funny sidekick is always the best one there anyways-“ He was mumbling as he left, and though you only caught part of what he was saying, it made you laugh. 

You changed fairly quickly into your bikini, pulling a pair of flowy shorts and a tee shirt over it before sauntering out of your room and towards the kitchen. 

The plate of food beckoned you to the table by scent alone, and you weren’t shy as you ripped apart the first piece with the edge of your fork and shoved it past your lips. “So, we have to actually remember to bring a lighter this time. Because I’m not watching Josh sit like a neanderthal smacking rocks together in hopes for a spark again to create the.” You put up air quotes for the next part “ultimate bonfire.” 

By the time you finished your food, everyone else was packed and ready to leave for the lake, so you ran to your room, shoving various necessities into your bag before running back to the group. 

In the time you were gone, everyone had piled into your friend Jackson’s car, but while there were five seats, there were seven of you. You walked up to the car and threw your bag into the trunk, making sure it was shut properly before looking at the full car. “Why are we all piling into Jackson’s car? We have multiple.” 

Jackson turned around to look at you. “It’s easier to just take one. Just sit on someone’s lap, it’s not that long of a drive, I promise.”

You weighed all of your options with Jake's lap already being occupied by his girlfriend. You and Josh made eye contact, and when he didn’t seem entirely opposed to the idea you carefully crawled your way over to him in the middle seat. 

You tried to be gentle as you rested your ass upon his lap, and you could feel Josh gently touching around your thighs looking for an appropriate place to let his hands rest. 

It seemed as though Jackson was going to make the decision for the two of you, because as he sped out of the parking spot, Josh quickly wrapped his arms around you, pulling you tight against him so that you didn’t fly toward the windshield. 

The journey was taking longer than you thought it would, and with every turn, bump, and dip of the car, Josh fought to keep you still in his lap. You tried to ignore the way his breathing would falter when you shuffled back against him when you’d slide forward. 

When the road would smooth out, you’d be the one fighting to keep your breathing steady as his hands slid to rest on the bare skin of your thighs, and you were certain that he could feel the prickling of goosebumps appearing beneath his touch. 

You nearly gasped when you felt it. His fingertips digging softly upon your thigh when he laughed at one of Jackson’s jokes. To hide the shock you forcefully bit down on your bottom lip as your eyes rolled into the back of your head. You hoped no one would notice it but your eyelids had softly fluttered shut in the process. 

You needed to find a distraction, anything to keep the thoughts of sin down and away from you. So you decided to focus on your hair. You lifted your arms to pull your hair to one side of your neck and began to absentmindedly braid it together, frustrated that the bumps in the road ruined the effectiveness of your hands. 

What served as a distraction to you, only caused more of an issue for Josh as his eyes struggled to focus, shifting between the bare skin of your throat, and your fingers as you expertly wrapped each strand around the other, with the occasional misstep when the car would drop into a pothole. 

He was struggling, becoming increasingly aware of the heat of your skin, and the changing direction of his blood flow. All he could think to do was rest his head against the back of the seat and squeeze his eyes shut, silently praying that you couldn’t feel the growing problem in his swim trunks. 

The car ride seemed to drag on, and eventually the steady bumps of the highway began to lull you into a state of exhaustion. With Josh’s head leaned back, you were able to relax your body upon his, head turned to the side to fit perfectly into the crook of his neck. 

He was so warm and comforting, that in a matter of seconds your breath grew heavy as you slid deeper and deeper into your slumber. Absent-mindedly you adjusted your legs, shifting against his crotch to find the most comfortable position. 

The feeling had Josh biting back a hiss, and though you were too far gone to hear it, Andrew, who was sitting to Josh’s left, heard it and turned to look. “You good, dude?”

Josh’s eyes shot open, and he turned to his friend, mortified, and scrambling for an excuse. “Yeah- uh. The uh- the last pothole really did a number on my ass.”

Andrew squinted his eyes and looked between Josh and you before giving a subtle nod. “Yeah. The roads are brutal. I’m glad she didn’t pick me to sit on.” 

The thing was, despite his level of discomfort, Josh was also glad you hadn’t picked Andrew to sit upon. Because while he struggled to subdue his now pulsating erection, he couldn’t help but to admire your beauty as you slept. 

It was a subconscious movement as he slid his hand over your thigh, brushing his thumb along your warm skin. Whenever Jackson would press on the gas, or do anything to jostle you, his fingers would squeeze into the soft flesh beneath them. That was the first thing to rouse you from your slumber, the feeling of his thumb slowly brushing lower and lower against your inner thigh. 

You could hear the quiet sound of him humming along to the music Amelia was playing. The combination had you struggling to keep your thoughts at bay as warmth crept its way through your body. 

A sudden final turn from Jackson had everyone grabbing for something to hold onto, and as Josh’s grip tightened around you, you felt something press against your ass. The momentum of the car had you pressing your face tighter against him, but the sensation below you pulled a breathy gasp from your lungs, traveling directly into Josh’s ear. 

This time, you readjusted on purpose. But not for the sake of comfort, you wanted to get a better feel of what was below you. You had no control over yourself, and it wasn’t until you heard the click of the car going into park, that you realized your face was still pushed against Josh's skin. 

“Fuck. Sorry.” You delicately placed the words upon his neck, feeling your lips graze against his warmed artery as you apologized. 

You turned your head before he could respond, locking you eyes with Jakes as he offered a hand to help you out of the car. You took it and shuffled out of the vehicle. Taking a deep breath of the fresh air as you tried to compose yourself. You heard Josh get out of the car, but didn’t turn until you heard him take off towards the dock, ripping off his shirt as he ran. 

He jumped into the lake, staying under for a good few seconds before emerging, his chest glistening in the sunlight as he wiped the water from his eyes. The rest of the group had made their way over at a slower pace, pulling off clothing once you had made it to the dock. You were trying to pile everything nicely with your bag, and unbeknownst to you, Josh was sneaking glances as you pulled the tee shirt from your body. 

You slowly shimmied the elastic of your shorts down past your ass until it fell on the floor, and you carefully leaned down to pick it up before folding it and placing it into your bag. Your fingers hooked under the strap of your bikini top, adjusting the band to fit flat. You slowly walked to the end of the dock and dipped your foot into the water, your other knee bent slightly.

“It’s not that cold, just jump in.” Your gaze turned to look at Josh as he waded in the water, his eyes locked on yours with an intensity that you couldn’t quite pinpoint. 

Before you even had the chance to jump in on your own, Jake's hands grasped your waist and lifted you from the dock, tossing you into the water. 

The shriek you released was so high pitched it probably sent all the wildlife scampering for cover. “JACOB PUT ME D—“ the splash of the water interrupted your sentence. The throw was hard, hard enough that when you crashed against the water the knot that already became loose during the movements of the car ride, completely became undone. When you resurfaced , you were frantically reaching for the two thin strings that were floating upon the water, your breasts out in the open for anyone who was paying attention to see. 

Jake had turned to high five Jackson, Andrew was too busy stuffing his clothes into his bag, Amelia and Jake's girlfriend were on the beach, laying out their towels, leaving only Josh, who was trying not to look, but he could help the awestruck look that overtook his face when he caught sight of the bare flesh. 

You weren’t paying attention to those around you, too busy trying desperately to get the top re-tied and keep yourself above the water. 

“Do you uh- do you want some help with that?” Your head shot up, your eyes landing on Josh and his sympathetic expression. 

You nodded your head, holding the top tight against your breasts as you made your way over to him. Once the two of you could touch the bottom of the lake, he made his way behind you, pulling on the strings to tie them for you. His touch was warm against your newly cooled skin, the feeling of his knuckles brushing against your spine leaving you more breathless than the cold water. 

When the knot was secured, Josh let his hands run down your shoulders, his fingers softly digging into the skin. He gave your arms a soft tap and reluctantly let go. “Does that feel tight enough?” 

You gulped, nodding your head sheepishly as you felt for the tightly tied bow against the back of your neck. “Yeah, that uh- that’s perfect, thanks.”

Jake took it upon himself to run full speed down the dock, tucking his legs inward so once he collided with the water it sent a gigantic wave in your direction, sending Josh directly into your back. When Jake resurfaced he could just see Josh pressed against you as you giggled and pushed him away. 

“Hey babe! Come join us!” Jake called out to his girlfriend, who was now lounging on her towel. She looked up, watching as he playfully tried to send water in her direction and she couldn’t help but to smile and agree. 

He was much more delicate with her, letting her carefully slide off the dock into his arms, and you wished he had chosen that delicacy with you. You and Josh swam over to meet them. 

“I think we should do what we used to do and play a good ‘ole game of Chicken.” Josh looked around, arms above the water waiting for everyone to praise his idea. 

“Josh I am not as light as I was as a child, and I refuse to have you on my shoulders.” You bit back, eyeing him from the side giving him the exact opposite reaction he expected. 

“Oh yeah? Try me.” It was your huff of submission that brought joy to Josh’s eyes, and though it took some convincing, Jake got his girlfriend to join. 

You couldn’t count the amount of times you had played chicken with the twins, always having your pick of whose shoulders you would sit on, but with what happened in the car, and your top coming off only moments prior, the thought of getting on Josh’s shoulders had a swarm of butterflies swirling around your insides.

Josh ducked his head under the water, and waited for a while before resurfacing. He brushed his hair from his forehead and turned around with one eye open. “Are you gonna get on? I can’t hold my breath for forever you know.” 

You forcefully shoved him back under the water by his shoulders, placing your right thigh upon his shoulder and waited for him to adjust. His right hand moved upward to grab at your thigh, and when you were comfortable your left leg joined the other side of his head. 

He slowly came back out of the water, wobbling at first before he got used to the additional weight. His hands inched upwards, fingers grabbing at your inner thigh every time you moved. His index fingers were teasing your bikini line and you were more focused on that than the fact Jake's girlfriend was now on his shoulders. 

You watched her lips move, clearly saying something to you and Josh, but the feeling of Josh’s fingertips pressing into your skin left your hearing in a state of static, so you simply stared past her, blinking aimlessly. You were brought out of your daze by a tapping on your thigh. You looked down, meeting Josh’s gaze as he gave you a mild look of concern. “You alright?”

“I’m- yeah good I’m good.” Whenever you felt this way, you would always clench your thighs together and the pressure would eventually subside, but that wasn’t even an option right now so you tried your best to keep focused on winning. 

Your hands met with hers, and the two of you pushed and pulled on one another for a while before you could see Jake starting to stumble backwards. Josh inched forward as you persisted and eventually they both fell in the water with a splash. 

Josh’s arms left your thighs to raise upwards, grabbing your sides as he yelled in celebration. His hands on your bare waist sent your heart out of rhythm, your lungs struggled to take a full breath. 

Jake flew up from beneath the water, immediately calling for a rematch. You agreed, only for the sake of yourself, because it meant you could cover up your rapidly increasing need to cool off as losing in a game. Jake got his girlfriend back on his shoulders and they came at you once more. This time, when she shoved you, you didn’t fight it. You felt yourself slipping backward, and Josh followed, causing the two of you to fall backward into the cool water. Josh had tried to save the fall by turning to his side, bringing you down at an awkward angle. 

Josh spat the water out of his mouth once he resurfaced, turning to look at you in disappointment. “What the hell was that?” He teased, almost pouting towards you.

“She caught me off guard, what can I say?” What you hadn’t noticed was that during your fall you had sank down upon a rock that had left the smallest of gashes in your forehead. You couldn’t even feel it, but Josh could see the little red stream falling down your temple. 

“You’re bleeding.” His statement left you confused as you felt around your face. He approached you, rubbing his thumb across the wound. “How hard did you hit your head?”

You simply shrugged, “I didn’t even feel it.” You went to swim away from him, but his arm caught your torso as he dragged you back towards him, the water rippling around you. He held you close, placing you upon his hip so he could inspect your forehead closely. 

You didn’t feel comfortable with your legs floating awkwardly around him, so you pulled them in and looped them around his hips. “Josh, I'm fine I promise. It’s nothing.” 

“You can never be too sure.”

 It was a Tuesday. Relatively bland, Tuesdays, but this time, this Tuesday, you were different. 

Two days had passed since the… incident with Josh in the youth room at church, and you weren’t sure how to handle it. You hadn’t texted him since, and he hadn’t texted you. You wished you could hear his thoughts, to know if he was feeling the same way that you were in that moment. 

As far as first times go, you didn’t think you could really complain. God, it was good enough that it was with Josh, but you never could have imagined it happening like that. You were so consumed with thoughts of Josh that you let the day slip by, settling onto your couch with a comfy blanket and turning on a show for background noise as you imagined it once again. 

The twins were in similar mental states, thoughts consumed with you as they stared mindlessly at the movie ahead of them, occasionally lifting a mouthful of ramen to their lips. Josh couldn’t get the image of you laid out for him out of his head. The delicate sound of his name tumbling from your lips.

Jake was experiencing the change of his mental view of you. He had always had an interest in you, though he had kept it pushed to the back of his mind throughout the majority of your adolescence. Now he was feeling the change as the sound of your giggle in his mind made his heart flutter. The rasp in your tone as you repeatedly moaned how close you were sent a tingle down his spine. 

Josh had told Jake everything through this life, no secret was safe between the two. So as Josh sat beside his twin it was eating him alive to keep something like this to himself. “I had sex with Y/n.” 

Jake inhaled the food he had placed in his mouth, causing him to begin choking on the noodles. Josh rapidly leaned forward, pausing the movie then reaching over to make sure his brother wasn't about to choke to death because of his confession. 

Once Jake was breathing correctly again, Josh relaxed into his seat. “She just came into the youth room Sunday morning before worship, and we started talking about our future with our faith.” He was word vomiting at this point. “…which led to her saying that she wanted me.”

Jake had a few small coughs to let out until his passageways were clear enough to speak. “Out of all places you pick where we worship God?” Jake bit, trying to hide his jealousy to his best abilities. 

“Oh please Jake don’t act all holy. Considering you told me what you and your ex did in the cabin years ago. You have no room to talk.” 

Jake clenched his jaw, willing himself not to say all the things that had suddenly flooded his mind. “You’re really comparing those two situations? You fucked our best friend. In our church. While our parents were upstairs waiting for us to get ready for worship.”

Josh scoffed, rolling his eyes as he looked directly at his twin. “Don’t try to pretend as if you haven’t thought about it.”

He watched as Jake sunk into himself a little, his mind retreating into a more sheepish state. “Which part?”

“You’re my twin Jake, I know you’ve thought about Y/n in ways that were less than pure… and much more than platonic.” His tone was accusatory, and though Jake wanted to argue his point, he was right. 

