#oh also the car thing turned out fine. the lady got my insurance and my parents aren't even mad at me which is fascinating. parenting W

[dont-open-dead-inside-25]

i like to think of myself who's relatively normal about holding grudges and the like but. i'm also still incredibly upset about something that happened in... february, i'd wager. especially given that it's relatively minor and i don't think anyone except for me is physically capable of taking seriously

[boldlyvoid]

Amoreena | Chapter Nine

chapter nine

main summary: Heaven is a real place and it's located exactly 14.6 miles away from the FBI, Quantico Headquarters. Off behind a small park, under a fantastical willow tree surrounded by wildflowers, in every colour young minds can imagine.

Don't forget, heaven also comes with angels.

Chapter Warnings: date night!! this is very fluffy, very emotional and extremely horny. edgar allan poe is rolling in his grave at what they did in his enchanted garden

exhibitionism, public sex (no ones there tho), drug mentions at the end (let me know if I should tag anything else!!!!)

word count: 5.4k

from the beginning <3

He spent all of Thursday afternoon with Penelope in Richmond, setting up for his date that night.

Stringing lights on the trees, mowing the grass and trimming the flowers back, the staff ensuring that the museum was in pristine condition for them tonight, it was perfect. The cats were brushed, there were rose petals the fountain and the most beautiful picnic set up in the garden.

Penelope packed their dinner for them, keeping it in the museum fridge for when they finally arrived, it was the only thing Spencer needed to remember.

Y/N: just got home, about to get ready! Can’t wait to see you at 6 ♥︎

Spencer smiled at his phone, about to text her back when Penelope laid a hand on his back, “change into your suit and head back to her, traffic might be bad?”

“Thank you, for everything. You’ve always been my best friend, more of big sister actually,” Spencer pressed his lips together tightly as to not get emotional. “You’re wonderful Penelope, thank you.”

“Awe!” She swooned, wrapping him up in a big hug. “I will always love you, Spencer, you deserve all of this and so, so much more, now go before I cry.”

He laughed, pulling back, hand lingering on her shoulder as he walked into the museum. They let him change in the backroom, it felt incredibly strange to be putting on a suit inside Edgar Allan Poe's house to go pick up his wife. Not too long ago he dreamed about bringing a girlfriend here someday, life was moving too quickly, he needed a breather.

He kept his suit jacket folded and on the passenger seat as he drove home, where he lived with his family. Even just thinking that as he paid attention to the road made him smile. The wind hitting his face, his hair blowing in the breeze, he felt free at last.

He was where he was supposed to be, all roads lead to here.

Travelling up her driveway with a smile on his face as the dust followed him to her doorstep. She was waiting in a red dress on the porch, Amoreena and her nanny eating pizza on the steps as they waited for him.

Stepping out of his car, he straightened his tie and pulled his pants up more, looking at his wife like she was a star plucked from the sky, landing in this Virginia field for him.

She stood then, her satin dress flowing and exposing a leg as she walked down the steps to him, “Is this what you wanted?” She twirled in front of him to show it all off, her hair getting stuck in her lipstick and making her laugh.

“I love you,” is all he can say as she leaning in with a wide grin, surpassing the smile to kiss him gently, using her thumb to get all the lipstick off his bottom lip and chin.

“Love you too, cutie,” she winked, taking his hand and turning back towards Amoreena, “listen to Nanny, remember we love you and we will see you no earlier than 7:30 tomorrow, okay?”

“Yes ma’am!” She saluted, mouth full of pizza.

“And what are the new rules about coming into our bed in the morning?”

“Knock first, wait till you respond, don’t come in unless you say it’s okay,” Amoreena replied, sticking her tongue out at her as she remembered it all.

“Smartie pants,” Y/N smiled at her, “come give us a hug, don’t get pizza on my dress, please.”

Amoreena wiped her sleeve over her mouth before running into her mother's open arms, they shared goodbye kisses before it was Spencer’s turn. She held him so tight it felt wonderful, “goodnight Lovey, I’ll see you tomorrow morning, have the best sleep ever for me?”

“I’ll see you in dreamland,” she replied, kissing his cheek gently before she pulled back.

“Have fun!” Nanny called from the porch as Amoreena skipped back to her.

“We will,” Spencer replied, taking Y/N’s hand and leading her to the passenger side, he opened her door and helped her inside, insuring her dress was inside before closing the door.

Jogging back to his door, he got in and put on his seatbelt. He threw the car in reverse and turned around by the barn, heading down the driveway, not saying a single thing as Y/N stared at him.

“You’re really not going to tell me anything?” She shook her head, licking her lip before biting it as she huffed.

“We’re going to Richmond, Virginia, to read,” he gave her one hint.

“Hmm,” she smiled, “I’m sure you won't tell me the title, so Mr. I can remember every book ever, what’s a random line in it?”

“You’re smart,” he teased her, “but for the brilliant green of the huge leaves that spread from their summits in long, tremulous lines, dallying with the Zephyrs—”

“We’re going to the Edgar Allan Poe Museum!” She cut him off with a cheer.

He slows down on the barren dirt road, mouth wide open as she got it right, he turns to her as they come to a complete stop, “how the heck did you get that?”

“Yes!” she laughed, tossing her head back as she clapped and kicked her feet a little, so proud of herself, “I’m a librarian, Spencer! Did you think I wouldn’t know Eleonora?”

“That’s the most random sentence in the whole poem?” Spencer was shocked, she recalled it faster than he thought he would be able to if she read a line to him.

“My brother’s first motorcycle was a Zephyr,” she smiled at him, raising her eyebrows. “My brain is kinda like a filing cabinet, if you give me a word I can remember everything I’ve ever heard with that word included.”

He started to drive again, shaking his head as he paid attention to the road but still astounded by how amazing she is. “Amoreena gets that from you then, she could have both our eidetic memories together, that would be very interesting to see.”

“Eidetic memory?” She questioned.

“It’s what most people call photographic memory,” Spencer explained. “You can remember everything you hear which is why you and Amoreena are able to recall songs, books and movie facts so fast, while I can read back to you anything I’ve read without having to see it again, it’s forever in my mind.”

“So we’re both geniuses, cool,” Y/N smiled at him again, “sorry I ruined your surprise.”

“You just know where we’re going,” he reminded her, laying his hand on hers, interlocking their fingers as he drove.

They had an hour alone before the real date started.

So she showed him all of her favourite songs, including some of Amoreena’s playlists so he could get familiar with them before their trip to Rhode Island. Her voice was impeccable, she knew all the words and harmonies, often opting to cove background voices he wouldn’t have even known were there if it wasn’t for her.

She loved music in a way that intrigued him, she enjoyed music with a story. Much like the reason she loved books so much, she enjoyed picturing the happy places in her mind that the songs were able to take her to, they filled her with glee and hope as she sang to her heart's content. Taking short breaks to explain the meanings of songs, to recite the best lyrics and why the songs are close to her heart.

“Do you want to hear the song that reminds me the most of you?” She asked between songs, pausing so that nothing else would start.

“Sure,” he blushed, nervous for what it could be and how she imagined him in her mind, hoping he could live up to it.

“I'm perfectly fine I live on my own, I made up on my mind, I'm better off bein' alone. We met a few weeks ago, now you try on callin' me, baby, like tryin' on clothes,”

She stares at him with a beautiful smile as she waits to see his reaction to the opening, finally singing when the beat drops, dancing softly in her seat as she belted the words out to him.

“So prove to me I'm your American Queen, and you move to me like I'm a Motown beat, and we rule the kingdom inside my room,” She brushed her hand across his jaw, teasing him as the words flow from her lips to his ears, she loves him and he can feel it with every syllable.

“And all at once, you are the one I have been waiting for, King of my heart, body and soul, ooh whoa! And all at once, you are all I want, I'll never let you go King of my heart, body and soul, ooh whoa,” she sings so softly, with a purpose, turning it down a little so that he can talk to her.

“I love you,” he reminded her, “so much it hurts sometimes.”

“It’s like your heartstrings are tugging on each other, right?” She agreed, “like they want to jump out of our chests and run to each other.”

He nodded with a soft smile, reaching for her hand again holding it as he brought it to his mouth for a kiss, “queen of my heart.”

“Hmmm,” she thought over his words, “I’m pretty content with being princess still, Lady Amoreena is in line for the thrown, it’s part of her namesake after all.”

“Does the kingdom have a name?”

“You know the Elton John song Goodbye Yellow Brick Road?” She waited for his nod, “my grandma called it Ozellous so it’s like wizard of Oz but I added the 'ellous' because people always said they were jealous of our farm.”

He’s trying his best to keep his eyes on the road when all he want’s to do is look at her smile, to see her pupil change as she recalls the loving memory, it’s his favourite thing to do. Better than any movie or play, seeing her face was better than looking at the most expensive art piece. He was so in love with all of her.

“Were you like Amoreena as a kid?”

“Oh yeah,” she laughed, “bullied hardcore for it too, kids always told me to shut up cause I’d add facts to conversations I wasn’t a part of.”

“I would have loved to listen,” Spencer replied softly, knowing the feeling all too well.

They were only a few minutes away now, turning into the small town and passing quaint little homes and cottages. “Amoreena would love this drive, these are some interesting townspeople homes for her imagination, we should come back sometime this summer.”

His heart was going to actually explode, she was everything he never knew he needed.

“I’d love that,” he added as they pulled into the museum. “I’m a museum member and I’m a patron, so sometimes I donate rare pieces I find, they love me here.”

Her mouth opened to speak, but her eyes got caught on the twinkling lights in the distance, mesmerized by everything. Old cobblestone streets, brick buildings and wooden gates, it was straight out of the 1800s and absolutely fantastical.

“And it’s all ours for the night,” he put the car in park and turned to her, “wait here?”

She nodded, speechless as she continued to look out the window at everything. Spencer got out of the car, opening the back seat to grab and put on his jacket, straighten out his suit before opening her door and extending a hand to help her out.

“Princess,” he extended his arm for her to tuck her own under, he closed her door and escorted her through the gate and towards the garden.

The sun was just starting to set, 7 pm in early June being the most beautiful time of year in rural Virginia, the sky was a perfect purple as he leads her through the stone arches towards the picnic.

Her eyes sparkled with all the lights, wide and pupils blown as she took it all in. It was a fairytale, she was in a princess dress, he was the king of her heart and this was just the beginning of happily ever after.

“Spencer, whatever your middle name is, Reid,” she gasped, swatting his arm lightly with a smile growing on her face.

“It’s Walter,” he smiled right back.

He let go of her hand then and walked over to a table, turning on the record player and dropping the needle in the right spot. He did his research into some Taylor Swift songs, finding one that reminded him the most of Y/N and how much he loved her.

“May I have this dance?” He asks as she notices the all too familiar guitar strumming.

He reaches a hand out for her, pulling her in as she takes it, “I was so so lost before I found you in the park,” he explains the first verse, barely a whisper beside her ear as they start to sway.

There I was again tonight forcing laughter, faking smiles Same old tired, lonely place Walls of insincerity Shifting eyes and vacancy, vanished when I saw your face

“All I can say is it was enchanting to meet you,” he whispers once more, feeling the goosebumps bursting on her bare arms.

He spun her around, extending both their arms as she twirled out and then back into his embrace again with a giggle. She swayed back and forth, dancing with him like the night they got married in her field.

Your eyes whispered "have we met?" Across the room your silhouette starts to make it's way to me The playful conversation starts Counter all your quick remarks, like passing notes in secrecy

“And it was enchanting to meet you, All I can say is I was enchanted to meet you,” he sings them this time, spinning her out again as the chorus hits, her eyes widening as she began to smile wider than he’s ever seen before.

They sang the words together as they danced, smiling and laughing as they moved around the cobblestone. Finding a rhythm so perfect, so them, it was silly and not on beat in the slightest, mostly spinning, it was a spinning song if the album cover was any indication.

This night is sparkling, don't you let it go I'm wonderstruck, blushing all the way home I'll spend forever wondering if you knew I was enchanted to meet you!

“The lingering question kept me up, Two a.m., who do you love? I wonder till I'm wide awake! Now I'm pacing back and forth, wishing you were at my door, I'd open up and you would say, hey! It was enchanting to meet you, all I know is I was enchanted to meet you,” Y/N’s voice softer than ever as she sang her anxieties into his ear, remembering the day at the museum where she wondered if she could have him all to herself.

This night is sparkling, don't you let it go I'm wonderstruck, blushing all the way home I'll spend forever wondering if you knew This night is flawless, don't you let it go I'm wonderstruck, dancing around all alone I'll spend forever wondering if you knew I was enchanted to meet you

Spinning around in circles she leaves his grasp, dress circling in the wind and he watches her. She takes both his hands and spins around with him in a tight circle before pulling back in, their chests bumping as they laughed, happier than he’s ever been in his entire life, and she’s made him pretty happy in the last few weeks.

The girl of his dreams, dancing around him with a smile like she was making her own music video. This was a dream of hers he didn’t know, making it come true as it became a dream of his own.

He places his hands on her cheeks as he stares into her eyes, “this is me praying that this was the very first page, not where the storyline ends. My thoughts will echo your name until I see you again. These are the words I held back, as I was leaving too soon, I was enchanted to meet you,” he whisper’s the words, barely singing, more talking.

“Please don't be in love with someone else. Please don't have somebody waiting on you. Please don't be in love with someone else. Please don't have somebody waiting on you,” she sings right back to him, staring into his eyes as they stand still in the garden.

She pulls him into a kiss, breathing in deeply through her nose as they hold each other’s cheeks, unable to get closer as they kissed. Pulling away with a loud smooch sound, smiling before taking her hands in his, once more.

Spinning her around again as the beat drops once more, her smile more beautiful than the first time he saw it. He was so madly in love, he firmly believed he was in heaven.

This night is sparkling, don't you let it go I'm wonderstruck, blushing all the way home I'll spend forever wondering if you knew!!

This night is flawless, don't you let it go I'm wonderstruck, dancing around all alone I'll spend forever wondering if you knew I was enchanted to meet you!

Please don't be in love with someone else Please don't have somebody waiting on you

“Now go stand in the corner and think about what you did,” Taylor Swift's voice cuts into the beautiful moment as her songs change and the mood drastically changes.

Y/N bursts out in laughter, jumping lightly as she enjoyed the song, head-banging along as she danced by herself until Spencer turned the music off once again, “you’re so cute.”

“Thank you,” she bowed, “this is cute!”

“There’s a picnic basket in the fridge inside, and some wine if you think that’s a good idea?” Pointing towards the main house, she followed him towards the door.

“Oh, hello?” Her voice changed as she noticed the two black cats on the window, letting Spencer head inside for the basket as she talked to them.

“That’s Edgar and Pluto, the groundskeeper found them in the shed in 2012,” Spencer explains as he comes back out, basket in hand but she’s too busy with the cats to notice.

Petting both their faces, they stretch into her reach and bask in the feeling of her nails on their skin, Spencer would agree it felt nice. He loved the feeling of her hands in his hair, he must have been a cat in his last life.

“Amoreena wants her own indoor cat,” Y/N smiled wide at him, “she always wanted to call him Hercules like the Elton John song, almost like she knew you were her dad all along.”

She took his free hand then, following him towards the blanket in the grass, “how?”

“There’s a line in the song about Greek gods, but it says Hercules on her side and Diana in her eyes, and she does have your mom's eyes, right down to the colour of her iris,” Y/N looked at him like he was everything to her.

Spencer couldn’t speak, he just set the basket on the ground and ushered her to sit down beside him. She held the skirt of her dress up so she could sit crisscross applesauce on the blanket, draping her dress over her legs so she didn’t show anything off just yet.

“Every time I look at you I understand all her quirks and her facial expressions,” she added like she was trying to make him cry, “I’ve been looking at her for almost 8 years now, wondering who you were and now I know, and you’re so much better than I ever imagined.”

“Would you have looked for me when she turned 18?” Is all he can ask through his sniffles, trying to hold it together for her.

She nodded, “I was going to tell her soon anyway, she asks a lot of questions I’m not sure if you noticed.” Her giggle was priceless, “she had lots of questions when the goats were born this year and that meant her asking more about making human babies and I just said a special man helped me make my dreams come true, and she thought it was Rumpelstiltskin.”

Spencer couldn’t fight the laugh that erupted from him, leaning forward as he chuckled, making her laugh too. “Does she even know the whole story?”

“She’s only seen the 4th Shrek movie with him, she has no idea that he also takes the babies,” Y/N placed her hand on his knee gently, “If I get pregnant again, I’m going to tell her about how it all works as simply as possible, I want her to feel included in this and she’ll be less jealous if she sees this as a learning opportunity.”

“That’s a good idea,” he agreed, “I still can't believe she almost punched Michael for hugging me.”

“Oh, I can,” Y/N laughed again, “she was being bullied last year by an older kid and I said if someone upsets you or hurts you, sometimes it’s not that bad to hurt them back. Make them know you’re not weak and you care about yourself, and she gave a kid a black eye for tugging on her braid.”

Spencer couldn’t stop smiling, “that’s my girl.”

Y/N opened the picnic basket then, taking everything out with a smile as Spencer stared at her, thinking a million different thoughts about future kids, how Amoreena would grow up, seeing her as a big sister to hopefully many.

They both leaned forward and kissed softly, smiling as they pulled back, “so you like charcuterie?”

She laughed, “Amoreena called it shark coochie once, I can’t not think of that now.”

“How many kids do you want?”

“Have you ever read cheaper by the dozen?” She teased him. “As many as I can have, I have the funds thanks to my job and the farm and not having to pay a mortgage, I was going to have another baby next year anyway, I had an appointment and everything scheduled, I even tried to get them to contact Amoreena’s father for another sample but they said they couldn’t ask you outright for me.”

“They asked me if I wanted to give another sample when I asked if I could know my kids,” Spencer remembered the words exactly, “she said ‘You have four offspring so far, none of the other samples used have produced a child, the women were all IVF as well so it wasn’t your swimmer's fault if you wanted to donate again.’”

“I don’t want to know the truth, are you okay if we let her decide if she wants to find out at 18?” Y/N asked softly, “I’m content thinking you’re her father, I don’t want to know if it’s some other tall who-lookin’ genius, okay?”

“That’s perfect actually,” Spencer agreed, “and on the kids front, you don’t mind me being in my 70s when they all start going to University?”

“My dad is 68 with no signs of stopping, and he’s still fantastic with his grandkids,” Y/N always had a fact to combat his anxiety. “You have a lot of life left in you, I’ll take good care of you so that they have the best dad ever for as long as possible.”

Spencer was so in love with his family he felt like he was floating, laughing and smiling all meal long as they shared facts back and forth about their lives. Getting to know each other more and more as the seconds passed, he imagined it would be like this forever. She was like a bottomless pit of information, facts, stories and secrets. He loved every single one she shared with him.

She poured herself a second small glass of wine, “you know they say that one glass of wine every once in a while is actually good for the baby?”

“It doesn’t work that fast,” he reminded her, more like he reminded himself. He didn’t want to hope in the chance it didn’t happen right away.

“I had a nightmare last night for the first time in a long time, so I think it worked,” she teased him. “I won't know till June 10th, that's when my next period would be.”

“Nightmare?” It was the only part he picked up on, worried for her and wondering why she didn’t wake him up.

She nodded softly, “I found out I was pregnant and you never came home, and I got lost in the forest looking for you and then I remembered I could wake up.”

He rests his hand on her knee, rubbing his thumb against her bare skin softly, “I’m always coming home to you.”

“I know, when I got pregnant with Amoreena I had bad dreams in the first few weeks too, mostly about giving birth to nothing and being alone all over again, the subconscious and pregnancy hormones are mean as fuck when they hang out,” she laughed away the pain, “I know none of it is real.”

“Good,” he whispered, not knowing what really to say, he wasn’t used to soothing other people yet. Most people didn’t want his facts or concernment when something happened, just a hug normally.

She took a deep breath, pushing everything away, “good news, either my anxiety disorder is back in full swing or something’s working in here,” she laid her hand over her stomach, “either way, I’d like to try again tonight?”

He laughed, “we don’t need to make a baby every time you want to have sex?”

She got onto her knees then, crawling over the blanket and sitting right in Spencer's lap with her hands on both of his cheeks, “I want all your babies.”

He held her waist, pulling her in closer to his chest, “right now?”

She nodded, moving her dress out of the way to undo his belt, “no one is here right? It’s not like anyone would know?”

“Mhmm,” he agreed, kissing her neck as she unzipped his pants, moving his underwear out of the way just enough to free his hardening cock, she stroked it right there in the middle of the garden, staring down between their bodies in awe as he came to life.

Sitting up on her knees more, the slit of her dress made it a lot easier for her to show him her underwear. She was wearing just a thong, perfect for pulling to the side as she lowered herself onto him, ever so slowly.

She fixed her dress around them, completely calm and composed as he was fully inside of her, “you’re okay with this?”

He huffed a laugh out of his nose, dropping his forehead to her shoulder so he couldn’t buck into her and ruin the moment she was making, his hands moving to her hips, guiding her back and off him slightly before back down again, making her gasp.

“I thought you wanted to read?” She teased him as she started to ride him more, moving her hips in a way that took him in and out of her at just the right angle, her hands on his shoulders as she bounced on him lightly, he couldn’t even think straight. “Go on, read to me.”

He took a second to remember the words, mind totally somewhere else and not interested in a book at all when her boobs were right in his face.

“I am come of a race noted for vigor of fancy and ardor of passion,” the first sentence slipped past his lips as she kept going, he took a moment to kiss right under her ear before continuing.

“Men have called me mad; but the question is not yet settled, whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence—whether much that is glorious—whether all that is profound—does not spring from disease of thought—from moods of mind exalted at the expense of the general intellect.”

“Shit,” she moaned, pushing his hand down towards her clit, “you can multitask, smartie pants.”

His thumb was on a mission then, rubbing small circles against her pleasure point, she tossed her head back with her eyes closed as she continued to ride him, “I don’t hear you reading?”

He moaned softly in her ear at the feeling, and the fact she wanted to get off to hearing him recite something from memory, it was more euphoric than he could have ever imagined.

“They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night. In their gray visions they obtain glimpses of eternity, and thrill, in ah- awakening, fuck,” he was trying his best to stay as composed as she was when he really just wanted to lay her against the blanket and fuck her into next week.

“to find that they have been upon the verge of the great secret,” Y/N whispered the end of the sentence, grinding down on him harder than before.

“In snatches, they learn something of the wisdom which is of good,” she whispered into his ear, biting his earlobe softly with a moan and he kept rubbing her clit, “you’re so good, Spencer, so so good," she paused to enjoy the moment before whispering in his ear once more, "And more of the mere knowledge which is of evil. They penetrate, however, rudderless or compass-less into the vast ocean of the "light ineffable," and again, like the adventures of the Nubian geographer, "agressi sunt mare tenebrarum, quid in eo esset exploraturi.”

Her words softer than ever and they were never going to get to the end of this poem, he'd never know how the rest of the words sound on her tongue, she pulled him into a kiss then, moaning into his mouth as they ground against each other, finding a perfect rhythm to bring them to the end.

“There, yes, fuck,” she whispered against his lips, pushing against him as she arched her back slightly, slipping away from his mouth as she did so.

He slammed into her then as he chased her lips, making her whimper one last time before she was shaking in his lap, her legs quivering as she finished on him, sending him over the edge and stilling as he came with a shudder. He held her so close, both of them breathing into each other's mouths as they came down, kissing and smiling as they stayed connected.

“We’ll name her Eleonora,” Y/N teased, pulling off him and laying back against the blanket.

He made sure her underwear was back in the right spot before covering her with her dress again and sliding himself back into his underwear.

“Amoreena and Eleonora have a good ring to it, we just need 10 more names,” he teased right back.

“Hopefully we have a little boy one day too,” she smiled as she tugged him down beside her, cuddling into her side as they stared up at the newly dark blue sky and the array of stars that decided to join them this evening.

“Even if it’s just Amoreena, I’ve never been happier in my whole life than when I’m with you,” he whispered. “Thank you.”

“For what?” She asked, purely to keep hearing his voice.

“Making me want to get up in the morning again, giving me a reason not to buy drugs for something euphoric to happen to me, showing me real love and proof that happiness is possible if you just chose to be happy,” he gave example after example.

“I thought I learned everything the world had to offer, but you’ve been showing me new little life hacks that make the world so much better, I see a future of bright colours and happiness and laughter for the first time ever, so thank you.”

She held him closer, “it’s been a pleasure falling in love with you, together, you deserve to love yourself. You’re so wonderful Spencer, it breaks my heart to know that anyone has ever made you feel the opposite.”

He couldn’t speak anymore, turning to kiss her neck and cheek so he had something to do that wasn’t crying. He loved her so incredibly deeply that he felt like he was an anchor, dropping to the bottom of her deepest ocean, without a single plan to leave.

tag list: @shemarmooresfedora @spencers-dria @spookyspence @reidsfish @manuosorioh @mochionly @samuel-de-champagne-problems @jswessie187

[scoopsgf]

can i get a good night’s sleep? can i PLEASE get a good night’s sleep?!

or: five times peter parker doesn’t sleep + the one time he does

my contribution to the @friendly-neighborhood-exchange! this is for @snarky-drabbles - I hope you enjoy it! 

1. 

The first time is actually just the first in a while. Peter’s had problems sleeping ever since he was a little kid; it was just one issue of many that stacked up on top of each other, resulting in his personal belief that he must be the most difficult kid to look after on the planet.

Asthma meant hundreds of dollars spent on inhalers, covering what their shitty insurance didn’t. His poor eyesight was the same story and the bullies that used to break his glasses had never helped. But it wasn’t just physical crap, of course: he’s had anxiety for as long as he can remember.

There are cute side-effects like panic attacks and nausea, not to mention the constant sense of impending doom he’s been nursing since… well, birth, probably. When he was younger he’d worry about whether or not the taxi driver had enough gas in his car to get them where they needed to go, or maybe Ben would get shot at work (ironically enough, he’d never worried that Ben would get shot off-duty, and there is a teeny superstitious sliver of him that believes maybe if he had considered the possibility it never would have happened, like some kind of a reverse jinx or something).

One of the other cute things that comes along with it is insomnia.

So here he is, pacing in his kitchen at three in the morning because May isn’t home yet.

Her shift ended at two. She’s usually back within a half hour considering the hospital isn’t far, hence his agitation.

He’s tried calling and texting to no avail, and he keeps telling himself that everything is fine, that she probably just got held up; meanwhile his subconscious provides a great slideshow of mental images that speak to the opposite—her getting kidnapped because somehow someone links her to Spider-Man, her getting hit with a car, mugged, shot, slipping on black ice—and that’s actually not far-fetched considering it’s January, there’s a lot of it, and so he pulls out his phone and types, You didn’t slip on black ice and die did you? to May.

No little dots appear to signify that she’s typing. The message doesn’t even change from ‘delivered’ to ‘read’.

She has her read receipts on. She’s promised him. There’s no reason she’d change that, right? But maybe she accidentally switched them off when she was scrolling through her settings.

He calls her.

“Hi, this is May Parker, I’m unavailable at the moment but if you leave me a message I’ll get back to you as soon as—”

Peter hangs up with a dissatisfied grunt.

It’s only then that he realises, to his great dismay, that he’s paced all the way onto the ceiling.

In his shock he loses concentration and falls. “Ow, fuck.” He pulls his aching knee to his chest. It’ll no doubt be bruised soon. “God has forsaken me.”

He picks up his now cracked phone and texts Ned:

I just fell off the ceiling at 3 AM in the morning

Don’t ask me what I was doing on it

Every bone in my body is broken :(

No reply comes which is pretty typical; Ned probably passed out in front of his PC like, hours ago. Peter can picture it: the light of his computer screen casting a blue glow over everything in the room, his head probably tucked into his arms to muffle his snores (and there’s also probably a bowl of stale popcorn spilled across his floor at this point), his creepy mother lurking in the doorway—or worse, trying to find out how to snoop through his laptop while he’s out of it.

Peter could totally go swing down there and help the guy out. It would be something to do anyway.

But no. The door is too far. His suit… too much work. It’s definitely better to just stay here curled up under the table like a little turtle.

But wait—a blanket.

Is it worth the effort? Probably. Peter scans his immediate surroundings and, oh boy, Lady Fate is actually on his side tonight because there’s a gigantic purple fluffy one hanging off the couch and it only takes a little bit of physical exertion to yank it down and wrap it around his body.

He burrows deeper into it and scrolls through Instagram. MJ posted a picture of a banana today. Literally like, just a banana. No caption, no explanation on her story, nothing.

