#mitch tober

[tincansamurai]

so this week of oc-tober is being social and doing shit w ur buddies' ocs and, well, it was only a matter of time before i found an excuse to draw mitch and kaz. GOD they would be terrible for each other

(i went way too insane trying to match up the timelines and haircuts and fashion and ok yeah they woulda most likely met in mitch's liner notes touring days but also am i supposed to NOT have them talking about wrestling?? and i know mitch owns a million flannels and i wanted to draw more lines - so idk i gave up trying to sync up specific younger versions of them lol. maybe when we both have fandom wikis i can reference (lmao))

mitch is from @midcarder's fantastic @interpersonalchemistry, which you should all read because it's very very good

[leggomystery]

🎃 Show-tober Week 4: Modern Family 🎃

The penultimate week! I really wanted to do the doodle with Mitch in the toilet stall, but the pose was a lil too difficult for me to do 😵‍💫

[technoskates]

Oc-tober 15! Mitch and his comfort plush Sue!

[writingsbychlo]

Leave At Dawn

“As long as I’m with you, I don’t care where we go.”

[fanficsourcesx]

Silence - Part One

Author: @fanficsourcesx Prompt/request: requested by anon -- Could you please do a Mitch writing? Say that the reader was kidnapped because they were at the wrong place at the wrong time and Mitch and Hurley raid the place finding her worn down and chained up maybe. They take her back to their headquarters and tend to any wounds she might have and wakes up not trusting anyone fighting with Mitch a little before realizing that he’s trustworthy. Eventually the reader trusts him enough to ask him to stay and sleep next to him and they end up kissing. TY!😊😘 Warning: cursing, angst, kidnapping, abuse, & I believe that is it! Pairing: mitch rapp x reader Notes: this story inspired something in me and it definitely deserves more than one part. I want to really capture the story between Mitch and the reader, so please forgive me for turning this into a little series!! I sincerely hope you enjoy it. also this fits quite well into @writingsbychlo​ mitch month (mitchtober) series so I wanted to tag you!!! I love your stuff. anyway, here it is folks. Words: 2,369

masterlist

The cold morning air grazed against my exposed skin and caused slight goosebumps to surface underneath the material of my clothing. The light purple sweater and tight jeans I had on weren’t a fair match to the dropping temperatures. I was here in Italy for a little vacation or more of a celebration since I had finished my final semester in college. I was meeting my other friends at the little coffee shop down the block from where they were staying. I should have waited till they were ready to walk over here but I liked having a few moments alone, especially somewhere as beautiful as here.

A soft grin pulling the corners of my mouth up as I went up towards the entrance and requested a table for four people. The streets nearby were a bit narrow, making it a bit quieter on that side of town since not many vehicles were driving by and given the early hours of the morning there weren't a lot of people nearby. Just a few occupying tables inside and a few others on their everyday strolls it seemed. Following the lady towards the table, I thanked her softly before taking a seat.

I was certain my friends would be here in a matter of minutes since the time we agreed on was approaching. Taking a look around, I noticed a dark haired male who didn’t appear to be Italian and I wondered if he was on vacation for the same reasons as myself. He had such an intense look in his eyes and he seemed to be focused more on his surroundings than the flaky croissant barely touched on his plate which was a shame because it looked rather delicious. He took a sip from the coffee cup in front of him and I decided I should mind my own business, turning my eyes back to my own surroundings.

As the waitress approached my table, I ordered a cappuccino and a croissant since I was inspired by the male across the street from me. When she left my view, I was a bit shocked to see him standing only a few inches away from where I was sitting. Eyebrows rose in confusion, hoping that my obvious staring didn’t encourage him to confront me. I wasn’t exactly the best in confrontational situations. Even though it seemed like he came over to share a few words, his eyes were scanning directly behind me.

In that moment though, I couldn’t help but notice how soft his features were. The honey brown eyes were striking enough but the several freckles that covered his face were very attractive. The way his tongue grazed his bottom lip ever so slightly and how his lips looked soft and rather inviting. He’s incredibly handsome and anyone would be able to notice that.

“Hi, sorry. I don’t normally do this but I’m Mitch. I saw you eyeing my croissant and I thought I should come and offer it to you.”

He laughed and it was a bit deeper than I would have guessed but the words were enough to crack a smile across my lips. I knew I shouldn’t have kept looking for as long as I did. A soft shade of red covered my cheeks as I avoided eye contact at first.

“Lucky for you I ordered my own, so you don’t have to share. Thanks for the offer though, Mitch. I’m Y/N.”

Just like that, the dynamic of this conversation switched as I heard tires screeching against the pavement behind me and I noticed his eyes widen. I nearly feared looking in the direction of his eyes because I didn’t want to see whatever was causing such a look on his features now. He looked panicked and uncertain. A feeling I was beginning to mirror as he tried to step closer to me, whispering in a low tone towards my ear.

“You need to run, Y/N. Please.”

I could see the seriousness in his eyes but that still didn’t take away the obvious shock my body felt as I was frozen to the chair. I didn’t understand what I was supposed to be running from. What the fuck was happening?

I dared to turn my head around to see what he saw but quickly my mouth was covered by a rather large hand. Then it felt like several arms were wrapping along my waist, using all their force collectively to remove me from the chair. I let my eyes fall on Mitch, who mouthed that he wouldn’t let anything happen to me but it was too late for that. What if he was a part of this somehow and decided to back out at the last minute and that’s why he suggested I run? Anything was possible at this point.

Regardless of how little I knew him or trusted him, it didn’t stop me from shouting his name against the stranger’s hand. Somehow hoping that one yell would save me from whatever my fate was about to be. I could feel the tears building up in my eyes and I truly never felt this scared in my entire life. I began digging my nails into the arms that had me by the waist and I tried to bite at the hand holding my mouth but nothing seemed to make a difference. Whoever this was had it planned out thoroughly and this wasn’t a battle I could fight on my own but that wouldn’t stop me from trying.

“No — no. NO! Fuck.”

I heard his voice echo in the streets as my body was thrown into the back of a dark colored van, one that didn’t have a single marking that would make it stand out amongst the others. That’s when the true panic set in, it’s in that moment of realizing he wouldn’t know where or how to find me. There were no other witnesses besides him and who am I to trust a person I didn’t really know.

Seconds later there was a soft cloth being thrown over my head and now any chance I had of watching the streets to gain some sense of where I was being taken was hopeless. Although I could feel the tears daring to fall, it wasn’t the time for it. I had to start thinking of a plan if I wanted to survive. Another set of hands were holding mine as some sort of rope was used to tie them together against the small of my back.

“Don’t let her move.”

I heard a deep voice say and I nearly winced at the tone. None of this added up. I didn’t know anyone here and it’s not like I ever involved myself in situations for it to lead up to this.

“What are we going to do about Mitch, boss? No way he’s going to let us just take off with his girl.”

His girl. They thought I was some sort of pawn in their game against Mitch but they had it all wrong. I didn’t even know who he was until about five minutes ago. I should have spoken up and let them know that taking me wasn’t going to benefit whatever plan they had but I said nothing. I knew it wasn’t in my best interest to speak because I still had no idea what these men were capable of. Feeling the van come to a sudden halt, it gave me a good indication that whatever our final destination was hadn’t been too far from where I was taken.

“You fucking idiot. That was the point of all this. We are setting the trap to take down Rapp once and for all.”

I swallowed the rather large lump beginning to form in my throat. I hardly knew this Mitch but I still didn’t want their plan to work — no one deserved to die except for these two idiots who can’t even kidnap the right girl. Hearing the slight crack of doors opening, I knew it was time to be moved to a new location now. Feeling the tug along my tied hands, one of the men began to guide me out of the van.

“Jump.”

He demanded as I trusted that the ground would be underneath me as I hopped out of the van, landing in a rather awkward stance as he jerked my hands and forced me to walk straight ahead. The cold air felt nice and for a second, I was able to breathe without having that heavy feeling in my chest but it quickly disappeared as the other kicked at the back of my calf to let me know I needed to hurry up. I must have been in public view and they needed to hide me. Fast.

The only sounds I heard was other people talking and slamming of car doors, nothing that would help me gain direction on where I was. We entered a building and I could only tell when the wind stopped touching the small bits of skin I had revealed. I had to hold onto the fact that I wasn’t going to be killed until at least Mitch showed up, since I was the bait or that’s what they thought at least.

“Take her over there.”

The male stated while pushing me towards another person in the room, now they had control over where my body was to end up next. In the distance, I heard what sounded like chains being rattled and an uncomfortable feeling settled in the pit of my stomach. Suddenly the cloth was pulled off my head and the light from inside the building caused my eyes to squint, it was too bright after all the darkness I had surrounding me.

Glancing at the room around me, I saw nothing but a broken down vehicle that was separated into parts in the right corner. A bunch of windows that clearly had stones thrown through them, a somewhat large door that made her believe this used to be some kind of garage for a car mechanic shop and at least five other men crowding the space around her. It smelt old, wet, and like no one had cleaned the inside of this place for months.

I let out soft cough before a guy rather tall in size walked behind me, he began working on the ropes holding my hands together but I was stupid to even think he was doing that to let me be free. Instead he used that same material to bind my feet together, while leaning towards some of the chains hanging down from the ceiling. I shut my eyes for a moment, thinking if there was any way I could get myself out of this but it was me against five other people. It was fucking impossible.

I couldn’t be stupid about this otherwise I’d get myself killed in a matter of seconds. I heard a key being turned in a lock and the sound of it popping open sent chills down my spine. He grabbed for my wrist and for a second I went to pull it away but ultimately let him have his way. It wasn’t the time to fight right now and I had to stop that natural reaction from happening. He brought the metal and cold cuffs to my skin, latching it out both of my wrists and it immediately caused my arms to rest above my head.

It definitely felt like my shoulders were being popped out of the place, given how tight of a pull the chains were causing. Out of nowhere, the contact of a rather firm fist came down on my cheeks and hit directly on the bone. I whimpered quite loudly and those tears from earlier had no choice but to fall now.

“What the fuck was that —- “

It didn’t matter what I had to say because they didn’t want to hear a single word unless they asked for it and they made that obvious by coming in contact with my face once again. Basically hitting my cheek in the exact same spot. Fuck.

“Now that is my turn to speak — where the fuck is Mitch?”

Oh, fuck. Come on. I had absolutely no idea how to answer that, given I didn’t know a single thing about Mitch except for his first name and what he looked like. They were going to think I was lying if I said I didn’t know him but what else was I supposed to do?

“You better talk, bitch.”

Another person in the room demanded but I didn’t bother making eye contact, instead I focused on a greased stained spot on the floor. Just as I separated my lips to say a few words, I was cut off by someone’s boot kicking the side of my abdomen and I gasped for the little bit of air I had left. How the fuck did they want me to talk from a blow like that? Now I was starting to get pissed off — more than before.

“I don’t know a goddamn thing about Mitch and if you were smart, you’d already know that you got the wrong fucking girl.”

I managed to cough out the words since the pain in my side was beginning to rise rather quickly. It felt like my skin was on fire.

“Let me ask you again. Where the fuck is Mitch Rapp?”

I shut my eyes momentarily but this time when they opened, I decided to look at that motherfucker right in his dead and dark eyes. 

“I. Don’t. Know.”

I witnessed his partially tattooed hand lift up in the air, making it accessible to use as a weapon against another part of my body but the sound of a door suddenly slamming open behind where I was chained up caused silence amongst everyone. A few of the men went towards the disturbance but the noise of a gun clicking forward, singling that it was fully loaded stopped the actions of everyone in the room.

I began to worry that someone else was here to use me as pawn in their game but hearing a somewhat familiar voice left me with mixed feelings. Was he actually here to do the saving or to finish the job these men had started?

“Well, would you look at that? I’m right here.” 

Mitch said in a tone of voice that reflected heavy sarcasm and I began rattling the chains, hoping that some sort of movement would free my hands. I had to get the fuck out of here.

[stilessssss]

Elevate Your Hopes Up

word count: 4599

characters: Mitch Rapp x Claustrophobic!Reader, Stan Hurley

summary: The first day of work isn’t going as planned as you get trapped inside an elevator with your co-worker, Mitch.

notes: This is for mitchtober, hosted by @writingsbychlo and I am surprised that I actually managed to finish this story in time, since I procrastinate everything. It’s the first story I’ve ever posted so I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing this!

thank you @softstilinskii​ for helping me, you are amazing and so talented. I appreciate you so much <3

warnings: Just fluff, some angst, talk about elevators/small spaces

“Hold it! Please hold it!” You yelled at the man who was in the elevator, about to go up and he looked annoyed as if he was debating in himself whether or not to hold the door for you. It was after he saw your panicked movements when he placed his hand between the two doors which were about 3 inches away, making them stop before opening again.

As soon as the elevator doors opened, you quickly ran inside, trying to balance the two coffee cups in your hands without spilling anything. And as you pressed the number of your destination about ten times, the man next to you quirked an eyebrow. 

“Stupid thing.” You mumbled and the man coughed, making you look at him. “I already pressed that button.” 

Your eyes went wide, mostly in embarrassment and you looked away quickly. Not wanting to look him in the eye. Way to start off the day by making yourself look like a nutjob in front of a co-worker. Maybe you should've just taken the stairs. Although your body would highly disagree because of your poor stamina. Maybe you should take use of your gym membership like you always said you would. 

“You new here?” He asked and you nodded as the doors closed. Your eyes were focussing on the numbers of the elevator floors. “That obvious huh?” You tried to make a joke out of it and laughed nervously, but it quickly faded when you read his unamused expression. His eyes were an amber color, standing neutral yet stern and his hair was in a messy cut as it fitted his scruff beard. His face basically described someone saying 'really?' annoyed with their eyebrows scrunched, and you looked away at the elevator doors as the stranger did the same.

You sighed while mumbling in your breath and the stranger scratched the back of his neck, before silence took over. Just 3 minutes in an elevator with a handsome man with uncomfortable tension in the air, and you’ll be up, no problem. 

As you heard the pings of the floors that passed, you noticed the man eyeing you from the side. Something that made your nerves go up since you thought he was judging you by the second. It’s always been bothering you, that everytime people would look at you, you’d assume they’d think the worst of you. Luckily, the man seemed to notice, and he turned his head to the elevator doors again, scraping his throat.

“Sorry if I seemed rude.” 

You looked at your side, your eyes meeting his shoulder so you looked up, noticing the height difference. “Oh, you weren't rude, I’m clumsy. Guess I’m just kinda paranoid since it’s the first day. I’m not late, I just want to make a good impression. And as you can see I don’t handle elevators well. God, I don’t even know why I’m in here, I could've just taken the stairs but I didn’t want to meet my superiors while being all sweaty. Although I already feel like I’m soaked right now. Jeez, it’s hot in here.” Your hands were starting to get sweaty when you rambled to the stranger, and he still had his eyebrows raised a little. Inside you could mentally slap yourself. Of course that would be his reaction. If a random girl would suddenly ramble shit, you’d be like ‘what the fuck is going on’, no surprise that his reaction would be the same.

“It’s totally fine, don’t worry too much about it, alright? We’re almost up.” He caught you off guard as he gave you a genuine smile. Something that made you feel relieved that he answered calmly and this time you were the one scrunching your eyebrows up in confusion. Most times you weren’t this hyper, yet people still gave you looks that asked you to kindly fuck off. So this was new.

“So you need to be on the 9nth floor as well?” The stranger asked and you nodded slowly. “Yeah, I have a meeting with my superiors and other co-workers, you?”

“Same, so your superior must be Stan Hurley too, right?” You nodded and looked at the cups in your hands. “Yeah I brought him coffee, I hope it gives off a good impression.”

The man next to you looked at the cups as well, and you didn't realize he was really close to you. “You’re playing a dangerous game, what coffee did you get for him?”

“I got myself latte espresso with steamed milk, and I got Stan a Red Eye.”

The man beside you seemed to be impressed, making you feel relieved that you made the right order. “That’s his usual, how did you know that?”

 “His biography was on google,” You shrugged and he had an amused look on his face. “Wow... That’s actually smart.”

“Yeah, I felt like a stalker though. Anyway, everything to make a good impression.” 

“Can’t disagree with that.”

Both of you laughed and It actually felt nice to have a conversation with a stranger like him. Even though you kept thinking they would judge you, it could just be a friendly ear who might just become a friend. 

Maybe this first day isn’t gonna be as bad as you thought after all.

That’s until you heard a rattling sound and you felt the elevator slow down.

It was like the elevator jolted up before shutting down completely, and both of you snapped your heads up to the noise. The lights were still on, everything seemed normal but the one thing that made you know something was up, was that you couldn’t hear the sounds of the shaft moving. 

“What just happened?” You blinked and looked around. “I dunno?” The man took three steps forward, until he reached the buttons and inspected them as his face went close. “I think the elevator stopped?”

The words he spoke were enough for you to make a red light pop up in your brain, and you chuckled anxiously. “You’re kidding, right?”

He pressed the button to the 9th floor, but nothing happened. The only sound you could hear were scraping sounds, as if the elevator wanted to go up, but stuttered. The stranger turned around, his face in a confused look, and your heart felt like it stopped as your breathing hitched.

“No, no no no. Oh my god.” You mumbled as he tried it again for the third time, yet no luck. And the red light formed into panic in your head. “Try something, try pressing the open door button instead of the floor button?” He did what you suggested, again no reaction and you felt like you were getting dizzy, like anxiety knocked on your door.

“Why won’t it open? Are we stuck? Oh god.”

You started to feel light in your head, and dizziness started to form.

“Woah woah, easy easy alright. It’s probably just some malfunction, I’m sure the problem will be fixed soon.” The man was suddenly in front of you, holding your upper arms to keep you steady and your eyes darted around as you felt your chest tighten. “I am claustrophobic, I don’t even know why I took the elevator. Oh my god I’m gonna faint.”

