#okay this is the last of the letter asks! (since i decided to also answer anon in this same post)

[coquelicoq]

L (sorry if both asks went through, tumblr is garbage)

i only got one ask from you but i also got an anon asking for L, so it is meant to be!

Put a letter from A-Z in my ask and I’ll tell you 1 thing I love which starts with that letter.

i love leap years. i love that the calendar year is a social construct and sometimes we just all agree to throw in an extra day (or, in the case of lunisolar calendars, an extra month). i love that it's possible to have a birthday that some years just doesn't exist. i love that our tracking system for a natural phenomenon is imprecise enough that we're noticeably out of sync after only four years. (but also, four full years! not too shabby!)

i love lentils. there was a "let's make some soup poll" going around recently that ENRAGED me because lentils were not an option. yes many soups do not contain lentils and sometimes i even make and eat those soups...but to not offer them as a possible response was a slap in the face that lentils don't deserve. i once made lentil soup and some errant lentils found their way underneath a dish that i left in my sink for like two weeks and when i finally got the courage to wash that dish i found that the lentils had sprouted...not a good look for me as someone who should clean the sink more often, but the point is they're just little guys...straining for the sun with their little leafs....please don't forget about them 🥺

i love language. i love the creativity of it. i love that alongside its versatility and endless potential it is also by definition understandable…like no matter how far we take it, it only really remains language if it's communicating something from one person to another. and it's so human: fallible and incomplete and always changing, just like us. it exists because we are social creatures. the things it has allowed us to do! what a different existence this would be if the only things we could experience or learn about were the things available to our own immediate senses. plus all of my favorite types of humor are language-based. actually maybe i should branch out with my interests lol. think about things other than language for a change…

i love labelmakers. love me the fuck out of some labels. love making 'em, love sticking 'em to shit. in college i worked in a cafe where we had to wear nametags and i would just make myself a new name with the resident labelmaker (stored under the register) whenever i felt like it. i still have that nametag actually. it says my name is WANDA.

i love libraries. currently avoiding my local library because of the holds (there are so many) but i'm glad it exists. knowledge wants to be free!!! i love that i've had my library card since i was a wee bairn and it has my little kid handwriting on it. i love locating a nonfiction book in the sprawling morass of the dewey decimal system. it's probably not that hard but it feels like an accomplishment every time. i love libraries with big staircases and full-wall windows. i love seeing people sitting in chairs reading.

i love paintings of light on water but i'm not sure if that should go under P instead and i feel like i talk about it all the time so i'll spare you.

i love lyrics...especially stupid lyrics. especially abstruse lyrics. especially lyrics with sick rhyme schemes. especially lyrics that sound incredibly facile if you say them with normal cadence and pitch. that's why they're lyrics and not non-lyrics! they're meant to be sung!! i love stuff that's exactly what it's supposed to be and you maybe don't even notice until you try to make it something it's not. i love when it takes thirty years for me to realize i have no idea what the lyrics mean, or that i've been singing the wrong words all along. i love that lyrics are made by a person to a purpose. i especially love it when the lyrics come written down with the album. when nobody got me i know cd liner notes got me.

[ghsface]

It's okay to cry. It's okay to not be okay...

Bau team x bau!reader

Sumary: Sometimes I need to remind myself and others that survival doesn’t just mean being okay, it means learning to laugh at what scared us. And if I don’t do it, who else will?

Warnings: mentions of attempted suicide, lots of blood, some dark humor at the end, cuts on arms, bathtub full of blood, no use of t/n (if you don't feel good reading this please don't read it, I also tried to approach this topic with too much care and delicacy and respect, I hope not to offend anyone)

Author's note: September is suicide prevention month. "suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem" is something that you always hear people say.. and it's true.

speaking from my personal experience, it's something that was on my mind many months many years ago, and I was able to put those thoughts aside thanks to people who I thought were never going to help me, it was a long and very hard process but now I can tell you that I'm completely fine, once they told me if you have people to write a farewell letter to it's because at least someone cares about you, you may have heard this before but it's true, you will always have someone to support you even if you think you have no one, also once they told me if you ever have these thoughts again or even try again ask for help it doesn't matter who just ask for help, whatever way ask for help, those words marked me almost all of my adolescence tbh and it helped me, I hope that if you are going through this alone, you can talk to me, my messages will always be open for whatever it is help or just talking, feel free to do so, if you read this up to here I really appreciate that you did<333

The BAU team was uneasy. It wasn't often that someone on their team disappeared without a trace, much less you. Emily Prentiss had been the first to notice your absence, as you never missed work without notice. Days ago, you had requested a brief leave for personal matters, but you hadn't returned to the office or answered any calls or messages since. As the days passed, worry turned to fear.

JJ, Spencer, and Emily decided to go to your house, as they could no longer ignore the fact that something wasn't right. The atmosphere in the car was tense. JJ kept his hands tightly on the wheel, while Spencer stared out the window, his mind wandering through thousands of possibilities, each one worse than the last. Emily, in the backseat, checked her phone over and over again, hoping in vain to receive some news from you.

When they arrived at your house, the silence was deathly. The windows were closed, and the door seemed intact, but there was something in the air, something that made them hold their breath. Emily pulled out her gun, and after exchanging a worried look with JJ and Spencer, they decided to go inside.

“anyone home?” JJ shouted as she walked down the hallway to the entrance. There was no response.

Spencer’s heart was pounding as they made their way into the living room. Everything was in order, not a sign of a struggle, but something wasn’t right. Every step they took, every corner they inspected, increased the feeling that something terrible had happened.

It was Emily who first noticed the bathroom door ajar. She approached it slowly, holding her breath, as a dark foreboding took hold of her. Pushing open the door, the scene she found was enough to make her stomach turn.

There you were, in the bathtub, submerged in the red-tinged water. Your arms hung at your sides, covered in deep cuts, blood still slowly flowing from the wounds.

“Oh my God!” JJ exclaimed from the doorway, her voice cracking.

Spencer walked into the room behind her, and for a second, the world seemed to stop. She’d never felt such paralyzing fear, such sharp pain in her chest. The air became thick, almost impossible to breathe.

Emily was the first to react, rushing to you, her hands shaking as she tried to pull your unconscious body out of the water. “Call an ambulance, JJ!” she screamed, trying to stay calm, though her hands were shaking uncontrollably.

Spencer knelt beside you, her eyes flooding with tears. “You can’t do this... you can’t leave us like this,” she whispered, her voice thick with desperation.

JJ tried to call 911, but the desperation in his voice made the words catch in his throat. He finally managed to give the address, but the operator informed him that the ambulance would take a while to arrive due to an accident on the main road. Without wasting any more time, JJ made a decision. “We can’t wait, we have to take her ourselves!”

Without thinking twice, the three of them carried you out of the bathroom, wrapping you in towels to stop the bleeding. Spencer held you, his hands still stained with your blood, as they rushed you to the car.

The trip to the hospital was agony. Every second that passed, every breath you took, or stopped taking, was like a stab in the heart of each of them. Emily, driving at full speed, struggled not to lose concentration while JJ, from the backseat, pressed on your wounds, trying to keep you conscious. Spencer kept talking to you, murmuring words of encouragement, pleading with you not to leave, to stay with them.

Finally, they arrived at the hospital, and the doctors immediately took you into surgery. The BAU team, who had been alerted, arrived soon after. Hotch, Rossi, Morgan, and Garcia joined Emily, JJ, and Spencer in the waiting room. The hours passed slowly, each minute a silent torture as they waited for news from you.

Spencer kept staring at his hands, your words echoing in his mind. He couldn’t shake the image of you, limp and lifeless in that bathtub. He felt helpless, riddled with guilt for not realizing what was happening to you. He loved you, more than he’d ever dared to admit, and the thought of losing you was too painful to bear.

Finally, the doctor emerged from the operating room, his expression grave. “She’s stable for now, but the blood loss was significant. We had to suture multiple wounds and are monitoring for possible nerve damage. It’s a miracle they brought her in on time.”

The relief was palpable, but so was the sadness. They knew that even though you had survived, the battle wasn’t over. They would have to face the reasons why you had gotten to that point, figure out what had happened, and most of all, be there for you, to help you heal.

Spencer walked up to the ICU door, looking at you through the glass. His eyes filled with tears, he rested a hand on the glass. “I’m sorry… I didn’t realize how bad you were,” he whispered, feeling the weight of guilt crushing him.

Emily and JJ accompanied him, each feeling a mix of relief and pain. They knew the road to your recovery would be long and difficult, but they were determined to be by your side every step of the way, no matter what it took.

When you were finally able to open your eyes days later, the first thing you saw were the tired but relieved faces of your teammates. You knew you had plunged into a darkness that seemed insurmountable, but seeing the people who loved you by your side, you knew you wouldn’t be alone on the road back to the light.

The dim glow of the hospital’s fluorescent lights welcomed you back into the conscious world. Your head hurt, and you felt the weight of the blankets on your body, but what caught your attention the most was the soft sound of someone breathing next to you. You slowly turned your head and met the tired, worried eyes of Spencer, who had been watching over you.

“Spencer…” your voice came out as a whisper, rough from lack of use and medication. You were surprised at how weak you felt, as if a large part of you had vanished.

He sat up instantly, his eyes filling with relief at seeing you awake. “You’re awake…” he said in a tone that reflected a mix of joy and pain. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry... If I had known… If I had noticed something…” The weight of his guilt hit you hard. Even though every fiber of your being was exhausted, you couldn’t let Spencer carry that pain. But before you could answer, the door to the room opened, and Emily and JJ rushed in, closely followed by Hotch and Rossi.

Emily approached you, tears in her eyes, but keeping her composure. “You scared the hell out of us,” she said softly, gently taking your hand. “You don’t have to go through this alone, understand? We’re here for you, always.” JJ sat on the other side of the bed, his blue eyes filled with concern. “Whatever you’re going through… you can tell us. You don’t have to carry this alone.”

The room was filled with a heavy silence, everyone waiting for you to say something, anything to help them understand what had brought you to this point. You knew they were worried, that they wanted to help you, but it wasn’t easy to put into words the storm that had been building inside you.

“I’m sorry,” you murmured, your voice breaking, feeling tears build up in your eyes. “I didn’t want them to know… I didn’t want to be a burden.”

Spencer looked at you in pain, his hands shaking slightly as he took yours. “You would never be a burden to us. Never.”

Hotch, who had been watching silently, stepped forward. His voice was firm, but with a tinge of compassion that he rarely showed. “You don’t have to face this alone. Whatever you’re feeling, whatever led you to this, we’re going to be with you every step of the way.”

Hotch’s words, so simple and full of promise, were what finally broke the dam. The tears you’d been holding back for so long began to flow, and with them came a wave of emotions you’d been suppressing: the despair, the loneliness, the pain that had consumed you in silence.

Emily wrapped her arms around you, holding you with a strength that anchored you in the present. “It’s okay to cry. It’s okay to not be okay,” she whispered, her voice shaking with her own pent-up emotions.

For the first time in what seemed like forever, you felt like you could breathe, if only barely. The lump in your chest didn’t go away entirely, but the presence of your peers, your friends, gave you the strength you needed to start talking, to share what you’d been keeping to yourself.

You told them about the pressure you’d felt, the feeling that you were failing, that you couldn’t live up to expectations. You told them how each day had gotten harder to bear, until one day you just couldn’t take it anymore. The words came out in fits and starts, mixed with sobs, but they listened to each one with patience and understanding.

There was no judgment, just support. And as you spoke, little by little, you began to feel the weight that had been weighing you down begin to lighten, if only a little.

When you finally finished, the silence that followed wasn’t awkward. Spencer was still holding your hand, and his gaze reflected both pain and resolve. “You’re not alone in this. You won’t be anymore,” he said firmly.

Hotch nodded. “We’ll have to work together to get through this, but we will. We’ll help you find the support you need, and we’ll be here for you, too.”

Rossi, who had been watching from the back, came over and gently patted you on the shoulder. “Remember, that’s what family is for, to be there in the worst times and the best too.”

At that moment, although you knew the road ahead would be long and difficult, you also knew that you wouldn’t walk it alone. The team weren't just your colleagues, they were your family, and with them by your side, you began to believe that, perhaps, you could find a way to heal.

And although the darkness still lurked, the light of hope, however small, began to shine again.

ONE YEAR LATER...

1 year into recovery brought with it a new version of you, a version that, while still scarred, both physically and emotionally, was fully committed to moving forward with humor and gratitude. You had rejoined the team fully and found a balance between work, your personal life, and your healing process. Your colleagues had learned to appreciate your new style of humor, even when you surprised them with your comments from time to time.

One afternoon, while you were in the office cafeteria with Emily, JJ, and Garcia, you decided to break the silence with a joke, something you had perfected over those past few months.

“Did you know I’ve developed a new skill?” you said, as you poured yourself a coffee. The three womens looked at you curiously. “Now I can say that I’m an expert in abstract art. I just need something sharp and a bad day.”

There was a moment of surprise, but then Emily was the first to laugh, shaking her head. “You know, no one handles dark humor like you.”

JJ nodded, smiling. “True, but at least now we know you do it with complete command of the situation. Although I will never stop being amazed by your ability to make jokes out of something so serious.”

“Well, my traumas, my jokes,” you said with a wink, and the group burst into laughter. They had learned to take your humor as a sign of your progress, a way to remind yourself and them that you were in control, that you wouldn’t let yourself be overcome by the darkness that once trapped you.

Garcia, who until now had been listening in silence, smiled and gave you a gentle nudge. “You know, I think you should consider writing a self-help book: ‘How to survive work and not go crazy. ’ It could be a best-seller.”

“Sure, with special chapters on how to choose something sharp and how not to use them when you have a bad day,” you joked, and everyone laughed again.

Towards the end of the day, as you were gathering your things to head home, you ran into Rossi in the hallway. He looked at you with his typical knowing expression, but with a spark of amusement in his eyes.

“You know, kid I love seeing you make those jokes. It’s a sign that you’re okay, but it’s also a reminder of how far you’ve come.”

You smiled at him, nodding. “Yeah, Dave, I know. Sometimes, I need to remind myself and others that surviving doesn’t just mean being okay, but learning to laugh at what scared us. And if I don’t do it, who else will?”

Rossi let out a soft laugh. “You know, you can always count on me to be your audience. I’m not as good an audience as Spencer, though.”

“Thanks, Dave. I’ll keep that in mind for my next show.”

As you left, you knew you were surrounded by people who understood you, who supported you, and who accepted every part of you, even the darkest ones. But most importantly, you knew you had found a way to move forward: with a smile on your face, a joke on your lips, and a team that, no matter what, would always be by your side.

And as you walked out the door, ready to face whatever came next, you couldn’t help but make one last comment to yourself. “Well, if I survived the bathtub, I’m ready for anything. I just hope there’s more wine and less blood next time.”

your reblogs and replies are always appreciated dearly🫧

[supernovafics]

𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐘 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐘𝐎𝐔

"i'll be there for you" universe masterlist

pairing: bestfriend!roommate!steve harrington x fem!reader

word count: 2.9k words

warnings: explicit language, (slight) jealous!steve, brief mention of blood/injury (reader has a lil fall)

summary: in which everything has changed for steve after that night at the bar and morning in your bed, but he hasn’t admitted that to you yet. being honest is much harder than he thought it would be and no moment feels completely right, so he continues to pretend that nothing has changed. but, a day at the park playing basketball with you makes it feel a thousand times harder to keep the secret

author's note: the slow burn will end one day (eventually) (i promise) i just love dragging things out for absolutely no reason<3 (i’m sorry!)<333 anyways enjoy this very slight jealous!steve moment! he’s a bit of an asshole in this but also like not really and it’s only kinda for a second

general note: everything in this universe/series can be read as standalone oneshots but to understand the full “lore” it would prob be best to read the other stuff too<333

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Winter 1986

It actually wasn’t all that surprising when Steve asked you to go to the park— that Saturday marked the first slightly warm day in months. 

And maybe saying that he “asked you” was a bit of a stretch because this felt more like a hostage situation; one that you technically orchestrated since, as one of his Christmas presents, you promised that you would play basketball with him one time. And today, on one of the first few days of March, he decided to drag you out of the apartment and to the park that was a quick drive away and had semi-nice basketball courts. 

You changed out of your typical Saturday attire, which simply consisted of a hoodie and shorts, and into a cream-colored t-shirt that said, “Sports Suck. And you do too” in black lettering, Steve got it for you for your birthday, and it felt almost too fitting for this moment. You also had on a pair of black athletic shorts that had been your usual attire during high school gym class.

“You’re the only person that I would ever subject myself to doing this for,” You said to Steve as you stepped out of his car and grabbed the basketball that had been sitting at your sneaker covered feet during the drive. “So, I hope you understand how huge of a deal this is.” 

Steve laughed a bit. “I know, and I feel honored that you’re risking your life by doing this for me right now.”

“You say that jokingly, but I brought a first aid kit just in case this ends badly,” You said and handed the basketball over to him. “So, what’s first? A riveting round of HORSE?”

“Before we play any games, and I beat you at all of them, let’s just shoot around for a bit so you can get used to it. Was the last time you played basketball really at my eleventh birthday party?” He asked, shooting the ball from a little bit in front of the three-point line as he spoke and making it almost too effortlessly. 

You grabbed the ball as it bounced on the court and then took a shot. You were standing much closer to the basket than Steve had been but still missed. 

“If that didn’t just answer your question, yes, your birthday party was the last time I even thought about playing. I actually think it was that day that made me realize I should stay away from all sports.”

“You hadn’t been that bad back then.”

You gave him a look. “Steve, I hit your grandma with a basketball. I missed a shot so bad that it hit her.”

It was that day that you were banned from using the basketball hoop in Steve’s backyard, rightfully so. 

“Okay, yeah, but she was fine and forgave you immediately. And even made sure you got an extra piece of cake when you started crying because of how bad you felt,” He said, tossing the ball to you so that you could try another shot. 

“Still doesn’t change the fact that I’m horrible at this,” You said before taking a breath and shooting the ball. You missed again, but it at least hit the rim that time. 

“That’s progress,” Steve said and gave you an encouraging smile.  

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Exactly twenty-three minutes had passed, and the only reason that you were keeping close track of the time was because when Steve had dragged you out of the apartment, you told him that you’d only be playing for an hour; unless you somehow turned into a prodigy. 

You had lost count of how many times you shot the basketball, but you knew that the number of times you successfully made a basket was four. It was an embarrassingly low number, and you definitely were not a prodigy, but each time you surprisingly made a shot, you’d gasp in shock and Steve would whoop happily and give you an enthusiastic high five while saying that the pointers he was giving you were working. You weren’t entirely sure that was true— and it wasn’t because he was a bad teacher, you were just a bad student. You were certain that each shot you made was based on pure luck and simple probability; if you kept shooting the ball, you’d eventually end up making something. 

And when you told Steve exactly that, he only shook his head at you. “No, you made those four shots because you’re good.” 

How happy and positive he was being about this entire thing was the only thing that made it bearable. 

You laughed a bit. “I love you and your encouragement, but that is such an overstatement.”

“For someone that hasn’t even touched a basketball in eight years, you are good.” 

“Thank you,” You said with an amused smile on your face instead of rebutting his statement. “I’ll make sure to try out for the local rec team when the time comes.” 

“That’s a great idea. I’ll coach you to help you prepare,” Steve said jokingly, and you only laughed in response. 

You were about to ask him to toss you the ball, but a group of guys walking past you two, probably headed to the empty hoop on the other side of the court, caught your attention for a second instead. There were four of them and one smiled at you as he passed by you and Steve and he was kind of cute so you smiled back. 

You were completely unaware, but there was something about that smile you gave the guy that made Steve have to look away from the entire nonverbal interaction and focus on the basketball in his hand instead. All too quickly he wanted to blurt it all out, everything that had hit him so abruptly that morning in your bed barely two weeks ago. 

I love you. I’m in love with you.

For the most part, that thought was the only thing that consumed his mind these days, especially when you two were together; which of course was way more often than not. 

There had probably been at least a hundred moments where he almost accidentally let it slip. Hours after it all had hit him, you two were sitting on the couch mindlessly watching some random sitcom and you leaned your head on his shoulder and he was so close to simply whispering it to you. And then when you two were in your Film and TV history class that Tuesday and writing unserious notes back and forth to one another in the margins of his notebook, he wanted to just write the five words down and slide the notebook back over to you. And just last night when you two were driving to the movie theater to see something with Robin and Eddie, he felt the urge to say it when a stupid love song that felt as if it cheesily summed up exactly how he was feeling came on the radio. 