Peter double taps it and comments: i hope u asked before u took his jacket

No like. No reply. That makes sense. It is three in the fucking morning, after all.

No. Three thirty. It’s been an hour and a half.

What had May said once? That it was okay to call someone if she was two hours late?

Peter tries texting and calling one more time and then just sits there, staring at his home screen and watching the minutes pass. At exactly four AM after much deliberation and stomach churning, he calls someone else.

Three rings later: “I’m in Vienna right now so this better be good.”

Peter feels even more nauseous than before. “Oh,” he says. “I guess—never mind, then. Sorry.”

“Wait, wait, that was just for show and I’m greatly intrigued as to why you’re calling me so… early? Late? Anyway I’m out of the conference room now so lay it on me.”

Against his will, Peter’s lip quirks up. “Um, it’s kind of stupid—”

“Nothing is ever stupid,” Tony says. “Especially when it’s coming from the brain of a kid with an intelligence quotient of 260.”

He feels his cheeks heat up and then it all just comes tumbling out, “It’s really late and May was supposed to be off at two and home by two-thirty, but she’s not and I don’t know what to do. I tried calling and texting but she’s not replying and I know that I’m probably just building it up in my head but I can’t help freaking out because like, what if she got stabbed or slipped on black ice or—”

“Hey Pete?”

“Yeah?”

“Breathe.”

Tony’s voice has softened immeasurably. Something uncoils in Peter’s stomach. He flops onto his side and closes his eyes. “I’m breathing.”

“That’s good, kiddo. Now just hang on a sec, I’m gonna call the hospital.”

“What? Why?”

“Well she works there, right?”

“...Yeah.”

“And you haven’t tried calling them yet, correct?”

“...Correct.”

“Ergo,” Tony says.

“But I—”

“Yeah?”

Peter bites his lip and then he just blurts it: “I don’t want you to hang up.”

He feels like such a child but the thought of losing connection with Tony is literally making his heart palpitate and his palms sweat. He needs someone. He needs an adult.

“Well lucky for us both I have two phones.”

Peter cracks an eye. “You what?”

“I’m Tony Stark, don’t question it. Hang on, let me just—hello, hi, um, I need this room. No, it can’t wait. Yes the whole room. Yes locked. I don’t know, five minutes? Ten? An hour? No, I’m not joking. Thank you. Thanks. Yeah. Okay. Bye now.” Something slams shut—the door to the office Tony just stole, probably. “Okay, just a sec, I have the number for the reception desk she works at in my phone.”

Peter, for some reason, feels immeasurably comforted by that. He sits in silence gnawing on his lip while Tony has a somewhat muffled conversation he can’t hear the other side of. Then, “You still there?”

“Yeah, I’m here.”

“Okay, well, they said she’s covering for someone and can’t get to the phone because a baby had to have emergency surgery so she’s literally in the OR as we speak. Pretty badass and not bad as far as excuses go. Now that you know she’s fine and not dead by ice, how about you get some shut-eye, okay kid?”

Peter swallows. “Yeah. Okay. Thank you, Tony.”

“No Mr. Stark this time, huh?”

“It’s too late for formalities.”

“I see,” Tony replies. “Sleep, okay?”

“Okay.”

The line goes dead. Peter, slightly relieved but not fully consoled, rolls over to face the door. He doesn’t sleep at all that night and is still there when May comes home at six in the morning with bagels and apologies.

—

2. 

The anniversary of Ben’s death is always super weird.

This time it takes him a few minutes to remember what day it is: he’s in the middle of brushing his teeth and then it hits him like a train: oh, it’s been three years.

Then comes May. She usually tries to cook something for breakfast but like always it burns. He leaves the bathroom to the sound of the smoke alarm and fans a cookie sheet at the screeching little device while she swears up and down in Italian.

“It’s okay, May, really—”

“No, it’s not!” She snaps, tossing a batch of blackened cinnamon rolls into the trash. “I just want this day to be easy for you!”

Peter goes over to her and, after kicking the oven door shut with his foot, pulls her into his arms. May starts to cry even though she tries not to; sniffles turn into barely stifled sobs. He knows that it’s harder for her than it is for him. Ben was her husband and they’d been married for thirteen years when he died. Sometimes he still catches her looking to see if he’s laughing too when they watch TV, only to find an empty recliner.

“It’s okay for it to be a bad day,” he whispers. “You know that, right? I mean, I love you to pieces, May, but I don’t wanna see you bending over backwards for me.”

“But that’s my job, doofus.”

Peter pulls back. He’s an inch taller than her now. “No it’s not. We take care of each other, okay?”

Then comes school. Ned usually hovers nervously like an agitated gnat, too afraid to say anything, not sure if he should act normal or be sad in solidarity, which means it’s kind of Peter’s job to set the tone. As he’s putting his combination in for his locker he asks, “So did you beat that level of Obra Dinn last night?”

Ned, shoulders slumping with relief, starts to ramble on about how hard it was to do and how it took him like, thirty whole tries.

They go to class. Peter zones out. He doesn’t bother making more web fluid or ditching and he gets so inside his own head that Coach Wilson compliments him again during gym class. Peter deliberately slows down after that, even if it’s kind of irritating; being physically active actually helps work off his anger.

Because that’s what he is more than anything else: angry. At the mugger, yeah, but at himself more than anything else. It was his fault that they were out that night, anyway. It’s a wonder that May doesn’t hate his fucking guts.

When school is up Peter comes home to an empty house. He thinks about going on patrol but doesn’t really feel up to it, and then he feels bad for not wanting to do it because like, what if someone is dying?

So he puts on the suit and swings from rooftop to rooftop, but there’s no action today. Peter eventually settles on a fire escape with a burrito. A stray cat hops up after a while and, despite his matted fur and crazy eyes, Peter decides he has a kind of quiet dignity about him and names him Charles.

“Do you like beef?” He asks, holding some out for Charles to sniff. The cat yowls and, without any warning other than that, nearly chomps Peter’s fingers off to get the meat.

“Ow, jeez!” Peter shakes his wrist. “I was literally giving it to you for free, but go off I guess.”

Charles blinks his big brown marble eyes and then literally jumps off the fucking ledge. Peter leans over and watches him scamper across the street, somehow not getting hit by any traffic. Sometimes he thinks his spidey sense is more like feline sense in that way: he could probably manage the same thing with his eyes closed.

After a while the sun sets and all of the streetlights turn on. Peter does another patrol around the immediate vicinity but again, nothing. He stays out anyway though because he’d rather do his Chemistry homework behind a dumpster than sit alone in the apartment with nothing but the quiet for company. At least out and about there are sewer rats and mangy dogs and shady characters who actually just turn out to be skateboarders.

Peter is almost done with his assignment when the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

He looks up and finds Iron Man himself coming in for a landing. The suit drops with a barely audible clunk; it’s Mark 54, the sleekest and most lightweight model yet.

“Oh thank God,” says Tony’s voice, “you’re not dead.”

Peter frowns even though Tony can’t see it. “No,” he agrees slowly. “Why would I be dead? What are you doing here?”

“Well, your aunt called me in a panic at around four when she got home and you weren’t there, and then I checked the scanners and saw that you’d been here, completely stationary, for like five whole hours—needless to say I had a little bit of a heart attack and here I am, relieved and also mildly infuriated. Care to explain, young padawan?”

Peter opens his mouth to speak. Closes it. Opens it again and, “It’s four AM?”

“Four fifteen,” Tony corrects.

“I didn’t even—I didn’t know! Shit, May’s totally gonna kill me, I might as well be dead—”

“Woah woah woah,” the faceplate lifts, “calm down, okay? No one is mad. Just, uh, concerned, I promise.”

Peter is still frantically packing up his school supplies and not really listening. He only stops when Tony gently touches him by lightly gripping his elbow. “Kid?”

Peter stares down at the older man’s hand. Behind the mask his eyes start to burn. “Ben died.”

“Pardon?”

“Ben died,” he repeats louder. “In this alley. Two years ago.”

All at once Tony’s face falls. He moves to sit by Peter on the grimy floor of the alley while the suit hovers nearby, a hollow shell, just the way Peter feels now.

“Kid,” Tony says, “take off the mask.”

“What? No, I’m in public—”

“No one’s around,” Tony says. “Just take it off, okay?”

Peter does, reluctantly peeling it back to reveal his tear-stained cheeks. Tony stares for a second and then, almost hesitantly, he wraps his arms around Peter. “Do you wanna talk about it?”

“I—” he chokes. “I’m just so tired. I’m tired of having to watch May be strong for me when I can’t be strong back, and I’m tired of Ben not being around. I miss him and it—it’s not fair.”

“Of course it’s not. It’s never fair. That’s why it hurts, kiddo. You’ve got all this love and no place to put it.”

Peter bites his lip to stop it from quivering and looks away, pressing the heels of his palms into his eyes. “I just feel pathetic.”

“Don’t,” Tony says firmly. “I felt the same way after my mom died and it… In some ways I don’t think the feeling ever actually went away, but uh, take it from someone who’s had a lot more time to process: no one is expecting anything from you, okay? And I can guarantee there’s not a single human that thinks two years is long enough to be perfectly fine again. You’re allowed to still be upset about this.”

And Peter is. He’s really, really fucking upset about it and so tired of holding it in. Tony pulls him against his chest when Peter starts to cry and it sort of seems like he’ll never be able to stop. There’s just so much, so much guilt and pain and all kinds of other bullshit that he refuses to lay on May.

So he lays it on Tony. And it’s surprisingly not horrible or awkward or even the end of the world.

“You good?” the older man asks, when Peter finally sobers up enough to wipe his cheeks dry and take a few steadying breaths.

“Yeah,” he says, voice ragged and awful-sounding. “Um, sorry. For freaking you and May out and ruining your shirt, I mean.”

“You know there’s this really snazzy invention called a washing machine—”

“Oh my god, shut up.”

Tony laughs and it makes Peter laugh too, and the tension between them just sort of dissipates. “Speaking of clothes,” Tony claps his hands together, “you got any to wear in that backpack?”

“Uh, jeans and a hoodie?”

“Fantastic, incredible. Throw them on, I’m taking you out for breakfast.”

“But what if someone sees?!”

“Let ’em. I’ll have Pep release a statement claiming you as my personal assistant or head intern or something.”

“That’s totally unrealistic.”

“Do I care? No. Just—okay? Up and at ’em, make haste, come on. What do you feel like, pancakes or waffles?”

They bicker about which is better the entire way to the little diner Tony choses, and Peter comes home full an hour later. May is fast asleep at the kitchen table. He kisses her forehead and starts on breakfast for her.

—

3. 

He’s thirty minutes into helping MJ study for her AP French test when she finally gets a question wrong. “‘Il n'est pas clair que’?” Peter queries, holding up the flash card.

“‘It’s not certain that’?”

He makes a pitying noise. “Close. ‘It’s not clear that’.”

“What’s not clear, exactly? That if I see one more word in French I’m gonna blow my brains out?”

Peter snorts. “No, actually it says more clarification is required on how much you like your boyfriend. Suggestions to improve that include: a hug, a kiss, both—”

“Neither?”

He pouts. “Mean.”

MJ rolls her eyes, but she kisses him first. She tastes like the Twizzlers they’ve been eating and her hands are in his hair and she laughs when he presses his lips to her cheeks and nose and forehead.

They somehow end up in an incredibly compromising position. “You know,” MJ muses, “I don’t think I’ve been studying the right kind of French.”

Peter, hovering over her (oops), nods in agreement. “This kind is definitely way better.”

She wraps her arms around his neck and he’s so consumed with this: her and him and the smell of her jasmine shampoo—that he almost doesn’t hear it.

Almost.

Peter rips away abruptly. “What was that?”

She groans. “God, you’re such a dog sometimes.”

He ignores her, sitting alert with his eyes narrowed at the window and, sure enough, there it is again: a faint, blood-curdling scream. “Someone’s being attacked or something. Maybe four blocks away tops.”

MJ squints. “Don’t tell me you can echolocate.”

“I—” Peter’s mouth snaps shut and then opens again. “I actually don’t know. Anyway, I gotta go.”

He presses a quick kiss to her cheek, throws on his jacket, and quickly ducks out her fire escape (which happens to be the same way that he came in). He slips the mask on and tosses his hood up; it’s raining in heavy, icy sheets and Peter is drenched within seconds of swinging. He remembers the first time he’d gone out during a storm; the webbing he’d made hadn’t held up because the chemical formula hadn’t accounted for the massive amounts of water-based reaction, so the biocables had evaporated as they left his shooters. Thankfully he hadn’t jumped first that day, otherwise he would be a Peter Pancake.

Another scream sounds. Peter follows it and winds up latched onto the side of a two-story brick building. There’s an incredibly dark alley below, but a quick flash of lightning tells him everything he needs to know: one man is trying to wrestle a woman down, while another is rifling through her purse. He’s also holding a gun.

“Oh, cute,” he mutters sarcastically.

Peter tries to time it right: he takes aim and shoots a web right at the weapon with the next bout of lightning, but to his immense misfortune, the armed mugger had already seen him and was aiming right back. The bullet hits Peter in the side.

“Ow,” he says, “that was uncalled for.”

He drops. His side is throbbing and hot but he ignores it in favour of disarming the guy who shot him. It’s a brief struggle but Peter ends up whacking the gun out of his hand and webbing it to the wall opposite. Then he knocks the guy out with a solid upper cross to the temple.

Peter rounds. The assailant has already fled, leaving the woman shivering but relatively unharmed.

“You okay, ma’am?” he asks.

“Me? That guy shot you!”

Peter looks down at his side which is now stained with blood. “Oh, yeah.”

He’d actually forgotten for half a second. Now that the adrenaline is wearing off, he’s starting to really feel it: a burning sensation in his abdomen, an aching that pulses from his stomach to his chest. Ah. Wonderful.

A little dazed, he shakes his head. “Don’t worry about me. Super healing. Are you good? You need me to call you a cab?”

“What? No, um—the police station is like, down the block, I can go get them.”

“Are you sure? Because I can totally do that—”

“I can handle myself,” she says sharply, bending down to pick up her purse and the discarded items within. “It’s just… there were two of them and there was a gun and—”

“I get it,” Peter says, his hand pressing harder into his side as the world grows blurrier around the edges. “You really don’t want me to at least walk you down?”

“I’ll take a taxi,” she says. “You just, um, get yourself fixed up, okay? And thanks.”

“Yeah, sure, anytime! But, y’know, preferably never again,” Peter says, and proceeds to swing away.

—

Tony doesn’t expect to get woken up at two AM after only just falling asleep five minutes before, but such is life; FRIDAY’s voice bleeds through the speakers above to inform him that Spider-Man is currently rifling through the Med-Bay and bleeding from a wound on his side.

Pepper looks at him. “You heard that too, right? That was real?”

“It was real.”

They both scramble out of bed. Tony takes the lead, throwing on his jacket as he runs toward the elevator. It’s times like these when every second stretches out into an eternity; it takes maybe five of them to get from their floor to the Med-Bay, but it feels like forever.

The doors open and there’s Peter, perched on a gurney with his shirt gone and a whole lot of blood staining his side. He’s bent awkwardly, clearly trying to feel his way around whatever wound he’s got.

“Um,” Tony says, approaching, “What.”

Peter looks up and—yeah, he’s lost a lot more blood than Tony had originally thought. His face is fucking drained. “Hey,” he says, offering a jaunty wave before returning his attention to his side. “I got shot.”

“Oh!” Tony nods. “Oh, okay. What the fuck, kiddo?”

“I know, right?” Peter glances up. “Hey, Pepper.”

“Peter,” she returns. “Do you mind if I wash my hands and take a look at that?”

“If you want. It’s kinda gross, though.”

“Believe me, I’ve seen worse.”

Through this exchange Tony was already washing up, and now he dons a pair of gloves and sits on the rolling stool. “Looks like it’s through and through,” he tells Pep over his shoulder. “Could you grab a couple suture kits and, uh, the stuff?”

Pepper makes a face. “The stuff?”

“You know,” Tony says, “The Good Stuff.”

Her eyes widen. “Oh, that stuff.”

Tony feels around the area. “Do you know what kind of gun was used?”

“Looked like your standard nine mil,” Peter replies. His voice is growing a little slurred.

That’s good though, about the gun. Means there’s probably not any bullet fragments to worry about. Tony grabs a load of gauze and presses it against the wound. He checks Peter’s pulse while he’s at it and finds that it’s slowed considerably. “We’re gonna have to get you some blood, too. A neg, right?”

“Yuppers.”

Tony excuses that because after all, the kid is bleeding out on a table. Said kid actually starts to swing his legs back and forth and, yeah, that’s not gonna fly. “Do me a favour and lay back? I’m gonna put this towel right under you for now.”

Peter doesn’t have any arguments, or if he does, he doesn’t vocalise them. Pepper comes back in with the kits and drugs and, because she’s just smarter than him like that, bags of blood.

Tony grabs the vials first and loads up a syringe. Peter is pretty numb to all of it until the needle goes in. Then he frowns. “Why are you injecting me with alien blood?”

Tony rolls his eyes. “It’s not alien blood, it’s a pain killer. A serious one at that, so you’re probably gonna feel a little out of it for a while, okay?”

Peter frowns. “Is it for Steve?”

Tony tenses, but it’s only for a second. “Yes,” he says, somewhat tightly.

“Ugh. What a turd, Mr. Stark. You’re giving me turd vitamins!” Tony scoffs while Pepper laughs. Peter notices. “See? She thinks I’m funny.”

“You’re not helping me here,” Tony says to her.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Here, have some thread.”

Tony sighs. “Just stay still for me, okay?”

Peter does. Pepper passes him various supplies and they work together to sew up both ends of the gunshot wound. By the time they’re done, Peter hasn’t moved once, but his eyes are open and he’s frowning.

“How do you feel?”

“Wired,” he says.

“Seriously? Bruce never said anything about the side-effects, but I figured they’d be like normal pain-killers; make you drowsy and all that.”

“No,” Peter sits up quickly and doesn’t even flinch. “I feel like I just got steroids or something. Are you—are you actually telling me that Captain America’s drugs are infused with a stimulant? What, so he can keep fighting even when he’s in the middle of dying?”

Tony blinks. “Well that was smart of dear Banner.”

“Yeah, or insane.” Peter flexes his hands. “I feel like I need to go for a run, or like, break something.”

“Let’s avoid that,” Tony says, pushing him back down. “You need to heal, not mess yourself up even more, understood?”

Peter stares. “Is it normal to see sounds?”

Pepper bursts out laughing again. “I’m sorry,” she says when Tony glares. “Really, I am, I promise. Peter, honey, how about we get you to a bedroom where you can rest up? We’ll call your aunt and explain everything.”

—

Everything is going fine until May asks, “How did you get to the Tower so quick, then?”

Peter blinks. “Hmm? Pardon?”

“If you were at Ned’s,” May says, “how’d you manage to swing all the way across town?”

Peter opens his mouth and closes it. “I, uh… well, funny story, um… I wasn’t actually at Ned’s?”

There’s a pause over the phone. Pepper, who’s holding it, raises an eyebrow. May says: “You told me you were going to Ned’s, Peter.”

His face feels hot. He hopes it isn’t red. Both Pepper and Tony—from the doorway with his hands stuffed in his sweatpant pockets—are staring. It’s almost as bad as if May were really here.

“Well I was going to Ned’s, but then I changed my mind and went somewhere else and oh—look at the time! I think we’re going through a tunnel—”

“Don’t even try to pull that crap! That’s it, I’m coming over there—”

“May,” Peter says, serious now, “you’re in the middle of a shift, there’s people dying. Just—I’m perfectly fine, I took my Captain America drugs and everything is gonna be okay.”

“But you lied to me.”

“No, I changed my mind.”

“And went where?”

“Irrelevant.”

“Peter.”

“May.”

She groans from the other end of the line and demands to speak to Pepper one on one. Tony’s fiancé grins and switches off speaker, before slipping out with a bright laugh to finish off the conversation. Tony stares expectantly. “So where were you?”

“Oh my god, not you too. You know, on second thought, I actually am completely exhausted and—”

“Uh, nope,” Tony flops down onto the bed. “Fess up.”

Peter sighs. He squirms down and covers his pillow with a head. “No.”

Tony joins him under it. “Tell me.”

Peter scowls. He rolls onto his side so they’re facing one another. “I was with my girlfriend.”

“Oooo—”

“Shush! It’s… it’s really not a big deal and I haven’t told May yet because MJ and I haven’t even really talked about it and it all happened super fast and—” he remembers to breathe, “I just… I always tell May everything, you know? But I kind of just felt like… this was something I had to figure out first on my own. Maybe it’s stupid, but I know she’s gonna be super hurt when she finds out it’s been a month and I haven’t said anything—”

“Kid,” Tony cuts in. “Calm down.”

“I’m calm,” Peter promises, because he is. He’s also just incredibly hyper and stressed.

“It’s a normal instinct to want to figure things out and define them before you start announcing them to the world. I get that. But you’re still a kid, Pete, and even if you don’t want people prying into your love life, we still need to know where you are in case something goes wrong.”

Peter harrumphs as he turns away. “There’s a tracker on my phone and my suit. It would be easier to find me than anything else.”

Tony clicks his tongue. “You got a point there.”

“I just wanted time.”

“I know.”

“But I really like her, okay? Like she’s so smart and she’s got this really dark sense of humour and she’s actually kind of terrifying sometimes—”

“Oh, the scary ones are always fun.”

They stay up talking through the night and, when the sun comes up, Pepper joins them with a tray of freshly made blueberry waffles. May arrives around the same time and, looking too tired to be mad, simply drops onto the bed with them and steals what’s left of his food.

—

4. 

Peter is on patrol when he hears it:

a soft, quiet yelping coming from somewhere down below the rooftop he’s perched on.

At first he figures he’s imagining things, but then his ears perk again. He leans over the building’s edge to find the source of the noise.

In the dark it’s hard to make anything out, so he climbs slowly down the side of the wall, squinting. There’s another yelp and a low whine, almost pained. Peter zeroes in on the sound and creeps toward a set of dumpsters; they’re so full of trash they’re overflowing, and it’s underneath a broken down cardboard box that he finds it... 

A puppy.

Now, Peter is no liar. He’s wanted a dog since he was like, a fetus. The words ‘A dog’ have been on every birthday and Christmas list for as long as he can remember. It’s only recently, in the years since Ben’s death, that he’s pretty much given up—after all, May is so overworked and they can barely afford to feed themselves. How could they afford a pet?

But also…

This is the cutest dog he’s ever seen.

It’s tiny and fluffy and brown and has the biggest, saddest eyes he’s ever seen.

Peter kind of just stands there staring like an idiot for a good few seconds and then slowly kneels down. “Um, hi,” he says, in the gentlest voice he can manage. The puppy, who can’t be older than a few weeks and looks completely starved and exhausted, whines in response.

Peter holds out his hand for the dog to sniff. It lifts its head lazily and leans forward, nose twitching and dry. “You need water, huh? Come on, I know a place.”

—

“Shelob,” Tony greets without looking up from whatever project he’s working on. “What can I do for you at… one in the fucking morning?”

“I need your help with something, but you have to promise you won’t get mad or make me get rid of him—”

“Oh, for God’s sake, what have you done now?”

“He was just so helpless and cold and small and…” Peter swallows and reveals the puppy, presently wrapped up in his hoodie. “Meet Nugget.”

Tony’s face is the epitome of Disappointed Dad. He stares, open-mouthed, and after a second his shoulders fall. “Well, fuck.”

Peter snuggles Nugget against his chest and steps closer, but then Tony holds up a hand to stop him. “Nah-ah! Not until that thing gets a flea bath!”

Hope sparks in Peter’s chest. “You mean we can keep him?”

“I mean there’s no way I’m getting near him until I know I won’t break out in hives.”

“That’s not how fleas work.”

“Do I care? No. Come on, let’s go to the bathroom.”

—

“Why do you have flea shampoo?”

Peter’s inquiry is made tentatively. They both have their hands in the sud-filled sink as they systematically wash Nugget’s fur.

“There was… an incident a while ago. I don’t wanna talk about it.”

Peter stares. Blinks. “Okay. Well, I think he’s clean.”

Nugget barks as if in agreement, and so Peter and Tony lift him out of the basin and set him on a pile of no doubt expensive, fluffy white towels. Tony takes the lead after that. He’s surprisingly gentle and patient with the yapping, impatient puppy—even when Nugget tries to claw at him and shake himself dry, Tony never loses his cool.

A few minutes later they’re sitting on their stomachs watching Nugget stomp around on a blanket. There’s water in a bowl for him at one corner and a plate of chopped up chicken at another.

“I can’t take him home,” Peter says morosely after a few minutes. “May won’t let me keep him.”

Tony raises an eyebrow. “Where does she even think you are right now?”

“...In my bed.”

“Wow,” Tony says, deadpan. “Okay, well, I most certainly can’t keep him either.”

“What?! Why not?!”

Tony sighs. “I’m Iron Man, if you hadn’t noticed, kiddo—”

“Oh, what, so you’re too tough to look after him?”

“No, I’m too busy. I spend like, twenty-three out of twenty-four hours in a day in my shop and the rest of the time I’m on my knees apologising to Pepper and begging for forgiveness. There’s no time in-between to feed the pup, walk the pup—”

“I could come by,” Peter blurts. “Like, once a day, and I could make sure he’s eaten and play with him and stuff. You wouldn’t have to lift a finger—”

“Except to press ‘purchase’ on my shopping cart full of dog food—”

“Tony,” Peter cuts in, pleading, “please? I can’t just drop him off at some kennel so they can—” he covers the dog’s ears, “so they can euthanize him in a week when no one buys him. He deserves so much better, you know?”

Tony frowns, considering it, and Peter waits with his breath caught in his throat until, “God, fine.”

“Yes!”

“But! But! A pet is a serious responsibility, okay? You might as well be adopting a child—”

“What would you know about raising kids?” Peter asks, only jokingly, but Tony just stares and then, for some reason, smiles.

“You have to make sure he’s happy,” Tony says. “You have to be there for him in whatever way he needs, alright? I’ll set up a pen in the penthouse and you can make sure he works off his energy there, and if I have time I’ll even take you both to the park. And if he ever happens to pee on my carpet, I’m counting on you to clean it up.”

“Don’t you have, like, housekeepers for that sort of thing?”

“Yeah, but this is character building stuff.”

“Ugh, fine, I’ll clean up the pee.”

They continue to iron out the details for a while and bicker over whether Nugget’s last name should be Parker or Stark, and it’s only when Pepper walks in—still in her pajamas, bleary eyed and complaining that they woke her up—that they both decide it should be ‘Potts’.

—

5. (+1)

It starts with a headache.

He’s bent over his desk studying for a Calc test when the throbbing begins. It’s not so bad at first, but after a half hour or so his vision is swimming and he keeps having to take breaks to massage his temples and close his eyes. The equations are all blending together and he can’t think straight anymore.

Peter decides to give up right around then. After all, if he’s not gonna retain any of the information, why bother?

May pokes and prods through dinner. Peter tries to fool her by acting like everything is normal and okay and even manages to make her laugh once or twice.

Inside, dread is coiling through his stomach like an irritated snake. He knows what’s coming next; after all, he doesn’t really get sick anymore, so what else could it be?

Peter tries to sleep but ends up tossing and turning for most of the night. He falls into some kind of half-conscious daze at around four in the morning and rouses about twenty minutes later, soaked with sweat and aching everywhere.

Feeling like he’s gonna vomit, Peter kicks off his blankets and strips the sheets off his bed. He takes his shirt off because the fabric is too abrasive against his skin and it’s like he can feel every fibre tickling against it, grating and chafing. He curls up into a tight ball and covers his ears with his hands to block out the now amplified sounds of the city: car alarms, dogs barking, music playing.

Normally Peter loves the way New York is never silent. Now, he just wishes everyone would shut the fuck up for once.

When he stumbles out of his room a little while later, May is already gone. She’d told him the night before that she had an early shift and for once he’s actually grateful. Haltingly, Peter gets ready for school. He’s already skipped three days this month and if he misses this Calc quiz he’s gonna fucking bomb the class.

May would kill him.

It’s better to suffer a little than die.

Brushing his teeth makes his head spin and the minute he wriggles into his clothes he feels like a caged animal about to claw his skin off. Everything takes so much longer than normal. He doesn’t eat because the mere thought of food makes the back of his throat sting with bile.

On the train, he closes his eyes and rests his head against the cool glass of the window, trying to tune out the constant screeching of the rails. One day, on God, he will make it a personal project to oil every fucking line in the subway.