“No, don't faint. If you’re gonna faint I’ll just have to faint as well, and that’s not gonna be fun for anyone. Just look at me alright? Focus on me. Look me in my eyes.” 

As the words rolled out of his mouth, your eyes moved to his, and you noticed there was a sweet and understanding look on his face. The lighting of the elevator also made his face brighter, his amber eyes now looking more like a honey color, making your breathing slow down a little bit. Yet, the tightness in your chest didn’t fade. 

You didn’t even feel the stranger take over the coffee cups and place them on the ground.

“Everything is gonna be okay, alright? I'll see if there is some way to connect ourselves to the maintenance downstairs, who can help us.” His eyes moved along the lines of the numerous buttons, and eventually settled on the yellow bell. The alarm button.

He gave you one more look of reassurance before turning around to the yellow button. He pressed it, both of you waiting in anticipation, and you started to feel as if the elevator doors were closing in on you, as if you were huddled in a tight little space. 

“Just look at the floor, not the walls… Just look at the floor, not the walls...” you mumbled to yourself as you looked at your feet. Everything looked like it was a little blurry as black spots appeared in your vision, and a ringing sound suddenly reached your ears. Shivers ran down your spine and you kept mumbling the same sentence over and over again on a loop. 

You probably looked like a lost kid now, and in truth, You were. Well, you felt like one.

“Alright, it gave a signal to the people in the building. These people know what to do, they’re trained to know what to do if an elevator gets stuck. We’ll be out in no time, and even if it’s worse than we thought, they’ll contact an elevator service technician to get us out.” The voice was dragged out. You couldn’t even hear the last words he spoke as the sounds around you were replaced with a high pitched sound. Black spots that were present just now, were starting to get bigger, and the pressure in your head felt larger. It felt like you were faltering. 

Your hands reached out to try and grasp something as everything went fully black, but it was too late as you fell on the floor, your side burning as you went.

“Holy shit!”

The last thing you remember is laying on the ground, wanting to open your eyes, yet everything stayed black.

-

“Look at me, you’re okay.”

“Hey, you’re okay.” You heard a voice say and your sight slowly reappeared as his face came into sight. “You scared the shit out of me.” 

You heard him chuckle a little, and as your sight was vividly clear again, you could see a look of worry on his face. “What happened?”

You coughed, your headache fading and you looked around to see you were still in the elevator, unfortunately. You hoped you were able to redo this day and choose to go with the stairs. Even though you wouldn't have had a conversation with the strange man if you’d taken the stairs, you wouldn’t have been in an elevator that was stuck.

“Elevators suck.” You mumbled and the man laughed at your retort. “Yes, they do.”

You then noticed he was crouching in front of you, and you thought he must’ve guided you to sit down slowly against the wall of the elevator, after you fainted. 

“That fall was pretty nasty. Are you hurt?” He checked your face quickly for any bruises or scratches from the walls, and you then felt a sting in your side. Like it was burning.

“Only my side, I think I fell against the railing at the button section.” You lifted your shirt up a little, and as you shifted your hips, you saw a purple-ish bruise. You groaned, remembering that you would go to the beach with a friend of yours on the weekend, knowing the bruise would be  noticeable.

He looked at your side before sitting down next to you and he inspected the bruise as your breath hitched.

“It’s not that bad luckily, although I’m afraid you will have to carry that for a couple of days" 

The stranger smiled lightly and that’s when you realized you hadn’t even introduced yourself. It’s nice to know someone on the first day of work, but it’s better if you know a name to pronounce them.

“By the way, you never told me your name” You questioned in yourself but apparently you talked out loud. Probably because of the aftershock of fainting, you were still trembling. 

The man held out a hand for you to shake and you happily obliged. “I’m Mitch.” 

You looked at him again, seeing a different view of him after he said his name, and you smiled. Mitch suited him.

“Y/n.” 

“Pretty name for a pretty girl." He winked and had a grin plastered on his face. "Get out of here with the cheesiness." You playfully said to him, slightly swatting his knee and you felt heat radiate from your cheeks. Looking down again to try and cover them up with your hair, although he undoubtedly already noticed.

The two of you sat there in silence. A sigh escaped your lips as your eyes wandered to his form. Since there was a meeting, He wore an all black suit, something that wasn’t really casual, it was rather fancy. And it was then you noticed it looked good. He looked good. Like, really good. His side profile was in your view as you looked at him, and you didn’t even realize you were starting to zone out, until Mitch started speaking and snapped you out of your trance.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Why did you actually faint?” You thought about the day everything started. It required some digging in your memories you had buried, but thinking about it now, it all came flooding back.

“That’s a long story.” 

You didn’t know if he wanted to hear it, since you were afraid you’d ramble the whole bible to him. Anytime when people would show interest in the subject, you’d explain it to them, but then they would wander off or pretend they cared. You could easily see it in their faces. 

But he had a slight smirk on his face and chuckled.

“Well, we have all the time. I’m listening, I promise.” He folded his hands on his crossed legs, and kept looking you in your eyes. Making you look down, before you opened up to him. 

“When I was 8, I was playing hide and seek with other girls from my class. It was hosted by a classmate from school at his house, and the whole class came. And so we decided to play hide and seek inside the house. I decided to hide inside the closet. But when I sat there for minutes, no one came. I was pumped because I wanted to win, but after half an hour, no one came. I waited and waited for three hours. So eventually I shouted for help, tried to pry my way out of the closet but it wouldn't budge. No one heard my cries, because it turned out they went outside. I felt like I was trapped, like there was tightness in my chest, I couldn't breathe. And as I kept crying, after 3 hours and 20 minutes, an adult heard me and freed me.”

He didn’t have to be Einstein to know why you couldn’t get out of the closet, and Mitch felt bad as he saw your expression sadden as you told your story. All the memories came crashing down on you again, and it felt like you were in the exact same place and moment like you were when you were a little kid. You thought you were ready to open up to people, yet everytime you would talk about it, it felt like you were trapped again, your voice cracking. Maybe you overestimated yourself, maybe talking about it was still relatively hard to process.

As you looked slowly at your side, Mitch was in the same position as he was before, only his gaze that lingered on you was a little more sad. Like he had empathy and you immediately coughed. “Sorry, that was depressing, it happened 16 years ago, I feel stupid for still being hung up about it. Sorry-” before you could finish your sentence, Mitch interrupted you and shuffled a little closer.

“You shouldn’t feel guilty for telling your story, and you shouldn’t feel sorry for feeling sorry for yourself. As a kid it’s traumatizing to go through something like that. Of course that would stick with you.” His words were well thought out, like there was a tone of understanding, yet something was still gnawing at you.

“I just feel ashamed. There are people who have gone through way more shit than I did, and I still act like the world is ending.”

"Just because someone else may have it worse, doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to feel sad sometimes. Everyone has fears, it’s inevitable. There is nothing to be ashamed of.”

He leaned in, and for a second it looked like he was trying to reach for your hand, but he hesitated at the last second. He subtly pulled his hands away, placing them back on his knees and you decided not to pay too much attention to it. “Have you got any?” 

“Yeah, mine is terrifying,” he let out a laugh, putting emphasis on ‘terrifying’ while wiggling his eyebrows and biting his lip. 

“And what may that be?” 

He didn’t answer, instead he just looked in front of him, as if he was thinking really hard.

“Well?”

“Well, I’m afraid of…" He lingered on his last words before squinting his eyes. “...spiders?”

His words were dragged out and you snorted. “That sounded really convincing,”

Mitch’s posture changed as if he was caught in the act, and he sighed with a tiny bit of guilt in his face. “Sorry.”

“Don’t say sorry, thanks for trying to reassure me, it’s been a while since someone did that for me.”

The thought of him trying to cheer you up a bit, was a small gesture, yet it felt like opening a christmas gift. Even though he hardly knew you, he cared. And it seemed as if that thought hit something within you, making a tear slip and roll over your cheek.

As much as you tried to hold it in, hold it together, more tears followed and you bit your lip, inhaling deeply to try and contain yourself. 

Why was it so damn hard to just keep it together?

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

“It’s just, I feel like I haven't cried in weeks and all my bottled up emotions are spilling out right now. I'm starting a new job in a new town, so I haven’t really had anyone to talk to or hold either or whatever, so- what are you doin-” Before you knew it, warmth surrounded your body as Mitch’s arms were around you, and you could smell his cologne as your eyes went wide. “Oh- oh okay...this is-”

“-Shh, shut up.”

“Okay...”

Your surprised look faltered as your eyes closed, and your arms wove around his body to hug him back, your chin resting on his shoulder. This was exactly what you needed, to hold someone close and to just vent out whatever you buried deep inside of you.

“Hey Mitch?”

"Yeah?" 

“Thank you,” You whispered and smiled through your tears. “For listening.” His hands were on the back of your head, playing with your hair as you heard his voice vibrate throughout your whole body.

"Of course." He held you close for a little longer before he decided to break the contact. “You’re sweaty, ew.” His playful tone made you snort, and when both of you pulled back, he wiped away some stray tears that were still sitting on your cheeks. 

The two of you sat there in silence. Just savoring this moment. 

You then noticed something in the corner of the elevator, and as your eyes diverted to it, you saw the two coffee cups sitting neatly on the floor. You were glad that Mitch had put them on the ground just before you fell, because if he didn't, it would've spilled everywhere and ruined your outfit. Facing your superior with a big stain in your blazer, would totally not give the right impression, and having to go to the ER for burn wounds, wasn’t really a fun trip either. 

You reached out for the cups and grabbed yours, surprised that it was still warm, and you took a few sips of your latte when you crawled back to the spot next to Mitch. He watched as you took a few sips, and you then looked at the other cup in front of you, and asked if Mitch wanted the Red Eye. "Uh, well, yeah it would be nice, I guess, but what about Sta-" "-It's fine, really. I mean, it's getting cold and I don't think giving a cold coffee to your superior is a way to make a good impression." You gave a little smile, grabbed the cup out of the cardboard cup holder and handed it over to him.

"Thanks." He grabbed the cup from your hand and immediately took a big swing. Something he regretted after, since his face scrunched up and he coughed a little after he swallowed his mouthful of coffee. "Oh, wow. That's- that's really strong. Now I get why his blood pressure is always sky high." 

You cracked out the loudest laugh yet this day, and looked around once again in the small room. “I hope for you there aren’t any cameras in this elevator to record that, otherwise you’d be the one playing a dangerous game.” He chuckled at the sentence you used against him, and laughter once again filled the air around you. That’s until everything went silent, and you knew he was gonna say something more serious.

“I don’t understand why those girls did what they did when you were 8, you’re a really kind person.” 

Both of you took another sip of your coffee. Some foam of your latte on your upper lip and you rubbed it away with your tongue.

“Yeah well, they never really liked me. No one really did. After all, I was just an energetic hyper ball that would ramble everywhere I went. It’s not as bad as it was before, but sometimes I just freak out and then I’m 8 again. Just scared shitless, I guess this is just my way of coping when I’m nervous.”

“I like that about you.” His eyes went to yours to make eye contact, and you happily looked back.

“You do?”

“Yeah.” 

Well that’s a first.

He had a cheeky grin and licked his lips. 

“You’re not like other girls.”

“Okay shut up, you ruined the moment.” Even though he had a playful sound in his voice, you gave him a light push to his shoulder and you both laughed. That’s until the cheeky grin changed into a knowing smirk.

“Moment huh?” The little shit was enjoying this. He was enjoying seeing you flustered and you swallowed hard, looking everywhere except his eyes. 

“Yeah,” Heat spread across your cheeks again. “There is something.” 

Biting his lip, he scratched his jaw and looked at your form, grinning widely after he noticed something and you frowned.

“You stopped trembling.”

You looked down, indeed seeing that you weren’t trembling and your face that held confusion, didn’t change one bit as you looked around. The fear of the small space didn’t even reach to you the past couple of minutes, and you then faced Mitch again, gaping at him like a fish.

“How did you manage to do that?” He simply shrugged, taking another sip of his coffee.

“What can I say? It’s my charm, the ladies love it.”

He shot you another wink, and you felt something in the pit of your stomach. Not a feeling that wanted you to throw up, but the feeling in your stomach you haven’t felt in years. A nice one. It was like your stomach was doing twists and rolls, in a good way.

He seemed to notice your state after the wink, and the little shit almost had a grin like the cheshire cat. Having to contain yourself not to smile as well, you rolled your eyes and snorted.  

“Well, I’m not like the other ladies” 

“Shut up.”

Right after both of you cracked a laugh again, you felt another jolt of the elevator, before you could hear the shaft and your eyes shot up. It indicated that the maintenance manager managed to fix the problem,  “Mitch, I think the elevator moved again.” You told your companion but all you heard was him groaning. 

“Mitch-” You looked at your side and your mouth went wide as you saw a small stain on his pants. Turns out he held his coffee in his hands as the elevator jolted, and a few hot droplets landed on his pants.

“Shit, are you okay?” You held in a laugh and he nodded as he burst out laughing too.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a small stain.”

“Shit, uhh.” you felt the need to help him, but you knew a coffee stain was most likely permanent. “I can make it up to you. Let me make it up to you.”

“Make it up to me?” He had an amused look on his face, and the both of you stood up from your seating position. He looked at the stain on his thigh, and he then looked back at you.

“Yeah, I know a stain like that probably won’t come out, I can pay you back, or-” 

“-I know a way for you to make it up to me” Your eyes that diverted when you were thinking about ways to fix it, now shot back up to look at Mitch, and it felt like your eyes were glued to his face. “What did you have in mind?”

He rubbed his hands together, smiling.

“We should go out sometime.”

“We should?"

“Yeah,” Now it was your time to smirk, your eyes standing playful as you cocked your head. “You sure you can handle my energetic ass? You know I’ll probably ramble the whole bible to you.”

“Yeah I know,” He grinned, “and I’ll happily listen.”

That’s the moment when you both heard a pinging sound, indicating you were at your destination, and at the same time, both your heads turned around. 

“We’re here, floor 9.”

The doors of the elevator opened, the both of you wanting to walk out, but at that moment, you were stopped by a voice.

“Mitch, Y/n, where have you been? The meeting ended already, I- Mitch, you have a stain on your pants.” A man stood on the other side of the elevator, and you recognized him as Stan Hurley, your new superior. His voice was not mad, but you could easily hear the irritation in his voice, and see his unamused face. Before he could say anything more though, Mitch was quick to explain everything to him about the elevator being stuck.

Stan’s irritated face expression slowly turned into an understanding one, and he then looked at you. “Sorry to hear you both were stuck, but happy to know you both can get to work now. Hurry up.” Before both of you could say anything further, he already walked away. But Mitch said something just before.

"By the way, Stan, your taste in coffee is horrible."

Stan, who was now walking down the hall, turned his head around to shoot Mitch a look of confusion before turning back around. And you laughed at Mitch’s retort. 

“I thought this day was gonna be hell, but you know, being stuck with you in an elevator isn’t so bad after all.”

[mystic-writings]

lend a hand | mitch rapp

PAIRING — mitch rapp x fem!reader

SUMMARY — mitchtober week day one - trope

PROMPT — you go into a bar and ask a handsome stranger to help you avoid your crazy ex-boyfriend

WARNINGS — crazy exes, bar fights, mentions of blood, etc.

WORD COUNT — 1,958

NOTE — welcome to the first day of mitchtober! the event is being hosted by the lovely @writingsbychlo!

masterlist | navigation

There really was nothing like a crazy ex boyfriend to flip your day on its head.

You’d thought that after months of denying calls and changing locks, phone numbers, and making new social media accounts would’ve gotten Josh off your back, but he had proved you wrong yet again. Your fridge was running dangerously low on food, you had realized that morning, and despite the fact that you had wanted to spend your day off inside and relaxing, you were forced to put on some decent clothing and venture out into the streets of Washington and go to the grocery store.

You didn’t get very far into your errand when you ran into him. As you debated which kind of cereal you wanted to buy for the next two weeks, the tall man spotted you from the end of the aisle, and quickly came over to announce himself.

“Y/n! Hey, how’ve you been?” He asked casually.

Something similar to dread settled into your heart as you looked over at the man, quickly producing a scoff before turning to him. “You ask that as if I haven’t been ignoring your ass for the past 7 months. Leave me alone, Josh, is that so hard to understand?”

“Look, I just think that you made a mistake, okay?” He tried. “I think we were meant for each other, and I think you do, too.”

“No, Josh, we’re not. You made that very clear when you went behind my back and screwed half of my bridal party three weeks before the wedding.” You said. “Now back off before I call the cops.” Fed up, you dropped your basket of items on the floor and left the store, heading down the semi-crowded streets in the hopes that Josh wouldn’t follow after you.

After you’d turned down many different side streets and intersections, you turned around to see if the man was still following you and, to no surprise, he was. He was some 15 feet behind you, trying to act casual and miserably failing. A bout of anxiety bloomed in your chest as you wondered what he was going to say or do once he finally caught up with you, but you decided to at least try harder to ward him off.

As soon as you reached the doors to the pub you spotted, you turned and walked inside. It was a little dark, green stained glass covering the lights, casting a dim glow around the room. With every second that you spared looking around the room for somewhere to hide, Josh was getting a little closer. So, when your eyes locked onto the only person around your age who was at the bar, you darted over to him, taking the seat directly to his right.

“Hi, so, I know you don’t know me, but I need you to do me a favor.”

He looked over, and you couldn’t help but take notice of how attractive the man was. “I don’t do favors.”

“I get that, but my crazy ex is trying to get back with me - has been for a while, actually - but that’s not the point. I need you to pretend to be my boyfriend for like, 10 minutes when he walks in here. I’ll buy you drinks afterward, I promise.”

