#my emotions have been all over the place since just before i started shark week :/ | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

theforgottenmcrmy · 3 years ago

Text

After All (Part 16/?)

Pairing: Riff X OC Jet Girl

Warnings: Explicit Language, Racism, Suggestions/Non-Explicit Descriptions of Violence, Reference to Minor Character Death, Mild Sexism, Angst

Summary: There was no telling what the guy was capable of, and Riff knew he had a tendency to pack heat. After all, they had already witnessed him shoot another man point blank.

Word Count: 14,000 ish.

DISCLAIMER

Please note that this is a reimagining of the film West Side Story (2021) and as a result is slightly AU.

Masterlist /// Part 1 /// Part 15 /// Part 16 /// Part 17

A/N: We interrupt the Shark drama to bring you a semi-chaotic group date, some heavy non-Shark related drama, and a major emotional realization. The plan is to get back to the scheduled programing next chapter.

One of these days, I’ll start sticking to my 8k-12k goal length per chapter, but I struggled to find a good place to cut this one in half. I hope you all can forgive me for it and aren’t too upset/annoyed.

As always, thank you all so very much for you support and kind/encouraging words. It really means the world to me to know that the fic I’m putting so much effort into is appreciated by you all. I hope you had a good weekend, and I hope you have a great week! :)

Part 16: The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

It was shortly after 10 PM on the following Friday when Tony finally made it to the park.

He had actually meant to arrive at the park a few minutes early to see whether Riff had brought the rest of the Jets along for some sort of guilt-trip bombardment.

But Tony couldn’t leave until he knew for certain that Valentina wouldn’t hear him. She’d been particularly chatty after Doc’s closed that evening. She’d made herself a drink and offered him one too. On any other night, Tony would’ve gladly taken her up on the offer, but his curiosity as to why Riff wanted to meet with him outweighed it.

Even though Tony had turned down her offer, it wasn’t as though he could just stroll out the front door- Valentina would question what he was up to at that time of night, and Tony couldn’t come up with any “good�� reason that would be even remotely believable.

If Valentina got suspicious, there was a chance she’d mention something about it to his parole officer. Tony didn’t think she’d actually do it, but it was better to not even take the chance.

Fortunately for him, Valentina only made it through about two glasses of rum before calling it a night. Tony had been able to use some empty shelves as a makeshift ladder to hoist himself up, sneak out the metal grate door on the ceiling, and climb out onto the sidewalk outside Doc’s storefront shortly after.

When Tony finally made it to the park, he was mildly surprised to find Riff already waiting for him. He was alone, meaning there were no other Jets, but he was also alone in the park outright. Given the lateness of the hour, no other patrons were around.

Tony couldn’t not notice the dramatic change of the wall as he crossed the park and made his way over to Riff. Riff’s back was facing him, but when Tony was just a few yards away, Riff turned around to make sure it was who he’d been expecting.

For a moment, the two stood there in silence and simply stared at the mural.

“Ya want one?”

Tony looked at Riff, who was holding a box of cigarettes out to him. Tony hesitated before finally relenting, grabbing the box, and taking a cigarette. A moment later, Riff exchanged the box for his lighter. Tony lit his cigarette quickly before handing the lighter back to Riff as well.

Tony took a moment to relish the first few drags. It had been a while since he last smoked. Smoking had been allowed in prison, but the cigarettes came at a price, and most of the time, other items of commissary took precedence. Once he was released, he’d purposefully avoided buying any cigarettes in an effort to save some money. But the first few drags of the cigarette from Riff had him thinking that maybe he could indulge in the habit once again… and just limit himself instead.

“So,” Tony began as he exhaled some smoke, “Why’d ya wanna meet?”

Riff nodded his head towards the wall and took a drag of his own cigarette. “Thought you should see what they did to the wall.”

“Why the note? Ya couldn’t just tell me yourself?”

“Every time I go to talk to you at Doc’s, I get into it with the old witch. Thought I’d do us both a favor this way. I don’t start fightin’ with her, and she has no idea that you’re even here.”

Tony took the moment of silence that followed to fully take in the wall. He’d seen it from across the park, but seeing it up close was something else entirely. The gray was long gone and replaced with white. A lot of the white was covered with various blues and reds. Somewhere underneath all the new colors was the cross he’d painted in blue paint almost five years back.

It had been a little ironic to paint a cross to mark the beginning of his journey of starting up the Jets. But his ma had been particularly adamant about forcing him to go to church at the time, and wasn’t God supposed to be a forgiving guy anyways?

Looking back on it, Tony wished he would’ve paid more attention when his ma had dragged him along to church. He missed her. If he was being honest, he missed his father too.

Tony hoped it wouldn’t be too late to repair his relationship with them, or even with the man upstairs, but he was already preparing himself to accept the fact that it might have been.

“Who did it?“ Tony asked. “The Sharks?”

Riff shrugged. “Does it matter?”

“Yeah, it does.”

Riff scoffed. “No, it doesn’t.” He threw his cigarette on the ground and stomped it out. “Whoever it was is pro-PRs, whether they are one themselves or not.”

Tony had to admit that Riff made a point, but he knew telling him that would only fuel Riff’s ego father. “Alright, but it’s no reason to up and start a war-“

“War ain’t the word for it,” Riff interrupted. “At least, not yet. But, you should know that things are only gonna heat up from here. You should know what goin’ on around ya.”

Tony frowned. “I already told ya, I’m stayin’ out of it.”

“Ya know, you ‘stayin’ out of it’ and not choosing a side is choosing a side,” Riff snapped with a scowl.

Tony said nothing. He watched as Riff took a moment to calm himself and let out a shaky sigh.

“We need you, Tony,” Riff confessed, his voice much quieter than just a moment before. “I need you back. Come back, help me lead the Jets. Help me navigate all this crazy shit.”

Riff sounded sincere, and when it came to Riff, Tony had never had an easy time telling him no. Riff was his brother. His stubborn, narrow-minded brother, but his brother nonetheless.

For the briefest of moments, Tony contemplated taking Riff up on his offer. If Tony came back to the Jets, maybe he’d have a chance of keeping Riff’s head on straight. Riff rarely listened to anyone’s advice, but Tony had been mildly successful at talking him down a few metaphorical bridges in the past.

But Tony knew that if Riff made up his mind to eventually challenge the Sharks to a rumble, he wouldn’t have much luck talking him out of it. Tony had been on board with each of the rumbles previously. Tony hadn’t even bothered to try and talk Riff out of them at the time, so he wasn’t confident in his ability to be able to do it now if Riff decided it was the only solution to dealing with the Sharks. And since Riff had already decided three separate times beforehand that a rumble was the only solution to the struggle over turf, Tony knew he wouldn’t be afraid to make that decision a fourth time.

In addition to all of this, Tony had heard stories from Valentina and Roxie. The Jets didn’t always follow Riff’s orders- a lot of them had caused trouble with the Sharks without Riff even being present. They were growing bold and were much too comfortable resting on the laurels of the gang's past successes in defending their territory. They probably thought they were untouchable. Up until then, they had been.

But, at least from what Tony was able to gather from what he’d heard from Valentina and around the neighborhood, the Sharks were different. They had an emotional edge and resilience that the Bishops, the Emeralds, and the Egyptian Kings didn’t necessarily have. They weren’t encroaching on the Jets territory because they wanted to, they were moving in because they had to. Tony didn’t know much about them, but he did know that they wouldn’t go down nearly as easily as the other gangs.

“You can’t fully control the Jets, not all the time, and not even if you wanted to,” Tony informed Riff plainly. “Ya know how they are- they got minds of their own. What would me bein’ there do?”

Riff was silent.

His silence gave Tony his answer. Riff didn’t need Tony back for the Jets’ sake, but for his.

Different approach.

“What does Roxie think about all of this, huh?” Tony asked him calmly. “What does she think ‘bout you runnin’ around and fightin’ with the Sharks? She told me ya promised to try and stay outta trouble.”

“I did,” Riff admitted, “But things have gotten worse, and this wall is just part of it. Stayin’ out of trouble ain’t an option no more.” Riff shoved his hands in his jean pockets as he looked away from Tony and up at the wall once more. “She won’t like it, but she’ll come ‘round.”

“I don’t know ‘bout that,” Tony disagreed carefully.

Riff turned back around and gave him an annoyed look. “This kinda stuff ain’t new for me, and like it or not, it ain’t new for you either.” Riff pointed down ground for emphasis. “At the end of the day, this is who we are. And if Roxie wants to be with me, she’ll find a way to deal with it.”

Tony dropped his cigarette and stepped on it until it was extinguished. “I don’t wanna be like this no more,” he insisted seriously. “And as for Roxie- that ain’t fair. Ya know that ain’t fair, Riff. I think you’re ‘bout to go down a bad path, one ya may not be able to come back from, and you’re draggin’ Roxie down along with ya.”

Riff pursed his lips and glared at Tony through narrowed eyes. “Ya know, normally when a fella’s friend gets back together with his girl, that friend is happy for him.”

“If you two are happy, good. If yous can find a way to make it work, I’m happy for ya,” Tony acknowledged. “But none of us are normal. Nothin’ ‘bout our lives is normal. Roxie was tryin’ to make something of herself-“

“She still is-“

“And you’re the leader of a gang, Riff. A gang who’s about to go headfirst into a turf war over piles of rubble!”

A deafening silence followed, and Tony realized too late that he had struck a chord with Riff.

“Is that how ya see it?” Riff demanded. Though he was calm on the outside, Tony could tell he was likely seething inside. “You think it’s all about the turf?”

“You gonna tell me it ain’t?”

“No, it is. But it’s ‘bout more than that- it’s about keepin’ the Jets together,” Riff declared. “It’s about stickin’ together. If we don’t got each other, then what kinda future do any of us have?”

Tony took a moment to let Riff’s words start to sink in. “I’m still here for you, and you could still have Roxie.”

“You and I both were given crappy hand outs in life. I’ve lived with it all these years, but I’m tired of it. It’s ‘bout time to fight for what I want, to fight for everythin’ I want,” Riff asserted.

Tony merely watched Riff. He already knew that the conversation was a lost cause. There’d be no getting through to Riff, not now.

“And if you can’t understand that,” Riff continued, “then this conversation is over.”

With one last cool glare, Riff took a few strides and walked past Tony quickly.

Tony turned around and watched as Riff headed across the park. “Riff, come on!” he called after him. “We ain’t even done talkin’!”

“Well I am,” Riff replied. He stopped in his tracks and turned around to face Tony once more. “Whenever ya wanna come down off that high horse of yours to remember who you are and where you came from, ya know where to find me,” Riff said neutrally. “I’ll see ya around.”

Riff turned and started walking away again. Tony called his name a few more times, but eventually gave up.

Tony had hoped for a more productive conversation with Riff that night. Instead, he feared things had only been made worse between them.

————————————————————————————

So close, and yet so far.

Roxie sat on her bed and began to count the money for a third time.

When she was finished, she was hit with the indisputable conclusion that she would not earn enough money in time.

Tuition for the fall semester was due soon, so she’d have to send the money off within the following week or two. But unless she came across a money tree somewhere, there wouldn’t be a full tuition payment to send.

Roxie was disappointed by the realization, but a part of her always knew that it was a possibility. Besides, if she continued to save her money like she had been throughout the summer so far, re-enrolling in classes for the spring semester wasn’t too far outside the realm of possibility.

A few weeks had passed and before anyone knew it, summer was on the decline. There were still some hot days, but for the most part, the evenings had cooled down enough to make them tolerable.

Roxie had spent most of her free days at the auto shop, helping out with whatever she could. Sometimes flirting and talking with Riff took precedence over actual work on the books, but it was all about finding a good balance.

The important thing was that the books were all cleaned up, and Roxie felt confident that Riff had a handle on them. In all honesty, her assistance was most likely not even needed, but what was the point of telling Riff that? It’s not like she wouldn’t have wanted to spend the extra time with him. As long as the books were kept up with and Riff was allowed time to work, that was what mattered.

Riff actually worked, too. So did Diesel, Snowboy, and Gee-Tar. Every now and then, another Jet would help out around the shop for a few days here and there.

Business seemed to be picking up significantly. Riff made payments on the loans and outstanding taxes and was even able to start paying the guys on a somewhat consistent basis. It was under-the-table payments for now, but once the shop was entirely out of the red, Roxie would see to it that legitimate paychecks would follow.

True to his word, Riff had been allocating some of the incoming profit to her. Roxie didn’t want to take it at all, but Riff had insisted. “Just ‘cause we’re seein’ each other don’t mean ya shouldn’t get paid for your work. Ya really ought to sell yourself more, Roxie.”

Roxie kept the money she received from work at the shop separately from the money she earned from her job at the factory. The money from work at the factory was for rent and saving up for tuition. But the money from the shop was to be held for something she wanted, not necessarily needed. Since she had more fun working the shop, it only seemed fitting that that money should be used as she saw fit.

Some of the money went towards the dates she had with Riff. At least once a week, whenever Roxie didn’t have to work in the evening, the two of them would go out.

Not all their dates had cost money. Roxie was perfectly content with the evenings when she and Riff would simply walk around the neighborhood. Time away from the shop and the rest of the Jets did them both some good.

However, some dates, such as trips to their diner, or the movie they saw the previous week, required cash. When they first started going out, Riff had insisted on paying for everything, but Roxie quickly nipped that idea. They were both strapped for cash, and it simply wasn’t fair for Riff to make his own situation worse on her behalf. Riff had protested the idea of alternating who paid for each date at first, but when Roxie explained her thoughts behind it, he finally agreed begrudgingly. Roxie wouldn’t bring it up to him, but taking turns paying for the dates made her feel good about where they stood. It made her feel like they were true partners.

The tension between them was growing rapidly. Hand-holding while walking almost everywhere they went as a pair was not unusual. In fact, the Jets often teased Riff for it. Riff never gave them the satisfaction of a response. In private, they were perfectly comfortable with one another. Typical kisses started to linger a bit longer than necessary and spontaneous make out sessions grew more and more heated, but nothing more had occurred. Whenever the moment to take things to the next level striked, Roxie was completely open to the idea and willing to embrace it.

With each day spent with Riff, her potential future became clearer and clearer. It was their future. If only she could keep Riff alive and out of trouble long enough for him to be a part of it.

Even though Roxie and Riff seemed to be getting along wonderfully and were closer than they had ever been before, there was some aspect of their relationship that left something to be desired. She basically had to force information regarding the Jets’ activities out of him. Besides Riff, the only concrete clues she had about the current state of what was going on with the Sharks was what she managed to overhear from the rest of the guys. And from what she heard, things weren’t going well at all. If anything, things between the Jets and the Sharks had only grown worse.

Roxie wasn’t sure why Riff was so reluctant to be honest with her about everything that was going on. Maybe it was a trust issue, or perhaps it was as she originally thought and that he knew she wouldn’t approve. Her feelings about that hadn’t changed. If the physical danger Riff would be putting himself in wasn’t concerning enough, there was also the likelihood that it would only be a matter of time before the cops really started to take notice of the Jets and the Sharks power struggle, with or without the nonverbal pact the gangs had made about not involving the cops. Not a day went by where Roxie didn’t have just a little bit of worry that Schrank or Krupke or some other officer would barge into the auto shop and take Riff away to god knows where.

Despite this, she bit her tongue. It was probably a shot in the dark and it most definitely was a long-game strategy, but Roxie believed that if she was patient enough with Riff, he would begin to let her in. And once he did, she could only hope that she would have enough sway over him to talk him out of the one thing that seemed imminent.

A rumble.

Tony thought her strategy was silly and that it was a lost cause. Roxie still visited him at Doc’s on the occasion, and when she did, Tony had no problems about voicing his opinion on the subject, either.

But Velma and the rest of the girls provided her with more than enough reassurance that her effort would hopefully pay off. Velma had introduced her to a few of the other girls she hadn’t met yet- namely, Maxie, Number’s girlfriend, Tat, Balkan’s girlfriend, and Dot, A-Rab’s girlfriend. It had been over the course of the past few weeks, and were primarily through casual meetups at the park or at dinners with her and her father at their apartment. Maxie’s, Tat’s, and Dot’s personalities differed greatly, but they each seemed to have traits that complimented the Jet that they were involved with. Dot had suggested that the thought of a rumble was exciting, but Maxie and Tat admitted that the idea worried them more than anything.

Roxie was curious about where Rhonda and Karen stood on the issue. However, it was likely that she wouldn’t be able to discuss the topic with them that night, since Velma had arranged for a group date and Roxie would be just introduced to them. But Roxie was hopeful that the introduction would go well and open the door for another opportunity for a chat with both or either of them away from the ears of the guys.

Roxie was a little saddened by the thought that the diner she and Riff frequented would be the setting for the group date later that evening, but when Velma asked where she and Riff had been going on dates lately, she didn’t want to lie to her.

Even though they wouldn’t be alone, at least Riff would be by her side. And she knew that she would have to break the news that she wouldn't be going back to school for the upcoming semester to him at some point, but she knew a group date would not be the best setting for that.

At least it would be an excuse to meet up with him privately at a later time.

————————————————————————————

“Dear Mr. Edward Lorton,

Our records show that multiple attempts have been made to contact you regarding the seriousness of the late payments under your contract.

While we have received incremental payments on your account over the last two months, your failure to make a full payment in its entirety constitutes a default. As a result, we have the right to demand payment from you in the amount of the entire balance of the contract.

To avoid any legal action being sought against you, we ask that you pay our settlement offer listed below immediately.

If you make this payment within 30 days, we will agree not to accelerate the balance due on your contract. Future payments can then be made according to their scheduled due dates.

Failure to make the required payment could result in legal action against you for the balance owed on the contract. In such an event, you will be responsible for any costs, including attorneys fees, for enforcing the contract.

We urge you to address this very serious matter today. Please send your payment to the address listed below in the amount of-”

Riff’s eyes widened at number. He stared at it for a few moments, trying to confirm that he was not misreading it. When he accepted that the amount requested was what it was, he sighed dejectedly and placed the final past-due notice for one of his uncle’s loans on his desk.

Even though the letter had been addressed to him, his uncle would be no help. Riff hadn’t heard from him in months, and he doubted he’d return a call any sooner if Riff left a message with his aunt regarding a potential legal action that was going to be filed against him. Maybe his uncle thought he could avoid legal troubles if the creditors were unable to locate him.

Unfortunately, Riff didn’t have such a luxury. If the creditors or some fancy suits they hired came knocking on the shop’s door and found Riff and the other guys living there without his uncle actually present, they’d be swiftly shown the door and thrown out onto the street. Where would he go then? Trying to find a new place to live was something that Riff was not looking forward to adding onto his list of current problems.

Riff opened one of the desk drawers. He pushed some various items at the front of the drawer aside in order to get access to the back of the drawer. He reached inside the drawer and withdrew the small stash of personal cash he had.

He didn’t even need to count it to know that it wasn’t even close to the amount that had been requested.

The shop had been doing better, and business was picking up. He’d even been able to start paying Gee-Tar, Snowboy, and Diesel for their work. Riff made sure Roxie got a cut too, and he was adamant about making sure she actually took the money and didn’t try to sneak her cut back into his stash when he wasn’t looking.

Riff had even paid himself a little, but only after Roxie berated him about it. All the money he had saved from his own personal cut was stashed in the drawer. He wasn’t quite sure what he was saving the money for, other than food and the dates with Roxie as it was needed. If he was smart, he’d cut back on any frivolous spending and start saving for a considerable down payment that he could use in order to convince his uncle that he could buy the shop from him.

After everyone had been paid, the rest of the profits typically went towards any of the shop’s miscellaneous expenses and towards payments on the outstanding loans and taxes. When the shop’s profit was divided up, any money to be used for those purposes never had time to make it into Riff’s drawer- it was mailed out immediately. As a caveat of Riff deciding to focus on paying back in full the past due taxes and significantly decreasing the amount owed on two of the loans, he must have neglected to submit complete payments for the third loan. Unfortunately for him, the third loan was the remaining balance on his uncle’s mortgage for the shop. Looking back on it, it was a decently big oversight. Maybe he’d have to send in his measly amount of personal cash he’d stashed in order to try and pull together a complete payment. It wasn’t exactly fair, but it was his fault for getting distracted.

And he couldn’t have helped it. Roxie had probably chided him about making sure to send payment in for that loan several times, but since she was around, her words probably went in one ear and right out the other. She was far too distracting.

Between her time at the shop, walking her home from work at night, and their weekly dates, to put it simply, Riff couldn’t seem to get enough time with Roxie. As soon as they parted ways for the night, more often than not Riff wanted to turn around and talk to her about anything in order to get just a few more minutes alone with her.

The tension growing between them was undeniable. Riff had never considered himself one who needed physical contact from anyone, but when it came to her, he would take just about every opportunity that presented itself to hold her hand. Kisses between them felt like some sort of electricity, but Riff didn’t mind feeling shocked. When she embraced him, as she usually did before they parted ways, and if privacy allowed them to do so, the places on his skin where her hands rested felt warm, too warm. Riff had a good feeling about what it was eventually leading to. If that’s where things were headed, he would be on board, but he’d follow her lead.

Previously, Riff had hardly ever bothered to think about the future. Most days he knew there wasn’t one for him. But since he got back together with Roxie, he caught a glimpse of his future every now and then. A future with her. Their future. The brief flashes were enough to warm the icy walls he’d put up inside, and as pointless as it was, he found himself wanting it. However, the glimpses he saw were quickly fading, became seldom seen, and were getting more and more clouded by the Sharks moving in on the neighborhood. Soon, Riff feared the glimpses of that future with her would be gone for good.

To say things were heating up was an understatement. Someone from one group would get jumped one day, and then there would be retaliation from the other group the day after. Back and forth, back and forth. Sprinkle some occasional run-ins at the park that ended with some exchanged blows, and the state of affairs between the Jets and Sharks was quickly heading for a breaking point.

Riff had seen such a pattern occur three times before. The first time was with the Bishops. The second time was with Emeralds. The third time was with the Egyptian Kings. All three of those occurrences had ended with the same exact conclusion.

A rumble.

Roxie had tried to pry information out of Riff regarding what all was going on between the Jets and the Sharks, but most of the time he refused to budge. What was the point? Roxie would only disapprove if she knew the details of it all. Besides, she wasn’t entirely kept in the dark- she was smart enough to figure most of it out herself, and she probably heard whispers about what was going on around the neighborhood. If anything serious would ever come up, like a rumble, Riff would tell her. But as for little skirmishes here and there? That knowledge he’d keep to himself.

Riff knew he made a promise to her to try and do better in life. He could infer that she meant no troublemaking, stealing, and absolutely no picking fights with the Sharks. But when Riff made that promise, he had severely underestimated how difficult it would be to keep. The struggle between the Jets and the Sharks had already been going on for too long before he even told her those words, and the hostile feelings the gangs held for one another now ran too deep.

He’d continue to make small concessions wherever he could, but even he knew it was likely to be a losing battle.

Maybe Tony had been right- the guys had a mind of their own. Riff wouldn’t be able to ever fully control them, even if he wanted to. Maybe not even if Tony was back by his side.

Riff hadn’t talked to Tony for several weeks, not since their meeting at the wall that one Friday night. He’d seen him in passing through Doc’s window. But Riff hadn’t gone inside. If Tony was so adamant about putting some distance between him and the rest of the guys, Riff would make it even easier for him by keeping away from him too. Tony said he’d be there for him, but Riff didn’t think it was fair for him to keep being all buddy buddy with Tony while he refused to come around and see any of the other guys.

If Riff kept some distance from Tony, and Tony was serious about being there for him and maintaining the friendship that went back many, many years, Tony would eventually cave. The Jets were family, and they came along with Riff.

Tony should’ve known that.

Besides, Riff would be lying if he hadn’t taken some offense to the concerns Tony voiced about his relationship with Roxie. Even if Riff wasn’t able to prevent a rumble, or even control the rest of the Jets, he’d find a way to keep Roxie safe from it all.

Tony really should’ve known that.

But whether it was Tony’s obligation to Riff as a friend or his worry over Roxie, Riff felt pretty confident that if the state of things with the Sharks continued as they were and if a rumble became necessary, Tony would come back. Riff would only need to ask him.

He was counting on it.

But the problems with the Sharks would have to be temporarily forgotten for an evening. The money problems could be set aside for the night, too, but Riff knew he would have to bring it to Roxie’s attention eventually. She’d probably find out on her own if he didn’t inform her beforehand, so it’d be best to be upfront with her about it. However, that evening was not likely to provide him an opportunity to have that conversation with her.

Velma had organized a group date for a handful of them. Riff’s never been a particular fan of group dates. They were almost always just an excuse for the girls to chit chat as normal, only with their fellas beside them. He was also a little sour at the thought of his date night for the week having some additional parties tag along to rob him of any additional alone time he might get with Roxie.

However, it had been Velma’s idea, and although Roxie also may have been looking forward to spending some time alone, Riff knew how important her friendship with Velma was to her. And if setting his own discomfort and annoyance aside would keep the peace between them and not create any additional problems with Diesel by him refusing to go along with Velma’s idea, Riff would shut up and go along with it in a heartbeat.

Besides, they’d have plenty of alone time some other night. He could always bring up the issue regarding the loan to Roxie then… if they didn’t find some other way to preoccupy themselves.

————————————————————————————

Rhonda and Action led the way down the sidewalk. Karen and Ice trailed behind them. They were followed by Diesel and Velma.

Velma’s arm was wrapped around Diesel’s, but that didn’t prevent her from looking over her shoulder every minute or so to look at Roxie and Riff.

Roxie noticed this very shortly after they started the trek over to the diner. Every time she caught Velma glancing at them, she’d shoot her a look, but Velma seemed insistent on ensuring that they were following the group.

But something else distracted her from Velma’s antics. Riff had been quiet, far too quiet. He had barely said more than two words to her, save when he first greeted her with a hello and a kiss outside her apartment. They’d been walking for well over fifteen minutes, and he had yet to say anything else.

Riff seemed distracted, which was becoming more and more of a common occurrence. Sometimes he’d share what was bothering him. Normally, he’d spill his guts and talk to her about it. However, it involved anything to do with the Sharks, his lips remained shut. Still, Roxie dared to wonder what it was that was occupying his mind this time.

“Everything alright?” Roxie asked him quietly.

It took Riff a second to realize she had asked him a question. “Huh? Oh, yeah… everythin’ is fine.”

Roxie wasn’t entirely comforted by the fact that he brushed over her question so easily. If something had happened with the Sharks within the past few days, she hadn’t heard about it. Not yet.

The group's arrival at the diner interrupted her thoughts.

“I’m not sure what I was expecting,” Velma admitted, “but it looks quaint. Cute.”

Before Roxie could say anything, Rhonda began to drag Action inside, and one by one the other couples followed suit. By the time Riff and Roxie had entered through the entrance, Action and Ice had spotted two tables and were already on the mission to push them together into one long table that would fit the entire group.

The diner was a little more crowded than usual, but Roxie was relieved to see that Action and Ice had found two empty tables close to each other to join up. The last thing Roxie wanted to do was make their presence a burden on whoever was serving them. Roxie could only hope their evening at the diner would go well enough that she and Riff would be able to return at a later date.

The rest of the couples readily took their seats. Roxie and Riff spared each other a brief wary look before following suit. Roxie took a seat near the end of the one table. Riff was to her right, and Velma was to her left. She realized the universe took some small pity on her when she looked across the table and realized that Ice and Karen were across from her. Roxie wasn’t sure how she would manage through the dinner if Action and Rhonda had chosen to sit near them instead. Thankfully they were further down the table and seated across from Velma and Diesel.

Their waitress, whom Roxie recognized as the same one who had waited on her and Riff several times before, gave them all a bit of an odd look, but said nothing as the group took a few minutes to look over the menus. She came over to take their orders shortly after and asked how they were going to split the check.

There was no discussion about it: each couple was going to fend for themselves.

With that thought, Roxie recalled that it was her turn to pay. Nonchalantly, she reached into her purse by side slowly. Riff looked at her curiously and quickly realized what she was trying to do. She casually withdrew a few bills from the purse before handing them over to Riff underneath the table.

Riff gave her a small appreciative smile in return. The gesture was so subtle that anyone else who had seen it wouldn’t have given it much thought at all.

Roxie wasn’t ashamed of the agreement she reached with Riff to alternate who paid for their dates. But she knew Riff still wasn’t entirely comfortable with it, even though he had agreed to it. Knowingly making him uncomfortable in front of the other Jets and their girls would have been cruel.

“Are you sure you’ve got it covered, Deez?” Velma asked him worriedly.

“Of course, Sweetheart,” Diesel assured her readily. Before Roxie could process the fact that it was one of the first times she’d personally heard Diesel be so candid with his affection for Velma, Diesel added proudly, “I got paid a few days ago.”

“Really?” Ice questioned with a raised eyebrow. Then, he looked at Riff. “The shop doin’ that good?”

Riff shrugged nonchalantly. “Business is startin’ to pick up.”

Being modest, I see. The auto shop wasn’t an oil well by any means, but compared to the state of it at the beginning of the summer, there had been significant improvement.

“I’ve been thinkin’ about what ya started to say a few weeks ago, after what happened to the wall” Ice confessed. As he talked, his eyes glanced over the rest of the group carefully. “About strikin’ gold with the shop?”

Ice’s words had garnered everyone’s attention, and they all looked at Riff and waited for his response.

