#oh I am NOT going to wake up early enough to catch the beginning of the TCB stream

[ricky-mortis]

Some President Howard Goodman in celebration of Black Friday’s anniversary yesterday!

Inspired by JFK’s Official Portrait

[grippingbeskar]

duality

: ̗̀➛ joel miller x fem!reader

warnings: explicit content 18+ (mxf, f receiving, dirty talk, joel being a king as per usual) swearing, mentions of death, mentions of canon typical violence!

a/n: hii! this was based on this request right here - oh my god. i am obsessed with this, i really hope i did this justice! i kind of just started writing and went where it took me lmao. its all just smut at this point so like don't look to hard. also thank you to @everybirdfellsilent for the title name and answering my question "how do i write this?" with a simple "why not write both?!" you are a queen.

✩ ੈ * ⚬ ʚ♡ɞ ⚬ * ੈ✩‧₊ ₊‧ ✩ ੈ * ⚬ ʚ♡ɞ ⚬ * ੈ✩‧₊ ₊‧ ✩ ੈ * ⚬ ʚ♡ɞ ⚬ * ੈ✩

“Joel… what time is it?” You keep your eyes screwed shut when you begin to fight the muddiness of deep sleep away, but the early morning sunlight in Jackson always sneaks it’s way through. You stretch out, reaching for him in a natural reflex, and instead of answering you he just presses closer. You keep your eyes shut, letting your other senses guide your hands to his shoulders, enjoying the feeling of him under your palms.

You could hardly open your eyes right now, but you could do this. Lay here with him— you could do that easily. You and Joel had a string of long days recently, and you’d hoped, or at the very least expected that he’d be so tired he’d sleep up until the last possible second.

Apparently you were wrong, as you feel him shift under your hands to the point you lose your hold on him. He kisses you once on the lips, light and feather soft, and you smile sleepily, toes curling at the gentle touch.

“Mornin’.” His voice rumbles through you, low and brassy, waking your bones before your brain could catch up. As his hair tickles the skin of your neck, you can feel him moving lower, the warmth of his body leaving your chest and hovering over your stomach.

You reach for him blindly, and he guides you back even when you sit up on your elbows and peak one eye at him. You watch him move, his own eyes still half lidded, but his hands more awake than ever. They slowly slide over your hips, drawing faint patterns with his fingertips. The warmth of his rough palms move further up over your tummy, pawing at you to lay down on your back. ‘Relax’, he whispers, and your chest tightens. He moves you languidly, using your half conscious state to mould you where he wants to put you, and you let him, no resistance in your muscles.

With a hand still sliding up and down your bare skin, he leans down close enough you can feel the touch of his nose on your cheek. Before you can move to take control, he dips his head. First down to your jaw, the heat of his mouth making you shiver when he kisses along all the sensitive spots. He’s light and quick, your delayed reactions making it easy for him to move without interruption. You wonder how long he’d been awake. Waiting for you to stir, just so he could see you squirm.

His tongue licks indulgent lines further down your body, teasing your skin with his lips following suit. He starts at your collarbone, then tucks the fabric of your shirt higher so he can see you bare below him. The blanket covers over his head, but the light is strong enough that you can see his eyes watching your reaction as he plants soft kisses down your chest. You swear he smirks when you arch your back, nearly groaning at the light but not nearly enough pressure.

Your hands finally wake themselves when he mouths at the skin of your lower stomach, brushing through the soft curls on the top of his head. He hums against you, eyes flicking up with warmth lining them, and smiles slightly. The sight tugs at a string of your racing heart, and you keep your voice low when you manage to speak.

“Joel, let me…” You fade off, eyes fluttering as you attempt to bring him back up to you. You want him to feel good too— so as much as you love where this is going, you know the two of you can’t have very long this morning, and you want to make the most of it. “C’mere.”

He shakes his head, mouth too busy to reply as it dives into the newly exposed skin of your thighs. At some point he’d taken your underwear off— or maybe he’d done it in your sleep, making sure you were ready for him in the morning.

You’d both been exhausted last night, so as badly as you’d wanted him, you knew neither of you could keep your eyes open for more than twenty seconds. Joel had grumbled a few curse words at how he couldn’t even hold himself up, and as soon as your heads hit the pillow, and you curled in on his chest light a weighted blanket, you were both out like a light.

Joel was clearly making up for lost time. Slowly, he spreads your legs, his hot breath fanning against your core. The feeling makes you unconsciously try to close yourself from him— the feeling and the way his eyes were staring so intensely at the most intimate part of you.

“Joel, come here—“ You try again, and his hair brushes the inside of your thighs when his head shakes again. His eyes look to you, and they almost look… pleading.

“Please, baby. I need this. Let me.” He sounds half broken— his voice cracking and hands gripping your hips. His hold wasn’t harsh, still keeping those gentle, sweet touches he’d started with, but it was enough to hold you down and keep you right where he had you. “I’ll make you feel so good, I swear. So… so fuckin’ good. Don’t I always?”

His shoulders press you open wider, leaving no room for insecurity. You just nod your head as he stares up at you, wide eyed, waiting for permission. The lines of concern in his forehead disappear when he sees you agree, chest deflating like he was relieved.

He drags the tip of his nose lightly along your inner thigh, and you can feel your legs already shaking in anticipation. It was one thing Joel did so well; he almost didn’t know he did it. Making you wait. All day, he would work you up so subtly— soft touches, intense stares across the field. Words whispered only to you, so any reaction you had would seem out of line. And then here… indulging his every want and need while you sat patiently, waiting for him to decide when, and where, and how.

You’d do it over and over again, because you knew what came of it. What came when you did exactly what he wanted. Sometimes it was fun to fight him back, be a bit of a brat about it, but right here, when he was working you up so nice and asking so desperately— there wasn’t a damn thing in the world worth that.

“Fuck, baby you’re so pretty.” His teeth replace his nose, tracing the same line along the opposite thigh. His fingers massage circles into your hips as he feels you fidget and shake, the world still spinning slowly above you. “You’re gonna take it so well for me this mornin’, aren’t you?”

“Yeah. Yeah. A-anything you want. I just—“ Your breath hitches when he kisses closer to where you’re all but aching for him, right in the join between your leg and pussy. “I need—“

He groans into you, never giving you a chance to finish your sentence as he buries his tongue between your legs. You cry out louder than you mean to, the hand not buried in Joel’s messy hair slapping over your open mouth. Joel smiles against you, tongue swirling around your clit in the way he knows makes you dizzy with pleasure.

Everything was too hot. It was winter in Jackson, snow falling gently onto the windowsill, but the blanket over you mixed with the heat Joel was spreading up your stomach was too much. Your back arched and he took the change in direction with eagerness. Groaning your name, he flattened his tongue and caught your eyes before they rolled back into your head, his eyebrows furrowed and concentrated.

“Oh, god… Joel. Joel, Joel—“ It was all you could think of to say, the pleasure shooting white hot sparks up your spine and sliding you further down the bed into Joel’s onslaught.

He was messy. Joel ate you out with an enthusiasm you never found anywhere else. Maybe it was the fact that there was nothing good outside the four walls you’d both found yourself in, the rest of the world cold compared to the warmth of your bed— or maybe he just fucking loved it as much as he always said.

Whether he did this for you or for himself, Joel knew exactly how to build you up; it was so quick you couldn’t prepare for it. His hands held your hips tight as you squirmed— grinding your hips forward to match his pace as he let you use him to chase your release. The sounds he was making were only spurring you closer— slurred words of praise hardly audible, his voice horse and breaking like he could hardly manage them.

“Good— fuck, you taste good.” Each word is muffled underneath you, but it hits you hard in the chest. Being praised by anyone made your heart flutter, but when it was Joel? Capable, stoic, hard-as-nails Joel? It was entirely different. A whole other ball game. And he fucking knew it. “You close, baby. Fuck, I know you gotta be. So tight…”

“Oh fuck. Fuck, I’m so close…” You whimper and he hums in response, the vibrations pushing you over the edge. Your fingers gripped his hair harshly, his mouth only working harder to keep its lock on you. He wrapped his lips around your clit, eyes fluttering open halfway to watch you, and the sight is what undid you.

“That’s it. Fuck, there’s those eyes…” You hear Joel mutter but you can’t form words to reply. Everything was on fire, your stomach locking tight as the waves of pleasure wrapped you into a ball and burst over every inch of skin. It was cliche, but it felt like fucking fireworks went off in your chest, Joel’s hands an anchor keeping you from taking off with them.

He was halfway up your body when you came back to it, kissing and touching you so gently you could have cried if you had the energy. It was moments like these that he was the most vulnerable— where he couldn’t get enough of you, indulged himself in you, but did it with such sweetness and… well, love, that you knew the man he didn’t think he was anymore was still in there.

“So pretty. Sound so damn pretty when you cum for me.” He whispers against your mouth before kissing you hungrily. It’s teeth and tongue, a mix of you and him on your lips as he pulls away to look at you, catching your bottom lip between his teeth.

Your hands reach down to tug lightly at his boxers, and he huffs, shaking his head against your mouth.

“M’not done, baby.” His voice makes you shiver all over again, pleasure still stirring low and hot in your tummy. “S’fuckin’ good.”

“I can’t, Joel…” You whimper, his hand ever so slightly brushing between your legs. You jolt upwards, your body betraying your words.

“Yeah, you can. You can f’me, yeah?” He was already moving down, ignoring your whines as he made his way back to his favourite spot in this house. He was quicker this time, knowing you’d still be sensitive.

It was addicting. He couldn’t get enough of the sounds you made, the way you tasted— it was like the best game he’d ever played. Joel was an adrenaline junkie— he knew it. He was smart about it, but he longed for that rush of endorphins when he was winning a fight or putting bullets into bodies. Out of all the shit he’d done, though, nothing compared to this. The best adrenaline rush he’d ever felt was right here, hearing you scream his name as he tasted every fucking inch you of he could manage.

He was messier this time. Wrapping his mouth around you and swirling his tongue in quick, mind-numbing movements that had your fingers burying deeper into his hair. He nearly came at the feeling of it— you, trying your hardest not to hurt him but still yanking him into you, hardly giving him an inch to pull away. Not that he’d every fuckin’ dream of being dragged away from you now.

“Joel… too much. Fuck— I’m…I—“ He bucked his hips against the mattress, the way you whine his name is like a stab at his chest every time. His nose brushes against your clit again as he tastes you deeper, your voice broken and tapering off into barely there words.

He knows you’d stop him if it was really too much. He knows if he pulled away right now you’d drag him right back where he wants to be, where he knows he’s fucking good at being. Joel wants you closer— all day, he can’t fucking find it in himself to drag you under his arm or kiss you like he wants in front of all those people.

He was too possessive.

None of them get to see you like this, how your eyes get all soft when he kisses you, and how you sigh his name when your body moulds to his. No one else gets to see this. He’s the only one that can break you like this. So when he has you? He doesn’t stop until you make him.

“Just a little more f’me.” Joel’s low, cracking tone sends a violent wave of pleasure skittering across your stomach, butterflies erupting at the sound of him.

His movements weren’t timed anymore, still just as indulgent, but he was losing his control. His hands were tighter now, fighting against the surges of your body off the mattress. You hoped it would leave marks behind— proof of how badly he’d needed you this morning. How much he wanted you to Stay. Put.

“Baby, I can’t—“ You choke out, a hold on his hair so hard you swear you might rip it out.

“Mmhmm.” Is all he rumbles against you, and you think he speeds up, or does something different, or maybe he just looks at you again— because you drown in the onslaught of whatever it was as you feel the familiar rush of pleasure all over again.

This was something different. Everything tightened and released, and you could feel how wet you were— a damp mess underneath you only present when you could feel your heart begin to slow again. Joel doesn’t move from his spot, arms still wrapped around your thighs, fingers drawing slow circles into the shaking muscles.

“God, baby. Fuckin’… never get tired of seein’ that.” He wasn’t looking at you, at anything really. His eyes were shut, forehead pressed to your inner thigh as he tried and failed to catch his breath. “You feel good? You there?”

“Mm.” You push out, feeling the warmth of his laugh between your legs. “Can’t… can’t feel my legs.”

“S’okay. You’re not goin’ anywhere.” His eyes open again, half lidded, and he begins a slow descent, mouthing the bruises he’s left behind as he sinks down. Your back bends off the bed, but he presses you down with a gentle hand. “Lie back.”

“Joel… wait, I can’t. I—“ You can’t talk between small, shuddering breaths, and he just shakes his head, looking at the mess you’ve left behind.

“Keep sayin’ that, but here you are.” He stops, hovering over your stomach; waiting. Waiting for you to tell him to stop for real.

“Lemme keep goin’, darlin’. Just a little…” He groans at the way your hips shift lower, closer to his mouth despite your words. “Fuck. Little more. Need this.”

His nose brushes against your clit as he looks up, holding your eyes as he spits slowly down your centre.

“You like it, don’t you?” He says, a smile on his face even when his voice wavers. You whine, maybe in protest or impatience, but he coos at you either way. “I know. Shh. I know, baby. Just stay right…here.”

You think you black out when his mouth wraps around you again, sounds and colours all blending together in your mind in a way that nothing makes sense except for the way his tongue feels on you. Minutes or hours could go by— every responsibility you might have drifting to the back burner when he was here. Right here.

“M’right here. Never lettin’ you go.” He groans, his hips grinding into the soft covers, and you give in, knowing he’s got you.

✩ ੈ * ⚬ ʚ♡ɞ ⚬ * ੈ✩‧₊ ₊‧ ✩ ੈ * ⚬ ʚ♡ɞ ⚬ * ੈ✩‧₊ ₊‧ ✩ ੈ * ⚬ ʚ♡ɞ ⚬ * ੈ✩

It might of been a good morning, but it was another shitty day.

Winter in Jackson was good and bad. Good, because clickers and runners couldn’t make their way through the thick snow, and froze before they ever got close to the gates. It meant less patrols, less waste of resources, less need for supply runs; it was the closest to normal you got.

Bad, because while clickers weren’t made for the heavy fall of winter, neither were the fucking fences.

Everything broke down, cracked and froze during winter. There wasn’t a single area that didn’t need repairs, so while you weren’t needed on patrols, it meant you’d be out in the field, dragging plywood or banging nails into something. Even with all the hours you'd spent on your area, it felt like there was still miles to go, your hands aching by the time you found a minute to rest.

You could see Joel the entire day, too, which only made it worse for your wandering mind.

You could see him getting pissed off, ordering the young guys he’d been posted with around and up ladders. You know he’d want to relieve all that built up tension when he got home. Sometimes it was a matter of talking it out, listening in a way Joel wasn’t really used to before you. Other times you sat in silence, pressed up behind him in a steaming bath until you could hear his breath start to slow.

Today, you had a feeling it would be something a little different.

You hadn’t gotten to continue things at all this morning. By the time Joel dragged himself away from between your legs, he was already 45 minutes late to his post. Still, he walked you into the shower, holding you up on wobbly legs, trying his best not to get too distracted with how you kept kissing his jaw and looking up at him all innocent. He managed to get you dressed, too, and with no time to spare he gave you a quick kiss on the cheek and all too suddenly you were standing out in the snow, alone.

So that, and the fact you could see, and sometimes even hear his low voice grumbling orders all day was doing nothing to help your focus.

When you finally saw the sun begin to go down, you didn’t spare a second before you all but sprinted off, bursting through the door of your shared home. You quickly shook off your clothes, the warmth of your house making you strip down to just one of Joel’s old t-shirts. Now, you waited.

When the door burst open a few hours later, you were like a dog hearing a lead. You jumped out of the bed, watching Joel from the top of the stairs as he carefully stepped through the threshold. He’d found the carpets laying on your floor for you a few months ago, and he knows how much you love them, so he balances on one leg as best he can to take his muddy, snow covered shoes off before he called out to you.

“You home, darlin’?” He kept his voice soft in case you were sleeping, but smiled when he caught you basically hanging over the stairs. “There she is.”

“You’re late.” You say, squinting down at him with a smile and your arms crossed.

“Didn’t realise I had a curfew.” He smirked, shaking off his jacket and abandoning it over the couch. Playful Joel was one of your favourites. It made you as warm as the crackling fire behind you.

“Well, you do. And you’re late, so better get moving.” He raises his eyebrows, a bigger smile playing on his face as he walks to the bottom of the stairs.

“You know, I was gonna cook you dinner and everythin'. Do a real nice thing here. How longs it been since we did that?” He walks slow, every step groaning under the weight of him. Your heart swells at the idea, and if you weren’t so hell bent on jumping on him, you’d take him up on it.

"That sounds n-nice." You take a step back as he gets closer, something about him still intimidating you- even when you knew the man underneath. “Plenty of time to eat tomorrow, though."

When he finally clears the stairs, you don’t have time to blink before he’s surging in front of you. His hands find their home on your hips, staying light when they pull you toward him and make up the rest of the small distance between you. He must remember how hard he held you down this morning.

“Is that my shirt?” He mumbles into your hair, already knowing the answer. He nudges your face to his own, smirking confidently. "You miss me that bad?"

“Nope. It’s Mark’s from today. I just got sooo hot lifting all those planks of wood I had to take all my clothes off, so he—“ You’re cut off by your own squeal when he lifts you up, hands gripping your ass tightly.

“Very fuckin’ funny.” Joel growls low in your ear, but you can feel him smiling against your skin as he walks you to your bedroom, kissing you dizzy.

It’s a little embarrassing how easily he drives you to the brink. All he has to do is say your name a few times, whisper it against your skin, and kiss you like this, and you’re gone again. His. You’re his to mould and bend, your arms lifting as he drags the fabric of his old shirt up your stomach and chest.

He watches with an intense stare, goosebumps rising where the fabric brushes lightly over your sensitive skin. When he finally slips the shirt over your head his control snaps and he’s on top of you, and he’s everywhere.

His hands slide up your sides, spanning the entire space of your waist and ribs, coming over your chest and cupping your breasts in his hands. You arch your back, chasing his mouth as it presses hungry, quick kisses between movements, his fingers catching over your nipples making you moan his name.

“Thought about you all day.” You confess, nipping the skin of his jaw. He huffs a breath, your hands tangling once again in his hair. It’s still slightly wet from the cold, curling around your fingers in something like ringlets. “Needed you so bad, Joel.”

“Greedy little thing. Didn’t get enough this morning?” He laughs, and it's almost mean- teasing. You roll your hips into him slowly. It wipes the smirk off his face, turning it into an almost painful scrunch of his brow. “Fuck.”

“You didn’t let me touch you.” You whine, rolling into him again. He drops to hold himself up on his forearms, hands touching you where they can reach. “Always want to touch you, Joel.”

“Shit, you gotta stop talking like that or…” You repeat the slow movement of your hips, and he runs out of words, practically whining into your mouth.

“It’s true.” You bite his bottom lip, a little harder than necessary. “Wanna fuck you all the time. It’s distracting. Always… always think about it.”

Joel moans your name brokenly, and you take your chance. A small push with your leg collapses him on his back next to you, only that easy because he wasn’t expecting it. He’s sitting with his back against the headboard, and before he can shuffle down you straddle him, locking him in place underneath you.

One of his hands grabs the back of your neck, hauling you to his mouth, and you let him take control. You might be sitting on top of him, fiddling with his belt and tugging his pants down, but he is still in control. You know he could flip the switch in a second, and he’s just indulging you, but you take what you can get.

It’s so rare he lets you take care of him. You could count on one hand how many times he’s really let you do the work, but when the opportunity comes, you were going to take it and run with it.

He was still searching your body, fanning out his fingers and running them down your spine, leaning you closer. He takes off his shirt so he can feel you against him, his tongue licking into your mouth like he needs to learn you inside and out. When you finally get his pants off, you don’t waste a second, both of you gasping when you feel the thick head of him against your heat.

“H-hold on, you gotta… Jesus Christ.” Joel curses, his forehead pressed to yours. “Let me get you ready for me.”

“Mm-mm. Ready. Please…need it.” You shake your head, angling your hips just right, and he slumps forward in something like defeat when your hand snakes down and presses him inside of you. “Oh, god.”

"Fuck. Slow down, baby. Nice and slow." He stutters out, his hands coming to your hips to try and hold you up. Joel was... big. Big enough to the point where you should of taken your time, worked yourself up a bit more, but you just wanted him so bad-- "Hey, look at me."

Your eyes flutter up to him, and he kisses you quickly, like its an apology. You stay there, feeling the slight sharp pain fade quickly with how desperate you want him, how fucking wet you were already. In a few seconds you try to move again, and Joel's hands tighten around you.

"You can stop, baby. It's okay, you--"

"No! Don't want to. Just... fuck me, Joel." You say a little harsher, shaking your head where its now tucked into the crook of his neck. You sink down further against the push of his hands, and he groans your name lowly as you feel him split you open, taking the last inch of him.

Your hands were still tangled in his hair, and where you were rendered speechless, he couldn't seem to shut himself up.

"Fuck. So fuckin' tight, Christ." You feel his palm on your ass, pushing you forward just slightly, creation a friction that has you whining. "Yeah, I know baby. Feels good. Fuck, you feel so good."

When you don't feel that pain anymore, you start to grow desperate for more. Joel was right. You were greedy tonight, and the friction of your hips against his just wasn't enough. You wrap your arms around his neck, shutting up his rambling with a lazy kiss, and use him to rise up just a little, before sinking down again.

He says something into your mouth, but the words are lost when you begin to repeat the same motion over and over again. Heat builds in waves, crashing higher and higher in your stomach until it makes your toes curl, your jaw dropping open to moan a broken version of Joel's name.

Your eyes roll back, head falling to the side, leaving you open to Joel's mouth who sucks harsh marks just below your jaw. You know you'll be covered in them tomorrow, but right now you don't care. You can't seem to care about anything else, except the way Joel is buried so deep inside you, you swear you can feel him everywhere.

"Focus on me. Need to see those pretty eyes, girl." He nudges you straight, your neck no longer able to support the weight of your head as it falls forward to rest on Joel. He groans again, matching your pace with his own movements, and you get louder with the added force. "Fuck, that's it. Let 'em hear you."

Everything turns molten inside of you, liquid heat spreading from the tips of your toes to your heavy head, and if Joel wasn't fucking you back so hard you don't think you'd be upright. As soon as he was inside you, you lost all sense of direction and control, like your body knew to trust him, to give yourself over to him.

His hands wrap tightly around your waist, bodies pressed together as he takes the work out of it for you. You move together— you’re so close you don’t have a choice, and when the hot, tingling feeling ripples up your spine you can only do exactly what he’s telling you.

“Take it, baby. Take it. Good— fuck, good girl.” His head drops from where it was pressed heavy against your forehead, dipping into the crook of your neck. Your palms can feel the release in his back, the way he relaxes as he finally gives himself to you. The noise he makes, and how he almost whines your name is a calling card, hauling you over the edge with him.

He rides it out. Makes it linger, all the pleasure and relief flooding your body in burning waves, and when his hips start to slow, his mouth trails kisses from your neck, all the way up your jaw and to your mouth. He breathes in when you breathe out, both of you wiped from exhaustion, but he can’t pull himself away.

It was like this morning, how even though his back was cramped and he was late as fuck to work, he couldn’t stop. At the expense of himself, he’d starve himself of everything if it meant being here with you.

“Christ, darlin’. Fuck, you’re so good t’me.” He says it like it’s a bad thing— words laced with an anxious wave, like you’d realise it wasn’t right, and leave. Even with him still buried inside of you. “Look at me.”

Your eyes blink open, hands still tangled in the curls of his hair. You can’t tell him all the things you want to— how he deserves this. How much you want to give him, and how if anything, you were the one who didn’t deserve this. Instead, you smile at him, and it seems to say everything all at once.

“You okay?" Joel's muffled voice asks, holding you tightly against him.

"Mhmm." You hum happily, a sleepy smile on your face as his hands cup your face. You feel his thumbs trace the high points of your cheeks, and his lips press to your nose before your eyes open.

You stay right there, his eyes watching you with no real purpose, just taking in the sight of you here with him. When the two of you finally muster the energy to go down stairs, Joel follows through with his promise to cook for you, and for this first time all day, your complete attention is captured.

[tubatwo]

sunlight - huening kai

summary: a very sunny morning in bed with kai

pairing: gn reader x huening kai

genre: fluff and tiniest bit suggestive; 0.6k words

a/n: writing hyuka again because he’s on my mind 24/7 NINGDUNGIES I WILL SAVE US FROM THE FIC DRAUGHT also i mentioned pokemon again so think of this as a little continuation if you’d like!

you wince slightly and groan in your sleep as sunlight hits your eyes, and you try to find a comfortable position again. you and kai had stayed up until the early AM playing pokemon scarlet and violet together. you both were struggling with certain gym leaders and refused to sleep until they were finally defeated. you hear a small snort as what previously felt like the strongest sunbeam in the world suddenly disappeared. you peek one eye open and see kai’s large hand blocking the sunlight.

‎

‎

“hyuka?” you roll over to face him. even though the physical sunlight may have no longer blinded you, seeing kai’s sweet smile in the mornings always made you feel as if you were still bathing in it. “yes, cutie?” he asks while softly fixing your hair.

“you’re awake already? and you just had to let me sleep until-” you glance over your shoulder to read the clock on your nightstand.

8:30 AM

“oh, it’s still early..” you cover your face with the covers as kai lets out his famous laugh. “yah, you just woke up and you’re already ready to scold me?” you shake your head in denial and lightly slap his arm. “I thought it was the afternoon! you know we stayed up late last night...” kai leans over to plant soft kisses on your lips.

“exactly, so you should get some more rest.” he continues, “I should have never asked you to play with me! you’re more addicted than I am.” you ignore his teasing and lean back over to meet his lips. soon enough, he’s hovering over you as you two exchange sweet nothings through each kiss. your hand quickly finds his hair, and he lets out a quiet whimper as your fingers lightly scratch his scalp. you pull away and leave a soft kiss on the bump of his nose. “we both need some sleep, you know.” you remind him. he nods in understanding, despite a small part of him wanting to take things further, and goes back to spooning you.

“hey,” you begin. “were you just going to hold your hand up forever while I slept?” kai chuckles at this and shakes his head, even though you can’t see him. “honestly, I was waiting for you to fall asleep again so I could get up and close the curtain.” you nod.

“so,” you hesitate. “could you get up and close it now?”

silence.

“well, to be honest, I don’t really feel like it anymore…”

“babe!” you whine and lightly slap his arm once more. if any of the boys were to wake up, all they would hear is the sound of you and kai giggling obnoxiously. “i’m sorry, i’m sorry!” he apologizes while trying to catch his breath. this was always the highlight of both of your days: waking up together. even if you both had duties for the day, even if you were in a rush, even if you were only able to lie in bed for a mere two minutes. every second mattered. every glance, every giggle, every touch. and every day was another reminder that you wanted to do this for the rest of your lives.

eventually, your giggles die down, and the only sounds in the room are his soft breathing and fabric ruffling from him rubbing your tummy. “I love you so much.” you feel his breath on your neck. you roll over again to look at the angel you were able to call your boyfriend. “I love you too, hyuka.”

you end up hugging each other as you drift off to sleep. the sunlight was no longer blinding you, but snuggled in your arms instead.

[pbforeva]

imma try to post a story on here but like this will be part 1

fandom: wbb (uconn)

synopsis: **TW: DV**

When Paige Bueckers and Evelyn Park meet during their second year at Uconn, they are both intrigued by the complexity of each other's characters and slowly become friends. Paige eventually realizes she has developed feelings for Evelyn; however, Evelyn is in a committed relationship with her boyfriend, Blake. Will Paige be able to articulate her feelings to Evelyn, and will Evelyn reciprocate those feelings despite her boyfriend? *Paige doesn't get injured in this story*

ok actual story now

—

Evelyn's pov:

I hate waking up, especially before school. The blaring alarm seeps into my ear while I muster enough strength to turn it off and get out of bed. It is too early for this, I think as I stare at the digital numbers that stare back reading, 8:03 a.m. I groan as I stumble into the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face, which wakes me up a little more. After brushing out my hair, I go back to my room to get dressed for the day, and I grab a pair of ripped mom jeans from my closet and a pink crop top to pair with it.

As I'm walking to campus, thinking about the date I have planned with my boyfriend, Blake, and I trip over the curb in front of me. Omg, this cannot be happening, I think as I await the inevitable impact of the hard concert below me; however, instead of feeling the hard ground, I feel two hands grab me around my waist.

