#my darling you do not want to be in this folder anyway it's okay stay out here with mom hgkjg

[silent-sentinels]

its funny sorting members into sp folders because lili will see us put ryan (her big brother) and juliet (her big sister) and scottie (her aunt) into the same folder and do the mental equivalent of grabby hands and go "me too? me too??"

just hggkjg im so sorry sweetheart, i know you like to be included but you are absolutely not a main socializer hgkjg

[lovelyyandereaddictionpoint]

Villain Dekuwife | 5

The Masterlist For The Other Chapters

"Hey! Sorry for being so late I was fighting with my husband and he just can be so-ugh!"

You destroyed another crayon. You had agreed to color with the detective at the cafe he had said was a safe spot to talk. You didn't ask why you're house wasn't but what did you care? Everyone had their reasons for everything. "It's fine Ms. Midoriya." "Misssus, Shinsou. We may be fighting but that doesn't mean I plan to abandon my title." "Right. Sorry slip of the tongue." "Anyway you said you wanted to talk right? What about?" "Yes."Pulling out a thick manilla folder; he plopped it on the table and continued. "On the day of January 30th where were you and your husband?"

"This again? I told you that day I was trapped with violent criminals in my husband's car and he was ambushed before me. What more do you need?" Your patterns in coloring the dinosaur on page didn't reflect the frustrated tone you had. He needed to press further. "Okay okay, how about the night of Jun 7th?" "The day Izu came home really badly beat up?" "Yes records show you had reported 'gangsters' in the area for attacking your husband." "Right. I didn't divulge this in front of him but I'm pretty sure its the people he's working with they have him under physical threat." "Paying your bills doesn't seem to be a 'physical threat'…" "Well of course they would, he'd have no other reason to stick around and be their punching-bag if he wasn't getting paid." "Is that so." This was getting nowhere. "Uhm Ms. Midoriya if your willing I can walk you home." "Oh no thank you, I'm going to stay here a bit longer and color." The purplette rubbed his head as if to soothe his oncoming headache. "But Ms. Midoriya I couldn't rest knowing you didn't get home safe." "Then stay or call me later. I'd prefer it that way so I can finish this, before anything else." He was getting nowhere with you but he stopped himself before he lost his temper. "Hey Ms. Midoriya does your husband have green hair?" "Well of course he does--" Your (e/c) dulled, your mouth hung open, and the crayon you were coloring with began to roll on the table. "Walk with me." On command you stood up from your chair and obeyed following him into a maze of alleyways. He led you to a dead end where he physically halted you to a stop. Waking up you attempted to yell in retaliation but a quietly uttered question had you falling limp as the spindles of a gray capture weapon attached to an underground hero. "Who is the Deku-villain? What is their connection to Pyrodast? Is Shoto Todoroki connected to them as well?" You seemed to have fallen asleep but the shaking of your body and the straining of the capture weapon says otherwise. You're not sleeping but instead practically frothing at the mouth with anger. "You've gotta lot of nerve!"

Barely gritting out those words before you latch on to the capture weapon and pull the user from their position on a fire escape. "Aaaah" Eraserhead grunted as he was launched into his detective companion. You unravel the remaining remaining threads on you before grabbing the fallen Shinsou by his shirt's collar. You reeled back punching him square in the face before stomping back to the cafe to retrieve your coloring material.

Geez can't a woman color in piece?

-----

"Darling, my love, the most wonderful wife in the world--" "What do you need Izu?" You rolled your eyes to see him sitting beneath you on the floor. You crossed your arms as he played with your (pants/skirt) just waiting for the punchline. You could tell whatever he was about to ask was a touchy subject. He knew you well and to be nervous coming to you, it would have to be a pretty good reason. "Uhm my love, you remember Shoto Todoroki don't you?" "Todoroki-kun? Yes I remember him." "He-er-we have a proposal for you." "Oh." "My queen…you know I love you more than anything, right my love?" "Just tell me what you both want! Sorry but seriously this is killing me." "Well we wanted to make a new relationship." Frantically shaking his hands as he saw your horrified expression, "Im not cheating! I mean with you like all three of us, together. The three of us…" He trailed off as he watched your face morph into a smile. Maybe you would have a change of heart. Maybe you were secretly wanting this too. Or maybe-- "#$%÷ no." "Darling!" He hated how much of an influence Kaachan had on your angry reactions. He tried to question you more but you had stood up from the couch, moving to grab your bag from your shared room. He followed after you, he needed to smooth this over soon. "(Y/n) c'mon, it's not like I want to date you both. I mean i do but I- no the thing is he really likes, no, loves both of us a lot and I really love him too and we were wondering if you were willing to try-"

"No."

Armed with your keys and totebag you swerved around his freckled arms that were reaching out for you. "But why? Don't you like him at least a little bit?" You stopped just before the door tensing before turning to look at Izuku, there were unshed tears in your eyes. " When I married you, we agreed that you were mine; that we were eachother's." He tried to hold your clenched fist but you pulled away. "Instead now your trying to give me away for something that's impossible-" "It's not impossible-" "IT IS! You can't have both of us Izuku you just can't." All Izuku registered was the slam of the door and sunken feeling in his chest. A feeling he'd have to relive when he finally told Shoto.

[iwritefandomimagines]

AARON HOTCHNER x READER: “Are you drunk?”

requested: prompt 10

masterlist

pairing: aaron hotchner x reader

description: you’ve been fighting feelings for hotch for some time now, assuming he doesn’t feel the same. after witnessing office gossip and having a drink or two, hotch makes it clear you were wrong to assume that.

warnings: kissing, but nothing too explicit.

Another day of stolen glances. Another day of accidental touches when he was trying to stay away. Another day of sexual tension lingering in the air so thickly that it could be cut with only the sharpest of knives.

Aaron Hotchner was the bane of your existence, you were certain of it.

You’d been attracted to him since the day you first set foot into the BAU. He was still married to Haley, then, and you’d kept your distance because you respected that, but knew you couldn’t help your desperation to flirt with him. It helped that she knew how you felt -- she’d never liked you as a result.

When they got divorced, you supported him as best as you could. You thought about keeping your distance, not wanting to let yourself fall for him even more in a time of his vulnerability. But you couldn't let him suffer his heartbreak without knowing that, in whatever capacity, you cared.

But now that some time had passed, things had gone back to usual. In the past few weeks he seemed to avoid you entirely. You felt worried, like you’d imposed too much on his personal life and that was why he was avoiding you like the plague. 

Should you have stayed out of it?

He’d seemed incredibly grateful for your concern at the time, but what had changed? You didn’t want to ruin things, not with the man you were certain you were head over heels for.

Despite him trying his best to ignore you, the tension between you remained ever-present. Everyone seemed to notice, the girls taking it upon themselves to gossip and throw endless questions at you. They’d gone so far as to assume something had happened between you already, assuming that was why things were awkward. 

You were finishing up some paperwork, Garcia, Emily and JJ at your side as you pushed your last pile of folders to the back of your desk, “You’re telling us the absolute truth, right?” Penelope pressed, chin in her palm as she nosed at your personal life as ever. 

“Nothing happened between us, guys,” you laughed sourly, and they obviously could detect your tone, “He still loves her, I’m sure of it. It hasn’t been long, has it?”

Emily eyed you curiously, “And how do you feel about him?”

You bit your lip, unsure of how much to give away, “I suppose I’ve been lying saying I’m not even slightly attracted to him. But nothing will happen, he’s never going to feel anything for me... And he’s my boss. Besides, he’s been avoiding me for a while now...”

JJ laughed, glancing up towards Hotch’s office, “Y/N, he’s been undressing you with his eyes all week... And whenever you’re not in the office he’s asking after you, always making excuses about paperwork he needs from you.” 

You blushed, looking up and accidentally catching his eye, looking immediately back at the girls. Did he really ask after you? Of course you’d noticed that there was tension, but you assumed it was more on your part and that he was simply lonely as a result of his divorce.

“I-I don’t know guys,” you stuttered, raising to your feet and slinging your bag over your shoulder, “I’ve gotta head home anyway. I’ll catch up with you guys tomorrow, okay?”

As soon as Hotch saw you stand, his eyes followed you the whole way out of the doors. He gulped, seeing the girls’ eyes trail to him and knowing that he’d been the topic of conversation prior to your exit.

He left his office, pacing over to where they sat with a stern expression on his face as ever, “Is everything okay with Y/L/N?” 

Penelope smirked, “Oh, she’s just a little pent up, I think,” she teased, debating letting the truth slip but deciding instead to just suggest, “I think you should speak to her, sir.”

Hotch just nodded, swallowing hard and heading back to his office to gather hs things and leave. 

“Oh my god, I’ve never seen Hotch leave so early... Do you think he’s really going to speak to her?” Emily whispered, and the girls all felt giddy as they hoped their friends would finally make the moves they’d wanted to for as long as they’d known them.

------

You were just falling asleep when a knock rapped at your front door.

You stumbled out of bed, hardly awake enough to realise the small slip nightdress barely covering your frame. 

You were surprised to find a slightly disheveled looking Aaron Hotchner, his tie pulled loose and his face twisted in an expression you couldn’t quite decipher.

“Sorry for-for turning up like this, Y/N. But I’d like to talk to you if that’s okay,” he took in your sleepy state then, “I’m sorry, did I wake you?”

You shrugged, “Not quite. But it’s alright, come in.”

He stumbled a little as he walked in and, considering he didn’t drink much usually you brushed it off and assumed he was just being awkward as he followed you to your couch.

“What is it, Aaron? Is everything okay?”

He sighed, “I’m sorry. For ignoring you, because it’s the last thing I wanted to do, darling. Really.” He sat beside you on the couch, closer than he’d ever usually sit, his warm breath over your face and allowing you smell the scotch on his tongue.

“Are you drunk?” 

Aaron’s hand reached up to your face, his palm cupping your jaw tentatively as his eyes searched yours for the right way to articulate his feelings to you, “I had a drink or two to make this... easier to say. You know I’m not good with talking about feelings, which is why I’ve avoided you recently.”

“What do you mean?” your breathing was ragged under his touch. Was he saying what you thought he was right now?

“I’ve got feelings for you, Y/N. Feelings stronger than I’ve admitted to myself for a long time... Everyone else could see it. Even Haley saw it, as she loved to shove in my face when filing for divorce,” he pulled your face closer to his, his eyes flickering between yours and your lips, “And when you helped me through the divorce I was so grateful but... I got scared. I was scared to let you in and admit that I felt anything for you.”

“Aaron I’ve had feelings for you since the first moment we met,” you whispered softly, pressing a kiss to his thumb as it sat just at the corner of your mouth, “I was afraid I was pushing it and that you just didn’t feel the same.”

He shook his head, “Y/N you’ve been on my mind constantly. I’ve pushed the feelings away for too long and I could see you talking to the girls earlier, when I saw them after they made it quite clear what was being discussed so I... I knew I needed to bite the bullet.”

You drew in a sharp breath as he leaned in so that your foreheads were touching. You’d never quite seen Aaron this tender and gentle, even in his heartbroken state. Shivers flew up your spine and you fought the urge to kiss him for a few moments, but he didn’t give you any more of a chance as he captured your lips in his.

The kiss was soft and didn’t last long, but the passion and longing couldn’t have been more fiery. He drew back nervously, “Sorry. Was that okay?”

“More than okay, Aaron,” you assured him, pressing a soft kiss to the corner of his lips to reassure him, “In fact, I’d quite like it if you kissed me again.”

He laughed a little, the corner of his mouth turning up in a small smile before he kissed you again. This time the kiss was deep, his tongue gliding along your bottom lip as you parted your lips quickly. Your hands flew around his neck as he pulled you onto his lap, panting.

When you pulled back, his brows furrowed, “I don’t want to rush this, sweetheart, but I’d like to give this a try, if that’s what you want. You and me.”

You grinned, beaming like the Cheshire Cat as he nervously looked at you.

“I’d love that, Aaron. More than anything,” your hands found the bottom of his hair, tugging slightly as you kissed him again, “You and me.”

“You and me.”

“Finally.”

Aaron didn’t leave your house that night and, for that entire weekend, it was hard to find a moment where you weren’t occupied with each other. 

After all this time, the man you’d been pining over really did feel the same.

And he more than made up for all the time spent waiting.

-----

thank u for reading! i hope this was okay... feel free to keep requests coming (especially criminal minds ones !!!) because i have so much free time to write rn hahahah <3 if you need ideas, here’s my prompt list & if you want to read more of my stuff -- here’s my masterlist!

[mouthfulloftoothpasterry]

Feeling like a family

Summary: Y/n visits Harry during his lunch break, letting him in on the relationship both her and Milo have with Xavier. Then they go to the zoo and have a little family day :) 

warning/ disclaimers: swearing, family issues. 

Things have been going amazing with Harry and Y/n. Ever since their date a couple weeks ago they have been seeing each other more and more. Harry has been coming into her bookshop while she’s working when he can. Just to surprise her and make her day a little better, sometimes he brings her lunch on the weekends and she visits him when he is spending hours after school hours grading art work and setting projects up for his students. 

It’s been new and exciting, and extremely fun. Not to mention the kissing has definitely been a plus. They went to have coffee with each other a couple days after their date, spending a good portion of the morning together. They have basically been inseparable since, Harry even invited Y/n and Milo over for dinner so they could all get to know each other better. Loralie was just excited to have guests that weren't family, and also to see a friend from school outside of school. She had a great time with Milo, they played together while Harry and Y/n cleaned up dinner together and snuck kisses in the kitchen. 

It's another Wednesday. Harry had Loralie and Milo's class now and he is letting them finger paint. It’s mainly been a calm class, he didn’t have to deal with much usually and if a kid did have a melt down the teacher and/or teachers assistant would deal with it instead of making Harry deal with it. “Looks great, Lora,” Harry says, kissing the top of Loralies head before scooting past her and walking over to his messy desk. He has papers, projects, markers, paints, all over his desk, even with all the time he spends after school he feels like he may never get it organized. 

“My mummy likes your daddy.” He hears, looking up to see Milo and Loralie talking. His cheeks turn crimson when he hears it, did they really give it away that easy? Their children now caught onto the fact that the two were dating? That was just embarrassing. “My daddy likes your mummy.” But that was more embarrassing. 

Harry ignores it (and the burning in his cheeks) and just hopes that the teacher will hush the class. He busies himself with cleaning his desk, trying to shove the papers into the drawers and file folders that they belong to but his mind is still distracted. He’s gonna have to tell Y/n that their kids know. The bell rings and he looks up from his desk. “Okay, you can leave your paintings where they are. I'll put them on the drying rack and you’ll get them tomorrow!” Harry sings, moving over to Loralie to kiss her cheeks and say a goodbye until he sees her at lunch time. “Bye daddy” she says, waving to him after kissing his cheek and joining her class. 

Harry laughs, letting out a sigh and putting the messy finger paintings on one of his many drying racks. It’s his lunch time now. He has to supervise lunch so he gets his break before everyone else. 

He wanders around his class room, doing random things and cleaning up his messes that he’s made from the two days of the week before him. He didn’t have plans for lunch, he would probably just have an extra big dinner. He’s happy to find Y/n cured his rumbling tummy when he sees her walking through his classroom. He smiles, chuckling at her big dramatic smile that was obvious teasing. “Hi, darling.” He says, leaning over his desk to press a kiss to her lips. 

She sits on the art table in front of his desk, setting two to-go boxes down. “Hi,” she says back, handing him one of the to-go boxes. “No sitting on the tables.” Harry teases while he reaches out to take the white Styrofoam box in his hands, quickly thanking her. “Suck it up.” She shrugs, her feet setting in the chair that was once tucked under the art table. “I just got you a sub and fries.” She says, plucking a chip from her box and taking a bite out of it. 

“Why Are you here? Not that I’m not happy to see you, of course.” He smiles, reaching over and giving her hand a squeeze. She shrugs, tapping her shoes down on the chair while she pulls her food into her lap. “I forgot to put Milo's' lunch box in his backpack so I had to drop it off.” She says, making Harry smile. So he thought she would have lunch with him? She’s adorable. “So how’s your week been, babe?” Harry sings, sitting back in his big office hair and relaxing into it while he eats. 

“Fine. Milo's dad visited.” What?! Since when did he come around? And since when was he “Milo's dad” and not “Xavier”? Harry knits his brows, gulping down his food before he responds, a little nervous. Harry and Milo are best buds, they have grown closer and he’s tried to pay him more attention when he sees him in class as well, he doesn’t want their friendship to be ruined now, even though what he is thinking is selfish. Milo deserves a good daddy. 

“Since when does he come around?” He asks, Y/n rolling her eyes at his tone. “He’s a photographer so he’s always traveling the world. I mean he pays child support, he’s not a shit dad. I just have my own issues with him.” She says, her tone heavy with annoyance. Harry was under the impression that he was a horrible dad and didn’t even try to care for Milo, but now he hears he pays child support and visits? 

“I just thought he didn’t care.” 

“Well… he’s trying. Like I said he’s traveling the world so he can’t always see him but he pays child support and he’s trying to come around more. He did come over and take some cute photos of Milo though.” Y/n smiles, remembering how her baby posed so well for the camera. He was shy at first but then they found a stray kitty out on a walk and he was more than willing to pose with it. 

Harry nods, taking a bite out of his sub. He finishes his bite and wipes his mouth with the brown paper napkins, “Is he gonna take Milo for the night or something like that?” Harry questions. Y/n is happy that Xavier is trying to see him more but she doesn’t think she would be able to be away for a night, especially when he doesn’t see Milo that much anyways. “I don’t think I would be comfortable enough to let Milo stay with him, for now at least. But he’s flying off and leaving Friday so I don’t have to worry.” Y/n confesses, taking a bite of her sub while she waits for Harry’s response. 

“Yeah, I understand that.” 

They eat together before Y/n deems it time for her to go. Giving him a hug and a kiss goodbye before she heads out and opens the book shop back up, letting Harry finish out his day. 

*********************************************

Harry and Y/n had made plans to take their little ones to the zoo. Y/n told Harry that Milo had been going on and on about lions so it was the perfect time for them to go. Harry has packed up Loralies stroller, putting snacks, his wallet, and her diaper bag in the bottom carrier. Luckily (but also unluckily) Milo is at the age where he does not want to be in a stroller, every time Y/n tries to put him in it while they are out he complains and tries to get out of it the whole time. 

Harry had picked them up, driving about an hour to the zoo. Milo and Loralie babbled to each other the whole ride which made their parents happy- meanwhile they were just humming to the radio and making small talk the whole ride. 

“Are you ready to see the lions?” Y/n coos to Milo, pulling him out of his car seat and setting him on the ground, holding his hand so he doesn’t run off in the car park. Harry pulls Loralie out, pulling out her stroller from the back, preparing to put her in it. “No! I walk today.” Loralie says with a bit of aggression in her voice. Harry hands with his hand up defensively, “okay, but you're gonna want it after walking in the heat for hours.” Harry takes her stroller despite her not wanting to be in it, she takes Harry's hand instead, walking next to Milo. 

Their first stop is the stingrays, getting the food from the people who work there then getting down in front of the large pond to pet their slimy skin. Milo and Loralie giggle the whole time, pulling their hands away as soon as they feel like slimy stingray and making dramatic gross faces that make their parents laugh. The kids definitely had fun feeding them and petting them but Harry and Y/n instantly shipped them off to the bathroom so they could wash their hands. 

Next is the walk through aquarium, “come on, it's this way.” Y/n says, cooing down at Milo and fast walking toward the cave shaped aquarium. When they walk inside it's lit up blue. They look all around them and they see lots of fish, big whales, all different things. “Woah!” Loralie exclaims, making Harry laugh, kissing her cheeks. All of a sudden Milo breaks out in loud giggles, pulling at the length of her mom jeans. “Mama, Look!” Milo giggles, pointing to a fish sticking to the aquarium glass, looking like it's making a silly face at everyone. Y/n laughs, squatting down and wrapping her arm around Milo, resting a hand on his belly. “Let's go see them” Y/n says, pulling him up on her hip and kissing over his cheeks. She takes him over to the silly fish while Harry lets Loralie look around, staring above her at the large fish swimming by until she stumbles back. Harry catches her, standing her back up and taking her over where Milo and Y/n are, showing her the fish that Milo was trying to touch through the glass. 

“He's so cute.” Harry compliments, laughing at how Milo's is so obsessed with the silly looking fish. Y/n turns to look at Harry, thanking him cockily- taking all the credits for his adorableness. Harry bumps his nose with hers in a butterfly kiss while their kids are looking straight ahead. He gives her a peck while the kids are still distracted then he turns back to the fish. “Okay, it's time to go look at the animals!” Harry cheer, pulling Loralie off of the ledge she was standing on. 

They walk through the entrance of all the animals, seeing some monkeys. Loralie and Milo start to imitate the monkeys, giggling at each other and the animals. They move onto koalas, waving at the cuddly animals before they get to see the lions- this is what Milo has been waiting for. “ROAR!” Milo yells, trying to climb on the wooden fence between the people and lions. Y/n giggles at him, pulling him off the fence and on her hip. “You’re a baby lion, aren’t you?” Y/n coos, kissing his forehead. Milo nods before she pulls him in her hands, extending him out. “Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba!” She sings, making the boy giggle, roaring again before she pulls him back in, kissing all over his face, making him squeal and push away. 

Meanwhile Loralie wants to pet the real baby lions. She’s got a frustrated face on since Harry didn’t let her climb over the fencing and pet the furry lions. Harry can’t help but laugh at her. They walk a bit more, walking for a while until they go to their next exhibit. 