The man seemed to be considering it, but didn’t have time to respond when you heard the door creak open as Josh stepped in. It wasn’t hard for him to spot you, especially because you were the only girl in the bar. You groaned, flagging down a bartender as he made his way toward you.

“Y/n! Why’d you run off on me like that?”

“Josh, look, I-” you attempted to explain, turning in your chair to face him.

“I’m sorry, who are you?” The man beside you asked, furrowing his brow at Josh.

Josh smirked as he replied, “I’m Y/n’s fiancé.”

“That’s impossible, because she’s my girlfriend.” He said. “Unless there’s something you’re not telling me, babe.”

The playful smile on his face made your heart stutter as you looked back at him. “Nope. I’ve got nothing to hide.” You smiled. “But you remember what I told you about Josh, right? A few months ago?”

“Yeah, I think so,” he nodded, turning to the man to extend his hand, “I’m Mitch.”

“I don’t care.” Josh spat. “I’d appreciate it if you’d back off of her, though. She’s coming home with me.”

“I don’t think so, man,” Mitch sighed. “See, she isn’t coming home with anyone she doesn’t want to. That’s her choice. And I believe that she’d rather choose her new boyfriend over her ex-fiancé, don’t you?” He turned further, stepping off the stool and coming face-to-face with Josh. “Now, if you can, get your sorry ass out of here so I can enjoy some drinks with my girlfriend, that’d be great.”

You watched the moment unfold in milliseconds. The anger flared in Josh’s eyes, shining like the glint of the sun off a blade. He reared back, pulling his fist up, and slamming it into Mitch’s face. He was stunned, but it didn’t take him long to react, throwing punches of his own. They quickly caught the attention of the other patrons, busting lips, bruising eyes and ribs.

They were shouting at one another, but Josh was quickly disabled when he moved to tackle Mitch, who used the advantage to wrap a leg around the other man’s neck, twisting and pulling him to the ground, forcing the air from his lungs. He tightened the hold on Josh’s neck for a few moments longer before standing and crouching over the man, grabbing fistfuls of his shirt and holding him up to say, “If I ever hear that you came anywhere near her again, I won’t leave you alive. Got it?”

As soon as the man produced a weak nod, Mitch let go of his shirt and stood up, huffing from the exertion. Turning to you, he saw the shock on your face and slowly approached.

“Can we go?” You asked shakily, eyes darting between Mitch and the man on the floor. The former nodded, grabbing his coat and following you out into the daylight. He squinted, hissing when he disturbed the bruise that surrounded his left eye. Turning to him, you scrunch your face and said, “You look horrible.”

“Thanks,” Mitch scoffed, trying to hide the smile playing on his lips.

“Can I take you back to mine to at least clean you up?” You offered. “I was supposed to buy you a drink, but I don’t think you’re gonna be allowed back in there for a while.” Mitch laughed, but shook his head. Before he could say anything, you interrupted. “It’s the least I could do. Really.”

With a final sigh, he nodded. “Fine. But you have to tell me the story behind that creep.”

“Deal.” You smiled. The two of you walked back to the store where you had left your car before heading back to your apartment. You talked casually on the way there, about things like where you were born and silly pet peeves that annoyed you to no end.

As soon as you were in the door, you sat the man down at your table, swiftly gathering all of your first-aid materials and setting them on the table next to him.

“So, seriously, what’s the deal with that guy?” Mitch asked as you filled a bowl with warm water.

“Josh was my highschool sweetheart.” You started as you made your way back to the table. Dipping a cloth in the water, you titled Mitch’s head and began to wipe the blood from his skin. “We were together from junior year up until about 7 months ago, so… god, almost 10 years?”

“Jesus,” Mitch breathed. You nodded in agreement, picking up some butterfly stitches.

“I know. We were supposed to get married and everything. He’s always had an easy temper, but you should know that by now.” You smirked, causing Mitch to chuckle. “I didn’t mind it; I thought it was a little charming. He supported me throughout medical school, didn’t mind that I wanted to wait until afterward to get married.” You paused looking through your materials for the gauze and tape to wrap Mitch’s knuckles. “Of course, that was until I found out that he slept with half of my bridal party two weeks before we were supposed to get married.”

“Ouch,” Mitch winced, “that’s gotta hurt. I mean, if that happened to me, I’d probably kill the guy.”

You nodded, taping the first hand as you spoke. “By the looks of it, you almost did,” you began on the other hand, “By the way, how did you do it? You looked like a damned MMA fighter or something.”

“I’m uh,” Mitch paused, keeping his eyes on you, debating on whether he should tell you the truth or keep his profession a secret. You looked up, your eyes meeting his, and he decided. “I work for the CIA. Field agent.”

“That must be tough,” you commented, finishing the wrapping.

“It can be, but I don’t mind it.” He nodded, watching you pack up the rest of the materials. You emptied the bowl of slightly bloody water into the sink before reaching into the freezer, pulling out an ice pack.

“Put this on your eye.” You instructed, and Mitch obeyed. “I can’t do much about the split lip, it’ll heal on its own. Same thing with your ribs. You might want to tell your boss that you can’t go into the field for a few weeks,”

He cursed, knowing Irene was going to kill him when he went into work tomorrow. With the pause in conversation, Mitch got the chance to take in your apartment. It was small, sure, but quaint. Slightly mismatched furniture littering the living room, some boxes placed along the floor. “How long have you been living here?”

“Maybe a month?” You guessed. “That’s something else I forgot to tell you about Josh. After we broke up and I kicked him out, he wouldn’t give up on trying to get me back. I had to block every connection he had to me. I changed my number, made new social media accounts, changed the locks, everything. Eventually, I just decided to move. I’m actually a little surprised it took him this long to find me again.”

“That sounds a little too close to stalking,” Mitch commented. “Maybe you should bring it to the cops. See if they can do anything about it.”

The suggestion threw you for a loop. You’d never thought about it like that. Nodding, you said, “I’ll see what I can do tomorrow. Thanks, Mitch. For everything.”

“I should be thanking you.” He laughed. “I mean, you stitched me up, I got to beat up a shitty guy, and I met a cute girl all in under two hours.”

Your cheeks burned as you laughed with him. “Even after patching you up, I still feel bad. Do you need anything else? Anything at all?”

“Well,” Mitch suggested. “You could go for a coffee with me on Saturday? If- you know, if you want to, that is.”

You smiled, watching him nervously play with his fingers. “I’d love to, Mitch.” You told him. “I’d like to know more about the guy that saved my ass today.”

Mitch smiled, the nervous weight lifting from his chest. “Okay. 11 sound good?”

“Yeah. I’ll meet you at the bar. I think I saw a nice place a few blocks down from it.”

All Mitch could do was smile and nod. If he had known that helping strangers would result in dates with amazing women, he would’ve lended a hand more often.

Forever taglist: @simonsbluee @reeseswritings @just-here-to-escape-reality @mazerunnerrose @theboldandthebootyful @miraclesoflove @queen-asteria04

Mitch Rapp taglist: open!

taglist form is in my navigation!

[neonjawbone]

It’s OC-Tober!! My favorite time of year, when I spend the month of October drawing a different character of mine every day, all the while posting free-to-read descriptions of them on my Patreon!!

2021 WEEK ONE

Bath (she/her) // Saturday Weekes (they/them) // Lochan Lal (they/them) // Elvis Carcha (he/him) // Otto Von Kelvin (he/him) // Mitch (she/her) // ??? (he/him)

You can follow along daily by following me on twitter, and you can support me making the stories these characters live in by pledging to my patreon!

[softstilinskii]

The Right Path

word count: 2,548

characters: prince!mitch x princess!reader

summary: being a princess and having to marry your ex-best friend and now (slight) enemy was not what you had in mind for the future, but this event does reveal some truths between you guys.

notes: this is my fic/imagine for Mitchtober, hosted by the talented @writingsbychlo! It’s also the first written work I’ve ever posted on tumblr, so I hope it’s alright! :)

Also, a special thanks to the lovely @meistilinski! She helped me write this piece and she’s just super talented and amazing! <3

warnings: a sprinkle of angst (I guess?), a few curse words.

Walking around in the royal garden was normally the favorite part of your day, but at this moment it was absolutely not. Because while your parents were discussing the terms of your arranged marriage with the parents of your enemy and soon-to-be husband, you were stuck with him. Mitch. 

The two of you have actually known each other since you were little. Being royalty of neighbouring kingdoms and your parents liking each other instead of being rivals, pushed you together, but you two had never liked each other. Well, that’s not entirely true. When you were little you were the best of friends, but when you were teenagers, that friendship had turned to dust. For some reason the two of you just didn’t click anymore. Every time you talked it turned into some sort of argument or disagreement, which only made the hatred you had for each other grow. 

Maybe it just wasn’t destined to be.

✧─── ｡ﾟ★: .✦ . :★. ───✧

You were walking through the rose pergolas to go to your favorite spot, with Mitch right behind you, when he decided to speak up, and ask the question you realized you didn't quite have the answer for. “Why do you hate me so much?” He looked straight ahead, your gaze not leaving the roses either. “I don't hate you, I despise you.” Your answer made Mitch scoff, and he rolled his eyes. He was expecting an answer like that, yet he hoped for a proper conversation. 

As the two of you walked past a little pond where you loved to sit at and walked up the steps to the lookout spot, you heard him mumble something under his breath. “This is the stupidest thing I've ever had to do. I don’t even want to marry you..” You turned around and looked him straight in the eye. “Can you stop moaning? Just so you know, I'm doing this for my kingdom. If the choice was up to me, I would not have suggested marrying you,” When Mitch was just about to answer, you interrupted him. 

“Your brother though, he is quite the gentleman. Nothing like you.” You whisked your hair over your shoulder, turned around and walked away towards the edge of the little lookout spot. A proud smile tugging at the corners of your lips.

For a moment it was silent. Only the chirping of birds, splashing water from a fountain and the soft sounds of the village you were looking over were able to be heard. That was until your peaceful atmosphere was rudely interrupted, again, by the last voice you wanted to hear.

“If you adore my brother so much, why don't you marry him? He’s more husband-material anyway.” He suddenly stood behind you, and you froze at his voice, not realizing he’d followed your tail. If it weren’t for the focus on the splashing water and sounds of chirping birds, you were sure you would've heard him strutting behind you. “Maybe he’d grant you every wish you desire, princess.” The arrogance was clearly evident in his tone, and you didn’t even have to look over your shoulder to know he crossed his arms like his usual moody form. The nickname wasn’t new for you either, he usually called you that, wanting to let you know you were spoiled, but you didn’t seem to care. You were a princess after all.

You let out a deep sigh, inhaling scents of the nature around you before turning around slowly. “Dear Mitch, that’s not how marriages work for people like us, unfortunately.” You could practically hear him roll his eyes. 

Before he could say anything more though, you decided it was enough, so you walked away and circled around his body. Mitch shot question marks your way as you paraded around him but he didn’t follow this time. Instead he just watched as you made your way back to the palace. “Lovely talk as usual!” He yelled at you and you turned your head while still walking away. “I wish it was, yet it really wasn’t. Goodbye future husband.” You grinned as your head turned back around, hair dangling with every step you took, and you wish you could see his face right now. Calling him future husband probably upsetted and annoyed him, but you knew there was no way both your parents would call off the engagement. You knew he didn’t have a choice, and you didn’t have one either.

✧─── ｡ﾟ★: .✦ . :★. ───✧

The next day arrived sooner than expected, unfortunately. Yesterday when Mitch annoyed the shit out of you and made sure you knew he did not want to marry you, was actually not as bad as you thought it was. Well, aside from the constant bickering. But after all the engagement shit you’d had in the past couple of weeks, that day was actually a day where you were able to relax. 

That didn’t count for this day, though. Today was the day that you, Mitch and both of your parents had to make all the agreements and plans for the future, most essentially the benefits of this marriage for both kingdoms. The kings and queens were set on the fact that you two were going to marry, with or without your approval. And since you two have known each other since you were kids, they thought you two could profit from the marriage as well. Little did they know...

The hours of sitting still in a room and not actually having a say in any of the things your parents were discussing, was the most dreadful experience of your life. And you weren’t being dramatic. Even Mitch had the same bored and unamused look on his face as you had. At least there’s one thing both of you could agree on.

It wasn’t a surprise you immediately went back to your favorite spot in the garden, just to stare at mother nature. The sunlight that shone through the leaves, shone bright on your face and you sighed. You could stay here forever. 

“Figured you’d be here.” A voice said from a distance away and your eyes snapped open. You felt irritation fuel, something that just happened automatically whenever you would hear his voice. 

“Why on earth would you require my presence, it’s not like I require yours.” He simply ignored you and rolled his eyes. He then walked a little closer, standing next to you, and leaned against the railing as well. It’s funny that you two were in almost the exact same spot as yesterday.

“Let me try that again, differently.” He cleared his throat. “Nice weather isn’t it? It explains why you’re here again.”

“Yeah, the same weather when I was in the embrace of a liar.”

He chuckled. “Good one. Did you make that up just now or do you have a whole book with lame insults?” You didn’t respond and instead, closed your eyes again. “What do you want? Figured you want to be as far away as possible from me, considering we spent hours in each other’s presence. Get to the point.”

You could feel Mitch's eyes on the back of your head. If he would look any longer, you might say he’d burn holes. He coughed, sounds of paper filling the air, and you didn't even notice the papers he had brought with him. You frowned, turning to look at him and he grabbed something from his pocket - a feather and a bottle of ink.

“I think we should go over our own conditions for this marriage. I think it's only fair that we ourselves also have some, besides the ones that our parents made.” Before you could say anything he already opened the little bottle and grabbed the feather. “Alright, I guess.”

 He stood next to you and looked out over the village, feather in hand as the paper lay on the cement railing. You looked over at him, his fluffy, brown hair moving as his arm moved, to write the title. Knowing you shouldn't look that long, your eyes wanted to move away to a tree or sky, but the longer you looked, the more you felt drawn to him. You didn't want to admit it, but the hatred you once had towards him did fade a little over the past years. The anger that was within you was still present, but not as boiling as it used to be. His voice just reminded you of the same voice that told you pretty lies. 

“So, condition number one,” he cleared his throat, your eyes still glued to his face. “No inappropriate touching. This thing stays professional.” You managed to snort out a laugh, cackling as the man beside you stopped his movements of his hand on the paper, and gave you an unamused glance. 

“Why would you make a rule about that? Scared you're going to fall for me after we share the bed?” You mocked him while you leaned against the railing with your side. Even though the old times were gone, it still brought joy to poke fun at him. It was almost as if nothing changed. Almost.

“Not scared, I just know you.” He cocked his head with a sly smirk.

That’s true, he did know you, maybe even a little too well. Something that wasn’t in your favor, but you managed to play it cool. “Don’t worry, it ain’t gonna happen soon.”

“Alright, well, looks like you can’t take this seriously as usual, so we’ll just continue this another time.” He laid the paper down on the railing, with the bottle of ink on top. He put his hands in the pockets of his pants and you stood there in silence. 

“Can I ask you something?”

“No.”

“Alright, I’m still gonna ask it. You better give me an answer this time, Y/N.”

“Should I?”

“Well, you kinda owe it to me”

“Owe it to you? I owe you nothing, Mitch."

“I just don't understand why you hate me. I don’t remember what went wrong between us. And would falling in love with me be so terrible?” 

“Don’t know. Don’t want to talk about it.” You managed to muster, but he wasn't pleased with that answer. And as you tried to walk away, he managed to grab your arm. He didn’t apply too much pressure, but it was still strong enough so you could not pry out of his grip.

“I know you know. You say you despise me, yet something draws you to me. And I also know that somewhere along the line, you stopped hating me. Maybe you never hated me, maybe you just convinced yourself you did. You just try to bolt off every time I try to talk it out.” 

You looked at him, staying silent. You didn’t want to admit it, but maybe he was right. Maybe you did overreact on the ‘hating you’ part, but you did have a valid reason if you really had to explain yourself.

“Look, I know you never stopped caring. It’s not like you. And in the meantime while you try to convince me you don’t, know that I'll always care about you, even when you think I don't. I know I haven’t always been the most endearing, but I have no clue what I did wrong for you to hate me so much. As much as I want to hate you too, I can’t. I could never hate you.”

“Don’t do this.”

“Do what?”

“This,” you pointed between Mitch and yourself. “Please just, don’t.”

“Why?” He looked at you with pleading eyes. Silently begging you to tell him.

“Why?” You repeated after him, but with a tone that made sure he knew that you couldn’t believe that he didn’t know what he did. 

“Y/N…Tell me why. For god’s sake, we’re getting married! Aren’t we supposed to work on the issues we have with each other now before it’s too late?”

“Fine,” You took a deep breath and looked at the ground. Honestly you were just tired. Tired of holding a grudge against him, even though what he did nearly broke you.“The royal ball, 6 years ago.”

“Yeah? What’s with it?”

“When we were kids, we made a pact. remember?” Mitch was quiet for a few seconds, inhaling and exhaling deeply.

“yeah.”

“We promised we’d be together forever, soulmates for life...”

“...Then at that ball, when we were 17, I saw you with her, dancing with her. Kissing her cheek like you always did to me. Curling her hair around your finger and holding her close. I wasn’t jealous at first, I would always be happy for you, but you chose the one girl that made me feel like I was worth nothing, and you knew. You fucking knew. Yet you chose her.”

“I wanted to ignore you, hate you for a few days. Perhaps a few weeks, let you come to me to talk about that night, but you acted like nothing happened. Something just grew inside me, eating me up. Hatred formed like a fireball in the pit of my stomach. Those few weeks turned into months, and those months turned into years.” You let out a dry laugh, done with explaining the moment that hurt you for the rest of your life.

