#not to mention the whole ‘you can have him tomorrow’ only hours earlier

[rosalinesurvived]

Again thinking about how downright murderous Andrew was at Riko coming to Kathy’s show, Andrew punching a window over it

[nanivinsmoke]

✩ Both Ain’t Shit

dilf!toji x fem!reader

♪ tender was the kiss when you held me captive….

he lying to me im lying to him…. ♪

warnings : features suguru geto & utahime, cheating, toji is married and has a child, age gap (late 20s late 30s), angst, cursing, break up-sex, mutual affair, slut shaming, pussy eating, blow job, face sitting, creampies, squirting, half a happy ending (?), mentions gojo and shoko, etc….

✩ notes: wc ~ 4.9k, finally gave yall a oneshot with a plot! and i seen the results for the poll for lost without you and im getting to it, dont yall worry—i got yall for real.

lying. I guess that’s what this whole relationship was made of. nothing but lies.

that’s how you ended up here, lying to him.

you hated liars, but this lie just felt so good.

“sh-sh…shit toji! please, don’t st—“ your eyes rolled back and you grinded on his face, cumming all over his scarred lips; as he sucked on your clit like he was an old person that found some butterscotch.

your legs shook, his lips still attached to your sensitive clit, working you to another orgasm; but much to your dismay his phone started to ring. you groaned and quickly removed yourself from his face, knowing exactly who was calling him at this hour.

grunting when he sat up, the older man reached and answered his phone, watching you as you began to get dressed. “yeah baby, im coming home right now….i'll pick up some diapers—alright, love you too.” he hung up, eyes focused on as you struggled to pull your light blue jeans over your ass.

“i can help you with, c’mere~” he flirted, pulling you close by your jean’s belt loop holes. you rolled your eyes and pulled away, jumping to finally get them up. “don’t you gotta get some diapers? go help with that. besides, I gotta get home before geto comes back.”

he sucked his teeth at your remark and started putting his own clothes on, ignoring his own hard on, “I don’t see why you still with him. he don’t even make you happy.”

“oh? you’re one to talk. remember why we broke up in the first place? only for you to go do what I wanted with her….” he was silent, the only thing that could be heard was the two of you moving around the apartment. both of you always came here whenever you wanted to get away from your partners, which always led to hot, sticky sex.

“oh. and don’t ask my why i'm still with him, when you’re still with her. did you forget that? cat got your tongue?” you egged on, watching his facial expression change. he slipped on his shirt and grabbed his keys, before brushing past you. “whatever, y/n.”

you turned the key into your townhouse’s door, slipping your shoes off and placing the key on the nearby island’s, marble countertop. “geto?” you yelled out, only to not receive an answer. you noticed some take out on the counter and walked over to it, while taking your phone off do not disturb—seeing a message from your boyfriend.

✩ ‘staying at gojo’s tonight, he’s having a get together with some old friends. hope you had fun at utahime’s. ordered you some dinner, goodnight my love and see you at work tomorrow’

you swallowed your guilt along with a spoonful of fried rice as you finished reading his message. a guilty heart only leads to disaster and disappointment, and right now you didn’t have time for either. you had your reasons for cheating, none of them forgivable, but you had them. one of reasons were that you were still in love with your ex. you hadn’t gotten over the breakup and yes, you should just break up with geto, but just thinking what he would say or do was killing you and you don’t think you would be able to handle that. so you stayed, cheating with the one who broke your heart.

after eating the food geto got for you, you turned on your shower and started slipping off your clothes—cringing when you peeled off your cold, sticky panties. your were soaked and flashbacks from earlier, turned you on.

you typed on your phone, sending a text message to toji’s second number and telling him how wet he made you—and that you were disappointed that he didn’t let you cum all over his dick. stepping into the shower you let the coursing hot water drip all over your body, washing away your guilt as the lust increased inside your body.

finishing your shower off with an electric ending and getting yourself ready for bed, your phone chimed with a text from toji.

✩ ‘pretty girl always wet for me. ill stretch her out soon’

your clit throbbed at his message and you quickly sent one back.

✩ ‘he’s not here tonight, you can come over and put that to fruition.’

he immediately liked the message and texted back that he was on his way. no longer than ten minutes later, he was here; wearing a black tee that hugged his muscular torso and your favorite pants of his—grey nike sweatpants. the man was fueled with need for you.

closing the door behind him, he picked you up with ease and sat you on top of your kitchen’s island; big rough hands immediately going underneath your t-shirt. his scarred lips turned up into a smirk, loving how wet you were for him and when his finger ran over your clit; he loved the way you jolted at his touch.

as toji kneeled down, you stopped him by holding his head with your hand. “toji….dont tease me—please just put it in already.~”

“shut up. if I wanna taste my pretty girl then i'm going to. she misses me—mhm” he dove straight into your middle, swiping his tongue between your slit and tasting your sweet silky fluids. you tossed your head back and gripped his raven locks as he ate you out with such precision. and when he added two of his fingers to the mix, stretching you out, it wasn’t long before you came—all over his face. you squirted, drenching his face with your sweet nectar.

this was your first time squirting for him and devilish smirk appeared on his face. “you could do that this whole time? don’t tell me, you’ve been squirting for him?” he sent a smack to your quivering cunt, making you yelp out. you and geto haven’t had sex in a while and when you guys did get in the mood, it was always something simple; like blow jobs or cock warming. maybe that’s another reason why you’re cheating…

“n-no, i guess i…—yes!—i just missed you….don’t stop toji, g’nna cum again~” he drilled his fingers back inside of you mid sentence, working another powerful orgasm out of you, ending it with the same result as before—with you squirting on him once more. he slurped up every last bit of your essence before removing himself from between your legs and pulling his gray sweatpants down—revealing his girth.

your eyes fluttered down to his cock, the glow of sticky precum on his pretty tip had your mouth salivating. “turn around,” he ordered while pumping his cock and you immediately got into his favorite position. you got on your hands and knees, ass up high in the air with your legs spread, so he could see your slick coated cunt in all its glory.

he pulled a hiss from your lips when he pushed his head through your tightness, you arched your back up too high for him, earning a smack to your plump cheeks. “lower it~” he grunted and you whined, slowly lowering your back down into the perfect arch.

“‘s..too big—shit, take some out please daddy~” you felt another stinging sensation to your ass and you whined some more. “you can take it—smack—now quit yer whining—smack—and let daddy make this cunt his again~,” with each smack, he pushed himself deeper and deeper inside of your sopping wet pussy; filing you to the brim was his cock.

he stayed like the for a moment, feelin pity on you before he pulled out and slammed himself back inside of you again; a scream crawling out of your mouth. he repeated the action, your walls clinging to him with each stroke, driving him insane. mewls spilled out of your mouth as his tip rubbed against that sensitive spongy spot, making you clench frantically around him.

“must’ve really missed me, hm? creamin all on my dick—fuck!” he held onto your hips, watching the cream build up, making his tan cock a nice shade of milky white.

the sound of your cunt squelching with each stroke drove the both of you crazy, minds fucked out with arousal. feeling that ball in your stomach increase with each pleasure-filled second. you pushed your ass back harder against him while reaching down to fondle his potent balls—egging on his orgasm. toji let out a loud grunt, his green eyes darting to your pretty face.

“so fucking good—please fill me up daddy, please~.” you begged, breathless as you looked at him from over your shoulder with hooded eyes, lashes fluttering.

“that’s what you want? want me to fill my pretty girl up—make you swollen with my seed? hm?” he pulled your head back by entangling his fingers into your hair, each stroke deepening as a result. you nodded frantically, and he pressed his lips roughly against yours, hips slamming into your ass repeadlty—clapping sounds echoing throughout the room. with each passing second and each stroke, your orgasm approached faster and faster; and you couldn’t hold back anymore.

your eyes rolled back as you gushed all over him, pushing him right out of your leaking cunt; your fluids soiling the bottom of his shirt and his sweatpants. he grabbed his throbbing cock and pushed right back into you, his pace hard and faster.

“making a mess all over my dick, just makes me want to breed your pussy some more.~” with a few more strokes, he painted your inner walls with his thick, pearly-white load, and a wave of euphoria washed over you. his cock twitched inside of you, and he grunted into your ear, pulling himself out and plunging his fingers into your sticky hole.

“gonna make you squirt over and over again, and im going to make sure there’s a kid in you by the end of the night. get that ass in the bedroom.~” he growled and helped you off the island, smacking your ass in the process.

the long, raven haired woman walked lazily over to the door, wondering who the fuck was pounding on it like a mad man, and when she opened it her face dropped. “suguru, what are you doing here?”

he leaned against the door frame smiling, letting himself into her house, kicking his shoes off by the door. “what’s the matter hime’, you didn’t miss me?” he held her by her waist, gripping her smaller backside into his hands. utahime shook her head, lying, stepping back to readjust her robe.

“you shouldn’t be here. does y/n know you’re here?” she asked, folding her arms underneath her breasts. he pulled her over to her brown soft sofa, and sat her on his lap, “no, does she know you liked to be fucked raw by her boyfriend?” her honey brown eyes widened and she looked elsewhere. “no…”

utahime was your best friend since forever, she kept your secrets and you kept her’s. she was your scapegoat when you wanted to go see toji, she considered herself to be a girls girl, despite sleeping with your boyfriend every other night. this little secret relationship started when geto popped up at her house one time, looking for you because you left your work badge at home. but, when he didn’t see your car outside and you weren’t inside either, he realized that you had lied.

it didn’t take long for him to put two and two together, and he figured out that you were lying from the start. he didn’t know what you were doing nor did he care, he just knew you had hurt him by lying. utahime took pity to him that night, she didn’t give you up, but she still felt for him. she hated seeing him hurt, and the way his eyes lost emotion, pained her. so, she pitied him in the best way she knew how; sex.

and here she was, about to pity him again for the third night in a row. she looked into his eyes and pressed her lips against his, closing her eyes so she wouldn’t have to see his. she pulled away, a wave of heat washed over her and a trail of spit followed, she was breathless. utahime undid her robe, revealing her beautiful nude body. “make love to me geto~”

and that’s what he did, for the rest of the night, until sunrise.

“class is dismissed! papers are due friday and there will be no assignments for the weekend. see you until then!” you dismissed your class, watching the room empty out before you turned to dust off your chalkboard.

the muscular male eased into your lecture hall, tip toeing his way down, so you wouldn’t hear him; standing at the bottom to watch how good your ass looked in your pencil skirt, jiggling as you struggled to reach the top of the blackboard.

“need some help?” toji’s deep voice alerted you, making you stumble and drop the chalk filled eraser—causing the powder to fly everywhere. he chuckled and watched your pretty face turn into a frown. he was now in front of you and helped you dust off your outfit, sneaking in some loving grabs to your boobs.

“what are you doing here?” accepting his kiss as he pulled you over to him while he sat on the edge of your desk, his huge hands caressing your heavy backside. “got time for a quickie?~” he flirted, lips contorted in his infamous smirk. as you opened your mouth to reply, his phone began to ring and he reached back to answer it.

“what’s the matter, baby?” you pushed his hands off of you and your face contorted with disgust. you were jealous and that was a fact, his wife had everything you had ever wanted. she had his last name and his child, and she didn’t understand why he didn’t choose her?

toji stayed on the phone with his wife for a few more minutes, before he told her that he had to get back to work. he turned and saw the look on your face, and his softened.

“why’d you choose her, toji? your voice cracked as you spoke, while tears threatened to leave your eyes. he didn’t have a reason, he never did. so, he did what he did best, deflect.

“don’t start that again. you’re still in a relationship with him, dragging it on knowing there’s only one possible outcome for you two. the relationship is dead, y/n?”

“oh? but your’s isn’t? and don’t tell me nothing about mines when you keep coming back to me, when you’re supposed to be with her right? the woman you claim to love?! you gave her everything toji. I love you, how am I supposed to feel?” you were now bawling your eyes out, poking his chest with outrage, all while you poured your heart out. he didn’t know what to say to you, left speechless. you were right after all.

your phone chimed and you looked at the smart watch on your wrist, checking the notification. wiping your tears away, you went inside your desk’s wooden drawer and pulled out your purse.

“I don’t have time for this…do me a favor and just…stop pulling me back in, just for it to end up the same.”

you sat down with your best friend and boy friend, at a nearby restaurant, agreeing to meet them for lunch. it had been a while since you were all together, however there was one missing.

“where’s satoru?” you asked, picking at your noodles as you spoke—your mind still stuck on what happened between you and toji. you couldn’t help but to look at geto with soft eyes. for the first time you didn’t swallow you guilt, instead you let it through. you were sorry and thought about telling him everything.

“he’s busy flirting with some girl, as always.” utahime said with an eye roll, causing you to chuckle. you scanned your best friend’s face and noticed a bruise on her neck.

“utahime, is that a hickey i see!” you pointed out with a smile on your face. the girl blushed and felt her neck, sharing a look with geto before the two looked away. but, you caught that. and the longer you stared at the two, it dawned on you. as much as you wanted to scream, and curse the two of them out, you couldn’t. outing them right now with no evidence would only backfire. you had to play it safe.

you sent a smile to geto and held the top of his hand, a fake smile plastered onto your face. all the guilt you had washed away.

on the way home, you thought about what you saw. your best friend and your boyfriend? that was the worst thing to ever happen to you. yeah, you were the first one to step out of your relationship with geto, but you weren’t fucking his best friend. that was a different type of low.

you couldn’t believe utahime, after everything you both been through. she was more than your best friend, she was like your sister. you thought she had your back like you had hers, but it was clear that—that wasn’t the case. she was going to get hers, the both of them. however, for now only one of them were going to be punished.

you were fresh out of the shower, wearing a grey t-shirt and a navy blue thong; your hair laid freely in its natural state. you looked at geto, as he sat on your king sized bed and shook your head. you crawled on the bed and over to him, hovering over him; gaining his full attention. he smiled and leaned in for a kiss, but you pulled back and shook your head. he rose and eyebrow and watched as you grinded against his clothed crotch, reaching to hold your hips, but you swatted them.

he didn’t deserve to touch you. this wasn’t intimacy, this was goodbye. this was his punishment.

you rolled your hips, staring into his purplish eyes, biting your lip when you felt his boner poking your cunt. he watched as you pulled his boxers down and turned around, sliding your panties to the side—positing himself at your sodden entrance, before you lowered yourself down on him. he groaned, you were so tight; it had been a while for the two of you.

you rocked your hips before bending over slightly, your ass in view; as you began to ride him. you had to bite your lip to stop yourself from moaning, he didn’t deserve to know how good he felt, how wet you were. he could tell something was wrong with you, the way you moved without looking back at him or letting him touch you. however, he wasn’t going to say anything, instead he laid back and watched as your ass collided with his pelvis, strings of your wetness sticking to him.

a singular tear rolled out of your eye and you didn’t bother to wipe away. you were hurt, for the second time in your life. how do you keep ending up in these situations? was it you? were you the bad one? no, you just happened to fall in love with the worst people.

“fuck, baby. g’na make me cum~” he warned and you worked your hips faster, your own orgasm approaching. feeling his cock throb, you rode faster and slammed your ass down on him, until you pulled him out of you; his seed dripping on your plump cheeks. he was too wrapped up in his pleasure to notice any of your tears.

suguru laid breathless and watched as you got up from the bed and over to the adjoining bathroom. geto sighed and grabbed his phone, snapping a picture of his semi hard cock and sent it to utahime.

as you sat on the toilet, your phone chimed and you looked at everything. when you got home, geto was the first to shower and left his phone in the bedroom, which allowed you to go into his phone and made a short cut with his messages. so, everytime he sent a text to utahime, it was sent to you phone too. you also sent yourself all of their previous messages before deleting it on his end.

you stormed out of the bathroom, slamming the door behind you; alerting the long haired male.

“my best friend? out of all the people in the world you just had to go an fuck my best friend!” you held up you phone to his face, every single message, nude, love note—was in your grasp.

it was no use denying it either, he couldn’t. not when you had hardcore evidence shining in his face. so, he got mad and deflected.

“i wouldn’t have to cheat if you didn’t lie about where you were. I wouldn’t have to cheat if you showed me some love. now would I?” he retorted. youd eyes widened and you couldn’t help but chuckle. he had no idea where you actually were all the time and I guess you could thank utahime for that, after you kicked her ass.

“are you fucking serious? that’s why you cheated, because I lied about where I was? that’s your fucking excuse?!” you were seething, he was a fucking idiot. you walked over to your closet and began to take your things off of the hooks, shoving them into your huge duffle bag.

“you wanna know where I was so bad? getting my brains fucked out by my ex. every single night when I told you I was at utahime’s, I was letting him cum in me so much, i’m surprised I haven’t gotten pregnant.” now he was seething, he grabbed your bagged and tossed it onto the bed; getting in your face, but you weren’t scared—you were going to stand ten toes down.

“and finally the slut confesses! going back to your ex? isn’t he married? think he’s going to leave his wife for your raggedy, used up ass?” he started chuckling when he saw your face change, he had got you right where he wanted you. hurt.

you sniffed back the tears and moved past him, grabbing your duffle bag amongst other things, slipping on a pair of sweatpants before walking to the living room with suguru hot on your trail.

“you know you’re a fucking idiot. you call me a slut, but you went to utahime’s house on a whim to fuck her because you didn’t know my whereabouts, does she know that she isn’t the only one either? ive checked every single message suguru, icloud too,” you grabbed the rest of your things out of the living room, before you grabbed your keys.

“should’ve let gojo and shoko eat my pussy when they wanted to, then I’d really be a slut. fuck you, suguru. and go to hell,” with that, you detached the apartment’s key and threw it onto the island—slamming the door behind you, leaving him for good.

as you turned the knob to the apartment across town, the door swung open and you were face to face with toji’s chest. he looked down—opening his mouth to speak, only realized the stream of tears rolling down your pretty face. he quickly pulled you inside and hugged you; letting you soak his dark grey shirt with your sadness.

you dropped your bag as he rubbed your back, soothing you as you calmed down, before you pulled back and he placed you on top of the kitchen counter. “what happened?”

you told him everything, about him and utahime, to the nasty argument, to the break up; and by the time you got finished he was angry. “ill kill him,” he started to walk away, but you grabbed him by his wrist and shook your head.

“he isn’t worth it, as much as I would love to see that happen; he really is garbage and his karma will come.” you half smiled at him before you realized something. “why are you here? trouble with your wife?”

“actually…we just got a divorce. I had one of my lawyer friends bring over the paperwork that I asked for months in advance, and we both signed it. I told her about you, how I felt about you, and the affair. she was devastated.” you pouted, another person hurt by this affair, you felt like you only had yourself to blame.

and then he moved closer to you, picking your face up by your chin; your eyes fluttering as he stared into them, “I love you, y/n. never stopped. the only reason I married her is because she was having my baby. I was a fool who didn’t use a condom, but I was an even bigger fool for rubbing everything in your face. i'm sorry.”

your eyes widened. he had never said ‘I love you’ to you before, only you with him. and to here that he never stopped only made your heart swell. you couldn't give a fuck about anything else but what was happening now. “toji!~”

you cooed, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and pulling him into a deep—passionate kiss. your lips moved in sync, your hands exploring each other’s body’s, just before you pulled away.

“what about your son?”

“she agreed on joint custody, which is good. we’ll alternate weeks and I gave her the house. now, ya got anymore questions? ‘cause, I need to make love to you.” you shook your head no quickly, and he picked you up, and carried you to the bathroom, almost sucking your face off in the process.

as soon as your feet touched the cool tiles, you proceeded to rip your clothes off, while he did the same—ignoring the cool, sticky feeling on your panties. he quickly turned on the shower, letting the water steam up all while he kissed you. he blindly led you into the shower, his hands glued to your ass; the plushness captivating him.

the steaming waters trickled across your bodies; adding to the sensual atmosphere, and helped your arousal peak. you kissed down his chiseled torso until you were face to face with his raging boner, not even hesitating to place him into your mouth.

toji groaned, his hand going straight to your wet hair, pushing your head down further onto his cock—deepthroating him. your eyes widened and filled with tears, but you kept him deep in your mouth; until you pulled away to catch your breath. you kept eye contact with him while you jerked him off, a mixture of spit and water coated his cock. “cum in my mouth, ‘kay?” you were so cute to him, he couldn’t help but nod; sucking in some air when you took him back into your mouth.

you swirled your tongue on his tip, frenching it; while teasing his balls. then you removed your hands and only used the back of your throat to please him, the sound of your gags were like music to his ears. and soon, he couldn’t hold back anymore—grabbing your head so he could fuck your pretty face to his liking.

“so…fucking…nasty!” he grunted, your cheeks puffing up with each thrust. your hand flew down to your throbbing clit, rubbing it while your eyes rolled back into your head. it didn’t take long before he spurted his thick warm load into your mouth—forcing your to deep throat him once more.

you swallowed what you can, before he let go and you pulled away; letting it trickle out once you opened your mouth, showing him the flowy white liquid before swallowing the rest.

toji pulled you up by your wet hair, kissing you again—tongue swirling on yours as he tasted himself. you moaned, feeling his fingers find their way to your wet cunt. he picked you up once more, swiftly pushing his head inside your aching entrance. “fuckkkk, baby.~” you dragged out, throwing your head back, walls stretching as he slowly pumped in and out of you.

the more he moved, the hornier the two of you became, and soon his pace quickened. the sound of your cunt squelching, and your heart beating in your ears drowned out the shower’s loudness, fueling his arousal. he gripped your ass with both of his hands and proceeded to pound your cunt—causing air to be pushed in, making you queef repeatedly.

“she’s talking to me, miss daddy’s cock. hm?” he grunted, listening to the lewd sounds of your moans and your pretty pussy talking to him. you moaned, unable to formulate a sentence due to the overwhelming pleasure. his cock rubbed against your spot with each thrust and you could feel that bubble inside, getting ready to burst.

“gna cum on this dick? hm, pretty?—answer me!” he growled into your ear, and held your waist, smacking your ass before putting his hands back onto your fatness.

“yes! yes! gonna cum all over your dick, daddy!~” you squealed and he slammed harder, bursting your bubble. you were silent as your cunt gushed, a complete contrast from the shower above you.

“that’s it baby girl, let it out. gonna get another one out of you~” his hands stayed glued to your ass and his pace stayed the same, overstimulating your leaky cunt. drool pooled out of your mouth as you let go once more, your liquids splashing the shower’s walls and drenching his cock once more.

he didn’t stop pounding once your orgasmed again, as his own was mere seconds behind you. with a few more thrusts, he slammed inside of you—holding you there while he painted your walls white, cock twitch as he emptied his load inside your tummy.

“let’s get you out of this shower before you pass out,” he chuckled and helped clean your body off.

after a few more rounds of love making, the two of you laid in bed, cuddled up to one another. toji had drifted off to sleep, after you took charge in the last two rounds; ultimately making him tap out.

you stared at his beautiful resting face, heart swollen with pure love and happiness. you had finally got what you wanted. turning on your side, you backed yourself into his embrace; ready to drift off to sleep—until your phone buzzed.

turning the brightness down, you checked the message from an unknown number.

✩ ‘we need to talk, now’

[twola]

Defying Conventions II

Arthur Morgan x F!Reader Smut (18+), MDNI, A/B/O

➵ Fic Masterlist ➵ AO3 Link ➵ Previous Please be warned -cw: omegaverse, breeding kink, impregnation, pregnant sex, graphic birth. If those things bother you, then this is not the fic for you.

I feel like I am taking a big risk with this one. As someone who has recently gone through childbirth, it is definitely a traumatic thing, even when things go well. I write as a coping mechanism for trauma - so here it is.

It’s all going to shit.

Hosea. Lenny. Dead. John just busted out of Sisika. The bank robbery in Lemoyne gone completely south - and being marooned on that godforsaken island.

Not to mention Dutch and his behavior. Seems like Micah is in the man’s ear more than anyone else nowadays.

Beaver Hollow is miserable - damp, in these dark, dusty hills of Roanoke. It's stifling, the misery this place exudes.

“Arthur-” 

Arthur whips around, ready to snap at yet another person asking him to do something-

It’s you. Your cheeks are the slightest bit flushed. His hackles settle, temper calmed by the nearness of his other half.

“What d’ya need, darlin’?” He smiles as he raises his hand to welcome you into an embrace.

You don’t move, causing him to frown.

“I… uhm, I-” You stumble slightly, your hand unconsciously moving to your neck, where you have pinned a shawl to cover your skin.

Realization dawns on him, and a low, dull ache begins to burn in his gut.

“Y’ sayin’ we need to get away for a few days?”

You sheepishly shake your head, cheeks flushed. His smile returns and he takes the step to move closer. He wraps his arms around you, clutching you to him. You sigh and melt into his strong embrace.

“I’m sorry,” you mumble into his chest, shuddering slightly as you can feel your heat closing in on you. Tomorrow you’d be a blithering mess.

Arthur presses his lips to your forehead.

“Reckon that’s the best thing anyone’s asked me to do in a while.”

“You ain’t mad?” You look up at him, incredulous.

“Am I mad about my mate askin’ me to get away from this shithole for a few days and spend the hours ruttin’ away?” 

“I just hate being so… needy. Dumb omega shit.” You sigh, burying your head in his chest again. 

Arthur sighs knowingly, then grins as he pulls the shawl down to expose your neck and immediately buries his head against your clammy skin.

You yelp in surprise and arousal as you feel his tongue press against your mating gland - it’s a good thing that he has one arm strong around your waist, or else you would be stumbling to the ground.

Arthur groans quietly, squeezing you gently. “I’m yer alpha. Y’know what I need? I need to satisfy you.”

You try to push him back, afraid that you’re going to go into heat standing here in the middle of camp as he nuzzles at your neck. Alas, your lover is built like a brick wall, and it is only after quite a bit of fidgeting and you trying to yank your shawl back up that he takes the hint.

“Annesburg? Or d’ya want to go further?” He drawls as you try to collect yourself. 

You scowl up at him, “After that, we’ll need to go to Annesburg. Now.”

Arthur smirks, his eyes hidden under the rim of that old gambler’s hat. “Say less, darlin’ girl. Say less.” 

-

It’s a miracle that you can stand upright, there in the gunsmith’s shop as Arthur leans on the counter. While he had been in the foulest of moods earlier in the day, he’d found a second wind the moment you told him you needed him - suddenly acting full alpha - cocky and possessive and hell-bent on getting you desperate for him.

Christ, the whole ride down from Beaver Hollow was near excruciating - Arthur having dragged you onto the saddle in front of him, pressed against him completely, instead of pulling you up on his horse’s rump. Leaning over every so often and nipping at your neck. Groping your breast after passing another rider on the road. By the time the two of you had ridden into the dusty mine town, the flush that had dusted your cheeks before extended down your neck and chest.

“One room. ‘nd here’s extra to not bother us for a few days.”

The poor gunsmith blanches, completely understanding the threatening tone in Arthur’s voice. He nods, handing the alpha a key, muttering directions to the room, in the building next to the shop.

Arthur smirks, turning around and grabbing your arm, guiding you quickly to the room. Punching the key into the lock, he opens the door and watches as you stumble inside. A rumble, all alpha, punches out of his chest as you wipe at your brow, leaning against the wardrobe in the room.

“I’m just gonna get the horse straight. Be back in a minute.” Arthur calls back as he steps out of the room, leaving you to pant wearily as you survey the room that you’re going to lock the two of you in for the next couple of days.

You whine as you paw at the shawl hiding your neck, finally unlatching it and throwing it unceremoniously to the floor. Feverishly unbuttoning your blouse, you pull your arms out of it and toss it aside as well. You’re yanking the straps of your chemise down your arms and baring your breasts as Arthur re-enters the room. Your chemise hangs around your waist as your hands cup your breasts, your breath coming in short, fast pants.

“Need it that bad, omega?” Arthur purrs, pushing your hands away from your chest and placing his own atop your breasts, squeezing gently as you moan.

“Don’t - don’t be cruel- I’m…shit, I’m in heat.” You gasp out as his thumb traces over your nipple. Your knees shake as your hands grasp at him, and you feel your bloomers dampen as your slick begins to come.

One of Arthur’s hands moves from your breast to your waist and immediately starts yanking at your skirts, loosening the waist and pushing them down, along with your bloomers, to pool on the floor at your ankles, leaving you completely bare.

