#no hesitation on Liz's part

[ace-of-spaders]

Raymond? You didn’t say you were bringing... persons. Well, you know Dembe...

[just-a-sewer-goblin]

Collars of Duty 1

Hybrid!Simon x reader - Chapter 2 -

When a new problem hybrid is brought to the rehab center, you're called in from medical leave. Having been through hell he's classed as dangerous but you believe he deserves a chance. Hopefully you both can heal each other without adding to old wounds.

I dedicate this story to @kiwiimochi because they said they'd be interested in a story like this. I hope you enjoy and you're welcome to tell me what you think.

Content: hybrid AU, brief description of wounds, allusions to torture

The call comes through in the middle of the night, ripping you from deep slumber that for once was peaceful.

You wake with a gasp, heart immediately racing to outrun the invisible danger. It takes you a few seconds to blink the last remnants of sleep from your eyes. You’re at home, in your bed. There is no danger around, except the phone that rings impatiently in your bedside drawer.

You recognize the ringtone. It’s your work phone, which hasn’t rung in weeks even though you always keep it on and charged. It’s slightly unsettling to hear it ring at such an ungodly hour. It’s freeing too, to realize that your heart slowly calms down and you do not spiral into a panic attack.

Yawning your reach into the drawer and open it, getting the angrily vibrating phone and hold it up to your ear.

“Hello?”

“We need you here.”

You’re stunned into silence. Everyone knows you’re on medical leave. They should know better than to call you in randomly during the night. They -

“Like right now.” You recognize Elizabeth’s voice and your heartrate skyrockets again.

“Liz, you know that I’m on leave. You know wh-“

“They want to put him down.” Her voice interrupts you, full of urgency.

That has you sitting bolt upright. Putting down hybrids has been illegal for years now and the center mostly adheres to those laws. Mostly, not always and when they don’t they usually have a damn good reason not to.

Working at a government managed rehabilitation center for hybrids meant that sometimes they put their decisions above the law.

You’re already out the bed and stumbling around the room while trying to get dressed one handed.

“I’m coming. Anything I should know?”

You tuck the phone between your shoulder and your ear so you can use both hands to pull on your pants. The short pause strains your nerves. She wouldn’t have called you if the others could handle whatever was happening.

“Liz?” You prompt her.

“Belgian Malinois hybrid. Military. They found him after he was MIA for moths. Severely malnourished, signs of torture all over him. No idea how they managed to get him into a chopper and bring him here, but he is here.” She rattles down and if you didn’t know her better you’d think that she doesn’t care. But you do know her better. Staying professional helps her not to break down with cases like this.

Hectically you tuck a shirt over your head, gather your things and basically run out the door. When you started working at the center you moved as close as possible to your new workplace and because you were lucky that meant living just down the street.

Running along the sidewalk you urge her on. “What more, Liz. I need everything you can give me.”

The silence speaks volumes. She hesitates, then goes on.

“He attacked and killed one of the soldiers that brought him here. They sedated him but said if no one wants to work with him, they have to put him down. I’ve seen hybrids go animal before but not like this.”

You grit your teeth at that. You hated the term ‘going animal’ even if it was a widely accepted term when working with hybrids. Just because they we’re genetically part animal didn’t mean, that them going berserk was less human that an ordinary person losing it.

And if what she told you was true, he had more than enough reason to lose his marbles.

Before you can ask another question you reach the fence of the rehab compound and to your surprise Liz is there, already opening the door for you so you won’t have to use your access card. You end the call and pocket your phone when you approach her.

“I want to say it’s good to have you back but the circumstances make the whole thing slightly less cheery.” She greets you and then engulfs you in a heartfelt hug.

Damn, you missed her. Liz didn’t work with the hybrids as a handler. She was part of the office team but she was one of your favorite coworkers here. Liz got shit done while taking none and still she was the nicest, sweetest person around.

You nod, returning her hug. Then you breathe deeply, preparing yourself to actually step foot into the facility again. The very reason why you were on medical leave in the first place. It doesn’t feel as bad as you feared but you’re not sure how you will react to the hybrid.

“Where is he? What’s his name?”

Liz sighs deeply. “He’s in the cell. The others refused to work with him when they heard the details from the soldiers. Honestly, I don’t blame them but I thought it was worth calling you.”

You nod grimly and let her lead the way. The facility worked with aggressive hybrids a lot. Problematic cases were nothing new. But one who had murdered mere hours ago was new territory. You’re not sure this is the best decision.

Was this the kind of case you were ready to come back for? After what happened? This had the potential to ruin any progress you had made during your leave.

No. You couldn’t let him be put down just because you were scared. He deserved a chance and if all the others were too worried then you’d give him the chance. Even if it might cost you the stability you’d gained back.

Liz comes to a halt before the cell and turns to you. Her hands clasp onto your shoulders, looking at you through her glasses.

“Thank you for trying.” She hesitates briefly. “Don’t destroy yourself over it though. If he’s lost, he’s lost. You can’t save everyone.”

Her words make your throat tighten and swallowing seems like an impossible feat. You nod, despite the unease bubbling up in you.

He’s a person, you remind yourself. It’s not like you’re meeting a wild animal.

Finally you turn to look through the small window into the cell. The large hybrid nearly steals your breath. He’s still unconscious, lying on the mattress at the far end of the otherwise unfurnished cold cell. The dark pointed ears that peek out of his shaggy hair twitch every now and then.

“His name?” You ask again, your voice a whisper, even though you’re not entirely sure why you feel the need to quiet down.

He is dirty beyond belief; his hair unkempt and you can make out a slight beard on his strong jaw through the bars of his muzzle.  You grind your teeth at the sight of it. Using muzzles of that type on hybrids has also been forbidden and you wonder if they found him like this or put it on him.

The fact that he doesn’t wear a shirt, only ripped and sullied pants, grants you an unobstructed view of his torso. There are various wounds in different phases of healing and his ribs are overly visible beneath his skin.

The twin wounds on his left draw your eyes. They seem almost circular and are located between his ribs. Already crusted over messily they seem to not be the newest ones; still you shudder with how painful they look. Over the ribs that lay between those wounds the skin is blackish blue and bruised.

You decide to not look closely at his other wounds as to not make you feel shakier than you already do. Instead you look at his face again. That too is covered in shallow cuts but those do not make your insides want to turn over.

His hair seems to be a deep, dark brown, matching the ears and you wonder how he’ll look, once he’s clean and not on the brink of starvation. Liz’ voice interrupts your thoughts.

“Simon Riley. Lieutenant.”

You both know rank means almost nothing when it comes to hybrids but you don’t comment on the information. You’re about to ask something else when he starts stirring and you hold your breath. Even though you’re outside you feel the tension rise along with his consciousness from the artificial sleep.

Two figures, that were obstructed from view before because they stood so close to the wall, step forward. Soldiers, you realize and they have their weapons trained on the slowly waking hybrid. On Simon.

As soon as he’s halfway conscious he scrambles to his feet, slightly swaying in his spot. He tries to bring his arms to the front but they seem to be tied behind his back. His tail grows stiff behind him, the ears tilt back and his upper lip curls into a snarl revealing his canines while his eyes fixate on the soldiers.

You can hear his deep resounding growl through the door and everything in you wants to run. This is a military hybrid, all right. Everything about him is big and intimidating, the aggression rolling off of him in waves along with the resounding growl.

Instead of running you set your shoulders and breathe deeply. “Let me inside and get the soldiers out.” You say a lot more confidently than you feel. Evidently their way of handling him is not working.

Liz raises her eyebrows but communicates with the guards inside. Slowly they back towards the door, keeping their guns pointed at the hybrid while Liz unlocks the door. Quicker than you can comprehend you changed positions with one of the guards, the other staying with his gun still pointing at Simon.

“”Out.” You command. You wish your body was as unwavering as your voice but you can feel a subtle shaking start in your legs.

The soldier seems conflicted but Elizabeth keeps the door open and he backs out too. Everyone at the center knows that working with hybrids comes with a lot of risks. If this goes south all you’ll be is a small stack of papers on Liz’ desk, waiting to be signed. And maybe a body to be buried.

You’re alone with him now, the heavy door closing behind you and the hostility rolling off Simon nearly suffocates you. His eyes are now fixed solely on you and he seems to be weighing his options, every muscle in his body coiled tight, ready to attack you.

You pray that he doesn’t.

You study him for a moment longer and you see the sheen on sweat that appears on his skin. This is not only aggression. He’s scared. Scared of you and somehow the fear being mutual calms you down. This hybrid must have been through hell and now he woke in a strange room after forcefully being sedated. You’d be scared shitless too and growl at people.

“Hello.”

You hold the eye contact and the way his ears perk forward for a second before going back again would be adorable in any other situation. The growl stutters before returning stronger than before. He reacted to being spoken to. Liz’ had exaggerated, maybe they’d misinterpreted him, because this hybrid was not on a murder spree.

Yet he’d killed earlier, you have to remind yourself. Just because you were a softie didn’t mean he’d spare you.

Slowly you raise your hands. “I’m just going to sit down, here. Do you know where you are?”

You can see the confusion on his face at the fact you talk to him and you mentally curse the soldiers that brought him in. Despite his display being more animalistic than human he is still a person before all else. How come they hadn't had the common sense to talk to him?

His keen eyes don’t miss even one of your movements as you settle down and cross your legs.

“You were found just north of the border in Texas.” It’s difficult to keep your voice as soft as possible with the way your throat is so tight. For a second you hate yourself because you’re thankful that he is muzzled and his arms are restrained.

Then you remind yourself that he is not Phillip and despite what Liz told you, you will judge him based on his behavior not on the stories. Like you should have with Phillip.

Something about what you said makes his ears perk up. He’s still careful but the previous stifling aggression is gone. Once again you try to suppress your anger at the soldiers not talking to him. This isn’t nearly as bad as they made it out to be.

“They brought you to a rehabilitation facility for hybrids that work with the authorities or the military. You might have heard of it before. It’s called “Rehybrid” which is a stupid name if you ask me but I wasn’t born when they decided on that so…”

Now he cocks his head at you and you try to keep from smiling. You know you’re rambling but it seems to help so you keep going.

“Not everyone is gifted in name giving.” Without much of a pause and consciously casually you continue on. “Mind if I take the handcuffs off of you?”

That makes him stiffen, reflexively his lip curls up again a small growl starting up. Of course he doesn’t trust you. But you’re also very aware of how unfair it is to have him shackled and muzzled when he feels threatened already.

“I know. I wouldn’t want anyone near me too if I were in your position but I think it would only be fair.” You’re very aware of the fact, that Liz, and the soldiers probably too, are watching through the window, most definitely thinking you’ve lost your mind.

Simon shakes his head and even if it is disappointing it makes you feel incredible that he interacted with what you said. Your chest expands and you suddenly feel like a big boulder lifted off your shoulders. That’s a good start.

“It’s okay, I won’t do it then. Just give me a sign when you’re ready.”

Once again you briefly glance at the state his body is in and you slightly wince. Yeah, maybe you would have to press a little harder.

“Listen. I really want to give you the time and space but I think your wounds and your body are on slightly tighter schedule than I am. I won’t force you but I don’t want you dying on me.”

His eyes widen at that and in that moment you’d pay to know what he’s thinking. It’s interesting to watch him as he seems to mentally take note of his body. He nods at you and you breathe a sigh of relief.

“Take the cuffs off?”, you ask again just to be sure. Simon nods again.

Keeping it slow and easily predictable you stand up again and raise your hand to the latch in the door, opening it and sticking your hand through it. If Liz and the soldiers listened, they’ll give you the key, hopefully.

For a few agonizingly long heartbeats nothing happens, then a key is dropped into the palm of your hand and you close the latch again.

“I’m going to take a step towards you and then you can come to me. Sound good?”

Simon nods again and you take the step. His body tenses but then he crosses the small space and turns his back to you. His chest is heaving and his back is damp with cold sweat. It’s almost unnerving the way he has his head tilted as far to the side as possible, watching you out of the corner of his wide eye. If you make one wrong move he could still easily put you on the ground.

This close you can smell him and the stench coming off of him almost makes you gag. You try to breathe through your mouth at the smell of something rotten assaulting your nose. There's also the underlying smell of piss and filth along with other scents you can't identify. You concentrate on the task at hand in order not to imagine what might have happened to him.

Trying not to stress him out more, you talk him through the short process of taking off the handcuffs. His fast breathing makes you slightly worried that he’ll hyperventilate.

The moments the cuffs are on the floor he’s on the other side of the room again and his hands are tearing at the muzzle on his head. His fingers are frantic and a nail on his already damaged hands breaks, a little bit of blood welling up.

“Wait, please!” You call out desperately but his movements only grow more hectic. The muzzle he has on is designed so the hybrid is unable to take it off without seriously injuring themselves. His nimble fingers flit all over the piece, grabbing and tugging until he decides to just start pushing it upwards off his face.

Immediately the metal cuts into his cheeks and you know he’ll do it anyway. He doesn’t care about cutting his skin in the process. Panic swells in your chest at the thought of him shredding his face just to be muzzle free.

“Please, Simon, Stop!” You say desperately in a last attempt before he pulls it off his face. Against everything you expected he freezes, eyes going wide.

“Simon, that’s your name, right?”, you question your hands outstretched as if you could keep him from hurting himself further by sheer force of will.

You’re shaking and you know he can see it. Swallowing is almost painful. “Please don’t hurt yourself, I’ll take it off of you but please stop hurting yourself.”

His eyes narrow but this time he hesitates less before nodding and stepping towards you. God he is big. You’re all too aware of how incredibly vulnerable you are right now. He could probably rip you apart with his bare hands if he wanted to.

He’s a fully trained soldier and you… you’re just an ordinary person who helps hybrids to get back on their feet. You specifically chose this line of work because you’re soft and stupidly selfless. Using those traits for work seemed like a good option to turn them into strengths.

Now you’re all too aware of how little your softness would guard you against Simon’s brute strength. Even on the brink of starvation the fact that he’s a weapon remains.

Achingly slow your hands reach up to the muzzle, feeling along it for the mechanism to unlock. His eyes stare into yours and this close you can see that they’re the color of dark honey. Nothing about the expression in them is sweet though and you have to consciously swallow against the lump forming in your throat.

You unlock the mechanism and Simon stays in your personal space for a second longer. You don’t break the eye contact and slowly he moves backwards until there is enough room to breathe between you two again.

He flexes his jaw for a moment to test it and this time you smile. His eyes narrow at that but you don’t let it deter you.

Until now he hasn’t made a move to hurt you and you decide to introduce yourself. When you tell him your name he still doesn’t answer but he’s attentive and you think that maybe it will be fine after all.

[communicationthroughlyrics]

Red Wine and Roses

You just got home from a long day at work, excited to see your girlfriend, Lizzie. You anticipated her being busy making dinner for the both of you to kickstart your weekend, as per tradition. When you finally get home, she isn't making dinner- no. She has dessert ready for the main course.

TW: Smut, smut, and more smut. 18+ ONLY.

As you trudge up the steep hill toward your cozy little apartment, you can't help but feel a surge of excitement in your chest. Today was long and tiring, but it's all worth it. Because at the end of the day, one person is waiting for you, who makes all the stress and exhaustion fade away with just a smile. Your girlfriend, Lizzie, or Elizabeth Olsen as she is known to the world, and your bi-weekly Friday date night, where you both put away the phones, disconnect from the outside world and enjoy each other’s company over one of Liz’s homemade meals. She's the light in your life, the beat of your heart, and the breath in your lungs. The thought of seeing her face, her beautiful, familiar features, makes you quicken your pace, almost running up the final stretch of the hill.

You burst through the door, tossing your keys onto the entryway table, and almost trip over your own feet as you're met with darkness. Confused, you walk through the kitchen, seeing she is truly nowhere. But then you hear the faint panting coming from your bedroom, and your heart races as you worry about what you are about to walk in on.

You follow the sound, rounding the corner and finding Lizzie on her hands and knees in the center of the bedroom, dressed in a black lace bodysuit that hugs every curve, her long, dark hair falling around her face in a sexy mess. One hand is buried between her legs, her fingers knuckle deep within her wet sloshing heat, and the sounds filling the room from her arousal only further stimulated you. You groaned at the sight, quickly loosening your tie and unbuttoning your shirt. 

"Oh, you bad girl..." you groan as you head over to the bed where she lay, eyes pinched shut. You kneel beside her, reaching out to brush a lock of hair away from her cheek. She looks up at you through lust-filled eyes, her lips parted as she pants for air. "You've been so naughty, haven't you? You couldn’t even wait for dinner.” You tease, gently tracing a finger along her lower lip.

She nods eagerly, arching her back as her hips buck forward into her hand. "Oh, please..." she whispers, her voice shaking with desire. You can feel the heat emanating from her body, and you can't help but admire how she's taken control of this situation. Lizzie has always been such a tease, but tonight she's taken it to a whole new level.

Without further hesitation, you reach out and gently push her hand away from her aching core. "No more," you growl, your voice husky with lust. "It's my turn." She lets out a moan of protest, but you ignore it, instead guiding her to lie down on the bed. She writhes beneath you, her body thrumming with need as you undo your pants, freeing the strap you had put on in anticipation for tonight. The toy springs free, ready for her. You grin down at her, enjoying the way she looks at you with such desire, and position yourself between her legs. "Are you sure you want this?" You ask, teasingly, as you stroke the length of the fake cock against her wet folds.

She gasps, arching her back off the bed, her nails digging into your shoulders. "Please," she breathes, her hips bucking up to meet your thrust. "I need it." You can feel the heat radiating off her, and the way she's panting for you, begging for release. You press the head of the toy against her entrance, feeling her body tighten in anticipation. With a growl, you thrust it inside her, filling her up with the cold, silicone length.

Her nails scrape down your back, her hips moving in time with yours, urging you deeper. You lose yourself in the feel of her body, the tightness of her around you, the wet heat that envelops you as you begin to move. You glance down at her face, watching her expression as she comes, her mouth open in a silent scream, her eyes squeezed shut. You can't help but smile as she writhes beneath you, her body shuddering with pleasure.

Her movements grow more frenzied as she feels herself getting closer and closer to the edge. You feel the tension as her inner walls grip the toy tightly, her muscles tensing and releasing in time with her gasps and moans. You can tell she's about to explode, and with one final thrust, you feel her body tense and shudder as she comes undone. Her cries echo through the room, filling your heart with warmth.

You slow your movements, taking in the sight of her flushed face and sweaty body. She looks up at you through heavy-lidded eyes, her lips still parted from the exertion. You can feel the warmth emanating from her core, where the toy is still buried deep inside. "You're so beautiful when you come," you whisper, brushing a stray hair away from her damp forehead.

She lets out a shaky breath, her hands moving to your shoulders as she pulls you closer. "That was... intense," she whispers, her voice still unsteady. "I didn't think I could take any more." You smile down at her, feeling a rush of satisfaction at the way she's responded to you. You begin to rock your hips gently, careful not to push too deep just yet.

Her eyes flutter closed, her lips parted as she takes in a deep breath. "You feel so good," she whispers, her hands curling into the sheets beneath her. "I never thought..." She trails off, lost in the sensation of your skin moving against hers. You can feel her body begin to relax, her muscles softening as she lets go of the tension from earlier.

You continue to rock your hips, matching your movements to hers, feeling the warmth between your bodies grow as you become more intimate. Her breath hitches as you brush against a particularly sensitive spot inside her, and she arches her back off the bed, her fingernails digging into your shoulder. "Oh, god," she gasps, her hips moving in time with yours. "Don't stop."

Her words fuel your desire, driving you deeper into the sensation of being connected to her. You can feel the strength of your arousal building, the need to release it growing with each passing moment. You glance down at her, watching her face as she looks up at you, her eyes glassy with desire.

Her body moves with yours, her hips meeting your thrusts in perfect rhythm. Her nails dig into your back, leaving trails of pleasure and pain that only serve to heighten the sensation for both of you. You can feel her body tensing, preparing for the release that's building within her.

You look down at her face, watching as she bites her lip, her eyes half-closed, her breath coming in ragged gasps. You slow your movements, taking in the sight of her flushed skin and sweat-dampened hair. She looks up at you, her expression a mix of desire and vulnerability that makes your heartache.

With a groan, you thrust deep inside her, feeling the tightness of her body as she wraps herself around you. Her nails scrape down your back, her hips moving in time with yours, urging you deeper. You can feel the tension building within her, the anticipation of release coiling tightly in her core.

You press your lips to hers, feeling the warmth of her breath against your skin. Her tongue darts out, seeking entry to your mouth, and you eagerly let her in, tasting the sweetness of her as you move together. Her body arches beneath you, her fingers digging into your shoulders as she comes undone.

Her cries fill the room, echoing off the walls as her body shudders with pleasure. You feel the ripples of her orgasm through your own body, and with a growl, you follow her over the edge. Your release is intense, your thrusts becoming erratic as you lose yourself in the sensation of being so deeply connected to her.

You collapse on top of her, panting, your heart racing. Her arms are wrapped around you, her body still trembling from the aftershocks of pleasure. You feel the weight of your exhaustion settling heavily upon you, but you're not ready to let go quite yet. You roll to the side, pull her into your embrace, and close your eyes, savoring the warmth of her skin against yours.

You feel a contentment spread through you that you haven't experienced in a long time. The world outside this room seems to fade away, leaving only the two of you, connected in this moment. Her breathing slowly begins to steady, and you can feel the tension slowly leaving her body. You gently stroke her hair, tracing idle patterns on her shoulder.

"That was... intense," she whispers, her voice still slightly shaky. "I can't remember the last time I felt... like that."

You press a tender kiss to her forehead, reluctant to break the silence that has fallen between you. "Me neither," you admit, knowing that it's true. There's something special about her, about this connection that you share. You don't want to think about what happens when this is over when she has to go back to her life and you're left alone again.

She turns her head to look at you, her eyes meeting yours. "Thank you," she says simply. "For everything."

"I love you," you whispered.

"I love you more, Y/N. You're my world."

Her words hit you like a punch to the gut. You had expected her to be grateful, of course, but hearing the sincerity in her voice makes it all the more real. You want to say something, anything to make this moment last forever, but the words catch in your throat. Instead, you press your lips to hers, hoping that the passion you feel will convey everything that you can't find the words for.

Her lips part beneath yours, and you feel a shiver run through her body as you deepen the kiss. Her hands move up to cup your face, her fingertips trailing lightly over your cheeks and into your hair. She pulls you closer, their bodies molded together once more as if they were always meant to be this way.

The room spins, and for a moment, you're lost in the sensation of her lips against yours. It feels like the rest of the world has faded away, leaving only the two of you and the connection that binds you together. As the passion between you reaches a fever pitch, you realize that you don't want it to end, that you never want to be apart from her again.

Her body arches beneath yours, her breath hitching in her throat as she moans into your mouth. Her nails scrape down your back, leaving tiny trails of pain that only serve to heighten the pleasure coursing through your veins. She's soft and warm, and every touch only intensifies the need that you feel deep within.

You pull away from the kiss, gazing down at her flushed face and beautiful eyes. You can see the desire in her expression, the need for you that mirrors your own. You trail your fingers lightly down her neck and over her collarbone, feeling the soft skin beneath your fingertips.

She gasps as you brush against a particularly sensitive spot, arching her back further and pressing herself closer. Her hips begin to move of their own accord, seeking the contact she craves. You follow her lead, guiding the strap against her wetness, feeling the heat of her body against yours.

Her lips find your neck, and she begins to kiss and nip at your skin, her breath hot against your flesh. You can feel the need growing inside of her, building with each passing moment, and you know that you're just as close to the edge as she is. You slide your hand between them, guiding her over the swollen head of your toy, feeling her wetness as she spreads her desire around you.