He looked at you with big eyes. “Y/N…” He sighed, empathy evident in his voice. “At that time there were some complications between our kingdoms. Of course I wanted to dance with you that night. I was supposed to dance with you, but my dad wanted me to have other options if the issues between our parents couldn’t be fixed. I didn’t want to do it, but you know how my father is. My intention was never to hurt you, I’m sorry...”

You stared at him. No expression evident on your face. You were processing everything he just said. It wasn’t his fault, if maybe you had just talked to him this would never have happened. “I’m so sorry, Mitch. I- I didn’t know...I’ve been so cruel to you for these past years and every time you tried to talk I just walked away-”

“-I know, it’s okay. Even though we never talked it out until now, we found a way to fix it.” He opened his arms and embraced you in a hug. You missed his hugs so much. His warm, loving and tight hugs. It felt like the world around you disappeared for a moment and the only people who were there were you. “Mitch?” “Yes?” “I guess falling in love with you wouldn’t be so terrible.” He let go of you with a genuine smile plastered on his face. For a moment you just looked at each other in silence, before you decided to break it.

“So, what about our own conditions for this marriage?”

“To hell with it” 

Mitch grabbed the piece of paper and tore it to shreds. He looked down at you and you saw a different kind of sparkle in his eyes. He extended his arm as an invite for you to loop yours through his, and you waited a second before giving in. The two of you walked back to the palace, arm in arm, finally on the right path again.

[bloodredx]

Day 22: Memory

Oh, the first images witnessed? Why should that matter? So long ago, nothing more than fleeting images, more a dream than the reality it once was. Nothing. Everything. One could not even conjure a mental space capable of such imagery. How boring. It needed to go. And so it did!

Even if one was around for such things, why fret over the unknown? Is it worth the stress of seeing that which could inspire fear or corruption? Might the temptation and thrill of discovery be quite the drug? What quaint concerns. How feeble and temporary. Almost charming.

Beware, Precious Living. Memories are tender things, at least for ones trapped in such illusory flesh. The neurological chemicals that devise such experience often get the finer details wrong. Be careful how much one lends credence to such chemicals. So much to get warped, so much to get wrong. How tedious. Shame one lacks the infinite spread of perfection to recount the days. But, by the by, no one to share the stories with. Not a word remains for anyone. Save the Beloved.

--

A raven watched idly as the young man worked steadily with his hands, pulling a plane along a stretch of mangrove wood. Each pass shaving off a little bit more wood, smoothing the surface to what aimed to be a perfect cylinder. A staff worthy of possession. The bird preened gently, adjusting feathers with a careful touch, eye never quite letting sight of the young man go. Long coils of silver hair spun down his back, new, unusual. Not quite the anticipated outcome. The new waters were uncharted, course being set far adrift by winds unpredicted.

Mitchell, the young man, groaned in exhaustion. It was hot and sticky. Hotter and stickier than any day the swamp had given before, and that was saying something. He had already peeled off his shirt, just trying to do his best to breathe. It was hard, harder still due to the pain. Though he was healed from… the previous night’s events, the god did something to him. He was older, muscles twisted and formed to a shape he shouldn’t have met for another ten years. His mind didn’t quite match everything his newfound strength could do, and the clumsiness was already showing. He had slipped the plane off several times now, lines crooked and frail. Gotta be perfect. He grunted at the thought, wiping sweat off his brow before continuing, trying to ignore his body for a few minutes more. The magic coursing through him now… unlike anything he’d had before. On one hand, it terrified him. On the other…

Time was growing short, the sun was setting and it felt like a storm was on the horizon. Last thing he needed was to be coated in mud or swamp scum… the sweat on his back already was bad enough. Nausea roiled, he wanted to throw up, but couldn’t. The bird wouldn’t let him.

Laying the plane down, he grabbed sand paper, smoothing out the sides, trying to get everything to feel right. Would it ever? It’s a sham. Like this’ll help.

“It will.” The god’s voice echoed in his ear. “Conduit for the inexperience.”

“Yeah, yeah, get the hell outta my head.” He blew a strong breeze at the bird, who merely side stepped the gust of wind. Ain’t even ruffled a feather.

“A noble attempt.” The voice didn’t come from the raven, but Mitch couldn’t help looking at it through squinted eyes. “Perhaps efforts are better spent on focus?”

He stuck his tongue out. “Ain’t ya got better things to? More lives to ruin? People to kill?”

“Certainly.” The bird adjusted its footing on the branch.

“Then go?”

Without answering, the god watched with heightened attention, watching the movement of the mage’s hands. A twinge of the familiar ran through him, though it was all too late until he recognized why. Brother, why stare?

All at once, he was in his realm. The reflective white flooring, echoing with each step, dark skies looming with the occasional flashes of electricity crossing across myriad red silk ribbons. Souls a float across the darkness, all interweaved and connected. A beautiful room of stranded lights. All was as it should be, the sweet humming of in tune chords echoed off in the distance as if a lullaby were playing. The only disruption being the form of Narcissta, ink dark skin and brilliant white hair, in opposition to himself, cradling something between her fingers.

Hands. What has happened?

A flaw, destroyed. Her voice unspoken, responded through his being, words unneeded for two so close. She leaned back, revealing the small shattered fragments off the tip of a soul, cracked and splintered like untempered glass.

How? When? Panic seeped in. How had he missed that? When could he have looked away? All felt right, but sparks discharged loosely around him. He rushed in, trying to lay hands on the pitiful thing, anything to assist.

Calm. Her monotone voice pushed back gently, begging for a bit more space. All will be well. Hold.

A twitch of her finger, hands closing around tightly. There were sounds of knitting and tearing, perhaps even welding and cutting, a cacophony but beautiful all the same. She stepped back, all the marks and cracks gone, fresh and clean as the day first formed. Pathetic to even have reached such a point. She mumbled, handing the thing off to her brother.

Not pathetic, these forms were here when needed most. The god hastily clutched it to his chest, as if something else could injure it here.

Narcistta gave her brother a final passing glance, softening just slightly. Perhaps there are truths to that. Accept apologies, if one can fathom it. A hint of cheeky foolishness crossed him, the same feeling brought him back, returning sight to the young man once more. The same expression.

Time had slipped away, and a proper staff rested between his fingers. Already setting course to crave the intricate runes required into the wooden handle. All it lacked was wrapping and a locus. The God of the End stepped out from the shadows, a hand reaching towards Mitch, but didn’t manifest before him, his hand not quite reaching the new mage. How? His fingers reached into the void plucking out something precious, a single white feather. The plume danced in the air of the swamp, swaying to some unheard rhythm, but it felt right, pulling away from the End and pointing to Mitch. It belonged here. Why?

No answer came. Staring for just a moment more, Adamsa Frisay pulled out one of his own feathers, entering reality as Mitch stood up slowly, having finished his laborious work.

(OC-tober challenge by @oc-tober2022 can be found here.)

[fuckthesworld]

FREEDOM TO DESIRE

CEO MITCH RAPP AU

MITCH RAPP x Reader

Warnings: SMUT and unprotected sex!

Rapp Corporation was the leading marketing firm in the world. Companies like Disney, Sony and Southwest paid millions of dollars to be associated with it. It represented actors, athletes, business moguls and small businesses. While it was in high demand it was also reasonable - sponsoring schools and nonprofit organizations around the world.

The single person driving the reigns to the crazy international kingdom that resided in London was Mitch Rapp . That’s right. He was part of a decade of strong, successful businessmen.

And he was your boss.

You had literally stumbled into the job of personal assistant. Literally. You were walking out of a coffee shop, resumes in hand when you ran into his large, hard frame. You landed on your ass and when you were able to recover, you were looking into the deepest chocolate eyes you had ever seen. His bright white teeth clashed against his tan skin, his dark locks perfectly framing his face.

Then you remembered that you had spilled coffee on one of the most powerful, young bachelors in the world.

You had also spilled coffee all over your resume and you groaned in realization, the expensive fresh pages coated in thick lakes of coffee. He had helped you pick up the lost keys to your future, taking a second to read over your resume and offered you a job. He was on the way to meet someone about being his personal assistant and you did just get your masters in public relations. You could intern while still making money and if you showed promise he promised to promote you.

Sometimes life really does work out in your favor. Sit in that for five seconds then remember that your boss is one of the sexiest, most successful young CEO’s in the world.

Not only is he attractive but he has the work ethic of an ox. And it made working for him damn hard. Probably harder than managing the clients he had. He was constantly in meetings, constantly leaving early in the morning and late in the evening. Going to galas and charity events, charming new people. He opened up smaller chains in areas in the world stricken by poverty to try to help increase job opportunities. He volunteered at schools and hospitals. He spent his Thanksgiving and Christmas and any other holiday of giving providing food for those in need. Always. He’s always been like this.

Mitch wasn’t just a CEO. Wasn’t even human.

He was a goddamn saint sent from heaven to wreak havoc on earth.

It was on such an occasion that he had asked you to attend one of his events - a large gala celebrating 50 years of business with his father and grandfather.  The whole legacy under one roof. You didn’t understand why you were asked to attend. As his assistant sure you had to manage the media and who visited him. But that had been hours ago. The night was now thriving off the rich and famous drunkenly dancing and teasing each other. Mitch never drank more than two glasses of anything at events like these so you didn’t have to babysit him. But you also wanted to go home if he didn’t need you and that he refused.

You watched him as he laughed along with two of his most trusted partners, Scott Mccall and Derek Hale as they sipped expensive champagne and spoke lowly among each other. Mitch was wearing a tailored blue suit, his white  button up popping against a black tie. His slight beard had grown since he shaved it these past two days and was now a short beard and all you could think about was how it would feel between your legs.

You shook your head, returning your eyes to your blackberry. You had to get it together. Everyone teased you that he had a thing for you. He never had women assistants. Preferred men to ensure that things stayed professional. Never offered people jobs on the spot either.

There was just something about you they would tease.

Well he sure as hell wasn’t making a move so until he did it would have to stay a mystery.

“You’re still working for him.”

The soft voice takes you off guard and you jump a bit, breaking from your thoughts as  your eyes fall on your assailant. Standing in a dark red gown, her pale skin contrasting with her perfectly coiffed dark hair is Katrina Mendes. 

Ex-girlfriend of Mitch Rapp.

She takes a seat beside you, the soft smell of Chanel wafting off her skin as she continues.

“Didn’t think a fragile little thing like you would survive a man like him.”

You knew what she was doing. Her younger sister, Annika , had warned you about this months ago. When you had accidentally ran into her at a golf tournament with Mitch. She loved him still. Despite the fact that she married someone new, moved across the world, she still loved and wanted him. Didn’t want anyone else to claim him.

You were a threat. You were beautiful,  intelligent. charming and apparently upon Scott’s teasing, he spoke about you a lot. Katrina hated you. And reminded you every time she saw you.

“Surprised you’re here. Thought you’d be back in America with your husband. Oh wait, he’s in Japan with his mistress of the month.”

It was no secret her husband cheated on her. She even laughed about it but deep down you knew it killed her inside. Killed her that she chose a man like that over a man like Mitch. It made you even empathize for her…until she opened her mouth and you were reminded that karma was real.

She narrows her eyes at you before deliberately taking the large flute of champagne in her hand and slowly tilting it on your dress. On your $3,000 dress you had charged on your credit card that you had planned on returning tomorrow. You had only bought the navy blue gown to try to impress Mitch, hoping he would be charmed by the way it looked on your body.

It hadn’t and now, on top of rejection, she had ruined it and put you $3,000 in the hole.

“Have fun returning your De la Rented dress.” she smirks at you as you stand, the champagne trailing down the front of the long gown. You try to bite back tears, try not to bring too much attention to yourself as you pat at he gown down with a napkin before looking at her.

“I really hope you’re happy making other people’s life miserable Katrina. Because from what I hear, you used to be an awesome person and now, now you’re just a lonely bitch.”

You don’t notice the crowd of people who have been crowding around, watching the small scene unfold. Don’t see Mitch head toward you as you make your way down to the hallway to the family restroom. You don’t realize the tears that have been falling down your cheeks until you feel him grab your arm, turning you gently toward him.

“Y/N…” your name sounds different on his tongue and the way he’s looking at you has you sobbing harder. You try to push him away as he draws you to him, his large sculpted arms surrounding you as he whispers,

“Just let it all out.”

You don’t know why you’re crying. Maybe it’s the fact that you’ve wasted $3,000 on a dress that had made little impact in your life. Maybe its because you’ve been up since 4:30 because of him, trying to make his night perfect. You missed having a social life. Missed your mom and dad and siblings. Missed your small loft in London.

Missed all of this because of him and he didn’t even give a damn.

The thought drives your sobs deeper and his grip tightens around you as you cry harder, his large hands rubbing your back. His mouth hushes you and he rocks you before you start to calm down, your sobs tampering off and you pull away, shaking your head. You want to apologize for your unprofessionalism and you also wanted to tell him he could take his assistant job and fuck off but then his left hand is hooking under your chin as he tilts your head up to you.

“I can pay for your dress. I’m sorry she ruined it. But holy hell Y/N what did you expect when you wore something like this?”

His right hand that has never left your body tampers down your back as he pulls you closer to him.

“You’ve been driving everybody mad wearing this,” he eyes are shifting now, darkening around the pupils as he licks his lips. “It should be a condemned sin.”

His voice has dropped an octave and the deep bass draws a shiver up your spine. You give your lip a light bite and he gives a short groan, the pad of his thumb brushing over the exposed skin. His hand tightens around your waist as he whispers,

“You should be a condemned sin.”

You’re looking up at him confused, trying to register what he was saying. He watches you back, trying to get a read on you before he straightens, pulling from you.

“I hope you’re feeling better.” he croaks, backing away as he takes you in one last time before he turns on his heel. You stop him, your hand shooting for his arm. You walk around him, his hair covering his pinched eyes as you whisper,

“What do you mean by that Mitch?”

He doesn’t look at you as he manages out,

“I’ve drank too much. I shouldn’t…” he looks at you and groans. “You just, I should have asked you out and not have offered you a job.”

The words takes you off guard as he takes a deep sigh.

“You’re so goddamn sexy and smart and I felt terrible ruining your resumes,” he was referencing your encounter months ago. “That offering you a job was the best I could do. I thought you’d get burnt out and quit and then I could ask you out but you’re so damn good. So damn good at everything you do so I’ve been stuck pretending I don’t care when all I want is you.”

Your dumbstruck as he looks at you and groans, shrugging out of your embrace.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. We can leave, if you want.”

He’s looking past you and you’re trying to process it all.

He really did like you.

You grab his neck, drawing him down to you, your lips pressing against his. It catches him off guard for only a second before he’s registering your actions, his hands grabbing your hips as he pushes you flush against a wall. His kisses are needy and desperate as his tongue teases your mouth open and you are consumed by him. Your hands move to his hair, his beautiful dark tresses getting tangled in your delicate fingers as he moans in your mouth, pushing his hips into your naval.

You moan feeling his erection brush against you and he pulls away, his eyes frenzied with lust.

“Not here.” his voice is hoarse and deep as he grabs you and basically drags you into the family restroom you were seeking out earlier. He shuts the door, locking it before grabbing you and slamming you against the door. He lifts you, your long gown getting lost around him as your legs hooks around his waist and his mouth is on your collarbone, sucking on the skin.

“You are so damn gorgeous,” he mumbles along your skin, his mouth nipping at your neck. “Do you know that? Do you know that you’ve been driving me fucking insane in this dress” his hands trail up your gown, his hot fingers clashing with your cool thighs and his mouth has found yours. “Drove me insane the moment I picked you up and you were wearing this.” His hands ghost over your center and you give a small yelp, as he pulls back to look you in the eye.

“You’re not wearing any underwear.” he bites his lips as he glides his fingers up your wet folds and you shiver as you stumble out,

“I always run out of clean underwear and you came so early to pick me up I couldn’t go and buy a pair.”

His hands slowly traces up and down your pussy and he watches your face twist in pleasure.

“How many times have you worked with me without any panties on?”

“Honestly?” you bite down on your lip as his thumb slowly starts to tease against your clit and your hips rock against his finger. “Like most of the time. You don’t give me enough time to do my laundry.”

Your words are soft, barely coming in a whisper and he growls, sticking a finger into you as he begins his slow assault into your tight walls.

“You are so fucking wet,” he whispers as he looks at you, a wicked grin on his face. “Are you always this wet for me princess?”

You give a weak nod as he inserts another finger and you buck against him, your hands digging into his shoulders.

“I thought I smelled you the other week when we were at dinner.” You knew what he was referencing. He had taken you out for dinner after a long day at the office at a trendy sushi spot. He had been talking to you as his nimble fingers gracefully picked up one sushi after the other, the raw fish placed carefully in his mouth. You don’t know why it turned you on but it did. You wanted to know what those fingers would feel like in you, his mouth over yours.

Now you knew.

“Did I smell you princess?” he whispers a grin gracing his face and you give another weak nod and he growls, inserting a third finger in you. You arch your back against him, hands stuck in his hair as his mouth attacks your neck again.

“Tell me what had you so turned on so much?”

You give a weak mewl in silence and he pulls his fingers out, causing you to whine. He looks up at you with hooded eyes shaking his head.

“You have to use your words princess.”

“I was thinking about you finger fucking me.” you manage out, biting your lip as your cheeks flush over. He smiles as he sticks his fingers back in you, watching your face contort in pleasure again. His fingers curls up and hits you in that sweet spot and you feel your body tensing, clawing for release.

“Were you?”

You give a quick nod and he chuckles, his mouth getting close to your ear. His fingers are merciless know, pumping into you faster as his thumb brushes against your clit and you can feel that tension in your stomach build up.