“I’ve got you, darlin’ girl,” Arthur grasps one of your hands and presses it against his massive erection in his pants, and you mewl desperately, craving the way he fills you.

“Go on, get on the bed.” He nods to you and you shakily follow his order, laying down on the bed and opening your legs, rubbing at your throbbing core, watching as your alpha undresses himself. Jacket and work shirt, denim and union suit, they are all shed as you watch, touching yourself all the while.

He goes to climb into the bed with you as you catch a glimpse of his eyes - the faintest red rim around those blue pools.

You groan, a pained cry from your chest, and he stops immediately. Your heat has fully set in, and your body jolts in furious need. You sit up rapidly, trying to gain some semblance of control over yourself.

“I.. you… you begin to rut, there’s a chance-” you suck in a breath against the cramping pain, “I’ll take.”

Arthur hovers over you. “Is that what you want?”

A pained gasp is all you can reply.

“It hurts-” you moan, crumbling forward in the bed, clutching at your lower abdomen. Arthur’s large, warm hands find your sides immediately and gently push you to lay fully on your stomach.

“Hands and knees, let me take care of you.”

You breathe heavily, labored, through your mouth, your fever making you weak. You let him maneuver you however he wants, having lost the strength to do anything else. Your limbs are drawn under you, and your head presses heavily into the old pillow. He positions himself behind you, grabbing your hips and hoisting them up. You moan throatily into that pillow as he takes one hand to stroke his cock into full rigidity.

Before he presses inside, it hits you. You push up on your elbows and he stops, rubbing your lower back. You breathe out against another cramp that shudders through your body. “You… you’re gonna…”

All of the hotheadedness of being an alpha vanishes.

“Honey we don’t have to - it’s what you want.”

You swallow. He’s in position to mount you, the most base and primal of ways to slake this biological need. The complete and utter submission of an omega to their alpha.  Some say it’s an old wives tale, but omegas know - they are taught very early on, that being mounted was supposedly the best way to breed - the surest way to conceive a child. That if they were caught out in the world by an alpha, to fight like hell to not be mounted.

“What do you want, Arthur?”

He leans over you and you feel his lips on your shoulder as one of his hands gently grasps the crest of your hip.

“I wanna spend my days wit’ you.”

“That don’t answer the question.” You suck in another breath against the pain.

He pets your cunt gently, making you shiver as his knuckle parts your folds. “I’ll be happy either way. If you wanna spend our days ridin’ as partners or raisin’ children - I’ll be there as your mate.”

“And… and if I want…?” You gasp out against the pain, your slick starting to run down his knuckle all the way to his wrist, “If I want to have your child?”

He groans loudly and removes his hand from your cunt, immediately smearing your slick all over his cock and he pumps it vigorously. His opposite hand clamps hard on your hip, yanking you up to align with his swaying pelvis.

“Omega-” he growls, all predator, with the blunt head of his cock pressed against the seam of you, probing against the rim of your cunt, raring to plunge into your body, “I’ll breed you right, girl.”

His voice is rough, his tone warning. Another sway of his hips and his cockhead slips in, you do your part and press your hips back to take him, to urge him forward. You moan throatily into the pillow as he presses inside - somehow his cock feels bigger, thicker in this position than at any other time. 

“Fuck, darlin’.” Arthur curses when he’s fully sheathed inside you, hands strong on your hips. On his knees behind you, he guides you on and off of his cock as he thrusts his hips in tandem. The bed squeaks with the movement of your bodies. You clench the pillow hard as your lover picks up the pace, fucking into you frantically.

With each powerful thrust of him into you, you feel his knot start to grow, stretching you with a pain that you crave. If you were able to turn around and look up at him, you’d see his eyes rimmed in red. But you could tell, with the way his hands clamp on your hips, the hardness of his cock - you know he’s gone into rut.

He slows, breathing heavily through his nose, reminiscent of a beast of burden.

“Darlin’-” his voice is rough and thick with arousal, “Last chance, omega. D’ya want me to put a baby in you?”

You shudder, hissing at the finality of his implication as you feel the trickle down your neck from your mating gland of that sweet, pheromone-filled oil. 

“Yes.” You whine, “Yes, Arthur, let me - give me, ngh-” you throw your hips backward to spear yourself on his hard cock, “Breed me.”

“Fuck-” Arthur groans, and almost immediately, his knot swells, stretching the rim of your cunt as he locks himself into you. You whine against the pain-pleasure of it all.

Here you are, on your hands and knees, alpha mounting you, waiting for him to breed you - oh, what a place to be in - what a situation you thought you would never be in. Arthur quickly leans over you, plastering his chest over your back, his strong arms caging you in on either side of your own. It’s terrifyingly intimate as he breathes loudly through his nose, nipping at the gland on your neck.

The world slows. 

“I love you,” he rumbles into your ear, and gives one more thrust into you, knot keeping him snugly in your cunt, “I love you - I love you -” He babbles before sucking one final breath in.

Every nerve of yours is alight. You’ve never felt so in tune with your body. For one final instant, you shiver, your womb ready to accept. One final cramp of need, lower than ever, and you know it is the way your body sings for your mate. Your heart stops. Your cunt clenches at Arthur’s cock, as if it were begging for him the same way you shamelessly are.

Splayed over you, his lips quickly find your gland and he sucks, you gasp, and then you can feel it - deep in your body, you feel the warmth of his seed, his cock pulsing in your cunt as he fills you. 

The sound he makes is beautiful, a moan that transcends physical need. No, this was more. This was your mate, this was breeding, this was the pinnacle of what you were born for. This was creation. The swell of emotion overflows as tears burst from your eyes. You let out a crooning moan of your own as you take him, you take all of him, every pulse of him into your womb. 

The moment seems to last forever. Heaving, panting, groaning, Arthur empties himself into you, locked at the hilt, your body shaking at the sheer implication of it all. For once in your life, your omegahood was not a curse. Your alpha, bent over you, mounted and pumping his hot spend into you.

Arthur gasps like a fish out of water once he’s done. The roaring of your heart in your chest seems to overpower everything. You sob loudly and he immediately sobers and moves the two of you to lay on your sides on the bed, still locked at the hips. He brushes back a lock of your hair, “Honey, are you alri-?”

“I love you,” you cry out, taking his hand and pulling it to your breast, over your heart. “Arthur I love you, I need you - you’re everything-”

He settles in behind you, his knot still locked strong within your body.

“Honey darlin’ girl…” You can feel him smile into your hair, “Mate.”

All of the fierceness, the rough possession, it all has faded as Arthur gently nuzzles the back of your head.  You pull his hand down to your belly, right to the cradle of your hips, to splay out over your womb. “Our child - Arthur.”

He presses against your hot skin, arms wrapped tightly around you, and the next thing you know, that overwhelming warmth shoots through your cunt again as he breathes out heavily.

“Gonna make sure I give you one.” He groans, voice rough as he shallowly pumps his hips against your rear, another round of spend coating your insides.

You mewl, accepting him, rolling your hips as you make another noise of desperation.

“Y‘okay?” He asks, his arm tightening around you.

You whine, wiggling your hips, testing the strength of his knot. He growls in your ear, one of his hands shooting down to your cunt and forcing your legs apart and the other wound under your ribcage, engulfing and squeezing one of your breasts.

Arthur sucks in a breath and nuzzles the back of your neck. His hips jut forward once again, and his cock swells within you.

“Got one last one in me - gonna, gonna g-give you-“

Your entire body quivers in anticipation, and you grab Arthur’s hand from your breast and spread it over your lower belly, holding your hand over his. Over where you will grow and create and swell with child, his child.

“Give me a baby, Arthur-”

Arthur grunts, cock pulsing, and you mewl as you feel the bleeding warmness of him exit his body and enter yours. Gentle waves of him, dripping down and over his knot, smearing across both his and your thighs. A physical sign that he’s filled your cunt to the brim with his seed.

Finally, as the two of you breathe heavily from near-exhaustion, Arthur’s knot recedes enough that he is able to pull himself from you. Arthur slides himself from your body gently, and you whine as his inches leave you. He leans over you and kisses your temple. “I’ll get us some food. Get some rest.”

You turn over in the bed to face him, rubbing gently at your belly. You smile, mischievously.

“I like you mountin’ me.”

Arthur scowls at you, “Jesus Christ, you can’t just say that. We’ll never leave this bed if you keep acting like that.”

You simply smile, leaning in and taking his lips with yours, throwing your leg over his hip, preventing him from leaving the sanctity of the bed. One of his hands rounds your hip to cup your ass.

Shivering slightly, you involuntarily clench as you feel another trickle of his essence leak from your cunt. You look down between you, Arthur’s eyes following yours. You unwind your leg from his hip and turn to lie on your back. 

Your dark hair has lovely drips of white coursing through it, and Arthur groans quietly when he sees it. He reaches, collecting that viscous rivulet on his finger, and you watch intently as he looks back at you, raising his brow as he trails his finger through your thatch of hair.

He lovingly, gently presses it back in, and you whine with oversensitivity at the feeling of his thick trigger finger slipping through the sore rim of your cunt. Arthur takes your lips with his, smothering your complaint.

After several moments, he extracts his hand, leaning back on his elbow. He nuzzles against your neck, the now-faded ring left by his teeth those weeks ago.  “When will you know if you took?”

You shrug, “I guess when my heat ends. Never really paid attention much to them omega lessons…What happens now?”

Arthur rolls onto his back, stretching himself out in the bed, looking up at the moisture-stained ceiling of the rented room. “Things are endin’ with the gang. As much as it kills me to say it…”

You move closer to him, laying your head upon his chest. “And us…?”

“You’re my mate. You’re hopefully carrying my child. Ain't gonna make the mistakes I’ve made in the past.”

You fiddle with a strand of your long, messy hair. “I know we’re mates and all but…” you trail off, eyes trained on the strand of hair instead of him.

“Let’s get Swanson to marry us,” Arthur says, winding his arm around you again.

A smile blooms across your face and you immediately sit up and kiss him, hard, dragging him back down to the bed.

You awaken the next day in the mid-morning, when the sun is already high in the sky.  Arthur’s already up, sitting on the side of the bed, half-dressed. He looks back at you as you stretch your arms overhead. Yawning, you run your hands down your body to rest at the cradle of your hips.

A warmth blooms under your hand. You don’t know how to explain it, but you’re sure you took.

His large hand covers yours.

“Thinkin’ so?”

You nod, looking back at him, unable to stop yourself from smiling. You push yourself up and crash into his embrace.

“But you know, can never be too sure.” You giggle.

A spark of amusement shoots through those river-blue eyes of his.

“Get on your knees, omega. Let’s make sure.”

-

Months Later…

“Absolutely not.”

You frown, pouting reminiscent of a petulant child. You have to stop yourself from stomping your foot on the old wooden floor.

“Ain’t no way in hell am I mountin’ you when you're this close to giving birth.” Arthur scowls at you, looking you up and down with a set jaw and exasperated tone.

“C’monnn…” You tease, taking your hands and running them down your ribcage to highlight your quite large belly under the fabric of your dress.

“No. Christ, it’s hard enough not to go into rut when you’re just sleeping next to me.” Arthur shakes his head, turning away from you, trying to distract himself.

“Gentle?” You wind your way around him, your hand tracing up his back.

“Woman….” He gives a warning tone, but you can tell that you are wearing him down.

“Please, alpha.” You press yourself against him suggestively, taking one of his hands and placing it over the swell of your belly, “You need to take care of your omega.”

His fingers pulse over your skin, and with a sigh, he gives in, “I ain’t knotting you, no matter how much you beg. Christ, I shouldn’t even be entertainin’ this.”

With a giggle, your fingers fly to where his suspenders are fastened to his black work pants, and before he can even react, you have one unclipped. He snatches your hands away from his waist and holds them up above your head.

“You are the most troublesome-”

You lean up on your and kiss him, effectively silencing his retort. When you pull away, you smile up at him, and he cannot help but give the smallest smile back.

“Like I was sayin’, troublesome. C’mon now, get in bed.” Arthur playfully swats at your hip as you grab his hand, pulling him toward the bedroom.

The small cabin could use some updating - but for the soon-to-be three of you, the small homestead tucked away in the hills of Ambarino is exactly what you never knew you needed. A small bedroom, a bed tucked over in the corner, a fireplace, and an old, beaten-up dresser - for all the time you’d spent running, sleeping in tents and on bedrolls - having a home with your husband was something you’d never think you’d have.

As you reach the bed, he stops you and spins you around, holding you upright all the while. Arthur leans down and presses his lips against yours, one hand pulling at your dress, gathering up the skirts, bunching them up, raising them up, up to your hips. With an awkward shimmy with your belly hanging low, your bloomers pool to the floor with a quick tug from Arthur’s fingers.

“C’mon - lay down,” Arthur taps your hip and motions to the bed.

You raise your eyebrows as he undoes his other suspender, about to comment on how dressed the two of you still are.

“No-” he warns, “You take everythin’ off and I’m definitely knotting you. And we aren’t doin’ that.”

You’re about to complain again but are cut off as he pushes you, gently, down onto the bed before shoving his pants and short drawers down his saddle-hewn thighs.

At that sight, you quickly lay down, rolling onto your side as you hike your skirts up to bare your cunt.

“Thought so, troublesome.” Arthur jokes as he slides himself into bed behind you, the skin of his pelvis and cock warm against your rear. 

It takes some awkward maneuvering - everything is awkward when you are this far gone, but finally, he slowly presses himself into you, and you sigh in contentment.

It’s everything he is not to slam his hips into you, to knot you, to claim claim claim. But he needs to be soft, to be gentle, to be careful. 

You moan appreciatively when he gives a shallow pulse of his hips. The sheath of your body feels like a live wire - primed and ready to snap at any time. The pace he finds is slow, but full and heady. You mewl, your body shuddering as you come, and Arthur is forced to pull himself from you and wrap his hand around his cock, hissing as he feels his knot expand around nothing.

You struggle to turn yourself over, but finally do so and wrap your hand around his knot, joining his hand around that swollen base of him. He unclenches his jaw and looks down at you as you squeeze at him, moving your fingers from his hard knot up his shaft, and downward again.

“Sweetheart you don’t-” he grits out as you begin to pump him.

“Hush-” you interrupt as you lay your head upon his chest, twisting your hand around him as you stroke up and down. It doesn’t take long for him to find his own end. Arthur growls, thrusting his hips upward as he comes, spurting white out of the head of his cock over both of your hands.

After catching his breath, he kisses the crown of your head, “You okay?”

You look up and smile at him, satiated.

-

Arthur tosses the last of the firewood he’d been chopping all afternoon in the pile under the overhang, wiping the sweat from his brow as he lays the ax against the outside of the cabin. Grabbing the carbine that he had been cleaning earlier, he shoulders it as he pushes through the front door.

“Darl-”

The bedroom door is closed. Warily, he grabs the door handle and slowly opens it. Arthur stops completely, eyes widening as he scans the room. The whole atmosphere has changed from even this morning, and he slides the carbine from his shoulder and props it against the wall. 

It’s dark, the curtains drawn against the midafternoon sun. Before his eyes adjust to the darkness, he can just barely make out your form, leaning against the mantle, your head on your forearms.

He closes the door again, recreating the safety of the nest. He realizes that’s what it is only after shutting the door. A nest. 

“Is it-?”

You nod as pain rips through you and you groan, clutching your belly. Arthur is on you in an instant, holding you upright. 

Immediately, a fierce agitation in his blood sings. Protect, protect, protect.

You breathe out heavily through your nose as you stand up to full height again. “C’n you make a fire? I need… I need-”

“Anythin’, darlin’. Here, how about you sit down-”

“No, no I need to walk.”

For the next hours, you pace back and forth in the room, wincing every so often, one hand supporting your belly. You’ve kicked your shoes off, and Arthur has as well, sitting in a chair next to the fire, knee bouncing as he watches you intently. The warmth of the room is nearly suffocating to him, but he would never dream of asking to open the window or put out the fire. He simply rolls up the sleeves of his faded blue work shirt.

You suck in a pained breath and a groan echoes through the room as you double over, trying to assuage the overwhelming feeling in your hips.

“I- I think it’s time… h-help me get undressed and onto the bed.”

Arthur nods, stepping closer to you and reaching for the laces of your dress, pulling them apart and helping you step out of the fabric. He continues, solemnly, pushing the straps of your chemise down your shoulders. Gently, your chemise falls away, your bloomers puddle at your feet. Arthur’s blood is on fire as he can see the rivulet of liquid trail down your legs. Your breasts heavy and full, nipples darkened, your belly low. Your body heaving.

He is in awe. Not carnally - though he always wants you - he is in awe of you gritting your teeth against a wave of pain. He is in awe at the movement he sees in your belly. He is in awe of what is about to come, what you are about to do. You groan and reach for him. He immediately places his hands around your waist to steady you. You murmur softly as you lean into his embrace.

“Let’s get you to bed, darlin’ girl.” Arthur gently leads you to the bed and helps you lie down in it. You groan, trying to get comfortable, but it is a lost cause.

The hours continue to roll by, punctuated by your body seizing in agonizing pain every few minutes. You whimper to the ceiling, jumbled syllables of prayers, of curses, of his name.

He wants to growl, he wants to go outside and tear something to pieces. There is an overwhelming need to destroy as he watches you writhe in pain trying to bring his child into the world. He wants to fight another alpha - to dominate - to provide some kind of placation to the inferno in his chest.

Another pained, agonized whimper from you brings him back to reality.

“Si-sit me up,” You grit your teeth as Arthur helps you up, he sits at the head of the bed behind you and you lean back on him for strength. He will give you it all, he would give you anything to take this pain away, if only he could shoulder this task for you. You spread your legs a little further as your head falls back upon his shoulder, a wail crawling out of your throat. Slick trails down your neck from your mating gland as Arthur helps to hold you in a reclined position.

Spiced, warm, rich- with just a hint of the sweetness you usually smell like. It’s different, and instead of driving him wild with the need to rut, it’s making his heart pound with anxiousness and protectiveness. He’s sure if someone were to encroach on the area he would tear them to shreds with his bare hands right now.

“Doin’ so good.” He murmurs against your temple and you moan again in response, your head lolling forward as you hoarsely cry out.

“A-Arthur, its- it’s comin’, the baby-” You pant, and your hands move from clutching the bed sheets hanging between your legs.

“I’m here, I’m here.” Assurance is all he can do at the moment.  Blood begins to stain the sheet underneath you as you breathe heavily out your nose. Red smears your thighs as the end draws near. Your back tenses and your fingers clutch at his. Your nails dig into the back of his hand, but his pain be damned. Your head turns into his chest, squeezing your eyes shut, searching for some sort of comfort.

A rumble, deep and strong, claws up from his chest. His free hand spreads out over your belly, pulsing, cramping, hard - he can feel the ordeal your body is going through beneath his fingertips. Moments drag on as you breathe heavily through your nose.

With a gasp, you grab his hand from your belly and draw it down between your legs, against your cunt. Tears stream from your eyes as you wail loudly, the final moments having arrived. 

“Y’can do this, sweetheart, you’re doin’ so good-” He murmurs into your temple as you pant, another cry clawing up from your throat.

“Arthur-!”

Taking in a measured breath, you shudder in against him, a hoarse shout filling the room as you deliver the child. In a rush of blood and fluid, Arthur finds himself cupping the baby’s head as it slides into the world. A final scream pierces the room as you push again, the child’s shoulders and the rest of its body leaving you and into the waiting hands of its parents.

You immediately are lucid, and bring the child up to your chest, and the newborn’s piercing cry fills the room. The white-blue cord from the child’s belly pulses against your own, the blood connection between the two of you still strong. 

Arthur is struck dumb. He can barely comprehend what has just happened as you coo gently at the wailing babe, sticky and bloody. 

“L-lie us down, and get that linen blanket o’er there.” You whisper as you rub the child’s back, and its cries slowly quiet. He is jolted back to reality, and slowly, gently lies you down in the bed, standing up and grabbing the aforementioned blanket and bringing it back to you.

You’re able to wrap the babe loosely upon your chest and belly. You look up at Arthur, but his gaze is trained on the rough swaddled babe. The tufts of dark honeyed hair peaking out from the linen. Those blotchy red cheeks.

“Your son, my alpha.” You whisper.

Arthur gapes up at you, seemingly unable to comprehend your words, until something clicks and he immediately leans over and places his lips upon yours in a desperate, emotional kiss.

“Oh, sweetheart - you - you-”

You chuckle softly.

“You’re perfect, he’s perfect - my darlin’ omega girl.”

The child latches to your breast and begins to slowly suckle. The warm spice of your scent from giving birth recedes, and a sweetness replaces it. It’s new, this scent, the tang of milk and notes of comforting vanilla. Arthur breathes in deeply, resonating deep in his bones that you are no longer just his mate; you are mother to his child.

The boy’s scent - a combination of yours and his, invades his nostrils. Of sweet vanilla and leather. Of that tang of milk. He wants to nuzzle against the child and breathe in deep. The only scent he wants to be bathed in forevermore.

In those quiet moments after the ordeal of birth, you open the swaddled linen to give him access to cut the cord between you and the child, a quick flick of his hunting knife above the child’s abdomen. He holds you, kissing your temple and murmuring sweet nothings as you clutch at the child, delivering the afterbirth with a soft, stifled whine of pain.

Things start to slow. He’s got a new purpose now. As you drift to sleep, cleaned and in a new chemise, upon fresh sheets, his gaze moves to the basket next to the bed, where in a fresh swaddle of linen, his son also sleeps.

It's murderous, the things he would do to protect the two of you. This nest, the newborn child, and you recovering from birth. His blood sings- not in the need to fuck, but in the solemn duty he now has - as alpha, as husband, as father. It's fierce, the protectiveness he now feels. Like a snarling wolf defending territory. Alpha, protector. Head of the family.

He sits down in the chair opposite the bed, carbine in reach, beginning his watch.  The watch that would consume him for the rest of his life. 

But he’s content with this new calling. 

[pandora-writes-one-piece]

The Meet Cute - Law's Story - 16

Source for pic

The Great Pretender 16

Word Count: 4260

Tags For The Whole Story: Fem!Reader; Law is a soft dom; you have bratty tendencies (not all the time); voice kink; praise kink; cursing; very suggestive behaviour and innuendo from the start; sexual tension; teasing; so much flirting; romance; slow-burn; fluff; slight angst; mature audiences (though explicit NSFW moments will be properly tagged on the chapter); possessive Law; protective Law; soft Law; teasing Law; manipulative Doflamingo; inappropriate Doflamingo; fake relationship trope; only one-bed trope; reader has some anxiety issues; reader is a control freak and perfectionist; modern day AU; Mention of ex mentally abusive relationship;

Special Warning: English is not my first language, I apologise for any possible spelling or grammar mistakes.

Summary: After moving away from the hustle and bustle of Grand Line City to help your father around the property following a horse-riding accident - and in the hopes of healing your broken heart after your asshole ex-fiancé cheated - you settle into the country calmness of the Calm Belt. You and Law (your father's doctor) start to build a flirty friendship because of your father’s procedure. So much so that when he’s invited to Baby 5’s wedding (his cousin), he asks you to be his date. His uncle Doflamingo - who is filthy rich - is very adamant on finding a suitable wife for him. Seeing as he wants to avoid that, he asks you to pretend to be his girlfriend for the weekend.

Notes: The angst arrives in full force! How about that!? Come on, you had to be expecting that! Also, I'm thinking about two chapters left (well, one and the epilogue), so we're almost at the end! PS: This song fits the chapter like a glove! *chef's kiss*

|Masterlist| | |Chapter 15|

The night is almost over. Just a few more dances before the guests send the newlyweds off to their honeymoon, and then you and Law can escape back into the safety of your room. Just one hour, tops. What could go wrong in an hour?

Even more so now that you’ve finally confessed the three words that have been bothering you for a while. And they were reciprocated.

You’re adamant about not letting go of Law’s hand for the rest of the night. A feeling of dread still coils in the pit of your stomach, and you don’t know exactly why, but you’re not about to let fate play a prank on you.

Except, fate’s got nothing on Donquixote Doflamingo. 

“Nephew, I need you. It’s urgent.” Law groans, his hand tightening around yours, since this is clearly Doffy's last opportunity to feed some lie to Law and try to break you two apart. You’re honestly tired of it all. 

“Tomorrow, Uncle. I’m tired.”

“Now.” Doflamingo’s tone leaves no room for discussion, and Law clenches his jaw. Underneath it all, Law still respects his uncle. You’re not quite sure why he still respects the man, he’s despicable, but you suspect it’s because he instilled in Law a deep-seated sense of family ties and loyalty. And Law won’t break free of his morals. 

“Go. I have to freshen up anyway.” You whisper with a smile. You’ve confessed. He knows how you feel. Nothing will come between the two of you. 

Law smiles at you, and with a last squeeze of your hand, he lets you go. 

-*-

You purposefully take a while longer in the bathroom, fixing your makeup, your hair, and your dress. Unnecessary moves, really, since you’re about to leave to go to bed soon, and you’re actually craving that massage Law mentioned earlier. 

That and… well, you’re craving Law. Period.

You exit the bathroom with a silly smile still plastered on your lips and almost bump into a chest. “Oh, forgive me, I–... Ichiji.” 

Obviously.

“Fancy seeing you here.” He begins.

“Cut the crap.” You don’t even let him say anything else, already pushing past him to return to the reception tent, but he halts you, a hand on your upper arm, and you seethe. “What did I tell you about touching me?”

He lets go of you immediately, taking a step back and sighing while passing a hand over his coiffed hair. “Right, sorry.”

Sorry? 

You look behind you and around, trying to notice if something feels out of place. You might have entered a portal to some sort of alternate universe when you were in the bathroom because there’s no way in hell Ichiji would ever apologise to you.

“What?”

“I’m sorry, Doll. For… well…” He sighs again, steps forward, and then back again. “For cheating, for treating you like crap, for taking you for granted… I… well, I know now it’s too late, but seeing you happy with someone else made me realise what I lost and how I was the only one to blame.”

No, seriously, there has to have been a portal back there. Something, anything. This is not happening. 

Your heart constricts in your chest. You lost count of how many times you dreamed about Ichiji asking for your forgiveness, to truly repent for what he put you through. But it happening here, in a place you'd never thought you'd meet him, and completely out of the blue? 

What's his game? 

“I don't think you need my forgiveness to move on. I know I don't need your apologies.” A heavy sigh parts your lips. “Not when you're delivering them far too late.”

You make another motion to pass through him, but he moves in front of you and whispers your name in a desperate plea. “I do need your forgiveness. I need closure.” 

What? You cock your eyebrow, your lips twisting down in a frown. “After all you've put me through for–...” You wave your hands in the air. “I’m not even going to count the years we spent together. Just today is enough! After all the theatrics and the taunting, you expect me to believe you just want closure?”

The way he slumps his shoulders and downcasts his eyes reminds you of the first times you argued, back in the beginning of the relationship, when you actually believed his apologies, and your heart constricts some more at all the memories. 

“Yes, Doll. Just closure. I'm about to leave the party, and I know we won't meet again, unless it's by chance, and I don't want us to part on bad terms.” He takes a tentative step your way. “Just say you'll forgive me, please.”

You want him out of your sight, out of your mind, and completely out of your heart. You know you don't love him anymore, but you still hold memories and feelings of nostalgia, and when he's looking at you with puppy-dog eyes, you can't help but soften up a little bit. He does seem sorry. 

“Fine, Ichiji, fine. We can part ways on lighter terms. I don't completely forgive you for what you took from me or for how you made me feel, but I won't resent you for it anymore.”

He actually smiles at you. Not that conceited, smug smirk, but a genuine smile. 

“That's all I ask for, Doll.”

“Good. Goodbye.”

“Wait, please.” Is that pain in his voice? Is he really sorry and repentant for everything? You don’t say anything, but you don’t move either, just waiting for what he wants to say. “Can I get one last hug?”

The face you make must have been something special to look at because he grimaces and chuckles softly, his hand passing through his hair again. 

“A harmless hug? Please? It’s just for–...”

“Closure, right?” Should you? He’s actually sounding human for once in all the time you’ve known him, and he does seem sorry. It’s just a hug goodbye. What harm can it bring? “Fine. Make it quick.”