However, he would always bite his tongue right before he told you because he was waiting for that perfect moment to be honest with you, and nothing felt entirely right just yet. And it especially didn’t feel like a good time in this moment where you were smiling at some guy that wasn’t him and a certain feeling that could only be deemed as jealousy sat in the pit of his stomach. 

Steve cleared his throat, bringing your attention back to him and then he tossed the ball to you. “Your turn.”

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

The first round of HORSE was started and finished barely fifteen minutes later, quickly ending with Steve winning. Even though you could tell that he was going very easy on you and trying to let you win, you still somehow managed to lose. 

“This loss feels so much more embarrassing knowing that you were trying to let me win,” You had said after you missed your shot and got an “E.” 

“I wasn’t,” Steve told you with a shake of his head and you only gave him a look that said you didn’t believe him. 

You reached down to grab the ball and stop it from rolling away, but you somehow tripped over nothing but your own feet and landed hard on the ground. 

You yelped as you collided with the concrete. Luckily, you thought fast enough to put your hands out so that you didn’t completely faceplant. “Ouch. Shit.” 

Steve was by your side in an instant and started helping you up. “Are you okay?”

You could only shrug in response to his question at first as you stood up with the help of his hand on your arm. 

“Okay, just kidding, that moment was a lot more embarrassing than losing the game,” You told him. When you looked down and saw the deep scrape on your knee and the blood already starting to rise from the wound, you immediately had to look away from it. “I put the first aid kit in the backseat.”

“What? You actually brought it? I thought you were joking,” Steve said, keeping an arm around you as he helped you walk over to the car and opened the passenger side door so that you could sit down. 

“Of course, I wasn’t joking. It felt inevitable that something like this would happen,” You said as you sat sideways in the passenger seat so that your feet were on the ground, and then you grabbed a couple napkins from the glove compartment to place it on your knee and help stop the bleeding. “Honestly, I’m surprised this didn’t happen in the first five minutes.”  

Steve grabbed the first aid kit before kneeling down in front of you and you looked at the four guys down at the end of the court. They were playing a two against two game and the one that smiled at you earlier just made a shot at the three-point line. 

You stopped looking at him and instead focused on the top of Steve’s head. “Ugh, I can’t believe I just fell in front of that cute guy.” 

“Maybe he didn’t even see,” Steve mumbled with a quick shrug.

“I doubt that,” You said and then sighed. “These last few weeks have been very humbling. First, things immediately going downhill with Jamie, and now this.” 

Steve didn’t know how things had ended with Jamie, you had yet to tell him the exact reasoning, but selfishly he had been glad that they did. Although he couldn’t find it in him to tell you the truth just yet, the thought of now having to see you with anyone else annoyed him. 

You tapped his shoulder so that he would look up at you. “It would be a bad idea if I went up to him and asked for his number, right?” 

“Yeah, it would,” Steve answered, pulling his eyes away from yours and focusing on grabbing something from the first aid kit instead. His words were a lie, for the most part— he personally would’ve thought it was cute if a girl did that to him. He immediately felt like shit for lying to you, but not enough to go back on what he said. 

You nodded at his response. “Okay.”

You kept your eyes away from what Steve was doing as he cleaned up your knee, looking up at the sky instead until he was done and placing the large band-aid over it. 

“Thanks,” You said and smiled at him. 

He looked up at you for a brief moment before standing up and simply giving you a small nod. He went over to grab the basketball, which had rolled into the grass, and then put it in the backseat. 

The drive back to the apartment was quiet and it felt more like Steve’s doing than yours. He suddenly seemed distant, maybe even mad at you, and the abrupt shift felt so odd.

You looked over at him. “What’s wrong?” 

He shook his head. “I’m fine.” 

It felt pretty clear that he wasn’t fine, though. You could tell that he was annoyed at you for reasons that you couldn’t decipher and that only made you annoyed as well. You didn’t even play with the radio during the drive back to the apartment, you just sat there with your arms folded across your chest as you stared out the window. 

You wondered if the prevailing silence bothered him as much as it bothered you, but then that question didn’t even matter because he was pulling into the parking lot of the apartment building and parking in the usual open spot next to your car, and you were unbuckling your seatbelt. 

“What happened with you and Jamie?” Steve asked before you could open the door and step out of his car. “You never really talked about it.” 

The abruptness of the question surprised you; and it wasn’t even the question itself that was the surprising part, it was more so the timing of it. Was that why he decided to randomly get mad at you? Because you never told him what happened on that dumb date? And why the hell would it even matter at this point? 

You weren’t even entirely sure why you hadn’t told Steve the full extent of what happened. When you came back from the date that night, you only said that things had gone badly. 

You turned to look at Steve. “He didn’t like you.” 

His eyebrows furrowed at that. “What?”

“Well, not you necessarily, but us; our friendship,” You said, looking down at your band-aid-covered knee. “When me and him went on the date, he asked about what my emergency was and why I had to cancel the date the first time, and I told him about your accidental phone call and you being drunk at the bar and me having to go get you, and he didn’t see that as much of an emergency; especially since you had wanted Eddie to pick you up. He thought it was a little weird how easily I canceled plans to go do something for you, and the whole night kind of shifted awkwardly from there.”

You remembered that entire conversation perfectly, and you honestly couldn’t even get that annoyed with Jamie when he said any of that because you didn’t think that your priorities would ever be able to change. Steve would probably always be at the top of your unwritten list, and you had come to the conclusion that whoever else wanted to be in your life would just have to deal with that. 

“Oh.”

You looked at him curiously. “What?”

“Nothing,” Steve shook his head. “I’m sorry.” 

Hearing him say that only confused you. “Sorry for what?”

He was quiet for a long moment before sighing. “I don’t know…” 

“Is that why you were mad at me just now? Because I didn’t tell you what happened on the date?”

“No, I don’t even know why I brought it up right now, I was just curious,” He said with a shrug before meeting your gaze. “And I’m not mad at you for anything. I promise.” 

“Okay…” You said as you found one of his hands and gave it a light squeeze. “So, what’s up with you? Clearly, something’s wrong, right? Is it something with your parents?”

“No, nothing with them,” He responded, which was an answer that only confused you more. It looked like there were a thousand things going through his head right then, and you couldn’t seem to decipher any of it, which felt foreign to you— you were so used to reading him like a book. “It’s just… it’s kind of hard to explain right now.”

If it really had nothing to do with his parents, you were unsure what else it could be and what else would be difficult to talk to you about. In your head, there wasn’t supposed to be anything that you couldn’t talk to each other about; you were best friends for a reason. It was easy to joke around and playfully banter with one another, but it had also always been easy to have the types of deep and honest conversations that neither of you would ever have with anyone else. 

You decided not to push him further in this moment, though. Whatever was going on with him, you knew that he’d tell you eventually. 

“It’s okay. Tell me whenever you want to,” You said softly and then decided to say your next words jokingly to shift the mood a bit. “But stop being weird about whatever it is, or I will think that you hate me or something.”

Steve only shook his head at your words at first. “I could never hate you.”

Maybe that was when you should’ve seen it, when you should’ve realized how he felt about you. There was something about the way he said his short statement— so certainly, so truthfully— that should’ve made you connect all of the dots. But, that was the last possible thing on your mind. You would’ve thought that he wanted to move out of the apartment for some random reason before you even considered thinking that he had any sort of romantic feelings toward you. You two had been friends for forever so that just didn’t sound like a plausible thought. 

Therefore, instead of any sort of “aha!” moment hitting you right then, you smiled playfully at Steve and said, “Good.”

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

let me know ur thoughts<333

(requests are open for stuff you wanna see in the universe/series!🫶🏾)

[mika-no-sekai-blog]

Word count: 2300+

Warnings: mentions of blood and wounds, also some verbal exchange, language

We are getting closer😊

Part XV | Part XVII

Several days passed since you wrote letter to Tamlin, but no answer came. Lucien didn't appear and you didn't hear any news about him either. You were worried and nervous.

Meanwhile you decided that you were ready for more memories of the past to be revived. You asked Rhys about it during one of your bonding times, as he called it. Rhys was quite curious about you and he also wanted to share his life with you. You were glad for that and looked forward it every day.

Your brother agreed and you surprised even yourself when you spontaneously hugged him in return. His violet-blue eyes shone with happiness and he was more than pleased to have chance to embrace you so firmly that you couldn't breathe.

You went over how naturally your relationship changed, how you changed. You felt the same, yet you were different. Empty space in your chest was healed, filled with your family, with faces of those around you. A lot of new emotions you didn't recognize swirled in your heart and it felt right. You thought you were fine all those years living in the forest, but only now you understood how unsettling you felt all that time. Without realising you were looking for something, something that was amiss, something you found with Tamlin. You finally found your peace.

Walking down the hall you opened doors of Rhys' office without knocking. He was already there, waiting for you. His gaze immediately moved to you, documents in his hand forgotten. Rhysand fleshed a wide smile and standing up from his chair he welcomed you with hug.

And he wasn't alone. Azriel was here too. He was sitting on the very same sofa as before, his eyes bright, lips curled into playful smirk. He looked relaxed, wings loosely rested behind his back, the shadows lazily rolling around. A few of them flew to you, playing with your fingers. It was lovely gesture that repeated every time the two of you met.

Your chest hummed with bliss.

As before, you sat down on the sofa, Rhys seated next to you, holding your left hand, Azriel gently touching your right one. This time it was much easier than before and took just about an hour. After your first sitting there weren't many memories left.

When Rhys revived the last one, he left your mind and opened eyes.

"Now only the memories of that night remain," he announced. He was like an open book for you, relief, anticipation, horror and anger all mixing together on his face. You understood every of those emotions. He eagerly wanted to know what happened the night your mother died, how you survived, but he also wanted to protect you, to give you time to decide whether you want to know it, too. He wouldn't push you and without your permission he wouldn't touch those memories either. "How do you feel?"

You considered your answer, avoiding looking to the right. Memories Rhysand revived this time, were from your last years of living here and they exposed a rather surprising thing. "I think I'm alright. It's less confusing than before," you lied smoothly while the heat reached your cheeks.

Azriel's thumb rubbed the back of your right hand, drawing circles into your skin. The gesture that was so familiar and intimate now. You ignored it looking only on your brother. "And how do you feel?"

"It's much easier when I know what I'm looking for and where to find it," Rhysand ran fingers through his silky dark hair. He definitely looked.. normal, not so pale and tired as last time. "Also there were only few memories left, so it was like taking candy from a child."

You snorted, honestly glad he's okay. Then you excused yourself and still without looking Azriel's way you hurriedly left.

Azriel was confused, but understood as soon as Rhysand looked at him with narrowed eyes and raised brows. He was considering whether to kill him or just beat him. Fuck, he knew. Azriel hurried after you.

You really hoped that Azriel wouldn't follow you, but your hopes were short-lived. You were marching down the hall to the staircase, hoping to make it to your room, when heavy footsteps sounded behind you. Big hand gently squeezed your elbow, turning you around. You were met with eyes of colour of warm honey. You immediately averted your gaze down to the floor. His broad chest heaved with sharp breaths and the awkward silence between you stretched.

"Why?" Azriel whispered. You pressed your lips together. "Why are you running from me?"

Your heart stuttered, sharp pain pierced your chest. The heat on your cheeks grew, now whole your face and neck was burning. You swallowed, not knowing what to say. Memories Rhys revived minutes ago flashed through your mind. You couldn't look at him the same way you did before. Not after finding out. But at least now it gave sense why you felt so good in his presence, why you hoped to see him and spend some time with him.

"I was waiting."

"Please, don't.." You voice was hardly audible.

"Y/N, look at me," his fingers closed around your other hand, pulling you closer. The smell of cedar and mist filled the air, wrapped around your heart and soul, caressing it tenderly. This close you heard his racing heartbeat.

You shook your head. Something like painful groan escaped through his pressed lips. He lowered his head so that your foreheads were touching. "Please. I swear I won't hurt you. I'm not expecting anything from you.. just.. Please."

Hole in your heart opened even wider and you couldn't resist anymore. You looked up into his hazel eyes. He was so close you could count gold flecks in them. He breathed out deeply through nose, silver lined his eyes. He swallowed hard.

"I dreamed so many times about this. About you being alive. When Rhys appeared with you in his arms.. this must be some kind of sign.. from Mother," he whispered urgently. " Sign that we are meant to be together."

You'd never seen him like this, so vulnerable, emotional, broken. He was always in control of his feelings, reserved. In your memories he showed his vulnerability only to you, but he'd never been so desperate. You had to curl fingers into fists to stop them from reaching for him.

"I missed you more that you can imagine. I thought we have future. We talked about it, dreamed about it. I was looking forward to it. And when you disappeared.. when we found.." He closed his eyes, inhaling sharply. Whatever they found it must have been something really bad when it shattered him so much. "I thought I would go crazy. It hurt so much. Nobody knows about this. Not even Rhys." Tears rolled down his cheeks.

You were trembling. What he said about the two of you was true, you knew it now. Feelings from those times lingered in revived memories. You felt it, but.. you were different now. You weren't the same person anymore. Your old self cried with him, longed for his closeness, but your current self only pitied him and was sad over his loss. There was difference even you didn't understand properly.

His thumbs were again drawing circles into your skin. He didn't move, just stood there close to you, eyes closed, gently touching you. You didn't push him away, there was no need for that. He was respectful, not forceful. Instead you decided to give him time to recover.

After a few minutes his tears dried and he calmed down straightening, his eyes never leaving yours. He gave you a small smile. "I'm sorry-"

"It's okay. Really," you interrupted him. Azriel helped you so many times since you came back, you could do at least this much for him.

He was about to say something, when Elain appeared as many times before. Unfortunately she came in the worst possible moment when Azriel had no patience for her. He lashed out at her without breaking the eye contact with you.

"Go away, Elain." His deep voice was so icy she winced. Her eyes filled with tears. Nobody spoke to her that way.

"I just-"

"I don't care what you wanted. Leave us alone." She didn't move. "Fuck. Off," he barked at her.

She lost it. "Why are you always with this bitch," she shouted angrily.

Azriel's head flinched her way. You'd never seen him so angry. You felt the need to dash away and that anger wasn't even directed at you.

"What did you call her?"

Elain retrieved a step back and stuck out chin defiantly. Her voice was shaking slightly when she spoke. "She always gets in the way, pushing between us-"

"Between us?! There's no 'between us'!"

She gaped in disbelief, her doe eyes watering even more. "How can you say such thing after all we did?!"

"We did nothing, Elain," Azriel growled, his hands released you, his body fully facing her.

"Nothing?! And what about the time we spent together? All secrets we shared?"

Azriel frowned in confusion. "Secrets? I've never told you a single thing that somebody else didn't already know about."

You were slowly backing from them. Whatever was between them, they needed to talk it out or rather shout it out. Whatever. You didn't want to witness it. Fortunately Azriel was so angry and focused on Elain that he hadn't noticed. You were worried that the shadows would tell him, but right now they were as busy as their master. They swirled around like serpents, hissing at daring Feyre's sister.

You breathed a sigh of relieve when the door of your room closed behind you. You heard their angry voices even up here. It took hour or so until house went silent again. Somebody most likely had to intervene to stop them because at some point there were more than just two voices.

You curled into the armchair and trying to ignore them gazed into the garden. You had a lot to think about. And also you needed to decipher how do you feel about Azriel. This task was especially tricky. You knew you didn't love him, not as you did before. But still in a certain way you loved him. You needed to clarify that.

Several days after the incident you were strolling through the garden lost in your thoughts, your fingers played with pendant. Azriel was sent on a mission right after the fight was over, as you learnt from Rhysand later that night during the dinner, and you hadn't seen Elain ever since then, too. You didn't want to be mean, but you were glad for that. It gave you time peacefully think things over. However you still wasn't sure about your feelings for Azriel.

Suddenly a male's voice whispered somewhere from your right. "Under the oak." You yelped. Thankfully you were far from the house and nobody heard you. You looked around, but you were alone.

Latest events caused you forgot about the letter. However now your thoughts once again turned to Tamlin, your pulse quickened. You hurried to the secluded corner of the garden where the oak tree grew.

Lucien was already seated on one of the roots, leaning against the trunk. He didn't look good. His skin was unusually pale, damped with sweat. His clothes were damaged and soaked with blood.

You halted. "What happened to you?"

"Ah," he smirked, but it wasn't even close to his usual grin. "Tamlin's doing." He gestured to his clothes. "He was so happy to see me that he wanted to tear off my head," he grimaced. "This time he really almost turned me into shreds when I went to deliver your letter, you know. It took me a few days to put together."

"How serious is it?" You instinctively reached for what was left of his shirt.

"Don't," he hissed, but you were faster and now even stronger. There were deep cuts along his ribs. The wound was already partly healed, but it was still bleeding. You didn't want to even imagine how bad it had to be before.

"You need to clean it up and bandage," you looked around. Thankfully there were so many herbs in this garden. You washed two stones in a clear stream that flowed through the garden and crushed the herbs to mush. "Lift your shirt, please."

Lucien grunted something you didn't understand, but he did as you asked. Carefully you applied the mixture on the wound. Lucien hissed when your finger lightly touched raw flesh and shut his eyes closed. Then you lifted your skirt and tore off a strip of fabric from the petticoat. It was the cleanest fabric you had at the moment. You used the strip to bandage the wound.

When you were done Lucien exhaled shakily, letting the shirt fall back down. "Thank you, it's much better now," he rasped.

"What happened?"

"When he saw me he.. lost it. But I managed to deliver your letter. When I went there several days later to ask about the answer, he did this. He is like some wild animal and every day it's getting worse. I wonder if he still remembers who he really is."

Your heart painfully throbbed in you chest. "Do you think..?" You couldn't finish your question, but Lucien understood anyway.

He shook his head. "I think it's too late. We are losing him."

Lucien winnowed away soon after that saying something about his friends worrying about him.

You were suffocating. You curled into yourself between massive roots, pulling knees to your chest and rocking back and forth until humming in your head stopped and your mind cleared.

Time was mercilessly running out. You felt it in your bones. Tamlin needed help, urgently. You had to do something about it.

But first you had to heal yourself properly.

Taglist:

@impossibelle @sevikas-whore @b0xerdancer @ladylizzieofdarbyshire @tele86 @mybestfriendmademe @nocasdatsgay @yunloyal @nebarious @isabiss @st0rmyt @lilah-asteria @ubigaia

[kasagia]

❄️️Warm my heart pt. 5❄️️

Pairing: Aleksander Morozova/ The Darkling x fem! heartrender! reader Summary: You're getting closer, closer, closer and closer... and noticed. Word Count: 3,2k Taglist:@aoi-targaryen @budugu @flostvs1508 ~•♤♤♤•~ Aleksander Morozova’s Masterlist ~•♤♤♤•~ ~•♤♤♤•~ Part 4 ~•♤♤♤•~ Part 6 ~•♤♤♤•~

"Something funny?" his question pulls you out of the letter. You glance at him briefly, slowly fold the letter, and put it in your pocket, still smiling.

"Nothing special. Can we return to further discussion?" you ask as he sits down in front of you and places two glasses of kvass on the table.

You didn't talk about… that night. Or previous events. There was a consensual silence between you regarding those events. A silence that was anything but peaceful. It was more like before the storm. But you both chose to ignore it. You had more important things on your mind.

"There is no need. I've already told you. Tracker and some of our people are going to haunt the stag until we won't get the bones. End of discussion."

"But it's Christmas. Is this stag that important? You don't have to send after this poor animal almost 30 of our people." you try to convince him, but he only rolls his eyes in annoyance.

"Y/N. I appreciate your opinion, but no one and nothing will change my mind. Not you, not Alina, not Zoya, not any women, do you understand?"

"Why didn't you mention Ivan or Fedyor, or any men?" you ask, crossing your arms, now as irritated as he was just a few seconds ago.

"Because they know too well to try to oppose me."

"Oppose you?" you huff, glaring at him defiantly. "With all due respect, you don't know what it's like when someone REALLY tries to oppose you. At least not in the last month." you see him take a breath to say something, but one look from him at you makes him change his mind and shake his head. He takes the glass and drinks it before deciding to answer you.

"Can we... can we just go back to read those reports and finally write the orders to units? Please." he asks. You sigh and take your pen in hand, continuing to write down on the paper, in a more logical way, notes containing some of your plans.

"If you insist." you mumble over the paper.

"No whining?" he asks in shock and you bite your lip to avoid saying something rude.

"No." you say, shaking your head and reaching for a glass of kvass.

"And you're not offended?"

"Since when do you care?" you snap at him, annoyed. Not only did he stupidly stick to his opinion, but he also made you look like an offensive brat.

"Y/N." he says it calmly, and you raise your gaze to him. He didn't seem like he was doing it maliciously, more like he was making sure everything was okay. Which only added to your irritation. You close your eyes and sigh before answering him.