“Wanna hear a secret princess?” he whispers against the shell of your ear and you hum, your body starting to give in to the pleasure he was delighting you to. “I’ve jacked off to you every night since I’ve met you, cumming all over my body from the thought of my dick being filled to the rim in you.”

That was all you needed. Between his fingers and the image of him jacking off to you your screaming his name, your fingers tangled in his hair as your walls flutter around his fingers. He groans, coaxing you through your climax as he watches you before he pulls from you, inserting all three of his fingers in his mouth. He gives a low moan as he sucks your essence off and pulls his fingers out with a pop before your leaning into him for a kiss.

He shifts, carrying you to the bathroom counter and slamming placing you down. He yanks at his suit, pulling down his pants and boxers as his cock springs free.

“Tonight I’ll make love to you the way you deserve,” he promises as he lines himself up at your entrance. “I’ll have you begging my name by the time I’m done with you but right now I just need you.”

His cock is teasing your folds as you look up at him, your eyes darkening as you thrust your hips forward. He stops you, something dark flickering in his eyes.

“What do you want princess?” he whispers and you moan as your hands pull at his shoulders.

“I want you.”

“You want me to what?” a satisfied smirk sits on his face and you rub your folds against his twitching cock.

“Want you to fuck me with your big fucking cock.”

He groans as he slowly thrusts into you, grabbing your hands and intertwining them with yours as he raises them above your head. His head falls in the crook of your neck as he bottoms out in you, his hair tickling your shoulders and you both give a satisfied moan. You rock your hips against him, enjoying the way he fills you to the brim and he moans as he pulls from you, his hips rocking out of you before slamming back in.

“Goddamn you are tight..” he whispers as he lifts himself enough to look at you, then his mouth is hot on yours as his body claims you.

His hips snap into you, desperately chasing after your orgasm before he lifts your leg and you’re getting hit in that special spot that has you screaming out his name.

“That’s right princess. Want you to cum all over my big cock.” he whispers, his hips in a frenzy as he watches you unwind underneath him. His finger finds your clit and flicks the sensitive area and you’re screaming his name again, your body shaking as you find sweet release. His hips are sloppily slapping against your as your walls tighten around before there milking him  his body shaking uncontrollably as your arms find your way around his body.

You wait a beat before saying,

“Soooo…I’m guessing I have to quit. This is the highest level of conflicted interest if I’ve ever known one.”

He chuckles, his face tucked in your shoulder before pulling away and kissing you.

“I don’t want you to quit.”

“Wouldn’t that be -”

“Unless you want to. You’re free to work in any of our departments. You’re way too good to be an assistant.” he’s rambling, something he does when he’s nervous and you chuckle, leaning up and kissing him. He relaxes as you pull away, his lips tugged between your teeth before you whisper.

“Let’s worry about it tomorrow. I should at least get a year under your belt before we talk about commitment.”

He chuckles, wiggling against you and there’s a soft knock on the door and you both freeze before you hear Scott’s voice.

“…….so uhhh, I don’t mean to interrupt you two but ummmm,” he clears his throat though you can hear the humour in his voice. “Your dad is looking for you Mitch. For a photo.”

Mitch groans and you laugh, giving a lock of his hair a tug.

“Give us a minute Scott. We need to….make ourselves decent.”

“Uh huh.” You know he’s smiling as he walks away and Mitch’s eyes are glinting at you mischievously.

“How long do you think he’s been standing out there hearing you scream out my name?”

“Mitch! That’s your best friend!” you say in mock surprise and he laughs, shaking his head.

“Scott’s always had a thing for you.” he nuzzles his face in your neck before muttering. “Besides I have another round in me.”

His shimmies his hips against yours and you gasp at his dick hardening in you.

You both make it out of the bathroom thirty minutes later.

[forfakingfairness]

Mitch Rapp + fire mood board

[sweetbunanarchy]

Day 4: Crush H-He’s got a few ;>w>

[iwritesinsnotstraightlines]

Icky Thump

Fandom: American Assassin (2017)

Rating: T (language, referenced violence)

Tags: hurt/comfort, injuries, Mitch Rapp Needs a Hug, I just wanted to give him some downtime lol, 1k words of Mitch just vibing

Read it on AO3:

Mitch winced, the expression pulling at the open cut across his cheek, sending a few drops of blood sliding down his face. He rolled his shoulders, muscles aching, and wiped at them, smearing red across his skin.

The bodies of several guards layed scattered around him, all of them dead. His knuckles- split open and bruised- ached, and he flexed his fingers a few times. It didn’t help.

Fishing his burner out of his pocket, he sighed, rubbing idly at his jaw. He’d taken a few more hits than usual, and it hurt.

Hurley picked up after the second ring, “Is it done?”

“The boss wasn’t here. It was a trap. He’s probably halfway across the world by now.” His voices sounded flat and tired even to his own ears.

Hurley cursed and barked something to someone, sending a crackle of static through the connection. Mitch made a face.

“There isn’t anything we can do for now. I’m sending you the address for where you’re staying. Ditch the phone you have-- there’ll be another there for you.”

“Yes, sir,” he said. “What about clean-up?”

“We’re sending a crew now. I want you gone when they get there.”

Mitch hummed an affirmation, already heading for the door.

“Oh, and Mitch?”

“Yeah?”

“Take a breather. I don’t want to have to haul you bloody corpse out of some hotel room because you don’t know when to fucking quit.”

He could feel the sardonic smile on his face- a little fond, a little exasperated- as he rolled his eyes and replied dutifully, “Yes, sir.”

Mitch pulled the hood of his sweatshirt on, ducking his head and taking the back way out of the building. He walked quickly to the car he’d been given for the mission, staying out of sight until he was in it.

He locked the doors and peered around into the back seat before sliding the hood off and away from his face and sagging as he started the engine.

People tended to question bloody, injured men.

Mitch hated questions.

He drove to the hotel in near silence, the drone of the radio fading into the background as a pounding migraine settled into his skull like the beat of a thrumming bass.

He hid his face again for the walk into the hotel, avoiding everyone’s gazes. Thankfully, no one tried to mess with him, and he was able to make the trip in peace, locking the door behind him and leaning on it heavily, letting his eyes close for a moment to breathe.

God, he hated walking into set-ups.

Mitch checked around the room first, making sure both doors- one for the hallway, and one for the balcony- were bolted shut before he actually let himself relax a little.

He hissed as he pulled his top off, blood sticking the fabric to his skin and making his wounds sting as he pulled it away.

He balled the shirt up and tossed it into the trash. He rifled through the duffel bag which had been left on the bed for him, easily finding the new burner and turning it on. He set it on the nightstand.

He found two changes of clothes and a small first aid kit, grumbling to himself when he realized they left him without a weapon.

Fucking suits.

Mitch snatched up the kit and took it to the bathroom with him, grimacing at how beat-up he looked.

His lip was split near the corner, leaving a trail of red down his chin. There was a bruise on his cheek that was already turning purple, and he could easily see the beginnings of a black eye. Various scrapes, nicks, and cuts marred his chest, cracking him like a broken mirror, leaving it a riot of color as swelling and bruising appeared under blood and sweat.

He showered first, ditching his clothes from the mission and throwing them away with what had been his shirt. He idly watched the rust-tinted water swirl down the drain, the heat and steam forcing tense muscles to give.

He washed up quickly once the water began to run clear rather than pink, eager to be able to actually sleep for the first time since he’d been assigned to this mission.

He dried off with one of the fluffy, white hotel towels because fuck it, he deserves nice things right now. He ruffled his hair dry, combing it away from his face with his fingers. It’d started growing out again since he last cut it, leaving it wavy and wild.

Mitch bandaged up what needed to be, taping gauze over a few slashes on his torso, and smoothing butterfly stitches over a cut on his eyebrow. He dressed when he was satisfied, thankful that they at least remembered to leave him something other than jeans and a sweater this time when he slid on sweatpants and a t-shirt.

He collapsed on the bed, groaning in exhaustion and burying his face in one of the several pillows. They were fluffy, but stiff, and he scowled at them- annoyed- and patted them into a better shape.

His phone buzzed.

He cracked an eye open, half-disbelieving, and waited until it went off again, sitting up and cursing everything.

A message from a number that wasn’t saved into the phone- probably Hurley- popped up.

‘Make sure to eat something. Don’t just pass out. There’s food and water in the mini-fridge.’

On second thought, it was probably Irene. Hurley didn’t normally care what he did in his downtime, but she tended to get snippy with him when he ‘wasn’t taking care of himself.’

Mitch huffed, setting the burner on back on the table. He rolled back over, pulling the blankets off.

He padded over to the small ‘kitchen’ area in the room, yanking open the door to the fridge. There were a few bottles of water, and some boxed-up takeout from a restaurant he didn’t know.

He heated up the food in the microwave, forcing himself to eat and drink slowly even though he didn’t want to. He drank another half-bottle for good measure, downing some of the over-the-counter painkillers he found with the clothes and the phone.

This time, he remembered to shut off the dull, yellow light of the lamp before he tumbled into bed, yanking the blankets over himself, and letting his eyes close.

Finding sleep wasn’t difficult, not this time.

[writingsbychlo]

rapp-ed around your heart (03)

word count; 14,820

summary; mitch has a few revelations about his life while going on a hike, and is realising that maybe there are still things he could enjoy in his life.

notes; after quite the slow burn, I think you’re all really going to enjoy this part. It’s just super sweet, actually.

warnings; none, pure fluff, as we know. 

The Pacific Region

There was a warm presence pressed up behind you, arms wrapped around your body tightly, and sleep was still holding onto you tightly, making you squirm a little as you tried to adjust yourself into the morning. The grip holding onto you only tightened, a groan sounding in your ear to replace the steady breaths that had been brushing over your skin, making you shiver a little as you came to your senses slightly more.

All at once, consciousness came crashing over you, the shocking realisation that you were in Los Angeles felt like a tidal wave, and you let out an excited gap, coming down to tap the hand with a vice grip on you excitedly, and he shifted his own hand, catching yours to still it and pressing it to the warmth of your stomach, and holding over the top of yours tightly.

“Mitch! We’re in LA!”

“You’ve had four more hours of sleep, let me have a little longer too.” He mumbled the words while shifting a little more, getting himself comfortable once again, pulling the covers back up to your chin as he snuggled into the heat. “Shh, sleep.”

“But we’re in Los Angeles! There’s so much to do!” Your words came out like a whine, and simply huffed into the back of your neck, ignoring your trying at temptation, and you switched your tactics, rolling over in his arms to stare up at the roof of the car above you. “What if I go out and get us some breakfast, you can stay here and sleep, and I’ll bring you something good back?”

He cracked an eye open this time, a yawn on his lips as he looked at you, you face tipping to the side to meet his gaze, brown irises swimming with tiredness, serenity, and some more flickers that you couldn’t quite decipher. “Wouldn’t be the same without you here. Can we just have a few more minutes?”

You nodded to him, his lips forming a sleepy smile as he leaned in, settling his head closer to you, resting his cheek on your pillow instead of his own as he tried to snooze once again. You tried your best to stay still, and you managed it for a good five minutes, maybe ten, but you were wide awake now, excitement filling your body at the prospects for the day, and the sun shining in through the tinted windows was casting a hazy glow over the space you occupied, making it hard for sleep to once again claim you, and so you couldn't stop it when the fidgeting took over.

You were playing with your fingers, or smoothing your hands over the blankets, readjusting the covers and messing with the random things you could reach, before he groaned loudly, mild irritation in his tone at the sounds and motions of your twitching. His entire body raised up, flattening himself over the top of you in a starfish motion to hold you still, and the round of laughter that left you as he did was beyond your control to contain. 

“Mitch!”

He hummed tiredly, letting his body slump even further against you, your breath forced from your lungs as you giggled, pushing at his shoulders and arms as you tried to roll him off of you, his chuckling joining your own as he shuffled, pinning you down as you gave in to his lazy assault. 

“Get off of me! You’re crushing me!” Your words he'd no head as you laughed with him, his body moving as he freed you, rolling away from you and onto his side, before dragging a hand over his face, and propping his head up on his elbow. You matched his pose, a grin on his face as you did, and he raised his brows.

“Fine, I’m awake. It better be a fucking great day that you have planned, though!”

“It will be, it’s going to be fun, I promise.” His smile was softer now, and he reached out to brush a finger through the stray hairs that had come free from your updo to sleep in, before pulling his hand back to himself, shrugging his free shoulder. 

“I know it will, this is a great trip.” You collapsed back against the pillows, feeling utterly accomplished as you heard the compliment for from his lips. “Now, I was promised a breakfast?” 

You rolled your eyes but smiled, searching around for a jumper to tug on over your head and your shoes, before crawling up front and finding your shoes, staring up the car as soon as he was in the passenger seat beside you. It didn’t take you long to find somewhere to grab a quick breakfast, and to find some toilets that you would be able to use to wash up and properly change in.

With a half-eaten McGriddle in hand, and two hash-browns already eaten, you were left acing one another, you sitting cross-legged in the driver’s seat as he sat twisted toward you with one leg pulled up in the passenger seat, eating happily as the sun rose across the sky in a destination of the other side, not quite yet at the middle, and leaving your plan as a blank slate ready to be built upon. 

“What if we go to some of the little markets? There are loads of street stalls, we coil do that?”

He shrugged a little at your suggestion, his mind wandering for a second, and while both of you had been filled with ideas and inspiration about what you wanted to do, you hadn't yet come up with anything conclusive. “What about that art museum?”

“You want to go to an art museum?” You giggled, his face screwing up a little as he took a bit out of his food, chewing with his mouth open and speaking through his food as he wiped at the sauce on his mouth with the back of his hand. 

“What’s that supposed to mean? You don’t think I’m classy enough for an art museum?” You shook your head, giggling a little at his words and fishing through the paper bag your food had been given to you in for a napkin, leaning across the centre console to wipe a blob of ketchup from his shirt.

“Probably shouldn’t go in with a stained shirt, though.” His cheeks heated up a little, and he looked down at himself, before seeming to get over it, licking at the place where another chunk of sauce was threatening to drop away, before digging back into the food. “So, markets, then the art museum, then?”

“Do you want to go out for dinner? Somewhere nice?”

“Like.. a dress up, look classy sort of place?” The hint was underlying, whether this dinner was something friendly or something more, the words unspoken in your question, but the twinkle in his eyes as he watched you told you he’d read between the lines, and he nodded slowly, his body tensing up a little as he shuffled uncomfortably in his seat, but he held strong. “I’d love that. I’m pretty sure I have a dress packed that could work for that.”

He let out a slow breath, finishing up his food and wiping his hands down on a napkin. “I’ll buy a shirt and tie while we’re out today.”

You grinned, finishing up the meal in your hands before cleaning up, searching around to find one of the wet wipes to get the sticky sauce from your fingers, and stretching yourself out a little. Pulling up some directions on your phone, you plugged it into the holder within your car, and one of the first songs to come up was a new addition made by Mitch, the man cheering loudly when he heard the opening notes, and you tipped your head towards him as you started the vehicle up, the tune shifting from the device speakers or h car speakers, and hi mood only brightened. 

It felt like you were on holiday with an entirely new man to the one you’d started the journey with. The moody, bitter and glum attitude and persona had melted away, being replaced with who you believed to be the real Mitch Rapp, someone who was bubbly, and warm, and a total sweetheart, once you managed to break your way past the military-defence level walls he had put up to protect himself. He was someone you were so glad you’d bothered to take the time to get to know, because with every day that passed by and every slight change the two of you made towards one another, every memory created and every photo taken, it only confirmed to you that this trip was now so much better with him accompanying you than it ever would have been alone.

You spent the rest of the morning and the early afternoon exploring the market places around you. Everything from the tourist traps to the genuine stalls, it was incredible. You picked up a disposable camera, swearing you’d get the photos developed when you got home, and took surprise photos of absolutely everything that you could. There were some that you were excited for, the ones taken as a selfie with the Hollywood sign in the background, and the ones of you both goofing off at the stalls. You bought funny sunglasses, yours in heart shapes with Mitch’s looking like pineapples. You had a new dress, one to wear for your dinner outing with Mitch tonight, a flowy and red floral sundress, and he had purchased a shirt he’d found while passing by the markets, one smart enough for the dinner you’d be having. 

Your location was chosen when the two of you had searched for places to visit, settling on going to ‘République’ for your dinner, not wanting to miss the incredible opportunity to dine in the beautiful building, and take in the atmosphere of the transformed old church. There was no chance you could miss it, and so it had seemed like an easy choice. 

You took every chance you had while you were out there, LA being one of your bigger stops, like Vegas had been, and like New York would be, your chance to live out your big city dreams before going home to where you truly belonged. You walked along Rodeo Drive, being able to clearly picture every scene within in from ‘Pretty Woman’, and much to your surprise, you found that Mitch had watched that too, his face dropping to look at the ground as he mumbled that he was actually quite a fan of rom-coms, and that his favourite was ‘Dirty Dancing’. His face had only grown redder as you cooed at him teasing him endlessly for his love of romantic comedies until the blush had traveled all the way down to his neck, before you’d finally taken pity on him, and given up on the teasing. 

His arm was around your wait, holding you into his side as you walked, a thumb tucked under the edge of your shirt to rub over your skin soothingly, and you didn’t hesitate to check in with him frequently, to ensure that he was doing okay in the crowds, and wasn’t becoming overwhelmed. 

When he had been a little frazzled, the two of you had opted to make your way over to the County Museum of Art, taking a quieter approach to the day, before it all became too much for him. You couldn't deny that as much as you love the hustle and bustle on the occasional trip, you couldn't do it personally, finding yourself becoming a little worn down by the constant activity, you were a born and raised countryside girl, Stan’s farm feeling more like home on any day than a studio apartment overlooking a city ever would. You were raised rolling around in dirt as you learned how to fight, and taking long hikes until your legs were numb and you could barely stand, just to see the beauty of nature, not taking ballet lessons and having private tutors and being groomed to take over a family business.