With a sigh, you let him bend down to envelop you in his arms, but then you actually smile. You don’t feel anything. No rage, no pain, no hurt, no longing… it’s just a void. You know there used to be something there, but now you’re free.

It’s a wonderful feeling, actually. 

Until Ichiji’s hands cup your face, and he tilts your head to the side, doing the same to his and leaning in further, his lips inches away from yours. His taller frame engulfs you, and the lights are very dim near the bathroom. It almost looks as if you’re sharing a kiss. 

“Wha–...”

“I still win, Doll.”

A cold shiver runs down your spine as he shows you the same smug smile he always did, his canines almost glistening with glee. You’re frozen in place. What does he mean? 

And then he parts, leaving you open-mouthed, chest heaving, and cheeks flushed from trying to grasp what is going on. It doesn’t take long for your eyes to adjust to two figures looming at the entrance of the hallway that leads to the bathrooms. 

Doflamingo and… oh, no.

“Law?”

Doffy is bent down, one arm around Law’s shoulders, his lips moving fast as he mouths words into Law’s ears. You can almost bet he’s spewing lies and deceptions about you, twisting everything to make Law doubt you. You know he has trouble trusting people, it would be so easy to make him doubt.

But what breaks you is Law’s expression. His usually stoic face bears the signs of hurt, and he’s clenching his fists by his sides, jaw ticking, trying to contain his emotions and failing at it. 

“Law!” You try again, taking a step forward and see Doffy still speaking into Law’s ear. Lies, all lies, for sure. Law’s gaze falls on Ichiji and then back at you, and you realise that this was orchestrated. It has to have been orchestrated. 

Ichiji holding you as if he were kissing you, Doffy bringing Law by the bathroom? It was their ultimate move.

“It’s not what you think, Law.” You take another step forward, and you can almost hear the shards of Law’s flimsy trust being broken and shattered into pieces. 

He shakes his head and takes a step back, hand flying over his head to tousle his hair. “I… I need some air.” Turning on his heel, he leaves you in a hurry, and you stifle a sob. 

No, no, no.

You need to reach him, to speak with him and let him know what happened. That nothing actually happened! He can’t possibly think you would betray him like this. Turning your wobbly steps into strides, you try to follow Law’s retreating figure into the crowd, despair tugging at your insides, tears already threatening to fall.

And then you’re stopped by a strong hand on your arm. “Where do you think you’re going, princesa?” 

An actual growl leaves your lips. “Let go, Doflamingo. I need to speak with Law.” Your tug does nothing to loosen his grip, and you seethe. 

“That’s where you’re wrong.” He tuts, his fiery eyes boring deep into yours. “You won’t speak to my nephew. Not now, nor ever again. You’ll leave him alone to live his life and disappear.”

Shaking your head, you try again, but his grip is too strong. “He needs to listen to me! He’s going to be heartbroken. It’s not what he thinks.”

“He’ll be fine. He has a family that loves him.” Doffy’s words sound melodic, but the melody is one of doom, not hope. 

“Only Cora loves him, clearly.” Your scoff comes accompanied by stubborn tears you’re trying to keep enclosed. “All I’ve ever wanted from Law was love, all I have to give to him is love. Why do you want to take that away? Do you hate him that much?”

Doflamingo straightens his shoulders, and now he seems impossibly high. “On the contrary, cariño. I love him dearly. And it’s because I love him that I need him to learn this lesson. I thought he had already learned it the hard way, but he didn’t. Romantic love only brings weakness. It doesn’t do him any kindness, and he needs to let that go. He needs to be strong and in control, not a fool in love.”

Finally, your harsh tug makes him release you, but his imposing figure is still blocking the way. You stamp your feet, much like a small child, and grit your teeth, anger making your eyes blaze red. “You think that makes him stronger? Is that why you push the people that love him away?”

He shakes his head, those annoying tuts leaving his lips as he gives you a condescending look. “Not at all. Only those that do not.”

“Then you are a damned fool.” He growls at your disrespect, and you couldn’t care less. He lost any small ounce of respect you might’ve still held for him when he pulled this stunt. “Because if you hadn’t interfered, I would still be by Law’s side, and I love him!”

Doffy’s laugh comes in small waves, his eyes shining with amusement as he sizes you up with his fiery gaze. “An admirable sentiment, mi querida, though I doubt it to be true.” You open your mouth, ready to be disrespectful again, but he reaches into his pocket and pulls out an all-too-familiar device: your tablet. 

With a flick of his finger, he opens it to the spreadsheet you now know by heart: all of Law’s likes and dislikes, every useful thing for your fake relationship, every piece of information you and Law gathered to make sure you were prepared for this event. 

You can’t help the stutter that leaves your lips, nor the red flushing your cheeks. “Law… he.. Law knew about that.” Why does your voice sound so small? Is it because you were caught?

“I’m sure.” His demeanour contradicts his words. And then he hands you the tablet, a frown finally overtaking his mocking smile, and you almost shrink at how his aura suddenly feels very threatening. “You’re done here. You will never speak to my nephew again.”

Tears sting your eyes, but you refuse to let them fall. Doflamingo can’t win this, not after what you and Law went through. Not after realising he’s the love of your life. 

“You can’t do that.” Your voice comes out as a mere trembling whisper. “You can’t pull strings and control Law’s life as if he’s a puppet and you’re his puppeteer! He has a say in his own life!” You try to take a step forward, but he doesn’t budge. “I’ll tell him what happened, and he’ll realise I never meant to hurt him. Just let me through!”

“You’re done.”

“Law has a right to make his own choices. You don’t own him!” The pesky tears start to stain your cheeks, you feel impotent and useless. 

“Not choices that will end up destroying him.”

“The ones you are making for him might do just that.” Your voice finally breaks, and a ragged sob leaves your lips with the weight and the helplessness of it all. “He is not your pawn! You can’t manipulate him like this! Please… please! Let me speak to him! You’ll truly destroy him with this…”

Law placed his trust in you. After what he’s been through with Monet, you know it must not have been easy to let himself love and be loved. And Doflamingo manipulated you both to an extent that will come with dire consequences. Law will be broken, and so will you.

“I will face whatever consequences come from my actions with Law. He might be hurt for a while, but he will emerge stronger. He has done it once.”

“But at what cost?” You whisper, too drained to fight back. With a shaky inhale, you straighten your shoulders as your hands grip the tablet for some sort of grounding. “I’ll speak to him later, then. You can’t keep us apart. You will not ruin what we have.”

Pushing past him, you take one full step before Doflamingo’s words freeze you in place. 

“I would rethink that if I were you, querida.” Something in his voice halts your breathing as you look over your shoulder and find him grinning. “Your father is still recovering from surgery, right? Some businesses collapse pretty quickly when something like this happens… no one would look twice.”

What?

“Is that a threat?” Doffy certainly has the power to ruin your father’s horse business. 

Waving his hands in the air in a dismissive manner, his smirk returns to his lips, more menacing this time. “Oh no, no. I don’t make threats… they’re too amateurish.” His laugh fills your ears, and the same shiver as before courses through your veins. “It’s more of a prediction.”

Gathering strength and bravado you do not have, you square your shoulders and lift your chin. “My father is strong, and he has my help. We’ll manage.” Turning your face forward, you will your feet to move again.

“How brave. So what about Law’s clinic?” Your breath stops so suddenly that you almost think you have a collapsed lung. He can’t be serious. “I won’t be cryptic, cariño, here’s the deal: if you speak to Law again, I’ll make sure his clinic tanks. And you know how much he loves that little place, with his friends and helping people.” He tsks and waves his hand dismissively. “I would much rather he dedicated himself to the company, so perhaps you would be doing me a favour. Law, on the other hand? Now that would devastate him.”

“Please, don’t…” You don’t know what else to do. Doflamingo is too powerful, too influential. He will destroy Law either way and claim to be helping him while doing it. You feel trapped, what can you do? “Please don’t do that to him.”

“I don’t want to. I do love him. But that depends on you.” Doflamingo sets one hand on your shoulder to turn you back to face him. “There’s a car waiting for you outside with all your belongings. You will leave the party immediately with Ichiji, as it will help sell the ruse.” 

Your legs start to wobble as breath begins to catch in your throat again. Powerless. Completely stripped of any will. That’s how you’re feeling. 

“You will not speak with Law today, nor ever. Not even when you both go back to your boring little lives. He’ll think you abandoned him, which suits me, really. No one needs a gold digger.”

“I’m not–...”

“I don’t care!” Doflamingo leans in, and his breath fans your face. He’s as angry as you’ve ever seen anyone, and you can almost see the veins pulsating dangerously in his neck. “You’re a distraction and a liability. Law doesn’t need any of that.”

“Everybody needs love…” Is this your last hail Mary? Because it’s not a very strong one.

“Not the Donquixote family.” He steps back and motions Ichiji forward. “Leave. Don’t speak to Law. It’s simple, I’m sure you can follow that, princesa.” He chuckles again while fixing his tie and suit. “Or else…” 

The words he leaves unsaid are a weight on your soul. You can’t think, you can’t breathe, you can barely exist. All you know is that Law is somewhere, hurting, thinking you betrayed his trust.

And the fact that you will leave without any explanation will only cement that feeling. 

You thought you’d been heartbroken before - exhibit A is currently walking by your side, leading you away from the party with a hand on your back that you’re too tired to swat away - but you’ve never been hurt like this.

This pain is visceral. It burns, it blisters, it festers, and it destroys. 

You’re not actually sure you’ll ever recover from this. 

-*-

Law was taken away from you by Doflamingo yet again, and as his uncle drones on about business and about the imminent merger, all Law can think about is you in his arms and the peace you bring him.

“Are you listening to me, Law?”

“No, Uncle, I’m not. It’s late, and I’m tired.” He yawns for effect and shrugs. “I’m going to bed.” But before he can retreat, Doflamingo sighs and slings his hand over Law’s shoulder.

“Fine, Law. But first, I’ve made some assumptions during this weekend, and I need you to tell me if I’m right or wrong.” Law sighs and nods. Agreeing with Doffy is the fastest way to get rid of him. He starts leading Law back into the party, and Law follows without giving it much thought. 

“I know you and the little princesa were not a couple before this weekend. I’m actually doubting that you are a couple at this moment… and my assumption is: you told her you didn’t want to come to my daughter’s wedding without a date because I tend to introduce you to a lot of respectable young ladies you don’t relate to. So, to avoid that, she offered to come as your date. Am I right?”

Law already knew Doffy had discovered that bit of your ruse, so he doesn’t act surprised, he acts resigned. 

“Almost. I was the one who asked her.” Law grins. “The ladies you introduce me to are not respectable. Half of the ones I met proposed to do very salacious things to me in very public places.”

Doffy grins back at him, and Law sighs while shaking his head. 

“You got that half-right, Doffy. Are you happy?”

“Not in the least. You see, Law, what I think is that the young lady realised the family you belonged to and decided to take advantage of that fact by seducing you. Is that a correct assumption?”

“Frankly, Uncle, I’m growing tired of that subject. We have already proved to you that we care about each other deeply. And even if we didn’t, we don’t have to prove anything to you anymore. This is my choice, and you will not interfere in it.”

Doffy tilts his head and nods, a mysterious smile playing on his lips as he leads Law to the bathroom. 

“Fair enough. But… Nephew… do you truly believe she cares that much about you? Do you think she loves you?” A small chuckle escapes his lips. “I thought you were done with being naive…”

Law grits his teeth while his heart clenches in his chest. Doflamingo’s words always have a way of penetrating his skull and making him doubt everything. “She loves me. I know that.” He didn’t mean to sound so defensive, but then again, Doffy had no reason to attack him. 

“I hope, for your sake, that you are right.” Doffy brings one hand to his chest and bows his head slightly. “I would hate to see you blindsided. Again.” His emphasis on the word ‘again’ brings hurtful memories of Monet back to Law’s mind, and he grunts. 

“We’re fine, Doffy. Thank you for your concern.” Law is about to turn and leave, but Doffy holds him by the shoulder and directs his gaze towards the dimly lit hallway of the bathroom. 

“Oh… would you look at that, then…”

Law instantly freezes, his brain showing him tricks. It has to be tricks. There’s no way that’s you wrapped in Ichiji’s arms. Law can only see the back of Ichiji’s hulking frame, but that’s your dress he sees peeking from the side, those are your hands holding his waist.

And now he’s cupping your cheeks, leaning… no.

A kiss?

Law shakes his head, denial, frustration, and… betrayal. That’s the word echoing in his head incessantly. Where once were your ‘I love you’s’ now stood that shadow of a word. Betrayal, betrayal, betrayal…

“You see, Law,” Doffy leans against Law’s ear, his venomous tongue spewing hurtful words. Words that ring true, too close to Law’s heart. Too at home with his pain. “She’s no different from Monet, really… they both traded you, broke your trust.”

Law’s throat is dry, and he feels little sweat beads trickling down his sideburns. The nails digging into the flesh of his hand cut little crescent indents, trying to ground him, trying to pull him back from the pitfall of despair he’s about to be sucked into. 

“Love hurts, Nephew. Love tears and destroys. You can only trust your family or you should trust only yourself.”

Doffy keeps talking, but Ichiji breaks from you, and there’s a mix of confusion and distress on your face as your eyes meet Law’s. And then there’s panic as you whisper his name.

This can’t be happening. You wouldn’t do this to him. Not you.

“Law!” 

Your plea is clear, but he can’t think straight. It’s too much, it’s too painful. 

“Don't believe her lies, Law. You know what you saw.” Doffy murmurs. 

“I… I need some air.” Law’s voice comes out as a mere whisper as he turns and disappears. The air suddenly feels rare, his chest too tight. 

There’s not enough room in the world to harbour the size of this betrayal. It’s too much. 

-*-

The coolness of the outside air does nothing to soothe him. It still feels stifling, and the control is slipping away from his fingers. Running his hand through his hair in a desperate gesture only brings him more heartache. 

Why?

Law keeps thinking about your pain and grief when you spoke about Ichiji. How could you return to the man who hurt you so? 

Maybe you didn’t.

No. Law knows what he saw. You were in Ichiji’s arms.

But he didn’t see a kiss.

There was no mistaking it. He held your face and–... and what? Could he have forced you? Were you held against your will? Law tries hard to unscramble his jumbled memories, but the pain in his chest is so heavy that he barely knows where to start.

He didn’t see a kiss. Of that, he’s certain. Could he be overthinking it? What if it was nothing, or if he forced you? And instead of helping you or hearing your words, Law panicked? Hadn’t he promised you not to listen to Doffy’s words? 

Yet that was exactly what he did. 

Fuck.

Did he get this all wrong? Law sighs and inhales deeply three times, trying to calm his ragged breaths and his uneven heart. He knows you. You wouldn’t do that to him, let alone with a man who hurt you so deeply.

There has to be an explanation for what happened, and he’s ready to listen to it.

Turning around, Law returns to the party, hoping you’re still somewhere near so he can speak with you and listen to what you have to say, to what really happened, to the truth.

He’s expecting to find you frantically looking for him, and his heart is already constricting from the anxiety you must be feeling. He should’ve just stayed a while longer. You would have explained, and neither he nor you would have had to panic. 

But what he wasn’t expecting was to see you leaving the party. He wasn’t expecting to see Ichiji’s hand resting against your lower back, silently guiding you through the remaining guests. He wasn’t expecting to see you walking out with him.

Willingly. 

So it was the truth.

Law’s heart breaks completely, the full extent of your betrayal settling in, expanding, and commandeering all of his love for you. Doflamingo was right. It pains him to admit this, but he was.

You’re a liar, and Law was foolish enough to trust you.

Tag List:@rosidaze @beachaddict48 @armiliadawn @jintaka-hane @sprinkklz @baby5555 @hopelesslover06 @mars-mizuko @sleepykittycx @nerium-lil @eustasscapitankid @ren-ni @jqperi @lycoriskalmia @rainbow2312 @alexturnersgirl

[sunnie-angel]

Always and Forever

jason todd x f!reader

ao3 link

summary: jason tries to end things after a bad patrol. you won’t give him up without a fight.

tags: f!reader, smut, kissing, biting, piv sex, unprotected sex, fingering (mention) cock warming, orgasm denial (kind of), belly bulge, size kink (if you squint), overstimulation, creampie (if you think this is misproperly tagged please let me know) minors and ageless blogs do not interact

rated e (mdni) | wc: 5.5k

a/n: this is my first time writing smut (or a fic of this length) so please be gentle! if you find jason a little ooc, i’m still working on getting his ‘voice’ right, so just consider him one of the many versions we’ve all come to love. this started as a single smut scene and grew feelings and a bit of plot from there. this was definitely a labour of love so i hope you all enjoy it!

“We’re done. Us. All of it. You’re free to leave.”

The modulated voice of the Red Hood startles you. It’s nearly six in the morning, and you’ve been up since three when Jason didn’t return from patrol like he promised. He’s still in his Hood gear, hasn’t bothered to take off the helmet or even the boots crusted in who knows what. The leather jacket has taken a beating, and in the dim light of your apartment living room it glistens damply like he was caught in the earlier rain. He won’t even look in your direction, hands fisted at his sides, the darkened leather of his gloves taut across his knuckles. Jason didn’t come home like he promised and now he can’t even bear to look at you as he tears your heart in two. It’s understandable then, that when your voice returns to you and you can breathe around the lump in your throat, that your voice shatters the silence.

“Look at me. Look. At. Me.”

Only the way that his body locks up, somehow tenser than before, deflates you. A whole night’s worry and frustration drained away.

“Jay? Please take off the helmet and look at me.”

His black curls are matted to his forehead with sweat. His one white streak is dark with it,. Somewhere along the way he must have ditched the domino mask, because the sight of his bare face twists something tight in your chest. His beautiful eyes are red rimmed, tear tracks still staining his cheeks. His lips look bitten raw. He looks at you the way a dying man looks at salvation. Realization dawns slowly for you.

“You didn’t get caught in the rain, did you?”

A sharp nod, jaw clenching, but he doesn’t look away. Now you’ve noticed, you can’t stop. There’s a faint blood spray on the front of the helmet, barely visible from where Jason’s placed it on the counter. The leather jacket is soaked through with blood, darker splotches on his tac pants from where it’s followed gravity. The grime on his boots now looks rusty, though that might just be your imagination. Jason’s come home hours late covered in blood and is telling you to leave. This time, your voice is startlingly gentle.

“Jay we talked about this. You promised no life altering conversations when you’re covered in blood, remember?”

At the time, had been a joke. A promise made after a close call, when Jason was still loopy from sedation and painkillers and insisting he was going to duel Doc Leslie for your honour. Finally lucid, he had sheepishly promised no more dramatic ultimatums when he's covered in blood.

“But you need to—“

“No. You promised. What’s going to happen is you’re going to leave all your gear at the front door and we’ll deal with it tomorrow. You’re going to tell me if you’re injured and let me fix you up if you are. Then you’re going to shower. Then, and only then are we going to have this discussion.”

“I don’t—”

“Please.”

He caves at the way your whole body sags under the weight of one word. Carefully toes off his boots and socks, peels the stiff tac pants off, and lays his top and jacket on top of the whole pile. Reveals a smattering of bruises down his arms and along his rib cage. To get to the ensuite he has to walk past you and through your shared bedroom. The heat of him passing by has you turning after him, a star caught in his orbit, words curling to ash on your tongue. It’s only when he’s firmly out of sight that you allow yourself to collapse into the couch. Head lolling back, gaze fixed on the ceiling. Blankly you watch the headlights of passing cars loom and fade across the ceiling.

You do your best not to cry but wet trails burn down your face. You dash them away, but it does nothing to make you feel better. You don’t know if you’ll survive the coming conversation, a litany of “he doesn’t love me anymore, or at least not enough to keep me” is running through your head. Something is wrong, you think. Usually after a rough night, Jason can’t get enough of you. He comes home to your shared apartment and holds you, needs to feel the touch of your skin and the heat of your breath to truly know you’re alive. He's never the most talkative on the worst nights, but he always reaches out. Mumbles into your throat just to hear your replies, get you to distract him with chatter about your own day. He’ll act like he’s touch starved, press his split knuckles to the back of your hand, pull you into him until his nose is buried in the crook of your neck, pet and touch whatever bare skin is in reach. You're used to shaking off the vestiges of sleep to Jason between your thighs, fingers and tongue skillfully opening you up before he slides his cock inside, splitting you open just to feel you tighten around him. Tonight he hasn’t even reached out to hold your hand.

As if summoned by your thoughts, Jason stands in the doorway to your shared bedroom. Wet from his shower, the streetlight filtering through the curtains illuminating the water still beading on his skin. The bruises look less stark now. You look at him and feel love. You look at him and see the man you gave the most vulnerable parts of yourself to, ready to hand them back to you on a platter. Rolling your head to look at him properly, you notice he hasn't bothered to dress, wrapped in a towel like he couldn't wait to put off this conversation a moment longer. Your eyes meet, and it snaps whatever trance he's in. He shuffles over to you, eyes asking for permission to join you on the couch. The couch dips under his weight, and you turn on your side to face him, legs curling up to your chest.

"I'm glad you're home."

You reach out to brush his face, aching to remind yourself that's he's real but he shies back from the motion, denies you both the comfort of contact.

"Don’t. I'm not— I'm not good for you. We can't— I'm not gonna do this to you anymore."

"Do what to me Jason?" you ask, genuinely puzzled "Be us? I chose this, I chose you, and I have kept on choosing you from the beginning. I don't understand." By the end, you're truly pleading, begging with your voice and eyes and body for him to explain this to you. To explain why he's trying to make this choice for you.

"Bein' with me puts you in danger," he says slowly, carefully. "You think you know what you've signed up for but you don't. Not really. I painted a target on your back and now the worst of Gotham are gonna come sniffin’ at your door. You're never gonna be safe with me and I don't want to be the reason why you're hurt. You deserve better than me and a life of looking over your shoulder. I can't give you that, I'll never be able to give you that."

And oh, that hurts. The way he says it, dripping with self-loathing and certainty, cracks your heart open. It speaks of long held fears and convictions that he will never be good enough, that he is too broken and too dangerous to be loved.

"Did something happen tonight?" you ask, searching for a reason, anything, that would have brought old wounds to light.

"What?" Tension laces his body tight. There's a wild look in his eyes, shifting closer to green than blue.

"Jay, you made all of those risks clear to me before we were even real friends. So, what happened tonight to make you so sure that you'll be the death of me?"

Something about the way you state the question so matter of factly unsettles him enough to reply. "Heard some chatter down at docks about Black Mask setting up a new warehouse. Tonight was just supposed to be easy. Just about fuckin' with him, get B and Wing time to gather evidence on his new operation. He was waiting for us, probably set the whole thing up as a trap. Did a whole melodramatic monologue too 'bout how if we were gonna threaten his operation — the only thing that means anything to him — then turnabout’s fair play."

He's paused in his remembered anger, hands flexing against the couch cushions. You nod, trying to encourage him, not wanting to break the spell that got him talking in the first place. But you really don't like where this was headed. When he speaks again, its in a whisper.

"He knew your name. He knew who you are to me and he knew your fucking name."

The fear that jolts through you at that statement is matched by the intensity in his eyes. Distractedly you notice that you can’t feel your fingers. Heart racing, the only thing grounding you is the weave of the cushion under your cheek.

"Okay, we can— we can handle this. It'll be difficult but I can—"

"He's dead," Jason interrupts.

"He's what." All trains of thought come to a crashing stop.

"I killed him."

Its a confession and a plea for forgiveness wrapped in one. He can't quite look you in the eyes anymore, his whole demeanor screaming shame. Stunned and wide-eyed all you can do is drink him in, this incredible, ridiculous man. Car headlights cut through the shadows, lighting up the planes of his face and catching on the still too-green of his eyes. Somewhere along the way you've moved closer. His face is only a breath away and in the silence it feels unbearably intimate.

You can't help blurting out, "Can I kiss you?" The thought of being unable to touch him any longer is utterly unthinkable. Not when he's right in front of you, lips parted and waiting for you to pronounce judgement over him. He nods, shyly, and then you're in his lap. His face is cradled in your hands, eyes wide as he looks up at you. His lips are warm when you finally give in to the urge to taste him. They're rough from where he's bitten them but they're pliant against yours. Drawing back, you rest your forehead on his, unwilling to be any further apart.

"He had your name in his fuckin' mouth and I couldn't let him live for that. So yeah, I killed him. Him and every one a his lieutenants in the room that heard." Jason pauses, tries to gauge your reaction, continues on more self-consciously. "B and Wing couldn’t stop me and I didn’t want them to. He was a threat to you and I didn't know. You could have died and I wouldn't even've known what to protect you from." He tries to pull back from you, but you don't let him. Lets his motion pull you along with him, hands still cradling his face.

"Is that where all the blood is from? You're not hiding any injuries besides the bruises from me?" you ask worriedly. He's done it before, but you'd hoped he'd learned to trust you better. Jason goes to remove your hands from his face and you don't resist. He presses soft kisses to each of your palms before folding them to his bare chest right over his heart.

"Fuck sweetheart, I tell you that I've just killed a roomful of men and you want to know if I'm okay? You're not angry that I killed, again?" And oh he looks so ready for you to reject him. Waiting for you to turn away, to call him a monster, for your love to turn to horror.

When you speak, the words come out slowly, each syllable weighed out with care. "Am I bad person if I say that I'm grateful?" You can feel his heartbeat speeding up under your hands as you speak. "Because I am Jay, I'm so, so grateful. I'm grateful that I'll never have to worry about a bullet in the dark or getting taken off the street. Mostly I'm grateful that I won't be used to hurt you. But I'm also so very sorry Jay that you had to kill again." He shudders at that, closes his eyes and squeezes your hands tight tight tight. "I know that you were trying so, so hard not to kill, to live by your family's rules and I'm so sorry that you had to break that promise to yourself. Can you forgive me for putting you in that impossible position?"

"I— I don't need your forgiveness, not for this. But don't you see? I'm the reason you were danger. If I hadn't a been quick enough, if there's ever a day when I'm not fast enough, then you'd've died." At that he stops, swallows thickly, like he's considering a world where he doesn't save you. "This doesn’t end just ‘cause Black Mask’s dead. It’s every enemy the Hood has ever made knowing that my heart’s walking around outside my body.” And that, that makes your breath catch in your throat. Stuns you enough that you’re not fully prepared for what he says next. “So this, you and me, it's gotta be done. I'll move out tomorrow, pack things up later. I won't leave you unprotected, I'll— I'll still patrol but you won't have to see me again. You can have a clean start."

Now, now you are angry. Pushing off his chest you lever yourself upright, forcing him to look up at you. Straddled across his lap your balance is precarious at best but you need him to see you, to realize that what you say next is what you mean with every wretched part of you.

"No."

"No?" He's looking up at you, glazed eyes and mouth open wide with shock.

"No. Jason Peter Todd you do not get to make this decision for me." With every word you push your finger into his chest for emphasis, your whole body shaking with the force you're putting behind your words. "I knew the risks because you told me about them. I decided that I could live with them if it meant having you. I told you always and forever. I meant it then and I mean it now. So this, you and me, it’s over when I agree it is. I gave you my fucking heart and this is me not accepting it back. You tell me I’m free to leave anytime, well I’m not.” His hands have fallen to your hips where they clench and unclench. “You haven’t been able to keep me out of your sight lines for more than three minutes tonight. You can’t go a day without touching me, feeling me up and getting your cock wet. I know you don’t sleep half so well if I’m not in your bed and neither can I. I know the way you look when you think nothing you’ve done has ever been good enough and the face you make when you feel like a hero. I know you to your bones and you know me. You want me to live a life that you’re not a part of, well I won’t." Suddenly fed up with the chafing of the towel on your poor inner thighs you try to shift, when you feel him hard under the thin layer of the bath towel. You feel Jason freeze up, time crystallizing around you before speeding back up like a poorly wound tape.

“Off. Off now” You start pawing at the blasted towel unsuccessfully, before giving up and going for your own sleep pants. You’re half way through wiggling them off before Jason’s brain catches up with you and then he’s scrabbling to tear the towel off and get you bare. You grab his hardening cock and guide it to the entrance of your cunt. You’re still not slick enough for this, didn’t spend ages getting opened up on fingers first, but you’re desperate enough to make it work. His hands around your thighs are like iron, clinging to you like a life preserver. You take it slow, letting gravity do the work of spearing you open on his cock, unable to take him to the hilt in one swift motion the way you ache to. Jason’s a big man, always towering over you in size, and his cock is perfectly large to match. Already the stretch is just the other side of painful, the thickness of him cleaving you in two. You gasp like you’ve been punched with every inch downwards. By the time your hips meet his pelvis his stomach muscles are clenched and twitching from the effort of not just fucking up into you and taking what he wants. His fingers are buried in the couch cushions. Deliriously you wonder if the cushions will still be intact by the end of this conversation.