"No. I'm not."

"Your tone of voice is telling me something entirely different." you narrow your eyes at him and he just shrugs his arms.

"Should I smile at you sweetly to make you sure about that?" you ask teasingly, and he nods, leaving you surprised.

"Yes, please." he says, wanting to see you smiling at him at all costs. He missed this view. You both had a lot on your minds lately, and dark circles under your eyes were starting to appear under your eyes as well as under his own. And he despised them terribly. He smiles, though, feeling a strange warmth dissipate in his chest as you giggle in amusement and give him a mischievous smile. "That's better." he mumbles, shifting his gaze to the papers.

He can't feel like this. He shouldn't want... you. Not after what he went through last time.

And after that night, where he almost gave in to his desires, he promised himself that you wouldn't be his second Luda. You'll end up better than her. He won't let anything happen to you because of him.

"You know... I got something for you." you say, snapping him from his thoughts.

"For me? On what occasion?" he asks, surprised, shifting in his chair. He dropped the papers on the desk and focused his attention on you as you nervously stroked the edges of the report, straightening the corners.

"When I was a child, we used to draw lots a few weeks before Christmas to choose a family member to give a gift to. You know, a small present before the big one. And since I spent half of December fighting for my life with a fever and swimming in frozen rivers, I didn't have time to give it to you earlier."

"Why did you..."

"We drew lots for whom we would buy a gift." you interrupt him before he has a chance to ask you a question. "Me, Fedyor, Alina, Mal, Zoya, even Ivan, and the rest. I had Mal, but since you decided to send him to hell knows where, I figured I might as well give you something."

"Whatever bribe you want to give me, tracker and others don't come back without a stag." he says, crossing his arms. You giggle softly at that.

"I'm fully aware, donkey."

"You're treading on thin ice." he says menacingly, but he can't help but tilt his lips upward slightly in kind of a small smile.

"It's good that you're close; maybe you'll save me again. Come on. Just open it. I promise, I didn't ask David to put any explosives in there." he rolls his eyes but takes the box from you that you left under his desk. He turns the small box over in his hand and shakes it gently, assessing the size and heaviness of the gift. "Are you really expecting a terrorist attack? From me?"

"You stabbed me with a letter opener."

"That was ages ago!" you shout, offended and blushing. "Besides, how was I supposed to know you'd just walk into the war room and stand behind me?!"

"Who normally throws a letter opener behind them?" he asks, raising an eyebrow. He slowly begins to unwrap the box.

"It was from my grandparents. You know how we get along. Besides, I've apologised to you a thousand times."

"And apparently my mental health has been damaged, and now I can't trust you around with any weapon or mistery presents." he teases; you whine at this, and he starts laughing. You smile at the sound and shake your head.

Suddenly, he stops laughing. He holds on to his breath as he carefully examines your gift. It's not a big thing. A simple, black pendant. What is more important is its content, which he stares at in amazement.

"I... I know you don't believe in any saints or stuff like that, but... I noticed that every time we're in the chapel for some kind of celebration, you stare at the stained glass window of Sankta Ursula of the Waves. I found it in some flea markets while we were searching for a stag. I immediately thought of you."

"I…" he has no idea what to say. He didn't know you were watching him so carefully. That you actually care. But now… you didn't even know what it meant to him. Especially since the pendant you gave him and the portrait of Sankt were an exact representation of his sister. Not like that terrible stained glass window. "Thank you." he whispers shakily, because it's all he can do.

You took away his words. More than once. He should get used to this. I want to get used to it. But he can't. He won't risk losing you for a few moments... a few moments that are a young boy's dream.

"Anytime. May I?"

He nods. You stand behind him and take the necklace from him. You roll up the collar of his kefta so you can fasten it around his neck.

Your fingers brush against the skin of his neck, and he has to bite his lip (almost to the point of bleeding) to keep from letting out any embarrassment moan at the small touch.

He despised himself. His mother would mock him so much for weakness and vulnerability like this... but all he could do was sit quietly and appreciate your every little touch.

"Do you like it?" you whisper softly, still standing behind him. Your hands on his arms burn him, despite the thick layers of clothes he's wearing.

"I love it." he answers faster than he can think. He knows you can feel his heart beating wildly. He feels himself turning even redder.

"I'm glad you like it, Aleksander."

He feels blood on his mouth as he bites his bottom lip, hearing you whisper in his ear his real name. He was alternately regretful and glad that you knew it. In moments like this... he wasn't sure which feeling prevailed. Suddenly, he realises that he is gripping the arm of the chair so tightly that his knuckles are white.

Where was the fucking control he had spent years practicing when he needed it most? Where are the walls he painstakingly built around his stupid heart?

One heartrender was enough for all his composure to go to hell. And the worst thing was that, deep in his heart, he wanted to lose himself in you.

He stands up from his chair and turns towards you, looking down at you, trying to intimidate you as his shadows dance around you. But you just came closer. He holds his breath and tries to take a step back, but realises there's no escape as he slams his hips against the desk.

"Y/N."

"Aleksander."

You exchange whispers between the two of you, staring deeply into each other's eyes.

The sudden outburst makes you both shiver. Aleksander automatically grabs your arm and pulls you behind him, covering you as he listens.

"Stay here." he whispers as he takes a step towards the window.

You grab his elbow tightly and stop him. He turns to you, raising an eyebrow questioningly. You shake your head, staring at him defiantly. He rolls his eyes and grabs your waist, tightening his grip as you both walk carefully towards the balcony.

You see smoke rising from the Durasts' workshop.

"Damn it, 5th time in this year." Aleksander curses under his breath, and he releases his grip on your waist.

"They're working on transportation through the fold, be gentle with them."

He sighs and rubs his hand over his eyes. The tiredness becomes clearer on his face as he realises that he's going to have a long night ahead of him.

"I'll try my best. Go to bed, milaya. One of us should be rested." before he knows what he's actually doing, he walks up to you and kisses your forehead.

You stand frozen, feeling his lips on your skin, your heart racing at his gesture more than from adrenaline at the sudden outburst. And then he walks away quickly, leaving you alone.

You can't help but smirk as you watch him disappear into the shadows.

Aleksander is pissed. Nor. He is furious. Mad. Not because of the outburst that happened last night, but because he found out that you were getting more and more letters.

And he managed to intercept one. It was from Mal fucking Ortsev. The tracker you so desperately wanted back at the palace for stupid Christmas.

Everything made sense. Every kind gesture you made this month. And now he was storming through the halls of the Little Palace, straight to the kitchen where the guards had told him you would be, holding an unopened letter from your lover in your hand. A lover who, he will make sure, will never see the gates of Os Alta again.

He storms into the kitchen, and you almost manage to cool his anger when he sees you in an apron, baking some cake. You were singing something under your breath, probably one of those annoying songs that were played in every corner of Ravka.

And he almost melted, fascinated by the sight of you so... calm. A strange fantasy played in his head. You and him together, cooking something for the damn Christmas, decorating the house. He never had a real Christmas. Baghra wasn't sentimental enough to celebrate it, and she taught him the same, but with you... he would do all those stupid things.

Seeing you in this homey atmosphere almost took him off his warpath. Almost.

Until he remembered the letter he was holding and imagined the tracker doing all those things with you. He slammed the door loudly and waited for your reaction.

You screamed, spilling some of the flour you were holding onto the floor. You looked at him, and you were ready to yell at him for scaring you when you saw the look on his face.

"What happened?" you ask, brushing your hair off your forehead and getting flour all over it in the process.

In any other circumstances, he would have laughed; he would have been completely enchanted by your state. But now he was seeing red, imagining every single love letter that you could have written to that damn tracker.

"All these gifts, sweet words—all of it was for your tracker, right? You don't know this boy, you don't know what he is like, and yet you try to undermine my authority and change my decision just for some orphan from Keramzin! What does he have, huh?! What has blinded you, MY SECOND-IN-COMMAND, that you so desperately want this rash fool, who only gets into trouble because of his own stupidity?! Is he really worth risking my wrath?!"

"What the hell are you talking about?!"

"THIS!" he slams his hand with the letter on the table between you. He glares at you furiously as you look at him with an equally defiant attitude. You take the letter and look at it in disbelief and anger.

"Do you monitor my correspondence?!"

"I should have done this ages ago! At least you wouldn't make a fool of me! You can say goodbye to your lovely tacker; I'll make sure he never again sets his foot in Os Alta."

"SERIOUSLY?! Look at me carefully, because I'll only say this once: MAL AND I ARE NOT TOGETHER!"

"Of course." he laughs mockingly and is about to leave the kitchen. You run to him and grab his arm tightly, forcing the letter into his hands.

"Read it." you say it coldly and firmly as you control yourself enough not to scream at him in anger.

"What?" he asks dazedly at your command, looking between your furious eyes and the letter you're pushing into his hands with all your might.

"Do you want to blame me for something? Go right ahead. Read. Prove yourself right." he takes the letter from you.

Jealousy and rage were still present in him, as well as a hint of sadness and hurt. That's what it was. Proof that all of this, every kind gesture, smile, look, touch, kiss—well, not a real one—was intended to bring you closer to another man. A man whose insides he would feed to volcras.

"Here you go." he opens the letter and clears his throat dramatically as he begins to read. "Dear Y/N. Thank you for your help. Alina was overjoyed with her gift. I don't know how to thank you. I'd love to be there for her, but I'm glad that at least you can take care of my beloved while I look for some damn stag…" he falls silent while reading, looking for something more in the letter he has in his hands. He blushes with embarrassment, realising the mistake he has made.

"See?" you ask him and gently cup his cheek with your hand, forcing him to look at you.

"But... the other letters..." he whispers, confused.

"I exchanged them with my brother."

There is a long silence between you as he digests all the information and realises the mistake he has made. He turns even redder at the rashness of his actions. He, who boasted of his patience and the fact that he was never wrong. The slightest suspicion that your heart belonged to someone else was enough to make him want to spill some blood and commit murder. And not yours, but that damn tracker's.

"Oh... the youngest one I guess?" he asks, trying to camouflage his earlier behavior. Or at least forget about it for a moment and let his heart slow down to a normal rhythm. He already humiliated himself enough in front of you.

"Yes." you confirm, a stupid smile on your lips. He swallows, nervous.

"Umm... that's lovely."

"He asked me if I'm coming home for Christams." you tell him, and he holds his breath for a moment, looking at you in anticipation. You don't say anything further. So he clears his throat and prepares to ask the question.

"Are you?"

"No. I'm staying in the Little Palace this year." for some strange reason, these few words bring him more joy than anything else in his several hundred years of life.

"Taht's... that's good. That's good to hear." he nods, unable to look you in the eye. You lick your lips, shifting your gaze towards the kitchen for a moment.

"Do you want to join me?"

"I beg you pardon?" he asks, confused. You nodded towards the bowls and cake you were baking before he came in and… jumped to the wrong conclusions. "I haven't… I haven't cooked for a while." he admits shyly. And you smile fondly as you see him so… ordinary for the first time. Humanly.

"Well, it's the best time to do it again, don't you think?" you ask and are about to pull him towards the table and the ingredients you prepared to make a cake when you feel the urge to look up. And you see mistletoe.

He also looks up and freezes at what he sees. A shiver of excitement and anxiety runs through his body. It was late at night. No one in their right mind would come here. No one would interrupt you.

He unconsciously leans towards you. He slowly lifts his hand and brushes your hair away from your face, gently brushing the flour from your forehead with his thumb. You giggle softly.

You cup his cheeks with your hands, and Aleksander sees in slow motion how you pull him towards you. Your lips get closer... but instead of moving to his lips, you place a tender kiss on his cheek.

His beard tickles you a little, and he can't help but feel deprived and tricked when your warm lips are limited to just caressing his cheek. He almost growls, exasperated, when, as quickly as you cling to him, you pull away.

"Put an apron on. We don't want to have your black kefta covered in flour." you say and go back to the table. You smile evilly. He didn't deserve a kiss after his little act today, but next time...

You squeal as he grabs you from behind and dumps a bag of flour over your head.

"ALEKSANDER!" you shout, and he laughs loudly, not caring at all that anyone might have heard his name. He tries to get away from you when you throw eggs at him.

When you are laughing and throwing everything at each other, you don't notice that the kitchen door is slowly and silently closing. And someone's footsteps echo through the corridors of the Little Palace.

[snowdrop-ivy]

Chasing the Clouds: A Journey Back to The Beef | 1

Summary: Mikey left the restaurant to Carmen, Natalie, and you.

Trope: Second chances

T/W: Cursing, unresolved mental issues, trauma, suic!de, angst, and smut.

Word count: 4695

The sound of the alarm woke Carmy. 4:00AM. He had this dream on how things were a year ago, how he was in a different place being berated by the head chef. The time he always woke up everyday since he decided to move and leave everything behind. He waited for the alarm to finish to listen to the voice very familiar to him. He sat up on his bed and lit a cigarette before heading to sit in front of the window to look at the city lights Chicago has to offer him. There were little sounds he could hear that bothers him. The sound of the train. Kids laughing at the street. And your voice. The message you left him before cutting him off completely for bailing on you. Carmy played it one more time, as close to his ear as it can get.

Hey…

I know you're off and I know you can hear this so I'm just gonna say this one last time.

I miss you.

I miss how we used to be. How we used to be friends. How you and I would stay up and talk about everything. I know things got messed up when you left but I think what you don't know is you also left me. For no fucking reason. And the craziest thing is that I trusted myself you wouldn't do that. That you would not bail on me like your brother did to you but you did. 

But you did… You fucking did it, Carm. And I still miss you. Every fucking day and I wish I can lock our memories in letters and drown myself in ink of you. God, I can fill empty canvases with your paintings because all I fucking see is you. But then I realized that after that, life's too fucking short to dwell on it. So if you want us to stay that way, that's okay. We'll each have the chance to be happy on the things we like and the person we love. And that's what I'm gonna do also. And hey? If you don't want to. That's okay too. I'm moving on, B.

So… This is the last time I'll chase you. Not because I got tired but because chasing you is like chasing the clouds.

I hope you become the best of what you really want. 

Bye, B.

Carm clenched on the phone in his hand as he listened on the voicemail you left 5 years ago. He still gets updates of you from Rich and Sug. But that was it. You really meant what you said. And he blames himself for it. And the hole in the wall on his apartment when you left him that message. He knows what he did but also he, himself, doesn't know why he did it. Why he thought leaving you would be a great fucking idea. 

He got up from his seat and got ready for work. Mikey left the business for him, Sug, and you to take care of. He thought that after Mikey passed away he would get a glimpse of you but nada. He got to the restaurant and stayed in his office. Or what used to be Mikey’s. He took a look at the bills with red stamps that said they’re past due dates and sat down. He got out and took a look at the kitchen, the bar, and the dining area. All of it reminds him of his brother. Of you. Or what he thinks the things you redid. Carm knew that you managed the restaurant before he passed away. Mikey told him that whenever they got a chance to talk. How you convinced Mikey to switch mayos, chairs, and cutlery. The crew came in and Carm decided to close the restaurant for the day to clean it. Every fucking inch of it, they cleaned, wiped, moped, washed dishes. Carm was hanging the penalty they got from the CBH since the restaurant does not comply with the sanitary standards. He heard a knock on the window and saw Uncle Jim. They sat by the window. Unc asked him how the restaurant’s been.

“And then you know, the produce bill is due, you know,” Carm answered pointing at the window. “And the power comes in and I can’t build enough of a parachute. Even if we got this place packed, that’s only like a week of survival cash.”

Unc sighed. “Exhausting listening to this.”

Carm knitted his brows, confused. “You ask me what’s goin on.”

“No,” Unc waved his finger. “I asked you where you’ve been.”

Carm tilted his head to the back. “You’re looking at it. This is where I’ve been,” He sighed and leaned on the chair.

“Carm, this place is bullshit,” Unc told him. “Right? I mean, you’re never gonna fix it. You can’t start at fucked. You understand that, right?”

He sarcastically chuckled. “Then why’d he leave it to me? Or Natalie? Or even your daughter for God’s sake.”

Unc sighed and looked at the window. “She’s doing good, by the way.”

“Who?” He asked like he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

“Don’t fuck with me. You know who?” 

They looked at each other before chuckling.

“She’s got a job in San Francisco as a head nurse but she still got her photography gig as a hobby. You should see her photos, Carm,” Unc amusingly said with sparks in his eyes and wide smile.

“Yeah?” He answered. “You must be proud then?”

“Of course,” He laughed. “She’s making me proud since the day she was born”

[paradlselost]

RADIO WAVES

john seed x female deputy

My first fanfic on here so apologies for anything wrong. I’ve only stalked other fics, never posted myself. Also not my favorite writing 🙏

Inspired by Adelaide’s voice line: “John Seed hunched over his map getting a hard-on by the sound of his own voice …” she’s literally me, I need him carnally. It’s been years and I think about him 24/7 (I’m supposed to be working on midterms help.)

John Seed x Fem!Deputy. CW: SMUT - dirty talk, radio sex, masturbation (m).

Night descended onto the Valley, crickets sang their sharp tune outside the concrete walls of the bunker. Peggies had long since stopped pacing the halls, preparations for the sabbath now over, a good night's rest being the last thing on their checklist.

But for one John Seed, sleep was the last thing on his mind.

Static echoed over his radio, body leaning against the table adorned with gashes and crevasses from the many times he ran a blade over the once fine wood. His fingers traced over his tattoo gun anxiously, one hand reaching to grab the handset.

“Can someone fucking answer me? Huh? You better not get a single scratch on one of my planes!” He shouted over the comms, fingers trembling with the sheer amount of anger that flowed through his veins. These were the chosen, the best pilots out of the entire congregation?

What a joke.

He slammed the hand radio back on the table at the answer of static. He had sent out three planes, none responded. There was no way she could’ve taken them all down, was there?

He didn’t turn at the sound of the door opening behind him, nor at one of his Peggie’s asking if he was okay. No, instead he stayed hunched over the table, seething. He gripped the handle of his tattoo gun now, his knuckles turning white. This was the last thing he needed, a lowly cultist practically cooing over a Herald like he was a child.

Grasping the gun, he turned and threw it at the wall beside whatever Peggie decided to have a shred of decency to check on him, shouting expletives as they hurriedly left and shut the door. The tool now lay on the ground, broken into two pieces.

A sigh fell from his lips as he stood up straight, standing there for a moment and observing what he had broken. Wrath. Joseph would be upset if he saw his little brother like this. Slicking back any strands that fell from his perfect hair, he grabbed the pieces of his precious tattoo gun.

“Holy shit, is this thing still working?”

He tensed at the sound of a familiar someone speaking over his radio. The audacity of her, did she not know she had a direct line to the youngest Seed? He wasn’t in the mood for her voice to be crooning over his comms.

“Sharky get over here, lay down a beat I’m gonna start spitting.”

He heard her laugh, almost as if she was carefree, opposite to how she had cried when he straddled her, carving her sin into her flesh for her to adorne, to show everyone what a sinner she was. Her own personalized scarlet letter. She was such a beautiful crier, if he could have bottled up her tears and kept them forever he would’ve.

He traced his fingers over the gun once more, this time not in a bid to calm himself down, but out of reminiscence. How he had held it tight as the two of them sat on the floor of that church, how he had grabbed her chin when she awoke, how she thrashed and cried and almost ruined her perfect carving. Now he had gone and broken it.

Somewhere between Henbane River’s resident pyromaniac making noises that could barely be considered beatboxing and the Deputy poorly rhyming ‘Bliss’ and ‘diss,’ he interjected.

“Ah- now that’s not very nice, is it, Deputy?”

He was met with not the deafening sound of static, but silence this time. For a moment, he thought she had run at the sound of his voice, he would’ve relished in that thought had she not been the only thing keeping him sane. Ironic.

“I save my kindness for people who deserve it, Seed.” The playfulness didn’t leave her voice as she shooed Sharky away, her companion rolling his eyes and probably leaving to go to the pizza diner. Privacy when talking to John Seed was a must, she wouldn’t have to be embarrassed over teasing him.

“I don’t deserve it? I’m a fairly good person.” He scoffed, rubbing his eyes tiredly as he moved from tracing his tattoo gun to tracing the map pinned to the table in front of him.

“Kidnapping, torture, murder, that’s all being a good person to you?”

“You call it that because you’re blind to the good intentions of Eden’s Gate. Do you take joy in misinterpreting our mission to save sinners?”

“I-unno. Is there a sin for that too? Gonna carve that into my skin and stare at my tits while you’re at it?”