At his fifth stop, an old lady boards and all the seats are taken.

Peter swallows thickly and stands. Black spots dance in his vision and he grabs onto the overhead bar—something he hasn’t actually needed to use since he was a little kid—and tries not to pass out.

He almost misses the stop to get to school, but slips out at the last second, millimetres away from getting his backpack caught in the doors. Peter is hot all over and lightheaded as he makes his way out of the station. It’s even hotter up above, what with summer coming now and all.

Peter is late and he doesn’t need his watch to tell; Flash’s car is already parked out front instead of zooming through the drop off to run him over (which, hey, silver lining), and the majority of the student body is already inside.

Peter has to stop multiple times on his way to Spanish just to breathe. By the time he gets there he’s at least ten minutes late for roll call.

“Mr. Parker,” his teacher greets, unimpressed. “So glad you could join us.”

Peter makes a noise and takes the proffered quiz. He wonders absently why some people choose to teach. What is it, like, some kind of power trip for them?

He has five minutes to finish the quiz but doesn’t make it past the first question. Ned volunteers to collect them and stops at Peter’s desk while Professor Scott outlines today’s lesson plan.

“Dude,” he whisper-hisses, “you look like complete shit. What on Earth are you doing here right now?”

“Test,” Peter mutters dully, resting his cheek on his hand and closing his eyes. “Here you go. Didn’t finish it.”

Ned takes it carefully, holding it with two fingers like it’s covered in disease. “Do you want me to get the nurse or something?”

Peter hums. “No. Just… headache.”

Slowly Ned backs away. “Um—”

“Mr. Leeds!” Professor Scott says, loudly. Ned jumps. “Is there a problem back there?”

Yes, Peter thinks. You’re the human version of nails on a fucking chalk board. Please, for the love of all that is holy, just start on the vocab.

Only he accidentally says all of that out loud.

The whole class is staring. Flash is slack-jawed. Betty Brant’s eyes are the size of small moons.

“Parker,” Scott grits out—and Peter has denominated him to just Scott now out of reciprocation and spite; “You just earned yourself a shiny new detention. I’d like you to take this slip to the principal’s office. Please.”

Oh, thank God. At least it’ll be quiet there.

Peter stands and brushes past Ned and it literally feels like flames of hell are licking against his skin. He almost vomits. This is decidedly not good.

He takes the paper. “Gladly, good sir.”

When he’s gone, there’s an outburst of muttering that his enhancements let him hear. It only makes the overload worse. Peter covers his ears with his hands again and, overcome with a sudden wave of vertigo, ducks into the bathroom.

He barely makes it to the toilet before emptying his stomach of last night’s food.

Peter sags against the wall, panting. He keeps his eyes closed and waits for the world to stop spinning. About ten minutes later, the smell of jasmine shampoo—normally welcome—causes him to lean over and retch again.

MJ pokes her head inside the unlocked stall. “Jesus,” she whispers. The second her hands touch his body he flinches and she immediately retracts them. “Fuck, sorry. Ned said you wigged out in Spanish. I looked for you in the Principal's office but you weren’t there and... What’s—what’s wrong? I thought you couldn’t even get sick.”

“Bad headache,” he mutters, spitting into the toilet. It’s easier than explaining about his freakish mutations and how they sometimes go completely haywire, leaving him on edge and nauseous and irritable.

MJ grabs him some toilet paper to wipe his mouth with. “Did you take anything?”

“Pain meds don’t work on me.”

“Does May know? You should have called in.”

“Couldn’t. Can’t miss my test.”

She sighs. “Your final is like fifty percent of your grade and you could pass it with your eyes closed. You can miss your test, you’re just afraid of getting anything lower than an A.”

Peter is silent. “You got me there.”

MJ’s hand twitches like she wants to touch him but knows she can’t. “You need to go home. Lie down, get some rest.”

“May is working,” Peter says, “and if I have to take the subway again right now I’ll die. I really will. It’s so—the smell and the noise and I can’t sit down and—”

“Give me your phone.”

“What?”

“Just give it.”

She’s holding her hand out for it and giving him a no-nonsense expression that kind of reminds Peter of Pepper Potts on a rampage. He’s seen what happens to Tony when he crosses her, so he fishes his phone out of his pocket and hands it over.

“Hold on.”

She stands and leaves. Peter closes his eyes again. He tunes out her conversation because if he doesn’t, he’s absolutely gonna vomit again and nobody wants that.

MJ slips back inside the stall. “Okay, solved. Do you still feel like you’re gonna vomit?”

Peter thinks about it. “No.”

“Good. We’re gonna go to the nurse, okay?”

“Oh boy.”

—

Tony Stark walks into Peter’s school and finds the hallways empty. The classroom doors are shut and the muted sounds of teachers lecturing are the only signs that anyone is here at all.

He finds Peter in the infirmary, sitting on the examination table with the heels of his palms pressed against his eyes.

He’s at his side in an instant. “Kid?”

It’s surprise that gets Peter’s eyes open, but the little spider baby immediately regrets it. He flinches and sucks in a sharp breath. “Tony,” he whispers, like the name is all he can manage and the questions will have to wait for later.

Tony looks him over. There are no obvious injuries. The girl on the phone had said it was just a headache, but Tony is way more experienced with Peter’s brand of bullshit and knows there’s usually something else going on beneath the surface.

“I’m gonna go talk to the nurse and then get you out of here, okay?”

A nod.

It’s always a bad thing when he doesn’t argue. Peter Parker would start a fight about what kind of pizza to order, even if you suggest the kind he really wants, just to be a stubborn little shit about things.

Tony slips out of the exam room. The nurse looks up when he enters her office. “Oh my—Mr. Stark?!”

“Yes, hello,” Tony takes a cautious step forward as she stands. He doesn’t bother to sit. “I’m here to pick up the little gremlin in there.”

Her face flushes. “I didn’t know you’d been called, I—I figured I would just let him wait it out, you know? He didn’t want to be touched, so it was hard to figure out what was up and—so it’s real? About the internship?”

“Of course. Why would he lie?”

She opens her mouth. Closes it. “Well… you know how kids can be.”

“Do I?”

She doesn’t seem to know what to say to that.

Tony sighs. “Look, Nurse—uh, Timms—Nurse Timms, can I please just sign the kid out and take him home? He’s clearly in pain here.”

She starts rifling through her desk for a form. “I mean, I can admit you to take him home, but I really suggest you talk with the principal first—Peter was given a detention before he was brought to my ward, see, and I was—” she shakes her head. “I thought he might be faking.”

Tony stares without blinking for a whole five seconds and then, “Detention? For what?”

“I heard he bad-mouthed a teacher or something. But to be fair, Professor Scott isn’t exactly what I’d call patient.”

“Well, be that as it may,” Tony takes the form she hands him to sign, “my kid doesn’t fake. He has a condition, see. Gets uh… overloaded. Sounds, smells, it can be too much for him. Probably why he snapped.”

“That… that makes sense.”

“Yes,” he says succinctly, and hands the paper back. “You’d know that if you bothered to ask. Anyway, I’ll be going. Thanks for the help, Nurse Times.”

“Uh, it’s—it’s Timms—”

The door shuts behind him.

—

MJ was forced to go back to class. She’d argued and protested but Nurse Timms was insistent. So, MJ had relented. She’d pressed the lightest of kisses on his forehead and it surprisingly hadn’t felt that bad, and then she’d gone.

Tony Stark had shown up about twenty minutes later and it’s just when Peter’s starting to think it was all just a vivid hallucination that the smell of coffee and motor oil fills his senses again. It’s overwhelming but not debilitating.

“Kiddo,” Tony whispers, “is it okay to touch you?”

Peter cracks an eye. Everything is bright but Tony’s suit is mercifully black, so he focuses on that. “I don’t know. I don’t wanna move.”

“Well I gotta get you outta here somehow.”

“But my detention—”

“I already got you out of it,” Tony says breezily. “Nothing to worry about.”

“Tony,” Peter says, cheeks flushing. “You can’t just bribe my principal into—”

“I didn’t bribe anyone. I just explained the situation and besides, Morita’s an old friend.”

Peter closes his eyes again as he frowns. “You’re friends with my principal?”

“I’m a benefactor for your school, too,” Tony says. “But don’t tell anyone, it’s a secret.”

Something shifts in the air. Tony is sitting now. “Happy’s waiting outside,” he says, “but whenever you’re ready.”

Peter thinks about it for a few seconds and decides it’s gonna have to happen at some point, anyway. Might as well rip the band-aid off now. Slowly he takes a deep breath and manages to sit up with Tony’s help. The older man tries to avoid touching him as much as possible, but surprisingly enough the weight of his hand against Peter’s spine isn’t crushing or aggravating. It doesn’t hurt.

“Baby steps,” Tony says softly. “We’ll take you out the side door, okay?”

Even getting to the door is slow going but Tony doesn’t seem to mind. Right before they open it, Tony stops and pulls his sunglasses off. “Here, try these.”

Peter puts them on. He feels ridiculous because like, they work on Tony who was literally born in the seventies, but Peter really doesn’t dig the groovy shades. Regardless they’re better than nothing and even help a little.

The halls are empty again. Most of the students will be in the gym right about now, or the cafeteria for lunch. They don’t run into anybody on the way out and as soon as they’re in the back of the car, Peter sags against Tony’s side. He feels like he’s just run ten miles.

“Drive, Hogan,” Tony says, and then the partition glides up.

For a few seconds it’s almost completely quiet. Noise suppression tech, Peter realises, and he feels like he could cry from relief. For the first time in hours there’s just… nothing. No traffic, no dozens of students talking at once. The air conditioning unit is filtered, so he’s not being attacked with the smell of body odour and clashing perfume scents and Axe cologne. There’s just Tony and beautiful, amazing, showstopping silence.

Tony shifts a little. “Better?”

Peter nods, figuring it’s still probably not safe to speak.

“We’ll be there soon,” Tony says softly.

—

Peter doesn’t remember much after the car ride. He can vaguely recall protesting getting out of the Audi, and he remembers Tony assuring him that everything would be okay, and the next thing he knows he’s lying on his back in an utterly dark bedroom. The walls are insulated just like the car had been, so there’s just no sound, and the bed sheets probably have the highest thread count of all time.

Something shifts beside Peter and he realises Tony is there, feeling his forehead.

“What—?”

“Oh, hey,” Tony greets. “I think you might’ve blacked out there. All the noise hit you at once when we got out of the car and you just…”

“I fainted?”

Tony snorts softly. “Relax. It happens to the best of us. How do you feel, Webster?”

Peter hums. “Bad.”

“Let’s try a scale of one to ten.”

“Okay,” Peter says. “Ten.” Tony lets out a little grunt at that and so Peter elaborates, “It was at like, a twenty this morning, so.”

“Ah, I see.” Tony’s grip shifts to Peter’s wrist to measure his pulse. “This okay?”

“It’s fine.”

And it really is. He doesn’t feel like burning his skin off or anything. Tony’s hands are just warm.

“Any idea what brought this on?”

Peter shifts a little. “I uh… haven’t been sleeping a lot lately.” He swallows. “Like, at all.”

“And how long’s that been going on for?”

“I don’t know. On and off for a few weeks, I guess.”

“Jesus,” Tony sighs and pulls his hand away. He rakes it through his hair. “Kiddo, what have we said about communication? Does May know?”

“....No?”

There’s a long pause where Tony just kind of sits there thinking, like he wants to say whatever comes next carefully. He massages his temples and then: “Alright, scooch over.”

“What?”

“Make room for me.”

Peter blinks and then, tentatively, scoots over a little to allow Tony room to lie down. The older man does, arching his back a little and grunting in pain because he’s like, ancient. They’re not touching, but very slowly Peter starts inching closer again. Eventually he works up the courage to try resting his head on Tony’s chest, which is terrifying not only because it’s Tony Stark, but also because he’d rather not have his brain implode.

Nothing happens. “Your fabric softener must be like, super expensive,” he whispers, because this is actually better than the sheets.

Tony snorts. “I’ll ask Pep about it.”

Peter makes a noncommittal noise and before he knows it, his eyes are closing. For once they actually feel heavy, and the steady rhythm of Tony’s heart beat is soothing, dependable.

Tony’s hands brush lightly over Peter’s hair and then thread through it. “Too much?”

“No,” Peter promises. “Good.”

And so Tony’s fingers run through his curls over and over, gently, lightly. His thumb sweeps over Peter’s cheek once, too, and then he starts muttering in Italian.

Peter cracks an eye. “Are you telling me your grocery shopping list?”

Tony laughs a little. “My mom used to do it for me,” he says. “Something about just hearing her speak the language made me feel… relaxed, I guess. Didn’t matter what she was saying.”

Peter smiles and wraps an arm around Tony’s torso. “Tell me something else.”

“You wanna hear about the time I almost blew up a Chem lab?”

“Uh, duh.”

So Tony launches into it, speaking in a low voice and absently twisting one of Peter’s curls around his finger. It feels nice and the headache is fading fast.

Peter sleeps. 

[atmostories]

Johnny Lawrence x Reader

Matter - Chapter Three Tags: Angst, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Alcohol Abuse, Depression   That was how you found yourself falling into the routine. Each week you'd go to the dojo and work on all of the administration that needed to be done. Johnny would always call and say when he needed you to come in. Most of the time you'd be there while a class was going on, or when Miguel was training with Johnny by himself. Occasionally it would just be the two of you late in the evening. At least with the kids there was something to distract from his company. He was nothing but civil and polite, and that was the problem. You were beginning to hate how he spoke to you. The warmth and the intimacy your conversations used to have wasn't there anymore. It was like it had never existed.

There would be times when he'd make a joke, but there was always something reserved about it, like he was holding back, like he couldn't be himself with you.

It was devastating.

Sometimes you tried to convince yourself to tell Johnny that you couldn't make it, or that you were busy. But he wouldn't ask for your help if he didn't need it. In a way going to the dojo had become your punishment. You couldn't simply walk away from all the hurt and the damage that you'd caused. You had to watch firsthand how little you meant to Johnny now.

It was getting harder to sleep. No matter how tired you were after work your mind kept racing, endlessly imagining what could have happened if you'd stayed with him.

At least the kids started to warm up to you. They'd come into the office and give you their forms, most would smile or say hi. They seemed to be getting used to you being there. Miguel and Aisha would interact with you the most. They'd make small talk when the opportunity arose, ask how things were going, how much work you had to do. It was rather sweet of them. The kid with the mohawk, aptly named Hawk, preferred to keep his distance.

One day during the advanced class, the students were doing some practice fights. Johnny had got the medkit out in preparation and left it on the desk. Fifteen minutes passed without incident until one of the students got kicked in the gut and threw up on the mat. The class groaned in disgust. Looking through the window, you watched Johnny kneel down by the kid and help him up. He told Hawk to go fetch a mop. It looked as if he was the one who had kicked the other kid. Hawk wasn't happy about it but he did what he was told.

Johnny came to the office door with the kid, asking whether you could grab a spare shirt from the filing cabinet. There was some vomit on the kid's gi. He didn't wait for a reply before taking the kid to the bathroom. When you found the shirt, the smell of sick hit your nostrils and your body stiffened.

Suddenly your chest started to hurt, your heart was beating too hard. As you forced yourself to go to the bathroom, your hands started to shake so much that you dropped the shirt onto the ground. You were unsteady on your feet as you picked it up and had to brace against the wall for a brief moment. The door to the bathroom was open, the kid was washing his mouth out in the sink. Johnny barely glanced at you as he took the shirt and thanked you for getting it. He immediately turned his attention back to his student.

Rather than returning to the office, you managed to go out through the back of the dojo. You gasped in the fresh air, not quite able to get enough of it. Your back hit the wall and you slid down onto the ground. That smell, that smell, it was there for hours, all through the night, all through the fucking night. You couldn't leave Johnny to go clean it up, you couldn't leave him, you were too scared, you were terrified. His body started to convulse, he made that strange sound as he choked on his own vomit. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't fucking breathe.

He was okay, Johnny was okay now. You'd held onto him for hours, you had felt the constant rise and fall of his chest, you had made sure he was fine. But what if you hadn't? What if you hadn't gotten out of bed? What if you had woken up in the morning and found him lying there cold-

No. No, you couldn't think about it. You couldn't. He was fine. That's all that mattered. He was fine. He was helping one of his students, he'd probably be resuming the class by now. Focusing on the cars driving past and the people walking on the other side of the street offered a much needed distraction.

Your heart didn't seem to be beating as hard now, it was easier to breathe. A muscle car drove past, its engine loud and bassy as it stopped at the lights. Johnny would love to take a spin in that, thrash it down the highway to see what it's made of, turn up the music to full volume to see how the speakers-

“Are you okay?” You looked up and saw Miguel standing next to you on the sidewalk. He wasn't wearing any shoes.

“Yeah,” you mumbled. He didn't look convinced, if anything he seemed more worried. “I'm not good with sick,” you lied, hoping it would be enough of an explanation.

“Oh, that sucks. My Yaya's like that, a slight whiff and she's out of it for ages. Do you want some water or something?”

“No, I'm alright. I'll be back in a minute.” He went back inside before you could thank him. He was a good kid, you felt bad lying to him. Did you really say you'd come back in a minute? You supposed your hands weren't shaking that much now, your lungs still hurt but it wasn't as bad as before. Getting up off the ground, you were a little unsteady so you waited for a minute or two. When you walked back into the dojo, Johnny had his back turned as he watched his students practice. The mat had been cleaned. The kid who'd thrown up was sitting on the edge of the mat and was wearing the clean shirt.

You sat down heavily on the office chair. You hadn't thought about what happened that night for a long time, it had been buried away. You'd never really come to terms with it, you didn't think you could.

Not having the focus to do any work, you stared blankly at the forms on the desk and shuffled them round every now and then. Even though you'd calmed down from earlier, you couldn't settle. As soon as the class finished, you left the dojo, saying goodbye to Johnny with a glancing wave. Hopefully he wouldn't notice how little work you'd got done.

Later than night, you bought some weed which managed to calm you down and it helped you get some sleep. When things got bad, you figured you could smoke some. It would take the edge off.

Johnny called you only a few days later, explaining that there'd been some changes with the requirements he had to supply to the insurance company. Each student required two additional copies of their forms. You agreed and went back to the dojo later that day, unable to say no to him even though you were exhausted from work.

You were back in the office, trying your best not to yawn when Johnny or any of the kids were around. You sorted through the forms for the next few hours, with no end in sight. The phone finally rang, offering a welcome distraction.

“Cobra Kai Karate, how can I help?” You answered.

“Are you that teacher?” A lady questioned, annoyance heavy in her tone.

“No, Sensei Lawrence is busy with a class at the moment. Can I help you with something?”

“Help? You've gotta be joking! You can tell Mr. Lawrence that my lawyer is going to be in touch with him after what he did to my boy!” The woman on the phone angrily described how her son had come home one day with a bloody nose after Johnny elbowed him in the face because he was texting.

You tried not to swear under your breath, wondering how Johnny had done something so stupid. Holding your head in your hand, you kept pulling the phone away from your ear when she got particularly loud. She went on for the better part of ten minutes before she began to go through the story all over again. You half-listened as you searched through the files to find the consent form she signed.

“He shouldn't be allowed anywhere near children let alone teaching a class full of them!” While she was catching her breath, you took the opportunity to tell her that Sensei Lawrence doesn't use corporal punishment. You then began to cite the due diligence and individual liability clause on the form and personal injury waiver which states that the student agrees to be responsible for their own well-being.

You explained that if she was confirming that her child intentionally broke the liability clause by texting and not paying attention during class, then she has broken the agreement she signed on his behalf. She became even more agitated and continued to raise her voice. You pressed against your temple to try and relieve the growing headache to little success. She kept threatening to sue Johnny for aggravated assault and grievous bodily harm, saying that she'd make sure Cobra Kai was closed down for good.

You explicitly stated that there were no legal grounds for her to sue as she was responsible for the agreement being broken. Whether that was true or not you didn't know. You tried to calm her down by apologising for the incident several times over and insinuating that Johnny had done it by accident.

“I understand that it is distressing to see your child hurt, but there is always that element of risk in a martial art,” you told her. “That risk also exists in the real world and Cobra Kai is about being ready for the challenges that your child may have to face. I can assure you that the welfare and safety of every student is of paramount importance to Sensei Lawrence.”

Rather than mentioning her lawyer again, she said she would be writing a letter of complaint to the martial arts board, whoever they were. She continued to complain about Johnny's behaviour and made sure she got in the last word before hanging up. You put the phone down and huffed out a breath. The main class was over, through the window you saw only Aisha, Miguel and Hawk practising their kicks. Johnny had his arms crossed as he watched how they were doing.

You waved at him to get his attention and signalled him into the office when he looked your way.

“You need something?” He asked when he came in.

“Can you close the door?”

“What for?”

“I need to speak to you.” He didn't move and simply continued to stare at you curiously.  “About something private.”

Thankfully he listened and closed the door behind him.

“Did you elbow a kid in the face because they were texting?”

“It's not like he didn't deserve it. He was disrespecting my class,” he shrugged nonchalantly.

“I've been trying to convince that kid's mother not to sue you for bodily harm. What the fuck were thinking?”

“I barely touched the kid.”

“Things aren't how they used to be, Johnny.”

“They're just a bunch of pansy ass-”

“You can't pull this shit again,” you interrupted him angrily. “You can get sued, or they'll have you arrested for assault and they'll make sure you never go near kids again. And that includes Robby.” He stood silently. He clenched his jaw and pressed his lips together. Eventually he nodded in understanding. Johnny's eyes dropped away from you.

The frustration and the anger quickly faded as you realised how you had just spoken to him. You didn't stop to think how it wasn't your place. Rubbing your hands over your eyes, you stood up from the desk, knowing that you had to leave.

“I didn't. . .I didn't mean to raise my voice,” you told him honestly. He wasn't going to call you again.

“I just. . .” you trailed off. I care about you, was what you wanted to say, I care about you so much you stupid fucking bastard. “I should go.”

He didn't move from his position by the door as you approached him. Reaching around his body, you grabbed onto the handle but he placed his hand on top of yours.

“It's okay,” he murmured. You stared at his hand, unable to pull away from him even though you knew you should. “You're right.”

He gripped onto your hand, his fingers intertwining with yours. Neither of you moved for a long moment as you stood right next to him. He sounded so sincere. You wanted to close your eyes, savour the feeling of his touch. The urge to put your arms around him was growing more intense with every second. This had to stop, you didn't trust yourself. Wrenching your hand away, you moved back to the other side of the desk, putting as much space between you as possible.

You didn't sit down, you didn't know whether to leave or to stay. At least with some distance from him it was easier to think clearly. He seemed to have listened to you. It was unfair that he had to be threatened with the prospect of not being able to visit his son for him to actually see reason. He found it so difficult to navigate past the depths of his rage, it always held him back. But in a way it had been the only thing that had protected him for so long.

“I'll be more careful,” he said wearily. “I should get back.”

He opened the door and resumed his teaching, telling Hawk to adjust his footing. You leant against the wall by the window so no one could see your hands covering your face. You were so fucking tired.

- - -

The tension with Johnny got worse. He seemed to be keeping his distance more than usual. You tried your best to ignore it, to put a polite smile on your face and keep focusing on the work at hand. But it was becoming exhausting. Each time you came back from the dojo, you smoked some weed, otherwise you wouldn't get any sleep.

You weren't able to keep up with the paperwork like you used to and frequently making mistakes certainly didn't help either. Sometimes you wondered whether there was a point in you being there at all. Johnny didn't say anything about it. But the fact that he was regularly asking you to come in twice a week rather than just the once, said more than enough.

You'd been in the dojo for about fifteen minutes and had made a decent start on processing a batch of student fees. Class wouldn't start for another half hour, but Miguel was already there doing some stretches. You heard Johnny tell him he was going next door to the mini-mall. A few moments later, Miguel was in the office saying hi to you again like he hadn't said it earlier when you came in. He didn't quite seem to know what to do with his hands.

“Are you um. . .you know. . .dating anyone?” He asked, trying to sound as casual as possible. You raised your eyebrows at him. “I mean I know you and Sensei used to. . .be together.”

“He told you that?”

“Uhh yeah.” Your hunch was proven right, it explained those meaningful looks Miguel had given you after first meeting him. “So. . .are you?”

“No. I'm not.” Miguel nodded and pursed his lips together. There was a weird sort of brightness in his eyes.

“Sensei isn't either,” he informed you. “In case you were wondering.” Before you could reply, the bell above the front door rang and Miguel promptly left the office without another word. Through the window you saw Johnny hand him a bag of ice to put away. You turned back to the paperwork, trying to convince yourself that he wasn't purposefully keeping away from you.

Miguel tucked the bag of ice into the freezer compartment of the refrigerator. Johnny called out to him from the dojo, asking him to grab his bag. Johnny had left it on the fold out chair on the other side of the desk, his black gi was in there. Did he want to avoid you that badly? You rankled at the thought and managed not to heave out a sigh until Miguel had left.

Over the duration of class, little progress had been made with the student fees. You couldn't focus on the numbers, only on the bleak thought of Johnny actively avoiding you. The next time he called, you needed to tell him you couldn't make it. This wasn't working out, maybe you could go once every couple of weeks, or once a month, it wouldn't be as bad then. You didn't know how much longer-

The sound of a hushed argument interrupted the thought. Hawk was almost brimming with anger as Miguel and Aisha spoke to him. Class must have finished a little while ago, a fair number of the kids had already left. Hawk then turned his attention to you and he glared. His body was tense, his hands were twitching like he was going to ball them into fists. The other two spoke to him for a few moments until he brushed past them to grab his bag.

Returning to your work, you briefly wondered what he was upset about, dismissing the idea of his anger being directed at you. It wasn't long until Aisha and Miguel came into the office and stood in front of the desk, neither of them bothering to take the lone seat.  

“Is Hawk okay?” You queried, glancing through the window and noticing that he seemed to have left.

“He's fine,” Miguel replied but he didn't elaborate any further.

"We're all having a movie night next Saturday here in the dojo, and we were wondering if you wanted to join us?" Aisha asked, a hopeful expression on her face.  

"Here?"  

"Yeah, my dad's letting us borrow his projector.”

“It's kind of you to ask but-”

“Oh and we're gonna bring pillows and blankets for the mats rather than using chairs and Sensei's going to order pizza for us,” Miguel chimed in, doing his best to convince you to accept the offer. You wondered whether this was their way to try and break the tension between you and Johnny. Had they been picking up on it? You hadn't even considered whether it might be affecting them.

“I'm sure you'll have a great time,” you replied, wanting to let them down gently. “I won't be able to make it but thanks for asking.”

“Why? Are you busy?” Miguel questioned, he wasn't going to make this easy for you. There was a smug expression on his face when you hesitated to answer, as if he had caught you out and you supposed he had. You had to be honest with these kids.

“It's really not my place. If your Sensei is okay with me being there, then he can ask me,” you told them, hoping that they'd understand. Thankfully they appeared to and Miguel nodded before the two of them went back into the dojo. They were trying to clear the air. Were things really that bad? Was it that noticeable? Maybe coming back once a month was too optimistic.

You finished things about half an hour later and hoped you could leave without another awkward encounter with Johnny. He was holding up some pads for Miguel to kick. You waved them goodbye as you walked past and left the dojo. Before you could open up your car, Johnny called your name. You turned around and saw him approaching you, he stopped on the sidewalk.

“You're coming to movie night, yeah?” He asked obviously expecting a yes. You nervously played with the car keys, unsure of what to say. “The kids asked you, didn't they?”

“Yeah, they did.”

“So?”

“Um. . .I don't know.”

“We're watching the Last Dragon. None of them have seen it, can you believe that?” Johnny grumbled jokingly. He'd made you watch that cheesy action movie with him before, it must have been a couple of times at least. He moved closer until he was standing only a few feet from you. “Come on, it'll be fun.”

“The Last Dragon, huh? How many times have you made me watch that now?”

“Clearly not enough if you haven't said yes already,” he countered, you couldn't help but smile. The smirk that pulled up his lip made your heart ache pleasantly. He wasn't politely asking on behalf of the kids, he wanted you to be there.

“Next Saturday?”

“You can make it?”

“Yeah. . .I think so.”

“Great. I'm ordering pizza, you want your usual right?” For a moment, his casual question took you back but you were able to thank him. He said goodbye after that and your eyes followed him intently as he walked back into the dojo.

- - -

You were nervous.

It was stupid really, you were only going to watch a movie with a bunch of kids after all. But you hadn't done anything casual with Johnny for months, not since. . .before.