"So tell me again," you pant, "tell me why you think you can just walk away from me and all the love we have like it's nothing." Jason groans at your words, buries his face in your throat, hips still twitching with aborted thrusts.

"Please, please baby. Let me move— shit, let me make you feel good. God, sweetheart you're so fucking tight, so fuckin’ perfect for me." The growing roll of his hips is distracting. He's so fucking thick, this position making him feel like he's somewhere in your stomach, every flex of his muscles bullies him deeper, threatens to shake all the thoughts out of your head. That just won’t do. You take back control with a soft hand on his chest pushing him back until he's leaned right back against the couch cushions.

"You started this conversation Jay. It’s not done until you finish it. Besides, you’re the one that wants to put a stop to all this." You punctuate your words with a single calculated grind of your hips, make him claw at your hips with abandon. Revel at the weight of him inside of you. Trail your hand up his chest so you can thread your fingers into his damp curls. "Why should I let you move, hmm? Give me that list of reasons, and maybe I'll let you fuck me when we're done talking." His pupils are blown so wide you can barely see the colour of his eyes anymore.

It takes a few false starts before he can put a coherent thought together. "Being— being with me makes, oh god, makes you a target. People'll go through you, tryna hurt me. You're gonna get hurt cus'a me, could die fr'me." He's trembling all over now, words slurring together and gasping for air. He settles a little when you run your other hand down his chest to trace his y-shaped scar, lean in and kiss him slow and sweet. Nip and tease at his already abused bottom lip.

"Love that ship went and sailed the first time you talked to me," you say. "There's no putting that back in the box and hoping everyone will forget that we were us." Taking your time, you mouth along his jawline, feel his hand slide under your shirt to come settle on the small of your back. "Say we split up, what then? Doesn't matter how often you swing by, someone'll always try and find a way. Tonight was just a reminder. How does breaking both of our hearts make that go away?" Nuzzling into that sweet space below his jaw, you can feel the way his pulse races and cock twitches in you. All the while you keep your hips tortuously still, warming his cock with your cunt, enjoying the stretch of him. A tug of his hair gets him talking again.

"I'm not a— not a good man. I've killed a lot a people, don't even regret most a'em." He can't look at you as he says it, eyes fixed on a spot over your shoulder. His hand on your back flexes, fingers tightening around your hip bone.

"Didn't we just go over this? Jay I'm glad you killed those men, and if that makes you a bad person so am I." This time its him that goes in for a kiss, latches on to the plush of your lips, licks his way inside. Cradles your skull and pulls you closer, has to stop kissing you to gasp when that shifts his cock inside of you.

"Sweetheart, you're the best person damn person I know," he breathes into your mouth. Traces over your cheekbone with the tip of his nose. "You're the best fuckin' thing to happen to me. But you shouldn't hafta decide if you're okay with me killing people. Shouldn't be something you gotta think about at all." There it is again, that tinge of self-loathing. And that's what it’s really all about isn't it?

"You're not making me do anything. You think I didn't know who I was saying yes to when you asked me out to dinner? That I was unaware of Hood's brand of justice? That unlike your family, I didn’t already approve of your methods? Love, I was grateful for you before you'd even walked into my life." Its a confession you hadn't said out loud before, but maybe you should've. Something about your faith in him has Jason whining at the back of his throat like a wounded animal. He tries to buck his hips but freezes when the hand in his hair forcefully tugs his head back, exposes the vulnerable line of his throat.

"Can't just say that sweetheart. Can't just say that and not let me fuck you full." Another tug at his hair has him moaning, the cords of his throat standing out. "C'mon, c'mon. You're so wet and so warm for me. I'll make you feel— feel so good." On the last word he tries to thrust up but you were expecting this, dig your knees into the couch to leverage up off of him at the same time he moves forward. You bite down on the soft skin of his throat before pressing a kiss to the forming bruise. Let go of his hair to clasp the side of his neck, rub your thumb over the hinge of his jaw. Let his head fall forward to your chest, resting his brow on your collarbone.

"I said after our conversation, didn't I? And those aren't your only reasons, are they?" you tease. "You can fuck me whenever you want Jay, you just have to be honest first."

He’s torn, you can tell. Caught between chasing his pleasure at the steep price of his darkest fears, but also wanting to do right by you, as misguided as this attempt is. But he’s been so truthful so far, deserves a reward for how good he’s been. So you clamp down, hard, feel his cock brush against that soft part of your gut that makes you shiver with pleasure. Enjoy the punched out sound that wrings from him. Grind your hips down in a filthy circle, once, twice. Then just as suddenly stop. Let him pant and shake, breath warm in the contours of your throat.

When he finally speaks, his voice is so small you can barely hear him. "M'scared." He shudders as he says it. Something in the curve of his spine screams vulnerable, sparks an itch in your fingers to touch and so you do.

"Think 'm too broken for you to love. Think 'm too broken to love you right. Scared one day that the pit's gonna burn too bright and I'll hurt you." Like a broken dam, the words come tumbling out so quickly now. All you can do is keep stroking his back, this giant of a man rendered so small in your arms. "That I'll wake up one day and it'll be my hands covered in your blood." The hate and self-loathing is almost palpable, an oil slick shadow creeping along the floorboards. You could cry from the way his voice shakes and cracks.

“Oh, love.” And this time it’s your voice cracking. “I’ve never thought of you as broken. There’s never going to be a day where I think you’re too broken for me to love. If the day ever comes that you do break, I’ll pick up all the shiny pieces with my bare hands if I have to. I’ll put you back together again even if it cuts me open because that’s what we do Jason. You don’t think there aren’t parts of me I’d rather smooth out too? You don’t have to love me perfectly to love me right.” He’s straightening up now, trying to get a better view of your face, needs to see the truth of your words. His arms have moved around you like a vice, holding on as if you’ll disappear if he lets go. “You’ve never hurt me Jason. Scratch that, you’ve never hurt me before tonight and your stupid, noble attempt to break up with me. But not once have you laid your hands on me and not once have I been afraid of you.” He tries to interrupt, opens his mouth to speak but you’re not finished. You lay finger over his lips, force him to let you say your piece. “But I know that the problem isn’t my trust in you, it’s yours. Besides Black Mask and his thugs, did you hurt anyone else tonight?” At the shake of his head you continue. “There you have it. Even tonight, when you had every reason to spin out of control you didn’t hurt anyone you didn’t mean to. So talk to me. We’ll figure this out. Hell, we’ll find you a therapist if that’s what you want. So trust me, at least, even if you can’t trust yourself.”

You’d swear there were tears in his eyes if you didn’t already know never to trust the early morning light. It’s past dawn now and in the silence Jason looks like something out of a fairytale. The weak golden light makes him look so alive, so vibrant. He sits there still as stone, holding you tight in his lap, dumb with the weight of your love and acceptance. His grin, when it breaks over his face, is a little watery but possibly the most precious thing you’ve ever seen.

“There’s really no scaring you off, is there?” It’s a weak joke, but he’s trying.

“No. There isn’t.” If your words don’t convince him then the tone of satisfaction ringing through them would. Pushing at his shoulders you maneuver him as close to lying down as you can manage on your old couch. Tearing off your oversized sleep shirt (stolen from Jason of course), you’re finally as bare as he is. Perched over him, you enjoy the view of him splayed out like an offering. Reaching for his arm, you find his hand, place it on the curve below your belly and lace your fingers over the back of it. You push his palm down into you to feel the hard swell of where his cock is curving you out, carving out a place in your guts and moulding your cunt to the shape of his cock. You can see the exact moment his restraint snaps when he realizes he’s feeling himself through you. Let him jack knife up into you, feel the way his hardness moves under his palm. Enjoy the way it feels to finally have him drag his cock through you. But he’s trying to be respectful and you haven’t given him the go ahead yet. He restrains himself to shallow rocking motions, unable to stop himself completely, but the effort this is costing him is clear by his straining muscles and wide eyes.

“You paying attention Jay? This—” and this time you clench down on his cock as you press his hand to the shape of your womb just to hear him choke, “is yours. And you left it aching and empty for hours. You made such pretty promises earlier.” For this last part you lean down real close, brace yourself with an arm over his shoulder, wanting to make sure he doesn’t miss a thing. “And our conversation just ended.” He takes it as the permission it is and slams into you, deeper than before like you can feel him in you throat. Hands an iron grip around your waist, pulling you down to meet each sharp rolling thrust. Bullies his cock into you until he finds the angle that has sparks running under your skin, keeps hitting that angle with all the precision and aim of a sniper with his marksmanship. At this angle, his head’s at the perfect height to mouth at your breasts. You can feel him smiling around a nipple as he listens to you moan, only detaching to give the other breast the same kind of enthusiastic attention. Your arm finally gives out, falling down onto his bare chest. Limp, you let him manoeuvre him how he wants you, a rag-doll for your mutual pleasure. All the while he doesn’t stop fucking into you, any semblance of earlier control gone.

“Fuck, sweetheart you don’t know— don’t know what you do to me.” He’s gasping between each word, but the meaning of them still makes their way to your blissed out brain. The slick drag of his cock head along your clenching insides making everything else fade away. You can feel your orgasm building, heat pooling and growing with every thrust. Jason can feel you tightening up around him, knows the signs of your body so well. He starts circling your clit with his fingers, alternating pressure with his thrusts. The long drag and stretch of his cock, almost too much for you to take, never falters. It bumps up against your cervix, fills you up so completely that there’s room for nothing else but it and the pleasure it rips from you. Your release tears through you like wildfire, and for a moment dark spots cloud your vision. You know that you’ve clamped down, tight and hot and slick by the punched out groan from Jason, the way his head falls back onto the couch. But through it all he still keeps pumping into you.

He bites and sucks at your throat, a distraction from your over sensitivity. He leaves your clit alone, stops assaulting all your senses so viciously. Listens to you mewl from how sore and sensitive you are from having taken his cock nearly dry, having held it in you for so long before getting your cunt battered by it. “M so sorry sweetheart. Didn’t wanna hurt you. Gonna— gonna make it up to you. For the rest a m’life.” Now he’s rutting into you, all rhythm and finesse gone in pursuit of his own pleasure. Fire is running through your veins, gathering in your cunt and burning you whole. Your legs are weak and trembling where Jason’s placed them, hands trailing down your thighs to hook under your knees and pull your legs wider. Like this you’re trapped, pinned against him by the spread of your cunt, clit wet and grinding against his pubic bone every time he fucks back into you. You’re so close to another orgasm, quicker than you’ve ever been before.

“Please— Jay please, don’t— don’t stop. Need you. Need you har— harder. Jay. Jay” Jason being Jason, obliges. Your whole body jolts from the force of him inside you. You’re so frustratingly close, dancing on the knife’s edge of oblivion. Jay’s close too. You can tell by the way his breathing speeds up, the way he wraps one arm over your shoulder to keep you in place as he fucks your cunt raw. What sends you both over the edge is Jason taking his other hand and pushing down hard on the swell of your abdomen, the both of you feeling his cock kick and spurt inside of you. Heat paints your walls, and it’s that combined with all consuming pressure of his cock remaking you in his image that has you crying out your orgasm. Jason doesn’t pull out right away. Stays inside you and lets himself grow soft. Kisses featherlight over your face and eyelids. Strokes your flanks and combs his fingers through your hair. Soothes you into a light sleep.

When you wake up, it’s to full sunlight streaming into your bedroom. Turning your head, Jason meets your gaze, propped up on an elbow to watch over you. The both of you are still naked under the blankets but he must have cleaned up the mess between your legs. He pressed a kiss between your eyes before you can get too swept up by your thoughts.

“Hiya sweetheart.” The corners of his eyes crinkle up when he smiles like this. You think they’d make him look kind when he’s older. “I’m not going anywhere now, I promise.”

“Always?”

“Forever.”

[dearestcynthiaw]

Goodbye Stranger - House M.D x Reader

Chapter Two: Who Are You?

Source A: Photograph, with missing piece, and handwritten message: 'Spring 1928 - Trip to London' no other inscriptions.

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Hello again!

Sorry for the long wait, this chapter might be a little dodgy writing wise, but I'm hoping it'll sound ok.

I just wanted to add that themes might get a bit heavier from here, but I'm still unsure. I'll let you know if any trigger warnings come up.

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Chapter One: World Weary

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TW: Mentions of blood, death, cigarettes and alcohol. (Sounds like a underground band name)

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In truth, House thought about this peculiar encounter for the rest of the day. He never once closed the Wikipedia tab on this mysterious, yet apparent English Rose. He'd found himself opening it frequently and scrolling to the bottom of endless pages to really see how far this woman would go with her 'fantasy'.

Due to this anomaly in his usual work day, he found it challenging to engage with his current case, often sitting in his office and pondering in the silence. His eyes glued to the door she had disappeared through hours earlier. Would she ever come back? She had been such a fascinating specimen, he just wanted to know exactly what was going on in her head. He thought about the endless illnesses that could have caused this odd phenomenon, ones that would cause hysteria or an overactive imagination.

Was she here to fool him into a prescription? Was she living out a long time wish to live the life of someone with great lineage and aristocratic fortune? Did she want to live in the romanticised perception of the past? It was all a colossal enigma that he wanted to unearth and tease out of the woman.

To him, the current case was a bore compared to what had transpired earlier that day. It sounded like a harsh flu, but not one that he’d ever seen. They’d isolated the patient and kept up with questions, which the man was reluctant to answer. With House acting distant, the diagnosis seemed far out of reach. House thought of giving up at one point, letting his team of three figure it out for themselves. That was until they found the man’s ankles were swollen.

At this point, due to House’s lack of interest, the whole procedure was moving at a snail’s pace. The case was getting increasingly worse and House’s team decided the patient would need to be scheduled for an X-Ray of the chest, checking the lungs for fluid and the heart for implications. 

The conclusion was the possibility of heart failure, yet they were still unsure of how it got to this point. 

The end of the day was nigh. Still after plenty of pestering, House rebuffed the idea of at least looking at the patient through the glass. The idea of this patient dying seemed to have no effect on him, maybe deep down it did, but he appeared oblivious or distracted.

It was late when he got back to his car. The rain was heavily pattering on the roof of the multistory car park. It was loud, but that never detached him from his buzzing thoughts.

Dr Wilson, his friend (you’d like to think) and colleague, caught him just before he left, knocking sternly on his driver's side window, which House reluctantly opened. Wilson’s eyebrows were knitted and his mouth was pulled into a straight line 'What's gotten into you? I’m made to believe this is a one-of-a-kind case, not even you can figure it out.’ 

House only huffed at this, rolling up the window. Again there was a torrent of knocks. 

‘What? I’m late to a date with one of the hottest chicks in town.’ 

‘Don’t mess about, this is a life or death House. Why are you not interested?’ Wilson spoke, his voice sprinkled with concern.

In return, House revved his engine ‘No time to talk, probably won’t see you tomorrow, I doubt I'll be able to walk with all the fun I’ll be up to tonight. Bye.’ With that he flew out of his space, leaving Wilson in the dust. 

Rain drops danced on his windows as he bolted down the bustling roads. The street lights and headlights of other cars painted his window screen with an array of vivid colours. The music on his radio hummed in the background along with the rattling of the wheels on the dodgy tarmac. 

He was eventually stopped at a set of traffic lights, watching people trudge through the rain as he sat snugly in his warm car. 

Amongst the hoard of busybodies was a young lady, one with a look of discomfort and panic. She was instantly recognisable, yet her togs were soggy and discoloured with the spatters of rain. Her hair was heavy with water and had lost its neat, waved styling. 

He watched intensely as a singular man approached her, touching her shoulder, causing her to jump back in fright. 

The lights flicked to orange and he was about ready to move on, when she was pushed up against the wall unbeknown to those around her. 

He moved on through the green light. He thought nothing of this interaction, knowing someone else would interfere. 

He was part way down the road when without thinking he flicked on his right indicator, stopping in a lay-by, hopping out in haste with his hand roughly gripping his cane. 

Bracing against the frigid rain, he splashed through puddles approaching the pair.

He was close now, and could see how dangerous this situation was. The man was grabbing at her with his filthy hands, his face was close and his voice low.

House put his cane between the two causing an instant reaction from the unknown male. 

‘Whatcha think you’re doing, cripple?’ The male hollered. 

He attempted to push the stranger away, making sure to keep distance in case he decided to lash out, which his body language suggested.

House’s mind was sharp thinking ‘This woman has a disease that’s contagious through touch. She’s an escapee and has been on the run for the past 2 days. You’ve probably contracted it by being in close proximity.’ 

The man seemed to instantaneously spring backwards ‘How come you’re fine?’ his face scrunched up.

‘Inoculation, dummies don’t have access to it. Now move on, nothing to see here.’ and with that the frowzy man scurried away. The appearance of his walking aid would’ve probably been enough to strike fear in the stranger, but the spontaneous story-telling seemed to bring the alarming interaction to a close.

House moved away as well, pacing back to his car.

She hesitated before shouting after him, forgetting about nearby eavesdroppers ‘Why did you help me? I thought you said I was mad and should be locked away.’ 

‘Doesn’t matter, you coming or you just gonna stand there staring at my back?’ House turned back to look at her, water running down his face.

He finally got a closer look at her when they were back in the comfort of his car. She was soaked to the bone, dripping on the fabric seats. Black could be seen about her red, puffy eyes where her cake mascara had smudged. Her hair was tousled and unkept. She was quite a pitiful sight to behold. 

There was an uncomfortable silence before the engine was started up. House was hesitating. 

Again the music could only be heard faintly in the background, not even a single breath. 

‘I’ve seen a lot. New things, that is.’ She attempted to start a conversation, hoping that after this frightful evening he would see some sense in what she had said previously that day.

He ignored her.

‘I’ve got a car at home.’ She muttered under her breath, she was speaking to herself more than him. She was partly facing away, looking out the window as the streets flew by.

He turned the radio up to drown out her rambling. He would much rather be glued to the thumping music and the overactive thoughts building in his mind. He detested the notion of making awkward conversation with a lady he did not wholly trust.

The music was blaring now, the bass rattling the plastic interior of the car.

As she listened intently, she heard a new plethora of instruments that was very unlike what she was used to. She didn’t know what to concentrate on, she couldn’t tell anything apart. Every instrument seemed to drown each other out.

Her eyes were wide from the boisterous sound but she happily sat tapping her fingers on her lap to the rhythm. She could only pick out one phrase from the lyrics; 

“Who are you?’’.

Who was she? That really was the truth. The song just exaggerated that query. 

House finally let a question sit in the noisy atmosphere ‘You like The Who?’. 

‘Who?’ She turned to him.

‘Very funny.’ The conversation was quick, short and littered with sarcasm.

The song had a bit of a quieter section but jumped straight back into the chaos. It made her jump slightly with the suddenness of it all, consequently causing House to humph with a singular hissing laugh.

Again, there was a gap of silence and a sort of sizzling, filmy sound that rang out from the central system in the car. The bulky set of technology to her left disposed of a silver, holographic disk and she looked at it curiously. 

Panicked, she asked ‘Did I break something?’.

In a quick movement, he flicked open a compartment in front of her knees ‘Pick one, and replace it.’

She tentatively did so, taking the plastic cases from the glove box and splaying them out on her lap, looking at the different images. She seemed to figure it out, it was much like the vinyls she was used to, but in a different format. She gently replaced the circular disk safely into its matching case. Opening another dark coloured case with a man and a blonde woman displayed on the front, she placed the disk where the other had originally come from. As it slid from her fingers into the machine, her eyebrows furrowed in awe.The new song flicked on after a couple seconds of whirring. 

‘Top Gun? Really?’ 

‘I didn’t know what to pick, I’ve never seen any of these before. It's the only one I could see with the musicians on the front.’ 

‘They’re not the musicians, it's a film soundtrack, Marty. Maverick and Charlie? Have you not watched the movie?’ He used that odd nickname ‘Marty’ again amongst his rambling.

She sighed, looking down at her lap at the remaining disk holders. She brought one close to her face as the darkness obstructed the image. ‘You listen to King Oliver? Are you a fan of Jazz?’ she perceived his seated figure at the wheel. She was delighted that this music was still being heard. If she could relate to him with music then it might make the atmosphere more comfortable. 

Irked by her continued persistence on making conversation, House stared back at her. ‘What? Are you going to tell me that you were there when they came out?’  

He was still fighting conversation. 

Feeling knocked back she spoke quietly again ‘I’m only curious, that’s all.’.

Her thoughts consumed her that when House had parked and was now exiting the car, she was too slow to realise. They were before an unfamiliar single-story building, he was bugging her to leave the passenger seat. 

He ushered her towards the front door, both traipsing on damp gravel, water still continuing to cling to their raiments. 

Hesitating, she stood by the entrance ‘Are you coming in or are you just going to stand there and freeze?’. She was already cold, she had barely had time to dry and was finding it hard to conceal her shivers. 

It had been a rough looking public house, she had no longer been pleased when seeing its interior. Truthfully, she was glad to no longer be stuck on the streets but this brought no hope as to what House had in mind for her. She pined for her home, at this point it seemed ever so far out of reach. The panic was devouring her insides as she walked with him to the long stretch of bar. 

She still had her bag of small belongings clasped to her side; a small pocket watch, a delicately painted case of cigarettes, a metal lighter, a compact mirror, a gold tube of lipstick and a small amount of notes and coins. It was a pure set of luck that it hadn’t been snatched out of her clutches whilst she helplessly wandered the streets.

House had already placed an order whilst she lingered a distance back from him. He’d downed a couple doubles and was waiting for his glass to be topped up.

The bartender seemed to look at her in inquiry, she felt pressured to place an order too.

‘Cognac, a little soda, please.’ Giving a small smile as she felt relieved to finally have a drink. 

‘You think we do that here, sweetheart?’ The man seemed amused by her request.

She felt embarrassed, flushing a rosé shade on the cheeks ‘Just brandy then.’ She spoke as she placed a few shillings on the counter. 

‘We don’t take whatever those are.’ 

House surely thought she was a fool at this point, he pressed his glass to his lip and gave a sharp snicker. Every aspect of her life had to be littered with old-timey things. He thought; she was quite committed to leading this lifestyle and neglecting the reality of today’s society. She proceeded to sit beside him after the interaction with the bartender, who went to tend to another customer. Demoralised, she let out a shaky sigh, elbows on the bar and right hand over her eyes. She felt like crying, but was certain that the doctor would degrade her for it. 

‘So what’s your real name then?’ House questioned after a lengthy couple of minutes, again grabbing the attention of the bartender to fill up his glass.

In a huff she pulled out a little red cloth-bound book from her purse and pushed it in front of him. ‘That’s my driving licence, have a look at it yourself.’ He opened it in a blasé manner, finding the same name she’d given when they met, written in neat looped writing. Alongside her name were the start and expiry dates for her driving permit that conveniently matched up with her story. 

‘That’s all I've got in terms of identification. That’s it, that is my name. If you can’t believe me after this then I don’t know what will convince you.’

He continued to study it ‘This is a good forgery, looks authentic.’. 

She didn’t know why she hung around, but she felt that he might be her only chance when it came to getting home. She opened her cigarette case, placing one at her lip, flicking open her lighter and taking a deep exhale. 

‘Better put that out before you get caught.’ He said in a snarky voice with a face to match when she chose to ignore him. 

With that final comment she left her seat marching outside, gasper still between her fingers. House trailed behind her to the overhead roof outside where she continued to take drags. He didn’t want to lose sight of her, not again, he was far from finishing his investigation.

Snapping she snarled ‘What is it? What is it that you want? You’re following me yet you refuse to help me. You don’t even believe me, not even my name! I’m beyond it all, I just- I just - want to get back home, yet you ridicule and tease me to no end! What is it ‘Dr’ House? What do you want me to say? That I’m faking all of this, then fine have it your way, I am. Are you finally satisfied?!. 

There was a second of silent acrimony before she finally stated; ‘I’m going back to the hospital’. She stubbed the cigarette butt beneath her heel, beginning to move.

Suddenly, a pair of headlights blinked at them. They both stood still like a pair of stunned deer in the beam. ‘House!’ came a shout.

House squinted and called back ‘Can’t you see I’m with a babe?’.

She was too stunned to react to his crude joke. 

‘She looks wet, House.’ The voice came closer, it sounded sympathetic.

‘I’m sure she is, from the sight of me.’ 

Gritting her teeth she sneered ‘For goodness sake!’ Crossing her arms for warmth and setting foot back into the intense rain, she began to trudge through the drenched car park. She stood by what she said, she was going to find her way back. 

She walked as far as the side of the car who’s headlights had previously blinded them.

‘She looks distressed, Are you going to stop her? You can’t let her go back in the rain, the hospital is miles from here.’ The man came into view, appearing to her right. She flinched backwards as he tried to rest an assuring hand on her arm. His face was scrunched and his eyes were squinting from battling the downpour. 

‘Just hold on a second, I’ll take you there- House- Jesus Christ, we need to get out of this rain-’ This new man managed to convince her to step back under cover, she still kept her distance from the both of them, arms defensively crossed over her chest.

‘I was trying to find you, and I found you at a bar? You need to take this seriously, your patient went into cardiac arrest, we were trying to get a hold of you but you weren’t answering your phone.’

Looking unbothered, House shot back ‘Is he stable?’ 

‘Yes but-’ 

‘Well it's fine then, let me get on with my night.’ 

You could hear a very heavy sigh from the other man as he pinched the bridge of his nose, ready to speak again.

She finally let her quiet fury go ‘You let this man deal with patients? He couldn’t be the slightest bit interested in a man that is actively dying. He can’t honestly be a doctor, he's such an ass!’ 

‘Hey! That's not very nice to say to your prince charming!’ his eyes flew wide, pulling a mock frown, his words were a little slurred.

‘Well, I’m not wrong, you’re being a complete and utter cad!’

House gasped, looking defensively at the other man shrugging his shoulders ‘I don’t know what she's on about Wilson.’.

That was his name, Wilson. Was that a first or last name? She was yet to know.

‘Can we stop fighting like children? You, House, are going home and you’re going to take the case-file with you. Get in the car.’ Wilson paused to look at the lady, taking in her peculiar outfit. He didn’t know whether it would be dubious to ask her the same, especially with how distraught her manner appeared.

‘Whaaat? Are you calling off my playdate?!’  House whined. ‘I can drive myself, you know.’ He added in a flat tone.

‘The man behind the bar has his keys, I saw him take them earlier.’ She muttered in earshot of the man named ‘Wilson’.

There was a stern ‘In!’ from Wilson before House gave in; ‘Fine fine, Jesus, you really know how to be a stick in my ass!’ 

She remained hesitant as this gentleman, Wilson, opened the back door for her, ushering her in. She really had no other choice at this point, afterall, she had nowhere else to go. 

Wilson turned back to look at her when he had finally seated himself in front of the wheel. ‘What do you need to go back to the hospital for? The clinic closed two hours ago...’.

‘Don’t worry about it, any hotel will do, I’ll go in the morning.’ She spoke softly in defeat.

House let slip ‘Don’t know how you’ll do that with no money.’.

A gasp could be heard ‘House! I-I can’t believe you! Were you planning to spend an evening with her and then just dump her?!’ Wilson shouted in a whisper, which was partly inaudible to the lady in the back. ‘You can’t do that! You’ll have to let her atleast crash on your couch until tomorrow.’ 

‘Why can’t you?’ He mumbled back.

‘Because I’m living out of a hotel at the moment, you know it's not possible.’ His voice went lower ‘You got yourself into this, not me!’

House heaved out a sigh, he was too inebriated to protest.

The drive was prolonged by the squabbling going on up front. She let her ears tune out, concentrating on different landmarks passing by her window. She recognized a few from when she had been roaming earlier that day; The laundromat where a woman stopped her for a chat, commenting on how her voice sounded funny and there was the barbers where she had been catcalled whilst trying to ask about the area.These were only a handful of places that were recognizable. She set about situating them on a map in her mind. She had to know her way around before it was too late, knowing that it would become a survival tool when House inevitably left her on her own.