He could hear the smirk in her voice, how she teased and played with him. He would carve every sin onto her skin if he had the chance, if Joseph would let him. Pride for her unwillingness to see the truth, Envy and Greed for her taking of the compounds that belong to the cult, Sloth for sending her resistance companions to do her bidding, Gluttony for the alcohol she consumed to wash away what she had seen. And Lust, for the feelings she incited in him.

“I never stared at your breasts.”

“Do you like being a fucking liar?”

Her tone was rougher, the only time he had heard her speak to him like that was when Hudson was tied to a chair in front of her, his bunker dark and dingy as it was her decision to choose between who got marked first. When she spoke to him like he was nothing but a bug underneath her boot, when he had to take Hudson out of the room and fix the problem growing in his pants.

“Fuck.”

He didn’t mean to slip, to let her know the absolute power she had over him. Ever since he saw her in the church, when she handcuffed his brother and attempted to arrest him, he knew it was over for him.

Every thought he had belonged to her, every waking moment and every dream was hers. He was pathetic, he knew, but he couldn’t help himself.

“Fuck? Use your words, John.” She was using his name now, not just resorting to his surname. She was playing into every fantasy that ran through his head, how had he gone years without her? “I’ll ask you again. Do you like being a fucking liar?”

“Mm- no- i'm not a liar-… cmon, where are you?” He whined out softly, tugging on his ‘EG’ belt buckle. His pants had grown uncomfortably tight without his permission.

“Why would I tell you? So you can send your Peggie’s after me again? I don’t think so.”

He bit his bottom lip, cursing himself mentally. He stood up straight, running his hand through his hair exasperatedly, dark blue eyes trailing down to the LUST marking he had over his lower stomach. He was reduced to nothing more than a filthy sinner now.

“It’s a day before the Sabbath, Deputy. Please don’t talk to me like this.”

“Like what? Ohh… are you getting hard at the sound of my voice?”

She was awfully perceptive, though he wouldn’t be surprised if she could hear the metallic clinking of his belt buckle as he shedded it from its loops with one hand. He needed some kind of release.

“Fucking -… cmon, don’t do this to me.” His voice was soft and pleading over the radio, something she had never heard from him. He seemed so needy, the way his breath picked up, the small pants that escaped his pretty lips. She could only imagine how he looked now.

“A day before the sabbath just means you can atone tomorrow, doesn’t it? Cmon, I know you wanna be a good boy f’me.”

God, he tensed at her words. Fingers greedily grabbing at his pants, playing with them till they pooled at his ankles, tattooed fingers massaging the fabric of his blue boxers, a small patch darker than the rest as his precum stained the polyester.

She had power over him, and she knew it too.

“Hnmm - keep ta-talking please…”

“God, you really are pathetic aren’t you? First Herald of Eden’s Gate whimpering for the resistance leader over his peggies radio.”

His head buried against the crook of his arm that rested on the beaten up table. Pretty blue eyes fluttered shut as his fingers delicately wrapped around his angry red tip. Dick gently throbbing in his hand at her words.

John Seed, deemed the most sadistic out of the entire fucking cult, reduced to a whiny, submissive mess from the Deputys harsh tone. If anyone found out about this, he’d never be able to live it down.

Soft spouts of precum dripped over his fingers as he pumped his aching cock, a small layer spread over his flesh. What a pathetic display, what a man to let lust consume him once more. He felt like he was that Lawyer again, hopped up on cocaine and whiskey just to give him a nice buzz. But now, he had the Deputy, and she was better then any substance he had had before.

“Don’t f-fucking stop.” How many times had he said that years ago? How many women had made him feel like this? His years before reuniting with Joseph were a blur, but he remembered the longing feeling he felt. Different was he now, but still pining for something out of his reach. “When I-I get you I’m going to-“

His words were cut off by a pathetic whine as his hand slicked back from his tip, starting on the base and pumping his throbbing member. How pretty she would look with her lips wrapped around him, her eyes all teary as she took him down her throat.

“Gonna what? Finish your sentence, baby.”

Gonna coat your mouth, make you cry for me like you had in that church. He wanted to say, wanted to flip it around on her, make her cover his fingers with her arousal. But he didn’t, he couldn’t. John Seed was a taker, and right now he was too caught up in his pleasure.

His cock was throbbing uncomfortably in his hand, veins flowing with blood, he felt close and he had barely started, but the sound of her voice could make him cum in his hand in an instant. He bit his bottom lip, attempting to swallow the weak whines and moans that threatened to spill from him for her, though most escaped anyways.

Soft, pathetic ‘please’s we’re all he could respond with, they fell from his lips like a prayer - one only she could hear. He was good, good for her, he deserved to cum in his hand, didn’t he?

“Hmm after all you put me through, I think a good apology would be a nice way to end this, don’t you?”

He could practically hear the delight in her voice as she noticed how close he was, she reveled in the fact she had brought him to his knees through her tone alone. He was putty in her hands, molded and contorted into a submissive shape.

“Fuck fuck fuck I’m sorry-“

He whined out, back arching from the wooden desk as his hand pumped faster around his aching cock. A soft ‘tsk’ came over the radio waves, causing another whine to fall from his lips. “Cmon - i-i said sorry-“

“You pray with that mouth? Again. Lose the swearing.”

“I’m sorry I’m sorry!”

“There you go, that’s a good boy.”

He moaned at her words, legs trembling slightly. One, two, three more pumps and he absolutely came undone. Ropes of cum messing his hands and the concrete floor below him, a panting and whining mess of a man as he stroked himself till he was empty.

When he lifted his head and the cool air of the bunker hit his flushed cheeks, the clarity set in. He had just fucked himself with his hand over the Deputy of all people; all on his radio. Hurriedly, he pulled up his boxers and jeans, wiping up the mess on the floor and on his hands with a towel.

The familiar sound of static from the radio setting in once more. She must’ve destroyed what was left of the plane. What a fucking mess.

A congregation was held the next morning in Joseph’s church, bells ringing above sung for the holy day, John made his way past Jacob and Faith to his seat behind the podium. Faith was giggling about something or another, probably high off bliss, and Jacob was scowling at him slightly.

“I know you were always the youngest, but I didn’t think you’d be so weak, Brother. Even Faith has more resolve then you.”

[weird-is-life]

Sirius x animagus!Reader where after not hearing from him all summer she uses her animagus form to sneak into Grimmauld Place and check up on him. Up to you if Walburga catches them or not

Hii, ty for the request! I actually had to Google who tf is Walburga🤦‍♀️🤭but I hope this is okay. Warnings: angst, fluff, use of pet names, use of y/n (1k)

Sirius hasn't been answering your letters basically since the start of the summer, so you've decided in the middle of it, that you've had enough.

You know that sneaking into Black's house is not the best idea, but you need to find out what is up with Sirius, before you go mad over it.

It is a good thing that you were around when the boys were learning how to turn into an animagus. And even better thing is that, your animagus is a dove.

So it doesn't take you long to locate the window, that you know belongs to Sirius's room. It's already late at night, so you are surprised to see some light coming from his room.

You easily slip inside, through the cracked open window.

You find Sirius laying on his bed, reading a book with his wand creating the light.

When you turn back to your normal form, Sirius almost has a heart attack, immediately sitting up.

"What the fuc-" he yelps, but as he suddenly realises that he knows who is standing in front of him, he whispers,"y...-y/n?" His voice breaks as he says your name.

You don't wait another second and throw yourself into his arms, almost knocking both of you to the ground. You feel like crying and you're not surprised to feel your cheeks getting wet.

What catches you of guard is feeling some wetness through the fabric of your shirt. To your shock, Sirius is also crying, he holds you so tight in his arms, his face buried in your neck. You just let him, you are standing between his legs as his sits on his bed, running your hands through his hair in a way, you hope is soothing.

It takes you both quite some time to let go of each other, no words being passed between you. But you don't mind one bit, you are so relieved to see him alive and okay.

"H-how did you get here?" Sirius speaks with a groggy voice after what feels like hours. His eyes are all red, but gentle as they look all over your face.

"I used the animagus," you answer and because you can't wait any longer, you ask, "Siri, what happened? We all thought, that-that you got hurt or something. The boys were about to loose their minds, so was I."

"W-what do you mean? I thought something happened to you all, you didn't respond to any of my letters," he says and he sounds just as confused as you feel.

"What? We never got any of your letters, but we wrote to you everyday," you perplex, "how did this happen, Siri?"

Sirius looks absolutely heartbroken upon learning of this information, but also angry.

"I can't fucking believe this," he mutters madly under his breath.

"What?"

"It's definitely my mother's doing," he sighs, "I suspected, that she'd learnt about you and me, and wanted to put an end to it. She hardly tolerated the boys, she couldn't accept, they aren't on the dark side. So i think, her learning about you was finaly enough for her." You want to ask why would she do such a thing, but then you remember how different his family is to yours and how unpleasant his mother is.

"And I was stupid enough to think, that you and the boys finally came to your senses and ended our relationships. I'm not exactly the person you should be with, i mean look at my family, they are horrible people. S-so i probably am the same, they tell me i am."

His last sentence makes you want to cry some more, because you can't even imagine why would he think such a thing.

"Never, Sirius. You hear me? I nor the boys would ever do that. You can't get rid us of, rid of me that easily," you poke him in the chest playfully, even though your words are serious, " you aren't like your family and that's why we love you. You are anything, but bad Siri. Yeah?"

You stroke his cheek lovingly, hoping he gets, that you are all in, in this. And that he doesn't get to just say mean and untrue things about himself. And if he does, you'll be there every time to reassure him, that he is very very wrong.

"I love you, dove. So much," he expresses instead of answering your question. And his stare is so intense, so full of love, that you almost cry (happy tears), again.

"I love you more," you profess and quickly, you kiss him. It's not a long kiss, but it is long enough to express everything you both feel. Love. Relief. Desperation. And even tiny bit of anxiety.

You put your forehead against his, a small smile on your lips filled with nerves, "Siri, y-you need to get away from here."

"I know, sweetheart, I know, b-but where would I go? This is the only place I know as a home-"

"James's said, that I should insist to drag you away from here when I find you and to tell you, that there's a room waiting for you in his house," you assure him," and if there wasn't a place for you in Potters's home, there would definitely be one in mine."

Sirius looks a bit taken aback by this and you completely understand, he's only known this place a his 'home' for most of his life and leaving like this can't be easy.

But he nods his head slowly, surely, " okay."

"Yeah?"

"Yes, I want to leave this place and never ever come back here," he says, feeling very certain about the decision.

"Good," you give him a tight hug," the boys are waiting for us a few streets away from here, let's get out of here."

And you do. You quickly pack all the things Sirius wants to take with him, which isn't a lot, and sneak out of there.

You can see the moment, you get away from the house, Sirius's whole posture and mood change. He walks with a light breeze and a smile, that gets bigger and bigger as you get farther away from there.

Though, his smile grows the biggest when he notices his best friends waiting for him. He takes off running towards them, while dragging you along.

The reunion is all happy tears and loud laughs, which is all you hoped for.

[final-script]

It's Happening! | Ruben Dias

Pairing: Ruben Dias x Reader

Sumary: Where Ruben Dias asks the big question.

Warnings: English is not my first language !!!.There are probably many mistakes (I will correct them later),

Gif: rubendiasatl

-------------------------

As the complete gentleman he was, unbeknownst to you, he had gone to your parents' house to ask for your hand.

It was not difficult for them to give the blessing, they loved him from the moment they met him.

(…)

After obtaining the blessing of your parents, he only needed to prepare the proposal, for this he received ideas and some help from family and friends, both yours and his.

There wasn't anyone who wasn't aware of Ruben's love for you.

You liked the simple, so Ruben had decided on something simple but at the same time express what he feels for you.

Although it may not seem like it, everything was quite fast and without raising suspicions around you.

First I would take you to dinner and then to walk on the beach, where I had also prepared something.

(…)

The day of the proposal I followed his plan to the letter, I invite you to dinner like any other time, trying not to seem nervous, fortunately I succeed.

He opened your door when he got to the car, before also getting on and traveling to the restaurant and for the first time at night something called your attention… They weren't filling up the way they usually do.

Y/N- honey where are we filling?

R- oh, I thought maybe we could try a new place.

I put his cloak on your thigh and kept driving.

(…)

The dinner developed normally, talking about random things as they always do and after a small dessert it was time to continue with the second part of the plan.

R- is it okay if we walk along the beach?

Y/N- there is a pleasant climate, so that's fine.

They clasped their hands and as the beach was close they walked clinging.

A few meters a decorations scattered along the beach caught your attention

Y/N- it seems that there was a party.

If only you knew what was about to happen to you.

Advantage your distraction, Ruben decided that it was his moment, with the excuse that you could better observe the "forgotten" place, I managed to put you where he wanted.

R- and if I told you that it is not a party and that it is for us. Hugging you from behind.

Y/N- what do you talk about, honey?

R- I did this because I wanted to ask you something.

He kept you in this position, because if I turned to see you I probably wouldn't say everything he really wants to tell you.

R- I know you love the simple so I will do the best I can, I know I could go straight to the point but … There are things I really want to say today.

He controlled his breathing as best he could and continued.

R- It's been almost 4 years since we are together, almost 4 years since I saw you for the first time and was arrowed by that girl who seemed lost at a party with her friends, but no matter how lost she seemed she made me work to get her name and phone number, almost 4 years since you endure my mood swings after a game, you take care of me and help me to improve, I love you even more, because you are always just you and without forgetting to mention how much my family loves you, how you are with them … For everything I've said and for what I'm still missing, I want all that to be forever, to create new memories, so I want to ask you.

He stopped his words to turn you around and make eye contact.

As he did so, he immediately knelt down and revealed before you, the ring that without your knowledge he had been with for weeks.

R- do you want to marry me? The tears accumulated in your eyes could show, but enough to see that the man in front of you, you were with whom you wanted to spend the rest of your life.

Nodding excitedly you gave an answer.

Y/N- yes, yes, of course.

I slip the ring into your ring and when it got up, you immediately circled his neck and kissed it.

Y/N- I can't wait to be your wife.

R- the last name Dias will look great,Eu te amo futura esposa (I love you future wife)

Y/N- Mrs. Dias… I love it. Seal the moment with a kiss.

---------------------------

ANOTHERS

 From The Beginning - Ruben Dias x Reader

English Classes - Julian Alvarez x Reader

[chiefduckgarden]

Definitely, Jim and Pam

Summary: Part two of this thing is feeling like Jim and Pam

A/N: It took a long time to finish, but it's finally here. Thanks to all the peole who kept asking about this part two. And sorry for the waiting. This is about 10k+ words so, enjoy!

Remember this is inspired in Jim and Pam from The Office!

--------------------------------------------------

Los Angeles was nice.

It's been a month since you started college and you could say you had blended in pretty well.

The classes were exhausting but everything else was new and exciting for you. You felt like it was your chance for a new beginning, and you definitely needed one.

After that terrible prom night you isolated yourself for two entire weeks. No social media, no calls, no messages, no visits. You only bothered to send your application letter for college.

When you finally decided to turn on your phone again you realized some of your friends tried to reach out to you. You answered every single message, letting everyone know that you were okay. But your heart broke a little when you realized that none of those messages or missed calls were from Wanda.

And that was your breaking point. You understood that you really screwed up things with her. She wasn't even concerned about your absence, if anything you thought she was relieved that you didn't tried to talk her anymore.

For the next months you avoided anything related to Wanda. Before blocking her number you sent her one last text apologizing and explaining your reasons to go zero contact with her.

You didn't expect her to answer anyway.

Although Pietro did call you to know about how you were doing, the moment he mentioned Wanda you stopped him right away.

"Please let's not talk about her, it still hurts too much". That's what you said.

He sighed but changed the subject immediately. That's when you found out he got into a foreign university in Switzerland and that he was moving out of the country.

You smiled happily and extended your congratulations to him.

Some time later you found yourself moving to Los Angeles and starting your first year of college.

Some of your friends ended up with you there, like Kate, Peter and MJ. It was awesome to have old friends with you, but meeting new people was also exciting.

You heard from a random conversation between MJ and Peter that Wanda and Vision ended up together in NYU.

Your felt your stomach flinch at the reminder of Vision stealing your college dream with Wanda. And you hated yourself for it. By that moment you should've been over Wanda, she didn't love you, there was no reason to grieve a love that never existed in the first place.

But you excused yourself to your friends and ran into the nearest bathroom to cry your heart out. You knew you shouldn't, but you couldn't help it.

After washing your face to prevent anyone to notice your were crying, you looked at yourself in the mirror. You couldn't keep going like that. You felt like you were a ghost: lifeless.

Wanda really hit different but you needed to change, to take control of your life again.

You knew what you needed to do.

You needed to move on from Wanda.

I know Pietro, she's great but, she's my best friend - Wanda said to her brother, tears dried all over her cheeks - I just never thought she would feel the same way. I didn't know what to say, I just wanted to run. Now I think it's all messed up, it's too late. There's nothing left to do. She probably hates me. But... I think I'm still in love with her.

Wanda had really screw things up with you.

She knew it.

She couldn't help it though, the moment you told her about your feelings she froze. She never expected that those words would ever came out from your mouth.

You loved her.

You really loved her.

How did she never notice it before?

And why did you never say anything?

She had so many questions running trough her mind.

It was prom night, she was about to leave with Vision, she wanted to stay a little longer but they were already late, you were there with Kate, she didn't even know you liked Kate, did you really like her? Why did you never mentioned it to her before? Why was she so mad when she found out?. You loved her. You loved her.

You loved her.

Maybe it was a joke.

She looked at you expecting for you to laugh and tell her it was all a joke.

But you didn't.

- Y/N... Why are you doing this? You know I... I can't, he's there and...

Vision and his parents were waiting for her. She just started walking as you kept apologizing. She felt numb through the rest of the night.

Her boyfriend and his family did the most of the talking during the dinner.

She couldn't focus on anything that wasn't you. She had just left you. Alone. You had poured you heart out for her and she left.

You probably were devastated.

But what was she supposed to do?

She really was clueless. Everything happened so fast. And for some reason she felt like she needed to stand up for Vision. But she probably got too defensive.

Oh god it was really a mess.

He was always right.

They used to have recurrent fights or disscusions because Vision felt like you liked Wanda more than just as a friend. But she always defend you from the accusations saying you were her best friend, nothing more. Maybe she tried so hard because she wanted to convince herself too.

That night she came home exhausted. She felt her body drained from any energy or motivation.

Her brother was still awake and when he heard she was back he walked to her room to ask about how her night went.

She tried to put on a brave face but the moment Pietro flashed her a warm smile she broke down in his arms crying.

She vent to her brother all night long, letting him know everything that had happened at prom with you.

He didn't seem too surprised when she mentioned your love for her. Instead he only hugged her harder.

Pietro had been there for his sister since forever, their twin bond was something sacred for them, they were each other's best friends and obviously, each other's best confident.

He could still remember when a little 10 year old Wanda confessed to him that she wanted to kiss you. Some kids at her school had have their first kiss at recess that day and Wanda wanted to have her first kiss. With you.

That conversation followed so many others about her little, pure and innocent attraction towards you.

As she grew older those confessions ceased but Pietro remained as the front row witness of your undeniable love for each other.

- What am I supposed to do Pietro? I'm just really confused.

The white-haired boy smiled kindly at her.

- What do you feel like doing? Wanda we both know very well that you used to have feelings for Y/N, let's not fool ourselves.

Her brother was right, Wanda was well aware of her old feelings for you. Although she had worked so hard to buried them in the deepest place of her heart and mind, she could still remember how it was.

Who could blame her? She thought that forget those feelings was the best decision in order to protect your friendship. She never expected that some day you would feel the same way.

But there she was. Crying in her prom dress, secured in the safety of her brother's embrace, regretting every single second of that night.

- I truly don't know what to do Pietro... I feel like such an idiot and a bad friend.

- No Wanda, you're a human, there isn't a correct way to react to this kind of situation, you act out of impulse and natural reaction, there's nothing wrong with that.

- But I feel so bad... Y/N didn't deserve that... What do I do Pietro? Tell me...

- No sestra - her brother told her with a soft voice - I know, guilt it's a tricky feeling, but you need to figure out how to solve this problem, you can take your time and think about it but in the end it's gonna be up to you... Not me, Vision or Y/N... It's your decision Wanda.

Pietro gently kissed her sister's forehead and walked back to his room.

Wanda barely slept that night, too busy thinking in every possibility.

The next morning she received a text from Vision asking how she was doing and letting her know that he was gonna post a picture of the both of them from last night. She quickly understood the not so discrete hint and also posted a picture. She didn't feel like writing any caption so she just limited herself to type a red heart emoji.