Even Roxie looked at Riff; he had said he would try to bring up the subject of focusing more on the auto shop to the guys. Maybe planting the idea in Ice’s, Action’s, and Diesel’s minds in this smaller, more casual setting would be more effective than him throwing the idea out there to be digested by the entire crew of Jets.

“Well, it ain’t makin’ that much money,” Riff clarified quickly.

“But enough?” Ice pressed.

“Enough,” Riff confirmed.

Their waitress dropped off their drinks, briefly pausing the conversation on the shop. Once she was out of earshot, the conversation continued.

“If business keeps pickin’ up,” Diesel began, stopping to take a drink, “I reckon I’ll be outta your hair sooner rather than later, Boss.”

Riff smirked. “Ya know you’ve always got a place to crash, long as ya need it.”

“I know,” Diesel acknowledged. “But if the shop keeps bringin’ in cash, how long ‘til your uncle comes back? I’m startin’ to feel like I’m sleepin’ on the cot upstairs on borrowed time.”

Roxie looked at Riff pointedly, silently encouraging him. Riff noticed.

“Ya know,” Riff said, “I’ve been thinkin’ ‘bout tryin’ to save up some money… maybe see if I can get him to accept an offer to buy it.”

This was news, that much was evident by the surprised looks on everyone’s faces- well, everyone’s except Roxie’s.

“What?” Action gawked. “Ya tryin’ to be all business like?!”

“I kinda like the thought of that,” Ice admitted off-handedly.

“Almost guaranteed income for the foreseeable future?” Diesel added. “Count me in. I got big plans, but they’re gonna cost some dough.”

“Yeah, what plans?” Ice teased, his eyes shifting between Diesel and Velma suggestively.

There was a soft thud underneath the table and Ice hissed in pain, shifted in his seat, and shot Diesel a glare.

“Nevermind all of that,” Action interrupted, bringing the focus back to him. His narrowed eyes landed on Roxie. “Who’s idea was it, anyway?”

A challenge, huh?

“It was mine,” Roxie quipped. “I have some good ones, on occasion.”

She flinched slightly in surprise as Riff’s hand wrapped around hers under the table. The gesture was soothing, but whether he meant it as reassurance or as a warning, Roxie wasn’t entirely sure. Regardless, she didn’t fight it and forced herself to relax a bit.

“Great,” Action deadpanned. “Ya seem to be considerin’ a lot of crazy ideas these days, Boss…” Action sighed heavily before he continued in a much quieter voice. “Next thing ya know, you’ll say ya don’t actually wanna rumble with the Sharks.”

Roxie’s eyes went wide and the rest of the group visibly tensed at the mere mention of the word.

Thankfully, Rhonda spared all of them from having to form a response. She scowled, picked up the menu that had been placed in front of her, and gave Action a good slap on the arm with it. A satisfying thwack rang out as he flinched and held his arm where she had struck him, though Roxie doubted it could’ve hurt that much.

“Don’t you dare go bringing up that word!” Rhonda warmed him in a dangerously low tone.

Roxie decided at that specific moment that she already liked Rhonda.

Action’s front of bravado and toughness immediately faded upon his girlfriend’s scolding. “Yes, ma’am,” he mumbled under his breath. He immediately focused on his drink as an awkward silence fell over the table.

Velma broke the silence by quickly asking Karen about how she styled her hair.

Though Rhonda had chided him, Action had already muttered the word, and Roxie could only hope that it wouldn’t stick in any of the rest of the guys’ minds. She glanced at Riff, fearing he would have a look on his face that meant he was considering what Action had said, but once again, he looked distracted.

She squeezed his hand, which was still wrapped around hers, lightly in order to grab his attention. “Are you sure you’re alright?” she whispered.

Riff gave her an uneasy look for a moment before eventually relenting and giving her a slow nod. “I will be. I’ll tell ya about it later.”

The thought that he was willing to talk to her about whatever was on his mind gave Roxie some comfort and hope that it wasn’t anything to do with the Sharks. She lightly squeezed his hand once more, and this time the gesture was returned.

“-And I really loved the way you styled it for the Midsummer’s Dance,” Velma was saying to Karen. Diesel, Action, and Ice had temporarily checked out, but Karen and Rhonda’s attention was on Velma.

“Speaking of the dance,” Rhonda interjected, “did you know that they’re already planning to have another one?”

“Really?” Velma questioned. “Even after what happened at the last one?”

Rhonda nodded. “It’s supposed to be in a couple weeks. They’re calling it the Dog Days Dance.”

“I don’t care what they’re calling it, it’s a perfect excuse to buy a new dress,” Karen said with a smile. “Roxie,” she said then, “Would you care to come with us when we go dress shopping?”

Roxie was slightly taken aback, but after looking at Karen carefully, she decided the offer was genuine. It was nice of her to ask- the last dress shopping experience Roxie had with some of the Jet girls was certainly interesting. But Karen seemed pretty nice, and Roxie dared to wonder if she’d actually enjoy this next dress shopping experience.

Maybe she could spend the money she’d been saving from the auto shop on a new dress, if she found one that caught her fancy.

Roxie nodded in response to Karen’s question.

“Great!” Karen enthused. “I loved the dress you wore to the last one- you’ve got an eye for a striking shade of blue, I’ll give you that. We’ll be the prettiest girls at the dance without a doubt.”

“You Jet girls are always the prettiest girls at the dance,” Ice said casually before taking a sip of his drink.

The girls at the table erupted into a chorus of “awwws” while the guys offered various verbal agreements. Karen nudged Ice playfully as she blushed.

Much lighter topics dominated the conversation from that point forward, and soon Action’s mentioning of that word was long forgotten.

Roxie had gotten in a few words with Rhonda and Karen, and the more time passed, the more comfortable she felt discussing the issue of the rumble with them at a later time.

Furthermore, the longer Roxie spent conversing with them, the more she began to realize she actually liked Rhonda and Karen. That was a happy coincidence- rumble with the Sharks or not, Action and Ice were not likely to go anywhere. They were like Riff’s brothers, and if they stuck with Rhonda and Karen respectively, Roxie would be seeing a lot of them, especially if she stayed with Riff.

And she planned on staying with him as long as he let her.

————————————————————————————

By the time the food arrived, Riff’s most recent money troubles were far removed from his mind. He even almost forgot about the Sharks, until that little hiccup Action had with mentioning a rumble.

It would be up to Riff to decide if and when a rumble would be necessary, not Action. It didn’t matter if he and Action were thinking along the same lines on the subject, Riff had to be the one to call the shot. If he let Action make the decision for him, what kind of leader would that make him?

No leader at all.

Riff could easily imagine Tony getting a kick out of it if he knew.

But, besides the food, which was a vast improvement on whatever he could normally scrounge up for a meal, Riff quickly found something else to focus on and everything else, even the Sharks, were temporarily forgotten. The object of his focus was the young woman to his left. Soon, Riff had tuned out the conversation around them almost entirely.

It was endearing, watching Roxie chat with the guys and their girls. Sure, maybe she avoided saying anything to Action directly, but Riff couldn’t blame her for that. In fact, Riff could tell how specific Roxie was about what all she was saying. Anyone who didn’t know that she and Action had problems with one another wouldn’t have a clue that trouble existed between them at all.

When Roxie listened, she tended to nod along as whoever was talking gave their spiel. Riff wasn’t sure if Roxie even knew that she did that, but he noticed.

And when Roxie was able to get a few words in, her eyes seemed to light up a bit at the chance to say her peace. Most of it was small idle talk, but Riff didn’t mind. Roxie could read him the dictionary cover to back and he’d still probably cling on to her every word because she was the one reading it.

Roxie looked comfortable. Riff wasn’t super worried about her “fitting in” with the other girls- as far as he was concerned, he was seeing her, and that would have to be good enough for everyone else- but it made things a lot easier for both of them if everyone got along. So if Roxie actually hit it off with Rhonda and Karen, just as she had seemed to do with the other guys’ girls she had met so far, that was even better.

Riff had reluctantly dropped Roxie’s hand underneath the table when their food arrived. Though that was no longer an option, he settled for subtly scooting his chair over ever so slightly so that his arm brushed up against hers.

Roxie noticed this. She glanced at him with a small smile and leaned into his side a bit more.

“So, Roxie,” Karen said, “Velma told me you were taking some classes at that university downtown. What were you studying?”

An odd look flashed across Roxie’s face, but she recovered so quickly Riff wasn’t sure if anyone else would have caught it. Weird.

“Well, most of the girls who were in my classes, if they were pursuing a degree, usually planned on studying either nursing or teaching. I was thinking of pursuing teaching.”

It was with some small pang of guilt that Riff realized that he had never asked Roxie what she studied while she was away at that fancy school. Maybe a small part of him never brought it up because he was worried she would actually talk about it. And if she actually talked about it, the possibility of Roxie going away in less than two months would really resonate in his mind. Riff tried not to worry about it, but sometimes he just couldn’t help himself.

But if Roxie had to go back, Riff had no choice but to believe they’d find a way to make it work.

If she went back to school and got an actual teaching degree, that would be no small feat. The thought of her accomplishing something that significant in spite of her background would make anyone who knew her proud. It would certainly make Riff proud of her. And if Riff was honest, Riff was already proud of her for taking a crack at it at all.

Plus, Riff knew in his gut that she’d be a good teacher. He was far from the best pupil when she tried to tutor him in a desperate attempt to keep him from dropping out back in high school. But she never gave up on him. He had just given up on himself.

Even now, she still hadn’t given up on teaching him something- the fact that she had been able to teach him tricks with keeping the books straight was nothing short of a miracle.

… Maybe finding a way to cope with himself if Roxie had to go back to school wouldn’t be as difficult as he thought.

As the conversation continued, Riff was broken out of his thoughts by Roxie suddenly tensing up beside him. He looked down at her with a confused expression.

“Everythin’ alright, Doll?” Riff whispered to her.

Her eyes weren’t on him, they were on something over his shoulder across the restaurant. Someone, Riff realized after he followed her line of sight to a figure seated at the counter.

The man was quite broad, and his wide figure was only enhanced by the trenchcoat he donned. It was certainly an odd choice of apparel, given the time of year. But when the man turned to the side and Riff caught a glimpse of his face, Riff realized with a sick feeling in his gut that the trench coat was a bit more inconspicuous in the diner’s environment than a sharp suit and fedora.

It was the third time Riff had seen the man. The first time the man had been behind a gun in a moonlit alleyway. The second time was in that gambling house earlier in the summer, when he’d been seated in a chair by one of the tables and watching them with a stern look from across the room. The brightness of the diner erased any doubt from Riff’s mind that this was the same man he was seeing for a third time.

Same wide jaw. Same combed over, oily hair. Same beady eyes flashing over towards them.

“Do ya think he’s seen us?” Riff asked her in a hushed tone, still mindful of the fact that they were sitting at a full table with their friends and another conversation was occurring at the same exact time.

“Can’t imagine he hasn’t,” Roxie whispered back.

Riff cursed under his breath.

“What’re you two talking about over there?” Velma teased suddenly, grabbing both of their attention.

“Nothing,” Roxie replied quickly, too quickly.

Riff reached under the table once more and blindly reached for her hand. Once he found it, he squeezed it reassuringly.

Velma gave Roxie a strange look, but ultimately elected to ignore Roxie’s odd behavior and continued with her train of thought.

“What are we supposed to do?” Roxie asked him then, sounding just as scared as she had been in the gambling house where they’d last seen the man.

Riff contemplated her question as he dared to take another look at the man across the restaurant. The man was leaning on the counter and taking a sip of coffee. As if he had some sixth sense, it wasn’t but a moment after Riff decided to take another look at him that the man turned once again, and this time their eyes locked for several long moments.

Riff tore his eyes away from the man as he began to ponder his options. They could call it an early night and head out, but there was no guarantee that the man, or one of his goons, like the one that had gotten arrested, wouldn’t follow them.

Action and Ice knew what the goon looked like, but as for the guy in a trenchcoat who usually sported a fedora, he would just seem like another patron. A patron with a questionable fashion choice, but another patron, nonetheless. There was no hope for Riff to get any kind of signal to either of them without causing a scene.

And causing a scene was the last thing Riff wanted to do. Killing a single man and shooting several people in a crowded diner were two very different things, but, once a killer, always a killer. There was no telling what the guy was capable of, and Riff knew he had a tendency to pack heat. After all, they had already witnessed him shoot another man point blank.

Alright, so if walking out wasn’t an option, and tipping off Action and Ice wasn’t an option either, what did that leave him?

…

It was stupid, but Riff didn’t have any other ideas.

“Stay here,” Riff instructed Roxie quietly, shifting in his seat to stand.

“What? Where are you going?” Roxie demanded, sounding slightly frantic.

By then, Ice had noticed their exchange. “Everythin’ alright, Riff?”

Ice’s question had interrupted the rest of the group’s conversation and suddenly all eyes were upon Riff.

Without a second thought, Riff grabbed a nearby bottle of ketchup, which was all but empty, with his free hand. “Just gonna go get some more ketchup,” he explained sheepishly.

Riff moved to stand, but Roxie still held onto his left hand. Eventually, she was forced to drop it in order to avoid alarming the group.

As Riff walked away from the table, he heard the conversation continue on without him and felt Roxie’s eyes upon his back.

————————————————————————————

Roxie watched helplessly Riff as he walked further away from the table and over towards the man.

Her mind raced as he approached the counter, placed the ketchup bottle on the surface, and started conversing with the man. She watched with bated breath as their seemingly calm conversation commenced.

Roxie was more scared for Riff than angry with hin. She reserved all the anger she felt for herself.

They should’ve never, ever come back to the diner, let alone with a group of their closest friends. It was stupid, no, beyond stupid. It was far too close to the place they’d mutually agreed upon to never return to. But they’d come back to the diner anyways, and for what? A little nostalgia was likely about to cost at least two of them their lives.

Roxie tore her eyes away from Riff’s back to glance over at Ice, then at Action. Both of them were focused on Velma’s conversation, and had not noticed anything was amiss. Why should they have? They both knew about Riff and Roxie’s trips to the gambling houses, and they knew they had been tailed the very last time they went.

But as far as Roxie knew, neither of them knew about the murder Riff and Roxie had witnessed over a year and a half ago. They wouldn’t have known that the very same guy Riff was currently talking with at the diner’s counter shot a man over a monetary dispute and seemingly wanted to ensure that Riff and Roxie kept quiet about what they’d seen. Even if Action and Ice had known about all of that, they weren’t there, and they wouldn’t have known what they looked like.

What options did that leave her? She considered outright telling them, but she couldn’t know with absolute certainty that everyone would take her seriously. And if they did believe her, Roxie didn’t feel confident that no one would cause a scene and that everyone would be able to play it cool.

There was also the fact that informing everyone at the table would immediately place them in more danger than they already may have been.

Roxie looked away from the others at the table and once again looked over across the diner and at Riff. He was still talking with the man. Their conversation still seemed calm, and neither appeared to be angry or otherwise troubled. They were in a public setting, but Roxie feared if she looked away for any longer than a moment or two, the man seated at the counter would pull out a weapon of some sort and that would be that.

Something happening to Riff scared her more than the thought of something befalling her.

Roxie hated admitting defeat, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized that she had brought this upon herself. And apparently, she was going to take Riff down with her.

Even if by some miracle Riff had an opportunity to slip away and leave Roxie to deal with the menacing man herself, she knew he wouldn’t take it. He wouldn’t abandon her, not in this situation.

Roxie wasn’t going to abandon Riff either, no matter what that meant for them.

————————————————————————————

Riff sauntered up the counter calmly, determined not to let the guy see him sweat. The man already had them at a disadvantage- several disadvantages actually. Riff wasn’t about to give him the gratification of watching him squirm in fear.

Even if fear really was coursing through every vein in his body just thinking about all the potential outcomes of the situation.

Riff placed the empty bottle of ketchup on the countertop lightly. He didn’t even get the chance to say anything before the waitress behind the counter noticed him, grabbed the empty bottle, and wordlessly set about refilling it.

While Riff waited, he mustered up the nerve to look over at the man, who was still seated, on the stool to his right. When he did, Riff realized the man had been staring at him already. The look on the man’s face was strange, almost curious. It was off putting.

“Evening,” the man greeted with a deceptively warm smile. He had a distinct accent, but Riff couldn’t quite place it. It didn’t sound Spanish, but it was definitely foreign.

Riff nodded curtly. “Can I help ya with somethin’, Mr…?”

“I go by many names, but you can call me Mr. Barone,” the man informed him. His tone was so pleasant, anyone who overheard them might have thought that the two were old friends. “And yes, Mr. Riff Lorton, I think there is something you can help me with.”

Shit.

The man knew his name. That was not good.

What was even worse was that Riff finally placed the accent. From what he could remember, a lot of the Bishops had similar accents. And they spoke Italian.

Shit, shit, shit.

“I’d like to have a chat with you,” Mr. Barone said pointedly. “Let’s meet outside.”

Meeting the man outside was the absolute last thing Riff wanted to do, and would certainly be the stupidest thing he could do at that moment. But what choice did he have now?

Riff desperately wished he would’ve stayed seated and kept his trap shut. But he’d backed himself into a corner, and now was the time to live with the consequences… even if they were deadly.

Maybe he could at least minimize the damage.

“You look like your mind is running a million miles an hour,” Mr. Barone observed, sounding very amused. “Just do as I say, and this whole experience will be painless for the both of us, I promise you.”

Was it ‘painless’ for the poor fella whose brains you spilled out in that alley?!

Riff shook his head once firmly to regain his composure. Don’t let him see ya sweat, he reminded himself.

The waitress returned with a full bottle of ketchup. Riff nodded to her as a form of thanks, and Mr. Barone smiled at her kindly. She left a moment later, none the wiser, leaving Riff alone with the wolf in sheep’s clothing once again.

“First, you’re gonna go back over to the table and tell your crew that you’ll catch up with them later. Second, you and me are gonna go outside for our little chat,” Mr. Barone instructed. “Now, I’m running a bit late for another appointment- so you best get to it, and quickly.”

Sorry my mortality is such an inconvenience to ya.

“Well, that’s gonna be a bit of a problem,” Riff replied, making his voice as stern as he could muster. “We’ve got separate bills.” It was risky, but Riff couldn’t help but joke, “You payin’ for us?”

Wordlessly, and as quick as a flash, Mr. Barone reached into his coat pocket, withdrew his hand, and slapped a stack of bills onto the countertop. “Do you think that will cover it?” he asked. He sounded uncertain, almost as if the cost of an actual meal at a diner was unknown to him. Since he’d just put down way more money than necessary, Riff figured it probably was.

“It’ll be plenty,” Riff muttered in response. He quickly swiped up the money in one hand and the filled bottle of ketchup in the other.

As he turned to head back to the table, he was stopped when Mr. Barone said, “One more thing- ask Ms. Thomas to stay behind, too. I’d like to chat with her as well.”

Riff’s heart sank upon hearing Roxie’s name.

Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.

“And no funny business,” Mr. Barone added. “I’ve got eyes all around this place.

Riff didn’t doubt that.

Riff said nothing in response and instead walked back over to the table. The walk only took about five seconds, but it felt like hours as his mind raced.

When he reached the table and did not immediately make a move to sit back down in his seat, all of the group's eyes were on him once again. Roxie stared up at him too, and her worried expression stood out distinctly from everyone else’s curious ones.

Riff set the bottle of ketchup down on the table calmly, painfully aware of the fact that Mr. Barone was most likely watching his every move. He glanced down at everyone’s plate, noting that almost everyone was finished with their meal. That was some sort of ironic luck- at least he wasn’t likely to be met with much protest.

“It’s startin’ to get a little late,” Riff announced. “Why don’t you all go on ahead, and Roxie and I will catch up with you later.”

Action gave him a confused look. “You haven’t finished eatin’, Riff.”

Riff glanced down at his own plate, and internally cursed when he realized he had barely touched his food. “I ain’t really that hungry,” he lied quickly.

Action didn’t seem fully convinced, and neither did Ice.

“You sure, Krazy Kat?” Ice asked with a raised brow.

Riff nodded once. “Dinner’s on me,” he announced, lifting his hand to display the money from Mr. Barone for everyone at the table to see. “I told ya the shop was doin’ well… consider it my treat.”

Maybe it'll be the last thing I can do for ya.

Diesel smiled widely. “Ya don’t have to tell me twice,” he announced. He stood up from his seat quickly, and offered Velma an arm. She gave Riff an uncertain look, but allowed Diesel to help her rise from her own seat.

Action, Rhonda, Ice, and Karen all followed suit and slowly rose from their chairs.

Roxie remained in her seat to his left.

When the rest of the group offered Riff some smiles and “thank yous”, Riff knew he had successfully convinced them that nothing was amiss. He took a good look at each of their faces and couldn’t help but wonder if it would be the last time he’d see them.

Riff wanted to believe Ice and Action could find a way to lead the Jets without him. He was just a bit remorseful he hadn’t got to say goodbye to the rest of them.

At least they’ll get outta here unscathed.

Diesel, Velma, Action, Rhonda, Ice, and Karen headed to the exit without another thought.

Before he exited, Diesel lingered in the doorway as he called over his shoulder, “See ya back at the shop, Boss!”

Riff fought the urge to face palm before he realized that if Mr. Barone knew his full name, he was pretty likely to know about the shop as well.

“I’ll see ya later, Deez,” Riff called back, giving him a final, solemn wave.

Diesel gave him a smile before disappearing through the doors.

Their waitress came over to the table a moment later and looked at Riff expectantly.

“Sorry for the mix up,” he told her. “I’m coverin’ everyone’s bill tonight.”

The waitress looked relieved when he handed her the stack of cash, and immediately left to go ring up the bills.

When they were alone, Riff finally looked down at Roxie. The worry hadn’t left her face, if anything, it had probably been amplified by the fact that Riff had told everyone else to go ahead and leave. With a small sigh, Riff sat back down in his seat.

“What’s going on?” Roxie asked quietly.

“He just wants a chat,” Riff replied. “Said his name is Mr. Barone.”

Roxie’s brows furrowed in disbelief. “That’s it? He just wants to chat?”

Riff looked away from her and took a sip of his Coke. In the time it had taken for him to go have the lovely little talk with Mr. Barone at the counter, the ice had started to melt and his drink had become watered down. He grimaced.

“Riff!” Roxie hissed.

“He said it would be quick,” Riff said nonchalantly. “And that it would be painless.”

Riff felt Roxie’s eyes bearing into the side of his head as she glared at him.

“... Do you think this is funny?!”

Riff turned to look at her once again. The concern on Roxie’s face was still evident, but now it was joined by mild frustration. Despite all this, he thought she looked just as beautiful as ever. He had tried to memorize her face a few times before, but his mind had yet to do her justice. Maybe his memory could hold out for a few more minutes this time around. He hoped it would.

“No, it’s not funny,” Riff acknowledged. He gave her a small, sad smile. “I was just thinkin’ that if these are my last few moments with ya, I want to enjoy them.”

Roxie’s head tilted slightly as she processed his words. She returned his sad smile with one of her own. “Do you enjoy teasing me?”

Riff’s sad smile quickly turned into a smirk. “A little.”

Roxie rolled her eyes.

Riff knew she didn’t mean any harm from her gesture though, since she reached out for his hand that rested upon the table a moment later. As he watched their fingers intertwine, Riff said, “I need ya to do me a favor.”

Roxie looked at him expectantly.

“If you get the chance, you need to book it the hell out of here.”

Roxie shook her head. “No.”

“Roxie, this ain’t up for debate-”

“You’re right, it isn’t up for debate,” Roxie agreed. “We’re in this together.”

Before Riff could protest any further, their waitress returned to their table. She placed down a copy of the receipt and some bills which Riff could only assume was the change on the table. After giving them a brief smile, she turned on her heels and walked away.

Riff glanced over at the counter and watched as Mr. Barone threw a few more dollars onto the counter as payment for the coffee. Then, he rose slowly, straightened out his trench coat, and began to walk over to their table.

Roxie watched him as well. Without looking at him, she squeezed Riff’s hand tightly. “Together?”

Riff looked at Roxie tiredly. Once he saw the determination written plainly on her face, he knew that there would be no talking her out of it. “Together.”

The pair wordlessly rose from their chairs and followed Mr. Barone out the diner doors.

The sun had set during their time in the diner, and the group were met with the night sky. The stars seemed cold and distant, but Riff opted to ignore them for now.

Soon enough, he mused somberly.

They walked behind Mr. Barone and followed him down the street lamp lit sidewalk in silence. They gripped one another’s hands so tightly that Riff doubted a tornado barreling through would part them.

Riff had remained as calm as possible until Mr. Barone stopped before an alleyway. When he gestured to the two of them to enter the alley first, panic crashed over Riff like a wave.

The only thing that kept him grounded was Roxie’s hand in his. And still, it was that very fact that added ti his panic in the first place.

Why didn’t she run?!

He told her to. She said she wouldn’t. He wished she had lied. Riff would’ve preferred to feel slightly betrayed and alone in his final moments than to even contemplate what her fate would be if they entered the alley.

This couldn’t be happening. Riff didn’t care so much about what would happen to him. Throw him into a pine box, or chuck his corpse in the river, whatever would be most convenient for whoever was overseeing his send off.

Oh God, Tony.

It would probably be Tony that would have the task thrust upon him. His uncle certainly wouldn’t step up. Would Tony mourn him?

Damn it, he hadn’t even come clean to Tony about the fling he’d had with Grazi! How could he have forgotten?! Riff supposed, given their last conversation, that there was never a good moment to bring it up. But now he was gonna take that secret to the grave, and it wasn’t likely to earn him any points with the Big Guy.

Riff realized with a decent amount of horror that he was about to die with two major regrets: not setting things right with Tony, and proving Tony right by quite literally bringing Roxie down with him.

Oh God, Roxie.

If he was gone, who would bury her? Her whole family was already gone. Riff had always planned on going before Roxie anyways, whether it would be the next month or decades down the road. But even then, Riff had figured she’d have someone else to take care of her when her own time came. Surely their kids would see to it that she got a proper send off. Wait- did he even want kids? Nevermind, it wasn’t like he would get the time to think it through, anyways.

What Riff did know is that the thought of Roxie dying alone made him really, really damn sad. Tony will take care of her, right?

But it wasn’t Tony’s responsibility. It was Riff’s.

Because Riff loved her.

…

He loved her.

“Come on, let’s not make this any harder than it needs to be,” Mr. Barone half-gruffed.

The tension between them over the past couple of weeks had been building up to something, just not quite what Riff had thought.

Riff looked at Roxie with wide eyes. His sudden life-altering realization temporarily stunned him.

Not missing a beat and totally oblivious to his catharsis, Roxie lightly tugged Riff along by the hand down the alley. When they were finally a bit down the alleyway and far enough away from the sidewalk so that nothing would be overheard, Mr. Barone told them to stop.

Riff finally snapped out of his stupor. Instinctively, he took a step in front of Roxie to place himself between her and Mr. Barone. If the other man noticed, he made no comment about it. Roxie placed her hands on his back, her fingers balling into fists and gripping his shirt tightly. Riff felt reassured by the fact that even though they were both about to meet a grim fate, at least he could provide some form of comfort to her in her final moments. Even if that comfort was small, and even if it was false.

“Like I said, I’m running late for another appointment, so I’ll make this quick,” Mr. Barone announced. He looked at them both for a moment, as if taking every detail of them in.

Riff felt uncomfortable under his gaze and instinctively shifted so that Roxie was further hidden from Mr. Barone’s view.

“You know, it was by some sheer luck that my associate saw you in that diner a few weeks back,” Mr. Barone said. “But I told all my guys to keep an eye out for two kids matching your descriptions. I figured the two of you were local, since this is not the first, nor is it the second time that I have seen you.”

Riff and Roxie remained silent.

“I wondered if you were cops,” Mr. Barone admitted. “But since it’s been quite some time since the circumstance under which we first both saw each other, and since the boys in blue haven’t come knocking on my door yet, I figured that wasn’t likely.”

‘Circumstance’ was an odd word to describe witnessing a murder, but Riff wasn’t going to push his luck. “We ain’t snitches,” he swore vehemently.

“No. But, the two of you are so young. You have your whole lives ahead of you. What business did a couple of kids like you have visiting gambling houses like that?”

“What does everyone ‘round here need?” Roxie said from behind Riff. “Money.”

Mr. Barone nodded understandingly. “I figured as much. Well, that brings me to my next point. As a way of saying thanks, and in exchange for your continued silence, I’d like to give you something.”

Mr. Barone reached into one of the trench coat’s pockets, and when he did, Riff closed his eyes and braced himself.

All Riff heard was the whistling of a cool breeze flowing throughout the summer night.

“Riff,” Roxie whispered faintly, grabbing his attention.

Riff opened his eyes carefully at first, but they immediately widened at what he saw in Mr. Barone’s hand.

It wasn’t a gun.

It was probably one of the most sizable stacks of cash Riff had ever seen in his life. Way more than the amount Mr. Barone had fronted for the diner bill.

“Come on, take it,” Mr. Barone insisted patiently. “It’s not a trap. You’re smart enough not to look a gift horse in the mouth.”

Riff wasn’t fully convinced. “We ain’t sntiches,” he repeated, “but how do ya know we won't eventually tell the cops about that circumstance we saw ya tangled up in?”

“Like I said, you’re smart,” Mr. Barone countered with a smug smile. “Ms. Roxanne Thomas- you live over in that apartment complex across the community park a few blocks away, correct?”

Roxie said nothing. She gripped the back of Riff’s shirt tighter.