“Well it’s a little late now don’t you think, clearly she’s not into me.”

Josh chuckled, earning a look that dripped both offence and confusion from Jake. “We haven’t even talked since it happened. Go ahead and try, I can’t stop her if she chooses to fuck you too.”

The idea alone, if having you in his bed, had his mind wandering away from the couch and into a world of its own. He quickly snapped out of that fantasy. “I truly don’t think she would want to be known as the girl who kissed the twins, again.” 

“Who said anyone would know?” Josh laughed back playfully, and it was in that moment when the phone that had been laying silently beside him gave a gentle buzz. 

Jake watched in silence as Josh picked up the phone, a smile immediately breaking out on his face. “Hey- hi. I uh, no, god no you weren’t interrupting anything. Jake and I have just been watching a movie.” He turned back to his twin before looking down at the hand he had been playing with the lint on his pants with. “Yeah of course, did you think I would say no?”

Jake knew it was you on the phone, and he began chewing on the inside of his lip. Once Josh had hung up the call, he turned back to Jake. “Well, we’ll have to pick up on this movie later. Y/n is coming over.”

Josh stood from the couch, picking his bowl up from the coffee table and walking to the kitchen to put it in the sink. When he came back he found Jake in the same spot, finishing the last bite of his ramen in silence as he stared at the paused screen in front of him. “I’d suggest headphones, she’s pretty vocal. And I’ll make it even, if you pluck up the courage and get your chance, I’ll be sure to put on my noise cancelling headphones.”

Jake remained silent, watching as Josh walked towards his bedroom, opening his door before turning back. “You know how I feel about her, Jake. If I get the chance, I’m going to take it. I love you, but it’s always been her for me, and if I get the chance, I want her to be my girl.”

You were sulking, you could admit that. Your couch had become your best friend since your fight with Jake, and despite his best effort, even Josh couldn’t get you out of the slump, though he was a comforting presence when you felt like you could handle human interaction.

You had missed youth group, which was something you and Josh had a small tiff about. You told him you just weren’t ready to see Jake yet, and though he knew you were hurting, he knew he was right when he said that you couldn’t avoid his twin forever. You knew he was right, but you weren’t ready, and that was that. 

You had turned on a show a few hours after you woke up, having showered and thrown your laundry in the wash, you were ready to sit on your ass and do nothing, so you did just that. You popped some popcorn and sat down on your couch. 

You got through two episodes before being interrupted by something other than your washing machine singing to you. A loud knocking came from your front door, making your ears perk up. You waited for the door to open, knowing that Josh would just let himself in if you took long enough to open the door for him, but all that came from the door was another knock.

You groaned, standing from the couch and trudging over to the door with your blanket draped over your shoulders. You checked through the small peephole to see two people you weren’t expecting. You pulled open the door, revealing Sam and Danny. Sam gave your appearance a once over before offering you a soft smile. “We heard you weren’t doing too well.”

You held your place in the doorway, simply raising an eyebrow at the two of them as they stood in front of you with their hands full. Sam swallowed thickly before continuing. “Josh said something about a fight with Jake, but he wouldn’t elaborate, so we figured you could use some time with people that aren’t the twins.”

Danny eyed the slight change in your expression at the mention of the twins, and immediately picked up where Sam had stopped. “We brought snacks.” He lifted one of the grocery bags in his hand, clearly filled with various types of chips and candies. “And Yahtzee.” 

You couldn’t help but smile at them, stepping to the side to allow them through. “Hope you two are ready to get your asses kicked then, Yahtzee is my best game.”

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RIO/MANNY x black! Reader | October Prompts!

A/N: andddd we’re back! Back at it again with some spooky content for you. We love writing for Rio/Manny so I thought why not? Also threw another handsome man into the mix…so we’ll see how this works out! Shall we?

Prompt: #2. “Trust no one tonight.” + #4. “The house is not haunted.”

Synopsis: Rio/Manny warns you to be careful tonight and suddenly the house feels a lot bigger and creepier without him there. So you invite over a new friend you made to mainly keep you company but to show them that your mind is not playing tricks on you.

⍣ ೋ ⍣ ೋ ⍣ ೋ ⍣ ೋ ⍣ ೋ ⍣ ೋ ⍣ ೋ ⍣

“Trust no one tonight,” Manny’s voice tells you as you’re standing in the kitchen, hand deep into a chip bag.

Instantly a frown appeared on your face, “and what do you mean by that, Manny?”

It was mostly silent on his side of the line until you heard the acceleration of his engine before he basically ignored you, “where’s my girl?”

“You’re talking to her.”

Manny chuckled on the other line, “oh so you love me again?”

You scowled putting the phone on speaker and tossing it onto the island. It’s been five months since you brought up the idea of separation but not a divorce. Manny was your husband of eight years but the danger of his lifestyle started to become unsettling to you. Of course you were loyal, he could never say you weren’t but having him brush off the fact that he was almost burned alive scared you. He had to come clean to his Mayan Charter, that he was part of something much bigger than they knew.

Which brought on higher demands and not seeing him at all. The two of you shared a four year old and if you had to raise her yourself, you would. You preferred not to but Manny made that hard and he didn’t like you questioning him. He just expected you to, “trust the process.” He would do anything for the both of you, the two of you were his entire world and he was involved in a lifestyle that could hand him his death sentence any day. He was down for the cause and providing for his family was his number one goal.

“I never stopped loving you,” you sighed, “don’t get on my nerves Manny. What’s up?”

Manny answered, “ez’s supply got burned to a crisp so he came to myself and Mick to make a trip over the border. Let’s just say, shit went left over there and you know I don’t flee from much.”

This was true and frustrating. You didn’t need to know every detail of your man’s business but just the basics. Things like this? You needed to know. When Manny provided vague sentences and started questioning about your daughter’s whereabouts and whenever he mentioned those fucking Reyes brothers—you had questions.

Manny knew how to be strategic so if anything took a turn, he was quick on his feet to handle it. That you knew. The secret was out that Manny had his own connections and could supply what was needed. Miguel Galindo was hiding in the shadows so someone had to take over but that was not how Manny originally wanted to play it. So you left the raised ranch in Santo padre to a mid-century home out in Palm Springs, away from everyone and almost everything.

“Which is why I’m asking, where’s Maeve?”

“She’s with her aunt and uncle for the weekend remember?” You replied, “they wanted to take her and the twins to the theme park with those tickets you gave them for their birthday.”

Your younger siblings were roommates in a shared town home out in San Diego and often took Maeve to spend time with your brother’s kids. You had plans to enroll Maeve into a private school next year but would strongly consider homeschooling if Manny’s profession got significantly worse.

“Mmm, I’ll get mick on that.”

Widening your eyes you said, “damn, that bad huh?”

“Yeah, kinda. Don’t worry about it too much, mama.” Manny answered, “I’m on my way back but I don’t recommend leaving the house once nightfall comes through. Shut everything down the minute the sunsets you hear me?”

Puffing out a breath you scowled, “what if I had plans now that Maeve is with my sibs?”

“That’s cancelled, I thought that was obvious.” He chuckled.

Your eyes were rolling. It’s not like you did have plans exactly this weekend, it was supposed to be a chill one but the fact of the matter is: you could have had plans and things often have to be rearranged due to Manny’s surroundings.

“Mama?” He pressed.

“Yes. I know. Operation lockdown by 6pm until otherwise stated.”

“Trust no one.”

You repeated, “And trust no one.”

“Aight.”

Just like that you were off the phone with a long sigh and a childish stomp of your feet. Everything from this point on was a routine: checking the time, checking the fridge for leftovers, putting some tunes on by voice command, and ran your bath water as you stripped, sitting in your bra and panties while you scrolled Twitter.

A gush of warm-like air brushed against your kitchen, almost as if someone was breathing right behind you as you sat on your bed. You whipped around, eyes scanning the ceiling in search of the placement of the vent. Yes the central heat turned on minutes after you got off the phone with Manny. That was the reason why you decided to take a bath, turning it up slightly just to keep it warm while you bathed.

Most of the vents in the bedrooms were only on the floor and not the ceiling. Rubbing at the spot, you pushed off the bed to quickly enter the bathroom with a lock of the door. Settling into the bubble bath, you plucked the flute glass off the wooden tray and enjoyed your personal time to yourself. The worry of tonight went to the back of your mind as you dozed off for some time.

A quick yank by the tips of your exposed feet had you underwater. The gasping for air made you choke, hands gripping the sides of the tub while you felt pressure on your chest, holding you down. This couldn’t be a simple mistake of dozing off? Not when it felt like something cold and solid was keeping you in place between your breasts?!

Your lungs were burning for air until you were able to feel in control of your body again. Popping out of the water, you choked lounging onto the side of the tub, cheek and ankle resting along the cool edge. Coughing you quickly wiped the bubbles off your face, glancing down at your toes to see your big toe nail appeared to be bleeding along with a dark purple ring circling your ankle.

Once you gained the strength to pull yourself out onto the tile floor you fought to gain your breath back. A towel was eventually wrapped tightly around your body, water drained, gauze secured around your toe; with your phone pressed against your ear.

Manny now had ten missed calls.

Cautiously you found some clothes to throw on, leg bouncing as you sat on your bed. You locked yourself in the bathroom but didn’t feel safe there and now you were back in the bedroom and you didn’t a hundred percent feel safe there either.

That’s when you felt it again. Warm breath against the back of your neck followed by a sinister whisper, “Malachi.”

If you ever seen Tom and Jerry? You were Tom shooting up from your bed after that. Fumbling with the door knob, you did not look behind you as you hobbled down the hallway ordering your phone to call someone else instead.

Twenty minutes later you flung the front door open, revealing a new friend you made three months ago downtown named: Max Parish. The buzz haired man stared down at you as your eyes held complete fear in them.

“What’re you still doing in the house?” Max huffed as he took in the sight of you, barely dressed.

“I can’t exactly leave.”

Max sucked his teeth now stepping into the house, “Manny would just have to understand the circumstances especially if you said someone’s in the house.”

“I’m better off taking my chances here than whatever he’s got himself messed up in out there.” You argued.

Max eyed the house. This was his first time being over at your new upgrade and it didn’t feel like something you’d pick really. In your mind, you always felt like you were being watched here. It never felt like home, not like Detroit.

“The hell am I doing?” Max muttered to himself, “go wait in the car.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m gonna scope the house out.” He raised his jacket, showing his piece tucked in his waist band, “make sure they get the message.”

Given Manny’s lifestyle outside of his family, of course he kept a gun in the house just in case. The sight of the gun attached to Max’s body wasn’t foreign to you yet you still found yourself taking a sharp inhale. You knew how to fire a gun and had a solid hand but unfortunately you did not have the pleasure of liking them. It made you uncomfortable to know that there was one in this house especially when Maeve was around. You were waiting any second for the feds to come searching the house, (you just had to think of the worse if it ever happened, something manny got on you about) although manny didn’t have anything to hide here.

“It’s not—it’s not a person.” You mumbled out as Max started moving.

He stopped in his tracks, “you said—

“I know what I said,” you exasperated, “there’s something in this house, Max.”

A small smile played on Max’s lips then, “something?” He echoed, “like what?”

“The fucking devil! I don’t know! All i know is, one minute I’m minding my black ass business and the next, I’m being drowned in the tub and someone’s screaming in my got damn ear.” You explained to Max who rubbed at his beard.

His laugh was full of disbelief as he shook his head. “I thought you said it was something not someone.” He teased.

“I’m not making this shit up! I’m really freaked out and I would handle it myself but you’re the closest thing I got when manny’s not answering his phone!” You attempted to pace in the entry way and that’s when Max took in your full appearance.

He missed the bandage around your foot and your coils were dripping down your oversized tee. The friendship between you and Max was not instant, you met at a cafe—which sure was cliché but you payed for his drink just for him to chase you and scold you about it on your way to your cosmetology course—which so happened to be in the same building as Max’s cooking course.

It was war from that point because there maybe some things that made you uncomfortable but you did not take well to someone talking to you crazy. Being yelled at was a trigger for you and you didn’t need some 6’5 man yelling at you for being kind. Max ended up apologizing to you the week after at the next class meeting, telling you that he was simply having a bad day since it was the anniversary of his fiancée’s passing. Again that had nothing to do with you, he acknowledged that and soon ended up buying your beverage every Thursday before class.

Somehow you built a friendship around that. When either of you called the other, most of the time you were jumping to each other’s aide but not without some shit talking first on the side.

“Wait,” Max ran a hand over his buzzed head, “you said manny wasn’t picking up his phone?”

“Yeah.”

“And did you talk to him before that?”

“Yes. He told me…not to trust anyone.” Your eyes were wide, “Oh my god, get out!” You ordered.

Max raised his brows as you began shoving him backwards but he barely budged. He gripped your hands trying to get you to calm down, figuring whatever manny put into your head before these events probably increased your paranoia. From what max learned about your relationship with manny, he personally didn’t care much for him although he’s never met him, Max just felt like Manny didn’t have his priorities straight when it came to you or his child.

He kept that to himself though.

Once Max got a hold of your face, he turned your head to the side by your jaw, catching the red liquid that slid out the side of your ear.

Okay…that was concerning.

“Whatever you’re thinking had nothing to do with me. I promise,” Max gently spoke, “but could it be manny playing a trick on you?”

“No.” You shook your head, “why would he do that?”

“I don’t know.” Max lifted his shoulders, eyes glancing around this Brady bunch ass house, “you tell me.”

“He’s coming back from Mexico tonight…i assume with the Yuma and Santo Padre charter. I don’t know who stayed back but he knows I don’t care to have them around me—even if it’s for his idea of protection. The only one I trust is Mick and Manny said he was sending him off to Maeve…but why isn’t he answering his phone?” You thought out-loud.

Max hummed as he let go of your face, surveying the house once more. It was quiet, much like you would expect a home in the desert with a Mountain View to be. Perhaps it was a figment of your imagination after Manny caused you to be on alert? Majority of the time you were a homebody, if you weren’t with your daughter you’d invite a friend or two over but most of the time you were alone and without your husband.

“Maybe…”

Your eyes were in slits as you peered at your friend.

“The house is not haunted.” Max stated, “your husband set your anxiety off…if he’s not lurking in the basement or something.”

Crossing your arms you still felt upset, “I don’t think we have a basement and I didn’t do this to myself.”

Max was no therapist and it’s not like he thought you needed one or anything! It’s just it’s always a possibility when you have a lot going on in your life right? He didn’t want to say anything to make you feel worse so he inhaled.

