#overprotective teammates
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the-baby-storyteller · 1 year ago
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Secretly powerful teammates.
Think someone going to strike at a character and them not having the reflexes quick enough to stop it. Then, out of seemingly nowhere, their teammate known to be weak (maybe the only one who stays out of the action) not only protects them, but lunges at the attacker with a cold look on their face the team has never seen before. Them winning, to the surprise of the team, but getting slightly hurt in the midst of the battle. Afterwards, the character being highly in shock over the unfamiliar actions of the teammate and worrying over their graze as they convince themself that they must be going crazy. There’s no way their innocent, feeble teammate could be capable of something like that.
The teammate lightly commenting that they had hardly noticed the injury and instead turning their attention to making sure the character is safe. Them wanting to care for the stuttering, confused character, suddenly seeming much bigger and more mature than ever before, but being stopped in their tracks by the approaching team. The team, who had been taken aback by the sudden change in the teammate, confronting them about their actions and true strength, while simultaneously trying to discreetly lead them to an area to get treated. The teammate eventually realizing this and saying that the injury was hardly a scratch the couldn’t even notice and that they’d had far worse. The team becoming horrified at the notion that their “weakest” member could ever have handled worse. Shocked because they thought of the teammate as someone they always needed to protect, someone they couldn’t imagine getting even slightly hurt.
Then the teammate having to convince the team that they’re really fine, and going back to normal afterwards. But the team never really recovering from seeing the other side to the teammate and thinking of them differently from before.
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elenafromthesky · 2 years ago
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Parade
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pedrospatch · 3 months ago
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call it what it is
Jackson! Joel Miller x Female Reader
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summary: A disagreement over patrol duty leads to declarations that have been long overdue.
warnings/tags: 18+ ONLY, MINORS DNI. established relationship. HEFTY AGE GAP (reader is in her 20’s and joel is 56). ellie and joel are fine bc i said so and they deserve nothing less. reader handles a rifle, joel’s a little too overprotective and almost seems controlling, but i promise he is not. well, maybe just a smidge. arguing, admission of feelings, joel miller says i love you (yes this is ooc, no i do not care bc i need this old man to tell me he loves me). angst, fluff. quite a bit of side character interaction before we get to joel and reader in the second half. the only physical description of reader is that she is shorter than joel. fair warning, i am quite rusty.
word count: 4.2k
a/n: hi hello. i have not shared a wip in over 2 months. i was going back and forth on whether or not i wanted to share a fic with so much going on but decided i wanted to get back to doing what i enjoy. that and ofc that new footage was a boost of inspo. i am sending so, so much love to anyone who happens to see this author note, whether you read this fic or just happen to see this note in passing whilst scrolling. i know things have been tough, but i am here with you. <3
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Joel wakes with a gentle start. Yawning, he rolls over from his side onto his back, blinking the sleep out of his eyes as warm, golden sunlight filters into the bedroom through the sheer, white linen curtains drawn over the window. He stares up at the ceiling, his breathing slow, steady, and even. He’s still getting used to it, it seems. Waking this calmly, with a tranquil peace he had been so certain he would never in his life feel again. He knew it couldn’t be a mere coincidence the nightmares had all but stopped tormenting him in his sleep when the two of you stopped doing that awkward little tap dance around one another and began sharing a bed, a home, a life.
No more bolting upright in sheer panic in the middle of the night, heart pounding and drenched head to toe in a cold sweat. No more believing he’s failing in his sleep. No more waking up feeling like he’s lost something.
Even his dreams about Sarah had become so, so much more pleasant. Images of her in that field on that night were replaced by different memories, like watching her teammates dogpile her after she’d scored the winning goal in their soccer tournament, or the big, triumphant grin she’d flashed him over her chocolate milkshake as the pair sat in their usual corner booth at their favorite fifties-themed diner in Austin—much to Joel’s surprise, Sarah had politely declined her teammates’ invitation for pizza once the match ended, choosing to celebrate her victory with him. Just the two of them.
“Y’sure you don’t wanna go with your friends, kiddo?” he’d asked, raising an eyebrow. He had been certain she was approaching the age where she would start spending less and less time with her old man. “I wouldn’t mind, y’know.”
“Positive,” she had reassured him with a smile, looping her arm through his and leading him off the pitch. “I’d much rather be with you, dad.”
Rather than smelling metallic in his slumber, he smells the grass that stained her white and blue striped jersey. Her cheeks are smeared with dirt, not with crimson.
Stifling another loud yawn, Joel stretches his arm out over towards your side of the bed, his calloused fingers seeking the warmth and softness of your naked body—instead, all they find are empty sheets, cold and long abandoned. He turns his head, and as suspected, you are not laying there beside him. That’s hardly out of the ordinary. Out of the two of you, you were the early riser, up before the neighbors’ rooster even had the chance to sound the alarm. Joel knows how much you treasure your quiet mornings lounging on the porch swing he’d built for you as you watched the sunrise with a hot cup of coffee in hand. He often made a genuine effort to get up and join you, but lately, his patrol rotations had been all over the place thanks to a shortage of patrolmen. He found himself sleeping in whenever he had the chance, seeing as he never knew when he might have to work a damn double. Or maybe it was just his age catching up with him.
He checks the time and then rolls out of bed, groaning when his sore knees and his aching lower back protest his movement.
After taking a quick shower using whatever hot water the kid had left for him after her own shower—much to his annoyance, it was not very much—Joel brushes his teeth and gets dressed for the day before pulling on his boots and heading downstairs into the kitchen where he finds the culprit responsible for the cold downpour he’d been forced to wash himself under. Ellie’s sitting at the table, absentmindedly stirring her oatmeal around her bowl with her spoon as she flips through one of her comic books. Just as he’s about to greet her, he spots the clean, empty coffee pot on the kitchen counter and frowns. You hadn’t even made coffee yet?
Now, that—that is out of the ordinary.
“Where is she?” he asks.
“Well, good morning to you too, old man. Oh, I slept great, thanks for asking,” Ellie quips without looking up at him as she flips the page. She mumbles something under her breath he doesn’t quite catch, something like, and you get on my ass about my manners?
Rolling his eyes, Joel snorts in response and pads over to the coffee maker on the counter. He spoons in some of the grounds he’d traded for earlier that week into the reusable filter, pours in water from the tap, and turns it on to brew. He grabs two ceramic mugs from the wire dish rack beside the sink and sets them down on the counter. “She out back?” he questions, yanking the refrigerator door open—he tries to remember the little things, like how you enjoyed your coffee with a bit of milk as well as a dash of cinnamon, if you had the rations, or something to trade for the precious spice. He always made sure that you did.
“Nope.” Ellie shovels a spoonful of oatmeal into her mouth and adds thickly, “She went to get some eggs.”
Joel shoots her a look of disgust over his shoulder. “Jesus, Ellie! How many times do I gotta tell you? Don’t talk with your mouth full. It’s bad manners,” he scolds her, shaking his head. He turns his attention back to the refrigerator. As he reaches for the glass bottle of milk, he pauses and his eyebrows pull together in confusion when he sees the wicker basket on the top shelf. “Wait a minute.” He feels her stiffen in her chair. “Why the hell would she go get eggs when we’ve got a full basket of ‘em right here in the fridge?”
She clears her throat. “Oh, uh, my bad. I got confused. Think she said she was gonna go get more honey? Uh, I used the last of it to make my breakfast this morning and she, uh—she wanted some for her toast. You know, ‘cause she really likes putting honey on her toast,” she rambles before piling more oatmeal into her mouth.
Closing the refrigerator door, he turns to her, his eyes narrowing with suspicion as uneasiness settles deep in the pit of his stomach. “Ellie?”
There’s a momentary pause. “...yeah?”
This time, Joel doesn’t bother to chastise the teenager for talking with her mouth full. “Where is she?”
Ellie nervously swallows her food and holds up both of her hands. “Hey, I already fucking told you, man.”