“And you, Mr. Riff Lorton,” Mr. Barone continued, “You were a bit harder to track down. But that auto shop a couple blocks away from the park- that’s a convenient little set up you and your fellas run, isn’t it? Though the shop doesn’t belong to you, you have gone and made it your own all the same.”

Riff was forced to realize that Mr. Barone was telling the truth. That wasn’t a bluff- that was a full report.

“So, what?” Riff asked. “We take your money, and as collateral ya know where we live?”

Mr. Barone nodded. “As long as we go our separate ways and mind our own business, you have no need to worry about seeing me ever again. The only reason you two ran into me tonight is because I wanted you to. When I heard from my associate that you had made a habit of coming back to the diner repeatedly, I knew it would only be a matter of time before I would have a chance to speak with you.”

Mr. Barone held the money out to them once again. “I didn’t plan on your friends being present, so I apologize about that. But you were smart, and you did as instructed. As a result, they are safe, and far, far away from here. Keep being smart, Riff. Take the money.”

Riff wasn’t so sure the guy wouldn’t try to shoot them as soon as he reached for the money. He certainly shouldn’t have any qualms about doing just that.

But Mr. Barone was making some pretty good points. Riff would’ve turned around to gauge Roxie’s reaction to everything Mr. Barone had told them, but Riff was more determined than ever to keep Mr. Barone’s focus off her and solely on him.

Riff eyes flashed between the money, which was still waiting in Mr. Barone’s outstretched hand, and back up at Mr. Barone’s face. Mr. Barone was watching him with moderate interest.

Cautiously, Riff reached out to take the money from him. When his fingers wrapped around the stack of cash, Riff half-expected Mr. Barone to yank it out of his grasp, but he did not. Instead, he allowed Riff to take the money easily.

Riff slowly drew the money back to himself. His eyes never left Mr. Barone’s as he reached around behind him to hand off the cash to Roxie. Riff had always trusted her with their money, and he supposed this situation was no different. She took it from him quickly, but his hand lingered around hers for a moment longer than necessary.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I really need to get going to that other appointment,” Mr. Barone informed them. He turned to leave.

The other man’s flippant tone surprised Riff, who had been so sure they were about to die. Frankly, he wasn’t sure whether they hadn’t already been killed and that the last few minutes of conversation were nothing but a figment of his imagination or a post-mortem daydream.

Surely it can’t be this easy…

“Wait,” Roxie said, immediately stopping Mr. Barone in his tracks.

Damn it.

Riff fought the urge to roll his eyes. He loved her. But, one way or another, he knew she was likely going to be the death of him.

“Why’d you have that associate of yours follow us a few weeks ago?” Roxie asked.

Mr. Barone looked surprised. “I’m glad you brought him up, Ms. Thomas. I almost forgot.”

Mr. Barone reached into his trench coat pocket once again, and despite himself, Riff couldn't help but flinch. This time, Mr. Barone withdrew something that wasn’t immediately visible.

“I wanted him to follow you,” Mr. Barone admitted, “just so that I could arrange a formal meeting with you to have this very same discussion. Oh, he was mad that hustled him, that’s for sure. But my needs were more important than him trying to salvage his wounded pride by teaching you a lesson.”

“But he was arrested,” Roxie noted.

“Yes.”

“And you aren’t… mad?”

Mr. Barone smiled. Unlike the previous smiles he had given Riff and Roxie previously, which seemed outwardly pleasant but which still caused Riff to suspect some malicious intent, the smile Mr. Barone wore at that moment was no facade. It was downright sinister.

“Turns out my associate was rat,” Mr. Barone informed them.

That was… not what Riff had been expecting. At all.

“Of course, the cops who arrested him were too low on the totem pole to know that,” Mr. Barone explained. “A couple of clowns, they took him off my hands and they don’t even know it. Another associate of mine on the inside tipped me off as to what happened. Because of that, I owe the two of you a favor.”

“A favor?” Riff repeated.

Mr. Barone nodded. “My associate was arrested before he learned anything of actual value to tell his higher ups. And believe me, that has saved me a great deal of a headache. So, in addition to your payment, I’d like to give you these. There’s one for the both of you.”

Riff narrowed his eyes slightly as Mr. Barone held his outstretched hand towards them once more. Riff swiped the item from his hand more quickly than he’d grabbed the cash, more determined than ever to end the conversation as soon as possible and go about their separate ways.

Riff looked down at the object he’d been handed. It was a business card. Well, two business cards. It read, “Mr. Barone”, followed by a phone number.

“You should know that that is not my direct line,” Mr. Barone clarified. “But, that will still be the best way to reach me. If either of you need anything, anything at all, feel free to call.”

“You’re kiddin’,” Riff deadpanned, feeling a mixture of shock and disbelief.

“I am quite serious, Mr. Lorton,” Mr. Barone confirmed. “Use the favor, or don’t. I just wanted to extend the offer.”

It was quiet for a few moments.

“Well, I am now very late for my appointment,” Mr. Barone said then. “And unfortunately, I do not plan on it going nearly as well as this one did.”

Riff didn’t care to dwell on what Mr. Barone was inferring.

“In case I do not hear from either of you again, allow me to give you one last bit of advice: stay away from the gambling houses.”

At any other moment, Riff would’ve let out a laugh. As if either of them had needed this completely stressful conversation to concur for that to have resonated with them.

Mr. Barone turned on his heels, walked down the alley, stepped back onto the sidewalk, and disappeared around the corner of the building and out of their view.

Riff and Roxie stood there for several long minutes in a stunned silence, each of them waiting with bated breath as they prepared for some sort of punchline to the sick joke life had played on them that evening.

Riff was alive. Maybe his mother’s luck had stuck with him.

Roxie was alive. And he loved her.

————————————————————————————

When the two of them finally managed to make it back to Roxie’s apartment, Roxie refused to drop Riff’s hand.

“What is it?” Riff asked, concern still evident in his tone.

It was a loaded question, but given the events of the evening, Roxie wasn’t feeling up to teasing him.

“Would you… do you think you could come upstairs with me?”

All thoughts of anything illicit had been set very, very far aside when she posed the question to him.

If Riff was with her, and Riff was in her sights, then he was safe. If she knew he was safe, she could get some rest. If she didn’t know he was safe, she knew there would be no hope of getting sleep. She probably wouldn’t get too much sleep anyways, with the adrenaline still coursing through her, but she had to try.

Riff said nothing and there was an odd look in his eyes that Roxie couldn’t quite pinpoint.

“You can leave as soon as I fall asleep,” Roxie added quickly. “I just… I don’t want to be alone right now-”

Riff spared her any further explanation and silenced her with a gentle kiss. Though he pulled back after a few moments, his face remained close to hers. “Lead the way,” he breathed out with a small smile.

Roxie smiled in relief and headed inside the building. He was right on her heels.

Instead of the fire escape, Riff was finally going to use the front door.

A/N: Thank you for reading! :) Please feel free to leave a like or any feedback if you enjoyed. If you wold like to be added to the taglist, please feel free reach out and let me know. The tentative posting date for Part 17 is Monday, 3/28. I will update this blurb if it becomes necessary.

Taglist: @whisperofsong @disguisedbassethound @lingerasthesmokeoncedid @westsidelegendary @sallymakesstuff @youngteenagehearts @wombtotombx @loverisi @wnygirl2012 @b-bella9 @princessmiaelicia @childesbbyy @amberash05 @samiyamuntaha

Part 17

Masterlist

85 notes · View notes

losingitinjersey · 2 years ago

Photo

I just spent the last 20 minutes trying to find out how to turn off reblogging instead of actually writing this post. Can someone please point me in the right direction?

Today was the first day in 9 days that I was able to get out for a walk. Despite the weather being disgustingly hot and humid, it felt really good to get back out again.

I love how I was updating you on my daily routine but forgot to talk about anything after work begins at 9 a.m. and I sign-out by 5 p.m. By 5:30 p.m. I get in the car to head to daycare 10 minutes away to pick up Erp and Aug. As soon as Erp sees me she drops whatever she’s holding and SPRINTS to me. It’s the best feeling ever. Then we go into the Baby Shark room to get Aug who just looks at me with uninterested eyes as she continues about her day. Hopefully soon she’ll also be excited to see me :)

Then starts the longest two hours of the day. I LOVE my kids and I miss them all day and you’d think that because I’m not with them during the day that I’d have enough energy to manage the two hours of dinner, hanging out, bath time and bed time but nope. It’s somehow so much harder. By 8 p.m. they’re both in bed, then it’s 30 minutes of picking up from the destruction that occurred in their wake. By 8:30 p.m. I’m sitting on the couch in a clean house with my new robot vacuum running (love having hardwood floors again) and I’m able to watch one episode of a show before bed.

Right now I’m watching The Stand since apparently I now have Paramount+ with commercials thanks to signing up for the only internet provider out here. I finished the novel last year and loved it so much, I’ve been wanting to watch the adaptation but haven’t been able to until now. So perfect watching a show about a deadly pandemic ;) I’m also watching The Boys as it comes out every week. Before this, I watched Under The Banner of Heaven, then before that was Candy. Next will be Umbrella Academy s3.

Oh and every day I play Wordle, Heardle, Moviedle, Posterdle and Framed :)

My weight has been all over the place the last few months. I don’t know actual numbers because I haven’t stepped on a scale in literally forever. I restarted a diet this past Monday but haven’t been super strict like I have been in the past. I’m sure since I’m updating here again I’ll be start drifting towards that direction. Just like with today’s outfit. I literally only wear leggings and racerback tanks nowadays but apparently since I’m blogging again I felt like that wasn’t interesting enough to document so here we are, pairing a dress with leggings because there’s no way I’m not wearing leggings. They’re just too damn comfortable and functional.

We rarely get photos of the four of us so I’m so happy we thought to take one last night while we were enjoying front porch time! Also, check out the little praying mantis friend I found climbing up our shutters! This is nothing compared to the DEAD BEAVER I found on the side of the road my first week out here! What kind of place did I move to!? I had no idea beavers were so big!

Oh, and Erp’s class saw a magic show today!! So many fun things she’s being exposed to at school! INCLUDING the NOT fun fact that I found a tiny BITE MARK on her arm. Literal teeth marks in a tiny circle on her upper arm. Kevin didn’t seem to think it was that big a deal. He said if it happens again we’ll say something. But, like. I’m so bothered. Is she being bullied or picked on? Did she defend herself when it happened?? She doesn’t seem upset at ALL by it. I’m just surprised by the emotions that came up for ME by it. Gah, I’m so self-centered.

#please don't reblog #because i still don't know how to block reblogs #momblr #erp is 2.5 #aug is 10 months #random mishmash of thoughts

46 notes · View notes

black-dragon1998 · 4 years ago

Text

Eating at POP’s

Summary: (Y/N) and Cheryl bond go to pop’s and everybody fawns over them.

autor’s note: It isn’t much, just a bunch of fluff. Just wanted to let you guy’s know i’m not abandoning this story event though it has been ages since i posted for it.

P.S.: It is 1AM at the time of writing this so don’t kill me if their are any mistakes in it.

part 1- part 2- part 3

Over the weekend you continue your research about the town. You found out that they had a local bike gang, the ‘South Side Serpents’. Apparently, even small towns like this have their gangs, you were curious if they were the same as the gangs in the city. your research however was interrupted when Saturday afternoon Cheryl Blossom stood at your doorstep. While you were repairing her car you opted on driving her to and from school as well as practice and you had come at a point where she let her guard down when the two of you were alone, but she had never come over without a reason.

She stood at your doorstep in what you think were comfy clothes. You were in a similar state as you hadn’t taken much effort in searching for clothes that morning. Opting for sweatpants and nothing but your sports bra.

“Cheryl? What are you doing here?” your brows scrunched together in confusion. Cheryl couldn’t help but think it was cute. A word that she didn’t think she would ever use to describe someone like you. Even the rough ways you dealt with certain things or people she thought was cute.

“well, you said you would fix my car and looking as I don’t have your number…” Cheryl trailed off. Your chuckle made her look back up at you.

“afraid I would rack your car darling.” The smirk on your face and the nickname made Cheryl blush. It took her a moment to take to pick herself together but was soon back to her usual banter.

“Can’t be careful enough.” She matched your smirk now with her own as you let her in the garage.

That is how you spend the next two weeks after school and in the weekend working on Cheryl’s car, with her watching you from the couch that was placed in the garage/ workplace. The first time she saw all of the cars and high-tech equipment her jaw dropped. She knew you were rich, but this was even much for her. Imagen her surprise the first time she heard FRIDAY. First, she freaked out and demanded to know if someone else was there. You told her one no there wasn’t anybody else and second that FRYDAY was an IA that you had built together with your uncle after her precious one died.

Over the hours that she watched you both of you started to relax and now she didn’t even look up when FRIDAY spoke, she even started asking them questions.

“miss I like to inform you that a vehicle from the compound is arriving later today,” FRIDAY informed. She didn’t give too much information because Cheryl was there but not much was needed.

“Thanks, FRIDAY.” You thank the AI. You were able to work for a couple more minutes before a body draped itself over your back while being bend forward over the car. Cheryl relaxing was becoming touchy and craving cuddles.

“(Y/N)?” Cheryl asked her voice muffled by being buried in your hoody. The whininess in her voice made you chuckle. She could be so cute when nobody was around to judge her.

“yes, Red?” you look over your shoulder at her and see her pouting.

“I’m hungry.” The way she said it made clear you had to do something about it. You turn around, making her fall into your chest. She immediately pulls away and starts blushing heavily.

“well hum. I can make something or I could drive us to pops. My treat.” You propose shyly. Cheryl looked up and again couldn’t help but think how cute you looked.

“How trustworthy is your cooking?” she asks you with a raised eyebrow. Not really knowing if she trusted you in the kitchen. And chuckling at your reaction.

“Haven’t burned down the kitchen jet, but it would probably be safer if we went out.” You admit scratching the back of your neck. Wanda had tried to teach you how to cook and you weren’t bad but like your mom, it didn’t really interest you and you sometimes forgot you had left something on the fire. So at the compound, Wanda took the role of big sister seriously and forbade you from using the kitchen and always made something from you.

To your surprise, Cheryl agreed to go with you on your bike, something that was short of shocking. When she put on one of your helmets and leather jackets you had to take a minute. You thought she look hot before but that had nothing on her now. She noticed you staring and turned around with one hand on her hip.

“See something you like sugar.” She asked in a flirty tone and you had to shake your head a little to get the daze out and could only nod. Yes, you were liking what you saw.

“you look good in leather.” Was the only thing you could say in response. Instead of saying anything Cheryl smiled and straddled the bike. This woman was going to the death of you.

A motorcycle-riding up the parking of with 2 people on it did raze a couple of heads. Even more when started recognizing Cheryl as she took off her helmet. Cheryl however didn’t seem to notice or care so you didn’t make a big deal out of it either. It wasn’t going to change the way you were going to treat her, it never did.

Walking out in front of her you held the door open for her and it made her laugh but she accepted it.

“what a gentlewoman.” She teased with a smile.

“well, I do aim to please and saw this hot girl in the parking lot and had to get her attention.” You fired back, with a smirk. She giggled slapping your shoulder before walking in. not ready to let it go you continued.

“you think she would be interested?” you wiggle your eyebrows at her.

Betty who was sitting at one of the booths in POP’s, together with Veronica, Archie and Jugghead looked up when she heard the sound of a motorcycle approaching. Thinking one of the Serpents want to kick up some trouble.

“who’s that?” she askes, not recognizing the drive. Her friend's lookup.

“don’t recognize the bike. It is not someone from the Serpents.” Jugghead comments. Something familiar does spike when they see the driver park the bike, not yet realising it's you. At school, you only wear baggy clothes so they had never seen you like this.

“I don’t know who they are but they look good.” Veronica was openly gawking at the muscles that were on display through your leather jacket and skinny jeans. Archie on his turn was checking out the bike under you.

Recognizing your companion wasn’t that hard, her red hair came flowing from underneath the helmet and gave away their identity.

“well, whoever they are they have convinced Cheryl Blossom to ride on a bike with them.” Jugghead didn’t even try to be as amazed as his friends were, even though he was curious who the driver was.

All four being blown away when you took off your helmet and setting it on your lap while smiling at Cheryl who looked at you with a mock glare.

“don’t have to be so fuzzy Red, you look good either way.” Your smooth words made her heart flutter while heat streamed to her face. Instead of responding she turned and marched toward the door. Although before she could even open it you already holding it open for her. Giving you a small smile she walked in and you followed. Leading Cheryl to one of the booths in the back of the shop. You tell her to relax as you take her order and walked toward the counter.

Sitting down Cheryl had the time to go over all the emotions she was feeling. You made her feel warm and secure. She only ever felled like that with Jason. Over the weekends she spends with you, you insisted you wanted to get to know the ‘real’ Cheryl as you called it and against her better judgment she caved, so she let the bitch side of her drop.

The other thing you did was take care of her, getting her food was only one of the small things you did and you never asked for anything in return. You also checked on her emotionally, telling her it was okay to be sad and mad over Jason’s death. With you, she was allowed to grieve, at school, she always had to keep up her perfect persona and her parents were sharks waiting for her to mess up to break her down some more. To say her feeling for you were growing was an understatement, the only she couldn’t say was where they were growing toward.

So Cheryl couldn’t help but smile when she saw you walking toward her with two food stray in hand.

Part 5

#riverdale #Avengers #avengers crosover #cheryl blossom x reader #cheryl x reader #cheryl blossom imagine #avengers x reader #riverdale x reader #riverdale imagine #natasha romanoff #natasha romanoff x daughter!reader #veronica lodge #betty cooper #archie andrews #jughead jones #FXF #Female reader #female x female

372 notes · View notes

brettyimages · 2 years ago

Text

It’s been 4 weeks since I last caught up with a Record Review Post so icymi, rating everything in my and my family’s record collection lets go

#167 - Paramore mix CD, 6/10 This is everything that was in my iTunes that I didn’t have already aka All We Know Is Falling plus b-sides and covers and stuff. Nothing on it is *bad* but it’s all sort of average and not indicative of how I feel about Paramore overall at all! Highlights: You Ain’t Woman Enough (To Take My Man) is a perfect cover

The 1975 - The 1975, 9/10 I got into this band just as the second album was coming out so for a couple of weeks I was just lying in my room listening to this all the time and I still love her. Highlights: MENSWEAR my beloved my angel, you cast a spell on me every time and I will adore you forever and ever. Honorable mentions to Sex (the only 1975 song I liked for the first 3 years) and Pressure, the 90s boyband song but somehow Matty

The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead, 9/10 The first album I ever bought on vinyl and it’s a little scratchy in places but that adds to the magic. Highlights: I Know It’s Over breaks my heart. Honorable mentions to the last 3 songs even though two of them are ~funny songs~ and not Serious Music, still love them

#188 - mix CD, 7/10 It’s all 80s music that I rescued from my last laptop in its dying days and there are some classics on here but mostly good with a few great moments and only one that’s perfect. Highlights: I Just Wanted To See You So Bad by Lucinda Williams. I think about this song ALL THE TIME.

AFI - Decemberunderground, 9/10 This was a formative album for me, it came out when I was 13 and AFI really did a lot to inform what kind of adult I became. I listen to it every winter and as I get older I see more of their 80s/90s alt influences and not just the screamo that I appreciated as a teenager. Highlights: 37mm is one of my favourite songs of all time, it’s so dark and sexy and delicious, like “press me to your lips and I’ll suck the poison out and put it in me”???? Inject this into my veins. Honorable mentions to The Interview, Love Like Winter, The Killing Lights and their cover of Head Like A Hole, which should be on Spotify.

High Voltage - A Brief History Of Rock (free with Kerrang! Magazine in 2006), 3/10 I got rid of a lot of my rock mag CDs but held on to a few that I thought were good. It turns out this covers album wasn’t as good as I remembered and there’s now a space in my CD tower. Highlights: Fall Out Boy’s cover of Start Today is what I kept this for, it’s the one great song out of the 15 and I love the way Patrick sings it. I also like NOFX’s cover of Straight Edge even if they do it in a jokey lounge Louis Armstrong style. Lowlights: the rest is average-to-bad but the nadir is Arch Enemy’s Symphony Of Destruction, I find their style unlistenable. I also hated Biffy Clyro covering Buddy Holly by Weezer; this was just before they went commercial so it’s 5 minutes of weirdo math rock shit.

#35 - mix CD, 6/10 All the artists start with A and I reckon this is from about 2008 and I intended to work my way through my entire iTunes library backing stuff up but I only got to C. It’s a real mixed bag of great and terrible. Highlights: AFI’s cover of Just Like Heaven is perfection, my introduction to The Cure and it makes me so emotional. Do Me A Favour by Arctic Monkeys is also on here and also a perfect record. Lowlights: there are a few. Atreyu are on here and so is a dreadful pop-punk cover of Miley Cyrus’ The Climb by a band I’ve never heard of. Both of those are bad but worse still is Attack Attack! - it turns out I am so over that clean vocals/screamed vocals genre. The absolute worst, though, is Kleiner Hai by Almuel, which is a fucking dance record made from that viral video from 15 years ago of the woman singing the (German???) song that morphed into Baby Shark a decade later. Truly the bottom of the pile.

Arctic Monkeys - AM, 9/10 My fave of their albums probably, all killer no filler. Definitely my favourite era aesthetically anyway, the Alex Turner look still has me twirling my hair and kicking my legs. Highlights: No. 1 Party Anthem is maybe my fave AM song, at least top 5. Also perfect are Do I Wanna Know?, R U Mine?, Arabella and I Wanna Be Yours.

#118 - mix CD, 7/10 I drew a venus symbol with an anarchy A inside the circle, which is probably some kind of TERF image now but this mix has some punk and some girl pop on there so that’s what I was going for. Again it’s a real mix of whatever I had downloaded but not backed up yet and just shoved into a CD without much thought. Highlights: Ring Ring by The Skints - I love this song, I want to call it reggae but it’s not quite, it’s in that kind of arena but I don’t know the exact subgenre. Anyway the lyrics are kinda sad but it sounds like summer. Sat In Your Lap by Kate Bush - no explanation needed. You Don’t Own Me by Lesley Gore - I used to be properly obsessed with this song but now it’s been in ad campaigns and has become ubiquitous it’s fallen off my “favourite song ever” list. It’s still incredible though. Lowlights: Real Girls by Chantal Claret - the whole ‘real women had curves’ thing makes me uncomfortable. Cups by Anna Kendrick - I liked Pitch Perfect but this isn’t really a song, is it.

Suede - Coming Up, 10/10 The level of perfection in this album, thank you Richard and Neil! It’s slightly less perfect than DMS maybe but it’s still a 10. Tied to some wonderful memories of seeing them play it in full 6 times last Autumn <3 Highlights: Lazy is potentially my favourite Suede single and is instant serotonin. I think that over half of this album is absolute perfection though so really most of it is a highlight.

McFly - Obviously and Room On The 3rd Floor CD singles, 6/10 I invested in McFly for their whole first album era and then dropped them immediately for the harder stuff (went to high school and started buying Kerrang!) so I have all of the CD singles from the first album. They’re not really worth keeping as the b-sides are just okay. Highlights: Obviously is the best song of the set which is why it was the second single, I guess. Lowlights: They put an Interview on one of the singles which I always find a bit cringe, unless it’s built into music like FGTH did, but there is a cute moment where they call a fan who sent in her number. Their cover of Deck The Halls is throwaway and the live version of Room On The 3rd Floor is patchy.

Timespace - The Best Of Stevie Nicks, 4/10 I rescued this from the discount bin at the charity shop I worked at because I thought I liked Stevie Nicks, but it turns out her solo material is not for me and I’m going to re-donate. Highlights: Edge Of Seventeen is on here, enough said. Lowlights: most of the album is in the ‘fine, but I don’t need to hear it again’ category but there was one ballad called Beauty & The Beast that was worse than the rest.

#10 - mix CD, 8/10 I think this is from 2006 and the surprisingly high rating is largely due to the fact that every second song on here is by AFI. It’s got half of Decemberunderground plus whatever older stuff immediately grabbed me as I was first getting into them. The rest is mostly emo for teenage girls, which is what I was. Highlights: 37mm by AFI, which I already mentioned in my Decemberunderground review, same with Head Like A Hole. Outside of AFI, The Middle by Jimmy Eat World is on here and so is Ruby Soho by Rancid - two Scuzz TV classics. Lowlights: the opening track is Technicolor Eyes by Backseat Goodbye, who was an acoustic emo boy singer off MySpace who I backed. I used to say this was my all time fave song because it was a) obscure and b) full of references to hip stuff like Bright Eyes and Eternal Sunshine. The original version of Sorry You’re Not A Winner by Enter Shikari is here too, and even though I associate it with great memories of teenage nights out (doing the clapping at the start, obv), I don’t need to hear it again.

Lady Gaga - The Fame Monster EP, 6/10 I was a Gaga hater in this era and picked up this album in the charity shop discount bin again. I don’t dislike any of the songs on this EP but I don’t think any of it is exceptional. Highlights: Bad Romance and Telephone are both outstanding pop songs, but you knew that.

Young Guns - Ones And Zeros, 5/10 I listened to the first Young Guns album a lot, and the second one a bit, but by the time this one came around I was just supporting them because they were one of the bands in my orbit. I liked the pre-release singles but I don’t think I ever sat down and listened to this album so even though I have a signed pre-ordered copy, I’m not keeping it. Highlights: the singles - Rising Up, I Want Out, Daylight and Speaking In Tongues - are all catchy, and I like the understated ballad, Die On Time, too. Lowlights: as I have the deluxe edition, it includes demos and a remix of I Want Out, which is horrible. The album came out in the dubstep years so you can imagine how dated it sounds already.

#131 - mix CD, 9/10 This is my dance music mix and it is full of bangers, not a bad song on here. It’s a mix of modern (for the time, 2015ish) and classic. I love! tacky! eurodance! Highlights: so many. Into The Groove by Madonna. Stay The Night by Zedd and Hayley Williams. Mr Vain by Culture Beat. Informer by Snow. Show Me Love by Robin S. I’m A Slave 4 U by Britney Spears. 212 by Azaelia Banks. Amazing. Lowlights: all good but a few aren’t classics and they’re the newer ones - Pound The Alarm by Nicki Minaj. Starstrukk by 3Oh!3 and Katy Perry. The LA Riots Remix of 17 Crimes by AFI. The fact that these are the worst songs on here says a lot for the overall quality.

Set It Off - Cinematics, 4/10 I saw this band supporting Tonight Alive sometime in the mid-10s and was so impressed that I bought the album off one of the band when they were walking around the crowd with a box of them after their set. It’s post-MCR theatrical emo-pop and my love of it was very short-lived, not a keeper. There’s nothing on here that I’d care to hear again. Lowlights: Freak Show has a repeated lyric that goes “I’m a circus freak” or something, which is very teenage. The worst, like with Young Guns, is the dubstep remix of I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead that they’ve tacked onto the end of this deluxe edition.

80s - mixtape, 10/10 I made this mixtape in about 2017 when I was getting heavily into the Trainspotting soundtracks and Depeche Mode. It’s all recorded from 7″s from my dad’s collection. Highlights: Relax and Two Tribes by Frankie Goes To Hollywood. Sheila Take A Bow by The Smiths. Only You by Yazoo. Are ‘Friends’ Electric? by Tubeway Army. The whole thing is great but all of these are contenders for my favourite song of all time.

Suede - Suede, 10/10 Another perfect showing from Suede. This is the first album of theirs that I got into, in fact when I went to see them for the first time this was really all that I knew beyond the hits and I was obsessed with it. I’ve come a long way since then and sometimes I think I don’t love this album but then I listen to it again and I absolutely do. Highlights: Sleeping Pills - any song where Brett sings ‘angel’ was always going to make me weak at the knees, and his moan before the second chorus is exquisite. Metal Mickey - one of my favourite parts of any Suede gig is that drone followed by the opening riff and everyone going fucking mental. Animal Nitrate is my most-played Suede song ever, but I think I actually love Metal Mickey more.

#rachel's record review #once again you're welcome to agree or fight me in the comments

2 notes · View notes

vennilavee · 4 years ago

Text

stormy skies

pairing: levi x reader, and baby kaiya

summary: it’s not the first time you’re home late from work.

word count: ~2260

warnings: a shitty boss, some cursing

a/n: wrote this because i couldnt sleep last night due to the current us election... enjoy

***

Levi peeks his head into Kaiya’s bedroom, and sees her fast asleep in her bed. She’s surrounded by pillows, her lion stuffed animal, as well as her butterfly, shark, and flower pillow. It’s been about an hour since she fell asleep for her afternoon nap.

He thought he heard a noise on the baby monitor, but it was nothing. Just her shifting in bed.

Her face is squished into the pillow and Levi can’t help the small upturn of his lips at the sight.

Kaiya’s already almost two years old, and neither you nor Levi can quite believe it. Levi claims that she’s the spitting image of you, but you claim the opposite.

You’re both right.

Levi’s career allows for him to work from home for most days. You and Levi had spent the better part of two weeks setting up his office, back when you had first moved into your new home. Before Kaiya was born. He has two monitors on his mahogany desk, a sleek keyboard and an even sleeker mouse with his laptop plugged into the dock.

A photo of you and a photo of Kaiya sits next to the monitor on the left, and a photo of the three of you next to the monitor on the right. The baby monitor is in front of him, just in case Kaiya wakes up before she is supposed to.

He’s eager for Kaiya to wake up and for you to come home, and he puts his glasses on to get to work and hopefully end his day early.