It’s all calm until Milo starts screaming. He sees a bird wandering free, it was a large blue bird with huge feathers framing its head. Y/n knew that the peacock was harmless, they wouldn't let it wander free if it was, but Milo was gonna be scared of it regardless. “No, no!” He yells, backing away from the bird, trying to scold it for just walking around. Y/n laughs while Milo grips onto her leg, wagging his finger at the bird and yelling at it for scaring him. “It’s not gonna get you, bubba.” She laughs, pulling him into her hip while they get to the penguin house. 

They walk into the cold penguin house, their noses instantly crinkling from the smell. “Brrr” Loralie says, running her arms up and does while her teeth chatter. Harry laughs, tossing her little jacket over her shoulder to warm her up. “Look at the baby penguin.” Harry coos to Loralie, holding her up to the glass so she can wave at the little puffins. “Tiny!” She squeals, waving at the baby penguins. 

“Yeah,” Harry laughs at her. “They are tiny, Lora.” He agrees with her, giving the back of her head a kiss before settling her back down on the ground, letting her wander off a few feet away to look around at the penguins a bit more before they leave and look at the polar bears. 

After the polar bears, they head to the gift shop, Loralie gets a purple bucket hat with a blue monkey on it and a stuffed penguin she named “tiny”. Milo got a shirt of the name of the zoo and a matching stuffed penguin that he couldn’t choose a name for just yet. 

They head back to the car, Loralie’s legs are tired on the walk but she refuses to go in her stroller, instead Harry holds her while they take the long walk back, one arm holding Loralie up to his hip and the other latched with Y/n’s hand while her other hand holds Milo's. Once they get to the car Loralie and Milo get buckled up in their car seats, sure to fall asleep soon. 

Harry and Y/n get into the front seats, their hands instantly finding the others. “I had a nice day with you.” Harry smiles, his face only inches from hers. Y/n blushes, giving his hand a squeeze. “Yeah, I had a lot of fun.” She says, focusing on Harry’s thumb rubbing at the back of her hand. They hear little whispers and giggles, turning their heads back to their little ones. “Kiss, kiss, kiss!” They whisper- chant. Their parents' cheeks instantly burn, looking back to each other with big cheesy smiles on their faces. 

“Well?” Harry shrugs, leaning in and pressing his lips to her. She giggles on his lips, both of the kids in the back yelling. “Ew!” Loralie says. “Gross!” Milo agrees. 

The parents laugh, pressing one last peck to each other's lips before Harry starts up the car. They had a good day together. Harry got closer to Milo and Y/n got closer to Loralie. It kinda feels like they are becoming a little family.

Hii!! if you liked this please reblog and tell me what you thought of it!! please let me know if you would like to be on my tag list!! and please make sure you have read the first two parts :) 

tag list: @romionefp @iaalien @hopeyoustaythenight @evanjh

[aenaxes]

OMG ok for the 200 follower celebration (based on your smoking post) PLZZZ write sharing a spice blunt with cross or any batcher of your choosing I would simply die 😩💅🏻❤️

vapor trails

[crosshair & hunter x f!reader] you don't really run with the fett twins' crowd, but you find yourself at one of their parties anyway (in reference to this post lol)

warnings: college!au, recreational drug use, suggestive themes, but consent is sexy & mandatory & sober babes

w/c: 3.8k

a/n: anon, you ask for one batcher, but why not two? thank you for enabling me nonnie & @mallr4ts lol (im so sorry to all the previous requests for the event, this one has just been needling in my brain all day and i had to get it out hsdfs)

event details here! requests are open until july 4th!

You don’t know much about the Fett twins.

They’re something like campus legends even though they’re only a year your senior and at the tail end of their fourth years. But as much as you’ve heard their names slung around in weekend plans and excited chatter, you’ve never once met them, much less seen them yourself. Between idling class whispers and dining hall conversations, all you can piece together from the rumors is that: one, they’re from a big family (you’ve heard anywhere from two to twelve other brothers, yikes); and two, as much as they work hard (because the venture capital and pre-professorial tracks seem rigorous enough), they play even harder.

It helps that they apparently own one of the biggest apartments off campus, one in which you find yourself hopelessly and miserably lost. And overdressed.

Great.

It hadn’t occurred to you that your roommate, who is nowhere to be seen, had been dressing up for her girlfriend, and that most people who had half a mind would wear something comfortable that could withstand a few spilled drinks and ash. So seeing the rest of the room in rumpled tees and sweats has you and your little black dress seeking out the nearest wall as you fiddle with your questionably sweet cup of margarita mixer.

You feel like a first year, and it sucks.

But for once, with everyone too busy mingling amongst themselves over the heavy thrum of some mumble rap beat, you manage to slip by unnoticed.

Every now and then, you dart your eyes around the ever shifting landscape of faces in the dim room, looking for even the vaguest familiarity that might let you feign being tipsy and join a group for the night. But every time you try, there’s no luck.

Fuck, you haven’t even seen anyone here before.

But there might be a god watching out for you yet when the crowd shifts just enough that you catch sight of the couch, and on it, someone you suspect to be one of the twins as he greets a few girls with a disinterested nod.

Emboldened, but mostly nervous that in the crowd of bodies and red solo cups you’re still helplessly alone, you push off the wall and squeeze past huddled cliques of conversation to make for the dark couch.

By the platinum bleached hair and big-name consulting group quarter zip, Crosshair—at least you think it’s him—lounges over the couch. He isn’t the only body on the suede seats, but he keeps to himself, his head dipped low as he works one hand over a small metal canister in his other palm.

If you weren’t having luck with the other nameless faces around you, maybe the Fett twin would keep you company—at least until your roommate came back to find you (if she did). And worst case, you’d just slink back to your dorm and mope until your roommate apologized to you with your favorite overpriced smoothie bowl the day after.

Mustering every ounce of courage you have, you plant your feet by the couch and finally speak.

"Is your name actually Crosshair?" you ask.

The man on the couch pauses, his motions stilling over the small metal cylinder in his palms, and he lifts his chin just enough to flick his eyes up towards the sound of your voice.

You always thought the girls in your droning 9AM gen-ed were wildly exaggerating his hype for their own devices, squealing over his (apparently) brooding charm and sharp looks to nip at his stash for free. But for all the vague haze surrounding your perception of the twins, you never thought that they were telling the truth.

If you had been in broad daylight under the incandescent glow of your creaky lecture hall lights, you might have called him cocky, almost haughty, how he meets you with an unreadable look for having interrupted him. But in the purple LEDs and heavy haze of vape juice and shitty tequila, he’s captivating, all dark eyes and perfectly lit skin, marked only by the needle-thin design tattooed over the right side of his face and a worn wooden toothpick bitten between his teeth.

You swallow down the dry lump in your throat when you catch him flick his eyes from your face, down the short length of your dress, and back up again.

"Smoke with me; maybe you'll find out," he drawls, toothpick bobbing as he speaks. He twists the cylinder once and offers you a wry smirk. And when you stay, speechless but there all the same, Crosshair scoots to the side and pats the narrow space between him and the couch arm, inviting you close.

"I've never smoked before," you admit a bit shyly as you drop down beside him. Your dress hikes up your thigh, and you shiver when your skin presses up against the soft denim of his jeans.

"Not even cigs?"

You shake your head. And you tell yourself that when he leans close and brushes his shoulder up against your arm, that he’s only doing it because someone’s boosted the bass, and you can’t hear him over the reverb.

"Well, good thing I'm here, yeah?"

He gives the metal canister a final twist and sets it down on the coffee table before you. Swapping the canister for a small brown sleeve, you watch in a daze as he pulls a semi-transparent leaflet from the folder and tears a strip of cardstock straight from its flap. He has pianist fingers, you think wistfully, neatly kept nails and slender grace, and you wonder if he’ll entertain you if you ask to compare your hand to his.

“What’s your name?”

You scrabble back to the present at the sound of his voice. “Uh, y/n,” you offer.

“Well, y/n,” he says with a soft laugh, having caught on to your daydreaming. “Step one, you fold your filter.”

You nod along absently as Crosshair artfully crimps the thick paper into a neat roll. As if there isn’t thirty-some odd people crammed into his apartment, he quietly takes you step by step, offering you the filter, the paper, then the contents of the canister (a grinder, he explains) like it’s a game of show and tell. But with every piece he places into your hands, you gravitate closer, closer, until you’re flush against his arm and practically hanging over his side to watch as he gently taps a line of bud over the paper.

“Here, let me give you a better look,” Crosshair says.

You expect him to bring the neat line of bud to you, but when nothing comes, you look up and find him waiting for you, one arm open in invitation as the other pats once on the dark denim of his thigh.

“Uh—”

“Sit,” he says as if you haven’t just met him fifteen minutes ago. “Front row seats if you want ‘em.”

On one hand, you barely know Crosshair outside of the rumors you hear on campus. On the other hand, he’s a genuinely pleasant person, careful to accommodate for your boundaries and offering a snide playfulness that’s banished your nerves from earlier in the night.

He’s also really fucking hot.

“Okay,” you murmur, and you let him wrap his arm around your waist and tug you onto his lap. And he’s right. Perched over his thighs, you see with perfect clarity (and without the strain in your neck) as he gently folds the paper over the mound of bud and carefully twists. It’s the prettiest joint you’ve ever seen—though it might be because it’s the only one you’ve seen.

"Final touch," Crosshair's voice rumbles over your back, shooting straight into your core as he lifts the paper's vellum edge to your lips. “Lick it for me.”

Since you sat down with him, you’ve only been the passenger, nodding along as Crosshair’s long, nimble fingers creased over filter paper and patiently pointed out things like the stray pistils in his baggie and the keef gathered at the bottom of his grinder for if you really want to get fucked up. And even though you aren’t doing much (because licking paper doesn’t really seem too crazy), it’s a step forward from the comfortable rhythm that had settled between you, and you twist around in his lap to shoot him an uncertain glance.

“Just,” Crosshair flicks his tongue over his lower lip, flashing a brief glimpse of a ball piercing towards your wide eyes. And if you weren’t so flustered, you might have recognized the coy playfulness in his gaze. “Give it a lick, right over the edge.”

“I—uh, what if I—” you stammer.

“You’re not gonna mess this up, darling,” Crosshair chuckles. If his hand squeezing brief over your waist wasn’t enough to bring heat searing over the tops of your ears, his next words, crooned low and breathy into your ear, certainly do. “You’re a smart girl. You can do it.”

"My brother giving you trouble?"

Another voice cuts through the din of the party, sparing you your stammering nerves as you whip your head up in its general direction. You’re greeted with the sight of his brother, peering down on you as he takes a sip from his cup.

“You’re such a killjoy,” Crosshair mutters, drawing his arm tighter around your waist as he jabs the half-rolled joint to where Hunter sprawls down onto the couch beside him. “No, I’m not being a creep. I’m teaching our pretty underclassman here how to roll.”

Oh.

Heat rushes over your cheeks, and you can’t decide whether you want to shrink into yourself or bask in it and beg for more.

He called you pretty.

“With her in your lap,” Hunter snorts into his cup.

“It was your idea to invite your entire fucking rugby team. Where else would we do it?”

“I’m so sorry he’s like this,” Hunter laughs, tilting his head and looking up at you through his (unfairly) long lashes. Where you thought Crosshair’s tattoo was bold, Hunter’s practically blows him out of the water, a well-worn swath of ink on the left half of his face, curving into neatly stylized teeth right at the edge of his lips. “I’m Hunter.”

Huh, maybe you do have a thing for tattoos.

“Y/n,” you squeak. “It’s, um—it’s nice to meet you.”

“Pleasure’s all mine, sweetheart,” he says as he offers you an easy smile. “Has my baby brother been treating you right?”

“God, two fucking minutes,” Crosshair snaps. You hear the embarrassment seeping from the vitriol, and it strikes you like a shot to the head that he’s trying to play cool in front of you. “I come out two minutes after you and—”

“We’re fraternal, and I got all the oxygen in the womb. Explains why he has awful people skills,” Hunter fake-whispers loud enough for Crosshair to hear, and you giggle as the other man groans from behind you.

“No, he’s been really nice,” you say softly once you realize that you’ve been laughing a little too loud. “He’s teaching me about weed.” It sounds juvenile when you say it, awkward and clumsy on your tongue. It’s a dead giveaway that has Hunter’s smile mellowing into something soft.

“Your first time?”

“Mhm.”

“Well, Cross here’s high as shit at least four hours every day. Says it helps him do the math. I hate to say it, but you’re in good hands.”

“You try running a nonlinear regression sober,” Crosshair snorts. “Anyways, we were just finishing up this joint before you decided to kill the vibe.”

Crosshair lifts the half-rolled joint back up to your chin, and this time, he leans forward and presses his chest close against your back as the playful snark leaves his tone, in its wake, something patient and calm as his voice rumbles by your ear.

“You gonna help me finish the job, sweet girl?”

You surprise yourself when the initial trepidation vanishes as you tip your chin down and stick out your tongue. Maybe you’re showboating now that you have an audience, feeling Hunter’s dark eyes on your lips when you touch the tip of your tongue out over the edge.

Whether it’s your lip gloss or the fine crumbs of bud stuck to the roll paper that fills your mouth with something earthy and sweet, you can’t say. All you know is they’re both following you with that intense intent, the bass and blend of voices faded out around you; just you in Crosshair’s lap and Hunter pretending to care about the drink in his hand as you lift your tongue off the far corner of the paper and close your lips.

“Good job,” Hunter muses, and you’re pretty certain he’s not talking about the joint when you feel his gaze boring into you alone.

The smell of smoke pulls you out of Hunter’s gravity, and you look back in front of you to see Crosshair snap a scuffed metal lighter shut and toss it onto the coffee table. He brings the joint back down in front of you, blowing a neat stream of whitish gray smoke past your ear.

“You know how to pull?” Crosshair asks, and his chin brushes over your bare shoulder as he speaks. He’s so close. You can smell the burn, acrid and sour, but it doesn’t matter that it doesn’t smell like some bubblegum vape when you feel his breaths curling over your skin. You just want more.

Mutely, you shake your head.

“Mm, you know how to shotgun?” Hunter offers, and you hear Crosshair huff laugher from behind you. “Might be easier for your first try.”

You shake your head again.

“It’s,” Hunter pauses, and his brows knit close as he thinks for a moment. “It’s kind of like a kiss. But not really. I take a hit and you catch my smoke. That sound okay?”

You don’t think it matters that someone’s hit shuffle on the playlist, filling the room with a hard electronic beat that might have otherwise drowned out all sound. All you hear is your heart pounding in your ears as you nod and watch Hunter lift the filter to his lips and inhale deep, then pass the joint back to Crosshair.

“C’mere,” he murmurs, white trails of smoke curling over his upper lip as he lifts one hand to cup over the base of your neck.

“Open,” Crosshair whispers.

Wordlessly, you obey. Your lips part just as Hunter pulls close, so close you feel the heat of his skin spreading warm over your cheeks, and blows a soft stream of bitter smoke into your mouth. It can’t be more than a few seconds, but all the while, you can’t seem to tear your eyes from his.

“Breathe in, deep,” you hear Crosshair instruct as he begins to rub one thumb over the curve of your hip.

The smoke is thick, sluicing down your throat and filling your lungs like nothing you’ve ever felt before. It’s not bad, just new, and pressed between the twins over the couch, you think it just might have been worth being ditched by your roommate earlier in the night. But your lungs ache, and you slowly exhale, watching as your vision fogs with a loose cloud of smoke until your chest feels clear again.

“And you didn’t even cough,” Hunter smiles. His calloused fingertips follow the slope of your neck, lingering one moment more before he pulls away. And you aren’t sure if the low buzzing in your fingertips is the weed or their combined warmth as Hunter rubs over your knee and Crosshair leans his head against your neck. “Good girl.”

“Wanna do it again,” you whisper as the buzz begins to crawl up your neck, fizzling around your temples as you lean your cheek over where Crosshair nuzzles into your shoulder.

“With him or me?” Crosshair murmurs, his lips brushing over your skin.

“You,” you say dreamily, and Hunter laughs, a sound that suddenly seems so far away as you tip your head and press close against Crosshair’s silver hair.

Crosshair leans into your touch, pressing his cheek up against your neck one last time before he’s lifting his head and bringing the joint to his lips. You hear the hiss of his inhale, smoke curling up through the narrow body of the joint as the charred end glows warm beside you.

And instead of Hunter’s approach, level with you, Crosshair looms above you, meeting your wide eyes with something of a fond smile. Dragging his hand up your chest, he follows the line of your neck and holds snug over your chin. He squeezes softly, and your jaw falls slack, lips parted in a soft ‘o’ as he dips low. He's closer than Hunter as you feel his mouth just brush over yours and breathe smoke over your tongue.

This time, it’s easier.

You swallow down the smoke and hold, just a beat longer than before. But both Crosshair and Hunter notice as your lips stay parted, and they share a soft laugh that has you exhaling smoke and pride all at once when you finally relax your diaphragm and breathe out.

“Fast learner,” Crosshair muses, nosing up under your jaw as you sink back against his chest.

You mumble incoherently, chasing his touch as the high creeps heavy and warm from your chest to your collar and settles at the back of your throat. It anchors you, molding you up against Crosshair who feels nothing short of perfect as he circles his arms loose over your waist.

You turn your head to thank Hunter when you distantly register him pressing a cool cup into your hand (water, you think you hear him say), but the words slip back down into your throat, your eyelids suddenly unbearably heavy and coarse over your blurry vision.

“You wanna lay down?” Hunter offers, and his voice comes to you like you’re underwater, warped and bubbling past the din of the party around you.

You're pretty sure you nod.

For a few moments, you catch traces of an unintelligible exchange between the twins, only aware of the rumble of Crosshair’s voice at your back, and then you’re being lifted up off the couch, the music and raucous laughter fading behind you.

A door opens, squeaking half-shut, and you wince as a light clicks on beside you. Whoever was carrying you sets you down on something soft and cool, and you sway as the light dims and you settle into your seat.

You’re on a bed, you think.

Crosshair’s, judging by the shock of light hair that you can make out through your lashes. He helps you into a worn tee that reaches past the short hem of your dress, and you wiggle into it with a soft whine, holding it tight.

But where you expect a familiar weight to dip down next to you and pull you close, your eyes fly open when you see his figure turn away from you and towards the neon lights of the party outside.

“You aren’t staying?” It's the most coherent you've been through your first high.

“Not tonight,” Crosshair says softly. He turns back towards you and reaches up to fix the strap of your dress as you sit on his bed. “Baby’s first tokes got you all dopey. Right now, what you need is this,” and he presses a plastic bottle of vitamin water he’s seemingly produced out of nowhere into your palm. “This,” he adds, pressing your phone into your other hand. “And a good night’s sleep.”

“And what if I say I need you, too?” you pout.

Some part of you—the conscious part locked away in the back of your skull—bangs up against the hazy high at the crown of your head because when you’re good and sober and when Crosshair inevitably turns you down, you won’t be able to look at yourself in the mirror for the next semester.

But he breaks into a smile that crinkles at the corners of his eyes before he leans down to press his lips to your forehead. It’s just a split-second of warm, chapstick-soft lips on your skin, but it floods you with an indescribable good from the top of your head all the way down to your toes.

And as high as you are right now, you have a hell of a hunch that the flutter in your chest is going to stay, even when the room stops wobbling around you.

“When you’re all sobered up in the morning, we’ll make you breakfast, and we’ll figure it out from there,” Crosshair says after he’s pulled back, reaching up to smooth his palm over your hair. “Sound like a plan?”

You nod, probably with a little too much enthusiasm, but you’re rewarded with another low chuckle that’s practically music to your ears. His hand gentle and firm over your shoulder, Crosshair guides you down onto the bed and pulls the covers up to your chin.

“Now text your roomie so she doesn’t call the cops on us, get some sleep, and drink all of that, okay?”

“Okay,” you respond.

“Good girl.”

And when the lights click out, you curl into Crosshair’s pillow, breathing in cold, fresh notes of his cologne, and then you’re asleep.

You climb out of bed the next morning, your minidress rumpled under a long shirt. It's not like a hangover, no, you just find yourself a bit lightheaded and throat parched, and the disorientation makes your head spin as you’re greeted with the smell of fresh coffee and something savory—

Your roommate doesn’t wake up earlier than you, and she can’t cook for shit. And why were your sheets grey? Whose shirt were you—

Oh.

Fuck.

You practically burst out of Crosshair’s bedroom, and you’re not sure what you expected, but somehow you hadn’t expected to see Hunter sipping mildly on a mug of coffee while Crosshair pushes something around in a pan over their kitchen range.

“Mornin,’” Hunter offers you a small wave, and reaches for a third mug on the countertop. “Wasn’t sure how you liked your coffee so we just made it black.”

“What happened last night?” you gasp. If you weren’t so panicked, you’re certain the sight of them sporting nothing but grey sweats would have been your only concern, but you’ve just woken up with foggy memories and the slimy dread of anxiety that follows a blackout night.

“Easy, easy,” Crosshair assures you as he steps away from the stovetop. “Nothing happened after we smoked. You took, like, two hits, and you were so hazy you couldn’t remember your dorm number, so we put you to bed, and I slept out in the living room. Fetts are wild but we’re not scumbags, promise.”

And judging from the throw blanket sliding off the edge of the couch cushions, you’re fairly certain you can believe him. Relief floods your chest.

“Oh thank God,” you sigh, and your shoulders sag as the weight of panic sloughs off your back.

They both laugh softly, the sudden tension lifting from the bright morning light, and you can’t help but join in. And when that rosy relief gives way to silence again, it’s Crosshair who speaks next.

“So, you staying for breakfast?”

“Can I borrow some actual clothes first?”

“Done deal.”