“Okay then, shut the door. Let me check for you.” Max instructed as you swallowed the lump in your throat, first checking the time on your phone and slamming the door shut.

The man lifted a brow as you walked by him to the hallway. Slowly he followed you to see you reaching for the side of what appeared to be a abstract painting, which slid to the side at your touch. Max was in awe as the wall proceeded with the same movement, revealing a panel behind it. Your fingers flew over the monitor, punching in some numbers before you pulled the switch into a downwards position.

‘Lockdown activated.’ Flashed in bright text before the clinging of metal followed.

Max’s head turned towards the front, noticing the windows becoming dark followed by the front door clinking with more locks.

“This manny’s work too?”

“Anything for his family.” You were quiet now as you went into the kitchen before calling out, “audio off.”

Which cut off some The Mamas and The Papa’s song he was sure his red headed aunt listened to when she was growing up. Max didn’t pick up on the music playing until he realized how dejected you appeared.

“Anything for his family? Yet he’s not answering your calls? Eh, I don’t know. Something doesn’t feel right here.”

“Max,” you started pinching the space in between your brows, “the first thing I would want him to do is go to our daughter. If I’m in trouble, I’d figure it out.”

“He’s got you trained then.” Max sarcastically said, “yet I’m here and he’s not.”

Glared you hissed, “maybe I want the spirits to get your ass first just to give me enough time to get out here, did you ever think about that?”

“So a set up is it?” Max was smug, “you just put us in lockdown which means no one in and no one out. Sounds like you just killed us both dont you think?”

“I’m…really starting to hate men who’s names start with the letter ‘m.’”

“Aw, thank you, babe.” Max placed his hand on his chest mockingly while you fanned your hand at him.

Leaning against the island, you rocked back and forth slightly looking around. “You really don’t think this place is haunted?”

“I’ve seen a lot in my life but there’s only one way to find out.” Max declared, “I’ll check the place out now…since I don’t really have a choice now that you locked me in here with you. Thanks for the option by the way.”

“Oh, You’re welcome sweetie.” You gave a small smile.

Max scoffed with a shake of his head, “don’t go anywhere. I’ll be right back.”

“And if you don’t?”

“Well…it was fun while it lasted.”

“Max!”

“I’m kidding! Just relax, finish your merlot…better yet, don’t.” Max had his eyes elsewhere as he slowly began to creep around the house and out of your sight.

Once max was gone you stared at the bottle, gripping it, taking a sip before you shoved it into the fridge with a sigh.

The house still didn’t feel as comforting even with max being here with you. Not only did it not feel like home but it always felt eerie, too long and separate from what a house should be. You didn’t get a say when Manny just uplifted you and Maeve to this house. Marriage was supposed to be about a partnership yet most of the time you felt like it was you on your own.

Everything felt like it was always on his terms and in a sense it made you think of “Rio” more than anything. Christopher changed his name and his image once he decided California would be your next move. You didn’t mind the move much since that meant being closer to your siblings…however there was a contrast to this ordeal; not just in the exterior of your relationship but also what should have felt like the inside of a home was anything but.

He was supposed to be that.

Which is why you brought up separation. To test Manny, to see if he rather work on this marriage or continue diving into his job. You were understanding for years! His life was constantly on the line and you were stuck always watching from the sidelines. He could never leave this life, it’s been this way since he was a teenager. Since you learned about his previous relationship, the one that mattered, before you.

You gotta go where you wanna go

Do what you wanna do

With whoever you wanna do it with

The distortion of the previous track began to play throughout the house, making you sit up straight at the bar stool.

“The hell? Audio off.” You called out just for the track to continue on with its chopped and screwed version.

Babe, you gotta go where you wanna go

Do what you wanna do

With whoever you wanna do it with

“Isla?” Max called out to you, making you snap your head to look at Max being led into the kitchen by a gun.

Hoping off the chair you winced at the pressure and gripped the island for support, “Manny?! What’re you doing?”

“I thought I made it pretty clear not to trust nobody tonight, mama.” Manny’s smooth voice was leveled as he looked at you, “Just to my surprise, you have some dude who prolly goes to Coachella to sniff coke off some girl’s asscrack, up in our house.”

Max gave the 6’1 man the side eye, “that’s very specific and judgmental of you.”

“I advise you to stop trying to talk to me before I split your shit forward.”

Max widened his eyes at you, wondering when you were going to step in. He could definitely say he personally wasn’t a fan of your husband after this.

“Okay none of that!” You yelled over the music.

Manny glanced around and it was his voice this time to say, “audio off.”

Which shut the music completely off.

Now ain’t that some shit?

“Manny…you better start talking.”

Manny grinned at you but it was anything but sweet. He nodded his head at you, “you want to start making demands when I’m just trying to have your best interest at heart tonight? What about mine? Who the fuck is this?”

“Max is my friend.” You blinked, “are you seriously threatening his life in front of me now to prove what exactly? Never mind that, let’s discuss why you didn’t answer your damn phone when I needed you huh?!”

Manny licked his lips, “I got caught up, my phone was acting up the second I got back in town like I knew it would. I got here as fast as I could…so mind telling me what’s going on?”

“That sounds like bullshit, honestly.” Max commented just for Manny to take the butt of the gun and jam it at the back of Max’s skull.

You yelped as Max dropped to his knees, groaning as he did so. Your eyes were wide as Manny smirked to himself, surveying the larger man on his kitchen floor.

“I don’t think I asked for your opinion, Coachella.”

Shaking your head you stepped forward to check on your friend but the look Manny sent you made you pause. “Max, you okay?” You asked, eyes still set on your husband who crossed his arms.

Max continued groaning, “I’ve dealt with worse. Just give me a second.”

“Ooo,” Manny nodded his head impressed, “Coachella’s got bravery which is the only explanation I can think of to why you’re entertaining him behind my back.”

Scoffing you looked away in incredulity and held up your hands. “First I thought it was me losing my sanity here but I’m convinced it’s your stupid ass!”

“Want to run that by me again, mama?” Manny stepped over Max who now laid on his back, staring up at the ceiling, dazed.

You also stepped to Manny, making your heated eyes meet his. Toe to toe you said, “I didn’t fucking stutter. Separation does not mean I suddenly went screwing other men, making you sleep in the other room does not mean I’m screwing other men. I wouldn’t do that to us. let me make this clear and final to you, I’m not screwing Max. I’m allowed to have male friends.”

“I don’t have female friends because I respect this marriage too much. I expect you to do the same…I know how jealous it makes you to see me with another so I don’t.” Manny shrugged his shoulders as if he was doing you a damn favor.

“Jealous?! Uh, no.” You pointed at him almost laughing in his face, “you don’t get to stand here and insult me. You certainly do and the difference is I trust you! I trust you to put them in their place if they ever take it there.”

“I have colleagues that are women, doesn’t exactly make them my friends.” Manny informed you, slits in his eyes while you just closed your own with a slow shake of your head.

Manny even went as far to curl a finger around one of your damp coils. He studied your face while you tried to get your thoughts together. He loved when you said your peace because that let him know you had a mind of your own, even if it pissed him off a good percentage of the time. It wasn’t about who was right or wrong, it was about who had the last word and who stood by it.

Take that how you will.

“Guys,” Max had been moaning for quite some time, almost missable as you pressed your forehead against Manny’s chin.

“What’s going on in the pretty head of yours, Hm? What happened?” Manny lightly caressed the back of your neck, squeezing and massaging the tension there.

That’s when your eyes met his again, “you need to be honest and tell me what else you’re hiding?”

He frowned.

“GUYS!” Max yelled just as his own body was lifted into the air by his feet and flung over their heads into the hallway.

Both you and Manny watched in horror as the man’s body left a dent in the wall before he fell into unconsciousness. The lights began to automatically flicker on and off along with the music playing again. Protectively Manny gripped your shoulders bringing you into his frame, pointing the glock into the air—not seeing anything to shoot at.

“We have to get to the basement.” Manny suggested.

“What? We have a basement?”

“It’s the safest for us.” He spun you by the hips, hand slipping down your arm to tighten his hand against yours and leading you through the house.

“Max,” you whispered, “we can’t just leave him.”

“Yes we can,” Manny almost smacked his lips, “as long as he’s out, she won’t get him.”

“She?!”

“C’mon, Isla.” Manny pulled on your arm as he led you towards the bedrooms, “or do you want her playing tennis with your body like she did max?”

Well that wasn’t funny. At least not now.

Cautiously you decided to look over your shoulder, seeing Max’s limb peeking out from behind the wall. And what did you do that for? You saw her dressed as if she was from a different decade standing over Max’s body. A gray hand pressed onto the side of the wall, long sickly fingers and black sharp nails. Her face appeared around the wall, peeking right at you, what could have been a beautiful face turned horrid.

Her jaw was down too low, eyes also black with no pupil as she screamed at you before she began floating towards you. The evoked a scream out of you but as soon as it left your lips you felt Manny yank on your arm once more, followed by him shoving you up behind a door, hand clasped over your mouth.

“Sssh,” he coached you, eyes drifting from your frightened stare as he looked at the door listening to what sounded like the clicking of heels.

“Malachi,” the woman in white called.

Which made you clench your eyes shut just as Manny carefully locked the door to your daughter’s bedroom. Keeping a finger to his lips, he guided you away from the door, taking slow steps back to the spacious closet. Sliding the barn door closed behind you, Manny went to the old diaper changing station that stood in the center of the closet. His hands went underneath it, pressing on something that slid the clothes on the rack out of the way.

With the gun he trailed it along the wall, making a symbol. Something you saw once at his grandmother’s house back in Detroit, a family crescent that was also tattooed somewhere on his back. The wall began to move, revealing a large safe. Manny tucked the gun into his waist band and quickly latched onto the handles, twisting and turning before it popped open.

He didn’t look back at you, holding his hand out and expecting you to grab it. You held your head back, staring up at the ceiling, making a silent prayer as your fingers found your husband’s. He led the way, stepping over and into the safe and helping you in as you did so. He closed the safe behind you, locking it with a scanner that went over his right eye.

You waited as he led the way, lights turning on at each step. The tunnel was cold, and illuminated in brown lighting as he led the way to the unknown.

Finding yourself sitting on a cozy tan couch in what appeared to be a control room, you sat as Manny brought you some warm apple cider in a mug you were looking for since you left Detroit. You hated warm apple cider and yet Manny came with a scooper dropping a few ice cubes into your mug. A small smile played on your lips as you stirred the beverage with a spoon before placing it on a side table near you.

“Might as well get comfortable down here, we’ll be here at least until dawn.” Manny mentioned, crouched over a control system that suddenly lit up, showing screens of the house.

He then picked up a walkie and connected it, “Mick? Maeve and Isla’s family good?”

“They’re fine.” Mick responded after some time, “they’re all having dinner.”

Your stomach rumbled at the thought. You were really looking forward to the leftover oxtail rasta pasta in the fridge. However your body was saying you were hungry but your mind was elsewhere.

“What about yall?” Mick asked.

Manny glanced over at you resting your head back on the couch, arms folded.

“We’re good…” Manny started, “first time actually seeing her tonight.”

“Shit.”

“Word. I’ll talk to you in a bit, brother.”

“Alright.”

Manny pulled his lips into his mouth, dropping his head a bit as he realized he had some explaining to do. Standing up he made his way over to you, plopping down so that your thighs were brushing.

“C’mere.” Manny attempted to scoop a arm across your shoulders.

You shoved him away by the chest, “no, fuck that. Start talking.”

Manny exhaled through his nostrils, tightening his jaw before he rubbed his hands against his pants, going to rest his elbows against his knees.

“You’re not going to like what I’m about to say.”

You were silent but did not falter your gaze from the side of Manny’s face.

“This house is one of the only houses in the states that belonged to my family for centuries.” Manny started, “Nick was the one to get it remodeled but I outbid him on purchasing it. Which pissed him off in the end.” He was smirking making you want to slap it right off his gorgeous face.

So you opted for shoving his knee.

He cleared his throat, “I knew we would need a place to stay once it got out to the charter that I wasn’t one hundred percent who I said I was. It was perfect at the time, secluded and away from everybody. I’m shocked homeboy even managed to get here…you know once you get to this area things start to malfunction. There’s a reason for that.”

You held your breath.

“It’s her doing.” Manny continued, “my great great great—however many great aunt who keeps calling for someone named Malachi? Which is her son, lived and died here many years ago. It was brutal.”

Your crossed legs on the floor began to wiggle now, finger pressed to your temple. Manny picked up on this, reaching for your injured foot to rest across his lap as he sighed.

“This was only supposed to be a temporary spot! A month or two tops and we would be out of here, move somewhere else or build a place someplace else. It didn’t register that it’s the anniversary of what happened to them here.” Manny told you while you glared at him.

There was so much he was still leaving out.

“You must have had so much on your mind that you also forgot to mention to your wife that you wanted to move her and your four year old to the land of the damned?” You hissed.

Manny took your words with a grain of salt, “I didn’t know things would go this far. No one told me she would be a vengeful spirit. Like I said, it was only supposed to be a couple of weeks.”

“How did she die? What happened to her and the baby, Malachi?”

“…they accused her of being a undercover witch after she decided to leave the convent back in Mexico. She had miraculously became pregnant before with a boy she decided to name Malachi, most of the sisters tried to help her and convince her to stay believing it was a blessing instead but the head nun shunned her due to the actions she did not commit. So she crossed the border, found a home, this home, gave birth, and settled. What started out as a new chapter soon found a bitter end.” Manny caressed your ankle which actually began to throb again.

Manny sniffed, “the head nun went around convincing others that my aunt was a witch…she was a real hater even after my aunt left. A religious cult that the head nun was cool with—thats ironic right? Located my aunt and stole the four month old baby boy and drowned him in the creek up the road.”

You felt nauseous at this. A hand going up to cover your mouth as you had to calm yourself down. It made better sense now, upsetting nonetheless but at least you were finally getting the basis of this house.

“I almost drowned earlier,” you said with shaky breath.

Manny sat up.

“That’s why I called you multiple times before I reached out to max. It was her, your aunt. She did that to me.” Your eyes stared down at your foot, “she’s looking for her baby.”

“Which they never found, only his blanket…the investigators only found her body hanging and badly burned.” Manny’s voice was low as he realized, “I’m so sorry, mama.”

And you knew he was.

Another thought occurred to you, “Is Maeve going to be safe?”

“As long as she’s nowhere near this house. I made sure Mick understood that.” Manny replied with a curt nod.