As I collect myself, I begin to turn around to face the mysterious stranger who saved me from getting up in front of all my peers, except now I have to face the embarrassment of facing this faceless stranger. When I turn around, I'm greeted by a tall blonde in front of me. I looked up to meet her deep blue eyes, and my cheeks flushed as I saw the smirk and the worried look on the two friends who surrounded her.

Her voice soon invades my ears, and she says, "Hey, are you good? I'm Paige, by the way," her words embed themselves in my brain as I try to think of a plausible excuse. "Oh yeah, thanks, by the way, I guess I just got lost in thought, oh, and I'm Evelyn," the words wobble out of my mouth with a hint of embarrassment present. Her smirk grows after noticing the pink on my cheeks and the humiliation in my words.

"Well, Evelyn, this is Aubrey," she says, pointing to the tall girl on her left, "and this is Azzi," pointing to the stunning girl on her right. Gosh, why are they all so pretty? I think to myself. And tall, I wonder. "Well, it was nice to meet you guys, and thank you again," I say, turning back to Paige, "But I have to go to class now, sorry!" I finish before I pivot and stride away toward my Advanced Psychology class that I am now late for.

As I'm walking away, I catch Aubrey, I think, saying, "Well, she was nice, Paige." "Yeah, and the...," I hear the start of Paige's response before I'm out of earshot. I mulled over her words for the entire walk to my class; however, I was still curious about the blonde's words during my class. What was she saying? A plethora of options swirled in my mind, drowning out my professor's voice. Annoying? Weird? Clumsy? Ugh, I am never going to stop thinking about this.

Paige's pov:

"Well, she was nice, Paige," I hear Aubrey say as my eyes are still fixed on Evelyn's curly hair getting farther from us. "Yeah, and she was cute too. I mean, did you see how flustered she was?" I laughed, tearing my gaze away from her figure and focusing on Aubrey. I wondered if I would ever bump into the beautiful brunette again before Azzi interjected, "Yeah, but did something seem off about her to you guys? Cause it did to me." Aubrey and I shrug, and we continue walking to the basketball facility.

We arrive at 9:05 a.m., and as we walk into the locker room, KK suddenly shrieks, "Why are you guys late?" I begin to speak, but Aubrey interrupts me by saying, "We were on time, but then Paige performed the heroic act of saving a girl from falling, and we had to stay for a moment because Paige was staring at her after." she dramatically giggles out, while a blush rises to my face as I try to defend myself, only making my predicament worse. I hear a course of laughter coming from the rest of the girls in the locker room, and I give up and head to my locker, chuckling a little, recalling the look on her face.

The team and I walk out onto the court and start our warm-up. I run down the court, and I can't stop myself from wondering if I am ever going to see Evelyn again, I try to shake the thought and focus on basketball, but her face won't leave my mind. Suddenly, I am ripped away from my thoughts by the voice of my coach, "Bueckers, get over here!" he shouts from across the court. Oops, I guess my dissociation was a little too noticeable, I think as I jog over to him.

"Bueckers, I don't know what you are thinking about, but it is clearly not basketball. Go take five to get some water, and when you come back, I expect you to have your head in the game," he assertively says to me. I need to get her out of my head. I go over to the bench and try to think of anything else while I drink my water. I take a deep breath and head back onto the court with Evelyn tucked neatly into the back of my mind as I focus on the drills we are doing.

Soon, 11 a.m. rolls around, and practice finishes without any other issues. After chatting with a few teammates, I start the trek back to the dorms so I can shower. During the walk, I see the shiny brown curls of no one other than Evelyn in front of me. I walk faster so I can catch up to her, and soon, we are walking side by side. I look down and say, "Oh hey, Evelyn." She looks up at me, startled before her features soften in recognition, and she then replies, "Oh hey, Paige."

I watch as her eyes flicker down my practice jersey before asking me, "Oh, are you on the basketball team?"

"Oh yeah, I am," I reply, wondering if she didn't know who I was. "Is that why you and your friends are all so tall?" she asks, "Oh my gosh, no I'm sorry that was rude," she rambles out before I interrupt her, "Oh, you're good," I laugh out before adding "But yeah I guess," still laughing. I glance over and notice her pink cheeks before I realize I'm at the dorms. "Well, hey, it was nice talking to you, but I gotta go now," I say, looking into her eyes, noticing a glint of disappointment before it quickly disappears, and she replies with, "Oh ok, I suppose I should go too, my boyfriend is waiting for me." She then turns and walks away as I turn to walk into the dorms with a tinge of regret for not talking longer.

[askinkiskarma]

lllicit Affairs | Chapter VI: Death by a Thousand Cuts

Pairing: Neteyam x Human/Avatar!Reader

Chapter I Chapter II Chapter III Chapter IV Chapter VI Chapter VII Chapter VIII Chapter IX Chapter X

Synopsis: You and Neteyam both have a dark secret that would change everything between you - and neither of you are willing to share.

Warnings: angst, some fluff, Lo'ak x reader, jealous!Neteyam, both main characters thirsting for each other, mentions of lab work, disease, blood, cursing.

Word Count: 7,2k words

A/N: Chapter 6 is the chapter that sets EVERYTHING in motion for what's to come. There is a LOT to come, a lot of drama and angst, maybe some smut (? 😉) and this chapter is meant as a stepping stone to the beginning of the end. Also, realised I forgot to ever mention, that if the dialogue is ever italicised, that usually means the conversation is in Na'vi, I don't know how I have never made it clearer, but here we are.

Thank you so much for everyone who's been reading and asking to be tagged, I never expected this to gain any traction and I am so grateful for people enjoying it x

My heart, my hips, my body, my love Trying to find a part of me that you didn't touch Gave you too much but it wasn't enough But I'll be all right, it's just a thousand cuts

One second. 

“Just one second, Neteyammm!”, you whined, as he was trying to remove the blanket from your currently very comfortable and very warm body. 

“It’s late, come on! Early bird catches the worm, isn’t that what you people say?”

“Nobody says that, I don’t know who told you this lie.” 

“It was you!!” he says, and he’s laughing at your whinging while trying to remove the blanket. He’s not trying that hard, considering he would make an easy job out of the task if he used a tenth of his actual force, but he couldn’t bear the thought of bringing you any unnecessary distress. You had enough of that in your life, and he wanted to be a source of comfort for you, a shelter in the storm. 

You scooted on one side of the bed close to the edge, and left a big gap which you brought to his attention by patting it aggressively. 

“Press the button on the audio player and lay with me, please? I don’t feel like going out today.”

He couldn’t say no to you, he realises. He would follow you anywhere in this world, do anything you asked of him, regardless how stupid or reckless or crazy it was. He would always follow you, for the rest of time, and he was happy about it. 

A song he liked came on, one that he’s heard you play before and there was no doubt in his mind that he liked it better when you sang it. He circled the bed and lay in it, next to you, in the dark. 

“Thank you, light of my life.” You attached yourself to him, arms sprawled across his bare chest and legs carelessly placed on top of abdomen and hips, and sighed contently. He could feel your warm breaths on his neck, leaving goosebumps in their wake. He turned his head to you and placed a small kiss on top of your head and listened to the soft tune filling up the room. 

“Oh, goddamn, my pain fits in the palm of your freezing hand

Taking mine, but it's been promised to another

Oh, I can't stop you putting roots in my dreamland

My house of stone, your ivy grows and now I'm covered in you”

“You’re annoying.”

“I know I am, but you love me anyway.”

I do, Neteyam thought. I really do…

Things happen in life sometimes, and it makes you lose your ability to react. There was no reaction, definitely no overreaction. You stared at the vial of blood that shattered all across the floor, all across you and your mind was blank. Almost robotically, you made your way to one of the benches and got some paper rolls and the IMS laying next to it. You carefully cleaned all of it, and spit whatever made its way to your mouth to the floor to be removed. When you were sure everything was gone, you went to the sink and removed your goggles and gloves, and scrubbed yourself clean. You felt yourself moving, picking up a bucket of water with some floor cleaner, felt yourself adding disinfectant to it and moping thoroughly, but it was like an out-of-body experience. Like you were merely a puppet executing orders from above. Cleaning everything took about an hour, after which you made your way back to your room slowly, deliberately. 

You didn’t sleep. You spent the whole night looking over everything you and the rest of the scientists have ever found out about this virus. You didn’t know its way of transmission. Maybe you had nothing to worry about, maybe it’s not by blood. You knew it’s not by air, you’ve seen plenty of people infected whose family was fine. So even if you do get infected, the people at the lab should be fine. Your friends would be fine. He would be fine. 

Next, incubation period. That’s a tough one, in-vitro studies show it takes the virus anywhere from 2 to 12 months to show symptoms. You don’t know how that changes in humans. You don’t know any of this shit for humans. You could be perfectly fine, you could die within the month. The thought made your blood run cold. 

You sat in your chair for the remainder of the night. Unmoving, unthinking. 

That’s how Norm found you.

“Hey, Ace. What are you doing up?”

You scrambled for a lie.

“Just woke up, actually. Listen, if you are going to check on the boy, can you please bring my supplies to the tent and tell the Sullys I won’t be in today? I was too exhausted to run any experiments yesterday so I will do it today.” 

“Oh… is everything alright? You haven’t missed a day in the village since you got your Avatar.”

“Yeah, everything’s fine, just worried about the boy and want to get to the bottom of this sooner rather than later, if possible.”

“Alright, I can bring you back some of his blood to run as well?”

“NO!” 

Norm’s eyes widened in shock at your response and you knew you fucked up, you knew you slipped up. Calm yourself… 

“It’s just not necessary at the moment since I have other blood and I don’t want to overwhelm him, if it’s not imperative. I will retrieve some blood when I check on him tomorrow.”

Norm looked at you with a concerned look, but eventually relented.

“Ok, whatever you think, Ace.” 

“Thanks, Norm.” 

“Let me know what you find tonight. I’ll tell Jake, but they might not be happy with you.”

“You can explain it’s an emergency, I’m sure they’ll understand.”

 

You struggled to get up and get your legs to not want to collapse beneath you. Eventually, you made your way to the sink and washed, you scrubbed your face as hard as you could without removing a layer of skin, and your teeth until you felt the familiar taste of metal coat your teeth. You hoped that maybe you tried hard enough, the last 6 hours can just be erased from your life, from world. You hoped it could undo the damage that would plague you for the rest of your most likely very short life. 

Luckily, most scientists seemed to be out. Claire was teaching Na’vi kids English at Grace’s old school that Jake deemed fit to be reopened, Max left with Norm to check on the situation of the village, and most of the Avatars would be out on missions or training with Jake. You made your way to the quiet halls to one of the labs, and prepared for your long day ahead. This will be hard to do by yourself, but not impossible. 

First step, respiratory fluids. You remove a sterile cotton swab and swab your pharynx as thoroughly as possible and place it in a tube. That’s easy enough. Next comes the blood. Finding a vein has always been hard for people to do on you, and it’s not gotten any easier in time, so after poking yourself a few times in the wrong place, you manage to get enough blood to run experiments on. 

Hours of sample preparation, incubation, pipetting and running went by at an excruciatingly slow pace, like the universe was revelling in making every second of torture last forever. You thanked your lucky stars of the progress made in lab equipment and that you didn’t have to spent days on one PCR, like your mum was saying it had to be done back on Earth about a century ago. Regardless, it took most of the day for you to do everything you needed, check for all the proteins and markers you knew were deregulated with this virus, and by the early hours of night, you were done. 

Aș people were starting to return to the hub as another day was nearing its end, you retreated back to your bedroom to work on the data analysis. You did not want to see anyone, did not want to speak to anyone until you knew at least some things. The less you talked, the less lies that had to come out of your mouth, and that seemed ideal to you. 

Inputting the data and having to wait on some software to give you your literal death sentence felt so tragic is was almost comical, and you had to stop and ask yourself if you were some serial killer in a past life to warrant all the pain and misery life seemed adamant to throw at you. For the first time in so long you couldn’t even remember, things were going… well. You were strong, and doing well, and lived outside of the walls of this lab. You had a chance at something more, you had a chance at maybe one day healing and working through your issues and maybe even coming out the other side a better, healthier version of yourself. You had a chance at love.

And there it was… positive. One second.

THE FIVE STAGES OF GRIEF  STAGE I: DENIAL

Your blood became poison in the span of half a day, but at least you now knew it wasn’t transmitted through air. That means no one else would have to suffer because of you. The thought made you weirdly calm, and you realised you didn’t care about your own health all along. No, you weren’t sad anymore, just relieved. A wide smile appeared on your face at the results, and you jumped out of the chair with enthusiasm at the great news. Everybody would be ok. Norm, Max, they would all be ok. You will handle all the virus experiments and blood samples from now on. They wouldn’t have reason to doubt you or question you, not when it made most sense anyway, since you were always in the village and knew the protocols and techniques the best, anyway. You would go on the same way as you had, and no one had to know or suffer because of your mistakes. 

With those thoughts still floating in your mind and a Xanax on your tongue, you made your way to the comfortable bed and crashed without a dream in sight. 

You were up before dawn again, and ready to get started on your day at the village. You were looking forward to gun training with Jake, and finally putting those years of practice to good use. You found Norm deep in thought in the link room, and he didn’t register you walking in until you patted his shoulder and he jumped out of his skin.

 

“Jesus, Ace. You scared the shit out of me.” 

“I noticed. Why so jumpy, Norm?” 

He gave you the quickest look known to man then quickly busied himself with literally anything else. “No reason, just focused on the task at hand.”

“…turning on the linkpod?” 

“No one likes a smartass, you know?” 

“So how was the village yesterday? How is the boy?” 

“He’s alright, still not great, but his vitals are stable for now.” You noticed he did not answer your question about the village, and found slight panic rising in your chest.

“Is everything okay? Did something happen in the village?” 

“No, Ace, everything’s fine. You don’t have to worry about everything, you know. How did the experiments go yesterday?” 

“The virus is not airborne, it seems to be transmitted by blood, so we need to be very careful handling samples.” 

“We always are. But good work, good to have some concrete evidence finally. I’ll look over your analysis soon.”

“You know, I’m not quite done with it, so maybe wait and we can look over it together?”

“Sure, that makes sense.”

You didn’t buy Norm’s pathetic attempts at deflecting the subject of the village, but you did not want to fight him so early in the day, so you guess you had to find out what happened for yourself. You woke up in your Avatar body soon enough, and could already tell the village was already awake and buzzing with the perspective of a new day. The guitar sitting on the ground next to your sleeping mat caught your eye, and you smiled softly at the memory which now seems a life away. Your fingers lingered on the chords and you strummed it gently a few times, enjoying the sounds that seemed to settle in your heart. Adjusting your braids in the small mirror you brought with you a few weeks ago, you made your way out of your tent and straight into Neteyam’s chest with a loud thud. 

“What the fuck?” You say, indignantly and then look up to find Neteyam watching you with an unreadable expression adorning his beautiful face. 

“Hi.” He says, and tries to muster a small smile. 

“Hi…? Is there any particular reason you have decided to attack me first thing in the morning?” 

“I was just coming to get you, I heard the guitar playing. I didn’t think you would be running straight into me. Are you ready? We can spend the morning tracking a herd of Talioang that the hunter party spotted a few clicks south of the village. It will be good practice for you.” 

“…alright? Can I get some food first? I’m famished.”

Neteyam shifted uncomfortably in front of you and looked… nervous, you realised. What the hell was going on with everyone?

“I have food that Ma packed for us, we can eat in the forest? I’d really rather get a move on as soon as possible, this will most likely take most of today, anyway.”

“Is there a particular reason you seem so eager for me to leave? You and Norm have both been acting weird today, and you are both terrible liars.”

Neteyam gave you a hard look. “Let’s go, Y/N. Unlike what you like to think, you don’t need to know everything, and not everything concerns you. Let’s go, now.” Nothing’s changed, you realised bitterly. Last night was just a fluke and you hated yourself in that moment for letting your guard down. 

“You can be a real dick sometimes, Neteyam.” You said and took off without looking at him. 

You ran for about 5 clicks without checking behind you, knowing full well he was following you, your hearing being one of the many senses that heightened in this body. You stopped suddenly at the sight of a huge footprint, one you could identify as the Sturmbeest, or a Talioang, like it was known to the Na’vi. Soon enough, you saw the ground littered with them, and began carefully tracking the beasts.

“Alright. How far would you say they are and which direction?” Neteyam asked, approaching you slowly. He was back to teaching mode, and you tried your best to learn, instead of recoiling and telling him to go to hell, which is what you really wanted to do. 

You touched the ground and felt it with your fingers, trying to assess the moisture level and deepness of the mark. You thought about for a while.

“I’d say they’re quite fresh. Maybe this morning? Taloioang move slowly, about 1 click every hour or two, so I’d say we’ll find them about 2 clicks east?”

He didn’t even have to touch the ground to be able to assess it. He was impressive. 

“Good. Let’s go. We shouldn’t run, they have good hearing and the wind is blowing east, which means they’ll be able to smell us if we’re not careful. We will take a roundabout way and approach them from the south.” 

You both made your way through the forest and it was your turn to follow him, although you stayed close behind and tried to look around you and pick up on clues, tiny sounds and movements, trying to learn, trying to see. “Eyes on the tracks, Y/N.” 

You rolled your eyes, but did as you were told. Eventually, Neteyam let you deem the appropriate time to stray from the tracks and move south to avoid being spotted. Soon enough, you saw the herd of prodigious beings, bathing in a shallow lake. You made your way slowly, sneaking on the ground, with Neteyam close to you, and you felt his arms grazing your sides every inch of the way. 

The herd was protecting the calves, 5 in total, playing and splashing in the clear water. You watched in amazement, just enjoying the view of these seemingly ferocious beasts that in the moment, felt more like a family watching their children play at the local pool. You couldn’t believe the beauty and mild predisposition, the complex nature of these animals whose equivalents were long gone on Earth, long decimated by humans and their needless desire for wealth and acquisition, for mindless cruelty. You felt your stomach drop at the realisation that soon, this could be Pandora, if you didn’t fight will all your being in the upcoming war. 

You felt a sudden gentle pressure on your lower back, a pressure you quickly identified as Neteyam’s hand and you shuddered at the touch. He neared his mouth to your ears, and you felt his warm breath tickling your neck, a sudden warmth pooling in your lower abdomen. 

“You’re not allowed to kill anything yet, but I want you to show me how you would go about it. Show me your bow work, how would you aim from this position.”

You slowly removed your bow from from your person and sat up, in a now crouched stance, and loaded the arrow, doing your best to accommodate for the uncomfortable position you were in and the tight space you were sharing with another person. You held your breath, engaged your core, and aimed as if you were going to release your arrow on the target about 300m away. Neteyam’s large hand touched your upper thigh, by your left hip and squeezed gently. Your arm dropped suddenly and snapped your head in his direction. He didn’t react to your sudden snap, instead talking lowly, so as to not give your location away. “Your leg is not in a position by which you can maximise release. You will have more power in the shot if you place this knee on the ground and lean into it.” 

You wanted to take that hand and either break it or redirect it on other parts of your body that felt like they would explode if they didn’t feel him, have his touch provide the relief that was desperately yearned for, needed. You wanted to scream at him or make him coax the screams out of you like a war-cry, wild and desperate. You wanted to kill him, you wanted him to kill you, slowly and painfully, taking his time on your body until you were falling apart at the seams around him. You hated him, you loved him. You hated him.

You gave him a hard look, an angry look directed at your thigh, and he removed his hand from you. You wondered if he knew, knew what he was doing, wondered if he felt the same way, if he too was struggling to catch his breath at the torture of knowing he can’t have you, claim you, right now, right in this second, right here. You hoped he did, hope it ate him alive, the yearning and the desire. Because that’s what it was doing to you, what he was doing to you. You turned your attention back to the herd and adjusted your position based on his advice. He was right, you could tell right away, as you felt a lot more power when aiming the arrow this time. 

“Much better. We can go now, we will give the location to the hunting party and the will be able to secure us dinner for a couple of weeks from the back of a couple of Ikrans.”

 

You made your way out of their surroundings, and slowly started walking back to the village. After about half an hour, he stopped on a rock and removed the food he was carrying in a pouch. You didn’t join him, preferring to keep your distance and thus a clear mind, not being able to afford being weak around him anymore. 

“I thought you were famished.” He says, with a slight smile. You shook your head and turned around, taking in the views of the forest, distracting yourself with the flowers reaching out their neon green tendrils towards you. You kneeled next to one, and touched them gently, enjoying the way they cupped around your hand and tugged, like they were urging you to come closer so they can spill their long-forgotten dreams to you. You heard him sigh loudly.

“Sorry for being a dick. Just had a fight with mum and dad, and I took it out on you. I shouldn’t have, and I am sorry. Come eat, please? I don’t want you passing out on me, you’re not as easy to carry as you used to be when you were human.” 

You remained on your knees still, focused on only the plants and your gentle tug-of-war. You knew how much pressure Neteyam was under, has been for pretty much his entire life. A prodigy created… or made, no one could really know for sure, he began training when most babies learn to walk, and speak, and play. He has never had a childhood the way Lo’ak, or Kiri, or Tuk, or pretty much any other Na’vi children did, mostly fleeting moments of bliss in between a lot more moments of stress and struggle. He never complained, though. Not out loud, not to anyone else but you, once he realised you were a safe haven from the storm. You didn’t pass judgement, or make him feel bad for sharing his feelings, and he felt like he could tell you all the hardest truths his heart has always craved to speak out loud. You have always wanted to protect him from the world, a world that demanded so much of him, that asked for a sacrifice of which it was undeserving. Being Olo’yektan, leading the people, being the one person everyone relied on was a great honour, a great achievement - one you didn’t think he wanted, but was never given the chance to decline. 

“What happened?” 

You walked slowly towards the rock he was laying on, and sat at its foot, crossing your legs on the slightly damp grass. You grabbed a piece of jerky from the pile of food and slowly chewed through it, humming in appreciation at the smoky taste and rich flavour of the meat. 

Neteyam grimaced and didn’t look at you, choosing to focus instead of his arm guards, picking at something that was clearly not there. “More sacrifices I need to make in the name of the future, of the people.” 

“I see you still haven’t learnt to say no, even after all this time apart.” 

Neteyam’s hand froze in midair, his eyes widening slightly - it was the first time you brought up the year apart. He braced himself for what he thought was the beginning of the end, of you finally demanding answers he didn’t think would ever satisfy you, but no other words left your lips.  

“I can’t say no. I owe my parents everything I have, everything I am. This village, this life, is all I know. My dad gave up on everything he knew to stand up for our people, to make sure we’d get a future worth living, a family worth saving, a world still worth fighting for. He became Olo’yektan despite all that stood against him because he loved my mum, loved us, even then, even before we were born. My grandpa died defending this village, watching home tree get decimated in front of his eyes, with only the people’s safety on his mind and tongue. I see that bow that my mum cherishes like a gift from Eywa herself and I want to be worthy of it, someday. And if it means giving up some things, maybe that’s just how it’s meant to be.” 

“Maybe whatever you’re giving up is making room for something ever better, Neteyam. Sometimes we want something so bad, we can’t see the forest for the trees.” 

He looks at you confused for a second.

“That’s a saying. What I’m trying to say is maybe you are over focused on something you want right now, that you think is the best thing for you, but maybe you just are not focusing on the bigger picture. Maybe in the future, whatever you’re giving up now will make room for something that was much better for you all along.”

Disappointment filled his chest at your words. Neteyam looked at you with deep sadness marking his features, and he could see you were trying to think of things to say that could make him feel better. In all honesty, he wanted - needed - you to tell him to be selfish, and trust his gut, and follow what he knew was right in his heart, but he also knew that being selfish is not a trait that came naturally to you. You have always respected the deep bond Neteyam had to his family and his people and you always used to tell him how proud of him you were for how strong he was, for the lengths he was willing to go to to protect and nurture those bonds. 

You felt an overwhelming sense of grief at the realisation that you will never get to see him become Olo’yektan, see him become the man everybody knew he was. He would never be yours, and although that painful conclusion had settled in your soul and had time to scar in all the time you knew him, a new wound, deeper, bloodier, deadlier, tore your heart apart at the thought you would not even be able to watch from afar. You would have been satisfied with scraps, just watching him rule, and be, and love someone else and imagining it was you. You never thought you’d get more than that anyway, never had any delusions for more. The scraps would have been enough, and now even those were brutally taken from you, like everything else in this life. 

You needed to leave, now. 

“Should we head back? It’s getting late.”

You walked back in deep, uncomfortable silence. Eclipse made the nature shine and glimmer with colours your sadness dulled to muted tones. There was light coming from the village and you realise how badly you wanted to be alone, in your tent and read, or watch a movie or a show, and ignore this world for a little while while you licked your newly-opened wounds. Tonight was a communal dinner around the big bonfire in the centre of the village, and you felt grateful your presence would not be missed in such a crowd. You’ve come to love these dinners, another one of the many ways the tribe connected to the village and to each other, but tonight you couldn’t entertain even the thought long enough to count.

“Can you please tell your family I am sorry, but I will probably head to bed early. I’ll be early for breakfast tomorrow, I promise.” 

“I can do that. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

You nodded absentmindedly and closed the flap of the tent shut.

Neteyam watched as you left him, still reeling from your conversation. Much like you, he just wished to hide in his family’s tent and pretend for a night things are different, that they are better. Actually, if we are talking about wishes, he wishes he could be in your tent. In all honestly, dealing with you on a day to day basis, seeing you, your body, touching it more and longer than he knew he reasonably had to, was making him think thoughts he knew he had no business thinking. In his wildest dreams, he’d be in your tent and making your eyes roll back in the way that drove him crazy. In his wildest dreams, he’d be coaxing sounds out of you that only he would ever hear. In his wildest dreams, your hands all over him would heal him and break him at the same time. He was desperately in need of some relief, and he loathed all decisions in his life that lead to you not being able to be the one to provide it for him. 

He made his way to the bonfire, and greeted all of the Na’vi that respectfully bowed their heads at his arrival. He saw his family at the centre of the crowd, where they normally sat, and joined them silently. They all gave him uneasy looks - all but one. Lo’ak was blatantly glaring at the older Sully, a look of disappointment and disgust marring his normally kind face that reminded Neteyam so much of their dad. 

“Did you tell her?” 

Kiri elbowed Lo’ak in the abdomen, but he didn’t flinch. He did not even bother to acknowledge Kiri, or the low hiss escaping their mum’s lips - his eyes were still boring into Neteyam, unwavering. 

“No.” Neteyam’s expression darkened and in a split second, he became the warrior his dad moulded him into. “And you will not, either, Lo’ak. Do you understand me?” Lo’ak had to look up to look at his brother who was now dangerously towering over him. 

“Oh, the mighty warrior giving out orders, what else is new?” 

“Lo’ak, that’s enough.” Neteyam heard Jake intervene, and he eventually had to physically put his body in between his two sons, who still refused to look away from each other.

“Fnawe’tu (coward).”

 

Neteyam watched his brother turn his back on his family and walk away from the feast, and although he wouldn’t admit it to himself, he knew deep down that Lo’ak was right.

 

You were almost robotically flipping through the directory of movies and tv shows on the laptop that you had with you in the village, not quite ready to go back to the lab and have to deal with the consequences of your newly acquired “condition”. You had all night to do experiments, and lie to yourself that you were fine until you eventually succumbed to a Xanax-induced blackout. You wanted to be in this body just a little while longer, because, in this body, it was easy to forget the realities of your actual life.

You saw a five-fingered hand emerge from the entrance to your tent, and you laughed incredulously at the clown you loved, who seemed to have a knack for improving your dour mood.

“I am here to bother you.” You got up and started making your way towards the entrance of your tent.

“Shouldn’t you be at dinner?” You say, laughing and pulling Lo’ak by the hand, so he stumbles unattractively into you. 

You wrap your arms around him and hug him gently. “Skxawng.” 

“I should, but I am here instead. We haven’t had movie night in so long.” He lay on your sleep mat and you hissed for him to move over. “You’re getting way too comfortable hissing at people.”

“Not people, Lo’ak, you!” You smiled saying that, knowing you were quoting Kiri, and he groaned exasperatedly. 

A few more weeks passed, and you felt the discrepancy between your bodies become more pronounced than it had ever been. It turns out, the incubation period of a Na’vi virus in a human is not long at all, and roughly around last week, you began displaying symptoms. You were taking every drug under the sun to try to soften them, but you had seen one too many good Na’vi people die due to this to know what was lurking underneath the comfortable cushion of drug-induced health. Despite all that, you felt on top of the world in your avatar. You were continuously improving, and, with a little bit of luck, will be completing your first kill soon - the first stepping stone to becoming Taronyu, hunter. If you do that successfully, you will be taking your Iknimaya with other Na’vi apprentices, and finally get your own Ikran. You were buzzing at the thought, and the image of you flying in the sky was enough to push any other worries out of your mind. 