She looks up at you, her eyes dark and heavy-lidded, and you can see the anticipation in every line of her body. You can feel the tension building inside of you, the need to be inside her, to feel the connection that only their bodies can create.

You push forward, the head of your strap pressed against her entrance. She gasps, arching her back further, her hands moving up to grip your shoulders as she prepares for the invasion of her body. She lets out a moan that is both pained and pleasure, and you know that she feels it too.

Her nails dig into your shoulders as she meets your rhythm, her hips moving in time with yours, her breath coming in short, ragged gasps. You look down at her face, watching as she bites her lip, her eyes half-closed, her skin flushed with desire. You can feel the connection between you growing stronger with each passing moment, and you know that there's no going back from this.

You press deeper, feeling her body move against yours, her tightness surrounding you like a glove. Her cries fill the room, echoing off the walls as she comes undone beneath you. You feel the ripples of her orgasm through your own body, and with a groan, you follow her over the edge. Your release is intense, your hips bucking wildly as you stutter the toy into her.

Her nails dig into your back, her legs wrap around your hips, and her body arches into you as she meets your climax. You collapse on top of her, panting, your heart racing. Her breath comes out in shuddering gasps as she tries to catch her own, her skin flushed with a mix of pleasure and exhaustion.

You pull out of her, rolling to the side so that you're lying beside her. Her arm comes up to drape across your chest, her hand resting lightly on your stomach. You look down at her, taking in the softness of her skin, the curve of her breast, the way her hair falls across her face. You don't want to move, don't want this moment to end.

You feel a sense of contentment wash over you as if everything in the world has finally fallen into place. It's not just the physical connection that binds you to her, but the emotional one as well. You feel as though you've known her for lifetimes, as though you were always meant to be together.

She looks up at you, her eyes still heavy from their shared passion, and smiles. "That was... incredible," she breathes.

You nod, unable to find the words to adequately describe what just happened between you.

She reaches up, cupping your cheek in her hand. "Thank you," she whispers, her voice soft and sincere. "For being with me tonight." Her thumb gently strokes your cheekbone, sending shivers down your spine.

You smile, feeling a warmth spread through your chest. "I'm always here for you, Lizzie. You know that." You lean in, brushing your lips against hers in a gentle kiss. Her lips part, and you feel her tongue against yours, a tentative exploration that deepens the kiss. Your hands slide down her back, cupping her bottom, pulling her closer. You groan as she pulls away all too fast for your liking.

"Nuh uh, Y/N. Now we have a dinner to eat." You smirk at her comment.

"But, I thought you weren't supposed to have dessert before dinner?"

She laughs, the sound low and husky. "Well, I'm glad you think so. I hope you're still hungry after all that." You can feel the weight of her meaning behind the words, and it makes your heart race. 

You stand up and offer her your hand, pulling her to her feet. She links her fingers through yours, and the simple touch sends a rush of warmth through your body. You follow her into the kitchen, where she's set up a candlelit table with a platter of lasagna in the center. "Smells amazing," you tell her, leaning in to kiss her neck as she pours you some wine.

She shivers at the contact, her breath hitching. "Thanks. I hope it tastes as good as it smells." You take your seat across from her, savoring the way she looks in the candlelight. Her hair falls around her face in soft waves, and her eyes sparkle with excitement. As you begin to eat, the conversation flows easily between you, touching on the highlights of your day and your plans for the weekend. This life was all you could wish for. 

[cupidsdolll]

𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬; best friend!harry x fem!reader

𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲; time apart helps both Harry and Y/N learn more about themselves and their feelings.

𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭; 3.1k

𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬; slight angst? i’m pretty sure that’s it!

𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬; hi hello! here’s the long awaited part two! part one is linked here for anyone who hasn’t read it yet! i hope you all like it <3

- - - -

Heartbreak is always one of the worst pains, but Harry thinks the absence of someone that’s been in your life for as long as you can remember hurts worse. It’s been a week since Y/N said she needed space after confessing her feelings for him and he’s just miserable. He’s not as happy as he normally is, and it seems as if everything reminds him of her. Even the things his girlfriend Liv does reminds him of his best friend, he’s found himself comparing the two.

He doesn’t mean any harm honestly, just sometimes Liv will do something and his mind will go back to how Y/N would do the same thing just differently. For instance, Liv is on her way to bring him some tea in hope it’ll cheer him up at least just a little bit, Harry’s excited to try her tea. It’s one of his favorite drinks if he’s being honest. A knock comes from the door and he tells his roommate that he’ll get it, he’s already standing up and making his way to the door. When he opens it, Liv is standing in front of him sporting a bright smile and happiness.

“Hi, hon. I brought you that tea I was talking about!” She says and he smiles back, a little hesitant but excited nonetheless.

“Thanks, babe. Come on in, I hope you don’t mind that my roommate’s here.” He says and she shakes her head, his mate’s never been a problem with Liz, the one thing he notices is different from Y/N. Liz is more natural hanging around in the boys’ dorm whereas Y/N tended to not want to come over. Something about the smell and how loud the halls are, he doesn’t blame her most of the time though. Liz walks over and makes herself comfortable on the arm rest of the chair Harry was sitting at before, ushering him over excitedly. He chuckles as he makes his way over, reminding him of how Y/N would act whenever she’s excited to show him something.

He sits down and she hands the cup to him, it's warm but not too hot, he’s assuming the walk here helped cool it down. He takes a hesitant sip, he doesn’t want to take too big of a sip just in case he doesn’t like it. It’s good, sweet but still has that leafy taste and it flows nicely. It’s not overwhelming with any of the tastes and it’s just.. good. He smiles as he stares at the cup, his mind wandering back to Y/N. He always enjoyed her tea, she always managed to create the perfect balance and temperature. Y/N makes the perfect tea, will always be better than anyone’s, better than Liz’s.

He shouldn’t be thinking about Y/N right now though, so he blinks twice to clear his head and turns to his girlfriend.

“It’s good, thank you. I appreciate you doing this for me, I know you didn’t have to.” He says and she just laughs.

“I know, I wanted to, H. It’s no big deal really.” She says. He feels bad, ever since he and Y/N stopped talking as much, he’s found himself comparing the way Liz cooks and acts to Y/N.

Y/N likes to wear more cozy clothes unless it’s actually going out, where she feels like she needs to impress someone whereas Liz tends to dress up all the time. She’s always dressed in nice looking clothes and adorned in jewelry and smells nice. He likes that Y/N always felt comfortable with him and didn’t feel the need to impress him, not that he doesn’t like that Liz puts forth all this effort into her looks because he does. Whenever he and Liz go to watch a movie, she normally wants to watch something with romance but occasionally she’ll tell Harry to turn on whatever he wants if she’s coming over for a nap.

Y/N usually put on a comedy movie and sometimes they ended up being a rom-com but they always alternate days so Harry can feel included. He misses that, he misses Y/N. He’s not sure if they’ll ever talk again, he thinks her dramatics are rubbing off on him. He just hates the absence of her, he never realized just how happy she made him feel. She made him feel warm and sometimes he’s got those silly butterflies whenever he looks at her, but he just assumed that was normal for how close of a friendship they had. He never realized just how much time they spent together, how special she was and how different from his other love interests he’s had.

But he’s never considered Y/N as a love interest, she’s always just been his best friend. Sure enough, he did like to flirt with her a little bit whenever he was drunk but that was only because he liked seeing her all flustered. He thought it was cute and it was hard for him to get her like that. Yeah, he loved her but in the same way friends love each other, it’s normal for them to say it before leaving or just because. They’ve always been just friends, the best of friends and that’s how they were supposed to be.

He feels a tap on his shoulder, a soft touch to bring him out of his mind, he’s been doing that almost daily.

“You’re thinking about her again, Haz. Can’t we just hang out without her taking your attention? This is good, it allows you to be your own person now.” Liz says sweetly, genuinely. She tries to be supportive, she really does but there’s just so long you can watch your boyfriend be heartbroken over a girl, especially one he never dated. They haven’t even been dating long, but they had only been dating for a couple of days before Harry told her she had to meet his best friend. Ever since Y/N shut the door on them and he had ushered her back so he could try to talk to his best friend and figure everything out with tears beginning to fill his eyes, it’s just been a repeat of the same days over and over again.

- - - -

When Harry walks the halls, he can’t help but to hope that he’ll be able to see Y/N on her way to class. He admits that it’s weird not walking her to class and being around her, it was their norm for quite a while. A part of him hopes that when he sees her that she’s just as miserable as him but he feels bad about that, he wants her to be happy. He wants to see that she’s doing well and that she’s happy. He always loved to see her happy, it just looked so good on her. So when he sees her sporting a bright smile as she talks with two people he hasn’t seen before, it makes his heart skip a beat and hurt a little at the same time. He’s happy that she’s doing well, he really is, it just hurts that he’s not the cause of the bright smile on her face.

He hopes that she’ll look over here so he can wave, just a small acknowledgment would hold him over he thinks. The halls are crowded and loud, he can’t help but to sigh as he accidentally bumps into someone. She always had this magnetic aura to her, always had his gaze being pulled to her. Ever since she called for a break, she’s all he’s ever been able to think about, the main thing he looks at and for. He wants even the smallest attention from her, it helps the pain in his heart.

He watches as her head turns just the slightest and their eyes meet, a warm feeling enveloping Harry as he smiles and waves at her. She just gives him the same smile she’s always given him, warm, friendly and loving, and waves back. The pain goes away leaving a happy feeling in his chest, he doesn’t feel bad about bumping into students in the hall. He watches as she walks away before making his way to his own class.

- - - -

Y/N doesn’t miss Harry as much as she thought she would. That’s a lie, she misses him terribly but after a couple of days moping and several streams of tears shed, she thinks she’s doing okay. He stays on her mind but she’s able to tune those memories out by doing the activities she likes. She joined some book club on campus and made a couple of friends that enjoy some of the same stuff she does, which is such a relief. While Harry listened and tried his best to participate in things she enjoyed but some stuff he just never got into the way she did.

The past week she’s been attending the book club and talking about the books they’re reading, she’s cut back on some of the stuff she used to do. She dropped out of two of her classes that she did just for fun and stopped volunteering every week to give herself more time to relax. She walks with them to class when she can, and they talk on the phone sometimes. She’s happy for the most part, happier than she thought she would be.

Don’t get her wrong, she still gets upset over the fact that Harry isn’t around all of the time, it’s usually late at night or early in the morning when she misses him the most. She misses him when his favorite song plays and when she sees him in the hallway. She feels bad then, seeing him all heartbroken and moping around. She’s never seen him so down, and she wishes she never said anything to begin with in those moments. She hates the fact that he’s heartbroken over her.

She’s happy for the break, as much time as the two spent together, the break allows her a chance to know who she is outside of Harry. She’s found ways to cope with this ache for him, playing songs he’s never heard before distracts her from thinking of him. Finding new books to read, new shows to watch. Not letting her look at him for too long whenever they pass each other in the halls, hide his clothes (minus the one hoodie she sleeps

in, she can’t bear to part with it because after all it’s not a complete end to the friendship.

She spends a little (a lot) of time telling herself that just being friends is okay, her feelings will go away and they’ll go back to being best friends. She knows they won’t go back to being where they were before she confessed, but hopefully it’ll be somewhat the same as before. She hopes with everything in her that she’ll be able to get over her feelings for him in a reasonable time, and doesn't want to drag this out any longer than what’s needed. She’ll remind herself when she starts thinking of him randomly, when she sees a picture of them in her phone. They always should’ve been best friends, nothing more and nothing less. That’s how the universe wanted them to be.

Everything was fine the way they were, now she has to get over her feelings for him in order to get him back. She sees him everywhere it seems, hard to avoid him even though she doesn’t necessarily want to, in the halls at school or passing by on the sidewalks. She’s nice to him, doesn’t want to make him feel even more upset. She can feel his eyes on her every time, a tingling feeling on the back of her neck before she turns around to face him.

She’s met with the same hurt expression, his eyes full of emotion and telling her how much he misses her. He waves subtly as if he doesn’t think she’ll see it, won’t want to see it but of course she does. She always sees it, how could she not see it when anytime they’re in proximity of each other gems all she’s able to look at. Of course she waves, even gives him a warm smile, one that has and always will be reserved just for him. She still wants to be friendly with him, to keep that door open for the two of them and their friendship.

They don’t really talk other than saying hi as they pass one another in the halls, or if they happen to need to copy notes. They got partnered once after everything, a sense of awkwardness filled the air between them and Y/N hated it. Hated that she felt like she didn’t know what to talk about, didn’t know what limits were with this weird boundary set by her. She feels like she should know, she should’ve known since she was the one who drew the line.

Their conversations were awkward and pointed, pain lingering in their voices as they mentally decided not to talk about anything personal. It’s better that way honestly, it keeps her from breaking and allowing him back when she knows she’s not ready. The wall built between them shows her just how much he’s hurting, shows her how much she hurt him. She never meant to hurt him, she knew breaking it off would cause a toll on him. She never thought it would be as bad as it is, never expected to see the bags forming under his eyes.

She never expected him to be so…torn up about it, to cave in on himself and go quiet. She can feel his eyes on her all of the time, and can see whenever he fights back tears. She watches as Liz tries to cheer him up, hugs him and runs her fingers through his hair. She watches as Liz brings him cups of whatever drink is in them, watches as he thanks her with a smile that doesn’t meet his eyes. She thought that maybe he’d continue partying like he always did, ignore her or something of the sort. He should be giving all of his attention to Liz, not moping on about losing her. His mind just always seems to be elsewhere, his gaze is always sad and unfocused.

- - - -

Two months later the two are doing just fine on their own. Y/N found out from a classmate that’s on Harry’s soccer team that Harry had broken up with Liz about a month ago. They wouldn’t say why they broke up and Y/N wasn’t going to be the one to ask. The two of them have gotten more friendly with one another, there’s no awkwardness whenever they’re paired up and they’ll sometimes sit together at lunch. Y/N thinks she’s able to be his friend again, and doesn't get the intense butterflies in her stomach whenever she looks at him.

She doesn’t want to kiss him as much as she used to, although the urge still comes up whenever she thinks he’s being the cutest boy ever. She decides to bring it up as they sit together during lunch.

“Hey, Harry?” She asks and he hums in response to her.

“I think I’m ready to be your friend again.” She asks and watches as his face lights up. His eyes brighten and a huge smile appears on his face.

“Really?” His voice is full of excitement and she smiles as she nods.

“Yeah, I think so.” He immediately wraps her in a hug and she melts into it.

“I missed you, honey.” He says and she smiles as she responds.

“I missed you too, Haz.” He squeezes her tighter, as if he wants to remember the feeling of her body pressed against his.

“Those three months without you were absolutely horrible. I want to apologize again for leading you on unintentionally, but these three months have shown me something.” He says as he pulls away.

She stares at him confused, he’s already apologized numerous times so she’s not sure what else needs to be said.

“What’s that?” She asks and he smiles.

“I can’t imagine a life without you by my side. I missed you so much and hated not being able to just come over and talk to you. I like you. I’m sorry for not realizing it sooner and I know it’s a terrible time to say it now that you’re back in my life. It’s perfectly okay if you don’t feel the same way anymore, but if you do I’d love to ask you out and take you out properly.” He says and she almost wants to scream.

She spent so much time getting over him and now he just wants to spring his feelings on her now? She thinks the whole situation is absolutely absurd and the two of them have terrible timing of their feelings. She sighs tiredly as she stares at him.

“When did you figure this out, you dummy?” She asks and he shakes his head, as if he’s in disbelief.

“Uh like a month and a half ago, I think? I’m not quite sure when exactly it happened. All I know I spent my whole relationship with Liz comparing her to you and I missed you entirely too much to ever risk losing you again. The whole like high school years up until three months ago, we acted like a couple unknowingly. I know we just labeled it best friends, but normal best friends don’t act like we did. I’m sorry once again,” Harry says as he watches her in hopes he’ll be able to read her.

She just smiles softly at him, her eyes so full of emotions that it’s hard to read which ones are in them.

“You better be glad my feelings for you didn’t go away completely. Yes you can take me out, Harry. It’s okay, I’ve missed you too.” She says and immediately his hands make his way to her face and he slowly begins to move closer. He wants to allow her time to say no, to change her mind but it never comes and he smiles briefly before their lips meet in a soft tender kiss. A kiss so full of love and warmth, making up for all the years missed and tears she cried unknowingly. It fills both of them with happiness as she giggles into the kiss and pulls away.

“Does that mean I can call you my boyfriend now?” She asks and he nods.

“Baby, you can call me anything you want now,” He says and she laughs, a mischievous flickers passes through her eyes.

“Even my best friend?” He immediately shakes his head and laughs.

“Anything but that.”

[aaaaafro]

Princess. Must Handle With Care! - IVE - Wonyoung x M! Reader (+18)

tw: idk lol just seggs, I've gotten too lazy to proofread.

Have you ever held something so precious that it might just break at the lift of a finger?

It's like getting handed a precious diamond, polished to its perfection, that even leaving a print of your finger on it would be detrimental to its value.

That's the feeling of having Wonyoung's skin against your touch. A diamond in its perfection, it feels illegal just grazing a part of her skin, but yet you're...

"AHHH! Fuck!" The girl hiss as you threw her almost inhumanly easy, on the thankfully soft bed.

"A-are you mad?" Her soft innocent tone paired with her glassy eyes on the verge of tears was such an irony from her earlier state.

"No..." Your answer helps slightly ease up the lady.

"I'm fucking fuming." Each syllables etching fear and excitement in Wonyoung as she struggles to keep her composure.

Your reasoning is coming back slowly seeing Wony squirming, as tears start to fall down her pearl like face. Just as then you're able to keep your sanity, before you questioned yourself, if its even worth it to continue your fit.

"W-why d-daddy?" And there goes the remaining guilt in yourself.

"Holy fuck, you really can't fucking control yourself?"

"N-no daddy~" Her voice trailing off almost as if she's teasing more rather than pleading for her well being.

"Couldn't you just fucking contain yourself until we're home?"

"B-but!" Wony tries to answer.

"But?! But what?! Nothing! You really should realize what you've just done!"

Wonyoung stayed silent as she tucks herself on her knees sulking as she reminisces about the moments leading to where you two are.

- - - - - flashback - - - - -

"AHHH! Fuck!" You sigh as you approach the fancy diner.

"What's wrong babe?" Your girlfriend asks.

"Nothing, It's just... my nerves are getting to me."

"Oh come on babe. It's just my friends! Plus, I've already told them how great of a guy you are." She tries to encourage you.

"I know that, but still, what if they don't like me?"

"Oh baby!" She grabs you by the cheek before boping her nose on yours.

"They'll like you, but just 'like'... Since, I'm the only one who'll love you." She smiled before pulling away with a proud look as she entered the diner and you quickly followed along.

"Omg! There they are!" You can hear the high pitched voices as Wonyoung and her friends finally meet.

"And you must be the lucky one!" One of her friends says as she gives you a good scan from head to toe as the others follow along with the teasing, and you just gave them a hesitant smile.

"No, I am. I'm the lucky one." Wony replies helping ease up the tension.

All of you sat around the table and you've finally introduced yourself, going around one by one the girls start introducing themselves as well, starting from the one on the other end of the table .

"I'm Liz, it's nice to finally meet you." The girl says with her smile forming the cutest ball of sunshine you've ever seen.

"Hi, I'm Gaeul, finally Wonyoung can stop describing you whenever we're hanging out." The girl with the short hair smiles as the others immediately laugh while your girlfriend just hides her blush.

"Hello! I'm Leeseo, I'm the youngest." Another girl greets and she certainly looks the youngest.

"I'm Rei, it's nice to finally see the guy Wonyoung is getting crazy about." Another girl greets you as she gives you another infectious smile.

"Finally!" The girl right next to you  and the one who gave you a scan earlier sighs in relief as her turn comes.

She prompts herself up with a hand on your shoulder and the table, the girls laugh seeing this sight but Wonyoung looks like she's not enjoying it.

"Well! My name's Yujin." She smiled as she gave your shoulder a light squeeze.

"Oohh!" She mouthed, feeling the muscles behind your suit.

"Ehem?!" Wonyoung fakes a cough as Yujin finally lets her hand off of you.

"Right, so, I'm Wony's fave friend." She confidently states as they all look at the two just giving each other a stink eye.

"I can clearly see why Wonyoung has been, too out of it lately." Yujin adds before placing her hand on your shoulder once more.

"Ya!" Wonyoung reacts as she pulls you away violently from her friend.

"Woah! Babe!" You panic seeing the girls surprised faces.

"Jeez! So possessive! I was just kidding." Yujin eases up the crowd but makes sure you to give you a subtle wink and a smile that makes your throat dry as you try and calm your girlfriend down.

The rest of the dinner was normal, or you thought so, as the wines get involved you see the sudden shift of their attitudes. Except for Leeseo who needed to head out first as she still has something to do. For the rest... well... "I still can't believe you're Wony's boyfriend."

Yunjin's comments earn her a couple of awkward chuckles as the other girls are nowhere near as sober as you are. You sat there silently, as they all told a bunch of cute but slightly embarrassing stories of each other, one trying to one up the other.

It was all fun and games but then something else happened. During one of the playful arguments that the girls are having Wonyoung was going up against Yujin on who's the better girlfriend material.

Obviously as they're going along, you're bound to get involved.

"First of all, I'm better at taking care of people!" Yujin says as the other girls are now a laughing mess at the side.

"Well, if you are, then how come you haven't introduced anyone to us?" Wonyoung rebuts before she quickly clings onto you, as they all shoot a look at you.

"Isn't that right, baby?" Wonyoung looks at you with a great longing for an answer. Quickly scanning the rest of the girls as you realized that they're anticipating a response.

"Hehe." You could only chuckle awkwardly as your girlfriend presses herself against you even harder.

"A-are you g-girls always like this?" You asked and they quickly nodded.

"Pft! Just because you bought your boyfriend doesn't mean that you're a better girlfriend material than me!" Yujin suddenly retorts.

"Oh really?"

You just sat there thinking that this cute argument is normal with them. Taking a sip of water, as your throat was drying up. When all of a sudden.

"Yeah! I bet you can't even please him as much as I probably can."

You almost spew the water across the table after hearing Yujin's claims. You look over Wonyoung who's currently awestruck at what her friend just said.

"E-excuse me?!" Wonyoung questioned and Yujin just gave her a scoff.

"Am I wrong?!" Yujin suddenly aims her sight on you.

Beads of sweat forms on your forehead, as the girls shoots a look at you with a visible anticipation of your answer. With your throat drying up. You gave Wonyoung a small tap under the table but that wasn't even necessary as Wony suddenly got up from her seat diverting everyone's attention towards her.

"I please him very well myself..." Wonyoung says in such a stern way that everyone's jaw just dropped.

"H-Hold on-." You try to interrupt and switch the subject but Yujin suddenly silenced you with a finger.

"Really?" Yujin mocks as she gave Wonyoung an unimpressed look.

"Yeah, that's right. Isn't it daddy?" Your heart drops when Wonyoung suddenly uses your bed name even placing her hand over your arm and brushing it up and down and giving a good squeeze in before continuing the motion..

"W-wait-..." You tried calming down the situation but your girlfriend isn't backing down and so does her friend.

"Why? Am I wrong? Don't I pleasure you well daddy?"

"W-wony." You start to panic as the girls starts to look at you suspiciously.

"Yes daddy? The way you rail me the other night. How hard you're penetrating your length in me–."

You've never even wished to be swallowed by the earth as much as you have currently, as you sat there while your girlfriend does her best to tell her friends how hard you're fucking her. As her hands travels down your chest towards your thigh.

"Oh you've gone silent?" Wonyoung's proud voice directed towards Yujjn whos sat there speechless after hearing her friend's proud sex story.