“Look, I know you like the back of my own hand, kiddo. And I know damn good and well when you’re lying to me.” Joel crosses his arms over his chest. “Now tell me the truth. What do you know that I don’t?”
Groaning, Ellie sits back in her chair. “Ugh. She made me swear not to tell you! She’ll fucking strangle me if I do—”
“Yeah, well, not if I fuckin’ strangle you first myself,” he threatens her. “M’Serious, Ellie. Tell me what’s going on. Right now.”
“Alright, alright! Jesus,” she huffs. “She’s with Tommy. He’s been taking her out of town to do target practice in the mornings, just the two of them. She usually gets back to the house before you get up,” she admits.
Joel’s arms fall back to his sides, his shoulders tense. “And how long has this been goin’ on?” he asks, rigidly. There’s a sudden tightness inside his chest, a feeling he hasn’t felt it in a while, but is still all too familiar to him.
After Tommy spread the word around town that more people were needed for patrol duties, you’d expressed an interest in the role, but Joel had been all too quick to shut you down, telling you he didn’t want you stepping foot outside the community’s gates.
“No,” he’d said. “Not happenin’. S’too dangerous.”
“But Joel—”
“I said,” he lowered his voice. “No.”
He hadn’t offered you an explanation as to why he was against it, refused to give you one good, solid reason as to why it was acceptable for him to risk his own life to protect Jackson, but it wasn’t acceptable for you to do the same.
Joel hadn’t known how to tell you the truth. How he needed you far, far more than you needed him, how the mere thought of losing you, the best fucking thing that could have possibly happened to him since the world ended, made him feel like his heart was going to stop.
A few weeks had passed since then, and thankfully, you never brought it up to him again. You had lost interest in patrol duty. Or so he’d thought.
“How long has this been going on?” he repeats after a minute.
“C’mon, man! Haven’t I already snitched enough?”
“Ellie,” Joel bites out her name. “Tell me. How long?”
She sighs in defeat. “Two weeks? Maybe three?” When she notices the muscle in his jaw tick, she grimaces. “You do realize why she didn’t fucking tell you, right?”
“Don’t,” he warns her, sharply.
“I’m just saying,” Ellie mutters, peering down into her bowl.
Without another word, Joel angrily storms past her and straight out the front door, snatching up his rifle on the way. He heads straight for the stables, trying to ignore the anxiety flaring inside of his chest.
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Focus.
Now, breathe in. And breathe out.
Breathe in. Breathe out.
Breathe in.
Breathe...
You exhale as you slowly squeeze the trigger.
Y’squeeze it like you love it, you had been told by your reluctant instructor.
The round fires off into the distance and you swiftly grab the bolt handle, bringing it up, back, forward, and then down again. You pull the trigger once more, then repeat and continue firing one shot after the other for a total of five rounds.
The rifle’s recoil nearly sends you flying backwards, but a strong hand on your back keeps you nice and steady. That same hand then moves to your shoulder and gives you three firm taps.
“Alright, alright! Christ,” Tommy laughs. He withdraws his arm from around you and shakes his head. “Fuckin’ calm down, Annie Oakley.”
Picking up his binoculars, he rises to his feet and looks through the lens at the makeshift targets that he’d set up for you, three empty soup cans lined up in a row on top of a wooden fence about twenty-five yards away—your longest shooting distance to date.
“Well?” You don’t even bother masking your impatience as you lower the rifle, carefully propping the weapon up against the tree stump you’re perched behind. Rubbing your sore shoulder, you hope the kickback won’t leave a bruise. You wouldn’t know how to explain that to Joel. “How did I do?”
His response comes in the form of a long, low whistle.
There is no telling if that had been good whistle, or if it had been a bad one. You groan. Now was not the time for him to dick around. “Please tell me I got at least one of them?”
“You got ‘em all, actually.” Tommy replies, lowering the binoculars and peering down at you. There’s a glimmer of pride in his eyes. “Good job, kid.”
Kid? Not exactly a nickname one wants to be called by the brother of the much, much older man that they are romantically involved with. It’d taken Tommy months to accept your relationship with Joel, especially when you moved your things out of your unit and into his over the summer. Part of you wonders if him referring to you as a kid is simply his own subtle way of telling you—no, of reminding you, that he’s still not comfortable with it.
And perhaps he never would be.
After all, you had still been a teenager when you first arrived to Jackson a few years ago, stumbling upon the town just a few months shy of the twentieth birthday you weren’t sure you would survive long enough to see.
You were indeed a kid when you’d met Tommy Miller.
Were.
Scowling up at him, you snap, “I told you to stop calling me that. I’m not nineteen anymore, Tommy.”
Having read your mind, he gives you a small smile and acknowledges, “Yeah, you’re right. You definitely ain’t a kid anymore.” He offers you his hand and hoists you up to your feet. Before dropping your hand, he gives it an apologetic squeeze.
You relax a little and smile back at him. “Did I really get all three?”
Tommy nods. “You sure did. You’re a damn good shot. I gotta be honest with you—I didn’t expect you to be this fuckin’ good,” he admits sheepishly.
Chuckling, you scoff, “Thanks. I think.”
“It’s a compliment, sugar.” He winks and flashes you a lopsided grin. “In fact, I’d say my work here is done.”
“Great! So when are you putting me on the roster?”
His grin instantly vanishes. “Uh, listen. About that....”
He trails off, and your heart sinks a little.
Tommy wouldn’t back out of this now—would he?
“Oh, no. Don’t you dare go back on your word, Miller,” you say, lightly poking him in the chest. “We had a deal. You said if I did well enough, you’d think about it.”
He nods in agreement. “Exactly. Said I’d think about it. And I think that puttin’ you on the roster for patrol ain’t a good idea.”
Your mouth falls open. If he never had any intention of holding up his end of the bargain, then what had been the point of teaching you how to shoot?
You didn’t understand.
“You just said it yourself, I’m a great shot! I’m a good on horseback, too. I’m stealthy. I’m diligent. What more do you fucking need from me, Tommy?”
Tommy’s chest heaves with a heavy sigh. “Joel would fuckin’ murder me with his bare hands if I even thought about puttin’ you on patrol duty. Hell, he’d murder me just knowin’ we’re out here and I’m teachin’ you how to shoot. It’s a damn fuckin’ miracle he still hasn’t caught onto this, y’know.”
Shocked, your eyebrows shoot to your hairline. “This is about Joel? Are you serious?”
“‘Course it is.” He pauses. “Listen, now I know the three of us had our—differences—when he first told me ‘bout you two. Still takin’ me a bit of gettin’ used to, but I can see he’s real serious about you. I know my brother, and I know he won’t risk losin’ what’s most important to him. Ain’t no way in hell. He doesn’t want you out here and you know that as well as I do.” Tommy shoves his hands into the pockets of his jeans, shrugging as he shuffles his weight from one cowboy boot to the other. “Unless he’s alright with it, I ain’t gonna put you on the roster.”
For a moment, you’re at a complete loss for words.
Upon seeing the crestfallen expression on your face, he makes a suggestion. “You can try talkin’ to him ‘bout it again if it means that much to you. Ask him—”
“Ask?” You want to laugh. You almost do. “I’m an adult, Tommy. I don’t need his permission to do this. Or to do anything for that matter. Joel doesn’t tell me what I can and can’t do.”
Tommy smiles wryly. “Well then, if that’s the case, why are we sneakin’ around and doin’ this behind his back?”
Your shoulders slump in defeat.
Because the ramifications could be disastrous.
Joel had made his stance on the matter abundantly clear, and yet here you were, deliberately disobeying him.
“Stumped you real good, didn’t I?”
Before you can even start to think about how you can possibly respond to that, you hear the sound of hooves in the dirt behind you, followed by whinny of a horse.
Tommy’s face pales as he glances over your shoulder.
“Shit.”