Some tension seemed to release from your body at this news. Manny brought your legs up to his lips, placing a kiss at the purplish bruise on your ankle. His hands then slipped up your thigh to rest there while he now tried to pull you into his lap.

This time you allowed it but you were still aggravated. There was already so much going on in your lives and now you just learned about a (rightfully) vengeful family member that you didn’t really want to meet.

“You should have told me,” you said as Manny locked his lands around your waist, “then I wouldn’t have gotten max involved.”

“fuck him though. Forget about Chef Boyardee,” Manny said from over your head making you jerk your head back, “spending all this time with my girl, my wife. I just hope you didn’t bring him around my daughter.”

“What did you say?”

“Which part?” Manny cleared his throat, sitting his body up straight with you still in his lap.

You gripped his face turning it to look right at you. And manny did but not without a side eye radiating from his long lashes.

“How did you know he’s in the culinary business?”

“I told you I got eyes everywhere,” manny boldly notified.

“Manny you got three seconds to stop playing with me before I call Malachi my damn self.” You warned.

Manny held his hands out with a quirk of his thick brows, “oh excellent idea, mama. I’ve been ready to empty out the clip again, it’s been a few hours actually and since I was being generous and didn’t do that to max thanks to my friendliness with his aunt Melissa? I dare you.”

“You are deranged!” You yelled, “how are you friendly with his aunt Melissa?”

“You wanted Maeve in private school and I want her in public school. Did some digging on Max to find that the woman who raised him, his aunt on his deceased father’s side is a school teacher. Fascinating isn’t it?” Manny told you.

Getting off his lap you should have known. This was the man you married, the man who always had a plan. You were starting to wonder did you meet Max out of pure coincidence or was this all part of whatever game Manny was playing?

“…Does max work for you?”

“Nah,” Manny smirked, “you did that all on your own, sweetheart. but…he can if he wants to get that restaurant started.”

“Is that entity even real? Is anything real with you?”

Manny frowned as you felt like you wanted to start bawling. This was all becoming too much for you to handle and you’ve been holding on for so long.

“Hey now,” Manny crouched beside you as you held your face away from him, “of course it is. I don’t play with the dead…I usually dispose of ‘em—

“Oh fuck you!” You yelled getting to you feet, almost forgetting your injured toe as you crumpled to the carpet in front of the man you married, “this isn’t a joke anymore! This is my life and I’m not going to continue with you fucking it up!”

Cradling your foot, your toe began to bleed through the gauze. Breathing air through your teeth your eyes burned with tears as Manny moved around the room for the first aid kit. He sat on the edge of the couch, gripping your ankle to cater to your wound and you let him.

Laying back on the carpet, you bit down on your lip as tears slid down your cheeks with your arms folded.

“I did too much this time, huh?” Manny asked.

Huffing you nodded your head, “yeah…and I think I’m really done.”

He was just about to place a kiss on your ankle but your words stopped him.

“Whatchu say?”

Swallowing you looked up at him saying, “I want out. I want a divorce, Rio.”

The way you said his nickname with such venom on your tongue did not sit right with him. At all so he was on you then, catching you off guard as your breath got caught in your lungs. He was hovering over you now, hands on either side of the face as he peered down at you with those dark eyes.

“Are you threatening me right now, isla? At a time like this?” He trailed his nose along your cheek, making you turn your head away from him as he spoke into your ear, “you and I both know you’re not going nowhere. We love each other too much and we took vows to each other which means something in my book. I’ll be damned if I let this ruin us.”

He still didn’t get it.

“We’ll talk about it later.” Manny pulled away from you, rubbing at his mouth as the ceiling above you rattled, “we got bigger problems right now.”

His eyes were at the monitor as he helped you up.

“W-what now?” You cleared your throat.

Manny could see Max starting to wake up on one of the monitors, which was not a good thing—for him. Moving closer, Manny stared hard at each screen with you standing behind him in utter confusion.

He lifted his head in that moment, tilting it to the side as he placed a finger to his lips. He suddenly moved away from you, staring out into the hallway as the sound of creaking followed.

“Man—

“We gotta go, now!”

“Go where?! I thought here was safe.”

“We gotta go lower, mama. Right now! There’s a elevator in the back of the room. We better get on that or else.” Manny ordered, quickly moving around as he snatched up the walkie and moved over to the wall to send the weapon station down below.

“Or else, what?!”

He came back to you as your heart began to race. Manny pecked your lips, gripping the sides of your neck, “that bitch is gonna flood this area up. She’ll drown us and contrary to your belief, I care about your well-being a ton, even if you don’t think I go about it right. Your ass is mine and I’m forever yours so unless you want to see a reenactment of the titanic…we gotta get the hell up outta here, you understand?”

“Isla?” Manny quizzed.

You held his stare before you slipped your hands in his again. This time Manny allowed you to lead the way to the gated elevator, his gaze elsewhere as water ran down the opposite hallway. It was your turn to yank the lanky man beside you, hands sliding the gate shut after him. Manny was mashing on the buttons, the old elevator suddenly dropping as waves of water began to flood the room you were just in.

Some water splashed into the elevator, the amount was like someone flicking water at you in the pool. Your eyes closed, thinking this was the end but found yourselves descending just in time, to someplace else with a man you thought you knew. 

⍣ ೋ ⍣ ೋ ⍣ ೋ ⍣ ೋ ⍣ ೋ ⍣ ೋ ⍣ ೋ ⍣

Continue along with my fall anthology prompts here

[happy74827]

Put on a Happy Face

[Felix Bell x Female!Reader]

Synopsis: When Murphy and Jess abandon Felix on his birthday, you try your best to cheer him up.

WC: 1,372

Category: Comfort, Slight Fluff 

This fandom is so close to nothing and it hurts me because of how severely underrated it is (It’s called In The Dark and you can either watch it on Netflix or The CW. Please do, it’s so underrated and so good). It is literally one of my favorite shows. Anyway, if you’re a part of the rare individuals who love this man just as I do, here ya go!! Happy reading!

『••✎••』

“Felix…?” You practically froze at the spot, quickly shielding the flowerpot in your hands from his view. You weren’t expecting him to be there, like at all. You expected him to be getting drunk at the Karaoke bar. Of course, it wasn’t necessarily his idea of fun, but Jess and Murph seemingly made everything and anything more enjoyable.

You didn’t have much money, hence the reason you took on three job opportunities — including Guiding Hope, so you didn’t waste time getting him a fancy present that meant nothing. Instead, you gave him a sweet birthday card and decided to use the time that he was out and busy to clean up the facility since it was one of the things he cherished most. Two gifts straight from the heart.

But that plan was immediately thrown out the window when you noticed him looking like a depressed puppy on Murphy’s unclaimed but claimed bench.

“Oh, hey…” Felix glanced up at you only for a second, as if to let you know he was listening. He didn’t even bother with the obvious plant you hid behind your back. “Didn’t see you there.”

“What’re you doing here? I thought you were celebrating with Jess and Murphy?”

By his mannerisms, it seemed as though he didn’t even have one drink. The poor guy probably left sober when things weren’t looking in his favor. Felix had always been such a chipper guy, either beaming excitement, being cocky with his Harvard detective skills or panicking about something that isn’t much to panic about.

The last time you ever saw him this upset, however, was when his uncle passed. He was torn up about it for weeks and the stunt that Jess and Murph pulled on him the day of wasn’t very comforting.

“Oh, you know… I was but then the usual thing those two do happen.” His head was low and he refused to look at you, opting to stare at the well-maintained grass instead; however, a slight smile resided upon his lips as realization hit that he didn’t mow this week.

Turns out, mowing the grass was the only thing that you had got done in his hour's absence. And he both knew it and appreciated it. Felix scooted over slightly as you walked to his side, allowing you to sit beside him as he told you the story.

“We didn’t even get inside.” He scoffed, taking a swig of the plastic water bottle he had in his hands. “That cop guy called again, another Tyson update or whatever and then they… uh, were gone.”

“I get Murph and her attachment to Tyson, but Jess? She didn’t stay with you either? I hardly believe that.” You questioned, copying his gaze out into the landmine of dog turds.

“Nope.” He smacked his lips together, dragging out the articulation in a mocking manner. It was clear he was fed up and you didn’t blame him. You’d feel the same way. “She wanted to, but Murphy forced her to drive her, and then they just… you know, left. Didn’t ask me to go, didn’t say goodbye, just… left.”

“Felix, I— I’m sorry… that’s awful.” You pushed the plant beside you, folding your hands into your lap. He only shrugged in response, taking another sip, before hopping off the bench swiftly.

His old converse made squeaks as he planted onto the fresh grass, spinning on his heel to face you finally.

Not a smile could be seen on him. “Thanks for mowing and you know, actually listening, but I’m going to go get this place cleaned up for work tomorrow.“

Felix turned to head inside, his hand pushing back his brown locks away from his eyes, but you caught up to him before he could.

With a tug on his arm, he turned back around to look at you with puzzlement. It, however, only made you more confident with your idea. “Why don’t I take you somewhere instead? You shouldn’t spend the rest of the night cleaning and going to the dump, especially when it’s still your birthday.”

“It’s ten o’clock at night and I seriously doubt anything is even open except the bars which after tonight, I don’t feel like going to another one.”

“Wrong.” You told him with a smile, “I know the perfect place that’s not a bar and it closes at midnight.”

He looked at you suspiciously but you ended up smiling in accomplishment as you were able to shove Felix into the passenger seat of your car. He was clearly doubtful of your abilities to lighten up his mood, but you knew the second you’d arrive he’d change his mind.

He was going to love it.

“Bingo?” He deadpanned, slowly sliding his bag off his shoulder. He was clearly not amused. “You took me to play bingo?”

Your confidence in picking the perfect place was shot down immediately as you both walked in together. Inside were tables amongst tables with elderly women and men fighting for their pennies.

You rose an eyebrow at him, slightly offended by his tone. “What’s wrong with bingo?”

“Everything. Everything is wrong with bingo.” He sighed, glancing at all the people at their tables. Their daubers ready to smash all those numbers. “I mean, of all things, why bingo?”

“Well… I just— I just figured that this was much more your speed. You don’t seem like the going out clubbing and getting drunk type of dude.”

“But gambling with grandmas and grandpas is? Wow, am I that transparent?” He points at the crowd, watching them slowly stamp down the current numbers. You actually didn’t plan on him acting this way. It was like he had a personal hatred towards it.

“Felix, I just—“

“Does anyone relevant even like bingo nowadays?”

“I like it...” You muttered just loud enough for him to hear. You wanted to speak it with annoyance and anger as bingo was one of the things you loved to do — mostly because it required little money to get started — but your tone came out fragile and shameful. The complete opposite of what you wanted.

He looked down at you, eyes squinting as his brain processed your conversations up until this point. He was annoyed by Murphy and Jess, clearly, but a part of that attitude was being launched onto you. And you didn’t deserve it.

To put it shortly, he was pulling a Murphy and being a complete dick. It was one of the main reasons why he dumped Harvard Law in the first place. He hated being an asshole and yet here was being one to you. He had a shit birthday — his friends abandoned him, one of the dogs puked on his favorite shirt, and even his own mother never called him.

You, and only you, had at least made an effort to make it better by bringing him to a place where you loved. Of course, why have bingo when card games exist, but you didn’t bring him to L.A. You brought him here to play a simple, short, and cheap game. And you were right, he hated partying. He was always the sober one around a bunch of drunks.

So, after a long and intense stare showdown as Felix didn’t say a single word for minutes, he finally tore his eyes off you and glanced at his watch. 10:31.

“On second thought,” He tore his eyes away from his watch, shoving his hands into his pockets. “A quick game wouldn’t hurt, I guess.”

During the game, his mind will be thinking of all the possibilities of good apologies to use later, but at the moment seeing you smile at the successfulness of your plan was enough for him.

And smile you did. You were quite relieved that he hadn’t forced you to drive him back to the sulking bench. You might’ve found out at the moment that Felix hated bingo — which is a major shame — but at least he had a buddy to celebrate his last few hours of bliss before the world kicked back up again.

“Okay! I’ll go get us some cards."

Who knows, maybe he will love it. You are a very lovable person, after all.

[spiderman-4]

Requests!!!

I typically write characters x male or non-binary reader but I’m open to writing x fr reader but they will usually be platonic. (Someone highlighted in green mean I will write them strictly platonic)

I do both nsfw and sfw stories and feel free to request either or both. 😁😁😁

I also usually write a top!reader or dom!reader so if you would like a sub or bottom reader please specify that in your request.

Rules for requesting:

Ships I write for

Theo x Liam (teen wolf)

Scott x Issac (teen wolf)

Nolan x Brett (teen wolf)

Mason x Corey (teen wolf)

Dean x Castiel (supernatural)

Tony x Steve (marvel)

Thor x Bruce (marvel)

Newt x Thomas (the maze runner)

Ian x Mickey (shameless)

Draco x Harry (Harry Potter)

Serius x Remus (Harry Potter)

Eddie x Steve (Stranger Things)

Will x Mike (Stranger Things)

Characters I will write x reader

Teen Wolf

Theo Reaken

Liam Dunbar

Scott McCall

Stiles Stilinski

Corey Bryant

Mason Hewitt

Jordan Parish

Aiden

Ethan

Derek Hale

Allison Argent

Lydia Martin

Malia Tate/Hale

Kira Yukimur

Marvel

Tony Stark

Steve Rogers

Peter Parker

Ned Leeds

MJ Jones

Bruce Banner

Theo Odinson

Loki Laufeyson

Pietro Maximoff

Wanda Maximoff

Clint Barton

Vision

T’Challa

Natasha Romenoff

Gamora

The Maze Runner

Thomas

Newt

Minho

Fypan

Winston

Galley

Shameless

Ian Gallagher

Mickey Milkivitch

Lip Gallagher

Carl Gallagher

Jimmy Steve

Kevin Ball

Liam Gallagher (PLATONIC ONLY)

Fiona Gallagher

Debbie Gallagher

Veronica

Supernatural

Dean Winchester

Sam Winchester

Castiel

Harry Potter

Harry Potter

Ron Weasley

Hermione Granger

Fred Weasley

George Weasley

Bill Weasley

Charlie Weasley

Ginny Weasley

Draco Malfoy

Neville Longbottom

Pansy Parkinson

Blaise Zabini

Stranger Things

Eddie Munson

Steve Harrington

Will Buyers

Mile Wheeler

Eleven “Jane” Hopper

Dustin Henderson

Lucas Sinclair

Max Mayfeild

Jonathan Buyers

Robin Buckley

[thecleverdame]

Control and Release - 20

Series Masterlist

TEDTalk!Sam x Reader

Summary: With the rest of the staff caught in a snowstorm, you find yourself acting as a personal assistant to the notorious Sam Winchester.

