#my sister is fifteen years older than me and she is always protecting mom

[rosereign]

Getting to know my mom as an adult is a beautiful experience. She was very mentally ill, had addictions, and had severe past trauma when I was younger but now that she’s sober and on better medication I can see how truly wonderful she is. She’s always giving the shirt off her back to help her community. She may be feisty but she loves you. She always puts family first. Truly someone wonderful to get to know. I used to question why my dad stayed with her, but now I know.

[gryfflepuffinthetardis]

The Disappearance of Will Byers

"She was daring, she was dreamy. She was that cute little rebel that one never asked for but always wished for."

"Something is coming. Something hungry for blood." Twelve-year-old Mike Wheeler told his friends during the D&D campaign. "A shadow grows on the wall behind you, swallowing you in darkness. It is almost here."

"What is it?" Will Byers asked.

"What if it's the Demogorgon?" Dustin Henderson asked, anxiously and Will fell back in his chair, "Oh, Jesus, we're so screwed if it's the Demogorgon."

"It's not the Demogorgon." Lucas Sinclair insisted.

"An army of troglodytes charge into the chamber!" Mike exclaimed.

"Troglodytes?" Dustin smiled.

"Told you." Lucas chuckled and they all chuckled.

"Wait a minute," Mike said, softly. "Did you hear that? That... that sound? Boom... boom... BOOM!" He slammed his hand on the table for dramatic effect, something he picked up from Dustin's older sister. "That didn't come from the troglodytes. No, that... that came from something else." He slammed a figurine down, "The Demogorgon!" And the rest of the boys groaned.

"We're in deep shit!" Dustin exclaimed.

"Will, your action!" Mike shouted.

"I don't know!" Will cried.

"Fireball him!" Lucas advised.

"I'd have to roll a thirteen or higher!" Will pointed out.

"Too risky. Cast a protection spell." Dustin recommended.

"Don't be a pussy. Fireball him!" Lucas argued.

"Cast protection."

Mike slammed his hands on the table, "the Demogorgon is tired of your silly human bickering! It stomps towards you. BOOM!" Mike shouted.

"Fireball him!" Lucas cried.

"Another stomp, boom!"

"Cast protection."

"He roars in anger."

Their voices overlapped until Will rolled the dice, "Fireball!" The dice rolled off the table.

"Oh shit!"

"Where'd it go? Where is it?" Lucas asked.

"I don't know!" Will said.

"Is it a thirteen?" Dustin asked.

"I don't know."

"Where is it?"

"Oh my god."

Mike's mother, Karen started to shout for him, "Mike! Mike!"

"Can you find it?"

"No, I can't find it!"

Karen opened the door to the basement, "Mike!"

Mike looked up at her, "Mom, we're in the middle of a campaign!"

"You mean the end? Fifteen after." She left and Mike ran after her to plead for more time.

"Freaking idiot!" Lucas groaned.

"Oh, I got it!" Will exclaimed, finally finding the dice. "Does a seven count?"

"It was a seven? Did Mike see it?" Will shook his head. "Then it doesn't count."

Dustin gathered his stuff to head home when he picked up the pizza box, "Yo, hey guys. Does anyone want this?"

"No." They said.

Dustin headed up the stairs to Mike's sister, Nancy's room where she was on the phone with her best friend, Barb about a boy from school. Steve Harrington to be exact.

"Yeah. No, I don't think... yeah, he's cute. Steve. Steve's cute." Nancy said and Dustin bit his lip and narrowed his eyes. He wasn't a big fan of Steve and didn't see why his sister liked him so much. "Barb, no, I don't think he like-likes me. Barb, you're not..."

"Hey, Nancy." He called when she didn't notice him. She was a teenaged girl thinking about the most popular boy in school it'd probably be hours before she would notice him even with his large curly hair and adorkable smile. She looked over at one of her best friend's younger brother. "There's a slice left if you want it." He opened the box, "Sausage and pepperoni!"

Annoyed that he would dare interrupt her ultra-important phone call that she could easily have at school the next day, she told Barb through the phone, "Hold on." She walked to him with a sickly-sweet bratty in a teenage girl way smile and closed the door in his face.

They both knew if Nancy's other best friend and Dustin's sister were there, she'd smack Nancy upside the head so hard that her head would hit the wall for being so catty to her brother. Cassie Dare had a love for her brother that Nancy couldn't understand despite her having two younger siblings which was one more than Cassie had. Dustin was more than just a little brother to Cassie, he was her best friend. Nancy guessed that his rare genetic disorder did that as both her siblings were relatively normal health-wise, other than she was bewildered when she was told her mom was pregnant with Holly due to the fact that she had never seen anything resembling a spark between her parents.

He joined his best friends outside and told Mike, "There's something wrong with your sister."

"What are you talking about?" Mike asked.

Dustin headed to his bike, "She's got a stick up her butt."

"Yeah." Lucas agreed, "It's because she's been dating that douchebag, Steve Harrington."

"Yep, she's turning into a real jerk." Dustin nodded.

"She's always been a real jerk." Mike said like this was common knowledge.

"Nuh-uh, she used to be cool like my sister." Dustin said, "Like that time she dressed up as an elf and Cass dressed like a guardian dhampir for our Elder tree campaign."

"Four years ago!" Mike shouted as Dustin rode off on his bike.

"Just sayin'."

"At least, Cassie can balance time with us and the douchebag." Mike called, hoping his sister could hear him.

The party knew of Steve Harrington due to Dustin's sister, Cassie's friendship with Steve, but they didn't know him personally—how Cassie did. The real Steve. The one he tried to hide under a façade of douchebaggery.

Dustin was proud to say he had the coolest sibling in the party. She was badass, geeky, intelligent, and caring. She was sarcastic, mouthy, and loud like he was.

When they reached Lucas' house, he turned to his friend, "Good night, ladies."

"Kiss your mom 'night for me." Dustin teased and he turned to Will, "Race you back to my place? Winner gets a comic."

"Any comic?" Will asked.

"Yeah." Will took off, "Hey! Hey! I didn't say go!" Dustin shouted after him as he tried to catch up. "Get back here! I'm gonna kill you!"

"I'll take your X-Men 134!"

--

Cassandra Delphia "Cassie Dare" "Cassie" Henderson is wild, dangerous... insubordinate... Right here, folks. right here.

Cassie was in her room, dancing to Killer Queen by Queen from her boombox.

She had a love for the band that she shared with her father along with The Velvet Underground and Doctor Who and Bentleys and music. Her auburn hair bounced as she spun, dressed only in underwear and a long Queen shirt, and then... she gasped in pain as a headache formed as if she were trying to remember but worse, it was like something had happened elsewhere yet it still affected her, she stumbled back into her drawer, holding herself up with her elbows.

Her memory flashed images of children in hospital gowns dead with blood around them, blood ran out of her nose heavily which made her hand fly up to it, "Shit!" The images stopped as her knees buckled inwards and she fell down, grasping a hand to her head as she could hear a ringing sound in her ears until she heard a voice that grounded her.

A scream somewhat resembling a pterodactyl scream that told her that her little brother was home. "I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"

"I'LL TAKE YOUR X-MEN 134!" She heard Will Byer shout.

Dustin often forgot his key and as she had predicted there was a loud, furious, and rapid knocking at the front door screaming at the top of his lungs as if Dustin had been locked out for five hours, rather than five seconds, "CASSIE! OPEN THE GODDAMN DOOR BEFORE I FREEZE MY ASS OUT HERE! IT'S FUCKING FREEZING OUT HERE!" She unlocked the door before the neighbors started yelling at them for Dustin to shut up... again and threaten to call the police... again and actually call the police... again. Even without her brother's antics, her family was not the most loved in Hawkins due to her father. The auburn traumatized girl let her curly-haired brother in. "I lost my X-Men 134!" He complained.

"Yes, I think the whole neighborhood heard. Actually, I think all of Indiana and maybe some of Russia heard." She deadpanned as she shut and locked the door. "You hungry?"

"Nah, we ate pizza. I tried to offer Nancy some but she's a jerk now. Night, Cassie!" Dustin went into his room.

Cassie loved her brother more than anything, she had been four when he was born, and he immediately became the most important thing in her life for the rest of her life. She went to go to bed with the usual nightmares of the bloody corpses of those children.

--

In the morning, the phone rang and she got up from the table to answer. "Hello? You've reached the Henderson Household. This is Cassie Dare speaking." She said.

"Hi, Cassie. It's Joyce." Came Joyce's hoarse and worried voice.

"Hi, Joyce. Um, did you need something?" She asked into the phone.

"Will didn't happen to spend the night at your house, did he?" Joyce's voice asked nervously.

"Will? N-no. I heard him go by our house last night." Cassie said, getting a bad feeling in her chest. "Is-is he not home? Do you need me to come over?"

"No, I think maybe he just left early for-for school." Joyce stammered, "Thank you so much. Bye."

"Bye..." Then Joyce hung up and Cassie started to bite her lip as anxiety started in her. Will had been like a brother to her when she and Jonathan became best friends and more so when Dustin and he became friends. Will had actually been the one to bring Dustin into the party.

The boys biked their way to school as Mike informed them that Joyce, Will's mother called. Will wasn't there.

"His mom's probably right." Lucas reasoned, "he probably just went to class early."

"Yeah, he's always paranoid Gursky's gonna give him another pop quiz." Dustin said.

"How's Cassie?" Mike asked.

"Tried to pretend she didn't spend the night having nightmares." Dustin sighed, he had left earlier than her since she had a car and her driving honestly terrified him.

"Again?" Lucas asked.

"Give her a break, she was hospitalized by mysterious lab for three weeks." Dustin snapped at Lucas, "cooler than anything your sister's done, all she does is sass. Cassie is legitimately traumatized."

"How?" Lucas scoffed.

"DON'T YOU DARE BELITTLE HER TRAUMA!" Dustin suddenly scream, pointing his finger at a bewildered Lucas who was looking at him like, idiot!

"She tell you what it was about?" Mike asked, moving past this.

"No. I don't think she remembered but when I got to her room at two in the monring, she was nearly doubled over in pain from a migraine." Dustin said but before the boys could ask about it they were interrupted.

"Step right up, ladies and gentlemen." Troy, a fourteen-year-old bully exclaimed. "Step right up and get your tickets for the freak show. Who do you think would make more money in a freak show? Midnight, Frogface, or Toothless."

James pretended to think about it but let's be honest he had like two brain cells. If he actually did try to think, it'd probably cause him great exertion.

"I'd go with Toothless." He said, mimicking Dustin's lisp.

"Added bonus for his freak of a sister and your flamboyant father," Troy laughed.

"She is not a freak! She has genuine shock and trauma!" Dustin defended his sister, being as protective of her as she was of him, he also ignored the jab at his father, "And I've told you a million times, my teeth are coming in. It's called cleidocranial dysplasia."

"I told you a million times." James mocked.

"Do the arm thing," Troy demanded

"Do it, freak!" James demanded when Dustin hesitated, exasperatedly.

Dustin did the arm thing, pushing his shoulders moving forwards, being unusually close and his bones cracking, and the bullies groaned in delighted disgust.

"Gets me every time," Troy said and they pushed past the boys.

"You know maybe I should tell Cassie about them," Dustin said. "She'd kick their asses for that.”

"I think it's kind of cool." Mike tried to cheer Dustin up, "it's like you have superpowers or something. Like Mister Fantastic."

"Yeah, except I can't fight evil with it," Dustin said as the boy headed inside. "The best I got is a traumatized sister who thinks she's modern female Robin Hood."

"Wouldn't that still just be Robin Hood?" Mike asked.

--

Ignoring the anxiety that Joyce had given her, Cassie drove her father's Bentley, blaring Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody. She was trying to drown out noises she kept hearing panicked breathing, screaming, whimpering, electricity sparking, thudding, and then bones cracking.

"Get the intruder!"

"No..." A young girl's voice said with the clear intent to protect.

She suddenly pulled herself back to reality when a horn honked and Cassie remembered, oh my god, I'm driving! She shook her head to find that miraculously she hadn't crashed but nearly did because she was at the turn, she turned into the high school parking lot. She could’ve changed so many lives, she shouldn’t even be driving, she was fifteen, granted her birthday was in a few days but still.

She had been sitting in her car in the High School parking for a full ten minutes, just staring at her left hand that clutched her steering wheel, tightly as she stared at her spinner rings her dad had given to her when her hyperactive symptoms started to appear. She had a mental disorder that was passed down from her father that made her naturally hyperactive and absent-minded, spinning her spin rings helped her focus somewhat. She had a large collection of spinner rings that changed along with her clothes everyday. Today, she had a ring with engravings of flowers and leaves and over it was a snake with a sodalite gem attached to it, a shooting star spinner ring, another snake spinner ring, a crown spinner ring, and yet another snake spinner ring.

Behind her eyes, she saw those children and then blood.

"Do not... worry..." A girl's voice said, softly.

Then she saw her father sobbing again, she remembered the days that followed, his ambition to find out what happened had been replaced by deep depression as he drank himself to oblivion and became very clingy of his daughter as if he were afraid someone was going to take her away from her.

Slam! Cassie jumped when Steve Harrington slammed his hand, cheerfully on the hood of her car. "Hey, Henderson!" She looked at him and the panic faded from her brown eyes. His brown eyes furrowed with worry, "You okay?"

She put on a fake smile, her mask, but Steve had always been able to see through it. He gave her a look, "Cassie."

She got out of her car and closed it and looked at him, "I'm fine, Steve."

He wasn't buying it, so he cupped her face, making her breath hitch in her throat, "Cassandra, you can tell me anything, you know that, right?" His King Steve façade cracked and her Steve shined through. The Steve she loved.

"Yeah, of course." She cleared her throat and stepped back , "Don't you have a note to put in Nancy's locker." She moved past him and he watched her leave.

"Right, Nancy." He whispered to himself.

She turned as she walked backwards, "And don't call me Cassandra, Harrington."

"Whatever you say, Henderson."

She stopped half-way across the parking lot and looked at the middle school. She could see Dustin, Lucas, and Mike talking to two older boys. She could spot her brother from a mile away, only one person in Hawkins had hair like that... but no Will. Something didn't feel right. She tilted her head, what was Dustin doing? The boys walked away and then Dustin was shouting at Lucas.

She was brought back to reality when a car honked and she looked to see Tommy H. and Carol in Tommy's car or as Cassie called it: The Douche-Mobile.

"MOVE, BITCH!" Carol shouted at her as Tommy H. gave her the middle finger as if she were the constant annoyance just for existing (none the less every time she opened her mouth).

She gave him a false smile and flipped them off with both her hands before walking to the school as Steve's gaze lingered on her.

She caught up with Barb and Nancy as Barb asked the dreamy teen, "So, did he call?"

"Keep your voice down," Nancy said as if she thought people were trying to overhear. Like they weren't totally invested in their lives up until the next scandal broke to distract themselves from said lives.

"Did he?" Barb asked.

"I told you. It's not like that. Okay, I mean yes, he likes me, but not like that." She said, clearly just wanting to overcomplicate things for drama sakes as Cassie rolled her eyes and pointed into her mouth, miming retching but neither girl noticed it.

"Or you could just be his next notch under his belt." Cassie said, bluntly, making Nancy's dreamy smile falter.

She stopped when they reached her locker and she started to unlock it, "we just... made out a couple times."

"'We just... made out a couple times.'" Barb mocked as Cassie rolled her eyes once out of Nancy's sight, "Nance, seriously, you're gonna be so cool now, it's ridiculous."

"No, I'm not." Nancy said, modestly but she fully agreed with her and it was already starting to go to her head, making Cassie want to bang her head against the locket door.

"You better still hang out with me, that's all I'm saying. If you become friends with Tommy H. or Carol—"

"Oh gross." Nancy scoffed.

"Back me up here, Cass," Barb said, nudging the brunette back to reality.

"Oh yeah, Carol and Tommy are total jackasses." She nodded and then pointed at Nancy, nearly hitting her in the nose as the blue-eyed girl crossed her eyes to look at it. "You become like them, and I will hurt you. Slowly and painfully. And then I bury your body and nobody will find it." She gave Nancy a sweet but psychopathic smile.

This was considered normal for Cassie Dare Henderson.

"Speak of the devil," Barb hummed, nodding past them.

Cassie then turned to see Steve leaning against his locker looking at her—no, looking at Nancy, surely, he had been looking at Nancy. Steve blushed when he saw that she was looking at him and then walked away.

--

Steve hadn't been looking at Nancy, he had meant to but got distracted by his beautiful best friend. Cassie had light brown hair that was just one the cusp between brunette and auburn, today it was in a half-fishtail braid, she was wearing a gold and black shirt with a clock on it and an Alice in Wonderland quote on it: "The hurrier I go, the behinder I get", a gold and black plaid skirt, black tights, and black boots with gold buckles.

Steve hadn't been looking at Nancy, he had meant to but got distracted by his beautiful best friend. Cassie had light brown hair that was just one the cusp between brunette and auburn, today it was in a half-fishtail braid, she was wearing a black hooded leather jacket over a bronze and black shirt that said: "Something wicked this way comes" with a skull with a knife in it under the writing, a bronze and black plaid skirt, black ripped tights, and black boots with bronze buckles. She wore colorful mixtape ear cuffs that didn't quite match her outfit but she considered another shout-out to her father other than the crown and snake spinner rings.

Then Cassie turned and saw him, he flinched, standing up straight and blushing, embarrassed to be caught staring at his best friend who then waved at him in a friendly manner.

WAVE! SMILE! DO SOMETHING, YOU IDIOT! He mentally screamed at himself, instead of doing either of those things, he stiffly turned and headed for the bathroom before Cassie started to brood, depressedly.

Real smooth, Harrington. His dad's overly critical voice sassed in his head.

--

Cassie was not popular despite her best friend being Steve Harrington, the most popular boy in school. In fact, she was the opposite, she was in Hellfire club with Eddie "the freak" Munson, and she dressed like and had the personality of a boy in the early eighties. She swore some people ran away from her.

Cassie was also painfully aware that her and Steve's relationship had been becoming increasingly strained with every year since he entered high school when he first became popular when he started to get tall and confident which coincided around when he adopted his douchebag attitude.

He started hanging out with the likes of Tommy H. and Carol who were the most toxic people she had ever had the displeasure of meeting in her entire almost-sixteen years of life. Literally thirty seconds after Steve introduced them, Cassie wanted nothing more than to punch them in the face until she heard something break.

She couldn't help but think that his popularity was more important than her. She honestly didn't see why he didn't break it off with her already, considering that Tommy H., Carol, Nicole, and the other sheep whose names Cassie had absolutely no interest in even attempting on learning, have straight up outright told her that if it wasn't for her, Steve would be even more popular.

She couldn't help but think that his popularity was more important than her but she couldn't bring herself to break it off. He was too important to her. Part of her was convinced the only reason he wasn't breaking up their friendship was because he felt sorry for her.

"Are you okay?" Nancy asked, noticing that Cassie seemed a bit distracted. Well, more so than usual.

"Did Joyce call your place?" She asked her.

"What do you mean?" Nancy asked, frowning at this seemingly random question and how they weren't talking about her love life anymore, because heaven forbid, her nonexistent love life and social status not be the only subject of importance.

"She called asking about Will. I guess he didn't come home last night." She confessed.

"She did call but I'm sure he's fine." Nancy shrugged. "Nothing ever really happens here..." She caught herself and looked at Cassie who just stared at her blankly for a long, long time. This went on for a while. With Cassie living Nancy a scathing, scrutinizing glare as Nancy awkwardly avoided eye contact, uncomfortable.

"So when are you going out with Steve again?" Barb asked, bringing them back to the original subject.

"I'm telling you guys, it was a one-time..." Barb gave her a look as Nancy opened her locker, "two-time thing." Nancy picked up a note in her locker with messy scribbling that Cassie recognized as her best friend's. There was deep jealousy brewing in her but she kept it quiet, which was rare for a Henderson. Her friendship with Steve and Nancy was too important to her.

"You were saying?" Barb asked.

--

Steve pushed Nancy against the bathroom wall as they made out before trailing his kisses to her jaw.

"Steve..." Nancy breathed.

"Hmm?" He hummed, distractedly.

"I need to go."

"In a minute." He mumbled against her skin.

The bell rang and Nancy glanced at her watch when Steve went back to her lips. "Steve... I really, like... Seriously, I have to go." Nancy said in between kisses before finally pulling away.

"Wait, wait, wait." Steve said, picking up her bookbag before she could and stepping to the other side of the bathroom. "Let's... let's do something tonight, yeah?"

"Uh... I can't. I have to study for Kaminsky's test."

"Right. Cassie told me." He nodded, the beautiful smile of his best friend flashing behind his eyes before directing his attention back to the genius brunette in front of him, mentally scolding himself. "Come on, what's your GPA again? Three-point-nine-nine-nine."

"Kaminsky's tests are impossible." Nancy said, reaching for her bookbag.

"Well, then just let me help." Steve tried, continuing to keep the bookbag away from her, teasingly.

"You failed chem." Nancy remembered as Cassie had told her.

"Damn it, Cassie." Steve cursed before during his charisma back on, "I got a C-minus."

"Well, in that case..." Nancy teased.

"So I'll be over around, say, like eight?" Steve suggested.

"Are you crazy? My mom would not—" Nancy protested.

"I'll climb through your window. She won't even know I'm there. I'm stealthy, like a ninja." Steve said, knowing if Cassie was there, she'd laugh loudly at this. While they had always been "partners in crime", Cassie was the stealthier one while he was always the clumsy one who she always took the fall for so he would not get in trouble with his much more strict yet more neglectful parents and as per her rebel morals passed down to her from her father.

"You are crazy." Nancy said.

"Come on, Cassie and I sneak into places all the time."

"You nearly get arrested every time." Nancy reminded him and tried to walk past him.

"Damn it, Cassie." He cursed and turned to her, "Wait, wait, wait. Just... okay, forget about that. We can just... we can just, like, chill in my car."

"Oh, yeah, who was the last girl you did that with?" Nancy asked, teasing but Steve answered seriously.

"Cassie." Steve said with genuine honesty and innocence, before changing the subject before Nancy asked him about his relationship with Cassie as he could tell she was about to do. Most girls were put off from his more than close relationship with Cassie, in fact he spent more time than necessary convincing girls that they weren't dating, no matter how much he wanted to. "We can find a nice quiet place to park, and..."

"Steve... I have to study. I'm not kidding." Nancy said, seriously.

"Well, why do you think I want it to be nice and quiet?" He said, allowing his true self to shine through just a little bit but it was still closed off as he was playing it off as charismatic.

Nancy smiled, "you're an idiot, Steve Harrington." She turned to leave but turned around at the last moment, "meet me at Dearborn and Maple at eight. To study." Then she left.

Steve smiled as the bell rang and he picked up his bookbag and sighed, "I gotta talk to Cassie about keeping my reputation in tact." He mumbled to himself and walked off, ignoring how just saying her name made him smile.

--

Cassie had homeroom with Jonathan but when she got there, he wasn't there. No Will. No Jonathan. A worried Joyce. Not a good mix. It was like when she had first come back from being missing and there were still hints of the anxiety it had caused Pan.

"Cassie?" Barb asked as Nancy came in. "You okay?

Cassie shook her head, faked a smile, and said, "Yeah. I'm fine."

--

Throughout the entire school day, she had this constant nagging feeling that something was wrong.

"HENDERSON!" Coach Johnson screamed in her face, practically showering her in spit and bad breath as she just gave him a bored and annoyed look like, how dare you interrupt my bored musing during your class. "Am I boring you?"

"Yeah actually." She deadpanned, making the class laugh, the only one she really registered was Steve's. "Do you mind?"

"You're doing free throws for the rest of the class!" He growled.

"Oh no. Free throws. This must be hell." She muttered, sarcastically and got up and walk at a drolly pace towards the basketballs as Steve hid his smile with his hand, watching her with loving eyes.

She spent the rest of the class, throwing basketballs into the hoop with better accuracy than Coach Johnson, Tommy H., and Carol had wanted.

"Looking good, Henderson!" Steve shouted, teasingly.

"You wish, Harrington!" She shouted back, turning to him, her braid flying as she turned to look at him. She turned but as she turned her vision flashed to seeing the basketball hit the backboard, flying back, and hitting her in the face, and then to another vision of it hitting the backboard, flying back and missing her.

Then she was back and the ball left her hands, hitting the backboard as both Steve and the vision had distracted her, it hit the backboard, bounced back, and too startled to move it smacked her in the head and knocked her down flat on her back.

Tommy H. and Carol laughed loudly as Steve cursed and ran to her side as she laid flat on the floor, sprawled out, her vision out of focus.

"Shit, Henderson!" He breathed, concernedly.

Cassie tried to lift her head, but it caused such throbbing that she dropped it, hissing in pain. She heard the girl's voice again along with her twelve-year-old voice.

"Name?"

"C-Cassie Dare."

"Come from outside?" The girl didn't seem to have a basic education given how she spoke.

"Yeah, yeah, my friend, he dared me to break in."

"Friend? What is friend?"

"And then there was this-this light and, oh shit, my head, my head hurts."

"Do not worry..."

"Cass, Cass, can you hear me?" Steve asked, frantically, pleadingly.

"Oh, my head." She groaned, sitting up and then her eyes landed on something bizarre. A ginormous snake morphing into the appearance of her father with black wings. "The fuck?"

"Shit, your nose." Steve said as Cassie felt blood rush out and when she looked back the oddity was gone.

"Gross." Tommy H. said and Steve glared at him like, I will hurt you.

"Shit, let me take you to the nurse." Steve said.

"No, you can't miss class." She groaned, her hazel eyes meeting his brown ones as she lowered her voice, "you can't afford it and you need to graduate to your senior year."

"I'll take her." Eddie Munson said, "Give me the excuse of leaving." Steve helped her up while giving Eddie a side-glare and letting him take her away as Steve continued to glare after him.

--

Somehow she was deemed as fine and was returned back to class. After school, she walked through the halls of the school to leave in a sort of daze but in a hurry to get to Dustin until she felt a hand land on her shoulder and she looked up, her eyes connecting with a familiar brown pair.

"Cassie?" Steve asked, concerningly. His true interior cracking through the popular douchebag exterior. "Are you okay?"

She blinked hard and shook her head and faked a smile, "Yeah, I'm fine."

Steve gave her a look like, that doesn't work on me. "Cassie, is this about... your missing time."

"Steve, I'm fine." She said, shortly at his oversensitive tone and pushed past him, somewhat coldly and ran to the middle school and she stopped when she saw a cop car there and saw Hopper and Callahan getting out.

"Shit." She muttered and ran to them. "Hopper!" She shouted, she literally hopped to a stop in front of them and said, "what's going on?"

--

Cassie sat with the boys as they all started talking at once, trying to explain how Will takes Mirkwood.

"Okay. Okay." Hopper tried to quiet them down.

"Boys!" Cassie shouted, and they quieted down, knowing better than to argue with her.

"Okay. One at a time, all right? You." Hopper gestured at Mike. "You said he takes what?"

"Mirkwood," Mike repeated.

"Mirkwood?" Hopper asked.

"Mirkwood." Cassie confirmed with a head nod and a casual one-shoulder shrug.

"Have you ever heard of Mirkwood?" Hopper asked Callahan.

"I have not. That sounds made up to me." Callahan told him.

"All words are made up." Cassie pointed out in a deadpan tone—the kind she usually had when dealing with Callahan as she gave him a smug smile.

"No, it's from Lord of the Rings," Lucas explained.

"Well, The Hobbit." The Henderson siblings said in unison.

"It doesn't matter." Lucas snapped.

"He asked!" Dustin argued.

"'He asked'!" Lucas mocked.

"Shut the hell up, Lucas!" Cassie argued as their voices started to overlap again.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Hopper spoke above them, "What'd I just say? One at a damn time." They quieted down as the Henderson siblings crossed their arms in an identical pouty manner. He then pointed at Cassie as she was the oldest. "You. What is Mirkwood?"

Cassie un-pouted and explained, "Mirkwood, it's a real road. It's just the name that's made up. It's where Cornwallis and Kerley meet."

"Yeah, all right, I think I know that—" Hopper mumbled to Callahan.

"We can show you if you want." Cassie offered, "My car's just across the street."

"I said that I know it!" Hopper said with an exasperated tone.

"But we can help look." Cassie said and she and the boys started to agree all at once, eager to find their friend.

"No, after school, you are all to go home. Immediately." Hopper demanded, "That means no biking around, looking for your friend, no investigating, no nonsense. This isn't some Lord of the Rings book."

"The Hobbit." Dustin corrected.

"Shut up!" Lucas said went to smack him, but Cassie grabbed his arm in a tight grip and glared at him with a death glare he was all but too familiar with, like, if you want to keep that hand, you better rethink that move, Ranger Lucas with the mere weapon of a slingshot?

"Hey, let him go." Hopper said, and Cassie let go as Lucas pulled his arm back. "Do I make myself clear?" Hopper stood up and then repeated, "Do I make myself... clear?"

The boys mumbled in confirmation while Cassie gave him a sarcastic thumbs up and smile before flipping her hand and giving him the finger with a very fake, sarcastic smile.

--

Cassie went back to the school to inform the principal why Jonathan won't be coming to his classes the next few days, she informed Dustin to wait in the car and if he wasn't when she got back she would hunt him down and drag him home by tying him to the top of her Bentley to which he gave her the middle finger. One could only imagine what it would be like when he entered high school with her.

That was often a thought that Steve had and hoped he wouldn't be held back to be around that all the time.

She walked out of the office when she heard footsteps approaching at a fast pace.

She spun around, an instinct of fear shooting through her, only to see that it was Steve approaching her, "Steve, what are you still doing here?"

"Basketball practice. Where were you?" He asked, frowning in concern hoping their little spat hadn’t made her mad at him.

She looked around, slightly overwhelmed at the moment as she stammered, simultaneously trying to answer Steve, "I, uh... um... I..."

"Oh, hey, Cass." He said, gently, walking to her and grasping her shoulder and cheek gently. “You can tell me anything; I’ll always be here for you.” His touch made her feel like all her anxieties just melted away as her eyes met his.

"Will's missing." She said, Steve looked at her, trying to remember who Will was, "Will Byers? Jonathan Byers' brother."

Only then it seemed to click. "Oh, well, I'm sure he's fine. Is Dustin okay? Are you okay?" Her heart warmed at his genuine concern.

"We're dealing." She managed a smile, but he saw right through that. He always had that talent; he knew when she was lying.

"You know if you need to talk..."

"Why would I?" She interrupted, defensively, giving him an icy look.

"Well, you know... It's just... the last time someone went missing..." He stammered.

"Yeah, well I'm fine now, aren't I?" She said, sharply, "I gotta go drive Dustin home, he's in the car and you know how impatient he is."

"Yeah." Steve didn't spend much time with Dustin but knew he could be very impatient.

They walked out and he said, "Hey, maybe we could do a movie night, say tomorrow? Maybe a double-feature. Maybe, Halloween and Psycho? And uh, that new horror movie will be coming out the eighteenth? Sleepaway Camp."