The days passed and she used any possible excuse to avoid seeing Vision. She felt so bad for him too, he was oblivious of the situation, it wasn't fair for him either that his girlfriend was having doubts about her love for him and their relationship. It wasn't fair for him that all Wanda could think about was you.

A week later she got a text message from you. The first text you had send her since prom.

She doubt about opening it or not. What if it was a letter telling her how much you hated her now, asking her to never come close to you again, that your friendship was over and from that moment on Wanda had no place in your life.

After twenty minutes of debating with herself she opened the text.

It wasn't what she expected.

The text was long, as she expected, but there wasn't any hate on it. It made her cry, the way you expressed yourself and the way you perfectly described your feelings. She felt terrible when you apologized for making her feel uncomfortable. You could never.

She would never let anyone know the content of the letter, it was something she decided to keep for herself. A secret between you and her for only your hearts to know, hence she never mentioned your text to anyone. Not even Pietro. The letter becoming the first secret between the Maximoff twins.

Wanda's life froze for days, she didn't isolate herself like you, she just felt dead-walking everywhere she went. She was physically there but her mind was somewhere else. She was thinking about you.

But your text was clear. You needed time and space away from her. It hurt like hell but she respected you decision. Even when she wasn't sure if she wanted for you to forget her.

She got accepted into NYU, just like Vision. Her family threw a party for her and for the very first time in years you weren't present in one of her celebrations. Not that Irina Maximoff didn't call you, but mostly because you politely declined her invitation making up some lame excuse, thanking her though.

Some time later she was packing her entire life in a set of gray suitcases, ready to take a flight to New York and start her new life at college with her boyfriend by her side. It sounded like a dream if you hear it that way.

But for Wanda everything was like a nightmare. NYU was her college dream just because she always thought you would be with her. She wasn't even sure of the path she was following, she didn't know if she really wanted to study there anymore.

Her relationship with Vision was fragile. Since prom night Wanda drastically changed her affection towards him. She didn't kiss him anymore, they only had been in a few two or three dates after and the PDA was completely gone.

Vision wasn't a stupid guy. He noticed this changes since the very first day, but decided to keep silence. For some reason he thought that Wanda would come around again once they were in college together.

But during the first weeks in NYU everything went downhill. They both had classes all day and different schedules, so they didn't had too much time left to spent together besides the weekends. But even those days Wanda always had an excuse to avoid any plan: homework, an exam to study for, books she had to read, etc.

Vision grew tired of it by the end of the fifth week, after Wanda had canceled him for the third time in a row. Not caring about the fact that the girl told him she needed to finish a report for one of her classes he walked straight to her dorm and knocked on her door.

- What are you doing here? Vision I told you...

- I know, I know what you said, but I'm tired of it - he interrupted her - Weeks Wanda, it's been weeks since the last time we had a date, weeks since the last time we spent time together, I don't know what's happening but I demand an explanation now...

Wanda stared at him.

- I don't know what are you talking about Vis, I have so many things to do and...

- No! - he interrupted again - This isn't something that started just now. I felt it since a long time ago - he paused for a few seconds, stepping in completely in the room closing the door for privacy -  Something happened at prom night, something changed that night... I don't know what it is but... Just tell me what is happening to us...

Wanda, who was now sat at the edge of her bed looked at him with teary eyes. She knew this had to happen at some point.

- I'm just tired Vision, I'm exhausted... - she said with trembling voice and some tears already falling on her cheeks - I'm going through so many changes in my life right now, I had this huge fight with my best friend and now we're not even talking anymore... Now I'm here in New York and I'm not even happy about it, I don't like the way my life is going right now... I'm not sure if NYU is what I really want and I'm questioning every decision I've made since the moment I decided to leave my prom party to go with you and your parents for dinner...

Vision didn't know what to respond to that. When he walked to her dorm that night he wasn't expecting this outcome.

- You wanted to stay? - he asked cautiously.

Wanda nodded.

- Why didn't you say anything then? We could've done something...

- I just thought that if told you I would've dissapoint you and your family. You are my boyfriend Vision, sometimes you have to make sacrifices for the relationship... And at some point I felt like I needed to make you happy...

- But were you happy? In our relationship?

- In the beginning, yes, I was delighted with the idea of us, of you... You made me really happy Vision... But then we started having all this problems and I always felt like a was giving too much without getting anything back.

- And why did you never say anything? - he said exasperated.

Vision wasn't one of those boys who are bad boyfriends and are aware of it. He truly didn't saw any of this coming.

He listened to Wanda attentive, letting her express every single thing she had to say. And as the girl talked he realized how trash of a boyfriend he was. He was respectful and never treated her bad, but he took Wanda for granted, not being the same boyfriend she fell for at the beginning. He understood the girl's disappointment on him, and as much as he wanted there was no way to turn back time.

After forthy minutes of talking, he stood for up from his seat in her bed, hugged her one last time and started walking out of the room.

- I'm sorry I wasn't a better boyfriend, you deserve so much better, I'm sorry this didn't work out - those were his last words for her before closing the door.

Wanda remained in her place for some seconds before start crying. She called her brother, although she knew it was probably and odd time in Switzerland she didn't know what else to do or who else to call for comfort. Vision was her boyfriend after all, they had been together for almost three years and it was impossible for her not to feel a hole in her heart. That night she cried her heart out, and did not attend her classes the next day, too energy drained to take a step out of her room.

Eventually she got better. After three weeks she bounce back from the break up. Although she still had a lot of issues to deal with, she felt relieved. For some reason it felt like someone had taken away some of the weight on her shoulders. She felt lighter.

Los Angeles

You were doing a lot better. Two months after your last break down you were happier than in the earliest months of college.

You decided to focus your attention on anything else but Wanda. You started to study a lot harder, focusing more on your notes and classes, and also got yourself into a hobbie: tennis.

Kate was in the tennis team since the beginning of the year, and when you told her you were looking for extra curricular classes she suggested her club.

You used to occasionally visit her during her trainings, you already knew the coaches and the rest of the team, so you figured it wouldn't be so hard to fit in.

The coaches were happy to welcome you and a few days later after filling your proper application you were officially in. The only condition was to do some extra training for some weeks until you could keep up with the pace of some of the other new girls. You promised to train after hours until you were as good as them.

That's how you met Sharon Carter.

The first day you stayed after hours to train you noticed immediately a blond, beautiful girl who arrived at the practice court about ten minutes after the other girls left.

You didn't recognized her, she wasn't part of the team, or anyone you've seen before.

She was also surprised to see anyone staying later in the tennis court after the usual practice.

- Oh hey, hi - you said approaching to her with a kind smile.

- Hello, uhmm I'm Sharon, Sharon Carter...

- I'm Y/N, Y/N Y/LN, a pleasure... Are you new here?

She laughed a little, denying with her head.

- No, I don't study here, I'm coach Peggy's niece, she allows me to use the court sometimes after her team's practice.

- Ohh, well it's a pleasure... I'm new in the team and I need to practice more hours to keep up with the rest... So I guess you'll see me around here more often

She smiled kindly.

- That's great, it will be good to have some company.

You smiled kindly and nodded.

A month after your first encounter Sharon became one of closest friends. You two had so much in common, you liked the same kind of music and most of your favorite sitcoms were also her favorites, so naturally you spent a lot of time together, getting to know each other deeper.

She told you about her sabbatical year and how she was still thinking about what college she would go to.

Eventually you became a better tennis player, but even when the coaches told you there was no need for you keep staying after hours, you kept doing it to spend time with her. And she would visit your dorm on a daily bases after classes

When Peter, MJ and Kate got to know her they didn't hesitate to start to tease you, referring to Sharon from that moment on, as your girlfriend. You just smiled shyly denying whth your head. Of course, Sharon was beautiful, but you couldn't say you were something more than just good friends.

You wouldn't even thought of that possibility until some weeks later when she suddenly asked you out. It wasn't that explicit, but the invitation was kind of obvious.

- Do you want to do something tomorrow? Like go to see a movie or have dinner? - she asked you nervously one afternoon while you were doing homework at your dorm.

- Sure - you answered without thinking too much - Where do you wanna go?

She paused for a second and you looked at her intrigued.

- Sharon?

She looked back at you smiling shyly.

- Well, I was thinking on going to have dinner at a nice restaurant, you know I have a reservation and everything...

- Oh - you said surprised but smiling too - Like a date?

She nodded nervously.

- Yes... Like a date... Would you like to go in a date with me?

Long story short, that date was the first out of so many others that followed it right after. You had a great time with her, and the affection felt almost natural between you.

Sharon never mentioned and label for the two of you, she would only say you were dating. She probably didn't want to push you, and you were thankful for it.

But she did used to hold your hand, kiss you, take you out, wait for you after classes and open all the doors for you. And you of course, reciprocated every kind action to her. You two were basically a couple without the label.

The first vacation came sooner than you thought and you found yourself saying goodbye to Sharon with your luggage ready on your cab to take you to the airport.

- You know, you can visit me anytime - you said kissing her on the lips - If you need anything just call me okay?

She nodded and promised to visit you during your break, she would stay in Los Angeles for a while.

You knew it was a weird situation for you. Sharon was beautiful, kind, funny and you could definitely say you had feelings for her.

But deep down you knew Wanda was going to be back in town too, and you were well aware of the possibilities of you two finding each other at some places. It was impossible not to considering it was a three month break from college.

You felt you were doing a good job keeping her away from your mind. But you didn't know how it would affect your progress seeing her again. You weren't sure if she would speak to you, or if she would just pretend you didn't exist.

----------------

Being back at home was good. You had missed your parents more than you would admit, and you definitely missed your mom's meals, finally getting to eat homemade food for the first time in months.

Your first week back was calm. You stayed at home most of the time hanging wi your parents and called Shaeron every night before going to bed.

It was the very first day of your second week when everything took a turn. You were talking with your mom about college and your classes when she mentioned Wanda.

- She left college after her first three months, she's been home since then and looking for a new option.

You were surprised to hear the news. NYU was Wanda's dream since forever, and you couldn't understand why she would drop it.

- She didn't tell you? - your mom asked at your astonishment.

She never heard the story of why you and Wanda stopped talking. In fact, she didn't even know you two weren't friends anymore.

- No, we've been distant since prom, we had a fight and we just... We're not friends.

- Oh I'm sorry honey, but maybe you can talk it out with her and fix things up, you two have been best friends for so long... Don't let this ruin all those years of friendship...

You smiled sadly nodding your head, not wanting to keep discussing about it.

On wednesday you, Kate, MJ and Peter went to the theater to watch the new terror movie. They mentioned some of your old high school friends were tagging along but you never expected to see Wanda. Ever since she dated Vision she stopped going out with your group of friends.

But she was there. It felt like slow motion for you. You were already inside the the theater when she stepped in. She looked at you shyly while greeting all of your other friends, never breaking eye contact with you.

When she was in front of you she hugged you tightly.

- Hi Y/N

You reciprocated the affection dumbly.

- Hi Wanda

- How are you doing? - she asked.

- I'm good - you answered shortly, awkwardly smiling - How are you doing?... My mom told me about NYU... I'm sorry it didn't work out.

She sighed.

- Yeah well, I'm better now, I realized it wasn't what I needed or wanted and I just dropped it...

You nodded.

- I hope you find something soon, you're brilliant, any school will be lucky to have you.

She smiled.

-Thank you Y/N...

Peter said the movie was about to start and you two followed him inside.

Wanda sat two spots from you, Kate and MJ in the middle and Peter on your other side. Some of your other friends sat next to Peter.

The rest of the group probably didn't notice it, but there was a certain tension between you and Wanda through the whole movie.

She was nervous.

From the moment Kate told her you were gonna be there she imagined a thousand of different scenarios of how it would be like.

Just like you, she wasn't sure if you would speak to her. After your last message to her she didn't have any contact with you. Not even when she wanted to tell you about her situation with college.

She knew she hurt in the past, but she missed your friendship more than anything. Even though she had deeper feelings for you, she would be happy if you wanted to be her friend again.

You, on the other hand, were really confused about how you felt. You thought that you would feel anger the moment you saw her, but you just felt awkward around her. Even after she broke your heart in a thousand pieces you didn't feel mad. Maybe those months of healing really made progress in you.

When the movie finished everybody said goodbye and walked to their respective car. When you were about to leave you saw Wanda texting on her phone and walking to sit on a bench.

You wanted to just ignored her and go back home but you just couldn't. So, against any common sense you walked straight to her.

- Hey, are you going home now?

She looked at you a bit confused.

- Yeah, well I'm texting Pietro to see if he's on his way, he told me he would pick me up...

You nodded.

- Oh sure, I forgot Pietro was home too... How is he doing? - you asked.

- He's fine, he told me he's doing great at college and at the athlete team... Ohh and that he met a girl, I think her name is Monica... They've been dating for a while now..

You smiled.

- Wow, I would never imagined Pietro finally settling down... That's fantastic.

- I know, he's really happy.

There was a moment of silence interrupted by a ding on her phone.

- Dang it... - she said after reading the text.

- What's wrong?

- Pietro forgot to pick me up... He's leaving the house just now....

You looked at her texting. You knew you would probably regret your next comment but you couldn't just leave her there at a parking lot.

- Tell him not to worry, I'll take you home - you said.

She looked at you surprised.

- Really?

You smiled kindly.

- Yeah, just like the old times, let me drive you home Wanda.

She accepted and the two of you walked to your car.

You turned the music on and drove to her house. But even with the noise from the radio, it felt like there was a dead silence in the car.

After the first three minutes she finally got the courage to speak.

- So, are you doing well? How is it like living in Los Angeles?

- It's been great so far, college has been fun and I really like the city, it's amazing.

- That's great to hear Y/N, I'm really happy for you.

- Thanks.

Another moment of silence. You decided to be the one to speak this time.

- I know I said this before but I'm sorry about NYU, it must have been really difficult to take a decision like that...

Wanda sighed nodding.

- Yes, it was, but at the same time it was easy for me to understand that it wasn't something I liked, it just never felt right... The hardest part was telling my parents... That was scary.

- Yeah, I can imagine... But your parents love you, I bet they understood...

- Yes they did, although they asked me like a million times if I was sure... They even made me doubt sometimes...

You both laughed.

- Oh missed this - she said smiling.

Your laugh died and you swallowed nervously.

- What? - you asked.

She looked at you.

- Us. I miss you Y/N, so much... I miss our friendship.

You weren't expecting that answer. You didn't know what to say, although it was obvious you had miss those moments too. And it only made you feel guilty.

- Wanda... I'm sorry I ruined everything for us... I shouldn't have tell you anything that night...

You didn't look back at her, but she did look at you.

- Y/N, you didn't ruin anything... That night it was me the one that screwed up.

- No - you answered - You had a boyfriend and I was your best friend, I wasn't supposed to feel anything other than a friendship... And even if I did I should never tell you just because you were happy with Vision... I should've respected that.

Another silence.

- Can we please drive somewhere else to talk? - she asked.

-To talk? - you asked unsure of what it meant.

- Yes, I feel we need to sort this out, I really miss you Y/N... I wanna try to restore our old friendship... If you want it too, of course.

You thought about it before answering. After some seconds you changed the car direction.

- Yeah, let's talk.

You drove to a nearly park. It was getting kind of late and the place it was almost empty, just a few people walking by. Wanda found a bench for the two of you.

- I don't know what to say - you admitted nervously.

She looked at you.

- Well, first of all, I want you to know that you didn't ruin anything... I understand the reasons why you choose to cut contact with me, if anything I was the one to ruin our friendship, the way I reacted wasn't the best... I'm sorry for making you feel bad.

- Wanda...

- Let me finish - she interrupted you - I know you feel bad because you said you love me, but I want you to understand that I could have had a better reaction... Leave you alone in the hallway was the worst thing I've done.

- It's fine Wanda, you were respecting your relationship and Vision...

- I just wanted to say sorry Y/N, i wish I would had a better reaction.

You nodded.

- I appreciate your apology, but don't worry about it anymore ... I already forgive everything.

- You did? - she asked curious.

- Yes, I realized you were shocked with my confession... There was no way you would've react differently...

- Maybe it was... But there's no way to turn back time right? At least I finally got it out of my system, I wanted to apologize a long time ago.

You smiled kindly. The two of you stared at the sky in silence.

- Your text, the letter you sent me... I think I understood better after reading it... - Wanda said - Thanks for saying all of the nice stuff about me, you really are a goof friend...

- All I said was true Wanda, we've been best friends for so long I couldn't get myself to hate you.. I mean I probably felt like hating you back then, but that was probably more sadness than hate... But all the things I wrote were completely true.

She smiled and hugged you. The affection surprised you, but you just smiled and reciprocated the hug.

- So it's all good between us? - you asked - I want my best friend back.

- Yes! - she answered excited - Yes, everything is fine. 

You smiled at her.

- I'm glad.

She was bouncing her feet happily.

- Now tell everything about UCLA, how you've been doing there?

You told her everything about college, your classes, your friends, about your tennis games and everything than ran through your mind in that moment.

You mentioned Sharon briefly, not paying too much attention to the details of your relationship with her.

And the she dropped the bomb: she told you she broke up with Vision.

She explained to you her reasons to end up the relationship and you did nothing but listen.

And when she cried, telling you about her breakdown in college and the moment she decided to leave, you hold her. For a moment it truly felt like you went back in time.

You drove Wanda to her home, and she told you she would call you to make plans for the rest of the summer.

Pietro said hi from his window and you smiled at the sight of your friend.

On the way back home you smiled to yourself. You had a warm feeling on your chest and felt butterflies in your stomach.

Everything was perfect for some days. You and Wanda spent more time together, you even helped her send her application letter to different universities, including UCLA. She wasn't sure at first, but you talked wonders about the college and about how amazing it would be to have her at campus until she finally accepted. It was only a matter of time to hear back from the universities.

But the following week you noticed Peter and Kate get suspicious and secretive around you. At the beginning you thought it was a little bit odd, but then they started to laugh everytime you walked into a room.

It got to a point where the situation became unbearable.

- Okay what is happening? - you finally asked them one day before getting into the movies.

Kate looked at you nervously.

- What....What do you mean? Nothing is happening...

You looked at Peter.

- You will tell me what is happening Peter Parker... Everytime I walk into a room you two laugh and  you've been too secretive lately.

They looked at each other.

- Let's tell her Peter, she will have too know anyways - Kate said.

- Tell me what? - you asked confused - I'm not mad or anything I just want to know...

Peter sighed.

- We planned a surprise with Sharon... She's coming to visit in three days.

It ttok you a second to react, and when your brain finally understood what they just said you couldn't help but smile.

- Really? She's coming?

- Yes - Kate answered happily.

- Why didn't you tell me before? I could have help her... Does she have a flight yet? Or do you want me to...

Peter interrupted you, giggling at your excitement.

- Hey Y/N, don't worry, everything is fine and ready, she'll be here in three days, her flight lands on Saturday at noon...

You smiled again and thank them both for their help.

Wanda arrived later that afternoon. Neither of you mentioned Sharon through the whole movie, it was just when you were driving Wanda home when she noticed you were happier than other days. Peter and Kate were in the car with you too cause you asked them to go to house to arrange everything for Saturday.

- You look pretty happy today Y/N - she told you.

- Well, I feel really happy Wanda - you answered with a smile.

- Can I know why? - she asked happily too.

That's the moment it dawned to you. You never told Wanda about your relationship with Sharon. And as you were thinking of this realization, Peter was faster than you to answer to her.

- She's happy because her girlfriend is coming to visit her on Saturday - he explained.

- What?! Your girlfriend?! - she asked confused.

Wanda was shocked to say the least. You never mentioned a girlfriend on the days before, and the news hit her like a bucket of ice water. She didn't know how to feel about it.

You two were recently fixing your friendship. She didn't know if you were still having feelings for her cause she never asked you in order to not jeopardize what you had. But a girlfriend was a factor she didn't consider.

- Yes! Her name is Sharon, we've been planning this surprise for days - Kate explained.

That's when you interfiered.

- She's not my girlfriend - you said nervously looking through the mirror to see your friends - Sharon is my friend, I think I mentioned her before...

Wanda tried to remember and she slightly nodded. She remembered that name.

- So... she's not your girlfriend? - Wanda asked.

You looked at her unsure of what to say.

- Well... It's complicated, we've been dating for a few months now, but we haven't... You know... Make it official

She nodded again as she swallowed dry.

- Maybe it's time Y/N - Kate interrupted - You could ask her now that she's coming... We can help you!

Peter second Kate on the idea and they started rambling about it.

But you noticed a change in Wanda's behavior. She wasn't laughing anymore. Suddenly she got quiet.

You bumped her shoulder to caught her attention.