Her eyes were terribly heavy as she peered out of the rain soaked window, her elbow resting on the seal, her chin propped on her hand. She could see her likeness reflected in the pane, it looked pale and exhausted. Although she felt miserable, It was also surprising how comforting this stranger's car was. She should’ve felt on edge not knowing where she was going, but the warmth and humming chatter seemed to lull her into a peaceful state of mind and eventually a light slumber. 

The door was pulled abruptly open, causing her to tumble sideways. ‘You getting out or what?’. She sleepily trailed behind House up a couple of steps towards a green front door. His keys turnt in the lock, this must’ve been where he lived.

She was greeted by an array of objects, all messily placed around the entirety of the apartment. There were dark bookshelves filled with all sorts of oddities, some of which were recognisable like lozenge bottles, anatomical figurines and the odd syringe that she would see used in her hospitals at home. They were being used like decorational items, which she found quite curious.

Amongst it all was a grand piano, one possibly made from a rich wood, it was the only surface completely clear. 

House limped through the apartment leaving her standing stunned in the entryway, Wilson was behind her, moving to her left to follow the doctor. She’d only seen him in low light, now realising how much more smartly clad he was in comparison to House. He looked and acted more like a man bearing the title of ‘doctor’. He seemed genuinely kind, but after House’s reaction, she didn’t want anyone else caught up in the mess she had gotten herself into. They were still having their previous conversation, she could hear their muffled voices from the other room.

Her heels clicked faintly on the hardwood floor, following the two into what looked like a kitchen. House was propped against a cabinet with a vile of tablets clutched in his hand. He tipped a couple into his palm, tipping his head back to swallow them. He glanced to his side, his steel blue eyes fixing on her figure awkwardly standing just outside the kitchen. 

‘I’m going to get her a towel or something, at least offer her a glass of water instead of staring at her.’ Wilson was prodding House to accommodate his guest. Wilson promptly made his way out of the kitchen space, making sure to keep his distance and disappearing down a corridor, leaving them both alone.

House appeared disapproving as he continued to study her, lips curling inwards in thought. 

She looked down at her shoes and spoke at the floor to avoid eye contact ‘I apologise, I didn't get the chance to thank you…’. She spoke softly and with gentle words only to hear a sniff and a heavy swallow in reply.

‘I wasn't being very kind considering you did help me.’ She added.

Pushing past her, in a way that didn’t cause physical contact he announced ‘I'm going to bed, Wilson will show you where everything is. You’re sleeping on the couch-’

He turned on his heel slightly, looking over his shoulder, which caught her attention; ‘Unless you want to join me for some sweet, passionate sex.’ He teased. He couldn't help himself, she thought, he had to pull some rudimentary rubbish to cover his arse whenever she tried to be polite.

Showing a slight grimace, she watched his back as he staggered away. She shifted her weight behind her on the kitchen’s doorway, head positioned upwards regarding the textured plaster on the ceiling. 

There were a couple subdued footsteps before she noticed Doctor Wilson beside her, holding out a rather plush looking towel. 

With a soft ‘thank you’ and a nod, she wrapped it about her person. 

‘I’ve run you a bath as well. House stopped me in the hallway and asked if I could. The bathroom is just down that hallway.’ Pointing his thumb over his shoulder he noted the direction she should take. ‘If that’s everything, I best be getting back. It's getting late.’

Just before he left she spoke up, clearing her throat quietly, ‘Oh uh, thank you for everything-’ was all she could stutter. 

With a prompt nod and a thoughtful smile he slipped through the front door, shutting it firmly behind him. 

It was deathly silent as she slipped through the passageway to the bathroom. She was still studying her surroundings, taking in all of the little nic-nacs, when she stopped by a shelf just outside the bathroom. Huddled amongst the books was a sweet, well-loved teddy. He was only a tiny thing, just bigger than hand. His fur was thoroughly worn, showing darker spots where the threads were visible. His nose was hand stitched and his eyes glimmered in the low light. She turned him over gently in her hands, finding his maker’s mark. He was a Steiff bear, absolutely identical to her own. Hugging him closely to her chest, she felt a wave of comfort fall over her. A kind of comfort that hurts so terribly. 

She let a silent tear slide down her cheek, thinking desperately of home. Her dear companion was where she left it, settled amongst her bedsheets battling the biting cold of her bedroom. He would never know where she had gone. 

The feeling further gnawed at her heart, her chest burnt with grief. She thought of family, how she’d left them behind, without uttering a goodbye. She thought of her friends and her dogs and finally her fiancé. She let her head tilt slightly back, her flushed lips parted, trying to stop the tears from dripping onto the floor, but they only bled down her neck, stinging as they made their path. Looking back at the bear, she pulled him back from her person, giving him a light kiss on his woolly cheek. Tenderly, she seated him back on the shelf and continued on her path. 

She was finally amongst the cold tile of the bathroom. Quietly locking the door behind her, she began to undress, hooking her garments over the showerail above the tub. They might’ve had a chance of drying there. 

She sat on the stool in the corner to unclip her stockings. There, she caught sight of a scrape on her knee where she had taken a fall earlier that day. The adrenaline had been overpowering the pain, only now realising how the crimson blood had seeped into the rayon. Peeling the fabric off the wound she set about washing away some of the blood in the sink, hoping that she could salvage the tattered hosiery. She left them to dry like the rest of her clothing and undergarments.

She felt it was only right to leave on her few pieces of jewellery, knowing her tired state, she would likely misplace them otherwise.

Placing a foot into the sudsy water, the pleasant water enveloped her numb limbs. She led down fully, letting the warmth rush over her, finally ridding herself of the dreadful frigidity that had lingered upon her skin. Allowing her eyes to close, she let out a contented sigh. This small pause, where her body was finally in a relaxed state, brought on small waves of dread. Much like the bath water sloshing about in the porcelain, the top of her stomach was sweeping like waves, twisting and pulling in agony. 

She hunched over, pulling her knees up to her chest as a form of comfort. Her breath grew heavy, the sense of foreboding setting in. Burying her face into the hard bones of her knees, she struggled against her chest wracking with affliction. The pure anguish of the situation hit her, far worse than it had in the hallway. She desperately clung onto her breath not wanting to make a sound, tears smothering the entirety of her face. Her arms were firmly wrapped about her head, her nails digging into the tops of her arms, clinging onto any part of reality that wasn’t being deadened by her continuous fear.

She suffered a disjointed sob, drawing a further deep breath through her teeth. Her body shook with the deeply embedded desolation. 

She hadn’t noticed the figure stood to her right as she continued to sink further into her melancholy, her form violently trembling with mournful weeps. 

There was a masculine, pitiful exhale that filled the claustrophobic space. 

From the sound, she let one bloodshot eye take a peak above her arms, perceiving a blurry staunch figure who was instantly recognisable.

Embarrassment entangled her as she realised how she might’ve appeared. Her voice sounded broken as she whispered a quick apology, drawing her limbs closer to her torso.

He continued with what he was doing, flipping open the mirrored cabinet above the sink.

All she could do was turn her head in the opposite direction to hide her obvious flushed face and tear stained cheeks. She heard his rusting around but was too humiliated to look.

Hearing his footsteps echoing away and the door closing once again, she turned to take a peek. There was a thin blue and white dressing gown led over the edge of the bath, it hadn’t been there before. She took that as a sign to leave the tepid soak, finishing up in the bath, placing on her chemise and French knickers that were mostly dry. It would have to suffice for the night. She assumed this dressing gown was left for her, delicately placing it upon her person and tying it tight.

She padded down the hallway, taking quick,quiet steps to the living room. Anticipating his presence in the sitting room, she felt she would have to turn back and lock herself in the bathroom for the rest of the night. She couldn’t face him again, she felt completely mortified after he’d seen her in that state.

Perching on the chesterfield, making herself somewhat comfortable, she peered down at the coffee table in front of her, her eyes landed on the patient case file that the other doctor had left. Curiosity overtook her, she took a cautionate glance at the space before flipping open the blue folder to take a peak. She had wondered what the two were discussing earlier. 

Her breath caught after taking in the symptoms. It was the usual symptoms of something like influenza, high temperature, fever, sore throat, difficulty breathing and swollen glands in the neck. It was sounding a lot like what her uncle had caught, but how could they not see it was a kind of flu? Was there something else they were missing? There were updated notes too, scrawled in the typical hard-read writing of a doctor. 

It was affecting his heart. 

‘What have I told you about patient confidentiality?’ 

‘It's just some.. Reading..’ Was all she could stutter, she was quite lost for words after jumping out of her skin at his abrupt emergence.

His eyebrows seemed to quirk in amusement ‘Can you not see the amount of books on the shelves around you?’

‘Yes I know, but, Dr Wilson was urging you to read this and you still wouldn’t. I thought I might have a look to see what you were avoiding. Well, I can see why...’ 

‘It's not the flu.’ House stated bluntly.

She sighed at his forthrightness, she was quite familiar with it now. ‘I was just…Starting to see the similarity it had to a relative’s death..’ She couldn't stand looking him in the eyes after her confession, she felt he might just laugh in her face.

His questions were quick and direct yet her willingness to answer was becoming restrained ‘What did they die from?’.

‘Distemper- no, uh? I can’t remember - I don’t like to think about it.’ Her eyes were visibly glazed, her eyes squinting when racking her brain for the given name of the illness.

He pushed further ‘You can’t remember any symptoms?’

Swallowing gravely, she continued ‘Well, they found a grey coating in their throat after they died. The doctor was too late to see it before. Their um.. Heart was weak from birth, so we barely saw symptoms before they passed. But it-it was like your patient…The um, cough and fever..’ 

His eyes seemed to focus on a point in front of him, his pupils constricting. His mind was whirring, connecting dots. 

‘A Pseudomembrane. So it was bacteria?’  

She looked clueless, wanting to shake her head in apprehensive confusion. He went on to pull a small rectangular silver case from his pocket, snapping it open and tapping a couple buttons on it, eventually holding it to his ear.

‘Corynebacterium diphtheriae. Have you checked inside the patient's nose? I think you'll find we're dealing with bacterial disease instead of a virus.’

There was a pause before he interrupted the murmur coming from the other end  ‘-then dose him up on antibiotics and monitor his heart damage. Yes, I know you’ve found it’s myocarditis, so put him on anti-inflammatories and any other pain killers he’ll whine for. He’ll survive.’ Flipping the silver item, supposedly a phone, closed after rambling to the person on the other end, he examined the lady before him. Other than the slight scrunch about his eyes, his visage appeared completely blank. 

Gasping as if he were to speak, he held his tongue to look upon her, further studying her face. He sat on the other end of the settee, lowering himself down slowly, holding his leg as he did so. Making himself comfortable, he placed his cane upon the table in front of them.

‘Who was this relative then?’ His words seemed to strike a nerve. She seemed to render a sorrowful glint in her eyes. ‘Who was it?’ He pressed.

‘My brother, the oldest.’ 

‘You have a brother?’ It wasn’t like he already knew, after reading up on her all day, he just wanted to hear it from her. He cruelly wanted to see if she had rehearsed the entirety of the historical documents he had found on the web, pitilessly trying to trip her up.

She only nodded, she was hesitant to give away any more information on her personal life, but she still stated that she once had four male siblings.

‘I’m sorry.’ Stating it unremorsefully, he still exhibited an unreadable blank expression.

He didn’t remain seated for long, making his way back to the kitchen in his usual slow walk. He returned, after a bit of rusting in the other room, carrying glasses and a bottle of unidentifiable amber alcohol. Pouring about an inches worth into both glasses, he passed one over to the accompanying female who took a reserved sip, brushing her tongue along her lip to identify the taste.

Reaching into her chestnut coloured handbag, she pulled out her ornate cigarette case, opening it to offer one to House who was sprawled out on the sofa.

‘I don’t smoke.’

Pulling an inquisitive grin she spoke ‘If you don’t, then why have an ashtray?’.

‘Decoration?’ His voice dripped with sarcasm.

She chuckled lightly at his comment. He did indeed take a straight, placing it at his lip as she sparked the metal lighter beneath it.

Doing the same for herself, the room became slightly hazy with the wispy smoke.

He appeared content with the taste ‘What are these then?’

‘Fribourg & Treyer, I have them when I'm in London.’ She gave a frolicsome smile ‘I’m not actually allowed to smoke, my father prohibits it.’

He made a humming sound, prompting her to continue. His interest was getting the better of him.

‘He’s a little old-fashioned, doesn’t believe women should smoke, he believes I’m starting to resemble the scandalous city girls. Not very fair considering my brother’s are happily welcomed to, and in his company. I mean one smokes a pipe, one does snuff for Heaven’s sake!’ Lamenting on the disparity of it all, she still displayed an impish grin.

His lips seemed to curl into a sort of smile as she spoke candidly. 

‘What happened to your knee?’ He kept firing questions, one after the other. 

She glanced down, finding the dressing gown was revealing the skin just above her knees. Readjusting the fabric she formed a response; ‘It's just a scrape, there’s nothing special about it. Anyway, are you ever going to stop interrogating me? I mean, you haven’t given me the chance to ask my own questions yet.’ 

‘Looks like you’ve been running, it’s elongated.’

She paused to flick her head away, looking back at him quickly again in discomfort, sharply stubbing out her cigarette.

‘Yes.. But that doesn’t matter.’

Regardless, he persisted ‘Who were you running from?’ 

‘I was just scared, alright?’ She exclaimed, nervously holding an odd smile. 

It was deathly silent between them. The cars on the street outside echoed noisily throughout the front room. 

‘Go on then, what were you going to ask me? No doubt it's going to be about my leg.’ 

She shook her head ‘That’s not for me to ask. I wanted to know what made you want to become a doctor?’.

‘I was greatly and passionately inspired by Patch Adams.’ He sounded dreamy, but she unperceived the underlying sarcasm.

‘I’ve never heard of them before? Did you know them?’

Bursting with an obnoxious laugh, he looked upon her as she rolled her eyes. There was no point trying to get any information out of him, House always found ways to deflect.

Leaning forward he forced himself to stand, hastily swallowing the rest of his nightcap, he began to stagger towards his bedroom. He gave one last comment before departing for good;

‘I know what you did.’ It was ominous. His back was still facing her.

‘I didn’t think you would have it in you to steal.’

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I hope you are enjoying it so far! This is going to end up being chock-full of metaphors XD

'Who Are You' - The Who 1978

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Tag list:

@indestructeible @suziek415

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~ I really have enjoyed my stay, but I must be moving on ~

[hippiegoth97]

Into the Fire: An Eddie Munson x Reader Story Pt. 3

Collage by me :)

Masterlist

Pt. 2

Tag List: @rafescurtainbangz @voyeurmunson @xxbimbobunnyxx @taintedcigs @mediocredreams

@slowandsteddie @angel-munson @eldermayfield @munsonsbtch @babygorewhore

@rattkween86 @violetpixiedust @bimbobaggins69 @purplehazed-h @morning-rituals

@eddie-van-munson @msgexymunson @munsoneightysixx @impmunson @mysticalstar30

@jenniquinn @oneforthemunny @succubusmunson @ddeadly-succubus @prettyboyeddiemunson

@sanctumdemunson @stalactitekilla @s6raphic @hellfirenacht @birdysaturne

@ohmeg @h-ness1944 @pretendthisnameisclever @ahoyyharrington @micheledawn1975

@costellation-hunter @josephquinnsfreckles @leelei1980 @yourdailymemedelivery @spacedoutdaydreamer

Content Warning 18+ Only, Minors DNI: Swearing, smoking, light smut, drug use, angst, anxiety, mentions of vomit

Word Count: 4.8k

Divider by @strangergraphics

Part 3: Get Nervous

Sunday, March 12th, 1989

Sunday. Fucking Sunday. You've been dreading this all weekend. It’s the final day of the Hellfire Club campaign, and you also have a paper due for biology. You didn't mean to put it off, but a certain sexy metalhead has distracted you this entire time. You don't blame him, you didn't tell him you had homework. You're sure if you just said so that he would've let you focus. Given the length required for your paper, you decide to tell Eddie you can't sit in today. You don't want to spend all night rushing your work. You could easily write a passable essay over the course of the day.

"What do you mean you can't watch the end?" Eddie asks, surprised you'd deny him your company.

"It's nothing personal, baby. I promise. I just have a big essay due tomorrow. I should've mentioned it earlier, but I didn't want to ruin our fun. Though I think I've done that now anyway." You look down at your hands, leaning against the entry to the livingroom. Eddie's standing close to you, playing about with the hem of your shirt to tease you. He lifts your chin up with his finger.

"It's no problem, angel. I understand." He smiles kindly at you, but his eyes still read as hurt. He knows you'd sit in if you could, but he can't say he won't be missing you the whole time. Even though you're just going to be down the hall, all he'll want to do is run to you and never let go. "Who knows, maybe you'll finish early, hm? And then you can come see me." He says lowly, leaning down for a kiss. Your lips meet, and you wrap your arms around him. You pull him close, moving your mouth against his gently. He's so addictive, the taste of tobacco on his tongue makes you want to never stop kissing him. But it’s already 11am, you'd all slept in late so you have to get moving.

You break away from him, and he whines. "Eddie, relax. I just need time to write a decent paper so I don't fail, okay?" He nods, pouting playfully. "Believe me, I'd rather spend the day with you. But I can't let my grades slip. If I do, Mom will have a cow. And then she might not be so keen on me seeing you." You poke a finger into his chest.

"Are you saying I'm a bad influence, baby?" Eddie asks slyly. He enjoys being a rebel just a little too much sometimes. You roll your eyes.

"You just might be, Munson. Now come on, go tend to your club. And I'll be in my room. You can come check in on me when you're done if I haven't finished yet." You give him another quick kiss, and turn away to go work on your paper. You hear him let out an annoyed sigh, rolling your eyes again at him being so childish. You walk into your room, already regretting sticking to your guns about your assignment. You close the door, but leave it unlocked in case Eddie comes to you later on. You put your record player on, music helps you concentrate. You keep it low so as not to disturb the campaign, and you begrudgingly open your notebook to begin writing your paper.

Hours go by, and it's almost 6pm. You haven't bothered to look at the clock much, you just want to get this damn assignment done. You have about two pages left, but your hand is starting to cramp up. You flex your fingers to relax your sore muscles, when you hear a knock on the door. "Y/N?" Eddie calls to you. "The game's over, Erica claimed a victory for everyone. I'm gonna take the kids home, but I'll be back, 'kay?" You jump off your bed, running to open the door. You're greeted by Eddie's smiling face. "Hey there, beautiful. How's the essay coming along?" He leans against the doorframe, looking you up and down. Your hair is a mess from running your hands through it constantly. It’s one of your nervous tics. His expression drops slightly, worried about how your assignment has been treating you. "You doin’ alright?" He asks, reaching for your hand.

"Yeah, it's just kinda stressing me out. But I only have two pages left. It's not very good, I'll probably only get a B on it. I'm having a hard time concentrating." You downplay the situation, ignoring the alarms going off in your head. For some reason, this paper is kicking your ass. You can't help your anxiety overtaking you, your body begins to tremble uncontrollably. Eddie squeezes your hand to comfort you.

"Sweetheart, you don't have to be so wound up. I'm sure it's a good paper, it'll be okay." He puts his other hand on your shoulder to steady your tremors.

"I guess. I keep reading it over, but it all feels jumbled now. And my eyes hurt." Your breath shudders, and you pinch the bridge of your nose as your eyes squeeze shut. You feel one of your infamous migraines coming on. Perfect. Those last two pages will really be a challenge now.

"Hey, hey. C’mere, babydoll." Eddie pulls you into him, holding you close. Your arms wrap around his middle, and he strokes your head. You try to focus on him so you can steady your heart pounding in your chest. But you can't calm down, you're having a full-blown panic attack. You feel silly having one over a stupid essay, but you can't do poorly on this. You won't allow it. You cannot fail. Ever. Your breath comes out rapidly, chest rising and falling as you wheeze. Eddie loosens his grip, looking at your face. You've gone pale, like you might faint. "Shit. Are you alright? What can I do?" The worry in his eyes only exacerbates your anxiety. You're hyperventilating, and your head feels light. Eddie picks you up in his arms, carrying you to the bed. "I-I don't know what to do, Y/N. I'll get your mom. Just try to breathe. Fuck." His own voice is shaky now, you've scared him. He runs out of the room to the kitchen, frantically telling your mother what's happening.

You hear multiple sets of footsteps rushing down the hall to you. Eddie, Mom, Dustin, and all the kids file into your room. Mom and Eddie help you sit up, you feel like you're going to pass out. You can't steady your breathing, it’s as if you're suffocating. Mom holds out a paper bag to you. "Honey, we gotta get your breathing steady, okay? So just try to breathe in the bag for me. And then I have a Valium you can take to settle your nerves. It'll be okay, sugarpuff. We're here for you." You take the bag, inhaling and exhaling as best you can into it. It seems to be working, your breath slowly returning to you. You hate having everyone staring at you like this, you must look like such a freak. You wish they'd all go away, and leave you alone. You put the bag down, and Mom hands you the pill and a glass of water. You down it quickly, chugging the entire glass.

"Take it easy, angel." Eddie advises, stroking your arm. Mom takes the glass from you and walks out, quickly shooing the others away. Eddie stays with you, holding you close again. You're still trembling, but your heart slowly regains its normal pace. "Do you want to lay down, sweetheart?" He quietly asks. You just nod. He lays you down, caressing your cheek as you position yourself on your side. "Is there anything I can do?" You shake your head, feeling a tear escape one of your eyes. He tuts, wiping it away. "It'll be alright, baby. Just try to relax. I'm gonna take the kids home, but I'm coming right back, ‘kay? And I'm not leaving your side for the rest of the night." He plants a kiss to your forehead before standing up to leave. He walks out of the room, giving you a caring glance before shutting the door.

As soon as he leaves, you can't hold back the tears anymore. You begin to sob, drawing your legs up to your chest. You feel so stupid, losing control in front of Eddie like that. And to have your mom, and everyone else staring at you? It’s so humiliating. And over what? A stupid essay? You really are just a scared little girl that can't handle anything. You imagine Eddie won't actually come back, because he's too freaked out by your little episode. He only says he will in order to spare your feelings. And all the kids will tell everyone and their dog about how you crumble so easily under pressure. Dustin’s bound to have a field day rubbing it all in your face. And you’ll have Mom doting on you every second of the day over this, maybe she'll even throw you in the looney bin.

You lay stewing in your thoughts for what feels like hours, and the sun had set outside your window. You never want to move from this spot again, never look at anyone or talk to anyone. It’s all too much, and you just want to hide, or maybe even die. You hear the front door open, probably Eddie stopping by to tell you he can't see you anymore. He can't possibly go out with a nutcase like you. The door to your room opens again, and Eddie walks over to you. "Hey, angel. How are you feeling?" He asks with a smile, which disappears when he sees how red your face is from crying.

"Terrible. But I don't expect you to care." You blubber, wiping your eyes with your sleeve. He scoffs at your statement, confused at your change in mood.

"What do you mean? Of course I care. Where's this coming from?" He asks, moving closer to you. You turn your back to him, you can't take that concerned look on his face. He sighs. "Y/N. Please, look at me. Did I do something wrong?" You groan, rolling back over to face him.

"You didn't do anything. I just figure you don't want to hang around me since I'm a basketcase." You reply bitterly. You know he's given you no indication of what you're saying, but you can't believe anyone would possibly want to be around you now.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" He asks, shocked and slightly annoyed. "You're not a basketcase. And even if you were, I wouldn't care. I really like you, Y/N." He furrows his brow at you, trying to figure out where your head's at.

"You can't mean that." You shake your head, refusing to make eye contact with him.

"Why not?" He crosses his arms, searching your expression.

"Because you can't see me like this, all shaky and pale over a stupid paper, and still want to be around me. It's so embarrassing." You start to tear up again, and you curse your eyes for working against you. "And everyone was staring at me, I'm sure they'll tell everyone they know about it. And Dustin will tease me. And my mom will worry about me all the time. She might even have me committed." Eddie's eyes widen at your words, realizing what's happening. He lays down next to you, but lets you have some space.

"Y/N, I can tell you right now that you're wrong. About all of it, 'kay?" He reassures you, and you glare at him.

"How do you know?" You cross your own arms now.

"Well, for one. I'm still here, aren't I? What did you think I was gonna do? Just leave and never come back?" He's slightly angry with you doubting his true intentions.

"I guess I did. I didn't want you to, but I didn't think you'd still like me after everything." You answer, realizing how silly you sound.

"Well, I do. I'm right here, ‘kay? Look, it scared me. But I was worried about you. I wanted you to be okay. To be honest, it felt like I caused it, since I kept you from doing your work all weekend." He explains, sounding guilty.

"No, Eddie. It isn't your fault, I didn't tell you about it, and that's my own problem." You reassure him, reaching for his hands. He lets you take them in yours.

"Well, that's good to know, princess. And another thing? You're wrong about everyone else too. Again, they're concerned for you. But the whole time I was driving them home, all the kids talked about was coming up with a way to help you feel better. They care about you, Y/N. We all do. I don't know what negative voices you have in your head telling you otherwise, but you shouldn't listen to them." You nod, and he continues on. "And Dustin? He swore everyone to secrecy about your anxiety. He said he'll smother anyone who spills your private business in their sleep. And your Mom? She told me you've been dealing with a lot for a long time. She said she felt something like this coming on, because you work yourself to the bone constantly. You never take a break, and you refuse to ask for help when you need it. Obviously, I knew some of this already, given how Friday went. But she said she hopes having me in your life will help you. She still thinks it could, which is flattering, I guess." He chuckles, and you let a small smile form on your lips. "There's that smile I've been missing today!" Eddie coos, pulling you into his arms.

You sniffle, wiping away all your tears. Your eyes feel irritated and red. "I'm sorry, Eddie. It's not fair of me to think the way I was about you. Or the others. I just...it's like I know those things aren't true, right? But, it also feels impossible that anyone would actually like and accept me as I am. You know? That probably makes no sense." You chuckle, slapping your forehead in embarrassment.

"No, it doesn't. But I understand what you mean. Listen, I'm here for you no matter what. I won't, however, let you wallow all day. You have a paper to finish young lady." He pokes your chest, making you giggle. "How about we go have a smoke outside, clear your head? Then you can finish your essay. And then, we can spend the rest of the night together. Sound good?"

"Sounds perfect, Eds." You both climb out of bed, making your way outside. You bypass Dustin and your Mom, they seem surprised to see you in a better mood. They look at each other in confusion, questioning one another if they know anything about what Eddie might've said to you. But they end up shrugging, chalking it up to Eddie being the right man for you.

It isn't until you light up that you feel the effects of the pill your mother gave you earlier. You begin to feel dizzy, almost falling over. "Shit, I've gotcha." He catches you, gently leading you to sit in the grass. He sits beside you, rubbing your back with his hand. "You feeling alright, Y/N?" He looks into your eyes with concern.

You try to get your head to stop spinning, but you can't. "I'm not feeling so hot, Eddie. I'm really dizzy, everything's spinning." You groan, clutching your stomach. You lean away from him, and vomit into the grass. He tries to help you, but you push him away. You manage to stand, bending over as you throw up again. You keep yourself steady, bracing your hands on your knees. The stomach acid stings your throat, making you cough. You stay in place, waiting for your stomach to calm down. You dry heave a few times before you're finally empty. You spit any remaining bile out, wiping your mouth. You stand upright, almost falling backwards. Eddie grabs your shoulders to steady you.

"I'm sorry, angel. Have you ever taken Valium before?" He asks, stroking the sweat-soaked hair out of your face. You feel slightly better now, but also very tired. You just shake your head, before burying it into his chest. "I'm guessing you had a bad reaction. You didn't eat much today, either. I know your mom was trying to help, but I wish I had known you hadn't had it before. That shit is not for the faint hearted."

"She takes it to help her sleep, she's always had bad insomnia." You state, muffled by Eddie's chest. You can barely keep your eyes open at this point, you just want to sleep. You know your paper needs doing, but a small nap could help. You could always get up early tomorrow to finish it. "I'm really tired, Eds. Can you take me to bed?" You ask, nuzzling your face against him.