"I-I heard that it's problematic." Cassie noted, shifting her eyes away from Steve uncomfortably.

"From who?"

"My dad." She said, she didn't discuss her dad too much due to... situations. "So, Psycho for the psycho." She teased.

"No. Of course not. I don't think you're..." Steve became both flustered and blushed.

"Cool it, Steve." She pushed him, playfully, "I was just teasing."

"CASSIE! STOP FLIRTING WITH THAT HARRINGTON DOUCHEBAG AND GET YOUR ASS BACK IN THE CAR BEFORE I DRIVE MYSELF HOME!" A pterodactyl-sounding voice screamed that could only be her little brother as her car horn honked longer than necessary.

Cassie closed her eyes in embarrassment as her cheeks burned and reddened as Steve rubbed the back of his neck and muttered a goodbye to Steve and ran to the car, "I'm going to kill you!" She shouted at him and she saw Dustin in the driver's seat, "MOVE YOUR ASS!" She pushed him to the passenger's seat with her cheeks burning with embarrassment.

"The only way I could drive worse than you is if I made the car explode." He shouted back at her.

"You be quiet before I tie you to the roof! We're going straight home!" She shouted, pointing at him as Steve watched from the distance, still embarrassed.

"Why because I embarrassed you in front of Steve!" Dustin said, loudly—no, scratched that—screamed very loudly.

"Shut up!" Cassie hissed and got into the car and slammed the door and drove off, speeding past Steve with her cheeks flaring; she blinked her eyes and took some deep breaths, mentally cursing her younger brother as he loudly and verbally cursed her driving.

Steve watched her Bentley speed off and he sighed, smiling slightly before heading to his own car.

--

At the Wheeler house, Nancy had little to no sympathy to what was going on with Will's disappearance.

"We should be out there right now. We should be helping look for him." Mike begged.

"We've been over this, Mike. The chief says—" Karen Wheeler started.

"I don't care what the chief said!" Mike snapped.

"Michael!" Karen scolded.

"We have to do something. Will could be in danger."

"Cassie wasn't." Ted said, distractedly and Nancy finally looked up. Apparently being emotionally checked out was a family trait.

"She was exposed to dangerous chemicals and was hospital-bound for three weeks, dad!" Mike shouted at his father. "I'd call that 'in danger'!"

Karen didn't scold her son that time as she agreed with him but she turned to her son and said, "more reason to stay put."

"Mom!" Mike whined.

"End of discussion." Karen said, sternly. She looked at her husband who was about as useful in parenting as the drink he was drinking now.

Nancy decided that now was the best time to ask, trying to lie her way out of the house, for the very first time, "So... me and Barb are gonna study at her house tonight. That's cool, right?" Though she wasn't really looking for a "no".

"No, not cool."

"What? Why not?" Nancy demanded as if she couldn't possibly fathom why because it wasn't like a boy she had known for more than half her life was missing or anything.

"Why do you think?" Karen asked, "Am I speaking Chinese in this house? Until we know Will is okay, no one leaves."

The look on Nancy's face would make you think that it was the end of the world. "This is such bullshit!" Nancy cursed.

"Language." Ted scolded.

"So we're under house arrest?" Nancy scoffed, ignoring her father. "Just because Mike's friend got lose on the way home from..."

"Wait, this is Will's fault?" Mike scoffed at his sister.

"Nancy, take that back." Karen demanded.

"No!" Nancy said like she didn't think she was out of line. If Cassie were here, Nancy would have a broken nose.

"You're just pissed off 'cause you wanna hang out with Steve." Mike correctly accused.

Nancy glared at her brother, knowing that Cassie or Dustin most likely told Mike.

"Steve?" Her father asked.

"Steve who?" Karen asked.

"Steve Harrington, her new boyfriend!" Mike answered.

"You are such a douchebag, Mike!" Nancy whined like this was honestly the worst thing that had ever happened to her.

"Language!" Ted scolded.

"More of a douchebag than dating your best friend's boy?" Mike spat back. Anyone with eyes could tell that Steve and Cassie were in love with each other, guess Nancy was just stupid.

Nancy just scoffed and stormed off. "Nancy, come back." Karen called but Nancy ignored her, "come back!" She turned to her youngest, Holly, "it's okay. It's okay, Holly. Here, have some juice."

"You see, Michael? You see what happens?" Ted asked though no one knew to what he was referring to as it felt like he trailed off mid-sentence.

"WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WHAT!?" Mike shouted, "I'm the only one acting normal here! I'm the only one that cares about Will!"

Karen looked at her husband as he vaguely responded, "that is really unfair, son. We care." He couldn't even care enough to stop eating.

Mike slammed his hands down and stormed off.

"Mike!" Karen called.

"Let him go." Ted said.

Karen turned, glaring at her husband, "I hope you're enjoying your chicken, Ted." She snapped.

"What did I do?" Ted asked as Karen picked up Holly and stormed off. "What did I do!?" Grade-A parenting, Ted.

--

Cassie was on her bed, talking to her father on her Tardis table phone and for some reason she wanted to break Nancy Wheeler's nose for being a bitch.

"No, daddy, no one's seen him." She shook her head.

"Do you need me to drive down?" He asked, concernedly, fearing that Will’s disappearance may have had something to do with what he had found out and feared for his children’s lives.

"No, I don't think mom would appreciate that." He said.

"Right, because I cheated on her." He said, not loving what he had done.

"That and she doesn't exactly approve of your... life choices." Cassie rolled her eyes and then her walkie-talkie crackled to life with static. "One sec, dad." She rested the phone against her shoulder.

"Dustin, do you copy? Over." Mike's voice said.

"Yeah, I copy. Over." Her little brother's voice said.

"We're heading over to Mirkwood to look for Will. Over."

"Are you crazy? What if we get vanished too? Over."

"Don't be a baby!" Lucas said.

Out of all of her brother's friends, Lucas got on her nerves the most which how critical and skeptical he was.

"We are looking for Will. Period. He'd do the same for us. Over."

"Fine." Dustin groaned.

"Uh, daddy, I gotta make sure Dustin doesn't get vanished."

"Ri-right, be safe. I love you." Pan said, knowing that Cassie could defend herself given that he taught her to the best of his abilities.

"Love you too. Bye." She said and hung up the phone and picked up the walkie-talkie and said, "Did you boys actually think you could get away with this?"

"We've been caught!" Mike panicked, "Retreat! Retreat!"

"I'm coming with you all." She said. "Over."

"Why?"

"Because I'm not letting my little brother get vanished." She said, sternly. "I don't remember much of what it was like to be vanished but I know it wasn't fun." There was silence she knew they were cursing at her, she could hear Dustin's curses through the wall, "Yeah. I played the 'went missing' card. Now get over it, you little shits."

She pulled her blue raincoat and blue beanie and grabbed two of her pocketknives and two of her guns that her father had gotten her as he had taught her how to defend herself from a young age. She went to Dustin's room to find him halfway out the window.

"Uh..." He said, looking at her.

"Need some help there, buddy?" She teased and went to help him.

"Shouldn't you be telling to stay home, like a responsible older sister?" Dustin asked, not sure if he should be upset about this or not.

Cassie stared at him for a full ten seconds before breaking into laughter at this, "I am not a responsible older sister. I have a record. I have more pocketknives, guns, and other weapons than you could imagine." Then she gestured with her hand, "let's go." She walked out his room.

"Are you a secret psychopath?" Dustin asked before following but she didn't answer.

--

In Indianapolis, Pan stared at his phone (identical to his daughter's) for a long, long time as he bounced his leg with his hand tugging at his auburn hair but falling over his face. He hit the back of his head against the chair.

“Pan?” His bedmate for the night called, a woman named Sally or Sandy or something.

“Uh, rain check, darling. Don’t think I’m in the mood for tonight.” He called back to her and looked back at the phone. He murmured out, “Jesus, Cassie. What are you getting yourself into?"

The things he learned that night still haunted him but what haunted him even more was that he just left his children there, unaware. He and Dustin weren’t as close as he was to Cassie, but he still loved them. The most terrifying thing to him was something happening to either of them.

“Please.” He murmured, praying to whatever could be listening, “please, just let them be safe. Keep them safe. At least, give me that.”

--

She picked the boys up despite their protests only agreeing after she said threatened the run them over which they knew was a real possibility because she was not a good driver.

"You don't even have a driver's license!" Dustin shouted when she drove off from picking up Lucas.

"I turn sixteen in four days!" She shouted back at him as Lucas rolled his eyes.

When she picked up Mike, she heard a small noise and turned to see Steve trying to climb up the house to get to Nancy's window. He looked at them innocently, trying to play cool, like this was a totally normal thing to do and Mike rolled his eyes. Cassie stared at him for a long, long time before pushing Mike into the car, which triggered Dustin to complain loudly which entailed a long string of loud curse words.

She walked backwards to the front of her car, still looking at Steve who gave her an awkward wave. Anger stewed in her and she felt ashamed for feeling that way. She just gave him the middle finger and slid into the driver's seat and drove off as Steve blinked in confusion at her harshness.

Steve watched her until her car was gone before continuing to noisily climb up the house to Nancy's room. He tapped on her window, still thinking about Cassie. Nancy looked at him and he gestured for her to let him in.

"What are you doing here?" She whispered, "I told you on the phone I'm under house arrest now." Apparently, she still felt no guilt over blaming Will for disrupting her social life.

"I figured we'd just study here." Steve shrugged.

"No. No way." Nancy hissed.

"Oh, come on. I can't have you failing this test." Steve said and clumsily and nosily climbed in as he continued to speak, "so just... bear with me." The window rattled, "oh shit, shit, shit." He turned to Nancy, "what'd I tell you? Ninja."

"I thought you and Cass were 'partners-in-crime'." Nancy narrowed her eyes at him.

"If I'm being perfectly honest, she does most of the breaking and entering." Steve said and he flashed back to that dare and how terrible he had felt. How bad he still felt. She had almost died because of him.

"Steve?" Nancy asked, noticing the distant look in his eyes.

"I'm fine. She's fine now." He muttered and then gestured to her notecards, "so... studying?"

--

The party plus Cassie finally got to Mirkwood with the boys complaining about Cassie's driving. "I think my entire life just flashed before my eyes." Dustin groaned as he got out of the car. He hated his sister's driving.

Cassie rolled her eyes as she got out, she took her brother's hat, put it on her head and ruffled his hair. "Drama Queen." She said.

"You guys, you feel that?" Dustin said, looking up at the sky and a raindrop fell in his face, making him blink and Cassie smiled at how adorable her brother was. "I think maybe we should go back."

"No. We're not going back. Just stay close." Mike said, "come on. Just stay on channel six. Don't do anything stupid."

"Yeah, Lucas!" Cassie said and they headed into the woods, making Lucas scoff.

"Give me that back!" Dustin whined about his hat. "Hey guys, wait up!"

--

"Which polymers occur naturally?" Steve read.

Nancy looked up to remember, "starch and cellulous."

Steve turned to the next card, "In a molecule of CH4, the hydrogen atoms are spatially oriented towards the centers of—" Steve read these, not having any clue to what he was reading.

"Tetrahedrons." Nancy said.

"Wow. Jesus, how many of these did you make?" He asked, flipping through them.

"You said you wanted to help." Nancy told him.

"Not even Cass is this thorough." Steve said.

"Yeah, well, Cass kind of lives in her own world." Nancy shrugged and Steve's eyes darted up and he just looked at her, trying to decide whether or not she was being mean. Everyone in Hawkins High knew how protective Steve Harrington was of Cassie Dare Henderson. Jason Carver once called her "Patient Zero" and Steve threw a basketball in his face which made Cassie burst into laughter. "You know what I mean."

"Yeah," Steve moved on from the subject of his best friend before, "how about this? How about... how about every time that you get something right, I have to take off an item of clothing. But every time that you get something wrong..."

"Uh, pass." Nancy scoffed.

"Oh, come on." Steve teased, "come on."

"No."

"Come on, it'll be fun."

"No."

"During fractional distillation, hydrocarbons are separated according to their..."

"Melting point." Nancy said, matter-of-factly.

Steve flipped the card, "ooh, it's boiling points."

"That's what I meant."

"Yeah, that's not what you said." Steve teased and played with his collar.

"No." Nancy said.

"No?" Steve asked, playfully and sat up, leaning towards her, "oh, do you need... you do you need help?"

"No." Nancy said before Steve kissed her as Africa by Toto played in the background. Nancy laid back and Steve leaned over her, the kiss got more heated when Nancy broke the kiss, "Steve. Steve, come on."

"What?"

"Are you crazy? My parents are here." Nancy said, because that's where she drew the line, not blaming the disappearance of a twelve-year-old on the pause of her nonexistent social life.

Steve playfully looked around the room, "that's weird. I... don't see them." He said, sarcastically and he kissed her again as Nancy sat up, breaking it.

"Was this your plan all along?" She accused, "to-to get in my room and then..." She thought back to Cassie’s words, "get another notch under your belt."

"No. Nancy, no." He sighed, understanding why she would think this. He had a reputation for sleeping with girls, though the only girl he had ever slept with was Cassie and that was in a platonic way, though not so platonic in his head but neither Cassie nor Nancy needed to know that.

"I'm not Laurie, or Amy, or Becky."

"You mean, you're not a slut." Steve said.

"That's not what I'm saying." Nancy lied, shaking her head.

"You know you're so cute when you're lying." Steve smiled. "But you're no Cassie Dare Henderson when it comes to lying."

"Shut up."

Steve picked up a teddy bear and spoke in a toy voice, "Bad Steve. Bad. Don't do that to Miss Nancy..."

"You're an idiot, Steve Harrington."

"And you are beautiful, Nancy Wheeler." Steve said and went back to reading cards before she interrupted.

"Did you ever do this with Cassie?" Nancy asked suddenly and Steve faltered, he knew that this had to be coming. Ever since Cassie entered high school and everyone could see that they were closer than the average pair of best friends, he spent most of his time trying to convince people that they weren’t dating, no matter how much he wanted to be.

"Nance, Cass and I are just friends. Best friends." He said, not looking up.

"Not every guy's best friend is a girl." Nancy pointed out.

"She's not like other girls." Steve replied, almost wistfully but in a way that told Nancy he was done talking about his relationship with Cassie for the night.

--

About ten minutes later, it was pouring and Cassie suddenly heard a ringing sound. She stopped and stared around in complete bewilderment.

"Hello?" She heard Joyce's voice say. That's odd. She could hear kind of static. "Lonnie? Hopper? Who is this?" She heard the static fade to a breathing sound. "Will?" A sign of a true mother. "Will?" She heard an odd chittering and she froze. She could hear Joyce sobbing, "Who is this? What have you done to my boy? Give me back my son!" Then she screamed and it stopped.

"CASSIE!" Dustin screamed, shaking his sister. She inhaled sharply, looking at her worried brother. "Did you have an episode?"

"Yeah, I definitely had an episode of something." She said, nodding slightly before continuing without another word.

"Cass! You can't just have an episode and then walk off!" Dustin shouted, marching after her.

A little bit later, "WILL! WILL!"

"BYERS!"

"I GOT YOUR X-MEN 134!" Dustin shouted then he turned to the group, "Guys, I really think we should turn back."

"Seriously, Dustin. You wanna be a baby, then go home already!" Lucas snapped.

Cassie yelled, "BOO!" in Lucas' ear making him yelp and jump away. "Who's the baby now, huh?"

"Not funny!" He snapped, embarrassed.

"I'm just being realistic, Lucas!" Dustin said.

"No, you're just being a big sissy!" Lucas snapped.

This was why Cassie couldn't babysit both Dustin and Lucas anymore because Lucas kept on insulting Dustin which was a very good way to get yourself hurt.

She took a deep breath and reminded herself that Lucas was just the logical one and in a somewhat emotional state which was likely making him irritable and fussy.

"Did you ever think Will went missing because he ran into something bad?" Dustin asked, "and we're going to the exact same spot where he was last seen? And we have no weapons or anything?"

"Um, hello. Gun." Cassie said and waved her gun around.

"Whoa. Lucas shouted in alarm.

"Cassie! You can't just wave around a gun like that!" Dustin screamed.

Cassie was going to retort when she and Mike heard something.

"Dustin, shut up!" Mike said.

"I'm just saying, does that seem smart to you?" He asked.

"Dustin, shush." Cassie shushed, initally waving the gun haphhazardly at them, making them all squack and duck before holding it much more carefully as she slowly moved closer to the noise.

"Do you guys hear that?" Mike asked.

The boys their lights in the direction of the rustling, revealing a girl around the boys' age with a shaved head, wearing a Benny's t-shirt that was sopping wet. She was terrified and looked like she was going to start crying.

Cassie's mind flashed back to her missing time to a girl with a shaved head.

"Do not worry. I will help."

Cassie didn't miss a beat, she took her raincoat off and gave it to the girl.

"Here, come with us. We'll get you some dry clothes." She said, softly. The girl was hesitant so Cassie crouched in front of her, giving her a kind smile with kindness in her hazel eyes that was near foreign to the girl, "Hey, you're safe now."

But it wasn't her own safety the girl was worried about.

*Anyone catch the John Mulaney reference?*

*This story may veer away from Life is Strange because I keep wanting to have a story with precognition through hallucinations like another Steve Harrington x Henderson!OC story I read, "Alice the Amazing" but I don't want to copy.*

*Does anyone want me to add a gif of Thor using the quote that Cassie uses: "All words are made up."?*

[dicmondskies]

☆ & * .   ♡   i n t r o d u c t i o n  … 

[          ◟  KAY.  ◝           ]     ⸻     have  you  ever  heard  brutal  by  olivia rodrigo  ,  well  it  is SOLANA NAVARRETE  to  a  tee  .  the  twenty  one  year  old  nanny  has  been  spotted  wandering  down  portobello  road  markets  just  last  sunday  ,  do  you  know  them  ?  would  you  say  she  are  more  delusional  or  more  imaginative  ?  anyway  ,  they  remind  me  of  the universes boundaries dissolving around us until we're all blended together as one , a lush forest hosting a natural waterfall that spills into a beautiful lake , skinny dipping on a private beach , the beauty and delicacy of a pearl ,  maybe  you'll  catch  them  around  yeah  ?     ⸻     [          ◟ MALIA PYLES. ◝           ]

tw: infertility, trauma, domestic violence

this is my dreamy pisces sun, pisces moon, cancer rising bby solana. with three water signs in her big three ( the big three is your sun, moon, and rising sign in astrology ) she is extremely sensitive in all ways that can manifest. she is extremely sensitive to her environment, meaning, when others in her environment are upset, unwell, happy, etc, it can really influence her own emotions in ways she doesn’t fully understand yet. 

solana was named after the sun, because she was undeniably the light of her mothers life. after solana’s mom was told she could never have children due to reproductive trauma that happened when she was in a bad car accident as a teenager, solana’s mother was surprised and incredibly grateful when she learned she was pregnant with solana when she was 20. it wasn’t an ideal situation for solana’s mom, she was still young, an adult, but still so young and inexperienced. 

solana’s mom was one of three siblings who were sent to the United Kingdom from the Philippine's to live with a close relative. the end goal was so they would have better opportunities for their future and a chance at higher education than their village at home. 

with only her siblings in the u.k with her and a close relative she had never spent much time with, solana’s mom found her way in all sorts of trouble related to men. 

unfortunately, solana’s dad was a very abusive older man who took advantage of solana’s mom, isolated her, got her pregnant, and tried to move her even farther from the only family she knew.

solana’s mom still worked through her schooling and pregnancy, but she protected and cared for solana from the moment she learned she was pregnant. she knew she could never stay with solana’s father, and that she had to be rid of him before solana was born. she knew she couldn’t have a baby in that environment. 

solana’s mom did everything right, she put a plan in place, and by the time solana’s mother was around six months pregnant, she fled in the middle of the night, her brother and sister right behind her, vowing to help her care for solana as a family unit, to protect her, and never to be seen by solana’s mothers’ abusive boyfriend again. 

solana’s mom was on the run with her for years, always watching their backs to make sure he hadn’t finally had the urge to come looking for them. solana’s mom didn’t think he would, but she couldn’t be naive, she had to assume that he was looking, and that they could be in danger at any given time if he found them. her worst fear being that he would want to demand shared custody, and solana’s mom knew that would be the worst thing for solana. 

solana’s early life consisted of a lot of travelling, she was homeschooled by her aunt who also ran a daycare out of their three bedroom apartment, while her mother and uncle went out and did whatever jobs they could pick up for extra money. by the time solana was eight, her mother, aunt, and uncle had saved up enough money to buy an RV.

the RV was solana’s life from the age of eight to fifteen. they traveled to different camp sites, they’d set up, go out into the town for school lessons and viewing the most popular tourist attractions of wherever they ended up. still, they were always watching their backs, each time they moved camps, it was strategic, but solana just thought it was all part of her homeschooling, until she was old enough to realize something wasn’t quite right. 

she’d asked about her father many times before, but was only told that he was stuck in the Philippines and couldn’t be tracked down. she was told that her father didn’t even know she existed. this sparked her interest, and when she was thirteen, she started trying to do her own research, looking high and low for answers on how she could get in contact with her father. 

the questions about her father led to more questions and solana started picking up on the possibility that her family had been lying to her all along and this started to build tension and bridges between them all. 

solana’s mother didn’t think it was the right timing for solana to know the truth, but her aunt disagreed. she felt it was dangerous not to let solana know, she could see how curious and restless solana was getting, hungry for answers that solana’s aunt was afraid she’d find out.

solana made things harder to hide, the older she got. she started wanting to go to a normal school, to be in one place for more than three months, to have a yard, and a mailbox, and neighbors who had kids her age she could make friends with. 

the truth came crashing down the summer solana decided to go to college in nottinghill. her mother didn’t even know she’d been sending off college applications, and when the news broke that solana would be attending college in nottinghill, all hell broke loose. 

nottinghill is where solana’s mother met her father, so of course she did everything she possibly could to try and stop her daughter from going, but solana had her mind made up and she was already fed up with her entire life seeming like one big lie to control her. she wanted a sense of freedom, a normal life, and there was nothing her mom, aunt, or uncle could do or say to change her mind. 

it wasn’t until solana’s second semester as a freshman on campus that she ran into her father. he’d seen her in passing and instantly knew who she was. he’d been hiring a private detective to find her, so he had updated pictures of her, updated enough to where he recognized her as a nineteen year old young adult. 

he didn’t approach her the first time, he waited a while before reaching out to her on facebook, explaining to her his twisted version of the story, trying to convince her that her mother had stolen her and taken her away without ever letting him meet her. 

solana was freaked out at first, and it took her a few months to finally respond to him, only for her mother to find out after solana left her laptop open and the messages where the first thing on the screen. a huge fight erupted and solana and her mother couldn’t see eye to eye. as a result, solana has been avoiding her fathers messages and isn’t on the best terms with her mom. she wants to believe her mom, but after all the lies, she doesn’t know how to feel but she’s not certain she’s ready to give up her life in nottinghill just to avoid her mothers demons. her mother wants her to leave nottinghill immediately but she hasn’t figured out just how dangerous her father is yet. 

wanted connections:

university friends: these would be people who are extremely important to her because she grew up homeschooled and travelling her whole life. of course she made friends along the way but these are her main stable friendships, which is something new for her.

roommate: can be on campus or off campus, but thinking more of roommates who are best friends, solana gets attached to people very easily and fast because she’s never had many relationships outside of her family

family she nannies for: older muses can fit here, or if your muse has children, or if your muse has younger siblings

crush: this would be the first person she has had the real opportunity and chance to develop feelings for. she has a cute little crush on this person but it doesn’t have to be mutual. 

[justkending]

The Number One Rule. Chapter 15.

Summary: Y/N has always been seen as “Steve’s rambunctious sister.” However, she grew up, graduated, and moved to London to study abroad for 4 years and get her bachelor's degree. The girl that returns looks nothing like the teenager that left, but don’t worry the attitude is still there and stronger than ever. What’s to come of the two grown adults that used to push each other's buttons, but now have a lot more in common than they’ve ever realized.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Y/N Rogers (Steve’s little sister)

Word Count: 3100+

A/N: Ladies and gentleman. This is in one of my top 3 chapters I’ve written in this series. The next one being my number 1;) I hope you enjoy and I would love any and all feedback you are willing to share!! xoxoxo

Chapter Fifteen:

Eventually when Bucky had snapped out of his thoughts, Y/N had long fallen asleep on him. He smiled down at her with a sad smile. One filled with remorse for everything she had gone through, but pride in how she handled it and didn’t let it destroy her. At least not to the extent that a lot of people get into.

She had years to do that, whereas Bucky was fresh on the subject. It would take him time to move on from that for her. He couldn’t help but feel hate for himself knowing exactly what party she was talking about. 

It was one of the few he and Steve didn’t attend. They had planned on it, but Dot wanted a quiet night in, and Steve just didn’t feel like it or something. It had been a while since that party, so he didn’t remember intricate details. 7 years to be exact. And the only reason he could guess which one it was, was because of how she acted after it. A whole month of depression and guilt she sat with and it showed. For the last 7 years Y/N had carried that with her. The only person she trusted to tell to this day was Beck. Now he was the other. 

He gathered her up in his arms, and she drowsily threw her own over his shoulders and hung on in a sleepy daze as he brought her up the stairs. He laid her in her bed, turned on her fan, and tucked her in. 

But as he stood to go back downstairs, her hand clasped around his. 

“Where y’ going?” she asked. The wine was playing a big part in the sleepiness and he could tell by her weak squeeze to his hand. 

“I’m just going to clean up downstairs. I’ll be back up in a second, sweetheart,” she nodded before giving him another squeeze to his hand and pulling the bed covers up to her cheeks. He smiled at her cute self and bent down kissing her forehead. He moved the strands of hair they fell over her eyes and studied her for a second. 

Eventually, he pulled away and went to do what he said. Popcorn kernels trashed and bowls cleaned. Leftover wine in the fridge and beer bottles recycled. He folded the blankets on the couch and set the pillows back in their original arrangement. Lastly, he went and checked to make sure all the doors were locked for the night. He had spent the night there enough to do a lock up without issues. 

Coming back upstairs, he changed into his own pajamas and snuck into the other side of the bed. Careful not to wake her, he gently and ever so softly, pulled her back to him. In her sleep, she turned to where they were face to face. Curling into his chest in comfort, trying to get as close as she could. 

He couldn’t hold in the chuckle that rumbled through his chest as she nuzzled under his chin. He ran his hand up and down her back and noticed her body relaxing with each stroke. He was glad he had that effect on her. It was the least he could offer after not being there for her in those hard times.

Now when he held her, he wasn’t just protecting her, but also trying to shield her from any more pain. He had been doing that his whole life for the family that the Roger’s had become to him. But now was different. This was a different kind of defense. This wasn’t just family protection. This was protection for someone you love. 

________________

The next morning, Y/N was the first to wake. She found herself practically embedded in Bucky’s arms. He had wrapped his giant self around her waist pulling her in close to his body. 

They had cuddled before, and even had a few sleepovers when Steve wasn’t in town, or if Becca wasn’t going to be home for the night and lent them her space. But it was only enough to count on one hand. That, plus, it never escalated to anything other than cuddling and maybe a makeout session here and there. 

Bucky had been gentle and patient in that area. Even if they hadn’t had that talk yet at that point, he didn’t push. Something she wasn’t used to in most of the guys she had dated. Pietro probably being the only other one that was understanding of it. 

Even if they had been dating a little over a month, she was glad they were taking it slow. Even if they had known each other their whole lifes. 

She somehow was able to turn in his arms and see a soft smile on his lips. He wasn’t awake, so he must have been dreaming of something nice. She took a second just breathing him in and trying to wrap her head around how all this came to be. 

Sure she had crushes on him growing up. I mean who doesn’t form a crush for your older brother's hot best friend. Though if she was being honest, she had always thought deep down that it was never a card that would be played in this game of life. 

Little did they know, it would just take time and growth. Then the fates would do with them what they will. Most card games were just a game of chance. You never know what’s going to come around the corner...

Eventually, she pulled herself away ever so gently and quietly to escape downstairs and make breakfast. She was still in her sleep shorts, but at some point took off her sweatshirt in the night from almost overheating. That plus the surprisingly excessive amount of body heat Bucky gave off made it hard to sleep with it on. 

She found a new one laying over her chair in the corner and threw it on before grabbing a hair tie and brushing her bed head up into a bun. 

Tiptoeing to the door, she slowly closed it leaving it open just a crack. 

Just as she took a step on the stairs, she heard the front door unlock and open. Freezing in her spot she waited a second. The only person who had a key besides their mom and her was…

“Hey, sis,” Steve said coming around the corner seeing her at the top of the stairs. 

“S-Steve,” she said in almost a whisper. Panic. Fear. Dread hit her at full force.“What, um, what are you doing here?”

“It’s Saturday and mom’s out of town, and I knew you were home alone. I thought I’d come over and we can go get breakfast or something,” he said with a sweet innocent smile. 

Running down the stairs a little quicker, she met him at the bottom. 

“Um, why didn’t you call? I would have gotten ready. I just woke up,” her voice was filled with anxiety and Steve noticed. 

“I thought I’d surprise you,” he said, raising an eyebrow. “You ok? You seem off?”

“Um, no. I’m fine. I just got a text from work that one of the projects they had me on needs to be done sooner than I expected.” How she came up with that lie on the spot like that? She had no idea, but she ran with it. “Yeah, not the best thing to wake up too. Making me a little nervous.”

“Oh, well do you want to go get breakfast and we can talk about it? I’ve barely heard about anything with your new job. We need to catch up, Mini,” he said, poking her stomach and making her let out a loud laugh, having always been super ticklish. 

Just seconds after that, having heard voices and a loud almost shout, Bucky swug open the door and peered down the stairway where they were both at the bottom. 

Two seconds. 

Two seconds was all it took for Steve to put two and two together in his head. Bucky acting weird lately. Sneaking off randomly and never telling Steve anything, which wasn’t like him in their friendship. Hell, he had even noticed Bucky’s lingering looks, but always put in the back of his mind thinking nothing of it. 

But now. Oh, he was thinking about something now. 

Bucky was frozen at the top of the stairs, eyes locked with Steve. To make matters worse, he only had pajama pants on and no shirt.

Even from the distance of the stairwell, Bucky could see the storm brewing in the blue eyes of his best friend. 

“Steve,” Y/N started placing a hand on his arm. 

The blonde immediately ripped away from her as he turned to fully face Bucky. The alpha male, big brother, pissed off best friend was in a stance ready to fight. 

“Why the FUCK did you just come out of my sister’s room half fucking naked?” Steve growled.

“Steve, you don’t know the full story,” Y/N said softly, but she could sense the tension and for once in her life, she was slightly scared to enter the fight. 

“The fuck I don’t know the full story,” Steve said finally whipping his head back to Y/N. His blue eyes were carrying a category 5 hurricane in those ocean blues. But they didn’t stay on her long as he turned back to Bucky. 

“Listen,” Bucky said, coming down slowly. 