There’s no need for you to ask. His grimace says it all.
Somehow, you will yourself to turn around just as Joel’s steed comes to a halt beside the mare you and Tommy had ridden out on together. He jumps out of the saddle, grunting at the forceful impact on his knees when his feet hit the ground. His rifle hangs from a worn, brown leather strap slung across his back.
He approaches the two of you looking absolutely livid, and your throat goes dry.
“The hell is goin’ on here?” He breezes right past you, roughly shoving his brother with both hands. “Why the fuck would you bring her out here, Tommy? What the fuck is the matter with you?”
“Joel, c’mon. Take it easy—”
“Don’t fuckin’ tell me to take it easy!”
“Joel!” You reach for his arm. “Wait, it’s not his fault!”
Joel shoves him again, then takes him by the collar of his shirt and pins him against the ponderosa pine tree behind him. “You’ve been bringin’ her outside the gates behind my fuckin’ back for weeks, asshole?”
The panic begins to set in—he’s taking his anger out on the wrong person, and deep down, he knows this too.
“Joel! Stop! Let him go!” Grabbing fistfuls of his jacket, you try pulling him off of the younger man. “Stop it! It’s not his fault! I asked Tommy to bring me out here!”
He whirls around, his nostrils flared, jaw clenched.
You’ve seen this side of him a handful of times before.
But his anger has never been directed at you.
“What?”
Immediately, you let go of him and take a step back. “I asked Tommy to bring me out here and teach me how to shoot so that I can start working patrol,” you explain, hoping, praying, he doesn’t catch the slight tremble in your voice. “This was all my idea, okay? If you’re going to be mad at someone, then be mad at me. Not at him.”
“So you did this after I fuckin’ told you I didn’t want you out here?” Joel seethes. His neck becomes flushed, his tan skin now a deep shade of red.
“Joel—”
He cuts you off. “I had to find out from Ellie? You tried to get her to fuckin’ lie to me? After all the work it took for me and her to—” Stopping mid sentence, he places his hands on his hips and shakes his head.
“Joel. Please.” Behind the anger in his dark brown eyes, you detect something else. A mingle of hurt, concern—fear?
Tommy awkwardly clears his throat. “Well I’m, uh—I’m gonna head back to town,” he says, touching a hand to the back of his neck. “I’ll let the two of you work things out in private.” As he passes Joel, he lightly claps him on the shoulder. “Girl’s a sharp shooter, big brother. I’d reckon she’s almost better than you.”
His effort to lighten the mood fails. Miserably.
Offering you a subtle nod of encouragement, Tommy hops into the saddle of his mare and takes off towards the commune.
Silence falls over the both of you. It feels suffocating.
Unfamiliar.
Finally, you speak. “Joel, please just hear me out—”
“What the hell were you thinkin’? Or were you just not thinkin’ at all?”
“I was thinking I want to pull my weight in Jackson.”
“You already have a fuckin’ job,” Joel reminds you.
“Making sandwiches and serving whiskey at The Tipsy Bison?” You scoff, crossing your arms over your chest. “I am capable of more than that, Joel. So much more. Don’t you believe I’m capable of doing more?”
“I don’t want you out here,” he grits through his teeth. “Capable or not, I don’t want you outside Jackson’s walls. I don’t want you on patrol and that’s fuckin’ final. You understand me?” Now it’s him who falters, and you wonder if you’re imagining things, or if that’s really a tear you see sliding down the side of his face, disappearing into the salt and pepper scruff of his beard.
“That’s not your decision to make, Joel. It’s mine.”
“M’responsible for you. It’s my job to look after you—to protect you.”
Something about the way he is looking at you, it feels like a punch to the gut, and it’s at that precise moment when you begin to realize that he’s not angry. He’s afraid.
“Joel, I know that all you want to do is protect me,” you sigh, letting your arms fall down to your sides. “I know you do. But you’re doing me no favors by trying to keep me sheltered. By treating me like I’m defenseless. Don’t forget, I’m a survivor too.”
“You already know how fuckin’ dangerous it is out here. Clickers, raiders—”
“I can handle it,” you insist, stubbornly.
“You’d be puttin’ yourself right in harm’s way!”
You shoot back, “You mean, the way you and so many other people put yourselves in harm’s way every single day for the sake of keeping Jackson safe?”
A frustrated growl rumbles through his chest. “Christ, why are you bein’ so fuckin’ foolish? You’re just askin’ to get yourself killed!”
“I can take care of myself!” You realize your hands are shaking and curl them into tight fists at your sides in an effort to hide it. “Just accept it, Joel! Accept that I can take care of myself, alright?”
That is all it takes to tip Joel over the edge he’s been teetering on. “Then what do you fuckin’ need me for?” he shouts, his voice thundering over the quiet plains of Wyoming. “If you can take care of yourself, what’s the point in us bein’ together? Why are you with me?”
“Because I love you!”
As soon as the confession comes tumbling out of your mouth, you take a step back, your wide eyes meeting his own. Until now, neither of you have ever called this what it is, been bold enough to say it’s love.
Loving after so much grief, so much loss, is daunting. It’s something you thought you would never be capable of doing again, not in this lifetime. Not in this world. It’s happened, though.
You love Joel Miller.
And he loves you.
He’s never told you he does, but he’s shown you.
From the way remembers how you take your coffee in the mornings, to the way he laces his fingers with your own, holding your hand when he’s buried inside of you, whispering sweet nothings into your collarbone every single night.
“You—you what?” Joel’s whisper is hardly audible.
You inch your way closer to him, your voice soft. “I love you,” you declare once more. “I’m not with you because of what you can do for me. I’m not with you because you can take care of me.” Closer. “I’m with you because I love you—because I’m in love with you, Joel.” Closer, until your chest brushes against his, and he can smell the subtle scent of your homemade, rosewater soap. “The only thing I need, and have ever needed from you, is your love in return.”
His throat bobs. Before you can utter another word, he lifts his hands and gently takes your face, cradling it in between his large palms, gently. His eyes search yours, immediately finding the sincerity behind your words. Leaning down, he brushes the tip of nose against your own as one of his hands travels down, his long fingers curling around the nape of your neck. His thumb lightly strokes the column of your throat.
“I love you,” Joel says hoarsely. Three words he hadn’t said to anyone in over two decades—it feels foreign to him, they ring strange in his own ears. He tries it again, clearer this time, and with a little more confidence. After all, he’s only saying what he has known from the very start. “I love you.” His other hand moves to your hip, pulling you even closer to him. “M’gonna love you for the rest of my life, baby.”
He leans in further and presses his lips to yours lightly, at first, but he wastes no time in sweeping his tongue across your bottom lip, silently asking for more.
Your mouth parts for him, and he backs you against the ponderosa, kissing you deeply, greedily, like he’s a man starved.
You whimper into him, your hands sliding up his broad chest and past his shoulders until they’re tangled in his soft, graying curls. He breathes you in, like you are the oxygen he needs to stay alive.
It isn’t until you both hear the sound of rustling behind a nearby shrub that you’re forced to pull apart. “Don’t move,” Joel instructs in a hushed voice. He keeps you pinned against the tree, his hand abandoning your hip. He glances around, slowly reaching behind his back for his rifle. His tense shoulders relax when the both of you see a pair of rabbits dart out from one dried bush and straight into another. Exhaling an amused huff, Joel shifts his attention back to you and rests his forehead against yours.
Smiling, you reach up and softly graze his beard with your fingertips. “Guess it’s about time we called this what it is, huh?”
“Guess you’re right, darlin’.” He lifts his chin, brushing a kiss onto your forehead. “M’sorry for raisin’ my voice to you. For talkin’ to you the way I did. S’just, the thought of somethin’ happenin’ to you out here scares shit out of me.” Taking a step back, he pulls the strap of his rifle from around his shoulder. He chews the inside of his cheek and silently stares at the gun in his hands. After a minute, he meets your curious gaze. “Do you really wanna do this, sweet girl?”