The work you did in the office held a level of civility and professionalism that you could hide behind. Now there would be nothing. On the way to the dojo, you stopped off at a grocery store and bought seven big bottles of soda for the kids and a couple stacks of soda cups. If they were having pizza, you figured soda wouldn't do too much damage. It wasn't as good a contribution, but at least it was something.

The Firebird was already there when you parked up. You hefted a few bags with all of the soda in and elbowed the front door open without dropping anything. Miguel and Aisha noticed you coming in and said hello, it looked as if they were in the process of setting up the projector and a laptop. Johnny's voice was coming from the office, but there was no one else around. Were you early? You got chatting to the two kids as you put the bags down in the corner. While you unpacked the soda and the cups, Miguel complimented the selection and joked whether he should hide a bottle or two from the others.

Before you could ask if they needed any help setting up the movie, Johnny walked into the dojo.

“Pizza's gonna be ready by the time I get there,” he announced, stopping when he spotted you. “Hey.”

“Hey, Johnny.” You offered something a little warmer than a polite smile as he came up to you. He was wearing jeans and a Zebra shirt with the sleeves rolled up. It had been a while since you'd seen him wear anything aside from the gi.

“You got all this?” He asked after he came up to you and took in the soda.

"Yeah, it's not much."

"Not much? This will keep them on a sugar high for a week," he joked. Johnny pulled out his car keys and went to move to the door but he hesitated. "Would you. . .mind coming with me? I could use all the help I can get."

"How much did you order?"

"Ten. . .extra large." Your eyebrows raised at his admission.

"You trying to feed them all week too?"

"I don't know how much these kids can put away." You were amused by the clueless expression on his face. “Let's go.”

You followed Johnny out to the Firebird and got into the passenger seat. It wasn't until after he'd pulled out of the lot that you remembered what happened the last time you were here. You had met him at some diner. He didn't say anything for a while, and when he did, he never apologised. After a brief look of guilt, he got angry at you, angrier than you'd ever seen him. You hadn't thrown away his apartment key like he'd suggested, how could you? Instead you'd kept it, for some reason holding out hope even though it was futile. Forcing your leg to stop bouncing, you concentrated on Johnny.

He was driving fast as usual with one hand on the wheel, he had some music playing at a rather low volume. For the most part he seemed pretty relaxed, he was strangely being more friendly with you than he had been for weeks. Slowly shifting in the seat, you tried to angle yourself slightly in his direction so you could see more of him. As it was almost dark outside, you hoped he wouldn't notice.

He looked good, much better than he was the last few months you were together. Part of you felt distraught, knowing that he was doing better without you, but those selfish thoughts needed to be ignored. His happiness was far more important. You just wished you could have given him that, you wished you could have given him the life he deserved. Maybe you'd been the one holding him back the whole time. Listening properly to the music, you recognised the song was one of Van Halen's, you couldn't quite remember what it was called but Johnny had played this one before.

The streets weren't busy so he could stretch the Firebird's legs out. The silence between you wasn't uncomfortable, but you were already missing that easy flow of conversation from earlier.

“What, no Zebra?” You wondered out loud. He glanced at you briefly before turning his attention back to the road.

“Huh?”

“Your shirt,” you explained. You almost laughed when he looked down at himself, like he'd forgotten what he was wearing. Automatically you reached over to the glove compartment, but stopped yourself to check whether he minded.

“You don't need to ask,” he replied, something a little off in his tone. Did he catch the amusement on your face? You didn't want him to think you were mocking him.

After rifling through the cassettes, you found one of Zebra's and got 'Tell Me What You Want' playing. Johnny turned up the volume and that was all the confirmation needed to know that he approved. Your feet started tapping in time with the music, the bass from the speakers was reverberating through your chest. You kept wanting to look over at Johnny to see whether he'd start singing, he couldn't help himself when a good song came on.

When he used to take you on long drives down the coast, he'd sing his heart. Sometimes he'd over do it and his voice would be hoarse by the end. He used to encourage you to sing and gently prod you if you clammed up with nerves. He was carefree, he didn't give a shit about keeping in tune or staying in the right key, it was about enjoying the moment.  

You didn't realise how much you missed this, the open road, the music, just you and him. After the guitar solo, there was something about the shift in the song's rhythm and the lyrics that made your chest ache in longing. Somehow you always seemed to miss him the closer he was. Looking out the window, you tried to imagine that everything was okay, that you were still together and he had convinced you that he could splurge on some pizza tonight and when he took you home you'd have an Iron Eagle marathon long into the night.

“How are you doing?” He asked, pulling you out of the daydream. He'd turned the music down so he could hear your reply.

“I'm alright, how about you?”

“Just alright? Work causing you trouble?”

“It's not too bad at the moment. And you?

“Are you taking it easy like I said?”

“When I can, but how are you doing?”

“Hungry.”

“Not for long.”

“Those kids are Cobra Kai and they work hard so they're gonna have big appetites. Come to think of it, maybe ten wasn't enough. . .”

“We'd struggle to eat one large pizza between us, so I'm pretty sure there'll be enough.”

“Yeah but we had popcorn too and those stupid little candies that you like.”

“They're not stupid.”

“Yeah, they are, and don't even get me started on your pizza toppings.”

“My taste buds are just more developed than yours.”

“Developed huh? Isn't that what kids these days say to mean stupid?” You couldn't help but laugh heartily as Johnny pulled up to the pizza place. After he turned off the ignition, he gave you a strange look before getting out of the car. Though he didn't ask for you to go with him, you went anyway, figuring he'd need help carrying everything. He was walking a few steps ahead and you weren't sure if it would be weird to hurry up and match his pace.

There wasn't much of a queue in the pizza joint so it didn't take long before Johnny was taking out his wallet and paying for the order. You knew ten pizzas would cost a lot, but to see him hand it all over made it hit home uncomfortably. There was a crumpled up twenty in your pocket, it would barely make a dent but it was better than nothing. He wouldn't accept it so you'd have to find a way of sneaking it to him, maybe you could shove in the glove compartment when he wasn't looking.

Rather than putting the pizzas in the trunk, you offered to hold them as you got into the car. Johnny didn't protest and balanced the rest on top of what you had. Though the boxes were hot, they smelled damn good. He turned up the music and he drove to the dojo without striking up another conversation. You couldn't help but feel disappointed by that.

After parking up in front of the dojo, Johnny took half the pizzas from you and headed inside. You quickly grabbed the twenty dollars from your pocket and tossed it into the glove compartment before following him. He held open the door for you and your quiet thanks was drowned out by the sound of cheering.

All of the kids had turned up and the mats were covered in blankets and pillows. The soda had already been divvied out, the cups were everywhere. You wondered whether to get the mop out ready for the inevitable spill. Miguel and Aisha had set up the projector and the movie was paused on the opening credits. There were a couple of speakers on the floor too which you hadn't noticed before. Johnny coordinated handing the pizza out to everyone and made sure each of them got a slice of their choice.

With most of the kids settling down on the mats, you moved towards the empty space behind them. Hawk bumped into your shoulder, giving you a sarcastic woops before sitting down close to the front. You tried not to think much of it. He was being protective of his Sensei after all.

Sitting down behind the kids, you leant up against the wall. Johnny gave Aisha the go ahead to start the movie and turned off the main lights. The kids were still chatting amongst themselves whilst the credits played.

Johnny came over with a box of pizza, a blanket and two pillows. He didn't hesitate to settle down right next to you and hand over one of the pillows. Weren't they from his bed? While you eyed him questioningly, he went in for a slice and then encouraged you to do the same. As the movie got going, both of you made good progress on the pizza before you had to call it quits. You couldn't remember the last time you'd eaten this much.

When Johnny had finished, he put the box to one side and unfolded the blanket. He covered up his legs before doing the same to yours. For a moment, your body stilled, but you soon realised from the neutral expression on his face that you were assuming an intimacy that wasn't there. He was just being courteous, there was nothing more to do it. After taking off your shoes, you laid down on the floor to get more comfortable. You breathed in the smell from the pillow and barely stopped yourself from groaning. That was all Johnny, that was his smell. Fuck, you'd missed it, and the blanket smelled of him too.

Pulling up the blanket to reach your face, you watched Johnny as he enjoyed the movie. He'd have to turn his head and look down to get a proper look at you. A particular loud scene had you focusing on the movie for a while. You tried to appreciate the fight scenes, but it was a struggle to keep your eyes open. You were just too comfortable, and you were in that haze after eating too much food.

You closed your eyes and figured you could rest for a little while. When another particularly good scene came up, the kids would wake you up soon enough with their hollering and cheering and their oohs and ahhs. You snuggled against the blanket, more relaxed than you had been for a long time.

Johnny was close enough that you could feel the heat coming from him. He was warm. He always had been so warm. He'd never let you get cold. Even when you couldn't afford the heating bills.

On those rare cold winter nights, he made sure you were wrapped tight against him. . .tucked under the blanket and the bed sheets.

He always kept you warm. . .kept you safe- z z z Hope you enjoyed this one! I had originally planned to write my own story for Nanowrimo, but I figured I would get this one finished for you guys instead. Thanks for your support, it really helps me focus on getting each chapter finished. Was the angst sufficient for you? Hehe x Taglist: @whyhaveyouwritten-mehere @lacontroller1991 @stressedstark @wndrcarol @carissakingofthecastle92 @witchcraftandwit @magicwithaknife @80strashbag @jem-my-greatest-sin @masonsbitch @wholesomehen @chlqefrazer @actuallydrew @jem-my-greatest-sin @masonsbitch  @wholesomehen​  @deadpoolgirl23​  

[etraytin]

Quarantine, Day 149

August 7

I've been too busy or distracted for the last few days to properly inundate you all with kitten pictures, but that ends now! You have been warned! Today I had lights and a fully charged phone and the will to use them, so you are going to feel the wrath of this fully armed and operational cat lady. I am also posting this during first dinnertime, so my background music is tiny Katara making improbably loud smacking noises while she eats babycat food mixed with warm water. 

Clockwise from top left: Zuko, Sokka, Katara, Aang

Now that the kittens are debugged and down to about 30% of their original hissiness levels, they are ready for cuddle times. Zuko won the best cuddler award today by actually purring when I picked him up, so he is my current favorite. Sokka needs his nails trimmed very badly, Katara is picking up the hissing slack for her unacceptably trusting brothers, and Aang has finally started using the litterbox but cries when he poops. (This is not uncommon for kittens who are first learning to go unstimulated, but I'm going to keep an eye on him to make sure he's not constipated.)  Four weeks is a very fun age, so this should be a good kitten week, knock on wood. They are all eating well and don't need a bottle, which makes my life way easier. 

Zuko and Aang

Katara still thinks I might be planning on eating her. She is the size of my hand but will go down hissing all the same.

It is just as well that these guys are weaned because the MPRE snuck right up on me. I started studying a couple weeks ago, but there's always so much to do. BARBRI's MPRE study program is funny because it's basically a taste test of their bar review program for the 2L students who typically sit for the MPRE. It's set up exactly like the bar review course, but where the typical bar review lecture is 2-3 hours, these lectures are about 15-20 minutes and each one covers a discrete subtopic of professional responsibility. Altogether, they are maybe just a little bit longer than the professional responsibility lecture I listened to for the bar review back in February. (Many states do not include PR on their bar exam at all because of the MPRE, but Virginia has more testable subjects than any other state and throws that one in as well, so I got a module on it.) In any case, I have been listening to these little bite sized lectures and doing the learning questions, then looking at the outline, then moving on. I plan to have all the modules done by tomorrow, then spend the weekend doing the three practice tests, sixty questions each. All three practice tests together are not as long as the bar exam practice test! I keep reminding myself that even though the subject matter is limited and I've covered the material many times before, I have to take it seriously. It would be both inconvenient and extremely embarrassing to pass the bar exam and fail the fucking MPRE at this late date. I'm also going to have to take at least one of those practice tests with a mask on, bleah. 

Ha, I have successfully tricked the kittens out of sleeping in their yucky litterbox (they are too young for nice clumping litter because they might eat it) by offering them a decoy litterbox with a towel in it. Cats do love boxes! 

(Sokka is behind the box, he is so fuzzy I cannot get him in focus for a solo picture.)

The kiddo and I went to the library today for the first time since March! It only opened on Wednesday and there were very few people there, but they'd arranged it so there's lots of open space and a counter right by the front where a friendly guy offered us hand sanitizer and reminded us about social distance. We were finally able to turn in March's library books, which had fine amnesty thank God, and snagged some new stuff. I wasn't feeling creative so I took advantage of the lack of patrons to snag a couple of newer Nora Roberts books, the kind that are usually hard to get hold of. I read a funny meme the other day of "2020 As Described by Nora Roberts Books" that showed Happily Ever After for January, Storm Warning for February, and then seven copies of Shelter In Place for March through August. The kiddo got a couple of graphic novels and also picked out two books with no pictures at all after I promised I'd get him a magnifying glass if he wanted it. Kiddo is farsighted and has glasses to read, but he may need a new prescription. I should get on that. 

Okay, knowing myself as I do, I took a brief break there to order some cheap little sheet magnifiers off Amazon because I try to keep my promises. It is hard when you are very forgetful, but I try! Not too much else to report today, oh, except I went into my primary doctor's office for the first time in many months. It was for a heat rash, of all things, but I just couldn't get it to go away! I could probably have done it online, but when it's a rash it's kind of easier to just go in there than to try and find the right light and the phone with the best camera, and this way I don't have a lot of weird pictures of my armpit for posterity. She gave me a steroid cream prescription and it is starting to feel better already. 

While I was getting the prescription filled, I got way, way too excited about the electronics clearance at Rite Aid and bought fifty dollars worth of stuff. (By Rite Aid's calculation it was 200 dollars worth of stuff because I spent 50 and saved 150, but you know how their prices are.) In any case, I got two wall chargers and a car charger, two sets of earbuds, a stereo headset with microphone  for virtual school, and the piece de resistance, a waterproof Bluetooth speaker that also has a multicolored light display. The kiddo is in love already and I hope it encourages him to more frequent showering. My 50 also bought me some melatonin gummies, some multivitamin gummies, a bag of chocolate snacky stuff, and two packs of Magic: the Gathering decks that the kiddo was distinctly underwhelmed by. He likes Pokemon cards so much despite not having the first idea how to play, I thought these might be good too. I'll set them aside in case he gets interested later. I am pretty sure that four dollars apiece is not bad for 60 card decks, even if they are planeswalker themed. Anyway it was a nice haul and now I can stop bitching at everyone and no-one every time I can't find a wall charger to plug into. A small price to pay for peace of mind! (And the cream itself cost $2.19, so at least I can feel a little good about our truly exorbitant health insurance this week.) 

Who wouldn’t believe this guy can save the world? 

[northcarolinanative]

𝙲𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 (𝟼)

Chapter 6: It Was Too Easy

A/N: This is a long one, some fluff I guess, I promise I'm getting there haha. Also two in one day? Kinda proud of myself haha. No warning on this one.. I don't think. 

Description: John B’s Sister comes home from staying with their mom, only to find out that her brother is missing and her dad was murdered. JJ may have just lost his best friend. Her and JJ have to figure out what to do and how to pick up the pieces.

Need to catch up? Ch.1 / Ch.2 / Ch.3 / Ch.4 / Ch.5 

I looked over the office space, it was pretty clean if I do say so myself, the cleanest I have ever seen it at least. The desk was bare except for a few supplies, the shelves neatly stacked with books, and the surfaces all nicely wiped down. I took one last glance over the door before making my way to the door that JJ was leaned against. I pulled it closed and locked the door. For a while at least, I would not have to be reminded of it. I walked out leaned against the counter, looking at JJ. 

“So what was that about back there.” I sat on the barstool as he moved to the kitchen, pulling out groceries. “What are you talking about?” He raised an eyebrow at me, pulling out a pot and some pasta. 

“Back at the police tent.” I walked over pulling out the spoons and stuff for the pasta. “You said I can’t be…” I paused and motioned over my body, “me. Why?” 

“Oh. Yeah umm, you know how I said Ward adopted John B?” I just nodded in response, beginning to pour the pasta into the water JJ put on the stove. “Well his social worker was standing over there, and I didn’t want her to know that you were his sister. She might try to take you too.” He looked up at me, his head still hanging low. 

My heart broke, the tone of his voice, the look in his eyes was heart wrenching. I walked over to him, wrapping my arms around his waist. This form of comforting each other through physical affection, while new, was our go to. We knew that we both lacked the words to help the other. He put his arms around my neck. I squeezed him a little tighter. “I’m not gonna go anywhere. There’s no way you're losing me J.” I felt him hold me a little closer. 

Our moment was soon interrupted by the water boiling over onto the stove. I quickly moved to grab the spoon and stir it, moving to turn the heat down. JJ moved to grab a towel, out arms brushing, just enough for me to notice. We continued to cook in silence until it was ready. 

“So to the ferry office first?” JJ questioned as we began to eat. “Or should we start somewhere else?” 

“We need to know the area that the ship was in, or was found, you know? Before we get any other ship info.” I put another spoonful of pasta into my mouth looking at JJ. 

“Do you think Shoope will give that info out?” He questioned. 

“Honestly, I have no idea, but it was your boat. Maybe we can pull that string.” 

“My dad’s boat…” JJ said before falling silent. 

“Right.” I took in a deep breath. The room fell uncomfortably silent. I was no stranger to the way that JJ’s dad treated him. I had known him as long as John B had. It broke me to know that if Luke finds out about this or finds JJ, I don’t know what will happen. JJ risked everything to help John B, and hopefully, it wasn’t for nothing.

--

We finished up eating and cleaning the kitchen before starting off the walk back to the sheriff’s tent. I was hoping that giving my car a break would help her to start again. We approached the tent and JJ stopped. “I think that you should sit in the car.” 

“Excuse me?” I snapped. 

“Not that I don’t want you to come, but a lot of Big John’s friends and Co-workers are here.” I glanced up to see the other fishermen and neighbors in the tent. “And that lady, the social worker, she's close to the agent, and-”

“Okay JJ” I put my arm on his shoulder. “I get it.” 

“I just don’t wanna risk someone noticing you, and her sending you back to the mainland. I can’t go through with this goose chase alone.” 

I laughed. “Of course. Okay, you need to ask for the coordinates of where the boat went down, and where it was found, we’ll go from there okay?” 

He held his hand up to salute me. I mirrored his and saluted back, “Aye, Aye Capt’n.” He turned away, both of us laughing. I kept my head down as I walked back to the car. The more I thought about it, the more that what JJ was saying worried me. I was supposed to start school in the fall, I had no one to stay with and they found out my uncle wasn’t here. I needed to stay as undercover as possible. I undid my keys from my pocket and got in. I was right, my car started. I rolled the windows down enough to get some air in, but let the window tint still keep me hidden in the car. I flipped through radio stations, waiting for JJ to get back into the car. Half of me expected him to come back empty-handed, because of his relationship with Shoope, and the law in general. After this morning though, the way that he looked at JJ, half of me thought JJ would not even have to try too hard for the coordinates. 

“Ah, I see she started.” JJ said, opening the door. I jumped up from his sudden burst into the car. “Maybe next time you hide, lock the doors?” He turned, pulling the seat belt over him, as I did the same. “Oh, I love this song!” He turned up the radio sitting back. I just looked at him, a confused look on my face. “What?” He smiled at me. 

“You know what? Did you get it? What happened?” 

“Oh yea.” He dug in his pockets. He pulled out a yellow sticky note.”I present to you” He dramatically handed you the slip. “The last coordinates of the Phantom” 

His smile was big as I reached out and gripped the paper. “35.081289,-75.950656” is red. “JJ how did you even?” 

“Ah, it was too easy Y/N” He took the sticky note back from me and slipped it back in his pocket. “I told him that my dad needed the coordinates for some insurance thing.” He started. “Kie and Pope were there” 

“What? Did you talk to them?” I asked, worry coating my voice. Things didn’t seem right with them since John B left, which I hated. “You aren’t avoiding talking to them because I’m here right?” I had to ask, I did not want JJ losing his closest friends because I came back and he felt like he had to take care of me. 

“What? No! Absolutely not. I don’t know. Since they kissed they’ve been figuring things out I guess.” He reached over to grab my hand. “Don’t think you’re changing me that much Routledge” He joked, but I could tell he meant it. 

I squeezed his hand before moving to shift the car in gear. “So what happened?” I asked, still wanting to know. “Did they speak to you?”

“Oh, yea. They seemed a little worried when I was talking about my dad like they wanted to ask about me, what I was doing. They didn’t though. Shoope just gave me the numbers and I didn’t really stick around. They weren’t saying anything, I’m not sure what they were there for. Shoope said that they had not found anything, but they were still looking” He scoffed at the last part. “Compared to them, well, we’re literally better than the FBI.” 

“I’m sorry that Kie and Pope aren’t talking to you. I really am.” 

“Like I said. I’ve got you, you’ve got me” He said it with a smile on his face, causing one to grow on mine as well. “So where are we going now, Nancy Drew?” 

I laughed at the nickname he had given me, at least it was better than princess. “The ferry office, to hopefully con them out of one of those maps. And a ship list.” 

“Alright then. Sounds easy enough” I laughed again, I swear JJ could lighten the mood, anywhere anytime, and I was so thankful for that. 

-- 

We walked through the large glass door to the ferry office. “All the tickets are sold out for the next ride. Try again in a few hours.” The old man behind the desk said, without even looking up from the old box of a computer that sat in front of him. JJ gave me a disgusted look before walking to one of the models in the room, after motioning for me to talk to the man. I guess it was my turn to get the materials. 

“Uh, actually I was hoping you could help me find some public records.” I said walking up to the tall desk. 

He looked at me over the glasses that sat low on his nose. “And those would be?” I was hoping you could get me an ocean liner record and map from the days around the storm we just had?” I asked as calmly as I could. I wasn’t doing anything wrong, but I was extremely nervous. 

“And what does a youngin like you need with a liner map?” He said looking back at the computer. He started typing. “What area do you want?” I let out a breath. 

“The area surrounding the Banks would be fine if that's not too much.” I smiled at him. He gave me a questioning look. “And it’s for a school project, gotta work on that home history and workforce stuff”  I forced a smile, still had no idea what I was talking about. 

“Alright. Seems a bit intense for summer school?” He said standing up and reaching for the printer behind him, which began spitting out the large paper maps. 

“Summer classes, Chapel Hill. You're looking at one smart college girl right here” JJ said coming to stand behind you. 

“Oh. Alright, I’m glad they're covering this stuff over there on the mainland. It’s important.” The old man spoke handing you a few papers and 3 large maps. 

“Yes of course,” I said taking a few steps back. “Thank you so much! My professors are going to love this.” I said making the older gentlemen smile. JJ and I walked at a quicker pace. Once we were in the parking lot JJ wrapped his arms around my waist spinning me around him. 

“We did it Y/N! And it was easy. Nothing has been that easy before!” He laughed putting me down. 

“What can I say? I have a special touch.” We got back into the car. The sun had set while we were in the office. The ride was quiet, JJ messed with the radio the whole way back to the Chateau, flipping the station every thirty seconds, nothing peaking his interest. When we made our way back to the Chateau, We both sat on the folded out couch, exhausted. 

I placed the maps and took the sticky note from JJ on the counter. We went through the first map, from the night of the storm, seeing if any of the liners were running late, and possibly stopped their track because of the storm. We looked at all the times, the boat type, path and numbers, marking the Phantoms coordinates on the map, and drawing a path and radius. We were sorting it all out until later into the night. 

“Okay, As much as I want to work on this, I can’t keep my eyes open anymore” JJ collapsed onto the table for dramatic effect. 

“Alright Alright. It’ll still be here tomorrow. We’ll work on it tomorrow alright?” JJ lazily saluted to me. I walked into John B’s room, the same wave of nausea hit me, just as it had the night before. I quickly changed and left to go to the bathroom. I saw JJ standing shirtless in the bathroom brushing his teeth. I stood, leaning against the frame of the bathroom. 

“If you took a picture it would last longer” JJ joked. 

“Oh. Haha. I’m waiting for my turn to brush my teeth.” JJ just moved to hand me my toothbrush and the toothpaste, then stepped to the side. I slid past him and made my way to the sink. I looked in the mirror as he finished up brushing his teeth. 

“So, Are we sharing a bed again tonight?” Any other time I would have thought he was being a smart ass, but there was a genuine tone to his voice. “Because I don't mind the company” I just nodded, before finishing up brushing my teeth. I didn’t want to seem like a baby, but the thought of sleeping in my dead dad’s bed, or my missing brothers, just felt wrong right now. I laid down next to JJ, mirroring his position. We both stared up at the dark ceiling. 

“What are you thinking about?” I asked him. 

“That John B is really gonna owe me one when we find his ass.” JJ laughed. 

I turn on my side to face him. “What if we don’t?” My voice cracked, giving me up as tears started to fall down my face again. 

“Hey now.” JJ turned and pulled me into his chest, wrapping his arms around me. “We will. You and your detective skills, and me with, well I don't know, but we’ll find him ok?” 

I just nodded into his chest. I put one arm over his side, letting him know I was comfortable. I just mumbled out a soft “ok.” 

“Alright, We worked hard today, let’s get some sleep alright” 

I slowly started to fall asleep, the long day had taken a toll on me. Before I completely fell asleep I felt JJ place a kiss into my hair and rest his head on top of mine, leaving me to smile against his chest like an idiot. 

Chapter 7

--

Tag List: @nikki082489 @lovelymaybankk @dolanfivsosxox @alexa-playafricabytoto​ @downbytheouterbanks @heyhargrove​ @kayln021 @readysteadygo23  @im-a-stranger-thing @thatsonobx @dumbxgurl @ameeraaa21 @zehnuhrfunf @imagines-and-preferences1216

[ft-dads-au]

She Was My Home

Home for the Holidays 2019 Prompt: Home A Collaboration by @mdelpin​ and @oryu404​ AO3 | FF.Net

August 2nd, 2020

Gray sat on the couch, watching the news on the TV while Lyon sat at the dining room table, preparing for a case he was presenting in court the following day. Aki sat next to his father, flipping through the pages of a board book, trying to repeat some of the words Gray had read to him earlier.

Gray couldn’t help but smile at the way his son’s legs didn’t even make it to the edge of the sofa.

“Hungwy, dada, pillaw hungwy,” Aki pointed at the page on his book, but Gray didn’t even have to look.

“That’s right, Aki! The caterpillar is hungry. What a smart boy you are!” Aki’s face lit up at the compliment, and he quickly turned the page wanting to impress his father some more.

Gray noticed the sad look on Aki’s face and quickly intervened, “Would you like me to read it to you again?”

Before he had even finished speaking, Aki had already climbed onto his lap eagerly and handed the book over. Gray could hear a chuckle and looked up to glare at Lyon.

“What? It just amazes me how good you are at this,” Lyon teased, getting up from the table and making his way into the kitchen to get a drink, “You never had any patience, but this suits you somehow.”

Gray resisted the urge to retort, going back to the book when his phone rang. Looking down at the caller ID, he saw it was his brother.

“Can you look at the pages for a little bit? Daddy needs to take this.”

“Kay, dada,” Gray kissed the top of Aki’s head, overcome by the cuteness of the voice before answering his phone. “Hey, what’s up?”

“Hi. Listen, I got a call from Gildarts a little while ago, seems that something’s up with Natsu. He wants to get a group together to meet at Fairy Tail.”

“That pink-haired guy? He’s annoying, pass.”

“Come on, Gray, part of being in this club is to help others through tough times.”

“He is a tough time,” Gray pointed out, his mind immediately going to all the times the two of them had butted heads.

“You know it wouldn’t hurt for you to go out more, make some friends.”

“I already have as many friends as I need, so if that’s all I’m gonna go now,” Gray replied, about to hang up when he felt Lyon grab the phone away from him.

“Hey Rogue, what’s going on?” Gray could only hear Lyon’s side of the conversation, but he knew the polite way he was responding did not bode well for him.

“Alright, tell Sting we’ll see him there,” Lyon paused for a moment before adding, “Got it, see you soon.”

Gray glared at his friend, “I had said no.”

“You always say no,”

“I don’t even like the guy.”

“Not the point. When you came here you said you wanted to start your life over, I don’t think you meant sitting in my living room day after day watching television. Live a little.”

“I was about to read to Aki,” Gray tried to use the Aki card as a last resort, but he should have known better because if there was one thing he hadn’t expected when he’d arrived in Magnolia it was that shy Aki would take so well to his Unka Lyon.