“I don’t know if I want to,” he responded through his teeth. “Take one more step down here, and you’re going to need some serious dental work and a nose job.”

Bucky froze about 4-5 steps away from the siblings. Finally, he looked at Y/N, worry in his eyes, but they were also apologetic. 

Y/N immediately moved around Steve and stood between the two. Closer to Steve to try and hold him back if she needed to. 

“Now wait a damn minute,” she spoke up looking straight at her older brother even if he was sending a death glare past her shoulder. “You need to calm down before we talk-”

“No. You need to go to your room. Bucky and I need to talk,” he said in an authoritative voice. 

“Excuse me?” she retorted back. Her gentleness in the situation was fading and being replaced with aggravation. “Go to my room? Am I a 13 year old girl?” she said stepping in his eyeline so he was looking at her. 

“This isn’t a fucking joke, Y/N!” He shouted. “Go to your room!”

“No,” she replied, folding her arms across her chest. 

The two had this kind staring contest all the time growing up. Anytime there was a fight, they almost never relented with their stubborn asses. Their mom or dad had to send them to their rooms themselves and kept them there. The time ranging from 20 minutes to 5 hours before they calmed down. 

They were two of the most headstrong ornery people to live in this world. And it didn’t help that they were now pitted against each other. This kind of fight looked as if it could be ranging more into weeks or months. 

Knowing and experiencing situations like this with them before, Bucky spoke up again. 

“Y/N, you should listen to him. We need to talk,” he said sedately. 

“I leave and he’s going to beat your ass,” Y/N said, still staring at her brother. 

“I think he’s going to beat my ass either way,” Bucky mumbled. “Really Y/N. Just give us a second.”

“I’m a part of this equation too,” she said. Her tone easing just enough to be noticed. 

“Yes, you are. But right now, Steve and I need to talk first,” he said trying his best to defuse the fire against the heated situation happening in the entryway of their house. 

There were a few more seconds of silence as they glared at the other. 

“Fine, but I’m coming back down in 10 minutes,” she bartered. 

No one responded as she started to go up the stairs backwards. The staredown did not cease until she was even with Bucky on the steps. 

“If he does anything stupid, I’m going to beat his ass,” she said looking at Bucky. 

“I’m sure you will,” he said with a small smile that was forced for reassurance. 

She placed a hand on his shoulder. A silent good luck as they studied the other in a quick second. 

Turning back to look at Steve, she saw he was still in a rigid stance. The tension in his shoulders doing nothing but grow with every passing second. She would’ve sent him one more warning glare if he was looking, but his eyes were trained on Bucky with a look that could kill. 

Eventually she went into her room and shut her door, leaving it open just a crack. They deserved their privacy no matter how bad she wanted to step in. Deep down she knew, as best friends, they needed to talk on their own. 

Bucky looked back down and saw a bull looking at him like he was a red cape.

“Outside. Now,” Steve commanded before stomping off to the back and letting the screen door slam harshly. 

Letting out a long sigh and running a hand down his face, he finally went down the stairs. He grabbed a shirt from the bag he had left down there and headed to the backyard. Steve already in the grass pacing. 

“Steve,” Bucky said softly as he walked down the porch steps barefoot. 

Instantly, a fist collided with his face. He stumbled trying his best to not fall from the impact. When he looked up, grasping his jaw, he sent a glare to Steve. 

“I’m not saying I don’t deserve that, but-”

“Oh, you deserve a lot more than that, but I need you to explain what the HELL I just walked into and you can’t do that with no teeth,” Steve glowered. 

Looking at him while straightening his posture he wiggled his jaw some feeling just a tad bit of blood on his lip. Damn him for teaching Steve how to make a proper swing like that. 

“You gonna punch me again before I talk, or can I fucking explain myself now?” No response, only a stare was given. “Ok, so I’ve been hiding something from you.” Steve raised an eyebrow. 

“You think?”

“Listen, I’m almost as taken aback as you. One day, she’s like a little sister running around with my actual sister, and the next she's a mature grown adult who knows what she wants, exudes confidence, and is intelligent beyond measure.” He paused before adding. “Not that we didn’t know that.”

“I know what my sister is. What I want to know is why you’re sleeping with her?” Steve said, taking a step closer. 

Bucky just straightened up more as if expecting another hit. But then he processed Steve’s sentence. 

“Sleeping with her?” he questioned almost in shock. Steve not breaking his gaze. “I’m not fucking sleeping with her, asshole! I’m dating her.”

The smallest amount of tension released from Steve’s body and his face wasn’t frowning as much.

“You’re dating?” 

“Yes. Dating.”

“So you guys haven’t-”

“No. I’m a little upset that you think that low of me,” Bucky scoffed. “You think I would really just start booty calling my best friend's sister? If I wanted a friend with benefits, I can easily find a girl at a bar,” he said, taking a deep breath and running a hand through his hair. “You’re sister isn’t a girl from a bar, Steve.”

Steve was silent processing it. He still wasn’t happy, but at least it wasn’t as bad as had thought. 

“Listen, Y/N’s been in my life just as long as she has been in yours. We’ve grown up together, created childhood memories together, picked on each other, and protected each other. She would be the last person on this earth I would want to degrade to a one night stand. She deserves so much more than that.”

“Exactly,” Steve said. 

Bucky paused taking note of Steve’s tone. “Exactly? Why do you say it like that?”  

“I mean she deserves a lot,” he said, confirming Buck’s thought. 

“I see. So I don’t make the cut?” Bucky said, now getting frustrated. The silence was enough of an answer to his question. “Wow. 26 years of being best friends and you think that little of me?”

“She’s my sister,” Steve answered. A slight tone of apology behind his words, but he kept the stoic face. 

“Yes, Steve she is! And 2+2= 4! We know this!” he said waving his arms and scoffing as he turned in his spot before turning back. Hands on his hips before one came up and ran a hand through his slight beard. 

“You know what? Screw this. I’m not going to sit here and be that guy that says, ‘Yeah, you’re right. She doesn’t deserve me. I’m not good enough for her.’ You know why, Steve? Because I know that. And it’s because I know that, that I’m going to strive with every muscle in my body and every might of my being to make sure I can be that for her one day. To make sure I can give her everything and more that she deserves. To make sure she never has to see a sad day again. To make sure she only experiences joy if I have any say. To make absolutely sure that no one ever hurts her. Why? Because I love her!”

Out of breath, Bucky chest heaving up and down showed how hard his lungs were working to get air back in them. 

Steve’s posture had almost gone back to normal. The anger no longer there. Whatever emotion he was feeling, Bucky couldn’t tell. 

“How long?” Steve asked. 

“What?” Bucky asked, confused. 

“How long have you loved her?” he repeated, looking down at the ground. 

Bucky paused. He couldn’t actually answer that. There was no specific time frame. Truth was he had loved her for a while. 

“Honestly, longer than I know... It’s just taken me this long to figure out that’s what this feeling was.”

Steve nodded his head as he put his hands in his pockets and continued to stare at the dirt by his feet. 

“Ok.”

Taken aback, Bucky's eyes widened. 

“Ok?” 

“Yeah. Ok,” Steve repeated before he started walking to the back fence that led to the driveway. 

“Wait. You’re just going to leave it at 'Ok,’ and walk away?” Bucky rushed over to stop him. 

Steve slowly turned from staring at the ground and then back at him. 

“You know, I thought that we were close enough that you could come to me with this kind of thing. That you wouldn’t feel like you had to hide it from me. Y/N and you both,” he said with pursed lips. “Guess I was wrong.” 

With that he turned back and walked to his car. Bucky watched as he started the engine, pulled out, and disappeared. 

What the hell kind of mess just happened?

(Tags for this series will be closing soon as it is getting pretty full, please send an ask if you want to be added:)

I’ll post on whatever chapter I decided to close it down here.

The Number One Rule (TNOR) Taglist:

@shadowolf993 @hello-i-am-daydreaming @jessyballet  @emmabarnes @kmuir1  @beautifulrare4leafclover @thefallenbibliophilequote @l0ve-0f-my-life  @shawnie--jo​ @dontputyourfckingdrinkonmytable @asoftie4bucky​ @katiaw2​ @sheeple​ @sznri​ @bxtchboy69​ @taliarosej00​ @bakugouswh0r3​ @stopjustlovethemcu​ @babemendesxz​ @jenniereiji​ @taliarosej00​ @loveyou5everr​ @natdrunk​ @im-a-light-child​

My Lovelies forever:

@natura1phenomenon​ @lauravicente​ @kakakatey​ @traceyaudette​ @notyourtypicalrose​  @laneygthememequeen​ @awesome-badass-cafeteria-sauce​ @sandlee44​ @thorne93​ @thefaithfulwriter​ @marvelfansworld @essie1876​ @greyeyedsmile14​ @capsiclehan​  @xostephanie​ @averyrogers83​ @awesomenursingstudent​ @gh0stgurl​ @cs-please​ @carls1022​ @jjlevin​ @rainbowkisses31​ @carls1022​ @anise-d-castle6​ @deannotmoose​ @their-bibliophile​ @kitkatd7​ @willowbleedsonpaper​ @mariaenchanted​ @snffbeebee​ @couldabeenamermaid​ @rebekahdawkins​

Bucky Barnes Tags:

@morganclaire4​ @chloe-skywalker​ @charmedbysarge​ @jbarness​ 

@bellamy-barnes

​

Marvel Tags:

@thejourneyneverendsx​ @death-unbecomes-you​ @heyiamthatbitch​ @lizzymacy555​ @iheartsebastianstan @srrymydood​ @xa-dia​ @redhairedfeistynerd​ @morganclaire4​ @connie326​ @captain-asguard​ @mollygetssherlockcoffee​ @teenagedreams-bucky​

[opheliasbrokenmind]

heartbreaker - tommy shelby

hiiii, i’m back on my obsession with this man... i was going to write something short but then i couldn’t control myself and this happened. let me know your thoughts, feedback is always welcomed <3 

and idk what kind of writing is this, since i find it hard & scary to write a full one shot but i know this isn’t a hc or drabble as well, i only hope you enjoy it :)) and i’m free for three weeks and i’m waiting for your tommy requests as always

gif is not mine, credits to the owner

being the most reckless teenage girl in small heath, it wasn’t a surprise you hung out with the blue-eyed princess, ada shelby

it all started when you were barely ten, going to the same school

soon you were sharing a desk and tons of laughs

even the teachers failed to make you silent. if they tried to separate you two, you’d cause a huge mess in the classroom

spending time at shelbys after a long school day, chatting all afternoon in her room, ada complaining about her brothers and you giggling at her words

one day you laid your hands on a book and it was it, you were telling stories to ada all day long

you started talking about how small the small heath really was, a tiny world which you decided to leave the first chance you got

then you were fifteen, a young soul with wildness, searching for every kind of trouble possible 

ada on your arm, going on dates with boys you knew from school, sneaking out all the time

but ada wasn’t the same, thanks to her overprotective brothers. they believed you were a bad influence for her but your souls were bonded

and that never stopped john from taking you out a night, getting you a drink and kissing your lips 

you weren’t looking for a strong relationship and neither did he so it was just a few days and a few more kisses, none of the family members knowing it - or you both thought that

you were hanging out with a boy for a few months, then you were over it in a day. next week, you were going to pictures with another guy, laughing and enjoying your life

ada insisted you spent many nights with her, you girls talking about everything and by the time you were seventeen, you thought her older brother tommy looked quite good

one night you woke up, walking downstairs to have a glass of water and there he was, sipping tea in the middle of the night

‘what are you doing, tom?’ you asked, your eyes still trying to adjust to the light as you frowned, wondering if something was wrong

‘i’m thinking. care to join me for a cup of tea?’ he suggested and well, who were you to say no?

you took the chair next to him and watched him bringing you a cup and pouring you hot tea. the view seemed and felt too regular to you, you’ve seen him doing the same for his siblings for thousand times

just before you reached for the sugar, he leaned forward and put the exact amount of sugar you used. you didn’t say anything as he looked at you, you watched his fingers holding the hot cup, knuckles almost white

‘what are you thinking?’ you asked shyly, you weren’t so close with him unlike other shelbys. john was a friend, arthur was like a brother but tommy? you didn’t know what was he to you

he was the brother who tried to keep ada on the line and you were the distracter. the young, reckless friend filled with passion for everything. you were excited about books, boys and anything life had to offer you

‘the war, the soldiers’ he said like he was talking about the weather

‘what? you’re not thinking about going there, are you?’ you frowned immediately, leaning in to look directly into his eyes

‘i don’t know, feels like i should be there like the other boys’ he said the truth and you grabbed his wrist, an annoyed look plastered on your face ‘are you serious? don’t act like a fool, tom’

his name sounded harsh on your lips, like the times he spotted you and ada at the pub, taking you back home as you resisted. even though he was seven years older than you, you were never afraid to say his name as you wished

‘do you think it’s a joke, y/n?’ he asked, his blue orbs focused on you, ignoring your glued fingers on his arm

‘your family needs you here, not in a shithole in france. you’ll go there and what? that’ll prove something to the people? or you’ll end up as a man with no grave? leaving these people here just with pain?’ you hissed, glaring at him as you let go of his arm

‘you speak like i don’t care about them. i want to protect this country so they’ll be safe’ he explained calmly

‘you can’t leave them’ you said but it came out as a whisper, you almost said ‘us’ instead of ‘them’. tommy watched you staring at the tea and he tried to guess what was going on inside your head

‘as if you like me, y/n’ he faked a smile in an attempt to cheer you a bit but it only made you angrier, ‘fuck you, tom’ you hoped he didn’t see the blush rising to your cheeks and turned your head away from him

‘that’s not what you’ve said to john, huh?’ he couldn’t control the words so when you heard him, your lips parted with surprise. ‘i don’t have to defend myself to you, that was two years ago’

‘i saw you two, then you broke his heart’ he let it out and you didn’t know what to say, ‘it wasn’t something serious and that was before martha, he looks very happy now’

‘that’s just what you do, right? breaking hearts and moving on’ his words caught you off guard and you thought he was trying to change the war subject. if he wanted to argue, you were up for it

‘it’s not my problem if boys are that fragile. maybe they should, you know, grow up’ you said simply, waiting for another smart answer

‘grow up and what, break your heart?’ he asked back and you found yourself smiling, ‘oh, no. i’m the heartbreaker here. they should look for a girl who’ll marry them and stand them’

‘wise words for a little girl’ he said as he smiled, a real one this time. ‘little girl? i’m almost eighteen and i remember, your girlfriend isn’t too older than me’ with the mention of greta, his smile fell off and you could tell something was wrong

‘what’s wrong, is she okay?’ you asked and waited impatiently for an answer. ‘she’s sick, i-’ he stopped and shook his head slowly, ‘i don’t know what to do, she’s not getting better, just worse and.. her parents don’t let me see her’

‘i’m so sorry’ you managed to say and when he looked at you, he knew you meant it. ‘why didn’t you tell....’ you were going to ask if the other shelbys knew but it sounded ridiculous in your head

‘i don’t know how to. whatever, i shouldn’t have told you, too’

‘you know, i’m not your enemy. yet it looks like you’re searching for more, huh?’ he was thinking of an answer but you weren’t waiting for one, you got up and walked to the stairs, leaving him with his thoughts

that was the last time tommy saw you, you disappeared for the next days and soon he found out from ada, your aunt passed away and you moved to london with your mom

unlike her shy, sweet sister greta, kitty jurossi was outgoing and she happened to be a friend of a friend of yours. before you left for london, you managed to persuade your mother to go and speak to her family

with that, tommy shelby was allowed to stand by his first love and hold her hand for three months until she closed her eyes and never opened them again

days after her funeral, he’d learn the reason why her parents let him stay with her. then he signed up for war, leaving without looking back. in the end, there was nothing for him to stay

meanwhile, you were discovering the london, meeting with new people and trying not to think of small heath. of course, you were missing your best friend but ada and you both knew you’d escape the small town with the first chance you got

ada’s response to your letter arrived months later, letting you know greta was dead and the shelby men were in france, fighting for the king

it made you sick for days, unfamiliar nausea bothering you all day, making your whole body ache. you were worried for the shelby men you grew up with and for the women waiting for their family

the war continued mercilessly and at some point you even thought about writing the boys a letter but you didn’t know what to say after leaving them without a word

then it was all over. ada wrote to you, telling you they all returned yet everything was different now. the way tommy turned and the lack of sincerity in john’s smiles. he used to laugh, you thought

you were living on your own in london when you got another letter from ada, it was bad news. apparently freddie was dead, which made you cry on the carpet on your hallway, remembering the boy ada used to talk about years ago. ‘now it’s just me and karl, y/n. i’m leaving this hell, probably coming to london’

but she forgot to give you a new address and you never dared to write to shelbys, asking about ada. you guessed they didn’t hear from her as well, since she left with a broken heart and rage

one day you couldn’t find a book at the bookshop so you made your way to the library, looking for a worker to help you. there she was, the best friend you ever had

‘ada?’ you asked and it was it, you were reunited. spending days talking about everything that happened after you left with lots of hugs, glasses of wine and cups of tea

you started to spend most of the week at her house and of course, karl loved you. it was as if you never parted away, you were happy again

she learned you were continuing your career as a heartbreaker with londoners. ‘heartbreaker, huh? is there anyone nowadays, y/n sweetheart?’

‘oh no, i used to hang around with a writer. he was saying i was his muse all the time and you know, it’s nice to hear things like that. then he left the fucking country, saying he wasn’t productive with all the noise in the city’

‘someone sounds angry’ she teased and you laughed, ‘i was but i don’t care much. i mean, i couldn’t leave here and move to the countryside, raising chickens. i need the wildness in this crazy city’

soon you were going to the parties together, good looking men and booze surrounding you all the time

it was your birthday when you went to have dinner at a nice restaurant, then met with your other friends in a nightclub

you would say both of you could handle your drinks but when it was almost midnight, you thought ‘fuck it, we can mess for once’ then the rest of it was a little bit blurry

you could remember the girls dropping you to ada’s flat and ada going to her room. you lit a cigarette and once it was finished, you thought how soft was the carpet at the living room. even it was an uncomfortable surface, you slept like a baby

that’s why you didn’t hear the knock on the door. then with a little force, it opened. thomas shelby walked in, cursing underneath his breath 

he stepped in and saw a body laying on the ground, a woman, wearing a short silk dress and tommy walked to her with fear, his heartbeat quickening

then he realised it was you, after all those years. you were breathing, thank god. so he gently shook you, ‘y/n’ your name sounded like a pray on his lips

you sighed and opened your eyes slowly, only to see a man kneeling beside you and that man happened to have a face of a ghost from your past, tommy shelby himself

‘tom?’ you asked and you thought it didn’t feel real. ‘i’m still that drunk, huh?’ you chuckled softly but when you looked again, he was still there

‘it’s not a dream, y/n. i’m here and i see, you haven’t changed, not even a bit’ he sounded kinda angry, frustrated because the state he found you in

you frowned and watched him, ‘and here i was, thinking i got prettier’ he rolled his eyes but soon enough you were both smiling

‘you are’ he let it out and you stared at him, ‘that means i wasn’t pretty back then?’ this time his smile was wider, ‘i didn’t say that’ it was surprising you both, you were talking like you weren’t strangers now

it was weird yet comforting, familiar just like the last time you spoke, years ago. you could see he was a man now, a beautiful one with hands covered with blood you couldn’t see

and there you were, he thought. still a heartbreaker with an angel’s face

[izlaria]

Someone you like (part 4)

This is the fourth chapter of my “Someone you like” inspired fic. It’s also available on AO3 in case you prefer that platform. Please hit me up to talk about Plance!

Summary: In the days following their arrival on Earth, Pidge finds that conflicting feelings don't just disappear because there are more people around. On the contrary, with the approach of the final battle, they seem to get worse.

FYI, we’re still on Pidge pining hour.

18 and 16 years old

Life was not easy when you were a soldier fighting against an evil, intergalactic empire, but Pidge had found a sort of balance to it all. Now that they were back on Earth and she knew her family was relatively safe, much of the sorrow she’d carried had dissolved into hopefulness.

Much, but not all.

Pidge leaned her head against the wall, hugging the papers to her chest. Being on the Garrison made it easier for her to ignore her erratic heartbeats, because she could just avoid Lance most of the time, but it also sent her into overdrive when she accidentally met him in the hallways. She could usually depend on her mother to be there – Pidge was grounded, after all –, but there were times when not even Colleen could protect her.

She wanted to talk to Lance, of course. He was one of her best friends and no crush could ever change that, but it took a lot out of Pidge to hear him drone on about Allura and all the places he wanted to show her on Earth.

Maybe her evasiveness wasn’t the most mature of Pidge’s choices, but she was tired and lovesick and feeling neglected. She would have to be excused a little pettiness.

“Do you want to tell me why I just saw you ignore Lance?” Matt raised his brows at her, an expression that Pidge herself often mimicked and that was especially irritating to be the target of. He was standing off to the side of her station, gloves still on.

Pidge pushed away from the wall, feeling flustered. She hadn’t realized her brother had witnessed the scene.

“Did I ignore Lance?” Pidge opted to feign innocence. “I was so lost in thought I didn’t really see him there. Or you.” This last bit she said with a touch of hostility.

Matt crossed his arms and hummed, sounding disbelieving. “You always were the worst liar out of the two of us, Pidge.”

She shouldered past Matt with a glare. There was a lot of work to do until the Atlas was completed and the last thing she needed were distractions like her feelings for Lance or a fight with her brother.

“When did you land on Earth, anyway?” Pidge put the papers down on her table and moved to one of the computer screens, where she’d left a new code running. It was an improved version of her and Matt’s previous software for predicting Galra presence. “I could use your eyes on this.”

Matt stood at her back, looking over her shoulder at the lines that lit up the computer.

“This is interesting…” He squinted down at Pidge. “Don’t think for a second that a new challenge will make me forget what I just saw.”

She took advantage of Matt’s positioning to elbow him in the gut.

Truthfully, Pidge knew her brother wouldn’t tease her too much about her circumstances. Matt was caring and even protective when it came to her well-being, so he would never rat her out to Lance or any of the others, even if he disagreed with her actions.

Despite that, she struggled with being vulnerable around him.

Pidge didn’t want to think about it, but the years they’d spent apart had certainly affected their relationship. Before going to space, Matt was more than her brother, he had been her closest friend. But now she had Hunk, Lance, and even Keith and Allura. If she needed guidance, Coran and Shiro were only a call away.

She would always be close to Matt, but he was no longer the only person whose company she valued.

“We should finish this up before mom comes around,” Pidge said, trying to refocus. “She comes to collect me at the end of the day.” She rolled her eyes.

“That still going on?” Matt chuckled as he pulled a chair over to her station. He scanned the reports she had just brought in.

“I can’t even go out to eat with the team. We’ve had to meet in the cafeteria, of all places.”

“I’m just glad the cooking staff changed since I was a student.” Matt wrinkled his nose. “That was just nasty.”

“Except for the burgers.” And here Pidge smiled, suddenly reminded of all the times Hunk and Lance had dragged her to lunch and how they always ended up making a mess of their table.

“On Mondays, that’s right!” Matt glanced at her and Pidge couldn’t quite read the look in his eyes. “Until when are you grounded, anyway?”

“Let’s see, I was fifteen when I was whisked into space, so…” She pretended to do the calculations. “Until my twenty-first birthday, unless dad intervenes.”

Matt snorted. “Good luck with that. He doesn’t really have any weight with mom right now. She’s still upset about the whole being-pronounced-dead thing.”

Pidge groaned, burying her face into her hands. “I’ll be going to war in a month, but I still have no freedom here.” She raised her eyes to look at him. “Can’t you talk to mom?”

“And risk my newfound position as the favorite? You’re on your own, kiddo.” He continued to stare down at the papers for a moment, before turning to face her properly. “You know why she’s doing this, right? You spent three years MIA. We thought you were dead.” He exhaled forcefully. “I thought you were dead.”

Pidge didn’t really know how to respond. Since her arrival on Earth, she’d had versions of this conversation with several people, but her brother had always stood back and given her a little space. He probably knew better than most how overwhelming such a welcome could be. “I am sorry, Matt.”

He gave her a tight-lipped smile. “Turnaround is fair play, I guess.”

“Stop.” Pidge put a hand on his arm. She worked her jaw, trying to figure out what to say. “I never wanted you to find out how that felt.”

Matt nodded once, swallowing hard. Pidge could tell that he was putting his emotions back in check.

“I’m proud of what you’ve done, Katie. Mom might act like you’re still a kid, but I was out there before you came along.” It reminded Pidge that, though he hadn’t been present for her battles, Matt had seen his own share of horrors. “Voltron turned the tide, in no small part because of you.”

“Thank you.” She tried to blink away the tears. Matt smiled and brought his hands up to cup her face.

“My little sister is a badass, so I don’t want to see you hiding behind corners because of some stupid boy.” When she tried to protest, he just squished her cheeks. “Who does not deserve you, by the way.”

Pidge couldn’t help but laugh. She could always count on Matt to make her smile through her tears.

“I thought you liked Lance,” she said once Matt had let go of her face. He grimaced.

“He’s eighteen and a flirt.” Her brother didn’t even try to go back to work, he merely kicked his legs up onto a workbench and crossed his arms. “I would feel better about Keith, even.”

“You say that because Shiro would be just as bad of a protective older brother as you.” She pushed at his chair, making Matt almost lose his balance.

“You would never be alone unchaperoned, it would be great,” he confirmed, still pulling himself back into position.

“You realize that I’m technically nineteen?” She aimed a sharp look at him.

“You realize you look twelve?” Matt shot back, looking unbearably satisfied with himself. This time Pidge had no mercy for him; she sent his chair rolling down the aisle and Matt with it.

“Honestly, you have nothing to worry about.” She wrapped an arm around her middle. “Lance is so enamored with Allura that I could yell in his ear that I like him and the goofball would think I meant it platonically.”

Matt wheeled himself back to her. “Then he’s a fool.”

“You’re just saying that,” Pidge scoffed. “You were just as bad as him when meeting Allura.”

“Look, Allura is beautiful, that’s true, but it doesn’t diminish your qualities.” He put a hand on her shoulder, leaning in close so that their voices didn’t echo in the empty laboratory. “You are funny and witty and smarter than anyone in this damn complex. Don’t you dare compare yourself to Allura.”

Pidge dragged her chair until she was resting against Matt’s shoulder.

“It’s sort of inevitable. She’s the one he likes and I have to accept it.” She looked at the computer, where lines of code kept appearing and disappearing. “It’s just hard to be near him. I feel like I’ll do something and everyone will… know.”

“You spent almost a year pretending to be someone else, I think your acting skills are a little better than that.”

“Didn’t you criticize my lying just a few minutes ago?” she deadpanned.

“Well…” Matt gave her a cheeky grin. “I’ve known you your entire life, so I’m a Katie Holt expert.”

“Of course,” she drawled out, rolling her eyes.

Pidge felt her brother put an arm over her shoulder, squeezing her to his side.

“You’re perfect, okay?” he murmured into her hair. “Don’t ever let anyone convince you otherwise.”

She closed her eyes and let herself fall into his embrace. It was something she had missed, even now that the team was back on Earth. Everything had changed since the Kerberos mission and, while a lot of it was good, Pidge couldn’t deny that she wished Matt would stay with them more often.

“Okay.” Her voice trembled, but Matt didn’t mention it, choosing to tighten his hold on her.

“Knock, knock! Anyone in here?” As soon as the voice sounded, Pidge scrambled to hide her face. She got up and pretended to check a different monitor, turning her back to the door. She heard Lance approach their station. “Oh, hey, guys!” Then, seeming to notice the mood of the room. “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, man.” Matt was the first to recover. Pidge felt him move, probably trying to keep Lance from getting any closer. “We were just discussing some Holt secret coding.” She almost snickered at this, despite the heartbeat that still hammered in her ears. It was the sort of thing that only a non-techie would believe.

“And I thought us McClains were bad with our ropa vieja recipe.” She chanced a look over her shoulder to catch Lance’s smile. He was always at his brightest when talking about his family.

“You needed something, Lance?” Matt was being a bit more brusque than normal, but his expression was thankfully still amenable. Pidge would have hit him if he just started being a jerk to Lance.

“Not really,” the other boy responded. He looked around Matt to smile at Pidge. “I was just hoping to catch up with Pidge before your mother comes around.” He shuddered. “Let me tell you, that’s a scary lady. She could almost beat mami with that I’m-not-mad-just-disappointed face.”

“You tell me?” Matt sighed. “That’s one thing I don’t look forward to when touching down at the Garrison.”

“You wanted to talk to me?” Pidge interrupted before they could keep going. Putting two of the friendliest people she knew in the same room was only a good idea if she had the patience for a long conversation. Which she didn’t.

“Ah, are you done ignoring me, Pidgeon?” Lance cocked his hip to one side, looking too sure of himself for his own good.

“I’m working, Lance, something you should be doing as well.” She pretended to fix her glasses, if only to have something to do.

The boy waved a dismissive hand at her. “I’m done for the day and I know for a fact that you’re just working on pet projects until Colleen comes to get you.” When he tried to lean down towards her, Matt moved to stand between them. Lance hesitated, before letting the strange behavior go. “Matt can keep your mom busy if she shows up, right?”

It was difficult to say no to Lance. He was jovial and charming, in particular when he wasn’t actually trying to impress anyone.

“Can you, Matt?” Pidge found herself asking. Her brother frowned at her with uncertainty.

“If that’s what you want, Pidge,” he yielded, when she didn’t back down.

“Let’s go before you get me in trouble, McClain.” Pidge gave a long-suffering sigh and moved past the two boys, who were saying their goodbyes.

Lance caught up to her at the door, opening it with an exaggerated bow.

She walked briskly down the hallway, but Lance had the advantage of his height. For every two, quick steps Pidge took, he only had to take one long stride.

“In a rush to get away?” There was laughter in his voice.

“You’ve seen how mom gets,” she replied, peaking around corners as they moved. “If she doesn’t know where I am for more than five minutes, she seems to think I’ll jump into a ship and disappear for another four years.”

“As if I had it any better.” He gestured to a hallway Pidge knew led to the analytics department. “I’m just lucky Veronica is the only one in my family with clearance to come into the Garrison.”

Pidge snorted. “I should sic my mom on you and Hunk, to make things even.”

Though she’d spent so much of their time on Earth making up excuses not to see Lance, the conversation between them flowed naturally. He had an easy-going energy that calmed Pidge’s more tense nature. While they were in the castle-ship, he had been able to soothe the worst of her worries, until Pidge could actually have fun, despite the fears that troubled her mind.

She didn’t know what would have become of her in this war, if Lance hadn’t been there.

“On the subject of your family…” Lance sent her an anxious look. “Is everything really alright with your brother?”

Pidge could tell he was actually worried, which sent a wave of affection and pain through her chest. She struggled to keep her expression blank.

“We were just talking about the war.” She allowed apprehension to seep into her tone. “I know he has a role to perform out there, but I wish he could stay longer.”