After that weird day that ended with Lo’ak in your tent watching Friends together and teaching him the chords to a song you both loved, things went back to normal, sort of. You couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that the Sullys were hiding something from you. They exchanged looks, and avoided certain subjects, and you were starting to be worried they guessed you were ill, and were tiptoeing around the subject so as to not upset you. That was a good theory, although it could not explain the heavy tension between Neteyam and Lo’ak that also started that night. 

You saw them bicker and fight your whole life: two opposing personalities, both of whom had misunderstandings about the other. Neteyam could never understand Lo’ak, understand that, despite being the chieftain’s son and the grandson of the Tsahik and former Olo’yektan, people still looked at him like he was not quite full Na’vi. His eyebrows and five fingers made his appearance uncanny enough to always attract whispers and looks, and despite Lo’ak’s apparent devil-may-care attitude, he cared. Neteyam could also not understand anyone who wished to live freely and discover themselves, make decisions and choices that would lead to a happy, fulfilled life, rather than a proud and accomplished one. Finally, Neteyam did not understand that skill and tenacity doesn’t come easy to everybody, and the weight of living in his shadow was bearing heavily on his baby brother’s back. 

On the other hand, Lo’ak never tried to understand the burden Neteyam had to carry, because, in his desire to not appear weak, he took it in strides and never complained. Lo’ak never fully understood the downfalls of what being “the perfect son” brings: no freedom, no childhood, no time, no fun, no choice. He only ever focused on the positives: praise from his family and clan, skill and composure, the title of future Leader of the Omatikaya. He will also never be able to understand the depths of Neteyam’s love for him, who, despite all their differences, would be willing to sacrifice everything, even his own life, to make sure his baby brother would never having to experience these burdens.

This tension felt like more. More than you’ve ever seen, not mended in time, they were always glowering at each other and only speaking to each other if prompted or forced by their increasingly frustrated family. You tried to talk to both of them individually and ask, but you were promptly sent on your way each time. You could tell Lo’ak was itching to spit it out, but every time he got close, he flashed you a look of hurt and fear, and moved on. 

Eventually, you stopped worrying about it. It will come out in time, and you had better things to worry about. Your training became brutal after that day tracking Sturmbeests. Neteyam would come to your tent before dawn, sometimes having to wait for you while you woke up in your Avatar body, and you were always gone past eclipse. You were tracking, joining hunting parties to learn, working on shooting arrows while on Pa’li or in nearly impossible positions (he made you shoot targets hanging upside down from the branches of trees, seriously) and working on guns and practicing with Jake and his soldiers. Jake made you his second-in-command during these sessions, and you enjoyed having the roles reversed and having to watch Neteyam squirm every time you touched his arm, or waist, or thighs, in order to adjust his shooting form. You also taught Lo’ak, sometimes late in the nights, where he would sneak into your tent and ask you questions about guns that he hoped would bring him in his father’s good graces for once in his life. You loved teaching them, and you felt powerful with all the eyes on you, trying to absorb every piece of information coming out of your mouth. 

“In your hands, you are holding a sub machine-gun.” You said and you made your way through the 10 soldiers in your midst. “It can fire up 600 rounds per minute. You have a button on the side of the weapon, as you can see right there”, you stopped and show everyone on your own weapon, “that allows you to choose between semi automatic and fully automatic. What’s the difference, Lo’ak?”

“A semi-automatic guns fires one shot when you pull the trigger, a fully automatic gun fires continuously until you release the trigger.” 

“Tsantu (good guy)!” you said with an intimate smile. Lo’ak was making amazing progress, and you were proud to be even a small reason why. 

Neteyam gave Lo’ak a hard look as he answered your question. He was angry with his brother because of his recent attitude, he thought. That’s the reason. Not at all because you were smiling at him with that dazzling smile that used to be reserved for him years ago, definitely not because he knew Lo’ak was sneaking in your tent at night and doing Eywa-knows-what, a fact which kept Neteyam up nights with images he would do everything in his power to be able to erase from his brain. Neteyam was exhausted. He hasn’t slept since this thing started, not until Lo’ak returned to his tent after his meetings with you, and he was able to look at him in the dim light of the night and gauge for himself if his brother was flushed, or panting, or extra happy for one reason or another. Despite never seeing anything that he could deem suspicious, the images of his baby brother taking for himself what was his, what should be his, haunted him and made him sick to his stomach. 

Coward. Lo’ak words rang in his ears incessantly throughout each day, never being able to fully block them out. 

Neteyam saw you move from Lo’ak and towards him, and tried to remember what they were talking about. Sub-machine guns, right. 

“Now, SMGs are best used in tighter quarters or close to mid-range. The spread will make it inefficient for long-range. If you find yourself on the back of your Ikran shooting at a plane or Valkyrie, make sure you close the gap between you or use your bow, instead.”

“An SMG will have a lot of recoil, making it harder to shoot accurately, but there are a few tips you can use to make to improve your aim and accuracy.”

“First. Always fire in short bursts, if you are firing on automatic mode. A few shots at a time will make sure the kick is not unmanageable. Two, account for the kick and adjust your aim to compensate. Think of shooting an arrow and how you always take the wind, its direction, speed and power in consideration before you actually release. It’s a similar principle. The recoil will make the gun kick upwards, so always aim slightly lower than what you want to hit. Three, don’t aim for the head. Leave that for a bow or an assault/sniper rifle with a scope. Aim for the abdomen and chest, since that is a wider target and more likely to hit. Everyone on the same page?”

Neteyam was forever in awe of you, but it was particularly impressive watching you now. You were confident and powerful and knowledgeable. Neteyam felt bad admitting it, but you were a much better teacher than their dad ever was. Toruk Makto had many incredible qualities, but his patience was definitely not amongst them, and his lessons tend to get a bit derailed by his inability to understand that Na’vi are not predisposed to guns or understanding Sky People technology. You were calm, and kind, and funny, and you made it easy for everyone to follow your instructions. In the span on a few weeks, all of the Na’vi and Avatar soldiers training for the upcoming war became better at pretty much every aspect that they were training in, and I think everyone felt just a bit more comfortable about the conflict that was soon to befall them, with you by their side. 

After the lesson was complete, you left alongside Lo’ak, sparing one last look in Neteyam’s direction. He was already watching you, and you saw a fleeting angry look that was quickly replaced with an expressionless mask. He was getting good at that, you thought. 

“Do you want to do anything? If I have to listen to Kiri talk about all the new types of flowers and plants and shit she keeps finding in the woods, I will lose my mind.”

“Be nice.” 

Kiri has been particularly hyperfixated on her newfound discoveries recently, and you tried your best to pay attention to every time she was describing them, in detail, but in reality you were always so exhausted by the time dinner came around that you were only assimilating about a tenth of all the words coming out of her mouth. You felt bad, and made a mental note to dedicate a couple of days to your friend that you saw less and less each week. 

“Your Iknimaya is getting closer and closer each day, how do you feel?”

“Honestly I haven’t thought about it that much, just taking it one day at a time.”

“I think you should start thinking about it, cause it’s going to happen. You’ve managed to blow everyone’s expectations out of the water. It barely been two months since you got your avatar body, not even my dad did this so fast. You were made for this, Angel.” 

You didn’t know what to say to that. You were grateful for Lo’ak’s faith in you, but with everything happening in your human body, it felt pointless looking towards the future. 

“You will be one of us, soon. I’ve had dreams about this my whole life, you know? It’s like I manifested your Avatar, Norm should be thanking me.” 

“Lo’ak…” 

You didn’t like the turn this conversation took, and felt an uncomfortable twinge settle in your chest at his words. 

“There are perks that come with being an Omatikaya, you know? You can make your bow out of the wood of the Home Tree… and you can choose a mate.” 

Fuck. 

Neteyam was making his way back to the village with the rest of the soldiers, casually chatting to one of the Avatars returning with them. He wasn’t paying attention to the way until his body knocked into one of the Na’vi walking in front of him. Utsou was staring intently at a scene unfolding in front of him, a scene that turned Neteyam’s blood to shards of glass, leaving cuts and bruises along his entire body. It was you, smiling, running your hand up and down Lo’ak’s arm whilst his hand was cupping your face and caressing your cheek. It was such an intimate interaction, it felt wrong to everyone there to even be able to witness it, and Neteyam felt himself becoming nauseous. With the image now seared into his memory and rage turning his breaths to pants, he turned around and left everything - everyone - behind. 

Tag list: @nuhteyam @eywas-heir @fanboyluvr @mashiromochi @puffb4ll @sassy-persona @simp4ff @mommyneytiri @hayhay9091

[gabessquishytum]

Insomnia + ADHD Hob.

Hob, who hasn't even been able to sleep for longer than two hours in ages because everything is so much louder in this century. He can't soundproof anything either because then it's too quiet. He's used to hearing birds and crickets. Used to the crackle of a campfire or the sound of rain hitting tree leaves.

Now it's cars, trucks, and people shouting. It's horns honking and engines revving, and motorcycles. It's the buzz of fluorescent lighting and helicopters going across the sky in the middle of the night (I don't know if that actually happens in the UK, but it does in the US 🙃)

Hob, who has tried every possible sleep drug and, short of being outright sedated (like, with a horse sedative), still can't stay asleep.

Hob, who is so exhausted at this point that the slightest problem can, will, and has sent him bursting into tears.

Hob, who is so exhausted that he's slipping in and out of Delirium's realm. Who has 'died' due to being unable to sleep more times than he can count.

Hob, who discovered he can only get to sleep, and stay asleep, if he's completely fucked out and unfortunately for him, very few people have his stamina (he realized this sometime while Dream was captured because he met Destruction, who was more than willing to fuck him until he passed out)

Dream, who discovers that the man who waited for him despite the way he stormed out, who built him a temple, who is his friend, who he loves and desires carnally, needs to be fucked until he passes out every night to be able to sleep? Oh, he can do that. Sure, technically, he could just use his sand, but he doesn’t want Hob addicted to it. Plus, Hob doesn't need to know that.

It starts out pretty easy. Hob is already beyond exhausted, and every nerve is sensitive for it, so it's not only easy to make him cum, but it only takes a few really good orgasms before he's out.

However, the more well-rested he becomes, the more difficult it is to get him to pass out. Good thing the sensitivity never actually goes away.

It gets to a point that Hob has to start 'turning in' early because it takes a good several hours before he's fucked-out enough to sleep; they have to keep water on the bedside table so that Hob can stay hydrated enough to keep going. He always starts by fucking Dream until he can't move; Dream usually rides him afterwards until Hob's cock is too sore (as Shaper of Forms, Dream's hole never loosens unless he wants it to.)

Then Dream starts in on Hob's hole. He usually begins with his tongue, making Hob cum a few times, before he adds fingers, and eventually his cock. Dream has no refractory period and doesn't get dehydrated, so he can spend as many times as he wants.

By the time Hob finally passes out, his hole is fucked loose and sloppy and he's full of so much of Dream's spend that he's got a belly bulge and they're both absolutely covered in each others cum.

Then maybe Dream uses Hob's hole a few more times for his own pleasure, as a treat; Hob certainly isn't going to notice a few extra loads inside him.

Dream cleans up everything except Hob's hole, which he usually plugs up until the morning.

Bonus: Hob who uses horse sedatives to sleep and Dream doesn't discover this until after he retires and becomes Hob's roommate. Dream discovers that once Hob is asleep, he won't wake until morning, no matter what. Dream, newly human and horny all the time, tries to resist... but he doesn't quite have the willpower or control he used to.

Hob actually knows exactly what Dream does to him while he's asleep (he's not that stupid) but he actually finds it really hot, so he doesn't say anything and just makes sure Dream always has easy access to him.

Maybe Dream eventually catches on that Hob knows. Maybe he doesn't. Either way, he uses Hob nearly every night before he goes to sleep; after all, he always sleeps better afterward, and he knows the importance of good sleep

(I am also the anon who sent the Hob begs to be bred, not knowing Dream can do it, and Dream DOES it ask. If it's not already taken, 🐺)

All of this is SO GOOD. I love the irony of insomniac Hob. His boyfriend is literally king of sleep etc but his brain is uhhhh not neurotypical and its all just a bit of a struggle.

Dream is DEEPLY confused but of course willing to help. If Hob needs to be fucked consistently for three hours so he can get a decent night's rest, then Dream is up for the job of assisting! He witnesses Hob in a tearful sleep deprived state one time and vows that it will never happen again on his watch.

Dream makes every night into a perfect experience for Hob. The bed is comfortable, the room is the perfect temperature. Dream smells amazing, his skin is cool and soft. Hob already feels wonderfully relaxed and his brain is finally winding down from the day.

Dream may be a wet cat man but his topping skills? Incredible. He rocks Hob’s world. He's got Hob into positions he didn't even know he was capable of. He's making him cum three, sometimes four times every night. Hob goes from exhausted and sleepless to passing out right there on Dream’s cock. And of course Dream keeps using him until he's done too, it's only fair.

Everyone comments on how well rested Hob looks these days. He just smiles and adjusts his belt, trying to get comfy with that massive load of cum still plugged up inside him. He's very much living his best life. He's so much more chilled out now he's getting a good consistent fucking, apparently getting railed by his dreamlord boyfriend is the key to good mental health!

[walkingintheheartbreaksatellite]

Heaven- Flicker Chapter 5

Warning. This chapter contains smut. Use of toys, teasing, fingering. Probably a bunch more. Language. Proceed with caution. Minors DNI

Friday, February 3rd. 8:30am

I wake up with the sun glaring in my eyes. I move to sit up when I feel something pulling me back down. I'm turned around only to face a sleepy Niall, who is squinting with a smile on his face.

He leans in and pecks my lips, sighing into the kiss.

"G'mornin' Em."

I smile and snuggle up to him.

"Good-"

Before I can finish, my bedroom door slams open and in stomps a fiery Jenny.

"Em, I can't fucking take them anymore! I swear to god I'm going to actually kill them!"

My mouth gapes open as I turn my head to her and she finally calms down enough to look at me clearly. It then seems to sync in with her that I am not alone.

"Oh... Well this is very awkward. Okay.. Um just letting you know, I'm gonna be burying some bodies. Cool okay so you guys have fun and um use protection!"

She rushes through her words and quickly leaves, though her embarrassment is clear on her face as she closes the door.

Niall and I burst out laughing and he hugs me tight.

"Should we go see what that was about?"

I giggle, running my fingers through his hair as I nod.

"I suppose we should before I find blood on my hardwood floors. But I think I need coffee now."

He smiles and nods, squeezing me one more time before he lets me go. I sit up, getting out of bed as I run my fingers through my hair, too lazy to grab a brush. I walk over to my dresser, pulling out Niall's sweatpants he gave me and a pair of basketball shorts.

"Babe."

He looks up at me from across the room as he rummages through his bag, just soon enough to catch him the sweatpants I tossed to him.

"Ah! Thank ya, Petal! Perfect! Maybe a shirt too? All I've got is polos."

I smile and nod, slipping on my shorts and throwing my hair in a ponytail before walking over to my closet. I pull out an old Fall Out shirt and hand it to him. He chuckles when he sees the shirt and shakes his head.

"What? Would you rather I give you a shirt with your face on it?"

I pull out my Midnight Memories shirt slightly and he throws his head back in a laugh.

"I'm fine, Babe. This is perfect."

I smirk and let the shirt go before closing my closet. He takes the shirt from me and quickly gets dressed, taking my hand when he's finished. I open my bedroom door and we walk down the hallway and down the stairs, reaching the living room.

Jenny is standing at the kitchen island, voice raised at she yells at Aleks and Zach. We walk past them into the kitchen and I start preparing my coffee when Jenny snags my attention.

"Em! Will you please remind these idiots about our rules for takeout containers?"

I sigh, setting down my mug as I lean on Niall. I turn around, all eyes on me and nod my head.

"If you didn't buy it, don't touch it. If you really want it, text the group chat and ask. If you're told no then it's no. Now can we chill out? It's way too early for this shit and I haven't even had coffee."

Jenny huffs and the boys, excluding Niall, groan. I pour creamer into my steaming coffee and stir it as I continue to talk.

"Zachary, you're replacing Jenny's sushi."

"How did you-"

With my coffee ready, I pull down a mug for Niall and step aside a little, giving him room to make his own before turning around.

"I'm not stupid? You ate my leftover Kura last week too but I didn't care and was in no mood to complain. You've been doing it a lot. Aleks ate my leftover Firehouse too. You guys just gotta get better about asking."

I begin to sip my coffee but stop mid sip as Zach lets out a snarky reply.

"Maybe you should be asking if you can have people over."

I drink the remainder of my coffee, setting my mug down on the counter behind me before grabbing the collar of Zach's shirt.

"Listen up, buttercup. Last time I checked, you're not paying rent on the house. I do, so I have a say in who comes into my home. And another thing! We never made a rule about bringing anyone home! You've brought all your girlfriends home! Check your bull shit at the door or don't bother coming home. I'm getting kind of sick of your attitude lately."

I let go of him and walk back over to Niall, leaning on him for comfort.He wraps his arms around my waist and holds me close, rocking me back and forth.

"I'm sorry... You guys were... Just a bit loud last night. We're all a little tired."

My face heats up and I bury my head into Niall's chest as his hold on me tightens.

"Um... 'M sorry about that. Not really used t' havin' others in the house. We'll try and keep it down next time."

Jenny snorts, Zach rolls his eyes and Aleks begins to make gagging sounds. I lift my head up and glare at them as Niall chuckles.

"You're children. All of you. I hate you."

Everyone laughs and Niall starts to rub my back when I hear a phone begin to ring.

I can feel it vibrating and that's when I realize that it's Niall's phone.

Welcome to the Hotel California Such a lovely place (such a lovely place) Such a lovely face Plenty of room at-

Niall sighs and reaches into the pocket of his sweatpants and pulls out his phone before hitting the green button and raising it to his ear.

"Yeah, what's up- What?! Yer fuckin' kidding me... Alright... Yeah yeah I'll be there soon. Okay... bye."

He hangs up and tucks his phone back into his pocket before wrapping his arms back around me and I look up at him and he stares into my eyes.

"M sorry Petal, but I have t' go. Somethin' went wrong at the studio and I gotta go fix it."

I nod, trying to hide my sadness. He lets me go and we head upstairs so he can get dressed. He quickly gets dressed and gets his things together, so we head downstairs. He waves to everyone, but only Jenny and Aleks wave back to him.

"It was nice seein' you all! See ya Sunday!"

I nod to them and open the door, walking Niall out to his car. He loads his bag in and opens the driver door before turning back to me, holding his arms wide open.

Tears threaten to spill as I walk into his arms and he squeezes me tight as I start to let out little sniffles. He kisses the top of my head and begins to rub my back with one hand and caress my head with the other.

"Shh I know. It'll be okay though, Em."

I pout and bury my head in his chest.

"Just... I'm gonna miss you a lot."

He pushes me away and before I can argue, he lifts me up and presses his lips against mine. I wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him in closer as my lips move against his.

He squeezes me tight before pulling away, setting me back down on the ground. He kisses my forehead and lets go of me, a small smile on his face.

"I promise, it'll go by fast. It's only 2 days. Think you can do that for me?"

I pout but nod my head.

He's right... It is just two day but the thought of him leaving... It hurts thinking about it, let alone seeing him leave...

With one last kiss, he lets me go and gets into his car, waving as he pulls out of the driveway. I sigh and head back inside, praying for the days to go by fast.

Sunday, February 5th 2:15pm

It's the day of the party and we've been running around the house all morning. Cleaning up messes the boys forgot to clean up and putting away all the miscellaneous shit that shouldn't have been out in the first place.

Jenny and Aleks went to go pick up the food and Zach is doing a last minute recording session, leaving me home to decorate and wait for people to get here. I finish hanging up some extra decorations Aleks had picked up when there's a knock at the door.

I look down at my watch and furrow my brows.

It's not even 3. Who could possibly be here?

I pin up the decorations in my hands and step off the stool before walking over to the front door and opening it. As soon as I see who it is, a wide smile makes its way on to my face.

Before I can say anything, arms are pulling me through the door, lifting me off the ground as I'm pulled into a tight hug.

"Niall!"

I look down at him and his comforting smile gives me butterflies. He holds me close to him and I take in his comforting scent.

"I missed ya, Em. Y've no idea how much."

I giggle and shake my head as he pecks my lips before putting me down.

"I don't know... I probably missed you a lot more."

He keeps an arm around my waist as we walk inside, Niall letting out a small laugh as I close the door behind us.

"That's one hell of a shirt, Em. Ya tryin' t' spread the luck?"

I look at him, raising a brow in confusion before it hits me.

Oh yeah. That.

"Hey! I got it for Christmas! It just felt fitting and I don't have a Lizzo shirt."

He laughs once more as I guide him over to the long couch and he takes a seat at the end, pulling me down into his lap.

" 'M just teasin' ya, baby. It's cute. Maybe you'll get one of me if I ever win one."

I look up at him to correct him.

"You mean when you win one. And you will. I know you will. But I will never be any less proud of you. I love your music and I will always be supportive of you."

He smiles and leans down, pecking my lips.

"Thought I's supposed to be the cheesy one in this relationship."

I giggle and cuddle up to him, shaking my head.

"No, sorry. I coined the cheese. You got your pretty looks and sexy voice without it. I got jack shit."

He lets out a loud laugh as he squeezes me tight. He than leans down to my ear and whispers something to me, causing shivers to run through my body.

"Now that's not true. Yer funny, kind and y've got no idea how sexy yer voice is t' me. 'Specially when yer moanin' fer me or sayin' my name."

"Ni-"

He begins to trace kisses up and down my neck before he settles on my collarbone and sucks on it.

"Missed my girl... So much. I think ya missed me just as much, didn't ya?"

I nod my head as continues to suck, letting out little moans as my toes curl.

"Ni- More. Please? L-like you did the other day?"

He pulls away from my neck and I pout as he turns me around in his lap so I'm facing him. He pulls me back in close and whispers to me.

"Ya liked that, honey? Ya liked when I ate ya out?"

I blush, nodding as he smiles and pecks my lips.

"Me too, Petal. Y've no idea how good you tasted on my tongue. Can I taste you, baby?"

Instead of answering, I grab his shirt, fisting it in my hands, and pull him into me, slamming my lips on his in a kiss. I feel him smile against my lips as he wraps his arms around my back, pulling me even closer to the point where there is no distance between us.

Our lips move in sync and all that can be heard is quiet moans and panting coming from our lips. Niall taps on my back and I hesitantly pull away from him, leaving both of us a panting mess.

"Hold on, Em. Let's... Let's go upstairs, yeah? Wrap yer legs around me."

I nod and do as he says. He holds onto me tight and stands up. Just as he turns to head to the stairs, the front door opens and I groan. In walks a horrified Rico and a very confused Aaron.

Niall puts me down and I get flustered, turning to yell at the two men in frustration.

"You idiots! You don't live here! Why didn't you knock?!"

Aaron covers his mouth to hold back a laugh and Rico shouts back at me, totally out of character.

"Nuh uh, missy! You're still a little girl! No sex for you! Stay little forever!"

He pulls me away from Niall and holds me in a protective but possessive embrace, one arm around me and the other on top of my head.

"Aaron... Be my voice of reason, please! This is embarrassing..."

Aaron laughs and I look at Niall with a pleading look on my face. He simply smiles and nods. I manage to get out of Rico's monster hold and leap to Niall, who catches me in his arms. Our attention then turns to the other two men, Aaron with a hand now on Rico's back.

"Listen, buddy. She's not a baby anymore. She can take care of herself! Trust me, especially because it's me. I'm her older brother. Let's give him a chance."

Rico sighs and slumps where he stands, nodding his head before he straightens himself. Niall lets me going and I walk over to the other two, pulling them into hugs.

"I love you both, you know that. But Niall is important to me, and I want you to like him and get to know him."

I pull away from them and they nod and I make my way back to Niall, who happily takes me back into his arms, my back resting against his chest and his arms around my waist.

Aaron and Rico walk up to us and shake hands with Niall, introducing themselves.

"It's nice to meet ya. But I do have a question. I thought ya only had sisters, Em. Aaron is your brother?"

We all laugh and I shake my head, turning in his arms and patting his chest.

"I've known Aaron the longest out of anyone. My whole career. We were both itty bitty fetuses when we started and he was the closest to my age and wasn't trying to parent me. So he kind of took me under his wing and we pretty much just became siblings."

Aaron smirks and nods.

"That's true. In fact, I've got a shit ton of embarrassing videos and pics from the years and I've got time."

Niall and Rico laugh and I just scoff.

"Don't forget, I know where you sleep Aaron Mitchell and I have your mother's number. Try it, I dare you. "

I glare at him, only causing him to laugh more. Before I can say anything else, the front door opens and in walks Jenny, Aleks, Zach and the rest of the people that were invited.

We get the food set up and then everyone settles in the living room as Aleks sets up the projector. I cuddle up close to Niall as he wraps an arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him. With a bowl of popcorn in my lap and snacks shared through the room, all eyes shift to the screen to see the awards starting.

"Hey, Niall, did you ever go to the Grammys? Seems like something you would've done over the years, right?"

Aleks looks away from the screen to look at Niall, waiting for an answer. Niall gives him a small smile and shakes his head.

"No, never. One Direction was never nominated and I've never been nominated as a solo artist."

I smile and kiss his cheek.

"Yet. You will be, though. You're gonna kick ass too."

Niall laughs and pecks my lips and it's quiet for a minute until Rico says something.

"Wait... You were in a band?! And you're a musician?! I thought you were just a normal dude!"

We all laugh and I can't help but snort.

"Rico, I swear to god. I used to talk about him all the time before I met him, do you not listen to me?"

He shrugs and shoves a handful of popcorn into his mouth, returning his attention to the screen. We spend the rest of the night cheering and dancing as awards are presented. When Harry wins album of the year, Niall gives me a bear hug, a huge smile on his face.

"He really deserves that. That album was something else!"

I smile and nod, kissing his cheek as he holds me close. We all hang out for a bit until Rico and Aaron decide to head home, due to it being almost midnight. Aleks gets up from the couch, stretching as he begins to make his way to his room with Jenny and Zach following him to their own rooms, leaving Niall and I alone.

I cuddle up to him and he squeezes me tight, planting a kiss on the top of my head.

"It's late, do you wanna stay the night? I think I've got some of your clothes in my dresser."

I pull away and he nods with a smile, before taking me back into his arms and picking me up, carrying me to my bedroom as my laughs echo through the hallway. When we get inside my room, he puts me down and heads over to my dresser to pull out his clothes while I throw the extra pillows off my bed.

"Em."

I turn my attention away from the pillows and when I look at Niall, seeing what is in his hand, my face burns up.

That's... That's the vibrator that Jenny gave me... She had accidentally bought an extra and couldn't return it and forced it on me...

"Um-."

"Ya don't have to hide from me, babe."

I turn my attention back to my bed, now embarrassed as I continue to prep my bed for sleep.

"Forget it, Niall. I haven't opened it. Just pretend like you didn't see it and put it back."

"Did ya... Do ya want me to use it on ya?"

I drop the covers as I turn back to him, my cheeks bright red and my mouth gaped. He steps closer to me and I start to get a little nervous.

"I-I've never used it.. Used any... How would-."

"Do ya want me to, Petal? We don't have to, but if you and to try, I would love to help ya..."

I bite my lip and advert my eyes to the floor as I nod. Niall pulls me into his arms, both hands on my waist as I look up at him and he looks down with a smile.

"Can we try something else, Petal? I wanna see ya. All of ya. Can we... Are you comfortable enough to do that now?"

I bite my lip once more before pausing.

"Could you... do it first? T-take yours off... J-just not your underwear."

He smiles and nods, quickly removing his shirt and his shorts, leaving him in his boxers. He turns his attention back to me and I slowly remove my shirt before unbuttoning my jeans and stepping out of them, leaving me in my bra and panties.

"Can those come off too, Baby? I want to see you. All of you. I want to see my girl."

I give him a nervous nod and I reach around my back and attempt to unclasp my bra with shaking hands. Niall puts his hand on mine and gives me a smile, somehow giving me the push I needed to relax and give in.

He unclasps my bra and pushed the straps off my shoulders, causing it to fall to the ground. I pull down my panties, leaving me completely naked in front of him. He pecks my lips a few times before he guides me over to my bed and we sit down. He pulls me into his lap, my back to his chest and my cheeks start to burn up again.