[duuhrayliegh]

watch your six - part three

go check out watch your six on my profile! *in the process of making a m.list*

pairing: eventual bucky x reader (its a slow burn babes)

warnings: trigger warning of sedation? it’s not a there for long though, also language and some creepy activity by gomez, i think that’s it, lmk if i missed something :)

a/n: heeeyy babes… ik i promised this a way long time ago, but it’s here now! i got way behind with my classwork and the freaking texas freeze week didn’t help at allll, it’s fine, i’m fine, it’s on fire but it’s fine. 

p.s.: our darling buck makes come in next upload :) stick with me, i promise i’m getting there. 

series m.list

ray’s m.list

**************************

“Alright ladies, listen up.” A tall woman with a short brunette bob commanded. “Our target is one Louis Richardson.” A picture flashed on a screen behind the tall woman. “Richardson is a prominent leader in the Svengali. He’s one of the higher ups so we cannot mess this up, girls.” There was a click and then another picture floated onto the screen.

“He’s going to be attending a gala next week. Our intel leads us to believe that the Svengali is going to conduct a trade of information from Richardson to a carrier.” She moved from one side of the room to the other, catching all of our eyes. I glanced around the room, searching for something familiar.

“Hey, you alright?” The girl to my left whispered to me. “Libra, stop drifting.” My head snapped to the girl. Gemini? Isn’t she dead? Wait, where am I?

“Gemini! Libra! Have something you would like to share with the group?” The tall women challenged, we looked at each other and shook our heads, remaining quiet. “Alright, so we’re going to be sending quite a few of you in on this one. Leo, Virgo, and Scorpio you’re going to be on the gala floor. Mingling with guests and keeping the public under control. We don’t want this breaking out into a whole scandal, do we?” The heads of the women in front of me bobbed back and forth as a response of no. The tall woman proceeded to give out tasks.

“Libra, Gemini, Cancer, Taurus and Aries. You are Plan B. If this should go south, we have intelligence that gives us an idea on where one of the Svengali safe houses is located. The five of you will be laying in wait. Your mission, should it be needed, is strictly reconnaissance. You are under no circumstances to engage the target in anyway, do you understand?” We nodded and then the room was silent. The tall woman took a deep breath, leaned forward against one of the desks at the front.

“This is a very sensitive mission that they are trusting us to handle. We will do so much better than anyone else could.” She stood to her full height, “You all have your assignments, this is all going down next week. Be ready, ladies.” She bobbed her head and sent us on our way. Picking up the folder in front of me, I turned to Gemini.

“Can you believe that they gave us this assignment, Gem?” My mouth moved, but I had no control over it. What the hell is happening? Gemini laughed at me and clutched her own folder to her chest.

“Will you chill out, Libra? It’s just recon. It’s really not that big of a deal.” I stopped and gawked at her then heaved out a cackle. She walked ahead of me, shaking her head at my reaction.

“Not that big of a deal for you maybe.” I puffed out my chest, “It’s my first mission, remember?” My chest deflated and anxiety began to set in. “Oh my god, it’s my first mission.” Gemini turned to look at me with raised brows.

“Yeah, so?” She breathed a laugh, “You’re making a big deal out of nothing, Libby.” She grabbed my shoulders and pulled me along to our shared quarters. “Just remember to stay out of your head and get it done. You’ll be fine.” She giggled as she released her hold on me and plopped onto her bed. “Everything’s going to be a-okay, Libby.” I smiled at the nickname.

“You’re right, Gem. Let’s crush this mission.” I walked over to her bed and swatted her side, “Scoot over, you cow!” I grunted as I shoved her. She gasped, then after relenting she laughed as I landed face first into the mattress. We both melted into puddles of laughter and I felt a slow smile spread across my face.

“She’s smiling. Why is she doing that?” A rougher voice left Gemini’s mouth. I giggled and looked over at her.

“What did you say?”

“Gomez, if she’s smiling that means she’s happy.” Gemini’s mouth moved, but yet again it wasn’t her voice. I know that voice, where do I know that voice from? I lurched from my spot on the bed and glared at Gemini.

“What did you shove me off the bed for?” I questioned Gemini incredulously. Another jolt of energy bounced me on the ground. What is happening? My head hit the side of something hard, something that allowed enough spring that my head rebounded back into it again. I released a groan of pain and went to clutch the area. When I tried to raise one arm, but they were clasped together behind my back. Opening my eyes, blurry images roamed in front of me.

“Oh, she’s waking up.”

“Yes, that is right on time.”

“Waking up? We haven’t gotten to the rendezvous point yet.”

“Well with the dosage I administered, she should be coming out of it right about now.”

“Then up the dosage, Doc. I’m not about to deal with another whiner for the rest of this trip.”

“I can’t do that.”

“You what?” There was a run of indistinct murmurs exchanged between the two voices. My vision began to clear up. I cleared my throat, wincing at the pain when I coughed. Blinking rapidly, I tried to get my bearings. I was sat in the middle of the Doctor and Gomez, shoulders making contact with the both of them. My eyes roaming still, I landed on Gomez’s now bandaged cheek. I smirked and then huffed a laugh.

He glared at me, “You laughing at something, little girl?” I leaned away from him.

“Honestly, laughing at the fact that I was able to hurt you.” Speaking through the gag in my mouth. The speech was so muffled but the effect was there. Gomez didn’t break eye contact with me as he leaned in.

“Better watch what you say around me.” He threatened, “Someone might think you aren’t just a scared puppy.” I glared at the man, nostrils flaring in anger. I should head-butt him. Contemplating my next move, my eyes flicked across his face. He intimidated me, but I couldn’t let him know that.

“Gomez, what the hell are you doing?” Suits asked from the front passenger seat. Gomez’s eyeline never left mine as he answered.

“Just letting the little girl know her place.” Mass scoffed from the driver’s seat and my gaze darted to the rearview mirror. Waiting with bated breath as to what he was going to say. Nothing, he said nothing. Although Mass didn’t really need to say anything. He looked at Gomez with disgust and then rolled his eyes.

“You got a problem, big guy?” Gomez pushed. Suits grumbled, turning to look at Gomez.

“Just shut up, Gomez. You can use your immature intimidation tactics there. Just not in the car. You’re annoying the rest of us.” I had to stifle a laugh, which isn’t hard when you’re gagged. “Give the girl another dose, Doc.”

“Already on it.” Not having been paying attention to the doctor was a mistake. In the time that I was dealing with Gomez, the Doc began assembling and filling another syringe. The prick in my neck alerted me that it was too late. I slumped in my seat, lids drooping again. “It’ll be quicker this time, but the effect will last for a longer time.” I wasn’t sure if he was talking to me or to Suits. It didn’t matter at that point, I was gone.

Cold, brisk air glazed over my skin, snapping me to attention. The quick jerking motion caused an ache in my stiff, restrained muscles. I groaned which slowly morphed into a scream. “Help! Someone help me!” I screamed until my throat sore again. Raspy shouts left my vocal chords, but that didn’t stop me. Wobbling around in the chair in an attempt to loosen the binds around my body. “Let me out of here! You have no right to shut me in here!” I didn't sound like myself, my voice was so gravelly. I jumped away from the right side of the room when a rush of air burst into the room.

Suits walked in and tossed a manila folder onto the stainless countertop. He pulled the chair out from the other side of the table and sat with a sigh. As he relaxed back into the chair, he stared at my face before flipping open the folder. Thumbing through the pages, he glanced up at me every now and again. What the hell is he doing? What’s in that folder?

“Did you bring me here to kill me?” I inquired cautiously. There was a pause as my question hung in the air and then a short snort of a laugh.

“Now, why would I want that?” My nostrils flared and my pulse quickened. Suits smirked at me and leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table in front of him. He glanced back down to the open folder before him. “How many missions did you participate in?” My heart stopped, what the hell is he talking about? Does he know about my dreams?

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” My voice wavered, it wasn’t a lie necessarily.

“I think you do and I don’t take too kindly to people who lie to me.”

“Well then we don’t have a problem because I’m not lying.” I wasn’t really, at least I don’t think it was. Suits chuckled, it was humorless, almost sarcastic.

“I’ll ask you one more time. How many missions did they send you on?” There was anger layering his words.

“I already told you,” I said exasperated. “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. Now let me go.” Suits snickered.

“Alright, fine then.” Suits left the room. The LED lights illuminating the room cut out as soon as the door closed. I shivered in anticipation, trying to figure out what was happening. The temperature seemed to drop as my anxiety increased. My head fell forwards to rest my chin against my chest, deep breaths causing my whole body to rise and fall in time. I don’t know how long they left me there. Time seemed to crawl, mocking me as it slunked by on its wheel. I desperately wanted to rack my fingers through my hair and pull until this whole situation made sense. My brain felt fried and I couldn’t make heads or tails of it. Lifting my head I became aware of the sore crick at the base of it. I sighed heavily, how am I  going to get out of this one? As far back as I can remember, I haven’t done anything to anyone. No instances came to mind that would give someone, much less the government, to come kidnap me and chain me to a chair.

The door swung open and banged against the white wall. A surly, imposing man stared at me with an intimidating expression on his face. The lower half of his face was covered in a layer of stubble, thick, sculpted eyebrows gave way to deep honey eyes. Who the hell is this guy? He stalked around the table and the chair that I was confined to. My head jerked to follow his movements, I didn’t catch a good vibe from this one. Have I gotten a good vibe from anyone recently, though? I mean Suits wasn’t terrible, but he did kidnap me. I was rushed back to reality by the brush of the man’s hand through my hair, sweeping it off my shoulder. Without moving, I glared at the man through my lashes.

“What the hell do you think that you’re doing?”

“I’m here to ask you a couple questions.” He announced, his voice filling the room. My shoulders drooped, this is going to be a long day.

*********************

[jiminiesfavouritecolourisblue]

hi darling can I just say your writing is awesome like I love it so much and ik you must be busy but can I ask if you are gonna write anymore split au’s because I honestly love them (may or may not have read them 4 times but you don’t need to know that). It’s alright if you can’t tho anyways have a great day please cause you deserve it and stay hydrated love 🥺❤️

Okay so by split au do we mean like ex lovers or split like the movie split because for a second I was confused af 😂😂 (never watched the movie nor do I have a fic of that kind but actually have an idea in my ideas folder that’s Yandere but very very early on) believe it or not I actually have three ex lover aus in the works that I’ve started or written the middle of so maybe soon… sooner than we think because it’s all I seem to want to write recently 🤔

Thank you for calling my writing awesome 💜 for that I shall give you some information on the Drabble I am working on with the aforementioned genre 🧐😝 it stars Kim Taehyung and it’s called Happy without me 😬 and that’s all I shall tease you with for now, it’s been in my WIP folder for months MONTHS I TELL YOU MONTHS

Maybe this was the kick up the backside I needed to work on it

[jangmi-latte]

Hello! Is it ok to request a idia shroud x reader fluff? 👉🏻👈🏻 I read a lot of your stuff and I love them :3 your a very talented story writer! Thank you so much! 🙌🏻

❞ 𝐂𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞...❝

࿐. . . IDIA SHROUD (ft. Ortho Shroud)

➻ content: bagels and coffee!

➻ warnings: too sweet

➻ comments: *sprinkles extra diabetes* you want it soft and fluffy, my darling customer? you get a very fluffy pastry. also, it might cause diabetes so eat responsibly. thank you for compliment too~

“Hi, y/n!”

You grinned and gave the younger Shroud a wave. It was the weekend, no school meant you have time to finally hang out with your boyfriend. You had just entered the dormitory and Ortho was walking around the area, probably doing research and investigating like he always does, “Ortho,” you greeted back as the boy approached you, “Brother is in his room. You can just head in since he wouldn’t hear you over his headphones. I tried teling him to meet you on his own but.. ” he scratched his head making you let out a small laugh, "It's fine Ortho, I'll see my way to it."

Once Ortho left, you sighed, of course Idia would we playing his games again. Not like you minded, it makes it easier for you to know where the anti-social prefect was.

You went to his room and upon entering, you saw your boyfriend on his desk and playing the game he's been working hard on for the past few days. Closing the door, you walked over to the male, thinking whether or not to bother him but obviously, you were touch starved and your body moved before your brain could. Your arms wrapped around his shoulders, giving him a fright as he reflexively paused his game. Probably gamer reflexes.

He snapped his head over his shoulder, upon realizing it's you, he relaxed, "I'm sorry," you giggled and gave his cheek a small peck, "Didn't mean to frighten you," you continued while Idia removed his headphones, "It's fine..." he mumbled.

The male's cheek turned a bright red as he span his chair around, "It was an easy level anyways," he shrugged it off while you took a seat on the chair beside him, "Can I watch you play then?" you offered in which made Idia's eyebrows raise. You? Want to watch him play? In all honesty he was grateful that you would take interest in something he likes. He barely shares his interest to others and knowing his own girlfriend would make effort to know what he likes made him genuinely happy.

"If you want to," he said, a ghost smile on his face as he handed you another pair of headphones.

You sent him a sweet smile, making him flustered, and wore the headphones. You look adorable.

"What the..." you trailed off the moment Idia began playing again. Your eyes going around as you focused on the character Idia was controlling, "How is that easy?!" you exclaimed. Ah, you have awakened Idia's confidence.

Idia had a small smirk on his face as his fingers effortlessly moved along the keyboard. The sounds bouncing through the headphones giving you goosebumps as you couldn't take your eyes off the screen. Upon a few minutes, Idia won. You looked at the screen baffled before it went back to the game's map level. He was already at level 162.

"What?" Idia innocently asked though a grin had already made its way to his face, "Teach me."

"Huh?!"

"I want to learn how you did that! Teach me how!"

Idia blinked once, then twice, before looking back at the screen, "This game is hard though." "I don't care. I want to be as good as you."

How you have stolen Idia's heart all over again. Complying, the prefect nodded and moved a little to give you more space to the keyboard. He set a new folder before cracking his stiff fingers, "Your main controls are WASD for movement, J for counter attack, G for dodge, and..." he continued on and on as you listened closely.

Okay maybe this game is hard after all and Idia was talking quite fast. He was excited indeed and nonetheless you were more than happy to see his, usually dull, eyes shine. Maybe after this he has someone to play with! Your fingers stayed on the keys he had mentioned, you asking questions for clarification before nodding, "Okay I'm ready," you said. Your eyes held determination, Idia found it cute.

A smile graced on his lips before he clicked level one. A small screenplay introduction before the battle began. Idia kept an eye both on you and the game and honestly, he was....cringing. You would accidentally, or intetionally, click the wrong keys, making your character be more vulnerable to the enemy's attacks. You easily lost and you were left baffled. He wasn't joking when he said it was hard now, was it?

That's when he noticed, your fingers kept leaving some of the keys. You aren't even relaxed, you were stiff though the way you face would scrunch and pout was a sight Idia would love seeing. Why?

"You have small fingers," Idia mumbled once the game was over and you looked at him surprised. The male took a moment to realize what he had said before spinning his chair around and covering his face, "I didn't mean to say that!" he yelled embrassingly. If he sees you as someone adorable then he was no exception in your eyes.

"Aw," you cooed and kicked his chair back to face you then pulling his hands away, "Was that a disadvantage when playing this game?" you pouted and held his hands. Ah why do you have to be another one of his weakness?

"Maybe... you did suck...."

"Alright I know I'm not good with games. But at least I have you to teach me!"

"You really want to learn?"

"Of course I do! I am determined to defeat that stupid monster."

Idia was thrilled. His bigger hands held yours gently as he looked down, your hands were cute. He liked the way they would frantically move on the keys since your fingers couldn't stretch that far, "How about we start with easier games first? " he pulled on your fingers like he was making them grow longer. You may not be good at games but you are a great girlfriend. Quite the sight to see you having fun with the things he loves doing the most.

"You got it. Maybe someday I can defeat you!" you stuck your tongue out. Idia arched an eyebrow and sent you a grin, "Are you doubting my skills?"

Meanwhile, Ortho took a peek inside his brother's room, a smile making its way to his face as he admired the sight before him. His brother finally has someone to be with and maybe help him enjoy the outside world. He adored you as his big sister now. You were perfect for Idia.

The sight of your and his brother's happiness was a cynosure indeed.

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Omertà👄12

Warnings: noncon sexual acts; tags to be added throughout series

This is dark!Bucky and dark! Loki and explicit. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Summary: Your father was a bookie and taught you everything you know about numbers. After his death, you were taken on as a bookkeeper for Loki Laufeyson, resident crime boss in Manhattan. But can you keep your place in the background when a man from Brooklyn threatens to drag you to the forefront?

Note: Chapter 12!? I didn’t think I could get through it but I did. God, these men are driving me mad.

Hope you enjoy it. Thank you. Love you guys!

As always, if you can, please leave some feedback, like and reblog <3

Your meeting ended. At last. Bucky’s hand kept straying to your knee and each time you scraped your chair away, he inched closer. You ignored him for the ledger but he didn’t relent until you had thoroughly reviewed every digit.

You stood and Bucky did too. Steve yawned as he pushed himself from the stiff armchair and adjusted the belt of his pants. You collected the ledger and your purse. You flitted to the door as the latter neared and whispered to Bucky. They laughed and you hurried through the open door.

“I’m sure Loki has a lot to figure out and we’ll be on our way back soon enough. It’s a long ride.” 

You went to the next door but were stopped by a hand on your arm. Bucky turned you to face him.

“Doesn’t sound like a fun ride, though,” He winked and you wriggled away from him. “I need a word with the boss before you head out.”

He reached past you and turned the handle. You almost tripped as you moved out of his way and he entered without pause. You spun and followed him, barely slipping between him and Steve as the henchman kept close behind. Loki’s voice died and he stood from his desk as he hung up his phone.

“Hello?” He greeted tersely.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Bucky tucked a hand in his pants pocket. “We just finished up and I didn’t want to waste any more of your time. I know you’ll be heading out soon and all that.”

“Hmm?” Loki lifted a brow dryly and straightened his jacket.

“Me and Steve are gonna stay and keep cleaning up around this place. My crew will be here tomorrow to start clearing out most of it.” Bucky pulled his hand from his pocket, a black rectangle in his hand. “I think it might be easier if you packed a bag… stayed in town tomorrow.”

Loki stared as Bucky offered one of the tiny black folders. Bucky shrugged and neared to tuck it in Loki’s front pocket before he patted it. He then turned to you and handed you the other.

“The rooms are all taken care of for the month,” He explained as you carefully opened the small black folder to reveal a key card. “I just figured it would save you time and gas. You’re no doubt antsy to be out of here as soon as you can.”

Loki sighed as his tongue poked his upper lip. He rubbed his long nose and glanced at you.

“I suppose you’re right,” He ceded. “Your hospitality is admirable… and appreciated.”

“Not at all,” Bucky gave a crooked grin. “We should really start working together, don’t you think? This place could be a goldmine with the two of us in charge.”

Loki squinted. “Certainly.”

“Well, don’t let me keep you any longer,” Bucky backed away to the door as Steve hovered on the other side of the frame. “I’d be all too happy to go back to the city…” He paused and peeked over at you. “And unwind.”

“Hmm,” Loki checked his watch. “Yes.”

Bucky tapped the door frame before he left. You let out a long breath and rested the ledger against your hip.

“How was the meeting?” Loki asked as their footsteps faded away.

“A meeting. You’re not going to like the numbers.” You warned.

“I’m not so worried about those,” Loki’s eyes lingered in the doorway. “Did he… do anything?”

“Nothing unusual. Boasting, mostly.” You replied.

“And you? What did you do?” He challenged.

“My job,” You hissed.

“Your job,” He mused as he strode closer. “Always so diligent. Well, let me tell you what your job will be tonight. You will have thirty minutes to pack for tomorrow’s return and then you will come to mine and help me pack.” He preened and smirked down at you. “And then we will ‘unwind’ as he so eloquently put it.”

You blinked as your cheek twitched. You nodded and turned away from him. You looked down at the little folder in your hand. You should be thankful that Bucky got you your own room but you suspected it was more for his good than yours. And a plastic card wouldn’t keep either of them away from you.

👄

Your night went as expected. Loki was angry and didn’t withhold his temper. The prospect of a new venture with Bucky embittered his already caustic demeanour. And the thought of a whole month in Atlantic City with the man barely helped. Either of you. 

You dreaded whatever ploy this was as you slumped in the car seat and Loki drove. The occasional grumble of displeasure wisped from his lips. Thor was to meet him at the casino later that day. Lopez would oversee the antique store as the rest of Loki’s business was overseen by a man called Heimdall who had flown overnight from London to do the older brother a favour.

You pulled up to the casino before noon and yawned. You grabbed your leather tote, the ledger stuffed inside, and followed Loki across the pavement. The doors were propped open and men in dusty jeans and canvas overalls passed in and out. The days work was already underway and you doubted it would be done before sundown.

You heard a familiar voice booming from inside. As you entered, you were stunned as the now bare windows lit the immense space of the foyer. You shield your eyes as a particular slat of sunshine made you teary. A figure approached from your left as Bucky ceased his demands and appeared before you and Loki.

“You made good time,” Bucky clapped Loki’s shoulder. “I hope you had a restful night.”

“Mmm,” Loki rolled his eyes and peered around. 

“Your contractor is around here somewhere,” Bucky looked at the men as they went about their work. “I think he was having a look at the east staircase.”

“Darby?” Loki uttered. “Well, he should be able to take care of himself well enough.”

“Better roll up those sleeves,” Bucky nudged him as he turned to stand beside him. He admired the storm around him. “We’re all hands on deck today… except you, sweetheart. We got you a nice little space upstairs where you won’t be disturbed.”

He looked around Loki and winked. Loki’s lips curled and he shook his head.

“I can help too,” You insisted. “No sense in sitting around while you all--”

“In those heels. In that dress,” Bucky scoffed. “These men don’t need a distraction.”

“Excuse me--”

“Anyways, there is one thing you need to do,” Bucky continued on as Loki’s hand strayed to your lower back and he stepped closer to you. “You’ll need a desk. There was one up there but uh, not very stable. We trashed it last night.”

“A desk?” You crossed your arms. “I can make do with a table. Or my lap.”