Lance twisted his mouth to the side, an unhappy expression he often adopted when trying to look empathetic. “What has Matt said about it?”

“He misses home, but he can’t really ignore what’s going on with the rebel forces.” Pidge rubbed at her temple. “If we are actually able to end the war, then things might be different, but for now…” she trailed off.

Communications from all around the universe told them Voltron wasn’t the only force preparing for battle. There were a lot of moving parts to consider, especially with the still unknown variable of whose influence had been affecting the Altean colony.

“I know what you mean. After this is all over, I think I’ll take a long vacation to just enjoy good, old Earth.”

This surprised Pidge, startling her from her previous line of thought.

“What, is the Tailor going to retire?” She knocked Lance lightly on the arm, trying for a playful mood.

“No,” he objected. He bent at the waist to look her in the eye and winked. “You know I can’t deny the rest of the universe the beauty of my presence.”

Pidge pushed his face away. It was easy to pretend to be annoyed at Lance when he insisted on acting like this. He was most dangerous when he was genuine. “Be real, man.”

“I am!” He laughed as he stood upright. “It’s just… We’ve been off-planet for so long, I kinda want some time to spend with my family, maybe travel around. I’ve only ever been to Cuba and the US, can you believe it? I’ve seen more of space than of my own planet.”

“Yeah, me too.” Pidge frowned. She hadn’t thought about the situation in these terms before. “I’ve been to Italy and England, but that’s it.”

“We should come up with a plan, get the others in on it.” Lance shot her a smile.

They had walked all the way to the MFE taxiway and Pidge focused her attention on the aircraft that Ryan Kinkade maneuvered across from them. She didn’t want to think of Lance’s warmth so close to her, nor of the future he described.

It didn’t matter how long she avoided him, Lance always found a way back into her life and into her heart. This awareness was painful, when Pidge knew he would never look at her as more than a best friend or a younger sister.

She felt something hit her cheek and looked up at the sky. Dark clouds gathered over them and soon there was another drop.

“Oh, it’s raining,” Pidge commented offhandedly. By her side, Lance let out a laugh. He sounded so joyful that she couldn’t stop herself from staring.

Lance had opened his arms and raised his face to the rain. It reminded her of something he had said months ago, about the aspects of Earth he missed while in space. She was once again struck by how attracted she was to Lance: his cheerfulness, his stupid humor, the curve of his Adam’s apple and the way his uniform clung to him in the rain.

“I really missed this!” he exclaimed mid-laugh.

Pidge stood still, admiring his delight even as her hands closed to fists at her sides. “Yeah,” she breathed out, “me too.”

--

After they left the mall, there was still some time for Allura to kill before her date and it was decided that she, Romelle and Pidge would stop to grab something to eat. Rizavi and Ina had previous plans, but they encouraged the girls to have some fun together, leaving unsaid that it might be their last chance to do so.

“I cannot emphasize how thankful I am, Pidge.” Allura reached across the table to grab her hand. She and Romelle had insisted on going into a coffeeshop that had recently reopened; the design was minimalist but cozy, a step-up from anything else they’d seen outside downtown.

“And I’ve said it a hundred times already, princess, I don’t mind.” Pidge let her hand go slack in Allura’s, trying not to snap at her friend. While she appreciated the gratitude, the constant touching was starting to grate on her nerves.

“You do mind,” Allura contested, with the kind of serious but diplomatic tone she used when arguing with Garrison officers. “I could see your hesitance when the vendor first offered the trade. None would have denied your right to keep the item.”

Allura pulled back into herself as she spoke. It was strange to see her uncomfortable, since the princess usually kept either a tranquil or a powerful front in the face of adversity. Free from her touch, Pidge suddenly felt bad for not responding more fervently to Allura’s efforts towards a closer bond. In the castle-ship, she had pretended they were simply too different and, on Earth, too busy.

The truth was much less dignified: Allura had seemed like an unapproachable ideal, made solid only to remind Pidge of all that she could not be. She was prim and beautiful and feminine. Once upon a time, before the complexities of her multiple identities, Katie had aspired to this image, to some degree.

“You’re more important to me than a video game.” Pidge tried to be casual with the way she said this, but the knowing glint that shone in Allura’s eyes told her it was unsuccessful. “I’ll have plenty of time to find it again after the war is over.”

“Perhaps you could teach me these games once we are back.” Allura smiled at her, the picture of earnestness. “I was always curious about the time you and the other paladins dedicated to them.”

“It can be pretty frustrating,” Pidge warned, thinking of the hours she’d wasted with Hunk and Lance just to get past some particularly difficult levels.

“I have noticed that you scream a lot while playing,” the other commented thoughtfully, “but that appears to be part of the bonding experience.”

“You can say that again.” She scoffed.

“Why would I say it again?” Allura tilted her head to the side in confusion and Pidge had to disguise her laughter.

“I’m just agreeing with you.” She sometimes forgot that the Alteans weren’t completely used to Earth culture. In the Castle of Lions, the paladins were the ones to adhere to new patterns. Now, Allura and Coran had to slowly learn their customs, like with this date.

“I suppose we did have something similar in Altea,” Allura mused. “Activities like the maze we had in the Castle were quite popular among the youth.” She leaned over the table to speak in a lower voice. “The element of danger was a point of interest, though I couldn’t quite comprehend why.”

“That’s a lie and you know it!” Pidge pointed accusingly at Allura. “You’re almost as bad as Keith with throwing yourself into dangerous situations.”

“Am not!” It was always funny to rile her up like this. Allura was so calm and collected that getting her to sound immature was a reward in itself. The other shook her head and settled back into her seat, straightening her posture. “Oh, I know what you are doing.”

Pidge continued to grin at her. “What am I doing?”

The princess narrowed her eyes at Pidge, but her mouth struggled with a smile. “You and Lance have such a way of getting me to lose my cool.” She tapped a rhythm on the table. “I must admit it is endearing.”

There it was again, the shock of warmth and sadness that had troubled Pidge the entire day. She loved Allura and was even happy for her, but her heart was conflicted by the news of her new-found interest in Lance.

It just seemed so sudden, Pidge hadn’t had the opportunity to prepare herself. Or maybe those two had grown closer in the Garrison, while she tried her best not to see them, and this was simply the outcome of her bad choices.

Pidge was saved from responding by the arrival of Romelle, her arms full of napkins.

“What a bargain!” She proclaimed as the packages fell from her hands and bounced across the tabletop. “They have agreed to serve us their best delicacies in trade of Pidge’s autographs, a video of her endorsement and an appearance once every phoeb for the next five moons!” The blonde beamed down at them. “On that regard, what is an endorsement?”

Allura and Pidge shared a dismayed look over the piles of napkins.

“Surely they do not expect Pidge to autograph all of these.” Allura gave Romelle an hesitant smile, as if her politeness could change the answer they all knew was coming.

Romelle blinked at them. “The cook assured me it was an amazing deal.”

Pidge pinched the bridge of her nose, calling on any patience she could muster. She had nothing against Romelle and the Altean was nice and cheerful most of the time, but her naivete when dealing with human conventions never failed to amaze.

“Oh dear,” Allura fretted. “I should go deal with that.”

“Think you can convince them to give us food without getting me stuck here for the near future?” Pidge teased, to disguise her vexation.

Her friend slid off the booth. “I have reasoned with beings from several galaxies, I cannot fathom a Terran entrepreneur will be more stubborn than certain members of the coalition.” Allura straightened her spine and clasped her hands over her stomach, looking every bit the princess she was. The determination in her expression made Pidge smile.

“I can autograph one pile of napkins and I agree to do a video endorsement, but I’m not changing back into costume.” She turned to look at Romelle, who seemed to be accompanying the conversation with good-humored confusion. There was something almost sly about the look in her eyes. “I’m going into space tomorrow, how was I supposed to come back? Besides, I’m grounded. If mom found out we were finished shopping, she’d already be here to drag me home.”

“I might have been swayed by the delicious smells wafting from the kitchen,” the other admitted in a manner that could pass for sheepish. She eyed the napkins, before picking up a package. “I suppose these are a little excessive.”

Allura sighed. “I will be right back.”

They watched the princess move towards the front of the coffeeshop, where the human owner was talking to another set of customers. Romelle sat down where Allura had previously been.

“Alone at last.” She clapped her hands together and faced Pidge with a seriousness that contrasted with her usual vibrancy.

Pidge narrowed her eyes at Romelle. “I knew you were plotting something.”

The blonde shrugged. “I wanted to talk to you privately and I didn’t think we would get the chance in the Garrison.” She glanced back to where Allura stood waiting for the other customers to leave. “The owner was a darling, but he was a tremendous flirt, so Allura won’t be here any time soon.”

“Do I even have to sign anything?” Pidge rested her chin on her hand.

“He wants a picture with you and the princess and an autograph to hang on the wall, but that’s it.” Romelle winked at her.

“So what do you want?” Pidge tapped a finger against her cheek. She didn’t mean to sound so suspicious, but the girl’s orchestrations made the situation feel a little like a trap.

“To thank you.” The emotion in her voice sounded almost like pity. “For your sacrifice today.”

Pidge groaned. “I already told Allura that the video game wasn’t that much of a loss.”

“I am not talking about the game.” There was a moment of silence, during which Pidge kept very still. “I saw your reaction when we told you about the date. It was only then that I realized: you like pointy chin.”

“What makes you think that?” She raised a brow at Romelle, doing her best to appear natural.

“It makes sense.” Romelle looked up at the sparse decorations that adorned the coffeeshop, her expression pensive. “He’s the one you spend the most time with, after Hunk. I didn’t think you were interested in romance, given your almost complete lack of sentimentality,” and here she made a face at Pidge, “but I suppose we’re all dealing with high emotions right now.”

Pidge didn’t know how to reply. So far, Matt was the only one who had realized her crush on Lance and he’d been thankfully quiet since. The whole day left her feeling off-center, especially with what Romelle now wanted her to confess. Pidge didn’t want to talk about her feelings. She wanted to take her bayard and carve the jealousy and affection and misery right out of her chest.

Romelle took her silence as a sign to go on. “Look, I know we are not close, but you can talk to me.” The expression on her face was so eager that Pidge didn’t immediately protest. “You are… not kind. Not always, at least, but genuine.” Romelle hurried through her words. “Which is more than can be said about others I’ve met since arriving on Earth. And I can see how much you care for Allura, though you hide it beneath your sarcasm and reluctance.”

“Has anyone on Earth given you trouble?” Pidge chose to focus on the subject that was easier to approach. Romelle clearly knew what she was doing, because the blonde gave her a very annoyed look. “The team and I have tried to shield you from the politics of having non-humans around, but it’s not always possible.”

“I grew up worshipping a man who turned out to be harvesting quintessence from the bodies of my family and friends,” Romelle stated coolly. “I can handle the Terrans.”

“Well, this thing has to go both ways.” Pidge leaned back against the booth to gesture forcefully in the other’s direction. “If you want me to talk to you, then you need to talk to me.”

Romelle seemed to consider this, her eyes narrowed. “Fair enough.” She glanced quickly over her shoulder, then leaned forward. “I know we both want what’s best for Allura, but I hope you will be happy, too.”

Her eagerness brought a small smile to Pidge’s lips, even as her chest constricted with the acknowledgement of her feelings.

There were many things in the universe that she valued more than romance: her family, her intellect and ability to continue learning, and now her friends. Pidge would do anything to keep them safe and content, regardless of how she felt about Lance. She would eventually get over him, of this Pidge was sure.

She loved Lance, but she loved herself more.

“I don’t need a boy to be happy, Romelle. I just want this war to be over.”

The blonde nodded at her response. “You have already done so much for me by going against Lotor.” She sighed. “You will always have my loyalty for that.”

Pidge took a moment to study her. Romelle could be energetic and joyful, but she had also suffered more loss than Pidge could really comprehend. She had never believed Matt and her father were dead, even on the early days of the Garrison’s declaration. Hope had moved her forward, but Romelle hadn’t had that privilege.

“Have I ever told you how I became a paladin?” she asked, much to Romelle’s surprise.

“I don’t believe so, no.” The other furrowed her brows in puzzlement. “Are you changing the subject again?”

“I was just thinking that we have more in common than you know.” Pidge lowered her eyes to the tabletop, tracing a series of scratches with the tip of her fingers. “You have met my brother Matt, haven’t you?”

Allura approached as she said this, a tray of food balanced on her hand. “Oh, has Romelle heard of your search for Matt?”

Pidge stood up to help Allura place the coffee without spilling it and grinned at her friend’s enthusiasm. “I was just about to tell her.”

The princess sat down next to Romelle and put her hands to her chest in a show of sympathy. “It is a lovely story, please go on.”

With a laugh, she did.

[maevemarethyu]

Unexpected (4/?)

(Not my GIF)

You weren’t expecting it. Neither of you were.

That didn’t mean you weren’t happy with how it ended.

Bucky Barnes x Reader Fic.

Warning: Cursing, Cheapshots, a bit of violence, Sad Boi Hour and Fluff

Updated 1/20/2021

It was time. The stage was set. After two days of non-stop correspondence with James, who insisted you call him Bucky, he was knocking on your door for the second time.

“Hey!” You greet, not giving him a chance to respond before you wrap your arms around his torso in a tight hug. It takes him a few moments to return the sentiment but, when he does, you can’t help but notice that James Barnes gives excellent hugs. “Sorry, I get all touchy when I’m nervous”

“S’alright.” He chuckles and you can hear it deep in his chest when you pull away. “I just picked up the papers from Matt.”

“I hope he didn’t give you any trouble. He’s always been protective of me but, this whole thing has him on edge. He’s a nice guy, I swear.” You lead him past the neatly stacked boxes of Patrick’s things and into the kitchen.

“I believe it. I woke up this morning and almost everyone was in a disguise and set on following me here.” The mental image of Steve Rogers and Wanda Maximoff dressed in dark shades and baseball caps makes you laugh harder than it should have. You had never met them but, Bucky talked about his team so much that you felt as if you knew them. Sam Wilson had even gone out of his way to steal James’ phone and personally apologize for the part he played in this whole ordeal.

You barely had time to thank him for the role he played in it before he and James were wrestling over the device. It reminded you too much of you and a certain bullet proof man that had somehow become like a brother to you. The thought of having to tell the Defenders what happened kept you up all last night but, it didn’t compare to having to tell Frank.

“That would have been a sight.” A smirk grows on your face. “Is everything ready?”

Bucky nods. “Claire told me she was spending the day with her sister. Her sister’s in Louisiana right now.” You hum in response. Did Claire really think James was dumb enough to believe that?

“I told Patrick that I was taking Laysa to work with me today. Said I’d be home late.”

The stage was set. After two days of torture in the form of loving gazes and gentle kisses with your husband, the time had come; all you had to do was wait.

“Do you really think they’ll come here?”

Your plan hinged on it.

“If not, I’m tracking them down and shoving these papers down their throats. I can’t stomach another day pretending.” You huff and, as if he knew you were talking about him, your phone dinged.

A message from Patrick.

“Hey babe, you home?” You read aloud before scoffing and typing a reply. No, I told you I’m at work all day (sad face) I’ll be home around seven.

You send off the message and open your snack cabinet.

“So attentive.” Bucky drawls sarcastically. “Husband of the year.”

His voice was low and it sends an unwarranted shiver down your spine. If there was one thing you’d learnt about Bucky Barnes over the past few days was that he really didn’t know how attractive he was. It wasn’t just his looks either, it was his sense of humor, his chivalrous nature, the way he talked about his friends, the nicknames; he was a complete package.

You felt ashamed for thinking about him like that before you realized you didn’t have a reason not to… not anymore. You could look at other men with appreciative eyes for the first time in fifteen years. You’d never act upon anything but, the knowledge that you could was liberating to say the least.

“Do you like popcorn? I was thinking we could watch a movie while we wait.” You ramble on, microwaving the packet before he could answer. “Ever seen Heavyweights? It’s an older Disney movie about a weight loss camp that gets taken over by a health nut. I’m asking you to be polite but, we’re watching it. Laysa’s down for a nap, that girl can sleep for days.”

Another laugh then “Sure doll.”

He had learned quite few things about you himself. You were stubborn, almost as much as he was, you had a serious sweet tooth, you had an even wider range of music than Sam did, you had a soft spot for movies from the 90’s and 2000’s, and you were an amazing mom. The way you talked about Laysa made his chest warm.

Bucky always had a soft spot for kids but, he’d never cared so much about a kid he’s never even seen.

“Great! It’s already set up. All you have to do is press play.” You shoo him into the living room as you pour the popcorn into a bowl. For the perfect balance of sweet and salty, you also fish out a bag of M&M’s, pouring them into a separate bowl.

“Hey Buck! Do you want a drink?” You ask as if this was normal for the two of you. Nothing about this was normal but, you can’t help but feel as if this was the most natural thing in the world. James had already seen you at your absolute worst, you didn’t have to pretend around him and it was amazing.

He answers with a Water’s fine Sugar and your cheeks ache from the silly grin that takes over your face as you fill two glasses. Years of practice has you precariously yet perfectly balancing the dishes on your arms as you make your way into the living room.

Bucky jumps up from the couch to grab the bowls out of your hands, setting them on the table before taking a seat on the couch. You were thankful you had insisted on buying all the furniture in your home; the small L-shaped sectional was perfect for the times you had everyone over. You plop down onto it, directly across from James.

“The hell is skim milk?” He asks, face twisted into a frown when one of the characters mentions it.

“Milk with little to no fat. It’s pretty common nowadays.” You explain while grabbing a handful of popcorn.

“We definitely didn’t have that in my day.”

“Right, I always forget that you’re an old man.” The tease makes him perk up a bit and, with a wicked grin, he turns to face you on the sofa.

“You’re gonna want to take that back sweetheart.” He warns.

“What are you now? two-hundred and fifty something?”

You hadn’t spoken to anyone like this other than Matt and Foggy in years, it gave you a rush you hadn’t felt in a long time. The feeling of butterflies had become a distant memory but, they hit you full force when his blue eyes lock onto to yours. Not even the pillow that narrowly misses you is enough to dampen the feeling.

“I thought you were a sniper Sargent? You must’ve lost your touch in your old age.” The next pillow hits you square in the chest and a squeal escapes your mouth before you can stop it. Bastard.

“You were saying?” The smirk that grows on his face is almost too cocky but, still obnoxiously endearing.

You want to retaliate but, instead you stand up to grab the wayward pillow off of the floor. You had a feeling that if you started a war, it would end in something neither of you were ready for. With all the pillows back on the couch you allow yourself to be submersed in the movie, laughing at all the parts you’d seen a thousand times, silently thankful that James was as well.

As the hour gets later, the impending confrontation weighs on your mind heavily with your eyes straying to the door every couple of minutes in anticipation. Not even the bonfire party depicted on the screen was able to capture your full attention.

“That’s all he has?” James asks, nodding towards the boxes when he notices how distracted you are.

“Mhmm. I bought the house and all of the furniture myself. Apparently being a cop doesn’t pay all too well.” You mused whilst staring at the cardboard. Fifteen years of your relationship was packed away in between his shirts and pants: all the jewelry, save your wedding band, and all of your photos together had been tossed in with his things. You didn’t want any reminders of all the years you had wasted upon Patrick Voight.

“What do you do to afford a home in Manhattan? Is it a secret drug cartel? You can tell me, I won’t rat you out.” You knew he was trying to get you to laugh and it worked. The sound bubbling up from your chest and into the air before it dawns on you he didn’t know what you did for a living.

“I wish.” You sigh dramatically. “I’m-“ Your alarm going off cuts your sentence off, signifying that it was time to feed Laysa. “Actually, let me show you. Wait here!”

You abandon him in the living room while you open the nursery door. Laysa’s already awake and mewling up a storm as you bundle her in your arms. “Settle down beautiful.” You whisper. “I have someone I want you to meet.”

She quiets down long enough for you to walk back to the living room and see James nervously rubbing his palms on his pants, looking as if he were about to be sick. If you didn’t know any better, you’d say he was nervous.

“James- Sorry… Bucky meet Laysa.” You keep your voice low as to not startle her and you unwrap the blanket around her. He’s out of his seat and in front of you almost faster than you could blink. Once her face is uncovered, he gasps.

“Wha- I thought- What is she?” He stutters as he takes in her white fur spotted with black and arctic eyes just like his own. His mouth drops open in wonder when she squeaks.

“She’s a snow leopard cub. I’m a keeper at the Bronx Zoo as well as a zoologist and wildlife rehabilitator; her mother had twins but, Laysa got ill so she ignored her to focus on the healthier cub. It’s not all that uncommon in the wild and if this happened in their homeland of Siberia, Laysa wouldn’t have made it through the first night. She needed round the clock care and I already had the nursery set up from when I had to take in some macaws.” You explain, rubbing under the cub’s chin. “What did you think Laysa was?”

James’ cheeks redden at your question and you feel your own face heat up. He didn’t-

“I thought you had a baby.” He admits sheepishly before meeting your eyes. “This… isn’t what I was expecting.”

You can’t help but laugh as you grab his hand and place it on Laysa’s head. “If I had a child and found out Patrick was cheating on me, nothing on this planet would be able to save him.”

You meant it and you had the resources to follow through.

But, that wasn’t something James should know about just yet… or ever. Not when he looked so tender stroking the small cub.

“Can you hold her while I make her bottle?” Once again, you don’t wait for confirmation before handing her off to him and going to the kitchen to heat up her meal; enjoying the milk while you can. Soon enough she’s going to be on a raw meat diet and you were not looking forward to cutting up bloody deer and pig.

By the time you arrive back to the living room, James is sat on the couch, Layla settling onto his lap, both entranced by the television. You don’t think twice before snapping a picture to send to Sam later, sure that he’d love to poke fun at Barnes for going soft.

Though, soft isn’t a word you’d use to describe James Barnes. Quite the opposite actually. The man was a wall of rippling and glistening muscle. Muscle that had invaded what little sleep you had gotten since meeting him.

You didn’t mind it all too much as long as it kept Patrick off of your mind.

You take your seat opposite to the man, almost immediately being ambushed by a little ball of fur who had just seemed to notice the bottle in your hand. Laysa’s steps were stuttered and clumsy but, you saw them as progress, last week she could barely move.

“Look at you go!” You coo, scooping her up when she gets close and she eagerly takes the bottle. She really had done a complete three-sixty from when you first brought her home. You loved working with animals and you loved being able to watch them in their natural habitat from afar but, being able to hold and nurse them was incredible.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been to the zoo before.” James voices before taking a drink and you let out an exaggerated gasp.

“That just won’t do.” You tsk, readjusting the bottle. “You should come when I go back to full time. You can even bring Steve; we have senior discounts.”

He glares at you playfully before setting his glass down and settling back onto the couch; back leaning against the armrest and legs sprawled out on the cushions. He looked more relaxed than he had the entire time you’d known him and it brings a warm smile to your face.

Laysa finishes her bottle and is asleep almost instantly; instead of putting her back in the nursery, you wrap her in a blanket and set her on the couch next to you.

“Y’know I told everyone you had a kid. Stevie almost hunted down Patrick himself when he found out, Nat had to stop him. Then, when you talked about how sick she was, Nat had to stop me from hunting him down.” He confesses, eyes never leaving the little bundle next to you.

“Good to know family means a lot to you superheroes.” You laugh quietly, eyes drifting from the screen to the figure laying across from you.  “You’re going to have to wait in line behind Matt and Foggy though and that’s only if they get to him before Elle does.”

Yes, Elektra made it very clear that she’s first in line if Patrick tries something after today.

Barnes raises an eyebrow but says nothing as he grabs a handful of M&M’s, giving you an idea. You and Foggy used to do this during late night’s studying at Cambridge; after discovering Matt’s abilities you roped him into it too. Whenever any of you got too overwhelmed, it was tradition to have a movie night complete with the game.

“Hey, see if you can make one into my mouth. If you make it, you can either ask me a truth or to do a dare.” You prompt, mimicking his positioning by leaning against the back of the couch and bringing your feet up onto the cushions.  “If you miss, it’s my turn.”

“You have to answer?” He clarifies, already settling into a suitable position and you nod giddily. Patrick never played the game with you; said it was childish and not worth his time. You found yourself comparing Bucky to Patrick a lot in the past few days. “Who’s first?”

Just as the Apache relay in the movie begins, so does your competition with the Avenger on your couch as you open your mouth expectantly. You realize your mistake as the first M&M falls into your mouth with ease. In hindsight, it probably wasn’t smart to ask an Avenger grade sniper to play your candy truth or dare game.

James doesn’t even try to hide his cocky grin. “What’s the worst dare you’ve had to do because of this game?”

Oh he was going straight for the jugular. Sadly, you didn’t have to think too hard. Matt and Foggy were a little fucked in the brain if you were being honest.

The drop of chocolate melts on your tongue and you hum in satisfaction before answering. “It’s a toss up between having to streak across campus naked and having to down half a bottle of tequila. Consequently those were on the same night so yeah.”

His blue eyes widen in shock and you try to play it off as no big deal with a shrug. That was definitely your most memorable college experience and one you hadn’t even told Patrick about because you were sure he would have had a conniption.

“Naked?! You ran across a campus naked?”

“Mhm. Cambridge was never the same after Foggy, Matt, and I went.”

He mouths the word Cambridge in disbelief before a smirk takes its place. “I guess I have no choice but to believe you.”

“Actually, I think Foggy still has a video of it. He planned on playing it at my wedding but, Matt and I vetoed the idea.”

You shuddered to think what would have happened if your two hundred plus guests had to witness your blurry and naked form dashing through the dark with Matt and Foggy’s laughter in the background. You mother probably would have dropped dead right there.

“That’s a wedding I would have paid to be at.” He laughs. “I didn’t even have a proper one. Claire wanted a courthouse.”

“I almost wish I had a courthouse ceremony.” You admit whilst grabbing a handful of chocolate. “I ended up having people I didn’t even know watching what was supposed to be the best day of my life. All I can remember from that day was thanking Patrick’s twice removed great step aunt for her attendance and that my dress was the most hideous thing I’d ever laid eyes on.”

With a roll of your eyes, you motion for him to open his mouth and he does so with a smirk. Unfortunately for you, your aim wasn’t as good as James’ or Matt’s and the piece of candy ends up smacking him in the cheek before falling only to be caught mid-air by a metal fist.

Show off.

You stick your tongue out in a childish form of retaliation and an incredulous laugh falls from the man’s lips. Embarrassment heats your face and you open your mouth reluctantly, signaling the continuation of the game in order to prevent a snarky comment from Barnes.

Once again the candy lands in your mouth effortlessly and you groan. You hear him clear his throat and you brace yourself.

“What’s your favorite kind of food?”

The game takes off from there with Barnes managing to make every candy but one into your mouth and asking you questions that can only be considered mildly invasive where as you had more candy on the floor than you did in your hand, only making two or three of your shots.

“What’s your favorite memory from before the war?” You ask and it clearly catches him off guard. You almost feel bad before remembering the reason for the game. It was to get to know each other beyond what was currently happening.

He tells you his favorite memory about Steve spending their train money on hot dogs and it has you laughing so hard that tears come to your eyes.

“Y-You spent how much on a stuffed animal?” You choke on a laugh as you try to catch your breath and soon enough, he’s laughing along with you, both of you oblivious to the door unlocking.

A candy pelts your shoulder and you retaliate with two thrown in his general direction, neither of which hit.

“I thought you’d be good at this doll. This is your game.” The way he chuckles send a shiver straight down your spine and you brush off the feeling by throwing a pillow at him which he catches easily. Anything to get to hear him laugh like that again. James had a nice laugh that came from his stomach and reverberated around you like his embrace from earlier.

“Oh my God.”

Yours and James’ heads snap towards the door where the two people you dreaded seeing were stood, mouths open and eyes wide in shock. Patrick and Claire were here and you and James had been too caught up in each other to notice. The thought made a smug and downright cruel smirk grow on your face which only widens when James walks to your side of the couch and offers his hand to help you stand.

You and James were a united front and it appeared that he wanted them to know it.

Your eyes abandon his blue ones and look towards Patrick. He was seething, you could see it in his eyes but, you could also see the fear. After all, he had just been caught with the Winter Soldier’s wife and James could snap him in half with his vibranium arm tied behind his back.

Despite the victorious feeling in your chest, you seem to be at a loss for words. You want to yell. To scream in their faces that they were caught and they were about to lose the best things to ever happen to them. Instead you scoff.

“About damn time you got here.” You scowl, picking up the stack of papers on the coffee table and handing the top one to the man beside you. He takes it with a poorly whispered Thanks sweetheart and you know it’s because he wants to get under Patrick and Claire’s skin.

It works.

“Y/N, baby w-what is this?” Patrick stutters next to a teary Claire who looks nothing less than ashamed. They were caught and they both knew it but, Patrick never was one to go down without a fight.

“This.” You motion between the minimal space between you and James, anger rising in your chest. “Is my good friend Bucky. You’d never guess how we met. When was it again?”

There’s a bite to your words that makes Claire wince and you want to throttle her. She didn’t get to act scared and sorry now. She sure as hell wasn’t scared or sorry when she was destroying her marriage and hurting the man who had vowed to love her for the rest of their lives.

Your eyes flicker to Bucky’s blue ones and underneath the anger, you could still see the sadness that was currently weighing your own heart down. You could read him like a book and you were both on the same page.

He pretends to think for a moment before answering. “Three days ago. I believe I ran all the way here after finding out the guy who my wife was cheating on me with had a wife of his own. I’d say we bonded pretty quickly. Shared life experience will do that.”

His words cut like a knife and you love it. All you had seen was James Barnes the gentleman, this was new and exciting. Dare you say, attractive even.

“B-Buck-“ Claire sobs and you can’t stop the scoff the leaves your throat. “It d-didn’t mean anything. I swear. I love you m-more than anything.”

Her words set something off in the man next to you and he growls; the sound shaking your very core. You hand finds his arm on its own vocation and, as calmly as you can, make your way towards the shell-shocked pair. Ignoring Patrick in favor of leveling a glare at the woman who tore your marriage, your life apart. Maybe it was petty of you but, you honestly didn’t see what either man saw in Claire. You were thoroughly unimpressed.

“If you loved him, this would have never happened.” You seethe, inches away from her face. “I’ve known him for seventy-two hours and I can already see that he is a kind, caring, selfless man who deserves much better than you. You’re pathetic. A sniveling little girl who isn’t a fraction of the woman he deserves. You’re a rat. My husband is a rat. And if you know what’s good for you, you’d save your bullshit apologies and words for your fucking lawyer.”

A firm grip on your arm causes you to gasp and turn towards your soon-to-be ex-husband but, as soon as you register his hand on you, it’s wretched away by sleek metal.

“You don’t get to touch her.” James warns, flinging Patrick to the floor in a heap. Without a second glance to him, he turns to Claire and forces the papers into her hands. You let your stack fall onto the man on the ground.

“Your shits packed Patrick. Take it and get the hell out of my house.” You mock in your bitchiest voice before looping an arm through James’. “I was thinking Thai tonight. Sound good?”

