#my sisters are beautiful my brother is handsome they’re all funny and charming and I am the Recluse Artist with a vague and confusing

[starredforlife]

THE goal for holidays 2024 is to show up to the family jacked and tatted like I’ve wanted to for the past 2 years

[youcalledmebabe]

any headcanons for web's family...?

well yes! first I have to say that to me the definitive depiction of the Websters is in the excellent beat a slow dance. and so that was very formative for some of my general thoughts on Web’s family. also generally speaking in my mind web’s relationship with his family depends on the fic and the universe it takes place in. in babe’s anatomy he’s fairly close with them while in visions made of flesh and light he feels very distant from them. anyway more thoughts under the cut!

to me, the most interesting and mostly (to my knowledge) unexplored dynamic in Web’s family in fic is that he has an older brother!!! hashtag let frank be in fic. although I do find it very funny that Frank was first and Web got the nod of being named after his dad. very andy bernard. anyway web as the second son makes a lot of sense to me; the gestures toward rebellion (trying to run away on a fishing boat, joining the paratroops) and his insecurities. I imagine him growing up in Frank’s shadow and feeling a lot of simultaneous love and resentment for his brother. in my mind Frank is the Webster golden boy; the dutiful son who makes dad proud and who mom can brag about. he’s handsome and athletic and smart. he does what he’s supposed to; works for the family business and marries a nice girl. web envies him the steadiness of his life and the approval of their parents but frank envies web’s freedom and creativity. so despite the complexities of their relationship I imagine Frank is the sibling he’s the closest to.

John…honestly I don’t have a lot of thoughts about him. the third son is an odd place to be; you’re not the heir or the spare. he also doesn’t get to be the baby of the family because of Ann. he’s a couple years younger than the other two and so he’s left out of their close relationship more often than not. I think he probably compensates for feeling invisible by acting out. party boy john webster!

Ann is the baby and the only girl so I’d say she feels pretty secure in her position. she’s closest to John but all the boys and their parents dote on her. Ann is a little silly and spoiled but definitely sharp. she one hundred percent goes to one of the seven sisters colleges—maybe Radcliffe, to be like her brothers—and has dreams of being a career girl.

I’m addicted to imagining Joan and David Sr as Emily and Richard Gilmore. Joan is very involved in her children’s lives while David is mostly distant from them, with the exception of Frank, the heir apparent. Web craves his father’s approval because of David’s distance; he’s an untouchable pedestal figure, almost a god. Joan and David aren’t bad people, exactly, but I don’t imagine them to be very good parents. they both have favorites and it’s painfully obvious to the children. even with all the tension and resentment at the heart of their family dynamic I imagine them spending a lot of time together—long family vacations, drawn out phone calls, regular letters.

and I do think web’s family LIKES joe a lot. doesn’t necessarily approve of him. or love that that’s who Web picked (for different reasons in canon vs modern au). but they are all varying degrees of charmed by him.

so yes those are my basic thoughts about the websters! they’re going to play a major part in my hot pgymalion summer webgott fic (and have a big cameo in web’s anatomy) so I’m excited to try my hand at writing them. oh and just for fun I imagine Frank as Tom Welling and John as David Corenswet (for the Superman of it all) and Ann as Rory Gilmore. this is part of the reason web seems pretty unaware of his beauty; it’s nothing extraordinary in his family, they all just look good!

[rafescoke]

Maybank ; Rafe Cameron (Part 2)

Part #2

Read part #1 here

masterlist

Pairing: Rafe Cameron x reader

Summary: Sometimes both sides are in the wrong.

Warnings: More angst, mentions of substance, gaslighting!

A/N: you know the drill. . . send requests!

(Y/N) isn’t one to feel jealous easily.

When she dated a certain boy from her school a few years ago, she wasn’t even phased when she had found him kissing another girl at a party.

She simply didn’t care.

But the aching feeling in her when she saw her current boyfriend sniffing a line on the back of a random girl with the perfect house and the perfect clothes and the-

“(Y/N), do you want to come down to the beach with us?”

(Y/N) finally looks up from her novel in which she wasn’t even reading in the first place. Her mind was somewhere else, and her thoughts weren’t put in the context of the book.

“No. I’m not feeling well.”

JJ sighs, fixing his cap backwards and placing himself beside her. He looks over her lap, reading the first few lines of the book his sister’s reading and sighs. 

“I never read, so I do not understand how this whole novel thing works. But I’m pretty sure reading about getting over a breakup won’t do you any good.”

(Y/N) rolls her eyes, snapping her book with a shut. The last thing she ever wants is for JJ to lecture her. She had enough bawling her eyes the past 2 weeks. 

“What time are you supposed to go again? Go.”

She’s grateful, of course, for JJ. He was there for her the whole 2 weeks when she didn’t feel like eating or taking a shower or anything that involved getting out of the bed.

But she feels better now, her hair perfectly up in a hairdo and the red color of her cheeks returning.

She’s not sad anymore.

The feeling evolves into anger.

Of course, (Y/N).

You’re nothing but a pogue.

If there’s one thing Obx is famous for, that will be the annual bonfire. It’s an excuse for every teenager on the island to let loose and to free themselves after a year of studying.

For (Y/N), it’s just another party for Rafe to ignore her.

But she’s not coming down to the beach with him a few distance away, hell, she doesn’t even know if he’s coming.

“What the fuck! You told me you’re not coming,” JJ laughs, giving his sister a side hug. “You look good. You don’t look pale anymore.”

“I’m gonna be sick if you keep saying nice things to me,” (Y/N) rolls her eyes, though her insides are beaming. JJ has always been her number one supporter, and she loves her brother with all her heart.

“Just don’t go to the other side of the beach, okay? All your friends are here.”

And we’re back to him protecting her.

She gets it, really, but she doesn’t feel like a night full of JJ and his friends becoming some sort of bodyguards to her.

The last thing she ever wants is for Rafe to think she’s still weak.

“J, I know.”

He holds both of his hands up, “I’m just saying. I’m by the fire if you ever need me, okay?”

It’s funny how the boy who cried to her over his scraped knee is the same boy who’s trying his best to protect her. Growing up in a dysfunctional family, all (Y/N) and JJ has is each other. 

(Y/N) walks to the music booth, getting so tired over the same artist being played over and over again. She doesn’t feel like listening to Drake all while trying to forget a certain brunette boy from the back of her head.

“Hey, can I get something different? Play the Euphoria soundtrack if you must. Anything other than the songs you’re playing.”

The DJ looks up to her and gives out the widest grin. (Y/N) tries to look away from the charming smile, but her eyes are glued to a pair of blue ones.

“Not a fan of Drake?”

“Nah.”

“Why? Trying to move on from an ex?”

She gulps, “No. Just have a good taste in music.”

The guy licks his teeth, “Touche. The name’s Nate.”

(Y/N) gives him a small grin, “Hm. Can we change the song now?”

Nate raises a brow because god; no one has ever disregard him. 

There’s something about the girl.

“Is Party In The USA good enough for you, princess?”

Her breath hitches. The last time someone has ever called her princess was probably a few weeks ago. 

This is not helping her to get over him.

“Whatever. You’re the DJ, right?” she answers, turning on her heels. “Oh wait, Nate?”

He smiles at her again, and (Y/N) has the urge to slap the smug look off his face.

“Don’t call me princess. You’re not my boyfriend.”

For the past 40 minutes, no Drake song has been playing. The crowd begins filling the empty space in the middle to dance with each other, and (Y/N) has to look away from the couple getting close and leaving kisses down each other’s necks.

She makes her way down to the drinks counter to get herself a beer because she really doesn’t feel like watching another friend of hers kissing their partners while sober. She decides that if she has to stay for another hour of people making out with each other, it’s better if she’s intoxicated.

“Hey.”

(Y/N) turns her back, expecting to see a drunk friend of hers, but the sight of the same DJ from before greets her.

She rolls her eyes, “I’m not asking you to change the music.”

“I know, I guess I started off wrong just now. Let me reintroduce myself. You deserve to know the real me.”

(Y/N) laughs, because this whole thing sounds like something out of a corny Netflix movie. He’s cute, sure, but she’s just not interested.

He removes the beanie he’s been wearing all night, revealing a blonde buzz cut underneath. (Y/N) tries not to stare.

Okay. Screw cute. He’s handsome. 

“Hi, I’m Nate. I’m from New York, and I just moved here.”

She smiles, finally, because he fits the exact image she has of every male teenager in New York. Blonde buzz cut, an unbuttoned blue shirt with a peak of his toned body underneath, and a pair of red shorts. 

A new kook.

“Nate, your kind and I don’t match. You’re a kook.”

He scrunches his face, “They’ve been telling me that shit since the first week I’ve been here-” he steps closer, and (Y/N) can smell his expensive cologne. It’s not the same one she favors on Rafe, but it’s close. “-don’t tell me you believe that stuff.”

Oh.

She grins, “I’m not rich, Nate.”

“So?”

Oh.

“The name’s (Y/N),” she smiles, extending her hand. Nate beams, because finally, after a whole night of watching her from his booth, she finally expresses the most beautiful smile there is. 

“(Y/N), I feel like we’re going to get closer soon.”

“Yeah? Why’s that?”

“I’m not a Drake’s fan either.”

. . .

(Y/N)’s hesitant. 

She doesn’t believe him in one bit, not even when he flashes her the most charming smile ever. 

But he’s not afraid to show her off. She went on a date with him a few nights ago, and she distanced herself from him upon the entrance of the restaurant.

“What the fuck are you doing? C’mere.”

(Y/N) looked up to him, “You don’t have to stay near with me.”

Nate turned to her with a confused expression. “Why? I’m buying you dinner, remember?”

He held her hands in his, and she let him.

Nate pokes her side and suppresses a giggle when she yelps from the sudden touch. He fails, however, when she falls from his bed onto the floor. 

“You’re too ticklish,” he says and helps her up to her feet. Her eyes wander to the band posters on his wall again, being so amazed and surprised by this boy’s taste in music and movies.

“I don’t even listen to half of the bands you listen to,” she says finally, pulling herself down to the empty space beside him. “Do you know who’s Ariana Grande?”

Nate rolls his eyes, “Ha-ha. No. I don’t. Is she the one who sang Despacito or something?”

(Y/N) laughs and her heart suddenly soars. She feels at ease, and there’s lightness in the air, even when they’re in public.

(Y/N) stands up, taking the full room into view again, and walks to the shelf full of pictures of Nate and his family. There’s a picture of him in a soccer jersey, a picture of him playing the drums and then an electric guitar, and-

“Oh my god, is this your girlfriend?” (Y/N) exclaims, picking up a photo frame with a beautiful brunette girl smiling back at her. “She’s so pretty.”

“(Y/N), put it back,” Nate rolls his eyes, standing up from the comfort of his bed and walking towards her. (Y/N) laughs, liking the way his eyebrows scrunch in distress and hides the photo frame behind her.

“(Y/N). . . I’m not playing.”

“No one is playing, Nate,” she laughs, taking a few steps back as he motions forward. “I can’t believe you have a sweetheart back in NYC, Nate.”

“(Y/N), put it back.”

(Y/N) pulls a confused expression, “Put what back?” she brings the frame forward, and expressed a fake sigh. “Oh, this? I was just checking this out-” Nate charges for her and she squeals, running towards the end of his room and watching as he runs in her direction. She panics, looking around for a place to hide, and as her eyes meet his bed, Nate has the same idea in his head.

He pushes her over his bed so she topples over, the frame still in her hands. She yelps, leaving the frame alone and using both of her hands to push his chest away. 

Nate hovers over her, being so close he can smell her sweet scent now, and she looks so good under his yellow lights and in his bed and that goddamn smirk on her face-

“Is she your girlfriend, Nate?”

“None of your concern, princess,” he answers. Her eyes snap down to the cross dangling from his neck, and he can’t do this anymore; not when she looks so pretty under his gaze.

(Y/N) can feel the sudden change in the air now, and the chasing game they’ve been playing suddenly doesn’t look like a chasing game.

He’s like a predator waiting to attack. 

(Y/N)’s eyes look up to him again. “Is she your girlfriend?”

And he connects his lips with her. She gasps from the sudden touch, but after a few seconds, he can feel her kissing him back. 

And for once, she feels okay again. She wraps her arms around him, pulling him close to her and letting his warmth engulfing her.

She feels at peace.

“Rafe,” she whispers, letting the blonde boy trails down to her neck.

Nate pulls away, his lips sore and red after their brief makeout session.

Chest heaving, he steps away. “Rafe?”

(Y/N) sits up, groaning and fixing her hair. “God, I’m so stupid. I don’t mean that, Nate, I’m sorry. Please, don’t go.”

Nate pulls a disgusted face, and it’s the same look Rafe had put in the party a few weeks ago to her and she can feel herself losing again. 

“I’m going out. You can stay here if you want.”

“Nate-”

The door closes behind him, and (Y/N) groans. 

Way to go, (Y/N).

. . .

She hates how bad she feels for Nate.

He has been nothing but a total sweetheart to her, and there she was; moaning another guy’s name and letting him walked out of his own home.

So that’s the core reason as to why she’s standing outside of his house at 10 p.m. on a Friday, letting the heavy rain soaks her whole outfit because of course she would forget to bring an umbrella.

She knocks again, with her fists this time, because she’s certain he hadn’t heard her. For a moment, she’s afraid his father or mother would open the door but after remembering how they’re going to be away for a business trip, she sighs in relief. 

The door opens midway of her banging on the door, revealing a shirtless Nate with nothing but green sweatpants complimenting his legs.

“(Y/N)? What are you doing here?” he groans, tugging her arms in and closing the door after her. (Y/N) attacks him in a tight hug, slightly shivering from the cold rain outside, and after a few seconds, Nate hugs her back.

“You’re okay?”

“Can we talk in your room?”

“Uh, I don’t-”

(Y/N) doesn’t let him give any excuse and she pulls him into the living room, but before she can reach the space, he pulls her to a halt.

“Hey, we can’t go there, I’m kinda, um, doing something. What’s wrong?”

She sighs, “Nate, I’m so sorry, okay? I didn’t mean it when I called you someone else’s name and that’s the stupidest thing I ever did but please don’t go, okay? You’re all I have.”

Nate laughs, “God, you’re really worried about that? I get it, it’s okay.”

“No, it’s not.”

“It is, really. But tell me one thing, though-” he pulls her arms, and pins her against the wall. (Y/N) smiles, staring into his blue orbs. “Is this Rafe more handsome than me?”

“Hey man, we really can’t wait-” a voice starts from the direction of the living room, and before (Y/N) can move away, the voice rings again. “Ah. Of course.”

Oh my god.

She misses him too much. His hair is messier than ever, his eyes bloodshot and his nose red. (Y/N) wonders how many lines he did, but judging from the distant look in his eyes, she’s guessing a lot.

“Rafe,” she whispers, getting closer to the boy she missed and letting his smell engulf her. 

“Rafe?” Nate quirks a brow because this isn’t making any sense. Why would she called his friend the name-

Of course.

Rafael is Rafe.

So this is the guy.

His childhood friend is ‘the Rafe’ of the girl he’s starting to fall for.

After so many hours of trying to find the Rafe she accidentally called him, he hadn’t thought of his own childhood friend to be the guy all along.

Growing up, he have been told to call him Rafael up until the day he moved to New York. 

He can’t believe it.

“Rafe,” she calls again, this time following Rafe out to the living room. “Rafe, listen to me.”

“You moved on too fast.”

“I haven’t moved on, Rafe, fuck, I swear I haven’t,” she expresses. “Please. Listen to me.”

“You were mad at me for doing a line from some bitch’s back and you’re, you’re o-out here, under my own fucking friend’s arms and- did y’all fucked?”

“What?” she gasps, “God, Rafe, no. No. I will never fuck anyone other than you.”

“Yeah?” Rafe raises a brow and lets out a shrill laugh. “God, I don’t even know if I can trust you.”

“You can, Rafe,” she steps forward, trying to reach his face with her cold fingers. The anger she felt before suddenly dissipates into the thin air because god, she did not realize how much she has been missing this boy more than anything in the world.

Her everything.

Rafe flinches away, “Stop. Do you know how miserable I am the past few weeks without you?”

“Don’t turn this on me now, Rafe.” “And you’re out here with fucking Nate Hamilton. Jesus fucking Christ.”

“Rafe, it’s not like that,” Nate suddenly steps in, and (Y/N) gives him a warning look not to say anything more. He ignores her, “Are we not going to talk about how you disregard her just because of her status on this fucking island?”

“God, always with your equality shit,” Rafe groans. “You guys deserve each other. I can’t believe you will ever do this to me, Nate.”

What hurt Rafe more isn’t the fact that she was all pinned under his arms, but it was because Nate knew about their relationship. Rafe had told him everything about her ever since they first started dating, and he hadn’t just lost her tonight.

He lost his childhood friend too.

“I’m leaving,” he says, rubbing his nose and sniffing. Rafe isn’t sure how many lines he has done, but his mind is getting lighter and lighter and the lights are turning blurry. 

He can’t stand being in the same room as them. He will fucking drive if he has to.

(Y/N) bites her lips, trying to stop herself from bursting into tears. So they know each other? Why won’t Rafe ever tell her about him? Is this still her fault? She wasn’t even cheating on him. They’re not together.

Right?

Are they together?

“Hey, you’re okay?”

(Y/N) pulls her hands away, stepping away from the blonde boy and walking towards the exit. She has to leave this house as soon as possible. The once comforting bright color of the wall seems so dull and suffocating now, and she longs for the familiar blue paint of Rafe’s room.

She wants Rafe. 

No one else.

Just him.

“Just me?” Rafe smiled. “Hey, hey, I got a surprise for you.”

“Rafe, I hate surprises,” (Y/N) groaned, throwing her head back against the headrest. “You bought me a dress before!”

“Look-” he smiled, showing her a gold ring in a small velvet box. “It’s a ring.”

“Oh my god, it looks like yours!” (Y/N) exclaimed, clutching his hand with the ring and comparing the color. 

“Of course it’s the same ring. You’re my wife, I’m not going to buy you a different kind.”

“Wife?”

“What? Am I not your husband?”

(Y/N) wishes for nothing but Rafe. 

She presses on his contact again, turning her phone downside and moving the speaker nearer to her lips.

“Rafe, please call me back. I miss you, and we can fix this, okay? I didn’t know about Nate and I was so, so stupid. I can never replace you, Rafe. You’re mine, remember? Please. Call me back. I miss you.”

She sighs, setting her phone down on her lap and watches as the rain patters down her front windscreen heavily.

Love is a hell of a drug.

-

@okayshoto @joselyn001 @onceuponateenagetrash @dyingsleeping @iwannabeapogue @meaganjm @rafesobxs @flossy2929 @unfortunatekiwitrash @scottybitch @asimpwriter @amaya124 @tommy-tommo @thatshithurted8 @fallincindy @marvelwhor3 @rafeswh0ree @kookap @supernaturallydc-blog @blank-velvet @alaniskauany @kiiim8 @witchywrter @kaitlyn2907 @heyimflo @overcookedpastasause @tsukkiswifeey @spidey-d00d @anonymousobxfan @gotmeinloveagain @chicagoblackhawkslover96 @lexi-writes @classydragonthingknight @belongtoyou-u @badbussylol @savannah-elliott @angelreyesgirl100 @haterpenny @beehappyyy @alwaysclassyeagle @maybankslut @kayleea122 @clearbolts @lovelyxtom @christianaevans @jemimah-b99 @opierdalacz @dangerdolns @wildflowerliv @classygirlything21 @pogueslandia @alwaysclassyeagle @rottenstyx @wxn-drlst

[parchmentedpetrichor]

➳april’s fool ♡

in which fred weasley is in love with y/n l/n, the girl he happens to tease and insult profusely for her attention. 

fred weasley x gryffindor!fem!reader 

word count: ±4.3k 

tw: food, fireworks, pranking, fred being a bully, tad bits of swearing

drop a follow if you wanna see more of this content!!

my masterlist:D

ft. minnie, dumbledore and severus

yeah, your grandmama probably know me 

get more bottles, these bottles are lonely

it's a moment when I show up, got 'em sayin', "wow"

april’s fool 

“tomorrow is april fools,” dumbledore sighs. 

“you know what that means...?” mcgonagall asks, her voice on edge.

“the twins,” snape replies quickly, not even bothered one bit as he sips his dark coffee.

“and their pranks,” dumbledore dramatically rolls over in his armchair.

“okay and?” 

“they’re a hazard, severus!” mcgonagall replies.

“that doesn’t stop them.”

“what will stop them?” dumbledore ponders, eyes faint with interest. 

“you still have those weird buzzy fireworks right?” snape asks. 

“of course.”

“and minnie, you have the cake mix your grandmother gave you?”

“still in my cupboard next to the biscuits.”

“excellent.”

y/n l/n listens from the other side of the door, grinning. she’s been called to mcgonagall’s lavish office for some business she hopes isn’t trouble, but the conversation the three are deeply invested in piques her interest. 

she likes fun. the type of continuous laughter and uncontrollable fits of giggles at noon. that’s why she enjoys the pranks the twins play. they’re bold, sharp and reckless and have the undoubtable trademark of fred and george on them.

one too a many times she’s been on the receiving end of them. one time the twins had charmed the library so that she and other studious students could not find any books that they wanted or needed for a whole week. 

another time, her hair had been dyed bright pink. she wasn’t a fan of it, but tried her best to rock it. it worked. y/n had received many compliments on her bubblegum pink locks. 

she laughed it off a lot. whenever something quite embarrassing happened, it was usually funny. 

even the snide remarks the older twin always cast her way.

including the time he called her a blackhead. well, multiple times. 

“oi, l/n, looking like a blackhead.”

george had rolled his eyes at his brother before adding kindly, “at least you have nice hair. your tie’s always shiny too.”

she had just laughed, “at least i’ve got the blackhead looks to pull pink hair off, weasley, you can’t even pull off ginger hair, and thanks, georgie. love ya.”

fred had looked taken aback, but y/n still scowls at the memory. she gets she isn’t pretty, but there is a line you don’t cross when trying to insult someone.

he always calls her the most awful nicknames too; body parts that align with her name and random pieces of rubbish she isn’t bothered to remember.

she shakes herself of her thoughts and draws herself up, knocking thrice on the door lightly.

“come in,” mcgonagall’s calm tone beckons.

“good afternoon professors!” she chirps, smiling at all three.

they smile back. even snape. they’re big fans of the girl, who’s studious but mischievous. albus dumbledore has always thought that y/n’s eyes always look like all she’s seen is a beautiful sunset. 

“now you must wonder why i called you here,” mcgonagall starts.

“you see, how have you punished the weasley twins when they play all those pranks on you?” dumbledore eagerly asks. 

y/n gives a light laugh, “i just prank them back. i won’t get detention for this, right?” she jokes.

they laugh, “of course you will,” snape jokes back and for a second y/n is surprised that severus snape, the ever so cold potions professor, is cracking jokes. especially to her. 

“well then, i guess i can’t tell you how i prank them back then,” she drawls dramatically.