- Hey, I'm sorry I didn't tell you about my relationship with Sharon, and it's not because I didn't want to... I just forget about it to be honest, and as I said, Sharon and I... We're not officially together yet, we're just... - before you could finish your sentence she interrupted.

- Hey Y/N, it's fine, don't freak out about it... It's just it took me by surprise, but I'm happy to see you happy...

She gave you a reassuring little smile.

- Thanks for understand Wanda... It's been difficult for me to open myself to this feelings... I think it's the first time I I say I'm dating Sharon out loud.

_ I get it, it can be complicated, but don't worry Y/N, if you and Sharon are comfortable with what you have, you don't need to rush it.

You smiled and her.

_ Thank you - you said.

It looked like the conversation about Sharon died right there, but the moment Wanda stepped in her house, she walked straight to her brother's room.

- I just don't know how to feel Pietro... I'm really confuse. I know it might sound selfish to say but I can't believe she didn't tell me before about this girl.... Everything would have been different

- What would've been different? - he asked

- Well, you know, the approach with her... You know I like her Pietro, since we were little, and now that i broke up with Vision... I thought she was single... You know what I mean.

Pietro analyzed her sister's expression.

- You were expecting to date her?

She sighed.

- Well, not straighly date her but... I was expecting some sort of awakening for us... The start of something more.

Pietro looked at her worried.

- Wanda, don't joke around this... You know she loved you, but now with this new information maybe it would be better if you move cautiously... I wouldn't want for you to get hurt.

Wanda buried her head in her hands desesperatly.

- I truly believed this would be our chance... We could be something more...

- You can daydream all you want Wanda, but the truth is, she has a girlfriend now and you have to accept it. And let me be honest with you, I don't think it was correct from you to go close to her with those ulterior motives, if you wanted to date her you should have told her before offer a friendship.

- No, I truly want  to fix up our friendship, it is the most important thing for me to save. I just thought it would be nice if something else happened...

Pietro sighed.

- Well, I wish you good luck sestra, when this Sharon girl arrives  you're gonna need to find the strength to see her fooling around with Y/N, and I can tell you, it's not gonna be nice...

Wanda barely slept that night. She imaged how would it be with Sharon around. And she thought that it was probably what you felt when she started dating Vision, you had to see her with another person, basically being replaced.

Ohh, only if she knew back then about your feelings. For sure everything would be different.

And she wasn't wrong.

From the moment you picked up Sharon at the airport you two became inseparable, although she was stying at Kate's house cause she basically lived in the Bishop's mansion, so there was more than enough room for her.

Wanda told you to enjoy the first days with her alone. She said you could show her the town and explore the place together, she would tag along later.

You thought it was a good idea. But you also noticed a changed in Wanda's behavior since Peter and Kate mentioned Sharon was your girlfriend. You didn't want to speculate around her feelings, but you couldn't help but ask if she was feeling left out, or replaced. You two were recently getting close again and you didn't want anything to jinx the progress.

But no, Wanda said she wanted to be your friend again. Nothing more.

Sharon was being a delight, as always. Being with her was easy, you never had to think too much about it. And that was probably what you liked more. But now, with her in town you felt tlike something was missing. Sharon made you happy, and she was a good company, but something felt odd at the thought of being more than just... that.

However, you took her to all the fun and interesting places around, telling her a little about the local stories. Peter and Kate sometimes would go with you, but they left you alone as much as possible, totally rooting for you two.

It was on her fifth day there when you planned to visit the amusement park with Sharon, Kate, Peter, Wanda and some other friends.

Wanda was a nervous wreck to say the least. She was wondering how this new dynamic would be. She knew you would spend more time with your girlfriend, she knew you would kiss her and hols her hand and make her laugh. So she prepared herself to control any sort of jealousy reaction she could have.

But the reality hit her as soon as you parked in front of her house to pick her up. She naturally walked to the copilot seat, only to find a blonde girl already sitting there.

- Hey Wanda, this is Sharon Carter, my friend from college. Sharon this Wanda, my best friend - you made the introductions, and the two girls smiled, saying how pleasure was to meet each other.

- I guess you're having a backseat today Maximoff - Kate said, opening the door for her.

- Yeah, I guess today I will be third-wheeling you and Peter back there - Wanda replied, laughing at the guy's reaction.

You laughed at the joke too. Luckily for her you didn't noticed that the  passive aggressive answer to Kate was because she felt uncomfortable with the situation.

The rest of the days didn't turn easier for her. You would spent most of your time with Sharon, making silly jokes and fooling around.

Wanda undoubtedly felt jealous. She couldn't help it. And she hated herself for making you feel the same way when she was with Vision.

At some point she just stopped showing up for your get-togethers. She knew she was being selfish, but seeing you with Sharon was driving her mad. Everytime she tried to spend time with you, Sharon had to be there.

But her breaking point reached her on Kate's birthday party. In the middle of the reunion, Sharon's parents called her and she walked up stairs to attend the call.

Wanda found you sitting alone in the sofa and she decided to go talk to you. She was finally having your attention all to herself, you were telling her some dumb joke about ballons, a little bit flushed because of the drinks you had that night, your hair alredy a mess after dancing... She thought you looked beautiful. She tucked a hair behind your ear and you smiled sweetly at her...

It was a very cute moment, just you two talking, so close from each other. Until a pair of arms suround you from behind, you looked up from your seat on the couch and smiled at Sharon.

- Hey! Did you finished the call with your parents? - you asked her.

- Yeah... They just wanted to know about my week but a cut the call soon to be back... Did i miss anything? - she asked, looking at Wanda and you.

- No, i was just telling some jokes, and Wanda was the lucky one to hear them - you said.

Sharon hugged you tighly and Wanda wanted nothing more but dissapear.

- Oh well, i hope Wanda doesn't mind but i need to steal you for a second... there is something i wanna tell you.

Wanda denied with her head.

- Oh no, it´s alright, i was about to leave anyways... Pietro is in his way to take me home so... I should be getting ready.

You said goodbye to Wanda and followed Sharon out to the garden. Wanda remained in place, looking at your hands intertwined with Sharon as you walked out. She left the house as soon as you were out of her sight.

Sharon Carter was a very intelligent girl. Her aunt Peggy taught her to be perceptive, to pay attention to the little details, so it was no surprise to know that she almost immediately noticed the tension between you and Wanda.

She wasn't aware of the full story, she only knew that you and Wanda had a fight before leaving for the university, but it was fixed almost immediately as soon as you had the opportunity to talk about it.

But she had a feeling that there was something more than just "friendship" problems. And that feeling sting her harder the moment she saw you and Wanda talking on the couch. She was too close to your face, and the smile you were giving to her... She needed to do something.

That is the reason why, that night, she asked you to be her girlfriend. You were a bit tipsy, and the euphoria of the moment made you say yes to her right away.

It was just the next morning, when you woke up a little hangover when you realized what had happened last night. You wanted to feel happy, but something just didn't feel right.

Sharon was a great a person, and you knew she would be an amazing girlfriend but now that you were official, something felt off to you.

Perhaps it was because it took you so long to be an actual couple. However, you couldn't just go and tell her you weren't sure about being her girlfriend. You felt some sort of responsibility towards her, like you needed to respond to her feelings. You couldn't just ask her to go back to just date again.

So you got use to the idea of being girlfriends. It couldn't be that bad. At the end, you liked her, she liked you. It could actually work.

Wanda found out about your, now official, relationship a few days later. She noticed how Sharon started to use pet names with you "Babe this... Babe that". She also started to be more affectioned towards you, increasing the PDA at a hundred percent.

She cried once you confirmed it to her. Not in front of you, of course, but at the safety of her room.

She knew she didn't have any right to feel that way, but she couldn't help it. She wish it was easier to let you go.

You still tried to make time for her though, not wanting to jeopardize your just restored friendship. But Sharon always wanted to tag along in your plans. One day Wanda just stopped going out with you, avoiding any uncomfortable moment between your girlfriend and her.

You noticed this change in her behaviour, and when you expressed this concerns with Sharon, she just brush it off saying: Well, perhaps it's for the best, that way we can make more plans for the both of us.

You were confused at her answer, but you just let it go. You'll make plans with Wanda later to talk to her alone. Sharon, in the other hand, made her goal to keep you as away from Wanda as possible.

In the latest days of summer your friends planned a weekend getaway to go camping. Wanda didn't want to go, but everyone told her it would be fun. She turned down every invitation until you were the one to ask her to go. When you knocked on her door that night she didn't find the strength to say no to you. It would be just one night though.

So, there she was, walking next to Kate and Peter looking for a good place to establish the camp. You were walking some steps ahead of them with Sharon by your side, and Wanda was already regretting going.

You had planned spend time with her during the camp. That's why, the moment you found the right place, you asked Wanda to help you set up the tents, meanwhile, Kate asked Sharon to help her take out from the cars all the food they brought.

Sharon walked away, not without giving you a last glance. All she saw was Wanda smiling at you while you read the instructions for the tent.

At night, Sharon asked to talk to you in private. You had spend all the day bounding with Wanda, laughing and making jokes, and you could tell Sharon wasn't happy at all.

- I just don't understand why are you so determined on spending time with her... I'm your gilfriend and i'm here, you should be spending more time with me - she said.

- Sharon, i'm sorry if you felt left out, but Wanda is my best friend... we've been distant lately and i wanted to spend more time with her before the summer ends.. you and me, we alredy spent a lot of time together...

She sighed.

- I know baby, but she needs to understand you have a girlfriend now, that she is not your main priority anymore... Now, please, let's just go to eat some smores and have a fun night.

You just nodded and she kissed you.

You were mad at her. For some reason. Deep down in you, a tiny voice was trying to scream. And that voice was saying that Wanda would always be your main priority.

Later at night, when you found yourself unable to sleep, you sneaked out of the tent you shared with Sharon. You were surprise to find Wanda sitting next to the campfire.

- Hey... Can't sleep? - you asked to caught her attention.

She turned to look at you.

- Yeah, something like that... Kate snores - she said smiling.

- Ohh really? - you laughed - That's quite funny... So you can't sleep because of her snores?

She nodded.

- Yep, i'm kind of a light sleeper, any sound can keep me awake all night.

- Well, then i'll be glad to stay awake all night with you - you said taking a seat next to her.

- Are you sure you want to do that? - she asked- I kind of noticed that Sharon...

You interrumpted her.

- I know, but i don't care. Wanda you're my best friend, if i wanna spend time with you i will spend time with you... I'll deal with Sharon later.

Wanda felt nostalgic at your words.

- What's wrong? - you asked.

She looked at you.

- It's just that... your a better friend than i am. You have a girlfriend and still try to make time for me... i never did that back when i was with Vision.

You smiled at her words.

- Wanda... we are kind of adults now, if i kept acting like when i was in high school i would have a problem. I'm more mature now, i guess i can have a girlfriend and a best friend. You were younger and he was your first boyfriend, i now understand why you acted like that.

- This is what i'm talking about, you're a better person than me Y/N, i don't deserve you.

- Hey don't say that. You are one of the best persons i know Wanda, you can't keep punishing yourself for things you did when you were 16. Like i said the other day at the park, i forgive you, i did it a long time ago.

She looked at the sky.

- I just wish things were different. If only i could turn back time... - she said desperate.

- Wanda please stop, let's just enjoy this moment, okay?

You offered her a hug that she replied immediately. Then you just chill under the stars.

- I got into UCLA - she said out of nowhere after some minutes.

- What? - you asked excited - Are you serious?

She nodded her head smiling.

- Yes, the letter came in this morning... I got in.

- Wanda that is amazing... we will be together in college, like we always dreamed about!

You kept celebrating her for some more minutes and then you just went on talking about the campus and the city.

Wanda watched you in awe, how your eyes sparkled when you talked, the way you smiled and expressed. And she fell deeper for you. When she heard you talk about your future plans with her she couldn't help but daydream about a life by your side.

She daydreamed about living with you, being your girlfriend, marrying you, having kids with you... God, she wanted you bad.

That's why, immersed in the euphoria of the moment, the next words came out of her mouth.

- I love you so much...

And your whole world stopped right there. You stopped your explanation of why your dorm hall was the best in the campus to look at her straight in the eyes.

- What?

Wanda knew there was no turning back. She said it, and she decided to stand to her words.

- I love you so much Y/N, you really don't have and idea of how much. I love your eyes, your voice, your personality; i love your stupid jokes about life... I love how you talk, how you move, how you walk. I love how you treat me, how you protect me. I love how, despite everything i've done, you're still by my side... I think i just love everything about you.

You hear her speak and your heart beat at hundred times per second. The words you always wanted to hear, she was finally saying them.

- Wanda, what are you talking about? - you asked, still in disbelief.

The girl's heart was about to explode. But she needed to keep talking, she couldn't stopped just then.

- Y/N I don't expect you to reciprocate my feelings, not after everything I put you through... But i just need to come clean, can i be honest with you?

You nodded dumbly. You had so many questions, but you knew nothing would come out of your mouth. So you let her talk.

- Y/n i drop out off college because of you, and before you blame yourself, it was mostly because i missed you... You and i had a dream, going to NYU together was our thing, and it shouldn't have been with Vision... I guess, not only the college thing but everyhting, it was never Vision. It was you all along. You were my first love Y/N, i shouldn't have give up on you... on us. Yes, our friendship is the most important thing for me, but if we could be something more... Ughh, now things are just weird between us, and that sucks... and i miss you - she knew she was rambling, but she needed to get everything out - and now you're with someone else, and that's fine but, i just wish it was me... Because even when i made mistakes, it was always you.

When she finished talking you were loss for words. Your heart, your mind, nothing was working correctly. It was like the whole world faded because Wanda told you she loved you.

That's all your mind registered: she loved you.

- Wanda... i don't know what to say to be honest - you said.

She was a mess, her heart was beating like crazy, she was all flustered because of the nerves and her whole body was shaking. She wanted to hear your answer, but she was also afraid of what she might hear.

- I wish things were different too... - you said looking at her - You know, i'm really confuse right now. Sharon... she's someone special to me, i wouldn't want to hurt her, i guess now i understand what you felt about Vision. But, i want to be honest with you too... I don't want to lose you again, you're even more special to me... I want you to be in my life forever. It truly seems like timing never work for us, right? - you joked, making her smile a little - We can be friends Wanda, i'm really excited to be in college with you, if you want that too... I just don't want to lose you.

She started to cry.

- Oh Y/N, i would love to be in your life forever, even if you're not with me, i don't want to lose you either... Thanks for giving me a second chance.

You hugged her even tighter than before, now crying as well. You two stood there for some minutes, melting in each other's embrace. When you broke the hug you noticed it was almost 2 am, so you decided to go back to your tent, wishing her good luck with Kate's snores.

You didn't have much sleep that night though. Your mind kept you up all night.

Wanda told you she love you. She confessed her feelings for you and now it was up to you to take the chance. You looked to your side and found Sharon sleeping soundly. You knew it was unfair for her that you felt that way, but you couldn't deny your feelings: deep down you knew it was Wanda, cause it had always been Wanda.

The next morning you and your friends left the camp and went back home. Sharon noticed you were a little bit quite, but when she asked you about it you just said it was because you hadn't sleep well. Wich wasn't completely a lie.

You spent two days more with her before she flied back to Los Angeles. She was excited cause she got her acceptance letter from Princeton. You were happy for her too, but the situation made you wonder about your future with her. She wouldn't be around UCLA anymore, and that would change your whole dynamic.

She told you not to worry, kissed you one last time and went back home.

In the remaining days you prepared your luggage to return to the university.

Wanda was in some sort of trance. After you told her to be just friends she felt happy cause you would still be in her life, but she also was sad because it wasn't in the way she wanted.

When she told everything to Pietro he told her it was brave to come clean with you, but he was also worried for her sister's feelings.

- I know Y/N well enough to know she won't hurt you, but i'm worried you two are making a mistake. This whole thing of "let's just be friends" can be risky for the both of you.

She just replied:

- We're still friends and that's all that matters, we'll live our college dream together and everything will be fine.

You flied back to Los Angeles, now with Wanda and her parents.

Pietro flied back to Switzerland.

And Sharon flied to New Jersey.

The first weeks of the course went normal. Wanda loved the campus and was thrilling because you were there with her. You showed to her all of your favorite spots and you two settle a schedule to spend time together, mostly studying.

Wanda immediately felt the change from NYU. She was genuinely excited for her classes, she genuinely loved the school, she didn't have to pretend cause she felt happier.

You were happier with her there too. Although something was still feeling out of place.

You thought it was because Sharon wasn't there anymore. You used to call her every night to tell her about your day. She told you all about her campus and her program. You listened to her attentive, but she knew something was off. She could feel it too.

But both of you were too afraid to mention it.

The days passed, and everything felt like a roller coaster for you: in the day everything was exciting and brilliant because you spent it with Wanda. But at night, when you talked to Sharon over the phone, everything felt wrong. Every night you went to sleep with a pit in your stomach wondering why you couldn't be happy with Sharon, but why you felt so complete with Wanda.

Sharon Carter was a very intelligent girl. From the moment you told her Wanda was going to be with you at UCLA she knew you two were doomed. She didn't have to know your complete history with Wanda to know she was someone special for you. Someone who she couldn't compete with, cause she'll always lose to Wanda if it was up to you.

But as intelligent and perceptive as she was, she was firstly, a girl in love. So, leaving behind any insecurity, she was hoping you would chose her. That's why she tried to make things work for the two of you, for as long as she could. A month was enough to completely wear out your relationship.

As intense as her love was, she knew she couldn't alter the course of fate. She recognized that you had alredy found your way with another person, and Sharon understood that she had to let you go, accepting that this time, she couldn't change the destiny of your love.

Sharon called you, like every night. But this time there wasn't any softness in her voice. You knew, from the moment she said you needed to talk, what was the night was heading to.

The conversation was long, tired, and full of regretness. She regretted meeting you. You regretted taking it too far. Both of you regretted making each other so unhappy.

Needless to say, it wasn't an amicable breakup. She cried and you didn't stop asking for forgiveness until she said goodbye and hang up the phone.

You spent your night alone. You cried, but when the sadness left your body completely, you felt lighter. As if the crying had washed away the guilt and the weight from your soul.

The next day you told Wanda about your break up with Sharon. She asked you if you were okay and you mindelessly said yes.

- C'mon Y/N, you know you can be vulnerable with me, there's no need to put on a brave face.

You insisted that everything was fine, and after a few more attempts, she dropped the subject to avoid making you uncomfortable.

She was surprised to hear the news. Sharon seemed like a nice girl, and even when she knew she wasn't veey comfortable with your frienship, she wanted for you to be happy.

She tried to avoid having any inappropriate thoughts, but she couldn't stop herself to wonder about you and her. She knew you had just come out of a relationship, everything was still too fresh, but deep down, a flicker of hope had ignited in her.

You on the other hand was confused with yourself. You wanted to feel bad, to be sad, to grieve your relationship with Sharon. You felt like a complete idiot for not feeling bad. God, your girlfriend had broken up with you, and it had mostly been your fault, but you couldn't feel sad. After crying that first night when you broke up, you never cried again. Now what you felt was guilt for feeling nothing.

Some days later Wanda asked Pietro to call you. She was worried about you cause she thought you were keeping all your pain to yourself. So she decided to call in the big guns.

When you saw Pietro's name on the phone you were excited but a little confused. He made small talk for a while and told you about Switzerland and his girlfriend. When he finally dropped the bomb on why he called you, you couldn't say you were surprised.

- She's just worried about you Y/N.

You sighed.

- I know, but there's no need to be worried, i'm fine.

- Y/N, i'm on the other side of the world and i can tell you're not fine, i can hear ir in your voice. Wanda thinks you're keeping it all to yourself and she just wants you to have someone to talk.

You knew there was no use in trying to denied anymore. Pietro was a close friend. You grew up together as well. He was like a brother to you. That's why you decided to finally speak to him.

- It's just that... I have nothing to talk about Pietro.

You told him all your concerns about your break up with Sharon and you vent with him.

He listened to you carefully, not saying anything at first.

- Why do I feel like crap? - you asked when you finished - I really wanted this relationship to work, i felt something for Sharon, without a doubt. But when things fell apart i felt almost relived that it was over... I'm such a jerk.

- No, you're not, everyone has a way to cope, and just because you're not miserable and sulking doesn't mean you're bad, please don't torture yourself over it. You truly believed you wanted to be with her, you gave your best effort in that relatioship but you can't force yourself to love someone. Sharon was special, but maybe you tried too hard to love her. But why?

You felt your heart racing at his question. You knew damn well why.

- I think i was afraid of what could happen if i wasn't with Sharon.

- So you used her... and don't get me wrong, it can be really fun as a distraction, but when it's over, you think about the girl you really like, the one that broke your heart. Maybe that's why you feel nothing but freedom. Now you can make your own decisions Y/N.