You wandered the building quietly, mumbling between yourselves as you investigated the art, and his hand had slipped down to find you own instead of being wrapped around your waist, your thumbs playing and rubbing together every so often as you walked, admiring the beauty of every piece you came across. The art museum had an entirely different vibe to the rest of the activities you’d done today, and it almost felt out of place, being a quiet place of serenity nestled in the middle of unending excitement, buzzing energy and thrill. Hollywood was the place dreams were supposed to come true, it was a live at every hour of the night and day with people waiting to break big, to achieve their hopes and dreams and to get the life they always wished for.

It was busy, and crowded, and full of life, and while you loved every bit of it, you sometimes needed a little peace and quiet. Mitch was seemingly more than happy to listen to you talk, giving a running commentary that wandered from the artwork to the other patrons looking around, everything from critiquing outfit choices to giving your opinion on the scenery and portraits you were seeing, adding his own words every so often, and humming along with you as you spoke. 

He was a man of few words, but his actions spoke volumes, the progress he’d made in his own self-healing simply from taking a timeout from the chaotic and destructive life he led in the rest of his life was showing in everything he did. He was someone entirely new, like a blossoming flower, everything that was buried deep down was bursting up and erupting like a volcano, and getting to watch him finally unfurl again to soak up the sunlight in a world that had otherwise been cold and stormy for him was something that brought you great pride. 

Upon finishing your journey around the art museum, and taking several photos while nobody was watching, the two of you joking around and interpreting the art as you saw fit, copying the poses modelled in some of them to take pictures that made you laugh until you were being glared at and squashed, before eventually decided you’d had your fill of pretending to be a modern and quirky artist in the making.

The walk back to the car was filled with soft joking around and teasing, changing into your new outfits ready for your dinner together, and as the sun began to lower across the other side of the middle pint, the mood between you both had managed to change as well. It was hazier, a little blurry and romantic, his hand finding yours the second you’d decided you were finished with getting ready, your hair styled up a little more than you usually did it, and some makeup adjusted on your features in what you felt was more appropriate for the evening. 

He looked smarter than you’d see him, the man mostly owning slightly torn or worn clothing, rips and faded patched, distressed fabrics from hours of being tossed around in training of recruits or working in the gym, and you were absolutely certain that one of the t-shirts he’d worn had a bullet hol in the side, but had neglected to comment on it. Now, though, he was wearing the best pair of skinny jeans he had, and he’d wiped the mud and sand off of his sneakers, shining them up as best he could to match the smart, pale grey shirt on his chest, the top few buttons undone a little in the still very warm heat of the day, and he gave you a nervous smile as you did a little twirl for him, showing the outfit off proudly. 

He kissed your forehead, and told you that he thought you looked lovely, before guiding you away in a small walk toward the restaurant, his arm gourd you tightly once again as you looked at the menu on your phone in advance, giving you both an idea of what you were getting into before you arrived and felt under a little pressure. He was left in charge of guiding you both along, ensuring you wouldn’t crash and bump into other people on the streets, as you read everything aloud to him, hearing him hum and mumble approvals or disapprovals over each one. 

You had been seated from the moment you had arrived, your table already being prepared for you, a lit candle sitting beside a basket of bread, and Mitch had opted for the gentlemanly route, pushing your chair under the table for you. He had been twitching a little sitting with his hands out atop the surface as he looked at you, and it wasn’t until after the drinks and food had been ordered that he had the guts to actually reach out and take your hand in his, shakily weaving his fingers with your own and letting himself relax when you squeezed his hand in return. 

It felt as though it should have been awkward, as though the new transition from one thing to another between you both should have something a little uncomfortable and jagged, and yet there was no silent lulls in conversation as the two of you chatted, and no anxious moments as you wondered whether or not it was going well because you could tell from the smile on his face and the warmth in your own cheeks that it was. 

You shared food, and laughter, and got a little bit tipsy, the two of you stumbling a little as you made your way back to the car, more than grateful you’d pulled and set up a temporary base locations of yourselves in somewhere that had several locations with bathroom and spaces for yourself to change in, before you were still feeling a little buzzed, trying to detangle your hair and wrangle it in to some kind of functional style to work with for the night coming up. 

The rest of the days light had dripped away from you both, the pastels and faded hues that made sunsets had passed while you were inside, and so you were determined to catch it tomorrow, because now you were left with pale pinks fading up into blue and black, leaving a glittering sky full of stars overhead a still busy city. 

The light was already on when you made it back to the car, finding Mitch simply laying across the back, the trunk open as he let as much cool air get in to surround you both as possible, the vehicle still a little warm and stuffy as the residual heat that had built up inside during the day still lingered in the fabric of the blankets and the seats. He spotted you as soon as you had seen him, his arms held out lazily as he waited for you, remaining in that position until you had tucked away your bag, sealing up the box on the top of the car and crawling up the mattress to sit beside him.

Supporting yourself against the back of one of the chairs, you plugged in your phone, and made sure his was hooked up as well, checking the battery on the large device for the next time you’d be in a hotel to charge it, but it seemed to be doing fine, and so you were more than happy to let that concern slip away. Instead of holding his arms out any longer, the man rolled over, cushioning his cheek on one of your thighs as his arms wrapped under your legs, and he huffed out a happy sigh as his eyes drifted closed. 

“Comfy?”

“Very.” He retorted, tiredness slipping into his voice a little more obviously now, the call of sleep beckoning him in, and the four less hours of slumber he’d had than you was beginning to make its presence well-known. “What we doin’ tomorrow?”

The light slur to his words made your heart swell, and you shrugged, dropping a hand down so that you could rub a hand over his back comfortingly, and he only squeezed himself tighter around you as he did, before shivering a little when a cold breeze swept through the cabin of the car, chilling you a tad as well. He released you when you shuffled, and you sealed the vehicle up tight, locking it for the night and flicking off the little but glaring light overhead, plunging you both into mild darkness, the street lights and stars never quite letting it turn to blind darkness, but it was more than enough for a yawn to tug at your own lips. When you returned, he was holding up the edge of the blanket for you, having found himself enough energy to get underneath them and get comfortable, leaving you to follow in his footsteps, your head meeting the pillow as exhaustion began to come knocking.

“Do you want to go to Venice Beach?”

You paused from the adjusting of the covers you had been doing, shock racing though you and sobering you up a little as you looked up at him, his own eyes already on you, face pure and blank of any discernible emotion, simply awaiting your response, brows a little raised to punctuate the question. “You don’t like the beach.”

“Yeah, but you do.”

He was actually offering you the chance to go to the beach; no argument, no fuss, simply the two of you going, and while you didn’t want to push him past his limits, you were hoping he would give you the chance to try and remake some of the bad memories he had, to take it and turn it to nostalgia as you taught him to once again love the things he’d grown to hate. “You’d really go to the beach for me?”

“I would definitely go to the beach with you, no complaints or anything.” You shuffled a little closer to him, and he lifted one arm up for you in offering, taking the subtle hint you had been laying down, and resting it across your body as you moved in closer to him, legs tangling together and breath washing over your face, the minty extract of his toothpaste sharp on the air, and you could feel the earth rolling off of his body and onto you. “Can we get ice cream, though? That’s my bargain.”

“We can get as much ice cream as you want.” You promised, watching as his lips flicked up at the corners when his eyes closed. 

“Awesome.”

You repeated the word back to him, the silence falling between you both one again, and you had almost drifted off. You were unsure of how it happened, or when, but absolutely everything was different now, not only between you and Mitch, but in your entire life. After only a few weeks with the man, someone you thought you were going to hate, you now found that you would struggle to let go of him should he reach the end of the trip and choose to walk away, should he snap back to his locked up self when he got home, and you could only hope that wouldn't be the case.

The filter you usually possessed towards stopping your private thoughts and feelings from just drifting from your mouth when they crossed your mind was now entirely gone, and so you couldn't be helped all that responsible for the words that came next. 

“I’m so happy you’re here.”

He froze for a minute, the fingers that had been trailing up and down your arm in slow drawings stilled, before he was moving again, his front almost meeting your own as his forehead pressed to yours, noses bumping a little, and he sniffled lightly, the noise lost between you both as you kept your eyes closed, but found his hand under the cover. He was more than eager to lace your fingers together, breathing out a sweet sigh. “I’m really happy to be here. With you, on this trip. Thank you for letting me join you, thank you for taking the risk of agreeing to let me tag along.”

“You are so worth the risk, Mitch Rapp.”

You were grinning at the shore, facing out onto the already busily crowding beach as you waited for Mitch, who you were absolutely certain as just delaying the trip, and taking a moment to himself in preparation insisting that he could pack the beach bag for you both of you wanted to go and watch the ocean, and have a little look out across the sand to see where you wanted to take a seat. 

You adjusted the top one again, feeling the slight chill from the lightweight cotton thrown over the top of your bikini, still waiting for the sun to really heat up, the cool breeze rolling in with every wave that crashed to the shore was making you sigh slightly, rolling on the balls of your feet. Glancing back over the vehicle, you pushed your sunglasses up into your hair instead of being sat on the tip of your nose, finding the man you were waiting for digging through the bag once again, and you decided to take things into your own hands. 

You paced back over, standing by his side as he paused his rifling, looking up at you as you played it all off, and he turned his body towards you.

“I’m pretty sure we have everything we need.”

You hummed, before wrapping your arms around his waist, leaning into his body a little and looking up at him as he swallowed thickly, the smile on his face faltering a little. “We don’t have to go to the beach if you don’t want to. We can do anything today.”

“No, we are going to the beach.” He insisted, stepping away from the car and pulling you with him, closing the trunk after securing the bag on his shoulder. You dropped your arms from around him, pressing into his side as he tucked you under his own arm, and held you close to himself. “Did you choose where you want to sit?”

“Yes! Sort of. I have options.” He raised his brows at you, letting you guide the two of you along, your feet meeting the sand and you sunk between the grains a little bit, and you raised a hand to lace your fingers with his own from where they hung over your shoulder. “I was thinking we could sit half-way between the car and the sea, because I know you’ll want to still be able to see me if I go swimming, but then you can still see the car too. There’s no umbrellas though, the shade is all the way over there.” 

You paused, glancing between both locations, and he nibbled on his lower lip for a moment, considering both options. “How about the shade, and then when you want to swim, I’ll just move further down the beach.”

He trailed after you and over towards the place you wanted to be, the two of you setting up your towels in the cooler sand, and you placed your hands on you hips, looking around in satisfaction as you took in the atmosphere You loved the beach, the sounds, the sights, the warmth, it had always been something relaxing that you’d loved, and you were so happy that you had the opportunity to try and bring some good beach-themed memories back to him.

“Take a picture with me? I want one with us under the palm trees.” 

“Yeah!” You took the phone from him, holding it up over your heads to try and find some good lighting, waiting until you found a spot where the sun was just filtering to the leaves but didn't glare in either of your eyes or across the screen, and you adjusted the camera in your hands. You snapped the first one of the two of you smiling, and the second one was a little bit crazier, you were leaning up so more, pressing your face into the side of his and making both of your hair stand up, before his hand found you face, he held you cheek tightly, pressing his lips to the other, and one entire side of you face was scrunched up, the other smushed by his palm, but there was still a smile on your lips in the photo and so you couldn't help but love it. 

After stripping off your shirt and your shorts, you were left in your bikini and your flip flops, rubbing suncream into your skin as grains of sand already began to stick to your skin, but you had to do it, to make sure you were well-protected and weren’t going to get burned. He was a little more hesitant, before stripping the shirt he wore over his head, rubbing in sunscreen carefully, and palming at the scar on his shoulder. You knelt down behind him, plucking the bottle from his hands and rubbing the cream slowly into his back from him, watching as he relaxed under your touch, your fingers brushing over the scar carefully, thumb pressing into it as you tried to soothe him, before hooking your chin onto his shoulder. 

“Seriously, we can go if it’s too much.”

He twisted his head as far to the side as he could, shaking his head a little and reaching up to place a hand over your own. “Come sit in front of me, let me do your back for you, and then you can lean on me.” You moved in front of him, doing as told as his large hands smoothed over your skin gently, before letting you lean back into him, his arms supporting you both a your back pressed to his chest, the two of you staring out across the beach, and chatting the morning away as the temperature rose up and up.

 You sunbathed, and relaxed onto the sands, and you soaked up the afternoon’s heat, before simply sitting still and shifting periodically to keep your tans even became a little too sticky and uncomfortable, the heat making you feel like you needed or be up and doing something, and so you had packed up your things and taken them back to the car, going for a walk to find some ice cream to cool down with, as you had promised him you would, and choosing to wander around for a little while. 

You managed to persuade him back into a walk along the beach, even getting him as far down as the waters, edge, his face pale and eyes wide as he stared out at the sea, the waves lapping at his toes and his hand wrapped so tightly around your own that you thought he may actually break it, before he’d nodded to you, taking a step in deeper, and another, and another, until the water was reaching mid calf on both of you, and you were left walking through the gentle ripples of water, and he had eventually relaxed. Enough that you’d been able to chat, and even snap a few more pictures, walking almost two full miles, until you ran out of space, beginning to lose sight of the main beach, and turning to make your way back. 

The temperature was beginning to cool down once again, and he set up the towel for you both, a few metres away from the water as you continued to splash around and paddle, poking at shells and rocks under the water with the tips of your toes, occasionally picking some up and showing them to him, before throwing them out into the ocean as far as you could get them. 

You even had a little collection in your hands, ones you particularly adored, and you knelt before him when you were finished, the ends of you hair dripping wet and drips of water still running along you skin from where you’d risked walking in a little further, until the water had been lapping around your neck, your giggles visible to him you were sure, though there was no chance he’d be able to hear them. Sitting with your legs folded beneath you in the sand, you showed off each one to him, a random assortment of coloured rocks, slightly cracked shells, and brightly rolled pieces of smooth sea glass, choosing out a couple of pieces and discarding the rest onto the sand, brushing them off and putting them in you bag, before picking the grains out from under your nails. 

It took you a while to wash up, your skin beginning to itch and feel dry from the salt of the sea, but you had eventually found somewhere, grabbing a spare change of clothes and scrubbing yourselves down, refreshing yourself for the evening and the night, and leaving your wet clothes out on the top of the car to dry, the metal still warm to the touch as the breeze helped to dry them leaving them where they were as you chose to take a walk along to Santa Monica Pier. 

You shopped for trinkets in the ‘End of the Trail’ shop, despite the fact that you hadn’t actually been driving along Route 66, the two of you still bought plenty of little trinkets, enjoying looking round the shop and checking it all out. You also took a moment to explore the Oatman Rockshop, the 60’s theme bringing the both of you a weird kind of peace, searching through everything picking out one thing each, as well as something for your uncle, until you each held a gift bag from both shops, an the pier was beginning to close up as the hour approached eight o’clock, already. Street performers were doing their final shows, trying to make any last tips for the night, and you tried to make sure you tipped every single one that you passed, dishing out your change until you had no spare coins left to give, and moving on to grabbing some food.

With some fried food in hand, you dropped off your bags and swiped your dried clothes into the vehicle, before setting off back down onto the now cold beach. You sat down, watching the sunset and seeing the colours paint the horizon, glittering over the calm waters in a way that was so ethereal it never failed to take your breath away, something about the sun setting feeling like a reset button for you each time, something about it taking all your fears and worries away, every anxiety you had, until you were left in serene quiet, even if only for a few minutes. 

You stuffed the wrapped into your bag, hauling it up your shoulder and standing once it was beginning to get dark, the sun having disappeared, dragging it’s few rays away with itself quickly, and the night was setting in. Everything around you was lit up with beautiful and twinkling lights, and you were turning back towards the car when fingers ran down the inside of you arm, making you shiver a little before you were uncurling you fingers and letting him slide his between you own, grasping onto him tightly once his hand was slotted against yours.

“Let’s just walk for a little bit.”

“What if we get cold?”

He bumped the edge of his nose against your temple with a soft laugh, before pulling you tightly into his arms, running his hands along your back. “Are you cold?” You shook your head. “Then if you do get cold, I’ll keep you warm. Just a little walk, to the sea and back. I’m not ready to sleep yet.”

You gave in, your hands bumping against your thigh occasionally as you took a longer and diagonal path towards the ocean once again, the peace he held now that the beach was empty, just the two of you in sight, having conquered his fear, and he seemed almost ecstatic to once again be at the water's edge once again. The same anxiety he’d had all through the day was melting away from him, and you pressed into his shoulder as you went, his arm looping over you to hold you close, and he brushed a kiss across your head. 

“What are you thinking about?”

“Nothin’. Just being happy.” You muttered, coming to a stop when he did, and turning to look up at him, his brows furrowed as he tried to find the words, licking at his lips and huffing when he couldn’t quite seem to get it. Reaching a hand up, you squeezed at his arm, before moving over his shoulder and onto his neck, the man raising his gaze to look at you carefully, his stare so deep and intense that you felt like he was peering right into your soul. “What’s wrong?”

“I feel like I don’t deserve good things. I’ve done bad things, even though I was trying to do what was right.” He stepped in a little closer, and you got the sense he wasn’t finished, that the confusing sentences were leading up to something else, your breath hitching a little when he continued on; “You’re a really good thing.”

“What are you saying, Mitch?”

“I want you but I don’t think I deserve to have you.” He mumbled, his eyes searching your own, and you sighed softly, leaning in to press your forehead against his. 