“no, no, do tell, we’re, what do you young people say?” mcgonagall pauses, “ahh yes! we’re all ears!”

y/n bursts out laughing, “okay, i usually do something that’s subtle enough but still very noticeable. they need to be anonymous too, or that’ll start prank wars and i’m only looking for short term pleasure really. one time, i dumped a whole bunch of polyjuice potion in both their little goblets. fred became george and george became fred. they were so confused.”

mcgonagall is impressed. 

“can you bake?” dumbledore asks and y/n shakes her head for a long time. 

“can’t bake for my sanity.”

“awesome. that is what i thought too,” dumbledore answers and y/n smiles. 

a single knock sounds. it’s proper and formal. 

“come in!” mcgonagall yells.

draco malfoy in all his glory steps into the room, eyes alight with concern, ever so indifferent. 

y/n knows him from quidditch. they’ve become relatively good friends, though she thinks he is very busy with his home life. she also knows that there’s more to him than the facade he has.

“afternoon,” he nods and gives a charming smile. 

“now, draco, i understand your mother had enrolled you in baking classes,” snape says. 

draco nods. 

“you must bake a cake,” mcgonagall hands him the cake mix.

she hands y/n the box of fireworks and winks. 

“good day professors! make sure to be at breakfast tomorrow!” y/n shouts, dragging draco with her to the kitchens. 

soon draco is laughing with y/n, at her atrocious puns and lightly placed jokes, finding himself very much happy. he’s not interested in her romantically, he simply enjoys her company. he’s even sharing some funny stories of his own too.

“...and i told him, to precisely fuck off.”

“so that’s how you deal with him!”

“oh no, he didn’t stop. he kept bugging me.”

“what did you do then?”

“i cast a muffliato charm on him.”

y/n bursts into laughter as they pass the gryffindor common room, quickly hiding the box of fireworks in her cloak as she spots two red heads quietly snickering by the fat lady. 

they notice the unlikely pair scurrying down the stairs. 

“hey, google eyes!” fred shouts. 

y/n doesn’t know fred well enough to decide if that greeting is dedicated to herself, so she continues upon her way. 

“weasley,” draco states. 

“huh?” y/n fakes oblivion. 

draco jerks his head in the way of the twins, where fred is smirking handsomely, leaning against the wall in a model-like fashion. 

george is shaking his head in dismay. 

“i said googly eyes!” fred shouts again.

y/n won’t lie, she thinks fred has undoubtedly good looks and his ginger hair is cute. he’s just a terrible person. to her, at least. she knows she’s biased, she’s often seen fred comforting ginny after a bad fight with a boyfriend, and from what she’s heard from alicia and angelina and katie, he’s funny too. 

she whips out her glasses and stares deadpan at him, before rolling her eyes and running with draco down the stairs, laughing like madmen.

they finish baking late at night, and waving her wand smartly over the cake, y/n produces a charm that will make the fireworks activate as soon as the cake is cut open. 

draco smiles as he pipes purple and orange roses, writing a ‘happy bday fred and george’ in chocolate letters. 

they add lots of sprinkles, hoping to seem like avid admirers of the twins. 

“does miss l/n and misters malfoy need any assistance?” a house elf asks.

draco just about opens his mouth to snap a ‘no’ when y/n gives him a silencing look.

“thank you rosemarie, but that is not needed, you are welcome to watch and talk with us though,” y/n politely answers, giving her a grin. 

the house elf sniffles, “miss l/n is too nice! rosemarie will make some hot chocolate for her! pretty hair!”

y/n laughs, “thank you very much, rosemarie. i think mister malfoy would also like some hot chocolate, with a tiny bit of firewhiskey, if that’s alright with you,” she winks at draco who just scoffs in reply. 

when they’re finished with the cake and the hot chocolate, y/n enters the gryffindor common room. angelina takes the cake and wraps it up in a box and nice wrapping paper. she sends it flying to the twins’ usual spot on the gryffindor table. 

“thanks angie!” y/n smiles, getting up from the cozy spot near the fire in the common room. 

“why are you going? we’re staying up till midnight for the twins’ birthday; wanna join?” angelina asks. 

y/n shakes her head, “i’m not too close with them, it seems like a rather intimate ceremony,” she keeps her words fluffy and light. really, she would join any birthday celebration, but she didn’t think she could handle the constant insults and annoying comments fred always made about her. and this would have been completely acceptable if she had done something to any one of the weasleys, but she hadn’t. she even regards ginny weasley as a little sister and was invited to one of ginny’s infamous slumber parties. okay, she might have a little crush on him for his joke-ish nature, but it’s nothing she can’t get over. he’s out of her league, for sure, she thinks. and terribly rude. she doesn’t understand why she still harbours those feelings for him. maybe because that time adrian pucey was mocking her for her ‘blood purity’ he stood up for her. or that time she hurt herself at quidditch and fred stayed up with her bandaging her wound. he cared when it mattered, she guesses. 

“i’m sure they would love you there.”

“fat chance,” she scoffs, “have a good night!”

she goes to her own dormitory up the stairs. she’s well known in gryffindor house, but for different reasons than the twins may be. although she’s close with angie and alicia, she’s not close with the twins. mainly because she’s always studying, playing quidditch, and doing prefect things. 

being on a quidditch team with fred weasley is bearable. mainly because she’s the captain. 

she’s stopped by a large hand on her shoulder. the owner of the hand swivels and suddenly a grinning fred is revealed. 

“where’re you going?” fred weasley’s annoying voice pronounces. 

“the sahara desert,” she snaps back dryly, “you’re in the way of my world exploration.”

“am i, really?”

“‘course,” she reigns her attitude in, “nice night, isn’t it?”

“for you? never.”

she scowls. fred watches in utter amusement as she takes a deep breath and charmingly smiles. 

“dearest freddie, will you please allow me to get to my dorm so i can have some sleep?”

fred’s heart skips a little at the nickname but shakes his head. 

“what’s the password?”

y/n sighs. “i don’t know. y/n is a blackhead. googly eyes. whatevers.”

fred lets out a loud laugh. y/n finds herself trying hard not to laugh with him. 

she turns around, ready to find her hufflepuff friend that has a spare bed in their dormitory, knowing fred is really stubborn.

“that’s not the password.”

“well, good night.” she walks off, before intensely diving in a style harry potter himself would be proud of, onto the stairs and running up the dorms laughing. 

fred stands at the bottom of the stairs, dumbfounded, his jaw hanging open. 

“close your mouth, flies will be caught,” he heard the giggling voice of y/n.

“close yours and you’ll look better,” he insults back. 

“oh shut up. we know i’m the prettier one. and that’s saying something.”

the next morning, fred and george wake up to presents, a rowdy common room, and a nice cake sitting waiting for them on the gryffindor table. 

for the first time, y/n takes a seat opposite them, her eyes alight with the familiar mischief they always held. she steals glances at the professors, who were beaming down with interest, as if they shared an inside joke. draco malfoy has an odd smirk on his pale face. 

all eyes are on them as they cut open the cake. with a bang, fireworks come flying out of the cake in all directions, sending crumbs and icing flying in the air and leaving soot on the twin’s faces. their ginger hair is covered neatly with white icing and the fireworks continue for a calamitous five minutes. everyone’s too busy laughing and trying to dodge the flying cake to see that y/n l/n and draco malfoy are laughing quietly in a corner together, both with spells like umbrellas. 

fred’s eyes, however, are trained on y/n, who’s rolling over in laughter. he quickly casts a scourgify on himself and george, and strides casually over to her and malfoy, the usual lazy smirk on his face as he hears ‘draco ohmygosh that was the best. your cake decos are on point! d’ya think he’ll ever bully me again?’. that confirms his suspicions. she did play this prank on him. and it makes him feel fuzzy inside.

his face then contorts into a frown. she thinks he bullies her? 

“i wouldn’t say he bullies you, y/n.”

he smiles. never mind.

“but it isss! i can assure you, there is absolutely nothing nice ‘bout being called a frame!”

fred snorts at the time y/n had been gushing adorably over a picture frame that was embellished with gold and bronze flowers to angelina. he had went over and in an attempt to catch her attention, said ‘you’re a frame’.

sure, he was good at flirting, but not to the girls he really really liked. 

“that’s fucking funny,” malfoy laughs. 

“oh shut it draco, your face is funny. but yeah, i should probably ask him to start fresh.”

he decides to interrupt their conversation. 

“ask who to start fresh?” he butts in. 

y/n doesn’t even look surprised, “in fact, you, fred, because i’m not really sure if i’ve done anything wrong to you or anything, and by my memory i don’t think i have and you keep being rude and stuff. if i have, i’m really sorry for it and i’m sorry that i hurt you and all. if we can y’know, start over, and maybe be friends?” she catches the unreadable look in fred’s eyes and hesitates, “or maybe not, that’s okay, we don’t need to!” she gives a small laugh, “er, sorry for ever bringing it up?”

the earnestness of her tone and the wistful look in her eyes makes fred fall a little harder. ever since he saw her nervously fiddling with her robes in first year, he’s been smitten. 

there’s a silence. malfoy has slipped off, the sneaky bastard. 

fred simply takes y/n’s hand, giving her a look as if to ask for permission. 

she swallows and nods. 

they’re in the courtyard, which is sunny and light. flowers are blooming everywhere. 

“can i kiss you?” fred asks.

y/n’s eyebrows go up. “what?”

“can i kiss you?” fred repeats patiently. 

“as in kiss? k-i-s-s?” y/n asks, eyes wide with suspicion and curiosity.

“yep,” he chuckles, “crazy, aren’t i?”

“yeah, you’re crazy.”

“really? can i kiss you?”

“i’ve never really kissed anyone.”

“i guessed that.”

her eyebrows furrowed in hurt, “what’s that supposed to mean?”

“i’ll tell you if you let me kiss you.”

“there better be a good reason because i was saving it for someone special.”

“i need a yes, love.”

she huffs, “yes.” she won’t tell him that she has a crush on him, because to be honest, she still isn’t sure if this is a prank or not.

she surprised when fred tilts her head up ever so gently, a smile on his face.

this kiss is short and sweet. he tastes like cinnamon.

when they’ve let go, fred notices the light pink dusted over her cheeks. he smirks. 

“you have to tell me why you thought i’ve never kissed anyone,” she said, eyes flashing in deep thought.

“such a beautiful person as you does not deserve kisses from anyone.”

“...” 

fred took this as a sign to go on. “the reason i’ve always teased you endlessly is because i want your attention. i didn’t think you’d give it to me any other way. if you haven’t noticed, i’m in love with you. i think you’re absolutely beautiful, both ways. i love it when you frown and get annoyed, even if you rarely do, i love it when you study so hard your face makes this really concentrated look. i love it especially when you laugh and smile and joke and play pranks. even if they’re on me.”

“...” she was studying his movements. inside her brain, a frenzy was going on. part of her brain- the ever so optimistic part, was screaming happily, and the logical part was using body language to analyse whether he was lying or not.

eyes? their honey brown colour was glistening with affection and truth, an expression so dainty on his face. 

a quaint little smile was on his lips, a small one, a genuine one. it was different to all the other smiles she’d seen him smile. 

he wasn’t acting, she decided. if he was, he should take up a job in broadway. 

“y/n?”

her brows were furrowed. she’d never been confessed to as genuinely as this before. 

if they started this type of relationship would he still be mean and insult her all the time?

“i-i need time. to figure this out.”

he doesn’t look disappointed, she thinks. instead he looks down at her with... adoration?

“of course, sweetness, anything, i’ll wait for you.”

she smiles, “thank you, freddie.” 

☆

it’s been a few days since fred’s confessed to her. she’s still unsure if he was joking or not. why?

at this moment, she’s watching him giggle with angelina johnson. it seems like he’s forgotten everything and anything. he’s gotten closer to her. maybe he’s lost feelings for y/n? she can’t blame angie, she’s a wonderful girl. if he likes her, that’s fine too. suddenly her feelings for him become very clear. she like-likes him. and it’s a bit too late.

but maybe he doesn’t like angie in that way? maybe he’s still into her? 

y/n knows molly weasley raises her children with patience. she should trust that fred’s waiting for her. 

but then again, she’s never gonna be as special as angie johnson. she’s just a ever so polite and outgoing nerd. someone who’s foolish enough to prank. angie’s smart, confident and funny and terribly patient. and effortlessly beautiful. she’s got the true gryffindor touch. and angie’s been one of fred’s best friends since day one. she’s always gonna be number 1. 

that’s ok. she’ll accept it. she likes angie anyway. it was probably a joke anyway. 

she couldn’t be jealous, just a bit dismayed that it wasn’t genuine. whatever, she thinks. we can just go back to how we were before. or not. 

and it’s relatively easy. they never really saw much of each other anyway. she’ll get over this tiny little liking. 

it’ll just be like normal. none of this happened. none of it. she grimaces bitterly, damning fred for his stupid games. should’ve known this was another of his pranks. but his acting though, certainly very good. 

she smiles to herself.

“knock it off, y/n, you’re here to learn, not to love.”

and that answer, is satisfactory. 

she gets up from her spot on the gryffindor table rather abruptly, saying goodbye to her friends, and makes her way to the kitchens. she knows she won’t be alone, she’ll talk to hansel and gretel, the twins that cook with the house elves every dinner.

they’re cleaning up as she walks in, book in hand. 

“hi hans, g!” she calls, as she rolls up the sleeves of her sweater to help them with the dishes. 

“y/n!” gretel gives her a hug with soapy arms and y/n giggles.

“how are both of you?” y/n asks. 

“good, good, potions though...” hansel trails off and they all laugh.

“potions is always like that,” y/n agrees, “it’s supposed to be really hard for newts, so you can’t really blame the subject.”

“i’m thinking of dropping divination,” gretel says.

“yeah, that’s wise, gretel buns,” hansel teases and gretel scowls. 

“divination is an easy subject, gretel, you just need to make random stuff up. i saw this weird bear thing in polly’s tea leaves, it wasn’t in the textbook. i told trelawney it was a symbol that a stranger would come and whip polly off her feet, with a whip the colour of the rarest german emeralds, leaving her absolutely smitten. i got full marks,” y/n laughs. 

they laugh too, and soon a light flowing conversation is shared over cups of hot chocolate. 

this is repeated for quite a few days and y/n even invites polly, marla and lenox, her best friends, to join. it’s a delicate, nice kind of week, one that suits her current struggles. 

when the weekends roll around, hansel and gretel suggest that they all sit at the hufflepuff table. they share jokes and quips over the food, y/n reading a book as she bites happily into apple pie.

“pfft,” her lips upturn ever so slightly at the quote that the character makes. 

fred watches her from the gryffindor table, utterly confused. y/n’s been avoiding him. he sees the flashes of hurt that run through her eyes whenever she sees him, and the quick grin that’s far too fake that follows. she’s been reading a lot more and he never sees her anymore. 

he wonders what he’s doing wrong. so as he sees her walking with her friends to hogsmeade, he calls for her. 

“y/n!”

her friends giggle as they see him, but she gives him a fleeting glance and raises her eyebrows at them, shaking her head, before profusely apologising to each one of them.

she approaches him warily, with all practicality in mind. she leads with her heart, but her head protects her. 

fool me once, shame on you.

fool me twice, shame on me.

“you’ve been avoiding me,” he states.

“what would you expect?” she snaps, “isn’t this all a good laugh for you anyway?”

“what’s that supposed to mean?”

“you know what i mean, this was all a joke, wasn’t it? fooling my poor little heart which you know has a crush on you. my head simply won’t allow it. admit it, and we can both move on with our lives,” her tone is sharp and cold, her eyes burning with fury and hurt, “i may seem gullible, and i am,” she gave a short laugh, “but when i notice, don’t even try to lie.”

“this wasn’t a joke, love.”

“don’t call me that, and you and i both know it is. your acting though, absolutely superb!” 

“what makes you think this was a prank, y/n? you were the one who asked for time.”

“yes, and the time made me realise that i had feelings for you despite all the teasing AND the fact you couldn’t possibly be genuine!” y/n says exasperatedly, her fury dissolving quickly, “you looked so in place with angie and everyone that it’s so obviously some sort of fun thing you did to try to get back at me!”

“angie?”

“a-and everyone else.”

“angie?” fred’s eyes were amused.

“you know, angelina, as in johnson.”

“angie?”

y/n shrugs, “you did bring her to the yule ball last year.”

“angie??!!!” fred was full on smirking now, as if trying to receive a real response. 

“i think you like her, okay?! are we done here? i’d very much like a good book from f&b,” y/n sighs. 

“i’ll accompany you to flourish and botts. why would you think i like her? didn’t i just confess to you?”

“yeah but it seemed kinda...” y/n trails off, not wanting her insecurities to come off as compliment fishing, “kinda far-fetched.”

“meaning?” fred knows exactly what she means.

“you know!” 

“oh but i don’t,” he smiles innocently.

“well, you’re you!” 

“is that supposed to be an insult?” he asks, faking a look of hurt rather well as y/n looks alarmed. 

“no, no, as in, you’re nice to look at, and you’ve always insulted me and been so nice and cool to everyone. are you for real?”

“nice to look at?” a cocky grin is on his face now, much more noticeable than the slight blush that was creeping up his face.

“is that the only thing you could pick up?” 

“nice to look at? what’s up with me repeating myself today?”

y/n lets out an agitated sigh. he doesn’t know, he’s blunt and straightforward. she likes cushioning her words.

“y’know, handsome? good looking?”

“my middle names.” another smirk to conceal the blushing. 

y/n smiles. “of course, everyone knows it.”

it makes fred uncomfortable. her light tone is a bit menacing too. 

“only joking.”

“i’m sure everyone does know it, darling.”

y/n is too busy looking at the dog that passes by to hear him, rambling quietly to herself over the cute scottish terrier.

“sorry, what was that?”

“aren’t i cuter than the dog?”

“nup.”

“really?” fred casually slings an arm over y/n’s shoulders, having to stoop a little lower to reach her.

“i think so.”

“well i’ll tell you something love, i think you’re absolutely stunning.”

“some love potion you’re on.”

“uh huh, the love potion is called love, sweetness.”

“so you’re for real?”

“as real as you and me.”

“you’re cheesy. this isn’t a prank right?”

“not at all, i love you.”

“i-i don’t think i love you just yet, but i think it’s possible,” y/n bites her lip, anxiously awaiting his response.

she tilts her head to look at him. 

he’s beaming. he looks more handsome than ever, a sweet smile etched on his face as he looks down at her in utter adoration.

“you have a crush on me!” he pulls her into a hug and giggles like a little girl, kissing the top of her head.

she’s engulfed by the smell of burning wood and cinnamon and immediately feels safe in his strong arms. 

“how’d you say we go on a date? so i can show how sorry i am for all the times i called you googly eyes and played pranks on you.”

“i’ll check to see if the girls are okay with it,” y/n replies, turning her head to see her friends. they’re gone. 

“they are. i asked them to shoo off before i approached you. is that a yes?”

y/n nods, “of course, freddie.”

“i love you.”

she laughs, “you really are april’s fool.”

“i’m your april’s fool.” 

he buries his nose in the crook of her neck to stop her from seeing his blushing red face. 

[urimaginespimp]

Gorgeous (pt2 of This Love)

Bucky x Elemental Witch Reader x platonic Steve

Setting is during Civil War

Read the prologue here to know about your character’s story.

--------

Midgardians were indeed strange. Natasha and the rest of the team did their best in making sure you would settle well with them, and so far, you were getting the hang of it. They were always amused watching you and Vision try to act what they call “normal.”  

Along with being introduced to everything was also knowing about your personal preferences. You love reading almost all kinds of books, and you found horror movies funny, especially the ones about possessions. You could almost hear the Norns that raised you snort at them. You also love exploring the numerous genres of music they have.  

Steve and you have become quite close, and his favorite pastime were telling you about his life before becoming the Captain America. His stories about a best friend he calls “Bucky” was your favorite. The man you’ve never met reminds you of your favorite men in the romance novels you’ve read – charming, handsome (you assumed), and he sounded kind. You were surprised when Steve told you about finding out that he was alive all this time after being brainwashed by Hydra. The captain still looks like he’s longing to get his friend back.  

Despite being over a century year old, the team treated you like a younger sister because of your naivety. Sam was like the bad influence brother - always teaching you about pranks.  Overall, you were settling just fine in the lifestyle you were only introduced into over a year ago.

The Norns have taught you that challenges and doom were always going to be lurking at every corner. Tony and Steve were currently in disagreement. World leaders were trying to get the team controlled and regulated. An explosion rocked in Vienna during a meeting, and some people are killed among them is the King of a place called Wakanda. Now the authorities were claiming the bomb was planted by the Winter Soldier – the man Steve has told you so much about.  

Now the team was divided, and you didn’t know where to place yourself. Your family was falling apart. You still weren’t considered a Midgardian and could easily leave Earth. You thought about reaching out to Thor, but how could you, when the same man who told you to reach him through e-mail, didn’t even have a phone? And Bruce himself was still nowhere to be found.  

Cap has assembled a team with Sam, Clint, Wanda, and an Ant guy you were yet to meet, to stop another man named Zemo. But by operating outside of authority, they all become renegades. You almost laughed when you heard that in Tony’s side was a Spider guy.  

Everyone was currently at an airport in Stuttgart, Germany. You were sitting on the roof of one of those ramps, looking over the team as Tony was still trying to negotiate with Steve. You noted the man with the metal arm standing next to him. So this must be Bucky. He was much more handsome as you imagined him to be – tall, piercing blue eyes and dark long hair. The girls you’ve met around the city would’ve gushed over him, joking about what they’d like to do with him. And you almost kicked yourself for agreeing with a conversation that hasn't even happen yet.

“You sure you want no part of this, princess?!” Tony called out to you, making everybody’s attention turn your way.

“Frankly I could’ve left, Tony.” You stated, looking over everyone, trying to take in that this may be the last time your family would be in the same room. “But I learned that Midgardians love blowing off steam. I’m just here to make sure nobody gets seriously injured.”  

“She’s not human?” you heard Steve’s friend ask him quietly. You heard him respond that it’s a long story. You shot the man a quick wink and a grin, making him cough in surprise.  

So what if you might have a little crush on the man? Technically, witches your age are still considered mentally young – almost comparable to a Midgardian in her 20s.  

A pitched battle breaks out, and as intended, you were going around making sure that nobody got gravely hurt.  

You were now running alongside Nat.  

“Is it weird that I may have a little crush on Steve’s friend?” you chimed.

“No surprise there. Is that why you refused to take sides?” She asked you, panting.

“Of course not, Nat. Plus you and Wanda are in different teams.”

“And?”

“We women should be sticking together. Leave the men acting childish.” you replied.

“Where’d you learn that?!” She was amused.

“I hang out with drunk women in club bathrooms!”  you exclaimed.  

You honestly thought Nat was intent on stopping Steve, but she took you all by surprise when she suddenly turns on Black Panther, allowing Cap and Bucky time to get in the Quinjet.

“You’re not even gonna introduce me?” you called him out.

“Not really the best time but Y/N, Bucky. Bucky, Y/N.” He hastily answered while getting in.