Warnings: Dom/Sub, humiliation, embarrassment, sexual objectification, mutual masturbation, spanking, cum play, fingering, anal play, orgasm control, nipple clamps, dub-con, breath play.

Beta: @ilikaicalie

Words: 4k

Parts 21, 22, 23 & 24 are currently available on Patreon for a monthly pledge of $2.50. This includes early access to all my stories, including the ABO series Gods of Twilight and Patreon exclusive content.  >> CLICK HERE <<

-

“Holy shit,” you mutter, staring at your black and blue ass in the mirror. These marks aren’t faint or small. Your backside is covered with thick, deep blue welts from his belt. You woke up on your stomach, only to wince in pain once you rolled over. Then you sat up and nearly yelped at the ache. But now as you stand naked in the bathroom you can’t help but smile, twisting around to get a better look. While you’re going to have a hard time sitting down, it’s a thrilling reminder of last night. A reminder of something new and this connection that’s growing between you and Sam.

Your phone rings and you glance at the number, sighing before answering.

“Hey, mom-”

“Don’t you ‘hey mom’ me. You said you’d call me back and I haven’t heard a peep in forty-eight hours. I’ve been calling and calling.”

“The FBI took my phone. This one came by courier this morning, honestly, I just turned it on like ten minutes ago.”

“Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

“Of course not,” you roll your eyes, glancing at your butt one last time. “A lot’s happened in the last twenty-four hours.”

“Do you want to come home? You can move home with your dad and I. We haven't touched your room.”

“I’m not moving back to Albuquerque. I’m okay, really.”

“And what? You’re headed to Chicago all by your lonesome after what happened? That’s not a good idea.”  

“No, I’m staying here in Boston. Things have changed.”

“I’ll come there, then. I was looking at flights this morning. Your father and I can be there by this afternoon.”

“Mom, seriously, I’m fine,” you suppress the urge to get riled up. She loves you, but sometimes it’s too much. Slipping into the closet you find your tiny section of clothes amid Sam’s vast wardrobe.  

“Don’t be ridiculous, of course you’re not fine,” she fires back. “Who would be alright after something like that? I’m coming there to take care of you.”

“No, mom, just stop and listen to me. I’m a little shook but honestly, I’m doing good. I’m seeing a therapist. I’m going to be late for my appointment if I don’t hurry up and get dressed.”  

“No one should have to go through this alone, sweetheart.”

“I told you, I’m not alone.” You stop to look at the empty bed, Sam was up and out the door before the sun came up. “I’ve got people here. Just please, stop worrying about me so much. I’ll call every day, I promise.”

“I don’t like this. You said you were moving because there was nothing left for you in that God awful city and now you’re staying?”

“Things just...changed. I’ve got positive things here, but it’s hard to talk about it. I feel like shit for talking about anything good that’s in my life when people were just killed. I need time to process everything.”

“Who’s going to make sure you eat? Your appetite is always the first thing to go when you’re stressed. Are you in a hotel? Where are you staying?”

“I’m with a friend until I get my living situation figured out.”

“Thank God, hotels are so impersonal. With those tiny soaps and the coffee is never good. You need a home.”

“Look, I have to go. I’m going to call you later, okay?”

“Alright, I love you so much.”

“I love you too.”

As you hang up you walk to the small dresser at the back of the closet and open the top drawer. The two photos that used to be on display are now tucked out of sight You take out the one of him in college. He’s so happy and in love, it’s hard to imagine your Sam is this same person.

If nothing else it’s a reminder of the fact that people are capable of great change.

-

Walking down the hallways of the hospital you glance down at the paper in your hand with a room number written on it. Pausing at room 7059 you confirm the name scribbled on the dry erase board and knock.

“Come in,” calls out a male voice.

“Hi.” You shuffle inside, leaning around the curtains pulled in a half-circle around his bed. “I’m sorry if I’m bothering you.”

“You’re the last face I expected to see,” Tim laughs and then coughs, grimacing in pain. “But you’re not bothering me. I’m bored out of my mind.”

“Are you sure? I can come back later…” you’re already backing out of the room as he leans forward, wincing in pain.

“Please, just sit down. I’d like the company.”

You step around his bed, sitting in the plastic chair pulled up beside it. Your eyes flutter closed as your ass throbs.

“Oh, I brought you something,” you remember, reaching into your bag and pulling out a copy of The Reckoning by John Grisham. “It was this or Danielle Steel. The gift shop didn’t have a lot of options. I don’t even know if you like to read.” It’s at that moment you spot a Kindle lying beside him on the bed. “Or if you already have an e-reader with access to any book you want.”

“This thing is my mom’s, it’s full of Agatha Christie novels and I don’t have her password to buy anything else.” He holds up the Kindle. “I do like to read and I prefer books. Thank you for bringing me something other than flowers.”

He gestures around the room.

“Wow,” you look at the dozen or so bouquets and potted plants. “I guess people go with what they know.”

“I guess,” he nods, smiling at you. “I’m glad you’re alright,”

“Thanks. I’m glad you’re alright too.” You shift in the chair. “That’s why I’m here. I don’t think I would be alive if it weren’t for you.”

“Eh,” he grumbles, looking away. “I’m not the hero in this story. Winchester is the one who took him out.”

“True, but you distracted him. People were running and you stepped forward, put your arms out in front of us.”

“That was nothing. Just instincts.”

You shrug. “Instincts that bought the rest of us a few seconds. Sam got there just in time, but if you hadn’t tried to help us, I don’t think it would have ended the same way for me. Thank you.”

“You’re very welcome.” He nods, clearing his throat. “I heard Callie, the redhead who did the corporate travel arrangements...she died this morning in surgery.”

“Yeah,” you confirm, feeling the sadness swell into your throat. “Max died last night. They thought he might make it, but he didn’t.”

The death toll kept rising. It turns out Brent used a particularly nasty bullet designed to do the maximum amount of damage.  A lot of the people who survived the initial attack are struggling with serious complications.

“Shit.” Tim sits back against the pillow. You’re both silent as the murmur of the TV rambles in the background. “I’m starting to think I must be lucky. This is actually the third time I’ve taken a bullet. I’m three for three.”

“I heard that. You never know what’s rumor and what’s not but people said that’s why you left the service.”

“That was the second time. But the better story is the first time. I was just a kid. My brother accidentally shot me with my dad’s .22. He was grounded for a year and I got all the chocolate ice cream I could eat. Hell, I still do. My mom brought me some this morning.”

“Maybe you are lucky,” you laugh, checking your cell phone.  

Two messages are scrawled across the screen.

Sam: Meet me for lunch.

Sam: Parish Cafe at 1:30

“Someone important?” Tim grins.

“Important and demanding,” you chuckle, responding see you there and put the phone away. “Look I know I don’t know you and I don’t want to make this weird, but if you’re feeling up to it do you think we could get together next week?”

His eyebrows shoot up and you backtrack, shaking your head in embarrassment.

“I didn’t mean...I...God, I’m bad at this. I’m seeing a therapist, and yesterday she suggested that I reach out and try to connect with some of the people who were there when it happened. I was kinda hoping Millie would join us, maybe Lexi - God bless her.”

Tim laughs out loud at that, nodding in agreement.

“Sure, I didn’t have much of a social life before all this and I’m guessing I’ll be a captive audience for some time.”  

“Awesome.”

“I thought you were moving? Seems like this would be the perfect opportunity to get the fuck out of dodge.”

You stare at him, a million thoughts merging all at once.

“Things changed.”

“Important and demanding things?” he questions and you can’t help the blush that creeps into your cheeks.

“Yes,” you whisper, getting up. “So, I guess I’ll see you next week then.”

“Just let me know.” He gives you a little salute.

-

Sam’s seated in the back of the dark little restaurant, reading on his iPad when you join him.

“Sorry I’m late,” you slip into the chair across from him, biting your lip as the sting of the bruises take your breath away. “I don’t think my Uber driver has lived here very long.”

“I could have sent a car for you.” He finishes what he’s reading before looking up. A flicker moves from his eyes to his mouth, just a ghost of a smile. “I like that dress.”

You look down at the black and white gingham summer dress you bought yesterday. “Thanks, it’s new.”

“I don’t normally see you this casual.”

“I guess that’s true,” you grin at him. He looks handsome today. Sam always looks good, but there’s something about when he doesn’t wear a tie and lets the top buttons of his shirt lay open that you just love. “You like it huh?”

“Very much,” he confirms. He carefully places his tablet and his phone screen down on the table. It’s something new he’s started doing when he intends on giving you his full attention.

“So,” you take the cloth napkin, folding it over your lap. “This was unexpected. I thought you’d be too busy.”

“Not for you,” he responds succinctly and you feel your heart speed up.

This is Sam trying.

“You keep saying things like that and we might need to get a room after lunch,” you laugh, then realize how much easier this feels, more natural than before. You worried it would be hard to relax around him, but that’s not the case.

“That could be an interesting prospect,” he trails his finger around the edge of his water glass, lost somewhere between amusement and arousal. “Not today, but another time.”

“I’ll look forward to it then. You know, I haven’t officially asked yet, can I have my job back?”

“Of course,” he scoffs, “In fact, I’m thinking of placing you as a sort of mentor to a new guy I have coming in.”

“A mentor? I’m barely a secretary.”

“I meant more of a mentor for navigating the people, the office politics. What happened with Brent can’t happen again. I need someone down in the trenches watching the junior associates. After what happened with you and Max, and now Brent it’s clear it’s the wild west and I intend to reign it in. I should have seen it before.”

“What exactly happened...with Brent?”

“It’s not clear yet. I think Brent took the fall for a couple of other guys, they set him up to be a scapegoat. I suspected it at the time but I also have to walk a fine line. I can’t accuse senior staff of lying unless I have something to back it up. It undermines their authority. I’m bringing in several people from the outside for oversight, we need a fresh start.”

“What are you going to do about the building?”

“Have it demolished. I can’t expect anyone to work there. I was focused on expanding the campus, but now that’s futile. There are two buildings downtown, big enough for everyone but I have to ensure it’s the right fit. I’m headed there this afternoon if you’d like to join me.”

“I’d like that,” you watch him pick up the menu.

You could get used to this.

Two Weeks Later

“You found a place?” Sam inquires, looking through the stack of mail.

“Yup, it’s a loft. It’s small but there are tall ceilings so it doesn’t feel claustrophobic. Lots of windows. It’s exactly what I need right now.” You grin, plopping down on his couch. “They said I can move in next Monday.”

“Are you ready for that?” he inquires nonchalantly, skimming over a letter. “You said your therapist suggested you shouldn’t be alone, not for a while.”

“I’m not gonna be alone. We start working at the office on Wednesday, I always spend weekends with you and I’m hoping maybe I could see you during the week sometimes...it’s been nice spending time together, you know, other than sex.”

You watch him absorb this confession, a thoughtful expression crossing his face as he sets the remaining mail aside and looks at you.

“It’s been different than I thought. I haven’t shared personal space like this in a very long time. I assumed I would feel suffocated, but I haven’t. You’re easy to be around.” He delivers this information deadpan and your entire face goes hot. “It’s been nice.”

“Maybe you could come to my place sometime? I can try to cook something, and I’ll probably have a futon by then. Maybe even a loveseat if my boss gives me a raise with this fancy new position. You can see how the other half lives.”

“That sounds...terrible,” he grins, watching you carefully.

“Yeah, it does,” you laugh out loud, genuinely happy for the first time in a long time. “But I am getting a new bed, I ordered it this morning. We could break it in…”

“You let me know once the futon arrives and I’ll drop by.” He gives in, checking his watch. “There is one thing we need to talk about.”

“That sounds vaguely ominous,” you chatter, giving him your full attention.

“You asked me to void our contract. I had it taken care of this morning.” He gives a curt little nod.

“I wanted to talk about that...about us and how this works now. I’d still prefer if our relationship remained private. For the time being at least.” You’ve been thinking about it more and more over the last few days.

“I understand,” Sam agrees easily.

“It’s just, people will assume a lot of things. And they’re nosey. I like this being just ours.”

“You don’t have to explain, I understand. My life entails more than you realize. No one pays attention to me because I don’t date actresses or get DUIs, but once you’re in the mix, eventually someone will take an interest.”

“We’re not very scandalous,” you snort, “Well, I guess kind of, but not in a ‘Page Six’ way.”

“True.” Sam looks relaxed, more at ease than you’ve seen him since this thing between you started. “You’re always welcome here,” he adds, before shifting his attention back to his work.

-

“You start work tomorrow?” Carol, your psychiatrist, is always examining you. But that’s why you come here, to be an open book. You’ve always been open to the idea of therapy and after everything that’s happened this can’t hurt.

“Yeah, going in on a Wednesday. We’re starting back up with a three day week.” It’s been a month since the shooting and life has inevitably moved despite the many changes. “I’m kinda nervous. I keep having this thought that I shouldn’t feel so normal. Like I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop and have some kind of a breakdown or something.”

“Are you still experiencing triggers?”

“Yeah,” you admit. This is the most frustrating part for you. Ninety-nine percent of the time you’re fine but out of the blue you find yourself spiraling down this dark hole. The panic attacks hit you out of nowhere and disappear just as quickly. It’s normal, that’s what everyone keeps telling you, but the unpredictability of it is infuriating. “I went three days with nothing and then last night we were eating dinner and bam. I almost passed out. Five minutes later I was fine.”

“Was there anything that stood out about that moment? A loud noise? Someone yelling?”

“No,” you shrug. “I was in the kitchen. I don’t even turn the TV on anymore. I never noticed before how many guns there are. Someone’s always shooting or talking about it. The first couple of times it happened I thought that was it. CNN was on the background, maybe I heard something I didn’t realize. But I’ve officially marked that off as a possibility. The trigger must be something else.”

“Well, just keep an eye on it. Next time it happens try to make a note of the details. Write it down right away, or take a video with your cell phone. We’ll figure it out. And if it gets bad, you call me and we can talk about medication again.”

“Honestly, I feel fine most of the time. I was thinking this morning I must be a psychopath. You know I didn’t even cry at Max’s funeral?”

“We’ve talked about survivor's guilt. Everyone’s experience is different. That’s just one facet of it. Take things slow and if you start to experience any emotional discomfort, take a step back.” She suggests, supportive as ever.

“I will. I’m ready to just dive in. I’ve got this new position and a new apartment.” You smile, thinking about all the emerging possibilities.