He pulls the toy out of the packaging as he starts to rub my back in a comforting manner.

"Hey, Petal. Ya got any batteries? I need two AAA."

I nod and lean forward, reaching into the nightstand closest to me. I pull out the batteries and hand them back to him. He puts them in and I hear a faint buzz before he turns it off again.

"Okay, pretty girl. I gotta make sure yer doin' okay, first. You want me to touch ya a bit before we start?"

"P-Please. I'm a little nervous..."

He leaves a couple kisses and I feel a finger start to rub on my clit, causing me to gasp and lean more into Niall.

"Dirty girl. Did ya get this wet jus' thinkin about me touching you with your little toy? God baby, you're practically dripping."

I let out a quiet, breathy moan as he continues to torment my clit with his finger, only pushing his finger an inch in before pulling back out.

"N-Niall, please. I-I've wanted you all day. Please... I need more, I'm ready. Please touch me..."

He sucks on my neck as he turns the vibrator back on, slowly bringing it to my clit.

"Alright, baby. Im gonna start ya on the lowest setting and we'll work our way up to more. But ya gotta keep quiet, remember?"

I bite my lip as he places the vibrator on my clit. My breath hitches as he begins to rub it up and down, the unfamiliar feeling threatening to send me over the edge already. He turns up the setting more and I have to swallow a moan as I throw my head back onto Niall's shoulder.

"Okay pretty girl, I'm gonna throw ya a bit of a curve ball. Think ya can handle it?"

I nod and I squirm in his hold. He smiles and pushes the vibrator onto my clit a little more.

"That's my good girl. Ya see that mirror right in front of us? I want ya to watch what I'm doing to ya. Keep yer eyes open and on us. Every time ya look away, I stop. Think ya can handle that?"

I nod my head as I curl my toes, my eyes opening and looking into the mirror.

"Words, baby. I need to hear you."

"Y-Yes, I think I can do that."

I see him smile in the mirror as I feel him turn the settings up. I throw my head back, letting out a quiet moan until I feel the buzz between my legs stop.

"Niall!"

"Eyes on us, Em. Eyes on us."

I look back into the mirror and as he rubs the vibrator on my clit, I start to find it hard to breathe.

"Niall-."

He hushes me and turns the vibrator onto the highest setting, causing me to squeal and once again, throw my head back into his shoulder as my toes curl at the unbearable pleasure. Until he stops. Again.

"I'm not gonna tell ya again, pretty girl. Look at what I'm doin' to ya. Yer probably close, right? Yer gonna be a good girl. Since ya can't seem to look in the mirror, yer gonna turn around. Yer gonna look me in the eyes and stroke my cock while I fuck you with this little toy of yours. And yer not gonna come until I say. Understood?"

I nod my head but instantly whine as he turns the vibrator off again.

"Y-Yes."

"Yes who? I can't hear ya much, Petal."

"Y-Yes sir, I understand."

I feel his cock harden against me before he quickly flips me around and kicks his boxers off before I can even blink. He turns the vibrator back on and I spit in my hand before placing it on his cock. We give each other a knowing look before starting.

I stare into his ocean eyes as I start to stroke his hardened cock, already dripping with arousal as he starts the vibrator again, pushing it back against my clit as he starts to rub it up and down. It only takes a few minutes but I feel as if I'm about to burst, and I think he is too.

"Fuck, baby! Doin' such a good job fer me. I think I'm gonna come, are ya ready baby? Where do ya want me, Petal?"

"God, Niall! Fuck! P-please! On me! I'm close too!"

His other hand finds my clit as he continues to pleasure me with the small toy.

"Come for me, baby. Come with me."

With one last pump of his cock, Niall comes all over my chest and it drips down my breasts, onto my stomach. I let go of his cock and grab onto his shoulders, riding out my own high as I come all over the vibrator.

"F-Fuck! Niall! I-I! I feel so!"

He hushes me as I come undone, whispering words of comfort.

"I know baby, I know. You did so good. Just let go fer me."

He tosses the vibrator off to the side and we both look down to see one another coated in the others come.

"F-fuck Petal, ya squirted on me! Fuck that's hot."

I let out a small, breathy laugh before falling back into my bed, my arms spread out. Niall gets up from my bed and grabs a towel from my closet. He wipes himself off before he comes back over to the bed and gently wipes me clean.

"Ya did good, Em. So good. I'm proud of ya."

I give him a small smile and he walks over to my dresser, starting to pull out clothes, but I stop him.

"Hey... Ni? Can we... sleep like this? I want to be close to you..."

He smiles and nods, shutting my dresser before walking back over to the bed and he gets under the covers. He pulls me under the covers and pulls me close, laying my head on his chest and he begins to rub his hand up and down my back, causing me to drift to sleep.

————————————————————————

February 11th, 2023 Animate Columbus Columbus, Ohio

I'm currently at another convention, this time for Galaxy Con in Ohio. It's late though and everything is starting to settle down, especially for a Saturday, so I send Penny, my assistant, to fetch us some dinner while I check my phone.

Upon seeing my most recent text notification, a smile appears on my face. Niall.

I open his text and begin to text him.

You're kidding me... Right? There's no way he's actually torn up about this.

I sigh as I text him back and settle on FaceTiming him. My phone barely rings for a second before he answers and I see his face appear on the screen, his eyes lighting up the second he sees me.

"There's my girl!"

I giggle and shake my head at him as I hold my phone in my hands.

"Hi Ni. You miss me that much?"

He throws his head back in a laugh before shaking his head.

"No! More! Oh, forgot t' ask ya. Valentine's Day, can ya take it off?"

I open my mouth to say something and I suddenly remember.

Shit! My mom's birthday! I'll be home! Crap.

"Actually... about that. I totally forgot but I don't need you to pick me up Sunday. I have another flight to catch. It's my mom's birthday on the 13th and I promised her I'd be there to meet her new boyfriend. And I won't be back until the 15th..."

He frowns and nods in understanding. My heart drops seeing him so sad when I suddenly think of something.

"Hey! Why don't you come home with me! My mom already knows you but now you can meet her as my boyfriend! And you can meet my sisters and my nephews! That way we can spend Valentines Day together too! That is... If you don't have anything planned."

His eyes light up once more and he flashes me his gorgeous smile, never ceasing to make my heart melt.

"I'd love to! If yer willin' to have me, then fuck yes! Maybe you can show me around-."

I notice a little girl and her brother I assume, start to come up to me, cosplaying as one of my characters. I cut him off for a quick second so I could talk to them.

"Hey Niall hold that thought a quick sec, just a quick sec, baby."

He nods and I lay my phone on the table so he can still see me but I turn my attention to the little girl in front of me.

"Hello, Gorgeous! What's your name?"

The little girl smiled shyly and I can barely see her, so I get up, coming around the table to kneel to her height.

"L-Lily! Y-You're Nezuko, right?"

I giggle and nod as I start to talk to the little girl and her brother.

"Alright Miss Lily. Here you go! Can I take your picture with your big brother really quick? Is that okay? I'd love to show Tanjiro!"

I look to her brother and he nods with a smile. He picks her up and I take a quick picture of them before waving goodbye.

I sit back down and pick my phone back up, my attention back on Niall, who has a huge smile on his face.

"What's got you so happy, mister?"

He shrugs, his smile only growing as his chin rests in his hand, propping himself up with his elbow.

"Nothing. Yer just cute. 'Specially around kids."

I blush and let out a small laugh.

"Well, I have to keep up with being the best auntie ever so I have to be good with kids! Besides, they're cute! I love kids!"

He smiles and nods and we continue to talk for a bit until I decide to head to bed. I pack up with Niall still on the phone, bidding Penny a goodnight as I head back to my hotel room above the convention. I continue to talk to Niall as I change and he whistles as I take off my shirt.

"Oh hush, you horn dog! You'll get this tomorrow. Oh wait, no you won't!"

He pouts and rolls his eyes.

"That's yer fault. Ya can't stay quiet so we can't do it when we're at yer mom's. Since ya insisted we haaaaad t' stay in yer old room and not in a hotel."

I laugh as I slip on his shirt that I stole, kicking my shorts off before burying myself under the cold covers. I hold my phone up so he can see me, though the room is dark.

"I think you'll survive. I'll make it up to you when we're back in LA, okay? Now I gotta go to bed, you dork. So I can see you tomorrow, remember? We'll meet at baggage claim?"

He nods and blows me a kiss.

"I'll be there. Now get some rest. I'll see ya tomorrow, Petal. Sweet dreams!"

I blow him a kiss back and wave goodbye before hanging up.

————————————————————————

Sunday,February 12th 6:30pm

When I wake up the next morning, my day goes by fast and suddenly I'm landing back home, headed to baggage claim to meet Niall. I look down at my phone for a second to text him and before I can, I'm tackled in a hug and lifted off the ground. Panic quickly fills me until I see who it is.

"Niall James! You scared the absolute shit out of me! Meanie! No kisses for you!"

He lets out a laugh as I lightly smack his chest before he puts me down and leans in, giving me a passionate kiss.

"You wouldn't do that, Em. Ya missed me too much."

I roll my eyes and peck his lips once more before taking his hand. We grab our bags pretty quickly and head outside. I start to search through the lines of cars outside the terminal when I spot hers. Niall and I walk over to her car and as soon as she spots us, she parks and gets out of the car.

She holds her arms out to me and I give her a hug, letting her squeeze me tight as I take in the familiar scent of home. She finally lets me go, but not without leaving a kiss to my forehead.

"Ugh my baby! I missed you! I'm so glad you're home! And Niall! It's so good to see you! I'm really happy to see you both together!"

Niall smiles and gives her a small hug. They let go after a minute and we put our things in the car before we get in: Niall is in the front with myself in the backseat. We all talk as we make our way to my moms house and when we pull into the driveway, my sister is out front with my nephews.

As soon as my mom puts the car into park, I quickly unbuckle and get out. James, or Jamie as we usually call him, runs to me squealing with the biggest smile on his face. I tear up as I pick him up, holding him close as I press kisses to cheeks.

"My monkey! I missed you so much!"

Katie laughs and shakes her head as she walks over to me with Oliver in her arms, who reaches out to me. We laugh and I adjust Jamie on one side because taking Ollie in my other arm, so I'm now carrying both boys, loading them with kisses as they giggle. My mom and Niall grab our bags from the car and when Niall sees me, he flashes me a smile.

Katie raises her brow at me and we all walk into the house. I put down the boys, my back hurting as I lean into Niall.

"Okay sorry, I needed my catch up on baby cuddles. I will be needing more, but my back can't take it right now. Katie, this is my boyfriend, Niall. Niall, this is my sister Katie and my nephews: Oliver and James."

Niall laughs and shakes Katie's hand and gives Jamie a little fist bump, making him giggle. We then carry our bags to my room and when Niall sees it, he laughs.

"Seems like you were just here, Em. I can definitely see this being you."

I blush and shrug. We push our suitcases under the bed and then down, the mattress causing us to bounce just a little. I sigh at the comfy feeling as I lean against Niall, who wraps his arm around me and kisses the top of my head.

Hey holds me for a minute as we sit in a comfortable silence until my mom calls us for dinner. I sigh and we stand up, though Niall takes my hand with a soft smile and leads me to the kitchen where our mouths. Fucking. Drop.

My mom sees me and she walks over with a smile.

"Oh! Emmers! This is-."

"Joel fucking Miller. Ho-ly shit, Ma."

Pedro lets out a laugh and my mom looks confused.

"Now I know for a fact that you lied when you said you watch every stream of mine. I freaking played The Last Of Us last week, Ma. I talked about how I've been watching it?"

She gives me another confused expression and I let out a small sigh and turn my attention back to Pedro, who gives me a smiles as he holds his hand out to shake my hand.

"It's so nice to finally meet you, Emily! Your mom has told me so much about you!"

I shake his hand with a small smile.

"I wish I could say the same! All she told me was she was seeing some super nice guy and that she liked him! Shame shame, madre."

She flips me off and we laugh, and Niall steps closer to me so he's now at my side. He shakes Pedro' hand and introduces himself with a smile.

"Niall Horan. It's really great to meet you!"

"You too! I feel like your name is really familiar but I can't really put my finger on it. What do you do for a living?"

I pat Niall's back lightly and plant a kiss before going into the kitchen to help my mom.As they talk, I help my mom unpack dinner and set the table before she calls everyone to the table. Jamie runs over to me giggling so I pick him up, planting a raspberry on his cheek before setting him in his chair.

Niall pulls out my chair for me and I kiss his cheek before sitting down, scooting myself in as he sits down next to me. Just as I'm about to dig into my food, my mom clears her throat to get my attention and I look up at her.

"We're saying grace, missy."

I scoff and shake my head.

"You know, as someone who has never been a dedicated Christian and even raised her own daughter as a jew, I'm calling bull. Since when are you this religious?"

She sighs and shakes her head. I start to take a drink of my water as I wait for her response.

"About the passed year. I got more involved a little after Pedro and I started dating."

I choke on my drink and start to cough as I hear the words leave her mouth. Niall pats my back and looks at me with concern but I shake my head.

"So what you're telling me is you don't want to talk to me anymore? You told me you were dating someone 2 months ago. Never gave me his name, never really told me anything else other than that he was good to you. You don't even talk to me anymore. Is it all just about Katie and Claire now?"

My mom huffs and snaps back.

"It wouldn't be this way if you hadn't have left! You couldn't wait to leave! I knew I never should've let you do voice acting! You could've been so much better and I failed you! So yes, I don't talk to you! Sometimes it hurts to even think about you! Raising you was the hardest thing I ever had to do and you always made it harder! I couldn't have a life because you couldn't be alone! So yeah, forgive me for wanting to keep this from you so I could actually be myself for once and not have to be your mom!"

Tears threaten to spill from my eyes as she finishes. I can't even bring myself to say anything. I simply stand up from my chair, pushing it back in and walk to the door. Niall stands up to follow me, taking my hand but I wiggle out of his grasp, shaking my head.

"Niall, please, not now. Just...Not now."

Niall's POV

"Niall, please, not now. Just...Not now."

She grabs her keys and heads out the door, my heart splitting as I watch her leave. The rest of the house is silent for a good minute before I can't take it anymore and I decide to say something. I stare straight at her mother, and I just let everything go.

"Ya know, she tries hard to please ya. All the time. She wants ya to be proud of her but she feels like ya don't care. She just wants ya to be interested in what she does! She's amazing at it! And she loves to do it! I love seeing her so passionate about what she does and that's all she wants from you! I know she hasn't told me everything but she does try for ya. She misses the relationship she used to have with ya, and she was really trying. I hope for yer sake, she's willing to forgive ya."

I can see tears in her eyes but I turn away and head out the door myself to look for Emily. I'm not even a foot from the house when I hear someone calling my name. It's Katie, Emily's sister.

"Niall, wait-."

"Look, if yer gonna try and convince me to apologize, I'm sorry but I can't."

She shakes her head and folds her arms.

"No, she deserved that. She asked Claire and I to not say anything to her about Pedro. Since Em moved... It's been hard for my mom. She was angry even though she agreed to let her leave. She was mad that she wanted to. She'll never admit this to Emily but at first... She regretting getting pregnant with her. Emily's dad... He's serving a live sentence. He killed a lot of people and my mom didn't know that when she met him. But she felt bad and allowed his family to see Em when she was younger. That sparked a lot of problems. She's very insecure now and I just... I don't know what to do to help her... And I hate seeing them at odds like this."

She wipes the tears that have fallen down her cheeks before she continues.

"I came out to give you a few places to check for her. She'll most likely be at the park though. There's a giant Willow tree there and she used to hang out there all the time when she got upset. I'll stay here and talk to my mom."

I nod at her, giving her a small smile as thanks before running off to go find my girl. After about a 15 minute walk, I reach the park and I let out a sigh of relief.

Just as Katie has said, she's under the Willow tree, her knees to her chest with her head down. I sit down next to her and hearing her quiet cries breaks my heart. I pull her into my lap and she starts to panic, but I hush her calmly. I begin to rock her back and forth and I start to softly sing to her.

"When you feel your love's been taken, When you know there's something missing, In the dark, we're barely hanging on. And you rest your head upon my chest, And you feel like there ain't nothing left-."

Her cries only get louder and I pull her to my chest, holding her tight as I continue to sing to her.

"I'm afraid that what we had is gone... Then I think of the start, And it echoes a spark. And I remember the magic electricity. Then I look in my heart, There's a light in the dark."

She begins to settle down, only faint sniffles coming from her as she adjusts herself in my arms so she sees my face.

"C-can you keep going?"

I give her a smile and I nod, adjusting her in my arms before continuing once again.

"Still a flicker of hope that you first gave to me. That I wanna keep-."

I look into her eyes and I hear her quietly whisper, her voice full of sadness as she holds back her tears.

"Please don't leave..."

I lean down and peck her lips before whispering to her.

"Never. I'm always here for ya, Em. No matter what."

She sniffles, laying her head on my chest as we sit in silence for a few minutes until she speaks up.

"I'm sorry- I'm sorry you had to see that... I just.. I wish I was good enough for her. Like I don't care that she's dating Pedro Pascal but she never told me anything! I just-."

She begins to tear up again and I rub her back as I continue to rock her. After a few minutes, her phone starts to ring and she reluctantly answers, she talks for a minute before looking back up at me.

"Katie asked if we could come back... My mom wants to apologize and talk to me..."

I kiss the top of her head as I squeeze her tight.

"Whatever you want to do, Petal. I'm here every step."

She cuddles up to me and she's quiet for a second before she pats my chest.

"Could you- could you carry me back? I think my legs are still a bit shaky..."

I chuckle and adjust my hold on her before standing up and making the trek back to her mom's house. As soon as we arrive at the house, I see her sister standing outside waiting for us. As soon as she sees us, she lets out a sigh of relief.

We head inside to see her mom on the couch and Pedro in the recliner in the corner of the room. I set her down on the couch and before anyone can say anything, my phone starts to ring. I pull it out to see it's Paul.

Emily squeezes my hand and gives me a small smile.

"Go, it's important. I'll be okay."

I give her a look filled with worry and she just puckers her lips. I roll my eyes playfully and peck her lips a few times before going outside to answer the phone.

Emily's POV

After a long, tear-filled conversation with my mom, I'm feeling a lot better. After hugging it out, she decides to head to bed early but Pedro stays up.

"Hey Emily, I was wondering. Would you want to maybe go out and get some ice cream? I've gotten to know your sisters pretty well in the past year and I was hoping you and I would be able to do that."

I nod with a smile and he smiles, grabbing his car keys before we head out the door. When we walk out, I see Niall still on the phone, leaning against the garage. I lean up to him and plant a kiss to his cheek. He lowers his phone down and I whisper into his ear.

"We're gonna go get some ice cream. I'll be back in a little bit."

He nods and pecks my lips before opening his mouth to ask what I already know he's going to ask.

"Wi-."

"Yes, I will bring you back a couple scoops of Cookie Dough. Don't stay out here too much longer or the mountain lions are gonna eat you."

He rolls his eyes before raising his phone back to his ear and I walk to Pedro's car, giggling like a child. We get in and we chat as he drives. He pulls up to the shop and my mouth drops.

Icicles? How the hell-.

"Did you-."

He only smiles at me as he parks the car.

"I heard you mention how much you missed it to your mom once on the phone so I thought this would be a good choice."

I smile and we both get out with Pedro locking the car before we head inside. We get our ice cream and find an empty table to sit at.

"Hey... I'm sorry about dinner. I don't usually like to confront things but I guess-."

He smiles and shakes his head.

"You have nothing to apologize for. I love your mom, I do. But she definitely had it coming. For the record, she is proud of you, but she feels like she failed you. She thinks you're capable of so much more and she said that she regrets letting you leave.."

My heart drops and I try to fight the tears threatening to spill.

"Is that why she won't talk to me anymore? Because I do try... I try to talk to her and I just can't reach her anymore. I found out you guys were dating like 2 months ago and I didn't even know you were... Well... You."

He sighs and nods as he leans back into his chair.

"Your mom and I talked about that after you left. She wants to try better. She wants to be there for you."

I take a bite of my ice cream before speaking again, trying to push down all my feelings in the small bowl in front of me.

"And you? What do you think?"

He raises his brows for a second, shock evident in his expressions before he smiles.

"What do I think? Well... I think you killed it in Assassination Classroom. That second to last episode was brutal."

My mouth gapes and he laughs.

"Y-You've... You've seen my work?"

He nods with a smile and I can't help but smile as well.

"I have. I've got nieces and nephews that watch anime and they like a lot of different ones. Attack On Titan was a bit brutal for me but I thought you did great. Have you done any non-violent ones though? I don't think my heart can take much more."

I laugh and we continue to talk and eat our ice cream.

"Hey, so I wanted to talk to you about something serious."

I give him my undivided attention, a brow raised as her sighs and looks into my eyes.

"I want to propose to your mom tomorrow. Your sisters have already given me their blessing but I wanted yours as well."

My mouth drops a little and I start to choke. I cough into my arm a few times before regaining my composure.

"Wow... Okay. Sure? I mean you seem great and she seems to really like you... I'm just a little surprised you asked me. I am the child that she didn't mention."

He shakes his head with a frown.

"You're important to your mom, so you're important to me. I care about your sisters as if they were my own. Of course they don't need me to be their dad or anything-."

"She told you about him... Didn't she?"

He gives me a somber expression as he nods, causing me to let out a sigh.

"Yeah well that's what happens when you open your legs for the next guy you see. She was freshly divorced and itching for another kid. Big mistake that was."

"But you wanted one... right?"

I let out another sigh but I can't bare to look at him.

"When I was a kid, yeah. But it was a stupid dream...What are you trying to say?"

He sighs and hesitantly puts a hand on top of mine.

"Only that you don't have to worry about it anymore. I'm gonna be here for you. Maybe we can go from there?"

I snort and shake my head.

"Pedro, are you trying to steal someone else's kids so you can have your own? Is that why you're with my mom?"

He blushes, his eyes widening as he fumbles his words and I start to laugh.

"Well I-."

"I'm just fucking with you! She does the same thing! And that's really sweet of you to offer and I'll definitely think about it..."

He smiles and we talk for a bit longer before we decide to call it a night. I quickly order Niall's ice cream and we head back to my mom's house. Pedro playfully ruffles my hair and says goodnight before he heads into my mom's room.

I laugh as I open my bedroom door and I see Niall sitting on the bed.

"What's so funny?"

I blush when I see him, shaking my head as I walk in, closing the door behind me. I walk over to the bed and hold the ice cream out to him.

"Nothing. Here's your ice cream."

He takes it from me with a smile and I move to my bag and pull out clothes. I quickly change and go back to the bed where Niall is still eating his ice cream. I climb on the bed and over Niall, sitting down in the open spot.

Niall holds out his spoonful of ice cream to me and before I can take a bite, it starts to drip on my chest, causing me to gasp.

"Niall!"

He laughs and puts his cup down on the nightstand before turning back to me. He pulls me into his lap and slips the straps of my dress down my shoulders. He lowers his mouth down and begins to lick up the ice cream that spilt. I let out a small squeak as his licks turn into sucking and he pins me down on the bed.

"I thought you said I couldn't keep quiet."

I smirk and he smiles, hovering over me.

"Yeah, I did. But I had a thought. And I need my girl real bad. Wanna try somethin' new?"

I bite my lip and nod, already feeling myself start to heat up. He smiles and before I can blink, he flips us over so I now sit on top of him. He then leans in a little bit and starts to whisper to me, his sultry voice making me wetter.

"Alright, baby. I'm gonna move ya, okay? We're not takin' our clothes off but it's still gonna feel good."

I nod, biting my lip as he positions me over his crotch. I can already tell what he's planning, so without further instruction, I lower myself onto his hard on and I start to move back and forth on him. He groans quietly and I hold back a moan.

He grips my hips and starts to help me move on him, dipping my hips a little. He holds me close as I continue to grind on him, and he smashes his lips against mine in a hot kiss.

He starts grinding into me and I moan into the kiss, my toes curling at the intense feeling. He pulls away from my lips, panting and whining a little.

"F-Fuck, Petal. I'm gonna-."

I nod and pull him back into a kiss, grinding harder on him. I moan into his mouth and he groans, squeezing me tight as we reach our highs. We pull away, panting as I flop on my spot of the bed. Niall gets up and pulls some towels out of my closet before pulling out a new pair of underwear for each of us.

He comes over to me and gently slips off my soiled underwear before gently cleaning me up and slipping on the fresh pair. He then cleans himself up, throws everything into the hamper and then crawls into bed next to me. He pulls me into his arms and lets out a content sigh.

"That felt really good, Ni. I-I was a little surprised but... Wow."

He nuzzles his head into my shoulder, pressing a kiss to it before he lets out a small chuckle.

"Me too, Petal. I missed ya... So much."

Before I can respond, I hear the sound of his soft snores, signaling he fell asleep. I cuddle up close to him and close my eyes, falling asleep in his arms.

—————————————————————————

February 14th, 2023 5pm.

The day had mostly gone by fast. We had a small family get together to celebrate my mom's engagement and then everyone else parted ways, leaving Niall and I alone in the house.

He walks up to me, in casual clothes, and plops down next me on the couch.

He leans over and presses a kiss to the side of my head as he pulls me into his arms.

"Take out is ordered, should be here in about 20. Are ya pickin' the movie?"

I curl up in his embrace and nod against his chest.

"Yeah, I figured we could watch a few comedies. Oh shoot! I forgot your present!"

He chuckles as he watches me shoot up from the couch. I race to my room, grabbing his present as I hear a knock on the door. When I re-enter the living room, Niall is unpacking our take out and setting in on the coffee table.

I hold his present behind my back as I walk up to him and he turns to face me with a smile. 

"Whatcha got there, Em?"

I unveil his gift and he smiles. I hand it to him and he opens it, tearing up immediately. I made a scrapbook of us, with little cute notes and plenty of empty pages to be filled.

"Do you... Do you like it? I know it's not really anything elaborate or expensive but I-."

Before I can finish, his lips push against mine as he engulfs me in his arms. He pecks my lips a few more times before he pulls away, still holding me in his arms.

"Are ya fuckin' kidding me, Emily? I love it! This has t' be one of the best gifts I've ever gotten. And I can't wait to put more pictures in it."

He kisses me one more time before pulling away.

"Lemme go get yers, really quick."

I nod as he walks off and I sit down on the couch. He comes back as I start to dig through the bags of food and I look up to see him holding a small bundle of items: a blanket, a small teddy bear and my favorite chocolates. I take them from him, tears threatening to spill.

"I know it's small, but I promise it's not everything! Just what I could do since we're not home. I promise when we get back-."

I put my gifts aside and pull him into a kiss, shutting him up. He sighs and wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me closer. Our lips move in sync until we're rudely interrupted by my mom's cat clawing at my leg. I pull away from Niall, groaning in pain.

"Lucas! You little shit! Naughty kitty!"

I pull away from Niall and deal with the cat before dealing with my bloody leg. When I come back into the living room, Niall has everything ready and it makes me tear up. I cuddle up to him on the couch and he hands me a bowl.

We curl up and eat as we watch movies and as soon as I finish eating, I set my bowl on the coffee table.

"Hey.. Niall? I have a question for you."

He puts his bowl down on the coffee table before he turns to look at me expectantly.

"I have an event... On Saturday. It's a premiere... For one of the animes I'm in. I was wondering... If you maybe wanted to go with me? I know it's like a public event but I just wanted to ask..."

He smiles and pulls me into his arms, pecking my lips softly.

"I'd love to. Don't think I have anything that day. Lemme know what yer wearin' so I can match with ya."

I smile and nod, hugging him before laying my head on his chest. We silently watch the movie until he pops a question.

"Hey... Em? I've got Late Late on Thursday night into early Friday morning... Ya know.. Heaven and all... Come with me. Please?"

I lift my head and look at him in shock.

"Late Late? Niall... That's a really big deal... Are you sure you want me there?"

He smiles and places a kiss on my forehead.

"Yer the only one I want there."

I smile and nod. He hugs me closer and I lay my head back on his chest. We continue to watch movies until about 11pm, when he taps me on the back. I look up and he stares into my eyes.

"Ya know... Pedro said he and yer mom were stayin' in a hotel tonight... So we're alone. And I got ya somethin'. Thought we could try it out."

I raise my eyebrow but I nod. He smiles and picks up the remote, turning off the tv before throwing it back onto the coffee table. He then adjusts his hold on me and stands up, carrying me to my bedroom as I laugh. He sets me on my bed and I lay back as he pulls something out of his suitcase.