“Nah,” He waved away your protest then signaled across the foyer. “I’ll have Steve take you around. The office is all cleaned up for ya, just needs a lady’s touch so while you’re out, grab whatever else you need.”

“This is really not--”

“It’s almost noon,” Bucky announced as Steve approached. “More than enough time for you two.” He looked to his henchman and grinned. “You good to take her now?”

Steve dusted off his palms and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. His shirt sleeves were pushed halfway up his forearms and a tail had come untucked.

“Let me just find my jacket,” Steve winked at you. “I’ll take good care of her.”

“Take care of the desk,” Bucky jabbed Steve’s chest. “Oh, and don’t forget a chair. Can’t have her sitting on a stack of rubble.”

“Course, boss,” Steve smirked. “Think I can handle a shopping trip.”

“Think you can?” Bucky mocked as he turned back to Loki. “Right, we should go find this Darby guy.”

“In a moment,” Loki frowned. “I just need a word with my bookkeeper.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll cover the desk and the like,” Bucky assured as Loki began to usher you aside.

“It’s not a worry,” Loki sneered. “We do have other business.”

Loki grabbed your upper arm and your heels scuffed across the floor as he urged you away from the two men. His jaw ticked as he glanced out the double doors.

“I hope Thor arrives soon. Always late.” He muttered before he cleared his throat. “Darling, you behave.” He felt around and reached into his jacket. He flipped out his wallet and plucked a black card from its folds. “Spend what you must. I’ll not have this man acting benefactor.”

“Um, okay,” You took the card hesitantly. “Loki, I--”

“I am not stupid. I see what he is doing. Him and that drone of his,” Loki growled. “Keep your eye on that oaf.”

You covered the card with your hand and chewed your lip. It would’ve been funny to see Loki so perturbed in any other circumstance, but you suspected you were as much the butt of the joke as him.

👄

If you thought the car ride with Loki the day before was awkward, the one with Steve was grueling and suffocating. You sat in the passenger seat of the flashy sports car and picked at the leather along the door handle. His hand rested on the stick even when he wasn’t changing gears, his fingers tapped on the bulbous head as you felt him peeking at you in the rear view.

“You know,” He finally broke the silence which had thickened after he asked where he was going and you shrugged. “Every time I see you, I just can’t help but think of that day.”

You crossed your arms and went rigid in the seat. You bit the inside of your lip and glared out the window without a word.

“I’m sure you’re wondering which one? The club or the shop?” Steve taunted. “And I really can’t decide if I prefer your ass or your mouth.”

“Would you shut up?” You spat as you finally looked at him.

“I’m sorry, I just can’t ignore this tension between us.”

“Oh, do you mean the sheer hatred or the pure revulsion?” You challenged.

“Don’t act all innocent, honey,” He pushed his shoulders back as he steered with one arm and his other hand gripped the stick. “We both know what-- who you did.”

“The worst thing about you men is you don’t seem to understand the concept of silence,” You hissed. “Or many things, to be fair.”

He pulled into a lot and snarled. He pulled into a spot and the car jolted to a stop. He put the car in park and looked at you.

“Actually, I can think of several ways to keep you quiet,” He snickered. “One I already know to be effective.”

Your nostrils flared and you glanced past him to the plaza. You swallowed and reached for your door handle. He hit the locks and the door clicked loudly. You fell back against your seat and crossed your arms.

“Steve,” You huffed. “We’re here to find a desk.”

“We got time.”

“No,” You pressed yourself to the door and avoided looking at him. “Just let me out.”

He killed the engine and the keys jangled loudly before they were muffled behind fabric. His large hand stretched over your thigh and he rubbed you through your skirt. You drew away and crossed your leg over the other. 

His fingers crept up to the waist of your skirt and he picked at it cloyingly. He leaned across the middle of the car and his warm breath singed your cheek.

“Well, come on then,” The doors unlocked loudly. “Let’s go find that desk.”

👄

The furniture store was almost maze-like. The imported furniture was set out in winding pathways and arranged in carefully plotted scenes. Each piece was unique and every single one was expensive. Steve followed closely as you strolled along, pausing to look closer at a mother of pearl vase or a novelty pen cup.

The selection had yet to intrigue you. It didn’t matter anyway. You didn’t really care what your desk looked like. When all was said and done, you’d be back in New York at the tiny one nestled in the back of The Attic. 

You stopped before a display with a zebra print rug rolled out beneath a marbled black desk. The golden legs spiraled up to support the thick top and an array of paperweights and stationary was laid out across it.

You hated it but you didn’t mind the chair behind it. The dark suede looked comfortable; a lush purple cushiony hug. You stepped closer and picked up the golden pen propped up in an empty inkwell. You twirled it and tilted your head at the bookshelves on either side of the display. Those would actually be useful.

As you set the pen back, you sensed something behind you. Steve’s hands brushed along your waist as he pressed himself against you. He gripped your shoulders and inhaled the scent of your hair.

“This would be nice,” He remarked. “Sturdy.”

He reached down with one hand and touched the desktop.

“Just bend you over a little,” He pushed on your shoulder and you caught yourself against the desk. Your arms trembled as he tried to force you down. He rubbed his crotch against you. “Or maybe you could crawl underneath and--”

“Steve, what the fuck?” You struggled against him. “Someone will see.”

“So,” His hand left the desk and ran over your stomach. “Not our problem.”

“Stop,” You caught his hand before he reached your chest. “I mean it. I doubt Bucky--” You turned with effort and shoved him away. He barely flinched. “Sent you to fondle me.”

“You don’t think so?” He grinned.

“What the fuck does that mean?” You felt behind you and grabbed the pen from the inkwell, tipping the little golden cube over.

“It means I can do whatever I want and the boss will pat me on the back,” He stepped closer.

“You do,” You brought the pen around and pointed the sharp nib at his throat. “And I’ll make sure you never touch anyone again.”

He blinked then tilted his head. His eyes drifted down to the pen and he chuckled. He raised his hands and backed away.

“You’re cute,” He said as he tucked his hands in his pockets. “Come on, let’s find you a fucking desk.”

[anonniemousefics]

My Dearest Inej | Chapter Twenty

Chapter Masterlist

Originally posted on AO3

Rating: Teen And Up

Synopsis: A series of letters kept among the personal belongings of Captain Inej Ghafa.

Dear Inej,

Thank you for always being so nice to me even if I didn’t do much to deserve it. Thank you especially for the nice, warm clothes and the good soup. My Aunt Millie makes good soup, too, but it’s not as good as yours. But that’s okay. I think I’m going to like Leflin anyway.  

Thank you for all you’ve done for kids like me. I think there are lots of us who would try harder to do the right thing if there were more people like you.

I hope Mr. Brekker feels better soon.

Love,

Artie  

---------------------------------------------------------------------

(Marked at the top: “Jesper: Please read to Wylan”)

Dear Wylan,

I’ve had some time to think and look back on the events of the last month or so, and I began to feel like something was strangely out of balance. It took awhile to recognize what it was – perhaps someone a little kinder might have realized it sooner. It was this: you have not been given enough credit.  

Don’t let Jesper not read this bit to you. His ego can handle a few minutes on the sidelines. Wylan, I think it might have actually been you who saved my life.  

I’ve heard every angle, and I’ve pieced together the whole scenario. I’ve well-aware that it was a collaborative effort to haul me out of Ketterdam for treatment. But it was you who was stuck with the perhaps insurmountable task of keeping me sane.

(And Ambroos, too. Let’s be honest: he did most of the work.)

So, I thought you should know that I saw it and I won’t forget it. I won’t forget that when I was half-awake and confused and disoriented, it was you who kept reminding me where we were. I won’t forget that when none of my limbs were working quite right, you were the one assuming the unfortunate responsibility of helping me drink. You were the one walking the ward with me. You were the one playing along with endless card tricks. You were the one trying to get me to laugh when the aggravation and the frustration started to swallow me whole.  

You’re a good man, Wylan Van Eck, and an even better friend. One of the best. You have been fearless and determined and self-sacrificing, and for all that and more, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.  

Sincerely,

K. Brekker

(an addition at the bottom)

No. Still too sentimental. DISCARD.  

-------------------------------------------------------------------

(in the folder marked: “Nina”)

Dear Nina,  

I’m writing you today from outside a little café in Shriftport, and I’m realizing I had the opportunity to give you all of my letters and I FORGOT. Honestly, how are we so bad at this? Of course, we were all a little preoccupied, what with the jailbreak and the escape and the chaos of locating Artie while outrunning Stadwatch, and then gorging ourselves on inordinate amounts of award-winning cake. BUT STILL. I hate to think you might be thinking that I’m not writing you. I am writing you everything.

Now that we are in Shriftport, I’ve paid to have The Wraith dry-docked for maintenance for the next couple of months, and the crew has been given pay and leave to explore Novyi Zem to their hearts’ content. Kaz and I are about to embark on the same; although, we’ve been saying this for about three days now and haven’t made it out of the city limits. There’s just a lot of sleeping and eating to be done first. I think all the excitement finally caught up to us, and, Nina, I am exhausted. And because of that, there’s not been much of a plan formed, but for once, I think that’s okay. And I think Kaz agrees. We know it may be a couple months until all the buzz dies down in Ketterdam and it’s safe to dock again. Not much to do until then.

Right now, we are taking each day as it comes. He is alive and recovering, and that is all that I need for now. We’ve been staying in a little room at an inn that overlooks the port. Whenever I fall asleep, it’s to the sound of the gentle tides and far off seagulls. And Kaz’s heartbeat. I haven’t quite shaken what it was like to count them in the dark and worry that each one could be the last. I suppose, as with all things, that fear will pass with time. (And, if I’ve I started to get too worried, at least he still grinds his teeth.)

So, for now, I’m going to eat my weight in sweet rolls. We’re going to take some long, slow walks through town. I’m going to hold his hand, and I’m going to imagine we have all the time in the world. I’m going to make the most of what we do have.  

As I will with you, darling Nina, when you’re back in Ketterdam again.

All my love,

Inej  

---------------------------------------------------------------

My darling Kaz, treasure of my heart,

Will you still write me letters sometimes? I’m starting to miss them.

Love,

Inej  

-------------------------------------------------------------

My dearest, weirdest Inej,  

I am literally two feet next to you.

- Kaz  

----------------------------------------------------------------

My dearest and nearest Kaz,

But I miss them. You have a way with words on paper that I hold very dear. At least write to me what you’re thinking right now.

Love,

Inej  

-------------------------------------------------------------------

My captain, my queen, my Saint,

Whatever you require. I am yours to command.

I am thinking of Ambroos, and how I wish I could write him a letter. I’m also thinking we ought to find a shadier spot on this beach, unless you’d like to see me fry.  

Signed,

The very pale fellow on your left  

--------------------------------------------------------------------

My dearest pale fellow,

How about now? Are you still thinking of Ambroos now?  

Yours,

Inej

(in Kaz’s handwriting)

No.

(in Inej’s handwriting)

Tell me what you are thinking now.

No. Write it down.

Write it down so I can read it again when this is over.

My dearest Inej,  

So, you require a bit of prose for posterity. You want to remember this day, this moment, and I can’t fault you for that. It’s a nearly perfect one. For you, I will attempt to make it memorable.

What am I thinking right now, you’ve asked? Surprisingly, not much. It’s a welcome reprieve, believe me. At present, I am taken by the sea breeze in your hair. I’m mad for how it spreads out around you when you’re in the sand. I’m thinking about wrapping my fingers in it, maybe tugging it while I kiss you, but I’m also thinking there are quite a few people around, and maybe you wouldn’t like that so much. Maybe later.

I am thinking about what you’ve written here – about wanting something to read when this is over, and I think I haven’t made myself clear. I intend to make this a habit, Inej, as long as you will. Facing down death always does have a way of clarifying things. I know you have the same sense of duty to the sea as I feel toward Ketterdam, but that hardly means this is something we should only do once. Don’t you agree? Isn’t that what you what you wrote to me of, that long night in the warehouse district – a chance to try to rethink the life we’re each leading?

I don’t really know what I’m proposing, if I’m being honest. More, I suppose? That sounds about right. That sounds like me. More of you. More of us. Whatever that looks like. More of me at sea? More of you in Ketterdam? Some complicated combination of both? Logistical nightmares don’t scare me; you should know that by now. If there is a deal to strike here, then I’m open for negotiation.  

Though if we’re really shedding the armor, Inej, I’ll put all my cards on the table. This is all I’ve ever wanted. Just you. Just this.  

So, name your terms. My heart is already yours. It has always been yours.

Kaz  

(in Inej’s handwriting)

Prepare yourself. I’m about to kiss you in front of all these people.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

(accompanying a small bouquet of dried geraniums)

Good morning, Mrs. Brekker,  

I stepped out to hunt down an acceptable breakfast. Don’t get up. I’ll be back with sweet rolls in 10 minutes.

And, for gods' sake, don't get dressed.

Yours,

Kaz

THE END

[bluesfortheredj]

Hitsuzen.

Hitsuzen - A naturally foreordained event. A state in which other outcomes are impossible.

Chapter 11.

A/N: The final part of Hitsuzen... finally. 

“Oh… hey,” you smile sleepily; waking at the tender touch of his hand, “are you alright?”

He smiles softly, “I’m fine. How are you feeling?”

“Better,” you nod, breaking out into a yawn at the end of the word, “where’s Evie?”

“She’s downstairs, hyper on chocolate cake and playing with Betty,” he pauses before he chuckles lightly when he remembers the slew of questions aimed at him when he entered the house, “she, uh,  she gave me a quick interrogation when I came in just now… she may be small but my goodness is she powerful. Made a grown man shake in his shoes!”

“Oh god,” you sigh as you cover your eyes with your palms, “what did she say?”

“Well, she started off with ‘do you love mummy?’ then finished off with ‘can you be my new daddy?’ I mean, I’ve got to give it to her, she knows what she wants and she’s not afraid to ask for it!”

“Oh god,” you groan, “I didn’t think she’d ask you that!”

“It’s okay,” he laughs, “honestly, it was interesting to be on the other side of an interrogation for once!”

“I’m so sorry. She spoke bout this the other day; asking if you’d be her other daddy. I never thought she’d actually ask you outright. I’ll have a word with her,” you sigh.

“Seriously, it’s fine,” he insists, “it’s quite an inviting prospect, I can’t lie. She’s a great kid.”

You slip your hands away from your eyes to take a look at him and you sit up against the headboard as his words sink in, “Charlie… I…”

“Mummy!” Evie interrupts as she bursts into the room, “are you feeling better? Is Charlie staying? Do you love him? I love him.”

“Wow!” you laugh, “you are hyper!”

She jumps up onto the bed between you and Charlie then lays her head on your lap while she sticks her feet out to rest on Charlie’s thighs, “can we go home? Can Charlie come? Sleepover?”

You stroke the hair back from her upside down face and wobble her little cheeks to make her laugh, “someone needs to have a nap because they’re talking crazy!” you chuckle, “and these cheeks are crazy cute, I could just eat them all up.”

Evelyn laughs loudly as you bend over and nibble at her face playfully as you make chomping noises, and Charlie can only sit there in a captivated trance at watching the two of you interacting. He finds himself unable to wipe the smile from his face as you continue to make Evie laugh so innocently despite everything that had happened during her so far short life, and though it wasn’t his place to do so right now, he wished that he could gather the two of you in his arms in a loving embrace. You look up at Charlie for a moment and notice the wistful look in his eyes, then drag Evie up onto your lap for her to calm down before you speak.

“Right Missy, I need you to go downstairs and tell Sarah that mummy will be down for some cake, okay?” you ask her once she’s wiped the happy tears from her face.

“Okay,” she nods fervently before sliding off the side off the bed and disappearing.

“So… you sure you wanna deal with that everyday?” you smirk.

“Never been more sure in my life.”

“And are you sure you wanna deal with this everyday?” you ask, pointing to yourself and your slightly dishevelled appearance.

“Well, it’s a tough job but somebody’s got to do it, eh?” he winks, shuffling closer to you until he can lean forwards and kiss your waiting lips.

It’s the sort of kiss that told you everything you needed to know; it’s deep yet delicate, it’s passionate yet soft, and it ignites a fire that you thought could never be reignited after David had passed. Charlie’s hands cup your face in both a firm and gentle manner while your hands slide up the front of his shirt until you can clasp them together at the nape of his neck and slowly pull him down as you sink into the bed. The sound of his phone ringing makes him groan into your mouth and you laugh at his extremely unimpressed expression when he finally pulls away after peppering your lips with at least five more kisses.

“Sir,” he almost whines, “of course, I’m on my way now.”

“See you later,” you smile with a comforting stroke of his stubble scattered jawline.

“Already looking forward to it,” he replies excitedly, kissing you twice more before he can peel himself away from you completely.

You hear Charlie hopping quickly down the stairs only to be stopped by one nosey little girl who asks him where he’s going, and you roll your eyes at her never ending campaign to get him to stay over for a sleepover which of course would include hot chocolate and night kisses.

“Evie!” you call out, carefully getting out of bed, “stop harassing the policeman… it’s an arrestable offence!”

“A best of all oppence?” she frowns, turning her attention to the top of the stairs where you hold onto the wall for stability.

Both you and Charlie let out a laugh at her misunderstanding, “yes darling, a best of all oppence… now can you go and tell Sarah mummy needs her please?”

She runs off into the lounge and you mouth ‘run’ down to the Charlie as he gets to open the front door at last, and both her and Sarah appear once he’s safely outside. Sarah comes up to help you down the stairs; you were still feeling a little groggy and didn’t feel brave enough to tackle the stairs on your own just in case you went flying down them. When you’re safely resting on the sofa with a soothing cup of tea and the girls’ favourite film on the television Sarah comes to sit next to you to see how you are, and you rest your head on her shoulder with a contented sigh.

-

“Nelson, here,” Barnaby says, thrusting a file at Charlie as soon as he’s close enough, “Adam’s in interview room one… would you like to take the lead on this one?”

“It would be my absolute pleasure Sir.”

The two men enter the interview room, begin the recording, then Charlie shuffles his papers before letting out a long sigh and staring Adam straight in the eyes.

“Adam Carter… ex husband of a Maria Marsden; is that correct?” Charlie begins.

“Pfft,” he scoffs, “yeah.”

“When was the last time you had contact with Maria?”

Adam shrugs, “just after the divorce I guess.”

“Anything more recently?”

“No.”

“Are you quite sure about that? You see, we have a witness statement saying that you informed them of some form of contact between you and Maria; with her being the one to instigate it…”

“Uh…”

“Luckily though, we did some digging and found this,” Nelson twirls a piece of paper around on the desk to face Adam and slides it towards him, “this is a non-molestation order made against you by Maria two months after your divorce which prevents you from using or threatening violence, or intimidating and pestering her. So if you have been in contact with her, then we will need to-”

“I haven’t,” he snaps, “it was a lie. I lied, okay?!”

“Why would you lie about something that could possibly get you into so much trouble?” Charlie frowns as John narrows his eyes at Adam.

“Because,” he sighs with another nonchalant shrug.

“Because?”

“Because I was trying to get the sympathy vote.”

Charlie tenses up as he realises it was a ploy to make Adam appear vulnerable to you; to trick you in to comforting him, soothing him… and that would have been when he pounced, when he tried to take advantage of you because he was playing the victim. The thought of it all made him shudder violently in his seat, and he has to take a moment to shake the intrusive images of what could have played out from his mind.

“So you were planning on using this story to deceive a person into… what? What was the plan there?”

Adam smirks, “you know exactly what.”

“I think we’ve got everything we need,” Barnaby states, “Mr. Carter, you’re free to go.”

As soon as Adam has disappeared down the corridor Charlie allows one single bang of his fist on the desk before gathering up his papers and slipping them neatly back into the folder.

“Couldn’t have said it better myself Nelson,” John nods at the short outlet of rage.

“He can’t keep working at the school after this, can he?” Charlie asks as the two men make their way out of the interview room and back to their desks.

“I’m sure the head will want to keep this quiet,” he smiles, “and nip the problem in the bud, so to speak.”

Nelson smiles and gives John an understanding and thankful nod.

“How as (Y/N) earlier by the way?”

“Better,” Charlie sighs with relief, “more rested, that’s for sure.”

“Good to hear. She’s like a daughter to me, you know. She’s been through a lot for someone her age, and both myself and Sarah care very deeply for her…” John affirms, “we’ve seen her at her lowest point and now we appear to be seeing her as we never thought we would again… happy.”

Charlie realises as the two men sit down at their desks, that this is a thinly veiled warning to him that if he were to do anything to (Y/N) that would hurt her, there would be grave consequences in store, and all he can do in response to John is nod silently.

“Do not fuck this up Nelson,” he finishes bluntly.

“You have my word that I will not mess it up Sir.”

“Right. Good. Well, I’m glad we could sort that out then,” John smiles, raising his eyebrows at the DS, “why don’t you get us a drink to help get through this paperwork?”

“On it Sir!”

-

“(Y/N”, Sarah whispers, “(Y/N), wake up sweetie, the boys are back.”

A deep frown creases your brow as you come to after an unusually deep nap, and you manage to sit upright on the sofa with a confused expression just as John and Charlie enter the house.

“What’s the time?” you yawn, noticing the lack of children around.

“Just gone seven,” Sarah smiles, “you’ve been out for hours!”

“Oh my god, is Evie alright?”

“She’s fine; her and Betty are having a best friend’s sleepover in Betty’s room tonight, and they’re already fast asleep.”

“Thank you,” you sigh, “I’m so sorry I wasn’t awake for anything.”

“Don’t you worry, you need your rest after what happened, and they wanted dinner in the garden tonight anyway so they could have Sykes sit with them,” she chuckles, “so luckily we weren’t going to wake you.”

“I don’t know what I’d do without you Sarah.”

“Nor do I, I’d be lost without her,” John adds with a grin, “now why don’t I help you with dinner my darling?”