“New relationship,” she adds, as if you’ve purposely avoided mentioning it. And maybe you have. It’s not that she doesn’t approve, but she’s cautious.

“I know you don’t think it’s a good idea, but we’re actually in a good place.”

“I never said that I thought it was a bad idea. I simply pointed out that you hold things back when it comes to him. You stop yourself from spilling too many details. Sometimes that can be a warning sign. And your work situation is less than ideal. You said he’s your boss?”

“More like...my boss’s boss’s boss. He’s at the top of the food chain.”

“Well, it’s probably better he’s that far removed.” She makes a note on her pad. “And your sex life remains one hundred percent consensual?”

“Yeah, God, you make it sound like there’s something wrong with it.”

“Again, that’s you projecting what you assume my opinions are. But I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t ask. You’re certainly not the first woman in the world who enjoyed being tied up. There’s nothing wrong with it as long as it’s not having a negative impact on your self-worth or emotional health.”

“No, things are really good, all around. It sounds so fucked up to say that, but I feel like my life has a future. Is that weird? It’s not that I was sad or depressed before, but I was treading water. Now I’m going somewhere.”

“Sometimes terrible things bring necessary change. You didn’t know how to move forward here, and now you do.”

-

The new offices are two high rise buildings connected by a walkway. It’s just temporary until Sam decides on where to build the new campus but for the next couple years, this is the home of W & S.

Glancing at the post-it in your hand you look again at the number in front of you.

Workspace 2852

The office team had decided everything is now labeled as a workspace. There are no more offices and cubicles. Only workspaces - that look exactly like traditional offices and cubicles. You trail down the aisle, cubicles flanking the left and offices against the right-hand wall. Coming to the end of the cubicles you check the paper again. You must have missed it.

“You alright, sweetheart?” Gloria from the travel team asks.

“I can’t find my desk. Maybe I’m on the wrong floor,” you explain.

She takes the paper from you, looking at the number and pointing to a small office tucked into the corner. “2852, right there.”

“No way,” you grin, getting closer only to find your last name scrawled across a piece of masking tape in the center of the door.

“Sorry about the tape. The nameplates are coming, that’ll have to do for now.”

“No, it’s fine.” You’re beaming like an idiot, opening the door and stepping inside. It’s small, but the ceilings are vaulted and it’s literally in the corner of the building. Two walls are floor to ceiling windows that overlook the city below. “Shit,” you mumble to yourself, scarcely able to believe this is your little corner of the world.

The office is naked, just a desk, computer and filing cabinet. But it’s yours.

There’s a single, white envelope on the desk and you have a feeling who’s left it for you. Inside is a note written on the back of a business card.

Enjoy. You deserve it.

“Sam,” you whisper, clutching the little card like it’s a bouquet of flowers. Turning the card over you’re met with another shock. The card is yours. Your name with the title of Department Liaison underneath.

“Sorry to bother you.” A new voice and two knocks come from behind you. You turn to find an unassuming man standing in the doorway.  “I know you're probably busy. I just wanted to drop in and introduce myself. I’m Cole Trenton.”

Cole Trenton, your new boss.

“Hi,” you beam back. He looks...nice. There’s a big smile plastered across his face as he extends his hand. His handshake is firm but not too hard, some men feel the need to crush you to prove a point but not him. “Y/N. I just got here. I’m not normally late but I couldn’t find my des- office.”

“Don’t worry about it.” He waves his hand dismissing any concern. Shoving both hands in his pockets he wanders inside, looking at your view. Whistling, he looks back at you. “Someone must like you. I’m right next door, mine is bigger, but nothing like this.”

“To be honest I thought I’d be stuck out there in cubicle land.”

“Not anymore.” He taps your desk with the back of his knuckles. “I’m not sure what your schedule looks like today, but I was hoping we could sit down and I could pick your brain. You’re my eyes and ears right?”

“Absolutely,” you affirm. “Welcome, by the way. We’ve needed someone like you for a long time.”

“I’m lucky to be here. Working for Sam Winchester was pipe dream up until two weeks ago. I just don’t wanna screw this up. I’ve heard he’s a bastard but he can make or break you.”

“He’s not so bad,” you feel the business card burning a hole in your hand. “He just has high expectations.”

“I’m alright with that,” he chuckles lifting his hands palms forward in a sign of submission. “Let me know once you’re settled in. Whadda you say we order a pizza and go over employee files. It’ll be the first act of official business in your new workspace.”

“That sounds great. It looks like you’ll have to bring your own chair.” You’re on cloud nine. You’ve got a boss that doesn’t hate you with his very marrow. “It’s nice to meet you, Cole.”

“You too.” He pats the door frame on the way out, leaving you truly immersed in this new beginning.  

[eddycurrents]

For the week of 27 August 2018

Quick Bits:

A Walk Through Hell #4 focuses largely on flashbacks to the case the agents were working before whatever’s currently happening happened and...I’m not really sure of anything that’s going on. I think that’s kind of the point, unsure as to how everything is supposed to connect and what any of it all adds up to. Great art from Goran Sudžuka and Ive Svorcina, though.

| Published by AfterShock

Beyonders #1 is off to a great start. Between this and The Lost City Explorers, it seems like AfterShock right now has pseudoarchaeology stitched up and it’s wonderful. Paul Jenkins, Wesley St. Claire, and Marshall Dillon kick this one off with a wee bit more crunch, though there’s a very interesting upheaval this issue that will make you wonder what’s going on.

| Published by AfterShock

Blackwood #4 brings this series to an end and it is dark. Very dark. Evan Dorkin, Veronica & Andy Fish have crafted a wonderful horror story here, with some interesting twists, and one hell of an ending.

| Published by Dark Horse

Bone Parish #2 takes a deep dive in to some of the foundational moments of the Winters clan, even as they begin to deal with the fallout of one of their dealers dying from an overdose. This is great stuff. The art from Jonas Scharf and Alex Guimarães is incredible. Great detail and atmosphere, perfectly bringing to life the premise and characters from Cullen Bunn.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

Brothers Dracul #5 circles back around to the beginning of the story, as we reach the end of this interesting retelling and interpretation of the intersection of both the historical and legendary story of Vlad the Impaler, from Cullen Bunn, Mirko Colak, Maria Santaolalla, and Simon Bowland. There’s an interesting twist here that certainly paints Vlad’s action in a different light, and I hope we see it followed up upon in a second series.

| Published by AfterShock

Cyber Force #5 is a nice change of pace as Bryan Hill, Matt Hawkins, Atilio Rojo, and Troy Peteri introduce us to another old familiar face. This incarnation of the team definitely is taking its time to be brought together, but when the storytelling is as entertaining and the artwork is as gorgeous as this, it doesn’t really matter. To note, though, this is not the kind of decompression that feels empty or padded, it’s just fleshing out characters and their lives more than what we’ve seen before.

| Published by Image / Top Cow

Daredevil Annual #1 presents a standalone story of Misty Knight’s days as a detective and her first meeting with Daredevil. It’s good. It feels a bit more like a pilot for a Misty Knight series than necessarily a Daredevil tale, but, as I said, it’s good. The art from Marcio Takara and Marcelo Maiolo is nice. I really like Takara’s style which gives me hints of Phil Hester, Jim Mahfood, and Tomm Coker.

| Published by Marvel

Dungeons & Dragons: Evil at Baldur’s Gate #5 is another fun one, with a focus this issue on Boo. I’ve really enjoyed this series, with Jim Zub giving the party a bit of a breather between larger adventures and giving a great look at them as individual characters. Great art, too, including this issue from Francesco Mortarino and Jordi Escuin.

| Published by IDW

Edge of Spider-Geddon #2 gives us a view into another alternate Spiderverse, circling back around to SP//dr, and giving us a new twist on the power and responsibility rubric and VEN#m. It’s nice to see Lonnie Nadler and Zac Thompson play with more technological horror, with some incredible artwork from Alberto Alburquerque and Tríona Farrell.

| Published by Marvel

Euthanauts #2 is a thing of beauty. Nick Robles and Eva De La Cruz are seriously delivering some of the best art in comics right now with this series. The page layouts, character designs, use of colour, and incorporation of lettering choices from Aditya Bidikar, just elevate the storytelling immensely. Not even to mention how Tini Howard is making the weird science seamless in the dialogue. This is great.

| Published by IDW / Black Crown

Exiles #7 concludes the Old West-ish arc with cowboy T’Challa. Drop dead gorgeous artwork from guest artist Rod Reis. His depiction of the ultimate villain here shows some nice influence from Bill Sienkiewicz.

| Published by Marvel

Extermination #2 brings the fight to the school, even as the team (and the reader, although it’s not a bad thing) is still confused as to what is really going on. I love this, the tension that Ed Brisson, Pepe Larraz, and Marte Gracia are building is palpable, and the hints of kid!Cable’s actions are chilling. Also, the art is just phenomenal. 

| Published by Marvel

Harbinger Wars 2 #4 is kind of the end to this, but the ramifications and fallout are all supposed to appear in the Aftermath issue. That being said, Matt Kindt, Tomás Giorello, Renato Guedes, Diego Rodriguez, and Dave Sharpe go all out for the spectacle in this final confrontation between Livewire and X-O Manowar. It is still kind of insane how Capshaw could possibly consider what GATE and OMEN have done as being “good”, especially in light of Palmer going absolutely batshit insane, but it does lead to interesting set-up for future conflicts.

| Published by Valiant

Hillbilly: Red-Eyed Witchery From Beyond #1 begins the next adventure of the black-eyed tramp. I get a bit of a Beowulf vibe from Eric Powell’s set-up and I’m interested to see where it goes. This series sees Powell passing on the artistic duties to Simone Di Meo, Brennan Wagner, and Warren Montgomery and it’s an interesting visual shift from the washes of Powell’s own work in the original series. I quite like Di Meo’s style, which reminds me a bit of James Harren and Troy Nixey.

| Published by Albatross Funnybooks

House Amok #1 is something I’m not sure I can describe. It’s kind of a family drama, but if that family were all collectively sharing a hallucinatory experience or delusion. It’s a very interesting concept that’s only partially revealed by Christopher Sebela, Shawn McManus, Lee Loughridge, and Aditya Baker, but it leads to a very compelling start here. Gorgeous artwork from McManus and Loughridge.

| Published by IDW / Black Crown

Hunt for Wolverine: Dead Ends #1, like all four of the Hunt for Wolverine mini-series, is kind of a bit of treading water. I cannot say it or any of the previous series are bad, taken on their own separated from this “event”, they’re usually quite good, but as a whole it’s kind of disappointing. It’s a search for Wolverine that kind of comes up empty, acting as a prequel to the return of Wolverine, despite already having returned in Marvel Legacy and hopped across numerous different titles, before apparently being used for evil, as per throwaway bits in the fourth issues of those previously mentioned minis that didn’t necessarily connect with the plots of those minis. It feels a bit scattered and unnecessary, unfortunately, especially when it comes to comparing notes, coming up with the organization we already knew was behind it, and a bit of hand-waving mystery and grandstanding that still tells us a whole lot of nothing. It’s sound and fury. All of which is a bit of a shame because I otherwise generally enjoy the work of Charles Soule and Ramon Rosanas.

| Published by Marvel

Isola #5... Just look at the artwork. Karl Kerschl and Msassyk just keep delivering page after page after page of beauty.

| Published by Image

Jessica Jones #2 reaffirms that this is one of the best things that Marvel is currently publishing, with the next two chapters in this story. Kelly Thompson’s dialogue, narration, and banter throughout this issue is spot on, propulsive, and funny as hell when it needs to be, but what elevates it is that this isn’t your typical talking heads approach. The characters are doing stuff, like hunting sea monsters, instead of sitting at a desk or whatever. It’s a refreshing change that overall just makes this all the better. Not to mention Mattia De Iulis’ stunning artwork. It’s slick and polished with a line style that somewhat reminds me of Paul Gulacy and a bit of Rick Mays, and an approach to shadow and colour similar to Frazer Irving. This is a great series that really shouldn’t be missed.

| Published by Marvel

Judge Dredd: Under Siege #4 wraps up this entertaining series from Mark Russell, Max Dunbar, Jose Luis Rio, and Shawn Lee. I really like Dunbar’s take on Dredd and the Russell’s idea of people creating their own law in the absence of law is an interesting philosophical counterpoint to the idea of man naturally sliding towards a state of chaos. Even the mutants striving for society is an interesting challenge to the typical idea of things falling apart.

| Published by IDW

New Mutants: Dead Souls #6 concludes the series with Illyana putting the pieces together for what actually has been going on, it isn’t a pretty picture. This has been a great series from Matthew Rosenberg, Adam Gorham, Michael Garland, and Clayton Cowles and the revelations this issue are heavy. The implications for the X-universe is huge and I want more.

| Published by Marvel

The New World #2 essentially reveals itself as a romance comic, amidst the ultraviolence and social engineering. Didn’t really see that coming, but it’s an interesting move. Trippy art from Tradd Moore, Heather Moore, and Ludwig Olimba.

| Published by Image

Paradise Court #2 continues to be an entertaining horror comic from Joe Brusha, Babisu Kourtis, Leonardo Paciarotti, and Taylor Esposito. This gives us the part of the story where our protagonist is experiencing the horror and everyone else is telling her she’s just imagining it, but it’s still well told and well illustrated.

| Published by Zenescope

Rick and Morty vs. Dungeons & Dragons #1 is about as perfect a crossover of two properties as you can get. Morty trying to get into D&D because he thinks it will get him laid is the perfect in to the world of the game and the cartoon, perfectly blending the two for fans of both without alienating or diminishing either. Jim Zub, Patrick Rothfuss, Troy Little, Leonardo Ito, and Robbie Robbins are faithful to both and in doing so deliver a wonderful beginning to this story, that also educates along the way.

| Published by IDW & Oni Press

Runaways #12 is easily one of the best issues in what has already been an exemplary series. Rainbow Rowell, Kris Anka, Matthew Wilson, and Joe Carmagna focus here on forgiveness, acceptance, and second chances, with some truly beautiful character work between Gert & Victor and Nico & Karolina. If you don’t have a giant grin on your face by the end of the issue, I question your humanity.

| Published by Marvel

Submerged #2 is still weird, very weird, but there’s some really good bits in here demonstrating some of the emotional manipulation that family members sometimes employ. Beautiful, ethereal artwork from Lisa Sterle and Stelladia.