***

Levi shoves a hand in his hair, expelling a deep sigh as he logs out of work. He stretches his arms and his legs, only to be alerted by a slight vibration from his phone.

It’s a text from you:

angel: gonna be late today… levi: again? angel: yes :(

Levi sighs to himself, waiting a few seconds before replying.

levi: ok, be safe

It’s the third time this week, and he’s lost count of how many times you’ve come home late over the last few weeks. At first, it hadn’t bothered him. But then it became a habit. And then Kaiya was asking for you during dinner.

That was the first of a few fights. They usually ended with you promising that you’d be better about it and draw the boundaries you needed to draw.

And yet…

Levi hears Kaiya waking up on the baby monitor, her soft coos and calls of ‘daddy’ and ‘mommy’ nearly echoing in the silent room. He turns the monitor off and walks upstairs to her bedroom, where he finds her sitting up. Her smile is sleepy and she makes grabby hands for him with her stuffed lion tucked under her arm.

“Daddy,” She beams at him.

“Slept well, Kai?” Levi asks and she doesn’t reply, instead tucking her face into his neck. Levi brushes his lips over her forehead as he carries her downstairs. She’s still warm from her nap, grey eyes blinking sleepily.

Levi gets started on dinner with Kaiya on his hip and feeds her spoonfuls of sauce and bits of meat here and there, which she accepts eagerly. She smiles widely with her nose scrunched when she likes it. You’d claim that her smile is identical to Levi’s, but he disagrees.

He’d tell you that everything good about Kaiya comes from you.

Levi gets lost in his thoughts of you, wondering if you’re on your way home. He’s having trouble remembering the last time you both had gone to bed together without the melancholy of your work schedule hanging over your head.

He sighs. Kaiya hears him and looks up curiously.

“Daddy?” Kaiya says, patting his cheek, “Mama?”

“Mama’s comin’ home late, kid,” Levi says, “Again. Do you miss her?”

Kaiya lets out a sigh suspiciously similar to his.

“Yeah. Me too, kid.”

***

By the time you come home, it’s well past dinnertime. Levi had left out a plate for you, but by now, it’s cold. You kick your heels off and place them in the closet neatly, grimacing at the covered plate on the dinner table and your empty living room.

You can almost taste Levi’s disappointment. But you just want to see Kaiya, you know she’ll be able to cheer you up.

What a shitty day. Shitty week. Shitty month. With every day that goes by, you’re getting closer and closer to telling your boss to shove his foot up his ass.

You immediately head into Kaiya’s bedroom, where you’re certain Levi is telling her a bedtime story. You’re not even sure what time it is- is she asleep? Are you too late?

You hate bringing the smell of work home, preferring to change into comfy clothes before greeting Kaiya and Levi with a kiss. But you can’t wait, not tonight. Not when you know that Levi is upset with you and when you miss Kaiya so much that you ache.

“Kaiya?” You whisper, “Kaiya, baby?”

“Mama!” Kaiya squeals, looking up from the book that Levi’s reading to her, “Hi, mama!”

You kneel next to her bed and open your arms for a hug. She jumps into your arms happily and you kiss her cheeks and her forehead as she giggles wildly.

“I missed you, baby,” You mumble, holding her close, “So much.”

You pull away and cup her cheeks tenderly, rubbing with your thumb. Kaiya only looks at you with the same disarming silver eyes that belong to Levi. Her eyes are soft when she looks at you, her grin bright and toothy.

“Daddy, story,” Kaiya says, pointing to Levi.

“Can mama join?” You ask quietly, looking at Levi.

“Don’t be stupid. Of course mama can join,” Levi murmurs, patting the spot next to him.

You don’t even admonish him for saying ‘stupid’ in front of your daughter and he says nothing about you wearing your work clothes in his daughter’s bed.

You kiss the corner of Levi’s mouth, taking his hand in his as he continues to read to Kaiya. He squeezes your hand every so often, listening to the way Kaiya gasps and giggles at the story. Levi doesn’t tell the story with much fanfare or gusto- he tells it just the way Kaiya likes. With the always present dry intonation of his voice.

You think it’s Kaiya’s favorite sound in the world.

Kaiya points at the picture in the book and giggles, looking up at you for confirmation that you can see what she’s pointing at. You hold her hand and laugh with her too, melting at the way her smile holds your world in it.

After a few more pages and a few more laughs, Kaiya begins to grow tired. She rests her head against your arm, stifling a yawn. You rub her back to lull her into sleep but she tries to stay awake.

“Are you sleepy, Kaiya baby?” You coo, kissing her forehead.

She doesn’t reply, instead closing her eyes. It only takes a few more forehead kisses and back rubs for her to fall into deep sleep. You smile at Kaiya and look at Levi, offering him a small smile as well.

“Did you eat?” Levi asks, nudging your shoulder and gesturing for you to get up.

“No, I put it in the fridge. Not really hungry. Just want to be with you and Kaiya,” You murmur.

Levi gives you a long stare and pinches the bridge of his nose.

“Don’t be stupid. Go eat. I know you probably haven’t eaten since noon. Because of your shitty boss,” Levi says pointedly.

You sigh, heading into your bedroom to change out of your work clothes and wash up before heading downstairs.

He doesn’t join you.

You eat quickly, somewhere halfway between enjoying and savoring all of the flavors and barely chewing so that you can go upstairs to talk to Levi. You wash the dishes in the sink quickly before double checking the locks and heading to your bedroom.

Levi’s in bed, reading a book and casts a look of acknowledgement to you. It feels odd, devoid of his usual affections. You know why. Because he’s upset with you.

You curl next to him, cupping his cheek to get him to look at you. Levi sighs heavily and casts his book on the nightstand.

“Your job is fuckin’ shitty,” Levi says without missing a beat, “Kaiya misses you. A lot.”

I miss you. A lot. The words hang in the air.

“I know, I’m sorry. I hate it,” You whisper, crumbling under his scorching gaze, “I didn’t want-”

“So? What are you gonna do about it?” Levi asks flatly, voice full of ice, “It’s your dream job, right?”

It unnerves you.

“Levi,” You say hollowly, “Don’t be like that-”

“Not bein’ like anything,” Levi says easily, “Your daughter fuckin’ misses her mama. This is the first time you’ve tucked her into bed properly in who knows how long- she asks for you all the time, always asking for her mama. And where is her mama? At work-”

“Levi,” You beg quietly, “Levi, stop-”

“How many times are we going to have this conversation?” Levi says hotly. You raise your eyebrows when you hear the emotion in his voice. He’s clearly been thinking this for quite some time.

“I’m sorry,” You plead, taking his hands in yours.

He pulls them away from you and your lips part in a surprised ‘o’. You’re quickly confronted with how much you’ve been hurting him.

“Levi, I’m gonna fix it. I swear- I’m gonna fix it, I’ve already talked to my boss a-and told him I can’t do this anymore-” You blubber, tears forming in your eyes.

“Can’t do what anymore?”

“The late nights-”

“Yeah, they’ll stop for what? A week? Then start back up again,” Levi scoffs coldly, “You promised you’d fix this. So fix this.”

“Levi- stop,” You mumble, “You’re being mean-”

You can’t help it- you start to cry harder, fat tears pool in your dark eyes and roll down your cheeks, as your bottom lip trembles. You let out a loud sob and turn away from him, not able to meet his eyes. Levi blinks at you, almost nervously.

“Shit,” Levi says under his breath, “Shit-”

He wipes your tears from your cheeks and pulls you into his chest, his chin over your head. His arms are tight around you, heartbeat lulling you into calm. Neither of you say anything for a few minutes, despite the apology on the tip of his tongue.

Levi hates seeing you cry, especially when he is the cause of your tears. But he knows, even if his words were cruel, the problem still exists.

It takes a few minutes for you to breathe and for your sobs to reduce to sniffles.

“I’m trying, baby,” You mumble, “I told him I need to scale back. But- he’s just so, fucking-“

And then you start to cry again. Levi wonders if there’s more to it than you’ve been saying. He wonders if there’s more of a problem than just late nights. Levi rubs your cheek with his thumb, giving you a few more minutes to gather your thoughts.

“Is something else going on?” Levi asks, most of the heat gone from his voice.

You’re quiet again, looking up at him. Trying to figure out how to allow the words to bubble up and leave your throat.

“What is it, angel?” He asks, cupping your chin for you to meet his eyes.

“He’s just so,” You sigh, “He’s so… mean. He talks down to me sometimes when we have group meetings- and I don’t even realize until the meeting’s been said and done. God, I hate what a boys club it is there.

Oh, and his favorite is that one guy who always steals credit for the work that I do- and he said he’d dock my bonus if I didn’t start picking up the slack, but I am, I’m picking up everyone’s fuckin’ slack and all I’m good at doing is hurting you and hurting Kaiya- and I n-never wanted to be like that.

I never wanted to be the person who put their career in front of their family. I should be able to have both, but not- not like this.” Your rant ends with a fresh wave of tears threatening to spill over.

“Angel,” Levi breathes, kissing your forehead, “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I thought I could handle it,” You mutter honestly, “But I can’t. I need to get out, Levi.”

“I’m sorry I yelled at you,” Levi says, pressing his forehead to yours.

“You didn’t. It’s okay, I get it. I get it.”

“I should’ve helped you. Not yelled at you.”

“How could you know? I didn’t say anything,” You scoff, slipping your hand under his shirt to rub his chest. You missed him, and this.

“Thought we said no secrets,” Levi says lightly, “No more. We’ll figure it out.”

“‘M not working for most of next week. I need a break,” You say, pressing yourself closer to Levi.

“Good. We’ll figure it out, alright?” Levi says and squeezes your hand. He dips his head for a kiss, and you can taste the sweetness of his unsaid apology.

“You, me and Kaiya?” You ask with a small smile.

Levi nods, quelling your fears with a series of featherlight kisses that deepen quickly. His hands wander your ribcage, holding you close and warming you up from within. Silver eyes melt into your brown, and you’re reassured by his steady strength.

You’ll be okay. You, him and Kaiya. You’ll be okay.

tags: @simpingmaize

#levi x reader #levi ackerman x reader #levi ackerman #snk x reader #levi fluff #dad levi #aot x reader

414 notes · View notes

watchmegetobsessed · 4 years ago

Text

Serendipity - Part IV. (Harry Styles)

a/n: can’t believe only one part left of this story! i personally love their journey and a lot more is to come, we have an emotional last part ahead of us, so brace yourself! as always, feedback is very much appreciated!!

pairing: Harry x OC (Annalise Lloyd)

word count: 9.4k

SERIES MASTERPOST ⚫️ my masterlist ⚫️ come and talk to me about Serendipity!

Serendipity (n.) Finding something good without looking for it.

Sometimes Harry finds himself way too caught up with everything around him. Work tends to pile up, meetings after meetings, urging deadlines and the demand to stay relevant in the industry. These past weeks he has tried his best to make London the epitome of his life and so far he has been successful in his attempt, dodging two trips away from his home, though he had to make a short visit to New York still.

Now, even though he is in London, he feels like he is far from home. He hasn’t been able to see Lis in three days, their schedules just didn’t line up well and he would never ask her to mess up her usual routine with Benji, but he has been missing her dearly. He has been missing them both. Harry found himself growing a liking to being around not just Lis, but her little boy as well. He loves playing around with him, joining the mother-son duo on their little outings on Sundays, or just simply stay in with them, watching whatever movie has caught Benji’s eyes recently. He has been spending all his free time with them, but this week has been too hectic and now Harry feels like it’s coming down crashing on him at once.

It’s past eight pm now and he just finished with a tiring meeting. He has had many creative differences with the team he is supposed to work together with for a photoshoot and it took all his energy and patience out of him to stay calm and respectful when they just wouldn’t let go of the things he clearly didn’t want to include. It didn’t matter what he or his manager was saying, the team seemed to be keen on putting their ideas through no matter what.

“We’ll come to terms, alright?” Jeff pats his shoulder as they walk out of the building. Harry nods, though he doesn’t feel comfortable in the project like he is supposed to.

“Yeah, sure.”

“Rest some. I pushed a little further your interview tomorrow. You have to be there at eleven.”

“Thanks,” he nods at the man and they say their goodbyes before parting ways and heading to their own cars.

Once he is seated behind the wheel, he takes a moment to himself, breathing deep to get his head sorted out, but he just knows this ache in his chest will grow if he doesn’t do something to ease it. Pulling his phone out of his pocket he closes his eyes as he starts a call to Lis.

“Hey! I was just thinking about you.” Her sweet voice immediately eases the tension in his muscles and he feels himself deflate at her words.

“Yeah?”

“Yes, Benji showed me his painting he made today and it has this nice guitar on it, I’m sure you’d like it,” she chuckles softly and he hears her shuffling around, she must be cleaning up the kitchen, at least that’s what she usually does around this time once they are finished with dinner.

“I bet it looks awesome,” he mumbles.

“Everything alright? You sound a little… distant,” she says, worry lacing through her words.

“I’m just… tired. Very tired. Just wanted to hear your voice. I miss you.”

“I miss you too,” she coos. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

“It’s just work stuff. It’s been a hard week,” he admits, but doesn’t go into detail, not wanting to load out on her. She has enough on her plate without having to listen to his ranting.

“Are you at home?”

“No, I just got done at a meeting. It was shitty, some people just suck,” he sighs in frustration.

“Want to come over?” she asks softly, the question surprises him. It’s a weekday and they didn’t agree on meeting beforehand. “Go home, get the stuff you need and spend the night here, if you want.”

“You sure about it? I don’t want to bother and what about Benji?” Lis chuckles on the other end of the call.

“Benji would jump up the wall if he hears you are coming over. He has been missing you too, Harry. In fact, I think if you come over you won’t be able to get rid of him for a while.”

Harry chuckles lowly, the thought of having to play with Benji whatever imaginary game he just made up warms his chest. He doesn’t mind it, not even a bit.

“I can be there in like forty.”

“That’s perfect. We are starting Finding Nemo just now. Hurry so you can see the end. Spoiler, they find Nemo,” she laughs making him smile as well.

“Alright, see you in a bit.”

Annalise ends the call, smiling to herself. She still hasn’t gotten used to the feeling Harry brings to her. All the affection and appreciation he has been showing made her swoon and she has no doubt now that she made the right choice when she let him enter her life. She could tell he wasn’t in the best of moods and though he didn’t admit it, he couldn’t fool her entirely. She wanted to be there for him, comfort him just like he does every time she is feeling overwhelmed with life. Harry hasn’t failed to brighten her days whenever it was starting to feel a little too much all together and now she has the chance to do the same for him.

“Popcorn! Popcorn!” Benji chants as he runs into the kitchen, already in his pajamas, holding one of his dinosaurs in his hand.

“Alright, I’m making it now,” she chuckles grabbing a pack and tossing it into the microwave. “Harry will come over in a bit, is that alright?” she asks him and watches his eyes brighten up immediately.

“When is he arriving? Can I show him my painting?” he enthuses right away, making Lis chuckle.

“Of course, already told him about it. He’ll be over soon. Let’s start the movie, he’ll join when he arrives.”

The two of them settle on the couch once the popcorn is ready, she puts on the movie and tries her best to focus on the screen, but she keeps glancing out the window, checking if he has arrived. When she sees his headlights pull up in front of her house, she leaves the comfort of the couch and goes to meet him outside. Luckily, Benji is too invested in the movie to care about the absence of his mother just yet.

When she sees him emerge from the car, she can tell he isn’t his usual joyful self. His shoulders are hunched forward and she can tell he hasn’t had a good night’s sleep in a while from the circles under his eyes. Looking up his gaze meets hers and he breaks a soft smile at the sight of her in her comfy home clothes.

“Hey,” she greets him warmly and walking up she kisses him sweetly, running her fingers through his hair. He hums against her lips, hands finding her waist lazily.

“Hi. You sure I’m not bothering?” he asks as he grabs his bag for the night from the back of the car.

“Absolutely,” she smiles and taking his hand she pulls him inside from the crispy evening air.

Benji’s head snaps up hearing the front door shut and he immediately leaps out of his seat, launching at the man that just arrived.

“Harry! Come see my painting!” he begs immediately, smacking against him, wrapping his short arms around his waist. Harry chuckles lightly, rubbing his back gently.

“Alright, bud. Show me!”

The three of them move over to the kitchen so Harry can check out the painting on the fridge. Harry listens to everything he has to say, giving him his full attention and Annalise can’t ignore how her heart flutters in her chest at the sight of them. Harry squats down so he is on the level of the little boy who is standing between his legs, talking enthusiastically about the kind of paint his teacher let him use at school. He doesn’t seem to be just acting to be interested, it’s all genuine and that alone almost makes her cry.

Once the show and tell is done, Benji drags him into the living room so they can continue the movie.

“Slow down, Benji. Let me bring my stuff up to the bedroom,” Harry chuckles, but the boy has a strong grip on his hand.

“I’ll do it, just go watch the movie,” Lis offers smiling. Harry presses a kiss to her temple, mumbling a thank you as she takes the bag from him before he is taken by her son.

Bringing it into her bedroom she sets it beside the bed and gets him a clean towel, placing it to the edge of the bed in case he needs it. Once the lights are all turned off she heads back down to the living room, only to find a scene that immediately makes her swoon.

The movie is playing again and has both guys’ eyes fixed on the screen. Harry is sitting comfortable on the couch, slid down a little, Benji cuddled to his side, his little fingers playing with the buttons of his shirt. His head is laid on Harry’s chest while his long, tattooed arm is wrapped around the little boy’s frame. Just as she walked down the stairs Benji mumbled a question about sharks and Harry softly answered, earning a nod from the boy in his arm.

Lis finds herself grabbing her phone from the kitchen island, quietly sneaking up on them, taking a picture of the two from the side. She is more than sure it’s going to end up as her lockscreen sooner or later.

Harry lifts his head and turns towards her when she walks in, making her presence known this time. A soft smile tugs on his pink lips and Annalise can’t push down her wide smile even if she tried. Sitting beside the boys, she leans closer and presses a kiss to Harry’s lips before placing one on top of Benji’s head. This is her silent thank you to Harry for being such an amazing man and he can feel the seriousness behind this small gesture as well.

When Lis is all settled, Benji moves around until his head is still on Harry’s chest but his legs are across his mother’s lap. Harry and Lis exchange one last loving look over the head of the little boy before they both turn their attention back at the movie playing on the screen.

Benji is half asleep by the end of the movie. Harry offers to carry him up to bed, which Lis appreciates a lot. She hasn’t been able to carry him around that much since he has been growing like crazy. Once the boy is all settled in his bed the two of them head into her bedroom. First he takes a quick shower and then it’s her turn. When she returns to the room Harry is lying in bed already, reading something on his phone but he quickly puts it aside when she appears. She quickly gets under the covers and moves close to Harry, resting her head on his shoulder as he circles his arm around her frame.

“I’m sorry you had a shitty day,” she mumbles after a while, his fingers gently caressing her upper arm.

“It definitely got better at the end.” After a short silence, she is the one to speak up again.

“I like having you around like this.”

“Like what?”

Lifting her head she rests her chin on his chest so she can look him in the eyes.

“Domestically,” she answers and his heart starts thudding against his chest so wildly even she notices it.

“I love it too,” he tells her truthfully.

As he stares down at her in the dim lighting of the bedside lamp on her nightstand, he can feel three short words weighing down on him, burning to be said out loud, but he is not sure if it’s the right moment to let them slip. However, as the moments pass by and she is still looking up at him, he simply can’t make himself remain silent.

“And… I love you.”

She seems stunned upon hearing his words, lips parted as her eyes keep fixated on his green ones. Pushing herself up into a sitting position she lets the faintest smile tug on her lips, tasting the words that just rolled down his tongue. Cupping his face she leans down and kisses him blissfully, her cheeks blushing from the joy that spread in her body at his confession.

“I love you too,” she whispers against his lips and he breathes out shakily, a hand flying to the back of her head to pull her into another kiss.

“See? It wasn’t tha’ hard, right?” Harry smiles down at Benji who nods his head, admiring his math homework Harry just helped him finish.

“Thanks. I think I like math now,” the boy nods to himself, making both Harry and Lis chuckle.

“Your opinion about math seems to be changing quite often, Benji,” Lis teases him, but he just shrugs his shoulders. “Go pack your bag for tomorrow.”

Benji climbs off the stool, grabs his notebook and pencils before jolting upstairs. Annalise walks around the kitchen island until Harry can reach out and pull her closer to him, placing a chaste kiss to her lips.

“I wanted to ask you something,” she shyly blinks up at him.

“Go ahead,” he nods. Her hands wander to his stomach, curling the fabric of his shirt around her fingers before letting it go. Harry has been spending at least two nights at Annalise’s, he has his own drawer in her dresser, a toothbrush in the bathroom and even a mug only he uses when he drinks his morning coffee. Following the night he spent here after his shitty day, it slowly became a usual, they both found themselves craving to be with each other and Benji didn’t seem to mind having him over either. Now it’s stretching towards the end of May and they have fallen into a routine of some sort, that seems to be working well for all three of them.

“When school is going to be over I’ll be taking Benji to my parents’ and he’ll stay there for the first two weeks of summer vacation. I’m staying for a weekend as well before I leave him there and I was wondering if… you’d like to come, maybe.”

“You want me to meet your parents?” Harry asks, stunned at the sudden invitation, but it surely warms his heart, knowing that she is ready to take this next step.

“I mean, if you don’t think it’s too soon or something. We’ve been dating for only what, like two months?”

“Something like that,” he nods licking his lips.

“Don’t feel pressured, it’s just that I told my mum about you and she really wants to meet you. But I understand if you want to push it back a little.”

“You told your mum about me?”

“Of course,” she smiles shyly. “She is dying to meet this new, charming boyfriend of mine.” Her smile turns into a smirk that’s surely contagious. Harry mirrors her expression before pecking her lips softly.

“I would love to meet your parents, Lis.”

Her eyes light up and he knows he would do anything to see her happy. Meeting her parents feels a tad bit scary but he is also excited, knowing that she trusts him and counts on him on such level is comforting.

“Great. Then get ready to be questioned by my mum, she can be a pester sometimes, but I have no doubt you’ll pass,” she chuckles before kissing him fully.

“So Benji will be away for two weeks?” he asks, seemingly deep in his thoughts.

“Yeah.” Harry licks his lips, eyebrows furrowed and Lis can tell the gears are turning wildly in his head. “What’s on your mind?”

“It’s just an idea. You can say no if you don’t feel like you’re comfortable with it, but… I was thinking that you could stay at mine for those two weeks. Would be nice to come home to each other, start our days together and all. But it’s just an idea, you can absolutely tell me if yo—“

“I would love that,” she cuts him off smiling, her hands coming up to cup his cheeks. “I think it would be great.”

“Yeah?”

“Mhm,” she nods smirking, her thoughts already wandering off to how convenient it’s going to be to be around each other all the time when they are not working. No interruptions, no third parties, just the two of them in the comfort of Harry’s home. She would be crazy to say no to that.

“Great,” he smiles, eyes shining bright. “I’ll make you a copy of my keys then.”

Suzan and George Lloyd live in the outer skirt of Manchester, a place that almost feels like home for Harry as well. The cozy looking town house appears to be old, but it’s clear that it is well kept, thanks to all the hours the couple puts into it.

“Grams! Gramps!” Benji cheers in excitement once Harry parks down on the driveway. The red front door opens and a short, curvy woman appears, her chestnut hair in a short ponytail, a green apron covering her front.

“She is big on kisses,” Lis warns Harry before they all get out of the car.

Benji runs up to his grandmother happily, giving her a tight hug as the woman coos at him lovingly. Lis grabs Benji’s bag while Harry carries hers and his, walking up to the front door where Suzan is already waiting for them with open arms.

“Lisie! Come here!” she cheers, her laugh chiming sweetly as she wraps her arms around her daughter, kissing her cheek several times.

“Hi mum. How are you?”

“Fantastic now that I have my favorite grandson with me!” she cheekily answers winking at Benji, though they all know he is the only grandson she has.

“Mum, this is Harry, my boyfriend. Harry, this is my mother,” Lis introduces them to each other. Harry drops the bags to the ground with a wide grin on his face that brings out his dimples well. Suzan immediately falls in love with them.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Lloyd,” he politely greets her, though she waves in dismissal.

“Oh, call me Suzan. Come here, Dear!”

They share a warm hug and just as Lis warned him, he feels Suzan kissing both his cheeks welcomingly.

“You surely are more handsome than in the photos!” she exclaims, making Harry chuckle.

“Apologies, she is a big Google user,” Lis huffs, but Suzan ignores the comment, tugging her family inside.

George appears from the kitchen, chewing on something as Benji jumps into his arms.

“Gramps, we will go fishing, right?” he asks in excitement.

“Of course, Benji. Next weekend?”

“Yay!”

“Lisie!” George cheers and envelopes his daughter in a hug after he has put Benji down. “You look stunning.”

“Thank you, Dad,” she smiled. “This is Harry. Harry, this is my dad.”

“Nice to meet your, Sir,” Harry smiles at him as they shake hands and luckily, George returns his smile with a gentle pat on his shoulder.

“Call me George. Nice to meet you too.”

Soon enough Lis goes upstairs to help Benji get settled in the room that used to be hers but now mostly used by the boy when he is staying over, leaving Harry alone with Suzan and George. Suzan has brought some tea and biscuits into the living room and she joins the two men as George is already asking him about what he really does for a living.

“Lisie said you are some kind of celebrity?” George explains, looking a little puzzled at the information though.

“Kind of,” Harry nods. “I’m a singer and song writer.”

“George, I showed you his song the other day!” Suzan chimes in, sitting in the armchair.

“Which one? You show me so many things a day, I can’t remember all of them!”

“The one with the video about the fish!”

“Fish?” George grimaces, trying to find his memory of what his wife showed him, but then it pops in and his expression smoothes out. “Oh! That one! That’s a nice song!”

“Of course it is!” Suzan exclaims. Harry finds the conversation rather endearing. It’s always so relieving to meet people who are not so caught up in the world of fame, having trouble to even remember his full name. Though Suzan has done her homework digging online, it’s still clear that she hasn’t heard much about him beforehand and Harry prefers it this way, not having to worry about and secondhand judgment from the media.

Suzan turns to Harry and her eyes give it away that she is about to have a few serious words with him.

“Harry, I’m so glad you could make it this weekend. Lis talked so fondly about you on the phone.”

“Wouldn’t have missed it for anything.”

“It seems like Benji likes you a lot too.”

“He is an amazing little boy.” Suzan lets out a long breath and he knows this is where the real talk begins.

“I can tell your intentions are the best with her, but please be extra careful with them. She has had enough trouble with Austin, she doesn’t need another heartbreak, yeah?”

“I completely understand your concerns and I can assure you, I’m always doing everything in their favor.”

“That I know, Harry,” she smiles. “But sometimes things just get harder and people tend to forget you have to fight for what you thought was already fully yours.”

Harry holds his gaze on hers as he savors the meaning behind her rather wise words. He knows it was no thread, but a reminder that they won’t be always this happy.

“Will try my best,” he nods, meaning every single word.

It’s a silent agreement between the two of them that Harry will hope to keep forever. Benji comes running down the stairs, Lis following behind him as they join the three of them in the living room. Benji sits on Suzan’s lap, rambling about his last fieldtrip he had with his class as Lis sits beside Harry on the sofa. She places a hand to his knee, squeezing it softly and his palm covers her hand instantly.

“You alright?” she quietly asks him.

“Yeah,” he smiles and leaning closer he pecks her lips shortly before they both turn towards Benji and Suzan.

Monday morning, when Annalise’s alarm goes off on her phone, she can’t tell where she really is for a moment, it is until she hears Harry groan behind her, an arm lazily thrown over her stomach. They arrived back from Manchester the previous night and after a quick trip to Annalise’s house, they both moved over to Harry’s place where they are set to spend the next two weeks, something they both have been looking forward to.

Harry places a soft kiss to her shoulder before rolling to his back, blinking the sleep away from his tired eyes. Though they both knew they would have to wake up early in the morning, it didn’t keep them away from using their alone time for their satisfaction.

“Mm, I know you love your job, but right now I wish you would just quit it,” Harry mumbles, eyes still closed as he is trying to gain strength to get up. Lis chuckles softly, cuddling to his side.

“You know… I forgot I don’t need to get Benji ready now so we are about half an hour early,” she inquires, hoping Harry would get the real meaning behind her words, however he is too tired to do much thinking about what she truly meant.

“Great, 30 more minutes of sleep,” he exhales.

“Or…” Lis pushes herself up and swings a leg over Harry, getting on top of him and the position surely makes his eyes pop open. “We could use our time wisely,” she suggests with a coy smile.

“Rise and shine, baby,” he sings, his hands grabbing onto her hips as he turns them over, getting on top of her while she laughs at how quickly she could get the sleep out of his eyes.

After they have successfully used their extra time wisely, Harry convinces her to let him drive her to work.

“Then you’ll have to pick me up too.”

“Well of course. We could go grocery shopping together on our way home. Want to cook you something nice,” he smirks at her, finishing up his morning coffee.

“Sounds good,” she nods, accepting his offer at last.

The two of them get ready to leave and though it’s still a bit strange to spend their morning together at such a peaceful and private manner, they can’t deny how much they love being alone. Harry loved having her around, see her brushing her hair while he was getting dressed, move around each other in the kitchen while making breakfast. His home has never felt better than at that very morning with Annalise there with him.

“I’ll be here at four,” he smiles at her once they arrive to Golden Sunshine. Leaning over the shifting gear she pulls him in for a quick goodbye kiss.