“Right, what’s happened?” Sarah asks suspiciously, “you’re in too good of a mood!”

John and Sarah disappear off into the kitchen and Charlie takes a seat next to you on the couch after taking off his shoes and coat in the hallway. He gives you a reassuring smile before reaching out for your hand and squeezing it comfortingly as you sit there still wondering where your entire day went so quickly. Once the fog lifts from your head you stand up and let Charlie know you were just going to check on the girls, then you ascend the stairs slowly and tiptoe to Betty’s room where the glow of her night light seeps out onto the landing. You push the door ajar gently to find the girls snuggled up in bed together with stuffed animals surrounding them and a book laying on the duvet as if they’d just finished story time; it was a heart warming sight to see and you know that moments like these had to be cherished what with how quickly the two of them seemed to be growing up. After a couple of minutes you eventually retreat back downstairs to find John, Sarah, and Charlie standing together in the kitchen, and in that moment you felt as if you’d finally found the family you were meant to have all along. As you walk up to Charlie and his waiting loving embrace, you realise that Midsomer had given you everything you ever wanted, and that moving here was an extraordinarily lucky twist of fate.

@lv7867 @lovemarvelousfics @fuckyou-imspiderman @aynsleywalker @timeandpixiedust @the-baby-bookworm @pink-lemo @chlobo6 @queenslandlover-93 @misslolasworld @killer-queen-87 @drivenbybri @itsametaphorgwil @what-wicked-delights

[somarsword]

Sleep on the Floor - Part 2

ROGER TAYLOR X READER

Hi again :> So I should probably warn you ahead that this story isn't as realistic as other fanfics. The boys are currently on their 1976 tour so that's the route we follow in terms of location but not much else. Let's just pretend you (the reader) haven't heard of the band which is why you aren't entirely psyched when you met them. Uh yeah... guess that's most of it? Oh also, sorry for being pretty inconsistent about Rog's attitude towards you. I just felt it would be more appropriate this way.

Enjoy the read :)

picture taken from pinterest, posted by @hoopdiddydo_

WARNING: none. Cursing?

word count: 1.2k words

February 8, 1976 - New York

You had spent the whole day yesterday attempting to walk as far as you could, but no matter how much your legs hurt from how hard you'd pushed yourself, you couldn't make it even a fraction out of this hellhole. So here you were, now sitting outside a gas station eating a sad excuse of a meal.

You're all out of options. You had lost almost all contact with your friends after they had moved to other states, and the ones who were in New York were Simon's friends first. Your mom wouldn't understand if you told her, she never really loved you anyway, she only loved the idea of having someone to show off. If you were to tell her this she'd shun you and force you back into the arms of your 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 fiancé.

You had no one. Not a single person to run to.

𝐹𝑢𝑐𝑘, 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑'𝑣𝑒 𝑘𝑒𝑝𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑖𝑡.

Shaking your head, you stand and walk over to the payphone situated next to the entrance of the convenience shop.

Only option. Last hope.

The line rings for about 2 minutes before he finally picks up.

"Hello?" his voice slightly raspier than normal.

"Hey Roger, it's uh... well actually you never caught my name, but it's Y/n. The girl from the Ritz the other night" you hear shuffling on the other line.

"Oh yeah, right. Are you alright?" he asks groggily, concern laced in his voice.

"I've been better" you say, letting out a small laugh, "Actually that's why I was calling, are you still in New York?"

"Yeah" he takes a deep breath in "It's our last day here actually"

"Oh. Are you still up for a chat?" you ask him hesitantly.

"We're talking now aren't we?" he says, obviously confused.

"Well yeah. I just-" you pause, closing your eyes and sighing deeply before continuing, "I need to ask you a favor and I need to ask it in person"

The line goes silent, and for a second you believe you may have lost you last chance of escaping. You hear him let out a slightly irritated breathe before reluctantly responding.

"Okay. 30 minutes at the coffee shop at 5th Ave." is all he says before dropping the phone call.

••• -•- •• •--•

"Hey, thanks for meeting me" you say as Roger approaches the table. He nods in response, taking a seat opposite you.

"So what is it you wanted to ask?" He asks once he's settled in.

"You mentioned you were on tour the other night..." you trail off and glance up at him, watching him closely. He nods for you to continue. "Well I was hoping I could catch a ride to the next state."

His eyebrows furrow, both confusion and disbelief written on his face.

"I barely know you" there's a hint of annoyance as he says so, shaking his head.

"Look I know it's a big deal for me to be asking this, but it's the only option I have left. Please. I'll even work for my spot there if that's what it takes. Just please. I need to get out of here." you beg and as he stares back at you his irritation slowly dissipates.

••• -•- •• •--•

"Where the bloody hell have you been?" You hear someone ask as Roger enters the bus in search of his manager.

"Where's Miami?" is all he says in response, ignoring the previous question thrown at him.

"He's at the back. Are you gonna answer me or-" Roger pops his head out of the bus, quickly motioning for you to follow him, disregarding the other man's question again.

As you step in the three men lounging inside turn their heads towards you before voicing their frustration at the blonde.

"So this is where you've been? Couldn't you have kept it in your pants 'til we reached Detroit?"

"Do you always have to be shagging someone at every second?"

Roger ignores the comments of the other men as you both make your way to the back. Once there, you find a man sat at the corner, a bunch of papers set next to him.

"Jim" Roger begins, making the man turn his attention away from the documents and towards the both of you. He raises his brows, signalling Roger to carry on.

"Are there any openings left for the roadies or interns?" Roger asks.

"I don't think so. Why?" He asks, glancing at you.

"This lady here doesn't have enough money to get out of state and was hoping to hitch a ride with us. She offered to work as compensation" You nod, agreeing to Roger's statement. You hastily grab the folder in your bag, handing it to the man.

"I can help with finances, I have a degree in accountancy" You rush out, hoping to convince him. He scans the contents of the folder for a few seconds before closing it again.

𝑁𝑜𝑛𝑜𝑛𝑜𝑛𝑜

"Please sir, I'll even scrub the toilets. Doesn't matter what job you give me, I'll do my best. I can't stay here. Please" you beg. In your 24 years on earth, never had you ever thought you'd be begging 2 strangers to take you with them.

The man chuckles slightly at your sudden outburst, shaking his head in amusement.

"You don't have to do any of that sort, I've been struggling with organizing the finances so you'll come in handy." he hands back your folder, a smile gracing his face.

••• -•- •• •--•

It's been a couple of hours since you've watched the tall buildings you've grown up with shrink, slowly vanishing from your line of sight. The boys had all gone to sleep just a little over an hour ago, leaving you to sleep on the couch, but no matter how hard you tried you couldn't sleep.

With a exhausted huff you sit up abruptly causing the book on your chest to fall on the ground with a thud. Cursing silently, you reach down to pick it up. Just as you lift your head, you're met with the singer of the band emerging from the sleeping area. Freddie Mercury, you think his name was.

"Can't sleep either darling?" he ask, taking a seat beside you. You shake your head, frowning. He let's out a small laugh, understanding your frustration.

"You know, you look awfully familiar. Have we met somewhere before?" he's now looking directly at you, scanning your face for the answer.

"I don't think so" You tell him, shifting your gaze away from him uncomfortably.

A few minutes of silence falls between the both of you before Freddie shoots up from his position, now fully standing in front of you.

"Wait, I remember now. You're the lady from the Ritz the other night! Right?" He whisper-screams with glee, pacing around a bit. Before you can respond he speaks again, "What are you doing on this bus with us darling? You should be planning your wedding!"

You close your eyes tightly, beginning to feel the familiar sting of tears forming. At your silence Freddie pauses his pacing and glances at you.

"Can we not talk about it?" is all you manage to say as you do your best to keep your breathing steady. You feel the couch dip once more as he resumes his space next to you. He says nothing.

"I know I owe you lot an explanation for my sudden appearance on your tour but-" you cut yourself off, aggressively wiping the tears with the back of your hand. "I'm not ready to talk about it" you finally choke out. He hums in acknowledgement.

"Alright lovie, it's alright. No pressure, you don't have to explain anything to us alright?" He says soothingly as he rubs your back in a circular motion.

You nod in appreciation.

[peteywillproceed]

“We Were On A Break!” - Part 1

Author’s Note: Sooooo, I’ve been watching Friends again and I was really inspired to do some kind of crossover with my writing. I tried to make it pretty unobvious, but I really enjoyed writing this! It got really long so I split it into two parts :) hope you enjoy x

Word Count: 3,270

Summary: Even broken up, you and Tom still can’t agree on anything - including, it seems, how exactly you even broke up in the first place...

“Really, Y/n, sleeping with my best friend was the best you could come up with?” Tom glared at you whilst loud music pounded through your head.

“Why the hell do you care, Tom? We’re done, over, finito – you saw to that!” You yelled back, throwing out a hand as Harrison tried to awkwardly shuffle past you. “You can stay there.”

“Don’t tell him what to do! And I never broke up with you, we were on a break!”

You nearly screamed at his words, fisting your hands in your hair and throwing you head back. God, he was infuriating, had he really been this bad when you were dating him? It hadn’t even been that long, just a couple weeks since you’d sat on his bed, sobbing your heart out as he broke up with you. He knew just as well as you that he’d never said anything about a bloody break, yet he threw the excuse out there any chance he got.

“If we were on a break, Thomas, how comes the word never actually came up in the conversation, huh?” You spat, acid coating your tongue. You were done, absolutely sick and tired of this bullshit, just wanting to graduate and move on with your life and forget about this idiotic relationship you’d entertained for five months.

“I thought it was implied!”

You rolled your eyes, pushing past Tom and spinning on your heel to look back at him. “Well then, take this as me implying I’m gonna sleep with other people!”

You raced away from the random bedroom and shot down the stairs, snatching your coat up from the forgotten pile on the banister. You hadn’t even fucked Harrison; you’d stumbled into that room, crying and frustrated over being abandoned by your friends and feeling horribly single, and the stupid boy had followed you in there. You’d always liked Harrison, he’d always been the rational one, but just as you’d finished calming down and snuggled against his chest, Tom had burst into the room, a girl you’d never met before under his arm.

And then he’d had a go at you for having sex with someone you definitely did not have sex with.

The whole thing was outstandingly obtuse, but then again ‘outstandingly obtuse’ was basically Tom in a nutshell, especially if he thought ‘I’m breaking up with you’ was the same thing as ‘I’d like to take a break.’

As you stepped out of the frat house and into the bitter winter air, you pulled your coat tighter around yourself and shivered in the bite of the wind. Your phone was pressed against your ear as you dialled your roommate, multitasking so you could pull your gloves on. She picked up on the third ring, her voice thick with sleep, and you felt wildly guilty about waking her up.

“Is there anyway you could come pick me up?” you choked out, hearing footsteps approaching from behind. The last thing you wanted to do was have a break down in public, let alone one in front of a total stranger.

“Was he there?” Sarah suddenly sounded wide awake, and you couldn’t help the giggle that erupted from your lips when you heard her curse as she struggled to get dressed.

“Yeah, it was just a bit of a shit night.”

You heard her sigh on the other end of the line. “Y/n, I don’t understand what you ever saw in that guy.

You paused for a second as a thousand memories came flooding to the surface, reminding you of the thousands of good times you’d shared with Tom. You could still see his face the first time you took him on a rollercoaster, how you’d felt your heart flutter the first time you’d kissed him. And suddenly, you felt tears flooding your eyes, and you wanted to kick yourself for letting yourself be upset over him again. As the footsteps behind you grew louder, you rubbed the tears away angrily, not wanting to expose yourself, and shook your head.

“Honestly, neither do I.”

“I’ll be there in five,” she hung up the call, knowing full well the last thing you needed right now was her sympathy.

You came to a stop on the pavement, leaning back against the brick wall of the first house you came to, and stared up at the night sky. Inky blue was scattered with sparkling diamonds, spinning violently fast above your head. If you’d wanted to, you could have sat there and calculated the exact speed they were moving, but you didn’t really feel like putting your physics major to use right now.

“Y/n?” a disembodied voice said, and your heart stopped.

“Thomas?” You growled, recognising the voice anywhere.

“I, er, I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

Your eyebrows shot into your hairline, your body going rigid with anger. “You could’ve done that three weeks ago.”

“I know but…” he swallowed audibly “you looked upset.”

“Upset? I looked upset?” You paused, balling your hands into fists as you couldn’t quite believe what he was saying. “No, Tom, I’m beyond upset. Upset was you breaking up with me. Upset was dealing with the aftermath. I’m fuming.”

“About what? What the hell are you fuming about? You just slept with my best friend!”

“I didn’t, actually Thomas, which you would bloody know if you’d actually asked him!”

“Then how comes you were in the bedroom together, huh?”

“Jesus Christ!” You lost it, throwing your hands into the air in rage. “Why do you think you have the right to know everything I do? You lost that privilege when you ended things!”

“We were on a break!”

Before you could punch his stupid, smarmy face, a car pulled up alongside you, and Sarah hung out the window. Tom flicked his eyes over to the vehicle, staying silent as you kicked the pavement in frustration and stepped out into the road. As you buckled in and she pulled away, you tried desperately to keep your eyes fixed ahead, and not drifting back to where Tom was stood on the pavement, staring after you with his lip tucked between his teeth.

“Wanna talk about it?” Sarah asked, one hand on the wheel whilst the other grasped your shoulder.

“He’s just being impossible,” you sighed, and she threw you a look.

“Honey, aren’t they all?”

***

It had been a few weeks since the party, and you were grabbing some coffee from a tiny little café you’d discovered in first year. You were still angry about the whole situation, mostly frustrated that neither of you could actually agree on how you’d broken up, but at least you no longer wanted to punch a wall whenever you saw Tom on campus.

Your fingers wrapped around the steaming mug as you made your way to the last available table in the entire place. It was meant for a couple, but you figured nobody would mind if you sat down and gave it up for someone who needed it. You settled into the chair and spread your notes across the table, only seconds later engrossed in your revision.

It may have been hours or only a few minutes, but you didn’t look up until a deep voice shook you out of your thoughts. “’scuse me, is this seat taken?”

“Oh no it’s-” you faltered as you glanced up, eyes locking on the familiar pools of deep brown. “Tom.”

“It’s Tom?” he raised an eyebrow, a shit eating grin spreading across his face as he held out his hand “Hi, Tom, nice to meet you! I’m Tom too!”

You stifled a giggle, batting his hand away and rolling your eyes. “Just sit down, dipshit.”

Tom collapsed into the seat and you tried to go back to concentrating on your revision, but he kept setting his coffee down to look at you. Having had enough, you threw down your books and fixed him with a look. “What?”

“Nothing, darling, just not used to watching you work so hard,” he shrugged, and you didn’t know if it was a thinly veiled attack or just a piss poor attempt at a compliment. Given Tom’s rep, you were more inclined to go for the latter.

“Well, can you stop staring? Unless you have something important to say, I’m working.” You were trying to keep calm, but the edge in your voice crept through your carefully built defences, and Tom seemed to take the hint that you weren’t in the mood for games.

“Alright, well, I guess I do have something important to say.”

You head snapped up, your reading instantly forgotten. Even if he suddenly said he was joking, you knew there was no way you were going back to that today, and, with some resignation, started stuffing the notes into a folder.

“Well go on then,” you glared, crossing your arms. “It better be spectacular.”

Tom shrugged, a smile tugging at the edge of his lips. “I guess it might be.” When you refused to entertain his games, he shook his head and sighed. “Look, Y/n, I know things aren’t so good with us right now. But I didn’t mean for us to fall out this bad.”

“Whatever happens, we were still together, even if not for very long, and regardless of how things ended we should still be civil. I still care about you, a lot.”

Your breath hitched in your throat; hearing Tom say those words made your heart flutter, even after all the crap you’d both gone through. “So what’s your point, then?”

“Well, my point is that we’re gonna be around each other, We have the same friends. We might as well try to make an effort, and I thought I’d start by offering you and your roommate tickets to the frat’s Christmas party next week.”

You raised an eyebrow, the irony not lost on you that last year’s Christmas party was when you’d first kissed him. It was another few months before you’d finally got together, but that was really the start of your relationship, and you wondered if he was doing this on purpose. But on the other hand, tickets were hard to come by, and it was supposed to be the best party on campus. It was sweet what he was doing really, and you begrudgingly swallowed the last of your coffee.

“Sarah can come?” You asked warily

“Whoever you want,” he smiled, pulling the tickets out of a pocket in his coat. “Just try not to shag any of my mates.”

He’d meant it as a joke, but you still bristled at the comment, sweeping the tickets into your bag as he stood up to leave.

“I’ll sleep with whoever I want, thanks Thomas,” you said, although it came out much louder than you intended. In the quiet café, almost everyone turned to look at you, their brows furrowed in annoyance. You held your hands up and bit your lip, fighting the urge to kick Tom as he looked down at you and smirked.

“I’m sure you will, darling,” he laughed, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his duffle coats. “See ya later!”

***

“This is so loud!” Sarah shouted in your ear.

“Sorry what? You just deafened me, I can’t hear a thing!”

“Oh ha ha,” she rolled her eyes “is there nowhere I can get a drink around here?”

“Try the keg table sweetheart,” a Texan drawl you’d recognise from halfway across the world said.

“Cameron!” you squealed, spinning round and leaping into the boy’s arms. He was the only one on your course you really spoke to outside of lectures, and he’d graduated last year. “What are you doing here?”

“A little bird told me you might be here tonight,” his eyes slid over to Sarah who’d conveniently disappeared into the crowd. “And I missed seeing you.”

You grinned at him, sandy hair and blue eyes still exactly how you remembered them. His arms curved round your small frame easily, and the familiar scent of sandalwood and apricot wafted up your nose as you buried your head into his chest. You’d done this so often with Cameron, curled up after a particularly hard physics lecture, and you’d just pass out next to him. It was normal for you, but something about today felt different.

His hands were on your waist, gripping your hips as rock music blared all around you. You could hear his heart pounding in his chest, and you could’ve sworn you smelt the sickly sweet smell of alcohol on his breath. Something felt different, almost tense between you both, and you jerked back to look at him.

“Are you okay?”

Cameron frowned, nodding vigorously. “Yeah, everything’s good.”

“It’s just…” you started to try and tell him how it felt, but you were cut off as Tom strode over to you and interrupted you, his eyes lingering on Cameron’s hands.

“Y/n! You made it!” Tom cheered, narrowing his eyes on Cameron. “Who’s this?”

“This is Cameron, from my physics class,” you smiled, trying not to feel defensive as Tom reached forward to shake his hand.

“Nice to meet you mate, who invited you exactly?” he asked, eyes wide and innocent, and you almost choked.

“Tom!”

“What? I’m just being friendly!”

You ran your eyes over him, noting the messy hair and the eyes rimmed with red. You scoffed, gently plucking the beer out of his hand and passing it to Cameron. “No, you’re drunk.”

“C’mon, Y/n! Don’t be a buzzkill! Live a little!” Tom almost sang, and you felt your body go rigid with annoyance. Here you were, at a stupid party you hadn’t even wanted to come to in the first place in an effort to get along with him. Yet there he was, drunk off his ass, insulting your friends and looking like he’d been hit by a truck.

“Get over here,” you spat, grabbing him by the bicep “Cameron, just give me a moment. I’ll come and find you when I’m finished with him.”

Marching Tom out of the room, you barely paid any attention to his protests and the weird looks people gave you, practically dragging him up the stairs. You muttered to yourself, trying to figure out which one his room was, when he pointed at a half-closed door near the bathroom. You straightened yourself up and pulled him into the room, shutting the door behind you.

Suddenly, it hit you that you’d never been in Tom’s bedroom before, always meeting up at your place or somewhere central. It wasn’t anything like you imagined – for one thing, it was insanely tidy. And there were rows of books stacked neatly onto buckling shelves, a well-made bed underneath a poster of what looked like London, and a hard wood desk scattered with study things. You wondered why he gave you such a hard time for studying, when he clearly was just as bad.

“Y/n, come on, this is my party!” Tom pouted, and you could barely contain your laughter. He looked like a three year old.

“And you can go back down when you’ve sobered up. You’re gonna hurt yourself if you carry on like that.”

“Whatever,” he muttered, and you moved towards the en-suite in search of a cup and some face cloths. When you found what you were looking for, you filled the cup with some water and took it back out to him, finding that he’d collapsed onto the bed.

“See, you’re even tired,” you smiled, helping him sit up and bring the cup to his lips.

“You’re too nice to be, y’know,” he mumbled through his mouthful of water. It was the truest thing you’d heard him say in a long time, and you swallowed the nasty retort that came with it.

“Trust me, I know,” you said instead, and he looked up at you, seeming grateful you weren’t giving him a hard time.

“Who’s that downstairs anyway?” he continued.

“I told you, it’s just Cameron. We’re really good friends from physics.”

“Didn’t look like it.”

“Huh?” you frowned, and Tom scoffed loudly.

“Oh please, he had his hands all over you.”

“So? That doesn’t mean anything,” you said, but in your heart you knew it wasn’t true. The way he’d looked at you, the weird position of his hands, it had brought an atmosphere between the two of you you’d never had before, and maybe Tom was only giving a name to something you couldn’t. “And even if it did, it wouldn’t have anything to do with you.”

“I know,” Tom said simply, a small shrug escaping him “but I can’t help the way I feel.”

Suddenly, you felt like the room was spinning and you couldn’t catch your breath. You could barely focus on Tom as he seemed to swim before your eyes and you fought to get a hold of yourself. Was he really saying what you thought he was? Or were you misinterpreting it, like you always seemed to do when it came to Tom?

“What?” you whispered, and he came into focus long enough for you to see him reach over and tuck a piece of hair behind your ear.