You and Bucky were staring at each other. He couldn’t quite decide whether to say to you. It was the first time a stranger was looking at him with glimmer in their eyes, as if she was genuinely glad to be introduced. And it was not the appropriate time.  

“I find you incredibly attractive.” You found yourself blurting out while gazing at him. You heard Nat snort behind you, and you almost laughed at how taken back Bucky looked.

“Uh... I’m too old for you.” He awkwardly replied, and you chuckled.

You were about to tell him that you’re older than he’ll ever be, but a groan from T’Challa snapped you all back.

“Alright, time to go. Nice first date, kids.” Steve called out from the pilot.

“I’ll see you again, soldier.” You gave him a genuine smile. He scratched the back of his neck and gave you a shy nod before turning back to take his seat.

“You should ask those girl friends of yours to teach Steve a thing or two with flirting.” Nat commented, giving you a sly smile.  

“Shut up, Nat. I wasn’t flirting.”

--------

It was no surprise when Steve sought you out to help him break the others from prison. The authorities didn’t know what to do with you, and you think it was because you never really broke any rules, you’re not from here, and they might be afraid of angering the god of thunder himself if they even touched you. So without thinking twice, you joined him.  

“So...” you thought about asking him what happened to Bucky.

“Can’t say I’m surprised that even a witch would be crushing on my best friend.” He chuckled. He was now flying you in the Quinjet to god knows where.

“I blame you, Steve. You kept talking about him.” You punched his arm gently.  

“If it helps, I think he finds you beautiful.”  

But before you could respond, your mouth went agape as the view of the forest around you suddenly became a whole other place full of beautiful infrastructures you’ve never seen before.

“Welcome to Wakanda, Y/N.” Steve told you when he noticed you’ve gone quiet.  

--------

Steve and you were welcomed by T’Challa and the princess named Shuri, and they escorted you both to what seemed to be a lab. Shuri was funny and you both hit it off immediately.  

Stopping just outside a bar, Shuri turned to you. “I’m hoping to see more of you, Y/N. Your boyfriend awaits you.” She snickered and left before you could say anything. Steve gave you a sheepish look and told you that when they were asking who he was bringing in for security purposes, he might have told them that you have a crush on their patient.  

Going in, you decided to stop by the doorway to assess everything.

“You sure about this?” You heard Steve asked someone, making you snap at their direction.  

Sitting on a small bed was Bucky. His metal arm was gone, and he was wearing a white top and pants.

“I can’t trust my own mind.” he replied, and turned to where you were standing, giving you a polite smile. “So until they figure out how to get this stuff out of my head, I think going back on there is the best thing for everybody.”

Steve nodded in understanding, and turned to you. “Are you just gonna stand there?” He asked you with a teasing smile.

“That depends if you only brought me here so you could properly embarrass me.” You replied, biting your cheek from smiling. He started walking back towards you with a small smile. Standing face to face, he started speaking a bit more quietly.  

“Well, yes.” He answered and you shook your head at him, chuckling. “But I also wanted to ask you something.”  

“Anything, Steve.” you nodded at him.

“Will... Will you uh- come back here if Shuri calls you that they’re finally waking him up? I’m just going to lay low for a bit, and I don’t know if I’d be still on the run when that happens.” he looked almost embarrassed to even ask you the favor, but before he could start rambling, you surprised him with a hug.  

“You’ve taught me so much, Steve. Of course, I’ll look after your hot friend.” you chuckled to mask that your eyes were brimming with tears. You were going to miss him.

Breaking off from the embrace, Steve cupped your face and wiped a stray tear on your cheek. “Don’t scare him off, okay. I don’t think he’d be able to handle how much bolder women are these days.” you rolled your eyes at him but proceeded to give him a small nod.  

---------

The lab was now preparing to put Bucky into a cryogenic sleep. When Steve left that morning, all he told him was that he was going to meet with a friend who might want to check out Wakanda. He didn’t expect that Steve meant you.  

When he first saw you at the airport, he was taken back to how beautiful you were. He’s seen attractive people around when he was trying to live like a civilian, but there was just something refreshing about you. As soon as it was implied that you weren’t actually from earth and that you were a witch, he settled with that explanation. Maybe being beautiful came with your power.

But then you unexpectedly winked at him and even said you find him attractive so unapologetically. He tried to be sly about asking Steve about you but it was obvious that he caught on and was beaming at him like crazy. He told him about you, how you were raised by Norns, that Thor took back with him to earth, and that you’ve spent the year knowing how to be like the humans.  

“She’s adapted to the world today better than I have, Buck.” Steve smiled at the thought of you. “I think she’d be the perfect teacher for you in the future.”  

He was watching as Steve talked to you by the doorway and when you hugged him and started crying. After Steve comforted you, you turned to look at him again, now a cheeky smile was on your face as you walked towards him.  

“I don’t think we’ve formally met. I’m Y/N.” You offered your hand for him to take.

“I’m James. Or you can call me whatever you’re comfortable with.” Your hand was soft and warm against his.

Steve heard what Bucky told you and flushed pink when he had an inkling to what you were going to respond to that. He could almost see you smirking.

“How about da-”

“Y/N NO.” Steve cut you off, fighting laugh. Bucky looked between the two of you, confused and intrigued at the same time.  

“Steve, I called you that one time.”  

“Those civilian friends of yours really should have more manners.” He shook his head at the memory of you calling him ‘daddy’ one morning after your friends told you to do so.

Turning back to the confused man before you, you gave him a full-blown smile. “I’ll call you by your name, Bucky.”  

“Are you going with Steve?” He asked you.

“Nope. I still might be here once you wake up.”

----------

Main Masterlist   Marvel Masterlist

[doyumacy]

FALLOUT |LH| ONE

*gif not mine

TWO

SUMMARY: You, at such young age made your way in business becoming a successful one. With that a lot of jealousy and rivalry came. Your mother finally convinces you to hire a team of security just in case someone tried to hurt you. And that’s when Donghyuck becomes your personal bodyguard, following you everywhere you go. You don’t mind at all since you find him very entertaining and nice. What you don’t know is that he’s the one that has been hired to keep you close and kill you.

PAIRING: reader x bodyguard!donghyuck

WARNINGS: mentions of jaemin and taeyong. swearing, blood (i’ll let you know when there are parts with blood mentions), smut, violence, angst

WORD COUNT: 2,8K

7 am. Wake up, take a shower, have breakfast and rush to the office. That was your daily routine and you were used to it. But no that morning. You were getting ready to go to your interview with the TIME Magazine. They were working on an article that would be called “Women Under 30 Are Leading the Pack in Entrepreneurship and Innovation.”

4 years ago, you’d wake up around 9, get ready to go to class and have lunch with your friends, but how does time change, right? Now you were a CEO of your own company with no time for your friends or even yourself. It’s not like you hated it, you liked being a CEO and being recognised by your hard work. It made you proud and wanted to show people that if you really want something and if you work hard for it, you’ll get it.

At the main entrance, you were greeted by the staff and one of them guided you to the room where they interviewed you and took some pictures of you.

That wasn’t your first interview, but you couldn’t feel nervous because you wanted to say the right words to encourage other people.

...

“Lia, I will be back in ten minutes. Can you sort this papers out on my desk?“

“Okay, Boss.”

It was a beautiful sunny day and the office was busy as usual. You were reading the contract at the table trying to get some order into them when the door opened. Nobody just walked into your office without knocking, so of course it had to be…

“Hi mom...” you greeted her.

“Hi sweetheart,” she smirked at you. “How are you?”

“I’m great,” you nodded and placed the papers on the table, “what brings you here, mom?”

“I can’t visit my beautiful daughter?” She put her right hand on her chest.

You giggled. “Of course you can, but I’d love you to call me first.”

You stood and walked towards her, hugging her. “You want some coffee? Water?”

“I’m fine, darling. I just had brunch with a friend,” she smiled and sat in one of the chairs in front of your desk. “Speaking of which, she told me something that got me really upset at you.”

“Why?” You frowned and sat in front of her.

“Why didn’t you tell me you’re getting death threats, (Y/N)?” She looked at you.

You sighed. “Because they don’t matter. You know I don’t pay attention to that. It’s pointless.”

“We’re not talking about hate comments, (Y/N). Someone is threatening you with killing you.”

“Mom, you don’t have to w-“

“Of course I can, and I will. That’s why I contacted an old friend who used to be the Prime Minister’s bodyguard. He’s gonna meet you tomorrow,” she informed you.

“Tomorrow I can’t, I have a meeting.”

“Then you better make some space or you’ll be seeing me here everyday,” your mom smiled. “This is serious. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you. You’re my baby.”

“I can take care of myself, mom. Please, I don’t want a full team of bodyguards,” you sighed.

“You will only have 2 and you won’t even notice they’re there,” she said and placed a hand on yours. “Please.”

You stared at her for a couple of seconds and then sighed, nodding. “Okay, fine. But it’s temporary.”

“We’ll see about that.”

Later that day, after going home you went to the supermarket to get some groceries and went home. You loved cooking, but you weren’t exactly the tidiest when it came to prepare your delicious meals.

After you ate, you checked your email and realised that your mom’s friend had sent you a file with the two people that would be working with you. Somehow you expected an army of people and that annoyed you, but you thought you could with two people. You didn’t even bother to check the profiles since you knew what their work would be.

You closed your laptop and went to your bedroom. Sometimes you thought your life was boring because you barely talked to someone else. Your last relationship didn’t end well and you were still a little bit hesitant to know someone else. Or scared.

And friends? You didn’t have many, but Lena, Taeyong and Jaemin were always there for you. And so were you.

You knew Lena since you were a toddler, your mother was good friends with her parents and you two got along very well. You met Taeyong in high school when you were trying to find the science room and since he was a senior, he helped you. Everyone used to think Taeyong and you dated, but in fact, you never loved Taeyong that way. You saw him as your older brother and he as his younger sister. And last but not least, you met Jaemin through Taeyong.

At first both of you didn’t get along well since he was all an extrovert and didn’t quite understand you were a little introverted, but he with time understood and stopped forcing you. Then you became the crackheads of the group, always laughing and going out and sometimes getting drunk.

You loved college days.

And love? You met Jaehyun during your first year of college, he was in your economics class and you couldn’t help yourself falling for him. He was charming, funny and so handsome.

Jaehyun was your first everything: your first love, your first boyfriend, your first kiss and the first guy that broke your heart.

You two dated for almost 2 years, but ended when he told you he didn’t love you anymore and didn’t want to hurt you and left.

Months after that, you took the opportunity to go as an exchange student to Japan where you met Yuta. You were never a thing, but both of you had feelings for each other but never went official since you would stay there only for 6 months.

You came back to Korea and graduated, and had no time for love since you were too busy starting your business. But Yuta would come on business trips to Korea sometimes and meet you.

But the last time you saw him was a year ago.

The next morning, a tall man showed up to your office holding a black folder. Everything about him was intimidating and you knew he was your mom’s friend.

“Good morning, Miss (Y/L/N). I’m Kim Hyunwoo,” he extended his hand.

“Hi,” you greeted and you shook hands with him. “Yeah, I’ve heard about you. Please sit.”

“Thanks,” he said and sat in one of the black chairs in front of your desk. “I sent you an email yesterday, did you read it?”

“I saw it, but didn’t read it. Sorry,” you apologised.

“It’s okay, that's why I brought this,” he placed the black folder on the desk and tossed it to you. “These are the files of the people that will be working with you.”

“Why is it important to check them out? I mean, they’ll be around me 24/7.”

“Because I want you to know their abilities and their tasks.”

You sighed and grabbed the folder opening it. You saw the first man around his 30’s, no emotions showed in his face. Kang Sungho. According to his file he was specialised in driving and trained in evasive driving techniques, such as executing short-radius turns to change the direction of the vehicle, high-speed cornering, and so on.

You passed the next page and saw a picture of a man with tanned golden skin, brown hair and dark eyes. He looked intimidating. He was trained in pretty much everything, from every type of knife to every type of gun.

Impressive.

Suddenly, the door from your office opened and the air left your lungs momentarily when his eyes met yours, dark and calculating. You expected him to offer you a polite smile as most people do, but his face remained in a stern mask. You somehow prayed he wouldn’t be your bodyguard because the less thing you needed was a distraction.

“Miss (Y/L/N),” the voice of your Hyunwoo forced you to switch your gaze to him and you shoot him a questioning look. “This is Lee Donghyuck” the boy nodded slightly in your direction at the mention of his name, “he’s your new personal bodyguard.”

You couldn't help but let your eyebrows raise comically. The world somehow hated you.

“You would not even know I’m here, Miss,” Donghyuck said.

You nodded.

*

Donghyuck awoke to the steady patter of rain upon his window, droplets yet to scatter the nascent rays of the rising sun. He realised he had awoken up ten minutes before his set alarm, which made him grumble.

He got out of bed and walked to the bathroom, took a cold shower and after that, Donghyuck put on a black pants and before putting the white shirt, he put on a bulletproof vest making him look thicker and then continued with a white interior t-shirt, a white shirt, put on his tie adjusting it and lastly, he slipped on the black jacket.

Donghyuck gave himself a quick look in the mirror and sighed. He placed his hands on the countertop and asked how did he end in that position?

Yes, he was an assassin.

No, he didn't kill women.

But the money he was offered to do so was such a big amount that was almost repulsive. And he needed the money.

Donghyuck had never pretended to be someone else before, he just showed up and took down his task and then left. Now he was stuck with some random woman and follow her until she was in love with him and kill her in the worst way.

What was with people these days? He didn't want to know.

Jeno was already awake and had made breakfast, “you gotta eat well today in case you die protecting your boss,“ he  joked and sat down in front of him.

Donghyuck and Jeno had known each other for many years and were roommates. There was kindness in his smile, a good man. He knew what ‘Haechan’ did for a living, but decided to ignore it since he rather thought his friend was also a good man.

Donghyuck rolled his eyes. “I cant believe I'm doing this.”

“You can't still say no, you know?” Jeno looked at him.

“I know, but I need the money,” Donghyuck said and had a sip of coffee, “I will retire after this.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I don't wanna do this anymore,” Donghyuck shrugged.

“Well, then get the job done and get those millions,” Jeno said and then shook his head, “that sounded awful. Ignore it.”

Donghyuck laughed. “Are you sure you don't wanna work with me?”

“One hundred percent.”

…

A perfectly collected black-haired woman, dressed in a skirt under her white knee and a pale pink blouse appeared in the room. "Good morning, you must be Lee Donghyuck, right?" She asked kindly.

"Yes," Donghyuck replied, "Hello, you are....?"

"I'm Yun Somin, Kim Hyunwoo personal assistant," she smiled nicely. “You’re the new bodyguard we hired a few days ago.”

"Nice to meet you,” Donghyuck expressed.

“Please, come with me so I can give you  your equipment,“ Somin said.

Donghyuck followed her to a room that was an office painted beige and champagne, and it had only one wall-sized window, which faced the buildings. On the dark brown desk sat a desktop computer, a notebook lying open, and a stack of papers sitting under a turtle-shaped paperweight and there was a swivel chair in the middle of the office. A bookshelf, bursting with books was behind the dark brown desk.

Somin opened a desk drawer and pulled out a black box that contained a small stainless steel knife, a Beretta Px4 Storm and finally a earphone for a walkie-talkie.

Donghyuck put the earphone on his ear and the walkie-talkie on the waist band. He put the gun away by placing it on the waist band as well and the knife inside the inner jacket pocket.

“(Y/N) (Y/L/N)’s codename is Sunflower. Whenever you’re public, that’s the name you’ll use,“ Somin informed.

Donghyuck nodded, “Sunflower. Got it.“

Somin opened the door for him and let him in. You were if anything was better looking than Donghyuck expected. Your face told of a leaned body beneath your wintry garb and your expression was serious but not unkind.

You were hot.

Fuck. Donghyuck thought. He was so screwed.

“You would not even know I’m here, Miss,” Donghyuck said.

You nodded and cleared your throat.  “Well, let's keep going. We have a long day coming,“You said, walking to the door.

Donghyuck walked behind you and raised his arm above his mouth and spoke into the mic, “Sunflower's going out.“

…

You were the smile, or at least that was what Donghyuck thought of you. Everything about you was a soft and understated joy as you greeted each person at every event. You really cared about the people and their interest and could see in your eyes your uprightness. People loved you and Donghyuck didn't quite understand why someone wanted you dead. Your kindness couldnt be the reason, could it?

“So, Donghyuck, what do you think?”

He turned back to Sungho. “She's different from every shark out there. Yeah, I’ll bet they’re lining up to off her.”

“Well, someone’s been sending some pretty disturbing emails. The NIS can’t pin the guy down.”

“They’ll find them.“ Donghyuck addressed.

The eventful day was over. You all spent the day going to different meetings with several people. You were exhausted but you were happy to see your friend Taeyong, after not seeing him for almost two months.

The black car stopped at a red light and you took the opportunity to take out your phone and reply to some text messages. You realised Donghyuck was looking at you and Donghyuck quickly looked straight ahead. “So, Donghyuck? You have been doing this for so long?”

“Not really, ma’am,“ he responded.

You considered him. He didn’t look like his concept of a bodyguard, big and beefy. He wasn't that tall. Slimy built, with a very attractive face, enigmatic yet intelligent dark eyes and dark hair. “And what did you do before?”

“I… used to train some people at a boxing gym,“ Donghycuk lied.

“Cool,” you smiled. “Maybe you could show me some movements.”

You quickly regretted saying that because of how red your cheeks got. Donghyuck smirked without looking at you.

Upon arriving at the restaurant, Donghyuck got out of the car and opened the door for you and you entered the restaurant with him following you.

"Sunflower's in," He spoke into the mic.

A young woman, with loose hair dressed all in black, took you to the restaurant's private lounge, where Taeyong was already waiting for you.

You hugged your friend and smiled, "The Bahamas suited you."

"Thank you, Woman-Under-30-Leading-the-Pack-in-Entrepreneurship-and-Innovation" Taeyong beamed and looked at Donghyuck, who stood with his back to you right at the glass door, "who is he?"

You looked at Donghyuck  and spoke as you sat down, "It's my personal bodyguard."

“Why do you have a personal bodyguard? Did something happen? ” He asked worriedly.

"Don't worry, everything’s fine," you calmed him down and grabbed the menu, opening it.

He sat in front of you and still looked worried, “how do you want me to be calm? Something is going on and you don't want to tell me. "

You smirked a little and shook your head, "really, Taeyong, everything is under control. There’s nothing to be concerned about.“

Taeyong sighed and nodded, "Okay, I will believe in your words."

You smiled satisfied and began to read the menu. Taeyong did the same. Jaemin stood in front of the door of the restaurant's private lounge but Donghyuck prevented him from entering.

"Identify," Donghyuck demanded, looking at him.

"Na Jaemin, owner and chef of this restaurant," he replied, frowning, "who are you?"

Before Donghyuck responded, you opened the door and looked at Jaemin, “I'm sorry, he's my new bodyguard. Lee Donghyuck, all right, he will have dinner with us too. "

Donghyuck nodded, “understood. Enjoy your meal, guys. "

“Thank you,“ Taeyong  responded as Donghyuck closed the door.

“I can't believe the two most influential people of Korea are here in my restaurant,“ Jaemin joked as he sat.

You chuckled, “let’s see if it’s as good as people say.“

…

Softly splashing water droplets hit the car windows as Sungho drove onwards. You watched the raindrops race down to the windows. You had been with Taeyong and Jaemin for almost three hours, and now you were on your way to your house.

"Sorry for staying there for a long time, you haven't even eaten," you  apologised.

“It’s fine, ma’am. It's our job,“ Donghyuck replied.

“You can call me (Y/N). We’re almost the same age,“ You said

“Even so, you’re my boss. It’s not right,“ he responded.

You chuckled and looked at him in the rearview mirror, "Well, then as your boss, I order it to you."

Donghyuck smiled and you noticed it, “I'll try it.“

[gladerwolfstarkimagines]

John Shelby x Reader x Finn Shelby

Imagine being the “sweet innocent” new girl in town set up with Finn Shelby by Thomas who thinks you’d be the perfect woman for his little brother. The only problem is you don’t want Finn Shelby you want John Shelby. 

You’d turned up in Birmingham after an amazing one night stand. You usually got a train and took it somewhere you figured you could earn money and so Birmingham you went. You walked into the first pub you saw, lugage and all and of course got approached by some guy within minutes. You were fighting him off, rather well on your own too, when Thomas Shelby came to your rescue. You didn’t know who he was but he didn’t wait long to drop his name and the surname rang familiarly in your ears. He was charmingly confident and bought you a drink to welcome you to the city seeing as you were clearly not from here by your accent. You entertained and interested him and so you explained your situation to him. He offered you work at his company on the spot and as you needed it you took it happily. He seemed pleased and you were too, he was polite, smiled at all your flirting but didn’t flirt back, atleast not too much. You wondered if he really just wanted to help you and didn’t fancy you when he started pointing out his brother, specifically going on about one called Finn who he said you’d get on with. He pointed him out across the room sat with a few other men and he was handsome enough...but you recognised one of his brothers already. The man from your best one night stand ever was right next to Finn Shelby. You smirked slightly as you saw him, of all the pubs you walked into.

Two women appeared beside Thomas eyeing you, a tall brunette glaring at you openly. “Friend of yours Thomas?” the elder woman asked. “This is y/n she works with us now” Thomas said as an introduction. “Ow don’t ask me then” she huffed. “Y/n this is the chair women of the company Polly, and this is Lizzie” he explained. “Family too?” you asked and Lizzie glared “no” and Thomas looked down awkwardly. You smiled slightly “I’m his aunt” Polly explained and you nodded “so there’s a lot of you shelbys?”. Thomas nodded “That one stood up is Arthur, his wife is the blonde and my sisters the one next to her and then over there is Finn and the one next to him is John”. You hid your smirk as the younger one, Finn, had noticed you but John hadn’t yet. “and they’re both shelbys?” you asked Thomas. “Yes they’re my younger brothers”. You laughed and Polly frowned “what’s so funny y/n?”. “Nothing your family just has good genes”. Thomas smirked “glad you think so come on I’ll introduce you”. “Can’t we get another drink first?” You asked putting your now empty one down “please?”. Thomas laughed as you blinked your big eyes at him. If you weren’t so young he’d have gone for you himself but Finn deserved a young beauty and you seemed sweet enough. “Of course” Thomas smirked getting the bartenders attention again effortlessly. “What do you want?”. “Anything you’re having” and Thomas smirked. “So tell me” you smiled “your brothers.... are they married?”. “Arthur and John are but Finn isn’t”. “And John’s older than Finn?”. “Yeah he’s the one next to Arthur now” Thomas explained and you saw John and Finn had joined the Shelby table. Polly seemed to be explaining you to them as you saw their eyes all shoot to you and Thomas. You looked over and saw John staring and smirked sipping your drink. “So John’s the older one, Finn’s my ages...John’s the married one but Finn’s single?” you summarised. “Yes exactly” Thomas nodded pleased at your interest.