"Still think I can't pleasure him? Why'd you think he's here with me right now? That's right! Because I'm the perfect girl for her! He just can't get enough of me and we'll probably do it again later tonight."

"W-wony." You whispered but she's in too deep on her fit.

"He's gonna be fucking me all night. Pounding away at my tight–."

"Wonyoung!" You had enough as you've realized how ridiculously awkward the situation is as the other girls sat in silence.

"Oh..." Her confidence fades in an instant hearing your hardened voice and she sees everyone awkwardly silent.

"S-sorry." Wonyoung's voice is almost nonexistent as she takes a seat.

The rest of the dinner was definitely the most awkward dinner you've had. All of you stayed silent and no one even dared to speak up even afterwards. The only time someone spoke was when you're about to part ways.

"W-wonyoungie... I'm sorry." Yujin says softly as they both hug each other.

"I'm sorry as well for making it awkward."

"It's fine, really... but you do have a lot of things to work out with your boyfriend." Yujin jokes as you sit there trying your best to calm yourself as they all laughed at Wonyoung's blush.

With all of you finally saying your goodbyes to each other and taking separate ways to your respected rest of the night. You're now left with Wonyoung in your passenger seat as she fidgets with her phone trying her best to not acknowledge the fact that she made one hell of an introduction of you to her friends.

- - - - - flashback end - - - - -

"Now talk."

"B-but isn't it true?!" She counters with a weirdly proud tone as if what she did wasn't wrong.

"Don't I pleasure you well?"

"Don't you just love it when you're balls deep inside of me daddy?"

"Wony-..."

"Am I not your slut princess?!"

"Or is it because you'd want to fuck Yujin instead of me?!"

That last question took you out of your head. Seeing Wonyoung's emotions pouring out as she looks at you with such need of validation. Wonyoung is... Jealous?

"Wony." You softly called as her tears start to fall down.

"No! It's because you've seen Yujin and now you don't want me anymore!"

You stood there looking stupid and fucked by seeing your girlfriend crying out loud as she starts lashing out how Yujin's hand didn't even wait a second to touch you and how you didn't even dare to resist it.

"Babe." You called, as Wony just balled up and hid herself under the covers.

With nothing else but guilt, you quickly joined Wonyoung under the covers. You leveled your face with hers as she just hides her face on her hands, your hand captures her hip pulling her towards you.

"Wony."

"You know none of that is true, right?"

"You're my one and only." You can see her eyes peeking through her fingers as your words didn't fail to reach your sulking girlfriend.

"R-really?" She whispered as you gave her a reassuring smile and nod.

Quickly removing her hand off of her face she captures your lips with hers engaging in a much needed dessert as the meal earlier clearly didn't hit the right spot.

"Mhmm..."

"Ngnhnnnngg." Wonyoung moans as she presses herself against you even more trying to feel as much of you as possible.

Finally detaching away from each other a trail of spit hangs on the edge of her lips and Wonyoung is quick to catch it before leading it into her mouth with a finger.

"Am I really your one and only?" She asks with such curiosity that it's almost insulting the integrity of your words

"Of course baby." You assured.

"Mhmm." Her hum sounded a bit suspicious as she suddenly slides her hand down your chest to your abdomen.

"So, I'm the only one you love?" She asks

You just nodded and her finger took its time fiddling with your belt though you know where all of this is going. You just knew that words are never enough for her to begin with.

"And that also means that I'm the only one who can pleasure you, right daddy?"

"W-wony."

"No! I don't want that name."

Of course. She's not a big fan of any sweet names you've given her in this particular type of situation... Only one name can satisfy Wonyoung's neediness.

"My slut princess."

"Mhmmm... Yes daddy." As her temperature reaches an all time high, she quickly connected her lips with yours before following up with a tongue.

"Nnnhhnhnnggg!" Wonyoung squirm under your touch as you've switched your position. With you now topping over her, as you then press your girlfriend down the bed.

"Are you gonna f-fuck me now, d-daddy?" She asks after you've pulled away from each other.

"No."

"WHAT?!" Taken aback by your answer she accidentally raised her voice and looks at you in disbelief before realizing what she has done.

"W-wha... Daddy." Her tone switching back to being needy voice was such a music to your ears.

"You need to learn your lesson. No fucks for you today." You tried getting off of Wonyoung but her long legs caught you immediately locking you in place.

"Look at you." You said with such disdain seeing the desperation from your slut princess under you.

"P-please daddy?" She pleads pulling you towards her.

As your lower halves touched, you can't help but notice that the woman under you is already soaking wet that her juices are seeping through her underwear that you've failed to realize when she discarded her pants.

"Oh... Look at the little slut princess." You mocked as she squirms even more.

Pressing you on her harder as your member twitches under your pants. Wonyoung felt this and had given her a glimmer of hope.

"See?" She smiled. "Daddy's body can't resist his slut princess." With a proud tone, Wony pulls you in for another kiss but you resist as she adds another arm on your nape to try and pull you down.

"Daddy!" She cries as you just smiled at her proud of the damage you're causing though it might be a bit too much.

But you know Wonyoung too much even just after being with her for only a few months. You smiled as she started grinding her lower half on you and you did your best to press yourself against her that made her enthusiastic.

"Mhmmm daddy!" She happily continues to grind as you relish the feeling of her moist clothed core.

Getting caught in the feeling she lets her guard down that allows you to escape her legs. Wonyoung gasps as you leave the bed.

"Daddy!" She begged.

"Please..."

"Give me one good reason on why I should be balls deep inside you right now."

Your proposal didn't even give Wonyoung a doubt as she suddenly starts removing the rest of her clothing.

"You want a reason?" She asks before slowly spreading her legs apart giving you a good view of her glistening entrance.

You must've swallowed a gallon of spit seeing the sight of your girlfriend in front of you. A smirk forms on her lips seeing how awestruck you are.

"Didn't you say it yourself daddy?" Her words cutting through your defenses like a hot knife on butter.

"I'm your only one."

"Which means only I can pleasure daddy." She smirked as you started to make your way back towards the bed.

"Now daddy..."

"I'm your slut..." She awaits your response as you've finally stood on the edge of the bed in front of her.

"Princess." You answered before diving face first onto her core.

"Mhmmm! Yes! Get in there daddy..." Wony moans as she tussles with your hair trying to pull you in deeper.

You did your best to taste as much as you could before you then started to work on removing your pants without letting off on eating your girlfriend out.

"Look at how hard you are daddy!" Wonyoung states after catching a glimpse of your engorged rod.

"Did your slut princess turn you on that much?"

You gave her a glance as you regretfully detached yourself from her heavenly feast. Wonyoung eyes lights up as you go ahead and line yourself in front of her entrance.

As you're about to indulge in the feel of her walls clenching you, you paused for a moment and gave Wonyoung a look of admiration, you can see the glimmer in her eyes as she slowly anticipates your entry.

A slight nod from her signals you to go in... And go in you did, feeling her walls clasping your member and despite her tight walls your entry was all smooth thanks to her juices mixed with your spit dripping from her core.

"Y-yes! You're so big daddy~!"

"You're fucking tight princess."

The two of you keep a steady pace of hissing and moans as you feel each other's love pouring with every motion. You threw your head back trying to alleviate some of the pleasure from the intercourse but Wonyoung wasn't having any of it, as she pulls your face back down and quickly feasting on your lips.

With her tongue dancing inside your mouth, your member twitches inside of her, your heat spikes as Wonyoung pushes you inside of her even more using her long legs.

"Ngnhnnnngg! Fuc–... I... L-love it daddy—.” She mumbled into the kiss as you doubled the efforts and intensity of your thrusts making your girlfriend a moaning mess when she detached her mouth with yours.

Seeing her sprawling out, spazzing, as you continue to bury yourself deep inside her, your mind kept coming back to the thought you had earlier before you tossed her on the bed after that eventful dinner with her friends.

"You're so precious." You whispered as she giggled at such a contrast of your words from your actions.

"W-why?"

"N-nothing... Hehe, I love you daddy." She smiled before placing a kiss on your lips.

"I love you more." You respond with a kiss on her forehead as you continue to pound away at your girlfriend.

After a few more strokes in then Wonyoung suddenly gets you off of her before repositioning herself in all fours. Greeting you with a great view of her back side as she gives you a wink and you already knew that this'll be the position you'd finish.

You prompt yourself behind her before giving her plump ass a good slap as she yelps in surprise before giggling as your  member finally enters her with relative ease. You placed your hand on top of the mark your slap left.

"Mmhhmm yes!" Wonyoung hums as you start stroking her ass and your thrusting becomes more and more aggressive.

As you've started to keep a steady state of motion and power in your thrust your mind starts to get clouded by her airy and shaky moans. With Wonyoung's hand gripping the bedsheets rather tightly, you start to admire her back, glistening with sweat. You then unconsciously leaned down and placed a kiss along her shoulders "D-daddy!" She called.

"Yes my slut princess?"

"I love it!"

"Of course you do." You smiled with confidence as her face digs back into the bedsheets trying to muffle her moans.

Minutes of passionate fucking passed, Wonyoung mumbles something from the bedsheet. It got you thinking for a minute but when her core suddenly clasps your member significantly tighter you knew what's happening.

"Y-yes daddy! Uuugghh shit! It's so fucking gooood!!" She moans before you feel something gushing out of Wony.

You pulled out and to your surprise her juices sprayed all over your stomach. Wonyoung collapsed on the bed as you stood there looking at the scene of her juices dripping out of her core as your eyes traveled scanning your girlfriend's heavenly body and you realized that she has lost consciousness.

A scoff escapes you before fixing her position on the bed even swapping the bedsheets that are soaked with her wetness. With her body temperature lowering down you feel her shaking under your touch. You then took your discarded shirt and covered her, doing the best that you can to not wake her up.

Soon as you're finished with everything, you stand right next to your bed and stare at your Wonyoung who looks so peaceful sleeping, you may be a bit disappointed that you didn't get to finish but it was nonetheless great. A smile forms across your face and your heart starts to skip a beat. All of a sudden Wony suddenly whines, you panic thinking you've done something wrong to disturb the peace of your princess.

"I'm sorry baby, did I woke you up?" You whispered as Wonyoung was trying to open her eyes.

"You didn't finish in me." She responded.

You chuckled hearing Wonyoung's reply as you joined her to bed and quickly embracing her before saying; "Later."

[differenteagletragedy]

You liked the country club. It was pretty there, they had music sometimes, and all the people smiled at you. It was a fun place to be.

Then again, you were three years old, so you were easy to please.

You remembered your moms bringing you along to the club a few times -- they'd put you in nice clothes, you had to do your very best to keep them clean, and they told you to be on your best behavior, too. Sometimes it was a lot of pressure.

So that night, although you had felt excited for the outing, you found yourself wailing in your mommy's arms, completely inconsolable.

Back rubs wouldn't do the trick, your mommy's soft voice in your ear didn't work either. The longer you were upset, the more upset you got. You heard Liz grumble something at her seat across the table, but just as you were gearing up for your loudest scream yet, you felt a hand on your shoulder.

Startled, you scrambled around in your mommy's arms, turning on her lap to see who had touched you. There was a boy, pale with dark hair and little like you.

"Are you ok?" he whispered.

You were trying to figure out if you wanted to go back to crying or say something to the boy in front of you. Before you could say anything, a woman came up and grabbed by the shoulders.

"Come now, Baxter," she said, steering him away from your family. "Mind your manners."

You watched as he was led back to his own table. At one point, he glanced back at you and offered you a small smile.

Suddenly you didn't feel so sad anymore.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

If the beaches in Hawaii were any different than the ones back home in Sunset Bird, then you sure couldn't tell. There was water, there was sand, shells and seaweed and crabs. You didn't understand why you had to leave your new best friend, Cove, and travel all that way when you could have done the same things back home.

"Tough luck, kiddo," Mommy told you. "You're only 8, so you're still going to be stuck with us for a while."

Really, you did understand it -- you all flew in to visit your family on Ma's side. You rarely got to see them after they moved away from California, and it made Ma happy to get to spend time with them. It made you happy too, of course, but you couldn't help but sulk a little bit. You didn't know you'd have a best friend when you first heard about the trip.

That day, everyone had decided to make a day out of going to one of the nicer local beaches. There wasn't as many people at this one, your grandfather had explained, mostly just some locals and some visitors from a nearby resort.

You'd been there a few hours when you took it upon yourself to make a sandcastle. Liz wanted to go swimming again and the adults were talking, so you were perfectly content playing by yourself. You were pretty far into the process, working on the sandy little structure with such focus that you didn't notice someone had approached you until they spoke.

"Nice castle."

The boy, tall and thin and maybe a little bit older than you, gave the compliment easily, but you didn't feel like he was being insincere. You felt your chest puff out a bit in pride, telling him, "It's not a big deal, I make these all the time at home."

"No, it's really good," he insisted. "I like your battlements."

"My what?"

He hesitated for a moment, then crouched down beside you. He pointed out all the different parts of the castle, telling you the technical names for them and their purposes.

"You sure know a lot about castles," you told him when he was done, and he laughed.

"You sure know a lot about building them," he replied. He wouldn't meet your eyes after that, and you felt yourself blushing a little. It was uncomfortable, but somehow nice at the same time.

Reaching out to the building tools laid out beside you, you picked up a shovel and held it out to him in a silent invitation to join you. He smiled, but before he was able to take it, someone nearby called out "Baxter!"

Baxter. You were sure you didn't know anyone by that name, but it still itched something in your brain. You tried to place it, why you remembered the name when you were positive you'd never heard it before, but before you could, the boy stood, brushing off his hands.

"I have to go," he said. "Perhaps we can meet up another time."

You hoped he was right.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

13 was a difficult year for you. So many things were changing around you and within you, and you were unsure about so much of it. Everything felt intense and heavy and weird, and it wasn't a good feeling.

But when the boy at the country club soiree asked you to dance, things in your head calmed down, just for a few minutes. But it was enough.

He was beautiful, you thought -- you'd never seen a kid your age look so fancy before. His suit was well tailored, he didn't have one single black hair out of place and when he danced with you, he moved you around so effortlessly. It felt like you were in a movie that you loved but couldn't remember the name of. It felt right.

It was over as soon as it had begun, and before you could do anything, before you could even ask him his name, he'd disappeared back into the crowd.

You knew you'd been prone to dramatics lately, unable to contain all the big feelings that had been raging like a storm inside of you.

Still, this felt like more of a loss than it should have.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"I can't believe it."

"Honestly, neither can I. It's quite the strange series of coincidences, isn't it?"

That was an understatement.

You were 18, sitting beside Baxter in the condo he was renting out for the summer. The very first time you'd met -- or met again, as it turned out -- he'd realized that you'd danced together five years earlier at the Summer Soiree. It had taken a little over a month of talking constantly, seeing each other almost every day and getting comfortable enough to tell each other about your lives that you'd realized you'd also met twice before that.

Baxter's memory was incredible, but what was even more extraordinary was the idea that the two of you had been running into each other in five-year increments since you were little kids. The world was so wide and full of so many people, but somehow it had brought you together again and again.

You knew that Baxter was only staying in Sunset Bird temporarily, that he'd be going back to college in Virginia when the summer was over. He'd been very clear about that, that your romantic relationship would just last while he was in town. But that magic of it all had you hoping against hope that maybe this time you could give the universe a break -- maybe you could stick together from here on out.

That all felt like too much to say though, so instead, you joked, "Do you want to go ahead and make plans for Summer 2021, or do you think we should leave it up to fate again?"

A strange expression crossed his face -- you couldn't quite make it out. It was something like pain.

Finally, Baxter said, "Fate's been kind enough to us for the past 15 years, hasn't it? Suppose we give it one more try."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

As they say, the third time's the charm.

When you met Baxter on the beach in Hawaii when you were 8, you didn't realize then that he was the boy who showed you kindness in the middle of a meltdown at the country club five years before. And when you danced at that same country club when you were 13, you weren't able to put things again then, either.

When you dated at 18 for a brief, beautiful summer, you'd almost made it -- you felt it then. The two of you had fallen in love, you'd both felt the same pull towards each other, but he wasn't ready.

Another five years had to pass, another chance meeting had to come about. This time, fate pulled him to you with him kicking and screaming and fighting against it, sure he didn't deserve it, but it pulled him just the same.

And now, as you watched him sleeping beside you in your shared bed in your shared home, you smiled knowing that you could finally give fate a rest.

There was just a few minutes left until your alarm was set to go off. You briefly considered closing your eyes for a little bit longer, pulling him against you and soaking in his warmth before you had to get up for the day, but as your eyes adjusted to the first bits of sunlight streaming into the room, you saw his pretty bare back facing you.

His skin was milky white and dotted with delicate little beauty marks -- a few on his shoulders, a couple down just above his waist line and some in between. You took a finger and started tracing along his back, going from one mole to the next, connecting the dots. They could be constellations. Your favorite galaxy.

"What are you doing?" Baxter asked, his voice groggy.

"Just thinking about how much I love you," you answered.

It took him a couple of tries, his gracefulness nonexistent in the mornings, but eventually he managed to capture your hand as it moved along his waist. He gently pulled you down and against him so that you were holding him from behind, squeezing your hand as he held it against his chest.

"It's time to wake up soon," you told him, placing a kiss on the back of his neck.

He groaned and scooted himself closer against you.

"Can I ask you something?"

Baxter groaned again, but you started planting kisses along his shoulder to placate him. When you felt him settle into the feeling, a few lighter, airier breaths telling you that he was waking up, you said, "What do you think we'll be doing five years from now?"

He let out a sleepy little laugh, then turned so that he could look at you. There was a little drool dried on the corner of his mouth, his hair was sticking up everywhere, but he was beautiful, and he was yours.

He didn't reply at first, instead taking your hand that he still held and moving it closer to his face. You watched as he gently stroked your palm, then each finger, one by one. He stopped on your ring finger -- the ring finger on your left hand -- and began tracing little circles around the base of it.

"Hmm," he said, lifting your hand to place a kiss in the same spot. "I wonder?"

[youvebeenlivingfictional]

How did Bruce find out that the paparazzi knew about shop girl 👀

Previous Part | Masterlist | Next Part

Warnings: Angst; fluff; cursing; not beta-read

“Check your email.” 

“It’s nice to hear from you, too, Liz. Lovely weather we’re having,” Bruce bats back sarcastically. 

“Bruce,” Liz presses, “Put me on speaker and check your fucking email. Hurry.”

Bruce frowns at the edge of panic in Liz’s voice. He does as she orders, drawing his phone back from his ear and swiping to his email. He sees one from Liz there–something forwarded with the subject: Bruce Wayne New Bit - Proof and Profile

His brow furrows as he taps the email open, and he sucks in a sharp breath. Son of a bitch. He knew he’d seen something just before they’d left Gran Canaria. It had only been a second, just out of the corner of his eye, but the flash of a camera had been unmistakable. Still, he'd second-guessed himself when none had followed. He scrolls down to the next photo, cursing as he sees a picture of the two of them kissing in the lobby that morning. Goddamnit, he should’ve been more careful. 

“When did you get this?” He asks. 

“A friend of a friend sent it to me and asked for comment.” 

“Fuck.” 

“It’s going out today, Bruce.” 

“I’ll stop it.” 

“It’s too late to stop it.” 

Bruce pushes a frustrated breath through his nose, his fingers flexing around the phone. He has the urge to chuck it into the wall. He hesitates, then takes a few cursory steps toward the penthouse windows. He peers down onto the street, growling as he spots the gathering news vans. 

“...What are you gonna do?” Liz asks. 

“I can’t bring her back here, they’ll swarm us,” Bruce shakes his head, “And I can’t go get her.”

“Swarm.” 

“Exactly.” 

“How about I send Grant to get her? They know one another, it won’t be that weird. He can bring her to the penthouse.” 

“I don’t think the penthouse is a good idea right now.” His gaze darts to the buildings across from him, eyeing the odd flash of a camera. “Besides, she’s working.” 

“I’m sure wherever she’s working will let her go for the rest of the day.” 

They probably would, now that they must all know she’s dating the boss. Fuck. She wanted to get this without him, she didn’t want to trade on his name. Now everyone in the office is going to think she slept her way into that job. Frustration and anger burrow into his chest. Of all days—of all the fucking days, she doesn’t deserve for this to happen to her today. 

“...Liz?” 

“Mhm.” 

“Let me call you back, I’ll uh—I’ll call her, see what she wants to do.” 

“Alright. Say the word, Grant’ll get in the car.” 

“Thanks.” 

He ends the call and wandered away from the window, his heart pounding in his chest. He opens to her contact, hits the call button, and waits…And waits…And waits…Only for it to go to voicemail. Maybe she’s seen the story already and she doesn’t want to talk to him right now. He presses the call button again…and waits…and goddamnit, pick up the phone—

“Is everything alright?” 

Bruce whirls around at the question, spotting Alfred and shaking his head.

“Could you call her?” Bruce asks, “She’s not answering me.” 

“She may be in a meeting.” 

“On the first day?” Bruce frowns. 

“Such things can happen.” Alfred draws his phone out of his pocket regardless. Bruce waits impatiently, watching as Alfred waits…And then shakes his head. “No answer.”

“Try again?” 

“This wouldn’t happen to have anything to do with the accumulation of reporters and paparazzi outside, would it?” 

“It might,” Bruce grimaces. Alfred grunts, trying her phone again. Bruce feels his phone buzz and looks down, doing a double-take at the sight of her name. He raises his hand to Alfred, waving the call off as he answers the phone, raising it to his ear. 

“Hey,” Bruce starts, “I need to warn you, there’s a—” 

“There are people outside, all around the building!” 

The panicked quiver in her voice makes him feel helpless. Aw, hell, he didn’t want this. He listens, letting his eyes slide closed as she adds, “Everyone in the office has seen it, and—And I was just going to go out and get lunch and now I can’t leave, I don't know what to do—” 

“It’s okay,” Bruce reassures, though he’s almost entirely certain that it absolutely isn’t. “It’s going to be okay. I’ll get some food ordered to your office so you won’t have to go anywhere—I’ll use Alfred’s name,” He hurries to add before she can argue, “Liz’s boyfriend is going to come pick you up after work. I can have him get you in the parking lot. I’ll drive by in a different car, pull their attention away from you. We’ll go to the Manor and get out of the city for the night. We can…Regroup out there. Okay?” 

There’s a moment of deathly silence on the other end, chased by a soft sniffle. It strikes him right in the heart. He wants to be there. He wants to wipe away any tears that may be escaping her eyes, to pull her into his chest and promise her that everything’s going to be alright, that he’ll take care of her.

“Okay.” Her concession is soft, chased by a, “Thank you.” 

“It’s going to be alright, baby. I’ll take care of it. I’ll see you tonight.” 

“See you.” 

It’s a glum mumble before she hangs up the phone. Bruce sighs heavily, lowering the phone to text Liz.

“What a fucking mess,” He mutters. 

“Shall I pack a few of her things for overnight?” 

“Yes, please,” Bruce nods, shooting Alfred a grateful smile before looking down at his phone again. 

--  

The rest of the day is hell. You do your best to keep your calm, to hold your head up high and not waver or flinch at the questioning glances of your coworkers. By the time you’re heading to the garage (looking for Grant in his grey Mazda Miata), you’re worn out. You get into the car, buckling up and sliding down in your seat. 

Grant casts you a sympathetic smile.

“You okay?” He asks. 

No, you’re awful. You’re in a shit mood. You’re tired, and upset, and completely at loose ends, you want to fold like a deck chair and sob until you're out of tears—

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just, um...Long day,” You shake your head. “Long, weird day.” 

“I went through it, too,” Grant sympathizes. “When they found out about me and Liz. It never hangs around long. A couple of weeks of craziness and then they move on to the next couple. They’ll fuck off in a bit. You’ll be old news.” 

“I’d prefer to have never been news in the first place.”  