“Like I said, I can’t help the way I feel about you.” His fingers trailed over your jaw and cupped your cheek, eyes locked on yours. You gulped, seeing him move towards you, and all at once it was too much. Not long ago, he’d been screaming at you, and now he was confessing he still liked you? It felt too weird, too foreign, and you jerked away from his touch.

Hurt spread across his face, but you knew he was too drunk to remember this in the morning. You started to move your mouth, no words coming out, and reached to grab your fallen coat. “I…I think I should go.”

“Wait, no, please don’t,” Tom practically shouted, and you jumped at the desperation in his voice. “I’m sorry, that was too much.”

“Yeah, it was,” you sighed, but the tingle against your lips seemed to tell you otherwise. You hadn’t wanted him to actually kiss you, had you?

“Are you tired? I’m really tired. I think we should go to sleep,” Tom was rambling now, and you bit your lip in frustration. What did he expect you to do? Lay down beside him and fall asleep like nothing had happened?

His eyes bore into yours, imploring you to stay. And even with all your resolve, you could feel yourself breaking, drawn towards the arms that had held you whilst you’d fallen asleep more times than you could remember. With a little gulp, you made your way back towards the bed and kicked off your shoes, so you could curl up beside him.

He slung his arm around you and pulled you into him, and just like that the last few reservations you had melted away, as Tom’s familiar smell engulfed you. Slowly, your eyes began to flutter shut, weighed down by your confusion and exhaustion, and you took a deep breath. Drifting off, images of your time with Tom flashed before your eyes, and you finally fell asleep to the sound of his gentle breathing.

 It had been so long since you’d been like this, just the two of you curled up under the bed sheets, but the warmth and familiarity of it all made it seem like no time had passed between you. For now, you were lost in your own little fantasy, content with the soft glow of light and little snores from Tom.

 You would deal with the consequences in the morning.

 Part 2

 Taglist

@zabdisamor @jinxfanfics

[justironqrowthings]

Headcannons !!

-qrow sits on james' shoulder in crow form during any time james has a meeting. he figures james easily gets upset during them so he can stop it at the source

-qrow thrives on compliments. james can look at him and call him beautiful once and qrow turns into a tomato

-james absolutely hates hurting qrow in any way. hes always been scared of it and qrow constantly has to remind him its okay to cause a little pain sometimes but even then, if james even pinches qrow at it stings, its cuddle time.

-if qrow is doing anything remotely self destructive (drinking, insults, isolation, etc.) james picks him up, brings him to their room, tells him to change into pajamas (if qrow refuses to change, james will change qrow for him) and its cuddle+compliment time to the fucking max

-like qrow thrives on compliments, james thrives on physical affection. qrow is always holding his hand, leaning on him, etc. in public because he knows it makes james happy. you can easily imagine how happy they both are during cuddle time because james doesnt know how not to compliment qrow

-qrow is always embarrased to train in front of/with james (ESPECIALLY in tight workout clothes) because he knows exactly what james is staring at

-james as videos upon videos of qrow doing really stupid/silly stuff (with his nieces included) and has them copied onto like. every device.

-qrow is usually the one to initiate intimate time, but is most certainly not the one who finishes

-qrow cannot top james to save his life

-james has always had illegal amounts of patience for qrow, even more than ozpin ever did, so it always confused qrow when he was rambling about something (like weapons or games) and james just sat and actually listened without telling him to calm / slow down

-thats actually how qrow fell for james in the first place. not even summer had that kind of patience for him when he went off on a tangent and he absolutley loves the fact that james actually listened

-james fell for qrow a lot later, but the a lot later was when james lost his right half and qrow still treated him like a person. he treated him like he had just had a super bad injury and would be alright eventually

-james 100% thinks qrows semblance is bullshit. he hates it and what it does to qrow.

-nicknames are so very prominent. qrow usually stays on the jimmy, jim, etc. train, but will call james by his name or other traditional pet names (honey, baby, etc.). james, however, goes all out. my qrow, my darling, my love, everything starts with 'my' in front because he knows how special qrow feels when james calls him his. qrow loses his mind the most at 'my darling beautiful qrow' because of how soft james always says it + oh-so-casually being claimed as both james' AND beautiful

-qrow learned to dance just for james. he secretly always wanted to be invited to a fancy atlas ball and hoped james would ask him to dance, so he had summer teach him. you can imagine how happy he was when james invited him and only danced with qrow

-james will pay people out of pocket (purely his money, nobody elses. his hard earned cash.) to make qrow laugh/smile super bright. he loves seeing qrow happy to the point where he just zones out while watching him

-james can and will take pictures of qrow in both comproming/scandalous moments or just when qrow is being soft/gentle. his multiple folders of photos james has ranges from completley naked to drinking hot chocolate while watching the sunset. he has no method to his madness.

-qrow knows he cant do literally anything that james could stare at during work because james will stare

-qrow is a little spoon this is cannon

-james is easily the more protective one. if you even look at qrow with ill intent he can and will hunt you down

-james get super jealous super easy. qrow can be joking & laughing with a random guy and for the rest of the day james is just at qrows side holding his hips and glaring anybody that might like qrow down

-as much as james loves having qrow under him & literally begging, he wont do anything qrow is even slightly hesitant about. he drinks respecting boundaries juice.

-qrow was actually hesitant to do anything past making out at first but now hes basically addicted to james

-it 100% breaks james heart when qrow wont allow himself to be even picked up but qrow always eventually apologizes and lets james hold him

-james almost constantly wants to hold qrow. just. pick him up with one arm or sit qrow in his lap. he loves it.

-james purposefully watches qrow train because he knows it gets qrow flustered and he loves it

-they both know exactly what theyre doing when it involves teasing the other when others are around. they know and do it anyways bcs they know the other wont act on it unless its them in their bedroom

feel free to add!

[bazypitchandsimonsnow]

Being Simon

Chapter 1: The Past

Chapter 1/2 (All chapters)

Rating: T

Genre: Fluff/Angst

Word Count:  8493

Summary:  Simon's type of therapy is...unusual to say the least. He has the incredible chance to go back in time to fix what he regrets. However, things get more complicated when Simon meets someone very interesting in the past.

Read on AO3

AN: Ahahahaha I did it!!! I finished a fic! That's a big achievement for me nowadays tbh. This has taken forever because stupid fucking health, but I did it! Of course I'm not 100% good with it but I'm still proud. Being Erica is one of my fave shows ever and is severely underrated imo. Then I saw this post and was like "oh damn that would be great for snowbaz." Now like three-four months late, here we are! Big thank you to @carryonmylovelies​ as always. She has been a big support for me through this writing slump. I couldn't be more grateful for her <3

World basics: time travel therapy is a thing, no further explanation given, and going back in time to fix past regrets teaches patients how to live better in the present. Patients take over their past selves' bodies for a bit. Patients can return from the past either suddenly or by stepping through doors. So just imagine Simon doing that. Saying much more is spoilers. 

I’m gonna post chapter 1 today, then chapter 2 sometime within the next week. Hopefully y'all like it!

———————————————

You know that guy who’s got it all? A perfect job, a perfect partner, wonderful family, a life that people are secretly jealous of? You know that guy, everyone knows that guy. Unfortunately, I am not that guy.

My name is Simon Snow, and I’m a fuck up. But I’m getting better.

“Mr. Snow, Mr. Snow!” Cassidy shouts, waving her hand, “I know the answer!”

“Cass,” I say, “what did we say about inside voices?”

She pouts and crosses her arms. “Keep the volume down for all those around.”

“Exactly. Now, try again.” Cassidy raises her arm with no added sound effects. I point my chalk at her. “Cassidy, what’s the answer?”

She puts her hand down, grinning wide. “It’s 42.”

I hold my hand out to her. “Nice job, Cassy, right on the money.”

She gives me a big high five. The feeling of accomplishment surges through me. God, I love this job. My old customer service work made me feel dead inside. Day in, day out, same old fucking garbage from garbage customers. It was just never something I wanted to do. Now I get to see a little girl smile, and I helped her smile. Yeah, little self centred, but I’ll take it.

“Patrick,” I say, “can you tell me how we can find 8 times 4?”

Patrick nods and starts rattling off the technique he’s come up with. It’s a bit odd and round about but all his. That’s what I love about kids, the strange and unique things their little minds come up with. It’s why I wanted to be a teacher in the first place, before I lost my way.

The bell rings and everyone's on their feet immediately. “Alright everyone,” I shout over the clamour, “make sure to finish chapter three for tonight. And get your worksheets done! We’re going to go over them with a fine toothed comb. Have a good weekend, kids.”

“Bye, Mr. Snow,” they all parrot back. I wave them off, then start on my laptop. Being a teacher means having a lot of paperwork. (Or Google Doc work, I guess.) Everything is in mismatched folders and I have to scour them for my lesson plan draft. Unfortunately, I’m still not great at organization, but I’m working on it. I’m working on a lot in my life.

My phone rings. I look up from my screen, and notice there’s no sunlight from the windows. Holy shit, how long have I been sitting here? I quickly grab my phone. “Hello?”

“Simon!” Todd shouts. “Where the fuck are you?”

“Oh, uh, hi Todd.” Fuck, what did I do this time? “I-I’m still at work...”

He scoffs. “Of course you are. Shit, Simon, I’ve been sitting at Casper’s for an hour!”

My heart drops. I look down at my watch. It’s 6:34. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry, love, I just totally lost track of time-”

“Yeah, I guessed that. I should expect that of you now.”

Well, that stings. A lot. I’ve felt like a screw up my whole life, so much so even my parents didn’t want me. Like they had some prophetic vision that their kid would be a no good moron. Therapy has started to rid me of those thoughts, but they still creep up every once in a while. Like now.

“I’m sorry, darling, I’m really sorry. We can go to my place, have take away-”

“No, Simon,” he sighs. “I just...I picked the day, the time, and the restaurant. All you had to do was bloody show up, and you couldn’t even do that. I mean...do you even care, Simon?”

A horrible, familiar pain goes through my heart. I can still hear Agatha’s voice all these years later. I don’t think I’ll ever forget it. My thoughts get all muddled up, mixing up old fears and trauma with today.

“I do care, Todd, I really do. I just- I didn’t- I was- We can-”

“Please stop..” He sighs again. I can almost see him rubbing his pretty black eyebrows together. “Don’t stress stutter, it’s alright. Enjoy your work and takeaway.”

“Uh, could we reschedule?”

“No, we can’t.”

I gulp. I hate that I know what’s coming. “Are...are you too busy?”

“No, I’m just...I’m done. I can’t do this anymore, Simon. Hope you do well. I mean that.”

I slump in my chair. “Okay. You too. Bye, Todd.”

“Goodbye, Simon.”

He hangs up, but I keep the phone by my ear. My body feels too heavy to move and get out of this fucking chair. Once again, I screwed up my relationship. And the fact that it’s too familiar is even worse. This is what, the third partner I’ve lost in the last year? An abysmal track record. Before that I had been alone since uni, yeah, but I think it was better than feeling like this.

Slowly, I pack up all my stuff. Everything is quiet, like the world is in mourning for my latest lost relationship. Self centered as fuck but a nice thought. I sling my book bag over my shoulder and walk towards the door. It’s not even a shock when I don’t enter the foyer, but step through and end up in Dr. Margaret’s stony yet brightly lit office instead, complete with torches and pristine furniture. It’s like some medieval version of an IKEA showroom. Dr. Margaret is sitting in her chair with a book in hand, obviously waiting for me. Just another day with a super powered therapist who has her office in a pocket dimension outside of our reality. (That’s my theory anyway).

I speed walk forward and flop down face first on her white couch. “Hi to you too, Simon,” she says. I groan into the cushions. “Good day, huh?” I groan louder. “Tell me what happened or get off my couch.”

I move my face to the side, glaring at Dr. Margaret. She just keeps looking at me blankly from her large leather chair. Dr. Margaret has little time for my whining, something I usually appreciate. “Todd broke up with me.”

“You poor baby.”

I narrow my eyes even more. “Aren’t therapists supposed to be all sympathetic and shit?”

She scoffs. “Sympathetic when you’re not being pathetic.”

“My boyfriend just broke up with me, I’m allowed to be a bit pathetic.” I rub my very strained forehead. “I always get dumped.”

“Mhm.” Dr. Margaret picks up the notepad, the one I filled with my regrets the first day we met. It’s embarrassingly long, but a lot are crossed off too. “Tell me about ‘breakup with Agatha.’”

I groan, head falling back against the couch. “God, that’s one I’ve been waiting for.”

“Stop groaning and tell me.”

“Okay, okay, gimme a sec.” I sit up and put my elbows on my knees, rubbing my temple. Headache is coming. Though I’ve started to actually pay attention to my health and take care of myself now (thanks to Dr. Margaret), the headaches still happen sometimes. Especially when I think about this.

“It was 2003,” I sigh. “Agatha and I had been together for six years. Just before third year finals, Agatha broke up with me. I got really pissed at her. Turned into a huge screaming match. She said I didn’t care, and I called her an arsehole that never loved me.” I run a hand through my hair. Old stress habit. “I’ll never forget the look on her face. She was so unbelievably hurt. I knew it was wrong the moment after I said it, but I was too angry and proud to apologize. Agatha walked out. And that was the last time I ever saw her.” The words piece my heart like a knife. I feel like I'm about to shatter into pieces “We avoided each other all through finals. Right after graduation, Agatha moved to California for her masters. She wouldn’t take my calls, then she changed her number. So I gave up. Haven’t talked to her in twelve years. No idea where she is now and what she’s doing.”

Dr. Margaret nods thoughtfully, placing the notebook down. “What would you do differently? Try to fix things? Stay together?”

I shake my head vigorously. “No, god no. We weren’t good as a couple. But Agatha was one of my closest friends way before she was my girlfriend. I just, I want the breakup to not be so awful. That way we can stay friends. I want to keep her in my life. If I wasn’t such an arse, she would be.”

“Sounds reasonable. Let’s see if you can do it.”

A familiar chill hits me. At first it was terrifying but now I expect it. “Alright.”

Dr. Margaret nods, and the world spins.

———————————————

“You’re not hearing me, Simon!” Agatha screams. “I’m trying to tell you that it’s over!”

I stumble, blinking at Agatha and trying to focus on what’s around me. Dirty walls, Lady Gaga posters, a shitty desk I picked up off the curb. Yeah, this is definitely my uni apartment. And this is definitely Agatha screaming at me, trying to break things off and I’ve just been yelling. She’s so mad but I can’t help but smile. God, I’ve missed her.

“What are you smiling about?! Are you listening to me?!” She groans and shakes her head. “We’re done, Si. I can’t do this anymore. Goodbye.”

She turns around to leave and my pulse skyrockets. No no, not again. “Ags, wait! I-I am listening. Please, don’t leave!”

Agatha freezes, hand on the knob. She glares at me over her shoulder. “What?”

“I-I’m sorry for yelling, that was awful. Can we just sit down and talk this out? Please?”

She looks me over, probably trying to figure out if I’m being sincere. I know I am, but as far as she's concerned I was screaming my bloody lungs out a minute ago. Must be weird for her. Thankfully, she lets go of the knob. “Fine.”

I sigh in utter relief. I sit down on my shitty mattress (pretty sure I got this off the curb too) and Agatha follows. She’s tense, arms crossed. I fiddle with my fingers. The nail beds are all chewed up, hangnails surrounded by dark dried blood. Glad I broke that habit, but right now I sort of wish I still did it. It made me feel better.

“Are you going to say something?” Agatha asks, voice biting.

“Yeah, yeah, just, uh...” I rub the back of my neck. Words are getting fucked up again.

“You’re not going to change my mind, Simon. We’re through.”

“I know, Ags, I know. I don’t want us to stay together.”

Her eyebrows furrow. It’s really cute. I miss when she did that. “You don’t?”

“No, no, we’re not good as a couple. We don’t work well.”

“Oh.” Her arms fall into her lap. “Okay. Yeah, I think the same.”

“Awesome.” I turn towards her with a big grin. “But, uh, could we still be friends though? You’ve always been one of my best friends, Agatha. I-I don’t want to lose you after this.”

Agatha rubs her lips together, But slowly, she nods. “Okay, yeah.”

A huge weight lifts off my shoulders. I grin so wide it hurts. “That’s great! That’s so great. I-I just, I don’t want to lose you just cause our relationship didn’t work out.”

She looks even more confused, and I’m not sure why. “What do you mean ‘didn’t work out?’”

“Well, I-I mean, y’know, we just don’t work as a couple. We haven’t been happy for awhile because things have kind of...fizzled out, right?”

Suddenly, that infuriated expression comes back. She groans and stands up. “I can’t believe you, Si! You really haven’t been listening to anything I’ve said, have you?!”

I stand up too. “No, no, I have! You want to break up, and I get why, we’re not happy together. We’re not a good couple-”

“Because of you!” she screams. I stumble back slightly from the force of her words.  “You fucked up!”

A horrible, upset, disgusted feeling takes over my whole body. Like my very soul is sicking up. I step towards her, reaching out. “Ags, I don’t know what you mean. H-How did I ruin things? Tell me what I did wrong!”

She shakes her head and backs away. “I’ve told you a hundred times, Si. If you don’t know by now, I don’t think you ever will.”

Agatha starts to stomp away. I chase after her. “Agatha! Ags, please, don’t-”

She slams the door so hard all my knick knacks rattle. I’m left in silence, except for the thoughts rattling around in my head. Fuck, what did I say? What did I do? I can’t think of anything I’ve done horrible enough to warrant such a response from Agatha. I pull at my hair and gnaw at my nail beds. I mean, this me already does it, so where’s the harm? Fuck, I don’t know what I did. I can’t remember!

Penny. I gotta go find Penny. She always has the answers. She’ll remember why I fucked up. I rush out the door and swing my way down the shitty stairs, careful to avoid the usual vomit puddles. I’m speed walking across the lawn towards Pen’s TA building when I spot familiar frizzy white hair.

“That was fast,” Dr. Margaret says, looking down at her book with a Starbucks drink in hand. She’s dressed in a horribly ugly orange tank top and boho skirt. Perfect for 2003. She needs to blend in with the time period, or at least that’s what she says. I think she just likes to dress up. “Saw her storm out. Looked really mad.”

“What the fuck was the point of this?!” I yell. I’m so angry, I can’t help it. My temper is something I need to work on but I really don’t care right now. “I still cocked things up with Agatha, so she still hates me, and all I’ve learned is that I apparently did something horrible that I don’t even remember because it’s been twelve bloody years!”

She takes a long drink from her large Starbucks cup. “Hm. Quite difficult. What’re you going to do?”

“Find Penny, I guess, She’ll know, right?”

Dr. Margaret shrugs. “Don’t know. You have a phone. Call her.”

Oh, right, phones are a thing. I dig around in my cargo shorts (god, I can’t believe, I used to wear these things) and pull out my old Nokia slide phone. I sneer at the thing. It was my first and shittiest cell phone. I thought I was so cool because my mobile slid out. I was such a prat.

I go to my contacts, and Penny is one of five. That makes me a little sad. I always liked people, but I was always bad at making real friends. I’ve gotten better now but past me barely had anyone. I click her number, and she picks up after two rings.

“Hey, Simon, what’s up?” she asks.

“Um, not much,” I respond automatically. Dr. Margaret glares at me. Right, I don’t need to push down my problems and pretend everything is okay. Penny’s my friend, she’ll want to help. “Actually, there’s a lot. Aggie and I just broke up.”

“Oh Si, I’m so sorry. How’re you feeling?”

“Not too bad. I guess it was inevitable. I’m more confused than anything. Ags said I ruined it by doing something, but I’m not sure what I did. Do you have any idea what she meant?”

“Uh...I really don’t know. She hasn’t told me anything. She doesn’t usually tell me things anyway.”

I sigh and rub my face. “Yeah, true. I’ll figure it out. Thanks, Pen.”

“Welcome, Simon. Love you.”

“Love you, too.” I hang up and shove my phone back in my massive pocket. Dr. Margaret is back to reading. “Well, that was no help.”

“Too bad. Maybe going to the source would be better.”

I frown in utter confusion. “You want me to go talk to Agatha again?”

“She knows what’s wrong. You don’t. Ask her.”

I put my hands on my hips. “You’re never this direct. What’s going on?”

She flicks her eyes to me, smiling slyly. “Don’t trust me, Simon?”

“No! I just know you always have something else going on. Nothing in therapy is ever easy or simple.”

“Know that. Taught you that.” She snaps the book closed. “Do what you think is best, Simon. Then live with choices.”

She stands up, book tucked into her hippie purse, and walks down the lawn. I huff, blowing a piece of stray hair out of my face. “You know I hate when you say that! It’s just pointing out the obvious! That’s lazy therapy!”

Dr. Margaret, the woman who has changed my life in so many ways, makes the “whatever” W sign at me. I chuckle and shake my head. Okay, well, this is probably some weird test (again), but Dr. Margaret has a point. Best to be direct. Maybe Agatha will have cooled down by the time I get there. I should do something nice. Bring her flowers, yeah, that’s a good idea. I look down at my cargo shorts, baggy Eminem shirt, and filthy knock off converse. Definitely need to change too.

I rush back to my apartment. It’s dingy and gross, but there’s a weird nostalgia to it. I should’ve put up more posters. (Why can’t that be a regret? That would be so much easier.) My dresser is bursting at the seams as usual. I throw my t-shirts around looking for something passable, but everything is dirty, tacky, smells like weed, or all of the above.

“Christ, how did I live like this?” I grumble, as if I wasn’t pretty much still living like this a year ago. (Minus the weed. Kicked that after uni, thankfully.)

Eventually I find a plain brown shirt and a pair of jeans with only one tomato sauce stain. Alright, I’m passable now at least. That’ll get Agatha’s attention just because it’s so out of character for who I am in this time. I open the old pickle jar where I keep all my change and scrounge together about 20 quid. Should be enough for flowers, especially before the 2008 crash. The exchange rate is the only thing I miss about the past, honestly.