Lyon smiled at Aki, who immediately perked up. “Would you like for Uncle Lyon to read you that book while Daddy packs you a bag?”

“Unbelievable, ” Gray complained when Aki scrambled out of his lap and ran to Lyon. He knew when he was beaten, so after handing the book over, Gray headed to his room, figuring he might as well take a quick shower and change his clothes.

“Rogue and your mom are gonna watch the kids so we can meet up with Sting,” Lyon called out.

“Then why are you coming?”

“Insurance.”

Gray rolled his eyes, hating being treated like a child but also acknowledging he wouldn’t be going otherwise. Lyon was annoying, but he wasn’t wrong. It had been a long time since he went anywhere without Aki, especially anywhere meant for adults.

He looked through his closet, trying to think of what to wear. Most of his clothes were things he would have worn in Crocus, where he’d had an image to maintain. They seemed out of place for Magnolia, but he managed to find a pair of ripped jeans and a button-down shirt that looked more blue-collar than fashion staple. He grabbed the rest of the items he’d need and entered the bathroom.

Twenty minutes later, he was dressed and had added a few items to his usual baby bag. “Alright, let’s go.”

Aki had fallen asleep cuddled into Lyon, and Gray was surprised by how relaxed his friend looked. He’d probably make a great dad someday, Aki didn’t seem to like too many people, but he’d warmed up to Lyon very quickly.

They headed out of the house as quietly as they could, buckling Aki into the car seat and driving the short distance to his old home, where Sting and Rogue now lived.

0-0

“Hey, Erza, how’re you doing?” Sting asked awkwardly, never really knowing how to behave in front of Natsu’s rather stern-looking older sister.

“Sting,” Erza greeted, moving out of the way and gesturing him inside.

“Sting?” Natsu came out of the kitchen with Atlas, his two-year-old son, toddling behind him. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, you know, Rogue wanted to spend some time catching up with his mom, so I, uhm, came over to see if you wanted to have dinner with me.” Sting tried to make his smile seem sincere, but even he knew he was acting strangely. He was a terrible liar, always had been.

Natsu immediately turned his attention towards his sister, searching her face before looking back at Sting.

“I see, well tonight’s actually not a good night for me, maybe another time?”

“Nonsense,” Erza chirped, grabbing Natsu’s scarf from where it was hanging on a peg by the door and handing it to him. “It’s a lovely night, and the kids will be going to bed soon. I can handle things here. Go eat, have some cake, you deserve it!”

Sting had a feeling he knew what this might be about, and he wondered if it was a good idea to force Natsu to come out when he clearly didn’t want to. But he’d promised Rogue he’d try and the truth was Natsu was one of the few people he counted as a friend. If he could do something to ease his burden a little, he would try his best.

“Yeah, the truth is you’d be doing me a favor,” Sting flashed a smile at Natsu, “I hate eating alone.”

Natsu looked decidedly unhappy about the situation, but he wrapped the scarf around his neck without putting up any fuss, clearly knowing when he was beaten. Atlas, who had been holding on to his father’s leg during the whole exchange, peeked out and recognizing Sting transferred his leg grip to him, chubby cheeks stretched into an infectious grin much like his father’s on a good day.

Sting found himself looking down and grinning in return. He offered his arms, and Atlas quickly let go of his leg and grabbed on so he could be picked up.

“Cookie Monster! How’s your head doing, still closed?” He pretended to check Atlas’ head wound as he always did. “Yep, it looks like I get to keep my job for another day.”

Atlas giggled, and Sting ruffled his hair gently, giving him a quick hug before setting him down. He could see Natsu relaxing a little at the exchange and waited patiently as his friend said goodbye to Atlas and yelled out a goodbye to Hana.

Minutes later, they were on their way, Sting driving them to Fairy Tail, where they were supposed to meet the others later.

“You didn’t have to do this, I really am fine.”

Sting tried to seem like he had no idea what Natsu meant but decided against it. “Don’t worry so much, this is great! I rarely get to go out with friends. My life is pretty much hospital, and Rogue and kids, which you know is great but,” Sting realized what he’d said and felt like an asshole.

“You don’t have to watch what you say around me.” Natsu sighed, “ This is why I don’t like telling people about… about what happened,” Natsu managed to get out, “Let’s just eat.”

“Is there something about today, or are you just having a bad day?”

Natsu remained silent until they arrived at the bar, waiting until Sting had parked the car to respond, “It’s her birthday.”

He opened the door of the car and got out, while Sting stayed a moment longer, having no idea what to do or say to make his friend feel better.

0-0

Gray and Lyon arrived at Fairy Tail around eight o'clock. The bar was relatively empty, which was not entirely surprising, considering it was a Sunday night. They looked around, not sure who was coming until they heard Gildarts’ distinctive laugh originating from a table in the back. They made their way over to him, finding him surrounded by a bevy of women who all seemed to be hanging on to his every word.

Gray cringed, the reconciliation talks between Gildarts and his father must not be going well. He honestly wasn’t sure who to feel sorry for at this point. He’d have to have a chat with Cana sometime soon. She always seemed to have more info on what was going on between their fathers.

Silver had been incredibly tight-lipped on the matter, outside of finally admitting what Gray had suspected for years. His father and Gildarts had been in a serious relationship a long time ago. One which Silver had dissolved because he’d wanted a family, which even Gray had to acknowledge was a shitty thing to do.

Gildarts greeted them warmly, dismissing his ladies with an apologetic smile.

“Care to tell me what I’m doing here?” Gray grumbled into the drink that had miraculously appeared in front of him.

“What do you mean? I asked all of Natsu’s friends to be here.”

“I am not Natsu’s friend, Gildarts, in case you haven’t noticed I barely tolerate the guy.”

Gildarts gave Gray a look he didn’t quite understand but immediately irritated him, causing Lyon to snort beside him. “Well, let’s just say he makes you come alive, so maybe you can return the favor.”

“And what exactly is wrong?”

Gildarts blinked at him, “It’s not my place to say, but his sister was very worried about him, so here we are. It’s what we do in this club, Sport, we support each other. Today it’s for him, tomorrow it might be for you.”

“And when are we having one for you?” Gray challenged, and although he knew he was kind of being an asshole, he was honestly concerned.

“That’s different, that topic is off the table, especially with you and the Half-Pint.” Gildarts took a drink from his beer, ordering another round before any of them had a chance to finish the one in front of them.

“Who else is coming?” Lyon asked, wanting to steer the conversation towards safer topics.

“Macao, Loke, and Sting and Natsu, I think.”

“Loke?” Lyon groaned, which cheered Gray up considerably.

“What’s wrong with Loke?” Gildarts raised an eyebrow.

“Nevermind, you would like him, he’s like a junior version of you.” Lyon frowned as he took a swig of his beer, “So what are we supposed to do exactly?”

“This friendship thing is a new concept for you two, huh? Just talk to the kid, get his mind off whatever’s bothering him and listen to him if he feels like talking. It’s not rocket science, you know.”

Gray could only think that in his experience, rocket science was much more straightforward.

0-0

Natsu and Sting were led to a table where they proceeded to hide behind two large menus.

“So, what’s good here?” Sting asked, mostly to make some sort of conversation but also because the last time he’d eaten at Fairy Tail had been some time in medical school.

“I don’t know, just about everything, I guess, Mira’s a pretty good cook,” Natsu shrugged disinterestedly.

Sting bit his lip, trying to figure out how to bring up the topic, “Uhm, Mira is Lisanna’s older sister, isn’t she?”

Natsu fixed him with a glare, one that was most decidedly screaming back off. Still, he answered, “Yeah.”

Every question Sting asked from that point forward was deflected, and he didn’t know how to handle it. He wished Rogue were there since he was much better at getting to the heart of things than he was.

He texted Gildarts that they were upstairs, and it wasn’t going well. Gildarts advised him not to push more than Natsu was ready for, so they spent the rest of the meal talking about some of Sting’s more interesting cases at the hospital, which seemed to at least relax Natsu somewhat.

When dinner was over, Natsu insisted on paying since it was his fault that Sting had been forced to take him out, and after some initial resistance, Sting allowed it. He was desperate to get Natsu

downstairs, hoping the others would succeed where he had failed.

Natsu peered at Sting with a pleading expression, “Can we go now?”

Sting’s fingers danced underneath the table as he texted an SOS to Gildarts, glancing down quickly when he felt his phone vibrate.

Help is on the way…

Sting stifled the urge to facepalm as he heard the loud ring of Gildarts’ laughter coming up the stairs. If there was one thing Gildarts was not, it was subtle. He saw two heads of orange hair coming towards them, Gildarts sporting his usual grin, while Loke seemed to at least look a bit uncomfortable.

“Hey, Loke, are those Natsu and Sting over there?” Gildarts drawled and without even waiting for a response headed over to their table.

“Firefly, I didn’t know you ever went out for fun!” Gildarts hugged Natsu briefly, patting his back roughly before letting go.

“This is perfect, Macao just bailed on us,” Gildarts ran the fingers of his prosthetic hand through his hair, “Something about Romeo, wasn’t really paying attention. But here you are, and you should have a drink with us!”

Natsu’s eyes widened the moment he recognized Gildarts, and he examined Sting’s guilty expression for a moment before sighing, “Just how many people did my sister call?”

“I’m sorry, she’s worried about you. We all are.”

“There’s nothing to worry about, I’m getting everything done that needs to get done.”

“Look, kid, we know you miss her, it would be a miracle if you didn’t, but you have to keep going too. Not just for your kids but for you.”

“If I have a drink with you guys, will you let it go? Just tell Erza you talked to me, and I was fine.” Natsu’s eyes implored all of them.

“Sure, let’s go downstairs, okay?” Loke grabbed Natsu by the arm and tugged him towards the stairs, and Natsu followed docilely enough.

“Are you sure we’re doing the right thing?” Sting prodded Gildarts as they followed, “He seriously doesn’t want to talk about this.”

“He has to some time. Otherwise, he’ll never begin to grieve properly.”

“I dunno–”

“You’re going to have to trust me on this one.”

0-0

Gray watched as Loke brought Natsu downstairs with Sting and Gildarts following closely behind. He studied Natsu’s expression for any hint as to why they were here, wanting to get this over with as quickly as possible.

Green eyes that were typically blazing with life now appeared dull, and that stupid grin was nowhere to be seen. Sure, Gray had to admit that Natsu looked heartbroken, but so what? He guessed that they had all been there at least once in their life. Was this seriously the reason for Gildarts to round them all up for a night at the bar?

He didn’t like going out anymore, even with people he trusted, it just made him feel too exposed. If the wrong person recognized him, it would be all over social media. Gray knew it was only a matter of time before Siegrain found out where he was, but if he managed to find him before he was ready, things could get complicated. He’d only managed to hide this long by not touching any of his money or credit cards since he’d left, only using the money he’d managed to sneak in Aki’s savings account.

He was more concerned about what could happen if Siegrain decided to try to take Aki away from him. Even the idea of joint custody was something Gray couldn’t stomach, already knowing that Siegrain had no problem with hitting Aki, especially if he knew it would be the most effective way to hurt Gray.

Gray needed to give Lyon more time to find a way to keep Siegrain away from Aki permanently. These were real problems he needed to be working on rather than wasting his time trying to console some lovesick idiot. One that didn’t look like he wanted help at that.

He saw the exact moment Natsu noticed him, the man’s green eyes becoming even more guarded than they had been before, and Gray could feel his blood boiling. Why was he even here?

The fact of the matter was he didn’t particularly care for Natsu, and it was obvious the feeling was mutual, but he reminded himself he’d promised to behave and so he would try his best regardless.

However, he decided there was no harm in speeding things along, so when a waitress walked by, he ordered a round of shots for the table, and with a vindictive grin made sure to put them on Gildarts’ tab.

Lyon raised an eyebrow at his sudden fit of helpfulness but remained silent. It seemed Natsu worked as a bartender at Crime Sorciere, the bar Lyon frequented near his office, and his friend had taken a liking to him.

By the time Natsu reached the table, the shots were already lined up and waiting. He wrinkled his nose at the alcohol, and Gray made sure to down his quickly, staring at Natsu in silent challenge.

Natsu gazed at him for what felt like a long time before grabbing the shot and gulping it down, grimacing at the bitter taste of the alcohol.

The other men at the table tossed their shots back without effort. Gildarts immediately caught one of the waitresses’ attention with a small wave and his signature charming smile, ready to order another round. Sting was tapping out already, smiling apologetically at Loke, whose valiant attempts to fix him up with just one more round were in vain.

“I’d love to, but it’s not happening,” Sting sighed, “I’m choosing my battles very carefully.”

“Now that’s an interesting way of admitting that you’re whipped,” Loke quipped back at him with a smirk, using provocation to try and succeed where persuasion had failed.

“I’m not. Rogue is a bomb I’ve learned to defuse. But I’m driving both Natsu and myself back home later tonight, and I’m guessing you’ve never met Natsu’s sister? I don’t know how she’d feel about me potentially drunk driving her brother back home, and I’m not planning to find out either.”

Gray quickly drank the next shot, slamming the glass on the table as soon as he was done and waiting to see what Natsu would do. He seemed to vacillate for just a moment before copying him, but before Gray could say or do anything, he turned towards Sting and, for some reason Gray couldn’t even begin to understand Natsu’s dismissal bothered him.

Gray wanted to get out of this bar and back to Lyon’s house, why wasn’t Natsu cooperating?

“What’s going on over there?” Loke asked curiously, commenting on the tension between Natsu and Gray.

“I think Gray is about to work his magic,” Gildarts muttered, “If there is one thing the Fullbuster’s are good at, it’s their lack of patience, and they are easily irritated. Gray doesn’t want to be here any more than Natsu does. Sooner or later, he’s gonna say something to set Natsu off, and then… well, then I think we’ll finally get somewhere.”

“Wait, you’re saying you purposefully invited Gray here just to fuck with Natsu?” Lyon protested, “What happened to friendship and all that stuff you were saying earlier?”

“I mean it would be nice if they got along, but you’ve seen them,” Gildarts shrugged as he continued to drink, “Natsu is a powder keg that’s ready to explode, and Gray might just be the spark we need to get him to open up.”

0-0

Gray watched with dismay as the others tried to reach Natsu, asking him question after question which Natsu managed to deflect with almost admirable skill, but after about thirty minutes of this, Gray had had enough.

“For God’s sake Dragneel, why don’t you just tell them what they want to know so we can all get the hell out of here and go home?!”

As far as incendiary remarks went, this was pretty tame, he had much better ones stored in his arsenal, but to Gray’s surprise, he watched Natsu’s whole body recoil as if he’d wounded him deeply. Even worse, his eyes were welling up.

“You want to go home?” Natsu’s voice was so quiet that Gray had to strain to hear him, “That must be nice. I’d like to go home too, but I can’t do that. Not now, not ever again.”

“What are you talking about, didn’t Sting bring you from home?”

“That’s not my home. That’s just the house I live in with my sister,“ the tears had begun to flow, and although Gray didn’t understand how his innocent statement had led to this, he felt the beginnings of guilt, and he didn’t like it. What did he have to feel guilty about? Natsu was the one who was overreacting.

“What the hell could you possibly have to be so upset about, huh? Did your wife kick you out or something? Is that what this is all about?”

Natsu’s hands were clenching into fists, and Sting was moving towards the two of them only to be stopped by Gildarts grabbing on to his arm. Sting tried to shake him off, but Gildarts only shook his head and continued to watch. Lyon looked decidedly uncomfortable with the situation, but for the moment, he chose not to interfere.

“Gray, maybe you should back off,” Loke urged, eyes darting nervously between the two men.

“Don’t you talk about her,” instead of the yell everyone was expecting Natsu’s voice came out in a hoarse whisper. “You don’t know anything.”

“Of course I don’t, how can I, when you refuse to tell us anything?” Gray was being loud enough for both of them, and other bar patrons were beginning to take notice, “Fine, so if she didn’t leave you, then what the hell is the problem?”

“She was killed in an accident. Is that what you wanted to hear?” Natsu cried out, his voice gaining volume as he spoke, “She went out to the store to buy something like she’d done a thousand times before, and she never came back. She was my home,¨ Natsu managed before bursting into loud sobs, ¨She was sweet and beautiful and kind, and I loved her more than someone like you could ever understand.”

“No matter how bad of a day I had, just coming home to her could make it all better. And even though we never had any money, we were happy. We had each other, we didn’t need anything more.”

“She would have turned twenty-five today,” Natsu’s sobs had subsided, replaced by a voice that was too calm, “We should be dancing around the kitchen with Hana and Atlas. We should be laughing about the crappy cake I tried to make her, and singing along to the ridiculous pop songs she used to like. That was my home, Gray, and I can never go back.”

Gray could only stare in shock as words that he had never expected to come out of Natsu’s mouth filled his ears. He could almost feel the displeasure rolling off Lyon, and he knew he had no defense. He’d pushed too hard, as he always did when he lost his patience.

Natsu began to move along to the music that had started to play from the bar speakers at some point, and he mumbled, “I’m gonna go dance,” before walking off onto the dance floor and swaying unsteadily to the music, the shots he’d drunk earlier hampering his movements.

“I — I didn’t mean for that to happen, ” Gray glanced at Gildarts, expecting to see disappointment or anger, but the older man was only watching Natsu thoughtfully.

Lyon, however, was staring daggers at him. While Loke, who only a moment earlier had attempted to defuse the situation, stared into his drink, a faraway look plastered on his face.

“Are you satisfied?” Lyon growled and Gray wasn’t entirely sure whether it had been directed at him or at Gildarts but he responded regardless.

“I didn’t know,” Gray tried to explain, stopping as a thought crossed his mind.

“You knew his wife had died, didn’t you?” Gray glared at Sting, accusingly, “Why the hell didn’t you tell us?”

“Don’t blame him for this, “ Loke looked up from his glass, “He didn’t force you to go at him so hard.”

“He didn’t want anyone to know,” Sting revealed, wiping away the tears that were rolling down his cheeks, “He doesn’t want pity, and he doesn’t like to talk about it. He made me promise.”

“I met her a few times, she was lovely,” Sting added, watching as his friend continued to dance by himself, drawing more and more looks from others.

“Maybe I should take him ho-, uhm back to his house,” Sting corrected himself quickly before biting his bottom lip worriedly.

“No, first, Gray needs to fix the mess he made,” Lyon pointed out.

“What?! No way, it wasn’t even my idea to come here.”

“Gray look at him, is he really all that different from you?” Lyon insisted, “His pain might be different from yours, but it’s still pain.”

“Who’s brilliant idea was it to bring Natsu here today after I specifically gave him the day off?” A petite woman stormed towards their table. She was wearing a maroon dress with the bar’s logo etched on the half apron that was tied around her waist. Her contrasting white hair was put up in a ponytail.

“Oh shit, that’s Mirajane,” Sting turned around, trying to hide behind Loke, “What the hell is it with Natsu and terrifying women?”

“Gildarts?! I should have known,” she fumed, “How many times do I have to tell you, getting him drunk isn’t going to help. He just needs time,” Mirajane sighed as she looked out at the dance floor, “What happened? Someone said they heard Natsu yelling.”

All heads turned towards Gray, who could only protest once again, “I didn’t know.”

Mirajane squared her shoulders and walked her diminutive frame over to Gray, her eyes blazing with a fire that put the fear of God into him. She poked his chest with her index finger, eyes never leaving his face even though she had to strain her neck to do so, “I don’t know who you are, but if you don’t fix this I will make sure you never forget who I am,” she roared.

As he stepped onto the dance floor, Gray told himself he hadn’t allowed himself to be intimidated by a pint-sized woman, he was just taking responsibility for his actions. He did feel bad, he hadn’t actually meant to upset Natsu like that, and he certainly understood where the guy was coming from.

Gray was sort of homeless too. He’d been living with Lyon for months, it was the safest place for him and Aki. Lyon’s apartment was spacious, and it had excellent security, which given Lyon’s line of work was to be expected, but it wasn’t home. The house he had shared with Siegrain hadn’t been much of a home either. Not in the way Natsu described.

While he liked to think that he and Siegrain had been in love once, he didn’t really know if it was true. Gray had loved him, but now that it was all but over, he’d come to realize that Siegrain had never seen him as anything more than a meal ticket. He was in love with the money Gray made them, not with Gray.

Now that he was out from under Siegrain’s influence, Gray could see things clearly, could pinpoint moments in his career that had led to their relationship deepening. But he hadn’t been able to see it then. He’d allowed himself to be manipulated time and time again because he thought Siergrain was showing him love, when in fact, all he’d been doing was caging him.

There was only one thing to come out of their marriage that Gray didn’t regret and that was Aki, and he would do anything within his power to keep his son away from his husband.

He remembered Natsu’s words as he talked about his wife and felt resentful. He’d never experienced a relationship that deep, and given how closed off he’d become, he doubted he ever would. His life centered around Aki, and that’s the way it would have to be.

Gray finally got close enough to Natsu to tap him on the shoulder. Natsu turned his head, and although Gray had expected animosity, the eyes that looked back at him were remarkably passive.

“Look, I’m sorry if I—”

"Dance with me,” Natsu’s voice was soft and pleading, but Gray was caught off guard.

Dance with him? Gray had found Natsu so annoying from their first meeting that outside of noting the distinct features, pink hair, green eyes, tanned skin, and average height, he’d never really paid attention to what he looked like. He had to grudgingly admit that had Natsu been able to keep his mouth shut, Gray might have found him attractive once upon a time.

“Dance?”

Natsu nodded, offering his hand out for Gray to take.

“I don’t know, I just wanted to apologize…”

“I know what you wanted, and I really don’t want to talk about it, can you just dance with me? I just want to pretend for a few minutes, please?”

“But I’m a guy.”

“I know,” Natsu almost managed a smile, “this way, I won’t feel like it’s cheating.”

“Natsu, she’s gone,” Gray wasn’t even sure what to say, the whole request perplexed him, ”You can’t cheat.”

“I said I don’t want to talk about it, remember? Are you going to dance with me or not?”

Gray figured he owed the guy that much for making him cry, besides it was just one dance. What could it really hurt? It’s not like he hadn’t danced with plenty of guys in his clubbing days.

“Fine.”

He hadn’t been expecting Natsu’s smile to be so disarming or his eyes to be so bright, causing slight flutters to his stomach. Still, Gray stubbornly ignored all the telltale signs of beginning infatuation, allowing himself to be led across the room and almost rolling his eyes as a slow song began to play with nearly cliched precision.

He thought about protesting. It was bad enough to know that Natsu was pretending he was a woman, but then he thought once again. What could it really hurt?

So they danced, and it turned out Natsu wasn’t so bad, his movements were fluid and graceful as he put his arms around Gray and moved them to the beat of the music, a stark contrast to his earlier movements.

Gray remained silent, not wanting to break the spell of whatever it was Natsu was trying to accomplish. Dancing with Natsu was different than with Siegrain, even though he knew the man was pretending his eyes never left Gray’s face. His features softening into a smile that was both sad and endearing.

Siegrain’s eyes had always darted around whenever they had danced in public, as if he were on the lookout for someone better, which given the things Gray had found out about was probably exactly what he’d been doing. They would never have danced in their kitchen for fun, he couldn’t even remember the last time they had genuinely laughed together.

And suddenly, Gray found he was the one pretending. He pretended that Natsu was looking at him that way because he liked him. That he was actually loved deeply by someone rather than kept as a trophy. But instead of giving him any solace, it made Gray feel that much worse because try as he might, he knew it wasn’t real. But he wished it was.

He could lie to others, but he couldn’t lie to himself. He did want this with somebody. More than anything, Gray wanted to be loved for who he was, but he’d begun to believe that he was no longer worthy of it. That he would forever be tainted by all the bad decisions he’d made.

The song ended before he was ready, and he almost protested when Natsu let go, still offering that same smile.

“Thank y—”

Gray noticed Natsu’s eyes widen, and he turned to see what had gotten his attention. It was the scary woman from earlier, but Gray could see the change in Natsu, the tentative hope at seeing her, and though he had no idea what was happening, he felt a strange wave of disappointment come over him.

“Lis, is that you?”

Gray saw the raw pain on the woman’s face, which was swiftly replaced by pity, “No, Natsu honey, it’s me, Mira.”

But the pain Gray had seen on Mira’s face was nothing compared to what was revealed on Natsu’s upon realizing his illusion had shattered, “Oh, for a moment there I… I miss her, Mira.”

“I know, sweetheart,” Mira replied with a sad smile, “I do too. Come on, Sting is going to take you back to Erza’s, okay?”

Natsu nodded listlessly and made to follow her, stopping briefly to acknowledge Gray, who was still standing on the dance floor, awkwardly, “Thank you for the dance.”

“No problem.”

“Friends?” Natsu asked, holding out his hand for Gray to shake.

“Sure,” Gray replied, shaking his hand and acting like the last five minutes hadn’t meant anything to him. He had always been good at lying to others like that.

But as he watched Natsu walk back to their friends, he knew he was in trouble. For the briefest of instants, when Natsu had confused Mira for his wife, he had felt jealous of her. And he had no clue why.

A/N: This happens right before the events of Revelations. It’s sort of the beginning of Natsu and Gray’s journey in this world, which will be long and difficult.

[polygamyff]

52. Part 4

The silence in this room is deafening, it just shows that Maurice and Reign fill this home, I mean Krista is nice but still. I have no idea what to do with myself in this big home, now this is why I want more babies, for this reason, fill this home with love “I will never get used to this skype business” my mother answered “well mom, if you want to see my beautiful face then you need too” I smiled seeing my mother’ face “I know, I miss you. Look at you, you are glowing” pulling a face “really? I don’t know why; I am bored by the way. I have no Maurice or Reign” I pouted “you said in text that they have gone to Spain; they will be back soon. Are you ok with Maurice going there?” my mom asked “mhmm I am mom, since I know how Joy is. I feel like he needs that love, who am I to stop that. I have stopped being a bitch towards it anyways, I will show you. He posted some pictures on his Instagram, some bikini clad ladies but” grabbing my phone from the side of me, unlocking my phone and tapping on my Insta “bikini clad ladies? I am guessing you are not happy about that?” typing in Maurice’ name “well mother, I don’t know. I haven’t said anything to him because, I mean I don’t want him to think I am insecure, you know” tapping on his page “and also these girls are in a picture of them together, I am guessing Paula’ family” turning my phone to the camera “wait, baby. Let me see” here my mom goes, she needs her glasses on “my grandbaby looks so happy, I see. It looks friendly anyways, Maurice looks happy” turning the phone to me and turning the image “and this one, with Paula” holding it to the camera “ok baby, I can see. He looks happy there Robbie, that is nice to see. It is a shame you can’t go with him, he is such a good father” locking my phone as I placed it at the side of me “he is, this is why I didn’t text him a whole ass rant. What I am trying to do is be his peace. It is what he will need, he needs me so I am trying to contain my pettiness” my mom cooed you “that is love Robyn, I am glad you are taking that in with what I say, he just needs you to be there for him. Let his mom do her dirt, it’s not your dirt” my mom is right, she is always right and this is what I love about her.

I can tell Maurice is having a lot of fun because whoever this girl is. She is tagging him a lot, let me check to see who she is, tapping on her page and it loaded up. She has added to her story, let me check this. The first thing that comes up is my baby “awww Reign” she is smiling so much, tapping onto the next “tell me more, tell me how you just got this store to open up for us Maurice! It’s late at night, Maurice!” the girl said, Maurice looked behind him and at the camera laughing “black card, you know it!” he said, the camera flipped over “rich family shit!” the video stopped, the next post came up “hey, hey! He is cheating!!! You see this, Tía!” she spat, Maurice laughed “leave him alone” this really made me smile seeing that, he is playing Monopoly with them “awww, like that so cute” I said to myself, to see him just having fun. I am jealous that I am not there to see it because then I would get to enjoy it too, Spain does seem to be his peace. I am glad I saw that now; it’s made me very happy to see. I smiled to myself locking my phone “oh Jesus!” I spat holding my chest “sorry, I am back!” Jay spat “I can see, you scared me, my god!” he scared me “sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. It’s so quiet so I checked the cameras, how is the family? We are all happy?” nodding my head “but we are coming Cali so why did you come here?” I questioned “Maurice requested I come here, so here I am. Never said anyways, where is trouble?” watching Jay sit down on the bar stool “Spain, Maurice needed some time to himself. Reign is with him and here I am, alone” Jay cooed out “well I am here, we can have some fun, do what we like I guess. But I am not sure why he wanted me here anyways” Jay shrugged, neither do I and I didn’t expect him to be here.