Thomas brought you to the table and you noticed John had conveniently disappeared. Thomas sat you near Finn, pointedly introducing you and you saw Finn watching you closely and shot him a smile. He blushed slightly but took that an invitation to talk to you. He was not the sweet naive kid he seemed and you were pleasantly suprised to find he was charming and confident. Not as confident as John you noted though and despite the charming Shelby flirting with you, you kept looking around the room for the older brother but he seemed to have vanished. Undetered you carried on talking with the younger brother and could tell he liked you and the family seemed to also. Arthur kept shooting Finn smirks and nods, blushing when you caught him and made eye contact, Thomas was smiling approvingly and the sister Ada chatted with you openly. You were always good at the talk and could tell you had the youngest shelby boy and most of his family right where you wanted them.

-----

You were having a good time, best you’d had in a while and talked Finn into once last drink before leaving. He agreed and you sauntered to the bar aware he was watching you intently. On your way back from the bar you were grabbed and pressed against a wall hidden from view. “What are you doing here?” John spat his grip tight on you. “Excuse me have we met?” you smiled sweetly before yanking yourself out of his grip. “Don't play dumb with me! What do you want? Money? Are you pregnant?”. “I don't want money and i'm not pregnant John” you smirked “I'm here for fun and I work with you now, so lets try to stay professional huh?”. “I know you’re here because of me, you took Tommys job because of me” John glared. You put both arms around his neck and smiled “of course not but it is was an extra insentive”. You kissed his cheek and John didn’t push you away “and I cant wait to start working with you”. You moved away and saw he looked disappointed making you smile. "Now if you'll excuse me I’ve got to get these drinks to your brother Finn” you smirked  “so if you don’t mind...”. John didn't move away so you had to push past him to get back to Finn. You didn't break eye contact with John until you'd moved past him and gone around the corner. You reached the table with the drinks and Finn grinned standing up to let you sit down and placed a hand loosely around the back of your chair. You heard a door slam and heard Arthur ask Thomas “was that John? What’s wrong with him, he’s been in a bad mood all night”. Finn didn’t seem to have heard so intently talking to you and he took your smile to be directed at him. Apparently your arrival in Birmingham had caused quiet the stir and you loved it. 

[mordoriscalling]

Stay or Sail Away (1/6)

Here comes part one the modern AU fake dating Geraskier fic that I talked about in this post. I’d like to post each part daily. Tagging @geraskier-trashh as requested! :D

***

It’s not that Jaskier has any problem finding someone, thank you very much. It’s just that he’s busy. Busy with concerts and composing, meeting fans at various events, travelling, internet dramas involving Valdo (it’s always fucking Valdo). There’s no time for a relationship, only for occasional one night stands that sometimes that leave him heartbroken because he actually manages to fall in love with someone in the span of a few hours. It’s fine, though. Heartbreak inspires him like little else.

Jaskier's never complained about lack of bed partners, when he seeks them out. He’s charming, after all. Still, the moment he hears “commitment”, he flees. It’s just not his way. Or perhaps he’s never found anyone fascinating enough to commit to; it takes a lot to keep his attention.  He wasn’t even looking for someone like that. Not until recently.

His troubles began a week ago, during a phone call with his mum. She reminded him of his father’s 65th birthday party and asked if he would bring anyone with him. This was followed by a series of questions about his love life because, as his mum put it, “you’re 35, Julian darling, and you’re always working so hard! I worry you’ll end up alone”. In order to placate her, Jaskier might’ve lied a little tiny bit about some things. As a result, because of all the twists and turns of the conversation, he made his mother believe he had a fiancé.

A fucking fiancé.

Wanda Pankratz was ecstatic, wishing to know everything about her son’s relationship, but he dodged all the further questions by saying that she would meet his love soon enough. She left it at that but, of course, told half the family about it, if the texts and calls from his sisters and aunts were anything to go by.

Hence, The Post.

It’s a bit pathetic and desperate, Jaskier can freely admit, but he has no other choice. His personal guard Zoltan almost pissed himself laughing when Jaskier asked him to pretend to be his fiancé, and not one of his friends knows anyone who would want to do this. Not even his agent Triss could help him out.

It all drove Jaskier to log on his anonymous Facebook account (he is a pretty big name in the UK; better be safe than sorry) and post in one of the big London groups.

“I need urgent help from someone who’d be willing to act as my fiancé during a family party on February the 24th. The only thing I expect is the ability to sing praises of our love and to compliment my aunts. It’ll take around 4 hours and then we end our relationship. Age from 35 to 40. It’d be great if you knew something about the sea because I intend to introduce you as a sailor who’s never home and afterwards, you die. Can anybody help?”

Since yesterday, the post has got more than a thousand reactions (mostly the laughing one and likes) and hundreds of comments. Many people tagged their friends as a joke, which is not helpful, but Jaskier still scrolls down and down, trying not to let his hope die. Nobody seems to think his request is for real and he’s received no serious offers so far. Then, one of the newest comment threads catches his attention.

Lambert Rivia:    Geralt Rivia Destiny!

                              Geralt Rivia Fuck off

                              Yennefer Vengeberg Omg 😂 Cirilla Vengeberg-Rivia Eskel Rivia you must see this!

                              Cirilla Vengeberg-Rivia Yesssss!! This is perfect! ❤️

                              Eskel Rvia Do it Geralt

                              Geralt Rivia No.

Intrigued, Jaskier decides to check out these people’s profiles. Lambert Rivia is a handsome red-haired man who wears some kind of black military suit in his profile picture. Looking at his bio, Jaskier already knows why Lambert didn’t volunteer himself – he’s in a relationship. Eskel Rivia is blond, even more handsome than Lambert despite facial scars, and also has a photo in a black suit, together with a white cap on his head. There’s no information on Eskel’s relationship status and Jaskier is intrigued indeed. Yennefer Vengeberg is a terrifyingly beautiful woman who, judging how professional her profile picture appears, must work in some serious profession. Cirilla Vengerberg-Rivia is a lovely teenage girl with white-blond hair. Jaskier reckons she’s the daughter of Yennefer and one of the Rivia guys.

He left the poor Geralt’s profile as the last to look at, but now that Jaskier has seen the rest, he checks this one too.

His jaw fucking drops.

Geralt Rivia is a ridiculously handsome man. His face seems practically unreal because, surely, people as beautiful as Geralt don’t actually exist? The man’s long white hair (which makes no sense considering his apparent age), as well as his brown-almost-golden eyes, only add to his otherwordly, stunning appearance. Double stunning in that black military suit he’s wearing in his profile picture, just like Lambert and Eskel. The suit looks familiar and Jaskier has a nagging feeling he really should know what kind of army it is. Google helps him out and he quickly puts two to two – Geralt, Eskel and Lambert serve for the Royal Navy.

He bursts out laughing.

This is too good.

He wonders what he should to about this. Now that he knows about Geralt’s existence, he can’t really miss the chance of meeting him, however slim. His gut feeling tells him not to let the opportunity slip and well, who is Jaskier not to listen?

When he’s in the middle of debating what to write to the man, his phone pings. There’s a new messenger notification... with Geralt’s name. With a racing heart, Jaskier opens the message.

FEB THE 18TH AT 06:14 PM Hey. Everyone’s telling me to message you and won’t leave me alone. Is your request for real? Please say no

Jaskier chuckles and replies:

Hi! I’m sorry they’re bothering you and I’m also sorry to say that my request is very much for real. I’d be forever grateful if you helped me 😁

To this, Geralt responds with:

They really won’t stop until I agree They think it’s so fucking funny

Jaskier purses his lips, already suspecting this isn’t likely to work out. He'll have to face his loving mum and admit that he lied to her about fucking having a fiancé. She’s going to be so disappointed. At the very prospect, bad mood overtakes him, but he still types what he hopes to be a cheerful answer.

Damn, so sorry mate I won’t push you but, again, I’d totally owe you one if you agree  ☺️

What would I get?

Jaskier tries to reason with his hope to calm the fuck down and replies:

Money, or a favour of some sort, I have many connections Could be free tickets to my concerts  Even my company for the night 😏 Just whatever you want I really need help

Fuck

For a minute or two, the three dots next to Geralt’s photo disappear, and Jaskier’s hope plummets in a  dramatic fashion. Then, more messages from Geralt show up in the chat.

Free tickets seem fine My daughter loves going to concerts She’d like free tickets but I never heard of you

Jaskier starts begging any god out there that Cirilla is Geralt’s daughter. Teenagers make up a large part of his audience (which is great, actually; teenage kids are amazing these days). If she’s a fan, the free tickets are a major bargaining chip.

Well, Julian AP isn’t my stage name I don’t use it on fb

What is it? Your stage name

I’d rather not say here And you must promise me you won’t tell anyone about it too Well, anyone but your daughter

Ok

 Can you call me? It’s better to talk about this on the phone anyway

Fine.

Jaskier sends Geralt his number and waits for the call. In other circumstances, he’d congratulate himself on getting a man like that to call him so easily, but he’s too anxious. His hands itch for his guitar but he doesn’t get up from his bed. He begins smoothing his hair out with his palms, praying in his mind that Geralt hasn’t changed his mind.

After the agonizing wait of six minutes, there’s an incoming call. Jaskier takes a deep breath and picks up.

“Hello,” says a gravelly baritone voice so pleasant that it sends shivers down Jaskier’s spine.

“Uhm, h-hi, Geralt,” he replies a bit breathlessly, “so, my name’s Julian Alfred Pankratz but I’m known to many as Jaskier.”

There’s a beat of silence. “Jaskier?” Geralt repeats, “the one who sings Her Sweet Kiss?”

Jaskier beams, his chest swelling with pride. “The very same.”

“Fuck,” Geralt growls, “Ciri wants to blast this song whenever we drive somewhere.”

Jaskier laughs. “She would love free tickets to my concerts, wouldn’t she?”

“Yeah.”

Geralt says no more. Jaskier has to swallow down to sop his throat from constricting. “So?” he asks, “Can you do this for me?”

The silence on the other side is deafening and Jaskier doesn’t even breathe until Geralt finally speaks up. “Fine,” he grunts, his tone indicating it’s anything but fine.

Air leaves Jaskier’s lungs in a whoosh, replaced by a flood of such sheer relief that he may as well cry. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” he babbles, heady with joy, “Gosh, you’re my saviour!”

“Just don’t tell anyone about this,” Geralt grumbles.

“Not a soul, Geralt, not a soul.”

“Send me the details about when and where and let’s get this over w–”

“No, wait!” Jaskier cuts in, “My family’s very perceptive, they’ll know it’s a ruse. We should plan everything carefully.”

“You’re making me regret this,” Gerlt growls.

“I’m sorry!” Jaskier hastens to say. “Just... at least tell me a bit about yourself?”

Geralt lets out an irritated sigh. “I’m forty, serve for the Royal Navy with my brothers. Eskel’s the nice one and Lambert’s the prick. My ex-wife Yennefer works for the government.” Jaskier actually shudders at this one because he already can picture it. Yennefer seems exactly powerful like that. “We have a daughter,” Geralt goes on, his tone softening, “Ciri. She’s fourteen. We live in London but I’m away often.”

“Oh, lovely,” Jaskier says with a wide smile because, really, this man’s love for his daughter is so clear and endearing, “this is something we can start with.”

“Just make everything up about our relationship and send it to me. I’ll play along.”

“Thank you,” he breathes out, still amazed at his luck. Jaskier is almost high on the success of his ingenious scheme and his obligations are therefore non-existent, so nothing stops him from teasing Geralt. “Though, to be completely honest," he says cheekily, "you don’t strike me as the type to sing praises of our love and compliment my aunts.”

“Hmm,” Geralt replies. It doesn’t sound like a negation. “Yen says I’m not that bad if I try.”

The fondness with which he said Yennefer’s name is a cold bucket of water poured on his enthusiasm. “O-oh, ok,” he stutters out, thrown off-track, “So, uhm, would you be willing to try for me?”

For a moment, Geralt says nothing, then answers, “If you give Ciri an autograph.”

Jaskier laughs out loud. “Not a problem at all! Whatever she wants.” He pauses. “Whatever you want,” he adds more seriously.  

Geralt only hmms, in a way that Jaskier’s prone-to-romanticism mind would almost call warm. Silence falls between them but it doesn’t feel awkward somehow. “Have to go,” Geralt says.

“Okay,” Jaskier replies quietly, “Thank you again. I’ll text you, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

After Geralt hangs up, Jaskier huffs out a shaky breath. Deep down, he already knows.

This is going to mess him up.

TBC

Part 2

[prettyinlimegreenboots]

“You were the one that left all those notes for me?”

Minor cussing.

Back in High School

For the last two weeks, he has been finding colorful envelopes in his locker, under his windshield wipers, in his backpack, and even teachers have given him some. They were random messages - quotes, inspirational messaging, wishing him a good day, and everything in between. There was even a recipe for homemade lasagna in one of the notes. He started to look forward to getting the notes and seeing what the message of the day would be.

Opening his locker, a salmon colored envelope fell out and landed at his feet. “You still getting those?”

“Yea.” Race picked it up and grinned at Jack.

“Any idea who Prince Charming could be?” He asked leaning against the lockers, watching his brother twirl the envelope in his fingers.

Shaking his head, Race grabbed the books he needed for the morning. “Nah. It’s not like they’re coming out of the woodwork to tell me it’s them.”

“What’s happening, party people?” Albert, Race’s best friend threw an arm around Race’s neck in greeting.

Jack and Race both laughed as Race pushed Albert’s arm away. “Racer’s got another love letter.”

“It’s not a love letter.” He rolled his eyes. “It’s a wish you well letter.”

Albert tilted his head. “Isn’t that the same thing?”

“No. Now I’m going to class. See you later at lunch?” Race asked, hiking his book bag up on his shoulder, not waiting for a nod from either of them before walking to his Science class.

Sitting in his designated seat, he slid his finger under the envelope flap and opened it, revealing an index card with a quote on it - “Shoot for the Moon, even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars,” by Les Brown. He heard his table mate sit down with a groan. “You still getting those?”

“Yea.” Race stuck it back in the envelope, turning to face Spot with a grin.

Spot shook his head. “Well whoever is giving you those has it bad for you. Frankly, I don’t get the appeal.”

“Hey I’m a catch. You’d be damn lucky to have me in your life, Spottie.” Race gave him a look, pulling out his textbook and notebook from his bag. “You don’t know what you're missing out on.”

“Uh huh sure.” Spot said dryly, pulling his notebook out. “I know you’re a total klutz, yet you’re an amazing dancer and a smart aleck who doesn’t know when to shut his mouth. Sure, keep telling yourself I’m the one missing out.”

Race rolled his eyes, raising an eyebrow in Spot’s direction. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you know who’s dropping the notes.”

“Nah, it’s just funny watching you be utterly clueless on your secret admirer.” Spot grinned, turning to the front of the room as their teacher started the lesson. “I wouldn’t worry too much about it if I were you.”

Race was distracted. Anyone within 10 feet of Race knew that he had a crush on Spot. But Spot had pushed off his advances for the last year, and Race knew he’d never see Race as anymore than a friend.

Shaking off those thoughts, Race picked up his pen and started writing down notes as the teacher flipped through the PowerPoint.

Lunchtime

He had stopped by his locker where another envelope, this time lime green, had fallen out. He had grabbed his lunch before sitting at the usual table. He was the first one there and had started to open the envelope when Kat sat down and gave him a look. “Two in one day?”

“Yea.” She was just as intrigued as he was to find out who the secret admirer was. “I was just about to open it.”

Tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme

I heard through the grapevine

You’re going to be the Beast in Beauty & The Beast

Break a leg handsome

Kat squealed at the adorable message on the index card. “Racer, you have to find out who’s leaving you these. That was adorable.”

Race smiled, rereading the message before scanning the cafeteria. The school had over a 1,000 kids and it could’ve been any number of them. “But how Kat?”

“Hmmm ….” She was in deep thought as Jack and Crutchie slammed their trays down on the table and looked between the two.

“What did we miss?” Jack asked, kissing Kat’s cheek with a grin.

Race held up the lime green envelope before sliding it over to him. “Who all knows you’re gonna be the Beast?”

“I mean if anyone is paying attention during announcements, everyone could know.” Race rolled his eyes. “That doesn’t help me narrow it down. Is it bad that I’ve got a crush on whoever this is?”

“Trust me, I’ve got a crush on this person.” Kat grinned, pushing Jack’s face away. “But I’m happily taken.”

“Damn straight you are.” Jack mumbled.

Kat rolled her eyes before looking at Race. “You need to catch this person in the act. I think that’s the only way you’re gonna find out … unless they start fessing up.”

Race started thinking ahead to the next day. He was going to try to catch the person responsible for all the heartwarming notes in the act.

“By the end of the week, I’ll find out who’s doing this.” Race looked between his brothers and sister with a grin.

The Next Day

A yellow envelope greeted him as he stopped by his locker. So whoever was responsible for this got to school before 7:30, clue number one. His tongue stuck out between his lips as he opened the envelope and leaned against the lockers.

Happy Wednesday! I heard you’re curious about my identity! You’re bound and determined to figure out who I am. I’ll give you three clues. First, my nickname comes from an animal. Second, Slingshots usage should be a lesson in PE class. And thirdly, To Kill A Mockingbird is the best book ever written.

Putting the index card back in the envelope, Race was even more confused than when he started reading it. He read it again, trying to figure out if any of the clues meant anything to him.

“Didya get another one?” Kat asked, stopping by his locker, grinning at Race. She took the card when he offered it to her.

She read it, her eyes lit up at the message on the card. “Any idea?”

“None. Not even sure where to begin with that.” Race shook her head, frowning. “Do you have any clue?”

She bit her lip, shaking her head. “Let me think about it and we’ll regroup at lunch.”

He headed to English, twirling the envelope, thoughts confused with who it could be. Whoever it was, they had completely infiltrated his thoughts.

Just before lunch

He got his hall pass signed fifteen minutes before the lunch bell would ring. He was heading to his locker when he saw someone very familiar slipping a navy blue envelope into his locker. “You were the one that left all those notes for me?”

His secret admirer, one Spot Conlon, looked up at him with wide eyes. “Racer, what are you doing out here?”

“Had to go to the bathroom. What’s your excuse?” Race gave him a look, leaning up against the locker.

Spot grinned. “Had to drop this in your locker. Knew you’d stop here before lunch.”

“But why?” He tilted his head looking at one of his best friends. “You’ve been doing this for the last few weeks, why?”

Spot looked up at him. “Two reasons, really. One, I wanted to cheer you up - the last few weeks have been rough for you. And two, I like you, just didn’t know how to tell you. It was really nothing.”

Holding up the green envelope, Race laughed dryly. “These aren’t nothing, Spot. These made my heart warm and made me look forward to these. Have you seen me these last two weeks? I’ve been a damn mess. Also, I like you too. I just didn’t know how to tell you.”

“Yea, you have been. We’re both idiots.” Spot grinned, stepping closer to him. “Can I kiss you?”

Race nodded, as Spot leaned up and cupped his cheek before leaning forward, pressing their lips together in a sweet kiss. Race moved to deepen it as the lunch bell rang. Pulling back, Spot sighed. “Rain check for more?”

“Absolutely, hot stuff.” Race winked, opening up his locker, grabbing the envelope before slamming it shut. “So will these stop now that I know?”

“Only if you want them to.” Spot shrugged, walking beside Race towards the cafeteria.

Race shook his head adamantly. “Over my dead body. Don’t stop them. I actually love them and look forward to them. But you know Kat is all over trying to figure out who it is.”

“I’ll throw some in to get her off my tail.” Spot grinned. “Will you be my boyfriend?”

“Only if you’re mine in return.” Race winked, heading over to their normal table. He dropped his bag to the ground before starting to open the envelope.

Spot snatched the envelope and gave him a look. “One rule, you cannot read those around me.”

“Why?” Race reached to grab the envelope back as Spot gave him a look.

“It’s weird for you to read that while I’m around.” Spot shook his head. “Deal?”

Grabbing the envelope back, Race nodded. “Deal.”

Spot headed towards the lines to grab food while Race grabbed the index card.

You tell me that you're hurt and you're in pain

And I can see your head is held in shame,

But I just wanna see you smile again

See you smile again

Please just smile for me? You don’t know how bright your smile is in this crazy world. Never stop smiling, Racer.

Race smiled bright as Spot came back to the table. Sitting beside Race, Spot nodded to the card. “Good note?”

“I’ll never stop smiling.” Race grinned. “Good pick of lyrics. You’re a closeted boyband aficionado - One Direction lyrics. I’m impressed, Spottie.”

Present Day

“I cannot believe you kept all of those notes.” Spot shook his head, looking at the shoebox full of notes. “Why?”

Race grinned at his husband. “You poured your heart and soul into these. These led us to be boyfriends, there was no way I was getting rid of these. These index cards, in a way, made me fall in love with you.”

“Well when you put it that way.” Spot kissed him. “I did have a way of words. I just can’t believe it took Kat two months after you found out to figure it out. ”

“Jack found out before her.” Race chuckled. “You haven’t lost that at all. Love you Spottie.”

“Love you too Racer.”

Thanks @wide-eyed--wonderer for the prompt. I do not own the One Direction or the Beauty & The Beast Lyrics!!

[soyeahitsmiddleearth]

Return Her pt. 5

The Company (and friends) x Reader

Womanly charm and Laketown. The company only hates Bard more and more as time passes.

Bard had you close his jacket around you to hide your odd clothing and sat you next to him like before, telling you quietly to let him do the talking because he’s not too popular with the local authorities. 

So you did just that, hanging out by the helm with his jacket covering your odd jeans and shirt while he steered into the port thing with a big gate blocking the way. 

You’ve never seen anything like it. A town completely on the water that should be beautiful, only it’s dark and gloomy and reeks of poverty and hunger. 

Bard exchanges a few words with the man at the gate, they glance back at you at one point before the new man suddenly declares that everything is in order. 

Before the approval slip thingy can be given back, though, a slouchy, long-browed, greasy man slinks up and snatches the paper and hisses, “Not so fast." 

This new dark-haired man reads over the papers, then looks up and observes the barrels lined up in his boat, "Consignment of empty barrels from the Woodland Realm. Only, they’re not empty, are they, Bard?”

He drops the papers and takes a few steps forward, a weird delighted gleam in his eye at having caught the bargeman off guard. “If I recall correctly, you’re licensed as a bargeman, not a fisherman.” As he says this he picks up a fish from the barrel that Bombur is in, sneering when Bard replies. 

“That’s none of your business." 

“Wrong. It’s the Master’s business, which makes it my business- Oh.” He pauses when his eyes suddenly fall on you, his facial expression shifting slightly. “What have we here?" 

Bard looks over at you, then back at the man with irritation, "Who she is, is no concern of yours. But if you must know she is the sister of my past wife.” He lies smoothly and you find yourself feeling a bit impressed. 

“The sister of your past wife, you say?” He doesn’t seem to believe him as he saunters over towards where you’re sitting, “She’s very pretty if you look past them bruises on her face, but I do wonder why she would live outside of the city when your wife was born ‘ere." 

Oh, okay he’s attracted to you. That’s good. 

Well, it’s gross, but good because you can definitely put that to good use. 