“Don’t be late,” she smirks playfully before getting out of the car and heading inside. She turns back before entering the building, seeing that Harry is still watching her. She smiles and waves at him before walking inside.

Eloise and Bart are right there as always, the old lady’s eyes immediately lighting up when she sees Lis arrive.

“Darling! You look stunning!” she gasps looking at her.

“Thank you. You look nice as well. Is that a new cardigan?”

“Well, yes! My granddaughter bought it for me!”

“Looks amazing.”

“Thank you. Now tell me, what is it that got you all bright this morning? I don’t tend to see people this happy on Monday mornings.”

Lis stops in her way, her eyes wandering over to the front door. Harry is gone, but the thought of him still lingers in her mind, making her smile with every bit of it.

“It’s love, Eloise,” she answers shortly before making her way into the changing room.

Before starting her shift she drops by her boss’ office to sign her attendance sheet for last month. As she puts her hair in a low ponytail she walks into the room that’s used as a waiting area in front of Mark, her boss’ office. Immediately, she is greeted by Grace, the assistant there.

“Good morning, Annalise!” she nods in her way smiling. “Good thing you dropped by, Mark wants to talk to you.”

“Am I in trouble?” she asks right away, but Grace shakes her head.

“Don’t think so.”

Just as it’s said, Mark rushes through the door with a pile of papers in his hands, his colorful tie a little crooked, but he looks just as nice as every day.

“Oh! Lis, so happy you are here so I don’t have to hunt you down,” he jokes. “Come into my office, will you?”

Lis follows the man inside and sits in one of the plush armchairs in front of his desk. He stacks the papers on the side of the desk before taking his seat behind it.

“Benji gone already?” he asks nicely. Mark knows Benji very well, the boy loves him and Lis is thankful Mark is so understanding about her role as a mother first and foremost.

“Yes, dropped him off this weekend.”

“Great,” he nods, a hint of worry in his eyes.

“Mark, what is it you wanted to talk about? You are starting to worry me.”

“I wouldn’t want that, but I need to tell you about something. You know the new assistant I hired for the weekends, right?”

“Yes, I met Violet the other week,” she nods, cautiously waiting for him to finally make sense.

“She is still learning her ways around and I swear she didn’t mean to bring trouble upon you,” he explains, clearly worried about the situation on hand that Lis is dying to finally unfold.

“Mark, just tell me what it is about!” she begs.

“We got a call this weekend from a man. He was asking around about you. Wanted to know if you are working here. Violet didn’t think anything of it and told him that you in fact work here. She said he started asking when your shifts are and how often you are in, that’s when she found it suspicious and told him she can’t provide any more information. She didn’t find out his intentions, but she indeed got his name.”

Though it hasn’t been said out, Lis has a strong guess who it must have been and the eerie gut feeling inside her stomach is more painful than ever.

“Who was it?” she asks, voice barely more than just a whisper.

“He said his name was Austin.”

“Thank you so much, Mr. Styles,” the woman behind the cash register smiles as she hands Harry his receipt along with the two hard paper bags, the well-known name GUCCI printed over them neatly.

“Thank you,” he smiles in his way, sliding his wallet into his back pocket before grabbing the bags and heading out of the store he just spent an hour trying on outfits. He is always highly welcomed in any of their stores and judging from the amount of money he usually leaves after a spree, it won’t be any different anytime soon.

“Gucci should change its name to Styles, man,” Mitch jokes as the two men approach the exit.

“That would be cool, right?” Harry smirks.

There are three photographers already waiting for them near his car and the moment they set their feet outside the questions start, flashes are ticking every second, all of them trying to get a good shot of him. He doesn’t blame them, he hasn’t served anything mentionable lately, he was barely even seen out in public since he has started going out with Lis and he was kind of getting used to the quiet and peace, however he hasn’t forgotten what his life is really like.

Ignoring all questions thrown in his way, the two men simply get into the car and drive away, luckily, they don’t get followed. It only happened a handful of times to Harry, but he definitely didn’t like it.

“Can you drop me off at Sarah’s?” Mitch asks after checking his phone.

“Sure. Everything alright?”

“Yeah, she just asked if I could help her put together her new coffee table.”

“Didn’t she buy one just last month?”

“She did, but… it wasn’t too durable,” Mitch mumbles under his breath, making Harry gasp at his comment.

“Oh shit!” he laughs. “I’m not sure if I wanted to know this detail, but anyway, congrats man,” he teases him, Mitch only smirking shyly.

“Don’t pretend like you haven’t ruined anything ever while having sex.”

“Never said that,” he smirks smugly.

“I’m not gonna ask what you and Lis broke, I have too much respect for her,” Mitch laughs and Harry pays him a playful smirk. To be honest, they haven’t broken anything, but his headboard was creaking quite vigorously this morning for sure. He knows it’s just a matter of time and chances that they destroy something at either his or her place.

“How is living together working out so far?” Mitch asks, changing the topic.

“It’s been not even a whole day,” Harry chuckles. “But I love it so far. For the first time in so long, I finally feel like everything is just heading right.”

“That’s amazing. I’m happy for you,” Mitch smiles genuinely at him. “You really should bring her around sometime, we are all dying to meet her. Sarah wouldn’t shut up about it,” he adds chuckling.

“I know, she’s been hinting it to me as well,” Harry smirks. “Will try to make it happen. Maybe this weekend? It’s a little easier without having to worry about Benji. Not that he is a burden, of course.”

After dropping Mitch off Harry heads to Golden Sunshine, since it’s nearing five. This week, Lis agreed to work a usual shift so she’ll have the whole weekend off. He arrives a little earlier so he starts to write a quick list what they would need to pick up at Tesco on their way home. Just a few minutes after five, the door opens and Lis walks out, a wary look on her beautiful face as she roams around stepping outside, her eyes landing on the car and the man inside waiting for her.

“Hey,” Harry beams, kissing her quickly when she gets in the car.

“Hi,” she greets him, a little out of breath, looking a tad bit on the edge.

“Everything alright?” he asks, starting the car and leaving.

“Yeah, I just… had a tiring day,” she breathes out, flashing a weak smile at him.

Walking around Tesco they quite forget about themselves, holding hands and simply acting like any other couples as they fill up the cart with everything they need at home. They both notice that people recognize him and she can’t ignore the stares they are getting, but it’s not like they can do anything about it. Earlier, they’ve had a talk about this side of Harry’s career, if they would want to keep out of public or simply not care about it at all. They uniformly agreed to choose the latter. Harry wouldn’t talk about her and they would just simply pretend not to care about the curious eyes and talks. Sooner or later, it will all die down and it’s not like they could hide forever.

But after all, this is the first time they are caught, undeniably together with their hands intertwined and though they try to stay low, people notice them. Pictures of the two of them slowly but surely make their way around the internet and the first headlines appear about Harry’s new romance.

Saturday has finally brought the first time Lis is meeting Harry’s band. The lot is heading out for a simple dinner, but his friends can’t wait to finally meet the woman who has Harry on his knees since day one.

It’s been a tiring, but wholesome week for the pair, spending so much time together, they’ve been quite enjoying the comfort of being alone.

However, the wariness Harry has noticed on Lis earlier the week didn’t seem to fade. He asked her several times if everything was fine, but she assured it was all good and he told himself she must just be feeling a little lost without Benji around. He knows, because he has found himself feeling the same. He has gotten so used to him being around it was starting to feel weird not hearing his curious questions every time they were watching a movie.

Following a lazy day at home they get ready for dinner and head out to meet the band. Lis has been paying extra attention to her looks since their pictures got out from their grocery shopping trip. When Harry told her she didn’t have to worry about looking so spotless all the time she simply answered: “Can’t have them talk about you dating an uggo, right?”

To which Harry replied: “That can never be the case when it comes to you.”

It surely warmed her heart to know he finds her pretty regardless of what she is wearing, but she still feels the need to look presentable, especially when Harry is always dressed so nicely.

Tonight, she is wearing wide-legged checkered pants and a sleeveless turtleneck tucked in it, paired with silver hoop earrings. Emerging from the bedroom Harry takes her in smiling.

“You look so serious yet fun at the same time,” he hums, eyes still roaming her body.

“Is that good?” she chuckles lightly.

“Definitely,” he nods. “Ready to leave?”

“Yeah.”

On the way to the restaurant, Harry notices how she’s been checking her phone more frequently than usually and it’s been like this for a few days now. When he asked she said she was just texting with her mum, getting updates about Benji and he didn’t have any reason not to believe her.

“There she is!” Sarah cheers as soon as the pair walks into the place. Jumping from her seat she rushes over and pulls Lis into a tight hug, making her chuckle. “I’m so happy we can finally meet you! I’m Sarah,” she grins widely, giving her two kisses on the cheeks.

“Hi, Nice to meet you. I’m Annalise, but I guess you already know that,” she jokes with an airy laugh.

“There was no other way with this dude always talking about you,” Sarah chuckles giving a look to Harry, who just shrugs his shoulders, not even trying to mask his affection towards Lis. “Come on, only Charlotte is missing, but she is always running late.”

Arriving to their table Lis is greeted by the rest of the band and everyone warmly introduces themselves to her, Charlotte arriving just when Harry and Lis take their seats at the table. Though Harry had no doubts Lis would get along well with his friends, it’s still relieving to see her get settled so easily with the band. He can sense her restraint at the beginning, but soon enough she is talking and telling stories as if she knew them all for years.

“How do you make summer vacation work with Benji? Harry said he is spending time with his grandparents now,” Sarah questions over the main course and Lis seems a little taken aback, which Sarah immediately recognizes. “Oh, I’m sorry, should I not ask about him?”

“No, it’s alright. I just… I guess I didn’t think Harry shared much about him.” Her eyes wander over to the man in question who is deep in conversation with Mitch, didn’t even hear what Sarah asked.

“Oh please, he wouldn’t stop telling us about him every time we are at the studio,” she chuckles.

“Really?”

“Yeah. He really likes the boy.” Lis just packs it all up in her head, labeling it as another reason why she loves Harry so much.

“Well, he is going to go out to camp for a week, but other than that, he usually comes to work with me.”

“That’s so amazing!”

The evening carries on and Harry can’t not notice how Lis keeps glancing down at her phone every five minutes. One time, when she reaches for the phone his hand grabs hers, stopping her from grabbing the device.

“You sure everything is alright? You keep looking at your phone.” He tries to find a hint, anything in her eyes that gives away why she is acting different, but she cautiously keeping her gaze diverted from his.

“I’m good, don’t worry,” she answers, but when her phone lights up, an incoming call from her mom, she immediately snatches it from the table and excusing herself she walks out to the street to answer the call.

Harry clenches his jaw, looking after her, knowing well something is not right, but he doesn’t know why she wouldn’t tell him what it is about. He tries to stay still, to let her get it sorted out as she wishes, but he just can’t.

“I’ll be right back,” he mumbles to the group before going after Lis.

Walking out he stops at the entrance, looking both ways before she spots her at the corner of the building, her back facing him as she holds the phone to her ear, leaning against the brick wall. He has a fleeting thought about not eavesdropping on a conversation that wasn’t meant for his ears, but his curiosity and worry brings him forward.

“But you didn’t tell him right?” her voice is heard when he is a few steps away from her. “Maybe I should bring him home earlier… But mum, what if he just turns up there? He knows you live there, I can’t have him just waltz in… No, I get it, but there’s little you can do when he is there… I really don’t know… He hasn’t, but it’s a matter of time, I think. He already knows I work there and God knows why he was asking around about me.”

Harry soon realizes what the conversation must be about and he is definitely not impressed by several reasons. Standing there with his jaw clenched, he waits for her to end the call and realize his presence. When she finally says her goodbye, pushing herself away from the brick wall, Harry watches her turn around and jump at the sight of him.

“Harry, you—“

“What’s going on?” he cuts her off right away, eyes burning down on her.

“I, uhh—Can we… Can we have this conversation at home?” she pleads quietly.

“Just tell me what it’s about, because I thought I was seeing things when I noticed that you’ve been acting weird, but I was clearly right. There is something and I want to know what it is.” “Harry, I really don’t want to ruin the evening with it now.”

“Nonsense, because there’s no way I can just act like everything is fine until we get home.”

Exhaling shakily, Lis realizes she can’t push it back any further, she has to come clear.

“Last weekend, when we were away, Austin called Golden Sunshine, he was asking about me and the girl who works on the weekend accidentally told him that it’s in fact my workplace. He wanted to know stuff about me, but didn’t get much. Then today my mum noticed a car waiting across the street for about an hour. Someone was sitting in it or that’s how she saw. Mum thinks it was him.”

Harry feels his rage build up with each passing moment for two reasons: one being that Annalise wanted to keep it away from him that her ex is suddenly looking for her. Second is that Austin has the nerve to pop up out of nowhere after abandoning his family and creep the Hell out of Lis and basically everyone in her family probably.

“And why didn’t you tell me this? You think I wouldn’t want to know if your ex is suddenly looking for you? That’s pretty major, Lis,” he snaps, having a hard time to contain himself as much as he would like to.

“I didn’t want to worry you, hoped the call was nothing, but the whole car thing is now stressing me out. I would have told you, I just…” exhaling sharply she runs her fingers through her hair. “I don’t know, I guess it feels weird to talk about him with you.”

“It’s not like you are sharing with me your sex life with him, this is stuff that I want to know about, this concerns your and Benji’s safety as well and I feel like I have a saying in those things.” “I know, I’m sorry. It was stupid of me to not tell. Please don’t be mad at me,” she begs, desperate to somehow make it right though she knows she messed up.

She can tell Harry is fuming, his piercing green eyes are filled with the mixture of worry, rage and anger for many reasons, all of them valid in her opinion. She wishes she could go back in time and tell him about it in a different way, but there’s nothing to do now.

“Harry, please say something,” she breathes out, wanting nothing else than to finally hear what he is thinking about. However, he is not letting her in that easily now.

“Let’s get back inside. We’ll talk when we are alone.”

Though Lis wants to protest, she knows it’s what should happen. Nodding shortly the two of them head back inside and push everything down until the end of dinner. It’s hard to focus on their group once they return, they both feel far away from the dinner table.

The evening drags longer than they would have liked, or that’s just how they feel. They try their best to mask their feelings, not wanting to bring their friends into this upsetting situation. However, when they are sitting in the car on their way home, they both notice that they could cut the tension for sure. Lis is chewing on her bottom lip nervously, afraid of what’s been going on in Harry’s head and cursing herself out at the same time for not telling him the first moment.

“I can stay at home tonight if you don’t want me over,” she finds herself saying, voice quiet and reserved. Harry glances in her direction for a split second.

“Is that what you want? You want to go home?”

“No. I just figured you might want some… space.”

“Well, I don’t. So unless you want to go home yourself, I want you at mine.”

It’s relieving, though still not enough to ease her anxiety that’s been clawing on her chest all evening. But at least he still wants her around.

The silence is painful for the both of them and it’s something that hasn’t happened between them since they’ve met. Lis keeps glancing in his way, trying to figure out what he must be thinking about, but it seems like Harry keeps his emotions so much at bay, nothing gives away where his thoughts are lying. She is forced to wait until they can finally talk.

Walking inside Lis feels out of place, for the first time ever since she has started seeing Harry. She watches him drop off his belongings in the bedroom before returning to the living room, a hard look on his handsome face. It seems like he is trying hard to find the right words to start this conversation. Hands on his hips he stands in front of her, eyes fixed on the floor before they finally meet her desperate ones.

“Okay, first of all, is Benji alright? Do you want us to go and bring him home?” he asks with a tired sigh.

“I-I think he is fine for now. Mum says she is keeping a close eye on him.”

“Alright. Just let me know if you change your mind and want him here.”

“Thank you,” she nods shortly and through the bitterness of the situation, she is thankful he still takes the time to think about her boy.

“Okay and now let’s talk about why you kept it from me that Austin has been looking for you. Any specific reason, something I did? Did I make you feel like you couldn’t talk to me about it?”

“No! Not at all!” she shakes her head right away. Taking his hand softly she pulls him down to the couch so they sit turned towards each other, her knee brushing against his thigh. Though his hand is a deadweight in her hold, as if he doesn’t want her to hold it, she still doesn’t let go of it. “Harry, I know I can tell you anything and I always do that. I just felt like you’ve had enough to worry about and didn’t want to add to it. I always…” Her voice dies down as she is now fighting with her tears. She’s been putting away these thoughts ever since their first lunch date, when she realized she can’t let go of him and he won’t either.

Harry notices her struggle and pulls his hand out of her hold, bringing it up to her face to cup her cheek. His thumb runs across her soft skin, his eyes falling down at her trembling lips.

“I always feel like a burden to you. I’m not easy to be with because I’m not living the usual life people my age have. It would be hard for a normal guy, but you are not one! I just don’t want to hold you back in any way, but there are things that I can’t change. When I found out that Austin was asking about me I thought this is something I can handle on my own and don’t have to worry you with it.”

“Lis…” he breathes out, starting to finally put together her train of thoughts and though he is still mad, now he is more heartbroken that she is still feeling like she has to be so considerate about him in some cases. “You are not a burden, never was and I can assure you that you’ll never be. I chose to be with you, and not just part of you, all of it. The good, the bad, all of it. I don’t want you to feel like you can’t count on me always, because you can. I want to be there for you no matter what it’s about.”

“I know!” she breathes out shakily, the tears already building up in her eyes. “But I can’t help thinking that one day… you won’t feel the same. Like you’ll be fed up with all the baggage that I come with!”

“What baggage, baby? Your fucker ex? That’s not your fault.”

“Him and… Benji?” she adds.

“Benji is not a baggage, Lis. I love him, would easily do anything for him, he is not a burden in any way. I’m so happy I got to meet him because of you and I’m happy that you are letting me have a part in his life. I already told you, but I’ll never stop telling you that I look up at you so much for everything you do for yourself and for Benji.”

Now she is crying. Hard. The way his eyes filled with nothing but love when he is talking about Benji, it’s all she ever wished for in a man and he is so much more than that. To think that she didn’t even want to let him into her life is a sickening thought, how she didn’t trust him enough to see what an amazing man he is.

Moving forward she climbs to his lap and he circles his welcoming arms around her, holding her close to his chest as she starts sobbing, completely touched by his words.

“I’m sorry I’m so emotional,” she mumbles between sobs. “I just… It’s still so hard for me to understand why…”

She doesn’t finish the sentence, but he knows exactly what she was thinking about: It’s still so hard for her to understand why he is with her. And it’s heartbreaking to know it’s how she feels, but it also makes him determined to change her way of seeing him for once and for all.

“It’s alright. I just want you to talk to me, okay? I want to know everything that’s important to you, good or bad, doesn’t matter.”

She just nods, holding onto him for dear life. They stay like that for what feels like hours, her crying slowly dies down and he patiently waits for her to breathe normally again, continuously pressing soft kisses to her forehead and the top of her head. When she finally lifts her head up, a small smile plays on her lips and though her eyes are red and puffy from the crying, he still thinks she is the most beautiful man he has ever seen.

“Feeling better?” he murmurs softly and she nods again. “Okay. So what do you want to do about Austin?”

“I haven’t figured it out,” she huffs tiredly. “I don’t even know for sure if it was really him in the car my mum saw and other than the call to my work place, nothing else happened.”

“Is there any reason why you should be afraid of him? Like, has he ever…” Harry doesn’t even get himself to say the word, just thinking about it rages him.

“No,” she shakes her head. “But I haven’t seen him in ages, God knows what he is like now.”

“If you want to move here with Benji, if that would make you feel safer, I’m perfectly okay with that. I have plenty of space for the both of you.”

“You’d let us come here just like that?” she asks, stunned at how easily he is talking about such a major step.

“Of course,” he nods confidently. A soft smile tugs on her lips as she kisses him gently, as a way of saying thank you.

“I think we are fine for now,” she then replies. “But thank you.”

A short silence sets in, both of them are deep in their thoughts, processing everything that happened tonight and there’s one more question stuck on Harry’s mind that he needs to ask.

“So… what happens if he reaches out? If he wants to meet you and Benji?”

Lis sighs heavily, the thought has been haunting her as well all week and she hasn’t come up with a solid answer to this just yet.

“It depends on what he really wants. It’s not like I want him back in my life, but if he wants to see Benji… I don’t think I can tell him no. Legally, he is allowed to see him. It’s a whole different story that I don’t want him to though.”

Her answer was valid and reasonable, though it still brought some uneasiness to Harry. Just thinking about Austin meeting Benji makes him want to scream. The man left his family so easily, like they meant absolutely nothing to him and he is the reason why Lis had to build up her whole life alone. Not that Harry would have liked it better if he was still in the picture, but in his beliefs, a man who abandons his family is simply not a man. Even if he didn’t want to be with Lis anymore, he should have made sure to support her in raising Benji and not just disappear into thin air.

However Harry knows he doesn’t have a say in it and that what Lis said is relevant. The man might have walked out of their lives, but legally he still has the right to see Benji, nothing is stopping him.

Harry keeps his doubts and fears to himself, he needs to be the person Lis can rely on now, whatever is about to happen. It’s all secondary what he thinks or feels right now.

The two of them stay on the couch for another hour, just talking and sharing and they both feel like it was what they needed. Their relationship was going smooth, but they had to realize they still have a lot to work on and tonight was a step forward. They then have a hot shower together and this time they don’t get carried away, it’s all about the gentle touches, the hot water washing away their worries for a short time, keeping it just an intimate but not sexual moment.

Lying in bed Harry pulls her close, her head lies on his chest as she is drawing little patterns on his chest, her fingers delicately following the lines of his tattoos. Her thoughts are wandering, jumping from one thought to the other until something makes her come to a halt, a soft, ironic chuckle escaping her lips.

“Wha’s so funny?” Harry asks quietly.

Lifting her head, she rests her chin on his chest, her arms spread out over his ribs. It’s not even that funny, more ironic seeing the timeline of their relationship.

“I just think it’s pretty hilarious how I was the one to warn you several times not to make me regret my decisions about you and then I end up being the one thinking that you regretted getting together with me.”

She laughs some more, a smile tugging on Harry’s lips as well, seeing that it’s indeed a little funny, if he thinks about it.

“Oh how the tables have turned,” he grins, kissing her forehead.

“But on a serious note,” she starts, clearing her throat. “Do you have any regrets?”

“None,” he answers right away without hesitation.

“Not even one tiny bit?”

“Absolutely none,” he confirms and pulls his arms tighter around her. She smiles widely, pushing herself up a bit so her lips can meet his.

“Hope it stays this way.”

NEXT PART

TAGLIST

let me know if you’d like to be added or taken off!

@stylesfics-xx @dontworrysunflower @mariamuses @bookwormandtea @swtxel @ericadrumgoole1

#harry #styles #harry styles #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles fanfic #harry styles imagine #harry styles au #harry styles series #harry styles oneshot #harry styles one shot #harry styles x oc #harry styles serendipity #harry styles serendipity series #serendipity #serendipity series #harry styles fluff #harry styles angst

159 notes · View notes

mikauzoran · 3 years ago

Text

Lukadrien: Zebras Can’t Change Their Stripes: Chapter Ten

Read it on AO3: Zebras Can’t Change Their Stripes: Chapter Ten

The days slowly passed and coalesced into weeks which gradually became months, and, still, nothing seemed to be happening romantically between Marinette and Adrien.

“I wish they would just get it over with already,” Luka groaned, letting his forehead thunk against the table in the pub. “It’s killing me having this hang over my head.”

Marc grimaced as he reached out and patted Luka on the shoulder. “Luc, we all love you and want to support you, but I think your dwelling on losing Marinette and Adrien to each other has reached an unhealthy level.”

“You’ve been on about it for five months now,” Jacob sighed into his Bourbon.

Josie took another shot of Tequila and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “Honestly, I don’t think you have anything to worry about when you and Adrien are already practically married.”

Luka blew out a snort. “Josie, it’s not like that between us.”

“Sure, it’s not,” she scoffed. “And I guess you and Adrien tell other people ‘I love you’ all the time too?”

Luka’s face flushed. “Those are platonic ‘I love you’s.”

“What about the handholding?” Jacob challenged, weighing in on the matter. “You didn’t hold my hand that much when we were dating, but you and Adrien are always walking around holding hands or linking pinkies.”

“It’s…platonic,” Luka insisted, trying to keep his wits about him as his friends ganged up. “Adrien is a really tactile person. Holding his hand helps him feel grounded.”

Marc cleared his throat, setting his limonade aside. “I usually stay out of this kind of thing…”

Luka deflated, knowing that all was lost if Marc were eschewing his neutrality.

“…but you and Adrien kiss each other on the cheek an awful lot for it to still be considered platonic, Luc. Adrien doesn’t interact with us like that. Maybe you should start to consider that it’s not totally platonic on his end either,” Marc gently suggested, not wanting to push too much but feeling like desperate measures were warranted after so much time had passed with Luka continually chasing his own tail.

“And what about the way you two are always snuggling and nuzzling each other?” Josie chimed in with a fresh attack (and none of Marc’s subtlety or finesse). “And the nose touches? Friends don’t touch their noses together like that.”

Luka winced, straightening up to grab his glass of water and sip at it sullenly. “I’ve told you before. Adrien was kept isolated from other people until he was thirteen, and he was raised in an abusive, affectionless home. He’s not very good at determining what’s socially acceptable, he sucks at boundaries, and he’s deplorably touch-starved. You can’t judge his feelings by his behavior according to normal societal standards.”

“Maybe not,” Marc agreed, “but we can compare Adrien’s behavior towards you with Adrien’s behavior towards others. While he is affectionate with us, it’s nowhere near as affectionate as he is with you.”

“You should ask Nino,” Jacob suggested, leaning forward to grab a slice of bread from the basket in the center of their table.

“I witnessed Adrien licking Nino’s cheek the other day when they were baking together,” Luka grumbled. “I don’t think Adrien’s affectionate behavior indicates much else besides the fact that he’s comfortable with me.”

There was a brief stretch of discontent silence filled by the mumble of the other pub patrons before Jacob spoke up again:

“But you told me a month ago that you and Adrien had started having sleepovers. That’s got to mean something, doesn’t it?”

Marc and Josie both whipped their heads around to gawk at Jacob and then Luka.

“Wait. What?” Marc choked.

“You and Adrien hooked up?!” Josie gasped.

“No-no-no!” Luka set his glass down so that he could frantically wave his hands to accompany his denial. “No. Not like that. He just—I was just—One night we were lying on his bed watching a movie, and we started to fall asleep, so I was going to get up and go to my own room, but he said to just sleep there, and…and I was so tired that I did.”

Josie arched a skeptical eyebrow. “And then what?”

Luka’s gaze dropped to the table. “And then the same thing kept happening? Though, recently, he’s been asking to sleep in my bed from the start, so…I don’t know. He likes snuggling, and he doesn’t like being alone. When we were teenagers, he used to use me as a body pillow all the time when we hung out and he spent the night. The bed sharing and the snuggling aren’t really new.”

“It’s just different now that there’s no Juleka or Rose or Capitaine to walk in on you if things start getting spicy,” Jacob snickered.

Luka reached out and smacked the bassist soundly on the arm. “It’s not like that. It would be criminal to make a move on Adrien. He trusts me.”

“Maybe we’ll all get lucky and he’ll make a move on you first,” Marc sighed, picking up his limonade and taking a long pull on the straw, lips puckering at the sweet and sour tang of the drink.

“Amen,” Josie clucked. “At any rate, you and Adrien need to sit down and have a ‘define the relationship’ conversation before you drive the rest of us nuts. This has gone on far too long, and I’m starting to consider having an intervention.”

“Josephine,” Marc warned lightly as Luka growled, “Don’t you dare. Things are still a little unstable for Adrien, and he needs to be able to feel safe in his own home. Don’t you dare tell him about my feelings and take that peace of mind away from him.”

Josie let out an enormous sigh, putting her hands up in surrender. “Luc, you’re such a martyr. It kills me.”

Jacob reached out and rested a hand on Luka’s forearm. “Honestly, I don’t think you’re giving Adrien enough credit. He’s a tough guy. I don’t think he’ll spook if he finds out how you feel.”

Luka bit his lip. “…I’m more concerned about him feeling indebted to me and pressured to try to pay me back, honestly.”

Jacob winced and gave Luka’s arm a supportive squeeze. “Yeah. Okay. That’s legit.”

“I don’t think you have to worry about him feeling obliged to return your feelings,” Josie added softly, all teasing and belligerence gone from her voice.

“I agree,” Marc seconded, putting a hand on Luka’s shoulder. “I genuinely think that Adrien is interested in you.”

Luka hung his head and shook it. “Thanks, guys, but…I just don’t know. I’m still too beat up over Marinette to put my heart out there again and risk what’s left of it getting pulverized.”

Josie opened her mouth to say something supportive, but she caught sight of a familiar blonde entering the restaurant over Luka’s right shoulder and snapped to attention, warning her friends, “Look sharp, Gents. Baby Boi incoming.”

Marc and Jacob casually withdrew their comforting hands from Luka so as not to draw suspicion, and Luka nearly vibrated in his seat from the sheer willpower it took not to turn around and stare.

Adrien entering a room always took his breath away, and Luka was afraid the raw emotion written on his face if he turned to watch would be too obvious.

“Hey guys!” Adrien greeted as he closed in on their table. “Mama-Marc…Jojo…Jacques.” He went around the table anticlockwise, giving each of their friends a set of air kisses to the sides of their cheeks.

He received a warm welcome of hugs and kisses and claps on the back in return.