He pulls out a small box and walks over to me, a small smirk on his face.

"I want ya to take yer shirt and skirt off fer me. Can ya do that, Petal?"

I nod with a blush, quickly removing them before throwing them in a random corner of my room. Niall whistles at my appearance.

About a week ago, Jenny and I went lingerie shopping and I bought a few sets since I didn't have any. I wore a white set today.

"Ho-Ly shit, Em. Is that new? God.. Ya look... Fuck..."

I blush as he walks closer and sits on the bed. He holds out the box to me and I hesitantly take it. It's a small-ish 'u' shaped vibrator.

"Y-You got me a vibrator?"

He smiles and shakes his head.

"I got us a vibrator. This one specifically can be controlled from m' phone. So when I'm gone... 'Specially on tour... I can still make ya feel good. But this one... It's a little extra special. Remember how I made ya feel good with m' fingers in ya?"

I blush and nod, biting my lip at the thought.

"Well... This one goes inside ya a little bit. Just like my fingers did, only a little deeper. Ya wanna try it?"

I nod quickly and Niall smiles. He opens the toy and sets it up, quickly installing the app on his phone and syncs it. He tests it out a few times, changing the settings. I only grow more wet from the sounds. He then sets it down and lays down, his head close to my clit.

"Fuck... I haven't even touched ya yet and yer soaking through yer panties, babe."

He runs his finger up and down the wet spot of my panties, teasing me before he pulls my panties down and throws them somewhere in the room.

"Alright, baby. I gotta stretch ya out a little bit, okay? Just like I did last time. If it hurts, don't be afraid to tell me."

I nod and he looks at me, nodding when I give him another nod of approval. He begins to tease my clit now, running two fingers up and down before he pushes them in all the way. I gasp a little but he continues, moving them around.

He makes a 'come hither motion and I let out a little squeak. He moves his fingers in and out until he slowly adds in a third. I throw my head back, moaning quietly.

"F-Fuck.. Niall.."

He smiles and shushes me before adding a fourth finger. I grasp the covers underneath me, trying not to wiggle at the pleasure.

"Fuck! N-Niall! I think I'm!"

He pulls his fingers out and I let out a cry of frustration. He smirks, grabbing the vibrator and quickly slips it inside me, though he keeps a hold on the other end. I gasp, throwing my head further into the bed.

I feel... So full... And it's not even that deep...

"Be a good girl. Ya gotta make it to the highest setting. Don't come until I say, okay?"

I nod and bite my lip. He smiles and grabs his phone, turning the vibrator on to the lowest setting. He teases me with it for a few minutes, pulling the vibrator in and out just a little as it vibrators against all the my sensitive bits.

"Yer doing so good. Hold on just a bit longer, okay?"

I nod and he turns it on to the highest setting. Pleasure shoots up through my entire body and I begin to shake a little.

"F-FUCK! NIALL!"

He starts to push the vibrator in further and I move my hips to meet his movements. I moan loudly, letting out curse after curse.

"Fuck! Haa! Baby! Please! I-I can't! Shit, Niall!"

"Fuck, yer so sexy. Come for me, baby girl. Ya deserve it."

The second the words leave his mouth, I let go, my toes curling as I writhe in pleasure. I slowly calm down, a little overwhelmed with that being the hardest I've ever come.

"Shit... God Em. Ya fuckin' squirted, baby. Ya know how hot that is? God I love it when ya do that.F-Fuck..."

He pulls the vibrator out of me and I whimper at the loss before quickly adjusting again. I slowly sit up and grab Niall.

"Let me help you, Ni. I wanna make you feel good too."

He smiles and shakes his head.

"I'm fine, Petal. I don't need ya to. Today was about you. Lemme get ya cleaned up. We gotta be up early to leave in the morning."

I pout but nod. Niall cleans me up with a towel before sliding my panties back on. He wipes off the vibrator and puts it back into his suitcase before changing himself, since he was now covered in my release.

He finishes packing up and then gets into bed with me, pulling me into his arms. With a kiss to my forehead, he turns out the light and we fall asleep to the sound of each other's breathing.

Thursday,February 16th. 4:40pm

I finish putting on my makeup, checking myself out in the mirror before deeming myself ready. Just as I grab my person, my phone dings.

I smile when I see it's from Niall, quickly texting him back before I leave my room. I walk down the stairs and grab my keys before turning to Zach.

"Hey, Zachy? Would you please pick up my dress when you go pick up your shirt? I'll Venmo you some gas money."

He gives me a thumbs up from the couch but then turns with a questioning look.

"Where are you going? I mean I don't mind but why can't you get it?"

I sigh as I slip on my heels.

"It wasn't ready before and I'm not gonna be home until late tomorrow.I'm not gonna have any more time. Please?"

He groans but nods. I rush over to the couch and reach over from the back, giving him a small hug. I then let him go, quickly leaving the house. I walk down the driveway and see a Black SUV. The back door opens and out comes Niall, looking hot as ever.

He smiles when he sees me and holds his arms out to me. I walking into his comforting arms and he quickly wraps me up tight. He kisses me, lifting me up a little before pulling away.

"Wow Emily... You look... You look breathtaking."

I giggle and peck his cheek.

"You don't look too bad yourself, slugger."

He chuckles and squeezes me before helping me inside the vehicle. He introduces me to his manager who is sitting in the passenger seat and we all talk until we arrive at the studio.

Friday,February 17th 2am

The night goes by pretty fast and quick into the morning when we finally leave. Paul drops us off at Niall's house and the second we step into his bedroom, we collapse on the bed, still in our clothes.

I groan as I roll onto my back, reluctantly getting up. I kick off my heels and strip out of my dress before tossing it to the side and raiding Niall's closet. I slip on one of his t shirts before coming back out to see him in just his boxers sitting up tiredly against the headboard.

I smile as I climb onto the bed and curl up next to him. He wraps an arms around my waist and just as we're about to lay down, I remember something, my body instantly shooting back up.

"Shit! Heaven is out now!"

Niall groans and tries to pull me back down but I push him away and grab my phone.

"Em, please. It's so late-."

"Nope, I'm listening to it right now."

He sighs and I pull open my music and sure enough, it's the first song sitting in my recently added. I press play and shivers run through my spine as it starts.

Strange light revolves around you You float across the room Your touch is made of something Heaven can't hold a candle too You're made of somethin' new

I lay there quietly as it plays, nodding my head to the beat. Once it's over, I plug my phone back and and I hug Niall right, finally laying back down with him.

"What'd ya think, baby?"

I peck his lips with a small smile before laying my head on his chest.

"Perfect. Just as I expected."

He squeezes me lightly in his arms until he slowly lets go, the only movement coming from him is his breathing as he sleeps. I smile to myself and lay my head over his heart, falling asleep to my favorite melody.

Saturday, February 18th. 2pm THE ORPHEUM THEATRE Los Angeles, California

Niall and I step out of the SUV and onto the red carpet. This isn't my first movie premiere for an anime I've been in, but it is my first time bringing someone with me that wasn't already in the cast.

Niall gives me a comforting smile as we walk down, taking pictures, both together and with the cast, and I do a few small interviews.

I get to the last interview, a young woman named Natalie, who has interviewed me at almost every premiere I've had. She gives me a soft smile and I return it.

"Emily! It's always so good to see you! And you look incredible, as you always do!"

"Thank you Natalie! So do you!"

She smiles and nods.

"So, this is big for you! Demon Slayer has absolutely blown up! As one of the producers of the anime,as well as the darling, fierce Nezuko, did you ever think you would get this far?"

I giggle and shake my head before answering her question.

"Not really. I have loved it from the very beginning, but I don't think anyone expected it to blow up as much as it has."

She asks me a few more questions before getting to the one I've been waiting for.

"I see you've brought someone with you tonight!"

I nod with a small smile. I look at Niall for reassurance and he nods with a smile, so I turn back to Natalie.

"Yeah, this is my boyfriend, Niall."

Natalie nods with a small smile.

"Have you seen the series, Niall? What do you think about your girlfriend's role in it?"

He smiles and squeezes me tight as he answers.

"I think she's doin' an amazing job. I love the show, for sure, and I can't wait to see what's next."

Natalie smiles and jots down a few notes before looking up and gesturing to her photographer.

"Would you mind if we took a photo of you both?"

We smile and shakes our heads, cuddling up close for the picture. We then wave goodbye to Natalie and head inside the theater. We take our seats with Niall on one side of me and Bryce on the other.

When it's finally over, we all head back to my house for the after party. I change out of my dress into something more comfortable and when I come back down, Niall is chatting with Bryce and his wife. He smiles when he sees me and pulls me into his side, a drink in his other hand.

"There she is! We were just talkin' about ya."

I giggle and shake my head. We start to chat and Zach walks by, a glare present on his face. He grumbles something but I manage to catch it.

"Yeah, that's all you do. Use her to stay relevant."

I growl and grit my teeth, scolding him.

"Zachary, shut it before I throw my shoe."

He rolls his eyes and shrugs as he grabs something from the fridge.

"You're just mad that I'm right. Get over it."

Before I can yell at him again, he walks away and joins a group, starting to chat with them. Niall lets me go and refills his drink, filling it all the way before he chugs it.

Throughout the night, I fight back the urge to smack Zach as he continues his attitude towards Niall, and Niall continues to drink. I hadn't kept a good enough eye on him and now he's so sloshed, he can't stand straight. I hold him up, deciding it's time to take him home.

"Ya know... I don't understand why ya keep him around, Em. He's an asshole. And ya let him get away with it..."

I sigh, trying to shrug off his words as I get him into my car, buckling him before getting into the drivers seat. He continues to drunkenly ramble until we reach his house and he lets out a groan.

"I know Niall, hold on. Let's get you inside."

I get out and help him out before walking us to the front door, unlocking it with his keys I snagged from his pocket. I struggle, but I manage to get him upstairs and into bed. 

I get him a glass of water from the kitchen as well as some Advil, leaving it on his bedside table. I sit down on the edge of his bed for a minute, running the day through my head when he interrupts me.

"Ya know, maybe he's right. Ya let him talk like that to me, about us... Maybe yer the one using me...Maybe ya are too young... Maybe-."

I wipe the tears from my cheeks and stand up, not even responding to him as I storm out of his house. The second I'm in my car, I breakdown completely. I reach for my phone and call the one person I can think of. My mom.

Too shaky to hold the phone up to my ear, I place it on speaker as it rings, and eventually it's answered. I try my best to calm my breathing, but I let a shaky cry.

"M-Mama-."

"Emily? Are you okay?"

That's not my mom... That's not even female.. Is that-

"P-Pedro?"

"I'm sorry, Emily. Your mom left her phone at home. She won't be back for a while. Are you okay? You sound like you're crying..."

I sniffle and let out a whimper, and I feel like I can't breathe.

"Mija, listen to me. Take some deep breaths okay? In for 4, hold for 4, out for 4. Can you do that for me?"

I let out another whimper but I nod, doing as he says. After a couple breaths, I'm able to calm down enough and I pull out of Niall's neighborhood, Pedro still on speaker.

"T-Thank you.."

I hear him sigh through the phone and I sniffle as I drive.

"Of course, mija. ¿Qué pasa? Why are you crying?"

I sniffle wait I start to explain to him the events of the night and I hear him let out another sigh.

"I'm so sorry he said that, Emily. I'm sure he didn't mean it, but it doesn't make it easier to hear."

I stay silent as I drive, only letting out little sniffles.

"Are you going to go home? If I were you, I would want to cool off, not be around your roommate for a bit."

"I think... I think I'm gonna go stay with someone else... I really don't want to go home... I'm just so hurt... I'm angry and I'm frustrated... I feel betrayed..."

"Well, whatever you decide to do, you know your mom and I will support you. I head back to LA in about a week. We'll get lunch okay? Talk some more. I'll next you my number from your mom's phone. If you need anything, anything at all, you call me, okay?"

I sniffle as I pull into the parking lot of my friend Christina's apartment complex. I park my car and sit there for a minute before I answer him.

"I will, I promise. I just got to my friend's place. I think I'm gonna try to get some sleep. I'll keep you and my mom updated and I guess I'll see you next week?"

We say goodnight and hang up before I get out of my car, locking it and heading up to Christina's door. I knock softly and it quickly opens to reveal the tall, dark haired woman.

Before I can say anything, she pulls me inside and wraps me in a tight hug. It's only then that I start to fall to pieces, and I know I won't be okay.

WC 12,912

————————————————————————

Please like and reblog! I’d love to hear what y’all’s thoughts are!!!

Tag List!

@harrysmimi @violetsandfluff @be-with-me-so-happily @swiftmendeshoran @strwbrrydaydreams @kaminokatiee @buffysimonriley @freedomfireflies @babyiamperfectforyou @fruitmans @fruitmansrecs

[mazeinthemiroh]

together, we watch the sun rise.

Genre: Fluff, a bit of crack

Word Count: 1k

Requested?: Yes

Synopsis: Jeongin decides to go on a trip with you despite having to wake up extra early. And, you know what? It was all worth it.

Warnings: None

A/N: This one's short but sweet. It's very much a spring fic because I am sooooo ready for spring and I'm trying to manifest warmer weather because i am currently shivering IN MY OWN HOUSE. anyways, rant over. i hope you enjoy this fluffy fic :]

Jeongin would never have thought he would have the motivation to get up in the early hours of the morning. But when it came to you, he didn't seem to care half as much.

"Come on, it'll be fun," you said with a big grin as you wiggled your eyebrows at him, hoping that the little gesture would persuade him.

"What's in it for me?" He teased as he crossed his arms over his chest. He knew he was going to say yes to you because, of course, he would never turn down an opportunity to spend time with you. But that didn't mean he was going to give in that easily.

"Oh, gee, I don't know, how about spending one-on-one quality time with your partner?" Your hands slid to your hips as you jokingly glared at him, "but hey, if that's not a good enough reason maybe you should find a new partner."

Jeongin chuckled and rolled his eyes at your dramatics, "I'm only joking, you idiot!" He grabbed your wrist and pulled you closer to him, "I would love to come."

And so here you both were, driving out of the city and on your way to the countryside before the sun had even risen. No, Jeongin would have never thought he would wake up this early at all. But he was with you, so he needed to trust the process. And so he let himself

Although his eyes were tempted to close as you sat in the driver's seat, eyes focused on the road as the soft, chill playlist sounded through the car, he resisted going to sleep. He didn't want to be too tired for what was about to come.

Time seemed to dissolve and the view soon changed from a city scattered with buildings and lights, to the dark countryside, sprinkled with hills and greenery as far as you could see.

"We're here... sort of," you said through a yawn as you parked up. Jeongin's eyes scanned the outside of his car.

You both were, indeed, in the middle of nowhere. Jeongin didn't know whether to feel terrified of his new environment or relieved for being free from its business.

Getting out of the car, you grabbed each other's hands and set off on your new journey, not quite at your final destination yet.

Using your phones as flashlights, you watched your step as you began to ascend a very tall hill. The sky was barely beginning to show signs of light, remaining dark as you trudge your way up. It took some walking at first. Actually... it took a lot of walking. It was steep too. Walking up a tremendously big hill did not look easy. If you were by yourself, you probably would've given up. But neither of you felt the strain in your legs or the burn in your calf muscles because both of you were distracted by each other's company and the conversation you shared. Travelling as a pair felt less like a want and more of a need. You couldn't imagine enjoying yourself any other way.

And then you both made it, to the very top. You collapsed on the grass and spread yourself out like a starfish, trying to catch all the breath you had lost on the ascend. Jeongin plopped down next to you, also trying to regain his breath, but chuckling lightly at your exhausted state.

After a handful of minutes gone by, both of your breathing finally evened out. This was when you could fully appreciate the scenery before you. The countryside, with its rolling hills and scattered trees, places to explore in the forests and farms and fields of flowers. Over the great expanse of greenery, you could see the city from where you and Jeongin just fled. It felt weird seeing it like this; above and away from it all at once.

The sky got ever so lighter.

"What a view," you gasped, eyes fixated on the beauty before you.

"Yeah," Jeongin breathed out dreamily, only he wasn't looking at the view.

He was looking straight at you.

Feeling his gaze, you turned to face him, brushing his arm lightly with your hand as you felt your cheeks heat up.

"You're not here to gawk at me, Mister!" You laughed playfully, feeling your heart flutter as Jeongin grinned shyly.

"Hey, you're my only view~" he said playfully, grabbing your waist and pulling you closer to him on the grass. You tried to object but you couldn't help but melt into his softness.

"I like the view right now~" you sang obnoxiously loud in his ear, making him wince slightly.

"Gah, Y/N, you ruined the romantic moment!"

"Was that your attempt at romance?"

You both burst into laughter. You were convinced you had woken up a couple of livestock that minded their own business from the bottom of the hill. Certainly woken up a few sheep because your laughter bounced off the hills and ran through the quiet, morning countryside.

The sky got noticeably lighter. The moment you had both been waiting for.

"Look!" You interrupted the fit of laughter as you point to the orange eruption in the sky: the sun was rising.

The pair of you grew quiet as you set together, hand in hand, staring at the great expanse of the sky. There were little swirled clouds that twirled like smoke, caressing the face of the sun as it rose slowly. With each passing second, the sky would change ever so slightly. Dark orange to light orange to a peachy colour, pinks tickling the white clouds that rose with the sun. Then a yellow set in, and soon the sky had a creamy hue, the sky getting lighter and lighter still.

This very natural recurring earthly moment for some reason felt very small and intimate, as if it were a performance for just you and Jeongin to watch.

He turned to you, the smile on his face soft as he kissed your cheek, making you turn to him and return the kiss, this time on his lips.

Why did everything feel so calm? So perfect? You sighed into the kiss as you released his hand, tangling your own hand in his hair. Your mouths moved in perfect synchronisation, slow and easy.

He was the first to pull away, just to look into your eyes as they sparkled in the new sunlight.

"We shouldn't definitely do this again."

taglist: @hearts4sungie, @seokshineswiftie, @alyszaen, @jtrstp, @a-wandering-stay, @leeknowww, @hyungenie5, @hanstan127, @strayteez3staner

[aajjks]

TC!Junngkook

Oh shit! Jungkook, you scared me nearly to death! What are you doing up? Hey… Calm down baby, I’m okay. Breathe baby, Jungkook breath. I was just worried about you. You have been acting stranger ever since you received that letter this morning and since you have refused to tell me what it said, I can to find out for myself. I couldn’t find it but I was about to come back to you. I’m sorry for scaring you baby. I thought I would have had enough time to come and find the letter before you woke up. We can talk in the morning, let’s just go to back to bed. I promise I won’t leave your side without telling you. I’ll never do it again. Please don’t be mad at me for worrying about you. I’ve never had this much fear over losing you. Normally you’re always in control or at least always could at pretending everything is okay, this time you’re not. It’s obvious something serious was said to you but I’m not use to being this worried. I’ll make it up to you- I swear. Yes, let’s go back to our chamber now.

*As Yn and Jungkook make their way back to their chamber, lighting struck one of its brightest strikes of the night. If only the little lamb and her protector had stayed behind long enough to witness the outline of a man behind the Kings office curtains. Right next to the long forgotten empty closet. The couple arrive at their chambers and craw into bed. This time the King makes sure his Queen is asleep before shutting his eyes. This time though, he’s unable to fall asleep. He couldn’t shake the fear of Yn being taken right from under him. Heart still beating from the fear and adrenaline. Between thinking about the man harming his wife and the fact that he, himself almost harmed her… He couldn’t sleep. He wonders if this is the hurt the man wrote about. Is he playing mind games? Does he want the Jungkook to go insane? Or is he trying to make him so paranoid he is the who hurts Yn? By the time morning comes, the King is still wide awake. Knowing he needs to get up and figure out a way to catch this bastard he gets up and gets ready to start the man hunt. But not before waking the Queen up. She will remain by his side every second of everyday until they catch this man. Maybe even long after aswell. The King and Queen arrive down to the kitchen to retrieve their breakfast before their meeting with Dace about the patrols of last night. Normally the King skips on it since he wakes up so early and begins work immediately but for his Queen, she must eat her meals and take care of herself. He checks daily to make sure she’s ate her food down to how much water she drinks. She has always been his number one priority. Jungkook and Yn have assigned plates that were hand crafted just for the two, as a way for everyone to know who gets fed first and in case the royal leaders want something special made just for themselves. Jungkook took his normal jet black plate with scrabbled eggs and toast and some apple juice. Yn grabs her pastel pink plate with pancakes and cut up bananas along with her milk. They decide to eat their garden away from everyone else.*

I really am sorry about last night Jungkook. I didn’t mean for you to become that scared.You’re the one he’s after and I just wanted to know why. The guards didn’t tell you were I had went did they? Well actually, I didn’t tell them where I was going. I don’t think I did at least. Well, what’s your plan? These pancakes are so good. I think they’re a new flavor. Here baby, try some. Do you have a way to track him down? Jin and Yoongi said he stayed down by the bakery right? The cooks. I love them, I cook with them all the time. But back to what I was saying, they saw him right? Or at least who they were suspicious of? Well, there’s something I have to tell you about last night… Uhm… Hold on… I just… I can’t breathe- Right now… This milk- It takes different… I think-…

*Queen falls unconscious dude to the lack of oxygen. Unknowingly, the milk she just drank was hazelnut milk. Hazelnut is banned from the palace from how badly the Queen is allergic to it.*

It’s a new day so Jungkook doesn’t really feel like bringing up the events that took place last night, it shouldn’t have happened, but he apologized for it and like the good girl you always are for him we just went back to sleep.

Yeah, he might’ve stayed awake to make sure that you did but it was worth it. Whenever he’s near you, he feels like he can breathe. And especially ever since someone has threatened to hurt him in the worst way possible and the only way to do that is to hurt you..

He knows that threat was for you.

And right now he feels a little calm because you are both in the garden, eating pancakes, and the flavor is delicious but he doesn’t really feel that hungry, he will not calm down- not unless he catches that bastard.

“Oh yn sweetheart I’m so full I can’t eat anymore- yeah what is it that you wanted to tell me though? Ahh… umm wait is everything OK? YN?!!” he calls out your name but you just lose your consciousness but before you could hit the ground, he catches your head and now you’re laying in his lap while he’s freaking the fuck out screaming out his lungs

Jungkook calls for the physician and the guard guards, but soon he takes away the glass of milk from your hand and suddenly everything clicks, so to confirm his doubts he sniffs it.

“GUARDS!! who the fuck brought this milk to her-“ he is screaming and he knows how much you hate him when he does that but right now you’re literally unconscious and it’s like his worst nightmare is coming to life.

Jungkook is running with you in his arms like a maniac, his guards are following after him, and one has gone to fetch the physician

“WHO THE FUCK gave Hazel nut milk to the queen and when everyone of you knows that the queen is allergic to it?! WHO DID?! I WANT THEIR HEAD!”

[earthtooz]

𝗕𝗔𝗕𝗬 𝗜𝗧'𝗦 𝗖𝗢𝗟𝗗 𝗢𝗨𝗧𝗦𝗜𝗗𝗘 !

in which: nagi doesn't want you to leave, not when it's cold outside.

warnings: fluff! clingy!nagi, based off the song but i tried to make it less creepy and more endearing...??? kissing, teasing each other as one does, gn!reader, 1k+ words

a/n: oh my god this nagi day actually drained the living daylights out of me. scraped this together and it's UNEDITED! take this, this is all that i have and all that i am.

˗ˏˋ XMAS MASTERLIST ´ˎ˗

As the credits of the movie roll down the screen, you finally gaze down at Nagi who’s spread on top of your body, happily napping with his ear over your sternum. A sense of reluctancy tugs at your chest knowing that you’ll have to wake him up and leave but you have somewhere to be tomorrow morning so you prefer to get home now rather than later.

“Hey, Seishiro,” you whisper, rocking him back and forth on the shoulder, hoping that the sensation might stir him from his sleep rather than the weather reporter of the TV Channel you were currently watching. 

Thankfully, it does and you’re greeted with a pair of grey, sleepy irises, with sleep lines still evident on his face from your shirt. “What’s up?” he asks, looking around. “Oh the movie’s ended already?”

“I need to leave.”

That causes him to wake up pretty easily as his eyes widen a little in alarm. “What? No, why?” He whines, a pout forming on his lips.

“I have somewhere to be in the morning and I need to wake up early.”

“Why can’t you stay the night?” 

“It’s further away if I go from yours. It’s harder to get to with public transport and there's no parking.”

“I can drop you off.”

“Sei, no, don’t be ridiculous. It’s earlier than when you normally wake up.”

“I wake up at 12, everything is earlier than when I wake up, but I’ll do it for you.”

You smile sheepishly at him, unable to resist running your hands through his hair gently because of his last statement, but when Nagi closes his eyes once more, you come to realisation that you probably shouldn’t give in so easily.

“No- Nagi, it’s okay,” you insist, trying to sit up with your boyfriend still splayed on top of you, an action that rewards you with a grunt of protest as he sits back on his knees that were on either side of your legs. Even though you were still trapped by him, at least you could now breathe without him weighing down on your lungs. “You don’t need to drop me off, you should rest up and be on your A-Game for practice.”

“I’m always on my A-Game,” he grumbles unhappily, shuffling off you to sit properly on the couch. “You don’t need to worry about me, pretty.”

“You make it hard for me not to,” you retort before standing up, stretching the ache out of your limbs whilst Nagi stares at you from his position, not happy with the idea of letting you leave for the night.

“It’s not me you need to worry about if you leave,” begins Nagi as he stands to his full height, immediately closing the gap to slouch over your back. He gestures to the falling snow outside the window of his apartment and how frost has freezed the corners of his window. “It’s cold outside.”

“Doesn’t matter, won’t bother me too much.”

That only causes him to hold you tighter, pulling you into his chest. “But you’ll catch a cold.” 

“I have enough warm clothes, besides, I can borrow some of yours if you don’t mind.”

The colourless-haired boy groans at your evasion before grabbing your hands successfully and encasing them with his. You didn’t realise how cold your hands were before his warmer ones held them, mixed with the delicious warmth radiating from him on your back, it felt like a heater was draped over you, but you knew all too well what Nagi Seishiro was trying to do. 

“Why can’t you stay just a little longer?” He pleads, rubbing circles near your wrists. “We can watch an episode of that show you really like-”

“No, Nagi,” you say sternly but gently. “We’ll end up watching the whole season and even though I’d love to, tonight is not the night.”

“How about some hot chocolate? Or tea? I went out to buy some packets of your favourite.”

Turning around in his grip, you resist the urge to pinch his cheeks because of how adorable he is. “You’re insistent tonight,” you tell him, placing a kiss on his nose that has him scrunching it, a faint smile making its way onto his expression. “Guess you just like me too much.”

“You don’t like me enough if you don’t want to stay the night,” he grumbles.

“Oh no, you’ve figured me out.” 

“Fine, leave me. See if I care,” Nagi huffs, glaring at you with his arms crossed over his chest.

The image of a 6’3 grown man pouting at you was too entertaining to not giggle at. “Perfect. Well, I’m gonna go home now so see you later, babe.”

“Wait, I didn’t mean it, don’t actually leave. It’s cold outside.”

“I can see that.”

“So why are you still leaving when my apartment is so much warmer and nicer?” Every step you take away from Nagi seems to be fruitless, especially as he uses his longer stride length to round around you, blocking you from the door. “Just stay a little longer, but staying the night would be better.”

You huff, willing your resolve to not crack, especially when he’s looking at you with doe eyes. Trying to manoeuvre around him, your attempts are blocked when the soccer player wraps you up in his embrace, pulling you into his familiar figure once more. You can’t help but laugh when you clumsily stumble into him.

Honestly the idea of Nagi driving you tomorrow morning instead of taking commute was way more ideal but you felt bad and the prospect of bothering your athlete boyfriend from his usual routine made you feel a little guilty. However, as he looks at you with such earnest yearning, it’s progressively getting harder to say no to his demands. 

“Fine,” Nagi surrenders. “If you won’t stay the night can I at least get some proper goodbye kisses? In case you catch pneumonia and I won’t be able to see you for a week.” 

Laughing once more at his silliness, you nod as a way of expressing consent. You could nullify his persistence with kisses at least. Cupping his cheeks, you lean in to press a kiss to his lips, one that has him completely melting against you as one of his hands snake up to the back of your neck. He tries to mould himself completely into you, even when you pull away to signal the end of the kiss, distancing yourself before Nagi can invade you completely.

“Not yet,” he murmurs before drawing you in one more time. 