"I will, but I don't think you should sleep right now. You might get sick again and choke. And you need water, and something to eat. I'll get you something, and I'll stay with you until the pill wears off some more." He sighs, lifting you into his arms. You groan, your stomach still hurts. "Sorry, baby. I'm trying to be careful with you." He brings you inside, and your mother immediately panics when she sees you in Eddie's arms.

"Oh, God! What happened? You look awful, sugarpuff!" She says, rushing over to you.

"She's fine, mostly. She had a bad reaction to the pill you gave her and painted the yard with her breakfast." Eddie snips. He continues walking, bringing you down the hall. He plops you on the bed, making sure you sit up against your pillow. "Stay put, baby. I'll be right back." You hear him say as your eyes have fallen shut. He leaves the room to get what you need. You overhear him talking to Mom, their words swirling around in your dizzy head. Eddie calmly explains to her that she shouldn't have given you the Valium. She doesn't sound offended, more so she's ashamed that she inadvertently made you sick. He reassures her, saying it was just a mistake and that he'll help you through it. But he makes a point to tell her to never do it again under any circumstances. You drift off near the end of their talk, hearing the fridge door open as Eddie finds you something to eat.

A while later, you feel Eddie shaking you awake. "Mooooooom, just five more minutes." You whine, your eyes fluttering open. You see him chuckling at you thinking he was your mother. "Oh, it's you. Sorry, silly me." You giggle, trying to keep your eyes open.

"Hey, sleepy head. I brought you some dinner, and a nice tall glass of water." He sets a tray down next to you.

"Not hungry." You shake your head, and Eddie frowns at you.

"You have to eat, Y/N. You'll feel better, I promise." He insists, getting in bed next to you. He sets the tray on his lap. You lazily scan your eyes over what he’s brought you. A PB&J sandwich cut in half, and some apple slices. "It's not too much, I don't want you to barf it all up later. But it's enough to help you."

"Ugh, don't say barf." You wince, feeling ill again.

"Shit, sorry." He hands you half of the sandwich, and you reluctantly take it in your hand. You bring it to your mouth, taking a small, apprehensive bite. You immediately want to spit it out, but you know you have to get something down. You gulp hard as you manage to swallow it. It hits your stomach, and you start to feel hunger overtake you. You take another bite, and another. "Take it slow, Y/N." He says to you quietly, gently stroking your leg as you chew. You swallow again, looking into Eddie's eyes.

"Thank you for taking care of me, Eddie. You're a good man, you know." You smile kindly at him, taking another bite of your sandwich. "Did you make this?" You ask him as you chew.

"How'd you know?" He quirks an eyebrow at you, impressed you can tell he made it.

"Easy, Mom uses grape jelly. But I think it's too sweet. And you...used raspberry jam. My favorite. I don't know how you guessed it, though." His eyes widen, a smirk spreading on his lips. "What?" You look at him suspiciously.

"Raspberry is my favorite, too." He replies, wiping a smudge of jam from the corner of your mouth with his thumb. He brings it to his lips, licking it clean. You stare at him in amazement, he really is something else. "What? Like you said, grape is too sweet. But raspberry? It makes the whole thing come together."

You don't know what to say, so you let slip the first thing that comes to mind. "I think I could be falling in love with you." You gasp at your own words, registering what you’ve just said to him.

"Over a sandwich?" He asks snarkily.

"Well, no. You're just so...." You search for the right words. "Good. To me." You gaze at him seriously, driving the point home that you care deeply for him. He gets the message, receiving it with enthusiasm.

"Well, I'm glad you feel so strongly for me, Y/N. And lucky for you, I just happen to feel the same." Eddie looks deep into your eyes, before glancing at your lips. He's breathing heavily, unsure if he should go further. He doesn't want to push you in your vulnerable state.

"Are you gonna kiss me already?" You say impatiently, his eyes snap to yours again. You can't help smiling like an idiot, closing the gap yourself. Your lips meet, both of you humming lowly into the kiss. You break away quickly, covering your mouth. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sure my breath is terrible right now." Your cheeks heat up, but he's unphased.

"It's fine, Y/N. You just taste like sandwich. I don't mind either way, not if it means I get to kiss the most beautiful girl in the world." He pokes your nose, making the both of you laugh. You finish the first half of the sandwich, drinking some of the water to wash it down. You reach over to take an apple slice from the tray in his lap. Eddie sits with you quietly while you chew, still stroking your leg. He watches as you manage to eat everything off your plate, kissing your forehead when you finish the last bite. "That's my girl." He says sweetly, taking the tray back to the kitchen. You sip on the water, feeling just full enough for your stomach to stop hurting. You can't stop smiling, seeing Eddie care for you makes your heart swell and gives you butterflies. He comes back shortly, plopping into bed beside you once more. "Better?" He asks, holding your hand.

"Better." You reply, planting a kiss on his plush lips. You cuddle up to him, laying your head on his shoulder. You still feel pretty tired, but you just might be able to finish your paper now. "I should probably finish my essay." You say reluctantly.

"You sure?" Eddie says, worried about you working yourself up again.

"Yeah, I have to get it done. But...stay here with me, okay?" You place a hand on his thigh, caressing it gently.

"Of course, Y/N. I'm not goin’ anywhere." He places his hand over yours. Your head leaves its resting place, and you reach over for your notebook and pencil. "C’mere, sit between my legs." Eddie says calmly, and you do as he asks. You put the notebook in your lap, reading the last page you were working on to remember where you’re going with it. You feel Eddie running his hands up and down your back, and your eyes can't help fluttering closed at his touch.

"Watcha doin' there, Eds?" You ask breathily.

"I'm keeping you relaxed, angel." He replies lowly. His hands go to your shoulders, massaging them firmly. You moan at his touch, your head falling to the side. "Does that feel good, baby?" He asks in your ear, his warm breath fanning over you.

"Mhm." Is all you can manage to say as his hands continue to work your flesh. His thumbs press into your back, working the knots of stress that have resided there for who knows how long. You wince as they hurt a little.

"I know, baby. Just let me help you, you'll feel better when I'm done." He presses a kiss to your neck, setting your skin aflame. You know he's not intentionally turning you on, but you can't help leaning further into his touch. He draws small moans from you as he loosens up your sore muscles.

"How are you so fucking good at this?" You ask lustfully, making Eddie's cock twitch. Under any other circumstances, he'd be going further than he is. But he doesn't want to push you when you're not feeling well, it wouldn't be right.

"Practice, sweetheart. I'll keep going, but you have to work on your essay." He kisses your neck again, before setting your head upright so you'll concentrate.

"Alright, alright. Just please keep going." You almost whine at him.

"I'll go as long as you want me too, babydoll." He chuckles quietly. You turn your attention back to the book in front of you. You reread the last paragraph to refresh your train of thought. Once you remember where you’re going, you begin scrawling more words on the page. The ideas come easy to you, and Eddie's hands travel up to your neck. He gently rubs out a large knot that you're sure has been there for months, but you remain focused on the task at hand.

About thirty minutes later, the infamous essay is finally finished. "Done!" You clap the book shut, tossing it away.

"I knew you could do it, baby." You blush at his praise as he kisses your cheek. Eddie had stopped massaging you ten minutes earlier, but he kept caressing you in a non-distracting way. He loves touching you, it seems he'll never get enough. You leave his grasp, turning to face him. He looks so tired, and you feel bad for stressing him out today. He peers at you, raising an eyebrow. "What's wrong?"

You straddle him, wrapping your arms around his neck. You look into his eyes, biting your lip. "Nothing's wrong, baby. I'm just sorry for making you so worried today. Let me make it up to you." You lean forward to kiss his neck, lightly biting down on his skin. He groans, his hands going to your waist instinctively. You look at him again, but his expression hasn't changed. "What?" You ask, scrunching your face.

He sighs, pressing into your hips with his fingers. He shakes his head. "It's nothing. It’s just...you don't owe me anything." You open your mouth to protest, but he stops you. "Don't get me wrong, you're sexy as all hell. But you should be taking it easy, sweetheart. It wouldn't be right for me to ask anything of you right now." Eddie cups your face, looking at you meaningfully. "But, what we can do is get cozy and cuddle in bed. I'm fuckin' exhausted, and you need rest before class tomorrow." He pulls you into him, pressing his lips to yours passionately. You return it, grabbing the sides of his face to deepen it further. Eddie quickly catches on to what you're doing, breaking away. "Easy, tiger. Man, even when you're sick, you're insatiable." He jokes, moving you off of his lap.

"What can I say? You really bring out my appetite." You smirk slyly at him, hopping off the bed to shut your bedroom door. You both quickly discard your clothes. Eddie's in his boxers, and you're in some panties and his Hellfire shirt. You flick off the light, and climb into bed with him. You scoot under the covers, and he snatches you into his arms to spoon you. You share a quiet laugh, the feeling of his arms around you gives you a warm sense of safety. You turn your head to look at him. "Goodnight, Eds. Thank you for being here with me." You whisper, giving him a peck on the lips. He smiles kindly at you, his eyes hooded from drowsiness.

"It's no trouble at all, ‘night, princess." He slowly shuts his eyes, holding you even closer to him. He nuzzles his face into you, sighing in contentment. You face forward again, closing your eyes too. You let your mind wander off to dreamland, feeling safe, warm, and secure in Eddie's arms.

To be continued...

[fyodoro]

9 with reo fluff please

Prompt 9 | “I’m not here to talk about my feelings.”

Fluff & reverse comfort, mentions of arguments, anxiousness, that’s all i think? wc - 762

800 Follower Event

Reo is a man of his word, no matter the circumstances. And what he said earlier that day?

"I promise I'll be over sometime tonight."

You merely smiled and nodded at his promise, fully believing him. He's never given you a reason not to trust him, so you've never doubted him. Even now, as it's almost the middle of the night and he's still not at your place.

You weren't upset per say, just a little disappointed. But that's to be expected. It's 11pm after all, way past the "tonight" Reo always refers to. You could only frown at his sudden change of mind while checking your notifications for his name. To no avail, there was no sign of it.

Sighing, you typed a quick text letting him know you were heading to bed. Despite trying your best not to make it come off as passive aggressive, it really couldn't be helped. It wasn't intentional in the slightest, merely your emotions taking over.

'im going to bed'

'hope you'll come by tomorrow instead'

You stared at the screen, waiting for the texts to send. To your dismay, they never did. By this point, you were more worried than upset. What if something happened to him? He's well known everywhere and rich, someone might have...

You didn't wanna think about it. Anxiety settled in your stomach, growing more and more panicked by the second at the realization.

Loud thuds could be heard from the doorway, the kind of thuds that sound like... knocking?

At this hour, you could only think of one probability; someone was trying to break in. The logical part of your brain argued, but the creative side was winning over.

"(Name)? If you're still up could you let me in?!" A familiar muffled voice came through the door, the knocking paused a long with it.

You peeped through the peephole, being met with an unkempt mess of purple hair.. Purple hair that you knew all too well, but not the unkempt part. Twisting the doorknob and bracing yourself for the worst, your worry faded at the sight of Reo.

A rather disheveled Reo...

"You actually showed-" You cut yourself off, noticing the miserable expression plastered on his face. "Woah, are you... okay?" You stepped aside, allowing your boyfriend to enter.

He threw his shoes off and stumbled on over to your living room couch, throwing himself on it as soon as it was in range. It was only then realized just how... unkempt he looked. His hair was a complete mess, his cheeks were stained with tears and his clothes were quite disheveled.

"Hey, you never answered my-"

"I'm not here to talk about my feelings." He cut you off.

You crept up to his side, kneeling and placing your arms next to his head, resting yours in your arms. It wasn't a comfortable position, but it was really your only option as Reo was taking up the whole couch.

"But you know you can, right?"

He turned his head over to face you, tired eyes gazing into your worried ones. "It was just another fight with my parents, that's all. They took my phone this time, too. Sorry if you sent me anything..."

His voice was rasp, and you could definitely tell he had been shouting in that fight from that alone. You felt a tad bit guilty for being upset with him earlier after hearing the full story, but you kept it to yourself.

"Do you think you could like... move over? I wanna listen and be comfortable at the same time you know." Your tone was slightly teasing, but not too much that it'd upset Reo any further.

"Just lay on top of me. And I told you, I'm not here to talk about my feelings- I'm here for you."

You stared at him for a moment, slightly irritated at how he was handling his feelings. But alas, there was nothing anyone could do or say to make Reo Mikage change his mind. Moving from the floor to laying on top of him, you had a better idea of how he was feeling from his heartbeat.

"Is this better?" You say, placing your hands on his shoulders and hovering your face above his.

"Much better." He smiled slightly, leaning forward to place a soft kiss on your lips.

You pulled away first, grinning at his visibly happier expression. "You feeling any better yet?"

"I'll feel a whole lot better if you could go back to kissing me." He teased, cupping your cheek and leaning in once again.

© enassbraid 2023. i do not permit plagiarism, translations, or reposts of my work on any platform

[novasintheroom]

Hi! First of all, I adore your writing and wanted to ask, could I request a short drabble/one-shot of either Vash or Wolfwood reacting to y/n's past self-harm scars? I've been feeling a little down lately and your work brings me so much comfort. Of course only if you're comfortable about writing with such request in mind! Thank you

Scars

♡ Pairing - Wolfwood x Reader

♡ Word count - 1.3k

♡ Warnings - mentions of past self-harm, scars

♡ Description: It's a hard night, remembering what's in the past.

A/N: Thank you for this request! I hope I did it justice. The research I did on writing for SH generally said to not glamorize it, so I hope that makes sense for the descriptions I chose to use.

For anyone struggling with self-harm or suicidal thoughts, please reach out to professionals for help. Dial 988 if you're in the U.S. to talk to someone, or text HOME to 741741 (again if you're in the U.S.).

They’re dim in dying light. Sometimes red, sometimes silver. Jagged. Some crisscross like battle lines, others are just there like a monster came by and left its mark over and over again on your arms.

You tug down your sleeves when Nico walks back into camp.

“Well,” he says, looking self-satisfied, “looks like the others are trekking to the town to get supplies. We get to guard the car.” He looks at you mischievously. “We’re all alone.”

You give him a shaky smile, mind still flicking the images of your scars through its eye. Nico scoots over to where you’re sitting on your bag of supplies and leans a shoulder against yours. “Sooo…” he reaches for your arm.

You stand suddenly, and Nico is left fumbling, trying not to fall into the sand. “I’ll go get the wood out of the trunk.” Nico stares up at you, dumbfounded and suspicious. Lamely, you say, “it’s getting cold tonight.” You flee before he can say anything, though you still hear him grumble.

The wood is splintery and dry. It scratches at your sleeves, poking at your soft skin and you try to not spiral, try to put on a brave face as you dig out space in the sand and line the logs one by one, then the scraps of junk and paper for kindling. Nico goes about getting food out of the truck. Just because you two were left behind didn’t mean you had a free night. It was time to cook dinner and have it ready for everyone when they get back.

Once the food is cooking, however, Nico’s attention is back on you. He smiles through his smoke, blue-gray in the firelight. “So, can I sit by my girlfriend, or are you gonna run again?”

Your shoulders hunch at being called out. “I didn’t run!” Even your voice sounds petulant, and you give him a half-hearted glare as he squats by you again.

“Oh, sorry, I meant flee for your life.” He slaps your arm good-naturedly and sits next to you on his own supplies. “Just warn me next time, almost got a mouthful of sand for dinner.”

You hum, deigning to watch the fire flicker and burn. Nico smiles and pulls you close, and you let him, leaning into his chest, and readjusting your seat. You’re careful to keep your hands away from him, not wanting a repeat of earlier.

For the next half hour, Nico soothes you into comfort. You talk together about the day, the gripes you have, and what you’re planning on doing tomorrow (likely a whole lot of driving again). It’s easy, talking with him. He’s a natural conversationalist and cracks enough jokes to have you laughing in the night.

He’s also one to not let something go if it bothers him. Eventually, he pulls you close and whispers in your ear, “So you wanna tell me why me touching your arms is bugging you tonight?”

Damn him. He’s too observant for his own good. You squirm under his scrutiny, feeling a sweat work up on your neck. “I’m not…” you start.

“Doll.” His voice is firm. Still gentle, but he’s not taking ‘no’ for an answer.

So you sigh, and slowly, you pull up an arm sleeve. It’d nearly killed you all day, wearing the sleeves instead of your usual tank top, but that’s the price to pay for insecurity sometimes. The cooling desert air is a balm to your overheated skin. Still, an ugly frown marks your face. There they are. The scars. “It’s…a hard day today.” You admit.

Nico hums, rubbing your shoulder and looking at the scars. You feel your skin crawl, knowing he’s seeing them. Doesn’t matter how often he does, it’s still a point of shame for you. You pull your sleeve back down, and you feel hotter for it, the cold of the air no longer helping relieve the heat.

But Nico doesn’t let you hide this time. Instead, he grabs your arm and pulls the sleeve up again.

“Nico,” you warn.

He still pulls. Your scars breathe air again. You can feel each one of them, like worms crawling under your skin. It itches. They’re long healed over, the scabs are months gone, but they still itch tonight.

Nico thumbs over them softly. Each one. It helps the itchiness a little. He doesn’t kiss them, like he does sometimes. His gaze is sad, and far too real for your liking. “I wish you loved yourself like I love you,” he finally says.

A pit drops in your stomach. You pull your arm from him and turn away. You don’t know what to say, but you feel mad. Angry. “I do love myself,” you bite.

Nico stares at your back. Do you? You still pull the sleeve back down, rubbing at the scarring underneath. “I don’t mean the scars, hon. I mean I wish you’d let me love you – all of you.” He carefully places a hand on your back and rubs it. “Scars and all.”

You feel your shoulders shake as you hold back tears. This was a lot. Too much. You didn’t want to talk about this. Yet your mouth opens, and you say, “It’s always going to be there. They’re always going to be there.” The warble in your voice cracks at the end.

Nico turns your head back to him with two fingers. He sighs, takes a long drag of his cigarette, and lets it hang in the corner of his mouth. “What’s makin’ you think this?”

What doesn’t? When you see the clear arms of other women, when others wear jackets just because they’re cold. Your lip wobbles, and you look down. “They’re ugly,” you finally sob. “Y-You shouldn’t have to look at them every time we…do anything. Hug, kiss, they’re just…always there, always staring at me, and you hate them too, I can see it, you – “

“Hey, hey, shh…” Nico pulls you close as he can and rubs your hair, your sobs shaking your shoulders and tears staining his jacket. “Now, what’d I say about putting words in my mouth?” He chuckles a bit sadly. “You’re breaking my heart here, doll. I don’t hate ‘em.”

You don’t believe him. Not really. You pull back and give him a frown. “You’re just saying that.”

He sighs again and looks away. Pulls out another cigarette – the last one going out – and lights it. His hand stays on your shoulder, making sure you don’t pull away. “They’re not glamorous,” he says, blowing smoke at the stars. “Shouldn’t be. But they’re part of you now. Shows you survived a lot your mind tried to put you through.” He leans forward and nods at your scars. “That’s more than a lot of people can say. Can’t tell you how many friends and people I’ve found who…” His eyes go blank for a moment before snapping back to reality. He grunts and shakes his head. “Just…”

Nico grabs your arm gently now, thumb running along the bumpy lines. His nose scrunches, but he gives you a smile. “Just, promise me you’ll come to me first. For anything.” He leans forward and gives you a long, long stare. “Even if it’s stupid. Even if it’s something small. It matters. You matter. And this?” He lifts your arm. “Is in the past now. You’ve managed to stop. Do you know how much strength that takes? And even if you go back to it, even if you…hurt yourself again – which you better not – I’ll be here. I’m not going anywhere.” He laughs then and raises his brows. “I mean, have you seen Vash? Dude’s a walking scar, and I’m still stickin’ by him.”

You let out a watery laugh. It turns into another sob. Nico shushes you and pulls you to his chest again. “Bad analogy,” he admits, and says a quiet sorry. “You ain’t like him. You’re way too pretty for that.”

“Shut up,” you say, laughing and crying, “just shut up.”

He does. Instead, he kisses you, slow and steady. And maybe this wouldn’t solve everything. You may have many more nights like this. But with Nico, everything felt a little better.

[raffe156]

Escape to the country part 3

Pairing - Price X MC (Tank) F!reader

Summary - Close, but no cigar...💔

 “You broken?”  

 Escape part 1

Escape part 2

Little mood board to help give you the visual. As always feedback encouraged and comments welcomed! Let me know if you want to be tagged in the next part!

A/N -Bit shorter than the other parts but wanted to get it up, I really appreciate all the recent feedback and asks! Please keep em coming! It only spurs me on haha 

Warnings for the whole storyline - Under 18+ DNI,  angst, Smut, Masturbation (F + M), Language, mutual pining, alcohol,fluff, Age gap Relationship feelings, Price (39) reader (Tank, 25) mentions of family,domestic fluff

Tags: @irnbru32 @shuttlelauncher81​​ ​ @mildlyhopeless

It was close to midnight, You and Price had mostly sat in silence, happy just being in each other's company, watching the fire crackle and spit.

“We should probably get to bed kid, early start tomorrow”

You sat up straight stretching, you had been practically leaning on him. You glanced over a Kyle he was still out cold, you had placed a blanket over him earlier.

“Probably too big to carry to bed eh?” You softly laughed.

“What? I could easily carry you! have done before, in fact who was it that carried you back 2 miles to the evac point that time in Bosnia when you sprained your ankle? Me” Price pointed both his thumbs back at himself triumphantly.

“I meant Kyle…”

“Oh…yeh he can take himself to bed…” Price chuckled as he got up from the couch stretching, his grey T-shirt lifting up to show his abdomen, a trail of dark auburn hair leading down past the waistband of his joggers and to his…

“You ok? zoned out there for a sec” Price was looking at you, his sleepy eyes searching for the planet you were on.

“Yeh...I'm good i'll wake him up while you put the fire out deal?” You got up from the couch and gently tapped Kyle on the shoulder.

“Kyle, time for bed…” You had to be gentle with him as Kyle was like you, any abrupt attempt to wake you up resulted in confusion, panic and always a fight.

You had a special way of dealing with each other, you each understood what the other needed when at their most vulnerable. When you didn’t get a response from him, you softly squeezed his hand rubbing your thumb on his palm, this was one of your secret ways of telling each other to wake up.

It worked Kyle opened his eyes slowly glancing around then at you, his anchoring point. He knew he was ok. Price looked on at your both, he admired the system you had both developed he knew all too well how being woken in a strange place could sometimes effect those in your kind of work.

“Time for bed Kyle”

“How long was I asleep?”

“About 2 hours lad, don’t worry I stopped her from drawing a dick on your face”

“Thanks, Cap uhhhh” Kyle stretched and handed you the blanket to fold and put away, you shook your head taking it always picking up after him you thought.

“You two go up I’m gonna lock up down here then ill be up in a bit like I said early start tomorrow nice walking trail then a Pub lunch on me” Price smiled at you. You let out a soft laugh, walking trail, pub lunch? Who was this man, either way you didn’t care you were enjoying it.

“Right I'm going up you coming Tank?” Kyle shuffled back out into the kitchen. “Night, Boss”

“Night, son”

You hesitated still holding the folded blanket, Price clocked you still standing there, making his way over he held out his hand for the blanket.

“I'll take that tar, what’s up not tired?”

Your body was shattered, but your mind was racing if only he knew what you had been thinking earlier in the shower what you had done what you had cried out? Would he tell you you’d crossed a line? Tell you that you were out of order and not to think of him that way? You would only ever be, could only ever be Captain and sergeant? Or would he say he had felt the same, had thought about you in every way, having you in every way? You realised you had been staring at the last few embers dancing in the fireplace when you felt him tug at the blanket.

“You must be tired second time you have spaced out on me? Go on get to bed, I’ve checked in the wardrobe and under the bed no monsters” He let out a chuckle as he turned to place the blanket over the back of the armchair.

“Yeh sorry, I’m knackered. Thanks again for dinner it was amazing didn’t know you had it in you!” You turned and made your way out of the snug and into the kitchen Price followed you close behind.

“Want me to help you lock up? I don’t mind” you were hovering now, just go to bed you thought! Price gave you a smile and shook his head.

“No, I’m ok locking up, like I said I’m gonna have a nightcap and a smoke”

It had just dawned on you since arriving he hadn’t smoked or had a cigar in his hand all day?

“I was just thinking I haven’t seen one cigar or ashtray, what’s up with that?”

“Don’t want the house smelling of cigar smoke, plus I’m trying to cut down” He ran his hand over his face, he looked tired you wanted to tell him to come to bed and not necessarily on his own. Stop now.

“I like the smell if I’m honest, I’ve got used to it over the years haha” the laugh was a nervous one, oh please just shut up and go to bed you told yourself he obviously wants some alone time to smoke and have a drink. Price laughed as he raised his eyebrows, so you didn’t mind the smell of his cigars eh?. He went round to the other side of the island grabbing his cigar box and a bottle of Macallan 18 he placed them on the counter and as he reached for two short glasses, he noticed you shuffling towards the double doors.

“I’m gonna head up, leave you to it, Night John” you gave him a little smile as you turned out into the hallway. Just the one glass then he thought.

 “Night kid, sweet dreams…”

*********

2:30 am

You had been in and out of consciousness since getting in bed even though this bed was better than your own, the sheets were softer the pillows plumper you just couldn't fully switch off. You decided you were going to go downstairs and make yourself a tea Price had mentioned the different teabags he had bought for the weekend, maybe there was a camomile one? You knew it wouldn’t help. You knew what would, but you weren’t even going there. You made your way out of your room, it was a bit chilly but you chose to leave your hoodie in the room you would be back up in 10mins you thought.

You stopped outside Price’s room, would he be up? You listened for signs of movement, silence. You carried on down the stairs.

You opened the double doors slowly not wanting to make a sound you closed them silently behind you. The door to the snug shut, probably locked you thought. You switched the counter spotlights on and flip the kettle on grabbing your cup from the draining board and tried to remember where Price had said the flavored tea bags were. You decided to open all the cupboards you would find them eventually after you had opened nearly every one of them you remembered they weren’t in a cupboard they were in a draw!

“The draw next to the toaster!” You shouted by mistake, instantly slapping your hands over your mouth! The room to the snug creaked open. Shit.

  *********

 2:15 am

Price had been sat in the snug for longer than he had wanted to, he was more than halfway into the bottle of whisky and he had finished his cigar long ago, the embers now tiny flicks of light. His mind just wouldn’t stop no matter how many glasses he downed no matter how blurry his vision got. You. That’s all his mind was showing him. It had been replaying earlier in the rain over and over to him, you both crammed into the shelter, you pressed against him, his hands still gripping you tight. The look you had given him, the look that held him in a trance, then the way you had bitten your lip looking at him like you wanted him. He opened his eyes, he felt himself going hard again, he looked at his watch 2:15am no chance of being disturbed. He slid his hand into his pants pulling them down slightly freeing his cock from his boxer shorts. As he stroked himself slowly he imagined you sprawled out in his bed under him, you reaching out for him you wanted him, needed him like he needed you. Your skin soft and hot to the touch, he imagined himself slowly sinking into you till he was buried to the hilt, he gripped himself that little bit tighter as he pumped away, going that little bit faster as the images of you coming undone under him danced in his mind, he let his head fall back as he felt himself coming close

“Fuckkkkk…” he slurred as he whispered your name to himself……in his drunken lust he hadn’t heard the kettle boiling or the cupboards being ransacked…it wasn't until you had shouted did he snap back around realising he wasn’t alone anymore, he quickly pulled his pants up and tucked his still very hard erection into this waistband. Without thinking, he stood up and wandered over to the door, the drink giving him a false sense of sturdiness and coordination. Why was it that his mind was so clear just now imagining you, but now when you were just on the other side of the door in real life did it decide to cloud over in a whisky fuelled haze? He pulled the door open, finding you stood in the kitchen in just a baggy T-shirt. Christ.

“I'm so sorry Boss…I didn’t mean to shout…I couldn’t sleep and remember you had the herbal tea bags and then I couldn’t remember where you said they were and…”

Price walked over to you, the smell of cigar smoke and whisky filled your nose, was he drunk?

“Shtop, listennn dont worry bout it, kid its fineee”

He was drunk.

“How much have you had to drink?” You laughed as he leaned on the island facing you his arms behind him propping him up.