Patrick mumbles something under his breath and you just know it’s something snide; you want to shrug it off but, something deep in your gut wants to fight with him. Scream. Yell. Curse.

“What was that?” You ask in a sickly-sweet voice, daring him to repeat his words for all of you to hear. You know he will. He always rises to the bait.

“I said you’re a raging bitch.” He shuffles to his feet with a glare directed at you. Bucky bristles beside you and mumble for him to let it go. To let you handle it.

“If me throwing your lying ass out onto the streets means I’m a raging bitch, then I guess I am. But, I’d rather be a raging bitch than a washed up, dishonorably discharged, peaked in high school, disrespectful to his mother, wannabe Avenger, who can’t match his own fucking clothes.” The insults spew out of your mouth like dragon’s breath and it burns him with how calm you sound. You knew raising your voice would give him the satisfaction he craved so you held out.

“Do you wanna know why Y/N? Do you want to know why all of this happened?” You open your mouth to say no but, he keeps talking. “When I got dusted. My last thought was damn, I’m dead and I wasted half my life on an ugly cow who thinks she’s hot shit because she went to college!”

His words were like a slap in the face but, you’d rather die than let it show so, you force a laugh out of your lungs.

“I didn’t just go to college. I got two fucking Doctorates.” You seethe, gripping onto James’ arm for some kind of ground.

“Oh and I’m sure your parents would be very proud of you if they didn’t abandon you on the side of the road like trash!”

Whatever you were going to say next gets caught in your throat. You never spoke of your parents and Patrick knew that. He knew it was a line he was never supposed to cross. You’d kept your insecurities close to your chest; not even telling Matt, Foggy, or-

“Get out.” Your voice cracks and, when he doesn’t move, you end up yelling. “Get the fuck out!”

“And I’m sure they’d love to hear about you shacking up with a HYDRA assassin. You’ve been surrounded by scum all your life, why should I be surprised.”

“Patrick-“ Claire gasps yet, no one pays her any mind. She was background noise to the firefight between you and your husband. You almost feel guilty- this wasn’t just about you and Patrick; Bucky was supposed to get his time to confront Claire as well but, for some stupid reason, you hadn’t been expecting this.

You hadn’t expected the man you love to open your stitched wounds by shoving a hot knife into them. Suddenly, you stand up straight and before you realize it, your phone is in your hand.

Your birth parents may have abandoned you, your adoptive parents may have passed away, but you still had family. You still had him and you were a fool for thinking you shouldn’t rely on him.

The ringing doesn’t last a full second before the call connects and a raspy voice shoots the fear of god into your soon-to-be ex-husband. A god named Frank Castle.

“Yeah sis? E’vrything all right?” He grunts, probably in the middle of his daily workout. You had two choices; handle this like an adult or…

“Frankie?!” You sob dramatically with a truly wicked smile on your face. “H-He’s been cheating on me and-“

The phone cuts off as soon as the words leave your mouth and your eyes meet Patrick’s wide ones.

“You better start running baby.” You hiss. “Hope you have a good place to hide. I don’t think The Punisher is going to show the man who broke his baby sister’s heart much mercy.”

You hated the nickname but, it struck fear into the hearts of all who heard it. Beside you Bucky barks out a laugh.

Maybe not everyone.

Regardless, time is of the essence and Patrick knows it because he’s instantly scrambling. The way he trips over his own feet to take his meager possessions has you humming in satisfaction. Watching him panic makes you feel vindicated. He was going to pay for hurting you.

You knew the feeling was temporary, so you revel in it while you can.

“Leave your key. I want these papers signed and then I never want to see you again.” You order and the papers are signed and in your hand within minutes.

Without so much as a goodbye or sorry, he leaves. Abandoning you and the life you two had built together. Abandoning Claire to face you and James alone. A coward- through and through. How had you been so blind this whole time? This was who Patrick was- who he had been all your lives.

Fifteen years and he was able to just turn his back on it all. Leave like it didn’t matter.

Like you didn’t matter.

God, you wish it didn’t hurt as much as it did.

“The apartment’s yours.” Bucky voices after a moment of silence and a sharp laugh leaves your lips when Claire sobs. “I advise you apply for a transfer though. Natasha made it very clear what will happen if she sees you again.”

You watch as she reaches for him before her hand falters mid-air, consequently falling back to her side and tightening into a fist.

“You’re going to regret this.” She hisses even though tears are falling from her eyes. “You’re nothing without me.”

Your breath catches in your throat when Bucky stiffens next to you. This bitch…

“Without me all you are is a stupid, needy, little HYD-“

Your fist throbs instantly and it takes you a moment to realize what you had just done. Eyes wide, you stare at the red welt on Claire’s cheek, down to your fist, and up to James, who is looking back with eyes just as wide.

“Did you just punch me?!” She shrieks, both hands flying up to cover her cheek.

“Yeah.” You mumble after a beat of silence before clearing your throat. “I did and I want you out of my home before I give you a matching bruise on the other side as well.”

She sputters in disbelief before turning her eyes back to Bucky who, once he’s over his shock, just shrugs. “You heard her. We’re done here.”

With a stomp of her foot and a childish wail, she stalks out the door and you follow, slamming it after her.

Silence envelops the room and you’re acutely aware of Bucky’s eyes on you. Shuffling your feet, you garner the courage to look him in his eyes. 

“That went well.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tags: @luthien-t​ @vicmc624​

[luci-in-trenchcoats]

The Wedding Date (Part 2)

Summary: When the reader is in desperate need of a date to her sister’s wedding, she calls a service to fulfill the need and ends up meeting Dean Winchester…

Masterlist

Pairing: AU!Dean x reader

Word Count: 7,400ish

Warnings: language, family angst/drama, scary situation

_______

After your shower you changed into a short sleeve romper, a pretty deep green that reminded you of the forest outside. With a hum you wandered out to the bedroom, spotting Dean laying on the bed watching TV.

“How was exploring?” you asked.

“This place is huge. I wouldn’t mind going out on the lake at some point if that’s okay,” he said.

“For sure,” you said, bending over to throw your hair up in a messy bun. You fixed it a bit in the mirror in there, catching Dean watching you. “What?”

“You look like a model or something,” he said. You stared before bursting out laughing, Dean giving you a small smile. “It’s true.”

“Ten bucks my mom tells me I look like a boy,” you said, grabbing a spare hair tie and your bracelet from the nightstand, slipping them back on your wrist.

“You look like some preppy girl, definitely not a boy,” he said, watching you step into a pair of sandals and zip up the backs.

“Still,” you said, looking yourself over before you put on some lip balm. “Are you hungry? We can get something to eat.”

“Sure,” he said. “Should I change?”

“Wear whatever you want,” you said. He rolled off the bed and went over to his bag, grabbing a few things before he stepped inside the bathroom. You’d just finished with some mascara when the door opened. Dean stepped out in a pair of khaki shorts and a gray button down with the sleeves rolled up. He took out the Sperry’s from his bag and put them on his feet before he turned to you. 

“This okay?” he asked.

“Yeah. You look like you fit in already,” you said.

“I’m used to hanging out with rich people. I get how they can be,” he said. 

“If you need space just say your allergies are acting up. It can be our code word if they get to be too much for you,” you said.

“Okay. Don’t worry so much,” he said. You sighed and shoved your phone and room key in your pocket, grabbing a pair of sunglasses and waving him out ahead of you. You walked quietly down the hall together, most people arriving later in time for the party. You were nearly at the elevator when you heard a whistle. 

“If it isn’t my baby sister,” said Jason, your oldest brother. He was fifteen years older and you were the definition of a kid sister. He ran over from his room and gave you a hug, picking you up off the ground. “Clean up all pretty, don’t you?”

“Too bad we can’t do anything about your face,” you said.

“You still need better insults,” he said, turning his attention to Dean. “Hi, sorry. Jason. I don’t get to see Y/N that much so we tend to make up for lost time. You are?”

“Dean Winchester and lucky enough to be seeing your beautiful sister,” said Dean, shaking hands with Jason. Your brother looked at Dean and then you, narrowing his eyes.

“What?” you asked.

“You got a boyfriend,” he said, a big smirk crossing his face. “Oh, I don’t think baby sis has ever had a-“

“Shut up,” you said, Jason snapping his jaw closed. “Dean, let's go to lunch and I don’t tell you everything about my dating life, Jason.”

“Yeah cause you don’t talk to me,” he said as you pulled Dean into the elevator, Jason following you inside.

“When am I supposed to talk to you? You’re a workaholic with a wife and two small kids,” you said.

“I can see you’re going to be exactly the way you always are at these. Well it’s Lauren’s wedding so please try to pretend like you don’t hate your family,” he said. “For our sake.”

“Can you try to pretend like you’re an adult and not jump down her throat for having a reasonable explanation of why she doesn’t talk to you a lot? If you were my brother, I don’t think I’d want to talk to you either,” said Dean.

“Watch your mouth, Winchester,” said Jason, grumpily trudging out ahead of you and Dean.

“Someone’s a little pissy,” said Dean. “He always like that?”

“What would you say if I told you that he’s who I get along with best out of my siblings?”

“I say I am so beginning to understand you not wanting to face this alone,” he said. You saw Jason pause for a moment, probably catching part of the conversation. You grabbed Dean’s hand and walked past him, feeling his stare on your back as you headed towards the dining area.

“Hey,” said Jason. You rolled your eyes and spun around, Jason taking a deep breath. “I know I’m busy a lot. You could call or text every once in a while is all I’m saying.”

“I stopped when you stopped answering. Forget it, Jason. It’s fine. We’ll see you at the dinner later,” you said. You pulled Dean along and through the open french doors, sighing as you found a table by the back window to sit at. He slid in across from you and stared at you, pursing his lip. “What?”

“He could call too,” he said. “I know a thing or two about non-responsive brothers. Sucks to be the only one that cares sometimes.”

“He’s just busy. He’s at a different place in life. It’s fine,” you said. A waiter brought over a pair of menus with a smile. “Order whatever you like, Dean. Can I get a slice of key lime pie and a bottle of beer?”

“I’ll have what she’s having,” said Dean. “Extra big piece.”

The guy grabbed the menus and Dean chuckled when he left.

“I’m really starting to like you, sweetheart,” he said. “Pie and beer. Not what I was expecting.”

“If I have another cobb salad I may vomit,” you said. “I am eating whatever the hell I want this week and I advise you do the same. The good booze will be out tonight so take advantage of that.”

“I’ll be sure to,” he said. You looked outside, catching sight of Jason walking out the back door over to a group of people sitting at a table. “Who’s that?”

“My siblings and their spouses aside from my brother, Brent. I don’t think him and his fiance are here yet. He’s seven years older than me. He’s next closest in age,” you said. “His wedding is in November. If my life is still a wreck, I may need to hire you again.”

“Pay me like this again and I’ll pay off that loan in no time,” he said. “You want to go sit with them?”

“Not really,” you said, looking across the room, spotting the waiter with your food. “I’ll have to face them by the end of the day. I’m okay with hiding until then.”

He was quiet as you got your drinks and dessert, Dean humming after his first bite. He gave a thumbs up and you smirked at the fact he got a bigger piece than normal as requested. You poked at yours for a moment, Dean snapping his fingers in front of your face.

“You okay? You looked out of it,” he said.

“Daydreaming,” you said. You took a bite and pushed your whip cream to the side, Dean quick to steal it for himself. “Do you like owning a garage?”

“Eh, I hate the bills but being your own boss isn’t too bad,” he said. “It’s a love hate relationship. It’s not what I thought I’d be doing to be honest.”

“Really? You said you went to college,” you said.

“I was going to do something else but my dad got sick. He’s fine now but he couldn’t run the garage anymore. I took his half of the garage and then the other guy retired right after we remodeled and expanded. It was crappy timing was all,” he said.

“What’d you want to be?” you asked.

“You’re gonna laugh at me,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

“No, no, don’t apologize. It’s...I was dating this girl back then. She was a pastry chef. Incredible, like born with it kind of talent. She went to culinary school. She was going to New York City to work in a top restaurant and I was going to move out there with her and work for the New York Yankees as one of their athletic trainers.”

“Seriously? Wow, you must be good at baseball,” you said with a smirk, Dean putting on a shy smile. “Oh come on.”

“I got a scholarship for school. It’s how I could afford to go. It was a dream job, once in a lifetime opportunity. It’s been too many years now though and I haven’t picked up a bat in forever,” he said. 

“What happened with the girl if that’s okay,” you said. He shrugged and sipped on his beer, nursing it a moment.

“She cheated on me the first week she was out there,” he said. “I was ‘holding her back’ and had been for a long time. Exactly what I needed to hear three days after my dad had a massive heart attack.”

“Sounds like a bitch.”

He chuckled and nodded his head. 

“You got any shitty exes?” he asked.

“No. I’ve been on a lot of first dates, second dates, even the occasional third. Nothing ever stuck,” you said.

“Me either,” he said, knocking back the rest of his drink. “Not worth the aggravation, trust me.”

“You said your dad’s okay now, right?” you asked. He nodded and offered a quick smile.

“Yeah, he’s good. He can’t eat the way he used to and he has to workout now but my little brother is pretty good about keeping on him about that stuff,” said Dean.

“Just the one brother?”

“Yeah. I don’t have a whole pack like you,” he said. “Baby of the family must suck. They all seem a bit older.”

“They never include me in anything. I’m only in the wedding because my mom made Lauren. She’s always hated me,” you said.

“She’s your sister. I doubt she hates you,” he said.

“Remember how I said Jason is the nicest? I meant it,” you said.

“...Well if you want me to go protective asshole boyfriend, I am more than willing,” he said.

“Thanks, Dean. I’d rather try to keep the peace this week,” you said, eating your last bite. “Anything you want to do? You mentioned the lake?”

“Whatever’s good with you,” he said.

“Come on. We’ll take one of the canoes out,” you said. “You totally want more beer for the boat, right?”

“Woman after my own heart,” he teased.

“Give me ten minutes to put in an order and then we will be on our way.”

Dean excused himself to the restroom while you put in the drinks. You ducked in the bathroom for a moment, exiting to find Dean standing around in the lobby.

“You can swim right?” you asked.

“Yes, dork,” he said, throwing his arm over your shoulder. You almost made a comment but you saw your parents come down the stairs. You got out of there before they could catch up with you, heading straight outside as your siblings were all starting to get up.

“Hey, there’s Y/N. Now we’re just missing Brent,” said Lauren, plastering a fake smile on her face. She rushed over and gave you a hug, giving Dean a side eye. “Who’s this? I hope you paid him good!”

Your face felt hot as you stared at her, barely noticing Dean wrap an arm around your waist and give it a tight squeeze.

“Oh you can’t buy me, honey,” said Dean, giving her a smile back before he kissed your cheek. “Is this your oldest sister?”

She frowned and you bit down you smirk, Jason not bothering to hide his.

“I’m Lauren, Y/N’s middle sister,” she said. “You’re Y/N’s plus one?”

“I guess I am,” said Dean. “Sorry. Y/N and I had a horribly long drive and I promised her a little one on one time before you all take her away. I look forward to getting to know you all tonight though. Come on, sweetheart.”

Dean pulled you off of the patio and down a few steps to the path and it took everything in you not to look back.

“Too much?” he asked.

“Oh, I fucking loved that,” you said, Dean giving you a high five. 

“No offense but your brothers and sisters are all like...incredibly passive aggressive towards you. It’s kinda weird to do that for no reason,” he said.

“They’ve all been that way since as far back as I can remember. I just don’t think they like me very much. The unplanned kid,” you said. “I think I threw a wrench in my parents lives and theirs.”

“You didn’t ask for that. What, they mad cause they have to share their trust fund? They can grow up,” he said. 

“Well thank you but please do try to play nice with them, and my parents. It is Lauren’s wedding like Jason said.”

“Is that how they always get you to back down? Tell you it’s not your turn, it’s about someone else?” 

You slowed your walk and bit your bottom lip.

“You’re very perceptive for a fake boyfriend,” you said.

“Hey, I gotta use that psychology minor for something,” he said.

“Business owner, baseball, psych...you’re a little enigma, aren’t you, Dean Winchester,” you said.

“Is that latin for adorable?” he said. You laughed, a big genuine one that had Dean throwing his arm over your shoulders. “You stick with me and you’re gonna survive this week just fine, sweetheart.”

“I sincerely hope I do,” you said. The path down to the docks went slowly, Dean taking his time to look around at the lake in front of you, the trees around, glancing at the different parts of the resort all around. “It’s an outdoor wedding as you can tell. They’re already decorating.”

“This place is really beautiful,” he said. “How much does a normal night in a place like this cost?”

“I think the lowest package is $600 a day per person. All inclusive,” you said. “Better room, better booze, more options, price goes up. I’ve been trying to figure out a way to make it more affordable.”

“Do you work here?” he asked. “You never really mentioned what you do.”

“I’m on the board, all us kids are. I don’t have a real job per say,” you said. “You probably think I’m even more of a spoiled brat, don’t you.”

“I never said that. If you don’t work, how do you fill your day?” he asked.

“Different things. Workout, do some of my own stuff like write or do resort stuff. I get lunch and then I volunteer at a few places in the afternoons,” you said. “Jason and my other older brother Dan and my oldest sister Aria, they all work in the family business. They run things with my parents. Lauren and Brent and me all kind of do more charity work I guess.”

“Well I think that’s a very good use of your time,” said Dean. “People who can afford to give back should.”

“I agree. It’s not like I’ll ever have a job here,” you said. 

“What’d you want to be when you grew up?” he asked.

“A ghost,” you said. Dean laughed and grabbed your hand as you walked past a few workers on the path. “I’m serious!”

“I wanted to be a ghostbuster,” he said. 

“Well that too of course,” you said.

“You wanted to fly around?” he asked.

“I saw that movie Casper as a kid. I don’t know. I’ve always been invisible to a degree with my family. It made sense at the time,” you said. “We should go over the schedule for the week probably.”

“Well I am going to show you off and make sure they see you,” he said. “You can count on it.”

“You’re not half bad for a fake boyfriend, Dean.”

“I could say the same,” he said, smiling as you finally made your way to the docks. “Now I think we should discuss our 4 wheeling trip, don’t you? Something fun to look forward to?”

“You think you can handle it?” you teased.

“Oh, I know I can,” he said, letting you guide him over to a canoe marked off for you. “Ladies first.”

You grabbed the aqua colored life jacket and pulled it on, letting Dean get the bright blue on himself. 

“Here,” you said, tugging on the strap when he get tangled up. “If we’re gonna be drinking, better safe than sorry.”

“You’re the expert, not me,” he said. You left your phones on the dock before you helped Dean in the canoe, handing him a paddle before you took off. It was quieter on the water and you felt Dean’s gaze on your back as you started to slow. You spun around on your bottom and opened the cooler sat between you. “So where do you go riding?”

“See over that way?” you asked, pointing to the northern side of the lake. “It’s about a twenty minute drive. There’s a town over there and about ten minutes past that is the local riding trails. You ever ride before?”

“A few times in a field,” he said.

“Alex will loan you some gear to wear.”

“Can I ask you a personal question?”

“Weren’t we doing that already?” you said. “Shoot, Winchester.”

“Why don’t you make it past the third date?” he asked. “You could land whoever you want out there.”

“That’s very kind of you but normally by the third date is when they find out I come from this. It’s hard to trust a stranger when they look at you like you’re suddenly a bank account.”

“Not a one ever worked out?” he asked.

“This is taking a depressing turn, Dean,” you said.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be. You have nothing to do with my shitty dating history,” you said.

“You’re not the only one with one,” he said, taking a beer out and cracking it open. “So what’s this dinner tonight? How do the fancy people do it?”

“It’s kind of this tradition. The family, my parents and the kids, we have a family dinner with just us before everyone else shows up,” you said. “It’s normally my least favorite event.”

“Well we should come up with some things to brag about, hm?”

Later That Evening

“Uh oh,” said Dean, ducking into the bathroom as you pouted in front of the mirror. “Someone looks grumpy.”

“I can’t do this. I paid you...what kind of freak am I? They’re gonna find out and-” you said, Dean putting both his hands on your shoulders.

“Relax. You’re in a bind and so am I. Think of it as two friends helping each other out, okay? It’s a dinner. You’ll survive,” he said.

“You look nice in your suit,” you said, smoothing out your dinner dress. “We should head down.”

You started to turn to leave but he caught your cheek and you turned back, Dean tilting his head.

“If you need to get out of there, I think maybe we have a codeword for you too. Say your stomach is bothering you?” he asked.

“You’re sweet,” you said with a nod. “Let’s face the music.”

“You look very beautiful,” he said, shoving his wallet in his pants pocket.

“Dean, when we’re alone, you don’t have to act like my boyfriend,” you said.

“Alright. I didn’t think I was,” he said. He slipped past you and tugged on his suit jacket, fixing it before you followed him out and down towards the stairs. He was cool and calm right up until you walked to the outdoor dining area, Dean swallowing but putting on a friendly face quickly.

“Y/N! We haven’t seen you all day,” said your mom as she gave you a hug. “Dean’s been keeping you busy it seems.”

“Yes, very,” you said. You looked around the table, spotting an open spot next to Dan. You took Dean’s hand and guided him over to sit, a glass of white wine quickly in front of you.

“Oh, sorry, I don’t like white,” said Dean to the server.

“We have whatever you could want,” said your dad. 

“Whiskey on the rocks?” asked Dean.

“Double,” you said, holding up a finger. Lauren gave you a look but put a smile on her face.

“So I know Calvin and I are super excited to have everyone with us. We just wish his parents could have gotten in for the party tonight but I know all of you will make him feel right at home,” she said. “Oh and Dean too. I know we’re all dying to get to know Y/N’s little friend.”

“Oh it’s your guys day, week. Please feel free to take the spotlight off of me,” said Dean. “Congratulations.”

She seemed to ease up at that, some bread coming out along with your drinks. You were quiet, listening in somewhat, Dean being goofy and making you hide a laugh as he picked at the loaf in front of you.

“Dean,” said your dad, the table going silent. “How’d you two meet?”

“In a little coffee shop. It was almost like a movie or something. I fell for her right on the spot,” he said. “Of course she thought I was weird when I kept staring at her. It took a good half hour before she gave me a shot.”

“You asked her out?” asked Dan, Aria making a face at him. “No offense, Y/N. He’s kinda hot is all.”

Dean made a face before he turned to your parents. Your mom whacked Dan and you sighed.

“Hey, good for you. Most of us aren’t that lucky is all,” he said.

“What is that supposed to mean, Daniel?” said his wife, Greta. 

“Nothing! We met at school. I think you’re hot too! Geez,” he said. 

“Excuse him,” said your mom. “I for one think it’s wonderful that Y/N has found such a lovely young man. It’s about time.”

You gripped your thigh under the table, Dean’s hand finding yours and giving it a squeeze.

“I think we all deserve to find someone, no matter when that happens,” said Dean. “Right, sweetheart?”

“Yeah,” you said, getting a smile out of him. 

“Y/N tells me the Y/L/N family normally has some fun activities during their weddings,” said Dean. 

“Oh and you guys are gonna love what Calvin and I have planned,” said Lauren. “We-”

The string lights shut off and you saw the inside of the resort go dark, a generator kicking on to turn on part of the inside after a moment.

“Aiden,” said your dad as he came walking by past the kids table. “Can you please figure out how to get the power back on?”

“Of course,” he said, quickly heading inside. Dean pulled out his phone and turned on the flashlight, other’s doing the same and quickly you had a decent amount of light. There was a little patter of feet as Jason’s two kids ran over to him.

“Girls, it’s just the power. It’s fine,” he said.

“No it was the monster,” said Abby, the oldest. She pointed off towards the woods and you rolled your eyes. 

“Abby, there’s nothing there,” you said.

“Aunt Y/N yeah there was!” she said.

“Alright,” said Dean, knocking back the rest of his drink. “Time to go hunt some monsters. I’ll be right back girls.”

He stood up and you shook your head, Dean taking a walk down the path past the kids table and over towards the woods.

“I like him,” said Brent. “Nice ass too.”

“Brent,” said Lauren, rolling her eyes.

“Oh I agree,” said his fiance Peter. You watched Dean walk across the grass and over to the woods, holding up his phone. You swore you saw something in the dark trees but you were far away and it was nearly pitch black. “Did anyone else see that?”

“Uh huh,” you heard a few voices say as you got to your feet.

“Dean!” you called. “You can come back now!”

He took a few steps forward before a shot rang off and Dean’s phone fell to the ground.

“Everyone inside, now,” said your dad. You stared out in the dark, waiting for a flicker of the light to come back as there was rustling all around you.

“Inside,” growled Jason as he picked you up and quickly walked the two of you through the back door. Your dad locked it after you and you had enough common sense to plant your feet on the ground.

“Hey. Dean is still-”

“We don’t know what happened,” he said quietly. “I am not risking my children to find out.”

“Well he’s my friend and I’m the reject of the family so who cares? It could be a damn hunting accident for all we know,” you said. You put a hand on the lock and you felt Jason’s arm around you again. “I swear if you don’t stop doing-”

“Bring her up to our suite,” said your mom with a sigh. “Please everyone go to your rooms. Kids, meet in ours. We need to talk about this.”

You narrowed your eyes, watching in some strange synchronized way how everyone did as asked, Jason setting you down after a moment in favor of grabbing your arm and pulling you upstairs.

“What the hell is going on?” you asked. He shook his head and you followed your dad into your parents room, your siblings all filing in and settling around the room, your mom taking her time to return and lock the door shut after herself. You went over to the backdoor to look for Dean but this time you felt two pairs of hands on you pulling you back. Your older brothers walked you back to the couch and sat you down. 

You looked around, no one looking you in the eye and you stood up.

“This is not helping. I am going-”

“Sit your ass down. I am done,” said your dad. You swallowed and sat back in your seat, your dad running his hands over his face. “It’s done. No more. You all knew this was a possibility and now it’s happening.”

“Uh, hi. Possibly shot boyfriend out in the yard and I have zero fucking clue what you are talking about,” you said.

“You know how you’re the baby,” said Lauren. “Like even Brent is quite a bit older.”

“Yes. There’s an age gap. I am aware, Lauren,” you said. She glanced to your parents, Jason leaning forward in his seat.

“You’re not my daughter,” said your dad. 

“What?” you laughed. “You’re my dad.”

“I know I’m your dad, sweetie. It doesn’t mean I’m your father,” he said. You wiped the smile off your face, your mom closing her eyes. “Your mother had an affair. You were a result of it.”

“Oh,” you said, trying to wrap your head around that. “I...that’s not true. This is some really...lame prank...right?”

“Why do you think they didn’t like you?” asked Jason. You bit your bottom lip and he gave you a smile. “Proof of cheating. Proof of a marriage that was failing. Proof of a lack of love. You have always thought we hated you. We all know it.”

You swallowed and put your head in your hands, a shaky breath escaping you. There was a hand on your back and you sat up straight, taking a big gulp of air as tears formed in your eyes.

“Some people may have left a two year old unattended near a pool by herself and thought the problem would take care of itself,” said Jason, throwing a dirty look across the room to Aria, Dan and Lauren.

“Oh. Awesome,” you said, standing up and wrapping your arms around yourself.

“That was a fucking accident and you know it, Jason. I miscounted and thought she was ahead of us. It was a fucking mistake. That was before that whole night even happened,” said Aria.

“Well you’ve always been a bitch to her. You all have. I’m not perfect but I’m nearly fifteen years older than her and it was kinda hard to be around for the kid,” he said.

“Would you all just shut the fuck up,” you said. The room went silent as you walked back towards the window, spotting a light in the grass again. “There’s light in the yard.”

“You can’t go out there,” said your dad as you headed for the door.

“Why on earth would I want to stay with you people? You’ve all apparently lied to me my entire life. My own brothers and sisters have bullied me and made me feel so horrible about myself...why do you think I don’t talk to any of you? You’re all so condescending and look at me like I’m less than you. At least now I understand why,” you said.

“Y/N,” said your mom. She stood and shook her head, guiding you to sit next to her. “Your birth father is an incredibly dangerous man. Incredibly. We decided...after an incident occured when you were three, we told the children about him and made them swear to never tell you. To protect you. Maybe we never called them out on their behavior like we should have and maybe we are not the best parents in the world but everyone in this room has spent many, many years, protecting you.”

“Porecting me? You gave me an eating disorder when I was in highschool,” you said to Lauren. “You’re damn lucky I finally broke out of it in college. Dan, you broke my arm and never apologized. Aria, you made made me so nervous about relationships, I never even got laid until last year. Brent, you accused me of not liking the fact you were gay when I’m the one that told your fucking fiance that you guys would be so good for each other when I’ve known since I was twelve by the way. Jason...maybe you weren’t as bad but you left me alone to grow up in this. Do you all want to know the best part? Dean isn’t even my boyfriend. I hired him to pretend to be mine to get all of you people off my back when it turns out, that was never going to happen. You know and maybe I did hire him but he’s been my friend all day long and I’m going to go make sure he’s okay.”

You got up and left before any of them could stop you. You jogged down the stairs and into the lobby, looking around until you headed towards the backdoor.

A hand yanked you back and covered your mouth, warm lips brushing your ear. 

“Sh. It’s me,” said Dean. “Be quiet.”

He dropped his hands away and laced your fingers together, jogging the two of you upstairs. You ducked into your own room, Dean shutting the door silently behind himself.

“What happened out there?” you asked.

“I saw a guy in the woods and he shot my phone so I hit the deck and ran. When the coast was clear, I headed back up here,” he said.

“You didn’t get your phone? We saw it moving around in the yard,” you said.

“It wasn’t me,” he said. You sat on the edge of the bed and Dean knelt down in front of you. “It’s just a bad person probably looking to rob the place or a really idiot hunter. It’ll be okay.”

“I don’t know. I just learned a whole bunch of family stuff and I’m so sorry I dragged you into this. I’ll pay you whatever you want. I-“

“Hey,” he said, cupping your cheeks. “Relax, sweetheart.”

“I’m sorry. This is-”

“I said relax. Take a deep breath,” he said. He did the motion and you followed him, Dean smiling after a few tries. “There we go. Better?”

“A little. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. It was only a phone,” he said. The lights kicked back on fully and he immediately frowned. “Y/N. Don’t cry. I promise it’s okay.”

“It’s not you. My family knows about you. I just told them. First thing in the morning I’ll drive you home and try to fix this,” you said. There was a knock at the door and Dean got up slowly.

“Y/N? You in there?” asked Jason. Dean went over to the door and cracked it open a hair. “Oh. Hey. Y/N in there?”

“What do you need Jason?” asked Dean.

“Police are out front. They caught a couple of teenagers hunting illegally,” he said. “You probably want to talk to them.”

“I’ll be down in a minute,” said Dean. “By the way, now that everything’s out in the open and all...be nicer to your sister.”

“Yeah. I sort of got that part already,” he said. “Can I talk to her?”

You shook your head and Dean turned back to the door, giving Jason a look.

“Tell her...forget it. I’ll ask the kitchen to send up your guys dinner,” he said.