Sensing where this is going, you lead him to the couch, an action that Nagi immediately understood and guided you to the piece of furniture better than you could have ever. He didn’t even need to see where he was going either, truly, a genius.

Then, a weather report breaks the tranquillity of the apartment.

“It has been advised by the government that locals do not leave their home as blizzards are starting to pick up with conditions remaining this way until morning-”

You can feel Nagi’s shit-eating grin before you see it and when you turn to look him in the eye, you know that you’ve lost, giving in when he lunges himself at you to splay all over your body now.

“Baby it’s cold outside,” he mutters.

“Looks like I’m staying the night.”

“How unfortunate.”

[thefarminggoblin]

Cuddling with the Gotei 13, with visuals

I’ve been in a super soft mood lately so here are some soft headcanons for the captains and lieutenants of the Gotei 13.

This is a part 1.

In order, the to do list is:

- Lieutenants

- Seated officers

- Vizards

- Arrancar + defectors

- Karakura gang

No warnings. Just good ol’ fashioned fluff 🥰

🔥 Yamamoto

(platonic - are there any simps I should apologise to here?)

“Yes, what is-OH!” He’s surprised as you jump into his arms. He’s not sure if it’s appropriate for him to return the hug. If it’s a spontaneous friendly hug, he’d probably just pull away a little and ruffle your hair fondly or pat your shoulder, “While I appreciate the affection, I am not sure what it was you are seeking. However, you could be spending your time much more productively. Now, go and finish your duties.”

BUT! If you’re visibly upset over something he wouldn’t hesitate to give you a comforting bear hug. “There, there. Whatever is bothering you, you are strong enough to push through it. Until then, you have my ear.”

🥷 Soi Fon

You wake up, unable to move. “Soi-chan?” No response. You try wriggling, but the more you struggle the more you become trapped, “Soi-chan, we need to get up.”

“Mmm… a few more minutes won’t kill anyone.”

“…you sound like Captain Urahara.”

You’ve never seen get out of bed so fast.

💉 Unohana Retsu

Her sweet voice rouses you from sleep, “Good morning, my love.”

“Good morning, honey.”

She kisses your forehead. You move to leave, only to find yourself suddenly caged in underneath her, a twinkle of mischief in her eye.

“Shall we take advantage of these early hours?” Her voice has dropped a few octaves, and you find yourself unwilling to leave her embrace as she begins peppering kisses down your neck.

🌸 Kuchiki Byakuya

You gaze into the beautiful slate grey eyes of your lover. His face is serene, his eyes half lidded and a tiny smile on his lips. You’re both still trying to catch your breath after your previous… activities. The tender expression on his face as he strokes your cheek ever so softly makes your heart ache. You adore him, and he adores you. You mirror his movements, hoping to convey the same emotion, brushing away some of the hair sticking to his damp forehead.

“Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?”

His eyes widen slightly, gasping so softly you swear you imagined it. “I mean it, ‘Kuya. You’re so beautiful it hurts.”

He takes your hand and kisses the palm, then your wrist. He shifts himself slightly to press a kiss to your forehead, his lips lingering on your brow.

“Beloved, it is you who are the beautiful one.”

You wriggle even closer to him, nestling your head under his chin as he draws you in. You fall asleep to the soft sounds of his soft breathing.

🦊 Komamura Sajin

You treasure mornings like this. Mornings when it’s raining heavily, and the two of you are snuggled together. Gazing into each other’s eyes, stroking each other’s faces, tangled up in each other’s arms.

“Sajin?”

“Yes, dearest?”

“You know I love you right?”

“Of course I do-“

“In both forms.”

His eyes widen in disbelief.

“You don’t have to keep shifting for my sake. I know it takes a toll on you. Your appearance doesn’t change how I feel.”

His eyes tear up, but he can’t bear to expose you to his insecurities getting the better of him, so he buries his head in your chest and draws you to him.

His shoulders start shaking and you feel your heart break, “Oh sweetheart, no, it’s okay.”

“Are you certain you can love me in my other form?” His voice is muffled but you can hear it crack with emotion.

You cup his face and make him look at you, “It’s who you are. I wouldn’t change you for the world.”

He sighs and kisses your eyelids before gently pressing his lips to yours.

You grin, “And besides. You’re super cuddly either way, my love.”

Finally, he smiles, “I love you.”

“I love you more.”

🍶 Kyoraku Shunsui

You’re suddenly tackled onto the bed, and Shunsui is merciless as he tickles your sides, “And just wheeeere do you think you’re going, hmm?”

You’re laughing so much you can’t breathe. “Sh-shuun- AHAHAHAA- st-stoooop-“

Brief, bristly kisses are placed up and down the column of your neck, “I will as soon as you tell me where you hid it.”

“N-never!”

“I see.” He says gravely as he stops, sighing, “Tsk, I’ll have to resort to some other tactics then.”

“I-I s-s-suurrende-AHH SHUNSTOPPIT!!” He’s tickling again, this time blowing raspberries into your skin. “I GIVE UUUUP.”

He stops and pulls you onto his chest, pressing kisses against your scalp as he runs his hands up and down your back soothingly. He sighs as he runs his fingers through your hair, wishing the moment could last longer. But he had to leave before his lieutenant scolded him for his tardiness.

“So, a deal’s a deal. Where’d you put my hat, petal?”

❄️ Hitsugaya Toshiro

“‘Toshi?”

You’ve caught him napping on his office couch again. A flash of annoyance runs through you; judging by the dark circles under his eyes, you can guess that he’s been pulling long hours, trying to pick up his lieutenant’s slack again. He’s likely spent the night in his office.

He needs real sleep. You try to gently rouse him, stroking his hair and face gently and calling his name.

“Mmm… whaaaa?” He eventually opens his eyes, blinking rapidly. They’re bloodshot from eye strain. You take his hand and give a little tug.

“Come on, honey. You need to get some sleep in a real bed. It’ll be more comfortable.” You make to pull him up again, but tugs right back, and you fall back onto the couch with a yelp.

Before you can protest, he readjusts the both of you, encompassing you in his arms and pressing a few kisses on your face. It’s surprisingly comfortable. He sighs, nuzzling his face against yours.

“I’ve got all the comfort I require right here.”

🗡 Zaraki Kenpachi

You knew better than to ambush Kenpachi while he was doing his hair, but getting payback for him bumping your arm - on purpose - while you were doing your make up yesterday was far too tempting.

However, now you found yourself in the middle of the most intense pillow fight of your life. You’d managed to get to the bedroom faster than him, getting in 2 decent shots before you were unarmed.

In hindsight: this was a TERRIBLE idea.

“You’ve done it now, kid.” His face lights up with glee as he snatches the 2 offending objects from the floor and lobs them at you, which lands you flat on your back on the bed.

You manage to grab one and throw it back, but he catches it single handedly. He springs onto the bed, straddling you, the pillow raised above his head as he grins maniacally.

“Any last words?”

You did the only thing you could think of: spring up and throw your arms around his waist, putting on your best puppy dog eyes.

“Truce?”

“Truce.” The pillow was thrown to the side, and suddenly you were laying on his chest, his strong arms wrapped around your waist. “I win, though.”

🧪 Kurotsuchi Mayuri

In the blink of an eye, the book you’re reading is ripped from your grasp and thrown across the room. A split second later the air leaves your lungs as your lover’s head lands on your chest, his body crushing yours.

“‘yuri, can’t… breathe…”

“Mmmph.” He grunts, shifting his body so you’re not completely smothered and you take a deep breath. He huffs, burying his face in your chest.

“Bad day?”

“Mmph...”

“Failed experiment?”

“Mmph.”

“Poor dear.”

“Mmph!!”

“Oh. Head rubs. Gotcha.”

“…mmph.”

He’s asleep in minutes, snoring softly. He may conduct countless experiments on himself to improve his stamina, but he’ll never be a robot.

🍵 Ukitake Jushiro

Jushiro places a soft kiss on your lips as you slowly open your eyes, “Good morning, sweetheart. Sleep well?”

His soft smile is almost blinding, “Mmm, how long have you been awake?”

“Not very long.” He smirks, mischief suddenly gleaming in his eyes, “You had quite the look on your face.”

“…I was dreaming.”

“Oh, was it an interesting dream?”

You smirk back at him, you fingers tap dancing on his chest, “…possibly.”

He chuckles, “I see. Then, shall we make your dream a reality?”

You’re suddenly pinned underneath him, laughing as he peppers your face with kisses. It quickly becomes heated, all deep kisses and roaming hands and-

“You wrecked it, monkey brains!”

“No, YOU wrecked it, booger breath!”

-aaaand there they are. You huff, the moment ruined. Jushiro rolls off you, a frustrated groan leaving him as he pulls the sheets over his head.

“I’m not here.”

You join him. “Neither am I.”

[spelllingandthemysteryschool]

i like this kaveh akbar essay about ramadan a lot... i remember first reading it a few years ago and going oh! this is very good 🤍 (the paris review sometimes puts up a paywall, so you can also read it under the cut ↓)

Emerson said, “If you go expressly to look at the moon it becomes tinsel.” He preached self-reliance—the importance of being with yourself in nature—but he also lived with his mother, who cooked for him and cleaned his muddy boots.

The new moon at the start of May this year signaled the beginning of Ramazan, which the rest of the world calls Ramadan, which I call Ramadan when I speak with my friends, but which I grew up calling Ramazan because that’s how we say it in Farsi. In Farsi there are four different letters that all make the same z sound and maybe we figured if we didn’t use them enough they’d disappear.

This year, for the first time in my life, I have fasted for all of Ramazan. The Quran says during Ramazan you’re supposed to “eat and drink until the white thread of dawn appears to you distinct from the black thread of night.” And then fast until sunset—no food, no drink. The black thread/white thread part fascinates me, eating in the predawn morning until it’s light enough outside to tell the white thread from the black.

Nowadays there’s an app called Muslim Pro (a hilarious name) where you enter your location and it tells you exactly what time to stop eating. But I like to imagine a time when someone was sitting outside eating bread and cheese alone in the dark, checking and rechecking their two threads. They’d eat a bit more, yawn a bit, and then, suddenly, rubbing their eyes, they’d catch a gleam of light against the white thread and shout “Stop! Stop!” to their family inside.

That’s probably not how it ever worked.

I suppose I am looking for God, for a feeling of transformative belief. I am hoping that fasting might thin the membrane between me and a feeling of the divine. That it might open a channel between us, a tin-can telephone line. Prayer is a way of speaking to the divine. Meditation is a way of listening for it.  I’m not sure yet which one fasting is for me. Maybe both. But I figure, if I can talk to God, shouldn’t I?

Ramazan is based on the Islamic calendar, which every year moves backward about eleven days on the Gregorian calendar. When I was a kid, Ramazan was in the middle of winter, which meant fasting from dawn until sundown. My parents only ever let me “kiddy fast,” which is what they called waking up early for predawn breakfast, then drinking plenty of water and milk throughout the day, then eating a big dinner. And I could only do it on days off school, to ensure my elementary school academics wouldn’t suffer.

The short winter days in Wisconsin meant fasting was essentially a big brunch and then a big dinner around normal dinnertime, with plenty of Diet Pepsi and chocolate milk in between. And even then, I would cheat. I remember once sneaking stale chocolate chip cookies in the middle of the afternoon, then feeling so ashamed I went to the bathroom to vomit them back up. I remember the gold-black vomit in the toilet bowl looking almost beautiful, a mural of my penance.

I worry that fasting expressly to look for God will turn God into tinsel. I worry fasting is a piece of tinsel I am trying to pin to my spiritual lapel, a little kid showing off his participation ribbon. I worry I am already tinsel, flattened and ornamental, a cosmic nothing turning meaninglessly in the light.

Here in Marfa, Texas, fasting means not eating or drinking from about 5:45 A.M. each day to about 8:45 P.M. Most days I wake up around 5:20, snooze for ten minutes, then storm around the house, gulping down as much water as I can, eating spoonfuls of cereal and taking quick bites of banana, carrot, dry bread, nuts. I swig almond milk and grapefruit juice from their cartons, then brush my teeth. It all feels very animal, governed by bodily need.

Before I go back to sleep for a couple hours, though, I make my little ablutions and say a morning prayer. I pray in Arabic, a language I don’t speak or understand. It is a lifelong fascination of mine, the way parroting the sounds of devotion can become an incantatory act, the way the sonic textures of language itself, stripped of direct semantic meaning, can carry me to a place of communion with the divine.

Poetry works this way, too. Language organized mellifluously, delivered earnestly, can thin the partitions between worlds, whether or not we have a perfect denotative understanding of what is being spoken. Poets have invested themselves in this promise for millennia.

The prophet Muhammad said a full stomach was one that contained one-third food, one-third liquid, and one-third air. I am constantly messing this up.

Yesterday I went to the park to shoot hoops with my friend Natalie in the early afternoon. We took it easy, talking and laughing between baskets, dribbling slowly around, pausing to watch a roadrunner walk along the park fence with a lizard in its beak. But, even in our relative ease, the sun held hard above us and kept us dewy in hot light.

I read once that if outer space were filled with air, the sun, 93 million miles away, would be as loud to us on earth as a train whistle one foot away. I never think about sound in relation to the sun, but yesterday back home after playing basketball, my shirt drenched, my ears ringing with thirst, I thought about the volume of the sun, how loud its desiccation could be, how immutable. I could taste the furnace of it in my mouth.

Maybe this is meant to be a metaphor about hell, except I don’t really believe in hell, at least not in the eternal-lake-of-fire way. I believe in rehabilitation and reconciliation, spiritual and otherwise. I have trouble reconciling retributive, punitive justice with a rigorously compassionate faith.

Hell is a prison. Hell is separation from your divine, whether that divine is God or your children or your land. We’ve made enough of these hells on earth; our work now is to dismantle those, not to imagine more.

I spend a lot of my days fantasizing about how I’ll break my fast. I look in my fridge, imagine what sort of dishes I could make with what’s in there. I google the menus of local restaurants online—there are only a couple places here that stay open past nine—and I read each ingredient in each item: a citrus salad with toasted quinoa and rhubarb, roasted chili with red peppers and jalapeño cornbread. Even writing these words now, I can taste each sliver of fiery jalapeño, each crunch of quinoa against wet greens.

I wonder if part of the point of fasting is this: keeping the body enamored of the particular delights of nourishment. It is so wild, so unimaginably lucky, to live in a world where rhubarb grows, and in a world where I can eat it with ease. It could so easily be otherwise. For many people, it is. What responsibility does my luck, my ease, imply?

Or maybe the point of fasting is the way these wonders recede from my view the more I imagine them. The taste of the citrus is there, then it’s gone. It’s like a theological exercise. Take a second: picture a bladeless knife with no handle. Where’d it go? Now, with that same clumsy brain, imagine God.

The Muslim Pro app on my phone beeps when it’s time to eat at night. I build this moment up so much in my head, it’s hard for the reality to match. I immediately chug a giant 32-ounce Nalgene of water. Some nights I go out and reward myself with a fancy dinner planned out earlier in the day. Others I stay in and eat like a teenager—chicken tenders dipped in barbeque sauce and frozen mushroom pizza and cookie dough ice cream.

Now that Ramazan is almost over, I find myself surveying the month: lazy afternoons in bed slipping in and out of consciousness, trying to read and failing, counting down minutes until sunset. The long day hiking a national park with friends, desperately thirsty by nightfall but also deliriously happy.

One night my friend Carolina invited Natalie and me over for her homemade pozole. Embarrassed by my hunger and not wanting to show up ravenous, I surreptitiously ate a small dinner of fried potatoes and hot dogs before going over. Still, I remained hungry enough to eat two bowls of pozole on her porch. The three of us talked there and laughed. We spilled a bag of party mix onto the patio. We saw a fox lope slowly across the road. We watched the stars hang silent in the sky millions upon millions of miles away—like tinsel, or like little bits of white string.

[likeastarstar]

Birthday Boy

summary: WARNING! smut ahead. It's Namu's birthday and you're in love with him and his body and how it looks in the shower.

masterlist.

Your boyfriend was a menace.

Seriously, who wakes up at the ass crack of dawn to workout on their birthday of all days? Wasn't anything sacred? Surely his birthday, the day that should be considered an international holiday, was a good enough excuse for a cheat day.

But no, Joon had left you so early you were only just waking up as he returned back the apartment you shared after exercising. You laid in bed, half asleep, watching as your boyfriend immediately shoved his socks off, the sleeveless compression shirt he had on following quickly after. He couldn't even be bothered to wait until he was in the bathroom to strip down, pushing his gym shorts off his hips along with his underwear already balled up in his fists by the time he was halfway across the bedroom.

He took note of your laying form but because of the massive amounts of pillows you insisted on having, he couldn't tell you were awake and currently ogling his extremely perfect, extremely buff, super sexy, oh wow he is gorgeous, body. Maybe him going to the gym was a blessing, maybe you should be more grateful. You were certainly grateful when he turned towards the bathroom and you got to stare at his ass.

Namjoon had the most perfect body in the world, broad, rolling shoulders, his thick neck perfect for biting down on, his soft pecs that you liked to lay on despite the aforementioned mountain of pillows on your bed, the chiseled abs rubbing down the length of his torso and disappearing with two lines dragging directly into the neatly trimmed dark hair of his lap.

His thick thighs you insisted on sitting on far too often, his thighs that you had a habit of rubbing absentmindedly underneath restaurant tables when you went out until he forced you to stop- citing the risk of him popping a semi before dessert. You loved his back, muscular and strong, his arms as equally as pleasing when they were wrapped around you. You had recently become somewhat of a masseuse, gleefully running to get the massage oil when Namjoon came home sore from the gym.

It was the little things.

He was perfect- an adonis among men and that's before you even got to who he was as a person- which was also, shockingly perfect. The kindest, most wise person you had ever known. You loved his big brain as much as his big body and it was your favorite person's birthday today.

His birthday!

You sat up with an excited squeal, running to follow Namjoon as you heard the shower start. He was already in the shower by the time you had stripped off your pajamas, back facing you as he washed the sweat off of himself. You stepped into the steaming shower quickly, wrapping your arms around his waist and hugging him from behind.

"Happy birthday," You smiled, kissing his back where your face was pressed against it. His hands covered yours and squeezed in response before turning around in your arms so that he was facing you with his own shy smile, dimples on full display.

"Thank you, good morning." He said softly, leaning down to kiss you. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

You shook you head and reached for the environmentally friendly sea sponge covered in soap in his hand, squeezing it against his chest and watching the suds drip down his skin before rubbing the sponge on him thoroughly, "I had to get up anyway, it's a big day, lots to do."

"You always take my birthday too seriously," He laughed, squeezing a puddle of the shampoo he liked the smell of on top of your head and massaging it into your scalp.

"I observe the auspicious day the way it's meant to be honored, yes." You noted formally, nodding your head solemnly under his hands.

He laughed and rinsed your hair, rubbing conditioner in the ends before wrapping the length of your hair around his hands and pulling, causing your neck to crane up towards his face. He looked down at you with a devious look on his face, the steam in the shower surrounding the pair of you like a cloud.

"It's my dick's birthday too, you know." He joked, smirking slightly.

You raised your eyebrows and flickered a glance towards where his legs met, noting that he was already beginning to get hard, "I did know that."

"And you should celebrate it too, do something special." He mused, raising his eyebrows in a sort of a dare.

"Oh? Like what?" You challenged, standing on your toes to kiss him. He kissed you possessively, roughly, with his hand still wrapped around your hair so you couldn't really move much.

Namjoon slid his tongue against yours and you let your hands glide down his wet torso, wrapping your fingers around his cock and stroking it slowly. You matched the pace of his tongue against yours, body rolling against his rhythmically. There was barely an inch of space between you and even that was too much.

Namjoon let go of your hair in favor for wrapping his grasp around your neck, guiding you to the glass wall and spinning you around so quickly you let out a gasp of surprise. He reached a hand back and angled the shower head so that it was hitting the top of your back and rolling down, the pressure sending tingles down your spine.

Namjoon's body came up behind yours, pushing his front into your ass and kissing your neck, "You're gonna give me what I want for my birthday, right? I can ask for anything and you'd do it for me, because it's my birthday and you love me?"

"Right, yeah- anything," You breathed out, a moan sitting on the tip of your tongue.

"Good," He grunted, "Now look at yourself."

Your eyes snapped to the mirror on the other side of the bathroom in front of the sink, the reflection of you and Namjoon in the shower staring back at you. The glass had fogged up and the only thing really visible was your tits pressed up against the glass, the palm of Namjoon's hand flattened on the surface of the glass pane above you, caging you in. You moaned at the sight- wondering what you looked like from the back, bent over like a slut.

"I love my birthday," Namjoon laughed, "You get so horny- which is saying something because you're always a slut for your boyfriend. You like making me happy?"

"I like- I like being slutty for you," You moaned, "I like being yours."

"I like being yours too, baby." He grinned, pecking you on the cheek sweetly before kissing down the length of your back. He bit down on your ass cheek like it was an apple, making you moan out embarrassingly.

"Fuck- Joon, it's your birthday, shouldn't I be the one on my knees?" You pointed out, looking down at him from behind your shoulder. He didn't even look up at you, staring instead straight at your pussy, spreading your legs apart gently and watching the water drip down between them.

"No, it's my birthday- I'll eat you out if I want to," He demanded petulantly, "Your pussy is better than a birthday cake anyway."

"Bitch, I got you a cake from Honeybee," You snapped, breaking your horny character for a moment.

Namjoon paused as well, sitting back on his heels and looked up at you with a surprised look on his face. It was a good thing the water wasn't angled at him, otherwise you were pretty sure he would've drowned by now.

"Oh, the chocolate one or the passion fruit one?" He asked eagerly, a hopeful look on his face.

"Chocolate, duh- who do you think I am? I only got the passion fruit cake that one time because I wanted to try it." You grumbled, pouting slightly.

"My girl is so smart, good choice. See? You deserve to get head for that, my sweet little girlfriend got me my favorite cake," Joon gushed, squeezing your ass fondly before licking a broad stripe through your folds and making you forget all about the stupid cake.

He sucked your clit into his mouth and wrapped his tongue around it, pushing the sensitive spot around with a mission while two of his fingers ran through your folds and sunk into your pussy decisively. You moaned, feeling him pump his fingers in and out furiously. You clenched around them, wondering why the hell he was going to fast until he switched his fingers and his mouth, tongue dipping into your honeyed center while his fingers flicked at your clit roughly.

You withered above him, barely able to keep your weight up until you felt an orgasm barreling towards you- "No, no, no, Joon- I'm gonna cum, it's too fast."

"No, it's not," He snapped, words vibrating against your clit as his breath against your skin only sent you closer to the edge. "Birthday boy wants his slut to cum."

His words were the final push you needed, cumming around his tongue in waves of pleasure as his fingers ran circles around you clit, milking your orgasm of everything it was worth. You lost the ability to think for a moment, the air leaving your lungs, and you barely had a chance to catch your breath before Joon was standing behind you, one hand gripped on your hip as he slid his cock into you, thrusting up sharply. You let out a surprised noise that contrasted his low moan in your ear, thankful for the sound of water hiding the sound of how wet you were.

"Come on baby, show me how much you love me," He demanded, slapping a large hand down on the side of your ass hard.

He thrust up into you at a bruising pace, using your body for his own pleasure as you did your best to keep up. Namjoon kept one hand on your clit and wrapped his other arm across your body, pulling you taunt against his chest as his hips snapped against yours. You were barely even standing up on your own, Namjoon holding your body so securely you could probably relax completely and he'd just carry you.

"Cum in me," You begged, slamming a hand against the glass wall to throw your ass back on him better, matching his thrusts now that you had a moment to gather your bearings. "Pl-please, will you please fill me up? Fuck- your dick is so big."

"Yeah baby? Feels good?" He asked, sounding all too pleased with himself.

"F-Feels so good- I want you to fill me up, please?" You stuttered, a pathetic noise leaving your body.

You were desperate for him at this point, reduced to a dumb, messy, whiny slut who just wanted her boyfriend to cum in her pussy.

"Don't worry, I'll give it to you- since you asked so nicely." He obliged, slamming his cock into your pussy like he owned it. "Fill you up nice and full so you can spend the rest of the day thinking about it. Maybe I'll let you suck my cock later if you want more, huh?"

"Y-yes, I want it." You moaned, "I want your cock."

He groaned and his thrusts got sloppier, faster still. He pinched your nipple hard, doing the same to your clit and you came again, clenching hard around him before he followed, the two of you slowing the pace down almost completely. He rocked against you, dragging his cock in and out of you slowly as you felt him cum in you, warmth spreading through your lower belly. Your pussy continued to suck him in, wanting to keep him there for as long as possible before he pulled out and watched his cum drip down your thighs, dragging a finger through it.

He held his hand up to your tongue absentmindedly, trying to resume washing your body with the other as you sucked his cum off of his hand.

"We gotta hurry," He mumbled, trying to speed wash you as if he hadn't just demolished your pussy. You were sensitive and moving slowly, spent from the morning activities. "We've been in here for so long, what a waste of water- why did we do this?"

"Because it's your birthday?" You offered lamely, watching as he turned the water off and lifted you into his arms, carrying you out of the shower.

"You shouldn't encourage me," He tssked, "I let the birthday shit get to my head. Horny or not, one should never waste water."

You rolled your eyes, laughing slightly at Joon's strictness with himself. He set you down on the edge of the vanity and handed you a towel, wrapping one around his waist securely.

"This is your fault for showering, we could've just had morning sex in bed like a normal couple but no- you have to leave me every morning to go to the gym." You pointed out.

"I go to the gym to fuck you better, you should be thanking me." He grunted, leaning against the countertop and kissing you again. "Maybe you could suck my cock before dinner to make it up to me."

"God, the birthday thing did get to your head," You gasped, shaking your head dramatically.

"So no head?" He pouted, an adorably wide eyed look on his face.

"Oh, head for sure." You corrected, nodding eagerly.

It was his birthday, after all.

(A/N: I have created...a monster.)

[lovely-angst]

the first time they meet you

a/n: im trying things out with doing three quick fics with one prompt. lmk how you like it.

genre: fluff

pairing: bakugou x reader, hawks x reader, dabi x reader

summary: the first time he sees/meets you

word count: 1.6k

08.04.21

bakugou - coffee shop

it was a long, long day of patrol for bakugou.

he had so much on his plate that day from staying late the night before to finish some reports and then having to wake up early for his daily patrol—not to mention all of the inconveniences of catching and apprehending some wannabe villains.

thankfully, he was able to get off work by the time the had begun to set. golden hues decorating the evening sky as bakugou walked back towards his apartment.

his feet were sore and ached from being on his toes all day. all bakugou wanted to do was to relax in the comfort and silence of his home.

taking a seat on a short concrete block wall, bakugou pulls the mask up over his eyes to push his bangs back, allowing the subtle breeze to cool him down as he took a small breather from his exhaustion.

he didn't have the energy to do anything.

"dynamight?" a small voice calls out before bakugou turns his head in their direction. you stood a few feet away from him timidly, but a smile on your face as you gently approached the unapproachable male.

"sorry, i'm not doing any autographs or pictures right now," he mumbled out exhaustedly, but to his surprise, you shook your head. "no, i'm not here for that," you say before taking a step back to gesture towards the cafe behind you, "i was wondering if you would like to come in and i can quickly get you something to eat and drink?"

bakugou glanced over at the empty cafe before glancing back at you and back at the cafe.

"it was a shock to see you outside the cafe and you look really exhausted. it's the least i can do for you," you continue, "you don't have to worry about fans, i'm about to close the cafe right now, so no one should be coming,"

bakugou knew that he shouldn't, but he couldn't help himself when his feet ached with every step and the tiredness was beginning to consume his body.

"fine, just this once," he answered, pushing himself up and off the concrete before following you, who beamed with happiness.

as you walked in, you held the door open for the pro hero before you stepped back out to grab the menu board before flipping the sign from 'open' to 'close', letting the door shut behind you.

"would you like some coffee? or do you prefer tea?" you question as you walk behind the counter, preparing a few things for him. bakugou sat down at one of the empty tables, glancing around at the peaceful and aesthetic atmosphere.

"tea," he states, "i'm not a big coffee person," you hum in response, "i'll get you one of our refreshing tea drinks then. i think you'll like it."

it wasn't long before you came back out with a thirst-quenching drink and a nice hearty little sandwich with it.