“I know. Sorry,” Grant reaches out, patting your shoulder gently. 

“...Grant?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Why aren’t we moving?” 

“I’m waiting for Bruce to text and uh—lemme know when he’s going to drive by. He’s gonna go pick up Liz, try and divert attention.” 

Oh, great. That’s all you need. Bruce being seen with Liz, you being seen with Grant, and the inevitable press coverage of an alleged love square. You slide even further down in your seat as Grant finally started up the car. 

“Put your elbow on the window,” He advises, “And cover your face with your hand, like you’re trying to sleep. On the off-chance someone does watch us instead of Bruce, they won’t get all of your face.” 

“You’ve done this before.” 

“Many, many times.” 

--  

You’ve heard a lot about the Manor, but being there is…Something else. You arrive with Grant before Liz and Bruce get there. You smile weakly at the sight of Alfred. 

“Is there somewhere I could just go and sit for a little while?” You ask. 

“I’ll show you to Master Wayne’s room. Please excuse us,” He nods to Grant before waving an arm toward a room off to the left. “There are drinks prepared in the sitting room.” 

“Thanks. I’ll see you in a bit,” Grant smiles. 

“Yeah. And—Thanks, again.”

“Anytime.” 

--  

Bruce’s bedroom is different from the one at the penthouse. It’s furnished far more grandly. Hell, from what you’ve seen so far, the whole Manor is. You kick your shoes off and pace, unable to keep still. Your belly squirms with discomfort and upset. What the hell are you going to do? You just started this fucking job, you can’t quit now—but fuck, it’s so tempting. You’ll be getting even more looks now that everyone knows that you're with Bruce. No one’s going to believe that you got the job on your own merit—except, maybe the hiring manager. Still, you didn’t expect them to go out of the way to extol your experience to everyone at the fucking foundation—

“There you are.” 

You turn at the sound of Bruce’s voice. You hardly have a chance to get a look at him before you’re barrelling into his arms. He catches hold of you without a second’s hesitation, drawing you to his chest. He rests a hand on the back of your neck, gently sweeping his thumb over your nape as you fall apart. You can’t stop the tears that you’ve been holding back any longer. You do try, but you draw in a breath just a touch too deep, and it all comes spilling out. You fist your hands in the fabric of his t-shirt, sniffling. Bruce presses a kiss to your temple. 

“I’m so sorry, baby,” He murmurs. “I didn’t have time to stop it. I should’ve been more careful.” 

It’s an apology that you’re getting more and more lately—when he’s come home late, when he’s come home hurt. He should’ve been more careful. Hell, in this instance, maybe you both should’ve been more careful. You draw back, scrubbing your hands over your face as Bruce rubs his hands comfortingly over your shoulders. You blink the tears away, sniffling still. 

“You wanna lie down?” He asks. 

“We shouldn’t,” You shake your head. “Liz and Grant are downstairs.” 

“They’ll keep.” 

You laugh in spite of yourself, some of your upset melting as Bruce’s face lights up at your smile.

“We should get down there,” You insist, “And um…We should figure out what we’re doing tonight.”

“Alfred packed a bag of your things. We can stay here if it’s easier.” 

You sigh heavily, leaning into him and pressing your face into his neck. 

“You think of everything, don’t you,” You mumble. 

“Pretty much…Though Alfred should really get the credit for that one.” 

“I’ll have to thank him.” 

“Long as you don’t thank him the same way you usually thank me—Ow!” He laughs as you pinch him in the arm.

--  

“...Did any of that help at all?” 

Bruce mumbles the question, and you can hear that he’s on the edge of sleep. It’s a surprise. Maybe he feels so bad about what’s happened that he’s insisting on spending the night in with you. Frankly, you’re not entirely sure that you care why. You just cuddle into his side and peer at the window. 

Frankly, speaking with Liz and Grant about what had happened to them did help quite a bit. It made your experience feel far less singular, though it’s still been moderately jarring. Besides, they’d helped you and Bruce strategize on how best to keep your heads down, your name out of the paper, so long as it could be helped. 

“Yes,” You admit. “Quite a bit.” 

“Good.” 

Bruce’s hand rubs tenderly over your back, nuzzling against your forehead gently. 

“There’s one thing we didn’t talk about,” He adds after a moment. 

“Mm? What’s that?” 

“You can back out.” 

It snaps you fully awake. Your heart stutters in your chest. You reel back and twist to face him, peering down at him in the dark, expecting, hoping for a teasing grin—but Bruce’s face is set with grim sincerity. 

“...You can’t be serious,” You shake your head. 

“It’s only fair that we discuss—” 

“Shut up.” 

It’s not normally a tack that you’d take with Bruce, but you’re tired, and you’re upset, and now, you’re pissed. 

“How dare you say that to me,” You shake your head, voice almost deathly quiet.

“It’s an offer—” 

“It’s bullshit,” You insist. “After every fucking thing we’ve been through—After spending a night watching over you, certain that I was going to lose you, you think I’m going to crumble because I had a fucking camera shoved in my face?” 

“I just mean,” He pushes himself to sit up and meet your eye, “That it’s one thing after another. I’m used to it, I know it can get tiring—” 

“Well I’m getting pretty fucking used to it, myself.”  

“I know.” 

Bruce’s voice is gentle and appeasing. He takes hold of your hand as you sigh heavily, lowering your gaze to your hands where they’re joined above the sheets. 

“Honestly,” You mumble, scrubbing your other hand over your eyes. “I love you way too much to be scared off from you, or from work. I can handle it, I just…I need some time to adjust. I’ll adjust.”

Bruce is quiet for a moment before he reaches out, curling his arm around your waist and drawing you into his side, pressing his face into your neck. You feel him speak. His lips brush against your neck, his words tickle your skin—but you can’t really hear what he says. You frown, turning your head in his direction a little. 

“What was what?” You press. 

Bruce seems to breathe you in before he rests his chin on your shoulder, his forehead resting against your cheekbone. He repeats himself, and your eyes slip shut. You could fold in on yourself. You could explode. Your hand tightens around his, tipping your head against him as his words ring through you:

“I love you, too, baby.”

Next Part

[reminiscingtonight]

She’s All Mine

Rose Lavelle x Reader

Word Count: 2.7k

She’s All Yours (Part One)

[WOSO Masterlist]

When there’s a slight knock on your door, you barely stop your automatic groan before it escapes. 

The past couple days have been rough. Between a new case being assigned to you and the fallout of a previous case falling upon your desk, you can’t even recall the last time you slept in your own bed. You’ve been living off shitty coffee and fumes the past couple of days, doing everything you can to sort through all of your documents, trying to get everything in order. 

Rubbing tiredly at your eyes, you look up just as your secretary opens the door, an apologetic look on her face when she takes in the files thrown everywhere on your desk. 

“What’s up?”

“Someone’s here to see you.”

You frown, eyes already back on your files, sorting through the papers. “Are they on the list?”

“Uh, well… no.”

You sigh, not looking up. Although you’ve been at this for a while, you still haven’t made too much progress. There’s one specific document you were looking for, and if you don’t find it before your meeting tomorrow, you’re more than screwed. “Liz, you know the rules. If they aren’t on the list, they don’t get access--”

“Well I can’t exactly say no to them.”

Her voice is tight, making you look up with furrowed brows. “What do you mean? I’ve seen you say no to people twice your size or those big suits who think they hold all the power.”

She fidgets in her place, looking more and more uncomfortable as the seconds tick by. “No I mean it, I can’t say no to her. Like it’s… It’s not possible. At all.”

Your confusion has morphed into concern, seeing your normally calm and collected secretary so unsettled. “Liz--”

“It’s Rose Lavelle. She’s here to see you. And turning her away is like… it’s like turning away royalty.” The last word is whispered out in awe. Liz is a huge soccer fan, that much you know. Now you understand why she’s so hesitant to turn away your visitor. 

After running into Rose by accident all those weeks ago, the two of you have struck up an interesting relationship. She kept true to her word, taking you out to coffee a few days after your initial meeting. And then she did it again. And again. Along with coffee came late night dinners, catching meals after her games, going out to see movies, things of the sort. The two of you have gone out quite a lot, if you’re really thinking about it. The only thing the two of you haven’t done is put a label on anything. 

All at once you’re dropping the papers in your hands, subconsciously running a hand through your messy hair. You nervously clear your throat. “Uh, it’s fine, she’s fine, you can-- go ahead and send her in.”

Liz nods, quickly ducking back out the door. 

In your head you’re quickly counting to twenty, trying to make yourself look a bit more presentable before you know Rose is coming in. A brief look at your reflection through your laptop has you cringing. You really did look like you haven’t been home in days. 

Before you have too much time to worry about your state of dishelvement, there’s another light knock at the door and then a familiar brown head of hair is poking its way in.

It’s embarrassing how just the sight of her takes your breath away. 

“Hi.” Rose gives you a soft smile that you can’t help but return. 

“Hey.” 

She takes a seat on the other side of your desk, careful not to knock over any of your papers. 

“Sorry for the mess. It’s been a hectic week.”

Rose chuckles at the way your eyes are quick to zero in on the cups of coffee in her hands. “Sorry, you look busy.”

“No! Don’t worry about it, I can take a quick break. I’m never too busy for you.”

It isn’t until Rose blushes that you realize you accidentally said the last sentence out loud.

You nervously scratch at the back of your neck. “Um, how’s your day going?”

Rose shrugs. “Had an early practice. And then I missed you so I thought I’d drop by.”

Your heart does a funny little jump at the thought of Rose missing you.

“I’d ask how your day is going, but I think I can guess by this…” she trails off, crinkles by her eyes betraying her amusement at the state of your desk. 

When Rose reaches across your desk to hand you your drink, you both pretend not to notice the way her hand lingers. As casually as you can, you drop your free hand onto the table, gently grasping her hand in yours. 

Rose’s cheeks turn pink, but she flips her hand over, intertwining your fingers. 

“Anyways. So there’s this event tomorrow night.” You nod, taking a sip of your coffee. It takes everything in you not to moan out in content. Sometimes it’s amazing, and sweet, how Rose remembers the little things you like. You’re a little too busy savoring the sweet taste of your drink to notice the way Rose has started to nervously fidget in her seat. “I was wondering if… would you like to come?”

You look up, drink forgotten in your surprise. “Like… as your plus one?”

Rose is looking everywhere but at your face now. Her cheeks are slightly red and she tries to untangle your fingers in embarrassment. You don’t let her. If anything, you tighten your grip. “I mean, only if you want to. No pressure or anything. The others are bringing their partners too-- Not that we’ve labeled ourselves, or anything! Um, I uh-- I just, it would be more enjoyable if you wanted to come? I don’t know, it’s totally okay if you don’t want to--”

“Rose. Breathe,” you chuckle, giving her hand a light squeeze. Rose blushes again, mouth instantly closing shut. “I’ve got a meeting in the early afternoon tomorrow, but if I’m out in time I’d love to be your plus one.”

“Yeah?”

You nod, not able to hide your smile. “Yeah.”

Rose’s lips split into a shy grin. 

You spend the next couple of minutes catching up with one another. You haven’t seen Rose since last week when you dropped by to watch one of her games, so you take this time to relish in her company. The two of you chat about anything and everything. Time always seems to fly by when you’re around each other, so when you next catch sight of the time, it takes everything in your power to not let your panic show. You’ve spent way more time catching up with Rose than you thought you had. As much as you hate it, you know you have to get back to work. Especially if you want to make it to the party tomorrow. 

Rose notices the way your eyes have drifted to your computer, correctly guessing what has caught your attention. “I should probably let you get back to work, huh.”

When she stands up, you’re quick to follow her onto your feet. 

She waits until you walk around your desk before she’s leaning in, arms wrapping around your waist in a tight hug. You try not to melt too much against her, but you’re only human. And Rose gives some of the best hugs you’ve ever had. 

When the two of you break apart, Rose leans in to press a kiss on your cheek. It lands dangerously close to the corner of your mouth, and you’re not sure if you’re imagining things when she seems to linger for a moment, still in your personal space. Rose’s eyes dart down to your lips momentarily, almost as if she’s considering closing the gap. 

For an exhilarating second you think she’s going to kiss you.

The hope fades just as quick as it comes when Rose steps back with a nervous cough.

“Call me when you get off work tonight?”

You let out a light laugh. “Not sure if I’ll make it home any time soon but I’ll try.”

Her face scrunches up adorably in disappointment. “You need to take better care of yourself.”

You raise a hand up to your head to give her a stupid little salute. “I’ll try my best, ma’am.”

Rose laughs, punching you lightly on the shoulder. “You’re an ass.”

“Drive home safe,” you chuckle in return. 

With one last look over her shoulder, Rose lets the door close behind her. 

It doesn’t even take a second before you find yourself missing her already. 

---

Soccer players are fun. If there’s anything you’ve taken away since getting to know Rose and her friends, it’s exactly that. 

After drowning in paperwork for nearly a week, this party is definitely a welcomed break. 

The second your meeting finishes, you rush to get home. It’s a scramble, getting ready for the party, but you manage to get dressed in time. Despite your protests, Rose is there to pick you up, a shy smile in place. 

From the second you lay eyes on her, it takes all of your self control not to drag her in for a kiss. 

She’s hot. Like even more than she usually is. And that’s saying something. Her dress has you nearly salivating, and you have to try your best to not ogle her like a schoolboy. 

Sometimes the cat and mouse game the two of you have going on is fun. It’s a dangerous game you’re playing, toeing the line between friends and something more. Neither of you are stupid, you both know you’re eventually going to get together, but at this point it’s just a matter of seeing who’s going to crack first. 

Of course you can always make the move first, but you’re nothing if not competitive. And while you find it hot, Rose is unfortunately also just as competitive. She also doesn’t happen to like playing fair. 

The two of you haven’t even been sitting down for five minutes before she’s dropping a hand onto your leg. And it would be fine, really, but her hand rests dangerously high on your thigh. Although you’re trying your best to listen to the story Lu has started, it’s taking everything in you to just keep your composure. Your skin feels hot under her touch, and it doesn’t take long for you to start questioning your sanity.

The smirk living on Rose’s lips tells you she knows exactly what she’s doing. 

It’s infuriating how much her cockiness makes you want to kiss her more. 

A loud noise has you craning your head to find its source. When you do, it’s hard not to smirk yourself. All you need is to see a glimpse of Sonnett before a plan pops up into your head.

“Wow, Sonny really looks like she’s out to get some numbers tonight.”

Rose turns her head in the direction you’re looking at. Sonnett’s good looking. You know that, Rose knows that, everyone knows that. Honestly it’s a surprise that no one’s snatched her up yet. 

Rose shrugs, eyes narrowing inquisitively at you when she looks back your way. “Son’s just dressing up as she does. The numbers would be an extra perk, not her intention.”

“Five bucks.”

“What?” Rose tilts her head in confusion, amusement dazzling in her eyes. 

“Five bucks I can get Sonny to kiss me.”

The amusement’s quick to drop. Rose tries to play it off with a scoff, but you’re not fooled. Rose is cute, but even more cute when she’s jealous. “No way. I’m not a perv.”

It’s hard to hide your grin. Step one achieved. Now onto step two. “Fine. A kiss if I can get Sonnett to give me five bucks.”

For the second time in seconds, she freezes. There’s a confused question floating around in her eyes, but she still snorts out a response. “Are you serious?” 

“Deadly.”

It only takes one word for her to realize your intentions. Rose narrows her eyes at you, annoyed at how quickly you played her. “You know what, go for it. If she doesn’t give you the money, you owe me a kiss.”

It’s a win-win situation no matter if you get the money or not, but the only thing at stake is which one of you will have to break first tonight. 

“Deal.”

Rose’s eyes feel hot on your back as you push your way through the crowd. Sonnett’s quick to give you a grin when she spots you heading her way. 

“‘Sup dude?”

You don’t waste any time with introductions. “Sonnett. Give me five bucks.”

The blonde quirks an eyebrow at you. “Have you ever heard of this thing called ‘asking’?”

“Sonnett,” you sigh.

“No!” she laughs. “Why do you even want five dollars?”

“I bet Rose a kiss if I can get you to give me five bucks.”

At that, Emily puts her drink down. She turns, catching Rose staring at the two of you. Emily’s always been one of the most vocal of Rose’s friends. The blonde has lamented, whined, and groaned about when the two of you were finally going to make things official, oftentimes muttering about how this back and forth was annoying her, not that she really had a stake in anything. But now that it’s actually come down to it, you can almost see the gears turning in her head. 

It only takes a couple seconds before she’s sighing, digging through her wallet for what seems like way more than five dollars. “Take my whole wallet. Go get your kiss.” 

Sonnett’s pushing you away with a laugh, ushering you back towards Rose. 

You give her a little stupid salute before you’re skipping back to the midfielder. 

Rose is struggling not to laugh when you pop back up next to her, sliding the money gifted to you from your friend across the table to her. “Do I even want to know how you got this?”

“No. Now about that kiss…” you trail off, definitely not missing the way Rose bites at the bottom of her lip.

God was she sexy. And god did you just want her to kiss you already.

“We don’t have to if you don’t want to,” she stutters out, face turning red at the thought of actually finally getting to kiss you.

“Rose,” you huff. “Do you really think I went through all that trouble just to not get my kiss?”

“You actually want to kiss me?” She sounds surprised, almost as if she’s forgotten how long the two of you have been pretending not to be into each other. 

“Like insanely so.” You’re not even embarrassed by how desperate you sound.

Three years later, Sonnett will stand up with a mic, taking all the credit for finally getting the two of you together. You’ll be dressed in white, rolling your eyes at someone you have now long considered your best friend while Rose does exactly the same, only with a slightly peeved look on her face. Pinoe will try to argue her case for being the one responsible, given that she’s the one who told Rose to invite you, while Sofia will offhandedly try to give credit to your shared ex-boyfriend. It’s honestly a shit-show, your wedding reception, but the two of you won’t care much, more than happy to finally have matching rings on your hands. 

But in the present day, you and Rose are happy to just finally have your first kiss. 

“Go on a date with me. Like an official one,” you murmur seconds after you break apart. 

“Only if I get to pay for it,” is her response, Rose never one to be outplayed.

She’s a competitive one, she is, but Rose is a competitive girl you get to call yours, and you wouldn’t have it any other way.

[rosewaterandivy]

Hm. So. Modern actor! Steve Harrington being nominated for an Oscar (Best Actor, obviously). He’s been nominated and lost out on Best Supporting Actor before and he’s been an attendee and presenter a few times over the years, but he’s nervous about this nomination in particular.

Maybe it’s because there’s a bit more on the line now, you’ve been married a few years and the twins, Eden and Ezra, are turning two soon. Eddie’s girlfriend Liz penned the script, which was miraculously picked up by A24, and somehow you and Ed had been roped into overseeing the score/soundtrack. Liz had been hesitant to bring Steve on even though all the other actors auditions and self-tapes paled in comparison.

They had a whole lunch about it - it was a *to do* in every sense of the word.

But once he read the script, Steve knew that role had to be his. Because the emotional thrust of the film was inspired by you and the chaotic unfolding of his relationship with you. It wasn’t so obvious at first glance, but if you knew where to look, it was clear as day.

All the love you’d had for one another, your little ragtag bunch of dreamers - Eddie, Steve, Liz, and you - found its way onto the pages of this script. It was a love letter to you and for you, with every word.

And Steve would be damned if he didn’t fight tooth and nail to be a part of it.

Bringing home the Oscar was no different. Besides, he had a little side bet riding on it. Maybe he cajoled you into potentially contemplating having another kid (or two) after one too many glasses of Syrah.

And maybe you’d agreed with the stipulation of: “Okay stud. I’ll think about it if you win the Oscar, but then and only then.”

He’d started the campaign in earnest the very next day. Now all that was left was it being it all home. And if there’s one thing Steve Harrington does, it’s win.

[horseshoegirl]

Damn Those Dog Tags: Part 23 - Sleep Deprivation

📜So... I really don't know what to say right now. As a writer, we are supposed to be able to form words into sentences that create worlds, characters... emotions... but I cannot bring myself to form the correct words to describe how grateful I am that you guys took a chance on me, writing this piece of fan fiction after an 8-year hiatus, wondering if I still had it, if I was enough. DTDT is the first piece of Fan Fiction I've ever finished, the first story I have ever finished. And along with you all, I've cried, I've laughed, I've wept, I've smiled over Sadie being herself and Liz standing up for what is right. Jake being who he is, and Bradley... well, he speaks for himself 😅 It's one thing to say you write fan fiction, but it's another thing to say that you want to write fan fiction for people who make you feel supported in what you do. This is my THANK YOU to you all. For your kind words and lengthy reblogs, for the comments, likes and support. DTDT only exists because of you guys. And I love every one of you from the bottom of my heart.

So... with a bittersweet mention, here is the final Part of DTDT. Part 23, Sleep Deprivation 😭

❗18+. Strong Language, Pure fluff, Original Female Character, Original Child Character, PDA, Just in case letters, and maybe a few tears...

#6K words

Part 22 | Masterlist

"Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday, Dear Sadie Bug, Happy Birthday to you!" 

Cheers erupted throughout the Hard Deck as Sadie smiled at her family, all gathered and singing to her around the piano. Uncle Roo was playing, lightly swaying into her side, making her laugh. Alyssa had her hand on Uncle Roo's shoulder, and the rest of the Dagger Squad was scattered about, singing along with the crowd.

She turned eleven today, and while she loved the fact everyone was here, with her celebrating, she found that the best gift she ever could have received was in how she saw you smile, here and now, with Uncle Jake holding you close. You were smiling like you used to, long before you had left to live in this small town she now called home.

Uncle Jake had lived up to his promise. He reminded you that you were worth it. He made you happy. And he tried.

She didn't need anything else.

"Sadie," a hesitant voice called from behind her. She spun on the piano stool, only to find a single yellow tulip attached to a slightly shaky hand in front of her face.

"Happy Birthday." Will smiled crookedly.

You felt Jake tense up against your back, his chest puffing out and his grip on your waist near the point of pain. Bradley even twisted at the sound of Will's voice, staring him down above the rim of his father's Raybans.

While Bradley might be dating his mother and, albeit, starting to bond with Will, he knew a wooing attempt when he saw one. Sadie's heart was another matter entirely.

You and Alyssa giggled softly at Sadie, blushing as she took the flower and at Jake and Bradley for shooting each other, what you could only describe as an "overprotective dad vibe."

Sadie delicately grasped the tulip, her eyes lighting up as she glanced at Will. "Thank you," she managed to say, her voice a mix of appreciation and surprise.

A silent exchange passed between Jake and Bradley. It was as if they had reached an unspoken agreement, a united front. Will had no idea what he was up against, two grown men ready to go to comedic if not slightly absurd, lengths to stir hardship to any boy that dared to approach Sadie.

Will shot his mom a look, who nodded at him encouragingly.

"Do you wanna.. go play on that old arcade machine in the back?"

Sadie went to open her mouth, an eager yes about to escape her lips, until she thought she heard a growl coming from behind her. She turned back, seeing her Uncle Roo first, his jaw tight. Her Uncle Jake wasn't that far off either, his nose flaring with each breath he took, glaring down at her best friend.

She shot you a pleading, panicked look, hoping you could see the desperation on her face.

Jake and Bradley opened their mouths, Jake's voice overtaking Bradley's as he went, "Over my dead..."

But they were cut short. You had taken your arm resting on top of the piano and jabbed Jake in the gut with your elbow. Alyssa had caught on, grabbing a lock of Bradley's hair at the back of his head and tugging once hard.

"Of course, sweetheart," you replied, jutting your head urgently towards the back. You silently mouthed, 'Go. Now!' and Sadie giggled, scrambling off the bench with her flower in hand, running off with Will towards the back.

Alyssa let go of Bradley's hair, prompting him to shout out, "What the Hell!" as you turned to face Jake.