| Published by Vault

Venom: First Host #1 is somewhat strange to see in light of where Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman have taken the character, but this limited series from Mike Costa, Mark Bagley, Andrew Hennessy, Dono Sánchez-Almara, and Clayton Cowles serves as both an interesting addendum to the symbiote’s history and as a continuation (and likely capstone) to the previous creative team’s run. It’s pretty decent.

| Published by Marvel

Web of Venom: Ve’Nam #1 is a one shot fleshing out the backstory of Rex Strickland and the SHIELD experiment that bonded the early symbiotes to soldiers set loose during the Vietnam War. It’s an entertaining tale with some nice guest stars and sweet art by Donny Cates, Juanan Ramírez, Felipe Sobreiro, and Clayton Cowles. I particularly like the scratchy, faded look in the art to make it look a bit “old”.

| Published by Marvel

X-23 #3 is great. Mariko Tamaki has nailed the characters and the art from Juann Cabal and Nolan Woodard is incredible. The page designs alone elevate the storytelling immensely.

| Published by Marvel

The X-Files: Case Files - Hoot Goes There? #2 concludes the second of this new approach of a series of mini-series and it’s...weird? Funny, but weird. Definitely taking a page out of some of the more outlandish episodes of the series, where you question whether or not what you saw happened actually happened. Still, it’s entertaining, which is all that really matters. Fun from Joe and Keith Lansdale, Silvia Califano, Valentina Pinto, and Shawn Lee.

| Published by IDW

X-Men Blue #34 looks like it largely serves as a capstone to Cullen Bunn’s work with Magneto over the past four years or so, as he winds down his run here and continues to tidy the characters up a bit before he’s done and hands the reins off to the next band of storytellers. It feels like there’s a lot more here that he would have like to have told, but what we get here is still excellent. The hints at the next stage for Magneto and mutantkind are intriguing. Great art from Marcus To and Matt Milla. 

| Published by Marvel

X-O Manowar #18 gives an interesting transition from this flashback of Aric’s pre-Shanhara life to his return to Earth, focusing on how ideas, people, and culture keeps changing. Matt Kindt delivers a pretty chilling reaction to it. All with some nice artwork from Trevor Hairsine, Brian Thies, and Diego Rodriguez. 

| Published by Valiant

Other Highlights: Deadpool: Assassin #6, GI Joe: A Real American Hero #255, KINO #9, Marvel Two-in-One #9, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Shattered Grid #1, Modern Fantasy #3, Moon Knight #198, Ms. Marvel #33, Red Sonja #20, Rick & Morty #41, StarCraft: Scavengers #2, Star Wars: Lando - Double or Nothing #4, Star Wars: Poe Dameron Annual #2, Star Wars Adventures #13, TMNT: Bebop & Rocksteady Hit the Road #5, Wayward #28, X-Men: Grand Design - Second Genesis #2

Recommended Collections: 2021 - Volume 1, 30 Days of Night, Big Trouble in Little China: Old Man Jack - Volume 1, Black Cloud - Volume 2: No Return, DuckTales Classics - Volume 1, Eugenic, Factory, Femme Magnifique, I Hate Fairyland - Volume 4, James Bond: Hammerhead, Judas, Killer Instinct, Stray Bullets: Sunshine & Roses - Volume 2

d. emerson eddy is not the very model of a modern major general. Nor a scientist salarian for that matter.

[laurinravenscourt]

We 1st heard of the Southern Garden Symposium at a lecture by Dr Neil Odenwald professor emeritus from LSU. He has been the Master of Proceedings over the symposium for years. A couple of years ago we went for the first time but had to rush home because our dog sitter was in an accident (she is fine.) Last October we were able to attend both days and had a grand time. It was the 30th year of the symposium and the theme was The Changing Nature of Gardening.

Every year they gather amazing speakers who are well know authors and gardening experts. This year Rick Darke, Doug Tallamy and Andrea Wulf, were the featured speakers. We started Friday with Nicholas Staddon.  He has worked for Monrovia Nurseries for 27 years as a plant breeder, hybridizer and plant explorer.  He gave a lively and highly visual presentation filled with excellent selection of plants for smaller gardens and containers. It was held in the hall at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church Parish, which is near the center of town on a lovely property. Of course I was taken with the lichen  and Spanish moss on the old wrought iron fence.

Nicholas brought many live plants which he raffled off. We came away with a beautiful ‘Lemon-Lime’ Nandina, Nandina domestica ‘Lemon-Lime’ PP24749 . It is now happily planted in our garden.

The plant I lusted for was the ‘Angyo Star’ Fatshedera x Fatshedera lizei ‘Angyo Star’. I love vines and fun leaf shapes that are variegated. I tracked it down online at The Nurseries Caroliniana Inc. and received two very happy health plants. They are now planted on our welded wire arbor.

Several of the talks and social gatherings over a meal are given in nineteenth century historic plantation settings. You learn some of the history of the area while experts share their specific knowledge. The committee that puts on the SGS is amazing. Every thing goes off perfectly and you enjoy southern hospitality at every turn. All the stops are on a map and there are signs to guide you as you look for the next venue.

On the 1st day we had lunch under the giant oaks at Afton Villa Ruins Gardens, 9047 Highway 61. It is a fun place to stroll the gardens and imagine a different time. You can visit with the speakers and fellow gardeners. There is also a book and tool sale set out on the lawn.

After lunch we attended a workshop by naturalist Bill Fontenot on identifying natural habitat components that are crucial to bird life and how to translate those components into human-built landscapes in a way that is both functional and beautiful. This was right down my alley. I love including plants and habitats for birds and pollinators in my garden designs.

 Following the program one of the park rangers gave us a guided tour of the grounds of Oakley Plantation.

We learned the artist and naturalist John James Audubon lived here briefly as a tutor to the plantation owners’ children.

Many of the plantations have beautiful Oak Allées. We learned in the time when the plantations were working farms the areas were open fields. The oaks came later when the children of the plantation inherited wealth and built more elaborate homes.

The highlight of the symposium weekend is the Speakers’ Gala. This year it was at  The Oaks, the private home of  Mr. and Mrs. Edward Daniel III. It was a beautiful evening out on the lawn under the graceful oaks. We enjoyed lovely live jazz in the background and delicious food set up buffet style in the main rooms of the home. I did not take any photos but the last time we went the home we dined at had a beautiful pond. This might give you a sense of how lovely the evening can be on a moonlit night in Louisiana.

The next day started with a fabulous breakfast buffet on the terrace at Hemingbough Cultural Center.  In the lobby you can browse the book sale. Inside the hall were tables set out with tantalizing items for the silent auction. Out on the drive was a big plant sale. I know we bought a few plants. Must help the cause : )  During breaks we toured the Arlin Dease’s gardens.

Photo from her talk in 2016

The 1st speaker was Andrea Wulf giving us insight and details on her newest book “The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt’s New World
” She is a scholar, thorough  researcher and engaging speaker. Her slides included original drawing done by Von Humboldt. She goes back to original documents and his own writings to explore the history and character of this visionary and naturalist. He is credited with changing the way we understand nature today.  He was one of the amazingly brave plant hunters and adventurers that risked their lives to explore unknown parts of the globe. I highly recommend all her books.

After a refreshing lunch we had a two part lecture. The Changing Nature of Gardening: given by Dr. Doug Tallamy and Rick Darke. They are co-authors of the book The Living Landscape.   Part One
 given by Dr. Dough Tallamy. He talked about the specialized relationships between animals and plants and how they are the norm in nature rather than the exception. He explained why our personal gardens are important to the ecosystems that sustain us and how we can use our residential landscapes to connect the isolated habitat fragments around us. He used his own garden as an example with pictures of how it has evolved over the years.

Part Two
 was given by Rick Darke  He explored concepts and ethics that should change the way we think of “Nature” and how we garden. “In an era when human activity is the primary factor disrupting ecological communities, the notion of Nature as a sentient other capable of restoring essential relationships is no longer helpful.  Gardeners – who practice the art of nurturing life – will be key agents in repairing and sustaining living landscapes.”  -RD

We finished off the day with afternoon tea at Hillcroft, the private home of Mr. and Mrs. Mitchel Brashier,

It is a lovely and lovingly restored home (circa 1905). The same year as our home but much grander. We got to tour the grounds and inside the home downstairs. I would have loved to see the view from the widow’s walk.

They even had a portrait of the home like we do.

This has been a long post. I wanted you to get the feel of this symposium since it is open to the public. It does fill up quickly along with the local hotels. If you are interested you can sign up for email notices. We enjoyed it so much we are going back next year.

P.S. Dear Readers,

I have been out of pocket, as they say in the south, for a long time. I have been spending my blogging time and energy hanging out with my young granddaughter, ever since she was born 8/16/17. She is 17 months old now and enjoying her few days a week at daycare. I will continue to spend at least one day a week with her as long as I can. I will now have more time to blog.

Next up, our weekend in Nacogdoches Texas, attending the Southern Garden History Society program, 300 Years of Plants on the Move in Texas.

Happy Gardening from Laurin and Shawn

      St. Francisville LA, The Southern Garden Symposium We 1st heard of the Southern Garden Symposium at a lecture by Dr Neil Odenwald professor emeritus from LSU.

[larabiatasstuff]

is there any chance you could do a story about our cheeky boy max parish? maybe he is watching us doing our beauty regime? moisturizer, makeup, and plucking your eye brows. because your used to it, plucking doesn't hurt you, and he thinks you plucking his eyebrows is a good idea. until you do one single hair and he pretends like it's the end of the world. you end up chasing him around the house and manage to get a few of his hairs, but you make it up to him with a makeout session? thank you xxx

Oh anon your request is absolutely adorable 🖤 I definitely write that for you.☺️

It was Saturday and Max and I decided to go out tonight so I sat in front of my vanity mirror doing my beauty routine. When it came to plucking my eyebrows Max got curious. "Babe what are you doing?" he asked "I'm plucking my eyebrows.". "Why?" "To get them in shape. Max can I do something for you? I have to focus on here." "Well I was thinking you could do that with mine too." I looked up at him "Excuse me? Max I'll be honest with you, that hurts." "Come on babes it can't be that bad. You're not even flinching, please babes I want to be pretty too."Max said lying on the bed on his stomach, wiggling his legs like a teenage girl. I couldn't help but laugh at this. "Alright, alright but let me finish mine first okay?" After thirty minutes I was finally finished. "Alright Mr Parish, take a seat. I say it again Max that shit really hurts. Don't say it didn't warn you." "It's gonna be fine babes also I have a good view at my ladies in this position." he said when I leaned over him. "You're unbelievable, okay hold still." I started and just after a few hairs he started to squirm in his chair. "Ouch, ouch aaaaahhh stop babes stop." "I said it hurt Max, you didn't want to believe me." "How can you do that to yourself with a straight face? Jesus Christ."he touched the spot I worked on. I chuckled" I'm used to it Max so come back here and let me finish it. " his eyes went wide" Oh no, never you will not come near me with that diabolical instrument of pain. "" Those are tweezers and I have to finish it now that I started. " Max took a few slow steps back before he ran off." Max!! God you're so childish. " I yelled running after looking in every room and every corner when I suddenly felt something on my back. "Okay lady calm down and drop the weapon." I rolled my eyes "Max can we...". "Ma'am I'm a certified police officer I'm just doing my job so drop the weapon." I sighed and put the tweezers on the kitchen counter. "Do you have any other weapons on you ma'am?" "Well you have to search me to find out." Max turned me around looking at me with a cheeky smile. "Maybe I should do that then." he bit is lower lip. "But how do I know that you're a real police officer? I mean anyone could just say that to get their hands on an innocent woman like me. " I said giving him my best puppy eyes. "Then it's just fair when you search me too right?I think I lost my badge somewhere in my trousers if you want to have a look." "You're unbelievable Max, I love you." he pulled me close to his body. "I love you too babes." we both leaned in and shared a wonderful passionate kiss. Kissing Max was literally heaven to me. Then he picked me up and carried me into the bedroom and threw me on the mattress. He crawled on top of me kissing me again and the longer it went the more it lead to a steamy make out session,holding each other, our hands all over each others bodies while kissing the spots where we liked it the most . After some time we lay cuddled up against each others bodies still sharing sweet kisses while laughing and talking. "Does it still hurt baby?" I asked stroking his cheek, looking into his wonderful blue eyes. "No, but I'm still traumatized. You have to hold me babes." he said resting his head on my chest. "Awww of course I hold you as long as you need it." I said gently scratching his scalp. "I love it when you're doing that. You're the best babes." I smiled. "I know Max, I know."

[larabiatasstuff]

I love the Terry's hairdresser story and the Max eyebrow one that it's given me an idea...what if you are Max's hairdresser and he likes you and is always very flirty? Max wears his hair quite short so I imagine he needs a haircut frequently...maybe it's just an excuse to see you. You assume he is just flirty with everyone but then romance blossoms? that would be so cute, and you are so good at writing Max!! thank you 🥰

I love the Terry's hairdresser story and the Max eyebrow one that it's given me an idea...what if you are Max's hairdresser and he likes you and is always very flirty? Max wears his hair quite short so I imagine he needs a haircut frequently...maybe it's just an excuse to see you. You assume he is just flirty with everyone but then romance blossoms? that would be so cute, and you are so good at writing Max!! thank you 🥰

First of all thank you so much for your kind words anon 🖤 It means a lot to me that you like my writings 🥺I'm more than happy to write that for you 🤗

It was Monday morning around ten o'clock when my coworkers and I got our stations ready for the day. I absolutely loved working in that small salon and I absolutely loved the people that came to get their hair done . Especially one charming police officer that came in regularly for a trim. He was a very funny and adorable guy and today we had another appointment. "Good morning ladies." I heard his voice when he entered the salon. "Well good morning officer, long time no see." I said greeting him. He gave me one of his cheeky smiles . "Yeah it's been a while. I hope you didn't miss me too much." "Oh the yearning for your presence was almost unbearable." I said playfully guiding him to my station. He took a seat and took his beanie off. "Oh I see it really must be a while. Your troll army grew." he pointed at the little toy trolls that were standing on the shelves. "You noticed? I got a few at a flea market recently. Alright what are we doing today?" I asked while running my fingers through his soft dark hair. "Well I thought about a perm maybe? I always wanted to look like Bob Ross.He got all the ladies, you know"Max said wiggling his eyebrows. I punched his shoulder. "Yeah of course, so a little trim as usual." "Yep you know exactly how I like it." he said leaning back in his chair. I added shampoo and started with a gentle scalp massage. "So something new in the adventures of Max Parish?" "Not really actually, oh I recently jumped into a closing roll up door." my eyes went wide. "Oh my god, did you hurt yourself?" he sighed "No just my ego. But it would have looked really cool if I was just a little faster." "Oh I bet. Can you look down please. Yes like that thank you." "How have you been doing?" "Oh well there's nothing really exciting I could tell you." "Anything you say is interesting to me. I mean how long do we know each other? I love talking to you Y/N, I really do." he said smiling at me through the mirror. "That's very nice of you Max. So finished, how do you like it?" I said showing the haircut in the mirror. " It's perfect as always Y/N thank you. Oh and before I forget it. Here's a present for you. I saw this and thought of you." he handed me a small package.