You nod. “Yeah. I really do.”
Joel sighs. “Can I put a condition it?”
“Depends on what that condition is.”
“I’m your patrol partner. Every shift. Every rotation.”
You roll your eyes. “Joel.”
“At least for the first few weeks,” he bargains. “Last thing I need is for you to be paired up with some fuckin’ idiot who doesn’t know what the hell they’re doin’.”
Knowing that would be the only way he’d have some peace of mind, you decide to agree. “Fine. We’re patrol partners.”
“Alright then.” Joel nods and hands you the rifle. He flashes you a small grin. “Show me what you got, baby.”
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divider credit to @/saradika 💛
for fic notifications please follow @joelsgreysupdates!
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dunmeshistash · 7 months ago
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Okay I think I'm ready to write the second part of this post about Milsiril
To make it easier for me I'll just divide this into her relationship with Kabru, Mithrun and Helki (her ex-canary prisoner teammate)
First about Kabru
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This is an extra from the daydream hour 5. The caption says "Something like this might as well have happened" so its probably not canon but could be. I honestly think his reaction to Milsiril visiting and being overbearing says a lot about the type of relantionship they have. This is the fakest bitch in the whole of dungeon meshi, he never says what he trully thinks unless there's an advantage to doing so, he's a people pleaser that does and says anything to make people like/trust him. And yet he immediatly converts into "Mooooooom you're embarassing meeeeee" when he sees it's Milsiril.
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This translation used "Mom" but as I understand the original he uses the more formal version so I think it would be closer to "Mother" but still he acknowleges her as his Mother, and he acts like her kid in every interaction we see between them.
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I really don't understand where the idea that he learned to be fake from being "forced" to be her adoptive son comes from.
(Continuing under a cut)
The other interaction we see between them is the Kabru extra from the Adventurer's Bible
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Kabru comes to her with a deep fear he clearly has had even before she adopted him, he trusted her with this fear and she did not disappoint him, she comforted him and then gave him the information he needed to believe what she was saying
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I'd also like to point out in no moment she discouraged him from calling his his bio-mom "Mom". He also says she taught her children everything they asked
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I doubt this would only be true for him, it also mirrors something she said in the manga
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"You can go ahead and learn all you want about something else." I believe it when Kabru says she made every effort to answer her children's questions. I think this is also the way she expresses the love she has for them. Plus I love the thought bubble with Kabru mirroring what he learned from her. I also love this daydream hour, she sacrifices her own comfort to do something for Kabru.
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Milsiril isn't a perfect mother tho, besides the fact she is overprotective she comes from a very different culture from her children. I like to call her Kabru's white mom cause I think that would be the real world equivalent. This extra is the one I think the most about showing this context perfectly
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Kabru wants to share Utaya sweets but looks at his mom looking gloomy/rejected so he talks about fruitcake instead. This very rude for Milsiril to do since she's kinda trying to overwrite his actual cultural background, but I think its done more as a "I want you to like the things I like" rather than something nefarious, and once again Kabru doesn't hide at all his distaste for it, he does the bare minimum to please his mom since she's being dramatic but he doesn't lie to her, he shows how displeased he is about fruitcake, something he refuses to do when eating the harpy omelette that is way worse, because he must make a good impression for Laios. Kabru is honest with his overbearing white mom once again.
Now a little about Rin, from Kabru's context, this is her extra in the Adventurer's Bible
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(look at Helki he's such a gremlin i love him) anyway, Rin has a trauma about elves, they really mistreated her so she hates them, but when they notice she isn't thriving they go to Milsiril for help (Helki specifically I'll talk more about him next). I think this indicates she really has a better understanding of short lived kids, her kids are thriving differently from the ones the other elves try to care for. I'd also like to remember she lives secluded from other elves so while Kabru probably had lots of interactions with elves during his life, most of it was probably spent with Milsiril and her other adoptive kids. She also asks Kabru if he would do this to help Rin, he isn't being forced or anything, I also think it's good that Milsiril knows she cant take in any more kids, this to me shows she's worried about the quality of life her kids have. That is all to say, Rin is the one with elf trauma, not Kabru, because Kabru had Milsiril to shelter him from them.
Helki
This will be short and sweet since there's barely anything about Helki, he's her prisioner companion from her time in the canaries, but he was pardoned after Utaya, it says so in the Canarie's Structure page in the new adventurer's guide but I cant really find it translated again... so here's google's machine translation (I remember it saying "Retired and pardoned as a reward after Utaya", something like that)
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so officially he isn't a prisoner anymore, but I think he still works as a canary, even so he and Milsiril seem quite close, he is the one to go talk to her about Rin, He is there when she's training Kabru (both laughing at Kabru and then participating). I saw people theorizing she stays close to him because he is also someone who she can feel superior to, but I don't believe it at all, he's STILL in contact with her even after they have nothing to with each other, I think they really have a friendship, and there's no point where it seems like she feels like she's better than him or that he's less than her, people seem to interpret Milsiril and her relationships in the worst possible ways every time and I don't understand why.
This segways into Mithrun
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I've also seen people assuming she only got close to Mithrun because now he needs her and has no power over her, once again with the theory that Milsiril surrounds herself with people she can feel superior to. But once again, Milsiril had a change of perspective about Mithrun after seeing his Dungeon
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Rather than she feeling superior to him I think rather she realized he was just like her. (And I think she's friends with Helki for a similar reason, it's probably easier to see him as an equal than other nobles)
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I've also seen this part used as proof of that. "He said that you've got suspicious ulterior motives and that I shouldn't listen to you" as if that's true, but this is past Mithrun, the one that didn't trust anyone and thought ill of all his teammates, ofc he doesn't believe someone would help him without an ulterior motive. This doesn't prove much about her real motivations.
Also before she showed up, Mithrun was being cared for by servants hired by his brother, he isn't someone helpless she has power over, he is still a member of an important Noble family that has a caring brother providing for him, he can do without Milsiril, he had done without her for 20 years before Utaya happened and she quit the Canaries.
This is all to say I think Milsiril is just a white(elf) adoptive mom doing her best, I don't see much of anything nefarious about her or her motivations, she is flawed as all the dunmeshi characters are, she isn't a perfect mom, she isn't an evil mom, she's just a person.
Elves in general also see short lived species as "children" so I imagine this makes her "You'll always be my baby" attitude way worse, she really treats pre-teen/teen Kabru like he's a toddler sometimes. But she also respected him enough to go all out in training him. I think they're a family with everything that entails.
PS: I didn't get much into Interracial adoption since this is something that happens irl too and I don't know much about all the issues that entails, but in the end, in this case, it seems like a net positive for the kids she adopts considering all we see about how she raised Kabru.
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fallowfield · 2 years ago
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another good trope: shovel talk but it gets reversed on the parent/sibling/friend/etc. that gives it
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girlgenius1111 · 7 months ago
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hallmarks of sisterhood
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putellas!reader. r mediates a fight between her sisters. they don't realize they're tearing her apart in the process. at least, not until they ruin an important night for her. can they make it up to her? fluff & angst.
-------
Being significantly younger than your sisters, you were the true baby of the family, and were treated as such. You were already a pretty sensitive person, and the overprotective tendencies of the entire family only increased this. You were quite different from both your sisters. Alba was an extrovert, always talking, always laughing, never thinking too hard about anything. Alexia was quieter in public, but always loud at home in an attempt to match Alba’s energy. The competitive gene only seemed to skip you, and you hated conflict. Any type of it. You didn’t like yelling, you didn’t like arguments, and you couldn’t stand when people were mad at you. 
It made sense then, that you’d always been the mitigator between your sisters. They were always fighting growing up, and it took a very small you to break up the fights that the teenage versions of them would get into, often shoving your small body in between theirs and singing a song so loudly they had no choice but to stop arguing. If the singing didn’t work, then you’d cry, and that always worked. 