“A few but I’m okkkk” He was trying to act sober you could tell you had only seen him tipsy but never this drunk before. He was looking you up and down, god did he want you the bulge in his waistband straining against the fabric. His eyes fell to the T-shirt you had on even drunk he noticed that it wasn’t just any T-shirt it was one of his, it was the very same T-shirt he had been wearing under all his gear when you both had been shot, he could tell because there was a little hole on the shoulder. Without thinking again he reached forward poking his finger into it. The action took you by surprise as you could feel his fingertip brushing your scared tissue. He glanced down at you taking your hand in his an placed it on his chest under your fingertips you could feel the unmistakable bump of the same scar tissue. He rested his hand flat on top of yours and gave you that eye-crinkling smile. It caused your heart to flutter. You both stood for a few minutes in silence.

“I thought it would be funny…to wear my members-only T-shirt” you said softly as he let go of your hand.

“Nicee touch, I like it” he was really trying to sound sober. You hadn’t realised but he had closed the gap between you both as his hand was now resting on the sink behind you.

“How much have you had to drink?” You couldn’t help the little laugh as he closed his eyes, pretending to count.

“Don’t know, a few ha ha” he was concentrating on your face you must have been a blur to him. What was he doing? What were you doing?

“You know kidd I’ve bin meanin to get somethin off my chesttt” he looked away as if trying to muster the words. Was he really going to tell you how he had been feeling recently, how he thought something had changed between you? Before he could continue you placed your hand on his arm.

“Not now…let’s both get some sleep an wait till morning and if you still want to get it off your chest, we will talk how does that sound?”

He sighed you were right, even drunk he knew you were right and he would only balls up what he wanted to say anyway.

“Yeh your right, less talk in the mornin” Price dropped his head his face was a few inches from yours the smell of spilled whisky on his beard an the earthy cigar smoke on his tongue filled your lungs you wanted it to coat them. You rubbed little circles on his arm feeling the tight muscles under his skin, the little scars where the hair hadn’t grown back fully. You looked up at him, his head still bowed looking at the floor you studied his face the soft dark lashes that framed his dark blue eyes which were now staring at you.

“I’m sorry kid, shouldn’t let you see me like this ha ha not very Captain of me!”

 You chuckled, looking out the window behind you.

“If anything it makes you more human to me, it shows your vulnerability John”

God he really did love you calling him by his name, he smiled at you.

“Right let's head up to bed, you first I’ll shut the doors behind me come on” you put your hand on his back to steer him towards the double doors opening then before he crashed through them.

“Easy!! Don’t want Kyle waking up as well”

He comically shushed himself as you closed the doors behind you both. You had to hold in the laugh or else you would have set him off.

In the dark you pushed him by the back up the stairs, to be honest, if he did fall back there wasn't much you would be able to do. You ushered him to his room, stepping in to turn on the bedside lamp so as to not blind the two of you. Price walked right past you and flopped into bed as he did he knocked over an empty glass on the side, luckily his room was carpeted so it only bounced and rolled under the bed, you looked over at him his huge mass nearly taking up the whole king size bed, but if you moved his arm you thought, there was a nice little spot just right for you to curl up in? Stop it.

“Right I'm off to bed are you going to be ok? I don’t need to put you in the recovery position, do I?” You leaned over him just to check.

“I'll be fine…get in bed…” he had an arm over his eyes, shielding them from the light. You contemplated just getting in next to him, for his safety in case he swallowed his tongue? But thought best not in case Kyle woke to find you walking across the landing back to your room. Turning the light off, you bent down to pick the glass up from underneath his bed.

“I'm going, night John…sweet dreams” you smiled up at him as you found the glass, but something was underneath it, something silky. You pulled it out along with the glass.

Once from under the bed you knew exactly what it was, it was a pair of black silk knickers. You felt as though a hole had been punched through your gut and hollowed out. You looked down at them the bile rising in your chest. “you and Kyle are the first real guests I had since getting the place liveable” the words taunting in your head. “Well, I haven’t been totally alone…remember that Doc from Ireland? She’s been up to see the house it wasn’t finished not even watertight, but she came for a visit,”

 Had he lied to you? Yeh, he had lied to you. You could feel yourself getting angry, but you didn’t really have a right to be jealous of him…sleeping with another woman…he wasn't yours…he was just your Captain wasn't he? But it was more that he had lied and also it was probably with that stupid bitch doctor. That thought stung like a thorn in your side. You felt like a silly little girl. Is that how he saw you? Call you friend but keep you closer…keep you on a short leash, close to him, his little toy Tank?

 You put them back where you had found them, and placed the glass on the side and made your way to the door.

 “Night, love, sweet dreams”

 “Night John”

[rrenzwrld]

april 22, 2022

something i made for a scraped armin ff that i never posted..

i’m sorry about the scraps BUT it’s just until i write something new bc i haven’t posted in a while

i’m sorry again yall😭but enjoy!! <3

[ Y/F/P : your favorite kind of pizza. ]

You had liked Armin Arlert since middle school. But this was before his glowup that sent quite a few girls his way. No matter how many dates he went on or how many girls he’s kissed in that time, you were always in his sights. The only thing holding him back was the courage to let you know how he felt. And because he waited so long, he had to share you with the gaze of other men. Other men who’d brag about your talents in bed or your appearance that particular day. He hated hearing them speak about you as if you were an object and he hated watching you allow that to happen.

Although your feelings for Armin were strong, you kept them to yourself. In your mind, he was far to perfect to be in a relationship with you. You fell in love with his eyes, his smile, his aura until you realized none of those things were for you. They were for the girls who you thought deserved him. The girls who were prettier, skinnier, outgoing, athletic. The girls who weren’t hidden in the shadows by people they were dating or messing with. The girls that someone would be proud of. And you thought that wasn’t you. The guys that you’ve had sexual relationships with never mentioned being in an actual relationship with you, only wanting sex and pleasure from you. But this was routine.

The small nap that you were supposed to be taking lasted longer than you expected and night had fallen before you knew it. You sat up and stretched before rubbing at your eyes and grabbing your phone off the nightstand, which was filled with missed calls and text messages from your friends. You called them all back to let them know you were alright before getting up to get yourself something to eat.

“Damn.. I need to go grocery shopping.” You cursed yourself as you rummaged through your pantry. You looked back at your phone ringing with a facetime call. You answered it and propped up the phone on the counter against a container of sugar close to the wall.

“Girl why the fuck didn’t you answer me? You supposed to be sick.” Reneé said angrily.

“I am. I just took a nap—“

“A nap that lasted 5 hours?” You hadn’t even noticed that you were sleeping for as long as 5 hours, but you felt a bit rejuvenated and better than earlier.

“Yeah.. but I’m fine now. Not dead.” You said as you went through your fridge.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

“I’m hungry and I’m just now realizing that I haven’t went to the store. My pantry and shit bout dry as hell.”

“Well we can go to the store after class tomorrow. I need to go too that’s why I’ve been eating out— you want me to pick up a pizza?”

“Where you at?” You picked up the phone and walked into your room, turning on the lights.

“Jean’s… he’s gone now though. Something bout going to get beer or whatever. But who the fuck drinks beer?” You laughed at her comment.

“White folks.”

“You not wrong but… I’m coming over there and I’m bringing someone.”

“Jean?” You straightened up your room a bit, phone in hand as you talked, not really wanting to put it down anywhere.

“No you stupid bitch. Connie and Eren.” Your eyes widened, you didn’t have anything against either of them but you would have preferred if she’d come by herself.

“Why?”

“Because they wanna see how you were doing. They’re coming with Jean when he comes back so I’ll let you know.” You felt your whole mood shift.

“Okay.. well,” You sighed. “I’m gonna go so Jean won’t freak out when he sees you on the phone with somebody other than himself.”

“Girl bye. That nigga don’t own me. But I’ll see you later though. Bye~” Now that people were coming over, you actually had a reason to fix your house a bit, even if it was after 8pm.

“Yeeeerrrrr-“ Connie walked through the front door of your place with two boxes of pizza in his hands while Eren followed behind him with sodas and other things.

“Connie shut the fuck up, you know she got neighbors.”

“Shit, my bad..” Reneé rolled her eyes at him.

“Hey boo~” Reneé pulled you into a bone-crushing hug after you closed the door behind everyone and locking it. “You feeling okay?”

“Yeah, just hungry right now though,” You walked over to where Connie had sat the pizza down on the counter. “What kind you get?”

“Pepperoni and Y/F/P. Probably should’ve got another box because you know how that fat ass over there is..” She was referring to Connie, who had made himself comfortable on your couch.

“I know. But he’ll be alright. Eren!” You called.

“Yeah?” You looked at the bags he was sitting on the counter.

“What’s that? Sodas?”

He nodded. “And liquor—“

“Whoa who the fuck said we was drinking?” You looked at Reneé.

“He said he was buying it ‘just in case’. But you can just keep it here for some other time.” You sent a glare Eren’s way, receiving a wink from him in response.

“Y’all gonna eat or what?”

After everyone had eaten, none of you did much of anything other than being forced to watch movies with Reneé. Only you and Reneé seemed to be paying attention as Eren tapped away on his phone and Connie getting high out of his mind.

“Connie, you ain’t tell nobody you had weed.” Reneé eyed the boy, watching him take another hit of the blunt he held. His eyes were red and lidded as he sat in the black loveseat, knees spread apart in front of him.

“Was I supposed to?”

“Bitch..” Reneé mumbled as Connie softly laughed at her.

“Reneé.” Eren looked up from his phone.

“Yes, Yeager?”

“Lemme use your car.” She looked at him like he was crazy.

“Uh why?”

“I gotta go somewhere real quick. I’ll be right back. Promise.” Reneé rolled her eyes before hovering the keys over the palm of his hand.

“Where you going?” She snatched the keys back.

“Not you clocking him.” You commented.

“Right. Thought yall wasn’t fucking anymore.” Reneé and Eren directed their eyes at Connie.

“It’s my fucking car—“

“Reneé. You gonna give me the keys or not?” Eren’s hand was still held out. You didn’t know where he wanted to go in such a rush but it probably wasn’t your business. You continued to watch the movie.

“I’ll take you wherever you need to go. I don’t gotta hand my shit over to you just cause you ask. Bring ya’ ass.”

“Stop telling me what to do.” Eren mumbled as Reneé let Eren out in front of her.

“Y/n, I’ll be back.” She said as she closed the door behind her, leaving you with Connie.

[amive2567]

idk how to do this todoroki hot chocolate cuddling stuff idk ok its 6 in the morning and I've been up for 30 hours

Ingreadients: Shoto Todoroki x gn!Reader, Toya Todoroki (Dabi) x gn!Reader, Natsuo Todoroki x gn!Reaer, Fuyumi Todoroki x gn!Reader Contains: cute cuddles, mention of spiders, tiny argument, overworking, not really proofread Type of order: hot chocolate (fluff), macarons (headcanonss), bubble tea (request) A/N: You've been up for 30hours?! Jeez I hope you can finaly get some sleep soon. Don't overwork yourself please. Thank you for your request. I didn't know which Todoroki you ment so I wrote something for the whole bunch of siblings. ❤

Shoto Todoroki:

you were just tired and all you wanted to do is to cuddle up with your boyfriend of the couch

tiredly you stepped through the door of your apartment, you undressed your shoes and walked into the kitchen to get yourself something to eat

the shower could be heard and you knew that Shoto was showering right now (obviously)

He must have come home a bit earlier than you 

You stood there in the kitchen exhausted, but now you wanted to cook your boyfriend a nice meal

thawed food was not the stuff you wanted to eat right now and delivery food just didn’t suited the situation now you thought

you sorted out all the ingredients for some good old easy fried rice

while you prepared everything and started cooking you boyfriend entered the kitchen

“Welcome home, love.” he hummed and hugged you from behind

he was just as tired as you were

“Hi, honey. How was your day?” you asked, while attempting to hide your tiredness

“Tiring. We only had paperwork and it was boring.” he mumbled and nuzzled his head in the crook in your neck

he became comfortable to physical touch after years of your relationship and everytime he was tired he acted like the touch starved boy he is

“When are you done with cookin? I wanna cuddle.” he mumbled pouting. 

“It’s almost done.'' We will eat something and then we can cuddle. I really need some cuddle time right now.” 

After the food was finished you ate

After that you changed into your sleep attire and went to bed

“Now is cuddle time.” you announced and Shoto immediately wrapped his arms around you tightly

You could hear his heartbeat and it was just perfectly calming

Your hands massaged his scalp and he sighed relaxed

“You are the most perfect partner. I am so thankful for you.” he whispered into the darkness of the room

your heart swelled with love, but taking and replying to compliments was still hard

“Says you. You make me feel alive, like I can finally be myself again. Thank you for being there after a horrible day.” 

The serenity filled the room 

He shuffled towards your face and kissed you on the cheek

“My love, we should go to sleep now after this exhausting day.”

You knew him so well you new his cheeks were blushed

“You’re right. Goodnight, I love you.”

“I love you more, love”

Toya/Dabi Todoroki:

The heist went wonderful and all of you went back into your hiding

“Go to sleep, we will discuss our next mission tomorrow.” grumbled Shigaraki

“Sleep well shiggy.” hummed Toga as she walked to her room

The other ones also disappeared and Dabi finally talked to you again

“What the fuck were you thinking? Kurogiri nearly needed to take you to this motherfucker Overhaul.” he tried not to scream, but it was still to loud

“I just protected you.” you shrugged your shoulders and went into your shared room

“You risked getting caught and hurt. The heroes don’t give a damn about our lives. You could have fucking died.” he yelled by now

You felt guilty and you tried to avoid his gaze

He put his fingers under your chin and made you look up to him

“‘m sorry, but I can’t lose you. You’re the first person to make me feel like I am worth something and not a total loser. I just need you, you are my real family.”

You didn’t know what to say or what to think, so you just hugged him

He also wrapped his hands around your waist and kissed your head

“You’re not going to lose me. We live a risky life, but I will stay by your side. Always” you mumbled at his chest

You stayed like this for sometime, but your legs got tired

“Can we lay down, my leg is still hurting?”

He simply nodded and carried you on the slowly crumbling bed

He never interrupted his touch on your body

Even after you fall asleep, he still hugged you

Natsuo Todoroki:

The energies, the coffee and the zero sleep made i hard to concentrated on the book in front of you

The illustrations and letters were just one colorful soup on paper

You stopped reading and walked to the dorm of your boyfriend

Health students were the unlucky ones who had to have classes until afternoon

So you could maybe take a quick nap in his room 

BUt as you entered his room he was already there

“Had a good day, babe?” he asked you as you entered

You just shook your head and instantly set on his lap

“Sweety, you should really take more care of yourself. Drinking coffee and energys doesn’t help you with studying.” 

he stroked your back soothingly

“I am just so stressed. Everybody has good grades and I am just passing. I want to be better.” 

“But you’re destroying yourself. The grates of the others don’t matter as long as you are healthy it’s alright. Passing is pretty great in college. You are such a smart person. Besides that (your major) is a pretty hard subject, you will be fine.”

You hummed in disbelief, but didn’t wanted to argue, since Natsuo always had his way to cheer you up

He would be a great doctor in the future

He hugged you tighter and hummed a song to you

With every second you grew more tired and you finally drifted off to sleep

Fuyumi Todoroki:

The kids finally were able to go home and Fuyumi waved them goodbye

She got her bag and papers and also left the school

You've been waiting a few minutes to pick her up from her work, just like every day

She opened the door of the car and entered it

“Hey, honey. How was your day? Did the kids pay attention?” you asked her with a bright smile

“Hey. They were playing a prank today and put a fake spider into my desk.” she smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes

“Oh no. Nasty children. Are you alright? They didn't meant to scare you that badly I assumed.” You patted her back awkwardly in the small car

“It’s fine. I just want to go home”

you drove off and got her home

Accompanied by a pleasant silence you entered the apartment

“Lets forget about the day and just cuddle on the couch.” you said and walked towards the coll leather sofa

“But what about..” she started, but you silenced her with a kiss. “That can wait. We can do it tomorrow.” 

You guided her towards the couch and put a blanket around you two

“Are you comfortable?” you asked and she nodded in response

You held her close and creased through her white hair

“I hate spiders. I was so frightened.”

“I know darling. Tell your students please that they should never pull another prank like that.”

Your grip tightened around her 

You just wanted her to finally feel safe

[little-escapist]

Kiss prompt 23 or ten or both if you feel so inclined 😁

Finally here! These two are a continuation to this one.

10. …desperately

They don’t mention it, but that night Blaine’s touch is needier than ever, Kurt’s hands shakier than before as they undress each other. They barely speak at all as they let their hands wander in the dim light of Blaine’s bedroom, the world cut away from them by thick curtains in front of the window. It’s like all the world is in this room, ends to these stone walls, and no one else exists but them and their need for each other.

Kurt has not made any promises or decisions yet and Blaine is getting married tomorrow. The ceremony begins at noon. It feels like the clock is ticking away too loudly, every second one second closer to doom. They have 14 hours before Blaine walks down the aisle. Kurt imagines he’ll get to spend at least nine of those hours with Blaine, in his arms, together as close as they can be. He has to sneak away in the morning, though, before the servants come to help Blaine get ready.

Still, they have these nine hours before that. They both need to make the most of it. They both need to be as close to the other as humanly possible. After they shed their layers, they step together and hold on. It’s a strange suspension – time seems to go too fast yet stay still at the same time because all Kurt knows is Blaine’s fervent touch.

They fall to bed and without a second’s hesitation Blaine pulls Kurt on top. He spreads his legs and Kurt falls in between. Their eyes lock for a moment and it’s almost too much to see the pure need and longing in Blaine’s golden eyes. Kurt swallows down the tears that threaten to rise to his eyes. Blaine’s hands come up to frame his face and caress his cheeks for a moment before Blaine pulls him down and kisses him. It’s deep and dirty from the start. Blaine holds on to Kurt’s face as if he’s drowning and it’s the only thing he can hold on to as he bites at Kurt’s lips in his desperation.

This might very well be their last night together, so Kurt doesn’t mind if it hurts a little.

23. …in relief

The huge room is full of people. It seems like the whole city is there to witness the royal wedding. Blaine looks very handsome in his finest clothes, the royal red on black, his hair parted and to the side. There’s a calm mask of a smile on his face, but his eyes are nervous. Wedding jitters, someone whispered earlier. Nervous about the audience, guessed another. Kurt wanted to sigh at the words around him but refrained from making a sound. He shouldn’t listen to the conversations going on around him and his dad, but he needs to focus on something, or he will vibrate out of his skin with his own nerves. His dad has been giving him odd looks the whole morning, but Kurt has ignored them. He will start crying if he tells his dad what he’s about to do, and tears are not a look he wants to sport in front of the whole city and his lover.

The bride, a pretty, young woman in huge white dress that’s more frill than anything else, looks like this is her dream day. She’s smiling and practically radiating as she walks down the aisle towards Blaine and Kurt is certain she has no idea who Blaine really is and how miserable they both will be is this wedding happens. Neither of them will have the life they want. Kurt wonders if Blaine has just put on his charming front when he has met with her before. She looks way too happy to know the truth about Blaine – too happy to know this is a marriage of convenience and nothing else. She looks at Blaine like he hung the moon as they clutch hands once she gets to the altar.

The priest starts droning on and Kurt falls into his thoughts, staring at the back of the man sitting in front of him. He fidgets with his hands and keeps his breathing measured. He has never been this scared in his life, not even when he was eight years old, and his mother was dying. He has no idea what will happen and how his life will turn out in just minutes. His mind is finally made up, though. He knew that he only had one option this morning when he snuck out of Blaine’s chambers before dawn, kissing him goodbye and telling him to be brave.

“… speak now, or forever hold their peace,” says the priest, and Kurt’s moment has come.

He stands up and an alarmed noise goes through the crowd.

“Kurt, what are you doing?” his dad asks, but Kurt doesn’t answer. He steps away from the bench and on the aisle, feeling hundreds of eyes on his skin.

“I object,” Kurt says loudly, projecting so his voice rings clearly in the vast space and reaches every last pair of ears. “I object to this marriage because the prince will never be happy married to a woman.”

Blaine is staring at him as he walks closer. His face has lost its mask, and all his emotions are right there for everyone to see: he looks happy, relieved, and more than a little dazed. He lets go of his bride and starts down the aisle towards Kurt, as if they were the only people there, not caring about the city watching. His aunt stands up from her spot in the front and walks at a brisk pace after him, but Blaine’s stride is lengthening with every step he takes until he’s almost running.

He reaches Kurt, and Kurt opens his arms without hesitation. This is their truth, this is who they both are despite what June Dolloway or the world wants them to be. Blaine doesn’t hesitate either as he steps on his tiptoes to kiss Kurt full on the lips in front of everyone. He sucks on Kurt’s lip like he never wants to let go, melting against Kurt. Kurt holds him up, gathers him close and kisses back with the same amount of relief. The truth is out, there’s nothing June Dolloway can do about it, she can’t try to hide Blaine anymore, no matter what happens next. They are together, they have told the world. No more hiding, no more fear.

Their fate is out of their hands now, but they have shown who they are and who they want to be with.

[like-a-bantha]

Busted Hyperdrive

Chapter Four: Camping

Summary: Tech just loves his schedules. But a good ol' vacation never hurt anybody, right? Is vacation the right word for it? Either way, it's a good time for new experiences and opening up to your new friends.

Pairing: The Bad Batch & Gender Neutral Reader

Rating: T

Warnings: Brief mention of dead parent

Word Count: 6.1k

A/N: Another chapter I've been hoarding. Yikes! Sorry it's taken so long, I hope you enjoy! <3

Read on AO3 | Masterlist

You should make a mental note that if you ask Tech for an efficient schedule, he’s expecting you to be as fast as a droid. Sure, the workday is flying by – and this was your idea – but, kriff, your whole body is aching. Although, when you’re all finishing your workload by sunset, you’d be lying if you said you weren’t impressed he managed to plan the entire day to a T.

The last task on your list was fixing a credit pusher game that seems to have been out of commission for a while. The credits inside were almost as dusty as the inner mechanics of the machine, and you’ve spent the last hour or so coughing and sneezing as you rewire and solder it back to life. Just as you finish up and start to emerge from beneath the machine your name is called loudly enough to startle you, causing you to bump your head on the panel above you. Bringing a hand up to not only wipe away the thin layer of sweat, you absently rub your now aching forehead. The footsteps accompanying the eager call of your name come to a halt and you look up to find Omega and Wrecker standing over you, each of them holding a crate and beaming with excitement.

“What’s up?” You ask, pushing yourself to stand, still absently rubbing your forehead.

You’ve opened the floodgates, their excitement finally spilling over. “It’s ready!” Wrecker booms, you nod at him to continue but it seems that’s all he can manage at the moment.

“The surprise!” Omega chimes in. “From yesterday, it’s ready now!”

You smile and glance at the crates, just as you’re about to ask what it is Wrecker puts a hand over the already closed lid. “You can’t look in here, we were gonna set it all up earlier but Echo said we shouldn’t break into your ship.”

“You know where it is.” Wrecker just gives a loud laugh and follows his sister, who’s already waiting at the door, to the exit. You make your way to the nearest booth, letting out a tired chuckle, watching the two interior decorators sprint up the stairs as you collapse into a seat.

There’s no harm in resting your eyes, so you stay right there, content as your head rests in your folded arms. You’ve barely drifted off when you hear the hiss of the office door opening and the quiet conversation of possible upcoming work between Hunter, Echo, and Cid. It’s only when you hear someone set something on the table and shuffle into the booth across from you that you open your eyes, immediately greeted by a cup of caf.

“You cannot sleep here.” Tech says as you take a sip of caf.

“I know,” you laugh into the warm mug, “but I think it’s gonna be a little while before we can get to my ship and head out.”

It doesn’t take him long to put the pieces together. “That explains the distinct lack of shouting.”

“No food on the ground, either.” You laugh, taking another sip of caf before you set it down. “Thanks. For the caf, and pulling through on the schedule.”

He simply nods before grabbing the datapad from his belt. “Speaking of which, I wanted to ask for your input on tomorrow's schedule, as it was your idea.”

“Oh, uh,” your brows furrow, suddenly realizing you’ve been so caught up in your tasks you forgot to think of any plans for tomorrow, “let’s just play it by ear. See where the day takes us, y’know?”

Tech stares down at his datapad, his typing coming to a halt. When he looks up, slightly puzzled, you start to feel the guilt setting in. “Very well, we will start with the basics. How far from the city will we be setting up camp?”

You gaze up to the ceiling in thought, pondering his question. “At least far enough from the city to really see the stars would be nice.”

He’s silent for a moment as he types something on his datapad. “And what time would you like us to wake up?”

You hum, thinking for a moment, “I think, since we’re taking the day to relax and all, we can say a soft 0930. Maybe 10? I’m sure I’m not the only one who’d wanna sleep in.”

He nods, taking note. “If given the chance, Wrecker will sleep all day, may I suggest 0900?”

With a nod, and a laugh, you agree.

“And how much time will we need to prepare before leaving tonight?”

Mentally taking inventory of your ship, you take your time to consider what they might need to pack. “I think I’ve got most of what we’ll need on my ship, blankets and stuff, that one’s up to you.” He begins typing, eager to make another detailed schedule. You tilt your head, gently making a suggestion. “And how about, after we get there we just schedule as we go?”

He thinks about it for a moment before meeting your tentative gaze. “Very well.” Your face softens into a smile which he quickly returns before shifting his focus back to the datapad in his hands. You take a sip of your caf and you both sit in a comfortable silence until Echo and Hunter join you in the booth and Cid retreats to her office.

“Hey,” you greet them, sliding further into the booth to give Echo a place to sit, “you guys all done, too?”

“Just got done talking with Cid,” you hold back a laugh at the way Echo can barely conceal his exasperated sigh, “ready to head out?”

“Yeah, but I’m having some work done on my ship.” You motion vaguely to the exit with a smile before looking back to Echo, “They did ask me first.” He lets out a quiet chuckle at that, simply nodding his head before taking a sip of his caf.

Hunter nods towards your own nearly empty mug, “You gonna be too tired to set up camp?”

Shaking your head, you finish off the last of your caf before placing the empty mug on the table, “Nah, I’m used to it. Back home I’d leave one job to go to the next, then walk back to my ship to make some dinner and do it all again the next day.”

“Sounds fun.” Echo quips.

“Yeah it was great,” you laugh, matching his sarcasm, “you guys are gonna get the full Tatooine experience. Minus the heat and the work, of course.”

Hunter opens his mouth to reply but is interrupted by your comm, the static distorting Omega’s voice slightly.

“We’re almost done!” You not only hear her smile, but heavy footsteps on durasteel as Wrecker joins the call.

“Come check it out!” The volume of his request makes it sound like he’s right there in the parlor with you. Echo and Hunter are already sliding out of the booth, Tech following suit without looking up from his datapad as he heads for the exit.

“We’re on our way.” You stand from the table, stashing the comm in your bag before heading up the stairs.

It doesn’t take long to reach the landing bay and once you arrive at your ship you’re met by Omega running over to the four of you, eager to show off her and Wrecker’s work.

“Close your eyes!” The girl commands, grabbing your hand and leading you to the ramp of your ship. You, of course, comply, shutting your eyes and covering them with your free hand for good measure. “Don’t open them yet!”

“I won’t.” You laugh as she carefully guides you up the steps. Once you’re fully inside the ship you hear her whispering something to Wrecker, you can’t quite hear what she said but you can hear him agree.

“Okay, you can open them on the count of three.” His wide smile is audible, “Ready?” When you nod, they count down in unison. You remove the hand from your eyes, you take in the sight with a surprised grin, nearly speechless. The most you can get out at the moment is an almost silent wow as you turn to take it all in. They’ve hung strings of lights that cast a warm glow over the common area. The cold metal bench seats at the table are now cushioned with blankets, they even added two throw pillows. The table itself now holds a small silver vase, a few delicately placed wildflowers of unknown origins perfectly contrasting with their metal housing.

Your gaze finally settles on the two clones awaiting your feedback with bated breath, though it’s evident on your face how grateful you are. “Guys, this is…” You can’t seem to find the words to describe your delight.

“Do you like it?” Omega asks, your smile now bubbling over to a laugh as you eagerly nod.