[larabiatasstuff]

sorry it's late but I'm al lottle drunkk, could pleasee could you writee about max lookin after us when we r drunk please??? thanyou x

Oh well, then let's hope you're not feeling hungover today🙏 I'm writing the Max story for you anon, thank you for your request ☺️

I was out with a few friends tonight while Max stayed at home. He had to work over hours today and just wanted to relax, but he agreed to pick me up when I called him. He was lying on the sofa watching tv when his phone rang. "Hey babes what's up?" he asked. "Hey babyyyy! Can you pick me up please? I wanna go home." I said slurring a little. Max chuckled "Okay my pretty lady your knight in shining armor will come and get you. Give me ten minutes." then silence "Babes? Are you there?" then quiet sobbing was heard. "You think I'm pretty?" "Of course, you're the prettiest woman in the world. Don't cry please I'm coming to pick you up." I sat on a bench outside of the club waiting for Max to arrive. "Hey babes I came as fast as I could. Are you feeling okay?" I looked up at him in his beautiful blue eyes. "You're eyes are shining really bright, it's beautiful." "Well thank you babes, come on let's get you home shall we?" he took my purse and held his hand out for me, I took it and clinged onto his arm. "Did you have fun tonight?" Max asked on the way to our car. "Oh yes it was amazing baby, we were dancing and laughing and maybe I had a few drinks." "Just a few huh? But the important thing is that you had fun." he said openening the car door, helping me inside. "I missed you baby, I love to be around you,you're always so funny and beautiful and you give the best hugs and kisses." Max couldn't help but smirk, he knew that everything I said was true but my drunken state made it ten times cuter. "Awww babes I love being around you too. How about this, we're driving home, go to bed and spend the rest of the night cuddling and watching tv." I looked up at him with big eyes "That sounds amazing. I'd love that and can we maybe have some ice cream?" he fastened my seat belt and gave me a warm smile "You can have anything you want babes. Now let's go home." he kissed the tip of my nose and closed the car door. I touched the spot where he kissed me, giggling like a little child. Max started the car and drove home. As soon as he parked outside of the house he looked at the passenger seat and saw that I was sleeping and snoring quietly . He opened the door as quiet as possible and carried me inside. He layed me down on the bed, took my shoes off and helped me change into one of his t-shirts without waking me up. Then he tucked me in, put a glass of water on the nightstand and a bucket on my side of the bed just in case I had to throw up. Then he turned off the lights and climbed into bed, pulling me close to his body, softly stroking my hair before he drifts into a well deserved sleep.

[larabiatasstuff]

I dont supose you could write a naughty shower story with max parish please? reading your stories makes my day way better x

Aahhh of course you can have naughty Max in the shower anon! 🔥I mean who wouldn't want that? 😏Thank you for your request and your lovely words. That really means alot to me 🙏

Max and I had finally a free weekend after working overtime for a few weeks. It was Saturday morning and still kind of early. I looked at my sleeping boyfriend and couldn't help but smile he looked so peaceful. I got out of bed and went to kitchen to prepare some coffee, there was no need for me to be silent cause Max was a very deep sleeper. There could be an alien attack and Max would sleep through it. I turned on the coffee machine and decided to take a shower so I went to the bathroom, took off my sleeping clothes and turned on the shower. I stepped under the water and closed my eyes. Suddenly a pair of arms were wrapped around my body "Good morning hot stuff." he whispered in my ear. I turned to look at him "Oh Mr. Parish you're up early, how come?" "Well, I had two options. Staying in bed and thinking about doing naughty things with you or join you in the shower and do naughty things with you." I wrapped my arms around his neck. "Excellent choice if you ask me." I said and started kissing him nice and slow but it got more and more and more demanding. When we broke the kiss he looked deep into my eyes "God babes you'll be the death of me." I smiled "That was just a kiss baby let me show you what else I can do with these lips." with that I pushed him against the shower wall and got on my knees before him. He was already half hard and it just took a few gentle strokes with my hand to make him rock hard. Cute little moans escaped his throat and he was breathing heavily. I loved seeing him that way he looked gorgeous. Without breaking the eye contact I slowly started teasing him with my twirling it the tip and giving him small kitten licks along his length. I heard him muttering something under his breath. "What was that baby?" I asked giving him my best innocent look. "Shit babes I do anything, literally anything but please stop teasing me. I... I can't...please just..." he was a mess at this point and I felt a little pride in my chest, I barely touched him and he was already wax in my hands. "Awww so impatient? But how could I say no since you asked so nicely." without wasting time I took him completely in my mouth. Hearing Max moaning in response "Oh shit babes, that's so good." I started with slow motions and got faster every second, using my tongue to give him extra pleasure. His hands were buried in my hair holding it in a strong grip,his whole body was shaking. "Please, don't... don't stop babes I'm so close." his voice was shaky and sounded so desperate, hearing that was so incredibly hot. I increased the speed and started sucking till he came with a loud groan. I got up from my position and wrapped my arms around his still shaking body." You look like you need a break baby." he pulled me close to his chest, kissing the top of my head. "Jesus babes that was... that was amazing. You are amazing. Give me just a few minutes and I..." but I stopped him by putting a finger on his lips. "Don't worry about it baby. We have the whole weekend and you deserved to relax a bit after all the hard." "You're the best girlfriend in the world babes. I love you so much." "I love you too Max"

[larabiatasstuff]

Hey bestie! I have a Max Parish request 😍 Please could you write something where you and Max are together, but you haven't had your first kiss yet? Knowing this, he sets up a perfect night for you that ends with him giving you the perfect kiss you could ever imagine? Take your time bestie, love you 💚💚💚

Omg Bestie, your request is so cute 🥺 Of course I write a story about Max for you 🖤Love you too Bestie 🤗

Max and I were seeing each other for a few weeks now and it's safe to say that we were head over heels for each other. Despite his childish behavior there were times when he was dead serious and honest about everything. When we had our first date he told me right away about his ex wifes and his divorces and that he wanted to take it slow with us. We haven't even kissed yet but I was more than willing to wait . I've never been with a man like him and my feelings for him grew stronger every time we spent time together. Tonight we wanted to meet at his apartment and it would be the first time I would stay over,so I packed a few clothes, my toiletries and a few snacks. Then I took my car keys and made my way to his apartment.I was about to knock on his door when I noticed a small envelope taped to his door with my name on it. I opened it and read the note "Hey babes, use the spare key I gave you and come in. Max" I rolled my eyes at this. Yes I absolutely adored him but I wasn't actually in the mood for one of his games. I opened the door and entered the living room. Everything was dark just the lamp on his desk was turned on. I took a step forward when suddenly my phone rang. "Max? Where are you?" silence and then "Oh you'd love to know that don't you? Maybe you have to come and find me." I sighed "Max are you serious? Can't you just..." "Awww come on babes, for me. I give you a hint a okay?" I took a deep breath "Alright Max give me a hint." I heard him chuckle "Alright you're standing at the desk right?" "Yes" "Okay, then turn to the left and look out of the window." I did as he said and noticed that the window that lead to the fire exit was open. "You don't really expect me to climb up to the roof. I'm not in the mood for falling down the building." " Babes, it's safe I promise you won't regret it." "Alright, I'll be there in a minute." I hung up, climbed out of the window and up to the roof. "Okay here I am can we please..." But I couldn't finish my sentence. I looked around and needed a moment to process everything. There was a small table, lovely set with plates and glasses and in the middle was a beautiful bouquet of red roses.Many pillows were lying around on the floor and there were candles everywhere. "Hey babes!" Max voice pulled me out of my trance, he approached me taking my hands in his. "Max this is beautiful, I'm sorry that..." he gave me a warm smile "Don't be sorry babes, I know I can be too much sometimes. I... I had much time to think about everything, about us. How happy you make me and that I want nothing more than spend the rest of my life with you. I wanted to make this night special for us." I looked at him with tears in my eyes." Oh Max I don't know what to say. I've never been with someone like you before and I never felt so loved. I would love to spend the rest of my life with you. " He then took my face in his hands gently wiping away the tears. There was a moment of silence between us, no words just looks and as if he could read my mind he slowly leaned in. I closed my eyes and before I knew it I felt his soft, warm lips on mine. It was a slow sensual kiss and the longer it went we both just melted into it. I often imagined how it would feel to kiss him but the reality was so much better. When we broke the kiss to get some air Max smiled from ear to ear. "That was so much better than I imagined babes. I'm the happiest man alive I feel, I feel like my heart is bursting from happiness. I never felt something like this before. I love you Y/N, I really do." "I love you too Max." again his lips were on mine but this time he was much braver. We spent the rest of the night eating dinner, watching the stars and sharing sweet kisses and words of love.

[larabiatasstuff]

can you please do one where max feels his baby kick for the first time? Love your work x

Thank you for your request and your lovely words anon🖤 I'm glad you like my writings and I absolutely love working on your request 🙏

Since Max and I got married we thought our life couldn't be better. Just then we developed that were expecting a new member of our family. I was eight month pregnant and on bed rest at the time. And unfortunately our little girl was very shy around her daddy,he would never admit it but I saw that it hurt him when she wouldn't move when he was around. While I had to spend my days in bed, Max got to work, did the shopping and everything else. He was a great help and a wonderful husband. "Hey how are my favorite girls doing today?" he asked while climbing into bed. He gave me a soft kiss and then placed one on my belly. I chuckled, he looked at me confused "What? One kiss for you and one for our little girl. Maybe it makes her like me more." I pulled him down on the mattress with me. "Baby do you really think our daughter doesn't like you? She's a baby and also how can someone not like you? Look what you're doing for us. Max please stop thinking that our daughter doesn't like you okay? She will absolutely love you once you two meet." with that he intertwined his fingers with mine which connected both of our hands on my belly and suddenly... " Babes did you feel that? She kicked... she really kicked. " seeing him so relieved and excited almost brought tears to my eyes." Of course I felt it baby. It seems our daughter wants to show you that she loves her daddy." "Oh, oh she did it again! Hey little one here's your daddy speaking." and again a kick against his hand. "Babes that's amazing, like the most wonderful feeling in the world." "Awww Max. See? I told you she's just a little shy." "I know I just... Sometimes I'm afraid of being a father, if I'm able to take care of you. But when I look at you I know we will be good parents. I love you so much babes. And you too little one." "And we love you too Max."

[larabiatasstuff]

Hey bestie 💚 may I make a request please? I haven't been myself recently and I would love the character of Max Parish trying to cheer me up with his funny personality. I can imagine he would do anything he can to make me smile, jokes, or doing something stupid to make me laugh. And possibly ending in some cute fluff maybe? Thank you 💚💚💚

Of course Bestie 🖤 🖤 🖤 I hope you like it 🙏

I was struggling with my mental health for a few days now, I also took a break from work but instead of feeling better it got worse every day. One day when Max came home I was still in bed, wrapped in a blanket, the curtains closed. "Babes? Are you here?" his voice echoed through the house. Then I heard footsteps approach. "Babes why are you not answering when I call you?" "Go away, I'm not in the mood Max." I felt the mattress moving as he lies beside me. "Wow a talking burrito and it knows my name." I pulled the blanket a bit down so just my eyes appeared. "I'm serious. I don't feel like myself. Can you please leave me alone." my voice came muffled under the blanket. "Hey serious, I'm Max and I'm afraid I can't do that. There are two possibilities, the first one, you get out of bed yourself and we talk or I get you out of bed and we talk. You have exactly ten seconds babes. Ten." I groaned I just wanted to suffer in peace." Nine, eight, seven. I would get up if I were you."" Max please just let me... "" Six, five, four, time is running hot stuff." I wrapped the blanket tighter around me and turned my back on him." Okay three, two, one. That's enough you wanted it like that. " Suddenly he lifts me up and throws me over his shoulder." Max put me down, now! Do you hear me? Maaax. " He puts me on the sofa and pulls the blanket away from me. "There is my lovely girl. Babes it can't go on like that talk to me. What's bothering you, what can I do to make you feel better?" I shook my head "You can't do anything, I'm not myself and I have the feeling that it only gets worse." "I know it's bad but playing vampire burrito in the bedroom won't help either. I'm here I help you as good as I can. Everything will be fine again I promise." I looked up at him. "How do you know that? What if it will never be fine again?" He takes a deep breath and for the first time in our relationship Max Parish had a serious expression on his face. " Remember when I told you about my time in the wheelchair? I had the exact same thoughts. What if it 's not going to be okay? What if I never walk again? But I didn't give up, I really believed that my life will be good again and now look at me. I'm walking, I got my job back and I own a house with the most wonderful and beautiful woman in the world. I might be addicted to one or two medics but that's not important right now. The thing is my life is better than I ever could've imagined. And you are a very huge part of that." he pulls me in his arms" It's just so hard Max,like I don't have energy to do anything. " he gently rubs my back" I know that, but you're not alone. We will get through this together. You can tell me erverything. But first we have to get you into the shower. " my eyes got wide" Excuse me? " " Well babe I love you but you really have to take a shower." he says laughing" Oh you will regret that Parish. " I said and started to playfully attack him." Oh no, attack of the grumpy girlfriend, please help. " I was lying on top of him looking in his smiling face" You're a real pain in the ass Max." I said giving him a soft kiss." Maybe but are you feeling better or not? " I smiled at him" Yes I really feel better, thank you for being there for me and I'm sorry that I was so mean to you. "" Don't apologize babes everyone has bad days. So I thought I could order some food while you're in the shower and we spent the rest of the day watching really bad movies and making fun of the actors? " " That sounds amazing. I love you baby. "I hugged him as tight as I could" I love you too babes but you really have to take a shower. " I punched him on the shoulder"Stop it, it's not that bad." "Babes even our goldfish is dead." I looked at him confused "We don't have a goldfish." "Yes because he's dead now babes." I got up and made my way to the bathroom "Fuck you Parish." When I came out of the bathroom the food was already there and Max got us some really bad movies. We spent the rest of the day cuddled up on the sofa laughing and joking.