As you got older, your role changed slightly. You were still the mitigator, but more because you were logical and smart and both of them could normally trust you to be objective. You didn’t really enjoy it, but you hated it more when they weren’t speaking to each other, so you did what you could to resolve their fights easily. 
All of this considered, you were not surprised to catch yourself in an argument between them yet again. This one wasn’t super similar to the others, though, in that it was much more emotionally charged. Both Alexia and Alba seemed angrier at each other than normal, and you didn’t know why. Still, you tried to fix it, as best you could. 
-------
“I cannot believe you, Alba.” Alexia sighed, shaking her head at her other sister. 
“Don’t try to guilt trip me, Ale, this isn’t my fault. I told you before there was a chance I’d have to go to this conference.” Alba shot back.
“You don’t have to go, you are choosing to go. So you can hook up with that coworker you're seeing.” 
Alba flushed red with anger. 
“Let’s calm down, guys,” you began, shifting uncomfortably in your seat in the corner of the sectional. Neither girl paid you any mind. 
“I am going for work, Alexia, I wouldn’t sleep with anyone at a work conference.”
“Oh, yes of course, you’re so above that. You are notorious for not hooking up with people in inappropriate situations Alba, how could I forget. It was only 4 of my teammates you slept with? And how many of my other friends?” 
“You are such a-”
“Stop.” You cut in. “Alexia, that was mean. Alba, she’s just disappointed because she was looking forward to spending time with everyone.” You cut in, trying to cool the rising temperature of the room. 
“No, I am disappointed because we made a commitment to do this for Mami and now she’s backing out. Like always.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Alba scoffed. 
“The last trip to Ibiza. Mother’s day last year. My 25th birthday,” Alexia began to list, counting the events off on her fingers rather condescending. 
“Guys, please calm down.” You attempted. 
“Will you ever get over me missing your 25th birthday? Or are you going to have it engraved on your tombstone? ‘My sister missed my birthday once and I never shut up about it.’” Alba yelled, getting to her feet and walking closer to where Alexia was sitting at the kitchen counter. 
When Alexia rose to meet her, you stood nervously, too, moving a bit closer. “Why don’t we all stay seated?” You tried. 
Both of them continued to ignore you, as if you weren’t even there. “That is not the point, Alba.” 
“No, Ale, the point is that only your career is important. Everyone has to drop everything for football, but what I do doesn’t matter, and I have to bend over backwards to make things work with your insane schedule. The world doesn’t revolve around you, Alexia.”
“Oh my god, Alba. You are such a bitch.” Alexia sighed, rolling her eyes in a way she knew would make the younger girl furious.  
“You are the bitch, Alexia. A selfish, bossy, mean bitch,” Alba yelled, crossing her arms and taking a step closer to the older girl. 
“Alba, I swear to god,” Alexia threw back, the volume of her voice making you flinch. You stepped in between them, forcing them to both back up a bit. 
“Please stop shouting.” You pleaded, looking between them. Both of them turned to you, annoyed.
“Go somewhere else if it’s bothering you, pequeña! Adults argue. Grow up.” Alexia yelled, sending a glare your way. You stopped back, blinking away tears, looking incredibly hurt. Alexia sighed. “Sorry, nena, I didn’t mean-” 
It was too late, though, you were pushing past her towards the door of her house. “No, whatever. I’ll go. Solve your argument by yourselves for once.” You snapped. 
“Nice job, Ale, you made the el bebe cry.” Alba said mockingly. 
“Shut your mouth, Alba. Pequeña, come back,” Alexia called, but the door was already slamming shut behind you. 
You wiped at your eyes furiously, getting into your car. You’d always hated how sensitive you were, how anyone raising their voice at you made you cry. You couldn’t argue, couldn’t disagree without dissolving into tears. Normally, angry tears. You’d always been like this, and your sisters often made fun of it, but were aware of the fact that you hated yelling, and tried to avoid doing so. Even when they were fighting with each other. Today got too out of control, though, both of them taking this specific issue very seriously. 
They’d have to figure it out themselves, this time. You were done with this. They knew how you felt about conflict, and yet they always put you in the middle. It was exhausting and hurtful being caught in between them. They were adults, they could solve this argument. 
You and Eli didn’t live far from Alexia, and you reached home before you were really ready to. You needed to erase all evidence of your tears from your face before heading inside, because Eli could not know about this. You and your sisters did not tell on each other, for one thing. For another, there was a possibility the trip in question could be rescheduled and you didn’t want to ruin the surprise. 
You checked your face in the mirror, took a deep breath, denied Alexia’s phone call, and headed inside, prepared to pretend that nothing was wrong. 
------
You got past your mother with very few questions asked, as she was distracted reading over Alexia’s new Nike contracts. Your sister still had Eli read all her contracts, a habit you and Alba teased her about often. 
Eli did come knocking, though, only a few hours later, while you were in your room getting some homework done. “Nena?” She called from the hallway, not hearing a response to her knock. 
Still, you didn’t say anything, so she pushed the door open, only to find you asleep at your desk, your head resting on a pile of photographs, your computer opened up to photoshop. A black and white photo of your sister at training was pulled up, and Eli quickly averted her eyes, knowing very well she wasn’t supposed to see this particular assignment until you were done.
“Mija,” Eli said, covering her eyes as she heard you stir. “Go to bed, it’s late, and you are exhausted.” 
“Do not look, Mami!” You cried, sitting up completely and quickly flipping everything over and shutting your computer. 
“I’m not!” Eli replied, laughing at how secretive you were about these photos. 
“Okay, everything is away.” You said, standing to give your mother a hug before getting into bed. She squeezed you tight, as she always did, kissing your cheek before letting go. 
“Goodnight,” she said, giving you a kind smile. 
“Goodnight mami,” you replied, knowing she was smiling because she knew you were about to get back on your computer as soon as she left the room. 
“Oh, do you know why your sister’s are fighting? I texted the groupchat with them, and they both replied to me separately.” Eli asked with an eye roll, quite used to your sisters’ antics. 
“Something dumb, probably.” You said with an unconvincing laugh. Your mother gave you a weird look, like she didn't believe you, but didn’t push it. 
As soon as she was out of the room, you were, in fact, back on your computer, finishing up the final touches on a photo of Alexia. You were really too excited to be preoccupied with your sisters at the moment. You were in school studying photography, and after a recent exhibition at your school, a gallery in Barcelona had reached out and asked you to shoot a series for them to display. They’d given you full creative control, which was an insane amount of trust to put into a 20 year old, and you were determined not to mess it up. 
If that meant staying up late making sure every photo was perfect in the next couple days, so be it. You were proud of this work, and that wasn’t really a common feeling for you. You’d grown up in the shadow of your two sisters. Alexia was the best female footballer in the world, and Alba was… Alba. Everyone loved her. Nothing you ever did seemed to really make anyone pay attention, except for your Mami. Eli had always been careful to celebrate your and Alba’s accomplishments, like she celebrated Alexia’s, even if they weren’t of the same magnitude. Your sisters were a bit better than the rest of your family and friends, paying attention to what you did, but it always felt a bit like your mother was making them do so. 
This was your chance to do something impressive of your own. Something that everyone could understand, everyone could be impressed by. It was an opportunity you were not about to waste. You didn’t realize the potential that other people had, though, to ruin it for you. 
------
The next few days were busy. When you weren’t working on your photos, making sure they were perfectly edited and printed properly, you were worrying about what people would think about them. Or you were trying to pick the perfect outfit for Saturday evening, the opening of the gallery. There wasn’t a ton of time for you to respond to Alexia’s repetitive apologies, or to Alba’s pleading for you to be on her side. It was annoying, really, that during such an important and stressful week, they couldn’t leave you out of their argument. 
You finally had enough on Friday, pulling up the groupchat with both of them in it, and sending a rather harsh message. It wasn’t like you to be harsh and snap at them, and you were hoping they would get the message that they’d upset you, and you wanted to be left out of this. 