"Relax, both of you. She's eleven!"

Jake pouted, clutching his stomach. "That little shit stole my idea. Only I get to give her a yellow tulip... it's a tradition at this point, and here he comes, swooping in with his tulip-like he's Mr. Original. It's my thing with her."

"Hey, that's my son you're talking about, Seresin!"

You tapped the back of his head with your hand, biting your lip to stiff your giggle. "He's a kid, Jake! It's just a tulip, not a wedding ring."

That was definitely the wrong thing to say.

Jake gulped hard, and you swore you saw a flash of pure terror cross his face. "No, Nope. No. I just got to call her mine. I need to do the things with her before she properly grows up," he sputtered. "A wedding ring? Liz, she's eleven! Don't put that mental image in my head. She's our girl, don't do that!"

Jake wasn't kidding about Sadie being his, not really.

Once the two of you brought Sadie home from Camp, you sat her down and asked if she was okay with Jake moving in. Of course, Sadie was ecstatic, nodding her head and asking 'when' or 'how soon', which prompted the two of you to start to plan things seriously. But it also posed the question Ridley had to consider the second Sadie was born.

Who would look after her if something happened to you?

It was nothing formal. You merely had to change your Will, stipulating that Jake would be the one to get her should anything happen. But Jake treated it as if it actually was, boasting to anyone he could about his niece. The words practically rolled off his tongue with ease and that sheer cocky confidence he was known for. It also didn't surprise you when you found information packets lumped on top of his computer in your office about the process for formally adopting.

It just further proved to you how much Jake wanted to be in your life.

"She has a good head on her shoulders, Jake. And she adores you," you remarked, looping your arms around his neck. Jake's chest rumbled against yours as he huffed. "Besides, I think you set a good example. She clearly expects high standards."

He let out a grumble, and you could only laugh and stand on your toes to plant a kiss on his lips. "You'll always be the reigning champion in this house, Hangman."

"I agree with Jake, Liz. We need to lock her in a tower."

You dropped your head to Jake's chest before you turned to roll your eyes at Bradley. You caught sight of Sadie in the distance, and she met your eyes and gave you a thumbs up, the tulip still in her other hand. The message was clear; she was okay, she was happy. That's all that mattered to you.

"Want another?" you asked the two of them, gathering their empty bottles. The both of them nodded, and you shook your head as Jake stepped into the space you vacated, leaning over the side of the piano to scheme with Bradley. You rolled your eyes at Alyssa, who shooed you on your way.

You smiled at Penny as you approached the bar, holding the empty bottles out to the air, signalling for two more. It's not as if you couldn't have gotten them and added them to a tab yourself, but Penny was adamant you didn't work tonight.

Your phone rang out and vibrated within the pocket of your dress. You pulled it out, wondering who could be calling you. Everyone who possibly could be was here at the Hard Deck, celebrating Sadie's Birthday.

Then, you saw the caller ID.

The bottles slipped from your fingers, shattering upon impact with the floor.

Not that you noticed, but everyone's heads lifted and turned towards the sound of breaking glass. Jake was the first to reach you, mindful of the broken glass at your feet. Then Bradley, Alyssa, Nat, and all of the Daggers swarmed you, knowing your history with phone calls and wondering what else might be thrown at you this time.

You pressed accept on the tiny device, bringing your phone to your ear, eyes wide as you stared at Jake, panting hard.

"Hello?"

Penny had yelled for someone to turn off the jukebox and for everyone to shut up. It was dead quiet, but for the sound of your voice and the tiny speaker of your phone, the entire bar invested in the outcome of your call.

Jake wanted to reach for you, but he didn't know if he should, wanting to leave you to have your space to deal with whoever was on the other end of that call. You turned your back to face him as the other person started speaking, you pressing a knuckle to your lips and biting down hard.

Everyone watched you nod and heard the question, 'What does that mean for us?' cross your lips.

"What..?" Rooster started to say, breaking the silence. Jake shot his arm out, shaking his head.

But the second he saw you grip your forearm and your skin turning red, he stepped forward, uncaring as glass crunched under his boots, to stop you from hurting yourself.

"Yes, thank you. I'll call if I have any more questions."

You squeezed Jake's hand once he gripped yours, and you hung up the phone. Turning to face the group, you looked at them with a shocked look on your face.

"Liz? Darlin?" Jake asked. "What happened?"

You swallowed, hardly believing what you heard yourself. "Uh...Tyler got thirty years to life."

A few collective gasps went around the room.

"They got him on attempted kidnapping, two counts of physical assault, and.. and murder."

Jake reached for your face and cradled your cheek. "Murder?"

You nodded, silent tears falling from the corners of your eyes. "There was a traffic camera... that fucking white car... the spoiler on the back... they caught him chasing her..."

Your words were fractured sentences as Jake combed your hair back from your face, you trying to sort between your thoughts and the information you had been given.

"That was the district attorney. I didn't even know he had a court date," you sniffed. "His whole family is going down for this... and there was a jury too. Apparently, they didn't take kindly to him attacking an active and decorated Naval Aviator."

Jake huffed, a soft smile on his face, but it didn't reach his eyes. You could tell he was stuck somewhere between relief and discomfort.

You raised your eyebrow at him. "Are you okay?"

He was. Tyler was truly well and out of your lives, and that was a good thing. But somewhere deep down, Jake felt as if the universe had twisted things to make him the hero in a story where the true victims were you and Sadie. It didn't sit right with him.

"I don't wanna sound like an ass, but my career shouldn't have had any bearing that decision."

You shook your head, touched by his reaction. "It doesn't matter, Jake. Not to me. He's going away."

You pressed your forehead to his, a happy sob escaping your lips at the realization suddenly washing over you. "He won't be able to get near Sadie ever again. And Ridley finally has justice for what happened to her. We're free."

Jake pressed a quick kiss to your lips, smiling as you gasped another deep breath. The second he pulled away, letting his nose rest beside yours, you chanted out happily, "We're free!"

Cheers went up around the Hard Deck, and Penny rang the bell, singling a free round on the house. The rest of the Daggers sighed with relief, lamenting about needing a drink, while Rooster whooped, running back to the piano and sliding along the bench as he ran his fingers across the keys.

Yet Jake and you stayed where you were, staring at each other with echoing smiles.

A well-known piano riff sounded off the walls of the Hard Deck, and Jake and you fought the urge to roll your eyes, using the distraction to slip out onto the hard deck patio and over to a grassy part of the beach. You could hear Rooster's playing at a distance, but it was enough not to be a bother.

You went to step forward, but Jake pulled you back by the grip he had on your hand, spinning you under his arm. You giggled, your head tilted back as you went, only to find Jake's hand resting flat on the curve of your back, urging the two of you to slow dance.

Bright orange rays hit the side of Jake's face. Hues of gold, pinks, and soft yellows, all sculpting his jawline, shining tiny flecks into his eyes, and casting a glow into his hair. They highlighted the small, affectionate small that was tugging at the corner of his lips. Jake's Mona Lisa smile was one thing, but this was one that was only reserved for you.

"Is this going to be our thing?" you asked him. "Watching sunsets?"

Jake smirked. "We could do a sunrise to switch things up?"

You let Jake spin you under his arm again, a smile on your face. He pulled you back to him, hooking both his arms around your waist while yours wrapped themselves around his neck.

"No," you smiled, swaying with him across the grass, thinking of when you went to visit Ridley. "I think sunsets are reserved just for us."

---

Despite having a party at the Hard Deck, Sadie's birthday did happen to fall on a Saturday night. So it was only natural one of her birthday wishes ended up being that she wanted these fun-filled nights to continue.

Who were you to deny her that request?

It was just the team that came back to your place afterwards for cake, your backyard lit up by your string lights and the glowing flames of your bonfire pit, music blasting from your speakers. Sadie had just finished opening her gifts from the squad, and Jake and you had saved yours for last.

Jake reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, flicking the stand back on the case and propping it on the edge of the pit. It let out a shrill tone, and Sadie squinted her eyes at the tiny screen, wondering who Jake had decided to call, now of all times.

Suddenly, a woman who looked just like him appeared on the screen.

"Is this Sadie?!"

Sadie squinted her eyes. "Yes...."

Janet's face beamed with excitement. "It's so nice to meet you finally, my brother can't shut up about you. Happy Birthday, Sweetie."

"That's nice of him," she answered, though you knew what she was doing, challenging Janet to earn her affection.

"Which one are you?" Sadie pressed. Jake bit his tongue, fighting a grin.

Janet didn't hesitate when she replied, "Not the twit and not the one that needs a pitchfork shoved up his as... butt."

Sadie giggled, and Janet shamefully called out, "Sorry, Liz."

You shrugged. "She's heard worse."

You met Nat's eyes on the other side of the fire, noticing how she was watching Sadie contently.

"Uhhh," Janet remarked. "You actually kind of look like my brother."

"Do you have any embarrassing stories about him?" Sadie's high-pitched voice made you turn back toward the camera.

Janet glanced over towards you within the frame. "She really is your niece, isn't she?"

You laughed, and Sadie broke into a full smile, her guard dropping a bit. "I like her," she declared, glancing at you and Jake for your reactions.

"If you two are done squaring off.." Jake said, rolling his eyes. "Janet had a hand in your gift and wanted to watch you open it."

He placed a box in Sadie's lap, holding the edge so it wouldn't fall as she tore into it.

"Go on, open it," Jake encouraged with a little bounce in his voice.

Sadie tore at the wrapping paper, lifted the lid and gasped. "Cowboy boots!" she squealed, pulling them out to admire the intricately stitched patterns and the shine of the leather.

"Thought you might need a pair if you're gonna be an honorary Texan," Jake said, grinning from ear to ear.

Sadie lunged forward, giving him a huge hug. "Thank you, Uncle Jake!"

He laughed, hugging her back. "Thank Janet, too. She picked them out."

Sadie squealed out her thanks as she kicked her slip-ons off, quickly trying them on. Except she shrieked when her foot met something within the sole, and she pulled the boot off only to reach down and grasp a few hard pieces of paper.

With a dramatic flair, she pulled out three plane tickets, holding them up for everyone to see. Her eyes widened, and a squeal escaped her lips as she put two and two together. "Are these... are we going to Texas?!"

You took one from her hand, reading the front. "Jake, you didn't."

He shrugged. "She needs to see where her family is from."

Bradley audibly gagged from his spot on one of the chairs, and you barked out, "Can it, Bradley! Don't ruin the moment!"

"We'll see you soon, Aunt Janet," Sadie said, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet with newfound enthusiasm.

"Counting the days, sweetheart," Janet said, waving goodbye as Jake ended the call.

As Sadie tried on her new boots, you reached down beside the bench to grab what would be Sadie's final gift of the night. You carefully slid it into her lap, placing a hand on her back.

"This one is from me... and your mom."

Sadie peered up at you with wide eyes before tearing into the box, practically tossing the lid off in haste. Her tiny hands tore at the tissue paper, and Jake was laughing at her eagerness as the tuffs flew up into the air.

She gasped when caught sight of the dark blue denim folded neatly into the box.

You found that Jean Jacket amongst Ridley's things in the storage unit, finding the courage to go through it finally and see what you could salvage or donate as you undertook the task of redoing Sadie's room. You knew as soon as you saw it that Ridley had been intending to give it to her as a gift, a twin butterfly and ladybug patches having been already sown into the material on the back.

That's what Sadie was seeing now, the jacket folded in such a way in the box only those two patches would be on display.

She wiggled her cowboy boot-clad feet back and forth in excitement as she grabbed the shoulders of the jacket, lifting it up out of the box to hold it in front of her. Jake grabbed the box and added it to the rest of the discarded wrapping paper.

Except as she held it up to inspect the back, the front was on display to everyone else sitting around the fire pit. Collective gasps and shouts of "What?!" sounded off, and you had to bite back your laugh.

"What the hell are those?!"

Sadie lowered the Jacket, peering over to see her Uncle Bob, ready to rat him out for swearing, when she saw his mouth was open like a fish. Twisting her brow, she flipped it over, a high-pitched gasp escaping her lips as she saw the two patches on the front.

The Dagger patch had been the most damaged one, but it was all too easy to grab the one plastered to one of the walls of the Hard Deck for reference. When Mr Murray asked why you wanted to use the busted one and not the one still intact, you had simply replied with, 'This one is special.'

It sat just next to the left breast pocket, perhaps standing out the most. But you, Sadie, and Jake hadn't been staring at that one. There was a second patch adorning the right breast pocket - a patch with a slight modification.

Sadie ran her finger across the gold-threaded wings before tracing the tiny words wedged in tight on either side below it. The tiny words that stood on top of the reason why this particular patch was now so special to her.

Proud niece of Hangman

To your surprise, it wasn't Bradley, but Nat, who yelled out first, "Hey! What about the rest of us?!"

Her shout set off a chain reaction around the group.

"It's not fair he gets to be on there first!"

"Why didn't you ask us too, Liz!?"

"There's a Dagger patch on there. All of us should be on there!"

But you weren't paying attention to any of them. You were looking at Jake, who had reached out to trace the patch as the jacket rested in Sadie's lap.

She looked up at him, hugging his side. "It's true, you know," she said a matter of factly. "I am proud of you, Uncle Jake. I always will be."

Jake snaked an arm around her back, hugging her and pressing a kiss to the top of her head, eyeing you with a smile. You would never stop surprising him—the both of you.

The Daggers were still arguing amongst themselves when Sadie scowled at them.

"Hey, guys!" She shouted, giving everyone pointed looks across your deck. "It's my birthday, shove it! He counts! And If I say he goes first, he goes on first, okay!?"

Everyone else, save Bradley, backed off.

"Guess I'm just chopped liver then."

Sadie narrowed her eyes, pushing herself to stand.

"You listen here, you big fat glorified chicken..."

You couldn't contain your laughter as Sadie marched over to Bradley, her finger pointed out in front of her as she started laying into him. Rooster looked scared, and you shook your head, wondering why he didn't realize Sadie would jump to Jake's defence the second she could.

Jake startled you as he pressed a kiss to your cheek.

"Meet you in the kitchen?" he spoke into your ear, squeezing his hand once before walking off, collecting the tray of dirty dishes on the table.

You stayed with Sadie for a few more minutes, making sure the rest of your crazy family didn't kill each other over who could have one of their patches on Sadie's jacket next. Though you'd never let on that Mav secretly slipped you one of his as he joined Sadie when she came back to sit with you.

As you sat there, watching the people who had come to mean so much to you, you felt an odd sense of what you could only describe as 'home' wash over you. It wasn't tied to a place but to your extraordinary found family. Because as much as they were there for Sadie, they were there for you too.

It was the peculiar kind of warmth they brought you, whether Nat was trying to get you to come out of your shell, Penny for acting like the defacto mother you didn't quite have most of your life, or Bob willing to be himself around you. It was in the way Mav cared for both you and Sadie as he did for each of his Daggers and how Coyote was always there when you needed him. How Payback and Fanboy made sure everyone was having fun, and how Rooster was the troubled brother you never had, a little broken, a little worse for wear, but genuinely kind-hearted.

Every family a bad egg after all, albeit bad wasn't the word you'd use to describe him at all.

They helped to fill the gaps left by your grief and sorrow, and you vowed to hold each of them a little closer. Because your life had been a pile of good things and also bad. The good didn't always soften the bad things you had to go through, but the bad never spoiled the good or made them unimportant in your life. Your life was messy and unpredictable but beautiful with its imperfections.

And you, somewhere along the way, were living with people who had chosen to stand by you in your darkest moments.

And Jake. Your Jake.

You turned to Sadie. "Think you can manage these guys while I help Uncle Jake?"

She smiled up at you, nodding, before looping her arm through Mav's, resting her head against his shoulder, tenderly glancing between some of her favourite people in the world.

Walking away, you paused at the back door, leaning up against the glass with your arms crossed as you found Jake humming, swaying along to the song currently playing outside as he worked, hands covered in suds as he diligently cleaned the dishes.

You faked a cough, startling Jake as the sponge slipped from his hands back into the dishwater.

"Anything I can help you with, Lieutenant?" you tease, playfulness in your tone and a grin gracing your lips. Jake narrowed his eyes at you, a cocky smirk on his face, then jerked his head to the empty space beside him.

"I wash. You dry?"

You walked over to him, wrapping your arms around his waist from behind, feeling him pause to place his hands over yours. You closed your eyes, pressing your cheek to his back and letting out a deep sigh.

A wave of profound gratitude washed over you. This man had chosen to love not just you but Sadie as well. He had stepped into your lives, filling spaces you hadn't even known were empty at a time when you weren't at your best. When you were fighting with yourself tooth and nail not to start a relationship, when you were missing your sister so much, the thought of her not being here was too great to bear. When you were scared to let anyone that close to you without Sadie's approval and yet, Jake somehow found his way.

You loved him. And there would never be a day in your life when you would let him forget it.

The two of you did the dishes, the odd comment or two passing by. The both of you knew a few of them would be sleeping over, you having already made up the pull-out in your office and Jake having gathered the spare pillows and blankets from your hall closet.

The two of you might have bumped your hips, teased one another, and shared a kiss or two. You might have blown bubbles in Jake's face, and he might have tapped you with the dish rag.

But when everything was said and done, and Jake was working to drain the sink, your eyes tracked to the top of the refrigerator, where that white envelope called out to you. It was wedged between your cookbooks, and you saw nothing else as you pushed yourself off the counter with both hands.

Reaching up, you worked the thick piece of paper out from between the books, only to hold it, staring at the front and absentmindedly tracing the writing on the surface.

Without looking up, you spun towards Jake, feeling a complex mix of emotions. Love, apprehension, vulnerability. But underpinning it all was an entwinement of a slight sadness, but more so serenity and acceptance.

"Hey, Jake," you said softly. Jake turned around, the smile on his face fading when he noticed you were holding a white envelope in your hands. A gentle smile was on your face as you looked down, closing your eyes once before lifting your head.

"I have something for you."

Taking the few steps needed to close the distance between you and Jake, you held out the envelope.

"Another letter?" he teased, slinging the dishtowel onto his shoulder and wiping his hands dry before taking it from your hands. He flipped it over, eyes searching the front until he spotted the fancy handwriting.

Jake's eyes shot to yours, utterly shocked. Yet, you didn't do anything except squeeze his wrist once and lean up to kiss his cheek. "I'll be out in the back with the others if you need me."

Jake remained frozen on your kitchen floor, watching as you walked out the back door. Sadie immediately ran to you, and you held out your arms, a cheerful laugh racking your chest as she hugged you tight.

Jake smiled at the sight, his girls laughing with one another as the music changed, and you wrapped your arms around her, waddling back and forth as the two of you started to dance. But then he felt the weight of the envelope you had given him, and he was drawn back down at the handwriting gracing the surface.

To him

Despite not having seen her handwriting, he knew who this letter was from. You had told him you had opened the shoebox about the letters Ridley had left for various points in either your or Sadie's lives.

He'd never expected Ridley to have written one for him... or at least, the idea of him.

Sitting at your kitchen table, he carefully opened the envelope, tilting it upside down to pull at the folded-up pieces of paper nestled inside. But as he pulled, several polaroids fell onto the table and a few to the floor.

Placing the letter off to the side, he reached down to scoop up the ones that had fallen, drawing in a sharp breath as he flipped one over.

The resemblance between Ridley and you was uncanny.

He didn't know what to expect, seeing a photo of her for the first time. Her eyes twinkled the same way yours did when you were happy, and the two of you shared the same dimples when you smiled. She had the same nose as you, the same hair colour, and the same face shape.

But there were also differences.

He smiled when he noticed the line of freckles spreading across her cheeks, the same type he knew scattered across your back. She had a scar running through her eyebrow and another matching just above her forehead.

But above all else, her smile echoed Sadie's, wide and happy.

He picked up another one, seeing you, as a teenager, laying in a hammock with a notebook and a feathered pen. Ridley had written along the white frame, an author in the making.

There was also one of Sadie as a baby, wrapped in a pink blanket, blue eyes wide as she stared up at the camera. And another of you holding her to your chest in a rocking chair, the two of you asleep. There were a few of you as a kid, another of you holding up a key with your tongue sticking out, and another at your graduation, Sadie on your shoulders stealing your cap.

Jake realized almost all the ones of you were strategically taken by your sister without your knowledge. It's so reminiscent of when Sadie sent that first Polaroid, the same circumstances - like mother like daughter.

Jake laid each out in front of him, lining them up to what he assumed was their chronological order, only to stare down at the story Ridley had left him. He felt his throat tighten as he looked at all of them. Even in the face of something as heartwarming as leaving him photographs of the three of you, the lingering weight of Ridley's absence was inescapable, and it hit him square in the chest.

Though he never had met her, the space she had left was undeniable. Seeing her now, he realized maybe he did know her. In Sadie's smile, in your will to take care of others, in the music she had shared with you and in both of your abilities to put somebody in their place rightly. It caused Jake to smile down at the only photo of her, resting on the table.

"It's nice to meet you, Ridley."

So finally, after the last photo, after the last word had been seen, and the last memory had been touched, Jake unfolded those pieces of paper and began to read.

To the person my sister loves,

Well, shit, she finally did it. My little sister finally found her, Mr. Darcy.

Sorry. As you probably have already discovered, the Beck sisters have a little Pride & Prejudice obsession. Totally my fault for naming my sister after a character in a book I fell in love with in school, but I took my chance when I saw it. But if you have the tendency sometimes to be a pompous asshole with an ego problem, then hey, at least she wasn't that far off the mark.

I'm sorry I'm not there to meet you. Whatever circumstances have prevented me from doing so. I'm sorry I can't have you over to a family dinner, ask about your life, and get to know you. For you to win me over, or for us to bat heads.

Just kidding... I'm more bummed about not being able to give you a shovel talk in person. But I know my daughter, and something is telling me Sadie would have already beaten me to it long before I had an actual chance. She has a thing about Lady Bugs, so run if you see her with an empty water bottle and she... Well, if you don't already know now, chances are you will eventually.

One way or another.

So I think this is my only chance to do it, sad as that is. Sad for you - you probably thought you were getting off scot-free. Nope, sir, I'm still going to kick your ass from my grave. So you better heed the wishes of a dead woman.

Now, she wouldn't have given you this letter if she didn't truly love you... if she didn't want to spend the rest of her life with you. She also must have made you promise to put Sadie first, and the fact you're holding this letter means you have. By her giving this to you, it means you are entirely worthy of her love.

(I don't write this as a means to scare you or warn you about what you're getting into. Cause no takebacks, sir, it's a done fucking deal now. I will so totally haunt your ass if otherwise. Sadie gets her wrath from me.)

There is so much more I want to tell you than I can fit into the pages of this letter. There will always be more, more things left unsaid, more things I never told them, or in what I'm telling you - God, the pressure to write something for someone you may never meet is hard…I hope you have a sense of humour cause I really don't stop rambling.

So, I guess I'll stick with three. Three things I want you to know…

One: Music does not solve all your problems.

Liz might try to tell you otherwise, that music can heal, and while I won't entirely disagree, you need to know the reason why. When we were kids, I'd play music to drown out the arguments, the slamming doors, the not-so-quiet sobs. The ability to guess a tune in just a few notes? That came from needing to know which song would best mask the sounds we didn't want to hear. The playlist wasn't just music; it was emotional armour. So when you listen to music with her, know that there's more beneath the surface. Beneath that lighthearted game is a history that's no game at all. When the playlist ends, and the distractions fade away, be the man who's there for her, not one that hides away when things get rough.

Two: A memory is no longer beautiful just because it fades.

People always used to ask me why I chose a Polaroid over a digital camera. With a Polaroid, each shot counts. You have a limited number of exposures, and each film cartridge is precious. There's no delete button, no do-over, just like in life. And when that photo develops in front of you, you have to wait for it to mean something. Once it does, it's permanent. You can hold it, you can touch it, you can pin it on a wall. But polaroids also fade.