“I think you deserve so much more than you have, Mitch. I think you’re a good person, and you just won’t let yourself see it.” His eyes fluttered shut, lips rolling together as he contemplated your words, before he was twisting his head, bumping his nose against your own as your lips brushed together. Letting your bag fall away to the floor so that you could loop your arms around his neck, you didn’t care about the belongings that you heard scatter into the sand, or about the dust that would get into your stuff, you only cared about the way it felt when his calloused hands smoothed over your body to sit low on your back, and the sweet taste of sugar on his breath from the fresh donuts that two of you had snacked on.

His lips brushed over yours, your tongue peeking out instinctually to wet them as you prayed your lips, the seconds gap between now and when his mouth would close over yours. A slow breath, the drag of your mouths together as they fluttered across one another, not quite a kiss yet, teasing and playful, his fingers digging into your lower back a little more as he pushed you in closer to him, until there was no more space between you, and everything was flush together, waiting for the connection of your lips.

He pressed a kiss to the edge of your mouth, a small smile taking up on your face when he did, and you held your breath in anticipation. 

You jumped in pure shock and a little horror though, when you felt something brush against your ankle the rustling of the items at your feet, and Mitch spun you around protectively, both of you looking back as a seagull squawked, wrestling with one of the paper bags to get to the left over pastry inside, another descending to get at it too, and they wrestled for it. As the adrenaline slipped away, your fingers untangled from the grip you had on his shirt, and yet he kept you held justa s lose, his face flared up red in embarrassment but you couldn't hold back your laughs, burying your face into his neck as the humour of the moment took you over.

“I can’t believe that just happened.” You whispered between laughs, reaching down to scare them away, before grabbing at your items as he helped, dusting them off and packing the bag, before putting it back on your shoulder. 

“Fucking seagulls.” 

The words only made you laugh more, but he seemed happy with your response, rolling his eyes fondly and guiding you back towards the car, but not before you were taking a fistful of his shirt again and pulling him to a stop. Leaning up, you placed a long kiss to his cheek, dragging your lips over his skin until you were almost at his mouth, before sinking back down to your heights she stared at you. “We won’t be interrupted next time, it’ll be perfect, I promise.”

He nodded, taking your hand and pulling you in close, until he could wrap an arm around your lower waist. “Wanna’ drive around LA in the dark for a bit?”

“That sounds like an amazing idea.”

It was only a short walk back to the car, shorting yourselves out comfortably and getting strapped in, playing rock-paper-scissors for who would drive, to which you lost, finding yourself behind the wheel first. Clambering into the car, you settled yourself into the seat, adjusting it from the distance that changed when Mitch drove, his longer legs forcing the seat further back, and he grabbed a jumper, settling himself into the passenger seat and turning the heat up a little. 

The night lights round Los Angeles flashed by, giving you more than enough aesthetic pictures than you knew what to do with, you could plaster your walls at home with a new picture every time and probably still fill at least two rooms. You even forced him to stop at one point, and to take a picture of you sitting on the top of the car, your body a silhouette against the twinkling back drop. 

Following that decision, the two of you had decided to do the drive up to San Francisco before the sun rose, the sunset inspiring you to stay up and watch a sunrise too, and so you were determined to find yourselves parked up beside the Golden Gate Bridge before the sun peaked back up over the horizon. Neither of you were all that tired, but you pumped yourselves up with coffee anyway, grabbing some sugary snacks to eat as you went along on the road, having him feed you candy and hold up chocolate bars to your face as the two of you drove along, swapping a couple of hours in. 

Loud music turned up high, singing at the top of your lungs together into the cold night air with the windows rolled down, only the moons and stars as your witnesses, and the two of you couldn't have been happier. You rarely ever actually crossed another car, your headlights being the only ones to light up the roads as you went along, before finally you were crossing the signs letting you know you were now entering San Francisco, loud cheers from you both and high fives being shared. 

By the time you were pulling up to the bridge, the sun rays were just beginning to creep back into the night sky, preparing to welcome in another day, a few minutes to spare as you jumped up and out of the car. You were dragging him out of his seat before he’d even properly turned off the car, having to pull you to a halt just to be able to disentangle the keys from the ignition, closing the door to keep the warmth in as the car sat nestled under some trees to keep it dark once the sun came up. Both of your hands were wrapped tightly around one of his, pulling him with you watch out tightly over the bridge, and his thumb smoothed over your skin as you waited. 

“You’re practically buzzing.” He mumbled, and you shoved his arm lightly, but kept him close, tilting your face up towards him as he pressed his lips to your cheek in a sweet kiss. 

“I’m excited!”

“You’re fucking adorable is what you are.” He whispered, and you turned your head towards him, rubbing the tips of your noses together, and he sighed out happily against you, letting you twist in his arms until you were facing him entirely, and you stepped in closer, pressing yourself up to him once again and letting his arms encase you, feeling him wrapped around every single part of you as you existed in this moment. “You’re going to miss it.”

Your head turned away from him, watching out as golden light began to spill across the horizon in puddles or warmth and bright joy, spilling out over the land and switching the faint darkness to pretty early morning light, your breath catching in your throat as you watched it. Large hands were soothing up and down over you back, and you tightened your own around him, pulling yourself in as close to him as you could possibly get, and feeling his heart thudding against his chest, slow and steady, yet strong as it worked, and you were sure he could feel yours too. 

Resting your cheek to his shoulder, he tucked his chin atop your head, and you pressed in a little deeper, suppressing the yawn that you were wanting to release. At this moment, you knew you’d never been happier, not a care in the world as you watched the sun rise up and back into the sky once again. You were on the drip you had always dreamed of going on, and you had some company in unexpected ways, and yet you realised your heart felt full, being able to share everything with someone else, someone whom you hoped would be around with you for a long time.

“It’s so pretty.”

He didn’t give you a verbal reply, his chest rumbling with his acknowledgement though, a sound you knew to be in agreement, and you twisted your head up, pressing your lips to where you could reach, the underside of his jaw and the edge of his cheek. When the sun had finally moved up above the boundary where the sky met the land entirely, you pulled back to look at him, his arms loosening a little around you.

You shook off another yawn, keeping your lips sealed closed but not missing the chuckle he let out as he pushed some hair back and out of your face. As you watched warm honey-coloured eyes twinkle in the early morning light, you could finally read what that look in his eyes was. It was vulnerability, letting his walls down when he looked at you, when he was around you, risking letting someone else in when he was so nervous to even allow himself to grow close to someone else again.

“You’re tired. Let’s get you to bed, sweetheart.”

“Yeah, okay.” You whispered, a hand finding his cheek as you watched him, before giving up on everything else within you, and pulling his face down to meet your own. His lips were soft and yet a little chapped, slightly raw from all the anxious biting he did on them but he pressed back onto you just as powerfully upon realising what was happening. A breathy noise left him, his mouth moving fluidly over your own as his hands tightening infinitely on your body, and you gasped a little into his mouth. 

He dipped you back a little, leaning over you as your hands cupped his face, fingers pressing into his cheeks and jaw as you clung to him, and you pulled back for a gasping breath, before diving into his mouth once again. He was just as eager to meet you, this one no longer the needy and hurried kiss that your first had been, but a longer and more sensual kiss. 

This one was teasing drags of lips and flicks of tongues that never went further, it was bumps of noses and needy whines that only made the two of you shift and pull closer, your hands in his hair, and you were smiling into his mouth. When he finally pulled back, your skin was stinging a little from rubbing against the rough stubble lining his cheeks, and your lips were swollen and raw from the kisses, but you loved every second of it as you panted for breath.

“Woah.” You grinned at his words, pecking his lips once again as he happily returned it, and he nuzzled his nose against your cheek. “I forgot how exhilarating first kisses could be.”

“Nah, that’s just me.”

He rolled his eyes fondly, before dipping down to steal another kiss from you. “Maybe so, but it was still a pretty epic first kiss, right?”

“Oh, definitely.” He nodded, before navigating you back to the car, helping you up and into the back. You didn’t even bother to get out of your clothes, simply kicking off your shoes and running a makeup wipe across your skin, before finally getting comfortable on the mattress and settling under the covers. He followed afterwards, his body becoming one with your own as his legs tangled with you won and your arms wrapped up together. 

“I can’t believe it's only been three weeks, and you've changed my life so radically that I have no idea how to go back to who I was being before.” You looked up at him, urging him to continue on, but not without lifting a hand to settle over his chest, feeling his puff up underneath you as he pressed into your touch. “I never thought about travelling before. I had so many plans, I wanted that perfect job and big career and deluxe apartment, and when I was with Katrina, that seemed like the perfect plan. But now I know what I would have been missing out on, and while I was in pain for a long time, I kinda’ feel like this was the path I was always supposed to be on.”

“That’s so poetic.” You whispered, and he chuckled, nodding his head and simply setting into quiet beside you. Nothing else needed to be said, it wasn’t a conversation, it was simply a statement, and not one that needed anything else to be returned, he just wanted it to be put out there, for you to hear it and to know. 

With fingers on your chin, he pulled your lips up to his, something along the lines of contentment sounding in the back of his throat, before he was pulling back. “Goodnight, sweetheart.”

You grinned, rolling him over a little and hitching one leg up and around his waist, resting your head on his shoulder as he crooked his arm, running his fingers through your hair gently, the other hand closing over your knee and squeezing tightly. 

After your moment atop the hill overlooking the bridge, the two of you had gone on almost exactly the same as you had before, the only difference being that of the kisses he would occasionally press to your lips as a surprise. He was affectionate, and attentive, and you felt like you were gaining a little more information on the man you were with every single time you spoke. 

Opening himself back up to the world somehow seems like a troubling task for him, and yet he was doing it so seamlessly that you’d think he’d never had an issue in the first place. The end of the week was spent in San Francisco, the two of you sleeping in late thanks to such a late night, and spending almost an hour deliberating over what you wanted to do. When it was settled, however, it was on spending the remainder of the day at the Golden Gate Park, a picnic in hand with bits you’d bought from a local sandwich shop and a blanket pulled out from the back of the car. 

His insistence was that it would be romantic, and that after the kiss you had shared, a romantic date was in order, but it had ended up being so much more. You had started the day with trailing through Walmart, a cart in hand and a lot of unusual looks being thrown your way as the two of you constructed what was possibly the most unusual collection of belongings in the cart that existed. You had drinks for your picnic, as well as an absurd amount of dried snacks and bottled drinks, and then came the oddities. 

Period pads, a starling amount of batteries, almost half of the shelf of hand sanitiser, antibacterial wipes and cotton pads, and you were certain people were beginning to wonder if you were hoarding for an apocalypse. You didn’t bother with bags, knowing it all had a storage place in the vehicle anyway, and so you opted instead to simply spend a little while unpacking it into the back, with you sitting cross-legged on the mattress, and doing the best to catch all the items that were thrown at you in high speeds. You caught at least the first ten, maybe even fifteen, before they were beginning to pile up, and you had laid back in the bedding, giggling as he continued to stack them up atop you, leaving you buried under the pile of groceries until the cart was empty, and you were left to be uncovered as he swept them aside. 

Sorting them through from the box atop the car, the glove box, the back of seat pockets and all of the little storage bins you had in the back of the car, and getting yourselves set, leaving a lot of snacks and drinks for yourselves in the front seat for when you got on the road later. You had a long drive ahead of you in the night, but the sun was still shining, and so you took your sandwiches and your blanket, and headed down to your next location. 

The trip through the park had begun with his hand nervously wrapped around yours, and a chance to stop for several photos along the way, before pausing at each small but beautiful attraction. You walked around the chain of lakes one time, and then looped halfway around again to find somewhere to settle down. 

You laid out the blanket, pinning it down at the corners with your shoes and the basket, before you were laying out across it. His shadow fell over you, and you were left to look up at him as he sat beside you, blowing a piece of hair out of your face. He grinned, leaning down to place a nervous but endearing kiss to your lips, before sitting back up and turning towards the basket to hide the dopey grin on his face, that he wasn’t quite fast enough to cover from you. 

“Food now, or sunbathing first?”

“Food. Gimme’ my sandwich.” You made grabby hands, and he linked one of his with your own, lifting you up to sit beside him. Your sandwich was passed to you, your shoulder’s bumping as you did, and the two of you stared out across the lake, watching as ducks swam and wandered around the outside, throwing in bits of grapes and seeds for them whenever they swam close. You had some more of the snacks from the car to fill you up, this being what would turn out to be the only meal the two of you had today, and so you are more than eager to fill up on it. 

There was a tray of cupcakes to follow, four different flavours, two each, ones that you’d picked out from the glass casing of pretty swirls of icing and toppings of glitter in the baked good section while your sandwiches were being prepared. There was a mixture of dark chocolate and coffee overwhelming your taste buds right now, a simple vanilla icing to tone it back down, and it was like heaven in a cake wrapper, your eyes drifting closed for a second. 

“I want to move here, so I can eat this exact type of cupcake for the rest of myself.”

“That good, huh?” Mitch glanced at you from the corner of his eye, a glint crossing his features, and he took a sip of his drink, brows raised in questioning, and you took another large bite. 

“Wan’ try some?” You tried not to let crumbs fall from your mouth as you spoke through the bite, swallowing your mouthful as you held it up to him, and he nodded his head. 

“Would love to.” He leaned down, and you held it up to his face, but he bypassed the sweet treat entirely. His tongue trailed along the bottom of your lip, swiping up icing that had gotten smeared there, before his lips were encasing yours, and you squeaked at the feeling. 

This kiss was different, all your others had been shy and nervous, and yet he seemed more confident this time around. His mouth teased over yours as his hand came up, holding your jaw firmly, and you trembled a little under his hold as his tongue dipped out to trace the seam of your lips, tempting you to pry them open for him, and you couldn't resist. There was still a caramel taste lingering in his mouth from the salted caramel and fudge flavoured treat that he’d been enjoying himself, and you felt your entire body sag underneath him at the slow drag of your tongues together. 

He grinned, not missing the whine you let out, his lips twisting up a little from where they were pressed to yours, and he put a little more effort into the kiss. The glide of tongues and lips, the way he seemed to suck the air out of your lungs, pulling back for only a second to catch his breath before diving back into you, and the subtle grazes of teeth over soft flesh, you felt like your heart was about to burst right out of you chest as your mind spun. He finally pulled back, nibbling a little on your lower lip and leaving you breathless as he settled back into his own place. “You’re right, that is good.”

“That was so smooth.” 

Your words came out like a whisper on a hoarse through, and he snickered to himself at the mess you’d become, before he was offering you a sip of your drink and a lazy wink to go with it, flustered heat flashing up across your face. 

You got a few more kisses throughout your picnic, and several more as you went back to the car, but once the heat began to fade, and the eight-hour drive to Portland was hanging over your head, you were soon to get on the road and towards the highway. You were only one day into whatever it was that you were becoming with Mitch, but it was already making you feel like this trip was going to become a whole new set of memories than what you’d thought it would be. 

On your third hour of driving, swapping over to place you in the driver’s seat, Mitch had reached a hand out, cautious at first, as to where the limits lay and what he was allowed to do, brushing the back of his knuckles along your thighs while you were talking. He continued to place patterns into your skin, your lips forming something between a smile and smirk as you watched him but didn’t say anything, letting him take his time. 

He finally worked his nerve up, settling his hand flat over your skin, and squeezing gently, pausing in what he was saying to look at you and make sure it was okay, and you took a hand from the wheel, placing it over his and holding him there, letting him know that it was okay. He was reserved and shy, and while everything on the outside of him exuded collected and confidence, a stone wall with no cracks, inside he was simply full of brightness and warmth, soft and unsure and just trying to work out exactly who he was once again, now that his world had flipped him upside down and left him with no other choices.

He was set on a certain path, and it was a job that brought him satisfaction, to protect and defend and to save lives, and while it was hard on him - both physically and mentally - it also brought with it a kind of gratitude that he had for himself, an appreciation that he’d picked up on his life and moved on, despite what had happened, and you could certainly respect that. Around the sixth hour, you swapped back over, a final few hours drive as you crawled into the passenger seat, googling places that the two of you would be able to stop at, and his hand found your thigh once again. 

There was a truck stop that left you just an hour or so outside of the city, and it seemed better than nothing, having a few small diners and cafés around it that you would be able to use for breakfast in the morning, but it left you with no place to wash up. Teeth were cleaned with bottles of water on the side of the parking space and your face was scrubbed with makeup wipes, dumping all of the waste into a trashcan, and taking turners to change in the back. 

The heaters left the car heated, but not warm enough for a comfortable level of sleep, having kept the A/C going too to ensure you didn’t get sleepy behind the wheel, and while you knew that the car would inevitably warm back up in a few minutes now that it was sealed up tight and secure, you weren’t going to pass up the opportunity to cuddle up close to the man you found yourself beginning to care deeply for. 

His arms were held out wide for you, and you lifted the blankets, settling against his chest and ignoring the flicker in your chest when his arms sealed you up tightly, one hand weaving into your hair and stroking over his softly, his lips brushing your forehead, and the other drawing unintelligible patterns over the shirt on your back.

The next three days seemed to fly past you in some kind of a blur, everything up to Seattle just tickling on by like a flash, a dream that you wake up from a little too early leaving you wondering what happened before you raised you’ve overslept, and have to rush away from it all. 

In Portland, the two of you took time out from your busy tour to go and see the Lan Su Chinese Botanical Garden. It was full of beautiful culture and tranquillity, soft music and the sounds of the little waterfalls and fountains, the smells of all the different flowers in the air being like that of a floral burst, and you felt as though stepping through that gates had taken you to a whole new place. It was incredible, and soothing, and you felt like a weight had been lifted off of your shoulders simply by being there. You didn’t let go of Mitch’s hand once, letting him guide you through as you inspected every piece of architecture and decoration as you went, stopping to take photos with everything that you could. 