You ended the call a minutes later.

For some days you thought about what Pietro said. You were experiencing so many emotions that you asked Wanda to suspend you study sessions together for a few days.

Wanda thought you were taking time apart from her because of your break up. Maybe you wanted time for yourself without her.

It sucked for her cause she believed you were best friends again. But even if you weren't her best friend, she knew you would always be friends.

It was almost ironic. You two never got the timing right. She shot you down and then you did the same to her and now...

She needed to focus her attention on something else.

She sent you a text letting you know she would be at the volleyball tryouts, so if you needed anything you'll knew where to find her.

You texted her back a thumb up emoji and a happy face, wishing her good luck.

You were alone in your room when suddenly Pietro's words rang in your head: Now you can make your own decisions Y/N.

A power took over your body and you walked out of the dorm hall to go to the volleyball court. You were nervious, but you had something to do.

Wanda was talking to the volleyball coach in her office, answering some medical questions fro the formal papers, when you suddenly opened the door.

- Y/N, what are you doing here? - she asked confused.

- Hey, emm i'm sorry coach, i just have to say something...- the coach nodded at you and you looked back at Wanda - Um, are you free for dinner tonight?

- Yes - Wanda said shocked.

- All right, then it's a date... - you said smiling and closing the door to leave.

Wanda smiled like never before. She felt on cloud 9. Her face was all red and her body shaking in excitement. She looked at the coach, rememebering where she was.

- I'm sorry, what was the question? - she asked nervously.

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[futbol16]

Those Three Letters • Alexia Putellas

Not sure how good this turned out to be, but I hope you like it. Enjoy!

Request: "In the trailer of Alexias documentary they say that Alexia turned off her phone after the injury. Can you write a story about reader and Alexia thats set during that time. Eventually reader is able to get a hold of Alexia maybe showing up to her appartement. Taking care of Alexia, making sure that she and Nala are okay, updating Alexias family and taking her to her apointments. Reader being her shoulder to cry on and pick Alexia up get a bit of faith back into her and being able to convince Alexia that she can be a great capitana from the sidelines also."

Part 2 You Can

Word count: 1,6k

Finishing up the late training session, you slipped on your sneakers and a hoodie and waved bye to the girls in the locker room.

As you walk down the hallway you fish your phone out from your right pocket, looking up at the last second before almost colliding with a body. You smile up at your captain.

“Gonna go talk to your girl?” Leah smiles down at you sweetly.

“Yeah, yeah. Schedules have been busy so I’m hoping to catch her.” you lightly blush at the thought of your girlfriend.

“Well good luck with that Y/N/N!”

“Thank you, goodnight Leah!” you wave her goodbye, your thumb already searching through your contacts before pressing on one.

You hold the phone to your ear as you walk to your room with a soft smile, but frown when no one picks up. You knew Alexia was off from training as well by now and the two of you had planned on talking tonight.

You call again, and again, and when she doesn’t pick up again, and again, you start to get worried. Tossing your phone onto your bed you decide to get ready for the evening instead, hoping that she’d at least message you to tell you what was up. 

Your phone goes off suddenly, the ringtone breaking you out of your staring contest with yourself in the mirror. Your toothbrush is hanging out of your mouth as you race for your phone,  answering it with a confused face when you realize it’s Mapi calling.

“Hey Mapi, what’s up?”

“Y/N, hola, hey, hi so something happened and Ale isn’t okay and I don’t know what to do and I need your help!” she rushes out and you go to calm her down before your ears perk up.

“Ale’s in trouble?” you ask almost breathlessly.

The most intense part of the Euro’s was barely in a week, everyone was excited for it and you knew Alexia had been waiting for this. To hear that something might not allow her to play…you feared the worst.

“What is it, María, what happened?”

“ACL” God, those three letters that you feared so much, one of the most dreaded injuries, especially in women’s football. That never meant anything good, this was serious.

“Y/N, I need you to come down here. I don’t know what’s going on with her, she hasn’t been answering any of us in the past two days. We were only told now what happened to her.”

That made sense, you had the first Match of the Euro’s yesterday and although the two of you would always wish each other good luck, you didn’t dwell on the absence of a message from her for too long. You knew the both of you were very busy people and she’d try to catch up later.

But now as you stand in the middle of the room, eyes wide, breath still and your toothpaste almost dripping down your chin you realize just how stupid that excuse sounded.

Ending the call with Mapi, you get yourself to look presentable before racing down to Sarina’s office.

Once you reach the door, you hastily knock on the wood until you’re let in.

“Hey coach, sorry, I really need to talk to you.” you tell her all that you knew and she eventually agrees to let you go, though with a warning that you wouldn’t play the full 90 minutes against Norway since you’d be missing a few training days.

By the time you get to the airport it’s already 8pm, you’d land in Barcelona at around midnight.

You keep Mapi updated and although you had told her you could take a taxi, she insisted on picking up her best friend from the airport.

When Mapi’s car rolls up in front of Alexia’s apartment it is well into the night, but knowing the Barcelona captain she was still going to be up no matter how tired she was after the day of her surgery.

You hated that you hadn’t been there for her when she had to go through such a thing, but you knew she needed you now more than ever and you were going to be there no matter what, even if it meant maybe missing the match against Norway.

You let yourself into her apartment, it’s dark but you can make out the silhouette of Nala before she jumps into your arms. You give her a little love before getting her something to eat, you weren’t sure how well Alexia had been taking care of herself and her dog right now.

As you walk further into the home you let your backpack - the only thing you had brought onto the plane with you - slide down your shoulder and land next to the wall of the living room.

That’s when you spot her, the warm color of the lamp lighting up the side of her face as she’s slumped over on the couch, her leg propped up. You note the deep frown she has, the creases in her forehead and the fact that she hadn’t noticed someone entering her apartment. It all worried you even more.

You move in front of her and squat down to be on her level before you place a careful hand to the side of her face. Cupping her cheek you turn her head towards you and wait for her eyes to focus on you, the deep glare slowly vanishing as she stares into your eyes.

“Alexia, bebé.” you whisper out as your thumb slowly strokes over her cheek bone. That’s all it takes for her as she breaks, a painful sob leaving her lips. You pull her into you, mindful of her leg and hold her close as she cries into your neck.

You fight back your own tears, ultimately failing, and repeatedly kiss her shoulder as you mutter words of comfort into her ear. She settles eventually and pulls back from you, though she doesn’t go far, desperate to still be close to you. 

“I wanted to play so bad.” 

“I know, I know, love. “ you say as you wipe away the few tears rolling down her cheek. “It won’t be long Ale, you’re strong, you know this. And I’ll be here, yeah? We’ll do it together.” you tell her honestly, kissing her cheek when she gives you a tiny smile. 

“Gracias, mi amor. Gracias, I don’t know what I’d do without you.” she pulls you in again and you hug her back tightly. You help her get ready for the night, gently washing the day off her body and holding her close when she breaks down again.

You kiss her injured knee gently and tuck her into bed. It’s the early hours of the morning when you manage to get her to sleep and you slowly slip out from under the covers. You watch as she cuddles into your pillow and you move her hair out of her face before making your way out the bedroom door.

Eli is the first person you call, Alexia’s mom, and she immediately picks up the phone despite the sun barely being up. You fill her in on the news and promise her to take care of her daughter as you ask her to come around for the next day.

Alexia would need her family close to her, especially once you’d have to go back to England for the Euro’s. 

You take her to her appointments during the next few days and help out her family who have come around Alexia’s place everyday. It’s four days later that you pack your bag again, knowing you’d have to get on the earliest flight possible.

You’re about to walk to Alexia’s room when her sister pulls you aside and into a hug. You hug back the younger brunette fiercely, knowing that her sister’s injury and mood had been hard on her emotionally as well.

“She’s gonna need you more than us, you know.” she whispers to you.

“What?” you pull back from the hug, confused as to what she meant.

“My sister, she’s going to need you more than anyone Y/N.” you’re about to shake your head at her words but she interrupts you. “You’re her person, she’ll want you by her side, more than me or Mama.”

“I’ll do my best to be there for her.” you nod at Alba.

“You already have.” she answers you with a smile before kissing your cheek and nudging you towards her sister’s bedroom.

Walking through the doorway Alexia is sitting on the edge of her bed, looking up at you with big eyes. You cup her cheeks, her arms circling around your waist as she rests her chin on your stomach.

“I have to go amor.” you tell her quietly, hating that you had to leave her when she was hurt, but you knew you had to get back to England if you wanted to play in the tournament.

“Sí, mi amor. I know.” she lets out a sigh. Her arms slowly reach up and she tugs you down to her level, pulling you into a kiss.

You kiss her back softly, your thumb stroking her jaw as she holds you impossibly close.

“I’ll be back, love, and you’ll be back on that football pitch sooner than you think.” You tell her, confident in her rehab and her strength.

"And until then you’ll be the best Capitana for the team, even if it’s from the stands.” She nods at you, giving you a gentle smile and kissing you one last time before you’d have to leave for the airport.

You knew this would be a hard and long journey for her, but Alexia also knew that with you by her side she could do this.

You and her, together.

[aboutnavi]

I was brushing my teeth, reflecting about life, & my mind went back to AFTG and there is a scene on the first book that it has been stuck on my brain since I read the trilogy again this January and it's about Seth. Now, I know the fandom -in general- barely talk about Seth because Nora decided to kill him off for shock value and when people try to talk about him, it always comes back to 'he was a homophobic, disgusting piece of shit' which yes, valid but also, are we forgetting Aaron? The babyfication of Aaron in this fandom had everyone collectively forgetting he was exactly like Seth (even worse: towards his family!!!). Two wrongs doesn't make one right & I'm in no way justifying Seth's action but if we never talk about characters on AFTG just because they were problematic, we are not talking about any of them, ever (ok maybe some of them, but still).

My point is: the scene. Neil is confused as to why Seth hates Kevin -specifically him- so much, since Seth could get along with most people if he wanted and tried hard enough but he refused to give ground to Kevin & his answer is just so humanly heartbreaking it goes to my list of moments Nora did something right in AFTG. The scene goes like this:

Neil: Why do you hate him?

Seth: Because I'm sick of him getting everything he wants just because he's Kevin Day. Do you know what fame gets you, shitface? Everything. All he has to do is ask for it, and someone will give it to him. Doesn't matter what. Doesn't matter who. The world is dying to give him anything he wants. When he broke his hand, his fans cried for him. They flooded our locker room with letters and flowers. The amazing Kevin Day can't play anymore. Their lives were over. They'd grieve the loss forever. But tell me when's the last time anyone cried over you? Never, right? They're there for Kevin every step of the way, but where were they when we needed them?

Neil, stupidly: So you're jealous.

Seth: His life is not more important than mine just because he's more talented.

Neil first instinct is to say jealousy because jealousy is something he understands (he felt jealous of Kevin for having a future, for being able to play, for the talent, for the life he never got to live when his mother ran away, etc.) but for me what Seth is trying to portrait is more like the painful awareness that you get when you realize you're also worthy of love and care. Seth is such an unexplored character who had so much potential if Nora hadn't killed him for the sake of showing how Riko could be/was dangerous (and she could have done that in so many different ways!!!) & you can see that on, for example, Nora's post about his life. Seth was always the no-priority person, the kid no one payed attention to, the boy that if killed, not even his mother would come for the funeral. He was every aspect a Fox and he spent his entire life being told he was no one and to be able to say his life is not more important than mine shows so much development; the chance he had put on himself for being open to love, to care, to second and third chances... it was all there. It breaks my heart that he never got the chance to become something. & I do not believe he was an inherently bad person? They are so young in AFTG, all of them. Maybe Seth wasn't bad; maybe he was just twenty-two, you know?

& on the extra content when they tell Allison he died and she goes 'He called me not even an hour ago! He was drunk and rambling but he was happy for the first time in weeks. He was talking about how he finally thought graduating would be okay, about how he wanted me to help him look into grad schools. He wanted to go into social work and help people like he helps us. I know he wanted to die! Everyone knows he wanted to die! Every time he said he was done with life I walked away from him and every time he came chasing after me. This is the first time--he wanted to live.' breaks my heart.

Because, ok, Seth dies. Let's pretend it was a good idea for him to die to set some sort of impact on the story for a second. Except his death goes without much fuss. The shock Nora wanted is felt for maybe three seconds, in one paragraph in the last page of TFC and then we barely talk about Seth on TRK and TKM. Neil can't even understand how impactful was Seth's death - he only cares about how it will affect the game & his guilt is more about how Allison would feel towards him then sadness over losing a teammate - and this insight we get from Allison is from the extra content and not everyone goes on to read those so if Nora wanted something out of his death - pity, shock, sadness, or whatever - she should have put this scene IN THE BOOKS.

[lilyinavalley]

Tropical promise 🪷

Sylus x reader Fiction for the Misty Invasion fan art contest 4,248 words

Ao3

CHAPTER I

A call, a message, a letter, also a gift, Sylus used a lot of ways to lure me, usually it was for an auction, sometimes he needed a partner to rely on in tricky “deals”, or maybe, he just wanted to spend some time with me in places thousands of kilometers far from the city.

It was almost the end of summer when I finally managed to get two weeks off, being a hunter was a really fulfilling job, but as a lowly human being I really needed a pause, and also a change of air, so as soon as I decided the destination, I booked everything in advance.

When the last day of work ended I said hello to my fellow hunter colleagues and I sprinted home, excitement was literally expanding from my body, like an aura of some sort. As soon as I crossed the threshold of the house I rushed to the bedroom, opened my wardrobe and started to pull out suitable clothes for the trip. With a sundress in hand I was looking at myself in the mirror when I heard the doorbell ring.  

I wasn’t expecting anyone nor did I order anything, so I had no idea of who it could have been… or maybe I did…

I laid the dress on the bed and jogged until I was in front of the door; I asked who it was but I didn’t receive any answer, so I tried to look through the door peephole and I could only see the empty hallway and my neighbor’s closed door.

“What the hell is going on now?” I whispered in an annoyed tone.

Too curious to leave, I cautiously opened the door, only to find a long black package with a red ribbon laying on the mat, some nail scratches on the top…

“Those really look like something a certain crow would leave, is he a courier now? Hah” I sneered.

With no more hesitation I took the package and put it on the coffee table of the living room, I untied the bow, opened the lid and then I saw “... a machete?”.

The large knife blade was immaculate, shiny and sharpened to perfection, the black sturdy handle was carved with golden sinuous lines, they reminded me of climbing ivy, little rubies adorning it like flowers. As for the material, I really had no idea, I liked weapons, but I wasn’t that passionate about it.

Without wasting any more time I called the real weapon freak.

After only two rings a familiar deep voice came out of my phone.

“Good evening sweetie, I was anxiously waiting for your call”

“Yeah, of course… So Sylus, what is the meaning behind this extremely well crafted and fancy piece of knife?”

“Why do you always think I have ulterior motives? Maybe it’s just a gift, it’s not the first time I gifted you a weapon”; after a short pause he continued.

“You are not wrong this time though… Are you sure you checked all the contents of the box?”.

I furrowed my brows and immediately removed the velvet support of the machete from the box; laying on the bottom there was a handwritten sheet of paper, it just said:

<< 7.30 - Linkon city’s international airport → Manaus international airport

10 days trip - tropical weather, bring suitable clothing

I will think of the rest, we will also use our private jet

-Sylus >>

After reading that a long silence descended, the expression on my face was unreadable.

“Sylus”

“You don’t sound enthusiastic at all, is there something wrong?”. It was almost unperceivable, but you could see a hint of doubt in his words.

“I was literally packing for the trip I planned weeks ago, I have the plane tomorrow morning and I have paid everything else in advance!”

“Oh I see, it’s not a problem, I’ll refund you, give me the accommodation contacts and I’ll take care of everything…” I interrupted him immediately.

“Wait wait wait, hold your tongue, I didn’t say I was okay with this, did I? I was waiting to go and relax on the beach since summer started, you know, laying on a beach lounger with a cocktail in hand, sunbathing, swimming a bit, taking a walk on the shore when it’s not too hot… those kind of things”

“It sounds extremely boring, did you really want to spend two weeks living like a granny?”

“Yeah, that’s exactly what I need right now”

Sylus continued with a softer voice.

“Did you not enjoy our last outings? In ten days we can do a lot of things, the little gift I gave you will be used, of course, but I don’t want to spoil anything. The choice is yours sweetie, either way I’ll be waiting for you, you already know where to find me.” And the call ended.

I remained still for a minute.

“Who do I want to deceive, there wasn’t a day when I didn’t enjoy my time with you”.

I sighed.

“I guess I’ll have to make some calls” I finally said with a soft smile and a resigned expression.

After changing some of the clothing I already packed, I had dinner and went to sleep.

The day after, I woke up early and went to the airport with a taxi, as soon as I got out of the vehicle I saw currents of people going in and out of the building, in the middle of them there were lovers and families reuniting, it was a literal chaos, it resembled a raging river whose billows crushed against the rock surfacing from the bottom. A messy entangle of feelings.

Suitcase in hand, I went through the crowd, their emotions reached the person they longed to, mine were still in the middle of their search, eyes looking everywhere for him, heart too.

But it didn’t take long, maybe his feelings were searching for me too; in all his imposing height, he was leaning against a pillar, arms crossed, his silver hair adorning his sharp features, crimson eyes scanning the crowd. The people that were passing by couldn’t help but feel intimidated, even if he wasn’t doing anything in particular, his presence emptied the area around him; if the entrance was an impetuous river, the crowd just inside the airport could be described as a compact school of fish that swam madly in a circle, them staying on the circumference and a shark in the center.

As I looked at him in the distance I tried to guess what was going on in his head, what he felt by being avoided like this, was he lonely, pained even?

Suddenly I felt my chest aching, it was like a needle slowly penetrating the tissues of my beating organ; following this new sensation, my hand reached the skin right above my heart, and it vibrated with the rhythm of its pulsations.

I sped up my pace, gaze locked on his stony face, I got closer and closer and the moment he saw me I could see the sudden change of his expression. It happened so fast that if I wasn’t staring at him so intently I would’ve missed it. The pupils of his eyes expanded, eating the red sea in which they were immersed, his eyelids softened and his lips that were previously pouting, raised and opened a little, giving a glimpse of his smile, but nothing more.

When I was just one step away from him, he moved from the pillar and stood completely straight.

With his new height I inclined my head a little higher.

“Were you so sure I would have come?”

He curved his back so that our eyes were on the same level, with his palm facing upwards he gently lifted my hand toward his lips and gave my fingers a single feather light kiss.

“I wasn’t… Sometimes the outcome overweights the risks”

Sylus said while never leaving nor my hand nor my bewitched gaze.

Escaping the trance I suddenly found myself in, I regained possession of my hand and swiftly moved my fingers that were previously embraced by his to his ear, my index finger traced its outline from the helix, then descended slowly to the lobule. Never leaving his crimson eyes I got close to his face, lips barely touching his cheek, hot steady breath tickling his skin; getting even closer, I whispered to his ear.

“Say the truth, you just can’t be without me anymore, can’t you?”

A light scoff reached one of my eardrums.

“Your presence here tells me you are in the same situation though”

My lips curved in a complacent smile and so did his.

He lifted a strand of my hair and gave it a final kiss. After that the tension was broken and our little bubble popped. He stood up.

“Follow me”.

He led me to the by then already familiar jet and we departed.

Machete kept on the bottom of my suitcase, fortunately we didn’t have to pass through the security…

CHAPTER II

The flight seemed to be endless, but I really couldn’t complain at all. In the jet we were the only passengers present, excluding the pilot and the two hostesses that attended to our every caprice.

When we arrived it was already evening, the sky was strangely clear, stars so bright they looked like diamonds; my eyes were inevitably attracted by the pure beauty of its immensity.

Apparently I stayed in a daze a little too long, because Sylus flicked me on my forehead.

“Are you planning to turn into a statue?” he said with his usual ironic tone.

Maybe because of tiredness, or maybe because I was distracted by the night sky, I spoke with sincerity.

“We are nothing but tiny spots in the immensity of the universe, it’s quite terrifying isn’t it?”

Sylus remained strangely quiet, so I continued.

“Even if it’s so scary and mysterious I can’t help but feel this attraction, I wonder why? Is it the charm of the unknown?”

After I asked the last question I moved my gaze towards Sylus and I stared intently in his crimson orbs.

His expression was very peculiar, almost indecipherable, I could distinguish only a tiny shadow of sorrow; but it lasted only for a moment, a sprout of weakness nipped in the bud.

He immediately returned to his usual demeanor.