“Bottle of something very alcoholic would go a long way too,” said Dean. He shut the door and ran his hands over his face. “Y/N.”

“Yeah,” you said, staring at the floor. 

“I’m going to go talk to the cops. Why don’t you take a soak in that jetted tub in there. We can have our own night, okay?” he asked. He rubbed a hand up and down your back and you turned your head towards him.

“Dean. They know I paid you. You don’t have to pretend anymore,” you said. “It’s okay. Really.”

“Maybe you paid me but you’re my friend now and you look like you had a hell of a night. I nearly got shot. So why don’t we do what friends do and have a little sleepover and get drunk. That sounds good to me,” he said.

“Thanks,” you said. You stood up and gathered some pajamas up before you headed into the bathroom, looking over your shoulder at him. He ran his hand over his face and you saw red on the back of his hand before he was on his feet and leaving. 

After a few minutes you had the tub filled and got in the water, washing your face a few times. A part of you seriously considered driving home first thing in the morning and never speaking to any of them ever again. You had more questions than answers now though and you did love them, even if you didn’t really want to at the moment.

Then there was the whole dangerous father thing that had you on edge.

“Y/N?” said Dean, knocking on the door, making you jump. “Dinner’ll be up soon. I got us some dessert too.”

“I’ll be out in a minute.”

You let yourself soak a few more minutes before you got out and dried off. You changed and walked back into the bedroom to find Dean in his pajamas, sitting on the bed with a roll of gauze in his hand. He stared up at you as you pouted.

“What happened?” you asked, taking a seat next to him, gently taking his wrist.

“Cop said I probably got grazed,” he said. “I cleaned it downstairs. I didn’t want to put on the stupid bandage.”

“Well you should, even if it’s just for the night,” you said. You reached across his lap and picked the white roll up, careful of his hand as you wrapped it for him. 

“Thanks,” he said quietly, settling his hands in his lap.

“I’m going to set the alarm for six. We can get on the road early,” you said. He raised an eyebrow at you, a soft look forming on his face. “Going home, Dean.”

“Don’t you still have a wedding?” he asked.

“I won’t make you stay. Tonight could have been so bad.”

“It was an accident. Barely an accident. I didn’t even press charges. I am fine, Y/N. I’m not running off and leaving you with these assholes on your own. You’re too nice to just ditch your sister’s wedding so I know you aren’t going anywhere so I guess I’m not either.”

“Your ex was such an idiot,” you said. Dean laughed and nodded his head.

“Yeah. I’m kinda glad things happened the way they did. I don’t think things would have worked out anyways,” he said. There was a knock at the door and a moment later Dean returned with a cart, some food and a bottle of the good scotch on top. “Well that looks expensive. Seems like your brother is trying to apologize.”

“Half-brother,” you said, standing and grabbing the bottle, pouring a triple for yourself, knocking most of it back in one go. You shivered as it burned down your throat, Dean blankly staring at you.

“Half-brother?”

“Oh, have I got a story for you.”

“Wow,” said Dean an hour later, the two of you picking at the last of the ice cream pie. “I mean wow.”

“Yeah,” you said, handing the bottle over to Dean for a refill. He took a long drink, shaking his head out.

“Do you really think they hated you?” he asked.

“No. But I don’t think they liked me. I don’t know if it’s because our mom cheated or I took a share of their trust fund money or they were supposedly always having to protect me. What kind of bullshit is that by the way? Protect me? Those assholes hurt me nearly my whole life,” you said.

“You don’t have the eating disorder anymore, right?” he asked, licking the whipped cream off his fork.

“No,” you said, Dean smiling back at you. “It was just in highschool and a bit of college. The more I was on my own, the easier it was to get better.”

“Good. You’re perfect the way you are,” he said. 

“Let’s not go that far,” you said with a laugh as you rolled back on the bed, tilting your head back at him. “I think I’m kinda drunk.”

“Oh, I think that’s safe to say,” he said, taking another forkful of pie before he rolled right next to you. “At least you’re not the only one.”

“Do you like doing this?” you asked, Dean resting his chin on his hands. “Getting paid to be a date?”

“Not really. I mean, despite the nearly being shot, this is my favorite job I’ve had,” he said.

“How much is your loan?” you asked.

“Okay drunk girl, we’re not going there,” he said. 

“I had to try,” you said.

“You really don’t.”

“S’not fair. You didn’t even want that job and you got stuck with it and then you got stuck with this other job and s’not fair, Dean. You should be able to do what you want and not worry and have a girlfriend and your weekends and nights back and it’s not fair you know? I just-”

“You’re drunk and you had a bad night. No way in Hell would I take your moeny, sweetheart. I appreciate the offer, I do, but it’s my bed and I gotta lie in it. You got your own,” he said.

“Well maybe I’m just tired of sleeping alone,” you said.

“What are we talking about anymore?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” you breathed out. 

“Me either,” he said, propping himself up on his elbows. You reached across the bed and grabbed his hand, drawing shapes on his palm until he squeezed it shut around you. He pushed it away gently, quietly crawling over and looking down at you staring right back. “To be clear, I’m off the clock.”

“Okay,” you said.

He dipped his head low and kissed you, letting you cup his cheek as he very slowly broke away. He laid next to you, turning to face you, a tiny smile on your face. He returned it, closing his eyes after a moment.

“Why’d you kiss me?” you asked.

“I wanted to,” he said. “Was that okay?”

“It wasn’t not okay,” you said. “Is that okay?”

“Yeah. Just...I might do it again as a warning,” he said. 

“Okay,” you said. He moved his bandaged hand up to your face and pushed a strand of hair aside. “Why do you want to kiss me, Dean?”

“Cause I like you,” he said. “You don’t treat me like meat or make me feel bad about the fact I do this. Out of all those people, out of all your strong brothers and brother in laws and all that, you’re the one that when you thought something happened to me, you tried to come help me. You’re cute and sarcastic and I like you.”

“You don’t think I’m pathetic?”

“No. I never have. You have trust issues and so do I. I think we have more in common than what you see at the surface.”

“People don’t talk like that in real life,” you said.

“I do. If I trust the other person.”

“Can we do the rest of this trip as friends? Not as a date for hire.”

“Yeah,” he said as you took his hand and ran your thumb over the back of it. “It doesn’t hurt anymore.”

You brought it up to your face and kissed it, Dean smiling.

“All better now,” he said. “You doing alright?”

“I don’t know,” you said. You jammed your face in his shoulder, Dean’s arm moving to wrap it around you. “I’m glad you’re here, Dean.”

“Me too, sweetheart.”

_______

A/N: Read the Final Part here!

[foxymoxynoona]

Amended Ch. 2

Read Chapter 1 here

SUMMARY: Getting into a bar fight is the least surprising part of Isabella's return home. She sure doesn't expect to run into her childhood friend turned high school enemy, now not just surprisingly a law-abiding citizen but a police officer. Things seem to be going great for him, but Isabella is struggling with more than a bar fight. A single mom with a sick grandmother, an alcoholic mother, an abusive ex, and a short fuse herself, matters are not helped that Jungkook seems to be everywhere. All the time. Especially every time Isabella messes up. Can she really believe him when he says he just wants to help?

Police officer! Jungkook x Single Mom Childhood Friend Named OC

CW: abusive parents, alcoholism, abusive exes, descriptions of childhood abuse, domestic violence, sexual abuse, illegal acts, side character death, discussions/references to underage sexual activity/alcohol use/drug use, teen pregnancy, explicit sexual content

Also hosted on AO3 under foxymoxy. Not sure if I’ll keep posting on tumblr or not, but I thought I’d try it out!

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The morning had not been going well. At all.

The kids had overslept. 

Ok, maybe Isabella had overslept too.

Grandma had not overslept but had been in a bit of a mental fog, so Isabella had plied her with bananas and water as suggested by the nurses, while running around frantically to get the kids’ things pulled together. While they dawdled, of course, as if they had nowhere in the world to be. They couldn’t find their socks. They didn’t want frozen waffles for breakfast. They didn’t want to go to their first days of school, they wanted to just watch cartoons while Isabella struggled to be a morning person like most days.

But she’d done it, she got them dressed and fed and out the door, only having to double back for forgotten bags once. And while it was a whirlwind drop off at two different schools, she made it, and made it home just as Grandma was finishing her morning coffee and ready for a lift to her bible study, and just in time to shower to get dressed for her first day of work.

Except she’d underestimated how far the bible study was, and realized as soon as Grandma was shuffled inside that she was going to be late. For her first day of work. So she booked it into high gear…

And it landed her here. Pulled over to the side of the road with the cop car lights flashing through the back windshield. She let out an angry groan and let her head rest against the steering wheel. Now she would definitely be late.

A knock on her window got her to look up, only to huff, “You have got to be fucking kidding me.” She cranked her window down, actions snappish and pissy, as Jungkook waited with raised eyebrows and a narrow stare.

“Isabella.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” she sighed again, in case he hadn’t heard her earlier.

“That’s my question,” he said. “Do you have any idea how fast you were going, ma’am?”

“Thirty.”

“Bullshit,” he snorted.

“Do you know how fast I was going?”

He glared and answered, “Fifty-four in a thirty.”

“Not me, officer.”

“Isabella--”

“I’d like to see your radar gun readout and a clear photo of--”

“Isabella,” he sighed and made an exasperated noise. 

“There was another car going much faster than me, probably you picked that one up.”

“Used to arguing your way out of tickets, huh?”

“I doubt the other way out of tickets would work with you.”

“Oh? And what would that be? Maybe… not speeding and earning them in the first place?” he suggested. And he just looked so fucking smug. 

She gave him an equally smug grin and prompted, “Radar read out and dashboard cam, please.”

“License and registration, please.”

“Jungkook,” she grunted. “I’m late for work. It’s my first day.”

“Work, huh? Where’s that.”

“Target. Ever been? There’s a pharmacy, they have vaseline that could help you get that stick out of your--”

He sighed and rested his hands on the window frame, “Isabella. Why are you antagonizing me? I’m a cop. You’re speeding.”

“You are a cop, but I was not speeding.”

“Goddamn you are as infuriating as you were in high school.”

“Look,” she sighed, deciding to try a different tactic. “Fine, you want to try the other way? There’s a gas station up ahead, behind the dumpster there aren’t cameras. My backseat has a kid booster but you can probably turn your car cam off, right?”

“Jesus Christ,” he groaned, pushing away from her car and scratching at his hair. “Can you stop trying to bribe your way out of a ticket?!”

“Oh. So you admit that sounds like an appealing bribe? I just meant it as a friendly offer but--”

“Ok, look. I’m going to let you off with a warning this one time. Do you hear me?” 

Isabella bit her tongue so as not to point out that she vaguely thought she recalled him telling her the other night it was her one warning. Instead she made her eyes very big and nodded.

“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. Officer, sir.”

“Just because if I give you a ticket I have to stand here and deal with you for fifteen more minutes.”

“I am so grateful--”

“But look, slow down, ok? You’re going to hit someone and this tin can you’re driving isn’t going to protect you. You can’t show up here and just break the law when you feel like it.” 

She bit her tongue so hard it hurt. That was rich, real rich coming from a delinquent she’d covered for plenty of times. Probably he knew that, because he arched his eyebrow and waited, as if to see if she could resist. She lifted her chin and set her jaw and held it in. He watched her a moment longer.

“Have a nice day, ma’am. Take it easy.” He patted the roof of her car like a true and genuine police asshole, and sauntered back to his vehicle. Isabella cranked up her window.

“You fucker, you definitely didn’t actually have me on radar and how dare you preach at me about--”

The siren blipped once, cutting off her monologue. She glared at him through the rearview mirror and quickly pulled away, waiting until she’d lost him behind a turn to take off again, in an attempt to make up for lost time and not lose her job on the first fucking day.

It wasn’t until she parked she realized she’d forgotten to take her wallet out of one of the kids’ backpacks before dropping them off.

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

Isabella’s legs hurt. Her back hurt. Her head hurt. She was too tired for this. She kept glancing at the clock, but there were hours left in her shift still. Ezra and Lily would have arrived at afterschool care by now. The nurse would have picked up Grandma from bible study long ago. Everyone was fine. But she was tired and desperate for coffee and didn’t have a break coming up any time soon.

She plastered on a smile, ringing up the woman in her line, but the woman was on her phone and not paying attention anyway so she let it slide away. The woman bought razors, deodorant, several bottles of wine, a carton of Goldfish, and a box of tampons. Isabella rang everything up, turned the bags on the carousel so the woman could loop them over the hand holding her car keys, and held the receipt out. 

“Have a nice day,” she said.

“Uh huh,” the woman nodded and walked away, flicking her hand a little like Isabella was a gnat. 

She hadn’t looked at the next person in line yet, just reached for the bag of shrimp chips and then immediately froze.

“Are you fucking--” She looked up as she spoke, knowing instinctively it was Jungkook, but trailed off upon finding him holding a little girl. He raised his eyes and gave her a crooked grin.

“What was that?” he asked. The little girl stared at her with similar wide eyes.

“Uh… are you following me?” she asked, deciding to ignore his look. “I told you where I work. Are you checking up on me?!”

He gave her a teasing glare, “Are you always this paranoid?” She rolled her eyes. “You didn’t card that woman.”

“Oh my god, are you kidding me right now? She was clearly over 21.”

“I don’t know,” he tsked, looking after the woman. “White people, it’s hard to tell your ages.”

Isabella licked her lips in annoyance to keep from saying worse, and then smiled at the little girl, “Your dad is a real charmer, huh?”

The girl’s face instantly screwed up and she argued, “He’s not my dad, he’s my uncle!”

“Ah. Oh!” Before she could even ask, Jungkook’s older sister set one final thing on the belt, then did a double take.

“Isabella!” she greeted. “Hello!”

“Um, hi Youngsoon.” Isabella immediately blushed. Youngsoon was even more beautiful than she’d been as a young adult. Youngsoon had always been so beautiful and cool. Isabella had spent a lot of years lamenting she couldn’t be a beautiful Korean woman like her, certain Jungkook’s older sister belonged in the movies. Embarrassed, she quickly began scanning items.

“Jungkook didn’t mention you were back in town. How are you?”

“I’m well,” she answered reflexively, only glancing up. She did not appreciate the smug grin Jungkook still had. What did he have to be smug about? She glared at him.

“She thought Uncle Gukka was my dad,” the little girl giggled, flinging her arms around Uncle Gukka’s neck. 

“Yuck,” Jungkook teased, scrunching her face up at her. To be fair, the little girl was clearly a Jeon. But it made sense that she was a baby Youngsoon; she was beautiful, just like her mother, not goobery like Jungkook… well, like he had been when they were younger, anyway...

“Sora, this woman is an old friend of Uncle Gukka’s,” Youngsoon said with a smile. “She was Uncle Gukka’s very first friend in America.”

“Your first friend was a girl?” Sora asked with surprise.

Jungkook gave her a serious look and said, “I didn’t know it at the time.”

“Hey,” Isabella glared. But she didn’t stop scanning items, in a hurry to finish up so they could go away. She was very nervous now having Jungkook and Youngsoon both here. Jungkook she didn’t mind aggravating but seeing Youngsoon left her feeling… insignificant.

But Youngsoon, perfectly at ease chatting, continued, “Have you moved back permanently?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “We’re here with my grandmother right now. I just-- it was easy to transfer to the store since I already work at Target, so I’m just picking up some shifts…” God, it was mortifying. Mortifying. Not only was she standing there scanning their items in her stupid khakis and red polo shirt, but talking about picking up shifts… Youngsoon had been in medical school back then. And now Jungkook was a cop. 

“We?”

“Oh, um… me and my children.”

“Oh! How old are you children?” Youngsoon continued. “I have two --Sora here is--”

“I’m five,” Sora announced.

“Five,” Youngsoon finished with a fond smile. “And I have a two year old boy.” The last item had been rung up and placed in the bag and Isabella had succeeded in not looking at Jungkook for several minutes now; even when Sora had spoken and she’d reflexively look at the little girl, she’d managed to blur his face from view. Gukka’s very first friend in America. What a silly thing to mention. Pokemon. They’d bonded over fucking Pokemon.

But Youngsoon looked at her expectantly and Isabella had always admired her so much and found herself admitting, “I have two. Eight and four.”

“Oh, are they in school? Or will you not be here that long?”

“Yeah, I-- they started school today actually. Since I don’t know how long we’ll be here, I didn’t want them to miss out.”

“Is your younger one in kindergarten?”

“No, Pre-K still but through public school.”

“It was their first day today?” Jungkook asked, tricking her into looking at him. She gave a nod and turned to push the button on the screen as Youngsoon pulled out her wallet to pay. She tried not to sulk but thought that might be why he snorted and then sighed, “You shouldn’t have been speeding.”

“It’s my first day of work too and I was going maybe three over--”

“Twenty-four over,” he clarified. 

“Show me the radar receipt.”

He let out an exasperated sigh, “I let you off with a warning, didn’t I?”

“Yeah because I said--”

“Not because of anything you said,” he corrected instantly, giving her a wide-eyed and pointed stare. 

“--you wanted me to shut up,” she grinned cheekily, grabbing the receipt as it printed out. 

Youngsoon gave her a gentle smile though, because she’d always been kind, and assured her, “Mornings are hard. Sorry it sounds like a tough one.” She took the receipt. “I’m really glad to run into you though. We should get our kids together for a play date! Sora and your youngest are so close in age.”

“Oh. Um…” She hadn’t expected that. Why would she suggest that? She’d hurried so Youngsoon could finish being polite and leave.

“Let me give you my number,” she said instead, digging around in her wallet and then pulling out a business card. “You can text or call my cell that’s listed there.”

“Ok. Um, thanks, sure. Things are a little busy right now but--”

Jungkook snickered and made a face at his sister, “Soona, she doesn’t want to bring her kids around.”

“My kids are wonderful,” Isabella defended hotly, feeling anger charge through her body. Her cheeks flushed with it. It surprised him, he didn’t hide that from his face.

“Uh, I-- I didn’t mean it like that,” he assured her. He shifted Sora to his other arm and scratched his cheek. 

Sora seemed oblivious to the awkward exchange as she asked Isabella, “Do you have a boy or a girl?”

“I have one of each. My daughter is the one close to your age.”

“Does she like princesses or cars or both?” Sora asked. Youngsoon laughed gently and pressed her hand to Jungkook’s arm to nudge them along, but motioned to the business card in Isabella’s hand.

“Do call or text.”

“Ok. Yeah. I will.”

Jungkook didn’t say anything more, even goodbye. He’d picked up both bags though after dumping Sora to the ground; she took her mother’s hand and waved to Isabella as the three of them left the store.

Isabella’s cheeks blazed as she turned her attention to the next customer, an older woman who looked vaguely familiar but didn’t seem to recognize Isabella. That was good. She hadn’t thought about how many people she’d see at Target, she’d just been thinking about the ease of picking up shifts and making money because she needed to. 

Embarrassed, she tossed the business card in the trash under her till.

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

Isabella stretched out on the couch next to Grandma once the kids were in bed a half hour later than she had wanted. That wasn’t too bad. The house felt strangely silent without their voices and pounding footsteps rattling the walls, but it was nice to be able to let out her breath and relax and not try to look like a Responsible Adult. 

Grandma hummed happily and laced her fingers into Isabella’s hair, holding her tea mug in the other hand.

“That better be decaf,” Isabella warned.

“My, you’re a bossy little thing,” Grandma chuckled. 

“I just don’t want you having caffeine nightmares, and you’re barely sleeping as it is--”

“Yes, yes, I know. Nothing but sleepy herbs in this. Would you like some?”

“I’m so wiped, I won’t need any help falling asleep.”

“Go to bed now.”

“Nah, I’ll sit up with you a little longer,” Isabella insisted and sat up, certain the way her grandmother stroked her hair would put her to sleep otherwise. She’d gone so many years without getting to sit with her grandma like this, she wouldn’t trade it for a little extra sleep now that she could.

“Well I heard all about the first day of school from the children at dinner, but how was your first day of work?”

Isabella shrugged, “It’s just Target. It’s the same everywhere you go-- hey, you know who I keep running into?”

“Who?”

“Jungkook. Do you remember him?”

“Of course I remember him.”

“Did you know he’s a cop now?”

“Yes, I knew,” her grandmother confirmed, smiling and nodding. “Why is that so surprising? He’s a sweet boy.”

“Uh, he was sweet when we were eleven. Then he became a raging asshole…”

“Bella,” Grandma scolded, giving her a look about her language.

“Grandma, he was a troublemaker in high school. What the hell made him become a cop? He hated cops! He never showed the slightest interest in becoming a cop and now suddenly he’s lecturing me about…” She trailed off, not wanting to admit to her grandmother about what she’d been up to and realizing she almost had.

Grandma gave her a coyly arched eyebrow and pressed, “About what, my darling granddaughter?”

“Nothing.”

“Maybe the fight you had last Thursday--”

“Grandmaaa,” Isabella sighed. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“I’m sure you don’t! But I know what a hangover is, my dear, and I don’t think you were using make up to cover bites from an amorous lover--”

“Grandma!” This time she broke off with a laugh and gave her grandmother a gentle, playful shove. “What do you know about amorous bites?”

“Oh, to be young and think you know everything--”

“I’m not young, I’m old,” Isabella sighed and let her head drop to her grandmother’s shoulder. “I stopped being young when I was fourteen. I just have a hard time believing Jungkook grew up enough to be a cop. He still seems like a smarmy asssss...” She’d tried to change the word to something else and couldn’t think of anything on the spot, just dragged the s out awkwardly long.

“Nonsense. Being a cop doesn’t mean you grew up, it just means you passed some tests and they gave you a badge and a gun.”

“Oof. Careful, Grandma! That sounds remarkably progressive. What will the old ladies in your bible study group say? How dare you flaunt authority?”

Grandma laughed and admitted, “Perhaps it is a little tough when you find yourself so much older than authority.”

“I bet he can’t even grow a beard yet.”

“He tried, briefly, a few years ago,” Grandma admitted, grinning when Isabella giggled. “You’re still very young too, sweetheart, you just grew up fast. But someday you’ll look back in disbelief of how young you still were right now, thinking like that.”

“Don’t talk cryptically, Grandma. You’ll make me panic.”

“No, no, I won’t die on you tonight,” the older woman teased, earning a glare from Isabella. “I just find your disbelief he grew up and started a career is amusing. You grew up and got a career and have two children!”

“I hardly think working at Target counts as a career. I’m not even a manager.”

“You could be!”

“No,” Isabella sighed. “I can’t be. I take too many sick days. I mean honestly I was probably about to get fired at my store in New York. It’s a blessing you wanted me to come home. Don’t think for a second I did it for you.”

Grandma grinned, “Oh yes, of course. My selfish granddaughter, only ever doing things for herself.”

Isabella sighed. She knew her grandmother was teasing her. But she did feel selfish. All the time. Every part of her life felt like jumping from one selfish decision to the next, hurting everyone within reach. That was her legacy, wasn’t it? Even her two children, who she would have moved heaven and earth for, suffered because she just couldn’t quite get her shit together. And why couldn’t she get her shit together? Because she kept making bad decisions. Even now, she really had uprooted her children to move home because selfishly she wanted whatever time she had left with her grandmother, even if it meant dividing what little energy and attention she had for her children even further. And selfishly, too, it was a break on rent, which she’d been struggling to make before.

“I didn’t mean that,” her grandmother whispered. “I’m teasing you, Isabella. You’re a good girl with a big heart. Be kind to yourself. I’m glad you’re home, I’m just sad a mini seizure is what brought you home.”

“It wasn’t mini, Grandma.”

“And don’t be too hard on Jungkook. I think he’s made a sincere effort to leave his high school behavior in high school.”

“It would be easier not to be hard on him if he would stop following me everywhere. I swear, he’s like a plague. A shadow!”

Grandma grinned, “Then it’s just like when you were twelve again.”

“God, I hope not. Twelve is the worst age when you’re a girl.”

“It’s not too kind to boys either.”

“Jungkook came out on the right side of it.”

“Oh, do you think he’s handsome now?” her grandmother asked, and Isabella felt the snicker against her scalp.

“No. I meant after puberty, the girls in high school did! He’s ugly now.”

“Isabella.”

“So ugly. Stupid face.”

“Isabella,” her grandmother laughed.

“What! He was probably thinking the same things when he saw me. Wow, she got ugly and old and fat--”

“Ok, missy, I’m cutting you off,” her grandmother said, nudging her to get her to sit up. “Go to bed.”

“What! Cutting me off from what, I’m not drinking anything.”

“From thoughts like that. You are beautiful and hard-working and you have two perfect children.”

“I know, I know.”

“You are kicking ass.”

“Grandmaaa,” Isabelle laughed. 

“I’m eighty-six, I can say ass for once.”

“That’s twice!”

“Ah, better call Officer Jeon to arrest me--”

Isabella pretended to vomit, “Never call him Officer Jeon again. He’s an idiot. He’s so… smug. He thinks he’s better than me--”

“Bella, honey.”

“Hm?”

“You’re not sixteen anymore and neither is he. Let it rest.”

Isabella didn’t quite know what her grandmother meant by that. There was plenty she could imply. But while she had no problem assuming intent on Jungkook’s part because he’d been such an absolute asshole in high school, she didn’t want to read anything in what her grandmother said now that could either defend Jungkook or embarrass herself. 

“Fine,” Isabella conceded. “Anyway, I probably won’t see him again. Unless he really is stalking me and then I’ll get a restraining order.”

“That’s my girl,” Grandma laughed and kissed her forehead. “Now to bed. We have to do this all again tomorrow.”

“Wait, the kids have to go to school again?”

It made Grandma laugh, and Isabella was glad to see that. Honestly maybe it was all a little hammed up, even talking about Jungkook, because her grandmother was in constant pain at this point, and any little smile she could get from her was a victory. 

“Ok, let me help you up to bed, Grandma. Tomorrow is another day. I’m sure it’ll be better.”

“So, guess who’s back in town?” Youngsoon brought up at dinner. Jungkook groaned and threw his napkin at her before she said anything further, earning a pinch on the arm from his mom. It wasn’t even weekly family dinner night, so Jungkook had thought it would be safe to go to his parents’ place to mooch food, but Youngsoon had also decided to come over with her kids because her husband had a night out with the guys or whatever. 

She’d waited until they were halfway through the meal, once the kids had finished and run off to play noisily in the living room, to bring it up. As if just to lure Jungkook into the false sense of getting away with it. But at his parents’ curious prompt, Youngsoon answered,

“Isabella Desmond. She’s staying with her grandmother.”

“Isabella Desmond! How is she?”

“Why are you looking at me?” Jungkook grumbled, shoving tempura in his mouth. 

“You already knew?”

Jungkook made a face and admitted, “Yeah, I already knew… she’s… struggling, it seems.”

“Struggling how?” his mother pressed. “It must be hard with her grandmother in poor health…”

“Working at Target doesn’t mean she’s struggling,” Youngsoon countered, leveling a look at Jungkook.

“No, I think she’s struggling because-- I don’t know,” he shrugged. On second thought, he didn’t want to get into it. “Just seems like she has a lot on her plate.”

“She’s got two kids,” Youngsoon informed his parents. “Eight and four, she said. I asked her to give me a call for a playdate.”

“Ah, that’s good. It would be good to see her again. She was always such a good friend to Gukka,” his father said. Jungkook sighed and rolled his eyes, earning a swift kick from his mom beneath the table even before his father teased, “Even when Gukka was not a good friend.”

“I was always a great friend. I’m still a great friend. I let her off with warnings twice.”

“Twice? One was for a speeding ticket. What was the other one?” Youngsoon immediately caught because of course she did.

Jungkook gave her a smug grin, “Sorry, can’t disclose, official police business.”

“Well if she calls you, please invite her over to supper,” his mother suggested. “Her and the children and her grandmother. It would be good to see them all again.”

Jungkook clicked his teeth and said, “She’s not going to call you, Soona. And it’s for the best, just let her be. She’s not in a good place right now.”

“Ok.” Youngsoon gave him a serious look. “Then… help her.”

“I did. I gave her warnings twice.”

“That’s not helping, that’s enabling--”

Jungkook sighed, “She’s not my responsibility.”

“It’s not good,” his mother argued. “She was such a good friend to you when we first moved here. It felt like I didn’t even have a son anymore because you were always off in that treehouse playing together. We bought that Nintendo just to lure you both into the house.”

“Ma, we were twelve and also it was a PlayStation, you can’t just call all video game systems Nintendo. And we don’t owe each other anything because we were old Pokemon buddies. She’s not doing me any favors either.”

“What favors do you want her to do?” Youngsoon asked, bright-eyed.

“Ma, Soona’s being dirty.”

“Soona, behave.”

“I’m just--”

“Yes, I know, I know.”

“She’s pretty, mom. You should have seen Gukka’s grin when we saw her in Target--”

“Bull--- hockey,” Jungkook glared. “She’s a menace. You should have heard her talking her way out of the parking ticket. Demanding to see the radar gun…”

Jungkook’s dad grinned, “Well? Did it work?”

“Wha-- it worked because I was being nice and gave her a warning.”

“You didn’t have a radar gun,” his dad nodded.

“She was clearly speeding but… no… I didn’t…”

“Ah, she was always a clever girl,” his mother laughed. “I hope she is ok. Keep an eye out for her, Gukka. You say you don’t owe her anything? We always owe kindness to the people who were kind to us.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he sighed, shaking his head. “I let her off with a warning twice… I don’t know what more you want me to do…”

“Whatever your heart says you should,” his mother beamed at him. Absolutely infuriating. 

Fortunately Soona’s kids ran shrieking into the room, bickering about who broke the TV remote, and Jungkook was saved from further interrogation.

[foreveralwaysanauthor]

I Could Be Every Color You Like

October 3, 2021

Prompt - Full of Colors

Characters - Bentley and various others

Notes - This gave me so many ideas for one-shots.

“Why does that kid like art so much?”

He'd heard that question a lot over the years. It was a simple question and, to be frank, not many knew the answer. The youngest of the Murphy brothers was a chatty fourteen-year-old who was usually seen holding a pen or marker to something. It was only natural that people asked questions, he supposed. It wasn’t normal for people to walk around, drawing everything in sight, but that’s just the way Bentley was.

Bentley was an enthusiastic artist and had been for as long as he could remember. Of course, he usually did so for fun, coloring on napkins and such, but his art was always meticulously done. He’d learned to draw from his mom when he was really little. Miles recalled once that Bentley had drawn all over one of their bedroom walls when he was three, but his mom was so happy with how it looked that she refused to wash it off or paint over it. Bentley was just an artist through and through - it was what he was good at.

In school, the teachers that knew Miles and Royce expected Bentley to be just like one or both of them. First was the oldest - Miles, the hardworking, above-average student who had excellent manners and was part of both the automotive department and the school newspaper before graduating early. Then came Royce, the kid with straight A’s since kindergarten who spent most of his free time studying in the library or writing in a journal. But, when Bentley came along, their expectations went out the window.