Memories fade. But their value isn't in how long they last but in the ones you choose to capture in the first place. My sister and my daughter have been through a lot, so when you're building this life with them, be mindful of the moments you're capturing. Make those moments count. Make them worthy of being looked back on so there is no room for anyone to doubt the three of you didn't live a life that was not full of love.

Three: Grief is constant, unchanging, and complex - it is the most certain thing, next to death, we are guaranteed.

I have a very, very sneaky suspicion you are a pilot in the navy - hell, she works as a bartender in a navy bar; it was bound to happen with one of you lot (You just better not be the one Penny had called her about, rumoured to be sleeping with all the female bartenders... if you are... aha, good luck sir.. you're so in trouble - That's what Liz gets from me) so you know exactly what I mean. It's ingrained into your soul that each time you go up there, you might not come back down.

Liz struggles with grief and the knowledge that life is precious and fleeting. Don't add to it. Be the person who acknowledges it, who understands it, and chooses every day to make the time you have with them count. Life is fleeting; It can be gone in an instant. It's nothing we should ever take for granted, so please, please, from this dead woman pleading to the man my sister loves, please never take your life with her, with Sadie, as such.

They're both yours now, god help you. Liz, my dear sister, who cares too much. Sadie, my ladybug, who is too honest and sassy for a kid.

I've always put the two of them before myself. Liz has probably told you our story, so I won't rehash the nasty details in what's supposed to be a touching letter - I'm brutally honest, so when I say truly believe it was my sole purpose to be on this earth to 1) take care of my sister and 2) to create what happens to be, next to Liz, one of the most precious things in my life, I fucking mean it.

That being said, we need to make a slight amendment to the Sadie promise. Between the two of us, we need to add Liz to it too.

Lizzie needs to be reminded, given a list of all the reasons she's still here breathing, that she is doing right by what I want for the two of them. Because I know my sister, and she overthinks everything. She will be hanging on by a thread to every decision she will ever make with our Bug, wondering if she has done enough or if she is doing enough.

She already is. She already was.

And she doesn't owe me more than that.

You, however, do.

I need you to remind her of that - that she owes me nothing. I need you to take photos. Take as many as fucking possible. Go on hikes and look for the tiniest bugs. Make memories to hold on to and be the person who scares away Sadie's first date or holds her while she cries. To walk her down the aisle if she chooses and help her if she decides to have kids of her own.

Tell Elizabeth you love her. Every single day. Because you know as well as I do, you don't know the last time you'll be able to. Crawl into the bathtub with her when things get too much and hold her. All she needs is to be held, to know someone is there, standing by her. Thats it.

Stay up listening to vinyl with her, dance across a kitchen floor and make her laugh. Communicate with her. Please, for the love of fucking god, communicate with her about your feelings and your thoughts. She is such a good listener, and she cares so much for the people she loves. That's just who she is, so never forget it.

And promise me this one last favour...

There are more letters like this one in the red box I know she's probably only just opened, probably a long time after I'm gone. Mostly for Sadie, but there are some for Liz... maybe a couple more for you. I'm not sure yet, I'm honestly just making this up as I go.

Can you please make sure they open them? Go through the pile of memories I've left in there every so often?

I'm not being egotistical when I say I know I'm going to be missed. Grief does that to people. It's really just love, wanting to be given but with no place to go. I know those two will always love me in life and in death.

But remind them I know. Remind them I love them too - even if I'm not physically there to tell them myself.

This ended up being not as much of a shovel talk as I thought it was going to be, mostly cause I don't have anything to threaten you with truly.

But how about this, instead?

It's probably weird that I want to say thank you, right? Thank you for falling in love with my sister. Thank you for being there for her, for Sadie. For loving them when I cannot.

But I want to anyway. Because they mean everything to me, and it is my only hope they mean everything to you.

So wherever I am, whether it's in the clouds or in a fucking ray of sunshine, or if I'm a freaking bug, I can only hope I get to see the three of you be with each other in every way that matters.

Even if I can't, I know you're there.

And that's more than enough for me.

Love always,

Ridley Beck

~Fin~

🥲

Tag list:

@blue-aconite @tinytotontheoversizedpony @djs8891 @caitsymichelle13 @startrekfangirl2233

@mayhemmanaged @ereardon @dempy @shanimallina87 @teacupsandtopgun @daggerspare-standingby

@phantomxoxo @formulapierre @eli2447 @fulla02 @blckgrl-sunflower @mizzzpink @ohgodnotagainn

@bubblegumbeautyqueen @sarahsmi13s @desert-fern @lynnestra44 @memoriesat30 @penwieldingdreamer @mxlanciia

@bradleybeachbabe @bobby-r2d2-floyd @lavenderbradshaw @roosters-girl @lovinglyeternal @kmc1989 @gigisimsonmars

@keyrani @craftytrashprincess @hisredheadedgoddess28 @abzidabzy @memeorydotcom @vicsnook @taestrwbrry

@its-the-pilot @dizzybee03 @cassiemitchell

Wickett 🥲

(Sadie, Liz and Jake will be around for blurbs and one-shots if that is something you all are interested in 🥰 )

----

Forever After All - The next series after DTDT

[woneuntonzz]

what's it like to love ? 𓇢𓆸

anton lee x afab!reader (part 4/5)

• part 1

• part 2

• part 3

• part 5

warnings: cussing!

genre: fluff -`♡´- highschool love

word count: 5.3k words!!

౨ৎ ˖ ࣪⊹ description: student athlete!anton x studious class officer!reader | you swore to yourself, to you friends and even to your parents “I'm not one to easily fall.” and you thought you were that tough, not until him of course. [note!!: hiii i'd just like to quickly say that this is my first ever post ever and i'm still a bit insecure with my writing, and english is not my first language so bare with me now 🙏 open for any forms of feedback please do take note that i will take longer to update/respond to anything because of school, thank you!!! ]

[Day 14]

“You seriously aren't dating?” 

It's been over an hour since you've set yourself to finish the very last thing that you needed to complete your grades in Economics. 

You and a couple of your friends were in the library on an early Tuesday morning to finish schoolwork. You've spent the past week taking tests, conducting group presentations, finishing remaining school work, and preparing for the finals which were to be held the next day.

“No —shouldn't you be studying? I heard your class is getting a long test from Mr. Choi later.” you didn't bother drawing your eyes away from what you were doing hoping that they would stop pestering you with the unnecessary questions.

“That's not a problem to me, so stop changing the topic. Tell us what's going on between you and the swimmer guy, you two are always together nowadays 's so hard to miss now.” you stopped and stared at the paper you've been working on, giving Liz a quick glance.

“He likes me.” These words slip past your mouth like it's been resting at the back of your tongue. 

”And?” you sighed at Liz's urges and pursed your lips, trying to find the words to explain everything.

“I haven't reciprocated.” your response was very subtle but your tone indicated hesitance.

“For real? Well, how do you feel about Anton?” Liz's question made everyone take a pause on what they were doing, they were all eyes and ears for you.

“Anton —he's very sweet, and he cares about me, like, a lot. And you know how I've been bothered by him ignoring me for like, months? I just suddenly became interested in befriending him, even just a little bit —but, yeah, that happened. I don't get why it bothered me so much that it got to a point of him confessing out of the blue, does this mean I like him too?” Your eyes lingered on the empty space on the table you occupied.

Your friends exchanged worried looks, unsure of how to help you. 

“I mean, you were mainly worried that he hated you, right?” you weakly nodded at Danielle. “Normally you wouldn't really care about that stuff, at least since last year, so looking at it now it seems like your fixation on Anton must mean something.”

You sighed, averting your eyes from the table and staring on the floor below you as you started to think. Because of something that happened back then, I just stopped caring for anyone with a negative sentiment towards me. I didn't care when that girl I swore to the heavens I loved suddenly stopped caring about me just because of a stupid rumor, I didn't care when people started giving me glares, whispering to themselves when I passed by, I didn't care when I saw the screenshots from group chats that talked shit about me and my friends. I just didn't care, but what made me care for him? —you started to reflect on your feelings and actions for the past year. 

“I'll be fine!” The sudden shift of tone and the smile that sprang forth your lips shocked your friends.

“You sure? We're really worried, you know.” Liz held your free hand and caressed it with her thumb. 

“Yeah, I think I got it.” you heartily smiled at both Liz and Danielle to reassure them.

Danielle went to give you a warm embrace whilst Liz had her arm wrapped around your shoulders, giving you a light squeeze. 

In all honesty, even you didn't know what you meant by "I think I got it.”. What was the next move? Just go with the flow —you repeated in your mind, allowing yourself to be receptive as the next few hours flew by.

————— ୨୧ —————

Anton sat next to you in the classroom with a very few others, those including you who chose to stay back for lunch to finish the workload. 

Both you and Anton were busy with something, with you assisting him every now and then since he had a lot more to work on. 

Despite the very heavy atmosphere brought in by the stress from school, you and Anton appeared to be marveling in your own little world, sifting through paperwork with such radiant expressions embedded on your faces. 

“How should I design this?” Anton held up his unfinished project.

You turned to face him, crossing your legs and holding your chin to imitate enthusiasm. “You know what it needs?”  

“Please don't say Barney the Purple Dinosaur, that… thing… It terrifies me.” Anton shimmied his shoulders to express his supposed fear.

“WHAT? He's cute!” you pressed on him, making him breathe out a laugh.

“So you're saying Barney looks like you?” your eyebrows nearly touched from what he had just said.

“Excuse me? Do I look purple to you?” you jabbed at him with 'threatening' eyes. 

“No, what I mean is, if he's really cute as you claim, he should at least resemble you.” Anton calmly explained.

His zealous explanation made you chortle. He was immersed in your laughter, your voice, your eyes that disappeared as you chortled on, and the corners of your lips that rose higher and higher, because of him.

“Oh, so I'm your basis for what you classify as cute?” you breathlessly spoke, still trying to recover from your disoriented state.

“Well, yeah! look at you…” he cupped your face in his hands, gently squishing your cheeks.

His eyes went from your lips to your eyes after you had gone completely quiet. Your eyes meet each other, stuck perfectly as if binded by glue. He delved into the pools of your eyes, trying to capture what it is you're trying to tell him with your stare.

“Anton.” Your serene voice made Anton blink.

“Yeah?” he whispered back.

“Can you give me a little more time?” he breathes in after hearing your question, but you spoke again before he could utter a response. “To think about… us.”

Your face was still in his hands. He started softly brushing his thumb against the skin of your cheeks. “Of course. I'm sorry, am I moving too fast?”

“No.” but I'm falling too fast —you were only able to finish your sentence in your mind, still afraid to admit your feelings.

You were still quite unsure. You were still afraid that things would end up the same way it did for you past 'relationships', you were already thinking about the plausible downfall before anything had even started.

————— ୨୧ —————

The bell rang, students scurried out of the building, being chased by the obligation to study for the exams tomorrow day. 

“Don't message me tonight okay? Both you and I have A LOT to study.” you iterate to the guy walking beside you.

“Yep. I'll be crying over chemistry… if you even cared.” you playfully rolled your eyes at his humorous cry.

When you stepped out of the school gates, you were expecting him to wave goodbye and walk the other way, but then after being about a meter away from school, you stopped in your tracks.

“Why are you still with me? isn't your house the other way?” you furrowed your brows as you looked at him.

“You're crazy for real, my house is literally in the same direction as yours, keep walking luv.” Anton placed his hand on the area below the back of your neck, lightly pushing you to continue your steps.

“Wait, really? you've always walked the other way…” at this point you were just questioning everything and you already had a lot on your mind considering the exams.

“I visit the record store nearby before going home.” you simply nodded at Anton for his clarification.

“Why?” you asked to which he shrugged.

“I like it there. It's peaceful, it's vintage, the music is fire, and the owner is very nice.” it was true that he often visited that place before he went home, but not everyday, what wasn't a fact is that his home is actually in the same direction as yours. “I can take you there some time when you're free.”

“I'd love that.” you utter, smiling to yourself, keeping your eyes on the vamp of your shoes.

You two kept walking till you reached the gates to your house and the sun was just about to fall.

“I never knew you lived just right ahead.” you were unlocking the gate when the words fell off your lips. 

“Are there no people inside to open the gate for you?” you swung the gate open and looked at Anton whose eyes lingered on your bedroom window on the second storey of the house.

“My dad's abroad, my mom's at work.” you shake your head away from the gloomy thoughts, smiling up at Anton. 

He smiled back, subtly biting down on his bottom lip. 

“Get home safely Tonii.” there was a glint in Anton's eyes when they enlarged in a modicum. 

“Uh —Oh, yeah, you too.” Your laughter filled his ears and soon enough he cracked up as well.

“What do you mean 'you too'?” At this point, you're just breathing out your words. “I'm literally at home right now!”

“You never know, Barney might be right behind the door to kidnap you…” Anton eyed the door of your house, his actions gave you the creeps and the thought that an intruder might actually be inside your house waiting for you flashes in your mind.

“Ow!” you hit Anton's chest, but still, he laughed. 

“Go home! you didn't have to give me anxiety you know!” Anton chuckled once again looking down on you who was looking up at him and pointing at his face, acting menacing in jest.

“Go inside your house first, what will happen then if I left and Barney ends up kidnapping and eating you alive huh?” you both had pursed lips in an attempt to suppress a laugh.

“Okay, okay. I'll go in.” When the two of you finally calmed yourselves down, you walked to the doorstep of your house.

You had the door wide open, just enough for Anton to catch a glimpse of your humble home. You stood by the door, already inside the house. “Message me when you get home, will you?” you asked eagerly, just loud enough for Anton to hear you despite the distance.

“I will.” Anton replied, matching your volume.

He waved at you as a smile crept up to his face. 

His smile somehow caused you to feel some kind of current coursing through your entire body. You had to defy the urge to just walk right back to Anton to make him feel what you felt as your eyes traced the curve that gradually formed on his lips.

He kept his smile as he started to slowly disappear from your sight. You were so smitten that you failed to notice that he walked back to the direction where you came from. 

————— ୨୧ —————

About an hour has passed, and the message you'd been waiting for since you've had yourself settled at your study table is yet to come. 

You've been flipping over your notes, sequentially staring at every word delineated with different color variations of highlights. 

Maybe he forgot, he must've gotten really tired… —you began to think of a thousand reasons why he hasn't messaged you yet. You exhaled heavily, laying your head on your forearm resting on your study table. You shifted your head to the side and eyed your phone. You were pondering on just grabbing it and asking him where he was and why hasn't he messaged you yet. 

You sat up with both hands at the sides of your head. After a few minutes of resisting and a long blink, you finally gave in.

Anton just got off the bus when he felt his phone vibrating in his hands. His eyes went bulging out of its socket when he saw your name.

Anton couldn't help but beam at the little nickname you gave him but he quickly gathered his thoughts and gulped, glancing at the quiet street of their neighborhood. He couldn't stand making up a nonsensical excuse that you'll eventually dissect within seconds, he didn't want you to think that he doesn't really care or that he forgot, that he got too tired. It wouldn't make sense for him not to speak or be with you even if he's exhausted to the core, he could only be in repose with you after all.

A downturned smile formed on Anton's lips. He made great effort every time he intended to flirt with you, and he was aware when you flirted back, he just wasn't certain if you meant any of them. He surely meant every endearment, often masking them with his little quips. He didn't want to think you were just frivolling with him and he's quite abashed with even having to take a second to think about it.

He felt his phone vibrate in his hands again, this time you were calling. He picked up almost immediately, and you were met with the ceiling of his room.

“Nice wall.” you uttered.

“It's the ceiling.” he was chuckling out of frame 

He had his phone set up on his desk and you could see his medals and trophies at the background, and his cello. You were eager to ask him about his cello, ask him to play you something, and maybe even teach you. You cleared your throat as you cleared out your thoughts.  

Anton sat down on his desk chair facing his phone —facing you.

“Where are the others?” Anton asked as he watched you blurt down what you were studying.

“Oh, they backed out.” your tone was nonchalant and your head hung low, pouring all your attention to blurting, or at least you were trying to.

“Really?” he was almost laughing and you heard it, making your left brow rise.

“Mhmm~” you hummed back.

“You sure it's not because you wanted to talk to me?” Anton's tone sent shivers down your spine. 

He sounded calmer, and a lot more alluding, so much so that you had to stop and stare at your notebook for a while to calm your mind and give it some space to process what to reply.

“Maybe —Well, yeah, I guess, but I called you to study.” your voice took after his making him feel assured. 

Despite the soporific air in his room which he inhaled, he was wide awake, wanting to just hear you talk on and on and on again. His yearnings were answered not long after.

“And I guess I wanted to… hear your voice —again.” your figure remained placid in his eyes, but deep inside, your heart pounded like a whole planet of people marching together. 

“Really?” somehow his voice became a lot lower, while still having a comforting and peaceful cadence.

“Mhmm~” your hum, this time, was a lot more mellow. It filled his ears and it got stuck in his head like a song that he almost hummed too.

“Everything about you is so, so beautiful.” your heartbeat persisted.

You looked up to your phone to see him, and there he was, giving you the same smile he left you as he stood by the gates of your home. How could you not smile back? in a matter of seconds, you shied away from his stare, looking back down on the paper that you've almost forsaken. 

“Hey —uh —let's have this talk some other time. There's still a lot to study, especially for you.” Anton could hear the frailty trying to break out of your voice.

He chuckled spurring your attempts to calm your heart down to fall short. “Okay, lovely.”

Your head fell right onto your desk, producing a loud thud.

“Y/n? you okay?” your sudden action stunned him.

“Yeah, yeah, i'm fine! let's just study, please!” you pleaded as you lifted your head back up.

You just had no idea that his heartbeat was in sync with yours. He just wanted to be by your side again. He didn't want the call to end just yet, he loved hearing your voice, but at the same time he couldn't wait for the next day to come so he could admire you closely and marvel in your presence.

————— ୨୧ —————

[Day 17]

Finals have come to an end. Some tests were easier than others, but you were confident, you were gonna be in the Top 5 of the ranks. You felt particularly good during those 3 days of absolute mind torture. Within those 3 nights, you and Anton have been having your study calls. You would both study the whole time, while also fighting to make the other blush more than yourselves. 

It's a cloudy Sunday morning, you could tell it was cloudy since the sun has yet to peek at you at the time it normally would. You had just woken up from a good night's sleep and felt very relaxed that you had nothing to worry about anymore. No pending schoolworks, no group projects and presentations, no more quizzes and exams, and most importantly, no more school for a few short months. 

Once that long awaited break greets you and pats you on the back, all you'll have to do is brace yourself for your senior year, your final year. You've been thinking really hard on what course to take and all you've ever been is nothing but unsure even with the pressure of having only a year left to figure it out.

You got your phone from your bedside table, and without checking it, you headed downstairs. 

“Hey, hun', your grandpa asked if you wanted to come over and visit, we'll only be there till dinner.” your mom asked as she eyed your figure that slowly descended from the stairs. “Your grandpa is having some visitors if you don't mind.”

You lightly smiled at your mom and nodded. 

It's been a while since you've paid a visit to your grandfather's haven —as you'd like to call it. He owned a huge flower field, filled with flowers that he and his family adored. Your grandfather loved seeing people with mouths hang open, admiring the beauty, the work, and the thought put into this field. He could've capitalized on it, but he didn't. He made a gateway and a stone path through the field, and anyone could go in and out. He always watched, to make sure that no one would ruin his beloved flowers, but for the most part he just wanted to see the appreciative nature of mankind towards such beautiful beings.

In the car ride to your grandpa's, your mom would ask you about everything that's been happening for the past few months. It's been quite a while since the two of you had an actual conversation. It was a great relief that your mom missed you as much as you missed her, where every night when you hear the sound of her parking the car in the garage, you couldn't bring yourself to get up anymore and greet her. It would be too late in the night for you to be up and it would worry her, so you would just lay there and you would see her with only the moonlight shining down on her, and she would caress your hair and leave once she's assured that you've been sleeping well.

After some catching up with your mom, you finally arrived at your grandpa's. He welcomed the two of you with a warm and wide smile spread across his face. He smelled like a pie of mixed fruits, which could only mean one thing. 

“These visitors, they want to buy my field.” both you and your mom went wide-eyed from his words.

“You said yes?” your mom's hand reached for her dad's forearm, keeping it there.

“Well, not yet.” your grandfather scratched the back of his neck when your mom let out a loud sigh.

“Well, grandpa, if you can refuse it, you definitely should. That's your gift for grandma for her last birthday, and she's looking over it from the heavens. Who knows what these visitors would do with these fields. They might clear out all the flowers and build a factory for all we know!” your grandpa looked at you with contrite eyes.

“I know, I know, but they've really been pushing me for almost 8 months now! I was hoping we could talk it out through dinner.” you had so much trust in your grandfather, and you knew he could resolve this, you knew he would never give up the field, even for his own life. “And maybe you'd like their son too.”

The worry painted on your face was diminished within seconds. 

“Dad!” your mom lightly hit his shoulder with the hand that used to rest on his forearm.

“What?” your grandpa seemed to be a little too indifferent with the situation he'd put you in and it made you a bit upset.

“Did you set her up with the son!?” your mom had a firm grip on his shoulder now, slightly shaking him as she spoke.

“I guess so.” your mom sighed even heavier than earlier. “Their son is a good guy! He's a bit timid, but he was tall! really tall… and I believe he plays basketball —or was it football? I can't really remember, but—”

“It's fine.” you blurted out, arms crossed and gloomy eyes pinned to the floor. 

“I'm sorry my little tulip. I shouldn't have. You don't have to, okay? I'll try my best to convince them with my words and cooking alone, and if it doesn't work, then, I don't really know what to do —but you can just settle, okay?” your grandpa placed a hand on top of your head and gave it a gentle pat.

You could only nod and give him a weak smile. You loved the field, it's the only fragment of your grandmother that you'll be able to keep till your last breath. When you were born, it's been over a decade since your grandmother had passed. You had never been in her presence, but in the fields, you could catch a glimpse of her amidst the clouds, smiling down at you.

Before you knew it, the night would fall. You made sure you looked proper, still staying true to your words that you were not there to impress anybody. 

You helped your mom with setting up the dining table. When the bottom of the glass pitcher you held touched the table, you heard your grandpa say “Welcome Mr. and Mrs. Lee! —oh, and hello to you too young man!”.

You sighed, but then you felt a hand on your shoulder. You turned your head and was met with your mom's reassuring smile. “Nothing's going to be sold, and no one's going to be forced into anything, okay?” she says softly, before making her way into the living room to greet the guests as well.

Her words made you feel at ease, the heavy feelings that slowly weighed down on you started to dwindle.

Put away the cloth you used to handle the pitcher, and you could hear your mom, grandpa and the guests coming into the kitchen. 

“Oh, and that's my granddaughter Y/n. She's very smart, and she can sing too!” you suppress a laugh from hearing your grandpa's proud tone.

You turned around, and your mind went spiraling. It seemed out of the blue, a very peculiar instance. Perhaps this was entirely by chance as this was never a part of your wishes and prayers. 

“Y/n y/s/n?” you tensely nod at who you could only guess as the mother of the family. 

“You know my granddaughter?” your grandfather tilted himself to the side out of curiosity.

“Hmm, yes. We know her very well. She's known for being one of the top students in their school, in fact, she's helped our son a lot with his schoolworks since he had a lot to catch up on.” the mom gave you a warm smile after her sentence.

“Our son is very thankful. We hear your name quite a lot and we've really been wanting to meet you.” This time, it was the dad who spoke.

Your lips quivered. You're just simply at a loss for words. 

Everyone was sitting on the dining table, and there he was, sitting across from you. 