If one of you texts me one more time about this idiotic fight, I am going to tell Mami that it was you two who dented her car, not the neighbor backing into it. I am so tired of being pulled into the middle of this. Both of you apologize to each other for being mean, and get over it. 
You hoped that would be the end of it. When your phone buzzed a few minutes later, though, you knew that had been a naive hope. 
Alexia had responded first. 
It should not be hard to pick a side when I am right, nena.
Alba responded after that. 
You always let Alexia get away with things you’d yell at me about. You can both apologize to me when you are ready.
You weren’t really sure how Alba had decided that you’d sided with Alexia, but you certainly were not going to be apologizing to her anytime soon. You left them both on read, figuring they’d make up before the gallery opening tomorrow night.
-------
You were up pretty much the entire night before the gallery. This time, not because anything needed to get done, but because you were nervous. You were thinking about everything that could possibly go wrong. By the time morning rolled around, you slept for maybe a couple hours, and created a decisive list of every bad thing that could happen today. 
You actually hadn’t thought of everything, but you wouldn’t know that until later. 
You’d passed out just as the sun had started to rise, and Eli came in to wake you up only a few hours later. 
“Nena, despierta,” she said softly, setting down a mug of coffee on your nightstand and shaking your shoulder. 
You bolted upright in bed, and looked around frantically, startling your mother. “Am I late?!” You gasped, moving to get out of your bed as fast as possible. 
“No, no, you aren’t late. It is only 11. Relax, mija, everything is okay.” Eli soothed, gently pushing you back down onto the bed. 
You let out a relieved sigh, rubbing at your face with your hands. “Sorry.” 
“Did you sleep at all?” Eli asked with a disapproving look. 
“Not much. I tried, I swear, I just couldn’t turn my brain off.” 
Your mother patted your cheek reassuringly. “You’re almost done, nena. It’s all going to go perfectly.” 
You nodded, trying to believe her words. You just had this weird, nagging feeling that something was going to go wrong. There wasn’t time to focus  on this feeling, though, no matter how much you wanted to. There was simply too much to be done. Accepting the hug your mother offered, you got up, ready to prepare yourself for the long day ahead.
-------
You didn’t really think anything of it when you didn’t see either of your sisters right away. You were busy greeting other people, family and friends. Some of Alexia’s teammates had made it, and you spent some time taking in the awestruck expression on Mapi’s face when she saw the singular photo of her included. 
That was the best part of the whole thing, you decided. Getting to see everyone’s reactions to seeing themselves up on the wall. 
The theme was people you loved, in their happy place. The project was joyful and fun, radiating happiness. Looking at the photos made you smile, and you were glad to see that everyone seemed to have the same reaction as they took their time looking at each image. 
You had Mapi giggling at something Ingrid had said, a candid taken after a Barça game. Ingrid was smiling back at her, like making her girlfriend laugh was the only thing she wanted to do for the rest of her life. 
You had your Mami, sitting in the stands of one of Alexia’s games, looking on with pride all over her face. You had her pinching Alba’s cheek, a fond smile on her face as your sister said something that was, no doubt, ridiculous. 
You had your aunts and your uncles around the dinner table, all laughing hysterically. 
You had your friends at the beach, all lounging and staring out into the ocean, looking peaceful. 
You had your best friend sitting in the driver's seat of her car, singing along passionately to her favorite song. 
More than anyone else, though, you had your sisters. 
Alexia preparing to take a penalty, determined. Celebrating with her teammates after a goal. Cheekily blowing a kiss to Olga in the stands. Smiling proudly at Vicki after an impressive goal. Proudly wearing the captain’s armband in front of a completely sold out stadium. Leaned against Olga on the couch after a movie night, out cold. She was completely peaceful, with Olga looking down at her adoringly. 
You had Alba at the school where she taught. Candids of her face, when one of her students got the answer right, or made her laugh. With her dog, holding him up at the aquarium, eye level with one of the dolphins. You had her watching Alexia play, too, a grin on her face that you were sure she was unaware of. Your favorite of Alba was a photo you’d taken in your Mami’s kitchen, while she’d been baking. Alba was sneaking a taste of the cake batter, and you’d captured her mid-wink, giving the camera a smile while Eli’s back was turned to her. 
They hadn’t seen any of these photos; you’d almost gone crazy not showing them, and not giving in to them when they begged to see.
 You’d finally managed to break away from a crowd of your friends, having a moment to yourself, when you realized that you still hadn’t seen your sisters yet. Ale’s teammates were here. Some of Alba’s friends were here. The whole family was here. You checked your watch, a frown on your face, seeing that they were both already over a half hour late, which was unlike both of them. It was only when you saw Olga looking up at one of the photos she was pictured in, all by herself, that you really got a sinking feeling in your stomach. She was talking to Irene when you walked over and interrupted, gently pulling Olga away from the conversation. 
“Where is Ale? Is she coming late?” You asked, confused by the sad look on Olga’s face. 
“No, nena, I’m sorry. She didn’t want to see Alba, so she decided not to come. I tried to convince her to, but she didn’t listen.” Olga said delicately. You looked like you’d been hit across the face, honestly, and Olga wanted nothing more than to march home and drag Alexia over here, but she knew better to try to convince the blonde to do something she had decided she wouldn’t. “She said she texted you?” 
You pulled your phone out, taking a deep breath when you saw almost identical texts from both of your sisters. 
Can’t make it tonight. I’ll come see it another time. Good luck! 
Sorry, hermanita, I can’t come tonight. Love you.
You had been so excited for them to see their pictures. There was a little note up on the wall, too, a statement thanking everyone for coming. In it, you mentioned being excited to allow your sisters to finally see the photos, as they’d been begging to for a while now. And they hadn’t come. 
A wave of embarrassment washed over you, your cheeks flushing red. You were angry, too, but you blinked your tears back, looking up at Olga and trying to look more put together than you felt. 
“No Alba either.” You said, your voice cracking slightly. 
“Oh, nena, I am so sorry.” Olga whispered, pulling you into a tight hug. It was too soft, and too comforting. You pulled away rapidly, shaking your head. 
“It’s fine. I don’t care.” You said, cutting the brunette off before she could say anything else. “I have to go talk to someone, thank you for coming, Olga.” 
You rushed away from your sister’s girlfriend, focusing on taking deep breaths. You couldn’t be sad, not right now. So many people had come here to celebrate you and your work, and you weren’t going to ruin it. You could be upset later. It was almost excruciating, pretending that you weren’t upset that your sisters hadn't come, but you managed it. You kept up a pretty good façade for the rest of the evening, even when you saw Olga speaking in hushed voices to Irene and Mapi, even when everyone kept asking where Ale and Alba were. You held it together. Because you, unlike them, could pretend that nothing was wrong for the sake of others. 
-------
Your mother knew you better than anyone. You should have been thrilled, ecstatic. Everything had gone so well. Your photos had been a hit, the owners of the gallery had been thrilled. She realized neither of her other daughters had shown up, but she assumed they had talked that through with you. She wasn’t sure what was wrong with you, but when you declined going out with some of your friends as the night came to an end, Eli knew something wasn’t right. 
She had every intention of letting you come to her, but you weren’t talking. As everyone began to file out of the gallery, saying their final goodbyes, Eli overheard you tell your friends you were going to go home because you were tired. You didn't say a single word to her aside from telling her that you’d see her at home, before you practically fled the building, heading for your car. She didn’t couldn’t imagine what was wrong, never expecting her daughters to have done what they did. Eli didn’t even think of them being a possible reason as to why you were upset. Mapi pulled her aside, though, before she could go after you, an infuriated look on her face. 
“Do you know what your daughters have done?” She asked quietly. 
Eli frowned. “No. What have they done?” 