Bentley was far more artistic than his brothers, doodling in the margins of his paperwork and turning it in, only to receive a note from the teachers, telling him to please stop. While he kept his grades up, even after Miles left for Florida, he could never seem to meet the precedent set forth by his brothers. His teachers tried to talk with his father about his attention problems and constant drawing, but the man never answered the phone. When he did, he’d answer in the same manner every time before hanging up - “Did he kill someone? No? Then leave me the hell alone.” After a while, the teachers stopped caring as much and left him alone, which was nice.

The only teacher he’d liked was Mr. Samuel Hatfield, his art teacher in middle school. The man was a giant at six foot seven but had the biggest heart in the building. He took his time with each of his students, making sure they understood what concepts he was teaching them and could handle their own. For once, Bentley could claim the position of teacher’s pet with pride. The teacher took pride in Bentley’s artwork, using them as examples for other classes and, occasionally, the upperclassmen who needed encouragement.

It felt good to be appreciated.

So, when Royce whispered to him one night in the confines of their bedroom that they’d set aside enough money to move in with their older brother, he felt torn. He desperately wanted to move in with Miles, far away from their father, but he also wanted to stay so he could continue feeling special for his art. It was all he felt he was good at and he loved feeling important, but his love for his brother outweighed that a million times over so his decision was nearly instantaneous.

The next day, after working his busboy job at the diner on the edge of Main Street, he took off on his bicycle for the art shop next to the library, using his collective tip money for the day - a whopping seven dollars and fifty-four cents, nearly triple what he usually got - to buy a small sketchbook and a discounted paint set. The rest of his money, he planned on pocketing. He and Royce would be leaving soon anyway, what did it matter what he spent the extra cash on now?”

The cashier frowned at Bentley as he counted his money, coming up just a couple of quarters short. He sighed, debating on which item he wanted to buy more. Just then, the door jingled next to him and he instinctively looked up, meeting gazes with his art teacher.

“Hi, Mr. Hatfield,” Bentley greeted quickly before turning back to his purchase.

“Well if it isn’t Bentley Murphy,” the art teacher greeted. “Why am I not surprised to see you here. Buying anything good, kiddo?”

“A goodbye gift,” Bentley claimed with a grin. “My brother and I are leaving town to be with our big brother.”

“Ah,” Mr. Hatfield exhaled. “Is this a gift for your dad or your older brother?”

“Nope,” Bentley exclaimed. “This is for me. Something to remember Myrtle Beach, I guess.”

The teacher nodded slowly, taking in the information as Bentley spoke. “So, where does your older brother live again?”

‘Uh oh. Too much info,’ Bentley thought to himself. ‘Don’t get caught. They’ll call the cops if they know where we’re really going. Be smart like RJ. Think, think, think.’

“California,” he lied in feigned excitement, sending his teacher a brilliant smile. “He moved there a couple years ago to be with a girl he liked who moved to Los Angeles.”

The teacher nodded again and smiled. “Well, since this is a parting gift, I’ll cover it, kid.” The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a wallet.

“Actually,” Bentley began, “I think I’ll put the paint back-”

“Leave it, Mr. Murphy,” Mr. Hatfield stated firmly, setting down some money. “It's just some paint. I have no problem helping you to further your talents. Save your cash for spending time with your brother.”

The cashier took the money from Mr. Hatfield and bagged Bentley’s items before handing them to the fourteen-year-old. Bentley and the man said their goodbyes before Bentley went outside and hopped on his bike, riding quickly toward home. When he arrived home and found only Royce there, the two boys packed their bags and left not long after, leaving only a simple note in their place. The next fifteen or so hours were spent biking to their Uncle Tommy’s house - a man who had despised his sister’s husband since he’d met the man and had been encouraging the boys to leave. Once they arrived, they took the man’s car - with his permission and knowledge, of course - and took off for Florida. Ten hours later, they arrived pulled into the town, a sign with bold letters saying “Welcome to St. Pete Beach” being their only welcoming committee.

Royce pulled Uncle Tommy’s car into what they believed was Miles’ address, if his letters were anything to go by. They got out of the car and knocked on the door a few times before anyone answered. It was just barely eight in the morning so it wasn’t unexpected, but the anticipation was killing them slowly. Bentley was mildly surprised to see his oldest brother - who looked like he was just woken up by them - whip open the door, wiping his eyes a few times before pulling them both into a tight hug. They were shown to their room, finding it decked out in just about anything Miles had found that he’d thought they would like. To Bentley’s surprise, a brand new art book and some canvases were laid out on his bed, accompanied by various types of paints, markers, and pencils.

Their brother’s friends became family to them and they were accepted fairly quickly. Lela set aside time every day just to paint with him on the beach. Mick would teach him and his brothers photography in her spare time. Butchy took him and Royce for walks to the park so Royce could write in peace while Bentley drew in his sketchbook. Tanner took him to an art gallery on the edge of town just for fun. It was like being an artist was something to be proud of. Like there wasn’t any competition to have better grades or better abilities. It was an air of tranquility that the fourteen-year-old hadn’t felt since his mom approved of his artwork as a kid.

Over time, he began noticing the colors of people he spent the most time with. Whether it was the color of their eyes or in the things they surrounded themselves with or their favorite colors, Bentley saw them each in a different light. If he said them out loud, it would make sense to absolutely no one, but that was fine by him. He made sure it came across in his artwork instead of in his words.

For instance, Miles gave off rays of baby blue with a hint of red - calmness, safety, and love - so those were the colors Bentley used to draw his oldest brother with most. Royce was a brilliant, sunset orange - smart, vibrant, and playful - and it suited the middle brother better than he ever cared to admit. Mick and Butchy together were green with dashes of lavender, a colorful combination of love, strength, and balance - a source of protection and love that was unending and reliable. Lela was pale pink, full of innocent love for those around her.

So, when asked why he loved art so much, Bentley had only one answer to give: the colors.

[reyesstrand]

not sure if I’m allowed to send another but, what about 85 for tarlos?

sorry for the wait for this, but this idea got in my head and it kind of got out of control — a good ending to this series, i guess!! i hope you enjoy! 

prompt taken from this list. also available on ao3!!

Three weeks to the day after the solar flare, Carlos receives a cryptic text from his mom: come for lunch today?

He mulls it over; he loves his mother, and it’s no secret to anybody that knows him that he’s a total mama’s boy, but there’s got to be a reason behind her impromptu meal, and an evil part of his mind tells him it has to be bad news. She doesn’t mention anything about his sisters joining them, and Carlos doesn’t know if that should stress him out more or less. If it’s something bad, he’d assume that he and his sisters would find out at the same time — but that only leaves him more confused.

She’s a strong woman, and is a complete health-nut — ever since his abuela started having mobility issues, his mother’s been a champion for organic eating and natural sleep aids and doing yoga every morning. Carlos can’t put bad news from the doctor completely off the table, but he starts to drift towards the other countless possibilities — and so he can’t say no to her. Even if it’s his only day off that lines up with TK’s schedule, he spares a glance at his softly snoring boyfriend before figuring the man’s close enough with his own father that he’ll have to understand a shift in plans. And so Carlos finds himself more alert than he’d been when he’d rubbed sleep from his eyes and initially checked his phone five minutes ago, thumbs hovering over the screen before he sends her a simple of course, mami, and sets about getting ready for the day after pressing a quick kiss to TK’s hairline.

He’s showered and had his coffee and is trying to quietly get dressed when Carlos hears TK groan and grumble, clearly fighting between catching a little more sleep and getting out of bed. Carlos watches with a small smile as TK slowly sits up when he realizes he’s alone in bed, before their gazes catch, and his heart soars as TK’s eyes visibly light up at seeing him.

“Everything okay?” TK asks, voice still deep and groggy, and Carlos nods as he starts on buttoning up his shirt.

“We might have to change our plans today,” Carlos says apologetically. “I really—fuck, I really wanted to spend he day with you, but my mom wants me to come over and she usually doesn’t spring stuff like that on me unless there’s something wrong, and—”

“Hey,” TK cuts him off, and Carlos raises his brows at him. “It’s okay, seriously. Marjan’s been bugging me to take Buttercup to get some pampering, anyway.”

“You’re the best,” Carlos says, and TK grins at him.

“Damn straight.”

TK tilts his head up, clearly looking for a kiss. Carlos huffs out a laugh and comes in close, so their mouths are nearly touching, before he whispers, “You have no shame, do you.”

“Nope,” TK grins, eyes crinkling in the corners, popping the p before he closes the space between them and gets the kiss he wanted. “I’ll see you later, though?”

His eyes shine with hopefulness, and Carlos nods earnestly. “I’ll text you when I’m on my way home.”

There’s another brief kiss, before Carlos sighs as he presses their foreheads together.

“I hate just leaving on you,” Carlos admits, even though the thoughts surrounding what his mom’s intentions are with lunch are swirling around his mind.

“I’ll be fine,” TK says, ducking forward to press another kiss to the corner of Carlos’ mouth. “Say hi to your mom for me.”

It’s only half a joke — TK’s been talking, metaphorically, about meeting Carlos’ family for a week or so. He mentions it whenever Carlos talks about childhood memories or a story from one of his sisters, noting that Carlos has known his dad technically even before he knew TK. But it never evolves from a few jokes, and even though Carlos wants nothing more than to continue to make their relationship solidified through introducing each other properly to the people that mean the most to them, he doesn’t know how to seriously approach that subject.

Instead of trying now, Carlos leaves with a promised, “I’ll see you later,” before he grabs his keys and phone and makes his way out of his home.

The half-hour drive goes by mostly in a blur, because he’s too caught up in what might unfold at the lunch. They usually try to have big family dinners bi-weekly, due to everyone’s work schedules and his sister’s kids’ schedules, but he can’t remember the last time a meal like this was just dropped on him the day-of. He does have the right state of mind to stop and grab his mom a bouquet of lilies, her favourite, before he pulls up to the humble farmhouse he’d lived in his whole childhood.

“Is everything okay?”

The words are out of his mouth within seconds of stepping into the house, half-startling his mother as she pours out two glasses of sweet tea.

“Can’t I ask my favourite son to have lunch with me when I know it’s his day off?”

Carlos flushes a bit, handing the flowers to his mom as she pulls him in for a hug. “I’m your only son.”

“Still my favourite,” she grins, smacking a kiss on his cheek before she gestures toward the back deck. He follows her, taking a deep breath as he goes.

* * *

“I know something is up, baby.”

He'd been expecting something regarding her own well-being or health, or his abuela's, so when the conversation turns to him he's sort of confused. And Carlos has grown up hearing from people that he has his mother’s eyes, and as he looks into them now, he thinks he sees the similarities as she looks at him with a particular warmth laced with concern he’s been accustomed to since he was born.

“You know, I saw an interesting photo of you the other day,” she says it off-handedly, but Carlos still manages to choke on his drink. She doesn’t hesitate, going on to describe the picture he knows intimately because he posted it to his Instagram only forty-eight hours ago: him and TK, smiling as they stand close, too close to just be friendly to any onlooker, taken by Paul in the late hours of the night as they strolled around downtown after their shifts. He hadn’t even considered his family seeing the photo, and he silently rues the day his sisters made their mother various social media accounts so she could keep up with their lives. Her voice turns soft, as she squeezes his arm and asks, “Is there something you want to tell me?”

“Uh, I have to pee.”

He says it quickly enough that he can run off to inside the house, where the remnants of their lunch sits scattered over the counter. Carlos beelines for the bathroom and leans against the sink as he pulls out his phone.

how do you feel about my mom knowing about you?

seriously.

Carlos sends the messages to TK and taps his phone against the heel of his palm as he waits for a response. He thinks back to his mother’s implications — that she knows about them, is okay with them — and figures that he could always lie. It’ll look suspicious as hell, of course, after he just fucked off like that, but he’s never really brought any boyfriends around before. Mainly because he’s never been in a serious enough relationship to warrant that. But he thinks — he knows that there’s something real between him and TK, and he wouldn’t hate his mom and eventually his sisters knowing about him and meeting him and welcoming him into the fold of their family dynamic. But he needs to make sure this is still something TK’s okay with, that it’s going at his pace.

TK texts him back quickly, like always. i was serious about wanting to meet her someday. maybe even soon. so if you want to talk about me i support you.

you’re sure? Carlos texts back, as he feels his nerves starting to both tamper off and confusingly grow at the same time as he walks toward the backyard again, preparing to let his mother into this part of his life.

100%. tell her only the good things, i wanna impress her, TK replies, along with a string of heart emojis. Carlos huffs a little, quickly typing out, she’ll love you no matter what, before pocketing his phone and sliding back into his seat across from his mother.

“Sorry,” he mumbles, meeting her eyes, and as he opens his mouth to continue, she quickly interjects.

“Don’t lie to me, Carlos,” she warns, though there’s warmth behind her words, a desperate plea to tell him that she wants to be included in this part of his life, no matter how new it might be. "You know you can talk to me."

So Carlos takes another deep breath, not really looking at his mother as he whispers: “I met someone, mami.”

He stares down at the ground; after a few seconds, he shifts his gaze to stare at the blooming gardens that live in clusters around the yard, various vegetables and flowers alike growing with vengeance as the summer welcomes them back into the world. When she makes a noise and he finally meets her gaze again, she’s looking at him with nothing but fondness.

“Oh, baby,” his mom is smiling, now, and she brings his face close to press a kiss to his forehead.

“It’s only been official for a few weeks but, um, I really like him,” Carlos admits, as his mother lovingly squeezes his hand. With a laugh, he adds: “I like him a lot. And I’d love for you to meet him.”

His mother leans forward and curls her arms around him, like she did when he was a kid and he felt too small to conquer the world, and he immediately feels calm wash over him. “I would love to, mijo.”

(Carlos has a flash of a memory, then, coming out when he was fifteen years old and terrified but desperate for his truth to be known. He first told his older sister Camila, and then his mother a couple of days later, and he remembers so vividly how they hugged his then-tiny frame, all knobbly bones and a height he was getting used to, both of them supportive and loving and adamant that nothing would change how much they love him. He towers over both of them now, but he feels protected in his mother’s arms, like he always has).

As they pull out of the hug, his mother elbows him good-naturedly. “Alright, tell me about this boy then.”

His mama’s grinning at him teasingly as she says it, and Carlos sits back and huffs out a laugh of his own, rubbing the back of his neck.

“His name’s TK. He’s a firefighter,” Carlos says, barely holding back a bigger smile when his mother makes an approving face at that tidbit of information. “He’s—he’s funny and beautiful and has the warmest heart.”

“I’m so happy for you,” his mother says, eyes bright with love, as if just listening to him talk about TK has made her realize how truly happy he is. And maybe it's allowed himself to look at inside retrospectively and figure out that yeah, he is happier than he's ever been. “I’m sure I’ll love him. You’ll have to bring him around.”

“I will,” Carlos promises, feeling like he’s floating on air. “Oh, and he’s from New York City.”

He says it pointedly, knowing his mother’s always wanted to travel to the Big Apple.

“Well,” his mother says, “I guess we’ll have to show your city boy how we do family dinners, then.”

She brings him in for another hug as she smiles, before she goes off to refill their glasses. Carlos sits back, considering the idea of TK being a part of his family, for good — and he finds that he wants nothing else in the world.

[fangirl-1523]

My Sworn Brothers [Luffy x Crossover!Sister!Reader x Ace x Sabo]

A/N: Hey, so I want to write a High School AU of the many, many anime I have watched/ read. Bleach, Blue Exorcist, Devil is a Part-Timer, Durarara, Fairy Tail, Fullmetal Alchemist, High School of the Dead, InuYasha, Kill La Kill, Magi, My Hero Academia, Noragami, One Piece, Ouran High School Host Club, Pokemon, Saiki K, Sailor Moon, Seven Deadly Sins, Soul Eater, Sword Art Online, Vampire Knight, Your Lie in April, and Yu Gi-Oh. And I was wondering who would you like to be apart of your friend? And would you like to have a relation to any of the characters of the world. 

Summary: [Y/N] is the oldest sworn sister to Luffy, Ace, and Sabo. And after finding Ace and Sabo aboard Luffy’s ship, the Thousand Sunny, she explains to them who she is, her other sworn brothers and sisters, embarrasses the three of them (a regular Tuesday for her), and threatens them with a chalkboard for interrupting her. Multiple times. In this story, most of the anime I am into is in the same world (Bleach, Blue Exorcist, Fairy Tail, Fullmetal Alchemist, InuYasha, Magi, My Hero Academia, Naruto, Noragami, Seven Deadly Sins, and Sword Art Online.  I might do a part 2. 

Warnings: spoilers for the above mangas and animes, also, even though this is along the timeline of after the time skip (at some point), I took the creative liberty to have Ace alive during this meeting for a quad family reunion, might be language

Word Count: 1, 668

“How the hell am I suppose to believe that my three idiotic brothers would be in the same place at the exact same time I’m trying to find them?” the girl with [H/C] hair, old enough to be Luffy’s age, maybe a year younger or a year older than him. 

“[Y/N]!!” the rubber boy flung himself at her in a hug.

She fell down on her butt from the impact of the hug. She groaned before pushing the boy off of her and standing up, dusting herself off. “Geez, Lu. I was on a job, just finished, and I heard something about a Straw Hat, a Fire Fist, and a blonde with a top hat that put the mad hatter to shame. I just came to see if the rumors are true.” 

“What job did you have, sis?” Sabo said as he sipped a smoothie created from Vinsmoke Sanji. 

“Well, you see. In the ten years I’ve been gone, I’ve been busy. Both with being lazy and being diligent.” the girl explained. “I am a member of Fairy Tail. Dragon Slayer Magic, particularly fire, water, earth, air, and plant. Requip the Knight. Some space jumping there and vortex opening here.” 

“You got the two mixed up, kid.” Ace said from his spot next to Sabo. 

The girl grinned an evil grin. “Oh, did I, Ace of Clubs?” 

The raven haired pirate groaned at the nickname while Luffy’s crew members wondered after the nickname. Ace kept giving her the don’t-tell-them-anything look with a cut-it-out motion. She, like most people she knew, did not listen to reason. 

“Well, when we were younger, I attempted to teach the pour unfortunate souls that you call Luffy, Sabo, and Ace golf. And we played mini-gold. First hole we went to, the club flew out of Ace’s hand and crashed into the window where the pour lady working the club stand was clonked on the head and fell unconscious. Another fun fact: I’m overly competitive and therefore master of mini gold. Luffy on the other hand... beat my bowling high score of just a little over four hundred points.” [Y/N] explained. 

“THAT’S NOT HOW YOU PLAY GOLF, YOU IDIOT!” Usopp shouted at his captain. 

“Ace was a lot worse. However, on the eighteenth hole, got a hole in one. Although with team sports, I always sided with Luffy ‘cuz he was the baby of the family.” she explained. 

“Never play Volleyball with her unless you’re Luffy.” Sabo warned the Straw Hat Pirates. 

“Could you... possibly.... explain who you are?” asked Nami. 

“That’s an easy and excellent question, m’lady. I am [Y/N] [L/N], the daughter of the Demon King from the Demon Clan, Niece of Solomon, adoptive daughter of the great dragon, The Curse of Depravity, a mage of S-Class ranking, the best older sister anyone can have, a Shinigami, and the Pirate Fairy.” [Y/N] said with her hands on her hips like wonder woman. 

“You’re not wonder woman, dumbass.” Ace muttered. 

She scowled at the boy (who was now physically older than her). “I know that, asshole.” Ace shrugged his shoulders at that. “Anyways, I should get going. I’m here with my teammates. And Salamander will have a cow if he finds out I’m on a Pirate Ship. Which may or may not include Natsu asking you all to fight him at once for his sister.” [Y/N] shrugged. 

“SISTER?!” Luffy screeched. 

“YOU ALREADY REPLACED US?!” Ace and Sabo said in unison. 

“This is why I never took you to Amusement parks or sat next to you on a ride.” she clenched at her swollen ears.  “No, I was merely saying that I have something called [Y/N]’s Council of Brothers. They’re basically a band of boys I feel need my protection, wisdom, and power to embarrass them until they’re six feet under and rotting.” 

“She’s dark.” Nami said. “But can you explain this whole Council of Brothers thing. Because I’m not sure they,” the ginger pointed to the three brothers, “understand.” 

“Alright! I will go over a lesson here!” and suddenly a white board appeared by her side with writing already on it. 

“Where did you get the white board?” asked Luffy. 

“That’s not important right now.” she scowled. “Yes, Sabo.” 

“Was that Whiteboard always there and we just never noticed it?” the blonde asked. 

“No. Ace if this is a question about the white board, I will smack you with the same gold club that flew through that window. All questions about the stupid whiteboard will be answered after I explained everything. Got it?” 

The three brothers grumbled out a, “Yes.”  

“Good. Anyways, to start it off I have two half-brothers. Meliodas and Zeldris.” she slapped a pointer stick against the whiteboard. 

“Did she always have that?” Ace asked, whispering it to his two brothers. 

“I don’t know. I’m just glad someone noticed it besides me.” Sabo murmured back. 

“SILENCE, YOU INSOLENCE FOOLS!” and she threw a frying pan which hit Ace in the head. 

Why does she have a frying pan in her requips? Sabo wondered in his head, not wanting to get hit in the head with anything else she might have to throw at them. 

“Anyways, Meliodas and Zeldris are my half-brothers. Zeldris is the captain of the Demon Clan’s ten Commandments while Meliodas is the captain of Liones’s Seven Deadly Sins of which I am co-captain and the Phoenix Sin of Darkness. To be fair, I look more like my mother and I think the only thing me, Meliodas, and Zeldris share is our dumbassery we inherited from our father. Second off, my cousin is Magi Aladdin since my mother is his father, Solomon,’s sister. Now, that’s enough of my actual biological family. Now, I won’t go into detail about those three. Because you already seem well-acquainted with one another. Anyways, onto the next one. The next one on my list of brothers is a half-demon named Rin who is the son of Satan along with his younger brother, Yukio, but he doesn’t really need protection. next is Kazuto Kirigaya also known as Kirito. I prefer to call him that. He got stuck in a game where if you die there, you die in real life, but he defeated them. next, we have Satan himself, a king of demons, Sadou Maou. He works as a part-timer for a fast food chain which is sad to be honest. Next, we have Alibaba Saluja, a prince and a king’s candidate, also my cousin’s best friend. He wields the fire djinn, Amon. Also, he’s trying to be a gladiator while figuring out his feelings for Fanalis and former slave Morgiana. Next, we have actual God Yato who is a former god of calamity and a current god of war. I think. I’m not quite sure. But he and his two regalia, Yukine and a Nora named Kazuma, but also Kazune under Yato, must be protected by me at all cost. Then, we have Edward Elric, a alchemist missing both a leg and an arm because he wanted to see his mom’s smile again which kicks me in the heartstrings whenever I hear it. His brother, Alphonse, is an honorary member of the Council of Brothers. And he used to be entirely a soul attached to a suit of armor. No joke.” 

“Does no one else notice that they are mostly raven haired or blonde?” Nico Robin commented. 

The Straw Hat Pirates turned to the three sworn brothers who just shrugged their shoulders at that. “I admit I am guilty for that. But my actual brothers are raven headed and blonde, so that may be the reason. Anyways, off to the next people. Now, this person could make Luffy look like a genius. Sometimes. Natsu Dragneel, a salmon haired fire dragon slayer, is the brother of Zeref Dragneel, the black wizard, and also simultaneously END, the most powerful demon of the book of zeref which makes him one of the top fifteen most powerful demons. Next, we have strawberry boi, Ichigo Kurosaki, a shinigami who I’ve been helping train. He could see the dead and then he discovered his spiritual power, stole the shinigami powers of Rukia Kuchiki, and started to exorcist hollows and send souls to the soul society. Then, we have my favorite band of brothers since they could literally be in a band. Broccoli Boi, Izuku Midoriya, kinda has a power augmentation quirk, best way to describe it without giving too much away, Porcupine Katsuki Bakugo who can blow things up with help from his sweat. Zuko Wannabe Shoto Todoroki who can wield fire and ice. Also, his brother Touya may or may not be Dabi. Then, Pikachu Kaminari Denki who can utilize elctricity, but too much and he makes Luffy look like a genius. No joke. Well… maybe… I don’t really know. Anyways, then we have speedster Tenya Iida. Oh, there’s sharkboy Eijiro Kirishima. He can make himself go as hard as rock, but he has limitations. Then, we have spidertape Hanta Sero that can shoot tape out of his elbows. Then, half-demon InuYAsha who is the son of a dog demon and a mortal woman. There’s also Shippo who is an adorable little kitsune. And I think I got everyone.” the girl looked at her board before smacking it again as she noticed Luffy had begun to doze off while Ace had totally fallen asleep. 

The action alerted the two boys to wake up at once and glare at their older sister. And then, a silver haired undead man with a flying blue cat landed on the floor of the ship. “Thank goodness we found you. C’mon. We got a mission and you and your ‘Team Natsu’ have a job request from the old man and a princess.” 

“So Hisui and Bartra both agree to have us do something, but what is this so-called mission?” asked [Y/N]. 

Ban smirked. “We’re fighting slave-trading pirates.” 

“I want in!” Luffy cheered.

[juminsmysticmc]

Omg finally! I'm so happy. Can we have rfa and minor trio reactions to their teenage child (like older teen but still) is preg/made their gf preg? Have a nice day and take care of your health!

RFA + Minor Trio with a pregnant Teenager/ with a Teenager who made his girlfriend pregnant

Hiii! OMG, babe, do you wanna kill the boys? Especially Zen, hahah I feel like he would Kill the guy who made his daughter pregnant XD Honestly I had so much fun thinking about this, hahahah. Especially because I went clubbing two weeks ago and my mom said ,,No kissing when you meet him the first time!’’ (she said it as a serious joke??)

And my dad, the personality like Zenny, glared at me and said ,,No kissing after the 10th time, none would kiss you so you stay here by my side as a 30 years old!’’

AND I WAS LIKE DON’T YOU WANNA HAVE GRANDCHILDREN?! ;; Okay, now, enjoy! HAHAHA

Take care of your health too, thank you for looking out for me! Make sure to tell me your opinion, okay? Love youuu! 

Jumin

You stroked your big belly as you put together the baby clothes you bought for the little girl you were carrying below your heart.

You and Jumin were already married for sixteen years and together you raised a handsome sixteen years old boy and a beautiful ten year old girl.

The arrival of your next girl was a big wish for both of you.

However, you didn’t know that soon enough someone else would arrive too…

Suddenly your son barged in, hand in hand with a blonde girl you saw once from afar.

You were happy that your little boy finally made you meet his girlfriend, however, you didn’t expect the new you were about to hear.

,,YOU ARE WHAT?!’’ you suddenly exclaimed.

Your mouth was wide open as she repeated her words again.

,,I am pregnant,’’ she mumbled.

You gulped.

,,Dear, how old are you again?’’ you asked her with a trembling voice.

The girl confessed that she was actually fifteen, making you feel sick out of the blue.

You glared at your son.

,,I never hit you,’’ you began, taking off your shoes.

It was harder for you to pick it up so your son helped you and handled you your shoe.

,,YOU RASCAL, EVEN HELPING ME GET THE DEADLY WEAPON OR WHAT?!’’ you screamed, slamming the shoe lightly against his shoulder.

You didn’t hurt him, but you were still angry and just had to wave the shoe.

Suddenly, Jumin entered the room after he picked up your daughter from her music lesson.

Half an hour later, you sat on the couch, mumbling prayers to god as Jumin looked down.

The four of you decided to drive to the girl’s parents, leaving your daughter in the hands of the maid.

As soon as the mother of the girl began to sob because of the sudden news, you kneeled down, begging forgiveness for your son’s actions.

You parents talked about what you should do:,,It’s her body, she should decide, but I’m against an abortion, deep scars will be left on both. I would rather send them to a hostel to protect them both from the media and the people around her,’’ you said.

That’s what you did in the end.

And so, your newborn baby with not even two years became an aunt.

You supported your children with everything you could to make sure that they could have good jobs and take care of their baby.

Zen

,,Oh my god! Babe!’’ Zen suddenly barged into the room you were staying in with your two daughters and your son.

You looked up as he happily came to you, hugging you and kissing you.

,,Hyun? Hahaha, what’s wrong with you?’’ you asked him happily when he showered you with love.

Both of you got married when you found out that you were pregnant with your oldest son who was now seventeen.

Your daughter arrived two years later and was now fifteen.

Zen’s little princess by now was already five and was for you, the last child you would push out of your body.

Zen always wanted to have a fourth child, but of course he would always respect your decision not to.

But right now, he felt like you gave him a special present.

,,Thank you, Jagyia!’’ he laughed with tears in his eyes.

,,For what, Hyun?’’ you laughed.

Zen suddenly showed you the pregnancy test he was hiding the whole time, making everyone except the little girl and your husband stop breathing.

You suddenly began to cry, tears leaving your eyes as you looked at what he was holding.

,,Don’t cry, my love…it’s okay! We already have three children! A fourth one will also bring us happiness. Please, let’s be happy!’’ he tried to make you feel better, kissing your wet cheeks.

,,No, Hyun, you don’t get it!’’ you suddenly shouted.

Zen looked at you, his eyes were wide open.

,,Is it perhaps…not mine?’’ he asked you with a trembling voice.

You strongly nodded, making your son jump up in surprise.

Zen was frozen.

He wanted to say something but you suddenly screamed in panic.

,,IT’S POSITIVE, BUT IT’S NOT YOURS! THIS TEST ISN’T MINE EITHER!’’ you yelled, turning your head to your daughter.

Zen was slowly realizing the situation.

,,ARE YOU PREGNANT?!’’ you asked her, shocked.

Your daughter began to sob too as she nodded.

Everyone began to cry suddenly because you were shocked, the pregnant teenager because she was scared and Zen because he was furious.

The only ones who weren’t crying were your son and your youngest daughter.

,,I’m going, I’m going to kill that bastard!’’ he hissed, throwing the test aside and walking out.

He quickly came again, yelling at his daughter:,,TELL ME HIS ADDRESS!’’

,,HYUN! SHE’S PREGNANT! YOU’RE STRESSING HER!’’ you yelled back, defending your daughter.

,,Mc! They had sex!!’’ he tried to make you understand.

,,Dad! Please don’t hurt him!’’ your daughter begged.

You sent your son into your shared bedroom with his father so that you could talk to her alone.

,,Why didn’t you tell me?’’ you asked her, still crying but calm.

She explained that the boy she was in love with apparently fooled her and out of fear, she decided to hide everything.

You knew that Zen wouldn’t stay still after knowing that his daughter was fooled, but you wouldn’t stay still either.

You decided to meet the boy, who was totally rude.

Zen couldn’t hold back and simply threw a fist at the boy.

Afterwards, you all visited the boy’s mother.

You didn’t intend to make her look down on you, but happily, she was on your side, promising to come up with everything she could.

Yoosung

,,Mom, Dad, I need to tell you something…’’ your daughter began in the morning.

Your three sons looked at their sister.

She was the third born in the family.