"i added a sandwich for you filled with healthy and light ingredients so it'll give you the energy to finish your day. i hope the drink is to your liking as well," you explain, listing out the different ingredients, "i'll be here cleaning up while you finish. take your time."

bakugou was very thankful for the sandwich if he was honest—he was starving, having skipped his lunch earlier. taking a bite of the sandwich, he noted the different textures and flavors that mixed well together. ontop of that, the drink was great by itself and even better with the sandwich.

his eyes drifted off towards you, who bobbed your head gently to the quiet background music of the cafe, moving in every which way to finish closing up your shop.

after quickly finishing off his small meal, he brought the dishes back to you and you happily accepted them, declining to accept any payment, "it's on me! you enjoying the meal is more than enough!"

"also, why not try stopping by during one of your early shifts for some coffee? relax and refuel before your long day as a hero?," you suggest with those bright eyes of yours.

bakugou couldn't help the slight lift of the corner of his lips, "i might just have to."

-

hawks - after a mission

hawks had just gotten done with a rather stressful rescue due to the many kids on the site he had to protect. thankfully he had all of his feathers and was able to use them to protect the kids while his sidekicks were busy securing the villain.

"are you kids okay?" hawks questioned as he was able to usher them into a safe corner away from the action. "i'm okay mr.hawks!"

hawks let out a small smile before patting the young child on the head. "where is miss (name)?"

hawks opened his mouth just as a soothing yet worried voice cut through the sirens and the commotion. turning around, hawks laid his eyes on you and his heart skipped a beat.

stepping aside from the kids, you ran over towards the children before kneeling down on their level to give them all hugs, checking them over for any injuries, "oh, i'm so glad you are all safe! i was so worried! are you okay? are you hurt anywhere?"

one of the little girls shook their head before pointing up at hawks, "i'm okay! mr.hawks saved us!"

turning around, you quickly stood up before giving him a very polite bow, "thank you so much, hawks! i am forever grateful!"

"no need to be so formal! i'm just doing my job," he responds with a smile, only for panic to set in when he sees the blood streaming down from your head. "miss! your head is bleeding, we need to get you checked out!"

"oh, i think this is from when I blocked the kids earlier from falling debris. i feel fine," you respond, which makes hawks worry even more.

hawks quickly calls for his sidekicks to stay with the children while he goes to get you checked up on. thankfully, there was a medical team nearby and hawks waited with you as they patched you up.

"again, thank you so much for saving my kids back there. I don't know what i would do if they had gotten hurt. you're an amazing hero." you compliment, sitting on the back of an ambulance as the medic carefully wraps your head to stop the bleeding.

"i could say the same about you," hawks starts, "you didn't hesitate to risk your life for those kids—you're the real hero. "

a shy smile forms on your lips as you look away from the very handsome man in front of you, "well, i love my kids. i'd do anything for them."

hawks couldn't help but admire you.

"i'm (name) by the way," you say, holding a hand out towards the hero. hawks smiles at you, reaching over to give your hand a firm shake.

"hawks. nice to meet you, (name)."

dabi - flower shop

dabi usually hated the rain, but today, he was thankful for it.

he had just escaped from some pro heroes and hid in a small alleyway in a quiet part of town away from any heroes. the cool droplets of water felt refreshing on his burning skin after overusing his quirk. though, he wasn't sure the injuries he sustained would heal quickly with the rain.

hearing a small bell ring, dabi quickly pressed himself up against the wall as he listened for any movement.

"ah it's raining!" a voice called out before their alarmed footsteps ran about, causing the puddles to splash every which way. suddenly, a pail of flowers fell into his view before you quickly bent down to pick them back up.

sensing someone staring, you turned and your eyes were met with his bright blue ones, causing you to squeak and fall back, "y-you scared me!" you cried before picking yourself back up and frowning at your dirtied outfit.

"hey, are you okay?" you asked as you carefully walked toward him. "you're bleeding! let me go get a medical kit," you explained before running around the corner to your flower shop.

but dabi knew better.

you were going to call the heroes on him, you only used that as an excuse to get away. standing up with all of the power he could muster, dabi limped his way down the street as far as he could—away from you.

"hey! where are you going!" you cried as dabi heard more splashes behind him, your small pitter-patters against the puddles.

turning around, dabi's eyes widened as he watched you chase after him in the rain, your hair getting wet with the rain and sticking to your face as you caught up with the male.

"let's hide from the rain over here," you say as you gently help dabi away from the rain before settling him down on a bench. "don't you know who i am?" dabi asked frustratedly, but you just continued to clean and dress his wounds. "sorry, i don't, but i can care less about that right now," you respond to dabi's surprise.

dabi watched as you carefully cleaned him up, watching the raindrops slide down your soft skin.

"that should do it," you say, standing back with a smile. dabi follows your movements, "thanks doll, but i gotta run," he responds, throwing his hood over his head.

"oh, well, stay safe then," you respond as the two of you enter back into the rain. he gives you a playful smile before vanishing from your view.

walking back to your flower shop to finish bringing your flowers back, you thought that would be the last of him. but to your surprise a few days later, tied onto the handle of your shop was a blue rose with a note attached,

'thanks for the other day, doll.

- dabi'

[sirthisisa-wendys]

One Wall Over: Geto Suguru x Fem!Reader

synopsis: you’re new in the neighborhood, but that doesn’t mean you’ll get a warm welcome from your duplex buddy. 

wc: 3k

tw: nsfw, smut, annoying noises at five am, the works 

a/n: ahhhhhhhhh! I am so excited to be taking part in this collab with @suna-reversed reversed for a super sexy jjk collab! Please check out the masterlist for the collab here and the other authors! SO EXCITED TO READ THE OTHERS! (The other title I had for this work is “First of All, How Dare You” because that’s literally me every time I see my hubby Suguru, but anywho!).

Moving in was a bitch. 

For the first time ever, you have no roommates, no parents, and no pets - just you and your meager belongings moving into the little, two-story duplex a friend allowed you to sublet. As you stare out of the window facing the sparse front lawn, you wonder what your neighbor is like. They hadn’t come to welcome you to the home, but you knew they existed by the sound of the bass through your shared wall at five am every morning. 

You assume they’re male or a couple, but you’ve never gotten a chance to see them with your own two eyes.  So you kept a lookout day after day. At exactly four p.m., you would sit across from the window with a book and keep watch, the sun streaming in and illuminating your figure and crossed legs anchored on the window sill. But day after day, you wouldn’t see anything. The neighbor’s car wouldn’t even move an inch from the previous day. Everything would remain the same until the next day when you took your perch by the window. 

It isn’t until you’re out on your front lawn, slaving over the flowers you maintained for a whole month - a new record - that the sleek Range Rover drives up to the garage on your neighbor’s side of the house. At first, you don’t notice it, your eyes firmly planted on the soil at the root of your orchid tree. But then you hear a car door slam, and you look up, watching for the person who would be exiting the vehicle. 

A tall, black haired man slides out of the truck and slams the door shut, his locks tucked into a half bun and a white towel resting around his rippling shoulders. He slides his keys into his gym shorts and turns to walk into the house, barely noticing you on the front lawn in an ill-fitting t-shirt and dirty yoga pants. 

He’s halfway to his front door when you find your voice and yell out, “Hey, neighbor!” You wave your hand at him in hopes that he would return the gesture, but you’re sorely disappointed when he only looks your way with disinterest and walks into the house without speaking. You frown at the encounter, hoping that he would return a little while later and explain his lack of manners, but he doesn’t, and you retreat into the house once more. 

______________________________________________________________________

“Unzzz, unzz, unzzzz…” Both eyes fly open at the sound of the bass on the other side of your bedroom wall, the sudden noise jarring you from your sleep. 

“Ugh…” Your eyes slide to the white numbers on the clock face, which politely remind you that it’s five-fifteen AM. Don’t confront him, don’t confront him. You wrap the pillow around your ears, hoping the gentle cushion would block out the sound. But for some reason, it gets even louder, and a groan escapes your lips. There were only two more hours for you to rest, but at this rate, you’d be up until it was time for you to wake and get ready for work. That just wouldn’t do. 

The grey sweatpants deposited on the floor the night before are quickly jerked on, and you pad to the front door, not caring about your appearance as you walk the length of the porch over to his front door. Inhaling, you find the will to bring your fist up and pound on the door, hoping the sound would be angrier than you actually felt. Fear ate at your nerves while you waited. A few agonizing moments later, the door is yanked open, music floods outside, and your neighbor stands before you in just a pair of black sweatpants. Nothing else. 

“What?” he gripes, sweat rolling down his forehead. As your eyes take in the full sight of him, you wonder what kind of sculpted god you had for a neighbor. You could even faintly see the v that would culminate in the bulge near the crotch area of the pants, which apparently is quite--

“Uh…” You had entirely forgotten what you had come over to his side of the house for, but as he leans on the doorframe and gives you a withering stare, you suddenly remember your complaint. “Your wall is next to my bedroom. Can you turn your music down?” You place a hand on your hip, trying to seem more inconvenienced than you actually were in that moment. 

“Yeah, sure.” He shuts the door in your face, and you trudge back over to your side of the house, hoping the music would soften. 

But for some reason, you swear he turns it up even louder. 

_______________________________________________________________________

“Why don’t you just call the landlord and make a noise complaint?” your friend wonders over the phone, the sound of a frying pan in the background slightly overshadowing her voice.

“But you said you didn’t have any problems with him, Mariela.” 

“Yeah, Geto was nice enough and didn’t bother me much. Not sure why he’s being such an ass now.” You hear an oh, shit on the other end, and Mariela hisses into the receiver, “Hey, y/n, I have to go; the risotto is burning. Call me back if you have any other issues, okay?” 

“Okay.” You hang up and toss your phone on your desk, trying to focus on the words in front of you but failing as the sound of the bass filters through the other side of the wall again. For the fourth day in a row, you’ve been subjected to the sound of pure noise coming through the other side. Tonight was absolutely not the night, mostly because you had a presentation that took you all night to finish, and the clamor was interrupting your prep work for the bright and early eight o’clock meeting. You feel like Squidward, subjecting yourself to the endless noises from the grunting to the bass to the sound of weights clanking back into place. 

It’s the sound of Geto’s groaning that sets you on edge the most. If it weren’t for the added noise of weights, you’d be convinced he was fucking someone. There was no way he could make so much noise and not know that he was disturbing your peace. Hadn’t he ever heard of headphones? 

You snatch up your set of earbuds on your desk, place them in your ears, and try to turn up lofi music as loud as it will go. But that doesn’t work. Even relocating to the living room didn’t seem to fare you well, and you wonder if he truly had cranked up the music higher than before just to annoy the hell out of you. Finally, you toss your earbuds down and slam your computer on your coffee table. 

You’d had enough. 

Stomping over to the front door, you fling it open and bang on Geto’s door, hoping he would answer it in a rage so you could let out your frustrations. But when the door flies open, he’s dressed in only a pair of gym shorts, this time the outline of his dick even more apparent. But you’re not focused on that. You point a finger at him and inhale to begin your tirade; sick and utterly over his shit.

“Hey! Can you fucking turn it down?” Geto stretches out a hand, and for a minute you think he’s going to grab you by the shirt, but he pulls you inside by the wrist, crushing you against his chest. “What the hell?” You push away from his sweaty chest, backing into the closed door harshly. 

“Lower your damn voice; the neighbors will hear,” he chastises, and turns away from you to grab the water bottle on the counter. The muscled man takes a long swig, then wipes his face with the towel right next to it. 

“I don’t know what the fuck your problem is, but I’ve never been so disrespected in my li--” As you talk, he’s advancing on you, pushing back his long black hair back behind his ears and getting too close for comfort. Once he’s right up on you, you gulp hard, fully intimidated by his size and stature. The music suddenly stops, and you’re left in silence. 

“I’m listening,” he mutters, staring down at you. “Please, continue.” 

“I was saying…” your throat dries up. “What I meant was…” Your eyes travel from his chest to his navel, and then to the hand pressed against the doorframe.

“Uh huh…” He nods, squinting his black eyes at you. “You said you’ve ‘never been more disrespected in your’… life, right?” You don’t reply. Rather, you can’t reply. All of the words you could have ever said are now gone from your skull. “I highly doubt that, y/n.” 

“H-how…” 

“You’re Mariela’s friend. I’ve seen you quite a few times before you moved in here. Never thought I’d be living so close to you, though. Mariela’s subletting, isn’t she?” 

All of these questions. And you can’t reply to a single one because he’s practically squeezing you between the door and his rock-hard abs. Or are you pressing yourself against the door to get away from the heat emitting from his body - oh, fuck; you don’t know. 

“But I had to get your attention somehow.” The admission startles you so bad that you accidentally knock the back of your head against the door, touching the point of contact in pain and hissing slightly. Geto hums at your blunder, then pushes off of the wall to turn away from you. As he rotates, you catch a glimpse of his erection, now fully apparent in the atrocity that is his shorts. “The yard work wasn’t effective, the trips to the gym and back barely worked; shit, by now I would’ve thought you would throw yourself at me the first chance you got. I guess I had to make you mad enough to confront me.” 

“You literally looked at me and said nothing the first time I saw you!” you retort, throwing your hands up in the air. “Then you almost bit my head off the first time I came over to tell you the music was too loud.” 

“I didn’t expect you to come over the first time. Besides, I couldn’t figure out anything smooth enough in that short amount of time.” Geto shrugs, his shoulder muscles moving like water in the dim lighting of the living room. You look around at the furnishings, noting his impeccable taste in wood and red suede in conjunction with his minimal exercise equipment. “Coffee? You look like you’ve been up for a while.” He leans over a coffee-maker - one of those fancy ones that you’ve seen on TV - and slides a plain coffee cup into the holder. 

“Uh, no thanks.” You turn to the door and begin to open it, but Geto clicks his tongue thrice. 

“You’re just going to leave without getting what you came for?”

You pause for a moment, then turn back to look him over once. “Don’t you mean what you brought me over here for?” A lazy smile spreads across his face, and that���s when you realize that he’s charming, but not necessarily as suave as you first imagined. You shut the door and walk over to him, examining his physique as if you hadn’t just helped yourself to his tall, statuesque figure already. He allows you to look him over, eyes dedicatedly following you.

“Like what you see, doll?” You don’t get a chance to answer as he pulls you into his chest with a smooth movement, then presses his lips against yours. You instantly open your mouth so he can slide his tongue inside, and he does so without hesitation. Hands grasp at your flimsy night shirt, pulling it over your shoulders as he backs you up against the wall, hiking one leg up and wrapping the other around his waist. 

As both of your hands tangle in hair, fabric, sweat, you wonder how long - just how long - he’s wanted to do this. But your train of thought is rudely interrupted by his lips trailing kiss down your neck and to your collarbone, where he pauses for a second, catching his breath. Fingers dance through his locks and he peers up at you for a second, drinking in your flushed expression and breathy exhales. 

“Geto, please, I--” You’re silenced again by his lips, his thick fingers rolling past the waistband of your night shorts and right to your core, where he nestles them into your heat with ease. 

“Goddamn…” The rumbling of his voice vibrates against your chest, and you gasp, feeling every stroke of his fingers inside of you. “So fucking wet… just for me.” Your vision narrows in on the black eyes watching your every move, the angle of your face, the way you tilt your chin to the side and shakily exhale. Everything is perfect. Maybe even better than he imagined at first. But you don’t know that, and you really don’t care to know. All you want is release and for that release to be at Geto’s hands. When he removes his fingers and hoists you onto the suede couch, your first reaction is to cry out in shock. 

His hands roll your shorts down to your knees and then press your legs open, spreading you for him to examine. 

“You’re a mess down there… perhaps I should help you clean up.” 

“Huh?” The double entendre is completely lost on you in the heat of the moment. You watch as he leans down, then moves to lick your core with a flat tongue, stroking up before he goes down again and repeats his action twice. Your head finds the soft cushion of the pillow in ecstasy, and you let out a breath you didn’t realize you had been holding. 

Geto hums down below, fully appreciating your taste before sucking on your clit, hard. You yelp, shooting up, but his hand presses you back down, eyes still closed. Fingers make their way up to your breasts, tugging at your nipples leisurely before tightening and pulling with more tension. “Oh, god, please…” Your hands find his head, and at the sudden application of pressure, he grunts again. And you’re left there in agonizing pleasure, dangling between an orgasm and a build-up of pressure, one stroke away from tumbling into the cavern of blissful unawareness. 

Geto stops without warning, pulling back to watch you as he still tweaks your nipples with varying degrees of firmness. You tug at his shorts in a silent plea for him to discard them, and he waits a minute before sliding them off wordlessly. His length is impressive, you note, his cock springing free from his shorts and angled upwards a little. A condom is produced just as quickly, and he rolls it over himself before spreading you a little wider to accommodate his length. When he nudges his cock at your slit, you realise he’s a little breathless and shaking, but that all goes to the back of your mind when he slides inside of you with little resistance. 

“Fuck, doll, that’s--” He groans just as you moan, both of you relishing the expanding feeling. “God, that’s perfect.” You whimper at his praise and bring your hands to his shoulders, holding on for dear life as he begins to pump into you. Geto’s lips find your neck and he sucks a hickey on your left side, placing another one neatly below it while his hands cup your ass. 

“Does that feel good?” He whispers and you nod, completely at a loss for words. But soon, it’s not enough, and your fingers dig into his back. He’s fucking you slowly… too slowly. 

“M-more,” you whine, and he delivers his thrusts faster, pumping into you and moaning loudly. Your fingers find his face and angles it towards your raised head so you can kiss him on the lips. He offers you that mercy - a deep, languid kiss - while he plows into you with abandon. Pleasure is the only thing on your minds - you just so happen to have found it in each other’s arms - and your orgasm is just within reach.

“Geto, I’m close…” His response to your words is to lift your left leg a little higher so it practically hung off the couch and in the air, deeping his strokes until they settled against your cervix, like someone tapping a soft rhythm into your stomach. “Shit, like that.” 

“Yeah?” he exhales, looking at your face with a blissed-out expression, his cheeks reddening. You raise your hips to meet his with each thrust, hoping your orgasm would arrive before Geto came. There isn’t much you can do though, besides writhe beneath him and pull him closer to you, thereby making you and him almost inseparable. He’s merely rocking into your hips now, cock barely rolling out of you as before. And you can’t deny that it feels like heaven, not when you’ve been so frustrated for so long. 

“I’m gonna cum,” Geto hisses into your mouth, and you nod, constricting a little to urge him on. What you fail to realize is that the constriction was just what you need to tumble over into the abyss of thoughtlessness, and your mouth opens to let loose a guttural moan as Geto fucks you faster and faster, chasing his own orgasm on the heels of yours. “Oh, shit,” Your neighbor sinks into you one final time, shooting his cum into the condom, but pumping in stuttered strokes as if he were really letting loose inside of you. 

When you both fall from the heights of your sex-induced high, shoulders and heads are draped where there is comfort and space, little exhales from his mouth fanning across your breasts. Geto lifts off of your sweaty chest and looks you in the eyes before breathing: 

“Maybe I should start my days with this instead of a workout.”

[jordyn-degas]

Blast from the past - Final Part

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3]

characters: Megumi Fushiguro x fem!reader

additional: Yuji Itadori; Satoru Gojo; Nobara Kugisaki; mentions of Maki Zenin, Toge Inumaki and Panda

warnings: afab!reader - fem!reader; characters are 21+;fluff; angst; soft smut; unprotected sex;

notes: this is the final chapter, y'all! i made it 🤟 - some emotional stuff are really going on in here; quite detailed this one - now i can go to sleep

word count: 8.256 - i know, i know - it's long because it's the last part

☠️ SOFT NSFW; MINORS DNI! ☠️

Mood 🎧 DUNCAN LAURENCE - Arcade

"I'm afraid of all I am My mind feels like a foreign land Silence ringing inside my head Please, carry me, carry me, carry me home"

Knees painfully digging into the carpet that wasn't feeling as comfortable as it used to, fingers trembling and clawing at the fabric of your jeans, head bowed as tears mercilessly rolled down your puffy cheeks. Jaw clenched together, shoulders spasming with every powerful sob and an aching heart that could not comprehend the unfolding scenario.

You, my dear, have fucked up.

⟷ ⟷ ⟷

After months of brewing and finally letting yourself be deliciously ravaged by Fushiguro Megumi, the honeymoon phase of the relationship began and you found yourself utterly in love with the man. His arms sneaking around your waist every single evening before dinner, you focused on cooking as if lives depended on it, kisses being peppered on the back of your neck, sometimes a tongue flicking playfully the earlobe and you would allow yourself to shiver. The way he would simply smile with affection when you wake up in the morning with messy hair and dried up drool in the corners of your mouth while mumbling how you hate early mornings before Megumi hands you that cup of coffee you so deeply crave. When you come home tired after a long day of handling Gojo's antics, without being pulled into them, and fighting curses, he already has a bath ready for you. He takes away your bag, removes the shoes and pieces of clothing one by one before settling you into the warm water, a tall glass of wine appearing out of nowhere for which he requests a kiss as payment for delivery.

It stirs your emotions deeply seeing the way he is capable of loving you, of caring for you as no one has ever done it before. Those are the moments, when you're alone and Megumi's not there, when you remember Yuji. Oh, the fire, the passion and the desperate love! You want to vomit out of guilt, knowing the man that now stands in the kitchen cooking for you deserves so, so much more.

And then there were the hidden moments in the middle of the night when your eyes would shoot right open without any dreams or nightmares as a warning. You sit up and let your back hit the headboard, fingers lovingly playing through Megumi's hair that was long asleep. There is this sinking feeling into your stomach, heartbeats picking up their pace and tears begin to build mercilessly into your eyes. Bare feet slapping against the wooden floor, cat-like movements out of the room to protect your boyfriend's peaceful sleep, as you walk out on the balcony and unlocking your phone for a quick 2 AM call. One you have been constantly making the past two weeks.

"Again?" Satoru asked with a deep sigh.

"Yes." you replied in a whisper.

"You know what it is, right?" Satoru asked as you could hear shuffling on his end as he got out of the bed.

"No .." you said slightly worried.

"A blast from the past." Satoru replied with a small chuckle.

You did not reply and simply took a deep breath, fear creeping up into your heart at what that meant. Despite the fact that you could connect his words to what was going on in your mind was not enough. You had to hear him say it.

"You did not found the closure that you needed and chose to mend that broken heart through Megumi." Satoru explained. "That healing you hoped to get got muffled by something that happened too early. Now your past with Yuji is catching up. You loved the boy like no other, Y/N. What did you expect? Feelings do not simply vanish into thin air."

"I can't feel this, Gojo." you swallowed hard. "I'm in love with Megumi."

"What?" he asked not expecting it as he thought it was a simple game of 'play house' that went on a bit too far.

"I'm so in love with this man it hurts." you replied with tears streaming down your face relentlessly. "He is what I longed for my entire life."

"Y/N .." Gojo said breathless. "Your heart is breaking and loving at the same time."

"A tale as old as time." you chuckled through tears.

"You have to choose no matter how much it hurts." Gojo replied. "Sounds rather cruel and incorrect but it is the truth. You either rip Yuji away from Kasumi and be with the person you loved so much you left Tokyo because of them. Or .. settle quietly with Megumi, the man that taught you how true love looks like and is supposed to be."

"I know." you sighed shaking your head. "This feels so heavy. I haven't even spent 10 minutes alone with Yuji in the past 5 months and he finds a way to creep back in."

"Blast from the past, lovely." Gojo followed lovingly. "That is how they come and the way they go."

"Thank you, Gojo." you smiled softly.

"I think we're past Gojo now." he laughed and you followed. "Good night, Y/N."

"Good night, Satoru." you whispered before hanging up.

And there you found yourself surrounded by the chilly air of tonight, tears dried up on your face and disgustingly filled with guilt. Satoru was right as always. You jumped into a new relationship before processing and healing the broken love you had for the man across the hallway. Unknowingly, you have subjected Megumi to an unknown inner fight with yourself.

⟷ ⟷ ⟷

Days steadily rolled in before turning into weeks, your calls with Satoru happening every single night at precisely 2 AM when you would wake up in a pool of sweat, arms draped over your, Megumi's nose softly brushing your cheek as he was long asleep and the tears would start flowing. He knew something switched inside of you, no longer smiling every morning, dark circles accentuating under your eyes with each night that was passing, your skin no longer burning under his fingers, coldness and detachment filling up the space that was created between the two of you. Each conversation became shorter as days washed over you, eyes averting his, a certain heaviness piling up on your shoulders, one Megumi could not see but feel. With a deep, rooted pain that became one of his worst fears, he could easily pinpoint where all of this was coming from. It was not about leaving him, nor about losing your feelings as, if there was one thing he was sure of, he could still feel them with every kiss, hug or touch you would sometimes allow yourself to bless him with. It was about the love that dared to shamelessly leave you, hurt you in ways that no one could heal. It was about the person that inched towards you, day by day, getting closer and closer while stepping heavily on the soul and heart Megumi worked so hard to mend. Your entire hollow presence was because of Yuji. That was the advantage of Megumi's usual personality and demeanor, the quietness and always walking in the background, allowed him to have an unmatched observation skill. Yuji's jokes and bubbly personality were nowhere to be found anymore, an uncharacteristically seriousness taking over, always in deep thought, tired and hollow. However, when you two would meet face to face, every bit of color that was lost in tiredness and sadness would rush back into both, wide smiles stretching your lips as if nothing was ever wrong. Certain words of Satoru Gojo were circling into Megumi's mind from time to time.

"Closure, dear Megumi." Satoru shrugged. "They need closure. You got too close too early. But that is what you have always wanted, right?"

"Love?" Megumi whispered wrapping his arms around your shoulders and you jumped up slightly. "Sorry, I did not mean to scare you."

"Don't worry." you replied with small smile as your cheek leaned into his. "I was too caught up in my own mind."

"I have to meet Panda." Megumi said watching how you would chop vegetables with such ease, the blade brushing past your fingers in a skilled manner. "Nobara is coming over, right?"

"Mhm." you nodded. "Will you be late?"

"Hope not." Megumi said softly grabbing your chin in between his fingers and turning it to face him. "I think it is time to have a conversation."

"M-Megumi .." you whispered with your lip trembling.

"Shhhh." Megumi replied stealing a kiss, his lips causing you to let go of the knife and wrap your arms around his neck, melting into him. "It's alright."

Pulling back, palms cupping his cheeks, love and kindness washed over you as his gaze wrapped around yours. Tell him, Y/N. You would urge yourself in the past few weeks without result. The state you were in was not the moment you wanted to be when confessing how much you loved him. Oh, boy! You loved this man so much it was unbearable, the guilt of how you felt at the moment pushing over the edge any feeling you had. I love you. The words whispered inside the mind, Megumi unable to hear them.

⟷ ⟷ ⟷

"Oh, I miss the trips with you and Maki!" you laughed as you refilled the glasses with what was left of the red wine. "Well .. I don't miss the accommodations that had such thin walls .."

"What?" Nobara grinned. "I am not ashamed for loving my fiancé."

"When's the wedding?" you asked pulling your legs up on the couch to sit cross-legged.

"We'll settle on the date in about a week or so." Nobara shrugged as she always wanted play it as if she wasn't too emotional about it which was a lie. "Leave us! How are things with you and Megumi? That man is head over heels."

"Oh, shut up." you blushed. "They are good. Really good."

"Oh, oh .." Nobara squinted, leaning in slightly. "You have a tell."

"Huh?" you frowned confused.

"Every single time, like clockwork, you bite the inside of your cheek whenever a lie leaves your mouth." she raised an eyebrow with a smirk. "What's going on?"

"I- .. well .. it's nothing .." you mumbled swirling the wine in the glass.

"Is it about Yuji?" Nobara asked as her expression turned serious in a split second.

"Are you in my head?!" you aggressively asked. "Get out."

"So that's it." she sighed. "You both have been in a God awful mood for the past two weeks or so."

"What do you mean?" your attention snapping immediately. "Is he alright? Are they alright?"

"THAT! RIGHT THERE!" Nobara jumped pointing her finger at you. "That glimmer of hope in your eyes that him and Kasumi somehow have problems. My God, I know you so well it's borderline painful."

"Fuck." you whispered averting your gaze and focusing on the empty bottle of wine on the table. "It's just .. I'm feeling weird."

"Y/N." Nobara sighed switching seats and moving next to you. "I can't be the only one noticing you and Yuji getting closer again. Maki and Toge saw you three days ago in the park, arm around your shoulders and such."

"W-what?" you shakily asked meeting her gaze. "It's not what you think."

"I know." she smiled softly. "I would never assume anything without hearing it directly from you. However, you came back and never took the time to truly process your feelings for him. Megumi moved in with you almost immediately and you used it to mend yourself. That is not how it works. Now everything is leaking through the cracks and it will collapse."