There was a cosy little spot that you discovered not too far from it for your lunch too, the day flying you by before you’d even realised it, the afternoon already having been rolling around, and so your sightseeing around the large city had come next. You held onto Mitch the entire time, sensing when he was becoming overwhelmed by the crowds and loud noise, despite the fact that he refused to voice it, and you hadn't missed the way that the posters for the exhibit of an old war submarine had caught his eye. 

You went, and you looked around and learned, and he seemed to be truly in his element then, soaking up every single piece of information he could, poking at things as you went around and telling you excitedly about all the different things. You couldn't care less about submarines, but with the way his face lit up and the passion in his voice as he explained all the indifferent workings and machines or you, it would be hard for anyone not to give him their full attention, your cheeks aching from how much you smiled while simply listening to him talk. 

You had a few more things to get ready for sending home, and so you stopped off to grab shipping labels and boxes at a crafts store you had passed, the two of you making sure you’d checked off everything for Portland from your mental bucket lists. With supplies in the back and your playlist ready to go, the two of you were sitting at the front of the car, your map out as you carefully turned dots along the road into crosses with a sharpie pen, mapping out your progress so far, and trying to come up with ideas for what you wanted to do with the beginning half of your day tomorrow, before driving some of the distance up to Seattle. 

You had settled on the dam, knowing that you had some of the drive to do anyway, and so you could travel towards it and your next destination once you were on the road. That night was spent boxing up your trinkets and labelling them, getting distracted each time you felt his eyes lingering on you for too long, or each time he looked so incredible while doing the simplest of tasks, like writing an address on a parcel, and it often ended with delicate kisses being shared that took you away from the task at hand. You eventually finished your work, and went to bed, with stinging lips and wide smiles. 

Your first job on your second day had been to deliver the mail, stopping by in the post office at a machine that printed pictures from your phone into postcards, and you selected a couple of the pictures from your camera roll, before settling on one of the one’s you’d taken at the beach in California, pushing a note into the machine and printing it off, scribbling a quick note onto the paper, before taking that away to be delivered too. It didn’t take long to reach the Bonneville Dam, and you could hear the roaring floods of water as soon as you stepped out of the car. 

It was misty in the air, leaving your clothes and skin slightly damp, from the water that had been thrown up, and the two of you had tried to make wishes on the water. You didn’t want to throw in coins, and so instead you each found twigs that had fallen to the ground from the trees lining the fences, chucking them in and mentally projecting your desires, watching as they disappeared into the water and were carried away quickly by the rapidly moving flow. You could walk along the full length, from the higher grounds with calmer moving waters, to places lower down where the water was crashing and creating noise, spraying up in your faces if you got too close, and you were sure you were going to have to change clothes once you got back to the car, just to be comfortable for the trip you had ahead.

Once you were finished looking out over the water itself and wandering up and down, you had moved onto the ‘fish hatchery’ next door, the serene ambience inside making you relax once again. Ponds and little waterfalls field with pretty fishes of all different colours, ranging from trout, to salmon, to sturgeon. 

It felt like the fish section of the pet store, quieter than all other areas, lit up with bubbling tans and decorations, as well as lights that complemented the shine on each fish, the silent swish of them within their waters, and it was like a kind of therapy, numbing you both into nothing but harmony.

There were several footpaths that you could take, a bag of fish food in your hand that was to share between you both, handfuls of the pellets and flakes being sprinkled into the water, watching as they came up to the surface to nibble on their meal, and you repeated the process at every tank you passed by, until the bag was empty, and you were certain you had seen every single one. 

You had reached Seattle by the late evening, grabbing a drive-thru dinner once again, this time from In-N-Out, sitting on the hood of the car, the recently turned off engine under the metal keeping you both warm, and you’d already changed into your pyjamas. You had found somewhere to actually be able to shower, taking a long steam under the hot water, scrubbing yourself down from head to toe until you felt fresh again, and it left you able to sit up atop the car with your burger and fries, feeling refreshed as you looked toward your next day. 

The secret TV nerd buried deep within him had suggested the two of you checked out the ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ filming locations, before revealing that he loved medical dramas even more than romantic comedies, and had pretty much seen everything that had come out before a couple of years ago, and you promised to catch up with him on everything he’s missed since joining the Orion team as soon as you got home. That particular suggestion had earned you some kisses, the taste of ketchup on his mouth and the slight sting of salt on his lips, but you revelled in it nonetheless, leaning into it and kissing him back just as firmly. 

When you had imagined how your adventure would go, it never included sitting on the hood of your car and staring out at neon diner signs with greasy takeout food and sweet kisses, but you wouldn't change it for the world, every part of it only seeming to for perfectly into the memories you would never forget. The night had ended with a walk around the edge of the woods surrounding the driver’s spot that you’d pulled up to, staring up at the moon and stars until the cold had become too much, and you’d crashed in a heap of blankets and woven limbs.

The next day you did exactly as he had suggested, and the morning had consisted of taking a while to even find some of the filming locations. You drove around, and stopped for gas, getting out to take a quick look around the front of the hospital, which had deteriorated into a discussion that lasted for over an hour as you sat outside of the building with hot drinks in hand and discussed your favourite episodes. 

The two of you even took a little Ferryboat journey out to Lopez Island, taking pictures on the water and doing a little shopping around there. You bought souvenirs and keychains, and grabbed some snacks to take back with you, before the light was beginning to fade, and you still had the drive to do to the base of the trails on Washington State Mountain. 

That is exactly what led you to where you were now, sitting in the car and preparing yourself for bed, both of you searching through the box above the car to find your best clothes for a hike on Mount Rainier, and setting them out ready for yourselves. You also pre-packed your backpack with all the foods you would be eating for your lunch, as well as any necessities you may need for the trip, leaving in on the front sea with your best walking shoes, and waiting for Mitch to finish up as you played with the blankets. 

He was ready not long after you, locking up the car, and flopping his body down, held by your side and half on top of you, muffling your complaints and giggles about being crushed with some simple goodnight kisses, mumbling the words into your mouth, before flicking off the flights filling the cabin around you both. 

“Mitch! Will you hurry up!”

He scoffed, flipping you off absent-mindedly before going back to tying up his boots, tucking the edge of his jeans down into them and you groaned loudly as he moved to retie the other shoe, and you were certain that at this point he was doing it just to tease you. You tore your gaze away from the beautiful forestry before yourself, and turned back to take quick steps towards the car.

“You are taking, like, two hundred years to tie yo-” Digits sealed on the sides of your jaw, a thumb and forefinger holding tightly, and pulling your mouth down to meet his, a quick and simple kiss pressed to your lips, but it was enough to have you feeling a little shocked, words dying in your mouth as his lips worked with your own slowly, and left you pouting when he pulled away. 

“Patience is a virtue.”

His words were whispered against your lips, and you grinned, bumping the tip of your nose with his, before pressing another quick to peck to his mouth, a happy sound rumbling in the back of his throat at the affection. “Not one that I possess when it comes to hiking.”

“Remind me again why we’re doing a seven-mile hike?” He raised his brows, standing up in front of the car and pulling out the backpack that had your lunch and drinks in it, swinging it up onto his body and locking the car.

“Mountain goats.”

“Right, that’s it.” He huffed, struggling to tuck the keys into one of the pockets as his arms twisted behind him, but he seemed to manage it, sealing the keys in the bag too and rolling his neck from side to side. “And what if we walk seven whole miles, and the mountain goats don’t feel like frolicking in sight today?”

“Then you get the absolute luxury of four hours of time with me.”

He grinned, and you held your hand out to him, his fingers linking through your own as the two of you set off along the well-marked trail, and when you turned to him, he was smirking down at you, running a hand through slightly too long hair, pushing it back and out of his face. “Wouldn’t I get that anyway? We are on a road trip, I’ve had a whole month of uninterrupted, quality, bonding time with you.”

“Stop being such a sourpuss, Rapp. Hiking is fun, and you’re going to love it.”

“That sounds like a threat.” He snickered, your elbow digging into his side as you laughed in reply. “Was that a suggestion or a command?”

“A command, you’re legally obligated to enjoy your time with me, if you want me to cuddle with you at night.” His face flushed with a little heat, cheeks going slightly pink, his lower lip caught between his teeth as he tried to hold in his smile, and you liked the more playful side of Mitch that had been revealing itself to you over these last few days. “You’re cute when you blush.”

“You’re cute anyway. It’s also cute that you think you’d be able to stay away from me all night, I know you love it when I do that thing on your scalp.” Your eyes fluttered shut, a happy sigh leaving you at the memories of his fingers digging gently into your skin and soothing through your hair at night as the two of you slept. “How about we call it a truce, and you let me have half of your red-velvet cupcake when we get to the halfway point?”

“Deal.” You grinned, and he dipped down, sealing the promise with a short kiss, and the trail picked up a little more as the trees overhead finally met the path, the sun being clouded out just a little as the concrete fell away to mud and twig underfoot, marked out for your pathway. 

It was beautiful, the woods fading away into beautiful fields, flowers filling the grass in all kinds of colours, a rainbow of pretty petals and the perfect scene for a photo shoot, the two of you alternating between snaps and selfies, until you were certain you had taken one from every possible angle, and couldn’t need anymore. You stayed on the pathways to protect the protected plants, the nature being guarded carefully to keep it as serene and beautiful, and you would have hated to mess any of it up. One the other slopes began to come into view, clearly, you were - in fact - able to spot mountain goats, watching them graze slowly along the ridges, and tapping at Mitch’s arm, letting him roll his eyes fondly as he looked to the animals, but his eyes were fixed on them until they were no longer in view as you continued to walk. 

It was like a break from reality, snapping out of it long enough for Mitch to convince himself that this was the kind of exercise he liked to partake in, that blisters were on his feet from hiking boots and the sting in his throat was from panting hot air, instead of calloused and cut up hands from boxing bags and sparring, and ripped raw throats from accidentally inhaling smoke from fires and the gunpowder essence in the air after firing out his shots. 

You were able to convince yourself that this was a life you led regularly, getting the chance to go out simply be a part of nature, that the nature you weren’t exposed to the most was the woods around your uncle’s home as you patched him or other recruits up from serious injuries, and that when you pulled on a pair of boots, it wasn’t for the purpose of running and hiding from someone who had a grudge to hold against your family.

It was peaceful, your hand never leaving his, warm palms growing slightly sweaty as the exertion only grew, but you stayed attached, chatting about things that had no meaning at all and seemed to flitter away into irrelevance as the topics changed continuously. When the call for food and a break became overwhelming, you came to a halt, finding a nice patch of grass to sit under, tree canopies overhead and leaving a cool shade to shelter you from the warm midday heat that had taken over. 

You ate, and laughed, and shared food out between you both, laying down in the grass and simply watching the clouds move past in the sky. Your head was cushioned on his arm, the rest of it bent at the elbow to sit over your shoulder, fingers linked with your own. His lips had pressed to your forehead, and you had twisted, kissing along the stubble lining his jaw until you reached his lips, the minutes turning into almost an hour as the two of you took that break in your hike, sweet kisses becoming something more heated. 

Like a Shakespeare play, the hazy summer atmosphere seemed like a novel-worthy layout. Butterflies fluttering through the sky and flowers dancing in the breeze, birds chirping overhead, and nothing or nobody to bother the two of you. Your mouth had met his first, a surprised but content noise-making itself known in the back of his throat, before he’d been more than eager to return it, his lips moulding with your own in a series of soft and caring affections. 

He had rolled towards you a little, his body shadowing over your own and blocking the sun out from your eyes, and your other hand slipped up to tangle into his hair as you found yourself laying back down against the cushioning of his arm. His other hand was holding your face, fingers smoothing your hair out of the way so that he could hold onto your cheek. Your head met the bare strands of grass when he’d shifted a little more, his body covering your own entirely as he under that hand to support himself, the one from your cheek moving from your body a little to find your hip as his tongue met your own. 

Teasing at your lips and tracing your mouth, it was slow and passionate, learning one another in a more intimate way, taking the time out and just enjoying the warmth of the sun and the feel of sturdy grass pressing into your skin as your mouths worked together. Gasps for breath and clumsy bumps of noses and foreheads as you worked on a rhythm that would work for you both, until his hand was trembling from holding him up, and your lips were stinging from the overactivity, your sensitive skin scratched up along your face, and his own wet lips made a lazy grin. 

A thumb had run over your lips, clearing the shining spit away from them, and placing a final peck there, before he was groaning out in relief at taking the weight from his arm, flopping back down into the grass beside you and slinging a hand over his face to block out the sun rays shining down. 

“Fuck, I missed that.”

“What exactly was that for?” your voice was raspy, and you popped your elbow up, head resting on your hand and one hand coming to rest to his chest, his hand closing over yours as you drew patterns into his shirt. 

“Y’ looked cute. I like kissing.” He licked at his lips, dragging his teeth over swollen red flesh, but your gaze seemed to unlock something more in him, because the happy sigh he let out shrugging his shoulders a little and pulling you closer to him to press your cheek to his shoulder, face buried in the crook of his neck. “Y’know, a month ago I felt empty. Hollow, like nothing mattered. Hopeless.”

“Mitch..”

“No, no. That’s not how I feel now.” He offered you a sweet smile when you leaned up to look down at him, and a hand found your neck, sitting delicately on the side and thumb smoothing along your jaw sweetly. “Things are coming back up to the surface that I didn’t know were buried, things I thought I’d lost and would never get back, and yet you came in and brush the dust off of everything, like going into the attic in your childhood home and seeing all your long-forgotten memories, and things that made you smile.”

“Like what?”

He gave you a small smile, his eyes leaving your own to go up to the sky, and he let out a long breath. “Lots of things. I always wanted to see Italy, and the first time I went, it was to kill people. I didn’t get to do anything I wanted to do, so I think that might go pretty high up on the bucket list.”

“I always wanted to go to France.” You replied, and he nodded his head, sighs seeming to glaze over as he thought about it all, and he squeezed you in his arms, before sitting up and shaking his head clear of grass strands and stray dirt. 

“Maybe our next road trip can be around Europe.”

“Our next one?” He nodded his head, standing up and brushing himself down before holding his hands out to you. Pulling you up to your feet, his eyes seemed to all but sparkle with mischief and cheek, and you freed up one hand from his to brush through his hair, watching as he picked grass and flowers from your own strands, before you were rolling up onto the tips of your toes to kiss his nose. It was adorable that he blushed when you did, and that his eyes fluttered his lips parting to let out a relieved breath and getting back as much affection in return to what he liked to dish out, but it was even more adorable that he was even thinking about another road trip. 

You swiped up the bag when he let you go, packing up all of your rubbish and clearing it away and zipping it up, lifting it onto your back as your arms were pushed through the sleeves. “You want me to carry the bag?”

“Nope, I want you to carry me.” Your hands found his shoulders, propelling yourself up onto his back and your arms wrapped around his neck while your legs were around his waist. He let out a sudden laugh, bouncing you up a little further as large hands gripped at your thighs, before pulling you up a little more on his back. Your chin rested on his shoulder, letting him carry you as you began to navigate the rest of the trek. 

The arrows guided you along, a fun and light mood hanging over you both as you went along, letting him bounce you and jostle you until you clung to him for dear life. He carried you for longer than you expected him to, before eventually letting you down when you insisted that if he didn’t he would hurt himself. You had flowers tucked into your hair and his picking them up and putting them back every time he shook them out with a scowl, before he’d resigned to letting you do so, only getting rid of them when the trees cleared and the campsite you had parked up at came back into place once again. 

The walk back had been more than incredible, just as fantastic as the first half had been, and you made sure to get plenty of photos as you went. Pink was lining his skin now, over the tips of his cheekbones and the bridge of his nose, a little dryness coming along your own skin from where neither of you had remembered to apply sunscreen before setting off, but it was all worth it, the slightly sun-kissed patches would only serves as a reminder for the day you’d had.

The car was a welcome relief when you finally found it, though, because what had been a four-hour hike when you’d looked it up had been over six between the two of you, taking your time and watching as the sun had risen overhead and dipped back down on the other side. Your feet were aching and your toes felt pinched from the boots, and the second you had the door open and you were able to hop up into the passenger seat, you were kicking them off with a grunt.

They were dropped unceremoniously in the footwell with the bag, your body curling into the warm fabric of the passenger seat as it called out to you, a yawn making its presence known as it ripped free, undeterred when you covered it with your hand, the sun having left the car perfectly warm for you. 

“The drive to Idaho is long, y’know. We have to go right around the mountains.”

You simply nodded, before reaching out to him, pulling him in closer with a fistful of his jumper, until he was bracing his hand on the top of the car and chuckling at your whines as you attempted to pull him even closer. “Take a nap with me first.”

“In the passenger seat?”

“Yeah. ‘S warm.” You rubbed at the spot, and he considered it for a second, before letting out a huff. It was awkward to navigate, his hands scooping up under you and moving you across to the driver’s seat from a second, before he was settling into the seat himself, and closing the door. Locking it up behind himself, you watched as the chair was tipped back until it was laying as far as it could with the other seats flattened behind it, and he situated himself comfortably.

Patting at his parted thighs, his eyes had closed, head tipped back comfortably, and you crawled across into his lap. Your back was to the door, leaning against it, and legs stretched across him to the seat you had just abandoned, calves pressing to the centre console. It was slightly uncomfortable, but all of it went out of the window when his arms closed around you, one hand tucking under the edge of your shirt to sit on your bare skin, as the other wrapped around you and held you in close to his body. 

“Drive in a few hours?”

“Yeah, sounds good.” His voice was laced with sleep now, and it was lulling you into your own rest, unconsciousness beginning to take over, and you happily let it, Idaho calling out to you both after you’d taken a well-deserved nap together.

[stilessssss]

Elevate Your Hopes Up