You and Yoosung began to make babies pretty late, but you still had a big family and handled them pretty well.

Your oldest boy, who was nineteen, was your pride and was currently studying hard to become a lawyer, while your second son, who was only two years apart, wanted to become a teacher really bad.

You were proud of all your children, especially because they all wanted to help people in need.

Even your daughter whose dream was to become a nurse.

Luckily, your youngest son still had time to think about these things.

,,Yes, tell us,’’ you said, not looking up, but cleaning your three year old boy’s mouth.

You smiled brightly, just a family having breakfast together, nothing could break this harmony.

Well, so you thought.

,,I’m pregnant,’’ the girl confessed, sighting deeply after she let a bomb fall in the early morning.

Yoosung began to choke on his coffee while you looked at her, the handkerchief still at your son’s mouth while everyone else let their food fall.

,,I am sorry, it just happened,’’ she mumbled.

You suddenly woke up again.

,,Just happened? It just happened?!’’ you asked her, pressing your eyes together.

Everyone knew that you could brust anytime now.

,,IT JUST HAPPENED THAT YOU HAD SEX?!’’ you asked louder.

Your daughter looked up. She was glaring at you right now.

,,YES! I SLEPT WITH A BOY AND HE GOT ME PREGNANT!’’ she responded.

,,Don’t speak to me that way!’’ you hissed slamming on the table.

The atmosphere just went down to a deadly one and no one knew what to do.

Yoosung just felt like crying suddenly, and before he could even shed a tear, he simply fainted.

,,I had a weird dream….’’ he moaned when he woke up, looking at his son.

,,No dad, Sis really got pregnant,’’ the son mumbled.

Yoosung jumped up, looking in disbelief at his son.  

The blonde boy waited at home with his two sons while you, his wife, and his pregnant…daughter and his oldest son met the boy who was partly at fault for the ruckus.

You came home with teary eyes, your daughter red like a tomato and the oldest son totally pale.

It came out that the boy was a total idiot.

,,He didn’t care at all. He said that it was all her fault and his parents weren’t any better!’’ you cried into Yoosung’s arms.

This was hard to accept for everyone, but you all still had to support your daughter.

Luckily, you weren’t alone at this since even the RFA supported you in this hard fight.

Jaehee

Everyone knew the two supportive mothers in Seoul who had a coffee shop and tried to make everything possible for the only son they had.

These two moms were none other than the both of you.

Sixteen years ago you finally could give birth to your little favorite boy who was still the happiness of your lives.

He was a cheerful boy who gave you so much…

You and Jaehee were just tidying up the coffee shop when he walked in, his hand holding the hand of his girlfriend.

Both of them were childhood friends and two years ago, after a lot of drama, your little boy confessed to her.

,,Hello, you guys! We were just about to prepare dinner!’’ you said and smiled happily, but your instincts immediately hit you and you knew that something wasn’t right.

You and Jaehee sat together while the two teenagers were in front of you. They looked scared as they began to play with their hands.

,,So, I actually made her pregnant…’’ your son confessed, making both of you stop breathing for a few seconds.

You two nodded and looked at each other.

Becoming angry now would be idiotic.

There was nothing you could change by now, was there? 

And so you got up and hugged them both, congratulating them.

,,I’m not hyped. You two are still children and have still a lot of responsibilities, but yelling won’t help.

What do you want to do? Keep the child?’’ you asked them.

The young girl nodded. She was really happy that you reacted that way.

Jaehee, who was following your lead, got up and patted their shoulders.

You guys knew that the young girl didn’t have an easy household, so you agreed to meet her parents.

They of course, yelled and weren’t supportive at all.

So it was just natural that the two teenagers went to you when they had issues.

You all agreed that your son would work at your shop to make money and go to school at the same time while the girl would study hard so that she could make a decent graduation.

Saeyoung

Your husband kept clapping his hands as his son confessed that his girlfriend was pregnant.

You, however, didn’t react the same. It was the opposite.

It seemed as if the angry feeling Saeyoung overplayed was left out by you.

,,HOW CAN YOU BE PROUD OF HIM?!’’ you asked your husband who shrieked by your sudden yells.

He looked at you.

,,Well….’’ he tried to mumble.

,,Getting angry over spilled milk would be dumb, right?’’ he asked you, making you even angrier.

You were disappointed and took your twin daughters by their hands.

You stayed in their rooms with them and began to reflect about the best way to go on with the situation.

Your son was just a seventeen year old boy after all.

He was just as dumb as your husband.

A freak like him who was still going to school. He was still a little boy…

,,Mommy, why are you crying?’’ one of your five year old daughter asked you, looking at your tears.

,,No…It’s just that your brother and a girl made a mistake and now a few things will be harder on him…and I’m just worried…’’ you confessed.

,,Isn’t it because you’re jealous?’’ the other girl asked you.

Her words hit you deeply. How could a five year old see your real problem?

,,Daddy didn’t react that way…I think you care more about oppa in problematic situations, just like Daddy does with us…’’ she told you, leaving you shocked.

She was right.

You were angry at the girl, but it was also your son’s fault.

You knew that this eventually would have happened one day. Of course not that early, but still…

And just like Saeyoung said, being angry wouldn’t solve anything.

The young boy suddenly entered the room and hugged you.

,,I will work hard. I will begin a part time Job at Uncle Jumin’s place and make money to support them…I will try my best at school…I won’t disappoint you anymore, I promise!’’ your son also sobbed.

You quickly hugged him again and patted his back, telling him over and over again that you would be there for him.

And even though Saeyoung seemed well, he made sure that his little girls wouldn’t have manly friends for a long long time…

Saeran (personally my fav)

Your husband would laugh at the people who would have told him that in the future he would be a proud father of three wonderful children.

He would have hit everyone who would have told him that he would live peacefully with his brother, which he believed had left him.

He would have blushed for every comment about the deep feelings you had for him.

Saeran simply couldn’t believe that everything else other than being by Rika’s side would have made his life better.

But indeed it was true.

Thanks to you and the RFA’s help, he could save Saeyoung who got kidnapped. 

With you, he could finally experience true love.

Love for you on your wedding day nineteen years ago and the birth of his oldest daughter afterwards.

And even if he didn’t know that was possible, a constant love for the twins you gave birth to afterwards.

Saeran was a proud dad and overcame his fears.

But right now, he was facing something he never thought could happen.

His daughter, who just turned 18, was pregnant. Her boyfriend, next to her, dark red while she looked into his eyes.

She had a strong and constant way of looking, never looking away.

He knew that she noticed that he was disappointed and he knew that she would have wanted to burst in tears, but he also knew how strong he raised the most beautiful girl.

She looked just like you, his dearly loved wife.

Her hand was on her boyfriend’s and over her still flat belly.

He was no good. He was way too weak and her will was stronger.

This, no good, boy made her pregnant. Saeran was sure that his daughter would never show him her weakness out of her own pride.

Saeran wanted to slap the boy and to yell, but as soon as he saw your smile he knew that this was the wrong reaction because you were just as strong as his daughter.

,,We will support you,’’ he began, feeling that his daughter was slowly becoming less nervous.

,,I’m not happy that this all happened so early and you will have to work on your mistake on your own. We will be here if you need help, but we won’t take over your mistakes. Your youth is over now,’’ Saeran said.

His daughter nodded and the boy looked up.

With a trembling voice he promised to take good care of her.

Afterwards, both of them stepped out, on their way to tell the boy’s parents what was happening.

While Saeran’s princess stepped out as an adult woman, he saw her little figure, waving a last time to him with her bright smile.

,,You did well…’’ you whispered when he suddenly felt something wet on his cheeks.

,,You can cry now. She won’t see you…you did well, Saeran…’’ you said, hugging him strongly.

Jihyun

The gynecologist looked pitifully at you while she confessed that Lucy was pregnant.

Lucy began to cry while you were holding her hand.

,,It’s okay, we can do that…’’ you told her with a trembling voice.

You thanked the Doctor as both of you walked out hand in hand.

,,Mom, I’m sorry-’’

You quickly made her stay silent. 

,,You can’t regret it now. It’s a part of you, but it will be okay. As long as you can live with it, you won’t get crushed by the hard times,’’ you told her, holding her hand.

You knew that Jihyun would be the last person on this world who would prejudice Lucy for her mistake.

But the community  was what scared you.

Lucy would surely have a hard time, but you were there to help and protect her.

Both of you arrived at your home where your birth children and Husband waited for you.

He brightly smiled at you, but quickly noticed that something was wrong and came to hug both of you.

The three of you sat together and talked about it.

Jihyun nodded and stayed supportive.

You decided to send her to private school a few hours away so that no friends would talk bad about her.

Of course they would talk bad about her eventually, but for now you wanted to keep the stressfactor away from her so that she could focus on her well being.

You and Jihyun talked a lot about it and eventually decided to move homes so that she didn’t have to stay alone.

The sad, but at the same good thing in the situation was that the boy who made her pregnant didn’t even stop her from moving.

But even though Jihyun wasn’t like that, he wanted to make sure that he would regret his mistakes a lot, and with the help he got from his best friend, it was possible.  

Vanderwood

,,How could this happen?!’’ Vanderwood asked his son as he shook his head.

The boy who was sitting in front of him asked him if he really wanted to know how he did it, making Vanderwood even angrier.

,,Vanderwood, don’t you dare hit your son or else I will hit you!’’ you hissed, defending your son.

,,You know why this happened?! Because you go too easy on this rascal!’’ Vanderwood suddenly hissed, making you chuckle.

,,You should have told him how the manly body works and what condoms are for!’’ you hissed back.

You looked at your son and took his hand.

With your soft voice, you asked him if he knew what he did.

,,Yes, Mom, I’m not a child,’’ the boy responded.

Vanderwood slapped his hand on the table.

,,This shitty comment already shows me that you are a kid! You made a mistake!’’ Vanderwood hissed as he glared at his sixteen years old son.

You sighed and looked at your son again.

,,So, what will the girl do? You practically ended your life as a child. Parenthood isn’t easy. It’s hard on us and we’re older. Do you know what you will go through?’’ you asked him.

Your son shook his head.

,,She’s pregnant, not me,’’ he commented.

At that point Vanderwood couldn’t hold back and simply slapped his own son.

,,VANDERWOOD!’’ you yelled.

,,I TRIED TO HOLD MY HAND BACK, BUT MY OWN SON IS SUCH A DICK!’’ he yelled louder.

He didn’t think that his son would answer like that.

,,You’re only thinking about yourself! The girl will be in a lot of pain and her life will change completely and all you can say is that she’s the one who’s pregnant?’’ Vanderwood asked him.

Your son nodded. 

,,She wants to have an abortion even through I said no. I googled and read that abortion has a lot of side effects such as depression or even infertility, but she said that she didn’t care. She said that it was her own body and that she was the one pregnant. She told me that I only helped her, but that it was her doing after all so, Dad, what do you think should I do?’’ your son asked him, tearing up slowly.

You immediately understood that your son was in much more pain and so you hugged him while he sobbed into your arm.

Even Vanderwood stayed silent now.

You guys tried to talk it over with the parents of the girl but they blocked you and since it was indeed the girl’s body, you couldn’t change anything, even though it was your son’s baby too.

Your family however, somehow, was more united now after this happened and overcame a big scare together.

MASTERLIST 1MASTERLIST 2MASTERLIST 3

05.02.2020// 23:07 MEST

Tagged:

@foreversunshine-love​ @giulia2372​ @sailormoonrocks666​

@widya345​ @remiliadacalde @r-f-a-journalists​

[livingmybestfictionallife]

Knife in a Gun Fight

Colson Baker/MGK 1920s bootlegger AU

A/N--This is the very short intro/prologue of my Colson Baker/MGK 1920s gangster AU. Message me to be added to the tag list, and chapter 1 will be up in a few hours.

Established in the plains of north Texas, a solitary, Irish Catholic family existed solely on their ability to farm and sell—farm, sell, farm, sell. For generations, farming produce, such as wheat and corn, was all any member of the Nevin family knew. There was nothing outside of the small, flat farm; no prospects of any other career, no hope for advancement, no life for a person with the last name Nevin, and the same could be said about the Klaffs. This was a fact of nature known for generations upon generations, until the birth of Siobhan-Honora Nevin.

As a bitter cold air pierced her neck, Siobhan peeled her eyes away from the newspaper she had been examining and carefully scanned the room. Sure, there was a sense of protection as she sat in a semi-circle booth surrounded by her cousins and brothers, but it didn’t take away from the sheer danger she knew they were in. The cozy and welcoming feeling of the small café she sat in did nothing to ease the gnawing within her stomach as her eyes nervously danced across the room once more before she returned her attention to the paper before her.

A fresh mug of steaming hot coffee was placed in front of her by a young woman who couldn’t have been much older than herself, and she tried to ignore the flirtatious glances the woman exchanged with her older cousin, George Klaff. “Do you mind,” Siobhan huffed under her breath as she pulled the paper back to her line of sight and cautiously examined it for any tips or leads that contained information about any of the five individuals gathered around the table.

“Get off it, Shiv,” George grumbled as he leaned over and propped his elbows up onto the table. “We’re in Saint Paul. Ain’t no body going to find us here.” Shiv eyed her cousin as she chewed anxiously at the inside of her lip.

“We’re ‘hiding out’ in the place all criminals go to lay low. It’s a safe haven for the lowly, and it’s the first place someone will come looking for us,” Shiv retorted as she lowered her voice and glared across the table at George.

“Lay off her, George. You know she’s right,” George’s little brother, Walter, piped up. At only twenty-one, Walter was the youngest of the bunch of familial misfits. He hadn’t meant to get mixed up in the actions of his older brother and cousins, but once he had, he knew there was no going back.

“Who’s the oldest one here?” George retorted as he scanned over the faces before him. “Who formed this operation nine years ago?”

“You know your role, George,” said Shiv’s older brother, Arthur, in a deep and low tone. “All of us do, and right now, it’s time for us to back down and for Shiv to take over. Got it?” George scrunched up his face and pursed his lips in aggravation, however he knew the words Art had spoken to be true.

Had it really been nine years? Shiv thought as she looked over the men’s faces around her. George was a year away from thirty with nothing to show as proof he’d lived life other than a few scars from narrow escapes from death. George was a fairly tall man, standing just below six foot, with a stocky build. His dark eyes were clouded with hooded brows and his black hair fell over his forehead in shaggy strands. The energetic and playful look he’d once had when he first, unintentionally, introduced his cousins and brother to this lifestyle was replaced with a stoic and mysterious grimace which instantly tied together his allure of being the tall, dark, and handsome stranger of the group.

Art stood slightly taller than George with a leaner frame but equally as strong and muscular as his older cousin. He was only seventeen when he began driving George around to neighboring counties, unaware at first of what they were doing, however upon realizing there was something to do with his life other than farming, Art willingly continued working with George. His deep blue eyes had only grown sharper with time and his once sandy blonde hair had darkened into a light brown.

A year of Art and George wandering throughout Collin, Grayson, and Hunt counties was more than enough time for Shiv to connect the dots and blackmail her way into the non-nefarious criminal activities the pair of cousins were performing. At sixteen, she could see the benefits her brother and cousin were bringing their families, and being the only educated member of either family—aside from their parents—Shiv demanded to be let into the operation. She’d always been tough and stronger than other girls her age. Being a girl didn’t excuse her from working on the farm once she returned home from school or had no where to go during the summer, however it did damn her to the fate of being nothing more than bride-wealth for her family. She saw what her cousin and brother were doing to be a means of escaping her fate, and like the older two members of the group, she embraced it.

Undenounced to Shiv, her younger brother Edmund had overheard her conversation with George and Art, and threatened to tell their parents if they didn’t include him. Two years later, when Walt was fifteen, he joined what would become known across the country as the Nevin-Klaff gang.

The papers have it wrong, Shiv would constantly tell herself as she read article after article in nearly every Tribune, Press, News, Gazette, and Journal from Texas to Minnesota containing the words Nevin and Klaff. They only see us as breaking the law. They don’t care that it’s a stupid law, and they certainly don’t try and see the benefits small farms across the country are reaping because of it. Shiv knew the papers didn’t care, that law enforcement didn’t care, and that no glory would ever be sent their way, but she knew that because of her, her brothers, and her cousins, farmers that would have otherwise lost their land to banks are now developing nest eggs, and that was all that mattered to her.

“I wonder how Ma and Pop are doing,” Eddy sighed as his eyes trailed the paper over his sister’s shoulder. She knew he was trying to read, and after what she’d been teaching him, she assumed he could come to the same conclusion she had—they were going to be on the move for quite some time.

“Sometimes I have dreams of Mom and Pa swinging out on the porch swing with Auntie Johanna and Uncle Owen, not having to worry about a damned thing anymore, but then I remember they’re probably worrying about us,” Walt sighed as he scooped some eggs up on his fork and shoveled them into his mouth. “It makes me want to see them again.”

“Y’all know we can’t ever go home,” Shiv commented sharply as her eyes darted between the two younger members of the group. Edmund was only a year younger than her, but only growing up on the farm and not having any friends outside of their cousins made him seem much younger than his biological age, and even thought Walter was only three years younger than Shiv, he shared a similar outlook as Eddy. “I don’t mean to sound harsh, but you knew this was a possibility when you signed up,” she said in a softer and more gentle tone after seeing how her brother’s face fell at her harsh words.

“They’re still kids, Shiv,” George whispered into his cousin’s ear only to have her turn her head to face him. Her pale eyes shone up at him as her dark hair fell around the soft, pale skin of her face. Everything about her was binary; her features were sharp yet gentle, she was dangerous but offered safety and comfort, and the one he struggled most with: the wisdom that aged her stood in stark contrast to her youth. Too many times both George and Art forgot that the brains leading them across the country and into safety while still calculating ways to help others was barely older than the two members he still considered kids.

“So, what do we do?” Art asked as he looked at his sister for guidance. Shiv laid the paper down in her lap and looked nervously over her accomplices’ shoulders before lowering her voice to a whisper.

“Local cops are looking for us in the towns we hit on the way up here. We stuck to smaller cities and already returned the profit to the farms. We have enough cash to keep us tied over for a bit, but we have to be careful. No blowing cash, starting fights, or trying to find a quick score or fast job, got it?” she asked as she met each of her family members’ eyes. “Don’t draw attention to yourself by any other groups hanging around here. Most of the country’s attention is on Capone, so there’s still a way we can slide by unnoticed.”

“We can’t stay here forever, Shiv,” Art said softly as he stretched his back and looked out over the café.

“We just have to stay long enough for me to pull off one last scheme.” A devious smirk tugged at her lips as she plotted what was sure to be a one-way ticket to safety for her and her family. Shiv thought through everything: how to gain protection and ensure safety, how to pass through dangerous territory without feeling the threat of danger, how to not only survive, but thrive. She knew her plan inside and out, but there was one obstacle that stood in her way, one uncertainty she figured she could face and be done with, one man who was known by outsiders solely as The Gun.

Next Chapter 

[alovesthis]

All Things Must Pass -- Dean Winchester CHAPTER SIX

Dean Winchester x (female) Reader Fic

Fic Summary: Reader and Dean Winchester reunite after not seeing each other in a few years, ever since he told her to leave him and his issues behind. Reuniting wasn’t what you expected it would be like because of past feelings, memories and a life threatening situation that was placed upon Dean Winchester.

Warnings: none!

Word Count: 2k

CHAPTER SIX

1992, Texas - last holiday as a family

It was snowing heavily and nonstop in Texas that year. Although it was melting to the ground, you appreciated the white snowflakes falling against the apartment window making it feel like the holidays.

At just fifteen years old, there were so many things on your holiday list of things you wanted that were either too expensive or seemed too childish for you. It was at that age, you would just stick to asking for fairy tales and other books for the rest of your teenage years. And if you ever received something that felt too young for you, you would pass them down to Stevie. You were sitting on the faded blue couch in your family's fourth apartment of the last couple of years, watching your parents sit at the dinner table with a bunch of books spread out. They were researching for someone they knew, and since it was the holidays they wanted to get things done by tonight, in order to spend time with you and Stevie.

Since you were born, your parents were trying to balance a normal life and hunting. It wasn't easy, but they were managing. See before they had you, they met on a hunt and occasionally ran into each other a few times until they decided to team up. They met other hunters and friends along the way, creating lifelong friendships and ended up falling for each other and having you.

As you sat there, a book in your hands as the record player spins some Fleetwood Mac, your mom's favorite, you wonder if you'll end up doing what your parents do. Hunting. They didn't hide it from you, they told you last year because you were smart. They still kept it from Stevie, she was too young to understand and needed to be protected. Stevie comes running out the small bedroom you two shared, holding some thin children's book ranting at the top of her lungs. She was reading some mystery book, flailing around claiming she solved the case before the main character.

"Stevie! I know you love these books, but you have to take it easy." Your mom laughs as she stands up from the wooden cheap chair and grabs her, throwing herself down on the couch right next to you. Stevie starts giggling once mom starts tickling her.

"Alright girls," Your father stands up and walks over to stand in front of the three of you with a smile that he's trying to hide. "Got some bad news."

You sit up quickly, pushing your book off your legs and panic. "Please don't tell me you guys gotta go? I mean, it's the holiday season and..."

"Seriously, Travis?" Your mom shakes her head. "Don't scare them like that."

"Ah, sorry." He sits down next to you and pulls you into him. "The bad news is that we won't be around for New Years. But...we have a few days until we gotta go."

"Bad news first then the good news." Your mom turns to you. "That's always the best order to go in when you gotta tell someone something."

"So, what's the good news!?" Stevie jumps out of her arms and starts to dance around the room to the music.

You and your parents smile, watching Stevie "dance" along the dull creamy colored carpet under yellow toned light, to 'Everywhere'.

"The good news is that you get a few more gifts than normal." Dad smiles.

"Yeah, our friend Bobby helped us out with these." Your mom smiles as she stares at yo and Stevie. "And, you get to open them tonight."

"Only if you girls eat your damn vegetables tonight. I swear, it's like you're both allergic."

On this last holiday with your parents, something you never thought was a possibility, they made dinner together with music playing loudly in the living room. It wasn't rare to have these nights, but it didn't happen all the time either. After dinner, the four of you were sitting in the living room, which was literally five steps away from the table and kitchen. A few gifts were wrapped for you and Stevie. Your mom sits next to you as Stevie tears through gifts and plays around with them with your dad.

"I want you to know, Y/N," Your mom begins. "What you dream, what you read...everything you want, you can have it. What your father and I do, doesn't have to be your life okay? But it's okay if you want it to be. You have so many options. Although I don't necessarily want you in that life, I know once you're older you'll be capable to make these decisions on your own."

Your mom sits down on the floor with you and hands you the gift, watching your eyes glisten from the white lights that hang on the walls for holiday decoration.

Your fingers gently opened the brown thick paper covering as Stevie ripped through hers. The skinny wool string that was tied around it had come off as you pushed the gift under it, revealing dark green leather. It was The Little Mermaid, an old edition but it was beautiful. Gold lettering shinning on the cover and catching the white lights that were hung up behind you.<em>

"The Little Mermaid." You smile.

"Do you remember when I used to read this to you before bed?"

She also meant if you remembered her reading some of it before she would leave for hunts.

"Yeah, I do." You placed the book down and engulf your mom into the biggest hug. You always loved reading ever since you would listen to her voice reading you fairy tales, classic stories and books that centered on a character taking on anything that came your way.

"Thank you, mom. I really love it." You pull away a smile.

"I love you." Your mom wraps her arm around you and leans against the couch.

"I love you too, mom." You close your eyes and hold onto her arm.

"Cath, let's say we do some hot chocolate for the girls and they get ready on the couch for a movie or two." Your dad says, and Stevie jumps up and runs over to your mom.<em>

"Sure thing." She smiles and runs her fingers through your hair. "Can you handle Stevie for a bit?"

"When can I not?" You laugh as you grab your sister and start messing around with her as she continues to laugh and yell at the top of her lungs.

As your parents worked together in the kitchen and to make tonight special before they go on one of their last hunts, you sit there on the couch holding the book you were gifted up against your chest. Stevie sits close by you, her hands playing around with some toy that she unwrapped not too long ago. You watch your parents stand close by each other as they make snacks and hot coco for everyone. Your dad's arm wraps around your mom's neck and you see him leaning down to kiss her on the top of her head.

Sitting there, you smile softly to yourself as you begin to wonder if maybe one day you'll be just as lucky as them. Whether it's in the hunting life or not, you were silently wishing you you'd be as smart, strong and brave like your mom and rave and confident like your dad. What they had, you wanted.

That was the last holiday you and Stevie had with your parents. Like they said, they wouldn't be home for New Years. But a week after that, your parents came home a mess, scurrying around trying to get things packed and moving. It was that very night you realized they were in trouble. Leaving your apartment, you watched your parents get ripped away from you and Stevie by something, as another hunter who went by the name John Winchester saved your life.

2007 - inside the impala, on the road.

"You alright over there?"

You start blinking out of your trance of the one last good memory you've held on with your family. Clearing your throat, you roll down the impala window to get some air and take a few seconds before you turn your head to Dean.

"Yeah, I'm fine I guess."

"Are you sure, because you look like you're sick or something."

"I said I'm fine." You snap, before sighing and realize that it's not the best to get mad right now.

"Tis the season to be merry, am I right?" Dean scoffs as he turns on the radio, pushing the dial for the sound much higher.

"Look, I'm sorry. You know I'm not the biggest fan of the holiday season."

"You and me both." Dean scoffs. "What's on your mind?"

The silence plays throughout the car for awhile, making you want to open the car door and just jump out and avoid everything. Your parents, the antagonizing memory and Dean's deal. You start to re-think the idea of sticking around with the Winchester's, not sure if you can take it anymore.

"Dean?"

He hums in response as he keeps his eyes on the road.

"I was just thinking about my parents and the holidays." You say softly as you look back out the window. "Last time I saw them...well the last time I saw them on a normal day, we had a 7great night. It's just I see all the christmas lights, all the decorations and I get to thinking about them."

"You miss them." Dean says.

"Every day, but now a little bit more." You lean against the car door and look back at Dean, wrinkling your forehead as you stare with empathy. "Then it got me thinking about you, about you know...the deal."

"Y/N." His hands tighten around the wheel, his knuckles turning pink as his posture stiffens.

"I know you don't want to talk about it, but you do know that we're here. It's not just us that's hurting...I know deep down, Dean, that you're hurting too. And that's okay, but what's not is that you're trying to hide it and I can see it."

"I'm-I'm not hiding anything." Dean says, shifting uncomfortably in his seat as he drives. His right arm drops from the wheel and rests on his thigh. "Just drop it, alright?"

"Dean, all I'm saying is...it's okay to talk about things." You reach over and grab his hand to squeeze it, letting him know you're there. "I know it's been a while, and things got messy the last time we spoke. But I am here and like you used to say to me, no one has to go through life alone. Especially not this one. So Dean, please..."

Dean begins loosening his hand that is holding his thigh tightly, ready to flip his palm to face up. He doesn't want to talk, not now and not yet anyways. As it loosens, he slowly turns it over and lets his hand gently grasps on to yours. In surprise of his actions, you smile and keep your hand open, waiting for him to make the next move. A path to forgiveness between two friends and unresolved tension lingers between just the lack of inches between your hands. You're ready, but he's slowly hesitating.

And just as he's about to make a move to hold your hand, your cell phone goes off catching you two in an awkward space. As he drives, he looks over at you for a moment and you stare into his darkened green eyes After a few rings, you take your hand away and open your flip phone and answer the call.

Stevie's on the phone and Sam's driving your truck, telling you about yet another unusual case up in Michigan. She tells you that everyone should stop soon for a food break and to go over the case before traveling any further.

"Stevie and Sam have a case." You say after a few seconds. "She said to stop at the next exit for food and we'll go over it."

"Got it."

And that's all he says for the next hour in the impala, before you get to the rest stop and he begins to banter Sam and avoids the (one sided) conversation you two had just an hour ago. You don't want to push him, but you want him to know that he's never been alone in this. No matter what happened between the two of you, there will be a way to save him. Even if you can't get too close to the deal, or the demons or researching a way out, you'll be there.

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not my favorite,  might go back and edit eventually! but enjoy and happy holidays. i’ll be back with two chapters this week or next week just in time for christmas + it’ll be centered around the A Very Supernatural Christmas episode in s3!! 

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TAGLIST (if you wanna be added just let me know and I’ll add you to future chapters!!!)

@akshi8278 @deanswaywardgirl @canonboobs @vikkiwalker

[another-void-racoon]

Me : *checking the list of OC’s I still have to draw* I should draw those. I have backstories and personalities for them. I just need to draw them. 

My Brain : Make a new one. 

So yeah, I was trying to get back into my Star Wars content, but it looks like I am stuck on this Ship. Now, let me introduce you to Vanira, Princess of Dryl. I haven’t thought that much about her, yet, but here are some headcanons I could come up with.

Tough she isn’t that interested in tech, Entrapda helped her build her first robot, ‘Kiki’, when she was around ten. It’s technically just a smaller version of Emily, but both Entrapda and Vanira love her to bits. Where Vanira goes, Kiki goes. Her mom never lost her bubbly, excited and awkward personality, and Vanira adores her for it. There’s always something the two of them can talk about. Plus, Entrapda taught her how to use her prehensile hair. 

Even if there is no war anymore, Hordak still taught her some basic fighting skills, just in case she ever needed to defend herself against someone. He also is the one to help her with brushing her hair (when she is younger) and complicated hairstyles (when she is older). There isn’t a thing he wouldn’t do for his little princess. He is a super soft and loving, sometimes a bit too overprotective dad and Vanira loves him because of it.

 Kadroh (Wrong Hordak) taught her how to cook. Entrapda and Hordak wouldn’t be able to cook something if their lives depended on it. Naturally, as soon as she turned eight, Kadroh always took her with him when he went to the kitchen, making sure that his niece was able to cook for herself. When she was fifteen, she made him a birthday cake on her own and you could practically see him radiating with pride. She technically has hundreds of thousands of uncles, but Kadroh is her favorite and only one to hold the title uncle.  

In my headcanon, Imp ages just like a normal person would, so he’s around four to seven years older than her. He doesn’t admit it, but he loves his little sister. He doesn’t talk much, and is rather cold most of the time, but he will do anything to protect her. If someone messes with her, they better prepare for some ugly scars. Someone once called her a ‘Spacebat Freak’. After that, that someone had a black eye, a few lost teeth plus a bloody and broken nose. It was one of the rare times he directly called her his sister.

At eighteen, she is basically a doctor and geneticist. She loves exploring how genetics of different species are compatible with one another, and being a Hybrid herself, she is one of her favorite subjects.Scorpia and Perfumas plus Catra and Adoras kids are, too, some of her favorite people to study.  A lot of Clone- other species -Hybrids come to her when they are sick or injured, and she treats all of them like family (they technically are?). 

Vanira is one of the most chill persons on Etheria. She’s either relaxed with too much dry humor or too excited about something she’s passionate about. There is no in-between. Since being fifteen she’s rocking the steampunk look and the steampunk look only.