Jay bless his heart, he is taking me to get some Taco Bell, I have never felt so lonely at home but here I am “thank you for taking me to Taco Bell, I didn’t want to cook for myself. I hate this, I honestly hate the feeling of being lonely, especially being here in New York” Jay cooed out “lonely little Robyn huh” he chuckled “New York is not for me either but, this job is for me. You know that Davenport paycheque” Jay is stupid “maybe you need a pay cut then, you get paid too much to just be relaxing. Don’t you think” looking over at him “uhhhh I do work, I am literally risking my life for you. I could die?” laughing at him and then felt an impact behind us which jolted me forward a little bit “what the….” Jay spat, looking in his rear-view mirror, feeling the pain in my neck instantly “is this nigga dumb!” Jay spat getting out of the car, the honking noises around us which snapped me back to reality. Unbuckling the belt and opening the door “are you fucking stupid!? New York traffic is slow, don’t you fucking look. You were texting wasn’t’ you nigga!” hearing Jay shout, closing the car door and walking to behind the car “don’t even fucking try it! I will knock your ass out” these two are now squaring up to each other, looking to the back of my Range Rover, it’s not even my car. This is hired “Jay, just get his insurance and let’s go. It’s not worth it” I am just glad nobody is hurt “you heard her, give me your fucking details now!” Jay is very angry “I will speak to her not you” the guy said “you bitch ass, you speak to me” Jay gripped him and pulled him back. I just want to go “are you ok Robyn?” Jay asked, nodding my head as I want this to be over.

We did end up coming Taco Bell, at the end of it. I wasn’t going to let that stop me, also the bumper is not that bad but still “you was very angry” I said to Jay “I was fired up, he goes to me oh you stopped suddenly, we was fucking crawling! I was angry because he just spoke shit, I was worried he was going to drive off. But are you ok? I don’t want Maurice coming at me saying you’re hurt?” shaking my head “I am fine, I had some neck pain, but all is well. Maurice can chase up that, I can’t be bothered with it” Jay nodded his head “you seem really sad, was it me?” Jay asked, I laughed lightly “no, no it’s not you. I just miss my daughter and Maurice and it makes you think, things like this. Life can be over so quickly, ignore me. I am in my feelings” I laughed “oh wow, that is deep. Now you are making me think that I get it though. You are in love with Maurice, so you feel even worse when he’s not around, I bet it’s weird to be in love with someone” Jay is cute “you know what Jay, it’s nice to be in love but also scary, I get scared sometimes. What would I be like without him, he is really my everything to me” Jay cooed out.

I don’t really ring Maurice, I think let him have his time there so I just leave him to it but I do miss him so I annoy my mom, I need someone to speak too “you and Thomas do need to talk” my mom said “sure” I added “but as you know Marquis is getting us married, but Thomas’ name was on there mom, why? He called me a whore, he doesn’t like Maurice, you can’t throw him in my face?” I would like her to answer “Marquis asked, and I did add him, because he raised you as his own and he is sorry, he is sorry for what he did Robyn” eyeballing my mom “right, ok mother. Thanks, he lost me when he did what he did, I didn’t need to know my real dad. I didn’t did I? He pushed it and pushed you, you will see it for what it is one day but I don’t want him on my day” my mom looked at the camera in sadness “anyways, I wanted ask. What do you get a man that has everything? I have been thinking this and I am like he spoils me because I mean I don’t have the riches he has, he has the world, what the hell could I give?” I am so confused with life on what to do “your time and love Robyn, that is what you give him. And I mean I don’t want to say it to you but sex things. I mean you both clearly enjoy that but make memories together, spend time together. Because even though you are both living together, you are both busy, still. He works what, Monday to Friday. You are part time, so at the end of the day, you are both busy. I don’t mind looking after Reign for you but create some memories together. Make it yours, you know. You don’t have to take his jet, make it special. Yes, he has everything but that’s not memories for him, that is just money and a few bad memories. Make it your day for him. I think personally that is what he will love, and so will you, spoil him with love. But I wouldn’t take Reign, maybe take him away twice. Once with you and another with Reign and you as a family” my mom is the best “mom, you are wasted with Thomas. Thank you!” my mom laughed shaking her head “what are you like” she has given me ideas now, it’s just when I think of gifts it’s like he has it all.

Today has been eventful “you have turned a shade darker Maurice, come. Sit down next to me” Mami patted the couch “I will sit here, near Reign. I don’t want her to wake up and fall” Mami cooed out “you are so close to her; I am so happy you have bought her here. Guess who she reminds me of? She looks like beautiful Robyn but when I took care of you, that age. You was the same, you only became shy as you got older, always looking to me for help” I laughed shaking my head “my dad wanted to promote me everywhere, it was weird but with Reign I am going to be calm with her, she does not need to take over the business but I have put her name to it. My little love” I grinned, she is so tired after today “I was waiting for you to be a dad, I was waiting for you to be at peace enough to come to me. Even though you never came; I always spoke to your dad about you. I didn’t want to confuse you Maurice, you were not in a good place like you are now, so I know you are ok. You are ready for whatever life throws at you; Robyn is a good woman. I held her hand and I said to her, give him time. You are blessed baby” putting my head down smiling “Mami, I want you to come to California. Be there to see me and Robyn get married” Mami shook her head “Maurice, there is nothing there for me, I don’t want to ruin a moment for you both. I just want you to make your dad’ day good ok?” nodding my head “do you know something I don’t? You think my dad won’t be around for long?” I asked, I can ask her because she will know “Maurice, he has had a good life. He’s got his blessing, you. He is happy, but your dad Maurice. He is ill, he is in pain. He wants to make amends and just know he left well. Maurice, trying times are ahead and I want to be here for you. My home is always here if you want to escape but you will need to keep your family close and defeat this” I swallowed hard, Mami knows more then she is letting on.

Rubbing my chin “right, so you and my dad still talk a lot?” Mami nodded her head “he is a friend to me now, we had good times. I can say we did, and I got to raise you which was such a good time for me. I mean yes he was married, that did hurt me, but I left it in god’ hands but evil won, but I am happy Maurice. I just want you to be strong, you have a strong woman, I like her” Mami pointed at me, I laughed “she is my everything Mami, I can’t even imagine a life without her. She is a strong woman, I admire her. I’ve never felt that feeling, you know for a girl to love me, to take care of me. So I know she will always have my back but I just feel like people know a lot more then me, even now. You wouldn’t lie to me? I have always been lied too, as a child, I thought you was my mother. And then I was lied too then if you know things you would tell me?” I do feel it, I feel like I am in this bubble and everyone knows something, everyone is watching in and watching me break “it’s not my place to say Maurice, this is down to your mom and dad” Mami said which annoyed me “you are my mom! And you’re the person I hope doesn’t lie to me, the woman in Texas is not a mother. Don’t do me like this” Mami put her head down “I didn’t think you classed me as such a person in your life, I classed you as my son but when you went back. That was it” shaking my head “people adopt and still love that child; you love me, and I felt it. You were my happiness because you showed me love, now I am asking my mother” I am being dead ass “I can’t get involved Maurice, I can’t. This is above me, and this will come back to me! I don’t want that” Mami does know something “what is it? I need to know, he is my dad!” I half shouted “and he should be the one to tell you” I huffed out getting up from the couch “but he isn’t! You are supposed to be there for me! Why be like the rest” she knows she is hurting me “but you can’t say anything Maurice, you can’t. If you love me like you say, you can’t because your dad does tell me everything still, we are friends still. He confides in me but I also don’t want to hurt you. As a child we all wanted the best for you, protect you and your best interest with what happens around you. Some people were more malicious with things, I really just want your parents to speak to you about this” shaking my head, I want to hear from Mami’ mouth right now about this “I want to know everything” I just feel like I am being lied too.

[justanotherdeadgirlwalking]

That is Just the Saddest F**king Thing I Have Ever Heard.

TW obviously DEH is about a kid’s suicide, so it has those themes 

other parts :)

Part Two.

I wake up to the sound of an obnoxious beeping. Its rhythmic, constant, like a metronome. I feel something tight on my arm, squeezing the shit out of it. I tense up hoping to provide some relief, but it just gets tighter and tighter. There is a long loud beep, and the grip on my arm loosens. I go to feel what it is, but I can’t move arms. I can’t move anything actually. I’m trying to wiggle my body to turn over, but I can’t; I’m stuck the way that I am. Shit, did those pills make me paralyzed? I can hear people talking, but their voices are so low, I can’t make out what they’re saying. I should’ve listened to my headphones at a lower volume. Now, I’m 17 and deaf, among all my other issues.

My eyes feel so heavy, like there are weights hanging from my eyelashes to keep them close. I finally gather enough strength and open my eyes. I grimace as the brightness of the white florescent lights above me momentarily blind me. Where am I? The beeping speeds up to a less constant beat and the voices stop. I hear footsteps walk towards me, and I force my eyes shut. Someone plays with a machine behind me with a symphony of beeps and buzzes. They walk away, and then the voices start up again, louder. I slowly pick up my heavy head, and I glance around. I’m in the hospital. I look down at my body, there are purple Velcro restraints securing each of my limbs to the bed. They think I’m dangerous, cool.

I point my gaze in the direction of the voices, its Mom and Dad talking to some lady in scrubs, a nurse probably. She looks nervous; she’s biting her lip and playing with her hands. I can’t make out what they’re saying. Mom looks like she’s crying, sobbing actually. Dad has his back turned to me, but he’s making large gestures with his arms; he must be mad about something.

Their conversation goes on for what feels like hours. Mom and Dad keep asking questions, and the nurse just keeps saying “I’m so sorry, we don’t have answers.”  I stare at them, hoping one of them will notice me. Eventually, the nurse notices my gaze and makes eye contact with me. She makes a surprised gasp and smiles at me. Her smile is larger than any other smile I have ever been greeted with my whole life, and it looks genuine. Though, she’s probably relieved for the conversation to end. The nurse walks over to my side and squats down, so she is eye level with me, “Hi sweetie, I’m Heidi” she says. She has a kind voice, “how do you feel?”

“I’m okay” I barely croak out, almost as a whisper. The nurse, Heidi, just smiles at me.

“I’ll let the doctor know he’s awake,” she says, standing up and hurrying out of the room.

Mom and Dad come and sit in the chairs next to the bed. Mom looks at me with a half-smile as tears fill her eyes; Dad gives me a cold, blank, emotionless stare. “H-hi” I barely let out. Mom motions for me to be quiet, shushing me. “What happened?” I whisper. Mom reaches over the rails of the hospital bed to take my hand; she shoves one of her fingers into the restraints, moving it back and forward as if she was trying to stroke it.

“They found you in the park, slumped over” she chokes out between tears, “you weren’t breathing, you barely had a pulse. No one thought you were going to make it.”

“You really scared us” Dad says, with a flat, emotionless voice, “You can’t keep doing shit like this to prove a point.”

Oh, sorry Larry, I guess I forgot to take your feelings into consideration when I did something brash and stupid. I don’t know what point I was trying to prove, but I’m glad you got the message. I am sincerely sorry; sorry to disappoint you that I am still here; sorry you have to pay for another hospital bill for your freak son. He’s always been so apathetic with any of my struggles. He always thinks I’m faking it or doing it for the attention. Why the fuck would I literally try to kill myself for attention? I’d be dead, and unable to receive the attention. Sure, people would talk about me, pretend to be sad about it, but they would get over it in two weeks. That’s just how it goes. We see tragedy after tragedy. A hurricane in Puerto Rico? How sad, I’ll donate to the Red Cross. A school shooting? They’re in my thoughts and prayers. And then we just move on like there’s more important things to do.

Heidi walks back in with another lady, who I’m assuming is the doctor. “Hi, I’m Dr. Johnson,” the lady says, “How are you feeling Connor?”

“I’m fine, I’m just thirsty and my nose itches” I say, raising my arm to draw attention to the restraints, hoping to get out of them.

“Those are just a precaution,” Dr. Johnson says removing the Velcro from around wrists and ankles. I open and close my hands, wiggling my fingers, relieved to be free again.  “We weren’t sure when you were going to wake up, or how you would react when you woke up.” She takes a long pause, “you were out for a very long time, and you had very dangerous levels of fluoxetine in your system when you were found. We just need to run a few tests and observe you for a bit before we can let you go. We also arranged for you to talk with someone from Psych so we can baseline how you are feeling and put in a support system for you.” She smiles at me, and then motions for Mom and Dad to follow her out into the hallway.

Great, that’s all I need, some psychologist to come talk to me and tell me I’m fucked. Trust me, I already know. I’ll have to explain that no I wasn’t feeling depressed or suicidal, I’m just impulsive; I just made a really dumb split decision. That’s what most of the shit I do is anyways, a dumb decision. Like the time I crashed my car. I lied and said there was a deer in the road, and that I swerved to miss it, but really I had a sudden impulse to crash my car for literally no reason. Luckily, I walked away unscratched, but I totaled the car. Larry was pissed. Not only did I wreck a brand-new car, one that he gave to me as a gift, but I also raised the insurance rates. Now, I’m not allowed to drive at all until I can afford to replace the sedan. Considering that I don’t have a job, I am probably never going to get behind the wheel again.

Then, I’m going to talk about all my problems, and this psychologist person is going to write me another prescription to “try to help.” Isn’t a prescription what got us into this mess in the first place? How long are they going to try to pump me full of drugs before they realize that it’s not working.

How long was I out for, a few hours? A few days? What day is it? How much school have I missed? I can only imagine the stories going around to explain my absence. Would Zoe hear them? Would she defend me? Where is she anyways? She probably doesn’t care that her big brother was dying, hell, she probably prayed that I’d stay away this time. It’s not like we’re close, but we’re not enemies either. Surely, she has to care about me, even a little bit.

We were really close when we were younger. She’d want to do everything I did. If I was playing with cars, she wanted to play with cars. If I wore a blue shirt, she wanted to wear blue too. I used to hate it when we were younger, I just wanted to do whatever I wanted without having to worry about having a shadow. Of course, when I misbehaved too I always heard the “you’re a role model” bit, the “she looks up to you” and the “she does everything you do” speeches. How could I expose Zoe to the truth, that her perfect big brother wasn’t actually perfect? That he was actually a fucked-up kid. For years I locked myself in my room and screamed at her to leave me alone. She would sit in the hallway and cry until I would let her in; she fought for me, for my attention. Eventually, Zoe stopped fighting for me, and really lost all interest in me completely. She grew up. She learned to see me the same way that the rest of the world did, as a freak.

Maybe she told everyone to mind their business. Maybe she told them I overdosed in a children’s park. Whatever the rumor is, it’s going change how people see me. It’s an opportunity I’ve been waiting my whole life to have, and I had to almost die to get it. Maybe, I’ll be Connor Murphy the fucking drug addict, who does hard drugs like anti-depressants and mood stabilizers. Maybe I’ll be able to fit in with the stoners. Who knows? I’ll no longer be the freak Connor Murphy. Maybe I’ll be the Connor Murphy, the kid that tried to kill himself, and everyone will pity me. No, I think that’s worse. I’d defiantly much rather be known as a freak than to be pitied by all these fake mother fuckers that didn’t care about me a week ago, or a month ago.

Mom walks back in, “Honey, your friend Evan Hansen is here to see you,” I see him wave from behind her, “I’ll give you two some time alone.” Evan walks in and sits in the chair next to my bed, his cast is gone. He looks so nervous that he is literally shaking.

“M-my, my mom said that you woke up. We didn’t think you were going to. Zoe said I should’ve waited to come see you, so you could readjust, but I feel so guilty that I-I made her drive me here. I had to see you… immediately.” He says, stuttering through every word. Why does he feel guilty? I mean he was the last person I talked to before I passed out in the park. Maybe he feels bad for writing his weird sex letter about Zoe. Zoe? Zoe brought him here.

“Where’s Zoe?” I ask him.

“Sh-she’s in the hallway, she doesn’t want to see you yet,” he says. Of course, she doesn’t want to see me, she doesn’t want to deal with the mess that I am. “She just needs a little more time to process everything that’s happened, and now that you’re awake, none of us know how everything that happened is going to fit in with you in the picture. A lot of stuff happened while you were, while you were,” he jesters at me and the bed, “but, it’s okay and actually you have an apple orchard now.”

“I have an apple orchard?” I ask, Jesus Christ how long was I asleep? “You’re going to explain ‘everything’ to me right now.” I spit at him.

“Yeah uh, it’s a funny story actually,” he continues, “so when you were found you still had my letter in your pocket and everyone thought that it was your suicide note and that you wrote it to me because we were best friends,” he’s talking really fast, “and your parents came to school and told me that you tried to kill yourself and about the note and I didn’t know how to tell them that it was actually a letter I wrote to myself as an assignment from my therapist.” He pauses to breath.

“Okay, that doesn’t explain how I have an apple orchard.” I say, confused.

“Right,” he takes a deep breath before talking really fast again, “well I lied to your parents and said that we had a secret friendship where we sent emails to each other, Jared was in on it, and I gave your parents the fake emails and they took me in as their own, since they were so happy that you had a friend.”

“You did what now?” I ask him, cutting him off.

“It’s a really long story” he sighs, “but please, can you go along with it, please?”

Is this a fucking joke? The same kid that wrote freaky shit about my sister, is asking me to cover him in a big lie he told, and the lie he told was about me. He wrote fake emails? He told my parents we were friends? He still hasn’t explained the apple orchard. If Evan was really desperate for friends, I don’t know if this was the way to go. Did he think, what, I was never going to wake up, and he could go on in his life without getting caught? I must’ve been out for a real long fucking time for something like this to be cooked up. This is crazy. I can tell you that all the times I’ve been high out of my mind, I’ve came up with some pretty wild ideas, but never pretending to be some almost dead kid’s friend with whom we write secret correspondences.

“Sorry to interrupt you two,” it’s the nurse from before, “but Evan honey, we need to do some tests on Connor, so you’ll have to wait in the hall for now with everyone else.”

“Okay mom,” Evan stands as he gets up to leave, basically running out the room. The nurse is his mom. No wonder why she was so happy to see me awake, I’m her kid’s best friend. 

[imbumkyung]

I Saw It In A Movie One Time (ch.2) - reincarnation

Chapter 1

Chapter 3

“She’ll be okay,” the man said

Kaileia lay on a towel that CJ and Miko set up. A man that was out surfing saw Kai getting washed up by the ocean and quickly pulled her out

“She probably just took in some water and passed out from shock but she’ll be good,” He finished, offering a nod to her friends.

“Oh, okay. Thank you so much,” Miko smiled before he went on his way, his wetsuit and board leaving a wet trail behind him. She was thankful they didn’t need 911 because to be real honest here, they were all broke as heck.

Not too long later Kai coughed a few times before waking up.

“Dude are you okay?” CJ asked

“Yeah I’m fine I just have a headache right now,” Kai replied, her voice filled with fatigue.

“Oh my god I thought you died,” Melissa said, half joking.

-

Kaileia didn’t remember what happened the rest of that night, only that Miko let her sleep over at her place. So when she awoke the next morning in a room that wasn’t hers, it wasn’t alarming at all.

What was alarming though was that she was asleep way longer than she thought she’d be. Usually she slept in until it was about ten to eleven a.m. Now, it was already two p.m. She stayed in bed for a little nonetheless, her inner monologue explaining the tasks of the day: walk the dogs, go to the gym, get that TB test and fingerprint scan done so you can start working soon. Mustering up as much leg strength as she could, she got up to go get ready for the day. She searched for her backpack with her change of clothes, toothbrush, toothpaste and all her other things, the only thing missing was her phone for her morning music. Puzzled, she couldn’t find it anywhere in her bag and come to think of it, she’d never seen this room in Miko’s house before. And the day looked a lot more glum than the usual Kauai sun.

“Miko? Have you seen my phone?” She questioned aloud enough for her to hear if she was downstairs. To no avail, she tried again, “Miko?”

Silence

Did Miko have somewhere to be this morning? She couldn’t call her without a phone so she figured she’d find a house phone and made her way downstairs. As soon as she openned the door of the bedroom, she froze

I have no idea who’s house this is.

A white hallway with a room straight across, a bathroom to the right and a staircase to the left. Carefully going down the staircase she was even more shocked and afraid— I really don’t know who’s house this is.

She found a smaller sized kitchen and a living room next to it, big enough to fit two couches and a TV, the front door on the upper right corner.

She picked up the house phone hanging right by the kitchen, only to realize she didn’t even know Miko’s number— it was saved to the cell phone she couldn’t find. Was I kidnapped? Am I in a murderer’s home?

Call mom, you idiot

Her hands scrambled in panic as she dialed her moms number,

“You have reached the voicemail box of pause Susie May, please leave a message! At the to—”

Who the fuck is Susie May? Spotting a pair of car keys on the table, Kaileia didn’t know where she was going, or what she would do, but she needed to get out of this murderer’s house as fast as she could. She ran up the stairs, her knees quivering from fear she paid as least mind to as she possibly could, grabbed her backpack, took the keys and ran outside. Walking as fast as she could, she smashed the lock button until she heard a beeping from one of the cars. Discovering which car the key belonged to, she put it in ignition and drove.

Nothing was familiar. Absolutely nothing. The island she lived on was small enough for her to have explored it all as she lived there for a whole 19 years, so it made no sense she’d never seen this place before. Her conclusion: the kidnapper took her to a land unknown. And she couldn’t go back to that house. Ever.

She made a right, and a left, and another right, trying to find something familiar. It took one wrong right at a stop light she didn’t realize— and a cop was right there. He signaled for her to pull over, most likely to ticket her for this minor mistake. Kai sighed— this is the last thing right now. I’m literally fleeing my kidnapper.

She rolled down her window, “Is there a reason you didn’t stop at the stop sign, ma’am?” The officer in black sunglasses asked. There was no reason for the sunglasses, really.

She shook her head, still in shock from everything that’s happened, especially from being questioned by a cop— the last time something like this happened, she had to pay so much money to fix her own car, and still needed to pay because the lady she crashed into went to physical therapy— taking the advice of her claims assistant, even tho Kai had left nothing more than a crack of paint on said lady’s car. In short, Kai wasn’t ready to be broke all over again.

“License, registration and insurance, please,” He requested.

She nodded, and scrambled the compartment to look for the information she knew she didn’t have. It surprised her though, she did find the registration and insurance. She left that into her lap to find her license in her backpack. She froze. It had her name and her picture but it was missing the rainbow and the blue letters reading “Hawaii”. It was instead a normal creme colored background and read “Washington” across the top. She scrambled back to the registration and insurance in her lap— both under her very own name. She couldn’t think. Shakily and obviously very nervous, she handed all three documents to the officer.

He received them with a nod, then took them to the police car, most likely to run her records. But how is this car under her name? How did she end up in Washington, and why Washington? What the fuck was here, that brought her here? Theres literally no reason to be here. It’s cloudy, it’s cold, it’s depressing.

He brought all three back to her, “Well there’s nothing on your record, and I’ve decided I’ll let you off with a warning,” he concluded.

Kai sighed gratefully, “Thank you so much Officer”

“You be careful now,” he advised, and his radio went off

“Chief Swan, do you copy?” A man said over the system

He nodded to her before dismissing her. She let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding.

Washington. I’m in Washington. What am I doing in the mainland? How is this car mine? Everyone here dresses weird. Could it be, that the house is also mine? Don’t be stupid. You might fall into the murderer’s trap. You should have told the officer while you had the chance. I mean you still do, technically. They haven’t moved and neither have you.

Maybe we could just check? You’re seriously gonna take a chance on death? Maybe.

Without thinking, she circled around the town before going back to the house she woke up in. It was now 6pm. If the murderer was to return, they’d have surely been home by now, right? But the sight she saw in front of her house was anything but a murderous aura. It was a father and his son riding on his little tikes bicycle in front of the drive way, just passing through. Warily but quickly, she walked to the front door, the umbrella she found in the back seat now in her right hand, ready to stab whoever it was that was gonna grab her as soon as she opened the door— only there was no one. All she saw was the house with everything in the exact position it was left.

I should call 911

She quickly searched for any cabinets until she found one filled with documents, proving ownership of the house, so she’d have an address and hopefully a name to provide whoever would assist her on the other line. Only for her heart to stop after reading the name of the homeowner: Kaileia Mahelona

Brows furrowed and eyes wide, she read the name over and over again, searching for any documents to prove otherwise but— nothing. Did this house belong to her? She stood frozen in that spot, no reaction, no other thoughts, just her trying to grasp onto the concept that this is either all some sick joke, a dream, or she is actually in another reality. Maybe I was reincarnated early?

Kaileia stalked across the kitchen and grabbed the remote, turning on the TV. None of the news was out of the ordinary— well at least for someone who didn’t pay too much attention to the news regularly. Immigration protests, some world cup final, tainted spinach and the shocking news on the Crocodile Hunter’s death. Surely they meant his death anniversary.

No. It was his actual death. With a photo of him and the words underneath reading “Steve Irwin, 1962-2006”

Two-thousand what now?

“This ain’t it, sis” she whispered, hands of stress running through her hair. She shook her head in disbelief.

Definitely not real. Wake up Kai, come on wake up. If it’s 2006, you’re literally six years old right now.

Her peripherals caught a computer she hadn’t seen there before. From there, she discovered that she was actually in Forks, Washington, it was definitely 2006, and that the Marvel universe exists here. So talking about Spiderman wouldn’t make her look like a mad man. Which is great, because she loves Spiderman. Also Deadpool. Okay that’s besides the point.

“What am I to do? I don’t think I have a job and I’m definitely not in school,” she thought to herself. Without a second thought, she left the house yet again and drove.

“Another hiker presumed dead, searches still going on for the killer animal—” a voice on the radio spoke. Killer animals? What the hell is going on, Forks? Distracted by her thoughts while driving along the never ending path along the mountain, a wolf suddenly ran across about 50 feet from her, still close enough for her to register that this was in fact NOT a normal sized wolf. It was about five times the size of what she’d expected.

She rounded a corner and caught sight of a party. “Forks High School Prom” a giant banner read across the entrance of the venue. She decided to park here, the lights were a pretty sight as she tried to pay no mind the awkward couple dancing in the middle of the lawn. The girl wore a purple dress with a boot and the boy with a suit on, skin paler than the Korean pop stars her friend Miko was obsessed with. It looked like that scene from Twilight. She was unknowingly staring— he dipped her low and placed a soft kiss on her neck. Another action that reminded her of the twilight movie. Kaileia hadn’t seen it since Elementary school.

The couple were about to exit the canopy when Kai thought, “careful girl, he’s probably a vampire”. It was only a joke, alluding to the Twilight movie that happened in Forks with this exact ending scene when the boy froze. He turned in the direction of Kaileia’s car and— ah shit.

“Can he hear me? How did he know to look exactly where I’m at?” She panicked

There’s no way this is happening. Hurriedly, she started the car and drove off.

Was that Edward Cullen? Was that really them? It has to be a real coincidence. Twilight is fiction. It’s literally cringe culture. But it could also explain that big ass wolf that jumped out of nowhere. It would explain why that girl looked so much like Bella.

Kai decided she couldn’t say or think anything about what she knows anymore. Edward can definitely hear her thoughts.

I can’t change the storyline. Everyone made it out alive at the end of Breaking Dawn. Don’t change that. I could die here. But if I died here would I go back to my old life? Possibly. It happened to that girl in Scarlet Heart: Ryeo.

Kai, that was a kdrama.

Twilight was a movie series!

Touché.

All I have to do is survive. Don’t change the story lines. Try not to get involved.

She parked the car in the driveway this time instead of across the street, rounding the corner to the door but froze as she saw the same boy who was just dancing at the prom.

“Can I help you, sir?” She asked him, trying her best to project her voice and mask her timidness

He turned, his eyes going first then the rest of his body behind him, “Hi, I’m Edward Cullen”

She nodded, “Hi. What are you doing here?” She asked, wanting to get straight to the point

He paused, realizing he didn’t prepare a lie to tell her and having no real justification besides “I heard your thoughts. How do you know what I am?” Of course, he didn’t say this out loud, he can’t jump to conclusions and expose his kind. Instead, he excused, “I must have gotten the wrong house.”

Kai nodded, keeping her thoughts silent and slipping past him, rushing to get inside and lock the door. She let out an exhale of relief after being inside.

He’s onto me.

Tags: @sunflowerspectre

Thank you for reading!

[p-artsypants]

Longest Night (4)

Ao3 | FF.net

Then it came time for patrol. And here, dear reader, is where it all goes wrong.

A fall evening, not long after sunset, cool winds, but not unpleasant. Ladybug and Chat Noir were doing their weekly rounds. Looking for any sign of Hawkmoth or an Akuma. But so far, nothing ‘super’ had been seen.