You stand up and rack your brain for a fake name before you remember the name of one of the Elvish guards in Mirkwood, "Hello, sir. My name is Aerin.” Despite not wanting to be anywhere near this man, you take a step forward and offer a dazzling smile. 

He seems taken aback by your positive response, but not displeased for he also takes a step forward and bows slightly, “I am Alfrid, the right-hand man of the master of this town. At your service.” After he says that he throws the fish into the water and reaches for your hand and presses a kiss to your knuckles, and you try your best not to cringe. 

“Bard, you did not tell me there were such n-noble men living here in your town.” Alfrid wasn’t looking at your face, but if he was he’d see that you don’t look very happy. 

Bard stares at you blankly for a few moments. He knows what you’re doing, they all do except for Alfrid apparently, and he just feels so bad for your poor soul. 

The slimy man lets go of your hand and steps back, smiling at you with his crooked, odd teeth before turning back to Bard with the same scowl on his face. “Anyways, these fish are illegal." 

"Empty the barrel-”

Before he can finish you speak again. “Bard! How much longer is it going to be? I’m simply yearning to see my nieces and nephew again.” You put extra emphasis on the word yearning and look the creepy man directly in the eyes, smiling coyly before looking back at the dark-haired bargeman. “I know that your devilishly handsome friend here is cross with you, but I really must go see Ta-er- Tilda and the other two.” You think you got the name right. 

Flattery get’s you everywhere in life, because your seductive euphemism and shameless compliment seem to make him forget all about dumping the fish out over the edge of the barge. “Handsome?” Ugh, he sounds all too happy about that. 

“Aerin I’m afraid Alfrid is upset with me, so I’m not sure how much longer we will be.” Bard plays along, crossing his arms over his chest as he shakes his head, “Forgive me my dear, I pray that this won’t take much longer." 

Alfrid looks between the two of you a few times before settling to look at your face, a sickly pleasant smile coming to his face, "No, no. I won’t hold you any more.” He walks back a few paces and steps off the boat, raising his arm, “Raise the gates and welcome our new guest warmly." 

And just like that the gate is being raised and the lot of you are gliding through the entrance with no further obstacles. 

"Until we meet again, my dear.” He says as you pass by, that same unnerving smile on his face. 

You release an all too enthusiastic giggle at his words and wave with faux-shyness, turning only once you’re at least a few meters away.

As soon as you’re out of sight you collapse down on the box and start rubbing the back your hand against his coat, “Ewww, I can’t believe I let him kiss me.” You complain while still rubbing your hand in an attempt to wipe away the awful feeling. 

“I can’t either. That was quite the performance.” He sounds amused, and when you glare up at him he looks it too with only hints of sympathy, “If I hadn’t known better I would’ve truly thought you were taken by him." 

"Ugh, shut up.” You stop wiping your hand on the coat and look down at it as if you expect there to be something smeared all over it from his too wet lips. “God, maybe I should just cut it off." 

"No need for that. Allow me.” The bargeman leans down and takes your hand in his, lifting it up so he can press a kiss in the same place. “There." 

Holy shit. 

Your face goes hot and when he lets go you allow it to fall back to your side, "W-Well now you’ve indirectly kissed him, so while I may be fine now you’re stuck with the knowledge that your lips have technically touched his.”

At your words there is raging that comes from inside the barrels. 

Bard grimaces at your words, it seems he didn’t think of it like that, but he doesn’t allow that to deter him, “I need not worry about that for long, because once your friends get out of those barrels I’m afraid I won’t last much longer.” He pauses, then adds with a smirk, “Or perhaps you can return the favor?" 

No one can hear it, but you’re screaming internally. 

The raging only gets louder, so you shake your head and stutter out, "N-No way, I don’t want your blood on my hands." 

He laughs at that, nodding along as he listens to the grumbles and yelling coming from the barrels of dead fish. "If I am to die anyways then surely you can make an exception.”

“You’re really pushing your luck, Bard! Your death is of when, not if anymore." 

—

Eventually you did get near his house, but then one of his kids came running up saying something about their house being watched, and so your poor friends ended up having to come through their toilet. 

Dwalin came in first, and the glare he threw at Bard was so withering and dark you nearly cried. Not really, but it was scary.

Bard only seemed to find it funny, though. 

Everyone is inside and wrapped up in record time (since it’s the only recorded instance of dwarves and a hobbit coming in from a toilet, it’s only natural that it would set a record), and none of them seem to happy about any of this. 

You get along with Bards children rather easily, his youngest is a total cutie pie, but ultimately after that fiasco at the gate you’ve got to hang out with the company a bit more so they don’t murder the poor bargeman. 

They’re given some extra clothes to change into and you elect to stand outside with his daughters while everyone changes, conversing with the younger one about her hobbies and other things she likes. 

Eventually their brother pokes his head outside and says it’s okay for you all to go back in, and when you do you’re met with the sight of shirt dresses and too long coats. 

You feel bad for them right away and head over to where they’re all hanging out by the fire, your eyes immediately falling on the shivering Bilbo.

Right away you go to his side and sit next to him, wrapping your arm around his shoulders to share some of your own heat (since you dried off quite a while ago and changed your jeans out for a pair of leggings you had in your backpack). You pull him closer into your side so his cheek rests against your chest, rubbing his arm lightly to create some warmer friction."I hope you don’t get sick…” You mumble worriedly, looking down at his red face. “Oh god, you’re already going red. You’re not coming down with a cold, right?" 

There’s some laughter from the others but you ignore it since you’re suddenly feeling very worried for the small hobbit. 

He doesn’t have much body-mass or fat, so surely he’s absolutely freezing. 

"Oin, maybe you should come check on Bilbo!” You call, looking up to see that they’re all laughing at you and not something stupid like usual. 

You pause and look around in bewilderment, “What’s so funny?" 

Nobody responds to you, instead they just keep on chuckling and laughing like they’ve just been given an entire stand-up comedy performance. 

"Gosh, let the lad breath, Y/N!” Bofur exclaims between laughs, only causing everyone else to laugh harder. 

You furrow your eyebrows and look back down at Bilbo, still completely confused, “What are you talking about? He’s breathing just fine, isn’t he?" 

This goes on for a few more minutes, you being baffled and asking questions while everyone else takes jabs and makes jokes, before you finally realize what they’re laughing at. And the only reason you realize is because of the very inappropriate comment Kili makes (despite looking a little pale).

"Hey Y/N, I’m feeling rather cold too, can I have a turn?" 

And then there’s more boisterous guffaws and unmanly giggles. 

You look back down at Bilbo and see that you’ve pressed his poor face right into your breast, and while you definitely didn’t do it to be weird or anything it seems that you’ve successfully embarrassed him. 

"Oh you complete idiots!” You yelp, loosening your hold on Bilbo so he isn’t pressed so firmly against you, “He's cold !” You cry disapprovingly, shaking your head at these immature and lecherous jests, “You wouldn’t be joking like that if I were a guy. Or if it were you!” You grumble, looking away from their overly humored gazes in favor of looking at the wall. 

They don’t quit their laughing for another minute or so, but when they do calm down you and the poor hobbit are both successfully humiliated. 

“And this is why Bard is my favorite.” You hiss at them, eyes narrowed with an irritated expression on your face.

There’s no more laughter after you say that, and you feel smug at the frustrated and angry looks that pass over their faces. 

“I can’t believe you let those men kiss you. They’re all hideous.” Dwalin growls, crossing his arms over his chest like he usually does. “You could do much better." 

"Kiss me? My hand you mean?” You ask, raising an eyebrow in question, “Hey, if I didn’t play up that charm y'all woulda been found out so fast. You should be thanking me." 

"Wait, so it wasn’t an actual kiss?” Bofur pipes up next, an expression that looks way too relieved on his face. 

“Um, no. Why would I let them kiss my mouth? I care about you guys and all but I gotta draw the line somewhere." 

"Maybe not that other guy, but you sure seem fond of Bard.” Fili grumbles.

“Oh my god, this again? Are we really gonna have this conversation again?” You really thought they were over it. How foolish of you.

Nori sits up a bit and exclaims, “That was before he kissed your hand!" 

You groan over dramatically and throw your head back, "Guyyysss,” you begin in a whiny voice, “It was my hand! My flipping hand!" 

A few of them huff, but nobody says anything else about it. Thank god. 

—

When Bard returns from whatever he’s doing the dwarves immediately bombard him about the weapons they were promised, and he leaves to go get them.

Only, when he comes back he’s met with a lot of outrage cause his weapons are pretty shitty. 

You watch from the opposite side of the table as Bard, looking at the weird grappling hooks and stabby 'weapons’ he provided them with. Also some weird hammers too. 

From what you’ve seen, these guys only accept the best of the best when it comes to weaponry, so this just ain’t cutting it. "Um, is this all you’ve got?” You wonder out loud, looking at the pathetic bundle of makeshift things. “Like, you haven’t got any swords or fancy things like that? These guys are total divas about that kinda stuff, so…" 

The others around you grumble at your slight jab and at the poor quality of the things they were given until they start to complain about paying him for weapons and these being trash, bla bla bla. 

Yeah, you totally called it. 

They all continue to argue and Bard says something about an armory, but your attention is grabbed by the sight of Kili and his old man walking stick. 

He’s struggling to sit down, no doubt from the awful wound on his leg, so you zoom over quietly (but quickly) and say in a hushed voice, "Hey, you’re not lookin’ very good, Kili." 

The brown-haired prince doesn’t look up at you right away, but when he does you can see very clearly just how pale and tired he’s looking. 

You take a seat next to him and place your hand on his non-injured knee, glancing over to make sure everyone else is distracted before whispering, "Are you okay?" 

He doesn’t do or say anything at first, looking down at your hand for a moment before looking back up at your face, "I’m fine." 

Fucking liar. 

"Kili, come on. Everyone else might just take that and roll with it, but you’re clearly not. You need to rest more." 

Your concern only seems to frustrate him, though, for he rolls his eyes and shakes his head stubbornly, "No, I already told you I’m alright. This will pass, and when it does you’re going to feel really silly for being so worried." 

You fix a glare at him, not removing your hand still, and shoot back, "And when it doesn’t, you’re gonna get your ass kicked by me. If you’re not gonna rest or deal with this, then at least let me clean it up so it doesn’t get infected." 

He stares at you for a few moments as if trying intimidate you into dropping it, but you return the look with a steely glare that says you’re not asking. 

Eventually he sighs and drops his head back, "Fine. Do as you wish." 

"Good choice." 

You pull your trusty backpack off your back and open it up, looking through it quickly to see if there’s anything there that you could use. When you catch sight of some cotton balls your expression brightens. "Oh, nice.” You take the bag out and place them next to you, then grab the water skin that they gave you and some tweezers you kept in your makeup case. 

Without hesitation you move onto the floor on the other side of him and kneel down so you’re closer to eye level with his nasty wound. 

Ew. 

You unwind the wrap slowly, glancing up occasionally to make sure you’re not hurting him, and once you’re done you drop it on the ground and crinkle up your nose at the unsightly hole in his leg. “Yikes, you’re the biggest fucking liar in the world." 

He doesn’t get a chance to retort because right away you gently grab the front of his leg to add a bit of press to test just how tender it is and if it’s still bleeding. 

It is. 

More blood begins to well up and you barely keep yourself from gagging, and he groans quietly in pain. 

You take your tweezers and cotton balls and place them on the bench next to you, then go for your waterskin. 

A handful of cotton balls and a bit of splashing later, and you’ve got some wet cotton to work with. 

The tweezers tips clink together softly when you close them a few times just to make sure they work right, then you grab one of the cotton balls with it and begin to gently clean up the area around his arrow wound. 

Very quickly the white fluff of the wet cotton turns red and smushy, so you drop it with the gross bandaging and grab another. 

This process of cleaning, dropping, and getting another goes on until it looks mostly cleansed, and once it is you begin to search for something else to bind his leg with. 

You sit there and think for a moment before an idea strikes you. 

Once said idea comes to your head, you sit up a bit straighter and wrap your arm around his thigh from the bottom, reaching up to touch your shoulder to see if your sleeve can properly wrap around his leg. 

"Uh, Y-Y/N? What are you doing?” He mumbles, looking at you oddly. 

“I’m trying to see if it’ll fit…” You say absentmindedly, slowly letting go. 

He chokes on air and splutters, “What?!" 

You don’t reply and instead pull both your arms out of your sleeves, lifting it a bit so your head goes in and you can get your arms out properly, and once both arms are poking through the hole for your head, you pull your head through too and secure it just above your chest. "There we go." 

Once that awkward sight is through with, you grab the sleeve of the arm just wrapped around his leg and begin trying to rip it off. 

It looks so much easier in the movies. 

You pull and tug and even try to bite at it, but it won’t give like you thought it would. 

After a minute or so of trying to rip it off with brute strength, you stop and glare at the offending piece of fabric, "Awh, freak…" 

You put your arms back into your shirt properly and return them through the sleeves, standing with irritation on your face, "Don’t move a muscle or I’ll cry and tell everyone you called me fat.” You threaten before approaching Sigrid, Bard’s oldest daughter. 

The two of you whisper for a moment, then disappear into another room only to appear again minutes later. 

You’re now wearing a soft red blouse (one of her nicer shirts) with your long sleeved white (it’s not really white anymore) ringer shirt hanging over your arm. 

With quick steps you walk over to Fili, who was speaking with everyone else, and tug lightly at the back of his borrowed shirt. 

He pauses in his listening and turns to look up at you, raising an eyebrow in question. “You’re wearing something new.” He comments. 

You ignore said comment and hold out your shirt to him, “I need you to get the sleeves off. It’s for Kili." 

Before he can ask questions you go back to said brother and kneel back down, taking a dry cotton ball to soak up the blood that had begun to gather while you were busy. 

Right before you finish with dabbing at the blood, Fili approaches with your now tattered and destroyed shirt, both sleeves held out to you in pretty good condition (though the same can’t be said for the torso…) all things considered. 

"Thank you Fili.” You beam, taking the sleeves from him without hesitation. 

With deft movements you tie the ends of the sleeves together tightly, pulling on it to make sure the knot is good, before beginning to wrap it around his leg. “Do I have to do it tightly, or is that not a good idea?" 

"Wrap it tightly enough to where it’ll stay on and clot the wound, but not too tight that it’ll make his leg numb.” Fili responds, crouching down to watch as you begin to gently but firmly wind it around his thigh. 

“Like this?” You ask, pulling on it a bit to make sure it doesn’t loosen or fall. 

“Yeah, that’s good." 

Once you’re done, you tuck it under one of the first coils and tie it firmly. "Is it too tight?” You ask, glancing up at him with furrowed eyebrows. 

Kili shakes his head, releasing a shaky sigh, before reaching down to smooth his hand over it, “Thank you, Y/N…" 

A small smile comes to your face as you get up to sit down next to him. "Where would you fools be without me?” Your voice is good natured and humorous, but he can see the worry hidden in your expression. 

“Probably dead.” He jokes, looking over at Fili who laughs lightly. 

“That sounds about right." 

You wrap your arm around his shoulders much like you did to Bilbo earlier, looking down at the stark white of your now ruined shirt being used as a binding for his leg, "So long shirt.” You mumble. 

You look back at Fili and open your mouth to say something, but you cut yourself off when you feel a weight pressing against your left boob. 

Fili starts to laugh, and you don’t even have to look to know that he’s trying to be sly. 

Kili elected to lean against you much like Bilbo earlier, and though your eye twitches and the thought of flicking his nose passes your mind, you allow it.

He’s wounded, but as soon as he gets better you're definitely going to kick his ass.

And you tell him as much. 

“You’re so freaking lucky you got shot.”

[ravenforce]

Ithaca Pt. 3

Word Count: 4126

Warning/s: None

A/N: Hey loves, sorry it took a while. Writing Natasha comes easy to me. The truth is I finished the first draft of this, weeks ago but something about it just doesn’t sit right with me. I searched for it for weeks but ultimately decided to trash the whole thing and start again. I didn’t mean it to come to 4k words but apparently, it’s fun writing Carol too.

This is the last POV I’m writing for Ithaca. Next chapter we go back to you, dear Reader. I hope you like this, please let me know what you think of it. xx

PS. If there are any grammatical mistakes I’ve still overlooked, I apologize.

Parts: 1 | 2 | 4 | 5

***

5:00 AM

Carol woke up to the continuous vibration of her phone under her pillow. She let out a quiet groan before reaching under and hitting the snooze button. She knew, even with her sleep-addled brain, that going back to sleep is futile. So, slowly, Carol rolled on her back and opened her eyes to see the glow in the dark stars she and Natasha put up in her ceiling when they were ten. Carol has always been an early riser too, even before she moved to Ithaca.

Carol’s parents are both pilots for the air force. They used to live in the base, and sleeping to the sounds of fighter jets warming up or speeding on a nearby runway made Carol a light sleeper. She tried a handful of times to sleep through all the ruckus but failed. So instead of wasting her time trying to get some more sleep, Carol learned how to used the early start to her advantage. Either she would be found training basic self-defense with her mom at the gym, or she’s out flying with her dad in morning flying drills.

When both her parents died on a mission, Carol was to be put into a foster home before the Danvers’ came and adopted her. Eliza and Jeremiah Danvers both used to work at the base and are close friends with her parents. When they found out Carol’s an orphan, they both decided to come back and talk to Carol if she would like to live with them instead. Carol agreed reluctantly but she found the prospect of being with Eliza and Jeremiah better than being with complete strangers. She was hesitant though because the Danvers already have two children, Alex and Kara.

Carol dreaded moving to Ithaca because she never knew how to interact with other children and suddenly she would be living with not just one but two adolescents. Fortunately for her, Alex and Kara are amazing sisters. Kara’s clumsy, funny, and sweet while Alex is a bit reserved but fiercely loyal and protective of her and Kara. And even though, Kara and Alex both work and live in National City now, she’s still very close to both of them. Carol didn’t think she’d ever recover with the death of her parents but Ithaca gave her not just the Danvers’ but also the Avengers.

Carol smiled at the fake stars on her ceiling as she remembers the first time she met them.

In a small town like Ithaca, everyone seems to know everyone. As the only new face in school, Carol was an easy target for bullies. On her first day in school, an older boy named Yonn shoved Carol off causing her to fall to the side. Thankfully, someone caught her. Carol looked up and saw a petite girl with red hair and the greenest eyes she’s ever laid eyes on, frowning at the boy who shoved her. 

“Apologize to her Yonn,” the redhead said calmly as Carol tries to straighten her school uniform. 

“And why would I do that? She’s in my way, Natasha,” Yonn answered smugly. 

Carol watched silently as the two stared down one another. She focuses more on the girl named Natasha because even though she’s clearly smaller than the boy, she doesn’t seem afraid. 

“Apologize. Now,” Natasha repeated seriously. Her melodic voice clearly held a degree of authority that Yonn and everyone in the vicinity can recognize. 

Yonn sneered before apologizing through his teeth. 

“What was that? Say it again,” Natasha said smiling. Carol, in an instant, was captivated. 

Yonn sneered again before taking a menacing step forward and towards Natasha but a group of young boys stepped between the two. 

“Is there a problem here?” A boy with clean-cut hair and boy-next-door face asked, seizing up Yonn. 

“Natasha?” A handsome boy with long blonde hair asked. 

“Yonn’s just apologizing for shoving my friend, Thor,” Natasha answered without hesitation.

Carol’s heart fluttered wildly in her chest. The boys looked at Carol for a second before turning towards Yonn again.

“Shove her again, and you’ll find yourself kissing the ground she’s standing on,” Thor said seriously.

Carol watched in awe at how these kids can be so intimidating at eight years old.

“I think you broke him, guys. Yonn, nod if you agree,” a boy holding some sort of tech on his hand says before Yonn deftly nodded his head. 

“Now, scram,” a boy with long black hair said, which prompted Yonn out of his trance and power walked to the opposite side of the building. 

When Yonn was out of sight, the hallway seems to have released a collective breath that they’re holding. The girl named Natasha adjusted her school bag before turning towards Carol. Toe-to-toe with Natasha, Carol realized how tiny she is. Carol couldn’t help the small smile on her face. Carol tried not to squirm at how Natasha was looking at her. 

“You appear to be physically fine,” Natasha assessed. “But are you alright?”

“You broke my fall. Thank you, by the way,” Carol said sincerely. Sure, she could take Yonn by herself but Natasha coming to her rescue is still very much appreciated.

“You’re welcome. I’m Natasha,” Natasha introduced herself before extending her hand. Carol didn’t hesitate when she reached out and shook it. Natasha smiled at her again.

“I’m Carol, Carol Danvers.” Then someone coughed behind them, Natasha rolled her eyes. 

“And these are my friends. This is Steve, Thor, Thor’s brother Loki, Clint, and Tony,” Natasha introduced everyone. Carol thanked all of them for stepping up for her. 

“It’s nothing, Yonn is annoying,” Tony said after closing the tech on his hand. 

“And I believe it’s high time, Natasha gets a girl friend,” Loki said, voice teasing. 

Carol understood that Loki meant a female friend but Loki’s teasing got the better of her and she started blushing. Natasha saw this and smirked at her before linking their arms together and tugging Carol to the direction of the cafeteria. 

“Welcome to the Avengers,” Natasha whispered.

Carol blinked back to the present when she saw the light on Natasha’s bedroom flickered from across the street. Today’s the day, Natasha will giving the transfer student the grounds tour. In true Natasha fashion, she’s up even before the sun could come up to make sure she never misses ballet practice. Even though, they’re not extremely close anymore due to conflict of school schedules, and people constantly being adopted to their group, Carol would be caught dead before she let Natasha roam the streets at such an early hour alone. Ironic though because Natasha’s a founding family child, which means she knows the town like the back of her own hand and no one in their right mind would so much as think of touching a hair on her head.

6:00 AM

Carol watched as Mrs. Miller made polite small talk with Natasha before waving her inside the studio. Mrs. Miller then turned to look directly at the huge plant box she knew Carol was hiding behind. Carol stepped out of the shadow before walking towards the guard post. 

“Good morning, Carol,” Mrs. Miller greeted quietly as not to alert Natasha of the blonde’s presence outside. 

“Good morning, ma’am,” Carol whispered back before pulling out a thermos of hot coffee she brewed at home. 

Mrs. Miller has been stationed guard at the studio for almost two decades, and she’s been holding on to Carol’s secret for just as long now. Carol’s popularity is hugely based on her very charming personality but a part of it was from her reputation as a philanderer. As a serial heart breaker, Carol’s not known to be soft, romantic, and never one to get attached to anyone. She’s the hot soccer team captain who gets any girl she likes, and bolt comes the early morning light. No one has ever known Carol to stay the night but Mrs. Miller - basically a stranger - knows something no one does.

“If you’ve only been as tenacious as you have as protecting her,” Mrs. Miller started but Carol cut her off with a soft sigh. 

“There’s no point,” Carol said dejectedly before the clock tower interrupted her.

“Thank you for the coffee, Carol,” Mrs. Miller said sincerely. She knew it’s time for Carol to go. 

“Thank you for looking after us,” Carol answered as solemnly before shouldering her backpack and walking towards the soccer field.