When he got to Luka, Adrien sank down into the chair that had been saved for him on Luka’s side of the table and shone a brilliant smile on his roommate.

“Hey, You,” Adrien breathed, voice soft and intimate as his eyes bubbled with warmth and affection.

“Hey.” Luka internally swooned.

That smile, those eyes, and that tone of voice always did him in.

Adrien topped it all off by leaning in and placing a whisp of a kiss on Luka’s cheek, lingering for a breath and making Luka dizzy.

Luka mentally chided himself for being such a lightweight in love, but Adrien seemed to know how to effortlessly press all of Luka’s buttons.

Adrien drew back with a coy smile, holding Luka’s gaze for just a second before turning to the rest of the gang.

“Sorry I’m late. We got a last-minute order for two-hundred macarons, so things were a little crazy, and Tom needed me to stay later to clean up, since the macaron order put us behind.”

Even as Adrien’s attention was on the other three, his arm snaked around the back of Luka’s chair possessively, proving that Luka was still, at least subconsciously, on Adrien’s mind.

It was the little things like that that gave Luka a torturous glimmer of hope.

“No worries,” Marc assured with his usual golden retriever smile. “Sorry work was so hectic.”

“Yeah, you’re good. Luc already ordered for you, so it’s not like you held us up or anything,” Josie informed with a wink and a sly smile.

“No harm done,” Jacob confirmed, giving Adrien’s arm a light punch. “Sorry work sucked.”

Adrien turned back to Luka with a face glowing in gratitude. “You ordered for me? Thank you so much.”

Luka’s ears started to burn like dry leaves. “I got you the vegetable tart and Evian to drink. I hope that’s okay.”

Adrien nodded, stressing, “That’s perfect. Just what I wanted.”

He then peered curiously at Luka’s glass.

“And what are you having?”

Luka rolled his eyes in fond exasperation. “Water.”

Some days Luka thought it was sweet that Adrien cared so much about Luka having a healthier relationship with alcohol; some days Luka felt like a child being supervised.

But then Adrien smiled his most innocent smile at Luka, and Luka’s mild irritation vanished.

“I’m really proud of you, you know?” Adrien metaphorically cut the final string keeping Luka suspended over the shark tank.

Luka was a goner, completely turning to goo at Adrien’s praise.

“I’m so proud that you’re staying sober despite hanging out with those two lushes.” Adrien quirked his head at Jacob and Josie who burst into peals of slightly tipsy giggles.

Luka gave his eyes another roll. “They are enough to drive a man to drink, aren’t they?”

“Be nice, Luc,” Marc scolded even as he chuckled at Josie and Jacob’s expense.

“It’s okay,” Josie snickered. “I mean, it is true.”

Jacob shrugged good-naturedly and took another sip of his Bourbon. “So, what else did you do today besides bake macarons, Adrien?”

Adrien blew out a sigh, leaning back in his chair. “Today was kind of busy. I had business and acting classes back-to-back, and then I went for my therapy appointment before heading to the bakery for my shift.”

Josie let out a long whistle. “You really did have a jampacked day. Just thinking about it makes me tired.”

“It wasn’t so bad.” Adrien tried to reassure her. “My schedule was a lot worse as a teenager with school and modeling and all of my extracurricular activities.”

Josie groaned. “Don’t remind me. I had almost forgotten about how much I want to hit your father over the head with a clipboard.”

“I don’t know how you managed so well,” Marc confessed, grabbing a slice of bread from the basket as he slowly shook his head in wonder.

Adrien’s cheeks colored as he smiled bashfully, trying to convince them, “It really wasn’t that bad.”

“Yes, it was,” Jacob snorted.

“You’re just that amazing,” Luka whispered—perpetually in awe of Adrien—as he leaned in to press a kiss to Adrien’s cheek.

“Hm?” Adrien didn’t quite hear Luka over the cacophony of the pub and turned to ask him to repeat what he had said.

As a result, the kiss intended for Adrien’s cheek ended up on the corner of his mouth.

Luka pulled back with a start, and the two stared at one another in disbelief for a moment.

It was like the first time Adrien had kissed Luka on the cheek on his way out the door. Back then, they had both pulled back and stared for a beat before deciding that cheek kisses goodbye and hello were now something normal that they did.

A hush seemed to fall over the entire pub as Luka waited for Adrien to spring back in alarm.

Instead, Adrien’s initial surprise thawed into a content smile, and he slowly, intentionally moved forward. He pressed the softest, lightest, sweetest kiss to Luka’s lips, and it was absolute perfection.

Luka’s entire body tingled as he applied just the smallest amount of pressure back.

In truth, he wanted to dive right in and drown in Adrien, but this, now, was enough for the moment.

Adrien gradually pulled away and gave Luka another dazzling smile before turning back to the rest of the band.

“So, what did I miss? What were you guys talking about before I got here?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Josie interjected. “Nuh-uh. Not so fast. What was that?!”

Adrien blinked and tipped his head to the side. “What?”

Jacob let loose a short burst of laughter. “Don’t ‘what’ us. You know what. What was that?!”

Adrien looked to Luka (who was currently no help because metaphorical fireworks were going off in an epic display in his brain) and then shrugged.

“Nothing. Obviously, just an accident.”

“Pft!” Marc looked away to avoid spraying his friends with spittle as he was caught off-guard by a skeptical laugh.

“Right. An accident,” Josie scoffed.

Adrien shrugged again unflappably. “He was obviously aiming for my cheek. It’s not a big deal. It’s only a big deal if you make it a big deal, and I’m not going to.”

Josie glared at her uncooperative adopted little brother. “Right. Well. It just so happens that before you got here, we were talking about you and your very good just-a-friend Marinette.”

Adrien’s brow pinched into a miffed frown.

Josie’s lips quirked upward into a smirk as she felt she’d regained control of the situation. “How is your just-a-friend Marinette?”

Marc cast a surreptitious glance Luka’s way to ascertain whether Luka was okay with the topic of conversation, but Luka was still in a delirious daze over the kiss and didn’t seem fazed.

“Marinette’s fine, thank you,” Adrien replied cordially, stubbornly digging in his heels and refusing to let Josie win their ongoing contest of wills.

Josie’s eyebrow arched impishly. “Is she still just a friend, despite the fact that you work at her family bakery and her father wants to adopt you as heir?”

Adrien rolled his eyes, leaning in to grab a slice of bread. “Yep. She’s still just a friend. Thanks for asking.”

He took an unconcerned bite of the sliver of baguette.

“Are you sure?” Jacob chimed in with an air of amusement. “Not only does Tom have you set to take over the family business, but Marinette’s got you working modeling her designs too. Does Marinette know you two are just friends?”

“Yes,” Adrien answered emphatically. “Marinette and I are definitely on the same page about our relationship. Working for her family is just a matter of convenience. They’re friends doing me a favor because not a lot of people are comfortable hiring Adrien Agreste, and, I mean, I have to put myself through school somehow.”

Though, Adrien had often thought that he wouldn’t mind becoming a baker. He enjoyed the work, and Tom had such a passion for it that it was hard not to catch his enthusiasm. But it wasn’t like Adrien was going to tell his bandmates that because it would only give Josie and Jacob fodder with which to tease him.

“Not to split hairs over trifles, but isn’t Luka putting you through school?” Marc hummed, raising his straw to his lips.

“Et tu, Marc?” Adrien groaned at the implicit betrayal.

Marc shrugged, shooting Adrien a sheepish smile.

“I’m going to pay him back someday,” Adrien asserted. “Once I’m a famous actor…or successful business owner or something. I’m not sure which one of my degrees is going to be profitable first, but I’m going to pay him back as soon as I can.”

Jacob dropped his joking tone and rested a hand on Adrien’s arm. “Relax. We know you will.”

Further discussion on the topic was interrupted by the arrival of the meal.

The pub wasn’t far from their flat, so, after saying goodbye to the gang, Adrien and Luka walked home hand in hand. They released their hold on each other when they reached the apartment building and had to proceed one by one up the narrow flight of stairs to the third floor.

As Luka finished locking up behind them, he bit his lip and hesitated before remarking, “…So…about that kiss…”

“Don’t worry about it,” Adrien assured as he shrugged off his coat and hung it on the coat tree next to the door. “It’s not a big deal.”

A thought hit Adrien like a bolt of lightning, and he whirled around to study Luka’s expression. “Unless I made you uncomfortable?”

“No!” Luka’s voice thundered in the quiet apartment, and he cleared his throat and lowered his volume before continuing levelly, “No, kissing is good. I wasn’t uncomfortable.”

“Good,” Adrien exhaled in relief, the sudden burst of tension gradually dissipating from his body. “I’m glad I didn’t screw anything up.”

Luka’s tone turned soft and fond. “No. You’re perfect, Perfect Fifth.”

“I don’t know about that,” Adrien chuckled, stepping in to carefully unloop the scarf from around Luka’s neck.

Luka’s cheeks flushed at the intimate gesture combined with Adrien’s proximity. He hoped Adrien might mistakenly attribute Luka’s rosy cheeks to the cold.

“Hey,” Adrien whispered.

Luka quirked an eyebrow, brain refocusing on Adrien—every blink of his eyelids, every twitch of his muscles.

Adrien licked his lips and looked up at Luka with an expression filled with raw vulnerability. “May I sleep with you tonight?”

Luka’s stomach flipped, and he had to fight to tamp down his visceral initial reaction. “O-Of course. …Why do you ask? Is something wrong?”

Battling back shame, Adrien nodded. “It’s dumb. I know I shouldn’t be upset about it, but there was this jerk at the bakery today who had a bone to pick with my father and took it out on me instead.”

Luka’s fingers curled into fists, and his teeth sank into his bottom lip. His body started to tremble as instant rage ignited within him.

Adrien took Luka’s hand and gently undid the fists one by one, a grateful smile hovering on his lips.

“Shh. I’m fine,” he promised. “Tom let the guy have a piece of his mind, and Sabine told him he wasn’t welcome at the bakery anymore, so it was fine, but—”

“—That’s not fine,” Luka hissed, pulling Adrien into a protective embrace. “It’s not.”

Adrien let himself go slack, relaxing into Luka’s arms. He’d been longing to retreat there all day, and finally being wrapped up in the safety and warmth he’d craved felt exquisite.

“Orpheus,” he breathed, surrendering himself to be cared for and fussed over.

#Lukadrien #Miraculous Ladybug #Adrien Agreste #Luka Couffaine #MLB #Miraculous Ladybug Fanfiction #Fluff #Slow Burn #Friends to Lovers #Mutual Pining #Pining #First Kiss #Roommates #Hand Holding #Mikau's Writings #Zebras Can't Change Their Stripes

31 notes · View notes

svnarintaro · 4 years ago

Text

what is wrong with me..

authors note: i want to talk about how cute he is. but honestly i want to write something kind of angsty cause why not :p also i kinda wrote this all in one go without reading over it :??

synopsis: shoto todoroki knew for a fact that he was sick, his stomach felt funny when looking at you, being near you or even hearing your name. he would do anything to avoid you even if it meant being harsh and blunt, until you confront him about how he has been acting

warnings: angst with a fluffy ending :)

word count: 1.6k words

todoroki shoto x reader

“hey todoroki is something wrong?” midoriya asked. at this point the the split haired boy stared at you, well it was more like he was glaring at you. the unfamiliar feeling in the pit of the stomach growing the longer he stared. “they make me feel sick midoriya. i can’t help but feel like they’re hexing me or something, my stomach feels all funny just by being around them.” todoroki explained in a monotone voice, he didn’t know how to feel about you, ever since the USJ attack he just couldn’t see you as a friend or acquaintance; you were different. and as he stared iida trying to get him to stop staring “todoroki it is very rude to stare please respect people even from a distance,”

“he’s glaring at you again, y/n..” you sat up a little straighter as toru pointed out the pair of eyes drilling holes in the back of your head. the only people who knew that y/n had a crush on todoroki was toru and jirou. you knew that you had no chance with momo being in your class, you never hated her she was everything that you wished you could be: rich, smart and nonetheless beautiful and most of all she was liked by todoroki. you sighed with a tinge of hurt, “i just don’t know what i did wrong to make him hate me so much,” you balled your hands into fists as you prayed the bell to ring to end the lunch period.

the final class of the day finally came and it was time to go back to the dorms. as the students flooded back into the their respected buildings, as the students of class 1-A dragged their feet a pink student skips towards the front of the students, “GUYS LETS HAVE A MOVIE NIGHT!!” the class looked around to see if the others were willing to go up to the offer. “guys i think it would be a fun idea to destress.” and all of them started to agree.

they all changed out of their uniform to the comfortable clothing to their liking as they all piled in the common room one by one. “hey kaminari thanks for bringing your tv down here for this,” mina laughed to lift the air a little bit before the movie started. “yeah no problem, thanks for letting me choose the movie,” denki laughed, ‘i hope the guys don’t make fun of me for choosing this movie.’

you finally walk in late with the common room while laughing with kirishima, “okay listen i am 100% certain that fat gum watches shoujo anime,” the red head started to rant and to todoroki’s demise, the same feeling in his stomach but now a new one appeared; wrath towards his shark toothed classmate for making you laugh, in fact the fact that you laughed made him even more angry. “no way eiji i know for a fact he watches slice of life,” and as you responded, todoroki’s emotions stirred.

“OI PIKABRAT WHY ARE WE WATCHING MEAN GIRLS” bakugou’s anger clearly made everyone excited and the female classmates defended the film. as you were looking for a place to sit down, you were scanning the options and the spot on the couch that had a decent view was next to the one person who had an issue with you. ‘shoot i really want to watch the movie but i don’t want to make him hate me even more,’ your thoughts conflicted with your emotions for every inch of your body really wanted to sit next to him and just be within his presence. “hey todo-” “midoriya can we switch spots,” you got cut off by his monotonous voice but he looked straight at you, “i feel sick.”

a sudden wave of emotions overcame you then and there. the person that you longed to be around, the person that motivated you to do better said that you made him feel sick. “hey y/n here sit next to me,” toru nagged you to sit next to her and tsu on the ground, “you want to stay at my dorm and talk for a while?” the invisible girl beside you asked and you complied and turned away to face the screen. as your conversation was going on todoroki looked down at you, ‘why does my heart suddenly feel heavy? is it their doing?’ his eyes were no longer on the screen but on you.

as the weeks flew by with great speed, the days came faster than expected; but as they passed todoroki got ruder with every encounter. “why must i remain in a conversation i have no interest in conversation.” “i have better things to indulge in.” “get out of my way i have more important matters to deal with at the moment.” to make it so much worse, him an momo got even closer.

you had enough.

it was the weekend and no one had anything to do. you were going back down to the kitchen to refill your water bottle, you finally reached the kitchen and opened your bottle. stepping in the kitchen you see a familiar person, your mouth was tempted to speak but in the end you just walked past him and turning your back to him to get your water, “why didn’t you tell me you were in here, are you here to trick me or even hex me even further?” a voice broke through the silence.

“... why?” your voice was shaking, not out of fear; but rather from anger. you were fed up with his attitude, you were fed up by not being treated like a regular human being, you were fed up by him. “why must you act like a royal douche?!” you yelled at him with utmost certainty and volume. taking a step towards him, the boy stepped back in retaliation. “do you have some sort of superiority complex to act like this towards me?” todoroki’s back soon hit the wall.

no one has ever seen you this furious, you always were very calm and collected. seeing you mad made his blood run cold, in pure intimidation. “is this funny to you?” you grabbed his collar to make him look you dead in the eye, ”do you seek some sick entertainment in hating me? when i haven’t done anything wrong.” tears were threatening to roll down your cheek. todoroki’s eyes opened wider, he felt sad, he felt mad for making you think hated you. he found that your statement was the opposite of how he felt. “do you just have some sort of issue with me that bothers you that much? then fine. to resolve that let me spell it out for you too since you don’t bother to do so.”

“i. hate. you. too.”

you emphasized every word. ‘i need to end my pain, i can’t have him continue to walk over me and hurt my feelings any longer’ you let your grip on his clothes loosen. taking a break from your emotional exhaustion you breathed out aggressively and turned away, indicating that the conversation was over, and so was your tolerance of him. you picked up your water bottle even without water in it you just wanted to get out of the kitchen, no you wanted to be out of his sight.

as soon as you took one step forward you felt stiff arms wrap around your waist, you froze as he locked your shoulder in place by placing his chin onto it, his warmth was pleasant and you wished it didn’t feel as good. “please.” his breath fanned past your ear, “i don’t hate you-” you needed to stop this madness. “oh please shut up already! do you know what you said? i make you sick,” your thoughts ended spilling faster than you expected and as you spoke you pushed your elbow into his body, but to no avail his grip tightened. “my mere presence pisses you off doesn’t it? now let me go already, you can do this with momo since she is obviously your girlfriend so bother her instead.” you couldn’t stop yourself from crying, from all the things you felt inside crying just was the simplest way of expressing it at the given moment. with the weight of the moment todoroki just sunk his head into your neck and began to speak, “i.. just get this feeling in my stomach when i’m around you, and i get feelings of anger seeing you with others, seeing others making you happy while i’m making you feel like this. i’m sorry, i’m so so sorry y/n.”

“so please, don’t say things that aren’t true. in full honesty i thought you hexed me into feeling like this, but aizawa told me this was completely normal ‘for boys my age’ and midoriya said something about a ‘crush’ and i wish you feel the same way you know? this confession thing is really hard when the person you have feelings for thinks your dating someone else.. so please. can you let me court you?” todoroki loosened his grip and gently guided your body to face him however the moment you were about to speak a bunch of voices came from the outside of the kitchen.

“toru stop pushing me i know you’re there,” “momo i can’t see go to the back,” “mina keep your voice down please i’m trying to listen to them.” “guys isn’t it wrong to listen when they need privacy?”

“well hello there ladies? mind telling us why you were listening to me admitting my doting feelings for y/n?” “shut up shoto don’t push it-” “did you just call me by my first name? how bold,” “hmph”

641 notes · View notes

sopxhiea · 4 years ago

Text

Sentiment

Alfie Solomons X Reader

Inspired by Lorde’s Hard Feelings

“Three years, loved you every single day, made me weak, it was real for me.”

a/n: fluff+angst mixed because i’m in the feels.

It seems as though you’re running out of time.

The room is empty while you’re laying on your stomach on the hot mattress. There’s a fan in the corner of the room, doing its best to cool the air but the breeze coming from the window does much better. Your eyes close as the record fills the walls of the room.

You sigh, finding a more comfortable position on your back while the ceiling becomes a screen where you relive all your cherished memories. It would go away, you thought, all the comparisons and the flashbacks you had once things settled down but they keep coming back to you.

It’s been a month since he broke up with you.

It had been expected from your part. He’d been away at first, barely calling and when he did arrive at last, he told you he wanted some space. The sweet man who told you to spend the night with him each time you were around had turned into a cold brick of ice right in front of your eyes.

You’d never know the real reason why he broke up with you.

He’d told you he didn’t love you anymore at first, that his heart was tired of you but you that to be a lie from the way his lips trembled after he’d said it. He then moved onto another excuse, he had another lady. It was better than the last lie but it was a lie regardless. He’d never been good at lying to you.

There was nothing to do but leave.

It had taken you three weeks to get over the shock of not having him around anymore and the last week was spent reliving all the memories that would not leave you. The smallest things reminded you of him, but you figured it would pass.

Your housemate came in through the front door but you were too occupied in your thoughts about Alfie to realise. She knew you were having trouble forgetting the first man you loved, she figured some space would do you some good.

You watched the sunlight flicker on the ceiling, its shadow chased the sunset while the room stayed silent. You’d heard things around, about how he had a new girl. She was prettier, apparently, much more adored than you were at his side or at least that was what you heard from Ollie’s girl.

The truth was, Alfie had told Ollie’s girl to say those things to you, knowing that she saw you around.

There were too many things going on in that head of Alfie’s. He was getting into extremely dangerous territory in business lately and he desperately wanted to protect you. He knew there were better ways to go about it than breaking up with you but it had to be done fast and right away.

Alfie had never been the one to care for someone the way he cared about you and before getting into the relationship, he’d told you he swam with the big sharks. You hadn’t cared then, you were blindsided by your fascination with Alfie to realise that he was indeed working with dangerous people.

It wasn’t until they had threatened him with you that he realised the kind of danger he was putting you in.

It wasn’t fair.

You soon found yourself on the back porch of the balcony. The air danced around with your hair as you tried to focus on the book in your hands but it was helpless. Putting the book down, you closed your eyes, imagining the way he said your name each night in between the sheets you used to share.

Even though he had your heart, a growing part of you also hated him.

You hated him for being so cruel. You’d not known love before Alfie. He had taken your clueless self and made you happy, genuinely happy to the point where life would feel incomplete without his love. It wasn’t life you depended on his love but it had made life better for you. It had felt like things were right where they needed to be.

A knock came from the door extended to the porch and you saw your housemate, she had a smile on her face. Getting up, you shook your head, signalling for her to speak but it was far too late.

You saw his figure looming around in the dark corridor.

You could’ve ran into his arms, telling him just how much you missed him but the part of you that had gotten hurt had too much pride. The words that came out of your housemate’s mouth were a mystery to you as you approached his figure, brows furrowed due to how confused you were.

Why now?

As you stood right in front of him, the light coming from the living room hit his face in flickers, showing you the new cuts and bruises he had gained. You saw the small patches of bandage around his temple but decided not to ask, it wasn’t any of your business now.

“What are you doing here?” you asked, not being able to wait any longer. He didn’t have his cane in hand which meant that he was feeling better.

“Pet, I need to talk to ya’.” he said in a softer voice than you were used to. You saw the plea in his eyes which made you nod. You murmured a small ‘this way’ as he followed you to the living room.

You ignored the comment, it would upset you further if you went ahead and told him not to call you that. You couldn’t tell him that the pet name only reminded of the times he’d chanted your name behind closed doors, or when he’d hug you so tight you’d forget the worries of the world and find yourself to be completely calm.

Instead, you sat in front of him on the table that was situated in the living room right in front of the large window you used to wait for him. You gulped, he sensed the tension but said nothing while examining your features, you were as beautiful as ever.

“Do you need something?” you asked, your voice was far too harsh with him but he knew he deserved it.

He deserved the kicks and the shouts and the shit you would give him for leaving you.

“Luv, that’s not why I came, yeah, I need to tell ya’ somethin’.” he spoke, he seemed more fidgety than usual.

Your eyes drifted away for a second from his eyes to the room. It could be anything, you thought. Being with Alfie meant surprises and it didn’t matter that you weren’t seeing him anymore, he was still sitting at the table like he usually would be.

“Go ahead.” you spoke, almost like a small encouragement on your part.

“I miss ya’.”

There it was.

Alfie and feelings didn’t go well, he would get bothered and all frustrated when he felt the tiniest emotion but he couldn’t help but voice the feelings that had been hunting him for so long. He had to tell you.

You knew he did, you missed him very much yourself but that didn’t change things. He knew that for a fact. You just blinked at his words, not able to muster up the witty comeback you usually had. There was silence for a while then, he got to speaking again once he realised that you were too hurt to say anything.

“Ya’ know very well, yeah, that my line of business is no place for a fuckin’ weak spot.” he spoke, trying to reason with you but you weren’t even speaking.

“I’m the weak spot?” you spoke, offended in the slightest mostly because you couldn’t pinpoint what he was trying to say.

“You’re my weak spot.” he spoke, sighing once he was done with the sentence. He was tired, you could tell from the way he slouched but that didn’t faze you.

“And?” you spoke, your heart was still hurt from the way he ended things, he had been as gentle as he could be but you were still covered with emotional wounds. He knew that.

“You came to tell me that you miss me but you’ll do nothing about it because I’m a weak spot?” you spat out, not realising that your voice was higher than it should be. It didn’t matter to him.

When he ended things, you’d abruptly left.

No words, no screams or insults thrown his way. It was the first time he had seen you that calm, there were thunderstorms inside your orbs but you’d chosen to keep that to yourself.

He needed you to shout that day, he needed you to tell him that you hated him and that you never wanted to see him again so he would hear the words and have a reason to stay away from you. But you hadn’t done that. You’d just murmured a small ‘okay’ and left his office.

He was frustrated at you for being this mature.

A sigh left his lips, eyes scanning your face for any sign of hurt but there’s nothing he can pinpoint.

“Pet, I jus’ came to...” he started speaking but the thoughts were soon lost.

Why was he here?

You let him take his time, your angry side was a little calmer now that you’d seen just how hurt he was. He was angry at himself, for whatever reason it was and you knew Alfie’s anger was not something to mess with.

It took him ten minutes to talk again.

Meanwhile, you waited and walked around the apartment. Your housemate had left the minute Alfie came in, mostly because she thought that you would have a fight and she didn’t want to be near that. She’d seen Alfie’s angry side once when he’d heard that you’d been hanging around with the youngest Shelby and it wasn’t pretty.

You brought Alfie a glass of water and waited with a book in your hand as he tried to find the words, he was fighting with himself to come to a conclusion. He then cleared his throat which made you put the book away, he was taking his time.

“Will ya’ take me back, luv?” his voice was hoarse as he spoke, he didn’t touch the glass of water you’d brought him.

His ocean blue eyes bored into yours as he waited for an answer but you were too hesitant to say anything.

A part of you desperately wanted to, he was your Alfie after all. He’d given you the best years of your life and you knew that you’d always love him in some way or another but the rational part of your brain thought him to be a monster for being this cruel to you.

You scoffed, a chuckle soon followed.

The audacity he had never failed to surprise you.

“Why would I?” you spoke, a part of you needed him to convince you that he still loved you. And he did.

“Cause I can’t-” he spoke but his fingers went to rub his eyes, he hadn’t slept in so long. It wasn’t the same in the empty bed. “I can’t fuckin’ function, right, I need ya’.” he spat out, eyes desperate as they told you what you needed to know.

You blinked, eyes filled with confusion and agony as Alfie looked at you. He wasn’t the one for voicing out his opinions, he’d show how he felt through his actions most of the time so hearing him say the words made you feel as desperate as he was.

“Alfie, you can’t just..” you started speaking but you knew he was just as needy as you were.

You couldn’t act like you hadn’t thought about him every single day since he’d broken up with you. It hurt but it hurt more to miss him, not having him by your side had been something you still weren’t used to.

“Do you want me to leave?” he spoke, giving you the space you might need since he happened to be a decent person.

You shook your head immediately.

You didn’t want him to leave. His presence made you feel better in all senses of the world and you couldn’t afford to feel the burning in your heart again so you made sure he sat down before you spoke.

He’d stay but he had to pay for the hurt he had caused you.

“You can stay but you have to tell me what happened...” you said, eyes not meeting his eyes he looked directly into them.

He was holding back a smile.

“...and don’t lie to me about having a mistress again. I know you don’t.” you finished the sentence, you didn’t actually know if he was seeing someone again but this would do to confirm the suspicion on your mind.

“How could I.” he said under his breath like you couldn’t hear it but you just faintly smiled at the sentence.

“And I won’t just forgive you in the blink of an eye.” you spoke as Alfie watched. His eyes glistened with amusement and endless excitement this time.

“You have to earn it.”

-----------

Tagging: @clairecrive @parkbearum @sourirez @vetseras @mollybegger-blog @itsjusttaralove

a/n: Let me know what you thought of the chapter/if you want to be tagged!! <3 I also just started uni again and it’s quite hectic so i apologise if i’m not able to reply to any messages!!

238 notes · View notes

philhoffman · 3 years ago

Photo

Last Monday Philm night of 2021! 🎉

Bit of an eclectic double feature this week: Triple Bogey on a Par Five Hole (1991) and The Invention of Lying (2009). Grouped these together mostly because they’re both bit parts I wanted to finish before the end of the year, but after watching them they pair together quite nicely as “Delightfully Goofy PSH Characters in One-Scene Roles That Take Place in a Bar” movies.

I can’t truthfully rate or truly review Triple Bogey because I didn’t watch it — not the whole thing, anyway. I know it used to be on youtube, but it has since vanished without a trace. The lead I had on possibly streaming it fell through, so I had to settle (with gratitude!) for the singular clip of Phil’s one-minute silver screen debut as Klutch, a bandana-wearing, tattooed pool shark.

I’ve heard bad reviews of this movie and slightly less bad reviews, and tbh I don’t even know what’s going on in this scene, but he’s just absolutely giddy and it’s infectious. His first film role and he’s talking to another character about making a movie, it’s almost too meta and impossible not to be sentimental. Phil was my age when he made this, about 23 years old, look at that fresh-faced kid.

Jump forward almost twenty years to another barroom scene, only this time he’s not a kid getting his first bit part at the start of his career but an Academy Award-winning actor doing a cameo in a movie with some friends and half (most of?) the joke is that he’s clearly over-qualified and under-utilized in this role!

The Invention of Lying has an entertaining premise and for a while I kept up with it, but I think inevitably the joke wore thin in a feature-length film after an hour or so. It was also really dated, sometimes terribly, for a 2009 movie. Phil’s scene as Jim the Bartender was the briefest of cameos, but again, he just nails it. I know he only took this role because it was so small, probably only took a day or two to shoot between his bigger projects, but just seeing him there makes me wish he’d played Louis C.K.’s part or something. The movie didn’t deserve him but it would’ve been better for it, anyway. That beard tho...