Ladybug arrived at the Eiffel Tower first, having left 15 minutes ahead of time out of restlessness.

Still, Chat was late, and she made sure to mention it as he landed next to her with a ‘thwump’.

“You’re late, Kitty.”

“My apologies, it’s so rude to keep a lady waiting.”

“You better have a good excuse.”

“But of course!” He smiled. “Caught a pickpocket on the way here. Walked him to the police station and had him turn over his wallets. They’re taking it from there.”

“Good Kitty!” She praised, scratching under his chin.

He relished in it. “What about you? You…you don’t look so hot. You feeling okay?”

She shook her head. “I feel fine Chat. Just…just a bad day. I don’t really want to talk about it.”

“Are you sure?”

She offered a smile. “Maybe after patrol, if I’m feeling like it.”

“Okay. You can talk to me about anything, My Lady. I don’t judge.”

“I know. It’s just…its fresh. And I don’t want to cry anymore.”

His ears flattened to his head. “Oh…”

She sighed, trying to breach a new topic. “ugh, I haven’t seen a thing. I haven’t even seen any angry couples fighting.”

“We could fight?” He offered.

She rolled her eyes at him. “Very funny.”

“I thought it was!”

“Give it up Chat, you’re going to win me the day pigs fly.”

“Be careful what you wish for. You never know, Hawkmoth might make a flying pig Akuma.”

She hummed. “You know, that wouldn’t be the weirdest Akuma he’s made.”

Chat laughed, “besides, there’s nothing wrong with being a little flirty, right?”

“As long as it’s not in the middle of a fight.” She reprimanded.

He held his hands up in surrender. “Of course, of course.”

She offered a smile. “Well, I’m going to check the docks first. Been catching a few drug deals happening down there.”

“Good idea. I’ll double back on Barbes Boulevard. Just to double check.”

“Call me if you need backup.”

“Likewise, Bug. Be safe.”

“You know I will.” She blew him a kiss and leapt away towards the Seine.

The docks were never really a civilian hotspot. People rarely even went there in the day, unless they worked there. So at night, it was safe to assume anyone there was up to no good.

So of course, when Ladybug saw headlights shining in an alleyway, she knew something was up. She crept over, and watched from the rooftop.

There were several men, most in expensive suits. One with a white suit that Marinette could already tell was so luxurious, her father couldn’t afford it with two years profits at the bakery.

The man himself was huge, reminding her of Kingpin from the Spider-Man comics Alya had in her bathroom. He stood in front of the head lights, his shadow cast against the ground and to the wall somehow bigger than his associates.  

About five men, including this rich one, were facing a young man, in a classic showdown.

The large man spoke, his voice ricocheting off the wall and settling in her stomach with nausea. “I gave you a month. That’s more time than I’ve ever given anyone before. I saw promise in you. I took you in.”

“Eddy, please—“ The younger man begged. Ladybug couldn’t see his face, but she could hear his panic.  

The man grunted.

“M-Mr. Savauge. You gotta understand! I was doing great! I made all of it back, with interest! But-but my buddy double crossed me! He took all of it. But I know where he’s going! If you give me just a little more time—“

Ladybug took out her compact and silently sent her coordinates to Chat.

“Charles...” the man, this Mr. Savauge drawled out. “This was your last chance. I warned you in the beginning. You’re just not made for dealing. Not dealing cards, not dealing drugs...but I will get my money from you. And I know...just what to do. Got plenty of rich old bitches looking for companions.”

“No...no please sir! I don’t want to do that! I got a girl! I can’t do that to her!”

“No girls huh? That’s fine, got lots of bull queers too. They’d love that cute little ass of yours.”

“No! No please!!”

Mr. Savauge laughed, a sick sound that made Ladybug curl her lips in disgust. “I’m just kidding, Charles. You’re too ugly to be a prostitute.”

The other men laughed.

Mr. Savauge held up a fist, silencing them. “You know Charles, it’s surprisingly easy to get information on people these days. Especially for someone like me. I know everything! I even know who Hawkmoth is!”

Ladybug gripped her yo-yo. She would be confronting this man, one way or another.

“So you know, trying to hide you and your wife’s life insurance policy from me? It ain’t gonna cut it.”

“No...please not my wife!”

“I’m not gonna touch your wife. That is, as long as she complies. You’re worth more dead than alive to me, Charles. And I much as I liked your spunk, I’m going to have to make a decision based on business.”

There was some clicking noises as the man’s goons withdrew guns.

“Nothing personal, kid.”

Ladybug leapt, her yo-yo spinning to create a shield, as she landed in between Charles and the fire.

“Hold it!” Mr. Savauge called out.

The gunfire ceased, and Ladybug stopped spinning her yo-yo. But she was still on defense, ready to start again at a moment’s notice.

From this perspective, the man was just a silhouette against the light. LED headlights, super bright, made her squint.

“Why, if it ain’t the cutesy little bug girl. What’re you doing here, kid? Don’t you got a moth to catch?”

She answered calmly, her voice a pitch deeper than usual. “I happened to be in the area. I overheard you mention you know who Hawkmoth is.”

He barked out a laugh. “It’s an expression! Come on, no one knows who that psychopath is.”

But Ladybug still didn’t budge. She fixed her glare on him.

“Oh, you really got that menacing look down! If you weren’t an actual child, I might be scared!” He chuckled. “But I’m being honest Ladybug. I don’t know who Mothman is. Don’t know, don’t care. Now move along, this doesn’t concern you.”

“I promised to protect Paris, and that’s what I’ll do.”

The man winced, “man, superhero types are just no joke. Fine, have it your way, Bug. Open fire.”

Ladybug spun her yo-yo frantically as a hail of bullets came raining down on her and Charles. She felt his hands on her back, and knew he was trying to hide behind her.

“Distract them for me, okay?” He said into her ear.

“Wait! Don’t!”

But it was too late. Charles tried to run. He only made it a single step out from her shield, before being shot several times in the chest. He didn’t even scream. Just stopped, collapsed onto his knees, and fell flat on the ground.

“No!” Her line fell slack for a moment and a bullet whizzed just passed her cheek, leaving a burning sensation just below the mask line and a ringing in her ears. She snapped back to attention quickly, and avoided any other nasty blows. The gunfire was suppressive and her arms were getting tired.

Her saving grace came from her partner arriving, coming up behind the goons and taking them out quickly, before they could turn to shoot.

But that didn’t mean they didn’t try.

Chat weaved in between them, not standing still and always staying close enough to be a risk of them shooting each other.

Ladybug took the opportunity to also take out a goon, who had been distracted. A clear shot with her yo-yo to the back of the head, and the gun fire ceased.

Mr. Savauge had wisely ducked down during the fight, and right as he returned to his feet, he found himself tied up in a yo-yo line.

“End of the road, scum.”

“Scum? Me? Do you even know who I am?” He laughed. “Who am I kidding, of course you don’t.”

Chat stood opposite Ladybug, effectively cutting off the exit should he try to escape. Not that he would be able to break his bonds though.

“I don’t care who you are. A young man is dead because of you. I will make sure you go to prison for your crimes.”

The man laughed. “That’s real cute bug. Real cute. But here’s the thing, I’m Edward Savauge. I can buy and sell you. I know every dirty secret of every cop and politician in Europe. You try to do anything to me, and I promise you’ll suffer instead.”

Her line grew tighter.

“I’ll give you to the count of three to let me go...1...”

“Don’t listen to him, my lady. He’s full of hot air.”

“2...”

Ladybug didn’t waver. She didn’t even consider it.

“...3...we’re enemies now, Ladybug. You’re going to regret that for the rest of your short life.”

“Get in line.”

Neither party said another word until the police arrived. Ladybug explained the situation, but there was little to explain, considering the guns and body on the ground.

Mr. Savauge was taken away without a word.

After all was done, now long after midnight, the heroes returned to the rooftops.

“My lady, you’re bleeding.”

“I know, I can feel it. Must have been a bullet.”

“Who was that guy?”

“Some gangster drug lord pimp. I don’t know. A bad dude.”

“Well, he’s going to prison.”

“...I hope.”

“You hope? There was a body on the ground with gunshot wounds, and a whole bunch of guns! There’s no way!”

“Something he said bothered me. About knowing everyone’s secrets. He even claimed to know Hawkmoth’s identity.”

“...you don’t think he knows ours?”

“I don’t know, Kitty. But I’d stay on your toes.”

“Absolutely.” He nodded. “You should go see Master Fu about that cut. Then maybe come up with an excuse when people ask what happened.”

“I’m really clumsy in my normal life, I’ll just say I tripped and hit a corner of my table.”

“Perfect! Next time I see you, I’ll be sure to give you a little kiss to make it better.”

“You’d infect it.”

“Rude.”

“Maybe some day, kitten.” She said, looking at the ground. The police cars were long gone, and the other car was powered off. In the dark of the night, the blood stain from the young man was impossible to see. Still, in her mind, she could see it. She could hear the sound of his breath coming up short, since it didn’t even get the chance to scream.

“My lady?”

“I saw a man die today. I could have saved him, but he darted out from behind me.”

“He would have died regardless,” Chat reminded her gently. “You did your best, and that’s all that matters.”

She didn’t respond, just kept looking to the ground.

“You wanna talk about what was bothering you earlier?”

She shook her head. “That seems so…so minor now. My crush found out I liked him, I mean, I told him, but I was forced into it. There was a bunch of other shitty things, too. But that’s the main thing.”

“I’m so sorry, Bug.”

“It’s…it’s not a big deal anymore. We talked, and we’re good. So I just…” Tears started rolling down her bloody cheeks. “I’m scared.”

His arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer. “It’s going to be okay, Bug.”

“How can you be sure?”

“Cat intuition.”

“That’s not a thing.”

“Well, it is now.” He nuzzled his nose in her hair. “Look, the guy in the suit? He’s full of hot air. We’re both wearing masks, and no one knows who we are. People have been trying for years. He was just trying to psych you out.”

Ladybug swallowed thickly. “If that’s what you think…”

“I know so. You were right to be so diligent about our secret identities. This will blow over. Trust me.”

“I guess I have no choice.” She chuckled. “Now I got to go, my face hurts.”

He warmly brushed his hand over her arm. “I’ll catch you later Bug.”

—

Later that night, Marinette laid awake in bed. It was nearing 4 in the morning, and she just couldn’t sleep.

Who could, seeing what she had seen? Hearing what she heard?

The pain in her face was numbed by some ointment that Fu had applied, so that was one less thing to bother her.

She’d been in the superhero business a long time now. She’d seen plenty of awful things. Most of them were fixed with a ‘Miraculous Ladybug’.

But she couldn’t bring that young man back.

He didn’t deserve that. Even if he was a drug dealer, even if he was doing something he shouldn’t, he didn’t deserve that. And neither did his wife, who would probably have to give that life insurance money over for her own safety.

Life was so much easier when all she had to do worry about was her grades and her crush on Adrien. Even an akuma was nothing compared to hard crime.

Akumas could be fixed. Things could go back to normal. But this stuff was dirty and awful. She wondered if this is how it felt to be part of the police.

She wondered if Chat was wide awake too. Probably not, he hadn’t seen Charles get shot after all.

“Tikki,” Marinette spoke.

“Hmm?”

“What have other Ladybug’s done, in times like this…when they knew they could have saved someone, but didn’t?”

Tikki pondered the question. “Well, it was hard at first. But eventually, they just had to just used to it. Joan cried nights on end. Her time was the hardest I think.”

“I…I don’t want to ‘get used to it’.”

“You don’t have to be callus. Just…know that it’s something that comes with the job. Charles still would have died if you hadn’t intervened. But you tried, and that’s what matters, just like Chat said. You also got that man arrested, and justice will be served.”

“Hopefully.”

“Yes, hopefully.”

Silence reigned for a little longer. “Tikki, I’m scared.”

“Of Savauge?”

“Yeah…Paris is a big city with a lot of people and cameras…It would be pretty lucky if no one ever saw me.”

“Even if they did, it wouldn’t be likely that they’d identify you. I wouldn’t worry, Marinette.”

“…I can’t help it.”

Tikki floated down to lay against her skull and gently petted her hair. “I know. Humans are such anxious creatures.”

“I bet you’ve seen much worse in your life, huh?”

“I’ve seen horrible things. But what happened tonight was traumatic and I don’t expect you to just get over it. So I’ll be here to comfort you in the meantime.”

“Thanks Tikki.”

“Now try to get some sleep. You have school tomorrow.”

Marinette sighed. “I have school in a few hours…maybe I can get a nap in.”

[fanfics4all]

Who the Hell?

Request: Yes / No I know this might sound super cliche, so I’d understand if you choose not to write this, but can you please do #23 and/or #24 with either Barry or Oliver and a female!reader. Again, I will fully understand if you don’t want to do this since it’s been done, but I’d love to see your take on it. Regardless, I’ve been loving the fics you’ve been posting lately (and all your previous ones of course!) 💕💕 Anon

Request are closed <3 Have a nice day/night

Oliver Queen x Fem!Reader

Word count: 1656

Warnings: Oliver getting hurt

Y/N: Your Name

PLEASE DO NOT STEAL MY WORK, I WORK HARD ON MY FICS AND IT’S NOT COOL TO STEAL SOMEONE ELSE’S WORK!

If you want to be on the tag list for anything (My series fics, specific character fics, or just all of them) All you have to do is send me an ask and I will add you!

Masterlist

(Not my photo, credit to whoever made it!)

When I was in school they told us about soulmates. They told us about what soulmates were, and how they worked. So we would get the same injuries as the other person. So when you’re a kid it’s normal stuff like scraped knees or a random bruise here or there, but when you get older they could be more serious. Especially now with Metahumans running around.

As I was growing up I didn’t get many injuries from my soulmate. The most I got was a bruise once in a while. That was until 2007. I got so many injuries over the next five years that I was worried if my soulmate was still alive! My friends and family were just as worried, they thought my soulmate was going to kill me and there was nothing anyone could do. I was just trying to live a normal life in this crazy world and my soulmate was making that hard to do. I was in and out of the hospital, thank god my insurance was amazing. I worked at Queen Consolidated with my best friend Felicity Smoak. She was one of the many people that was worried about what my Soulmate was going through, I was just happy I could hide the scars. Besides, I was still alive so they were as well. Lucky for me my soulmate must have been safe because I haven’t gotten any injuries for a few weeks.

“Did you hear Oliver Queen is alive?” Felicity said the second I walked into our office.

“I did, I also heard his father is dead. It’s weird that his mother is still alive though, I thought when your soulmate dies you also die?” I said confused and sat down at my desk.

“Not everyone lives by the whole soulmate thing Y/N.” She said and I shrugged.

“I don’t see why not, they’re your soulmate for a reason right?” I said and she nodded.

“Trust me, I’m with you, and I’m sure you want to meet yours since they pretty much put you through hell.” She said and I nodded.

“You bet I do! What the hell could they be doing that they get hurt so much! I’m so happy our healthcare is amazing.” I said and she laughed.

“I know, maybe they’re a spy or something.” She said and I raised an eyebrow at her.

“They must be a shitty spy then.” I said and she laughed again.

It’s been a couple of days and I was back to getting injuries. Luckily not as bad as they have been but still not fun. There was also a vigilante in town now, it was all over the news.  Felicity and I were both working when someone walked in and cleared their throat.

“Felicity Smoak?” He asked and I looked up to see Oliver Queen. Felicity turned around and looked at him shocked.

“Hi, I’m Oliver Queen.” He said and I smirked at her.

“Of course. I know who you are, you’re Mr. Queen.” She said with a smile.

“No, Mr. Queen was my father.” He said.

“Right, but he’s dead. I mean, he drowned. But you didn’t, w-which means you could come down to the IT Department and-”

“Sorry about her, she sometimes doesn’t know when to stop talking or when not to say things.” I said jumping in and stopping her from saying something worse.

“I’m Y/N YL/N.” I said introducing myself.

“Oliver Queen.” He said and I smiled at him.

“What can we help you with Oliver?” I asked.

“I’m having some trouble with my computer and they told me that I should come down here.” He said and placed it on Felicity’s desk. The two of us looked at it confused.

“I was at my coffee shop surfing the web.” He started and we looked up at him.

“And I spilt a latte on it.” He said.

“Really?” Felicity said.

“Yeah.” He said.

“‘Cause these look like bullet holes.” She said.

“My coffee shop is in a bad neighborhood.” He said sticking with his story. Felicity tilted her head, she was too curious for her own good.

“If there is anything that you can salvage from it, I would really appreciate it.” He said.

“I’ll get right on that.” I answered before Felicity could ask anymore questions. I grabbed the computer and took it over to my desk.

“Thank you.” He said and I smiled at him. He came and sat next to me. I didn’t know he was going to stay, although, this wouldn’t really take that long. The contents of the compute flashed on my screen.

“It looks like blueprints.” I said.

“Do you know what of?” He asked.

“The exchange building.” I nodded and looked at him.

“Never heard of it.” He said.

“It’s where the Unidac Industry’s auction is scheduled to take place.” I said and he looked at me confused.

“I thought this was your laptop?” I asked confused.

“Yes.” He said with a nod.

“Look, I don’t wanna get in the middle of family drama.” I said.

“What?” He asked confused.

“Mr. Steele marrying your mother.” I said.

“I don’t see what your getting at.” He said.

“Mr. Steele is trying to buy Unidac Industries and you just happen to have a company laptop associated with one of the guys he’s competing with.” I said.

“Floyd Lawton.” He said.

“No.” I said confused.

“Warren Patel.” I said and he looked at me.

“Who’s Floyd Lawton?” I asked.

“He is an employee of Mr. Patel, evidently.” He said, I was even more confused.

“Well, can you put this on a drive or something?” He asked.

“Sure.” I said and put it on a flash drive for him.

“Here you go.” I said and he took it with a smile.

“Thank you.” He said and left our office.

“That was suspicious.” Felicity said.

“Tell me about it.” I said and went back to working.

Over the next few weeks Oliver had come in for more help. I of course helped him because I wanted to keep my job, I wasn’t stupid. It was late at night and Felicity and I were just finishing work. I felt a sudden pain in my chest and groaned.

“Y/N?” Felicity asked worriedly. I looked down and saw blood start to spread through my shirt.

“Oh fuck.” I groaned in pain. I fell to the ground and Felicity screeched in shock.

“I think I need to go to the hospital.” I said weakly and Felicity nodded. She grabbed both our things and helped me up. She took me to her car and sat me in the passenger seat then rushed to the other side.

“Okay, okay.” She mumbled to herself. We heard a groan from her back seat and turned to see The Hood. Felicity screamed in shock, I was in too much pain to be shocked right now.

“I’m not gonna hurt you, Felicity and Y/N.” He said.

“How you you know our names?” She asked. The man took off his hood and it was Oliver Queen.

“Because you know my name.” He said and both of us were shocked.

“O-Oliver. Oh wow. Everything about you just became so unbelievably clear.” She said.

“You’re bleeding!” She said.

“I don’t need to be told that.” He said panting.

“Felicity! Hospital!” I groaned.

“Right, yes, of course!” She said and started the car, but before she could start driving Oliver stopped her.

“My, my father’s old factory in the Glades.” He said.

“No, you, you need a doctor, not a steelworker.” She said looking at him confused.

“Felicity, you have to promise me that you are gonna take me to my father’s factory and nowhere else.” He said.

“Felicity, just drop him off there and take me to the hospital or the other way around!” I groaned.

“Is she okay?” He asked.

“She was fine until a bullet hole appeared in her chest and- Oh my God you two are soulmates!” She said happily.

“That’s great now fucking get me to a hospital!” I groaned, I really didn’t care about soulmates right now. She drove to the factory and ran inside after trying to help him. A large dark skinned man rushed out and helped get him out of the car. I could feel myself losing consciousness.

“Is she alright?” Was the last thing I heard before I passed out.

I expected to wake up in the hospital, but I woke up in a dark dusty looking room. I groaned and sat up. I looked around and saw Felicity wasn’t here but Oliver was and same with the dark skinned man.

“Welcome back to the land of the living.” The dark skinned man said with a smile.

“Where am I? Where’s Felicity?” I asked, I noticed I didn’t have a shirt on either. I covered myself up and Oliver placed a blanket around me.

“Felicity is upstairs, she’ll be back down in a minute.” Oliver said.

“I’m John Diggle by the way.” The dark skinned man said.

“Y/N Y/L/N.” I said with a small smile.

“I should leave you two alone for a minute.” He said and left. Oliver was also shirtless and I noticed he had the same scars that I did.

“So your the person that’s been having me in and out of the hospital.” I said and he looked at me with a sorrowful expression.

“I’m so sorry, I never really thought about how this was affecting my soulmate…” He said and I sighed.

“It’s fine.” I said and he shook his head.

“It’s not, you almost died because of me. Multiple times.” He said and I gave him a smile.

“But we’re both alive.” I said and he looked at me.

“So tell me about yourself, Oliver Queen. Because I think there’s a lot to know.” I said and he gave me a small smile.

Tag list: @les-bio-lie @tashy-bear @xrosesareredx @herokyolachan @ashwarren32 @hollie-blogs @schisbro87 @lover-of-books-and-teas @nerdygaloresposts @alex--awesome--22 @teenwolfbitches2 @genius2050 @drw0301bieber @tigermillionaire-philanthropist @marveloverdcsstuff @lady-of-lies 

[imagine-winchesters-blog]

Jack Kline x Jealous

Requested by; @aliaitee

Idea: The reader is jealous/grumpy about Harper.  

Warning: Fluff, 14X06 SPOILERS!!! BASICALLY THE WHOLE BEGINNING OF THE EPISODE (If you read it and you’ve watched the episode you’ll know what I mean) - Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

A/N: Sorry if it’s a bit long but enjoyy boo xx 

You, your boyfriend Jack and Dean were in the bunker while Sam and Charlie was out on a hunt. You and Jack was in the study area of bunker looking for cases.“Hey babe, I think I found one” Jack said making you look up from your laptop to look at him, “Let me see” You said as he turned his laptop to face you. You read:

Police Looking for Clues into Local Man’s Mysterious Death.

The body of McCook resident, Winston Mathers, was found yesterday with what appear to be several bite marks all over his body. Given the bite marks, local authorities suspect that someone under the influence of drugs, possibly bath salts, may have attacked Mathers. The body has been turned over to the McCook Medical Examiner's Office, which will conduct an autopsy. 

The autopsy claimed it to be human bite marks, officers are on the lookout for any suspects.

“Human bite marks?” You questioned and looked at him with confusion.

“Yeah, doesn't that sound like our kind of thing?” He asked you un-surly.

“Maybe, but it also sounds like a crazy person's thing as well, but go and ask Dean and see what he thinks about it.” You told him as he nodded and got up and took his laptop to Dean.

Jack sat in the kitchen waiting for Dean to come out of the bathroom. Jack sat his laptop on the counter and made himself some coffee, he poured an excessive amount of sugar.

“Geez, What’s up with the sugar?” Dean said as he walked in the kitchen.

“Without my powers, everything tastes different, So I can’t get this how I like it.” Jack said as he put the sugar down and took a sip, he made a face of disgust. Dean sat down if front of Jack with his cup of coffee, “What did you call me in here to discuss?” he asked Jack.

“I called you in here because I want to hunt Dean, Sam says I can’t go alone but Y/N and I have been working cases” Jack said confidently.

“And she said you’ve been doing good on those” Jack smiled “No offense to your girlfriend, I love her like a little sister but Y/N is an insurance policy on these hunts. Sam’s just trying to keep you safe, okay?” Dean said to him.

“Okay look” Jack put the laptop in front of Dean, Dean looked and took a sip of coffee “Winston Mathers, Dead, which what appears to be human bite marks taken out of the corpse.” Jack sternly said.

“Human bite marks?” Dean questioned as he looked up at him with confusion.

“That’s exactly what I said” You said to the both of them as they both looked at you standing at the entrance of the kitchen.

“And other people have gone missing too.” Jack finished as Dean looked at you and Jack with confusion and made his way to fridge to look for something to eat.

“Well Sam’s not going to like it” Dean said

“Sam’s not here”

“Okay, you know what? You did good work, okay? Me and Y/N will go check it out.”

“No”

“Dean give him a chance” You butted in

“No Y/N, I’m not putting his life at risk.” Dean retorted.

“Dean, he’s prepared, all he does in this bunker is prepare for his first hunt, like I said give him a chance”

“Fine, Fine. I’ll call Sam and let him know and the both of you better be ready to go” Dean said as he pointed to both of you and left the kitchen. You turned to Jack to see him smiling hard, “Thanks for backing me up babe” he said as he kissed you.

“You’re….Welcome” You said in between kisses.

You and Jack grabbed some things and put on your “FBI” outfits and walked out the bunker. You guys made y'all way to “Ducks Red Rooster Diner.”

“So this is Winston favorite spot?” Dean asked you as you guys walked in the diner.

“His obituary said he loved having breakfast here every morning, which if you think about it, it’s sort of oddly specific.” You told Dean

“Well they tend to do that when they don’t know what to put on those things.” He said to you as you started walking to the lady behind the counter, they followed.  

“Hi, there” You said to her.

“How many I help you guys today?” She asked you

“Yeah, Agent Prescott, FBI, these are my partners, Agent Berry and Agent Charles” Jack waved at her “Wondering if you can give us some details on a regular of yours, Winston Mathers?” You asked her.

“Sure hon, Um, detail number one, Winston’s dead. Detail number two, huh, that's all the details” She snarky said.

“Winston….Dead” Jack said as he wrote it down in a notepad, Dean put Jacks hands down signaling to stop writing.

“You know, you’re going to have to be a little more helpful than that,” Dean said to her.

“Listen, Flashing a badge might work on people who don’t have a working knowledge of the constitution but that ain’t me” She turned around “Now if you excuse me, I got to go make some money” she said.

“Or you can stay here and make some money” Dean said and pulled money out his pocket, You looked at Jack and he was looking at Dean with a confusion.

“He came in here like clockwork but you really want to ask Harper Sayles, Winston just started courting her before well, you know.” She said

“What’s ‘courting’?” Jack asked

“It’s what you do before you start dating.” You told him as he nodded his head.

“Anyways, Who is Harper Sayles?” Dean asked her.

“Harper is really a sweet girl, everyone in town knew her, She really had a sad life though, her boyfriend ran off on her after prom. She obviously didn't take it well but that’s when things started to go south, She lost men in her life roughly about 3 before Winston, all went missing. Basically all she cares about her books, romance novels, heroes blah blah blah, She got some pretty bad luck if you ask me.” She explained.

“Thank you, that’ll do”  She nodded her head as he got up to go back to doing her job, “Well then, this is a definitely a case.” You said to the both of them.

“That mean we have to find Harper Sayles because that just too much bad luck for one person, But for right now, i’m hungry, let’s order some food.” Dean said and he grabbed a table.

All three of you sat at a table and ordered food, “Well, uh, Harper isn’t human” Jack implied.

“That’s what we got to find out love” You told Jack as you looked at him.

“But how?” He asked you.

“I have an idea” Dean took a sip of his coffee “But you’re not going to like it” Dean said to you.

You looked at him with confusion, “What you mean i’m going to like it.” You asked him.

“Have both of you read romance novels?” He asked both you and Jack.

“Yeah” Both of you answered at the same time.

“Okay since this chick is all about romance novels, I’ll go in and interrogate her about the death of Winston Mathers and little Jack here will pretend to be a regular customer and ask for a book and stop me from interrogating her, you know like some hero crap and she’ll eventually ‘fall in love’ with Jack, that way he’ll be able to get close to her and test her to see what she really is.” Dean explained and put the fork with pie on it in his mouth.

“And where will I be?” you asked.

“In the car, you know, as a lookout for anything.” He said

“No, Nope, not happening. I’m not staying in the car as a lookout while my boyfriend goes in thee flirting with another girl, have you lost your mind?” You angrily told Dean.

“Babe, it’s a good idea” Jack said softly.

“Seriously Jack?” You sighed

“Listen Y/N, I’ll be there and i’ll make sure nothing happens.” Dean said trying to convince you.

“Okay but if anything and I mean anything happens, I’m putting a bullet through her head my damn self.” You said as they looked at you like your crazy.

After you guys finished eating, y'all made your way to the library where Harper Sayles worked.

“Okay, I’ll go in there and ask her for details on Winston Mathers and when she refuses you go in there as a customer looking for a book, you don’t know me and I don’t know you, okay? And when you see me interrogating her again you back her up.” Dean told Jack.

“But what do I say?” He questioned Dean.