***

Popularity can be blinding, Carol and Natasha thought so a long time ago. So to both stay grounded they both train at their respective choice of activity every other morning, with one as a lookout for the other. Clearly, they both carried on with the tradition but separately. They did it for ten years, and then they don’t. Somewhere between then and now, Carol and Natasha fell off the cracks.

Sure, they still belong to the same group, eats at the same table, hang out at the same places but they both know they lost each other in a more meaningful way. Carol arrived at the field but suddenly she wasn’t in the mood to kick some balls. So, instead, she dropped her bag on the grass and used it as a pillow. The sky is still dark, the sounds of crickets and cicadas are still there if she focuses long enough. Something about Mrs. Miller’s words put Carol in a somber mood.

In the silence of the early morning, Carol closed her eyes and released everything she’s been holding to in a sigh. “I miss you,” she whispered like a prayer to the universe. Without hope or anything that it would be heard by the person, she wanted to say it to. When she opened her eyes, the sky has turned a beautiful shade of light blue.

“Burning the morning oil, Captain,” Valkyrie’s confident voice floated from above her head. Just like that Carol's time is over, just like that Carol’s mask is up again. She sat up, composed herself before turning towards her friend and smiled.

“Good morning to you too, Val,” Carol teased before hauling herself to her feet.

“Crew’s at the Applebee’s for breakfast. Walk with me? Since you’re clearly not practicing anyway.”

Carol let out an adulterated laugh, and Valkyrie, try as she might, she couldn’t help the blush that dusted her perfectly brown skin after hearing that melodic laugh and knowing that she caused it. Of course, Carol noticed but even though she knows that the other woman is attracted to her, Carol had resolved never to engage except for very light flirting. She couldn’t really handle one more complicated friendship, after all.

7:00 AM

Applebee’s was buzzing with the morning rush but when Val and Carol stepped inside the establishment, they can immediately pinpoint the location of their friends by the sheer commanding voice of Thor booming around the restaurant.

“Must you boys be so loud?” Carol teased before flopping down between Maria and Loki.

“Oh, Carol. We’re just relishing a morning without Natasha’s grumpy ass,” Steve answered teasing. Carol frowned, clearly not appreciating the joke.

Maria, ever the intuitive one, looked up from her textbook to look at Carol and offer her an assuring smile, which helped diffuse Carol’s rising foul mood.

“I’ll make sure Nat knows you called her a grumpy ass, Steve,” Wanda mock threatened the jock before joining the table.

Steve gasped before the table erupted in laughter. Every Avenger is popular and badass by their own merit but no one, absolutely no one would ever dare go against or speak ill of Natasha. She’s a force of nature on her own, everyone else is just glitter; at least that’s how Carol thinks so.

Carol tore a piece of bread and threw it on Steve’s face, which earned more giggles. “Oh! You’ll be in trouble, Steven,” Carol teased and grinned before taking a bite off her bagel sandwich.

Steve stuck his tongue out like a child. “Speaking of which, where’s Natasha, anyway?” he asked trying to diffuse the situation off.

“I believe she’s off giving Maria and Tony’s friend, the transfer student, the ground tours,” Thor answered before leaning back on his chair and sipping his tall glass of orange juice.

“Oh!” Steve exclaimed. “That’s today? I can’t wait to meet the girl who bested the Tony Stark on his own company.”

“Haha. Very funny, Steven,” Tony quipped sarcastically without looking up from the tech he’s been fixing all morning.

“I heard she’s pretty,” Loki said, clearly intrigued by the newcomer who he knows will be added in the mix if her reputation as beautiful and genius precedes her.

Wanda hurriedly chewed down her pancakes before clapping her hands in excitement. “She is! I was able to persuade Maria to show me a picture, and man, she’s stunning.”

Carol watched her friends interact quietly and wonder how this new girl would par in terms of getting along and fitting in their own crazy little group. Will she fall with the silent types along with Natasha, Clint, Loki, and Maria? Or would she fit better with the extroverts like Steve, Thor, and Valkyrie?

“I’m excited to meet her. Mar, please tell me you invited her to lunch?” Thor asked excitedly.

Maria only smiled and shrugged before going back to her assigned reading.

“What’s the fuss? No one can be that perfect,” Valkyrie said matter-of-factly, which halted the conversation in the table almost immediately.

Carol quickly glanced at Maria. If Valkyrie was baiting for a fight early in the morning, she’s surely not getting it because getting a rise out of Maria is like getting Natasha to be responsive.

“The first mistake you can make before meeting Y/N is to think that she’s perfect. She’s not; she’s scarred and flawed but she’s special,” Tony said seriously before Maria can say anything else.

Carol cleared her throat to diffuse the tension in the air. “You’re right, T. We shouldn’t put the girl on a box.” Carol started seriously before breaking into a grin. “Besides, we all know, only Tasha’s that perfect.”

Carol looked smug. Steve nodded, Tony just shrugged, Wanda giggled, Valkyrie rolled her eyes while the Odinson brothers just smiled. And just like that, the bad air is gone.

8:30 AM

In the end, Natasha didn’t show up for breakfast, which was odd because everyone knows that she hates doing Clint’s job and giving grounds tour. Only Carol and Maria has a 9 AM class, so Carol drove them back to school in her motorcycle. Carol intentionally slowed her movement the moment Maria hopped off her bike and handed her the extra helmet Carol lent her.

“You know you’re gonna be late for class again, right?” Maria said after fixing her braided hair.

Carol smiled before locking her bike up. “I know but can you blame me? Bruce’s class is capital b-o-r-i-n-g,” Carol defended.

Maria shook her head and smiled. “Sure but I know what you’re doing,” Maria said before walking towards the school.

Carol squinted before jogging up to catch up to Maria.

“You should stop trying to get a rise out of Nat. It’s not helping your cause,” Maria said smiling.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Carol denied but Maria knows from the smile on her face that Carol knows exactly what she’s talking about.

Maria was thirteen when she moved to Ithaca and joined the Avengers. She wasn’t privy to their childhood and Maria wasn’t one to gossip but she knows that Carol was Natasha’s best friend since they were eight. Along the way, the two went on a rough patch that they seem to be still recovering from. It doesn’t help that Carol likes teasing and deliberately doing the things she knows Natasha would hate.

The two engaged in small talk until they arrived at Maria’s classroom. “See you later, Danvers,” Maria said before putting her hand for a high-five. Carol immediately indulged her.

***

Carol grimaced at the watch as she reads the time. She still hasn’t seen Natasha since she left her at the studio but she didn’t want to give the other the satisfaction by texting to know where the hell she is.

‘Tasha’s a grown woman,’ Carol thought to herself before looking up and seeing Minerva a few feet away. 

Carol looked at her reflection on the glass adjacent to her before flashing an all too big, all too fake smile. She walked the small distance between her and Minerva, who is talking to a boy Carol doesn’t know. 

“Hey,” Carol greeted from behind Minerva.

“Danvers,” Minerva answered without facing her. The boy looked between the two before quickly excusing himself.

Minerva turned on the spot to look at Carol. “Aren’t you late for class?”

“Yes. So, why bother? Besides, don’t you miss me?” Carol asked batting her long eyelashes and pouting. 

Minerva looked at her from head to toe before smirking. “It’s too early for a booty call, Danvers.”

Carol let out an unadulterated laugh. “Fair enough but how about later after school?” Carol asked, stepping inside Minerva’s personal space. In one stride, Carol has closed the gap between them and has the other woman pressed against her toned body and the locker behind her. 

“Danvers!” A voice Carol would know anywhere growled a few feet away. 

Carol groaned in fake exasperation but internally she’s smiling from ear to ear. “Tasha,” she said sweetly without stepping away from Minerva. Natasha, as expected, didn’t smile back. She only grimaced and glared until Minerva pushed Carol away.

“This again?” Minerva murmured as she rounded Carol to get to her classroom but the blonde girl couldn’t hear or see anything else. She’s laser-focused on Natasha and Natasha alone. 

“You’re ten minutes late already,” Nat started when she’s alone in the hallway with Carol. “And your class is on the other side of the campus.”

Carol ignored the fact that Natasha still knows her schedule. She walked towards the redhead until she’s toe to toe with Natasha. Natasha didn’t step back, she’s used to Carol always invading her personal space. 

“I got that class in the bag, Tasha. Relax,” Carol whispered before leaning in, kissing Natasha close to her mouth, and running away. 

***

Carol’s grinning from ear to ear as she floats all the way to the other side of the campus. She’s still thinking of how Natasha’s face has turned a good shade of tomato just before Carol sprinted away. Carol’s pretty sure it’s a combination of a blush and Natasha’s rising anger. She couldn’t help but chuckle to herself, just as she enters Bruce’s classroom. Bruce stops mid-discussion after Carol not so silently barged into class.

“Ah! Miss Danvers, glad you’re able to join us today,” Bruce said. “And only twenty minutes late.”

Carol was ripped from her high as everyone’s laughter reached her ears.

She refused to be made to feel bad about a decision she deliberately made. So, she joined in the laughter before looking at her teacher.

“Sorry, Mr. Banner but it’s the meet season,” Carol half-lied before quickly scanning the room for an empty seat. Her eyes landed on the empty seat next to the only face she doesn’t know in class. Carol was completely caught off-guard. They just talked about how Maria’s friend, the transfer student’s pretty but Carol thought as she stood there that ‘pretty’ is an understatement.

“Get it together, Danvers and sit already,” Bruce sighed. Carol blinked back to reality before smiling at Bruce and sprinting up the stairs to her seat.

“Hi, I’m Carol. Carol Danvers,” she introduced herself with a genuine smile.

“Hi, Y/N. Y/N Y/L/N,” she whispered, eyes still trained upfront.

Carol docked her head to hide the smile on her face as she finds Y/N pretending to be listening to Bruce really adorable.

“Nice to meet you,” Carol tried to whisper back

Y/N threw her a side glance to acknowledge her but quickly turned back to the lesson. Or at least, try because Carol was adamant about talking to her. The moment their eyes met, Carol decided she wants to get to know her outside of Maria and Tony’s stories.

“Maria can’t stop talking about you,” Carol tried to get Y/N’s attention again.

This time, it worked. “You know Maria?” Y/N asked quietly.

Carol smiled but before she could utter another word, Bruce shut the book on his hand loudly. Y/N turned her eyes and body forward as fast as she could, Carol didn’t take her eyes off the girl.

“Care to include us in your discussion, girls?” Bruce said all the way down from the podium.

Carol smiled as she watches Y/N try to shrink herself on her seat to avoid Bruce's wrath. Carol on the other hand just kept smiling like an idiot.

“I’m sorry, Dr. Banner but I just couldn’t believe I’m sitting next to a MENSA student,” Carol said.

The room was filled with the murmur of approval.

“Why do you sound so impressed Carol?”

“Yeah, you’re friends with Tony Stark. Isn’t he a MENSA student too?”

A few kids in the class asked aloud but Carol ignored them. Carol finally turned her head to look at Bruce. He didn’t look impressed, his mouth is set on a thin line. Carol held the laugh that tried to escape her. The face Bruce makes every time he gets angry rarely gets the class in line. Natasha’s daily poker face gets better results on striking fear in the heart of people than Bruce at his most angry. 

“I know that she’s Mensa, Carol that’s why I left that seat for you. So you can, maybe draw some inspiration and put an effort into this class,” Bruce deadpanned, which only made the classroom roar again with laughter.

“Well,” she started before blatantly checking Y/N out. “I can already feel the inspiration coming.”

The laughter was instantly replaced by groaning. Bruce literally facepalmed himself while Y/N blushed profusely on her seat and avoiding eye contact.

See, Carol is known to be a notorious flirt but at that moment, she wasn’t trying to bait Y/N. She meant it as a genuine compliment.

[mythologyfolklore]

Ares and Athena through the years - Ch. 05

Chapter five: Caught and Exposed

.

Athena was weaving a wedding outfit and a blanket for her half-sister Persephone.

The spring goddess would soon be officially married to Hades, the King of the Netherworld.

The dress and cover would be Athena's wedding gift.

But then she heard somebody's voice swearing outside.

Looking out of her window, she saw Hephaistos pass by in his wheelchair, sputtering all kinds of curses. Tears were running down his brown and dirtied face, which was distorted with fury.

It didn't take Athena's genius to know, what was going on.

Probably Aphrodite had cheated on him and Hephaistos had finally found out.

Athena couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

Aphrodite and Ares had been in a relationship long before the crippled smith had come along and had both been incredibly unhappy, when Zeus and Hera had married the love goddess off to the young god of smithery. Athena could understand, that Aphrodite didn't love this husband and that Ares was jealous. For that she didn't blame them.

But still, Hephaistos was a bright god and just as smart and talented as Athena was. They enjoyed competing over who was the better sculptor and inventor and most of the time, it was a draw. He was sensible too, most of the time, that is. She considered him her equal.

And if you ignored his deformed, crippled legs and the grime he was always covered in, he didn't even look that bad either.

He was a sweet guy and deserved better than being married to the promiscuous … woman, that was Aphrodite. She didn't love him and Athena suspected that the love goddess was currently cheating on her husband with either her established lover Ares or with Apollon, who was extremely handsome and charming and had tried to win her over several times.

However, Aphrodite was underestimating how cunning her husband could be. And if Athena knew him at all, she could be sure, that he now was in his smithery, concocting some perfidious revenge plot. Normally the black-haired god was kind and generous, but if he was wronged, he showed no mercy. Hera had already been on the receiving end of his vindictiveness and Aphrodite would be no exception.

Most other gods knew by now not to mess with the divine smith. He was wasn't the man for fun and games.

Just a few hours later, Athena's suspicions were confirmed.

She was watering her olive trees, when she heard a terrifying scream and nearly dropped her garden hose in shock.

When she peeped over her garden wall, she saw Hephaistos roll out of his palace.

“HEY, EVERYONE!!!, he shrieked, “DO YOU WANT TO SEE SOMETHING FUNNY?! COME HERE AND SEE WHAT A WONDERFUL WIFE APHRODITE IS TO ME! LYING IN MY BED WITH DESTRUCTIVE ARES, SHE IS! YOU'LL FIND THEM LYING THERE AND THE SIGHT MAKES ME SICK! THEY'RE TRAPPED IN MY NET AND WILL WANT TO GET AWAY, BUT I WON'T LET THEM! NOT BEFORE ZEUS GIVES ME BACK THE BETROTHAL GIFTS I GAVE FOR HER HAND! COME ON! IT'S A REAL SPECTACLE! SHE'S AS SHAMELESS AS SHE IS BEAUTIFUL! AND HE TOO!!!”

Now Athena really dropped her garden hose.

Seriously? They had made a cuckold of Hephaistos in his own marriage bed?! What the Tartaros was wrong with them???

A moment later, all the male gods of Olympos were darting out of their palaces and running towards Hephaistos' house. Except for Poseidon; he was at home in the sea, bed-ridden, if Athena remembered correctly. That gave her an idea.

She really shouldn't join the crowd, it was indecent. But her curiosity was too strong.

So she closed her eyes and concentrated. She became a little shorter, her long black hair shortened and turned blue, her skin grew a bit darker, her frame turned male and her sea blue eyes turned coal black. Poseidon would be pissed, but who gave a damn? He was grumpy all the time and she had a plan to execute.

So she hurried to join the others, but when she got there and followed them to Hephaistos' bedroom, she didn't believe her eyes: there, trapped under an adamantine net, lay Aphrodite and Ares. In Hephaistos' marriage bed, as he had said. Hardly able to move at all. Exposed in an extremely compromising position.

For a few moments, everyone just gawked at the sight.

Then Hermes started laughing. Apollon joined in. Until almost everyone was cackling and jeering, except for the exposed lovers, obviously. Even Athena couldn't help but chuckle at the situation. Hephaistos only smiled in grim satisfaction.

That is, till the other gods began to comment on what they saw.

“Damn, what a sight!”

“They sure look hot like that!”

“Hey, I wouldn't mind swapping with Ares.”

“I want to be next!”

“No way, I want a turn, when they're done!”

“STOP TREATING HER LIKE A PIECE OF MEAT, YOU BASTARDS!!!”, Ares roared and struggled harder under the net, but to no avail.

Finally Zeus stopped laughing and called everyone to settle down: “Now, now, everyone. This is not a laughing matter (even though the sight is hilarious). You two”, he turned to the trapped pair, “brought this upon yourselves. Sleeping in your husband's or brother-in-law's bed, really?”

Athena could make out Ares' face twisting in scorn, as he scoffed: “That's coming from you?! The only ones here, who weren't born out of wedlock are Hephaistos and myself!”

Ares had a point there.

The cutting reminder also got the others to finally stop laughing.

Zeus on the other hand was not impressed. “If you don't count myself and my brother Poseidon here, yes, that is true. And now to you”, he turned to Hephaistos, “Let your brother and wife go. This is simply-”

“Oh no”, Hephaistos snarled, “First, give me back the bridal gifts I paid to you, when you jumped in as Aphrodite's father! And then we can talk! I refuse to be married to her any longer!”

Zeus lifted an eyebrow and refused: “This is a marital matter, not the public spectacle you made of it. I have no obligation to comply with your demands.”

The fire god's face flushed with fury, but before he could protest, “Poseidon” stepped in: “Let's not turn this into an argument. Brother, just give him back the bridal gifts. You stepped in as her father, because she has no real parents. As such, you too are responsible for her actions.”

Zeus huffed, but nodded his assent.

Meanwhile, Aphrodite was crying a torrent and sobbing in shame and horror. Ares was desperately trying to shift them both into a less embarrassing position (he was failing) and growling curses at everyone.

Athena was starting to feel bad for them, even though they'd had it coming.

Therefore “Poseidon” turned to Hephaistos: “Now that this is settled, don't you want to let them go?”

Hephaistos scoffed: “Oh Erebos, no! These two owe me reparations as well! They made me a cuckold in my own bed, so why would I possibly release them?!”

Athena considered for a second what her uncle would do.

Then she pleaded with Poseidon's voice: “Come on, let them go. I promise, that he shall pay whatever penalty you ask for – pay in the presence of all the gods.”

But the smith shook his head: “Earth-shaker, as noble as your plea is, you're asking too much of me. These two-”, he scornfully nodded towards the adulterers, “-are as unreliable as they come. If I release Ares and he runs off immediately, will I get no compensation?”

Athena knew that Hephaistos was right. Ares and Aphrodite would run off as soon as they were free and honestly, she wouldn't blame them; perhaps, if she had been in this situation, she would do the same (not that it would ever happen, but still).

So “Poseidon” offered: “Hephaistos, if Ares indeed runs off without paying compensation, where it is due, I myself will pay whatever price you ask for.”

Under the net Aphrodite was still crying.

Ares had ceased his insults to everyone and was now trying to comfort her, hugging her protectively and shielding her from their view as best as the net chain allowed.

Athena couldn't help but find this endearing.

So these two really loved each other after all. The goddess of wisdom had assumed, that their relationship was superficial, that they only liked the other for their looks. Apparently she had been wrong for the first time in her life.

And as she looked down at the wheelchair-bound smith, she could tell, that he was having the same realisation – and that his resolve was cracking.

“Come on”, “Poseidon” coaxed good-naturedly. “You're going to divorce her anyway and surely you'll be better off without her. So, even though Ares should be the one doing it, does it really matter, who compensates you? Besides, we all know I have far greater wealth than he does.”

I hope this is something my uncle would say …

Because sure, Poseidon was not a good person (in fact, he was a horrible person), but he was nothing if not generous. And even though he would be angry, that she had promised compensation in his name, he surely would forgive her, once she'd tell him that he now could call in a favour from Aphrodite.

Eventually “Poseidon”'s bargaining, the lewd comments of the other gods and the way the humiliated couple acted shattered Hephaistos' resolve.

“You know what?”, the blacksmith god spoke, “Screw it. I can't think of an excuse to refuse you any longer.”

He rolled his wheelchair over to the bed and lifted the net.

Of course, just as predicted, Aphrodite and Ares immediately made a run for it and vanished through the window within less than a second.

Zeus shook his head, then he sent everyone home and went back to tend to his own business.

.

“Poseidon” stayed behind, telling everyone that “he” had to negotiate the bargain that was to be paid.

Hephaistos threw a glare at the window the injurers had fled through, before turning and scowling: “I fucking told you so!”

“Now, now, nephew. We all saw this coming, so how about you tell me, what you're asking for me to provide?”

“Right.”

Athena almost frowned at the long list – Poseidon would have her head – but only nodded in acknowledgement.

Hephaistos chuckled: “Pondering how you will tell our uncle, that he will pay a price you promised me, Athena? And yes, I know it's you.”

She shrugged and turned back into herself. “What gave me away?”

“Please, we all know that Poseidon is at home in his crystal palace under the sea. Forby, he wouldn't do something this nice for both Aphrodite and Ares! He would have laughed with the others, like the old horndog he is!”

“Point taken. So what are you going to do now?”

The blacksmith sighed: “I will officially divorce her and then … I don't know. Lead the single life and do my job, I guess.”

“I'm so sorry”, Athena told him gently.

“Don't be”, Hephaistos contradicted. “None of this is your fault. It's all theirs. Shit …”

He buried his face in his hands. “… I knew, that she wasn't in love with me. I'm not blind or naïve, I could see it in her eyes. But she told me that she loved me – at least in some way – and you know what? I actually believed it – wanted to believe it! And yes, I knew about her affairs, yet I accepted them and kept swallowing my pride. And how did she repay my tolerance? By fucking my brother in my marriage bed! Seeing this … that was just the last straw, you see.”

“Of course, I understand”, Athena assured him gently. “One can only take so much infidelity.”

Hephaistos went on: “And I even knew about this thing with Ares, but I didn't take it seriously … I thought it was just a tryst and … damn, I just wanted to believe, that she only likes that crazy fucktard for his looks. Well, now I have seen the truth … have seen how they interact with each other! Oh, fool that I was! She loves him! She actually loves him!”

“I know”, Athena confirmed sadly. “The feeling is obviously mutual too. Has been for a long time.”

The smith inhaled sharply. “So everybody knew, that these two were a serious item, except for myself? Perfect, just perfect!”

“I didn't think it was that deep”, the wisdom goddess defended herself. “I mean, with them being, who they are-”

Suddenly Hephaistos laughed, startling her.

“So the goddess of wisdom is capable of bias and prejudice? I'm surprised, Athena – and not in the good way.”

That stung.

Of course Athena had been called out before, namely by Ares and Poseidon, who were both envious of her. So she had always brushed it off.

Hearing such a waspish remark from Hephaistos was an entirely different matter. She simply hadn't pinned him to be the snappish type. He had to be exceedingly hurt.

“I'm sorry”, the smith whispered, “I didn't mean to lash out at you. It just … everything is just too much.”

“I know, I know. Hey. Need a hug?”

“Yes, please.”

They spent the next hour with her hunched down and him bawling relentlessly into her shoulder.

Finally, he calmed down and thanked her.

She nodded in response and took her leave. After all, she still had a lot to do (and in addition, she'd have to clean her now messy shoulder from the tear stains and snot).

.