Feeling a little funny at the end of this double-feature. These were the last of Phil’s supporting roles I had left to watch. Next week, the beginning of the new year, I’m starting the last leg of my total watch of PSH’s filmography — five weeks, five leading roles. Weird that I can count on one hand the number of his movies I have yet to see. Exciting but sad and a whole mess of other emotions. And I’m really looking forward to these starring performances ahead of me, but I’ll miss these smaller roles — being surprised and delighted to see him pop up unexpectedly, steal a scene or two, little moments and minor characters that stick with you. Who does that better than him, after all?

Kinda crazy that I’ll never meet him in a film like that again, totally unaware of who he is until the moment he appears — and then you know him immediately, as John Patrick Shanley said. Even in subpar movies, it was always a treat to see who he became, how he elevated it, to spend the time with him.

(Speaking of all the time I’ve spent with his films this year, and since this is the last one of 2021, a very special thank you to anyone who actually reads these reviews, or follows me, or just loves Phil, too. He’s been so much of everything in my life this year, and looking forward to these weekly movie nights got me through a lot over the last few months, and I’ve made so many wonderful friends here. Stay uncool 💕)

#these get longer and longer every week #and he had like 3 minutes of screen time tonight. G-d help us next month when every movie is ALLLL about him #monday philm #triple bogey on a par five hole #the invention of lying #*#that smile... 23 or 40-something I'd do anything for that smile

7 notes · View notes

valdemart · 4 years ago

Text

Valdebreed (Part 1)

When your significant other is a wealthy mad scientist demon lacking several human emotions, you don’t get a normal life. In fact, you give up a lot more than you realized you would have to. You just have to hope they also realize it.

(Afab Reader has sex with Valdemar with the intent to start a family. Some good angst, minor body horror, breeding kink tentacle smut. No sex in the first part. I wrote too damn much.)

“You’re going to pop any day, huh?”

Annabella beamed at you, grinning widely.

“The doctor says it will happen sometime this week. Early next week at the latest.”

That comment gave you pause.

“Wait. You’re not working, are you?”

Annabella waved your concern off.

“Of course not. Even if I wanted to, the Countess wouldn’t allow it. But I’m bored at home all day just waiting for the baby to come and I wanted to chat with everyone.”

That was reassuring, at least. You didn’t think Annabella could work, not with such a huge belly. Her arms probably couldn’t even reach the stove at this point.

“Oh! They’re kicking! Did you want to feel?”

Without waiting for your answer, Annabella grabbed your hand and placed it on her lower stomach and, sure enough, you felt a little kick against your searching fingers. You couldn’t hide your delight and the mother laughed at how happy you looked.

“Careful. You’ll catch baby fever from me and end up the next staff out on maternity leave.”

You smiled in response, your hand still resting against her stomach.

“Who knows? Maybe.”

You didn’t know Annabella well enough to get into why children probably weren’t in the cards for you. Besides, why bring the mood down? You were perfectly content to let this little baby kick you all day.

“Ugh. Excuse me, dear. This little bundle of joy has me having to pee every 20 minutes, I swear.”

You waved goodbye and watched the cook waddle away down the hall. As you stood there, lost in your thoughts, you felt a small hand tug on your shirt and you jumped in surprise.

“Procurator! You scared me!”

Volta stood well below you, looking up at you with her large, watery eyes.

“Volta saw you rubbing that servant girl’s belly. Do you like babies?”

“Oh, yeah. Of course, I do. Doesn’t everyone?”

Volta shook her head.

“No. They are loud and their crying scares Volta. But Volta wonders if what the servant said is true.”

“If what part was true?”

“That you will be the next one to have a baby.”

The bluntness of ponderings made you blush.

“Oh, um…probably not.”

She cocked her head to the side like a confused puppy.

“But why not. You just told Volta that you like babies.”

You liked Volta. She was genuinely sweet, weird quirks of hers aside. But this was a weird conversation to be stuck in with her. Even if she was pushing a couple decades old, she didn’t seem to know much about more ‘grown up’ matters. And you didn’t want to explain the birds and a bees to a tiny demon in the middle of a palace hallway. Especially when there were elements of your particular birds and bees that you yourself were unsure of.

“I don’t think the Quaestor would be much interested in having children.”

“Did you ask Quaestor Valdemar to have a baby with you?”

That one was a step too far for you. You could feel your cheeks heating up.

“Oh no! Volta has embarrassed the magician!”

“It’s-it’s fine, Volta. It’s just complicated, is all. Hey, uh, I heard they were making cucumber ice cream in the kitchen.”

That was all you had to say to make Volta scamper off. While horribly embarrassing, at least that conversation was short. However, you noticed your mood had soured quite considerably in that time. While you had never discussed children, you knew Valdemar would never want them even if they could get you pregnant, and you doubted very much that they could. Your elation for the sweet mother to be had deflated and you felt a weak longing in your chest.

You could give sweets to the children of staffers and entertain them with card tricks and little illusions, but you would always be the fun auntie and never the mother. That was just your life now. A part of you had always known. From the moment you let Valdemar kiss you after learning what they truly were, you knew your life would never be ‘normal’. And that was fine at the time. It was then, it was when you moved in with them, and it was still fine now. But it wasn’t until now that you were hurt by that knowledge.

As long as you were with Valdemar, you would never be a mother.

The sun was setting as your carriage pulled up at the front gate of Valdemar’s estate. You had been able to forget your somber morning realization enough to fulfill all your duties as Court Magician that day. Luckily it had just been some minor spells and charms. But, as you had worked, you made a promise to yourself to not think about it any longer. Why should you lose sleep tonight over something you couldn’t control?

You thanked the driver and gave him a few coins while ignoring his concerned look. It was the same look all the drivers gave you when they dropped you off. Every single one of them always looked at you with a face that screamed ‘Hey, Lady, are you sure you want to go in there? I’ll drive you somewhere safe and not horrifying’. It was just another concession you made in your new life. Put ignoring weird looks right up there with never having babies and never getting married and sleeping alone most of the time and…

You felt the sting of tears in your eyes and your shoulders slumped.

‘So much for not letting me get myself down.’

You stood at the front door for a moment. You could run. You could go back to town and start a normal life. Fall in love with a human. Do normal human things. Fall asleep with a warm body next to you every night. Have a family. Grow old with them and die a few months after each other.

You shook your head at your foolishness. You don’t pick who you fall in love with, and you don’t deny it for the sake of comfort and familiarity. If anyone could roll with the punches, it was you. So far, not even death had been able to stop you.

“I’m home!” You called out once you were in the large marble foyer. You did this every time you came home, but you rarely got an answer. If Valdemar wasn’t out doing gods only knew what, then they were downstairs working.

“In the dining room, Little One,” came the reply, and you almost jumped out of your skin.

Valdemar? In the dining room? Not once had you ever seen them in there. Not once in over a year. Did they even know how to get to the dining room?

If you had been confused when you first arrived home, you were double confused once you were actually in the dining room. The fireplace as well as several candelabras were lit, warming off the darkness that was taking over outside.

“There you are, Dear Magician. Please, have a seat.”

Valdemar was sitting at the far end of the dining table, which was clear on the other side of the room. On the side nearest you was a bowl of soup in fine, white china. There was steam rising tantalizingly off it, and your stomach rumbled. You were always invited to dine with the servants at the palace, and normally you did, but your dower mood had spoiled your appetite so you hadn’t had much. Still, this was a bizarre sight and you stayed where you were.

“Who died?”

Valdemar grinned. You could see their large, white shark teeth clear across the table.

“Several thousand humans I imagine. As they do every night. But no one we know.”

“Are you breaking up with me?”

Valdemar just sat, unblinking and smiling, waiting patiently for you to sit. So, you did.

The two of you sat in silence for a moment until Valdemar motioned towards the food. You could smell that it was chicken and you saw droplets of oil floating on top of the broth above peas and carrots. Whatever horrible news Valdemar was about to tell you, you could at least hear it with a full stomach. It was warm and salty and you were quickly halfway through the bowl. Then they finally spoke.

“I had an unexpected guest for lunch. They brought their own servants to cook.”

Well, that was still weird, but at least it explained everything. Valdemar only had a few cleaning staff that came a couple times a week. You were the only one that ever used the kitchen. Valdemar also wasn’t terribly concerned with etiquette, so you raised the bowl to your lips to drink down the rich broth.

“My guest was the Procurator.”

Also weird for Valdemar to actually host the Procurator, since they usually didn’t care what she had to say, but they did work together.

You licked your lips and set the bowl down, realizing how much better you felt with something warm in your stomach.

“What did the Procurator need?”

Valdemar smiled wider, which shouldn’t have been possible, but it was Valdemar, so they could.

“She told me the two of you had a very interesting conversation.”

“We did?”

You talked to Volta about Annabella’s baby for all of two minutes before she ran off for a snack. It was embarrassing, yes, but hardly lunch visit worthy. You tried to think back to any other conversations the two of you had in the past month, but they had all been about food. What the Hell was Valdemar talking about?

“What makes you so sure I don’t want children?”

Oh no. Oh no. Oh no no no no no!

Your mouth opened to speak, but no words came out, so you sat there, looking like a palace pond koi.

“I must say, that’s a bit presumptuous of you. I don’t recall ever having spoken to you on the subject.”

Valdemar was clearly enjoying your discomfort. They were looking at you like they were Valerius reading the label of a fine bottle of vintage wine.

“You look embarrassed. You couldn’t have been this embarrassed when you were discussing such intimate things with the Procurator. She said it was imperative that I give you a baby. She recommended us starting on it tonight.”

Did you know a spell to make the ground open up and swallow you? No, unfortunately. But you did make a mental note to figure one out if you survived this.

“I…It’s not like I…She didn’t even…”

Valdemar watch you flounder with your words, savoring each mortified little stutter you made. They may not have been physically sadistic with you, but no one could say they didn’t love to torture you other ways.

You sighed and looked down at the table, trying to collect yourself.

“Ok, I shouldn’t have assumed. But am I wrong? Do you want children? Can you even make children?”

At least hearing Valdemar admit you were right would help soothe your ego a little.

“I’m not sure.”

“See!? You don’t even want-“

You cut yourself off and stared at them.

“Wait. What?”

“I said I’m not sure. I hadn’t ever taken the time to think about it. Only a few short years ago I wouldn’t have considered a relationship with a human and yet here we are. That means there are other aspects that need to be considered as well. And physically, I’m unsure if I am able to procreate, especially with a human. It’s not something I had ever looked into.”

Valdemar admitting to being unsure of something? Clearly, you had died from the plague again and you were stuck in some coo coo crazy afterlife. Absurdity of it all aside, you felt yourself growing aggravated.

“Ok. Are you done now?”

Valdemar cocked their head.

“Whatever do you mean, Little One?”

“I mean, are you done now? You had this whole nice set up to embarrass me and I am. So, are you done now? You’re very clever and I’m a very dumb little human. I fucking get it.”

Valdemar’s smile dropped.

“I don’t appreciate that tone, Apprentice.”

Your arms prickled with goosebumps as they stared you down across the table. ‘Apprentice’ was what they said as a more polite way of calling you an insolent little shit. They rarely used it with you but, when they did, it usually had you shape up pretty quickly. But tonight, it wasn’t going to work. All the heartache of the day had come back to you, and you felt that hurt bubble into anger. Your mouth filled with venom. How dare they embarrass you like this? After all you’ve given up for them.

“I didn’t talk to you about it because I knew you wouldn’t care! You don’t care when I get home, you don’t care when I go to bed alone, and you don’t care if I’m lonely! I-“

You stopped. That’s exactly what it was. You got lonely. It was lonely in a giant palace with a demon that didn’t like to cuddle or play kissy face or have sex. You felt the unshed tears from earlier and all the anger in you shriveled and died like early clover under a frost. You couldn’t just have kids because you were lonely. Children shouldn’t come into the world with a job to do. That was a terribly unfair burden to place on an infant. You couldn’t just make someone and want them to fix you.

You turned away from the table, knowing that if you had to look at them you would cry.

“I’m going to spend to night at the shop,” You said, your voice unsteady.

Two cold, gloved arms wrapped around your waist and you were pulled back against Valdemar. They had crossed the room in a few silent seconds.

“Lemme go,” you whimpered quietly, your bottom lip trembling. You didn’t want to start sobbing after you had just gotten done yelling like some kind of mad woman.

One of the hands released you and brushed your hair back from your face.

“Hush now, Little Mouse. There’s no need for tears.”

Of course, with Valdemar asking you not to cry, your eyes decided you absolutely had you and you sobbed pitifully.

“Poor Little Human. So many emotions to feel.”

They loosened their grip and turned you around gently so you could cry against them. You always tried so hard not to cry in front of them, but you were too far gone to stop now. Their fingertips started to trail up and down your back soothingly as they made no attempt to push you off of them despite the excessive display of emotion you were putting on.

“I knew you were lonely. It would be very lonely, to come back from death’s realm. Perhaps the only human to do so. I suppose it feels simpler than that.”

You stopped crying and looked up at them with surprise. They were right. Even when people knew you had come back, Hell, even with Asra, you felt a wall between yourself and them. No one understood what it was like to come back. No one understood death like you did. No one understood being alive but knowing exactly how it felt to die. Except Valdemar, of course. But you didn’t know they knew about those feelings.

“A child won’t understand you either,” they explained as they softly brushed their thumb against your cheek.

“Do you…can you have children?” You asked softly. The pain of earlier was gone. You finally felt seen. Someone finally understood your quandary. You had tried to voice your loneliness to Asra and Portia once. They had both hugged you tightly and assured you that you weren’t alone and that they loved you. But they were wrong. As much as you loved each other, they didn’t understand the loneliness you meant. Even with half a heart, Asra didn’t know what it was to be alive when you shouldn’t be.

“I simply don’t know. I’ve never tried.”

Valdemar looked down at you with crimson, slitted eyes that should have been unnerving, if not terrifying, but you felt so soft and safe under them.

“It’s…probably something we should talk about later.”

“Of course, Dear One. Although, for the sake of science, I was hoping you’d try with me tonight.”

You stared at them, trying to process what they were saying. You had swung through too many moods tonight for their weird analytical speaking.

“I had had your bedroom ready for after dinner. Before I had teased you too much.”

“Wait, you mean you wanted to...” Were they talking about sex? Had they planned to have sex with you before you blew up?

“Considering how the evening played out, perhaps you should just sleep for tonight, hm?”

Perhaps. They were probably right about you needing to sleep this off. But you had had sex with Valdemar so rarely that just the prospect had your body lit up. Of course, they got you off plenty with their hands and occasionally their mouth, but the two of you had only had actual sex a handful of times. But now they wanted to? And they set up for it?

You wiped your eyes on the back of your hands quickly.

“No. We mustn’t keep science waiting. Important discoveries to be made and all that.”

Valdemar searched your face, looking for any sign that you might be lying to them about being ok now. When they could only see your genuine excitement, they grinned.

“Fascinating little thing that you are.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part 2 is gonna have it all! Body horror! Tentacle sex! Knotting! Dirty talk! Whatever else I decide is hot! Stay tuned!

#quaestor valdemar #valdemar x apprentice #valdemar fanfiction #I wrote this all IN ONE NIGHT #AFTER MONTHS OF NOTHING

135 notes · View notes

birdy-bat-writes · 4 years ago

Text

New Year’s Bet

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

Pairing: Tim Drake x Fem! Reader

Word count: 2.4k

Warnings: Word vomit and weird writing? But mostly fluff.

Summary: You and Tim have liked each other for a while. It’s Your chance to confess at the New Years Eve party.

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

Sometimes, life overcomplicates things, and when you’re a teenage superhero that fights crime in between your homework, you don’t want any more complication. That’s why you really resented today. You had just come back from a mission with the team. When you got back with the rest of your Alpha teammates, you noticed that Beta had already been here for a while. Typical. Still, it was sweet that you found Tim waiting for you. His hair looked a little more ruffled than when you saw it last, and he looked as tired as you felt but it didn’t stop him from flashing you the smile that could light up your whole world.

“Hi, Boy Wonder.”

“Hey, how’d your end of the mission go?”

“Not bad. No injuries, so that’s good, but I, for one, am exhausted.”

“Same here.”

“How’d your end go?”

“Well, I guess you’ll find out in about 30 seconds because Batman is calling us for a briefing.” You laughed and headed over for the briefing along with your teammates. Seriously, Batsy could not have picked a worse day to send you on a mission that ran for 14 hours. It was peak winter and New Year’s Eve. When you were deployed, you could tell by the looks on your teammates faces that they weren’t too thrilled either and just wanted to be in their beds. You all practically exuded lethargy. Although, as much of a toll as the covert op took on you, the emotional ache of trying to confess to your crush for a week and failing was far more crushing. That’s why you were so exhausted. For the last two weeks, either you or Tim were called away for something before you had the chance to tell him, and now you were back to debating if you should even try. See? Complicated. You were pulled from your thoughts when you saw the crowd around you disperse, indicating that Batman was done talking.

“Briefing over, Nap time!” you exclaimed.

“Nap time? Its 2:30 pm.” Tim huffed a laugh.

“Yes, and that means I have not slept in 27 hours. You and I both know that’s never a good thing.” He smiled and looked like he was about to say something. Presumably sarcastic, before,

“No one’s napping. Y/S/N, Robin, you both said you would help me decorate the party hall today.”, M’gann said. She was right. A few weeks ago, the Justice League members had decided to throw a New Year’s Eve party and invite all the members of the junior team. M’gann was tasked with decorating. You had promised to help, and you weren’t one to break a promise.

“You’re right, I’ll be right there.”

“Great! Robin, you too, right?”

“Yeah, I’ll be there.” Of course, Tim was going. You were going to be there and there’s no way he’s missing any opportunity to talk to you. Especially since he had been trying to tell you something rather important for over a week now. He was hopelessly in love with you and now he really wanted to tell you. What better place than a party, right? Gosh, he hoped you felt the same way. I mean, Conner and Gar insisted that you did.

The two of you Zeta tubed over to the hall of justice and saw that Bart, Conner, Jaime and Dick were already there. By the looks of it (the looks of Dick covered in confetti and holding a glitter banner with his foot), they were also roped into helping M’gann. Understandable since the room you were standing in was enormous. This was just one of the spare rooms on the top floor of the Hall of Justice. The back of it was a wide balcony overlooking statues of esteemed heroes, and beyond that, the city skyline. The air was icy but still refreshing. You were admiring the sight when the first order was barked, surprisingly, not by M’gann.

“Okay! Tim, Y/N, you guys hang the banner. Seven feet up on the left wall.” Dick ordered. “Bart, Jaime, you two set up the tables. Conner, make sure they don’t eat all the food. Anyone that can fly is left responsible for the disco ball. I don’t trust any of you with the sound system so I will be picking the music.” He looked a little too happy about that last part. He’d better not play 80’s music all night.

***

“It’s going to happen…” Bart whispered under his breath.

“No, you will not eat the-”

“Not that! Look at Robin and Y/S/N. Today’s the legendary day.” He cut Jaime off.

“Oh yeah, you said they get married in the future. Today’s the day they get together?”

“Yeah, and we’re going to see it live. Now I’ll know who actually wins the bet!”

***

You dragged the step ladder over to the wall while Tim came over with the banner and measuring tape. Honestly, you had no clue that Dick was such a stickler for organization. Still, it wasn’t as boring or tiring as you thought it was. Joking around with Tim brought some life into you.

You had climbed up to the four-foot mark and taped the banner edge to the wall. Nice and even, but you didn’t step quite right while getting down and tripped. A fully trained hero of the night like you would have had no trouble landing on their feet, and you didn’t, but you didn’t get to land on your feet because you landed in someone’s arms. Tim Drake’s arms.

“Are you alright?” He asked, concerned.

“Yeah, I am. Thank you.” Your arms clung onto his shoulders and his hands tucked under your knees and waist.

“Are you sure? You didn’t hurt your ankle, did you?”

“I don’t think so. How’d you catch me that fast?”

“Um… my protective override gives me superpowers?” You both laughed at this. His eyes were so genuine and pure. It was only when you felt his chest heave from laughter against your body that you realized he was still holding you, and suddenly, you could feel your heartbeat get faster.

“Hey, guys, is the banner up?” You heard Dick’s voice approaching and scrambled to your feet. Tim rushed to straighten himself.

“Yeah, everything’s great here. All done!” Tim spoke a just fast enough to sound suspicious, but Dick ignored that. He just might win that bet tonight.

“Perfect. You guys can go home and get changed for the party. Everything is pretty much done around here.” With one last smile to Tim, you zeta’d back home with M’gann so she could help you choose your dress, and you skipped the entire time.

***

“He caught you?!” M’gann was your biggest cheerleader and she was like an older sister to you. Tim was your best friend, but she was the one you went to when you needed to talk about feelings and the girl stuff. You know, like how to keep your hair up during a fight.

“Yeah! Does that mean something?”

“Obviously! I’ve seen both of you jump off 20 story building and land on your feet. There was no reason for him to catch you unless he really wanted to be your hero.” You were positively giddy.

“Maybe I should tell him.”

“Maybe? DEFINITELY! And you can do it in this.” She pulled out a simple black tulle dress that hemmed just above the knee. You really liked it. Paired with a pair of silver shoes and some light jewelry, you were ready to go.

***

By the time you made it to the hall of Justice, the room was already filled with people. Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman sat in the corner of the room. You were sure Supes and Wonder Woman were trying to convince Batman to actually leave the corner but were not succeeding. The decorations you had put up were gleaming in the lights that contrasted the fading daylight outside. Then you saw him. Tim was dressed in a black suit with a dark red tie. He stood next to Bart, smiling that smile again and you felt the butterflies come back. You weren’t alone though. When he saw you, the whole world melted away. You looked absolutely beautiful. With the way your hair fell so gracefully over your glowing skin and how your dress fit you so perfectly… It probably wasn’t possible to be more in love with you than he already was but if it were, he would have fallen hard. ‘Butterflies’ was an understatement.

“So, are you going to go talk to her or would you rather just keep staring at her?” Tim’s thoughts were interrupted by a very amused Garfield Logan. “She’s waving at you. Go talk to her.” He urged. Tim started walking and looked back only once to see gar with the biggest smirk on his face.

“Y/N, you look really nice.” He said. You tried to hide your blush, but he saw it.

“Thanks, so do you.” The smile was audible in your voice and the thought of you smiling at him made the corners of his mouth pull up even more. He wanted more than anything to hear your voice, see your smile, to gaze into your gorgeous eyes forever. “They effort we put into decorating this place paid off. I never thought I’d see Batman under a disco ball.”

“Funny, it’s my sixth time seeing that. One time, there was a shark involved.”

“Someday, you have got to tell me that story.”

***

Minutes turned into Hours and you spent most of them in the back of the room with Tim.

“Capes are functional!”

“How?! Edna Mode said-!”

“Yeah, but mine is bullet proof!”

“Tim, your whole suit is bulletproof! There’s no point of a cape!”

“Fine, it gives me flair.” He joked. In the distance, Bart was watching the two of you giggle in each other’s company.

“It’s 11:30, Jaime, we just have to wait half an hour”

“Dude, this is creepy.”

“But necessary.”

M’gann passed the two of with Conner by her side. She waved at the two of you and joined Artemis and Wally. Both couples looked so happily in love. “You know, I think Conner’s planning on proposing.”

“Really? M’gann will be so happy! I can’t wait for the day he does.”

“Do married couples kiss at midnight on New Year’s?”

“I guess so. I mean, the point of it is to kiss the person you want to spend the new year with, right?”

“Right. So, do you think Dick will kiss Barbara or Wally?” You chuckled. “I say Wally.”

“Never tell Dick, but I agree with you.”

“Are you going to kiss anyone at midnight?” The question had you flustered to say the least. You weren’t expecting him of all people to ask you that.

“Well, I-”

“Guys, have you seen the cake they’re bringing out? Its massive! Come see.” He tried to pull the two of you toward the kitchen, but Bart was having none of that. It was too close to time and things weren’t about to get off schedule now. So, he sped over.

“Hey, Gar! What was that about cake? In the kitchen you say? Cool, let’s go now! Y/N, Tim, have a lovely evening.”

“Wai-” And they were gone. You and Tim looked at each other with eyebrows raised. There was a non-verbal exchange of “That was weird, right?” and “Eh, not for them.” Tim went to get two drinks and you made your way to the balcony. The bright lights of the city skyline looked so alluring for no explainable reason. They looked like stars scattered among the buildings and you couldn’t help but think of all the nights you’d spent staring at the stars until the sun came up next to Tim. You really wanted to tell him tonight. It was 11:55 by now, imagine if you had your first kiss on New Year’s. But that won’t happen. Pssht.

“Two glasses of punch, lots of ice.” He handed you a glass.

“Thank you very much.” Tim’s mind was racing silently. He kept thinking if he should or shouldn't confess. With your own mind racing, you broke the silence "I never answered your question...I- No, I don't have anyone I plan to kiss tonight." His face relaxed for a second before a fiery blush crept up "Do you...plan to kiss anyone?"

He responds "I wouldn't say I plan to. Just…" Should I…? Ah, screw it he thought. He's in love with you with you and he wants you to know. "Y/N?"

“Hm?”

“I really like you. A lot, and-" he's interrupted by a shout, It's 11:58 only two minutes ‘till New Years! You were smiling uncontrollably. "Two minutes till midnight, wow. I know you probably don't feel the same, but I just wanted you to know that since the day I met you, I've been so unbelievably happy. You make that way." Someone started a countdown from 60.

You began, "Timmy, I like you too." You placed your hands on his and the countdown reached 35. Maybe it was the adrenaline from the heat of the moment, but you felt particularly bold and said, "Tim, we kiss people on New Year’s because we want to be with them for the new year. You make so happy all the time and I love being around you and-and- " you stammered while the countdown reached 10. "Will you spend the new year with me?"

5, 4,

"I'd love to."

3. You both looked into each other’s eyes, glanced at each other's lips. He placed a hand on your cheek and gently drew you in.

1! His lips were on yours. Happy New Years! The crowd cheered while you moved your arms up to pull Tim closer into the kiss. It was soft and warm and perfect. You both pulled away grinning like idiots. Bart looked over at you two, Crash.

***

Later on, the Justice League is watching from afar how cute you two are. Wonder Woman and Canary were awing while Arrow and Green Lantern were giving you the "Way to go kiddo" head nod.

"I’d better ask Tim who confessed first." Batman said. Superman looked at him questioningly. "I had a bet with Nightwing. My money was on Y/S/N"

Superman just smiled and said, "You're going lose your money, Bruce."

"Were you actually listening in on their conversation?"

"Um..." Batman looked at him with faint surprise and gave a nod of disapproval. "Oh, what can I say I was rooting for them!"

"I'm disappointed in you Clark. Now quick, tell me what they said."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Taglist: @anothertimdrakestan @offendedfishnoises @comicsandhoney @river-bottom-nightmare @catxsnow @cries-in-fangirl-23 @batarella @idkmanicantenglish @sonofrobin16 @l-horizon11

173 notes · View notes

mego42 · 4 years ago

Text

fav lines tag

RULES: share your favorite sentence/paragraph from each one of your fics and tag 6 other fic writers to do it too :)

tagged by the talented brilliant incredible @foxmagpie (💖)

tagging: @pynkhues @hypermania @bethsuglywigs @riosnecktattoo @missmaxime @sothischickshe @joeyjoeylee

some ground rules: I’m only doing brio fic bc at some point when I wasn’t paying attention I wrote a metric fuckton of it and we’re already gonna be here all day bc my other ground rule is I’m allowed to interpret the concept of a line however i want. i’m also gonna tell you why i picked them bc no one can stop me. cool? cool. good talk.

your monster looks like mine

okay so my first choice for fav would be the entire ~conversation around whether or not beth had a choice when she set rio up bc oooof I just love how that came out so! much! BUT if I’m limiting myself to something closer to a line, I’m going with this one. i love what it establishes for rio’s emotional state when it comes to beth, i love how it captures their push/pull constant one upping battle, I love the rhythm of the flow of it and the grandiose verbiage (i was having a frankly unreasonable amount of fun with natural phenomena imagery throughout the whole fic and this captures a bit of it). idk I just think it’s neat.

The words rip through him, a bright, blazing comet trail whipped across his sky, illuminatin’ his landscape, impossible to ignore.

Elizabeth’s spread out on the bed below him, golden hair tumblin’ around her face, mouth red and swollen, lookin’ up at him like she’s got him. Like she’s figured some shit out. Like she fuckin’ did something by putting that together.

Like Rio doesn’t fuckin’ know. Like that doesn’t fuckin’ haunt him, torment him, mock him every time she pulls some of her bullshit and he’s left picking up the pieces, knowin’ damn well what the right answer is but also knowin’ he’s always gonna be wrong when it comes to her.

a song inside the halls of the dark

another one where I’d pick a whole scene if I could BUT if the whole opening flashback isn’t on the table (idk I love it for 14,000 reasons including how it sets up the bookend structure for the chapter, how it sets up a bunch of the final payoffs, the tone of it, idk everything about it came out exactly how I wanted it to and I really love how it tees up the ending), then I’m going with this bit from the final brio scene. it ties back in a whole bunch of threads that have been woven in and out all the way back to the first chapter and closes them out in a way that also feels (to me) like a beginning which I love bc the whole theme of the chapter is it’s a beginning, not the end.

What does it mean then, that he’s slept so soundly beside her?

The playhouse glows softly. She wonders how many more times she can get away with sanding it before it weakens past the point of supporting the kids’ weight and the whole thing collapses.

Behind it, she can see the long shadow it casts reaching for the boxwoods bordering the yard. The lines of the structure frame windows of bright moonlight on the grass, eerily reminiscent of the windows that loomed large in the nightmares Beth abruptly realizes she hasn’t had in weeks. Not since that last night at Rio’s loft. And that’d been the last one since...his car. Canada. The night all of this started.