“I don’t think it’s terrifying, it just makes you understand how little and powerless you are when you are faced by fate”

Without giving me the time to answer, he took my hand and started to walk towards a luxurious car that was parked close to the jet.

“Let’s go sweetie, or you won’t get enough rest for tomorrow”

So I got into the passenger seat and Sylus started the engine, not after long, the exhaustion and the sleepiness took over and I drifted off to sleep.

I woke up the morning after in an unfamiliar room, loud noises coming from the open window, a gentle breeze that moved the curtains reached my now well rested body, as my brain started to slowly gain its self awareness, I got up from the bed I was resting on and reached the source of the gentle morning wind.

With the hands on the window ledge I leaned a bit outside.

Right under my room there was a street bustling with life, children playing football on the corner, stalls that sold all kinds of things, from fruit to strange handicrafts, on the sides of the road I could also see many street performers, some played odd shaped guitars, others were doing magic tricks and so on. The festive atmosphere and the happiness coming from the people below enveloped my heart, finally I really felt on holiday.

The sound of a door opening startled me from that joyous bliss, I turned around and found no other than my travel companion, with sunglasses, a Hawaiian shirt and khaki shorts on. It was an unusual sight to behold, as he usually wore those dark and imposing clothes, kindred to the role he held in the infamous N109 zone.

With just three strides he was already in front of me.

“Good morning kitten, did you sleep well?”

With the back of his index finger he traced the outline of my face.

“Yes I did, thank you for taking me here, I blacked out as soon as I got into the car”

“No problem, get ready, today’s going to be a busy day… Oh also, bring along my little gift”

And he got out as fast as he entered.

By then I was already fully awake so I got ready really fast. After going to the bathroom and getting dressed, I packed my adventure backpack and secured in the “little gift” Sylus gave me. Fully ready I got out of the room and I found him already waiting for me.

“Took you long enough sweetie, let’s go eat something in the stalls nearby, otherwise you’re not gonna make it with an empty belly”

He said while gently pinching my tummy.

“Yeah yeah let’s go then” and I rushed out of the hotel.

All kinds of exotic smells reached my nostrils, sweet, salty, spicy even, the warmth of the sun embraced my figure, but I didn’t really know where to go; suddenly I felt something on my head, apparently Sylus put on me a white straw hat.

“Take my hand or the crowd will separate us”

So I put one hand in his and the other held the hat steady on my head, scared of losing it in the general chaos.

His large body strode forward, the only thing I could see was his broad back. Thanks to him paving the path in front of us, we arrived at the food stall in no time.

The booth had all kinds of sweets in display, cakes, biscuits and also what appeared to be muffins. Sylus exchanged some words with the smiling middle aged seller, then she put two pieces of everything in a small tray and gave it to him while waving goodbye.

“Aren’t you gonna pay for it?”

“She’s an acquaintance, I helped her with something a long time ago. She really wanted to exchange the favor, even if she didn’t need to”.

“You have connections all around the world huh”

He took a little square shaped cake and brought it to my mouth.

“Try it”

I took a bite and a delicate coconut flavor imbued my mouth. 

“It’s amazing, give me something else”

Sylus looked at me tenderly and gave me the entire tray, we sat on a bench nearby and together we finished all the food.

With the belly finally full I leaned on the backrest, the man next to me had his legs crossed and was looking at me intently with a sly smile.

“Do I have something on my face?”

“Yes, actually you have a bit of sugar powder on your cheek”

Without giving me time to wipe it off, he removed the stain with his thumb, and then licked his finger clean while looking me in the eyes.

“That was smooth Sylus” With an almost invisible red tinge on my cheeks and a playful smile I looked away.

He laughed a little and I jumped up with energy.

“Soo, where are you taking me today?”

“We are going on a little adventure in the rainforest, are you up with it?”

“Well…” I put on a thoughtful expression “It would be a first for me. Is it going to be just the two of us? Don’t we need a guide?”

“I’m the only guide we need sweetie, trust me”

He stood up, put on his fancy sunglasses and started walking towards a narrow road that led off the main street, I followed him straight behind.

At the end of the dark alley there was a bright and spacious parking lot, it was really full, probably because of the high number of tourists of the period. Families and groups of friends were taking their luggage out of their cars, some kids were crying because they couldn’t wait to play in the resorts, others were silently waiting for their parents to finish. In the midst of all that, there was us.

“There are a lot of families here”

I said while taking his hand, a bit surprised by my initiative Sylus was startled for a second. He knew all about my childhood, his though, was still a mystery, the only thing I knew was that he didn’t have a good one either. Whenever I inquired about his past, a dark veil would descend on his expression, and most of the time, in the end, I wouldn’t get anything relevant out of him. 

He squeezed my hand in return.

“Yes, there’s the summer break in schools” 

A faint sense of anguish started to hover around my heart, not too strong, but also not weak enough to not reach my eyes. They say the eyes are the mirror of the soul, and that must be true, because as soon as that gloomy feeling occupied my mind he patted my head.

“Don’t worry, our future little ones won’t suffer the same fate as us”.

And every negative feeling faded away.

“What are you talking about!” I gave his arm a little nudge and laughed the tension away.

“Here we are, this is what will accompany us on our little adventure”

In front of me a brand new black cross-country vehicle, and also a proud man leaning on its hood.

I raised my eyebrows and took off my backpack to put it in the backseats.

“Let’s not waste any more time then”.

CHAPTER III

The road to the rainforest wasn’t long nor boring.

When we departed Sylus turned on the radio and we did a bit of karaoke together, so his singing alone made the trip hilarious.

After just 15 minutes every human trace disappeared from the scenery, only tropical plants and trees on the view. From the rolled down car window the wind ruffled my hair and the air that filled my lungs was cleaner than ever, the remoteness of the city could already be felt.

Not too long after, we reached our destination, Sylus parked the car in a plain grassy area and we hopped off the vehicle.

“Are we just going in?” I said while looking at the block of leaves in front of us.

“Yes, but we’re here for a reason, around this area there’s a place I want to show you”.

After saying this he swiftly removed the machete in my backpack and walked towards the tropical plants leaves.

“Wait a second!” I stopped his swing by holding his shirt. “Should I be particularly careful about certain dangerous animals? Like snakes, felines …” I got interrupted immediately.

“You are a hunter sweetie, and I have a pretty useful long distance Evol… are you maybe  scared?” He said while sneering.

“You know what, nevermind, you’re right, let’s go”

So the man before me cleared the area in front of us with rapid machete swings, and in no time we were immersed in the rainforest.

We could hear animal sound coming from afar, and every now and then we could hear the rustling of leaves of the vegetation near us, probably little mammals or amphibians were the cause; even so, all this disturbances didn’t make Sylus hesitate for a second, he was really focused on finding the way to the place he wanted to take me. 

While going on and on the environment started to become more and more wild, the humidity seemed to rise at every step and sweat covered every inch of my body.

“Hey, how long until we arrive? You didn’t stop for a second and I’m all sweaty here”

The man stopped his movements and turned around. His face was also covered in salty droplets and his silvery strands were stuck to his forehead.

“You stopped me on time, the destination is right behind this wall of lianas, I’ll give you the honor”

And he gave me the machete.

Curiosity took the better of me and with some swings I quickly opened the path ahead.

What appeared before my eyes was in complete opposition to the landscape seen until that moment, there was a large circular body of water, a little waterfall on the far end and colorful parrots flying.

Utter awe was displayed on my face.

“How did you find this place?”

“A man has its secrets… and another pair of eyes”

Mephisto cawed from the sky and descended on Sylus’ shoulder.

After giving him a little scratch on the head, the black mechanical bird flew on one of the tree branches where the parrots were resting, the tropical animals were weirded out by him, but instead of flying away, they stayed to study him.

While I was distracted looking at the birds I heard a rustling noise extremely close to me, so I turned around and I found Sylus with only his underwear on.

“Sylus, what the hell are you doing?” I screamed, I was shocked by the sudden view.

“I’m going for a swim, I’m too sweaty and hot, strip off and come with me”

“Are you serious? Isn’t it extremely dangerous, there might be alligators on the bottom!”

I said while being genuinely worried about the possible dangers lurking in the water.

“Don’t worry, there is no longer a single harmful thing in this pond, I wiped it clean”

So I looked intently at the surface of the water, and only then I noticed the thin black fog hovering over the entire area.

“Oh, I see”

Without waiting for me the man had already soaked his legs, the water reached his knees.

“Okay, okay I’m coming, wait for me!”

I quickly removed my clothes and I remained in my underwear too. I slowly dipped my feet in the crystal clear water. Sylus said the truth, no living being could be seen, nor on the surface nor on the bottom, only rocks and algae tickled my feet soles.

Seeing the man with his back facing me a few steps ahead, suddenly gave rise to a naughty urge within my body; so after taking a little jog to give the push, I jumped on top of Sylus.

The surprise attack succeeded, and together we fell completely into the deep water.

Air bubbles and distorted colors took over my view; after the bubbles disappeared on the surface I could clearly see Sylus pouty expression in front of my face, happy to have pulled a prank on him I started to smile. Probably softened by my expression he got closer and pulled me in his arms, my hands squeezed his shoulders for stability.

And in this position we floated to the surface. 

Water dripped down from our hair to our shoulders and it returned where it belonged to. 

Our chests were glued to each other, we were at the same level, the Archimedes’ principle helping the cause.

Sylus’ hand slowly moved from my back to my under tight, leaving goosebumps all over the path they traced.

Our hearts were beating together, with every second that passed the pulses increased in frequency in a beautiful crescendo.

And at last, our eyes interlocked, his fiery rubies were burning, his flame bore into my orbs and burned every inch of my soul.

I moved one hand from his shoulder to his cheek and with my thumb I caressed his cheekbone with circular movements.

The affectionate nature of this gesture made his passion subside, now only vulnerability and tenderness transpired from his eyes.

“Sylus, I want to tell you something, but please, don’t say anything until I’m finished”

I said resolutely while still caressing him gently.

He looked at me and gave me a look of tacit consent.

“I don’t know anything about your past, but I just wanted you to know this”

The vision I had when I retrieved the aether core still vivid in my head, pain and sufferance plunged my heart, there was so much blood that I couldn’t even distinguish where the ground started; in front of me a creature similar to a demon, a sword stuck in its chest, the handle in my hand and an inhuman one holding mine in place.

“It doesn’t matter what happened in the past, the causes of the scars that lie invisible on your body…” I traced the line that divided his pectorals with the hand that was still resting on his shoulder “and what you really are”.

“Even if you say that in the past you were a monster scarier than a wanderer, I accept you. My heart always seeks yours, and I decided to trust it”. 

“Even if fate is against you?” Sylus said in a melancholic tone.

“Even if fate is against me”

The passion in his eyes reignited its flame, but this time instead of being burnt I decided to match his heat, so I took the initiative.

I captured his lips in a sweet but steady kiss, I didn’t want him to take the upper hand, not this time. This exchange was my seal to our promise. And Sylus accepted it with vigor.

The shadow of our intertwined limbs was trembling in the uneven surface of the body of water, but remained whole nonetheless. 

A lot was still unsaid between us, but for the first time, in that little paradise far from everybody, our hearts finally found each other.

End

[britt-kageryuu]

Leo for some reason decided to stream at work using the AR system, he claims that it's because it's been pretty slow recently because of the relatively small amount of clients. So his model is dressed in blue jeans, black boots, a minty green shirt, a lab coat with an ID badge, his mask with shorter than normal tails, with a stethoscope around his neck. Sitting in a rolling chair next to a desk and shelves.

The stream can only see the front desk area, and all the paperwork seen looks like it written in an alien language because of a filter, and Leo wanting to mess with the veiwers. Including his Degree(s) on the hall, since they read as presented from a hidden city college/university.

River is there in her robot body disinfecting the waiting room, and organizing the books/magazines, toys, and Cafe station.

A notification goes off with a question about the comic books Donnie supposedly brought from a different reality.

"Oh The Ronin books. Yeah we all read through them, and all agreed while amazing, it was also quite horrifying to think of the scenario happening here." Leo says as he pulls a hard back book from a nearby shelf.

The cover is mostly dark gray, and black with some red. There's a figure in all black with a Katana and Bo staff strapped to their back, and a Sai and metallic Tonfa on a utility belt along with some pouches, and rope. There is a red moon with 'The Last Ronin' in white over top of it. There is some other words and the author and artists names in red and white, but the letters are unreadable, either it's to far from the camera, or the filter is messing it up.

"The other book is at home, Pops finished this one, and wanted to read the second book." Leo says as he flips through some of the pages, "Either way it's kind apocalyptic/dystopian with a mentally not Okay main character out for revenge for most of his family 'H' being killed because the other group 'O/F' didn't truly want a truce between them, or something." He stops at a page and reads it over, "Or that's what we figure, since it's implied that one of the O/F leaders claimed H broke the truce."

"Before anyone asks the reason I'm not saying the names of the families is because the H family is actually the same name as Our family name, and the O/F group are an actual group my family had a rivalry with like 500 years ago. They're still around but there's not a full on grudge anymore." Leo stresses this if only to make it clear no more answers will be given on the subject.

"Anyhoozle the family names are why Donnie believes this is from another universe, but again I don't want to look into it, or mess with things that might lead to trouble." He puts the book on the desk opened to a page with what looks like an explosion on it, "We had enough trouble with getting past our own problems with the other group. Some of their members had some screws loose, and came after us, we don't know why, just that we supposedly had an artifact of theirs. It was just a creepy teapot!" He slouches with a sigh/groan of annoyance.

Just then the sound of sliding doors opening could be heard, and Leo sits up and quickly mutes the stream. The audience is left to watch Leo talk to someone, with him leaning forward you can see his tail sticking out from a slit in the lab coat. He holds up a finger in a 'just a minute' motion, then gets up and goes behind the camera.

Someone can be seen trying to lean into frame, even wave their arm where the camera can see, but the person is not able to lean far enough into veiw. Though it's obvious when Leo returns because they jolt and jump back. Leo walks back into the camera veiw and hands the person a bag with presumably their proscription in it.

Leo talks with them for a few minutes, before the person leaves and he un-mutes the stream.

"Sorry, one of my clients who also watches the streams came in, probably because I was streaming and they thought they could sneak into veiw. Luckily I'm a nice guy, so they're not going to be blocked or banned from the stream, and our socials." Leo informs with some amusement. He sits back down with a slight bounce, and quickly checks the work computer on the desk.

"Unless another veiwer decides to try crashing the stream, let's go back to the books, now the first book, has a bittersweet end, but it leads into the second book which is like 10 to 15 years into the future. And it swaps from present day to the past to tell more of what happened with Ronin, and act as a teaching method for the next generation of the family."

Leo goes on to vaguely describe more parts of the books, all while purposefully ignoring the chat asking why they can't find the books anywhere. And some asking if Mandarin/Mikey wrote/drew the graphic novels.

---------------------

Masterpost

The chat/audience doesn't know their real names, but just incase someone didn't know Mandarin is Mikey. The ones asking about Mikey would be their Friends/People who know them.

[arsenicbluebell]

Idk if ur taking requests, but if you AREEE, i’d like to request Sally face x Dyslexic!Fem!reader? If it’s okay w u :))

Yes I am taking requests, and TYSM FOR BEING THE FIRST ONE TO REQUEST :]]] I hope you have a lovely day <33333 but I didn't know if you wanted just sal or the whole gang so I'm doing that- Todd's gonna be platonic since he's gay, enjoy<3

SallyFace x Dyslexic!Fem!Reader

Sal Fisher

You two were assigned to read a book for history, and he noticed that you took discomfort

You guys planned to read the chapters at his apartment, to try and make it easier

He noticed that you would have to take a break from reading every few minutes, he asked you about it

You told him that the words didn't make sense to you and that you got a headache when you tried to read the book

He got you some ibuprofen to ease gour headache and then read the chapters to you, as you laid on his bed while he sat next to you

He started doing this alot, every time you wanted to read a book he'd offer to read it to you, since audio books weren't easily accessible in the 80's-90's

He'd also share his notes with you after class if you guys had to read something in class

Larry Johnson

You two were in his room, Larry was showing you one of his latest painting, it was covered in letters and words and sentances

He asked you what you thought of them, but you couldn't give him an answer, the words didn't make sense to you, and it was hard to ignore them since they were all over the painting

He asked you if you wanted him to read it, not prying any further

You accepted his offer and then he started reading for you,

Sometimes, when he notices you looking at things like posters or words on a soda bottle, he'll read them

He pretends that he just likes reading outloud, but you both know that's a lie

Ashley Campbell

You guys had to write an essay for English class for homework

You both went to the park to write it, to share notes and ideas

And to also occasionally play on the playset

She looked at your notes and they made no sense, the letters were scrambled and didn't look like letters

She asked you about it, being a bit more pushy than the others until she got you to say what was the matter

You told her that you had dyslexia, she doesn't know a lot about it, so she asked you to tell her about it

After that, she asked you to lay on her lap as she sat cross legged

You did, feeling your cheeks warm up a bit. She took your notebook and used you as a hard surface to write on

She asked you to say what you wanted her to write in the essay, you told her every last word as she wrote it down, occasionally ruffling your hair as you laid there

Todd Morrison

You guys were reading up on the paranormal while taking notes to try and find out what was going on in Nockfell

When you saw the pile of books, you got visibly uncomfortable

He asked you what was wrong, you were probably the most comfortable with Todd because he looked at things from a logical point of view, keeping his emotions aside to try and help, so you knew he wouldn't judge you

You told him you had dyslexia and he understood, telling you he's read about it

He left the room for a second, getting you some advil and water incase you decided to read and got a headache

He looked up the book on the internet and then pasted it into Google translate and clicked the sound button, to read it outloud as he took notes

He also didn't want you to feel completely useless, so he gave you some photos of some paranormal stuff the group caught on camera and asked you to pick out what you saw, since the photo was blurry

Hoped you liked it!! Have a wonderful day! And if I got some things wrong, please tell me! I don't want to spread misinformation

[astroninaaa]

Hey nina, i know it's been a while since someone drop by and well... i wanna ask. What happened and how twitter got banned on brazil? From the lens of of you being law firm employee. Feel free to delete this ask if you don't feel comfortable answering it.

omg hiiiii sorry for taking so long i hadn’t been around for a while!

okay so the twitter deal…… basically in brazil we have an electoral court for electoral crimes, and after the presidential elections that happened at the end of last year the electoral court was doing some Investigations regarding fake news and nazi content on twitter.

for context, it’s important to say that posting content supporting nazi ideology is a crime in brazil. the twitter accounts that were being investigated also did a lot of anti-democratic posts and stuff like that, which is ALSO against brazilian law because attacking democratic institutions and trying to end democracy is illegal.

the case had reached the supreme court and then minister alexandre de moraes decided the accounts that were posting that content and were being investigated should be banned. elon musk said that was censorship. alexandre de moraes said that’s the law and if you don’t ban the accounts you’ll have to pay fines. elon musk said that’s EXTRA censorship. alexandre de moraes said you’ll have to pay fines AND we’ll take the twitter representatives in brazil in custody because you’re committing another crime by refusing to follow what the court decides (i think? something like that)

so elon musk said okay! and then ended the company that was opened in brazil to deal with twitter affairs and pulled back his representatives.

however, it’s a law in brazil (and in like a trillion other countries) that international companies MUST have a national representative. so alexandre de moraes said appoint a representative or im suspending twitter. elon musk said that’s EVEN MORE EXTRA CENSORSHIP AND YOURE A DICTATOR.

he was given an ultimate deadline to appoint a representative and didn’t, so alexandre de moraes asked for the companies that deal with internet and media to make twitter unavailable in brazil while elon musk doesn’t appoint a representative. and that’s why twitter is banned in brazil rn <3

it’s honestly a mess and from a legal viewpoint there were definitely things that were done wrong by the supreme court, like intimating twitter THROUGH twitter, since they couldn’t do it as they usually would - by letter - since twitter doesn’t have a brazilian representative. bffr you can’t just trample procedure laws like that, there’s even a whole system that already exists for when you have to intimate someone that’s out of the country.

however, it’s also true that elon musk is just trying to belittle brazilian authorities and doesn’t actually give a shit about free speech or censorship. literally what does he gain from refusing to ban accounts that are spitting out nazi ideology. WHY does he want and allow that in his platform? and why does he think he can decide what content is allowed in brazil and what isn’t? he’s not greater than brazilian law.

so, tl,dr: elon musk refuses to follow basic ass commercial laws like having a brazilian representative for twitter and now he’s being punished for it. the supreme court isn’t doing it exactly like they should, but at the end of the day they DO have the power to take decisions like suspending twitter for the time being. elon musk doesn’t care about free speech. yeah <3