“Oh, I thought you were a basketball player because of how tall you are! good for you! I feel like being a swimmer is a lot cooler!” your grandfather would excitedly exclaim somewhere in the adults' conversation.

You and him never bothered to join in unless you were asked. 

Once again, being in your own little world, when the adults had gone to the living room to talk, the two of you went to the flower fields.

“This place is surreal.” you barely believe that you were hearing the same mellow voice that you could never seem to get off your head again after a while.

“Yeah? just imagine how it would look under the light of day.” you crouched down to touch one of zinnias. 

You felt his lofty figure crouch down next to you. 

“I missed you, you know. My parents tricked me into coming here. I just said I wanted to see this field, but when we got close they told me they wanted me to meet the field owner's daughter. It was like they were implying that I get no bitches.” you couldn't help but laugh at him.

You turned yourself around and carefully sat yourself on the stone path with your knees bent towards your body. You could feel some of the flowers tickling your back making you giggle softly as you looked into his eyes.

“I missed you too Tonii.” he gave you a smile as bright as the moon above.

You both looked up to the sky and admired the stars, and the crescent moon. 

“It was so cloudy this morning. I can't believe this sight would be possible.” your voice was very gentle, still admiring the night sky.

Anton looked into your shimmering eyes. He could see the reflection of the moon greeting him. It was telling him something. He was so mesmerized by you that he wouldn't even realize that you were already staring back at him.

“It's kind of funny, you know? it's like the universe was taunting us, telling us we're gonna meet another romance that was not each other, but in the end it's still us.” you tilted your head, trying to see through Anton's entrancing gaze.

“I like you too Anton.”

Despite the cold air of the night, heat traveled throughout your entire body as you watched his eyes grow larger.

“Am I hearing things? Y/n? Y/n are you there?” you released a hearty laugh and hit his chest playfully.

You allowed your hand to rest there, and you could feel his rapid heartbeat that went at the same pace as yours. It wouldn't take long until you were both staring into each other again, and at the same time, at the same speed, your eyes would shift to each other's lips, and they would meet eventually. You wrapped your arms around his neck when he had placed a hand to support your back as he leaned in closer, and closer.

“Y/n? Anton? Where are you?” you two would hurriedly stand up from where you were when you heard your grandpa's calls.

You glanced at each other's flushed faces before a flashlight shone right onto your faces.

“Oh, there you are. Well, Anton and his parents will be leaving now.” Your grandpa gave Anton a big smile, signaling with his hands for Anton to come back to the house.

You walked back side by side with your hands latched onto one another. 

You two were met with silent stares when you entered the house with linked hands. You two would let go from each other and Anton would go stand next to his parents.

“We'd like to thank you for the wonderful meal, we really do appreciate it.” Anton's mom shook hands with your grandfather, and would give your mom a hug.

She went up to you and hugged you as well, a little bit longer than you expected. 

————— ୨୧ —————

When you got home, you had asked Anton if you could give him a call since your time earlier was cut short. He immediately said yes and you two would be on facetime again, this time with no books or notebooks, not seated at your desks. You were both just lying on your beds with your phones in hand. 

“Wait, you like me too?” Anton had been asking the same question for the past 6 minutes

“Yes!” you laughed.

He just couldn't believe it. You couldn't believe him either. You've been thinking about it ever since day 1, it was just now when you realized that you did feel the same.

“Are we like g-f and b-f now?” he places a hand over his mouth acting like a shy toddler.

“Ew, don't say it like that!” He ended up laughing too.

“Okay!” his laughter would fall to an abrupt stop and it would go silent for a while that you almost asked him if he was still there. “But seriously, what are we?”

“Well, we feel the same. Couples become couples because of reciprocated feelings. Now put two and two together.” you made little hand gestures as you spoke, and he just smiled, but deep inside he was awestruck, still finding everything unbelievable.

“We're… we're together now holy shit.” you couldn't help a gasp from escaping your mouth. You've never heard him cuss so heavily before, it sounded harmless —well of course, he's Anton— but it was so foreign to you that you just bursted out laughing.

The two of you talked and laughed throughout the night, and when the clock ticked at 12, you two had to say goodbye.

“Good night Tonii.” you yawned, making Anton expel a chuckle. “Can't you stop laughing at everything?”

“I should be the one saying that to you, but anyways, I just think you're so adorable, leave me alone.” his last words were muffled as he hid the bottom half of his face under the covers. “Good night lovely. See you again tomorrow.”

Tomorrow was another day, and a very great one as it turns out. Suddenly you two weren't hiding the fact that you two would hold hands and were always just centimeters away from touching noses. Your friends and Anton's alike didn't seem to be surprised at all, they were more likely relieved that the two of you finally came to a conclusion to what they thought shouldn't take too long. After all, the painfully obvious mutual feelings you shared were so strong that your friends and he would have distorted faces by the end of observing you two. But now, the clock is finally set.

“So you're saying, your grandfather spent almost a half of his life on that flower field, and it would be his final and greatest gift to your grandma?” you hummed an affirmation at Anton's query. “Woah.”

“The commitment made me believe that there is indeed true love.” you said in a very dramatic tone, looking off into the distance. 

“I can do that for you too.” he took great offense from you laughing at his face. “I'm not kidding!”

“I mean, it,'s not that I don't think you can or would, you don't really have to. There's a lot more ways you can express your feelings, my grandpa just happens to be a very hard-working man who appreciates the smallest of the small things in life.” Anton just loved it when you got so immersed with explaining.

“It's love.” he blurts out.

“Yeah. Love.” 

Love drives us to do the unthinkable, the perceptively impossible. Love is complex, but you would know it when you feel it, you would know when you've found it. And it is when love is exchanged unconditionally that life begins to finally be as fulfilling as they claim it to be in books and movies.

｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈• ｡ﾟ

[dlartistanon]

There's a Liz CG in chapter 13 and I'm both excited and scared at the same time... Please enlighten us on what happened when you've got the time (っ °Д °;)っ

Let me tell you that I nearly jumped out of my seat when I first saw that CG. And let me tell you that Liz's expression was the second thing that gave me concern. I absolutely had to know what was going on immediately.

So, below the cut, I'm going to recap the most pertinent parts regarding this scene. Afterwards, I will reblog with my thoughts and commentary, and some speculation.

Shiningale focus? In my main plot? IT'S MORE LIKELY THAN YOU THINK.

CHAPTER 13 SPOILERS AHEAD

First off, this scene involving Logos, Ascalon, and Salus:

Logos: How far have you tampered with your… "bloodline"? It’s unimaginable that you are blood relatives of the Follower Shining. Such an outstanding person must always repent for your filth. (This is after Ascalon stabbed Salus in the neck)

After that, there's a conversation between Kal'tsit and Shining:

Kal'tsit: What's Nightingale's status?

Shining: … Outside the window, Shining sees Nightingale sleeping, leaning against a tree. Shining: Not good. Though Liz's state has never been more stable, the levels of Originium content in her body are rising, most likely even affecting her pain nerves.

Kal'tsit: This would not be a normal infection.

Shining: Maybe it's the sorcery devices that Sarkaz have set up on the battlefield, or the whispers of dead souls… I don't know. I can't tell her "I empathize with your pain." I really don't. But she happily told me yesterday that she hasn't felt pain in her sleep for a long time…

Kal'tsit: You're hesitating. You've been hesitating ever since you came back from the Confessarii alone. Do you remember the reason you applied to come along to Londinium in the first place?

Shining: 'To cure Liz'. Dr. Kal'tsit, I have never hesitated, even for a moment, about that goal.

Kal'tsit: Even without knowing the exact state of her condition, we all know what "cure" means.

Shining: What needs to be done hasn't changed… I know.

Kal'tsit: I trust you. The eyes with which you view Nightingale are not only compassionate. You're not the only one who's taking care of her, she's treating your fears as well. Nightingale may be physically challenged, but she is a member of the Followers, your companion, not a delicate flower to be protected. The secrets of the Confessarii are truly stomach-churning. But perhaps it is only by confronting the deepest of abominations that we can unravel the truth.

Shining: …

Kal'tsit: I know you're a little upset, Shining. But as we said at the beginning of our partnership, Rhodes Island will help, if you need it.

Shining: --Thank you, Dr. Kal'tsit. The blue feathered beast lands on Shining's shoulder, chirping. It was Liz's usual way of greeting her. Shining: … Liz is awake, I'm going to get her.

Nightingale then recalls a dream (or a memory?) that's very peculiar. Basically it's her and Shining when they were younger, holding hands and walking along a river and watching a bird, but then something strange and horrifying happened to the bird.

Unfortunately the next thing that happens is that they're ambushed by Confessarius and Salus in an attempt to kidnap Nightingale. Kal'tsit summons Mon3tr but Salus--from her battle with Amiya--is able to restrain Mon3tr. Apparently she was able to do this by performing rituals on herself and finding a way to cannibalize the Arts of other bloodlines. She also dove into Amiya's memories (where it turns out that there's a part of Theresa's soul/consciousness that's protecting Amiya still).

Kal'tsit: Mon3tr!

Shining: Dr. Kal'tsit, you can't move yet. Shining: I told you--you and I will only meet on the battlefield.

Confessarius: Oh? Then why are you hiding your sword at this moment? When you left home, you swore an oath to sever your family's bloodline, and I have longed for you to return and fulfill that oath. I gave you time, and you let me down again and again. We should have given birth* to the next me. It would have been the most ethereal bloodline in nearly a hundred years. Then Liz uses her Arts.

Confessarius: … well. Sharp, but full of impurities. What happened to your soul? Do you still think you have hope while you are away from us?

Shining: … Liz! Come back!

Nightingale: …！I won't… at your mercy!

Confessarius: … oh? You are truly an unexpected piece of work, far beyond my expectations. Even though it's just a body, can it still touch "me"?

Nightingale: Shining, now! I… I can't hold on for long!

Shining: … A strange feeling came over Shining.

Nightingale took the initiative to resist Confessarius and restrained him. The ancient demon clan, which had never seen its true soul, was now more vulnerable than ever. Bloodline. The word bloodline was vague, but at this moment, a long bloody crack seemed to appear right in front of you.

Shining hesitated. How could it be so simple?

How can it be so simple?

Kal'tsit: Nightingale, stop! This is a trap, he's waiting for your Arts!

Nightingale: ——！ Time slowed down.

Confessarius: You and I both know where fate will lead us, but the only one who doesn't know is this poor caged self. Contempt of blood and resistance to destiny are doomed to be in vain. No one can deny the heavenly principles gifted by our bloodline. I will do for you what you hesitated to do, create a gap in the cage… Come into the cage with me, and I will set you on the right path. Think through your options… [ancient Sarkaz name].

On the stone platform covered with dead branches, the white sword pierced the heart.

Shining remembers the first time she cried, how amazing it was, giving birth to emotions that she didn't expect. A new soul is carved and shaped under the sword's edge.

???: I have seen… your pain… your… tears…

Confessarius: Accidents always bring surprises. You could have stopped experimenting right then, but you couldn't bear to destroy the ignorant consciousness in that empty shell. … So you sewed memories into the empty shell.

Shining: She is Liz. She shouldn't…

Confessarius: It is your freedom to name your populated consciousness "Liz".

"Liz" was afraid of the silence of those across the long table. They meet to sit here and have dinner at the same time every day.

But the white-horned Sarkaz holding the sword opposite her had stopped talking to her, taking only notes. "Liz" is always asking herself, 'did I do something wrong to make her angry?'

"Liz" misses the fond memories of their past…

Liz?: I repeat the same dream every day, dreaming about us walking hand in hand in the stream when we were children… Then I flew up, flying higher and higher, but you couldn't hold onto me. From the clouds, I saw you crying. Every time I want to come back to you, I wake up in pain. I ache from feeling your pain and I want to share the burden with you. As long as you tell me why you are suffering… Quesasina.

Shining: …

Confessarius: Quesasina, the name means "hope that does not allow separation", our destiny. She blames herself for your moment of kindness, and she thinks all the fault is her own, this poor "Liz."

Shining: I have abandoned that sinful name. I am now Shining and will only ever be Shining.

Confessarius: Really? Do you think you can resist your family's destiny for thousands of years? I'll wait and see.

"Liz" held the blue feathered beast she rescued from the river in her hands. Her indigo feathers trembled, and the cold river water made her shiver. She thought Quesasina would be angry, but the sad Sarkaz just knitted a brand new birdcage for "Liz".

"Put it in the cage, and it'll be safe from now on."

Liz?: Quesasina, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to risk walking into the river to save it… but I can't just watch it die like this. I fell in love with it when your family gave it to me as a gift. It likes to fly freely, but once it gets too far away from me, it seems to lose its energy and always falls into the river… You said the same thing happened yesterday… but I don't remember it at all. But I will listen to you and put it in a cage. I will protect it. Please don't be angry. I promise you, such a stupid thing will never happen again.

Confessarius: The more fragments and lies you fill her with, the more confusion and pain she will feel. I uncovered the dusty fragments for her. Her awakening is irreversible, and she will eventually painfully disintegrate her rootless consciousness.

Shining: I won't let that happen, Father. I will put an end to our sins with my own hands, and Liz will be cured.

Confessarius: Then what? Isn't her regaining the truth what you fear, dear sister? This is the source of your sad hesitation.

Shining: …

Confessarius: I tolerated you wandering around with this container, and I tolerated you continuing to strengthen this fragile cage… Because I trusted you to love it with all your heart, and you didn't disappoint. Eventually you will come back to me with your cage. And you did. See, she even tried to imprison me to create opportunities to defeat me. Your rebellious love for her and her struggles against fate have sadly become another catalyst.

Shining: You--even using the hope she found in herself?!

Liz?: Shining? Are you here?

Shining: ！

Liz?: I can feel your breath, but I can't see you…

Shining: I'm here, Liz!

Confessarius: She can't hear your voice, we walk within her broken consciousness—the interior of the cage.

Liz?: Shining… there is a burning name and vague question echoing in my mind, but I can't remember it… Maybe I'll remember it when we leave here. I found myself able to share the pain of others to slow the withering of their lives. You said we would go far away to find a cure for me, and maybe I could cure others in pain on our journey.

Shining: …

Confessarius: The disordered and broken memories are flooding her, and sooner or later she will get lost in them. Perhaps she'll go insane, or will kill herself before that happens. But you already know the solution I taught you, Quesasina.

Shining: …

Confessarius: Draw your sword and destroy the bodies of your blood relatives once and for all. Our souls will be reconnected with your sword as a bridge, and you—will give birth. Give birth to eternal authority. This is a fate you cannot escape. Become one with me and nourish her otherwise shattered consciousness with the remains of your blood family.

Shining: … Liz, forgive me.

Shining clenched the sword in her arms, her hand already on the scabbard.

Confessarius: Finally, Quesasina…

From the scabbard, morning and dusk are about to pour out. But at this moment, a hand held Shining's sleeve.

Nightingale: Shining, I like your current name a lot more.

Shining: Liz…

Nightingale: I seem to have slept for a long time, lost in countless fragments. But I heard your voice, and you guided me to a place buried among the debris. There, I dug up fragments of memories… I still haven't remembered them all. But I remembered the question that should have been answered long ago… I forgive you. I forgave you even before you cruelly sealed my memories away… That's why, I'm angry at you for making these decisions all by yourself.

Shining: …

Nightingale: "Liz", I've always loved the name you chose for me. Don't leave me and bear everything on your own. We made a promise to get through this together—

Shining saw Nightingale's eyes and Nightingale's smile.

When Shining came back to her senses, the hand had quietly slipped from her sleeve.

Confessarius: A tragedy, but the ending is always fixed. Either you kill me and become the breeding ground for the next bloodline, or you watch me take her away and then drown in your regret. It’s all the same, sister. Quesasina, the consciousness of the cage has awakened. If you continue to keep her by your side, she will only evaporate and die like dewdrops in the morning.

Shining: …

Confessarius: I will take her away, I will help you maintain it, I will help you make up for it—I will mold the cage into a crown. Then, you will be, we will be… the eternal devil.

In the end, Confessarius ended up kidnapping Liz.

Kal'tsit: Operator Nightingale is a member of Rhodes Island's Medical Department, and we will not allow her to be kidnapped or harmed. But any rash move may put her in greater danger. After all, the opponent we need to face… is an immortal "Demon King" who has coveted the crown for thousands of years. Quesatushta. He who knocks on the door is he who usurps the king. I was aware of the threat of the Confessarii, even during the Tower of Babel period, and several attempts were made in vain. Theresis concealed them so well that people thought they were only the regent's bodyguards.

Shining: … Please don't worry, I know what we have to do.

Ascalon: You are calmer than I thought. What are you planning?

Shining: Liz… made her own choice. It's a choice that even I would never dare to think of. It is bold and aggressive, but it is the most effective. It seems that I'm always the one who's afraid of failure and dying… What I want to do, ha. It is to catch up with her.

[nobodylikety]

Cat hybrid! Liz 🐈

Yeah I knooow it's been a while, I was kinda busy and had a bloody writers block,,, BUT HERE I AM, back with my blurbs and thoughts about hybrid! IVE, this time with Liz and her orange cat bevahior

tags: cat hybrid! liz x fem! reader, hybrid AU, fluff.

Cat hybrid! Liz is an absolute homebody! This house cat will hardly want to leave her home and go places, because inside her home are you, the rest of hybrid! IVE, her bed and all the food she can ask for.

Cat hybrid! Liz's swimming skills are as good as a sinking brick <3 she's not a very good swimmer, because cats themselves are not very fond of water. And as for bathing? no way. If it occurs to you that it's bath time, chances are Liz will demand some good cuddles afterwards.

Cat hybrid! Liz has orange cat energy, she's absolutely chaotic and goofy! Not only is she constantly fighting with Puppy!Yujin over silly things, but they are also accomplices and sometimes get into trouble together, because together they are twice as love bugs and the sweetest little cat and puppy, although not very bright! <3

+ like all orange cats, she's the most cuddly and goofy fuzzball. And when she's near you? she runs towards you, with her tail wagging all happy and for sure she tripped at least 3 times and ran into 2 walls, in the process of TRYING to get on your lap. She's such a good girl, kinda silly, but good girl 🩷

Cat hybrid! Liz lacks feline grace and agility…because her orange cat vibe is stronger. She can't jump, she can't climb…she always falls. BUT if she hears you open a bag of chips anywhere, she won't hesitate to ask for her portion (or steal it  ^_^ ♡)

Cat hybrid! Liz has a habit of flopping up on the sofa and looking at you intently, with big eyes, wagging her tail in anticipation, all serious and predatory attitude,,, before giving you the silliest, most affectionate headbutt out of nowhere <3

🐱 ، ﾟฅ ｡ [ Kitty shenanigans ]

Liz always finds unique ways to get into trouble, but she never fails to be the most adorable and affectionate kitty you'll ever meet.

Not a day goes by that Liz doesn't get into trouble. Like that time when Liz and you were playing together in the garden, and Liz started chasing the butterfly she'd found with such enthusiasm that she ended up tripping over a flower pot and falling face first into the middle of some flowers. And what did Liz do? she got up, shook the dirt off her fluffy ears and looked at you with an innocent expression, as if nothing had happened.

With that silly little smile, the same one she always does.

Or that other time, when Liz was trying to catch a fly buzzing near the window, but she jumped so hard that she ended up hitting the glass, leaving a little nose smudge on the glass.

Or like now, with the most frequent mischief that takes place almost every morning, and always in the kitchen.

You're preparing toast for breakfast, when Liz decides it's an excellent idea to hop across the table to inspect your culinary work. So with an air of elegance she tries to land gracefully, but instead of it, she trips over her own tail and falls face first into the tray of eggs, scattering them all over the kitchen. And of course, not before knocking over the pile of frying pans and pots, creating a chaotic clatter.

"Don't worry, Liz," you say with a chuckle as you help her up. "I think we'll have scrambled eggs this morning."

"Meow," she replies, looking up at you with innocent eyes, as if it's your fault.

Because It's never her fault, it's always yours.

And that sometimes makes you want to wrap Liz in cotton, to stop her from endangering her own life in her own stupid way. Liz really is a bit of a rebel, even when she's not actively trying to get into trouble.

But... you have to accept her for who she is, and if you're honest with yourself, there's something incredibly endearing about this goofy, sensitive, lovable little cat (who attempts to break herself more than once a day) that's part of your life.

Because even after a day full of stumbles and falls, when you sit on the sofa and enjoy the peace and quiet of home, with Liz purring softly as you stroke her head, her sweet gaze and carefree, goofy attitude reminds you of how wonderfully special she is.

So despite all the misadventures, you wouldn't for a moment change your life filled with Liz's antics.

Cat hybrid! Liz 's love language is giving you the goofiest headbutts and being dumb with you! (she has a weird sense of humor) so Liz is always tripping, falling, flopping clumsily on you, just for the sake of showing you her love for you!

+ This. Kitten. ALWAYS (LITERALLY ALWAYS). FALLS OR TRIPS OR GETS INTO DUMB STUFF.

Wants your attention? climbs the ledge closest to you, and before falling gracefully next to you, trips and falls on your head.

She's going to climb on your lap? miscalculates and ends up with her head stuck in the sofa.

She's going to purr you to lull you to sleep? she chokes on a hairball before she even opens her mouth.

And the list goes on, because Cat hybrid! Liz is an adorable bundle of leggy nonsense, and she loves you with all her heart. ♡

[canonicallyobserving911]

Buddie: Bad Cop vs. Good Cop Series

Fanonwriter2023 on AO3

Where CANON and FANON collide!

Bad Cop vs. Good Cop Parents

102K Words; Currently 10 completed works.   A multi-part fanfic series about Eddie and Buck parenting their teenage son Chris. Usually, Eddie's the bad cop parent and Buck's the good cop parent but occasionally, their roles will reverse similar to the way they did in part 1 of this series, as different situations occur.

Becoming the bad cop parent - 7.3K words; Rated General Audiences:  Or Buck gets a call from Christopher's school and for the first time he has to be the bad cop parent.

“Growing as Good Cop Parents” - 8.8K Words; Rated: Teen and Up Audiences:  When Chris makes it home after hanging out with his friends, Buck smells and unmistakable scent and everything that happens afterwards, helps him and Eddie realize they’re growing as good cop parents.

“Bad Words and Bad Cop Parents" - 6.0K Words; Rated: Mature:  After Chris accidentally drops the “F” bomb in earshot of Eddie and Buck, they have a family meeting and hijinks ensue as they work on eliminating “bad words” from their vocabularies before they have an addition to their family.

"Grateful Good Cop Parents" - 9.0K Words; Rated: Teen and Up Audiences:  Buck and Eddie are anxiously awaiting the birth of their daughter, Daniella Elizabeth Buckley-Diaz.

"Brokenhearted Bad Cop Parent" - 10.2K Words; Rated: Mature:  As Eddie prepares to return to work, Daniella’s reaction to his adherence of the LAFD dress code makes him feel like he’s a bad cop parent but Buck’s there to comfort both of them.

"Guys, Girls, Curls and Good Cop Parents" - 5.7K Words; Rated: Teen and Up Audiences:  Buck, Eddie, Chris and Daniella all have thick hair but Buck’s, Chris’ and Daniella’s is curly and it tangles easily.  Since Daniella’s getting older, her hair is growing and Buck and Eddie have to find ways to not only comb and style it but they also need to find the best products to use.

"Both Being Bad Cop Parents" - 10.7K Words; Rated: Teen and Up Audiences:  Buck and Eddie have to tell both Chris and Daniella “No” but neither child likes it.

"Guardianships and Good Cop Parents" - 14.9K Words; Rated: Teen and Up Audiences: Another work-related accident reveals Buck’s and Eddie’s parents’ true motives regarding their relationships with their grandchildren, Chris and Liz. But how will they react when they learn legal guardianships have already been established and they don’t include them?