A few hours later, Poseidon's far-speaker buzzed on the night table next to his sick bed.

He groaned, but reached over and picked up.

“Hello?”, he rasped into the speaker.

To his surprise (and agitation), it was Athena's voice that answered: “Hello, uncle, it's me, Athena. I have some bad and some good news. But first, wanna hear something … uh, something you'll probably find funny?”

[calpalirwin]

Choices

Summary: Ashton Irwin thought he had everything he needed in life in the form of his daughter. Funny the difference a choice can make.

A/N: Y’all ready to for the tea on Taylor? Also, re-reading this, I was very clearly in a heavy “All Too Well” inspiration spiral. Although, that’s NOT the reason Cassidy’s mom’s name is Taylor. She was originally Lauren, which I’ve changed for obvious reasons (and Ash was originally Finn cuz my Gleek phase was out of control, but I digress).

Content: Big sad.

Word Count: 3.5K

And away, and away we go!

Chapter 4

I used one hand to knock on Nic’s door, holding onto Cassidy’s small hand with my other one. Nic and I had decided to spend the night apart so she could sleep without Cassidy waking her up and I could spend a lazy morning with Cassidy just me and her. The night apart had done little to ease my nerves of introducing Nic to my family, even with the distraction of having a fun dance party night with Cassidy- her choice of course.

She answered the door, wearing jeans, a fitted t-shirt, and a light scarf- an effortlessly sexy look. “Nic!” Cassidy said happily, hugging Nic tight. “It’s Daddy’s birthday!”

“It is!” she agreed patting the top of Cassidy’s head and kissing me. “Happy birthday, handsome.”

“It’s actually in a few days, we’re just celebrating early,” I clarified, my cheeks flushed. “But thanks. Ready to go?” I asked, going up to run my hands through my hair for the millionth time that morning.

“Ash, relax. Today’s gonna be fine.”

“I know,” I nodded, kissing her. “I know. I just… well it’s been awhile since I’ve brought a girl home.”

We made the half hour drive up to my parents, the three of us singing along to the radio to drown out my thoughts. I hadn’t told my family I was bringing Nic. Lauren was the only one who even knew about Nic. And the prospect of introducing them to a girl for the first time since I brought Taylor home all those years ago was a little nerve wracking.

When we pulled off the freeway, Nic turned down the radio. “So, who am I meeting?” she asked.

“My mom, Anne, and my stepdad, Jack. Well, he’s my stepdad. He’s biologically my siblings dad. But he’s Dad. Lauren will be there too, but you already know her. She might bring her boyfriend, Adam, but I’m not sure. And then there’s my brother Harry.” 

“Tell me about them.”

“Uh…” I drummed my fingers against the steering wheel. I looked over at her, her hair blowing in the wind, a smile on her face, and her eyes waiting for an answer. I looked back at the road and slammed on the brakes, my arm shooting out to catch Nic as she fell forward. “You okay, Cass?” I asked, checking in the rearview mirror at Cassidy in her seat.

Cassidy nodded, oblivious to everything around her, lost in her childlike wonder.

“Almost ran that light cuz of you,” I told Nic, half-angry.

“You’re the one who can’t keep his eyes on the road,” she scolded.

“Well, stop being so beautiful.”

“You’re distracting yourself, Ash. Tell me about your family.”

I sighed. “They’re traditional. My mom moved me and her here from Australia after my biological dad left. She worked in a rehab facility for war veterans where she met Jack. He was in the Gulf War. He’s a cop now. They got married. He adopted me. They had Lauren. Then they had Harry.”

“Wow… Is that why you became a cop? Because of your dad?”

I shrugged, “I always thought it was because I liked to read Sherlock Holmes. But, yeah that probably played a part in it, too.”

“Sherlock Holmes was a detective,” Nic pointed out.

I nodded. “Yeah, that’s why I’m a cop. Working my way up to being a detective.”

“Oh, a man with ambitions.” I caught her smile out of the corner of my eye. “So, what else should I know about your parents? Who are they personality wise?”

“My dad is stubborn and rather traditionalist. He’s very much a man’s man. Not very into showing his emotions, but there’s never any doubt what he’s feeling. And he has the biggest soft spot for Cass. My mom is very headstrong, especially when it comes to her family.” I made my way through my old town as I spoke, navigating my way through the streets leading to my parents with a practiced ease.

“So, normal family dynamics.”

“Normal family dynamics,” I agreed, pulling up behind my dad’s car. “Well, this is home,” I told her.

She looked out her window at the house- a simplistic two-story home in the middle of a street filled with other simplistic two-story homes. “This is where you grew up?”

“Yep,” I said, pointing out a window to her, “that’s my bedroom window. Snuck out a lot through there.”

She laughed, “So you were a trouble-maker, huh?”

“I was a good trouble-maker,” I defended, laughing. “I only snuck out the nights they wouldn’t let me take the car. Which was a lot, because I kept sneaking out.” I smiled for a moment at the memories my old house brought to mind. “It was a good place to grow up,” I told her finally. “Ready?”

She nodded and we got out of the truck. I held onto both Cassidy’s and Nic’s hands with either of mine. “Get the door, Cass,” I said.

Cassidy reached up and flung the front door open, calling out, “Nana! Grandad! We’re here!”

“Jack! Cassidy’s here!” I heard my mom say and the creak of the couch as she got up and made her way to us. “Oh, my sweet little Cass!” my mom crooned, bending down to hug Cassidy.

“Hey, Ma,” I said, trying to get her attention.

“What, Ash? Let me say hi to my-” her eyes looked up and fell on Nic. “Ashton Fletcher Irwin! You brought a girl without even mentioning you were seeing one?!” she straightened up and smacked my arm, then, “Jack! Ashton brought home a girl!”

“He always brings a girl home, sweetheart,” Jack said, finally getting up to see what all the fuss was about. “There’s my Cass,” he smiled, picking up his granddaughter. “Oh… Daddy brought a friend, that’s what Nana’s screeching about,” he told her, raising his eyebrows at my hand that was still holding Nic’s. “So, who’s this, Ashton?”

“This is Nic, my girlfriend. Nic, this is my dad, Jack, and my mom, Anne.”

“Pleased to meet you both. Ash’s told me so much about you.”

“Oh, so you can get a girlfriend, but you can’t call home long enough to tell us about her? Ashton,” my mother scolded, smacking me again.

“Ow, geez, Ma. I thought you’d rather meet her. Sorry.”

“Sorry doesn’t erase what you did, Ashton,” she told me, repeating the familiar phase she had told both my siblings and myself anytime we got in trouble. Then, she turned her attention to Nic. “Nic, was it? It’s so good to meet you! Is Ash treating you right? How was the drive? Would you like something to drink? Come, sit, both of you.”

As she ushered us into the living room, Nic answered my mom’s incessant questions, her Southern charm coming out heavily. “It’s nice to meet you too, ma’am. You have a lovely home. Ash’s been nothing but great to me, you raised a good son. The drive was fine, not too much traffic, and Ash’s a very safe driver. I’d love a water. Is there anything I can do to help?”

“I should hope I raised him right, even if he doesn’t call as often as he should. Oh, no sweetie, I can do it. You just sit here with Ash and rest. Harry, your brother’s here!” She reached out and patted my arm, “I like her, Ashton,” she told me.

“I like her too, Ma,” I said, sitting down on the couch, like I always did. “I’ll take a water too, if you’re up.”

“You have legs,” she told me.

“Nana, can I have juice, please?” Cassidy asked, climbing into my dad’s lap.

“Of course you can!” my mom answered, disappearing into the kitchen.

Nic snickered into her hand.

“What?” I asked her. “You wanted to come.”

“Ashton,” she snickered again.

I rolled my eyes and tilted my head back. “You’re one to talk, Nicole I teased.

“How come you never told me ‘Ash’ was short for something?”

I shrugged, “It never came up. Hey, Harry,” I said as Harry stumbled downstairs.

“A girl?” he asked, raising his eyebrows at Nic.

“Yeah, nice to see you too, kid.”

“Yeah, happy birthday, old man. I’m Harry,” he said, offering a hand to Nic.

“Nic,” Nic smiled at him.

“So, Ash, how’s work?” my mom asked, reappearing with water for both Nic and me and a juice box for Cassidy.

I shrugged again, taking the water. “Same old, same old.”

“And how’s daycare, Cass?” she asked.

“It’s fun,” Cassidy said before launching into a long story about her daycare adventures she told anyone who would listen, my mom hanging on to every word.

“You good?” I asked Nic in a whisper, my hand resting on her leg.

She smiled softly at me, “Yeah, your family’s wonderful. Feels like home.”

We sat there for awhile on the couch, Cassidy holding my mom captive with her stories while my brother, dad, Nic, and I paid attention to the game on TV. When Cassidy finally stopped talking to catch her breath, my mom finally cleared her throat. “Nic, would you like to see pictures of Ash?” she asked, getting up and moving for where we kept the photo albums.

“Ma!” I groaned, burying my face in my hands while Harry snickered.

“Oh, I’d love to!” Nic  squealed in delight.

My mom sat next to Nic on the couch and opened up one of the albums. She started telling Nic all my old stories, while Cassidy moved from my dad’s lap to mine to look at the pictures. “This one is when he was born… aw, his first birthday!... that was when Lauren was born, he was protective of her even then,” my mom paused to relive the memory.

“You were so cute, Ash!” Nic told me, squeezing my arm. “Wow, you really care for your sister,” she said pointing at the photo my mom was showing her of me holding Lauren after she had come home from the hospital.

I smiled, looking at the photo. “I did the same with Harry. I take my big brother duties very seriously.”

“Too seriously sometimes. You’re like Dad 2.0,” Harry put in with an eye roll.

“Harry,” both my dad and I said with the same tone of exasperation and warning.

“Point proven,” he sighed with another roll of his eyes.

“You played t-ball?” Nic asked, looking at another photo.

“I told you I played baseball in high school. Gotta start somewhere.”

She continued to scan the pictures of my childhood, which varied from birthday parties, holidays, sport events, school events, and various other snapshots my mom and dad thought worth preserving like me playing guitar or caring for Lauren and Harry. “You wore glasses?!” Nic laughed, fixating on a picture of me in bed, wearing pajamas and glasses, reading a book to Lauren and Harry.

“I wear glasses,” I corrected, “for reading.” I looked at the picture, “I hated that book, but they loved it,” I told her.

“You read me that book sometimes, Daddy,” Cassidy said, looking at the picture.

“I do,” I agreed, hugging her to me. “Auntie Lauren and Uncle Harry were the ones to give you that book.”

“Wow,” Nic smiled, closing the album. “I feel like I’m seeing a whole different side to you.”

I shrugged, “I was a happy kid. No, Mom, not that one,” I said suddenly, seeing the next album my mom had opened- the one I knew contained a lot of pictures of me and Taylor.

Nic got excited, thinking it was more embarrassing photos of me. “Is it high school Ash? Oh, I wanna see! Please, Ash?”

“Please, Daddy?” Cassidy also begged.

They both looked at me so excited and I didn’t have the heart to say no. I sighed, “Alright…”

My mom, Cassidy, and Nic all grinned and then opened the album. The first few pages were similar to the first album, only instead of my face being round with baby fat, I had acne and my face and body started to define themselves more and more with each picture. As they flipped through the school pictures, family get-togethers, and general teenage shenanigans, my acne cleared and my beard started to show. Then, came the senior yearbook photo and I knew Taylor was on the next page. Sure enough, Nic smiled at me and turned the page, revealing a picture of me in a tux, grinning like a damned fool next to Taylor in that stunning green dress at Homecoming, crowns perched on both of our heads. “Is that…?” Nic asked, quietly.

I tried to smile and nodded. “Yep, that’s Taylor. Told ya I was Homecoming King,” I laughed, swallowing the lump in my throat. The last thing I wanted was Nic seeing pictures of me happy with an ex-girlfriend I thought I’d be with forever. And I certainly didn’t need the reminder that I had once proposed to the girl kissing my cheek while I grinned at the camera.

“Who’s that?” Cassidy asked me softly.

I smiled weakly, “That’s Momma.”

Her little face furrowed as her fingers grazed the picture. “How come she’s not here? Doesn’t she want to be a momma?” She turned her head to peer up at me, her big eyes a mix of childhood innocence and a deep questioning that no five year old should ever have.

I pinched the bridge of my nose and took a breath to steady myself. “Cass, we told you about your momma. She’s just really busy,” my mom hurriedly explained.

“Oh…” Cassidy said, seeming to accept the answer.

The mood kinda shifted as we continued to peruse the album with my mom. Nic stopped at one of the few pictures that Taylor wasn’t in and smiled at me, checking if I was okay. “Oh, I like this one,” I told her, looking at it- me on the pitcher’s mound, just seconds after I struck out their batter, ending the game, my face mid-transition from grin to screaming with joy. “We won our state championship game after... What, Dad, 15 innings?”

“18,” my dad corrected. “I remember because we kept joking in the stands that they should’ve charged us all for 2 tickets if we were gonna watch 2 games worth of innings.”

I laughed, “Yeah, that was a hell of a game.”

“It was. But you held your own.”

“I pitched 6 shutout innings,” I explained to Nic. “The 7th through 9th innings and then innings 16, 17, and 18.”

“He was a damn good closing pitcher,” my dad explained proudly.

“Yeah, okay, Dad,” I laughed while Harry scoffed that he was better. “When’s Lauren getting here?” I asked, suddenly realizing that I’d been home for at least an hour and she hadn’t shown up yet.

My dad cocked his head to the side before shrugging. “Soon, I guess.”

Right on cue the front door flew open and I heard Lauren scream, “I’m here!” then a blur of my sister as she ran in the living room, swinging Cassidy up in her arms before placing her back in my lap. “Hey, Nic,” Cassidy said, hugging Nic. “Good to see you again.” Then she went around saying hi to our mom and dad, kissing them on the cheeks, “Hi, Mom. Hi, Daddy. We winning?” she asked, leaning on his armchair. “Sup, Harry.”

“We’re doing our best, baby,” our dad told her while Harry nodded in greeting. “Where’s that boy of yours?”

“Oh, he couldn’t make it, Daddy,” she told him and then stuck her tongue out at me for no reason other than that she could.

I shook my head, laughing softly. “She’s his favorite,” I explained to Nic. “but it’s okay, cuz I’m Mom’s favorite.”

“Where does that leave me?” Harry asked, crossing his arms and pouting.

“I have no favorite children, Ashton. Just a favorite grandchild,” my mother reminded me, smiling softly at Cassidy.

“Yeah, Ashton,” Lauren tormented.

“Don’t you start, Lauren Rose Dawkins. You knew Ashton had a girlfriend and couldn’t be bothered to clue us in?” my mom asked my sister.

“Ha-ha!” I snickered, sticking my own tongue out at her.

“Oh, like she didn’t full name you when you introduced them to Nic?” Lauren shot back.

“Oh, she did,” Nic ratted me out.

“Then she pulled out the photos…” I added, shuddering.

Lauren sucked her air in through her teeth, “Yikes… did you get to the high school ones?”

“Oh, yeah..."

“I like your pictures, Ash,” Nic told me. “You were very handsome.”

“You hear that, Ashy? Were,” Harry and Lauren laughed.

Nic laughed shyly, “You’re still handsome,” she defended.

I smiled at her, “They’re just being jerks. I knew what you meant.”

“Oh!” Lauren said, clapping her hands together. “Has Ash showed you his room, yet, Nic?”

“No, he hasn’t.”

“Come with me, I’ll show ya,” she grinned, taking Nic’s hand and leading her towards the staircase.

Cassidy quickly got off my lap and went after them. “Wait for me!” she yelled.

I hurried after them, praying that my old room didn’t look like how I’d left it when I moved to Seattle nearly 5 years ago. I found the three of them on my old bed, looking around the room. “Wow, I haven’t been here in ages…” Lauren said aloud.

“Good, let’s keep it that way,” I told her, feeling sixteen for a minute.

“So, this is your room?” Nic wondered, standing up to get a better look at the posters on my walls of my favorite bands and sports teams. The corkboard that hung above my desk was still crooked from when I’d torn all the pictures off it in a fit of rage. The small trash can still held them, unharmed, because I had broken down crying when I tried to light them on fire. On my nightstand, a photo was still lying face down. Nic reached out to fix it.

“Leave it!” I said, my voice coming out harsh and sharp. Then, with a much softer tone, “Just leave it, please.”

“Oh… that’s the… shit, sorry, Ash,” Lauren said, getting up. “C’mon, Nic, have you seen the back yard yet?”

“What’s that picture, Daddy?” Cassidy asked, grabbing the frame in her hands.

I sighed and picked her up, sitting on the bed and holding her in my lap. “It’s a picture of me and Momma,” I told her.

“You don’t talk about her.”

“I know.”

“Why?”

“Because it makes me sad.”

“Why?”

I sighed again and patted the space next to me for Nic to sit down with us. “Okay, I’m gonna tell you both a story. Are you ready?”

Cassidy and Nic both nodded. I took a breath and flipped the frame over. In it, I was bent on one knee with a ring in my hand, while Taylor looked at me with her hands over her mouth in shock. “It was Taylor’s sophomore year of college and I had just finished up at the academy. I took Taylor- your momma- on a small vacation between Christmas and New Years. I had a ring, I had a speech, I had her dad’s blessing, all of it. And I proposed to her. I told her that I’d been in love with her since we were five and that I wanted to spend the rest of my life being everything she needed. She said no. Actually, she told me she was pregnant and wasn’t sure she wanted to be a momma.”

“She didn’t want to be a momma?” Cassidy asked, her eyes wide.

“Ash… I had no idea… I thought she…” Nic said, struggling to find words.

“Was dead? Yeah, she’s alive. Just didn’t want to be a mom. But, I really wanted to be a dad,” I said, smiling at Cassidy. “So, I convinced her to go through with it and we had you. Then she signed over her parental rights to me, broke my heart, and left me with a newborn that looked just like her.”

“Wow… Ash… I don’t know what to say…”

“There’s nothing to say. We were young and we had a tough choice to make. We each made the one we thought we could live with best. I don’t regret any of it. I’ve raised Cass with the help of my family. I lived here while I found a job and a place for us. Then I moved to Seattle almost 5 years ago with Cass. Then I met you. So, that’s what happened. And that’s why it’s a touchy subject, and why I don’t talk about it.”

“Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me,” Nic smiled.

I shrugged. “You’re my girlfriend, so you have a right to know about my past, even the ugly bits. And now you know about your momma, Cass,” I said, kissing her head.

“Why didn’t she want me?” she asked, her eyes full of tears as she looked up at me.

I took my thumb and ran it under her eyes, catching the tears. “I don’t know, love. But I know that I wanted you. And that I love you very much.”

“That’s true,” Lauren told Cassidy. “Your daddy loves you lots. Wanna know how I know that?”

“How?!”

“Because your daddy’s a terrible liar,” Lauren said, smiling.

Nic laughed, “Good to know you’re a bad liar.”