"It started .." you sighed taking her hand into yours.

And that is how you started telling your best friend about the sleepless nights and the phone calls with Satoru, how everything was rushing back into you, how you missed him and the person you used to be, how your heart clung on those memories that always led to heartbreak, how you could breathe again when Yuji would be next to you and how you never truly had the chance to close the chapter. You also told her how you wanted to take Megumi away, to be just you and him without all of these places that are feeling as if a knife was twisted inside of you, how you have never slept so well the way you sleep when he holds you, how Yuji was that fiery, passionate love that burns bright and dies out quickly, how Megumi is that love that comes in waves that are crashing against the sand of your soul, how he is your 'for the rest of my life'.

"You love him." Nobara whispered with a surprised smile while searching for any bit of dishonesty on your face. "YOU love Fushiguro. YOU are in love with him."

"Why is everyone so surprised?" you scrunched your nose.

"Because .. of .. Yuji .." Nobara said still unable to look away from you. "You loved him with such fire and passion, something I have never witnessed before."

"That's the problem .." you swallowed hard. " .. it never went out. That fire? Is still there to this day. We kept our distance, barely talked and tried to resume our normal lives as if nothing ever happened. With that in mind, I found myself being pulled towards him slowly, day by day, until I cracked."

"The doubts have appeared." she nodded. "What if Yuji is for you? What if Megumi is for you? What if you're missing out on Yuji because you're with Megumi? What if he is the love of your life and you're blocked in this game of play house? What if Megumi is the love of your life and Yuji was your first love? What if?"

"What if?" you whispered squeezing her hand.

"Only this .." Nobara said pushing her finger into the flesh of your chest where the heart was. " .. knows the answer. But first? You have to ask the questions."

"I have to talk to Yuji." you shook your head in disbelief.

"You do." Nobara replied with a sympathetic smile. "That man has to stand in front of you and both have THAT conversation. It's make it or break it."

"Megumi also said he wanted to talk." you said taking a deep breath.

"You love them, Y/N." Nobara chuckled. "I already know how this is going to go but I cannot answer it for you."

"I know myself." you said being pulled into a tight hug. "I will know the moment it happens."

"Exactly." Nobara whispered into your ear. "Choose your happiness. Not theirs."

"I'll call Yuji tomorrow." you swallowed hard tightening your arms around the one best friend that always had your answers as you always had hers.

⟷ ⟷ ⟷

After the conversation you and Nobara had, life seemed a bit easier as you plugged the headphones in and danced away throughout the house, laughing and enjoying every single second as if it was going to disappear. Singing along, you changed into more comfortable clothes and went into the kitchen to start on the dinner. You could not wait for Megumi to come home, to have dinner, talk and tell him how much you love him before you both succumb to the pleasure that had your body shaking every single time for the past 8 months. Eyes darting to the clock, you realized that it was time for Megumi to almost come home and danced your way towards the dining table while holding a table cloth to set on it. Passing past the wall that separated the kitchen from the hallway, you caught a person in the corner of your eyes and immediately jumped, headphones ripped out of your ears as the phone dropped on the floor with a loud thud.

"It's me. It's me." Yuji grinned, arms raised in surrender.

"ITADORI WHAT THE FUCK?" you snapped grabbing the dishcloth that was resting on your shoulder and threw it at him. "I was ready to curse the life out of you."

"Wouldn't that be fitting?" Yuji asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah .." you chuckled lightly. "Isn't Megumi with you?"

"No, he'll be a bit late." Yuji replied scratching the back of his neck. "Panda was not done with him when I left."

"Oh, so? What I can do for you?" you asked resuming to setting the table.

"I want to talk to you." Yuji's tone changed immediately, laced with seriousness and a tad bit of shyness.

"What a coincidence." you chuckled and he looked at you surprised. "I was about to call you tomorrow to have a talk."

His confused gaze amused you a bit as you signaled Yuji to follow you into the kitchen as you had to finish cooking. Brewing him the tea he liked so much, Yuji took a seat on a stool around the kitchen island while you worked on the food.

"You wanted to talk about us as well, right?" Yuji asked, courage coming out of complete nowhere.

"Yes." you replied without hesitation. "I think we can both feel that something has shifted in the past few weeks that needs to be addressed. It's ruining your relationship as much as mine."

"The difference is that you care and I don't." Yuji said and you turned to him surprised at the confession. "Come on, Y/N. What I'm saying now is nothing new. I have locked myself in a relationship I stopped caring about long before you returned out of fear of being lonely."

"It took you a while to realize it." you said pouring yourself a glass of wine.

"Yeah, well .." Yuji coughed slightly. "You have that effect on people."

It was as if all the air was sucked out of your lungs, the light brown of his eyes piercing right through your soul as you both locked yourselves into a staring contest. Leaning against the counter, you gripped the wine glass as his fingers wrapped tightly around the mug, both your minds running various scenarios as to how this was going to go.

"So .. what do you wanted to talk about?" you asked maintaining a firm composure.

"I am going to break up with Kasumi." Yuji said watching your every movement, every single muscle as you tensed. "And, as unfair it might be to Megumi, I want to take you away from all of this and live the life we used to plan."

"Yuji .." you sighed turning around to the boiling pot, your fingers trembling as you turned off the flame under it. "You are about 5 years and 8 months too late."

"Am I?" he asked as you heard the stool grazing against the floorboards, steps getting closer from behind. "I have tried so hard to keep you at arm's length after the last conversation about us. Even more so when I found out that Megumi has finally managed to place his hands on you."

Warm breath fanned against the back of your neck, hairs raising dangerously from the closeness, Yuji's fingers playfully trailing the length of your arm from the fingers and up the shoulder before repeating the movement. Your shoulder blades rolled slightly at the touch, teeth biting on your inner cheek.

"To always watch you from afar, unable to reach for you or .." Yuji said into your ear in a husky tonality, lips brushing slightly the sensitive skin. " .. touch you."

"Y-Yuji .." you breathed, eyes closed as his chest was flushed against your back.

"I broke your heart in ways that I will never forgive myself for." he continued, fingers of the left hand intertwining with yours on the counter. "Who in their right mind would ever leave you? The kindest, loveliest, funniest, sexiest, most beautiful woman I have ever laid my eyes on."

"You're only doing and saying this because Megumi got to me." you said trying to keep yourself steady, his scent completely intoxicating, every single touch sending vibrations throughout your body.

"He wanted you the moment he met you." Yuji said as his teeth softly bit on your earlobe, you clenching your jaw to not let any sounds come out. "We both wanted to have you, to love you, to fuck the life out of you until you'll belong to one of us."

"Fuck." you hissed feeling himself pushing into you, rock hard cock teasing in between your ass cheeks, clothes protecting you from further contact.

With one swift movement, Yuji spun you around and pushed your body on the counter as he settled in between your legs, fingers dipping into the plushy thighs and you cursed yourself for wearing shorts. Instinct kicking in, your arms were draped on his broad shoulders, one wandering up into his hair. You were so mesmerized by this man it was shameful.

"I know you still love me." Yuji said as his fingers caressed your cheek, the other hand pushing you to the edge where you could feel him properly, your back arching slightly at the hard contact. "Your eyes always gave it away, the way you are capable of looking at me, waking me up to reality."

"I loved you so much .." you whispered with half-lidded eyes as the hand on your thigh went up higher, fingers playing right past the material and stopping there. " .. so much I left Tokyo."

"You still want me." Yuji followed nose brushing against yours. "The way your back arched a few seconds ago, the way you're playing with my hair now and the way you're looking at me. Let me make you mine."

"I- I .." you tried to say but chocked up on the words as his fingers traveled more under the shorts reaching the waistband of your panties, one finger latching on to it.

"Let me touch you the way I used to. Let me kiss your body the way I used to. Let me pleasure you the way I used to." Yuji said brushing his lips softly against yours and you shivered. "Let me love you the way I used to."

The way you used to. These words playing on repeat in your mind at an alarming speed that knocked a bit of sense into you, reacting to the dangerous position you got yourself in.

"Yuji." you swallowed placing your palm on his chest and pushing him back enough to have enough eye contact. "I can't do that."

"Why?" Yuji asked slightly surprised of your sudden change in demeanor.

"Because I lo .." you began saying but were abruptly stopped by the figure standing in the living room, words failing to come out.

"Good question, Yuji." Megumi said with an unbreakable expression, absolutely not a single muscle moving, not a single emotions showing, only a pair of such dark eyes that resembled an endless void. "Why, Y/N?"

Mouth agape, trying to inhale an air that was not there, words failing yet again to grace your lips as your wide eyes were trapped in Megumi's. Yuji pulled back slower as if hunted by a panther, arms trembling off your body, back hitting the fridge with magnets falling on the floor, a few breaking at the impact. Your mind disconnected completely from the body, its trembling caused by fear distorting any connections between your synapses. Sweat graced your forehead, trickling down the heated cheeks that now welcomed your painful tears. When you started crying you had absolutely no idea, too lost into Megumi's eyes to feel how all of the pain, fear, anger and sadness triggered them.

"No .." you whispered as he turned his back on you and darted towards the open door. "No!"

Jumping off the counter, one of your legs caved, knee abruptly hitting the floor and splitting the skin open but you could not feel anything anymore. Passing by a shocked Yuji that was clenching and unclenching his fists, you ran, bare feet slapping against the floor before reaching the cold hallway where Megumi was nowhere to be found.

"No." you kept repeating breathless. "No. No."

The thumping of your heart increased as seconds passed by, the coldness of the hallway shooting up through the sole of your feet, melting immediately into the hotness of the fire fear lit inside you. Pulse quickening, heartbeats booming into your ears, eyes erratically moving into the skull while searching for a presence that was no longer there. A pair of strong arms wrapped around you the moment your body failed to support your weight anymore, knees bending to hit the concrete hallway. Without being able to register any single thing, you were pulled inside, the door closing in slow motion before your eyes. He left.

"Y/N." Yuji's voice echoed into your ears as he placed you into an armchair. "Y/N."

"Get out." your hoarse voice ruptured from your throat. "Get the fuck out."

"Y/N .." Yuji whispered with sadness.

There it was. The answer he has been looking for. A dangerous game played by a person he didn't even recognize anymore, leading to ruin the only person he had ever truly loved and the truest best friend he ever had. Yuji looked at you with a sad smile and an aching heart because he finally knew, your words finally registered completely into his mind. I loved you. That is what you said earlier, loved not love, and it was painfully clear as to why. You were irrevocably and undeniably in love with Megumi Fushiguro. The broken pieces of your heart and soul reflecting into those eyes he always dreamed of, tears mercilessly pinching your plump cheeks, lower lip trembling with hurt and want. You LOVE Megumi and no one else.

"P-please .." you pleaded completely broken. "Leave .."

Yuji stood up, took a step back and swallowed the tears that wanted to come out as he did not deserve to cry. Neither did you. With a quiet 'I'm sorry', Yuji walked towards the door, the last image he had being you sliding out of the armchair, knees hitting the floor as the most painful scream he has ever heard erupted from your body. The door closed behind him, back resting against it, sounds of broken things being heard on the other side. He fucked your life up once again.

⟷ ⟷ ⟷

An hour later, cheek flushed against the floor, body curled up in a ball, your tears have somehow managed to stop being replaced by a complete emptiness, a pitch black void filled with darkness tugging at you. When the phone vibrated next to you, Satoru's name appearing brightly, you could barely move your arm to grab it.

"Y-yes?" you answered feeling the tears building up again.

"Lovely, talk to me." Satoru said sweetly, in a way that only he was capable of in order to keep you grounded.

"I'm losing my mind." you cried into the phone. "I'm .. I'm losing .. I lost .."

"You are not." Satoru hushed you, calm, soft voice soothing you. "You are simply in a pain you've been before."

"It-It's no-not the same .." you replied with a hiccup. "This one gripped my heart and squeezed until it broke into millions of pieces, it tore my soul apart."

"Then you finally got the closure and the answer you needed." Satoru said with such kindness it was breaking you apart even more.

"I-I always had it .. I just .." you coughed. "What the hell did I do? What the fuck is so wrong with me that I cannot keep my life together?"

"You are not perfect, lovely." Satoru replied and you swore you could distinguish a smile in that voice. "None of us is. That would be the end of the world."

A muffled chuckle left your body, one Satoru was most proud of out of all the times he had made you laugh or smile. This was his best work. If he managed to make you chuckle when completely broken, then there was hope for everyone in this world.

"If you know about it .." you said trying to push yourself off the floor. " .. it means he is there."

"He is." Satoru replied. "And he is as broken as you are."

"Can I .. can .." you tried asking as the tears overwhelmed you again. "Please, Satoru."

"You can, lovely." Satoru said with a smile. "I'll be waiting."

Before hanging up, you asked of him to not tell Megumi, to let him vent and breathe without the idea of you barging in there. Trembling, shaking, you didn't even realize how cold was outside, finding in yourself the power to run and ignore every pinch the air was inflicting on your skin. Thankfully, Satoru was living only three streets away from you, legs pushing for a faster pace. Reaching the building, you used the spare key he gave you and pushed through the gate, impatiently waiting in the elevator to reach the top floor. You darted through the doors that were in the process of opening and ran up to Satoru's door, fingers wrapping around the doorknob as you started shivering uncontrollably. As if on cue, the door opened before you could do it, Satoru towering over you with no glasses, nothing to cover his eyes and, as much as you did not wanted to, the sight of his bright blue eyes, that ocean which always encapsulated the universe, had you breaking down again. A soft smile curved Satoru's lips, thumbs pushing away the tears off your cheeks before pulling you inside. He quickly took off the bathrobe he was wearing to place it over your body that was shivering without you actually feeling it.

"I'll be in my room." Satoru whispered. "If anything .."

"Thank you." you whispered back placing your palm on his cheek. "For everything."

With a simple nod and a smile, Satoru moved from you field of view that immediately captured Megumi's presence on the leather sofa. Uneven breath slipped past your lips as you watched him: hunched posture, elbows resting on the knees while his hands intertwined under his chin, eyes fixated on the TV screen that was off.

"Megumi .." you whispered taking a step forward, arm stretching out slightly.

No reply. No movement. Not even a single flinch.

Not losing a single second, you made your way towards him, a powerful fear creeping up again, pain twisting your insides as he seemed frozen in time. Not caring at all how humiliating might be in the eyes of others, how you have always been told to never diminish yourself in front of anyone, you walked up to Megumi and dropped to your knees abruptly. The only thing he did was to close his eyes, squeezing them shut as if in pain and you saw it: dried up tears hugging his beautiful face. Knees painfully digging into the carpet that was not feeling as comfortable as it used to, fingers trembling and clawing at the fabric of your jeans, head bowed as tears mercilessly rolled down your puffy cheeks. Jaw clenched together, shoulders spasming with every powerful sob and an aching heart that could not comprehend the unfolding scenario.

You, my dear, have fucked up.

"I will not ask for forgiveness." you began with a deep breath, calming yourself down as much as possible to be able to coherently speak. "I won't because I don't deserve to be offered one. What you have witnessed earlier was the most shameful moments of my life and I will never be able to live it down. I have subjected myself to a moment that I have yearned from the moment I stepped into Tokyo."

"Y/N .." Megumi's hoarse, tired voice spoke.

"No, please, let me say it when I still have the chance." you shook your head. "I have to say something to you that has been building for a while and I cannot leave your life without saying it. The mistake I made was to pull you into my home, into my bed and into my heart when it was too early for me to do so. I have trapped you without a second thought when I knew you were in love with me."

Megumi's eyebrows shot up in surprise at your words and a small smile curved up your lips, chapped and bloody from the biting you did on them.

"I have known since I left." you continued. "It was not hard to realize it because you have always been there taking care of me, protecting me, loving me as I was always supposed to be loved. You have always been my lifeline. When I came back, I clung onto you out of need, out of yearning for someone that could love me, at least once in this life, the way you did. That is how you ended up in my house, in my bed. I don't regret a single second of that decision. I would've never done it any differently because that is how I fell in love with you. The first night we slept together, it was my way of showing it. I was so afraid to say it out loud out of fear of vanishing or destroying it the moment it left my heart. You healed me. You kissed my heart back into loving again when I thought I couldn't. You touched my soul back to life."

"What was the answer to Yuji's question?" Megumi asked as his hands fell from his mouth landing on his knees. "He asked you 'why'."

"Because .." you swallowed hard straightening your back.

Slowly, you pushed your body forward, in between Megumi's legs and he parted them wider to give you space. Heart slamming against your chest, seeing that there was still a small chance, you pushed yourself a bit more until your faces were close enough to brush the noses against each other, palms cupping his face.

"I irrevocably and undeniably love you." you said as a new fresh, wave of tears began falling down your cheeks. "Because I love you so much it breaks me. Because I love you so much it tears my heart apart. Because I love you so much it hurts. Because I can't live my life without you."

Megumi's own tears were now staining your hands, trickling down your wrist and arms towards the elbows, droplets staining his jeans. He was staring into the soul of the woman he has loved his entire life and he could not believe the honesty that was pouring out of you. When he saw you in Yuji's arms, he thought he lost, he thought he loved you for nothing, he thought he mended your heart for nothing. Whenever he told Nobara or Maki that he didn't expected anything from you, much to his shame, he lied through his teeth. Megumi always yearned for you to love him the way he loves you. And tonight, after everything, he finally saw it.

"I will wholeheartedly accept leaving your life." you said as your body started shaking at the thought. "The pain I caused you tonight should never have a daily reminder through me. After everything that you have done for me, I can easily save your heart and leave because you deserve a love that never hurts."

Knowing this was the end, you offered Megumi the most beautiful smile you have ever had in you before pressing your lips against his. One last moment to carry with you wherever life will lead you. One last taste of his sweet lips, the same lips that breathed life back into you. One last touch you can hold forever in your heart. When your lips left his, Megumi sighed as you slowly pulled back and his arm wrapped around your waist to which your breath hitched.

"I forgave you the moment I saw you." Megumi said pulling your body up to straddle him on the sofa. "I knew I will forgive you the moment I left your apartment."

"M-Megumi .." you said breathless not being able to believe what he was saying.

With his arm wrapped around your waist, the other settled at the back of your neck as he pulled you into another kiss, your arms wrapping around his neck. Slow, soft movements encapsulated the kiss, lips melting into each other. Arching your back slightly, Megumi sighed into your mouth offering access to your tongue to play with his. Lost in the motions, he pushed his hips into you and a hiss left you, a smirk gracing his face, loving every single sound he could pull out of you.

"Love me." you whispered against his lips, hips grinding slowly against his hardened member. "Right here, right now."

Megumi pulled back slightly to look at you, your eyes filled with nothing but love as his hands slowly pushed down Satoru's bathrobe off your body, his eyes never leaving yours for a second. Shirts falling on the couch, pants disappearing off your aching bodies, underwear sliding off with ease, Megumi pulled you back on his lap and he could not look away from you, not even to save his life.

"God .." he breathed stunned. "You're the most beautiful woman I've ever laid my eyes on."

A bright, bloody red blush grasped your cheeks, his thumbs wiping away two tears lost under your mesmerizing eyes. Softly, your hands cupped his face, hips raising up as you have been ready for him since the moment you crawled in between his legs and one of his hands found solace on your hip while the other cupped your cheek. You slowly lowered your body on him, eyes never leaving each other's, Megumi entering you, both letting out a gasp feeling each other. When you took him completely, your body shivered and his fingers dug into the flesh of your hips. Megumi let your cheek go and pulled your arm as you wrapped them around his neck, foreheads leaning into each other, loving gazes melting together as you started rolling your hips, his hands gripping your hips tightly. Leaning into his body more, arching your back, you raised your feet slightly, placing the insteps on Megumi's knees to give you enough leverage to move on your own. The moment your pussy began dragging up and down on his cock, your head fell backwards and a soft moan escaped your lips.

"Look at me, love." Megumi said as his fingers pulled your chin easily. "I want to see you."

Lips parted slightly, eyes finding his again, the intensity of the moment washed over the both of your as every single movement was slow, absorbed through every pore that resided on your body, the way you were both capable of fucking each other with your gaze twisting your hearts in motions impossible to forget. With a swift and soft movement, Megumi switched position without pulling out, laying your body on the leather sofa, your legs wrapping around his waist, his palms cupping your face. Your back arched when he buried his cock into you to the hilt, light kisses being placed along your jaw, his movements in and out of you being of such deliciousness that had your mind going blank. Megumi's slow, sensual pace was driving him completely crazy as he could feel you now more than ever. Every single twitch, every single ridge of your gummy walls, every soft or hard clench. The way you arched under him, the way your nails grazed his back, the way you felt all wrapped around him and with the way you looked at him as if he was the light of your life, Megumi fell in love with you once again, harder and deeper than before. Feeling you clenching more with each thrust of his hips, Megumi picked up the pace only slightly, enough to give you both the succulent edge. Pulling him into a deep kiss, in between moans rolling into each other's mouths, your arousal grew in intensity, wetness flowing out of you as it created a squelching noise every single time his cock kissed your pussy.

"I love you so, so .." you breathed chocking on your words the moment you felt his delicious cock brush your cervix. " .. so much!"

Megumi's heart swelled with love hearing the words he has been dreaming of since he could remember, your eyes beaming with pleasure and love. His hand brushed away the hair around your face, sheathing himself into your precious pussy again and again.

"I love you too, baby." Megumi said letting all the anger and disappointment go as he knew he could not live without you. "More than you will ever know."

Clenching at his words, Megumi moaned feeling as you were both closer to each other and to your release. The way you fucked each other tonight could not compare to anything else you have did before, earning to be called the best sex of his life. It was purely done out of love and with love, lust playing such a small role it was insignificant.

"You're perfect for me." Megumi whispered against your lips, slowly moving in and out of you so you can feel every single part of him, to be pleasured with every inch of the skin. "Your heart was made for mine. Your body was made for mine. You were completely and undeniably made for me."

Megumi's words hit perfectly in all parts of your body, inside and out, heart thumping into your ears as you pulled him closer, his palms placed under your hips to lift you a bit more for deeper thrusts. Moans picking up in intensity, goosebumps filling up your body as his cock was hitting that perfect, mind-numbing spot and your pussy clenched tightly around him.

"B-baby, I-.." you tried saying, back arching, nails digging deeper into his back.

"Yes, baby." Megumi said allowing himself to pick up the pace for a bit longer as you both closed in on your releases. "Show me how much you love me."

Letting out a dragged out, high-pitched moan, you came all over Megumi's cock with a pressure and intensity none of you have ever experienced before. Pulling your puffy lips into a deep kiss, his teeth tugged at your lower lip, cock spasming for its own release.

"Inside." you said locking your legs around his waist. "I want all of you."

What would usually turn into a question from him to make sure that she was making the decision with a clear mind was replaced by calmness. Megumi planned on having you for the rest of his life anyway. A few more deep thrusts later, you let out a pleasured sigh along with a guttural moan from Megumi as he let his cum fill you up, wrapping himself around you as you both laid on the sofa.

"What's wrong, love?" Megumi asked wiping away a couple of tears that escaped your eyes.

"That was .." you replied feeling completely full of love, soul and heart crackling under his gaze.

"The best we ever had?" Megumi asked with a chuckle and you nodded. "Yes, I know."

"Don't leave me, please." you pleaded kissing his lips. "You're the love of my life. I am so sorry for everything."

"Where is this coming from?" he asked pulling you into his chest, your lips trailing kisses on his chest. "I'm never letting you go. You're mine. This is for life."

"For life?" a wide smile spread all over your face. "You mean .."

"One day, why not?" Megumi smirked pushing his fingers under your chin so he could meet your lips into a soft kiss. "If you're a good girl."

"I always am." you replied with a wink that had him laughing.

"IF I FIND A SINGLE STAIN ON MY EXPENSIVE LEATHER SOFA, I WILL HAVE YOU PAY FOR A NEW ONE!" Satoru's voice thundered from upstairs and you both jumped up as if electrocuted.

"Fuck!" Megumi muttered grabbing your legs and lifting them up to check if there was anything on the material. "We're good."

"Let's have a bath." you chuckled standing up.

"Right after you, baby." Megumi grinned as a slap landed on your ass cheek to which you let out a laugh.

"FRESH TOWELS, TOP DRAWER!" Satoru followed as you both laughed quietly before closing the door to the bathroom.

3 years later

"Baby, are you home?" you called walking inside the house in which you both have moved not even two months ago, boxes still piled up in the hallway.

"Over here, love!" Megumi replied as his voice came from the garden out back.

Kicking off your heels, you rushed outside while carrying an already opened envelope trying not to laugh. Leaning against the glass door's frame, you watched how Megumi together with Satoru were hunched over a wooden chair, both shirtless and dripping with sweat from the sun mercilessly grazing their skins.

"Weren't Yuji and Toge supposed to help you?" you raised an eyebrow watching them amused as they frowned at an instructions paper.

"Toge was called to Jujutsu High and .." Megumi said practically running up to you and pulling you into a kiss. " .. Yuji is at the hospital with Kikyo."

"What happened?" you asked worried.

"Fake contractions." Megumi sighed. "She has a week left so it's normal."

Yes, after everything that went down three years ago, Yuji and Megumi had a long conversation that ended with them skipping town for a weekend to re-bond their friendship and solve their issues. After that, Yuji went for about 6 months to travel a bit and clear his head, returning with Kikyo, now Kikyo Itadori, one of the most wonderful women you have met in your entire life, the man completely taken with her. She was immediately absorbed into the group as Nobara with Maki gave their approval, as usual, and she became one of your best friends. About you and Yuji? Things have settled peacefully. You both had a much needed conversation that ended with the promise to work on your friendship and slowly rebuild it.

"Instead of standing there like a boss lady, wouldn't you like to help .." Satoru smirked with his hands on the hips. ".. Mrs. Fushiguro?"

"I can't get enough of how that sounds." you swooned while your fingers trailed your husband's abdomen to which he clenched his jaw. "I will help but I have something to tell you both .."

Satoru came closer, both him and Megumi standing before you with a frowned expression while eyeing the envelope in your hand. Pulling out the paper, you handed it to them with a bright blush covering your cheeks. For about a minute they stared with wide eyes at what was written on it, quickly their gazes switching in between you and the paper.

"I'm .. I'm .." Megumi mumbled blushing brightly. "I'm going to be a father?"

"Yes, baby." you replied with a wide smile.

Before you could even react, Megumi's body collided with yours, kisses being placed all over your face, I love you repeatedly rolling off his lips, laughs filling up the backyard as Satoru's sweaty body engulfed the both of you in a tight hug.

"My babies are grown!" he whined hiding his teary eyes into your hair to which you laughed and Megumi sighed. "Congratulations!"

"Satoru?" you asked pulling back with an innocent gaze, arm wrapped around Megumi's waist.

"Yes?" Satoru followed raising an eyebrow.

"What would you say if you would be the godfather of the baby?" you asked as your husband kissed your forehead.

"ME?" Satoru jumped grabbing your shoulders. "YES! GOD SATORU!"

"Not god, godfather." Megumi said pinching the bridge of his nose.

Ignoring you both completely, Satoru ran back to the wooden chair with a new found energy and started assembling it, laughing and talking to himself about the future baby Fushiguro.

"We are actually having two babies." Megumi said flatly eyeing the grown man and shaking his head.

"We have the experience with this one." you laughed hearing Satoru saying how he is going to show the baby the universe in his domain.

Megumi turned you fully to face him, a soft smile coloring his lips, eyes boring into you with so much love it was incredible. Fingers grabbing your chin softly, he pulled at it slightly, lips brushing against each other.

"I love you so much, mama." Megumi said stealing a quick kiss that had you weak in the knees as always, blush pinching your cheeks.

"I love you too, daddy." you whispered against his lips with a smile.

A sudden smirk appeared on his face, eyes darkening with the arousal you were so used to after all these years. His mind was concocting something and you were quite intrigued.

"What?" you asked with a chuckle as his eyes hungrily devoured your body.

"Meet me in the shower in 5 minutes." Megumi said taking a step back and you raised an eyebrow. "I want to hear you call me daddy again."

Cheeks flushed beyond recognition, you leaned against the doorframe again feeling as your legs were about to give up. Megumi let out a colorful laugh seeing you so overwhelmed by his proposition. After all these years, he was still able to make you feel as if it was the first time. Walking inside, you closed the glass door that led to the garden and watched your husband scolding Satoru while your palm rubbed your belly, a melancholic smile gracing your lips. This was your life with the love of your life.

"Y/N Fushiguro." you whispered. "I will never get tired of it."