“I love it!” Before you finish your sentence she’s already bringing you to the ladder, that same warm glow radiating up from below deck.

“There’s more!” You step back allowing the two to lead the way.

“I probably shouldn’t close my eyes for this one, that okay?” You laugh, keeping your gaze fixed in front of you as you descend the ladder, not wanting to spoil their surprise.

“Yeah, just don’t turn around yet.” Wrecker calls from behind you followed by the sound of the two of them shuffling around. Finishing touches, you presume. “Should we count again?”

Omega laughs, her voice closer now, “You can look now.”

You turn under that same warm glow from up above, the viewports on either side of you are now covered with curtains and somehow the walls don’t seem nearly as bare. There’s another vase of wildflowers fixed to the countertop of your kitchenette, the shop rags you’ve been using as dishrags have been replaced with soft, pale blue towels. You peek into the ‘fresher to find they’ve fixed the rod that once held a shower curtain that you never bothered repairing yourself, they even replaced the shower curtain; its bright red hue leads you to believe Wrecker picked it out.

“This is my favorite part.” You turn back to the two of them standing by the door to your bunk, Omega’s hand hovering over the button as they wait for you to join them. The second you approach, the door hisses open and your smile grows in awe of their work. That same warm glow now replaced the harsh fluorescent lighting, a throw pillow matching the ones above settled atop a plush blanket covering your existing one to combat the cold of space travel. You can’t contain the giggle that escapes when you notice they’ve even tucked your beloved Jama into bed.

You take a step back, glancing around the room again, unable to wipe the smile from your face. “I don’t know what to say. This is incredible. Thank you guys so-” he second you turn back around to face them you’re cut off by Omega hugging you and, before you could respond, Wrecker joins the embrace, effortlessly lifting both of you into the air. It’s a struggle at first but you manage to thank them through your laughter before he sets you both down.

As the three of you head back up to the common area, you can’t help but ask, “How did you guys afford all this stuff? I mean, the lights alone must’ve been a fortune!”

“You can make money playing holochess!” The instant she said it, you remembered Echo’s warning during your game of sabacc, Omega really is a shark.

You join Hunter, Echo, and Tech in the common area, Omega takes the seat next to Hunter and proudly announces, “They said they love it!” To which Wrecker happily nods in agreement, joining his siblings at the table. Hunter looks at you sporting an amused smile and a raised brow.

“I really do,” you gladly affirm the girls claim, still unable to wipe the smile from your face, “these two really do have an eye for design. It actually feels like home now.”

Wrecker and Omega share a giddy laugh at the compliment, high-fiving across the table. Echo’s eyes are closed, but his smile betrays his ‘asleep’ act. Hunter smiles at his sister’s glee, the look reminds you of your own father.

Your hands come to rest on your hips as you quietly sigh though your smile, “Alright, we ready to go?”

Hunter nods, the both of you glancing around the rest of the group for confirmation. “Ready when you are.” 

“May I assist you in navigation?” Tech offers before you turn to head to the cockpit.

“Of course,” you nod towards the cockpit in acceptance, “got two seats up there for a reason.”

As you take your respective seats, he turns his datapad to show you its glowing screen. Momentarily abandoning the process of starting your ship to find what appears to be another schedule, he answers your question before you have a chance to ask. “I have compiled a list of necessary information as well as a training schedule. Since you will be joining us on future missions it would be wise to study these topics.” You reach out a hand to scroll through the list, scanning each category without expanding any particular one as you assume it will unfold into a full lesson. “You have proven to be a potential asset to our squad. Should you choose to study these topics carefully, which I do highly recommend as you have one day to train before probable combat, I am positive you will not have any issues going forward.”

If it were anyone else, you might’ve taken that as an insult but from Tech it seems like high praise. You smile, retracting your hand and returning to powering up the ship. “Thanks, Tech. I think I have an old datapad around here somewhere, would you mind sending that to me?”

“No need,” you look up from the control panel to shoot him a confused look but he’s already pulling a second datapad from his belt and handing it to you, “I had to confiscate this from Wrecker. He somehow managed to bypass my own substantial intrusion prevention system and can no longer be trusted with the holonet.”

You take the clearly well-used datapad, resting it atop the control panel after studying it briefly with an almost surprised laugh, “What happened?”

“He opened a pop-up advertisement for a virtual pet the user cares for digitally, and with it several viruses.” He sighs, truly exasperated, and you assume it isn’t the first time this has happened. “I have explained the dangers of malware to him many times, but Wrecker will do what he wants.”

“It sounds like he wants a fake pet.” You laugh as you begin your ascent. Tech just sighs. Behind you, you hear the man in question explaining his artistic choices to Echo, who you assume is still resting his eyes. Omega joins in, recounting the array of pillows the market had to offer.

The flight over Ord Mantell is peaceful. You sit in a comfortable silence with Tech, flying low enough to spot a good place to set up camp for the night. The setting sun grows ever closer to the horizon before you, casting a warm glow over the rocky terrain. Your eyes fix on a canyon not far ahead, the perfect size to block the bright lights of the city behind you. Slowly descending as you approach, just enough to scout the location, you’re met with a reflection of the glimmering sunset dancing across a lake.

You shoot a hopeful glance to your co-pilot. “What do you think? Good spot?”

“It appears to be safe.” Tech states plainly, scanning the terrain outside of the viewport.

“Alright.” You grin, beginning your descent before excitedly announcing to the others, “I think we’re here.”

The second your ship touches down at the lakefront you’re practically sprinting off of the ship. Omega is quick to follow you while the others take their time descending the ramp. The closer you get to the water the sandier the ground beneath you becomes. You’re used to sand, of course. You’ve been surrounded by nothing but sand all your life. There’s just something about the way this sand acts as a transition from solid ground to a vast, glistening lake that makes you stumble as if it were your first encounter with the uneven terrain. Your sprint pauses just long enough to kick off your shoes, tossing them haphazardly to the side, forgotten in the wake of the body of water before you as you bound towards it once more. The sun’s warmth lingers in the shallow water, the force of your feet hitting the water in an abrupt stop sends up a splash that reaches high enough to wet your shirt with tiny droplets. You hastily roll up your pant legs before walking further into the welcoming water as it ripples around your calves. The sound of smaller splashes behind you draws your attention, you turn to see Omega wearing a smile just as wide as yours. The experience leaves both of you speechless, you can only seem to laugh as you wade through the water. It isn’t long before her brothers catch up to you both, seemingly unphased by the wonder before them as they opt to stand at the shore rather than join you.

“This is amazing!” Omega calls to her brothers, attempting to wave them over.

“It is a lake.” Tech states, looking around unperturbed before his focus returns to his datapad.

“Oh, come on, it really is incredible!” You kick your foot out, sending a few droplets up as you laugh at the tiny waves the movement creates.

“Have you never seen a lake before?” Echo hesitantly asks. You’re unsure if the question is directed at you or Omega, but the way you both shake your heads draws a laugh from the man.

Hunter appears to be deep in thought, staring out across the lake. Just next to him, Wrecker is crouched in the sand picking up rocks that look comically small in his grasp. He carefully assesses each one, either tossing them into the water with a little plop or holding them in his other hand for safe keeping. You’re about to ask what he’s doing when Hunter, who’s focus has once again returned to the scene around him, looks to you with a suggestion. “We should set up camp before it gets dark.”

Back to reality, you nod in agreement. “Yeah, that’s smart. I’ll find some rocks and start a fire.” You make your way out of the water, the cool air hitting your wet skin draws a shiver from you as you adjust to the temperature.

Omega reluctantly follows you, when Hunter notices her slumped shoulders and quiet huff he carefully reminds her, “It’ll be here tomorrow.” He bends to pick up her discarded shoes before leading her back towards the ship.

After a sorry attempt at brushing the sand clinging to your wet feet you give up, accepting your sandy fate. You walk over to Wrecker, still crouched as he combs through the sand. “Whatcha doing?”

He opens his hand, revealing a pile of small flat stones. “Gettin’ rocks.” When his obvious answer draws a laugh from you he eagerly joins in.

You crouch beside him, picking up rocks to aid in his hunt. “I can see that.” You pause for a moment, checking the small handful you’ve gathered before offering them to him. “How come?”

He picks each stone from your open palm one by one, tossing a few into the lake without explanation before holding up a smooth, flat one with a grin. “Now that’s a keeper.” He adds it to his collection. “They’re skippin’ rocks.”

Using your now empty hand, you begin searching for similar stones. “What’s a skipping rock?” 

“Y’know, skippin’ rocks. The flat ones that bounce on the water when you throw ‘em.” You find what you think matches the description, holding it out for Wrecker to inspect. He plucks it from your fingers with a triumphant laugh. “Keeper!”

“So,” you contemplate his statement for a moment, brows furrowed as you absently comb through the sand, “they float?”

At this, Wrecker lets out a loud laugh before he stands and walks close enough to the shoreline that water quietly splashes against his boots. “You get down real low, like this,” he widens his stance, crouching as he just was a moment ago, “and you take a rock and hold it like this.” You stand to meet him at the waterline for his demonstration. “And if you throw it right, it jumps across the water.” He draws his arm back, taking aim before expertly launching the rock. It glides from his gentle grasp and, just like he said, bounces across the top of the water five times, each hop leaving a ripple in its wake. After the fifth jump it loses its momentum and disappears into the water. He turns to you with a proud smile that only brightens when he sees your eyes wide in awe. “Like that.” When you let out a quiet ‘whoa’ he picks a stone from his hand and extends the offering to you. “Wanna try?”

Hesitantly, you accept the smooth rock, turning it in your hand as you reflect on his lesson. “I’ll try but I don’t know if I’ll be any good.” You laugh, lowering your stance and winding your arm back, mimicking his earlier movements as closely as you can. “And just bring it forward…” you mutter, practicing your toss once before you glance down at the rock one last time and reassume your stance. You bring your arm forward, releasing the rock, and with a flick of your wrist it flies from your fingers, bouncing across the water’s surface twice before sinking with an audible plop. You let out a shocked laugh and turn to Wrecker, still sporting that proud grin, who immediately holds up a hand for a high-five that you eagerly reciprocate. When your gaze returns to the lake where your stone now rests you realize how low the sun has dropped, your wide smile fading only slightly. “Wanna help me find some bigger rocks?”

Wrecker stashes the handful of pebbles in an empty pouch on his belt and you both begin your search for stones. It doesn’t take long at all, just a few minutes thanks to your combined efforts; you manage to find not only an armful of stones but a sizable amount of kindling before joining the others. You make a ring of stones and toss some kindling in the center before pulling the fire kit from your pack, soon enough it’s burning steadily. Echo takes over your position as fire watcher, allowing you to gather some dinner. You rummage through the cupboards of your kitchenette, pulling mismatched cups and utensils, a cooking pot, and some cheap instant terrine. When you return, Echo is sitting alone at the fire, Wrecker has returned to his search for pebbles while Tech shines a flashlight down at the sand for him, reading something off of his datapad that Wrecker is not paying any attention to. Omega seems to have dragged Hunter to the shore once again; only this time they sit and watch the water, it seems like a peaceful moment until the girl starts piling handfuls of sand atop Hunter’s outstretched leg. His shoulders sag with a visible sigh, but, even in the fading twilight, you know he’s smiling. When you look back to Echo you find he’s shaking his head, sporting his own tired smile. You join him, setting up the dingy pot in the campfire before filling it with the rest of the water in your canteen. When you sit back your own sigh slips through your lips, content in the silence of the crackling fire as you lean back against a boulder. You don’t even realize you’ve shut your eyes until Echo lets out a huff of a laugh next to you, wordlessly stoking the fire.

“Long day.” He says, not even a question as you both know the answer. Your eyes remain shut but you can hear the smile in his voice.

You laugh, cracking one eye open to look at him. “I’m taking a page out of your book.”

“Better get some real rest soon, I hear Tech’s got you training tomorrow.”

“Yeah, it’s great. I have school on my day off.” You joke, leaning forward to check the water. “I told him we can play it by ear, but he said something about combat earlier. Does that happen a lot?” Your gaze shifts from the pot to him, a warm glow cast over his weary smile. “Combat, I mean.”

At this, Echo lets out a mirthless laugh. “You want the truth?” He catches your nod out of the corner of his eye. “Being on the run from the Empire, it’s not easy. This mercenary work isn’t a bad gig, the pay’s decent enough, but if you’re gonna be working with us you gotta be ready for a fight.” When he turns to meet your gaze to find your head cocked inquisitively to the side but clearly afraid to overstep, he sighs but obliges, his focus now locked on the fire. “When the war ended our service didn’t, but we couldn’t stay. Especially not with the kid, so we defected.”

“Wrecker told me about your brother.” Your voice is quiet, gentle enough to draw his attention away from the fire long enough for a tentative glance in your direction. “He thought he didn’t have a choice?”

“Not exactly.” His heavy sigh was enough explanation. You don’t ask any more questions, the crackling fire filling the silence between the two of you. Echo stares into the fire, poking at the embers every so often, while you watch the water in the pot slowly but surely come to a steady boil. Removing the pot from the fire, you empty the packet of dehydrated stew into the water and stir it around a bit. The second the smell of it wafts over to the man sitting beside you his face contorts with disgust, dramatically bringing his hand up to fan the stench away to no avail. You hand him a cup full with a laugh, he peers into it before so much as reaching to take it from you. “What is that?”

“Terrine.” You toss a spoon into the mug, gesturing for him to take it from your hand. “I used to live off this stuff, c’mon it’s not bad. You’ll like it.” After he hesitantly accepts the mug, you whistle to the others, waving the ladle in the air to beckon them over. Echo simply stares into the mug, unsure of your meal of choice, as the others slowly gather around the fire. Hunter seems to share Echo’s opinion, but accepts the mug regardless. Tech and Omega, unphased, grab a cup without question. Wrecker, to no one’s surprise, enthusiastically welcomes the foreign dish and after one whiff he forgoes the spoon you’d included in favor of tipping the mugs contents directly into his mouth. When he asks for seconds, you happily oblige. Everyone seems to enjoy, or at the very least tolerate, the mushroom dinner; when you stand and ask for their mugs to do the washing up, each one is empty. Hunter stands and offers his assistance, he barely waits for you to accept before grabbing the empty cooking pot before he follows you aboard your ship. You figure he’d help even if you’d turned away his offer.

As you approach the ladder leading down to the lower deck you realize it’s been a very long time since you’ve carried more than one dish down with you. Sensing your trepidation, Hunter extends the pot. “Put them in here, I’ll pass it down.” You flash a grateful smile before doing just that, and after you reach up to take the pot you expect him to rejoin his siblings outside but, to your surprise, he follows you down the ladder.

“Oh, I can take care of this if you wanted to head back out.” Hunter only chuckles as he follows you into the kitchenette. “I don’t mind.”

“I believe you.” He smiles before silently rinsing out each mug, passing them to you to load into your meager sonic dishwasher.

“Not used to so many dishes.” You laugh, leaning against the counter after sealing the door and starting the cycle. “I don’t think this thing is either.” The machine shakes and grates, only stopping when you give it a light kick. Hunter watches on with a bemused grin that grows to a chuckle when you shrug, surprised that your gently blow seemingly fixed the problem.

“I can see that.” He sighs as he leans against the adjacent countertop, arms crossed over his chest.

“Stole it from my old house before I moved out. It works when it wants to.”

“So you haven’t always lived on the ship?” You look up from the shabby durasteel floor, somewhat surprised by his question.

“My parents had a place when I was a kid. It was in the city and it wasn’t much, but it was our home.” You hum, Hunter silently asks you to go on. “I stayed there with my mom mostly. When my dad had work on Coruscant he’d always take this ship. He came back when my mom got sick.” Your gaze falls back to the cold floor. “He disappeared after she died. Left me the ship so I’d have a place to stay. Apartments are, like, really expensive.” You try to joke, ease the tension, but your laugh sounds hollow. “I took everything that wasn’t bolted to the floor – which, to be fair, wasn’t much – flew outside the city and got to work. I knew I couldn’t stay on Tatooine after that.”

You go quiet for a minute, chewing your lip in thought. “Is that why you’re looking for him?” Hunter asks, his voice faint enough that if the dishwasher was just a bit louder you wouldn’t have heard him.

After a few moments of contemplation, you shake your head, gaze still fixed on your shoes. “I don’t know. Never really thought about why, just…” you trail off, trying to find the words for a feeling you’ve never spoken about, “I had this feeling, like if we’re together, it’d all be okay again?” You say it like a question that neither of you know the answer to. He nods in quiet understanding, and when you finally look up you’re met with a sympathetic smile.

“I hope you’re right.” Hunter’s expression softens, you know he’s not only thinking about your separated family.

“Me too.” You nod, hoping that one day soon neither of you will have to mourn loved ones that are still out there. The tender moment is, of course, interrupted by the loud buzz indicating the end of the cycle. You jump at the noise and Hunter fails to stifle his laugh at your shock. “Yeah, ha ha,” you retort, grabbing one of the new towels and tossing it in his direction, “back to work.” After drying the dishes and returning them to the cabinets, you begin collecting the many blankets and pillows scattered around your ship before joining the others around the fire. Echo offers to take first watch, if it were any other day you’d object and insist they all get some rest but after a long day’s work you happily lay out your blanket and settle down. You stare up at the stars, and just as you’re drifting off to sleep you learn that Wrecker snores. Quite loudly, too. When you turn onto your side to face the fire, hoping the crackles and pops of the wood will act as some form of noise cancellation, you lock eyes with Echo who flashes an apologetic look. You manage to catch the amused glint in his eyes before your body decides it’s time to rest.

The sun rises slowly beyond the canyon, lighting the sky while your campsite rests for just a little while longer in the darkness. You wake to something nudging at your arm, realizing that lazily swatting at the disturbance isn’t working you crack one eye open to find Tech crouched next to your previously sleeping form. When you open the other eye, confused, you glance down at your arm where his datapad rests mid-nudge, only retracting the device after he confirms you’re awake. With a quiet grunt, you roll onto your back and gaze up at the sky.

Your brows furrow and now you’re really awake. “I thought we said 0900, Tech. Sun’s not even up yet.” After yawning and wiping the sleep from your eyes you glance at your chrono. 0504. You let out another groan.

“Yes, for the others. You have scheduled training.” He hands you the datapad you’d left on the ship's console before standing. “We will begin in sixteen minutes.”

Sitting up with a defeated sigh, you take a deep breath of the cool morning air. “Did you make caf?”

“Yes.” He gestures to a mug next to your pillow. “Though it has cooled significantly, as it took nearly five minutes for you to wake up.” You pick up the warm mug and burn your tongue as you take a sip. Another, more cautious, sip reveals the resident genius somehow managed to burn instant caf. You thank him anyway, burnt caf is better than no caf at all.

The morning schedule consists of physical tests; timing your running speed, then again with a backpack that you can only assume has been filled with rocks, and basic hand to hand combat. “I know how to fight, Tech. I thought the lessons were gonna be, I don’t know, like reading up on those thermal detonators or whatever.”

“The physical training assessments are done for now.” He scrolls quickly through the schedule. “You may take a short break while I wake the others.” You jump at the opportunity to retreat to your ship and hide from the heat of the morning sun. Practically falling into the pilot’s seat, you flip on the cockpit life support and bask in its cool breeze, and when your stomach lets out an angry growl you’re struck with an idea.

Tech finds you aboard your ship; he really meant it when he said ‘short break’, it’s barely been ten minutes. It seems as though it was supposed to be much shorter, as you pull a case from a small locker, he types frantically on his datapad. “Now, we have fallen slightly behind, but I am sure I can alter the schedule enough to put us back on track.” He takes a seat across from you at the table, still too focused on his datapad to notice you open the case on the table. “We will begin with basic hand signals followed by common tactical formations.”

“Can we break for an hour or two? I’m starving.”

“You may eat during your lesson, a break longer than five minutes is completely unnecessary.” Tech counters; too focused on the device in his hands, hell-bent on readjusting the times on his meticulous schedule, to see you pull an old rifle from the case and begin taking it apart to clean. “It seems I should reiterate: I’ve planned out your training and lessons fully. Given you are a novice it may seem that these lessons will be simple or even unnecessary, but I assure you-” you look up when he suddenly stops speaking, “I certainly was not expecting that.” He returns to his datapad, frantically adjusting the schedule once again.

“This can be training, right?” You ask, carefully cleaning the rifle. “Lesson one: Lunch.”

“That,” Tech sounds like he’s about to argue, but his typing ceases for a moment as he looks up from his schedule, “is not a bad idea.”

“Yeah? Got anything about what’s safe to eat on there?”

“Obviously.” You think he might’ve taken offense to that question, but he briefly abandons the schedule in favor of pulling every file he’s logged on the local wildlife. “Training, however, is still top priority. We will begin your first lesson on hand signals once you reassemble your weapon.”

Your attempt at a dramatic sigh is useless, the smile on your face gives you away instantly when Tech wordlessly slides the extra datapad across the table and into your view, ‘Intro to Hand Signals’ written in bold letters on its glowing screen. He puts down his own device, the two of you enjoying the quiet moment while he watches you work.

A/N: Thank you for reading! <3 I've been thinking about opening my inbox for suggestions, if you'd like to send one over I'll give it a shot!

[selfpositiveundertale]

Another update, hopefully less bleak than the last one.

So on Wednesday I broke down in front of my chiropractor telling him what's going on with me. I apologized for breaking down and he said it's okay, he knows that blood sugar dropping can make a person very emotional. He was surprised to hear that I'd had a green smoothie consisting of whey protein powder, a cup of mixed greens, a ripe banana, and a cup of oat milk immediately before coming to the appointment and not even an hour later I already felt famished like I hadn't had anything all day, but he suggested that getting more fats in my diet might help me hold onto my food longer and keep my blood sugar at a reasonable level longer, so I should be consuming more butter, nut butters, avocado, coconut oil, etc. Putting peanut butter or avocado in my green smoothies, having avocado on whole grain toast like the millennial I am, and I think I'll go back to the special way I was making coffee a while back that involved heavy cream and MCT oil powder. I'll post how I do that in a separate post. I also mentioned to him that I was seriously considering purchasing liver and bones from the butcher shop to get more protein and iron in my system, and he approved of that idea as well.

After my husband picked me up from my appointment, we got food from our favorite local Chinese restaurant, and the orange chicken, fried rice, egg roll, and crab rangoon actually lasted longer in my system and kept me stable longer than anything else I'd had in the last week or two. Lots of fat in all that Chinese food. It was great. The chef seemed to have gotten a little enthusiastic with the spiciness of the orange chicken but I definitely wasn't complaining.

The next day I made a green smoothie and added a couple of tablespoons of peanut butter and that did help it to stay in my system a little longer, but it didn't have enough sugar since I only had half a banana to put in it.

So I'm thinking when we go grocery shopping this weekend, I'll get extra bananas, maybe apples, avocados, some whole grain bread, two jars of peanut butter, and heavy cream along with our usual items. And when we go to the butcher shop I'll see how much liver costs, I already know bones are sold at a reasonable price, and I'll ask the butcher if he can recommend how best to cook the liver, and if I can put it in the slow cooker.

I did more googling and found that low blood sugar isn't uncommon in people who have fibromyalgia, so I'll send my rheumatologist a message and ask about that.

Things are looking less hopeless, and it looks like I have some solutions almost within reach. Just have to make the grocery trip tomorrow.

Right now I feel my blood sugar dropping, so I think I'll go try to make something to eat. I had a bowl of greens loaded with butter, garlic, and salt pork earlier and it was very good and lasted a while but now I need more food. Might cook some more greens and see if I can make some mashed potatoes as well because I might need carbs. Might even cook the rest of the bacon we got from the butcher shop last week since I'm sure it needs to be cooked asap. Hopefully I can stand up long enough to cook. I'm in a lot of pain rn that's going to make being on my feet difficult.

Wish me luck, and stay determined.

Also @ the person who replied to my last update: thank you so much for your kind words. I needed that. ❤️❤️❤️

[bruiisedpetals-a]

long NON RP RANT — about work bc the audacity!?!??!   tldr: a girl who had applied and interviewed and confirmed her trial shift to be a barista last week and was V EXCITED so we cancelled another person for her trial .... showed up, said hi, chatted a bit, had a look inside, then said she was going for a walk to look around the area bc she isnt a local, and within 5 MINUTES (literally. five) ghosted, disappeared, text my boss and said “yeah nah bye”, and left me alone handling the whole place.  cue endless work for me w double the usual customers, and a shift that lasted three hours longer that it should have bc of the ghosting.

rel context: i work in a small coffee & bagel place, two people on one shift: one on coffee & point of sale and another to be the cook, we also have two online food delivery providers so we take orders in person and from two apps + i’m a barista and have line cook kitchen prac & experience so am actually a ‘cook’ ig?

so i mentioned in my post when i was half asleep yesterday that i had a new person coming into my workplace for a trial today, so i stayed late to prep for weekend trade + restock stuff, and came in early to set up everything just in case. we were v busy yesterday with food as it was so i had a lot to restock, and w mothers day tomorrow everything needs to be topped up more-so. that a lot of work by itself to be honest but manageable in between cooking, esp when you have an extra set of hands when its quiet to help.   look if you have seen any cooking show you might see that set up, prep and pack down take THE LONGEST ok.

 — our permanent staff consists of me and K, we have two other locations so we get help from Z and J, and they can usually cover the shifts that K and i can’t  (eg. K can’t do saturdays, i cant do every 3rd tuesday)  but they manage other locations so they are not available without prior notice.       so basically the only person who was available to work today was me, even my boss was busy moving house w his wife, 4mo and two under 8yo’s. —

this morning i’m at work at 7am, turn on things etc, set up my cooking stuff, open the coffee machine, nothing crazy. at abt 7:45am im chillin outside having a coffee and a smoke and someone walks up and it turns out to be the trial girl. we chat a bit etc, i show her inside and the machine    (she’s a barista and i’m the cook on shift)     —   i say that i just heard from my boss myself, bc she had spoken w him earlier that morning, and he’s on the way and should be here within 5-7 mins   ***technically we open at 8am but i was waiting for my boss but had checked the time to keep track & i had just text my boss back so i saw the timestamp***

so at 7:59am i head inside after i finish my smoke and she’s going to have a look where i told her there is free close parking for next time bc she took the train, at 8:04am my boss walks in and goes “WOW IT’S 8:04AM AND SHE’S NOT HERE lmao” (he did not yell it he’s a g - that’s just how i knew what the time was alksjfhg)     and i go “no she’s just having a look down [street] bc of the parking i literally saw her a few mins ago” and proceed to open the doors etc.  meanwhile i see my boss on the phone calling her, after a moment he comes over with a Whole “i cant fkn believe this” Face on while he’s on the phone.  i’m thinking “??? i hope trial girl didn’t get lost in these lil crossover streets damn”

(it’s 8:07am, from now the customers start. they DO NOT STOP until at least 11am, it was at least double the normal turnover of profits during that time so thats ur ref for how BUSY it got)

boss goes “ur not gonna believe this” and show me the mssg from trial girl who basically has said “hi i went to ur shop, and i had a wander around the area and its just not good enough for me so i’m on my way home”. she’s GONE. in those five minutes. she got up, lied to me, and was at the nearby train station leaving. boss is floored and i’m like !>?!??!?!@#!#?who IN THE FK does this?!?!? but the customers so *professional me is present rn*

between her and boss there’s a little back and forth (text, she wont answer any calls) where he literally pleads with her bc there is NO ONE who can come in an assist me and she confirmed yesterday and she WAS HERE, she continues to be like “mmmm well ik that we discussed this and i said that i would be here and its been set for days and i applied LAST WEEK etc. but... no sorry im going back to bed” and then blocks him.

& this whole thing takes place between

7:59AM — 8:07AM.

i was there from 7am - 4:35pm  / my usual saturday is 7:45am - 2:30pm

WHO DOES THAT. WHO IS THAT UNPROFESSIONAL. WHO??? WHOMST??? SHE WAS SO FKN RUDE I WAS liVID. LIKE. why LEAD us ALL ON. we all need to make a living do U THINk he can afford to lose a whole day of trade?? he’s got a whole FAmILY and his wife cant work rn bc she’s just had their 3rd child.   i live PaYCHECK to PAYcheck.�� like this is life this isnt a game????   you are 29YRS OLD why cant u act grown