“The worst,” I assured, kissing her.

~~~

Tag List (Honestly? You still won’t ask to join? Your loss, mate. I’m a mf-ing DELIGHT!)

@goeatsomelife​ @flameraine​ @cashtonasff5sos​ @here-for-the-uproars​ @cxddlyash​ @1-irwin-94​ @baldcalum​ @sparkling-chaos​ @tea4sykes​ @youngblood199456​ @5-seconds-of-obsession​

[cordoniantrash]

Verdant Heart

Soooo… here’s the jealous!Savannah fic that I’ve tried my hand at. It was originally supposed to be just three parts where it shows instances of Savannah’s jealous moments over the years but I ended up with five parts that’s mostly written stream of consciousness style. Oops. 

Apologies for the purple patches in this. Also tried to put some symbolism here and there (which in hindsight is quite on the nose). no beta we die like men

Special thanks to the anon who sent that really sweet message! Grammatical mistakes are mine and do let me know what you guys think.

Title is from a quote by Russell Page, taken a bit out of context to fit the fic. Here’s the link to the thread that inspired this.

Disclaimer: I don’t own the characters, Pixleberry has that privilege

Pairing: Bertrand x Savannah (I’m so sorry!), mentioned Liam x MC and a hint sentence of Drake x MC

Warning: mention of death

Words: 2382

I

Her clearest early memory was this: there was a ball, and the entire Walker family was invited. Savannah saw it as her first true ball. It wasn’t like the others where she and the other children (and the princes) were allowed in the ballroom for a little while and then ushered into a sitting room while the adults stayed in the grand ballroom and enjoyed the party. Savannah was actually dressed in a gown, a pretty little thing, forest green with skirts that swished when she twirled. She remembered that their parents allowed them to stay past their bedtimes ( “Just this once,” her father said), and little Savannah was determined to make the most of it. 

When the opportunity presented itself, she wandered off from the adults and found some of her friends, children of the staff in the palace, while her brother took off to go hang out with Prince Liam. On the other side of the room, near the thrones, she could see some noble’s children in their own little circles, fashionably dressed, almost doll-like in their perfection. 

The purpose of the event was lost to little Savannah. Looking back she remembered admiring the way the light danced on the floor of the grand ballroom, the tinkling of both glass and laughter, the way the skirt of the ladies’ gowns would sway and shimmer as they moved and glided across the floor. In a child’s mind, it was as though all her favorite fairy-tales have come to life and gathered at her home. 

As she gazed across the room, she saw the queen being surrounded by noblewomen, all fawning over her dress, her hair, her emerald jewels. She saw how the king would now and then look over and gaze at his wife with something that Savannah decided was love. 

It was there and then that she became acquainted with yearning, and in the years that followed, it became her constant shadow. Her friend. 

II

She tried to fit in, become a tree amongst the forest. She would be beautiful as myrtle, beloved as apple, graceful as jasmine flowers. Savannah dreamed of being loved and adored like every noble lady in the court. She tried to talk like them, act like them, be like them. So she would go on and pour herself into mint green dresses, drape jade across her throat and wrists, weave laurel colored ribbons in her hair. All the while telling herself that this will let her become like them. She clung to the idea of nobility like ivy, while her brother had begun to try to free himself from its clutches.

Yet it wasn’t enough. Her clothes were just a season too late, her manners lacking, her posture forever slipping. Her jewels did not shine, her dress dull, her charm lacking. Faced with all these, Savannah still tried and pushed, happy to be granted even a scrap of thought.

In her quest to be accepted, she had begun to develop a crush on the second prince (or was it the other way ‘round? She couldn’t quite recall). How could she not have a crush on him? Prince Liam was handsome and smart. He embodied sophistication for Savannah, and he always knew the right thing to say. A smile from him would have her feeling butterflies in her stomach.

Her brother knew of her little crush, of course. Savannah pleaded and cajoled her brother, promising him weeks-worth of chores and her best puppy-dog eyes for him to never mention it to Prince Liam. This did not stop him from teasing her every time they see the Princes. He would smirk, nudge her and loudly whisper:

“Look who it is Sav!”

“D’you wanna say hi?”

“Look, Sav! He might be looking your way!”

The embarrassment was excruciating. That did not curb her crush. 

It was him or nothing, really. He was the closest to her age (Maxwell does not count because he’s become something like a brother). Yes, she would giggle and swoon over the Crown Prince like the other palace girls (again, how could they not? Prince Leo was temptation incarnate) but she would always take fierce pride in the fact that while her friends gossip and play coy with the older brother, she was secure in the younger. In her daydreams, Prince Liam would woo her, would never embarrass her like Drake. He would be like the Princes in the fairy tales she loved. 

Savannah had it all planned out. She would always be with them in their escapades (well, along with Lady Olivia) and one day the Prince would notice and then, like the princess and the damsels in her stories, she too would have her happily ever after. She’d be accepted then. She would be enough.

Her plans were delayed when Savannah went with her family to their ranch in Texas for the second time. There she met Chuck and her plans and daydreams were put on indefinite hold.

She came back from that summer refreshed and feeling like a new person. She had bloomed into a woman that summer (or so she told herself), and when she went back to Cordonia, she felt ready to face the world. She’s not Drake’s younger sister anymore. She won’t be. She’ll be known as Savannah Walker and she’ll make her mark upon the world.

This newfound perspective, her new world, was shattered by a late-night phone call and a bullet wound. 

III

This is how she started seeing – truly seeing – him. It was her father’s funeral, and she was standing beside her brother, both of them staring at the casket. The Princes and the Brothers Beaumont stood beside the Walkers, (who were now thrust into the spotlight) as a show of solidarity. For once in Savannah’s life, she could find pleasure in being the center of attention. She wanted to disappear, to sink into the earth and let it swallow her so she may be with her father again. She’ll gladly disappear if it meant that her Dad would return to them.

She sniffled, her head bent, silently cursing herself for appearing less than strong in front of her father. In front of her family, in front of the court. At the corner of her eye, she could see the boys. For once they were standing behind Drake, all of them appearing blurry through her tears. Someone cleared their throat behind her. She turned her head and saw a handkerchief, black and perfectly folded. She raised her head and met the eyes of one Bertrand Beaumont. 

In the months and years that followed, Savannah learned that Bertrand was nothing like the Prince. Both of them were charming. Both of them, the epitome of courtly life, but while Prince Liam was born into it, at ease with all the protocols and the tradition, Bertrand upheld it with every fiber of his being. He lived it and pushed it into new heights. He radiated glamour and Savannah was more than happy to soak in it and bask in its glow, however, reflected it may be.

He was real and somehow all that she ever needed. Throughout their whole story, she began to feel accepted. Funny, she had thought, how one person could make her feel what dozen of noble ladies could not.

Savannah then came into a realization. Prince Liam was blue; he was deep seas and untouchable skies. He would always unknowingly have her childhood’s heart, but now he was hazy. Dreamlike. Like the memories she’ll always hold dear. Bertrand, in his brown suits, his patterned sweater vests, and dry wit was the opposite. He was steady, dependable. Real. An actual shelter, a true home, and like a fool she had given him her all.

Bertrand had opened the door into the life that she had yearned for. Bertrand was also the one to close it. The closest thing she had ever come to hating the nobility was after Bertrand told her they can never be together. That he still has to marry a noblewoman. After all this time she wasn’t enough. The baby wasn’t enough. They weren’t enough.

What’s worse is that in the eyes of the court she’ll be ruined. She’ll be like any other scandal. They don’t have to know, a voice whispered in her head as she agonized over what to do, dear, sweet Maxwell found her crying on the steps of the Beaumont estate and offered to help. She had accepted it, what else can she do?

She took some lessons from Kiara, noticing the way the Lady looked at her brother and shamefully taking advantage of it. She packed her bags before anyone could talk her out of it and moved to Paris. There she stayed and gave birth; cushioned by Maxwell’s kindness (and pity, she added in her head) until her brother found her appartement with an American in tow. 

IV

Her old friend, yearning came back, this time with company. Lady Cassandra was beautiful. What’s more was that she was magnetic, even when dressed casually. Savannah had seen her pictures from the tabloids and heard Maxwell’s stories, but nothing prepared her for the force of nature that was Cassandra.

“She’s really something else,” Maxwell had said. Savannah had chuckled and changed the subject.

Now that they’re face to face, Savannah can see it. She also saw how her brother would orbit around the woman. She had already endured Maxwell’s gushing about his new bosom buddy, his new sister, and knew with a heavy heart that Cassandra was head over heels with Liam. Savannah wonders how her brother can cope with that weighing him down while also quelling the envy that reared its ugly head. She refused to look into it for too long.

But despite her efforts, she still felt jealous. She wanted to scream. They were hers first. Her family, her brothers, her childhood prince. After she meets Cassandra, she began to compare herself to the American. She’d look in a mirror and let yearning and envy consume her thoughts.

With Lady Cassandra came other surprises. Bertrand came into her life again and began to build them back together once more. Brick by brick, lovingly (and awkwardly) place one after the other.

Savannah could have stayed in Paris, raised Bartie in the City of Love, and let Cordonia go. But the call of home, of Drake and Maxwell, of family (of Bertrand, her mind supplied) grew stronger every day. Maybe she had thought, maybe it’s time to grow roots. 

She came back, and the court was somehow changed yet still the same and Savannah occupied her old role: an outsider observer looking outside in. Once in awhile, she’d look again at a mirror and think. She used to dream of fitting in, of being the princess, being Snow White: Fairest of them all. Of having and commanding the adoration of people around her and lavish parties thrown in her honor. What she got instead was isolation in an apartment in Paris, a baby (the light of her life) out of wedlock and a relationship that was barely staying afloat while a complete stranger got the chance to achieve all her dreams and fancies.

It was not as if Cassandra was cruel to her. Or indifferent. She was always looking out for them, helping Bertrand communicate with her. Savannah was grateful, immensely so, but she can’t help but listen to a tiny voice in her head saying that the American turned Duchess was doing it mainly for Bertrand.

So despite her best efforts, she would still cast subtle glances, admiring and jealous at equal measure. Comparing and aspiring, a never-ending cycle. She thought she’d be free of that once she came back. She was wrong.

Savannah tried not to let jealousy get the best of her during Cassandra’s wedding. The event hasn’t even started yet the masses are already calling it the wedding of the century. Then Bertrand and the bridal party were attacked and Savannah is too worried to dwell on the wedding itself, that is until she saw the future queen of Cordonia being given away by Bertrand. Pride and something ugly she’d rather not dwell on swelled in her chest. Of course, the modern-day Cinderella would have her fairy tale wedding while Savannah – ordinary, commoner Savannah – can’t even have a straight conversation with the father of her child and the love of her life. 

This cocktail of emotions stayed with her until the wonder of all wonders happened: Bertrand stepped up and gave Savannah her most desired fairy-tale proposal. With the new queen’s help of course (but Savannah was too ecstatic to dwell on that).

Savannah felt bad about it afterward, especially in the wake of the kidnapping, but after the dust settled those emotions came back, embraced and nurtured by her old friends: yearning and envy.  

V

Now in her family’s ranch, with a mother who was trying her best and an aunt with understanding in her eyes, Savannah’s old friends dog her steps once again, but never for the same reasons: she yearns to have what Liam and Cassandra have, that ease that they exclude around each other, so different from the look that Constantine gave Eleanor all those years ago, but no less intense. No less loving.

She wonders if Bertrand would ever be as upfront about his affections like the royal couple are with theirs.

She envies that they seem to have everything they’ll ever need while her love struggles with their finances.

So Savannah can’t help but cast her little side-eyes, speak her little quips. Shape her wedding to the image of her parents instead of the courtly one that she had been dreaming of.

Savannah admires and envies Cassandra at the same time. Here was the woman who had achieved all of Savannah’s dreams and then some. And while Savannah would not trade Bertrand and Bartie for anything, a vicious little voice in her head would always find herself lacking and Savannah is growing tired of it. 

She longs to put down roots, to be steady as oak, long-lasting as a redwood. A shelter. A part of the forest.

Savannah chases contentment with yearning and envy at her side, wondering all the while why it eludes her. 

Tagging: @thecordoniandiaries, @kingliamsbitch, @badchoicesposts, @heauxplesslydevoted, @dcbbw, @janezillow 

Its a one-shot but if you guys want to be tagged let me know 😁

[chuffyfan87]

Growing Pains. Part 15b (NSFW)

It wasn't long before all that was left of the cake was a few crumbs and the bottle of wine was almost empty.

“You’re so beautiful.” He whispered.

"And you're very handsome and charming."

“I try to be.” His hand ran up her dress. “That dress will look better on my bedroom floor.” He whispered.

"You mean there's room on the floor for it?" She hiccuped, giggling.

“Yes.” He ran his tongue over her earlobe.

"Lead the way handsome." She held out her hand.

He took her hand and led her to the bedroom.

"Clean sheets and everything! You really did go to a lot of effort."

“Of course I did, it’s your birthday.” He kissed her gently.

She slid off her shoes and wrapped her arms around his neck.

His hands rested against her hips, pulling her closer to him.

"I love you so much Peter."

“I love you too. I never thought I would fall in love again,” He admitted.

"I'm just glad we got everything sorted out."

“Me too.” He lay down on the bed and pulled her on top of him.

"Its made me realise something though..."

“What’s that?” He asked his hands running up her sides.

"I do want kids. Not yet though." She smiled. "I'd like us to have a house together and be married first."

His eyes widened and he didn’t say anything.

"Sorry, that probably sounds really freaky given we've only been together a few months but after everything that happened with Sarah..." The wine she'd drank was starting to make her babble.

“No. Not at all. I...” He smiled brightly, “I want the same Holly. I want me and you to have a house, to get married, to have babies.”

"You do? I'd thought you would have been put off the idea."

“No.”

"I'm glad." She smiled and kissed him.

He smiled and returned the kiss.

She moved her fingers to unbutton his shirt.

He pulled her dress off over her head, his hands groping her breasts.

She let out a giggly moan as she heard the dress hit the floor.

“Much better.” He whispered.

"You're overdressed now though!"

“But your body’s much more gorgeous than mine.”

"You've got nothing to be ashamed of trust me." She whispered, running her finger up his bare chest.

He moved Holly onto his stomach as he wriggled out of his trousers, “You really are so beautiful!”

"I can see that you think so!"

Peter laughed softly as he reached around and undid Holly’s bra.

"That's one area where you have no reason to be shy!"

“That’s reassuring to know.” He reached up to kiss each breast.

"Like you weren't already well aware of that!" She giggled between moans.

“No.” He chuckled as he continued to kiss her breasts, his tongue eventually making contact with her nipples.

Her moans got louder as his tongue moved across her skin.

He grabbed her breast and began to suck hard against her nipple.

Her moans encouraged him on.

He moved to suck against the other breast. His erection pressing against her bum. He was getting so horny!

"I want you now!" She moaned.

He shifted her so he could enter her.

She closed her eyes as she savoured the feel of their bodies connecting.

He moaned loudly as they became one.

Their lovemaking was sensual despite them being mildly intoxicated.

As he climaxed, he reached up and kissed her passionately.

They continued to kiss for several minutes.

“We should do this more often.” He whispered against her lips.

"We should." She smiled, settling into his arms, the duvet wrapped around them both.

“I love you gorgeous.”

"I love you too. Thank you for the best birthday."

“Every birthday is going to be the best birthday, I promise.”

"That sounds perfect."

“You deserve it.” He kissed the top of her head, “Night night gorgeous.”

"Night." She replied before falling into a deep slumber.

It took him a little while longer but soon Peter was asleep too.

Holly was up early the next morning so decided to make them both breakfast that she brought back through to the bedroom.

Peter sat up in bed, “Shouldn't I be the one making you breakfast in bed?”

"Its ok, I was awake anyway." She smiled.

“You’re not a great sleeper, are you babe?”

"I've just always been an early riser."

“Not like me that can sleep the day away.”

"Yeh, I've never understood how you can do that!"

“I like the peace and quiet.” He laughed gently.

She giggled as they tucked into their breakfast.

He watched her over breakfast as they ate together.

After she finished eating she hesitated slightly before speaking. "Can I ask you something?"

“Of course you can.”

"Are you sad that it's not your baby?" She asked nervously. It was something that had eating away at her ever since he'd told her about his mother's discovery.

He didn’t answer for a minute, “Is it wrong that I only feel relief?”

"No. That's how I felt."

“I was worried a stupid mistake when drunk would always be there.” He sighed, “I didn’t want a baby with Sarah.”

"But there was a time when you did?"

“When I was a kid. When I thought I knew what I wanted."

"But it wasn't?"

He shook his head.

"I wanted to be a marine biologist when I was a kid so it's probably a good thing that we're not held to our childhood ideas."

“I thought I knew everything there was to know about life. Didn’t understand how you could possibly love more than one person.”

"That's one thing I miss about being a teenager is knowing everything!" She giggled.

He laughed gently.

"It'll be fun to see when your sisters realise that."

“Tilly’s mum. And mum does know everything so...” He shrugged with a giggle.

"I still can't believe she told everyone that your mum was pregnant though."

“That’s really not funny.”

"Yeh, bit poor taste when your mum ain't well..."

“I don’t think the twins know about mum being ill.” A thought suddenly occurred to him. “Wait, shit!”

"What?!"

“You don’t think she’s making herself throw up, do you?”

"You said she's anorexic. Anorexics don't make themselves sick..."

“No but those with bulimia do!”

"Is it even possible to have both?"

“I think so. You can cross over, have traits of both eating disorders.”

"Is she in a treatment program?"

“She was when I was a teen but not recently.”

"Hopefully she'll go back to it."

“I hope so too.”

"Maybe we should pay them a visit?"

“Yeah, maybe we should.” Peter agreed.

"We can say we've come to check on the kittens to see how they're settling in?" Holly suggested.

“Sounds like a good idea.”

It was late morning before they arrived at Charlie and Duffy's house.

Peter knocked on the door.

The sound of someone fumbling with the lock could be heard from the other side along with the familiar giggles of Peter's youngest brothers.

“They’re so cute.” Peter commented referring to his younger brothers.

Finally the door opened. "Peter!! Holly!!" The boys yelled excitedly.

“Hello troublesome pair” Peter and Holly replied.

Charlie entered the hallway to see what all the commotion was about. "Well this is a nice surprise!" He declared.

“We came to check on the kittens.” Holly explained with a smile.

"They're in the dining room with the girls."

Holly and Peter moved into the dining room.

Holly grinned as she watched the twins attempting to teach the kittens tricks. They were completely uninterested of course! "So have you given them names yet?" She asked.

“Simba and Shadow.” Lottie replied as she looked up at Holly.

"I'm guessing Simba is the ginger cat and Shadow is the black cat?"

“That’s right.” Tilly grinned.

"Did you have a nice birthday Holly?" Emily asked.

“It was lovely thanks, I really loved the drawings on the cards I got from you.” Holly replied.

Emily grinned, a slight blush colouring her cheeks. "I'm glad."

Holly sat at the table and began to talk to the girls, whilst Peter pulled his dad into the living room. “Dad?”

"Everything OK son?" Charlie asked, a little confused.

“Is mum ok?”

"She will be." Charlie sighed.

[addictedforbooksquad]

P I C K (S)  O F  T H E  M O N T H: F E B R U A R Y

The Risk by Elle Kennedy 

Dream by Natalia Jaster

Devil’s Daughter by Lisa Kleypas

Enchantèe by Gita Trelease

Huge Deal by Lauren Layne

Scandalous Desires by Elizabeth Hoyt

The Risk by Elle Kennedy

Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance, Sports Romance

Synopsis:

A sexy standalone novel from New York Times and international bestselling author Elle Kennedy. THE RISK takes you back to the world of hot hockey players, feisty heroines, bro banter, and steamy scenes... Everyone says I’m a bad girl. They’re only partly right—I don’t let fear rule me, and I certainly don’t care what people think. But I draw the line at sleeping with the enemy. As the daughter of Briar’s head hockey coach, I’d be vilified if I hooked up with a player from a rival team. And that’s who Jake Connelly is. Harvard’s star forward is arrogant, annoying, and too attractive for his own good. But fate is cruel—I require his help to secure a much-coveted internship, and the sexy jerk isn’t making it easy for me. I need Connelly to be my fake boyfriend. For every fake date…he wants a real one. Which means this bad girl is in big trouble. Nothing good can come from sneaking around with Jake Connelly. My father would kill me, my friends will revolt, and my post-college career is on the line. But while it’s getting harder and harder to resist Jake’s oozing sex appeal and cocky grin, I refuse to fall for him. That’s the one risk I’m not willing to take.

Why we love it:

a great mix of romance, banter and funny moments

individual arcs on par with the romance development

Brenna is just THE BEST and so is Jake, to be honest

100% lived-up to the hype

kept us intrigued about secondary characters and their stories, especially Hunter and Bubble Butt xD

Trigger warnings: n/a

Dream by Natalia Jaster

Genres: Romance, Fantasy, New Adult

Synopsis:

Lyrik is a rogue with skills. In the Kingdom of Winter, he’s a swaggering potioneer who hunts for wisdom—a brew that will shake the world. It’s the only secret he craves. Except for the one boy he can’t have. Nicu is a dreamer with hopes. He’s an impish Royal who hunts for wishes—a legendary star that grants yearnings. It’s the only mystery he desires. Except for the one boy he can’t stand. It’s been three years since they clashed, never wanting to see each other again. But in a land of glittering frost, they might discover something more than wisdom or wishes. Something far more exquisite—and painful.

Why we love it:

as always, Natalia's writing is beautiful, poetic and full on imaginery

story told in alternating 1st person and 3rd person limited POVs which should be a bit tiring but somehow works perfectly

Nicu's POV is delightful to read and it's an amazing journey to see the world through his eyes

all the characters are back together and it's AMAZING

Nicu and Lyrik's story is full of angst but in the end, they just fit together

a beautiful, touching, heart-warming conclusion of the series

Trigger warnings: ableism

Devil’s Daughter by Lisa Kleypas

Genres: Romance, Historical Romance

Synopsis:

Although beautiful young widow Phoebe, Lady Clare, has never met West Ravenel, she knows one thing for certain: he's a mean, rotten bully. Back in boarding school, he made her late husband's life a misery, and she'll never forgive him for it. But when Phoebe attends a family wedding, she encounters a dashing and impossibly charming stranger who sends a fire-and-ice jolt of attraction through her. And then he introduces himself...as none other than West Ravenel. West is a man with a tarnished past. No apologies, no excuses. However, from the moment he meets Phoebe, West is consumed by irresistible desire...not to mention the bitter awareness that a woman like her is far out of his reach. What West doesn't bargain on is that Phoebe is no straitlaced aristocratic lady. She's the daughter of a strong-willed wallflower who long ago eloped with Sebastian, Lord St. Vincent—the most devilishly wicked rake in England. Before long, Phoebe sets out to seduce the man who has awakened her fiery nature and shown her unimaginable pleasure. Will their overwhelming passion be enough to overcome the obstacles of the past? Only the devil's daughter knows...

Why we love it:

Sebastian Challon, Duke of Kingston, former Lord St. Vincent, aged like a fine delicious wine and any appearance he makes in this book is a delight

all the side characters and family/friends dynamics between Ravenels, Challons and Westcliffs are so much fun!

West and Phoebe's connection is electrifying and West's scenes with Phoebe's children are THE SOFTEST

Lisa Kleypas at her best

Trigger warnings: n/a

Enchantée by Gita Trelease

Genres:  Romance, Historical Fiction

Synopsis:

Paris in 1789 is a labyrinth of twisted streets, filled with beggars, thieves, revolutionaries—and magicians... When smallpox kills her parents, Camille Durbonne must find a way to provide for her frail, naive sister while managing her volatile brother. Relying on petty magic—la magie ordinaire—Camille painstakingly transforms scraps of metal into money to buy the food and medicine they need. But when the coins won’t hold their shape and her brother disappears with the family’s savings, Camille must pursue a richer, more dangerous mark: the glittering court of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. With dark magic forbidden by her mother, Camille transforms herself into the ‘Baroness de la Fontaine’ and is swept up into life at the Palace of Versailles, where aristocrats both fear and hunger for la magie. There, she gambles at cards, desperate to have enough to keep herself and her sister safe. Yet the longer she stays at court, the more difficult it becomes to reconcile her resentment of the nobles with the enchantments of Versailles. And when she returns to Paris, Camille meets a handsome young balloonist—who dares her to hope that love and liberty may both be possible. But la magie has its costs. And when Camille loses control of her secrets, the game she's playing turns deadly. Then revolution erupts, and she must choose—love or loyalty, democracy or aristocracy, freedom or magic—before Paris burns…

Why we love it:

historical fantasy set in 1700s Paris

a game of high stakes played out in the French court of Marie Antoinette

bond between two sisters fighting their way out of poverty with the use of magic

beautiful story

telling and detailed descriptions of Paris life

a great debut novel from Gita Trelease that makes us look forward to her future books

Trigger warnings: n/a

Huge Deal by Lauren Layne

Genres: Contemporary, Romance

Synopsis:

Even for a top-gun banker, temptation this hot is quite a gamble, in a sexy Wall Street romp from New York Times bestselling author Lauren Layne. An alpha among the wolves of Wall Street, Kennedy Dawson rose to the top of the pack by striking the right contracts at the right times. But there’s one deal that’s been giving him a run for his money—a pact to never again let his assistant, Kate, get under his skin. She may be smart, gorgeous, and sharp as a whip, but she’s definitely off-limits. Kate Henley isn’t a banker, but she knows a thing or two about risk management—specifically, about managing her attraction to her smolderingly sexy boss. She already fell once, and Kennedy showed no sign of paying a return on her investment. So when Kennedy’s brother starts pursuing her, Kate figures she has the best of both worlds. Jack is charming, rich, very attentive, and the spitting image of his older brother. It’s also making Kennedy think twice. But to win Kate’s heart, he’ll have to broker the deal of a lifetime…and prove he’s worth the risk.

Why we love it:

office romance

slow burn

A++ family dynamic

interesting platonic relationships

a good ending of the series

Trigger warnings: n/a

Scandalous Desires by Elizabeth Hoyt

Genres: Romance, Historical Romance

Synopsis:

Can a pirate learn that the only true treasure lies in a woman's heart? Widowed Silence Hollingbrook is impoverished, lovely, and kind--and nine months ago she made a horrible mistake. She went to a river pirate for help in saving her husband and in the process made a bargain that cost her her marriage. That night wounded her so terribly that she hides in the foundling home she helps run with her brother. Except now that same river pirate is back...and he's asking for her help. "Charming" Mickey O'Connor is the most ruthless river pirate in London. Devastatingly handsome and fearsomely intelligent, he clawed his way up through London's criminal underworld. Mickey has no use for tender emotions like compassion and love, and he sees people as pawns to be manipulated. And yet he's never been able to forget the naive captain's wife who came to him for help and spent one memorable night in his bed...talking. When his bastard baby girl was dumped in his lap--her mother having died--Mickey couldn't resist the Machiavellian urge to leave the baby on Silence's doorstep. The baby would be hidden from his enemies and he'd also bind Silence to him by her love for his daughter.

Why we love it:

good historical romance

pirates!!!

enemies to lovers trope

good girl/bad guy trope

A++ character development

Trigger warnings: n/a