Mapi shook her head. “They both bailed on tonight over text to pequeña. They are in some stupid fight that they’ve put her in the middle of, and they didn’t want to see each other, so they didn’t come.” 
Suddenly, Eli was quite furious at her eldest daughters. There would be hell to pay, she’d make sure of it. How could they be so selfish, and ruin your night like this? You’d been almost beside yourself for weeks about this night, and she knew the people you wanted to impress most were your sisters. And they hadn’t come. Before she yelled at them, though, she needed to go home to you, because she was very sure that you weren’t okay. Your odd behavior made sense, now, and Eli’s heart ached at the thought of you driving all by yourself while you were so upset. 
“I will deal with them.” Eli said quietly. “Thank you for telling me, María, and for coming. It meant a lot to her.” 
Mapi smiled sympathetically. “Of course. Let me know if you need help kicking some Putellas ass.” 
Eli chuckled. “I will.” 
She set off to her car after that, ignoring Alexia’s numerous phone calls. Likely, Olga had arrived home and laid into her for not coming, and Alexia was looking to be let off the hook from her Mami that she hadn’t messed up that badly. Eli wouldn’t be doing that. 
-------
You didn’t make it far into the house. In your new dress, one that was reminiscent of the dress Alexia had worn to win her first balon d’or, you’d collapsed onto the couch, harsh sobs ripping their way out of your chest. You cried until your makeup ran and your chest hurt. Until your Mami arrived home, rushing through the door, her heart breaking when she saw the state you were in. Eli was by your side instantly, pulling you into her arms. It was rare that a hug from your mother didn’t make you feel better, but this was the case today. You weren’t really sure that anything would help, but you still buried yourself into your Mami’s arms, wishing more than anything that she could fix this for you. 
“They didn’t come, Mami,” you sobbed. 
“I know, mija, I am so sorry.” 
“Am I not more important than their stupid fight?” You asked, looking up at your mother with a devastated expression on your face. “I was so excited for them to see, I just wanted them to be proud of me.” 
Eli felt anger fill her at a level she’d never quite felt before. “I am proud of you, cariño, so proud of you. It’s all going to be okay, I promise. Everything is going to be fine.” She soothed, running her hand through your hair, shushing you softly. Her fury would have to wait, until you stopped crying. Eli would always put you first when you needed it, even if your sisters didn’t. 
-------
It was late by the time you’d stopped crying and headed up to bed. With a soft goodnight to your Mami, you’d slumped upstairs, barely changing into your pajamas before you collapsed into your bed, absolutely exhausted. Being disappointed was tiring, apparently. And you were more disappointed than you’d ever been in your life. 
Downstairs, Eli waited until she heard your door shut before she pulled her phone out, returning one of the 15 missed calls from her eldest daughter. Alexia picked up quickly, her voice dripping with guilt.
“Mami, I-”
“No. Do not try to explain yourself. You and Alba have done a terrible thing, Alexia. I am not sure how you will make it up to your sister, but you will. You will figure out how to fix it, you will apologize, you will mean it.” 
“Sí, Mami.” Alexia said, her voice small like when she used to get scolded for kicking the football in the house or holding the tv remote high out of her sisters’ reach. 
“I am so disappointed, Alexia. In you and Alba both.”
“I know, Mami.” Alexia replied, blinking hard to fight off her tears. “I’ll fix it, Al and I will fix it.” 
“You will. Goodnight, Alexia. I love you.” Eli was furious, but she’d always say it, always make sure her daughters knew how loved they were. 
“I love you too Mami,” the blonde choked out, feeling worse about this than she’d ever felt about anything in her entire life. 
Eli called Alba next, who was significantly more clueless about the situation. Neither had known the other wasn’t going, but it was beyond your mother how either of her daughters could have underestimated how important to you this night was. Alba was in tears, like Alexia, by the end of the call, also promising her mother she’d fix it. 
Eli knew the level of guilt Alexia and Alba must have been feeling at the moment, considering how protective they were of you. They never wanted you to be hurt, but you were. And they were the reason why. As she checked on you, ensuring you were asleep, she knew that her older daughters would go to the ends of the earth to make this up to you. 
--------
Alba was sitting on her couch, willing herself to be the bigger person and pick up the phone to call Alexia, when she heard a knock at the door. The brunette knew who was there before she pulled it open, not flinching when her older sister was standing on her front porch. 
Alexia had a drink carrier in one hand, and two bags in the other, giving Alba an unreadable look. “Can I come in?” 
Alba nodded, stepping aside to let her sister in. The blonde headed for the living room, setting the coffees down, and grabbing hers out of the holder. Alba grabbed the other, noting that it was her favorite coffee, and her favorite breakfast pastry, from her favorite bakery. A bakery Alexia didn’t particularly like, but had clearly stopped at just for Alba. 
It was a peace offering. One that Alba took, grabbing the coffee and the pastry, sitting on the couch next to her sister in a much less tense silence. They made up in the way only sister’s could, with no words necessary for either of them to know that the other was sorry for what had been said. 
“We fucked up.” Alexia said after a minute, glancing at her sister. 
“We really did.” Alba replied. 
“We have to fix it.” Alexia declared. 
“We really do.” Alba agreed. 
“Are you going to keep agreeing with me, or are you going to come up with a solution here?” 
“As the one who started the fight that led to us letting our sister down, I think it should be you who solves the problem, Alexia.” Alba retorted, a smirk on her face. 
Her sister shook her head, shoving the brunette’s shoulder lightly. “You are supposed to be the smart one, hermana. Get thinking.” 
“New car?” 
“New house?”
“Can we buy her a country?”
They broke into laughter, the tension completely gone from the room, before they really got brainstorming. They were a good team when they weren’t fighting, and it wasn’t long before they’d come up with something that they hoped would make up for their horrible behavior. 
-------
The minute you saw Alexia’s car pull into the driveway from your spot on the couch, you were standing up, prepared to flee the room. You’d known this would happen at some point today, but you weren’t ready to see them. You felt so humiliated and so neglected, you were sure that seeing them would have you in tears, and you didn’t really want to show that emotion in front of them. Not now, not when they were the reason you were so upset. 
You knew how important family was to your mother, though, and you knew that if she told you to stay and talk to them, you would. Looking at her cautiously, you took in the wary expression on her face. 
“Do you want to hear them out, mija?” Eli asked gently. 
“No. I don’t want to see them right now. Please don’t make me.” You begged. 
“I won’t make you do anything. Go upstairs, I’ll tell you when they’re gone.” Eli sighed, and with her permission, you practically sprinted up the stairs to your room, closing and locking the door behind you. 
Your older sisters walked through the doors to the house like they were afraid of what awaited them inside, and it seems that they should have been. Eli stood from her chair, walking over to them, looking unimpressed at the large present in Alexia’s hands. 
“Hola Mami,” Alba greeted softly. They both wanted to make this up to you, of course, but they also hated when their mother was mad at them. 
“I do not think that buying her a present is going to fix this.” Eli said pointedly. Alexia and Alba exchanged nervous glances, relaxing slightly when Eli allowed them further into the house. “What is it?” 
“It’s the new camera. The brand new canon model that she wanted, with all the extra lenses and storage and stuff.” Alexia said, feeling less and less confident about how she and Alba had chosen to go about this. 
“And you think that is enough?” Eli asked bluntly. 
“It’s a start.” Alba said, a bit defensively. “We know we messed up, Mami, and we missed the opening night but we can go see it today. Are you not being a little dramatic about this?” 
Alexia shot her younger sister a look, knowing exactly how hurt you were, because Olga had returned home from the gallery and told her. 
“You did not see her last night. When she realized you weren’t coming? She completely shut down. She talked to everyone she needed to, but I did not see her smile the rest of the night. She rushed out of the building just as the evening ended, and by the time I got home, she was sitting on the couch, sobbing. It was supposed to be her night, and you ruined it.” Eli snapped. 