Beth blinks. What does it mean that she’s slept so soundly beside him?

A-live, alive, alive, I—

Her breath catches.

—

pills’n’potions

I don’t have any grand reasoning for why I picked this bit from the 4th (i think?) ~ch as my fav, I just really like writing annie and rio interacting and I especially love writing them with annie like, intellectually aware that she should probably be afraid of him but also spiritually incapable of not being herself and rio being wildly annoyed by it

"What?" He asks, giving the t an edge sharp enough to cut.

There's a pause. "What like you didn't hear me, or what like what do I want?"

[...]

"Hello?"

Now the sister sounds like she's getting annoyed, and Rio's really gotta do somethin' about the two of them runnin' 'round actin' like he's someone they can get away with not takin' seriously. Like he's some sort of pet. Defanged. Declawed. Fuckin' neutered.

"Get to the point."

"I mean, I kind of did in the message."

—

trade my heart for honey

the only thing sexier than rio being good at pool is beth being a fucking shark and rio being out of control turned on by it.

Dropping all pretense at being less than she is, Beth grabs the cue ball, positioning it slightly to the left of center where the felt is slightly more worn. Even without the tell, she's seen Rio put it there enough times to know it's the table's sweet spot. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Rio shift his weight before she tunes him out entirely, drawing the stick back and letting it fly.

It's as close to a perfect break as she's probably ever managed. The cue ball connects dead on, scattering the rest far and wide. The one and the six drop neatly into pockets, the four and five coming to a stop right on the edge of the left side and far left corner, nearly closing off that whole side of the table.

Every stripe remains in play.

"Solids," she says, not letting herself dwell on the way Rio's mouth hangs slightly open, his eyes glazed over.

—

swaying evergreens

the whole theme of this fic is the terrifying intimacy and vulnerability of sharing your most precious moments and memories with someone you care about and I like how this touches on that along with sort of nutshelling the double edged sword of grief-tinted memory which is another major theme

There's somethin' extra about these unguarded moments. That Elizabeth trusts Rio enough to drop her guard completely and give him this completely unvarnished look at her. It's been over a year since he's been back in her bed, since the first time he'd slept here, but there's still somethin' tentative about it. Like there's a part of him that's never going to be all the way over the first time he'd been here, that can't fully believe how far they've come, that this isn't going to crumble, melt, drain away.

Truthfully, Rio doesn't mind it, that faint edge. He's well acquainted with the different flavors of loss, and the threat of it's a counterpoint that keeps him sharp. Lets him know this is real but not somethin' he'll take for granted.

—

swear on a silver knife

there were a couple of sexy tension bits that made for strong contenders but ultimately this won bc I’m obsessed with how this reference to 306 came out.

“I told you. I got my own debts to pay.” He bit off the words like it cost him something to repeat them.

Beth shivered, abruptly right back at that picnic table, cheeks wet and staring at him, searching for any hint of the man she’d—she’d—anyone besides the cold, unfeeling stranger sitting beside her, blood so fresh on his hands she could nearly smell it underneath the scent of the cold, misty night rain falling around them, blurring her eyes, beading in her hair and on his eyelashes.

—

listening through the air shaft

this was a really hard one to narrow down but I ultimately went with this but bc I love it for a culminating look at how beth and rio’s relationship has evolved throughout the fic and also bc a version of this scene was the first thing I wrote for the whole fic so it was fun to finally get there with everything in place behind it. I also just love it as a reference for the dichotomy of both beth and rio and also how complicated that is makes being around them for everyone else

They aren't even doing anything, just quietly working side by side, but there's a synchronicity to their movements, a quiet peace that makes Dean feel more like an intruder than anything else that's happened today, and he hates it.

It’s so far from the guy that’d broken into his home, beaten him up. Who’d looked at him with those terrifying, blank, shark eyes before casually shooting him in the chest like it was nothing right where they’re about to sit down and share a meal.

A guy, Dean suddenly realizes, he hasn’t seen any hint of in a long, long time. It’s not that he doesn’t think that part of him isn’t there, it’s just...it’s weird, is all, how completely he puts it away.

It reminds Dean of Beth, actually, now that he’s thinking about it.

God. They look so...so domestic. Sweet. Disarming in a way that completely undermines everything Dean thought he'd known about the guy and their whole...thing.

He just—he doesn't get it, what Beth sees in him.

—

now use both hands

idk I just like this bit let me live

"What are you—what service?"

He makes himself take the route through the showroom that brings him right past her, leaning in and softly brushing a lock of hair out of her face for the first time in longer than he can remember.

Her eyes flutter shut, and he feels absolutely nothing.

"Helping sad, lonely housewives get off once their husbands are done with them."

Her eyes snap open, and he makes himself look at her long enough to watch the hit land and the hurt bloom.

He's empty, untouchable, she's nothing to him.

Rio doesn't look back.

—

I'd give her a HA! And a HI-YA!

you can take my made up backstory for rio and mick from me when you pry it from my cold dead hands.

Mick had been there the first time Rio'd had to get his hands all the way dirty and had kept an eye on him when he'd gotten blackout drunk after, and Rio'd done the same for him. Every bloody, grimy step Rio'd climbed, Mick had been right there with him, watching his back all the way to the top.

The point is Rio's Mick's brother in every way that counts.

Mick'd seen him twisted up over business and twisted up over personal shit, but he's never seen him let both get twisted up like he had since that fuckin' weasel Boomer'd got his ass handed to him and Rio'd gotten curious about it.

—

as the world turns, the blunt burns

I pull this every time I have to pick a fav and I can’t even really explain it aside from I think I’m really, really funny and that’s enough

Beth suddenly sobers as much as she can when she feels like she's simultaneously floating away and sinking into the Earth and wipes her eyes. "Are you gonna get in trouble?"

"You're in the house, ain't you?" He's answering Beth but looking at Rio.

"Mick," Beth frantically tugs at his pant leg because apparently, he doesn't have all of the information. "We're in the yard."

"Yeah, Mick," Rio says, glaring. "You're in the yard."

Mick shrugs, and Beth realizes he isn't scared of Rio at all. That's a neat trick. How does he do that? Maybe he can teach her.

—

smoke, fire, it’s all going up

there are realistically many other better lines in this fic but this one never fails to make me laugh so it remains my fav.

"You- you-" She sputters at him, flailing around a little. "You were the one that started mailing me pieces of a dead body."

"You blocked my number." Rio snarls, which is not what he'd meant to say, and he hates that she trips him up.

"That is not a proportionate response!"

—

got a kiss (with your name on it)

it was this or the text exchange at the beginning of the fic bc I strongly believe established relationship brio would continually roast each other for their past dumbassery but the elizabeth kink won out

"Come here," Rio's voice is thick but insistent in a way that brings every cell of Beth's body to attention. She hooks her thumb over her bottom teeth and drags her lower lip a little, a gesture full of who me mock innocence, waiting for him to say-

"Elizabeth." There it is.

There's an endless amount of things that Beth finds ferociously, irresistibly sexy about Rio, but when he says her full name in that commanding tone? Even if she's pissed the fuck off and has no intention of doing what he wants, it gives her goosebumps.

—

say it’s all in my head (i remember what you said)

I will be real with y’all, I forget I wrote this fic a lot of the time hahahaha but! that means every time I’m reminded I go back and am like oh yeah! I like this! anyway there isn’t like, one specific but I really love most as much as I really like the tentative breathless nervousness and then also overwhelming so muchness and I like how this but captures both of those

For a single, breathless moment, she stands in the middle of the room, alone and terrified.

Then Rio wets his lips and comes towards her, moving with that languid grace she's never been able to look away from even before she had any idea why that could be.

All of the fear collapses like a dying star, sending a supernova of relief and molten heat zinging through her from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. Her head swims, and every cell in her body feels like it's leaning towards him- like she's made of magnets on a molecular level and he's the lodestone.

He gently pushes her bangs off of her forehead, slowly running his fingertip down the side of her face, leaving a trail of fire in its wake. He tilts his head towards hers and stops, going no further than halfway, leaving it up to her to close the distance.

She lets her eyes fall shut as she leans into him and tentatively touches her mouth to his for the first time.

—

the world is on fire (and no one can save me) / what a wicked game you played (to make me feel this way)

two for one!!! idk if either of these is my number one favorite line from either fic individually but I really like how they both play together. I like writing beth and rio pov and having them mirror each other’s narration both in thought and structure a lot bc I like thinking of them as two versions of the same

Beth checks her phone, nothing from Rhea, and sends a quick I'm here, text me when you're close, and I'll grab a table before wetting a paper towel and wiping away the last of her smeared mascara. With precise, brisk movements, she snaps open her bag and fishes out her compact, her lipstick, and her mascara; lining them up click, click, click on the tiny shelf below the mirror.

She can live with this; she has to live like this; she will live like this.

She flips open the compact and methodically dabs away the flush and pallor and shadows that are not grief, are not loss, are not anything other than shock and horror that she'd gone so far, that she'd lost control, that she'd killed a man (that man).

and

So what the fuck had he been doin' with Elizabeth fuckin' Boland, giving her chance after chance to cross the line? What the fuck was the point of a line if it might as well not be there at all? All because he liked her big blue eyes and the way she worked a tight sweater? Nah, that ain't him. That can't be him. That's the kind of shit that'll get you killed, and he's got three spent bullets in his pocket and a scar next to his heart if he ever needs the reminder again.

He shifts in the driver's seat, reaching into his pocket and fishing the bullets out. Lining them up on the dashboard with a definitive click, click, click. He looks past them to the brightly lit valet station. He's been parked in the back of the lot for ten minutes now, waiting for Rhea to give him the go sign. He ain't hiding, doesn't need to, Elizabeth ain't lookin' for him, he just wants to make sure he sees her before she sees him. Get a good look first, so he can size up the situation.

#good lord when did i write so much fic?????????#imagine if i hadn't onlly stuck w/ ch 12 of song #it would've taken me weeks to do this #tag games #my fic #shut up meg #gg related

18 notes · View notes

thewildomega · 4 years ago

Text

Second Chance Ch.12

Looking up at the giant ship with the blue whale as the figure head you tilted your own head. Ed had told you that his own main ship had been sunken during the war so you guessed this was one of his other ones. Seeing how big this one was made you wonder how large the actual Moby Dick had been. It seemed to be made up of mid-colored wood with the white and navy blue trim. The many sails were up since it was docked but the Whitebeard flag flew proudly at the top of the mast. Seeing all the ropes and stuff you could only imagine how many people it took to run a ship like this even more so with the paddlewheels on the back. Swinging your feet you looked back down to the drawing you had made of the ship. Humming along to the music as you added in details and such.

"Of course, why would she sit where it was safe..." he grumbled to himself as he finally caught sight of the woman who held his heart. Looking out to where she sat on he sighed. Somehow or another she had managed to get herself out onto one of the larger rocks in the sea that was the closest to the whaleship. She was just sitting there, her feet swinging idly and doing something that he couldn't really make out. "Y/n!" he called but she wouldn't look his way. Trying twice more she still didn't hear him. He wondered if the waves crashing against the rocks were the cause of it. Sighing out he started to jump across the rocks towards her. Finally getting to the one she was on he moved to stand right behind her, looking down to see she had her headphones in. 'Well that explained her not hearing him.' Seeing something in her lap he leaned forward some and peeked over her shoulder.

A sudden shadow coming over you made you knit your brows and look up to the sky, was it clouding up? Seeing a face you let out a yelp and lost hold of your book. Panicking when you thought it would fall into the water you saw a large hand come out to grab it just in time and sighed. Snatching your headphones from your ears you turned around to give him a small glare. "Stop sneaking up on me." you scowlded, smacking one of his large legs that was beside you.

Huffing out in amusement he smirked and looked down at her, noticing that when she was sitting she only came up to his knee. "You're the one that makes it so easy darling." When she stuck her tongue out at him in reply he chuckled and lifted her notebook. "What were you doing out here anyway?

Seeing him go to look through your notebook you quickly stood and moved to take it from him. "Just doodling and stuff."

Holding it out of her reach when he saw the slight blush on her cheeks he grinned. "Doodling what lass?"

"Just little things, now give it back." you grunted. Wrapping your arms around his large biceps you attempted to haul yourself up or pull his arm down but neither happened as he just held you in the air like you weighed nothing more than a bag of flour.

"I want to see what some of the other dreams are on your list." he smiled.

"No." Jumping up to try and grab it he only held it above his head, even further out of your reach.

Humming he rose one of his brows, "Why not?"

"B..because there mostly stupid things... most of them are places back in my world I wanted to see."

"A person's dreams are never stupid. Most may be places but not all so I'm still curious." Seeing her go to try and grab it again he moved out of the way and jumped to the next rock then the next and back towards shore.

"Edward Newgate! You give me back my notebook right now or so help me I will kick your old ass!" you yelled as you picked up your phone and headphones, jumping after him at a slower pace than he was going. Hearing his loud laugh you narrowed your eyes and growled. By the time you got back to shore he was gone and you were trying to figure out which way he went. "So much for acting your age." you grumbled. Feeling a pull in your chest you decided to follow it and ran as fast as you could.

He had been running for a short time before he slowed down into a walk, moving towards the small patch of trees and shrubs to hide behind. Sitting down in the grass he opened the small notebook up to the first page to see a quote,

A ship in port is safe, but that is not what ships are built for. Sail out to sea and do new things. ~Grace Hopper

Smiling at that he flipped through the first couple dozen pages to see small things written out, lists of things she needed to do with some things crossed off, recipes, dates to remember, a list of books. Opening the book to the next page he felt this one heavier than the other and opened it to see a small picture taped sideways to the page. Turning the book so he could see it better he saw it was a picture of a man and woman with five small children sitting all around them. Knitting his brows he looked to the couple and noticed they looked a lot like y/n. The picture looked a little old and he noticed it had a few blotches here and there. Looking back to the family he frowned, were they her parents? She said she didn't know where they were, that she hadn't ever met them, had she lied to him? Feeling the next page heavy as well he turned it and saw a pressed daffodil, written at the bottom was 'Ed'. She had wanted to remember the flowers he had given her. A few more little things went on for a while again until he came to a sketch. A sketch of the whaleship. She had done a pretty good job of drawing the ship out, she had even drew his flag beneath it. Still hung up on the fact that she may had lied to him he only felt his lip lift up a little. Going to the next section in the back of the book he found what he had been looking for.

Bucket List

Meet my parents. (Almost illegible)

Climb a mountain.

Fly in a plane.

Ride on a ship.

Canno the Smith River.

Make a friend.

See a shooting star.

Visit the Grand Canyon.

See the Niagara falls.

See the ocean.

Jump off a waterfall.

Take an art class.

Read The Great Gatsby.

Watch Dances with Wolves without falling asleep.

Go on a date.

Find a four leaf clover.

Touch a cloud.

See a shark/dolphin.

Get my first kiss.

WHAT?! She has never been kissed?! They had almost... last week. Wait, if she has never even been kissed has she never... Swallowing hard he rubbed his face. He would have to come back to that.

Mean something to someone.

That made him frown, his brows furrowing down and his heart ache.

Be apart of a family.

Sighing he dropped his head. He knew what that felt like, knew what it was like to have no one. Going to lift his head up to read again he was knocked to the ground suddenly, letting out a small 'ooff' on the way.

"Ha! Got you!" you hummed. Grabbing hold of your notebook you went to pull it from his hand, "I'll take that thank you..." When he still didn't let go you groaned but didn't get time to protest anymore before a large arm wrapped around you and pulled you to the ground beside him. "Eddddd." you whined. Trying to wiggle out of his hold to no avail you looked to see his face serious.

Laying beside her he held her still as he flipped to the page with the picture on it. He had to know, had to know if she had lied to him. "Who is this?" He asked in a firm voice. Seeing her face fall and her eyes quickly look away from the picture he frowned. "Are they your parents?"

"Yes." you whispered.

"You told me you had never met them." he said confused. He didn't want to seem angry at her but he also didn't like the idea of that she had lied to him either.

Hearing how deep his voice was you knit your brows, "I.. I haven't."

"Then how did you get their picture?" Seeing her frame curl inward some he took a deep breath, he would get nothing out of her if he didn't calm down. "I don't mean to sound angry lass I just... I don't understand."

Glancing back to the picture you felt a lump in your throat grow but quickly swallowed it down. "I looked them up..." when he knit his brows you licked your lips. "Remember that thing I was using, my laptop. I told you about the internet and how it had all this information on it." Seeing him nod you looked to him, "Well a few years ago I got up the courage to look up my parents. I didn't know anything but their names but after a while I managed to track them down. I don't know where they are exactly, just a general location. Anyways I saw that picture there and I got so happy, they were still together and I had brothers and sisters. I sent them a message telling them who I was and how I wanted to meet them, I told them how long I had been hoping to find them." Stopping to get ahold of your emotions you looked away from him, "It took a few days and I remember losing hope but then when I got home one night I had a message from them, my mother." taking a deep breath you looked down to his blond hair that was laying across his arm and onto yours some. "She told me that she was sorry but they had moved on from that time in their lives. They had started a new life with their children and they didn't want me to intrude on that. They apparently hadn't told any of my siblings about me and never wanted them to know. She said that if I really cared about them I would be happy for them and respect their wishes, that I would never try to contact them or anyone else in that family again." Feeling your lip try to tremble you bit down on it. "I printed out their picture because... well I don't really know why..." you huffed sadly. "I guess because even if they could forget me, that that didn't mean I could forget them."

He felt like such an asshole. She hadn't lied to him, she had never lied to him. She just didn't want to be reminded of more pain. His own parents had died, he hadn't been orphaned by choice, she had. He couldn't imagine ever doing that to a child. To make them feel what his lass felt, unwanted, even by her parents. The thought alone angered him and he wished he was back in her world just so he could hunt down all of the people that had ever hurt his darling.

Sniffling you took a deep breath and grabbed the book from him, closing it. Looking up into his warm yellow eyes you slowly felt your pain go away and a sense of ease come over you. Wanting to break this sad moment you grinned a little and stood, feeling his arm loosen to allow it this time. Stepping over him you looked down his wide, toned back and hummed, swinging your foot you turned it and kicked him square in his no doubt muscled ass.

Feeling her kick him, not hard enough to actually hurt but hard enough that he could feel it he felt his eyes go wide and snapped his eyes up to her. "Wha.."

"I told you I was going to kick your old ass." you huffed, crossing your arms over your chest.

"You sure you want to challenge Whitebeard darling?"

"Won't be much of a challenge with you loosing and all..." When the great Capitan only narrowed his eyes, a playful but dangerous look coming over his face you smiled and quickly ran for it. Only getting a few meters away before a light tremor shook the ground and put you off balance. Going to fall you were swept up and tossed over the massive man's shoulder like a bag of rice.

"What was that about me loosing?" He asked with a smirk.

"I was talking about swimming." you giggled but only heard him hum before laughing.

.........................

"What are you looking at hun?" Zella asked her husband who was looking down towards the valley with a soft smile on his face.

Chuckling lightly the phoenix smiled, "Nothing." Turning away from the playing man and woman by the trees, giving his pops some privacy.

............................................

Waking up suddenly he snapped his eyes open and stared at the ceiling of his bedroom. Something felt off, knowing that usually that feeling meant something involving his soulmate he got up from bed and quietly walked from the room. Seeing the bathroom door open he knew she wasn't in there. Making his way across the living room he looked down to the couch and found it empty. Quickly looking to the kitchen and dining room he saw them both empty as well and felt his brows lower. Snapping his eyes to the door he saw it unlocked, she had left the house. With a deep breath he made his way out to find her, letting his heart guide him to her.

Having woke up covered in a cold sweat and panting for air you shakingly stood from where you were sleeping and hurried outside. You didn't exactly know where you were going you just knew you had to walk, had to get away to clear your mind. Before long you had made your way down to the beach and sank down to sit in the cool sand. Pulling your knees up to your chest and hugging them you rested your chin on them and closed your eyes. Taking a deep breath you let it out in a long sigh. Thinking back to your dream you swallowed hard.

Sitting on the cold wooden floor in the middle of the dark room you breathed heavily and looked around, "Hello? Is anyone there?" No one answered at first and you licked your lips. Looking down you saw you wearing old threadbare clothes like the ones you wore when you were living on the streets for those two years. Moving to push yourself up to stand you were suddenly struck across the left cheek and fell back to the floor, your hand flying up to your burning face.

"Despicable girl."

Snapping your eyes up to the familiar female voice you saw your grandmother standing there in her usual red dress, a deep scowl on her wrinkled face. Shaking your head a little you turned to move away from her when you were stuck again, this time the hand a little larger, rougher.

"Worthless."

Your grandfather, a look of distaste in his eyes as he looked down his nose at you.

"You should have never been born." your grandmother snapped.

"No one wants her, she's so ugly."

Seeing your great aunt had joined them you swallowed hard.

"What a waste of life." Your cousin spoke.

"Stupid."

"Loser."

"...going to grow up to be a common harlot, just like her mother."

"Unsightly."

"Useless."

One by one more people crowded around you, striking you and calling out insults. Everytime you tried to get up you were hit back down to the floor until soon you could do nothing but curl up into a ball, your hands over your ears and your eyes shut tight as you tried to drown out what they were saying. When their voices got louder you felt tears fill your eyes and you started to scream.

"They're right you know."

Gasping you heard all of the other voices stop and opened your eyes to see them all gone. Turning your head you looked around the dark room until you saw him. Watching as he crouched down in front of you you stared up into those yellow eyes. Something wasn't right, why did they look so cold? Swallowing hard you parted your lips to speak, "E..ed..."

"They're right."

Furrowing your brows you licked your dry, cracked lips and started to shake your head. Before you could speak he started laughing.

"Did you really think I would ever want you?"

That wasn't his normal laugh, wasn't the one you had heard so many times before, the one that made your heartbeat a little harder in your chest. Feeling tears well up in your eyes you blinked and felt them roll down your burning cheeks.

"You're so pathetic. No one wants you, you don't mean anything to anyone, especially me." he huffed.

Feeling the lump in your throat burn you let out a little sob.

"Why would I want someone as ugly as you by my side?"

"P..plea..sssse ssstop..." you cried. Feeling him curl his finger under your chin and lift your eyes to his you looked up at him through your tears.

"I will never love you."

It felt like someone had stuck a knife straight through your heart. Feeling his finger slip from you, you dropped your head to the wooden floor and curled up as tight as possible as sobs wracked your body. You heard his deep chuckle and then the sound of his boots walking away before you were left alone in the cold darkness.

Feeling something wet land on your cheek you opened your heavy eyes and stared out at the sea, the moon reflecting off of the dark surface. Curling up tighter if possible you sniffled, another tear rolling down. It felt so real, all of it. The clenching in your heart as well. As much as you hated it you couldn't help but wonder if this was a warning of some kind. There was no doubt in your mind that you were falling for Edward, never in your life had you felt this connection with anyone, this longing, this happiness. But what if it was all too good to be true? What if he didn't feel the same? Would he grow tired of you soon as well? Would he throw you away like everyone else had? Then you would be alone again. You didn't want to be alone anymore. You didn't want to hurt anymore.

Looking out to the moonlit shore he saw her and started walking forward. What the hell was she doing out here? It was the middle of the night and she was in nothing but his damn shirt. Getting closer he went to call out for her but stopped when he saw the shining tears rolling down her cheeks. He had only seen her cry that once, when he had stopped that man from raping her. Just the sight alone made his heart ache. She looked so fragile to him in that moment with her body curled up as tight as she could, clad only in his button up shirt that was too big on her. Her hair was blowing wildly around her with tears rolling down her cheeks. She didn't look hurt to him, not physically but she was hurting that much was clear. Slowly walking over to her he saw her glossy eyes stay on the dark sea before snapping to him once he got close enough.

"E..ed..." your voice was nothing more than a broken whisper. Quickly remembering that you were crying you looked away when you saw him looking down at you with concern clear on his face. Wiping at your cheeks and eyes you mentally started cursing yourself for no doubt looking so incredibly pathetic. Here you were crying on the beach in the middle of the night, STUPID!

Not saying anything at first he crouched down beside her, placing his hand on her back. Hearing her start apologizing for waking him and telling him to go back to his home in a soft, saddened voice he furrowed his brows. When she still refused to look at him he tilted his head. "Lass, look at me."

His voice sounded so deep and low, you knew he wasn't asking. That was the voice of a captain giving an order, just maybe a little softer that he would have been with his crew. Screwing your eyes shut you tried to force away your previous emotions, not wanting to look weak.

"Y/n."

Swallowing hard at the way he said your name you slowly moved your eyes out from where you had hid them in your knees to look up at the giant of a man. You thought he might be angry, that he might be annoyed but that wasn't the case. Those weren't the cold eyes from your dream, those were warm and kind and caring. Just one look made you feel so much, his touch, his smell, his... everything. Never before had you felt so alive than you did when you were with him. How could one man, one person cause so many feelings inside of you? He made you want to smile, want to laugh and cry and... love. You loved him. YOU LOVED HIM! It was like someone had hit you with a ton of bricks and all too soon you were crying again. No, no you couldn't love him because if you loved him there was no going back. If you loved him and he didn't love you then it would break you. If you loved him and he tossed you away then it would kill you. Oh God it hurt, just the thought alone hurt, it hurt so bad.

Seeing her start crying again, her body curling up and her fingers dig into her arm he felt his heart throb. "What's wrong? Y/n, darling tell me what's wrong." he spoke in a deep voice, kneeling down to place both of his hands on her, trying to comfort her.

His touch was like a warm blanket and his voice a light shining at you from the darkness. "I'mmm afffraid." you cried without looking up at him. There were so many emotions hitting you all at once. Shame, embarrassment, fear, uncertainty, sure, delightled, doubtful...love."

Afraid. First thing that popped in his head was him, was she afraid of him? Many people were. He was sure he had never given her reason to be though, he was careful around her. "Of what, afraid of what?" She didn't answer him for sometime and he feared it was him but then she spoke one quiet word that made it all clear.

"Feeling."

He knew her past, knew what she had been through. The past was hard, it was for most and some never recovered from things that happened to them. It could make people bitter, angry and afraid. His lass had been hurt time and time again. She had been tossed aside, given away and never given the chance to develop any real relationships in her life. Everyone she had ever trusted had hurt her and so she had shut herself off. She didn't have any friends, didn't try and make friends because she was scared of being hurt again. Now though he assumed she was feeling the same thing as him and that scared her. Taking a deep breath he gently lifted her up into his arms, feeling her not even fight him. Holding her close he dipped his head down and closed his eyes, "I know you've been hurt before and this scares you but Y/n you have my word that I will never make you feel what they did. I will never leave you. I will never hurt you." he promised her in a low, deep voice.

You wanted to believe him, you really, really did but you were still afraid. Still unsure. People had made you promises before and never kept them, were his just empty words as well. Would he grow tired of you or change his mind?

Feeling her body remain tense he turned his face to her head, touching his lips and chin to her forehead. Letting out a sigh he stroked her thigh with his thumb. "There's nothing wrong with being afraid lass. Just means I'm going to have to work on making those fears go away. I'm going to spend the the rest of my days proving to you how wonderful you truly are."

"Wwwhy? Why would you... why do you c...care?" you asked in a broken cry.

Smiling he breathed in the scent of her hair, wrapping his arms around her to hold her close. "Because lass, I love you."

Gasping you opened your eyes, looking at the skin over his hard chest, feeling his heart thumping in your ear. A tear rolled down your cheek at his confession, the words you never thought you would hear anyone say to you. "Yo....uuu...mmmee?"

"Need me to say it again darling? I'll tell you everyday." he grinned. "I love you."

Fresh tears poured form your eyes but these were not from the sadness or loneliness you were so accustomed to crying about, no for the first time in your life, these were tears of pure joy.

He hadn't been expecting her arms to wrap around his neck, nor her face to nuzzle into his neck as she cried but he wouldn't complain. Wrapping his own arms around her he hugged her as tight as he could without crushing her.

Swallowing thickly you felt a burst of courage come over you and smiled, you couldn't exactly leave him hanging."I love you."

Smiling from ear to ear he turned his face to press a kiss to her head. "You really do know how to make this old man feel young again lass." he chuckled and heard her hum softly. When she nuzzled into his neck more, her arms still latched onto him with no signs of letting go he grinned and stood, holding her to him with one arm under her ass and the other over her back. Walking back to his home he carried her inside and locked the door. Passing by the couch he felt her head perk up some and grinned but said nothing as he walked back to his room... their room.

"Ed..."

"No more sleeping on the damn couch." he told her in a firm voice, moving into the dark room and over to the bed. Laying her down on the side closest to the wall he got in beside her and pulled the covers over the both of them. He could tell she was a little apprehensive so he got comfortable on his side, facing her, gently pushing her down to lay beside him. "Go ta sleep darling." he told her in a gentle voice.

With his arm wrapped around you, holding you to his chest you slowly relaxed, letting out a sigh. Closing your eyes you listened to the sound of his beating heart, felt the warmth of his body seep into yours.

Listening as her breathing turned deep, her body going limp against him he grinned softly. Placing a gentle kiss to her temple he felt her face nuzzle into his chest. "Goodnight my darlin'."

#Whitebeard #whitebeard one piece #one piece whitebeard #whitebeard x reader #edward newgate #feedback would be appreciated #edward newgate x reader #one piece #One Piece Fanfiction

50 notes · View notes