"Bad Parents vs. Bad Cop Parents" - 17.3K Words; Rated: Teen and Up Audiences: Buck and Eddie have confrontations with their parents again but after they’re over, they will define the difference between bad parents and bad cop parents.

"Good Cop Parent vs. Bad Cop Parent" - 11.7K Words; Rated: Tenn and Up Audiences:  Chris asks his dads to sign his permission slip for a school trip but Buck, the good cop parent, signs it while Eddie, the bad cop parent, debates whether he should be allowed to go. Is Eddie’s hesitancy about the trip warranted or is it baseless?

Parts 1-10 are available on AO3.

Part 11 will be posted soon.

[eksvaized]

[ Previous ┃ Next ] part 5

After finally venturing back inside, Simon did not approach you for an entire hour. Instead, he chose to keep his distance and observe you from afar. You were on the dance floor with Liz by your side. Both of you were giggling and dancing, twirling around in each other’s arms. He stayed in a dark corner, hidden, hoping no one would bother him.

He watched intently as you gracefully swayed your hips from side to side, your arms wrapped around Liz as the two of you moved in perfect sync. He realised he wasn’t the only one whose eyes you caught. In fact, practically every man in the club had their hungry gazes fixed on you, looking over their shoulders, stealing sneaky glances while their girlfriends weren’t watching. A few times, several of them tried to approach you and Liz. You weren’t successful at turning down unwanted attention, but Liz was, ensuring drunk idiots didn’t bother either of you for too long.

“Hello, you,” someone purred into his ear. He felt a gentle touch on his arm as fingers traced a path up his bicep, giving it a light squeeze, trying to peel his focus away from the dance floor.

With hesitation, Simon turned his head to the side and saw Mandy standing next to him. She batted her eyelashes at him, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth, and biting the soft flesh. A mischievous smile formed on her face.

If she was any other girl, he would have shoved her away after telling her he was not interested in talking. However, she was your friend, and no matter what she wanted, Simon was determined to tolerate her presence. He didn’t want to risk upsetting Mindy because he was sure that she would then report it all to you, which could potentially tarnish Simon in your eyes.

The problem was that Mindy didn’t want just to talk. She couldn’t comprehend how a plain mouse like you could capture his interest. In her mind, she considered herself superior to you, so she was determined to steal his attention.

“I saw you here, all alone, looking bored,” Mindy said, her fingers gradually slipping down from his arm and her hand retreating back to her side. “And because you’re apparently Y/N’s friend... I felt obligated to offer you my company. She’s busy and I’m not.”

Simon wanted to distance himself from Mindy, but he made a conscious effort to put on a friendly facade. Mindy took a step closer, rising on her tiptoes as her face inched closer to his. She leaned in, briefly focusing on his lips before meeting his gaze.

“Plus, don’t tell Y/N, but... I’m a much better company than she is. With her, you might get bored, but with me, I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen.”

There was nothing about Mindy that he liked. She was too cocky, too self-absorbed, and definitely too confident. She approached Simon, expecting to win him over instantly because no man had ever turned her down. However, there was always a first time for everything, and Simon was determined to prove to her that her looks alone would not make him fold and fall to his knees.

“Ah, how nice of you, really. But I’m fine on my own.” He wanted to turn her down, but he realised he had to be smart about it.

“Let me buy you a drink, at least,” Mandy insisted. Despite Simon’s lack of interest in her, she remained stubborn and refused to leave him alone.

He shook his head and looked away from her, his gaze returning to the dance floor.

Liz had disappeared. You were all alone, but you didn’t seem to care about the lack of company. With your eyes closed, you allowed yourself to be completely consumed by the music. Your fingers ran through your hair, your hands caressed your body, and you swayed your hips to the beat. Simon could not tear his eyes off of you. He was mesmerised by your beauty, utterly enchanted by the way you effortlessly moved your body, shutting out the chaotic noise of the world around you.

While keeping one eye on you, he continued to entertain Mandy, who was still bent on sticking around. He racked his brain, trying to come up with an excuse that would allow him to get rid of her, but he had a sinking feeling that none of his usual tricks would be effective in persuading her to leave.

Simon saw a man approach you. The drunk stranger whispered something into your ear. You shook your head and smiled politely. From the looks of it, it seemed like you were trying to tell the man you weren’t interested in talking with him. As Simon watched the interaction, his gut instincts told him he should intervene. However, he didn’t want to overreact. He kept himself rooted to the ground.

But then, you pushed the stranger away for the second time. The man laughed, shook his head and placed his palm on your back, gradually inching his hand lower. Looking uncomfortable, you tried to move away from him. Though your polite smile remained, your eyes grew wide, and you anxiously glanced around.

“I think I see Y/N,” Simon said and turned to face Mindy, who was still running her mouth. “I’m going to be right back.”

Mindy’s lips parted in confusion, her eyes growing darker and angrier. She was not pleased with the fact that Simon had chosen to ditch her for you. But before she could react, try to grab his hand and stop him, Simon had already started forcing his way through the crowd, pushing past the stumbling people, determined to get to the dance floor as soon as possible.

“Is everything all right here?” Simon asked calmly as he approached you and the stranger. His voice carried a hint of concern, though he tried to hide his anger; his face remained expressionless, but his fingers curled into tight fists.

When you turned around and saw Simon, he could see a visible relief wash over your face.

“Yeah, yeah. Everything is fine. You can move along, buddy,” the man said, causing Simon’s jaw to tighten.

“I wasn’t talking to you,” Simon spat back, grinding his teeth. This time, he couldn’t hide his irritation while speaking.

Simon’s attention shifted to you. Your eyes darted between the two men. Sensing that you wanted to get away from the stranger, Simon wrapped his fingers around your shoulder and guided you towards the bar, giving you a gentle push to steer you away from the sea of people.

“This is the second time you saved me,” you pointed out when the two of you found an empty spot at the end bar. While leaning against the counter, you shifted your body closer to the wall, letting Simon shield you away from the people.

“Well, I guess that then, instead of one, you owe me two drinks now,” he said with a playful smile directed towards you, which caused you to giggle and enthusiastically nod your head.

“Sounds fair.”

But he only let you buy him one glass of whiskey. And the second time you ordered drinks, he paid for both of you because he didn’t want you to waste your hard-earned money on him.

You two talked and flirted a lot. He often had to lean down and speak into your ear, so you could hear what he was saying. His warm breath tickled your skin. Whenever his hand lightly brushed against your waist or his fingers slowly traced down your arm, an electrifying shiver would run down your spine. And maybe it was just all the cocktails you had drank, but the more you chatted with him, the more you liked him. He was handsome and funny, and unlike the other men in the club, he wasn’t completely wasted. Most importantly, he didn’t creep you out.

At one point, you couldn’t help but notice your gaze fixating on his lips. At that moment, a sudden realisation washed over you — you wanted to kiss him. However, you quickly pushed that thought to the back of your mind. No matter how tempted you were to brush your lips against his, it would be too forward. You weren’t drunk enough yet to act so boldly.

“Aren’t your friends going to be upset that you ditched them for me?” Simon inquired, his fingers lightly drumming against the empty glass in his hand.

“No,” you immediately blurted out, looking around while shaking your head. Mindy was nowhere to be found, and Liz seemed to have disappeared into the crowd, engrossed in conversation with some strangers on the dance floor. “They often abandon me whenever an attractive guy flirts with them, so I guess it’s my turn to do the same.”

You and he had another hour to spend together before Mindy and Liz approached you. Apparently, they were bored and wanted to go home, and insisted that you go with them.

“Friends don’t leave their girlfriends alone at the club with some stranger they just met,” Mindy stated with a smile. However, her words had a sarcastic undertone, suggesting that your safety wasn’t her top priority, and her only goal was to lure you away from him. If Mindy couldn’t have Simon, she didn’t want you to be with him, either.

Simon didn’t want to say goodbye to you just yet, but he realised he couldn’t force you to stay, either. Before you left, you asked him for his phone, which he handed to you. You entered your phone number and returned it to him.

“Call me,” you smiled. “Because I still owe you a drink.”

He watched as you, Mindy, and Liz exited the club. By the time he got outside, too, the three of you were already gone.

He decided to have a quick smoke before calling a cab and going home. As he stood further away from the crowd, enjoying the crisp air and feeling relieved having escaped the deafening awful music, the creepy stranger who had been causing problems for you earlier approached him.

“You stole my girl,” the man stated, angrily pointing his finger at Simon, pressing its tip to his chest. The stranger’s body was swaying from side to side as he struggled to keep his composure.

Simon could tell that the man was heavily intoxicated, so he refused to entertain him. At first, he remained silent, hoping that his lack of response would deter the persistent stranger. However, the man continued to talk, irritating Simon and pushing his limits.

“Shut up and go before I break your nose,” Simon warned in a bitter tone.

Simon walked away and fetched his phone out of his pocket. While his gaze was glued to the screen, the stranger approached him again. The drunk man shoved Simon, using all his strength, clearly not feeling happy about being ignored.

Simon inhaled sharply and remained still, choosing to overlook the stranger’s reckless behaviour. However, when the man pushed Simon for a second time, Simon lost all control. The anger surged through Simon, causing his eyes to darken, his nostrils to flare, and his mind to shut off.

Simon’s clenched fist forcefully struck the man’s nose, a revolting crack resonating through the air. He punched the stranger once. Then twice. Simon kept hitting him, each punch landing with a sickening thud. The man’s balance faltered, his body collapsing to the ground, but Simon’s relentless fury endured. His hands became stained with crimson, his knuckles throbbing with an insatiable itch. With every irregular, ragged breath, the scent of iron filled the air, mingling with the acrid taste of adrenaline.

Simon’s vision became distorted, blurring the world around him and heightening his senses. It didn’t help that he couldn’t stop thinking about you, either. He kept imagining what the stranger would have done to you if he hadn’t interfered. What if the man would have followed you home? What if he had done something and Simon hadn’t been there to stop him? The questions continued to pile up in his head, intensifying his anger and transforming it into pure rage.

Simon only drew back when whispers and murmurs reached his ears. The crowd was rapidly gathering around the scene. Everyone was pointing fingers, gasping loudly and whispering among themselves. Despite his mind being in disarray, Simon’s ability to observe made him acutely aware of how terrible everything looked. The tension in the air was palpable. The realisation hit him like a truck: he was beating up a guy who, at this point, wasn’t even attempting to defend himself.

Simon took a step back, releasing his grip on the stranger’s shirt and allowing his body to crumple to the ground. A mixture of guilt and regret engulfed Simon, overwhelming him like a sudden downpour. He glanced around, cursing under his breath as he examined the crowd. His attention returned to the motionless man lying before him. A question gnawed at his mind: was the stranger even breathing anymore?

Fuck.

No, no, no.

He can’t be dead.

Simon refused to let the same story repeat itself. He didn’t want to do something he had done before. He collapsed on his knees and shifted the man onto his back. From up close, after leaning down, he could see the stranger’s chest slowly rise and fall — he was breathing, and even if Simon broke a couple of his ribs and left his face bloody, at least the man was still alive.

Before anyone could call the police or attract the attention of the club’s security, Simon quickly stood up and distanced himself from the sea of people, leaving the man to lay on the cold concrete.

Only after crossing the street did Simon dare to turn around and look back. He noticed a woman kneeling beside the stranger, while a man stood next to her with a phone pressed to his ear, likely calling an ambulance.

[not-a-space-alien]

K&J x MMSS 4: Valen & Jim Part 7B

Part 7 of the "B side" universe for AU4. You can check chapter 4B for clarification on what this means if you're lost.

K&J masterlist

MMSS masterlist

K&J x MMSS crossover masterlist

To be added to the taglist, contact @whumpsday

Warnings: Aftermath of torture

In this chapter: Valen continues to make healing progress despite the setbacks.

***

Things continue relatively smoothly for the next few days. Liz gets Jim a blood draw kit that he uses to feed Valen, anxiously entering the realm of becoming food again, but the fact that it's his choice this time makes it different.

"You're looking a lot better." Jim notes as he removes Valen's bandages to change them. "I don't think we need to put new ones on. You wanna try talking?"

Valen is feeling a lot better.  He can smile without hurting his face now, and his skin has mostly grown back.  He doesn't flinch looking at himself in the mirror these days.

You wanna try talking?  Jim is surely prompting him to do so, but it still feels dangerous to assume permission for things, and to answer anything other than the exact literal question.  He nods vigorously, then waits patiently to be given permission, managing to flicker his eyes up to make eye contact a few times.

"Go ahead." Jim encourages excitedly. "Try saying something."

Valen can barely remember the motions to go through to talk.  He vibrates his throat, and a horrible, raspy noise comes out.  His eyes widen with shock, and he claps his hands over his mouth.

"Yeah, there you go!"Jim gives him a winning smile. "Keep going, try again. You gotta practice, it's not gonna be perfect on the first try."

Valen steels his nerves and makes a few more dry, horrible grunts, clearing his throat, shaking the cobwebs off.  He ramps up to it. ".......................jjjjjjjjjJjjjjjJJJJJJJJJIM."

And his face breaks into a delighted smile.  He rocks back and forth happily, wiggling his hands.  "Jim!" he rasps again

"Valen!" Jim says back enthusiastically.

It hasn't even been a week yet, and Jim is nervous about it, but he's a hugger. Valen is fed now, so it should be fine, right? He lightly wraps his arms around Valen, a bit tense, ready to pull away if he needs to. "I'm so happy for you."

Valen giggles and hugs back, firmly but not squeezing, and does an excited spin, lifting Jim off the ground slightly.  "Jim!  Jim!"

"Oh!" Jim freezes up, his heart beating fast with anxiety.

No, stop freaking out, this is Valen, not Kane. He's not going to pin you to the wall by your neck and choke you. He's not going to throw you to the ground so hard it leaves bruises. It's Valen. He's just picking you up because he's excited.

Jim forces himself to try to relax. "Valen Valen! Congrats, man. It's only been a few days and you've come so far."

Valen remains oblivious to Jim's anxiety, setting him back down on the ground and leaning into his chest, crying happily, not letting go, savoring the warm feeling.  He still feels some urge to bite, here in Jim's embrace, but he's well-fed enough to easily resist it.  That just adds to his happy crying.  It feels like he's never been this happy in his whole life.

Jim calms down significantly once he's back on his feet, unharmed. He holds Valen close, carding a hand through his hair. "We'll get there. Soon you'll be speaking in full sentences again."

He hesitates before adding, "So, I was thinking. Seems like you've definitely got your strength back, at least. Would you wanna get blood packs from vampire territory to bring back here? I know your stuff's probably gone by now since you've been captive so long, so if it's not feasible that's fine. I can keep feeding you. No matter what, you'll be safe and fed here."

Valen's face falls a little bit, suddenly realizing how burdensome his presence here is.  Of course Jim would want him to-

No, come on.  Jim is proposing a reasonable idea to lift some burden from himself, not saying he's going to kick Valen out, or hates him, or anything like that.  Valen is capable of doing things to help himself, and Jim.  Jim freed him, and fed him, and hugged him.  He can do this.

His face hardens with resolve.  "Yes," he croaks.  "I can try."

"Hey, there's a sentence! And you don't need to rush it, okay? Just something to think about doing once you feel up to it. I seriously don't mind feeding you in the meantime. And we'll make sure Liz clears it with her coworkers so no one stops you on the way. Can even drop you off and pick you up from the border if you want. Whatever you need." Jim smiles.

Valen salutes.

Valen's first order of business in this endeavor is not, in fact, to go to the border.  Valen tells Jim he's going to go out one night.  First he has to go to his house where he'd been living to see if any of his valuables are still there, because he needs money to buy the blood.  And the imported stuff isn't cheap.

He manages to get a few miles away before his nerves fail him and he runs straight back, shyly reporting that he would try again the next night and go a little further.

He repeats this process, getting a bit further away each night, until one day he manages to get back to his house and find his stash of valuables, bringing them back and showing Jim an outrageous pile of jewelry and gems and precious metals

"Holy shit." Jim laughs. "You're loaded! Thought you were just a normal guy, but I guess you made out like a bandit with that asshole husband's stuff?"

"Yes," he says, trying to suppress his laughter.  "I'm sure he was disappointed when he realized I was never coming back to return the things he'd convinced himself I'd merely 'borrowed.' I'll be sure to be careful where I sell them, lest he starts seeing them appear in pawn shops."

"Nice." Jim high-fives him.

Valen manages to work, up the courage to back over to vampire territory and return with blood packs.

Things go on. Valen is starting to look like his old self again, having access to his old clothes and getting back on T. Jim continues to coax him out of his shell, growing more comfortable himself now that he doesn't have to provide blood. The hunters in the area know not to fuck with Valen.

One day, the phone rings. When Jim answers with a "Hello?", Valen hears a very familiar voice on the other end.

“Hey, Jim, how are you? It’s Chase. Just calling on behalf of the vampire hunters to check up on ya. Been a couple months, so we just wanted to make sure everything went okay with the leech after pickup.”

Valen had been unloading the dishwasher in the kitchen; as soon he hears that voice, he drops the armload of cups he'd been carrying, cracking a few of them.  He stands still, absolutely frozen, eyes glazed over in terror, instantly in tears.

"Everything's fine. Not a great time, don't call back." Jim says curtly before slamming the receiver and rushing over to Valen.

"Valen? It's okay, he's not here, he can't hurt you anymore." he says softly.

Valen steps back until he hits the wall, pulling away from Jim, and sliding down to curl up in a little ball.  "I'll be good, Jim, sir, please, please don't let him take me, please don't put me out in the sun, please please please."

Jim stays where he is, sitting cross-legged on the floor, hoping that's a little less threatening. "He's not taking you. He's not even trying to take you, and if he did try, I wouldn't let him. No sun. No one's ever putting you in the sun again, least of all me. You're safe, remember? Can you try to remember that?"

Valen squeezes his eyes shut.  "Please don't give me back to them, Jim, I'll do anything you want to stay here.  Safe, safe, I'm safe here.  Please let me stay here.  Please don't send me back."

"I won't. I would never, ever make you go back there. Part of being safe means being safe from having to go anywhere you'll be hurt, okay? I don't just mean you're safe here, I mean you're safe in general. Do you understand?" Jim asks.

Valen nods.  "Thank you.  Thank you for your mercy, Jim. I know I don't deserve it, thank you, I'll be good."

"You deserve it, Valen." Jim's heart breaks for him. "You didn't do anything wrong, first of all. They had the wrong guy, remember? Second, even if you did do something, no one deserves the shit they did to you. You deserve to be safe."

"Thank you, Jim.  Thank you.  I think I want to go downstairs now, into the basement.  If that's okay?"

"Yeah, 'course it's okay. You want me to set anything up for you down there? I can blow up the air mattress again for you to lie down on, like when you first got here." Jim offers.

"N-no, that's okay," Valen says.  Still crouching, he scuttles away from Jim and into the basement.  Dark, solid, safe.  He closes the door.  Dark, dark, dark.  That's safe.  He curls up under the stairs.

He'd thought he was better by now, but hearing that man's voice had set him all the way back like he couldn't imagine.  He's still out there, walking around, free.  He knows Jim's phone number, maybe where he lives.  He doesn't dare come back out.

Jim cleans up the cups Valen dropped. He's been thinking that action against the hunters needs to be taken, talking to Liz about it, but he's afraid to rock the boat. Right now, no one's coming after Valen, who they believe to be safely contained and that Jim has a right to keep with him. What if that changes if the truth of the matter is revealed?

He'll talk to Valen about it later, he decides. When Valen's calmed down. It should be his decision.

He waits until it's dark out to go check on Valen, knocking on the door. "Valen? It's dark out now, if that makes you feel a little safer. Just wanted to check in on you and make sure you're holding up okay?"

Valen's wide eyes appear from under the stairs.  "J-Jim.  Does he know where you live?  He has your phone number, does he know where I am?  Could he show up here?"

"No, he doesn't know where I live. He's not gonna show up here." Jim promises. "I promise, you're safe here. You are never going back to that place."

Valen crawls up the stairs, lying in a heap at Jim's feet, hugging his knees.  "But he's still out there, they're all still out there.  What if they-they come here, and you aren't home?"

"They handed you over willingly, right?" Jim reminds him, crouching. "It's not like you escaped. And they wouldn't just, like, bust down the front door and break in. Even if they somehow showed up here when I wasn't home, hours by car away when they don't even know where I live, they still wouldn't get you. Okay?"

Valen nods, sniffling.  "Okay.  Thank you, Jim."

Valen is much more needy than usual over the next few days, barely ever leaving Jim's side, and even more rarely making eye contact.  Jim notices Valen eating less often than usual, and when he brings it up, Valen admits he's been trying to make the blood packs he has last longer to put off leaving the house for as long as possible.  "It's not like I need to be strong for anything," he offers as his rationale as to why it's okay.  "Nothing bad will happen if I don't eat for a while."

"I know what it's like to be terrified you're gonna get snapped up again and taken back." Jim takes Valen's hand. "How about I help you out, huh? No going hungry in this house. I'll get the blood draw kit back out."

"I can't ask you to," Valen says, voice thick.  "I'm sorry.  I know it makes you uncomfortable.  And then I'll feel like I have to go out faster so you can stop.  I would rather just not eat for a while."

"Well good thing you're not asking me to, then. I'm offering." Jim counters. "I wouldn't bring it up if I wasn't willing to do it. Starving yourself isn't an option. As your friend, I'm vetoing it."

He grabs a blood pack from the fridge and hands it to Valen. "Drink. When you run out, I'll feed you, for as long as you need me to. You don't have to feel rushed."

Valen cries again, feeling overwhelmed by the unfamiliar feeling of actual support.  He starts to feel better not being hungry all the time, and works up the nerve to go get himself blood again soon enough.

Jim is glad to see Valen feeling confident enough to go out again. He decides this as good a time as ever.

"Hey, so, Liz and I have been talking. About the hunters who hurt you and all. She thinks it might be possible to get their hunting licenses revoked. She's not sure about prosecution, since this is kinda an unprecedented situation so there's no laws against it, but that might be possible too. Would that be something you're interested in?" he asks.

"Um."  Valen is terrified by the prospect of having to come face to face with any of these people again, and the possibility that they might seek him out for retaliation.  But the idea of taking away their power to do that to anyone else is too appealing.  "I-I think that would be the most responsible thing to do.  It-it should be made known what they're capable of.  They're-they're dangerous people, walking around free.  Yes.  You'll be with me the whole time, right?  In case I have to, have to c-confront them?"

"Of course. You won't have to see them. Liz and her friends and I will handle it." Jim gives Valen a quick hug. "You're gonna be alright."

This process actually goes very smoothly, partially helped by public opinion. Once Jim makes it known that Valen is the vampire who rescued him, from the bestselling book, there is a lot of public support for him. Hunting licenses are revoked, though the lack of existing laws makes prosecution hard. The process of getting a law put into place to prevent torture of vampires has started. This may cause a certain someone to put a rush on certain experiments getting going.

Jim's address is not known- that's the whole point of him moving out here in the first place- but Liz is sent things for Valen from random humans. Letters of support. One comes with a teddy bear holding a heart that says Get well soon.

Valen is relieved when it goes smoothly.  He'd half expected the whole thing to be dismissed, laughed off.  He's shocked when he starts receiving encouragement from random humans.  He has a hard time accepting the idea that a faceless crowd of humans could like him, instead of hate him, because he'd been told and shown for five years that only the latter was possible.  He keeps every single correspondence and gift he gets, setting them in a box and putting it in the basement, along with a blanket and a beanbag chair.  When he has his bad days, he goes downstairs to be away from the sun and sits there, curled up, reading and re-reading and re-re-reading every nice, comforting, supportive thing humans who are complete strangers to him have written.  Sometimes, when he's brave enough, he writes back and asks Liz to mail it out.

***

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