“Alright,” I mutter to myself, slinging my bookbag over my shoulder, “decent clothes, okay hair, pocket change, bag to hold flowers. Let’s do this.”

I walk out my front door feeling confident, hopefully not too much. Can’t get a big head. Need to focus on Agatha.

“Simon, mate.” I turn around to see Rhys wheeling out of his flat. “What’s up? Heard a lot of shouting earlier, you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m cool, man. Agatha and I broke up and things got messy.”

He inhales sharply between his teeth. “Yikes. Sorry to hear that. Can’t believe she dumped you for that snotty prep.”

I stand ramrod straight, then spin around on my heels to face him properly. “What snotty prep?”

“Oh you didn’t know?”

“Didn’t know what?!”

Rhys raises his hands in surrender. “Whoa, take it easy, man.”

Shit. Reel in your temper, Simon, don’t explode. “Sorry, sorry, mate. Just, what are you talking about with this prep?”

“Yeah, this preppy pretty boy Agatha sits next to in our romantic literature and creative writing classes. They’ve always got their heads together. I didn’t say anything because it wasn’t my business, but then you said you two broke up, so...”

“So you thought she told me, got it.” I rub my temples. Headache is coming back. “Do you know who he is?”

Rhys scratches the side of his head. “Yeah, think so. Tall, dark-ish skin, grey eyes, posh accent, even more posh clothes. Name starts with a T. Terrence, Terry, Tyler-” He snaps his fingers and points at me. “Ty! That’s it!”

My face scrunches up. “Ty? Ty what?”

“Dunno. Just Ty, I guess. Like Madonna. Dude thinks he’s better than fucking everyone just because he’s rich or something.”

My blood boils to a fever pitch. So Agatha broke up with me for someone prettier and richer. She said it was my fault because she didn’t want to hurt my feelings. Mission failed, because I am fucking gutted.

“Thanks for telling me, mate,” I say, holding out my fist to him. He bumps his own against mine. “Really appreciate it.”

“Sure thing, mate. Come have a beer with us to commiserate?”

I chuckle. “Yeah, but you may have to remind me later. Brain like sieve.”

“Gotchu. See ya.”

“See ya.”

Rhys rolls down the hall towards Gareth’s. Right, it’s their weekly beer and footie night. I would hang out with them sometimes. I miss that. I should call them when I’m back in 2015. Right now though, I have a mission.

———————————————

Finding Ty will be pretty easy. I know when Agatha and Rhys’ creative writing class is, which is in a couple of minutes. (Rhys skipped a lot of class. Luckily he was a genius so he graduated at the top of our year. And Agatha never went to class when she was upset, so I know I won’t see her.) I run over to the building I know it’s in, a massive hall made from dingy grey stone and filled with caffeine addicted twenty somethings. Then I sit by a tree, waiting to see someone like Rhys described. Oh and when I find him I’ll- Well, I’ll do something. Not sure yet but it’ll be something!

Droves of zombified uni students pass me by. None of them look posh and preppy enough to be like this Ty dude. He sounds like such a twat. What the fuck does Agatha see in him? (Or did see in him, I guess. Time travel is weird.) Maybe Agatha is still with him. Maybe they went to California together. She talked about me going with her for a bit, but I was scared to leave England. I don’t regret staying, but I do regret the crushed look on her face.

The guy passes by me. He looks ridiculous, wearing oxfords, black slacks, and a goddamn tweed jacket with leather patches on the sleeves. It’s the preppiest posh shit I’ve ever seen. I can see his hands, curled around his textbook, and his slicked back hair. Dark-ish skin and ear length black hair. I’m on my feet in an instant.

“Hey!” I shout. He doesn’t move. “Hey, Ty! I’m talking to you!”

He finally turns around, and my heart stops for a second. Holy shit. This guy is beautiful. Like, super model on the cover of a high end fashion magazine gorgeous. He’s got cheekbones sharp enough to cut glass and his eyes aren’t just grey, they’re green and blue mixed together. Like deep ocean water. And right now they’re staring at me like I’ve lost my goddamn mind.

“Yes?” he says. His voice is smooth, strong, really pretty. “You called my name?”

I shake off my small gay panic (technically pansexual panic) and my anger returns. I glare hard at him. “Yeah, I did. My name is Simon Snow, Agatha’s boyfriend.”

His confusion quickly switches to stone faced boredom. “Oh you’re the boyfriend. Well, the ex-boyfriend now, according to the text Agatha sent me.” He tilts his head to the side, ocean eyes scanning me over. “I thought you’d be taller.”

My body feels like it’s on fire. This guy may be hot but he’s a total prick. How could Agatha dump me for him?! “Who do you think you are, huh? Flirting with someone’s girlfriend? That’s fucking low, you pathetic shit!”

He scoffs, putting on hand on his hip. “Very well spoken. If you’re done with your little alpha male display, I have a class to get to.”

Ty turns away. I’m ready to explode. I haven’t felt this angry in years but this guy is getting so under my skin. I grab his shoulder and force him to look at me.

“You don’t get to walk away, dick!” I roar. “Do you think you’re better than me?! Well you’re not!”

“I’m not the one shouting at a random stranger on the quad.”

“I’m shouting because you stole my girlfriend!”

“I didn’t steal her, you sexist shit,” he hisses. “She’s my  friend. Are you the kind of arse to not allow his girlfriend to have friends?”

“No! And I’m not sexist! I just don’t like someone flirting with the girl I was with when I was with her, especially when you’re all...posh and shit!”

Ty scoffs again and leans forward. “Well, at least I don’t wear dirty jeans out in public. I have more self respect than that.”

My entire body explodes in a way it hasn’t in ages. My vision goes completely fucking red. I shove Ty, hard. Way harder than I mean to. He stumbles backwards, dropping his books on the grass. He looks at me in utter shock.

“What the fuck?!” Ty shouts. He then shoves my shoulders, and I stumble five steps back. Holy shit, he’s strong. 

“Fuck you!” I shout back. I charge forward with all my might. Ty blocks me but that doesn’t stop me. I claw and push and pull at him, no clue what I’m doing at all. I’m just so angry and pushing it all at him. He pushes back just as hard. Neither of us will give an inch. We scrabble like a pair of cats. I can’t think, I just feel. I'm so angry and sad and worthless because...because....

Because I’m losing my friend again. And I don’t know what to do.

My hits get weaker and weaker. All the energy dribbles out like a melting ice cream in July. As I slow down, Ty stops pushing back. My arms fall down at my sides. His hands rest awkwardly on my shoulders.

“Uh,” he says, “are you alright?”

“No,” I choke out. Tears fill my eyes and cloud my vision. “No, I’m not.”

I break down, crying with heavy, ugly sobs. Everything is just collapsing in and around me. I really am losing Agatha all over again. It hurts even more this time. I’ve never fallen apart this badly on a regret. But everything from the past and present, losing all my partners in the past year then Agatha again, is just hitting me in one terrible mental blow.

“Oh shit,” he says. “Um...” I feel his hand move off my shoulder and slowly pat my head. “There, there?”

I snort like one of the kids I teach. I pull back, wiping the still flowing tears under my eye. “Seriously? That’s the best you can do?”

Though it’s a bit hard to tell, I think Ty’s face flushes. He crosses his arms defiantly. “Well, what the fuck are you supposed to do when a stranger attacks you then breaks down crying?”

I shrug. “Dunno, really. This is new for me too.”

Ty rubs the back of his neck, shuffling his polished oxfords in the dirt. I’m still sniffling like a child. “You want to go somewhere private? Where no one can see you?”

My eyes catch a couple of people glancing and outright staring at us. Or just at me. I nod vigorously. “Yeah, that would be good.”

Ty collects up the books I knocked out of his hands. He jerks his head to the side, and I follow behind him. Tears are still streaming down my face. They won’t stop no matter how hard I try. Ty leads us through a secluded area, past large trees and bushes, until we reach a completely hidden, beautiful ravine. Holy shit. Was this always here? I went to this uni for three years and I have no memory of this place. Either I’m super oblivious or getting old. (Probably both.)

We go past a couple more bushes until we come upon a ramshackle rainbow coloured bench against some trees. It looks handmade by some stoned out art major. The mess of cigarette and joint butts on the ground only reinforces that theory. Ty sits on one end of the bench. I take the other, but we’re still pretty close. It’s not very big. We sit in silence for a bit, save for my continued sniffling. Something bumps my arm. I look down to see Ty’s long fingered hand holding out a cigarette pack.

“Want one?” he asks.

“Smoking is bad for you,” I say automatically.

“Like you’re one to talk. You reek of marijuana”

“Fuck, really?” I sniff my shirt collar and get a whiff of weed. I groan, letting my head fall back against the tree. “Dammit. Thought this one was clean.”

“Unfortunately not.” He shakes the box. “You want one or no?”

I sigh and pluck a stick out of the box. Ty takes one as well, then pulls out a pristine silver Zippo lighter. He lights us both with one flame. I watch the paper crinkle and shrivel away into ash. I’m a bit nervous. Technically, I haven’t smoked anything in over a decade. Hopefully I can depend on past me’s muscle memory. 

Ty takes a long, deep draft and breathes out a long puff of smoke. I try to mimic him. My lungs burn with the heat of twin suns. I wheeze out, thumping my chest. Ty throws his head back laughing,  hair touching his neck.

“You must be a shitty stoner,” he chuckles.

“Yeah,” I cough, “never been great at inhaling.”

“Bring it into your mouth, then your lungs. Don’t do it all once.”

I nod, even though I kind of knew that. Just been awhile. I smoked a few joints but I preferred my old bong. But I try again, doing what Ty said. This time I only cough a little instead of wheezing like the world’s most pathetic dragon.

“There you go,” Ty drawls. He’s definitely mocking me a little.

“Fuck off.”

“Christ, what bug crawled up your arse?”

I glare at him, and his face is completely unaffected. “The bug that Agatha broke up with me for you.”

He scoffs, flicking cigarette ash on the ground. “Your  ex- girlfriend did not break up with you to be with me. We’re only friends. I’d never date her.”

“That’s mean, Agatha is amazing.”

Ty rolls his eyes dramatically. “It has nothing to do with Agatha. She’s wonderful. I just don’t like women.”

My eyes grow wider than saucer plates “You’re gay?”

He cocks an eyebrow. How did he get so good at that? Does he practice in the mirror? “You have a problem with that, Snow?”

“No, no, of course not. Just didn’t realise...”

“It’s not like I’m hiding it.” He gestures to his perfectly pressed button down, spotless navy slacks, and polished Oxfords. Okay, he has a point, most straight men don’t take such meticulous care of their clothes. 2003 closeted me had the excuse of being heteronormative as fuck, but 2015 pansexual me needs to work on his gaydar.

“I, uh, didn’t want to assume...” Usually a safe answer in my experience.

“How noble.” Ty takes a long drag. I still hate cigarettes, but the way his lips fit around the smoke plume is kind of attractive. “Agatha knows I’m gay. I told her after she almost kissed me.”

“What?!” I throw down the cigarette and shoot to my feet. The fire in my gut is back, along with the sense of utter worthlessness. I fucked up so badly, made Agatha so miserable, that she nearly kissed a gay bloke. I feel so awful and confused and I don’t know what I'm supposed to do, I’m just mad.

He rolls his eyes,  again. “Sit down, alpha male, I said ‘almost.’ I’m not even sure she realised what she was doing, we were both completely pissed. She leaned forward slightly and I blurted out that I was gay. Then she promptly burst into tears.”

My heart feels like someone has reached inside and twisted every vein. My arms relax at my sides. “She...she was crying?”

“Yes, quite heavily.” He taps the cig with one long, graceful finger. (Does he play piano? He should.) “She said she was sorry, then blubbered for an hour about how conflicted she felt about wanting to break up with you.”

The impact of those words send me back down onto the bench. My whole body feels heavier than lead. “She felt conflicted?”

“Of course she did.”

“I-I thought this was easy for her. That our relationship was already going downhill, then I did something so bad she decided to end it. And then I thought it was because she found you, someone better than me.”

Ty scoffs. “My god, she was right, you are completely oblivious.”

I scowl at him. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“Exactly what I said. You’re so blind to what you’ve been doing.”

“What’ve I been doing?!”

“You’ve been a terrible boyfriend!” he yells. “You’re forgetful, you miss things, you don’t pay attention to Agatha, and most of all you take her for granted!” He sighs, rolling the half finished cig between his fingers. “Ags says you don’t mean to do it, you’re just oblivious, but she’s still hurt. There isn’t one bad thing you did, Snow. You’ve been hurting her for awhile.”

Every word is slap to the face. My body literally aches with all the guilt I feel. Ty is right. I was an awful,  awful boyfriend. Every missed date, every burnt meal, every stupid thing I’ve ever said, they all rush into me. Fucking hell. How could I have not seen it? I always had reasons, and they were always small things. But I guess a lot of small things pile up.

“Fuck,” I choke out. Tears make little wet spots on the dirt floor. I don’t know when I started crying again. God, I’m a mess.

“Please don’t cry,” Ty says, sounding almost sympathetic. “I only have so many cigarettes.”

That makes a laugh surprisingly fly out of my mouth. Yet I’m still picking at my nails, flicking away bits of my cuticle like I want to get rid of my pain. I’m nervously babbling before I even realise it. “My brain’s always filled with...stuff. Keeping my scholarship, keeping my job, working towards my future. E-Everything’s always been about my future, what I’ll do eventually, even with Agatha. She was supposed to be my happy ending after all the shit I’ve been through.”

“She’s a person,” he mutters, “not your goal.”

“I know that!” I rub away more tears. “Well, I’m learning. I dunno. I-I had a shitty childhood, okay? So I’m always waiting for things to get better. And I thought if I did well at school and found a nice girl, things would just fall into place. Turns out shit is more complicated than that.”

I laugh to try to break the tension, but Ty stays silent. I cautiously flick my eyes over to him. He’s still holding his cigarette. It’s burnt down to the filter. His face is stone again, yet I can see the slight tremor in his fingers. It’s miniscule but it’s there. I don’t think he’s okay, but I barely know this guy, I’m scared to ask.

“I don’t know how to fix things with Agatha,” I sigh. “I’m bad at talking, bad at relationships, sometimes bad at friendships. It’s not like I want her back. I...I just want her in life. She’s amazing. I don’t- I can’t lose her again.”

“Again?” he says. My face goes bright red and my breath hitches. Fuck. Stupid time travel, screwing things up.

“Y-Yeah, we’ve had fights before, stopped talking for a while. I know this feeling, I hate it. I want her to be in my life and be happy and I don’t know how to do that!”

“Tell her that.”

I face him, blinking in confusion. “What?”

Ty sighs and flicks the butt onto the ground, crushing it beneath the toe of his utterly perfect oxford. “Tell her that. Say you’re scared and clueless but you want to still be friends, so you want to figure out how to do that. Be honest. What else are you going to do?”

My mouth flaps up and down. Fuck. It’s so damn obvious yet it never came to mind. I thought I needed something big and smart so Agatha would understand. But... “All I need to do is be honest with her.”

“Exactly.”

I smile for the first time since I got here. “Wow, can’t believe I didn’t think of that.”

“You do seem to be a bit thick.” His slight smirk and teasing lilt save me from getting angry. I scoff and shake my head.

“Yeah, well, you seem like a bit of a prick.” He scoffs too, but he’s still smiling.

We sit there in silence for a little. All I can hear is birds chirping and students in the distance. I feel calm. So calm I don’t want to get up for a while. I just want to catch my breath. Ty slowly tilts his head back over the bench.

“I haven’t sat down in awhile,” he says quietly, almost as if to himself, but too loud for me not to hear. “I’m always at class or studying. I don’t sit down and just...sit.”

“Well you haven’t really been only sitting,” I chuckle. “You’ve been helping me.”

“Would it be sad that this has actually been the most relaxing time I’ve had in months?”

“Uh, yeah, and a bit concerning.”

Ty laughs a little louder this time. His smile seems a bit more genuine, but his pretty eyes are a bit sad. It may just be his face. It looks like it’s designed for pouting. “I’m a political science and English double major getting ready for law school. My whole life is stress.”

I chuckle sadly. “Sounds like a nightmare.”

“It is. A nightmare I chose...” He spins the cigarette pack between two fingers. I know he’s just fiddling but it looks so damn cool when he does it.

“Doesn’t seem like you’re happy about that choice.”

His eyes shift over to me without moving his head. “Since when do you know anything about my feelings?”

I shrug, crossing my arms. “I usually know what sadness looks like.”

Ty sighs. He rubs his temple slowly with his elegant ring finger. (What is with my finger fetish today?) “Ever since I was little, it was expected that I follow in the family tradition. Get perfect grades, go to a good university, go to an even better law school, become a lawyer, then finally take over the family practice. It’s what my mother did. It’s what I’m supposed to do.”

“Is that what you want?”

“Doesn’t matter what I want,” he scoffs.

I tilt my head towards him, but not too close to scare him away. “Well, if you could do what you want, what would you do?”

“I told you, it doesn’t mat-”

“Then pretend it does matter. What would you do for the rest of your life?”

Ty sinks further into the bench. It makes his stupid tweed jacket bunch up slightly, and he almost looks like a normal young adult. “Honestly, I just want to read books forever.”

I giggle quietly, and Ty glares at me with a now obvious flush in his cheeks. “Fuck off,” he snarls.

“I’m not laughing at you!” He doesn’t look convinced. “It’s just, when I first saw you, I never expected you to be a total bookworm. You seem too posh for that.” Ty snorts, keeping his arms crossed. He won’t meet my eyes. I lean closer, and he doesn’t back away. “Reading books forever sounds hellish to me, but it sounds like heaven for you. It’s a great idea. Why not do it?”

Ty’s glare somehow gets even more intense. His eyes are just slivers of beautiful grey. “Because I’m a responsible person, unlike you.”

The words hit me right in the gut. I scowl deeply at him. “That is beyond not okay. You don’t know me, you don’t know my life. So you don’t get to spew shit like that just because you’re pissed off. Got it?”

Honestly, I’m surprised how clear and articulate I’m being. A year with Dr. Margaret has made it a lot easier for me to stand up for myself in a meaningful way, not just with growls and punching. But still, it’s hard, and I did this so easily. I’ve really made progress.

Ty scowls back, but I don’t back down. I’ve always been good at standing my ground, thankfully. Slowly, Ty’s face falls and gets less angry. In fact, he looks a bit regretful. We slowly move apart again. He takes a few deep breaths before he finally speaks again.

“You’re right,” he says, “I’m sorry.”

“Good, apology accepted.” I lean my cheek onto my fist. “Seems both of us are having trouble with our futures.”

“Mine is secure.”

“But not happy.”

He rubs his lips together, like he’s chewing his words. “That doesn’t matter.”

“Why not? Why not do what you want instead?”

“Because I’ve already applied to law school!”

“Okay.” I put my back to the bench again, staring up at the sky through the trees. “Well, I’m nearly done with my maths and am about to start my teaching degrees. Then I've got a private school job lined up, but who knows? Maybe I’ll hate the job and quit and work at shitty customer service jobs for years until I decide to get my shit together and find an actually good teaching gig at a school I like.”

Ty’s dark brows furrow together. “That is extremely specific.”

I shrug, hoping my smirk doesn't say too much. “I don’t know, just a possibility.”

“Alright,” he snorts. “My life will be fine, it won’t go off the rails.”

He looks so sure and resolute. I don’t think I’m going to change his mind, and I don’t think it’s my job to. I can’t save everyone, something Dr. Margaret taught me. Plus I just met this guy. No matter how pretty he is, I don’t know him. (Wish I did.) Hopefully he can figure out his own shit.

“Okay. Your life, you can figure it all out.” I put my hands behind my head, leaning back, staring at the sky.

“Your life is going to be fine,” Ty says. “Agatha says that despite what you think, you’re smart. And I’m partial to agree. You have trouble with relationships, but who doesn’t? You’ve still got a good head on your shoulders. You’ll figure everything out too.”

I can feel my face turns bright red, and from the smirk on Ty’s face he can see it. I rub the back of my neck, trying to use my arm to hide my blush. “Y’know, I get why Agatha liked you. You’re weirdly nice and, well, really hot.”

Now it’s Ty’s turn to have his eyes go wide. He looks very cute. “Wow, you’re pretty forward for a straight guy.”

“Whoever said I was straight?” I smirk at him with one eyebrow raised. I hope I look confident and sexy and not just fucking weird.

“Oh.” His voice is almost a squeak. “I’m sorry I assumed.”

“S’alright, common mistake.” I look down at my stupid Nokia. “Wow, you’re beyond late for your class.”

Ty scoffs. “And who’s fault is that?”

“Okay, yeah, guilty as charged. You should probably get to it though. Need good grades for law school and all.”

“Yes, good point.” He stands up, and I follow, hands in my pockets. I both hate and love that Ty is a little taller than me. “But...it was nice to talk to you, Snow.”

“Feeling’s mutual, Ty. So, uh, see you around.”

I grin brightly, then turn around before I say something really stupid. I usually do in front of pretty people. Plus I need to see Agatha. That’s why I’m here, back in 2003. I’m not supposed to be chasing after a pretty guy who went to my uni ages ago. Even if he is like,  really pretty.

“Simon.” His voice makes me stop in my tracks and turn back.

“Yeah?”

Ty steps forward and holds out a scrap of lined paper. “Since you’re newly single, and now I know you’re not straight, give me a call sometime? If you’re up to it, that is.”

My brain completely short circuits. Blows a fuse. Maybe every fuse. I just stare at Ty with my mouth hanging open for a bit too long. Ty starts to look genuinely concerned. But thankfully the synapses start firing again and I shake it off.

“Um, y-yeah,” I say. “Yeah, I would like that.” I take the paper. “Uh, thank you.”