“Whatever you feel is right to say, the goal is make her like you. You know, pretend Harper is Y/N” Dean said with smirk.

Hearing that made your blood boil, “Don’t do that babe” You said.

Dean parked the car in front of the library so I can see what’s going on inside, He got out of the car and made is way into the library.

“Harper Sayles?” Dean said as he walked in.

“Hi! Um, how can I help you?” Harper said to him,

“FBI, I got some questions about Winston Mathers.”

“Oh, I already spoke to the police”

“Well, I’m not the police.”

“I don’t - I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

“I’m gonna need you to talk about it”

“Hello, sorry to interrupt, I’m looking for the best book you have on the area’s history” Jack said as he walked in the library.

“Excuse me, I was talking with her.” Dean said acting like he doesn’t know him.

“Really? Because it looks like she doesn’t want to talk to you.”

“Listen, I’m uh-”

“FBI, Yeah, I heard, but, see, I haven’t done anything wrong, so you can’t do anything to me. And if she doesn’t want to talk to you, you can’t make her, not without arresting her, but you’re FBI, so you probably knew that already.” Jack said to him and from Deans face he was in shock.

“Okay, why don’t you back off, kid?”

“No, you back off, old man”

“Uh- old man?”

“Yeah, that’s right”

“Okay, alright, This isn’t over” Dean said and walked out of the library and he went back to the car. You can see the bitch giving Jack the googly eyes and you wanted to go in there and stop her but you can’t because you didn’t want to ruin the plan.

You heard Dean tapping on the window so you can unlock the doors, “Can you believe that Jack called me an old man” he looked at himself in the rear-view mirror “Old man, my ass” she said as he was touching his face.

“Shh, look they’re leaving...together?” You said with confusion while looking out the window.

“Harper? Are you leaving?” Another man asked her.

“Miles, this is Jack, he’s visiting and i’m getting him my favorite book about the town, It’s just down at my apartment, but….” She said but you didn’t care to listen to them anymore because she was taking your boyfriend to her apartment.

“Her apartment?!?” You basically screamed at Dean “That wasn’t the plan!” You added, by this point you was furious.

“Relax Y/N, nothing will happen, trust me, this is perfect actually he can check the house and test her all in one shot.” Dean said “Wait, are you jealous?” He added with a little chuckle.

“Pssst, No, I’m just simply implying that I’m not comfortable with my boyfriend flirting with another women let alone going to her apartment.” You said trying not to show that you’re obviously jealous.  

“Okay, whatever you say” Dean said as he let out a laugh.

“They’re leaving” You said as you rolled your eyes.

“Alright, where are we headed” He said as he started the car and followed them.

You and Dean was staking out in front of her apartment building, Jack and Harper was taking way too long, You trust Jack but you felt uncomfortable with this plan.

“They’re taking way too long” you sighed

“Give him some time” Dean said

“It’s been almost 30 minutes.”

“Relax, damn you really are jealous.” He said with a smile.

You rolled your eyes and you saw Jack come out of the building with a book in his hand.

“Finally” You said as he came in the car.

“So?” Dean asked Jack.

“The holy water and the silver didn’t work so she’s not a demon, She’s just normal.” He said

“So what now” You asked Dean.

“You and Jack stay here while I go and check the building” Dean said as he got out the car “By the way Jack, She was jealous” He added and left us in the car.

“You were jealous?” Jack asked you.

“No…” You said softly as you looked down at your feet.

“Don’t lie to me baby” Jack said as he looked into your eyes.

“Okay, maybe.”

“Why would you be jealous? It was just part of the plan.”

“I know but seeing you flirting with another girl, it made me feel uncomfortable.”

“But I love you and only you, I would never talk or flirt with another girl knowing that it’ll hurt you and that’s the last thing I want to do.”

“I know, I was overreacting and I shouldn’t have done that.”

“It’s okay, I would be jealous if you had to flirt with another guy” he said as he let out a giggle.

“I love you Jack” You said to him.

“I love you more Y/N” He said as he leaned in to kiss you.

[jchb32273]

Fictober 2019 - Day 3

Fanfiction - Dragon Age AO3 Link

Now? Now you listen to me?

~~~~~

After I got out of my last class for the day, I saw Alistair hanging out with Dorian and Bull near the common quadrant. I shyly walked up to him.

“Good afternoon, Kylara dear,” Dorian said and kissed my hand. He made me blush every time he did this. “Hope your classes went well today?”

“They did, but I need some help…”

Bull gave me a hearty thump on the back, which nearly knocked my glasses off my face. “So you need some tutoring from ol’ Bull, huh? Which class? I’m doing pretty good in Ferelden History this term.”

“Um… well, it’s actually Biochemistry that I have an upcoming test for,” I replied softly.

“Oh,” was Bull’s only response.

“Thank you for offering though, Bull.” I gave him a small smile. “I appreciate it.”

He gave me a grin. “Anytime.”

“Are you in Professor Bryland’s class?” Alistair asked and I nodded. “I took his class last year. I can help you out, if you like.”

“Really?”

“Sure. Do you have some paper on you?”

I opened up my notebook and tore off a blank page. Dorian offered a pen to Alistair and he wrote down what I guessed was his address. He then handed it to me. “Come by around six, all right?”

“Thank you,” I murmured.

I pulled into the parking lot of a large condominium complex at a quarter to six. Did I get lost? I could swear the party had been at a large house, not a condo. I checked the address on the paper, and then the building number. No, this is the right place. I shrugged, figuring there was an explanation, grabbed my books and study notes. Then I knocked on the door.

“Come on in, the door’s unlocked.” I heard from inside.

I opened the door and walked in… to find Alistair had just gotten out of the shower! He had a towel around his lean hips and water droplets still beaded his bronze skin.

I quickly turned around to face away. “Oh, Maker, Iamsosorry!” I blurted out.

Alistair chuckled. “Well, you are just a little early.”

My face was beet red. “Y-you could have told me to wait outside!”

“And miss that adorable blush on your cheeks?” He laughed again, then said, “You can turn around now, I am dressed.”

I did, but my face remained pink… for a completely different reason now. Alistair was wearing a thin, tight T-shirt that outlined just about every muscle he had on his chest and stomach. His sweatpants hung low on his hips, giving me the barest glimpse of the hair that ran from his navel to his…

Stop, stop, stopstopSTOPSTOP! Mustn’t think about this! I am here to study! Nothing more!!

“Is something the matter?” Alistair asked innocently.

“No,” I squeaked out. I took a deep breath, and in a slightly less shaky voice said, “I’m fine.”

He chuckled again. “If you’re wondering about the ensemble, it is laundry day for me. This was all I had that was clean. Everything else is in the wash right now.”

“Ah,” I said stupidly. Getting my collective brain cells working again took a moment, but then I finally asked, “So, who’s house was that? The one where you had the party?”

“Oh, that is Cailan’s house. He also has an apartment closer to Maric’s office in downtown Denerim, but he stays at the house with his fiancée on the weekends. I only asked if I could have the party there as my condo would have been just a bit cramped. He didn’t mind, as long as I cleaned up before I left.”

“I see. So this is your place?”

“Yep. Bought and paid for by me.” When he caught my questioning look, he replied, “I have money set aside from gigs and from investments I have made. Maric pays for my schooling, but only because he insists.”

“Um… may I ask why you call your father by his given name?”

Alistair frowned. “I hardly know the man. I was shipped off to live with his dead wife’s family and he never once visited me while I was there. In my eyes, he’s still a stranger. I think he needs to earn the title of ‘dad’ or ‘father’ from me.”

“I see.” I then gently cleared my throat and said, “We should probably get started with the studying, don’t you think?”

Clearly glad to move away from the uncomfortable subject of his father, he nodded. “Yes. Let’s do that.”

An hour later we were thick in the discussion of biochemistry. Alistair asked me questions and I answered.

“Which of the following is a five-carbon sugar? Is it Glucose, Fructose, Ribose, or Sucrose?”

“Ribose. It is a simple sugar that has five carbon atoms per molecule. It is synthesized in the body and obtained in small amounts from consumption of ripe fruits and vegetables.”

“Good. How about this one? Which of the following is not involved in the biosynthesis of a protein molecule? Is it Codon, Ribosome, Messenger RNA, or Amylase?”

“The answer is Amylase. The biosynthesis of a protein molecule uses information encoded in genes. The amino acid sequence of the protein is delineated by the nucleotide sequence of the gene that encodes the protein. Codons, sequences of three adjacent nucleotides along a DNA or messenger RNA molecule, designate the specific amino acid to be incorporated into a polypeptide.”

“Very good. I’d say you’ve got this nailed.” He closed the book and then asked, “Are you hungry?”

“Actually, I am.”

“How about I whip up something for you in the kitchen?”

“You cook?” I asked with a smile.

He grinned as he got up and went into the kitchen. “Milady, I am a master of the grilled cheese sandwich!”

“Should have known it would be something with cheese in it,” I replied with a laugh.

“And whyever not? Cheese is the most perfect of foods!” He got a large frying pan off a hook.

“Is that non-stick?” I asked.

“Yes, why?”

“I find that a better grilled cheese can be produced on a hot cast-iron skillet,” I said. “It toasts the bread faster.”

Alistair gave me an odd look. “Well… I don’t have a cast-iron skillet. So this is fine, isn’t it?”

“What kind of bread do you use?”

He blinked in confusion. “White bread. Does it matter? I make the sandwich for the cheese… not the bread.”

“Wheat bread is healthier for you,” I said with a slight frown. “When toasted to perfection, it also provides a nice nuttiness to contrast with the cheese.”

“Something is nutty around here…” I heard Alistair mutter. Louder, he then huffed, “And I suppose you’re going to tell me this isn’t the right kind of cheese?” He held up a package of plastic-wrapped cheese slices.

“Ugh. You use that crap? A man who professes to be a cheese fanatic? Someone who craves cheese from different countries?”

Alistair slammed the pan down on the stove. “Yes, I love cheeses from all over, but for something as simple as a grilled cheese? This ‘crap’ – as you call it – works just fine!” He turned the burner to high.

“That is too hot. You’ll burn - ”

“You know what? I think we are done for the evening! Go back to your own place and make your own perfect damned sandwich! I’ve had enough!”

“Alistair, I am only trying to help…”

“Well, I don’t want or need your help. Out. Now!”

My lips trembled. “I’m sorry…”

“I said, OUT!”

I grabbed my books and papers and ran out of Alistair’s condo as quickly as I could. I opened my car door, tossed everything in and then got in. But instead of starting the engine and getting out of there, I sat in the car and cried.

Why did I have to act like such an ass tonight! Everything was going so well and I had to ruin it!

Just then, a bright yellow light flared up in my tear-filled eyes, and with horror, I realized it was coming from Alistair’s kitchen!

I quickly got out of my car and ran back into the condo.

“Alistair! Are you all right?!”

“Stay back,” he yelled. “I have this under control!”

I saw he was about to pour water on the burning pan, and I quickly screamed, “No, don’t do that!”

But it was too late. The water hit the hot grease in the pan and the fire quickly doubled in size.

“Shit!” he yelled. “That was the wrong thing to do!”

“Now? Now you listen to me?!” I cried out. “Quick! Do you have a fire extinguisher?!”

“In the pantry!”

I yanked open the door and grabbed the bright red cylinder. I pulled the pin as Alistair backed away. Quickly, I sprayed the extinguisher over the flames. Within moments, the fire was out.

“There goes my damage deposit,” Alistair grumbled. He breathed out a sigh of relief. “I… suppose I should thank you. So… thanks.”

There was silence for a moment, then I simply said, “You’re welcome.”

More awkward silence passed, then we both spoke at the same time.

“I’m sorry for telling you how you should cook.”

“I’m sorry for yelling at you.”

We both stared at each other then we both started laughing.

“All this mess over a stupid grilled cheese sandwich!” Alistair snorted back his laughter, then sighed. “I’m real sorry. I knew I had that burner too high, but I was just so…”

“Annoyed at my know-it-all attitude?”

“Yeah…”

I nodded. “I should have just kept my big mouth shut. You were doing me a favor tonight, by helping me study… and then offering to fix me a snack. I should have just enjoyed what you made.”

“Well, can’t cook anything now!”

“Will this be covered under your insurance?” I asked.

“I think so. I call the maintenance man in the morning. He’ll come by and fix this for me… but in the meantime, I am still hungry. You?”

I nodded.

“Good. I happen to know a lovely little place down the street that has an excellent cheese fondue. My laundry should be done now, so let me change and we can head out. I’ll treat you… since you saved me tonight.”

“I didn’t really do any- ”

Alistair wagged a finger at me. “I say you did, so no more arguments from you tonight, young lady.”

“Okay.”

“All I will ask of you, is that you ace that test I helped you study for, all right?”

With a smile, I said, “It’s a deal.”

[pbandjesse]

Today was a pretty good day. But I woke up with some really bad anxiety. I first got up around 5:30 and try to fall back asleep. I was able to doze at least until around 6:30. But then I got up. I got dressed and I told James I just couldn't you in the house right now. I had to go and clean the old apartment. I was just dealing with too much stress and I couldn't wait till this afternoon.

So I biked to the old place. And I clean the fridge and I took out the rest of the trash. I just tried to do what I could to make myself feel better. I called James because I felt overwhelmed and he told me he would come back later in the day and finish cleaning and do a video walkthrough for me. That made me feel a bit better. Felt like I had some help. Please just spoke so dusty and I couldn't handle it. And I just needed help.

I called my dad and talk to him for a little. Told him a little bit more about the new place and the plan for coming to visit next week. And it was nice. I calmed down enough and I still have almost an hour until I really needed to be at the Museum.

So I decided to bike over to the new place. I looked around to the front and back of the building. Saw that there is a swing set over at the park that we're going to be across the street from. So that's exciting. I love swing set. And then I figured out the best way to get downtown.

And that was really easy actually. There's only one part where there's a little bit of a hill. But it's not a bad Hill and it was a pretty comfortable ride. I'm really excited to move. I'm hoping that maybe while I'm gone for a few days James will take some initiative and just do some of it. But we'll see. We both have pretty full schedules this week and then I go to the beach and I'm going to go see my parents and I'm glad we have the flexibility to kind of move as a process. But I also just desperately want to be over there and I'm packing and putting things away. I am so sick of all the little piles of stuff we have in this apartment. I just want to put it away.

I got down to the museum around 8:30. So I went to McDonald's and got breakfast. I ate it there. And took my time.

It was a really nice day though. I got to talk to some really interesting people. I only gave one actual tour but I went through the museum and would show people stuff and tell stories. I cleaned and organized the back office area. Help Kate bring some stuff up to the office is on the other side of the building. The ones I don't go up to very often. It was nice.

It was mostly very chill day. Around 1:30 ish I went over to Chipotle and got nachos. I came back and had half of them. I think I'm going to bring the other half to school tomorrow. And then at 2 I gave my one big tour of the day.

And man was it a doozy. I knew it was going to be emotional because of all the presidential comments about Baltimore yesterday. And I wasn't as emotional as I thought I was going to be I was angry. Because there was a couple on our tour who were tourists. And the guy could not stop interrupting to make disparaging comments about Baltimore. Overall it was a very good tour. I got to tell my stories and there was comments and questions and the tour lasted a little over an hour. I had this one young couple who is considering coming here for college and they were just so sweet. But that one guy interrupted me when I got into my reasons I love Baltimore part of my tour and he really upset me. Thankfully everyone else in the car kind of jumped on him when he said that Baltimore was the most crime ridden place in America. And I just looked at him and I said no. Here are the reasons you are wrong about the Baltimore Community. The reasons it's a good place. The reasons it has been disenfranchised and the ways that the community is trying to make it better. And by saying that horrible stuff about it it's not helping anything and it's just mean.

Thankfully I had some really nice people to talk to after the tour that had questions and positive things to say. And I got to gush about Baltimore then. Uninterrupted by negativity.

But because my Torrid of a little bit longer than I planned to have you had to wait to have her lunch. I feel bad about that. But you put me in charge of the register and I had not done that at the BMI yet. So it was scary. But it's the same POS system as over at ships so it was fine. I did have some trouble with the credit cards and had to hand type them in because I couldn't figure out how to use the scanner but I sold it and I sold two tickets on a t-shirt. Very proud of myself. I am now trained to work at the front desk.

I left there a little bit before 4. And man it was hot outside. I ended up liking back to the harbor but the sun was so bright I just wanted to go be inside somewhere so I went to Marshalls. I needed to buy jean shorts anyway.

As I was coming up the escalator there was a credit card at the top of the stairs. A man saw it and he reached down to pick it up and I said oh no that's not a good thing to lose. And then I look to the side and there's and insurance card and a driver's license. I was like oh no and then someone said I think that's her over there. So I went to go ask but it wasn't she just had similar hair. So we gave them to the security guard and hoped for the best.

While it was over looking at the clearance stuff I found the girl. And she had already gotten it from the security guard and she thanked me and it was great. I heard her on the phone on the other side the rack telling the person that I was a sweet lady who found her stuff and she basically lost her entire life somehow and felt very stupid was so happy that I found it and not somebody who was mean.

And I found my shorts. They fit me very well but they do have that weird holes distressing thing happening in it. So I think I'm going to put some colorful fabric underneath of it for like a cool effect. But they fit me so good I couldn't turn them down for $12.

I left there and biked home. I took kind of a funny way and was just kind of exploring. But I got back here around 5.

I put some stuff away. Water the plants because they all looked sad. I had a succulent clipping that had rooted, so I planted that. First time I've ever tried this. And then I took a bath. I put olive oil in my hair because my scalp is so dry and now I'm just kind of hanging out. James has a meeting that's supposed to be over at 7. So he'll probably be home soon. So I'm just eating crackers. Tomorrow I have a half day of camp. Because I have to go to my apartment walk through. I am so anxious over this. I hate it. I feel like the last apartment walkthrough I had went so simple and so easy just look around it was like a cool. And then even with the U-haul pick up the guy just looked at said okay cool and signed off. I'm hoping that this will be the same thing. We cleaned it looks great on video but it's probably still Dusty because everything's Dusty. So I'm just hoping that whoever from the maintenance company comes is nice. And doesn't make me feel horrible about everything because I already feel horrible and everything. And I hate that I have to leave work so early because then I have to leave the big kids halfway through stem. And that feels horrible. But I'm hoping that they can at least get started and it won't matter that I'm not there for the second the half of the afternoon. I should have made the appointment for 3 I don't know why I made it for 2. I think I just freaked out.

I still think it will be a nice day. It's the last week of camp and I am hoping it will be great. I hope you all have a great night. Sleep well. Be safe out there. Take care of each other. Try not to let all the small stuff get to you.

[lalainajanes]

Hi! idk if you're still taking prompts but can you do one where klaus and caroline are coworker's who are always getting into heated screaming matches during team meetings and everyone who works with them is just used to it, but the new girl is like wtf??? and then later finds out that they're actually married and don't hate each other?? thanks!! your writing gives me life

Obviously I could not resist fluff day! For Step Two of @klarolineshippersclub 12KCXmas event!

With Friends Like These

The office is deserted – its 7 PM on a Friday – so Caroline’sstartled by the sound she hears coming from the hall. It’s a staccato series oftaps. Heels, eating up the distance quickly, and she rolls her chair back,grabbing her phone from the corner of the desk just in case someone’s bleeding.

She’s about to go and see what’s happening, when Kat barrelsin. Her eyes are wide with what Caroline suspects is glee, her hair a wildwindblown mass of curls. Her jackets only half buttoned and she tosses asideher purse, rushing towards Caroline. “You will not believe what I just heard!”

Caroline lets herself be shaken, taking another confusedlook at Kat’s dishevelment. “Did you run from the bar? Thought you were goingto try to seduce the new guy.”

Katherine looks offended. “Try? Please. Mason’s a sure bet.He’ll keep until next week.”

“Wow,” Caroline drawls. “Something came up that’s kept youfrom guaranteed sex? Must be big.”

Katherine lets go of her, tossing her hair over her shoulderand letting out an irritated huff. “Yeah, yeah, mock me. We don’t all get to scheduleregular freaky married sex.”

It takes a fair amount of willpower not to tear her eyesaway and Caroline lifts her chin stubbornly. Katherine might know far too many details about her and Klaus’ sex life butthat was only because Caroline gets a little over share-y when tequila’sinvolved in a girl’s night out. Klaus is shameless enough not to care, evenwhen Kat’s comments get overly pointed. If anything, he leans into it, lets hishands linger and does his best to make Caroline blush. Caroline is working onbuilding up the same aplomb in the face of Kat’s suggestive smirks and taunts.

“You seem to do just fine in the freaky sex department,” shesnipes back.

Katherine grins, slow and very pleased with herself. “Ireally do.”

Caroline groans, walking over to the couch that lines onewall of her office. “I do not want to have this conversation with you.”

Her dry spell is hours away from ending and she’s really looking forward to it.

Klaus has been gone for ten days, dealing with inspectionsfor the new hotel the company is opening in London. Caroline’s team is busy puttingtogether room concepts so she hadn’t been able to justify taking the time awayto accompany him.

She likes phone sex as much as the next girl whose husbandhas a hot accent but it got old after a few days. She misses having a warm bodyto roll into at night; the way he wakes he scrapes his morning beard againsther shoulder when she grumbles about the alarm.

“Someone’s cranky!” Katherine sings. She circles Caroline’sdesk, helping herself to the bourbon that’s stashed in the lowest drawer. “Mynews might not help you.”

Oh joy.

Caroline slouches low, letting her legs flop ratherungracefully, “And yet, you rushed all the way back here to tell me about it?”

“It’s just too hilarious. I couldn’t not.”

Katherine’s sense of humor is a weird thing, an acquiredtaste, so Caroline braces herself. “Alright, hit me.”

“Uh uh. Let me set the scene.”

“And people say I’m dramatic.”

Kat ignores the complaint, lifting the bottle high. “There Iam, in the ladies room…”

“Taking off your panties so you could stuff them in Mason’spocket?”

“Please. Like you’ve never used that move.”

Caroline could honestly say she hadn’t (Klaus likes toremove her lingerie himself) but Katherine’s already continuing her tale. Sheperches on the edge of Caroline’s desk, wiggling in an effort to getcomfortable.

So it’s not going to be a short story. Caroline presses herlips together, holding in a sigh, glancing at the clock. She’s supposed to grabKlaus from the airport at eleven and she’d planned go home and change intosomething easier to remove beforehand. Hopefully Katherine can resist the urgeto embellish too extensively.

“I’m minding my own business, about to flush, when I hear afamiliar name.”

“Yours?”

“Nope, yours. Preceded and followed by some very colorfuldescriptors.” She pauses expectantly, eagerly watching for Caroline’s reaction.

Only to be disappointed when Caroline shrugs, emitting onlya dismissive, “Somehow I’ll survive.” The last time she’d really been overlyconcerned with other people liking her she’d owned pom poms.

Katherine, however, isn’t finished.

“Really? Even when I tell you that our little bathroomgossiper had very complimentary things to say about your hubs?”

Her hands curl into the couch’s cushions, a teeny flare ofjealousy flaring bright.

She’s an only child and she gets a little possessive, okay?Klaus is into it. He’s also no stranger to getting growly and shooting murdereyes and staking a claim and, since he’s got a bajillion siblings, he doesn’t evenhave the same justification for being bad at sharing.

Those incidents usually result in an immediate need forprivacy (or the reasonable facsimile found behind a locked office door or thebackseat of a car). The next day they’ll sleep in, there will be hickies on herthighs and scratches on his back, and they’ll eat dessert for breakfast.

Honestly, Caroline kind of loves that particular ritual,knows very well that Klaus does too.

“Not everyone thinks Klaus is awful,” Caroline points out.

“Because most people are dumb and lack my excellent taste.”

Caroline eyes the bottle, seriously considering chugging abit and just calling a cab when it’s time to collect Klaus. She really doesn’twant to be drunk for their reunion but, if Kat doesn’t hurry up and get to apoint, it might be her best option. “I love you so I’m going to ignore the factthat you kinda just called me dumb.”

Katherine scoffs, “You’re not dumb, just dickmatized.”

It’s probably a good thing she’s not drinking because shewould have choked. Caroline’s laugh sputters out, grows in volume, and she hasto cover her mouth when it becomes hard to control herself. Her eyes water alittle as she finally manages to stop giggling, “Yeah, I’m totally tellingKlaus that you said that. He’ll take it as a compliment.”

“Literally the only nice thing I’ll ever say about him isthat you’re far more bearable and less uptight than you used to be. I creditthe regular orgasms.”

She and Katherine had been hired at about the same time and,in the beginning, hadn’t gotten along overly well. Kat now headed The MikaelsonGroup’s marketing team, was a wizard at luring in celebs and influencers andmaking their hotels a coveted destination. Caroline had worked her way up torun a design team. It’s how she’d met Klaus (and they’d butted heads too in theearly days) coordinating with him and his architect minions.

“I, too, am a big fan,” Caroline admits. “Though, honestly,you should really give cuddling a try. Totally relaxing.”

“Ew, pass.”

It’s an argument they’ve had before.

“Anyway,” Katherine says, so loudly that Carolineinstinctively glances towards the door. “Back to my story. Greta Martin thinksyou should stop being a total bitch to Klaus in meetings. Oh, and she’s alsoplanning on banging him.”

Caroline sits up, now outraged. “I am not…”

Katherine cuts her off, “You have been a little snippy thisweek.”

Only because Klaus has been baiting her.

“That’s just how we are. He pokes, I prod. He’s annoyinglysmug, all ‘oh, aren’t I the cleverest?’ and I like to knock him down.”

“Verbal foreplay is your thing,” Katherine says, adding aknowing nod.

She throws her hands up, collapsing back again. “Exactly! Mymarriage is freaking great and if that…”

Again, she doesn’t get to work up to a proper rant. Superannoying.

“That’s the best part!” Katherine crows. “She has no ideayou and Klaus are married! Talk about dumb people.”

Well, that’s mollifying. Slightly. Caroline will just haveto make things clear. Plans begin to form. She discards the racier ones (unlessGreta proves to be unwilling to take a hint). She twists her wedding bandabsently, “How has she not noted the rings?”

“Forget the rings. How she hasn’t noted Klaus’ doofybesotted face whenever you walk into a room is the bigger issue. Maybe sheneeds glasses?”

Maybe Caroline will get her assistant to shoot Greta anemail detailing the company’s excellent insurance coverage on Monday.

She hears the bottle clink and she shakes off her mentallists, shooting Katherine a glare. “You know, it would have been easy for youto clear up her misconceptions in that bathroom.”

Kat’s brows rise and she shoots Caroline a look like she’ssaid something totally insane. “And deprive myself of prime workplace drama?Please. You know how bored I get on Wednesdays when I have to sit in those dumblegal meetings.”

Caroline’s displeasure must read on her face because Kattosses her a bright smile, leaning forward and offering the bottle. Her toneturns placating, “Oh, relax, Cupcake. It’s harmless. You’ll probably forget allabout this little snafu over the weekend.”

Caroline’s does have big plans.

“Maybe,” she allows grudgingly. She stands, straighteningher pencil skirt. “Speaking of, I should go home and make myself pretty.”

“You’re going to do that gross airport make out thing, aren’tyou?”

Caroline smiles, not trying to hide the slightly mockingedge to it. “Usually, yeah. But Elijah’s not a guy who tolerates a scene.”

She relishes the freezing of Katherine’s body, the wideningof her dark eyes. Her hand flexes, looking for the bottle that had recentlybeen clutched there.

Caroline withholds it, setting it down and out of reach.

She’s not entirely sure what had gone down at the Christmasparty last year (Katherine was way better at keeping secrets no matter how muchliquor was applied) but she knows Kat’s red lip had been rubbed off and Elijah’svest had been buttoned incorrectly when she and Klaus had met the odd couple atthe elevator bank.

Kat had twitched a little at the mention of Elijah’s nameever since.

She adopts her sweetest expression, “Maybe the legalmeetings will be more exciting when Elijah’s leading them in person, hmm?”

Katherine’s mouth opens. Closes. She wiggles her toes to gether heels back in place before hopping off the desk. “I need to…”

She doesn’t finish her sentence, stalking out of the office.Caroline watches her go, both satisfied and bursting with curiosity. A speechlessKatherine Pierce? Caroline never thought she’d see the day.

She makes a mental note to tell Klaus, to wheedle until heagrees to pump Elijah for info. She didn’t often get bored at work, not whenshe could just pop into Klaus’ office and poke around in his projects. But hehad another trip on his calendar next month.

She won’t turn down a little in office entertainment whilehe’s gone.