“You’re most welcome. I hope to see you around as well.”

I watch as he walks away, and I’m mesmerised by the way his hips swing. Fuck, he is so hot. And he likes  me. I honestly have no clue why but I’m not going to question it. I have to make sure to call him before I go back to 2020. But right now I have to find Agatha, so I carefully put the paper in the smallest pocket of my bag, then dash off towards Aggie’s dorm.

———————————————

I knock on the door softly, and there’s no answer at first. “Aggie?” I say. “I came here to say I’m sorry. I won’t yell, I promise.”

Still silence at first. I nearly leave, but then the sound of soft footsteps comes from under the door. The doorknob slowly turns and my pulse increases every second. Agatha is wearing her purple Watford lacrosse sweater, a pair of my trackies that I left behind last week, and blonde hair piled up in a bun. Her eyes are puffy and her cheeks are red. My stomach drops at the sight.

“What are you sorry for?” she asks, voice low and flat. She sounds more tired than angry. For some reason that hurts even more.

I take a deep breath. “I’m sorry for how I treated you, Ags. Our relationship didn’t fall apart for no reason. I didn’t pay attention to what you wanted and took you for granted. I was a terrible boyfriend. And I’m really, really sorry.” I start nervously pulling at my hair. “I-I’m not saying we should get back together. We weren’t happy, and you deserve someone who will put you first. But I still want to be your friend. You’re one of my first and best friends. I’m not sure how to do that, considering I was such an shit boyfriend, but can we figure it out? Together?”

Agatha rubs her lips together, taking slow deep breaths. Her fingers tap against the door one by one. I don’t know if I’m going to throw up or run or both. All are possible. But then Agatha nods slowly.

“Okay,” she sighs.

“Okay?”

“Let’s try to be friends again. I don’t want to lose you either.”

I grin ear to ear. “Okay, awesome, that’s great. I’m so glad you want to as well. I do love you, Ags, and I’m sorry I hurt you so much.”

“Apology accepted, Si, so you don’t need to do it anymore. Let’s just move forward, alright?”

“Alright, yeah, I’d like that.” I rub my neck and nervously gnaw at my lip. “Um, could I hug you? As a friend?”

She smiles softly. It’s been so long since I’ve seen her smile. Not just because I’m from the future, but I can’t remember the last time she smiled back when we were together. I hope I can make her smile more now.

“Yeah,” she says, “that would be nice.”

We both step forward and throw our arms around each other. I haven’t hugged Agatha in a long time either. Sure, we snogged and had sex, (though not very often honestly), but this is so much better. There’s no pressure or nerves. It feels normal. The most normal I’ve ever felt with her.

As we slowly part, we’re still smiling. “You,” Agatha pokes my chest, “need to study for your exam on Monday.”

I chuckle and nod, being silently thankful  I’m not doing that exam again. Once was more than enough. “Yeah, I know. This felt more important though. You’re more important.”

She blinks in confusion. I can’t blame her. Past me was always too focused on my work so that I could reach the happy ending I always wanted. Future me is figuring out that there is no happy ending. There’s just life, and I have to make it what I want, not just wait for happiness to fall into my lap. I haven’t got it down pat but I’m getting there. That’s more than good enough.

“Well, I’m definitely glad to hear that,” Agatha says. “Call me tomorrow. We’ll go get brunch, okay?”

I nod enthusiastically. “Sounds great.” The voice in the back of my head reminds me about the small fact of time travel, and that when I go back to 2015, past me is only going to remember bits and pieces of this day. “But, uh, studying may fry my brain. So could you maybe call instead? And I’ll call next time?”

Agatha sighs with exasperation, but she’s still smiling. “Alright, that’s a valid excuse.” She presses a small kiss to my cheek. It’s completely platonic, and it feels great. “See you later, Simon.”

“Yeah, definitely.” I hug her tight one more time before I go. She gives me a kind wave before closing her door. I’m grinning like a mad man as I walk down the hell. I did it, I saved my friendship with Agatha. I’m so damn happy. Plus I met Ty.

Oh right. I reach into my bookbag, feeling around for my notebook. My hand curls over the rings of the spine as I push open the stairwell door. And I instantly fall face first onto the dirty public school floor.

“Mr, Snow!” Ms. Petty, the nicest janitor in the entire school, possibly in the whole world, rushes to me. “Are you alright?”

“Uh, yeah, yeah,” I say. “I’m fine. Just clumsy.”

“Here, let me help.”

I take her hand and she hoists me to my feet. I still feel a bit dizzy, a small side effect of time travel I know all too well now. Ms. Petty keeps a hand on my back until I regain my bearings. “Alright, I’m good.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, don’t worry. I’ll be alright.”

“Okay, dearie.” She pats my shoulder. “Go get some rest, get your mind off work.”

“Right, yeah, work...”

Ebb gives me one last comforting pat and goes back to sweeping the hallway floor. I wave at her as I leave, hoping she doesn’t see the distress in my face. 

Fuck.

———————————————

AN: Chapter 2 will be posted within the next week, i.e whenever I'm well enough to edit it lol. See you all next time!

[thinkyoureholy]

Fragile Figures [3]

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Pairing : Choi San / [fem] Reader

Genre : Angst, Violence, Language, Fluff, Smut, Character Death?, Mafia! AU, Hired Assassin! AU

Words : 4k

Pt 1. Pt 2. Pt 3. Pt 4. Pt 5. Pt 6. Pt 7. Pt 8. Pt 9. Pt 10. Pt 11. Pt 12.

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

  -Y/N's P.O.V-

I stared at the door to my office intently, my mind in shambles. It had been weeks, weeks, since that kiss with San and I have never felt more conflicted in my life. On one hand that kiss felt so amazing I wanted nothing more than to drag him into this room and fuck him on the desk until neither of us could move but on the other hand I wanted to slap the shit out of him and ban him from ever coming here again. What infuriates me the most is that he's acting like nothing happened. What’s worse is that he’s been gone for a few weeks and all I can think about is that damned kiss and those last few words he said to me before he left.

-3 Weeks Ago-

I leaned against the door frame, crossing my arms over my chest as I stared over at San who was saying his farewells to the guys. He came to me saying he’d be out of reach for the next few weeks, a few clients needed his services and he couldn’t possibly refuse, or so he says. He went on about them being his top paying clients, saying they didn’t call him often but when they did they offered him five times more than what he charged, the only con is that these jobs would usually take place outside of the country so he had to leave for weeks, even months at a time. 

I have no idea why he felt the need to tell me all this, I only paid him when I needed him and even then those times are becoming less and less with each passing day. He’s done such a good job I haven’t had the need to give him another name. Yunho had hinted at giving Kanda’s name but I refused. Kanda was mine to kill. I wanted my face to be the last thing he ever saw.

“Here to see me off, darling?” 

San’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts, my eyes focusing in on his face. A smug smile pulled at the corners of his lips when our eyes met, a scoff falling from my lips at the sight of it.

“Yeah, here to see that you finally get off my property.” I sneered, pushing myself off the door frame.

He chuckled at my words, clasping his hands behind his back as he took a step forward, the distance between us no more than a few inches. I felt my heart speed up at our close proximity, a curse sounding loudly in my head at the feeling of my stupid heart. He must’ve known what he was doing to me as he stared at me with eyes that shone so brightly I could hardly keep up the eye contact but I refused to look away. He chuckled once more after another few seconds of his staring, showing me a toothy grin.

“Aw c’mon now, darling. I know you just love having me around.” He teased, leaning forward ever so slightly. 

I set my jaw, ignoring the way my heart skipped a beat, "Is that so?"

He nodded, tilting his head to the side the tiniest amount. His eyes scanned my face, lingering on my lips. His tongue darted out to swipe across his bottom lip for a moment before he lifted his gaze to meet my eyes once more.

"If you didn't want me around you'd have your boys chase me out of here and they'd do it the moment you gave the order, no questions asked. In fact, my good friend Yunho would be the first to shove me out the door too...isn't that right?"

I said nothing, keeping my mouth shut as he let out a deep breath before continuing.

He grinned, almost devilishly as he leaned in, his lips brushing against the skin of my ear, "Believe me if it was anyone else I'd have disappeared already...but there's something about you that intrigues me. And I plan on sticking around until I've satisfied my curiosity."

He chuckled softly at the way I tensed up at his words, his breath hitting my skin. And before I could pull away to give him my deadliest glare he placed a lingering kiss to the spot just below my ear, the action causing a blush to spread across my cheeks. He finally pulled away on his own after a moment, his fingers tucking themselves under my chin, asking for my attention as he gazed into my eyes.

"I'll be back in a few weeks time, a month at the most...don't go getting yourself killed before I get back because when I finally get back…" He trailed off, his thumb swiping across my bottom lip, "I'm finally going to kiss you while sober...and judging by the look in your eyes, I won't be the one that'll be making the first move either."

-present time-

I groaned as I buried my face in my hands, shaking my head to rid myself of those memories. I must've been so far in my head that I didn't hear the door open, only noticing someone else was in the room when they knocked on the desk. My head shot up at the sound, my eyes meeting Yunho's. 

"What's gotten into you?" He asked, raising a brow.

I groaned once more, rubbing my hands over my face as I sat back, "Nothing...nothing at all."

"Okay…" He trailed off, not buying my excuse but he let it go for the time being, "Anyways...I've managed to track Kanda down."

My ears perked up at the sound of that, my hands coming down to rest on my lap as I looked up at him, "You've been tracking him?"

Yunho shuffled on his feet nervously, bowing his head slightly at the look I was giving him. I had given each and every one of them strict orders to not do anything against Kanda, I didn't want him figuring it out and hunting them down. I set my jaw at the thought of any of them disobeying me. I didn't have many rules but when it came to Kanda I was as strict as can be. It disappointed me when they didn't follow the few things I asked of them. 

"Yunho-"

"Y/N, I didn't get caught. I was careful and look I even got some good information." He cut my off quickly, handing me a folder but I didn't take it. 

I simply stared down at his outstretched hand, a frown etched onto my face. After a few seconds of me not taking it he set it down. I inhaled sharply, trying to control myself and not lash out at him but that idea flew out the window when he spoke up again.

"Y/N you can't do this on your own…"

"And why the hell not?" I spat out, finally looking up at him with my deadliest glare, "You think I'm incapable of tracking this son of a bitch down on my own? You think I'll die if I try?"

"I didn't say that." He said with a sigh, running his fingers through his hair.

"Then what? Look Yunho, I don't ask much of any of you, you especially, but you deliberately go against the one order I have given you. This is the one thing you can not go against me on, I won't allow it."

"But-"

"No! Don't you understand?! I won't lose you!" I shouted, cutting him off as I rose to my feet, slamming my hands down on the desk, "I can't...lose any of you. I'm done burying people…"

Yunho looked down, swallowing his words once he saw the look in my eyes. I stared at him for a moment longer before a heavy sigh fell from my lips, relaxing my tense shoulders.

"I want you to forget about Kanda for now, that’s an order."

"You know I can't do that, Y/N, not after everything he's done to you." He muttered under his breath.

I opened my mouth to scold him once more but before I could get a word out he turned on his heel and walked straight out of my office. I set my jaw at his disobedience, swiping my arm across the top of my desk in a bout of anger. Everything that lay on top of the desk now lay on the ground, all the papers were strewn all over the place. I plopped down into my seat, rubbing my hands over my face. Not only was this San stuff plaguing my mind but now I had to deal with Yunho trying to go after Kanda on his own. I know Yunho just wanted to help and I was grateful but at the end of the day I wanted him to stay as far away from this whole Kanda business as possible. I groaned low in my throat and stared down at the papers that were scattered on the floor, a few words on top of the paper that lay on top of the pile catching my eyes. My whole body relaxed as I let out a breathy sigh, leaning back in my chair as my face softened.

Ilsan

That idiot...he’s a lot closer than I thought. I reached down and grabbed the piece of paper, reading over what he had written. I couldn’t stop the small smile that tugged at the corners of my lips as I pulled out a folder from one of the desk drawers. I opened it up and compared it to the piece of paper, seeing that they were almost identical. It was scary how the two of us thought so similarly but at the same time this was one of the reasons why Yunho was so valuable to me. I was planning on going after Kanda by the end of the week after I gathered some more information but after seeing this I’d have to do it much sooner than planned.

……

I pulled the hood of my sweater over my head as I walked through the dark streets of Ilsan. I stuffed my hands into my pockets as I looked up at the building in front of me with a frown. Kanda really picked one hell of a place to hide out in. Ilsan wasn't a dump by any means but the apartment building I was now looking up at had seen better days. 

I set my jaw as I stared at a window on the second floor, seeing only one apartment lit up. I had done a little digging into this apartment building and it's residents only to find out less than five people were renting a place here. I found it odd how there were so little people at a place that had about thirty apartments open and unused. But this just raised suspicions. Something must be going on here for there to only be five people paying rent here, Kanda being one of them. There was no doubt in my mind that if something fishy was going on here it was because of Kanda's doing.

With a sigh I headed into the building, noting how dimly lit the first floor was. I clutched onto the switch knife in my pocket tightly, ready to pull it out at any minute. My eyes darted around the room quickly, checking all my exits and evaluating my surroundings. The one skill I can say that I'm proud of is my ability to scan an area quickly to assess any threats that might be in the area. On this first floor I saw no such threat, the floor was completely empty. I kept my guard up nonetheless, very aware of the metal of my gun pressing up against my back, the pistol tucked safely into the waistband of my jeans. 

It took me no less than a minute to get to the second floor, standing before the door I knew Kanda was behind. If my intel was correct he should be here. I inhaled sharply, taking a step back to give myself some room to kick the door open but before I could do so I paused, thinking back to Yunho. 

‘Sorry Yun...this is one you’ll have to sit out of.’

With that as my last thought I kicked down the door, the door slamming against the wall behind it, the wood of the door frame splintered by the forced entry. I pulled out my gun and walked into the apartment, noticing how quiet it was. I had barely gotten through the front door when a hand wrapped around my wrist, yanking me further into the apartment. I was thrown to the floor but I didn’t stay down for longer. I rolled over my own shoulder, facing them as I kneeled before them stared up at him, my eyes narrowing as they met Kanda’s sharp ones. He smirked, pointing a gun at me. The look on his face told me he was expecting me. He either must have eyes on me, tracking my every move or he had security cameras set up in this building. I really want the first option to be a lie, formed by my own paranoia, choosing to believe in the second option.

"Pretty gutsy of you to come to me don't you think?"

I grit my teeth at seeing the grin on his face, "I'd say I kept you waiting far too long."

He chuckled at that, his eyes shining as he stared down at me, "Well I can't say I didn't expect it. How's Yunho doing by the way? Is the dog finally dead or has he managed to cheat death once again like the cockroach he really is…"

I clenched my fists at his words, my body shaking with rage. Damn him. And without thinking I moved, my body moving on it's own. Kanda let out two shots but to my surprise, none of them hit me as I rolled out of the way. I chuckled to myself, Kanda always was a lousy shot. With that in mind I pushed myself off the floor and ran straight at him, firing off a couple shots of my own. Kanda might be a lousy shot but his reflexes weren't so lousy. He managed to evade each bullet that came his way, discarding his gun as he grabbed my wrist in his hand. He squeezed my wrist until I was forced to let go of my gun. I grit my teeth as I swung my leg up. Kanda smirked as he dodged the hit, throwing me over his shoulder and slammed me roughly into the floor, delivering a blow to my face at the same time my back hit the floor. I groaned low in my throat but I refused to let him beat me. I clenched my teeth as I swung my free arm up, my fist hitting him straight in the chest. He stumbled back at the blow, letting me go as he gasped for air. 

“Fucking bitch…” He let out, his voice strained as he tried to get air into his lungs.

I ignored his words and got to my feet, pulling out my switchblade, “You’re not getting away from me this time,” I all but growled as I charged at him but he had something up his sleeve, like always.

He rose to his feet before I could get to him, running at me. He ducked out of the way of my swinging arm, ducking down low enough to tackle me around the waist but I didn’t fall to the ground...no he pushed me out the window. I didn’t even know what was happening until I was falling. My back took most if not all of the impact as it hit a dumpster that sat out in the alley. I let out a groan of pain, my lungs not getting sufficient oxygen, the air being knocked out of me on impact. I rolled over, my whole body in agony but what hurt most was my left leg. I looked down, seeing my own switchblade embedded deep in the flesh of my thigh. I reached down to try and take it out but it was too painful. I swallowed back the tears that wanted to come out, the pain beginning to numb my entire body. I gave up on trying to pull the blade out, laying back and staring up into the apartment I had just been thrown out of. If we were a few more stories up I would’ve sustained more damage or worse, I could’ve died.

“I don’t intend of dying right now...I have too much left to do.” Kanda murmured, looking down at me from the broken window before turning his back on me.

-

I don’t know when I closed my eyes and drifted to sleep but I do know I wasn’t out for that long. I looked up at the dark night sky, my body aching from head to toe.

I have to move.

I thought this over and over until I finally mustered up enough strength to move, biting my tongue to keep in the scream that wanted to crawl its way out of my throat. With much difficulty I finally got down from the dumpster but the more I move the more my vision spun. This isn’t good...there’s no way I’d make it back to the house on my own in the condition I was in. I cursed lowly to myself as I leaned against the wall, doing all I could to stay upright and awake. Just as I thought I was going to pass out again I heard my name being called out. I looked up through narrowed  eyes, trying to see who it was, surprised to see a face I hadn’t seen in weeks.

Wait, is he blonde now?

“Choi San?” 

I pushed myself off the wall, swaying from side to side before my legs finally gave out from under me. I waited to hit the ground with closed eyes but the impact never came. I opened my eyes to see that he had caught me before I could hit the ground, an unreadable expression on his face.

“What are you doing here?”

He didn’t answer for a long while, his eyes scanning over my entire body. The way he looked at me now was nothing compared to how he would look at me before. Now, he looked absolutely livid as his eyes took in each one of my injuries.

“I should be the one asking you that...just what the hell happened to you?” He asked through clenched teeth, his hold on me tightening ever so slightly.

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?! This isn’t nothing!” He yelled out, his loud voice making me wince.

His face softened at seeing me do so before he sighed. He set me down on the floor before pulling out a bandana from his pocket. He used his teeth to tear it in two, tying the two pieces together before staring down at my thigh. Without a word he reached down, about to grab the handle of the switchblade but I stopped him just before he wrapped his fingers around it, my hand clutching onto his wrist tightly.

“Don’t.”

“Y/N...I need to take it out.” He said, his voice softer than I had ever heard it.

I stared into his eyes for a moment before nodding. Without a word I leaned forward, resting my forehead against his shoulder. He tensed under my touch but he relaxed within seconds.

“Alright...here I go…” He mumbled, before counting down from three.

When he got to one he pulled the blade out. I bit down on the inside of my cheek at the pain, a few tears slipping out of my eyes as I leaned back against the wall. I was breathing heavily as I watched him tie the bandana around my thigh, tying a tight knot.

“You never answered my question…”

He looked up, a brow raised as he grabbed onto both my arms. He turned around and hoisted me onto his back. I ground my teeth together at the pain that ran through my body but I kept quiet, wrapping my arms around his shoulders as I held on tightly.

“What question?”

“What are you doing here?” I asked quietly, laying my chin on my arm, resting my head against his.

He took a moment to answer, his hands squeezing my thighs ever so slightly before he finally opened his mouth, “I just got back and I was on my way over to your place. For some unknown reason I had this gut feeling telling me to go through here...and I’m glad I followed it. Who knows what could’ve happened to you if I had gone the normal way.”

“Seriously San do you not have your own place? Your own people to get back to? I don’t know maybe even a girlfriend...or boyfriend, whatever floats your boat.” I chided, my voice full of nothing short of exasperation.

He chuckled at my words, looking over his shoulder so he could look me in the eye, “Nothing quite floats my boat like you do, darling.”

“You hardly know anything about me.” I deadpanned, watching a coy smile tug at his lips.

“And who’s stopping me from knowing everything about you?”

“Me. I’m stopping you. I’m showing you all the red lights and stop signs. You’re blatantly ignoring all the warning signs I’ve been putting up for the past few months.”

He chuckled once more, looking forward as he began walking again, “You know you’re pretty lively for someone that was about to pass out when I found them.”

As soon as those words sunk in I was reminded of my injuries, the pain making a reappearance. I didn’t know it at the time but San had a way of making me forget about everything, my sole focus on him alone. It was like nothing else in the world matter but him...and his stupid words that made me want to wring his neck but I couldn’t stop myself from joining in on the banter. I never realized how much of a stress reliever he was...until he came back. Maybe I do enjoy having him around…

“Are you going to tell me what you went through to get these injuries?” He asked, his voice cutting into my thoughts.

I kept quiet for a moment before sinking further into his hold, “No.”

He nodded slowly, “Fine. I won’t ask anymore about it...I just want to know one more thing. Why aren’t any of the guys with you?”

I didn’t answer him, leaning my head against his as I closed my eyes. I didn’t want to think about the others right now, especially not Yunho. I know he’d throw a fit the moment he laid eyes on my injured body. I wanted to avoid confrontation at all costs but I knew there wasn’t any way around it. Right now I just want to close my eyes and sleep for the next few days while my body recovered as I secretly enjoyed being in San’s hold. 

-San’s P.O.V-

I couldn’t help the fond smile that tugged at lips when she suddenly got a bit heavier. I knew she finally knocked out, hearing her slow and steady breaths loud and clear, her head resting against my own. Though I wanted to know who did this to her I stopped from prying the moment she stopped talking. It must be a sensitive topic for her...I’m just glad I was in the area.

“Just what the hell are you doing to me, Y/N…” I trailed off, looking down at her hands that hung over my shoulders.

I had been trying to ignore the rapid beating of my heart but with each passing second it just got louder and harder to ignore. Well fuck...things are starting to get complicated.