Alexia and Alba both looked appropriately ashamed, their heads dropping, gazes pointed at the floor in an almost identical fashion. They felt guilty, obviously, but Eli wasn’t quite sure they understood that it wasn’t just about them missing your event. It was so much more than that. 
“She asked me why she is not more important to both of you than an argument. I do not want to spoil the gallery, but I do not think you understand how embarrassing it was for her to have countless photos of you two up on the wall, when you did not even come.” 
Both her daughters’ heads snapped up at this. “Of us?” Alba asked. “The project was of us?” 
“It was about her loved ones. You two were featured more than anyone else. She was so excited to see your reactions to the photos.” Eli continued, only making them feel worse. 
“Please, Mami, I cannot hear anymore.” Alexia said softly, her heart aching at the thought of how upset you must be at the moment. Every detail that her mother added made it worse. She wasn’t sure she’d ever done anything like this to you before, and the thought that you might not forgive her was filling her with anxiety. 
“No, you will hear all of it.” Eli said, shaking her head. “She said to me, ‘I was so excited for them to see, I just wanted them to be proud of me.’” 
“We are proud of her, she has to know that.” Alba cut in desperately. Her mother just shook her head. 
“She does not. Nothing she ever does feels very important to either of you, because it is always something you have done before. This was something that was her own, and she just wanted to share it with you. Everything your sister does is so that you two will be proud of her, and pay attention to her.” 
At this, Alexia stood up from the couch, walking over to the window and putting her face in her hands. Her shoulders shook with silent cries, and neither her mother or her sister were very surprised at the emotional outburst. Alexia was always emotional when it came to you; she remembered the day you’d been born, every milestone in your life. You were your very tough sister’s soft spot. 
“Do you think we can fix it?” Alba asked quietly, terrified of her mother’s answer. 
With a deep sigh, Eli nodded her head. Alexia turned around hopefully, hanging on to Eli’s every word. “Your baby sister has always been more forgiving than both of you. She is hurt, but she will forgive you. She loves you both too much not to.” 
Every word Eli said felt like a bullet to the chest to both of your sisters, something your mother was well aware of. She wasn’t going to sugar coat this. It was silent in the room for several minutes, every member of the family lost in thought. Alexia looked furious with herself, Alba looked like she was close to tears, and Eli just looked disappointed. She’d always trusted your sisters to take care of you when she couldn’t, but she wasn’t so sure she had that confidence in them anymore. 
“I have an idea.” Alexia said finally, looking between her mother and her sister hesitantly. They both agreed to what she proposed, though, and it wasn’t long before Eli had pulled out some paper and pens for her daughters. They both sat on the floor around the coffee table and got writing. It was reminiscent of when they’d do their homework in the same spot years ago, sitting on the floor so they could play with you while they finished their assignments. 
Now, though, you were painfully absent from the scene in front of your mother, and Eli could only hope that this would work. 
-------
Alexia and Alba agreed that only one of them would go upstairs, give you the two pieces of paper, and let you be for the evening. Alexia was desperate to see you, while Alba wasn’t sure she could do so without crying, and she didn’t particularly want to put that on you at the moment. You hated seeing your sisters upset, and she didn’t want to inadvertently guilt you into forgiving her before you were ready. So, Alexia made her way upstairs, agreeing to Eli’s warnings to leave you alone if you wouldn’t let her in. 
Her knock on your door was uncharacteristically gentle, and her voice was almost shaky as she announced herself. 
“Nena? Can I come in for a minute?” 
Taking a deep breath, you opened the door, feeling rather satisfied to see the guilt all over her face. 
Alexia stepped into the room, looking so nervous and so unlike herself. She was fidgeting with two pieces of paper in her hands, barely able to bring herself to look you in the eye. “I am so sorry, hermanita. More sorry than I can put into words.” She didn't seem to know what else to say, and you rolled your eyes. 
“Do you think that is enough?” You asked. 
Alexia shook her head rapidly. “No, I know it isn’t. Alba and I are going to fix this, nena, I promise. Whatever we have to do, whatever it takes. We will make this up to you. There is nothing more important to us than you.” 
Your eldest sister could tell you didn’t believe her, the way you looked away from her was a dead giveaway. 
“I know you are upset, and that is okay. I just… can I give you a hug, nena? You can still be mad at me and everything. I’d just really like an hermanita hug.” Alexia said vulnerably, tears clouding her vision. She had underestimated how painful it would be to see you so upset with her, but her chest truly ached as she took in the betrayal and disappointment on your face. A few tears fell from her eyes, and it was this bit of emotion that had you nodding your head, stepping forward as Alexia wrapped her arms around you almost painfully tight. 
It made you feel better, even though it probably shouldn’t have. Your sister’s hugs always felt warm and safe, and today was no exception. Even though she’d hurt you. It was still Alexia, and she was a hard person to stay mad at. Still, you pulled away before you wanted to, and the blonde cleared her throat, holding out the pieces of paper for you. 
“From me and Alba. We will be downstairs, if you want to talk.” Your sister opened and closed her mouth a few times, before shaking her head, mustering a weak smile, and leaving the room. She shut the door behind her, something she never did, always insisting on leaving it open just to bother you. 
You opened your sisters’ letters, not quite sure what you would be reading. You weren’t quite angry anymore, just sad. You were never one to hold a grudge, but you weren’t sure how they were going to be able to make this stop hurting. 
You underestimate, however, how well your sisters knew you, and combined with the information they had from Eli, they knew just what to say. You read both the letters a few times, tears streaming down your face for what felt like the 12th time that day. This time, though, they were good tears. 
Both letters were similar, but very… specific to each of your sisters. 
Alexia’s was practically a bullet pointed list, in her messy, big handwriting. There was a mark on the page that looked suspiciously like a teardrop, and Alexia talked about her emotions in the letter the way she always did in real life; saying as little as possible, while still somehow saying a whole lot. 
Alba’s was a real letter, paragraph after paragraph of neat writing, beautifully articulating what she wanted to say to you. It was always a bit surprising to remember how perceptive Alba was. She was a forgetful person, but not when it came to the things that mattered. This was clear in the letter, as she listed small details out that you hadn’t thought she’d noticed. 
Both of the letters were an apology. An apology, and a deep dive into how proud of you Alexia and Alba were. They apologized for not making it clear, before going back to when you were a baby, and they watched you walk for the first time. Through the years, they had overlapping and different memories of things you’d done that made them swell with pride. There were things you remembered, and things you didn’t, but they made you feel special all the same. Alexia and Alba did pay attention, that much was clear. Even if they weren’t always the best at showing it, they paid attention to you. 
It did more than a verbal apology could have ever done. It was something tangible, kind, warm and loving. It made you feel loved, and seen. It made you feel like you mattered. You weren’t Alexia, and you weren’t Alba, but you were you, and they felt that to be something much more special. 
You tried to hold out a bit longer, you really did, but you were putting the letters down and rushing downstairs before you could really stop yourself. 
You passed the kitchen on the way to the living room, where your Mami was preparing dinner, a small, relieved smile on her face. Wishing you had something funny and unbothered to say, you walked into the room, seeing your sisters sitting on the couch, looking pathetically distraught. 
“Hola.” You said softly, feeling indescribably happy when both of their faces lit up at the sight of you, and you quickly crossed the room, wedging yourself in between them. They made room for you, as they always did, allowing you to fit easily into your spot squished with Alexia on one side, and Alba on the other. 
They each wrapped an arm around you, and both tried to pull you in opposite directions. It was ironic, the way they used you to play a silly game of tug of war. This time, however, they stopped pulling when they realized neither of them would win. Instead, they both wrapped you into a very awkward and suffocating hug, arms wrapped around you from seemingly every direction. 
“I love you, nena.” Alexia whispered, pressing a kiss to the side of your head. 
Alba did the same to your cheek. “I am so sorry, hermanita, and I love you so much,” she whispered. 
“I know.” You said softly. “I forgive you.”  
And if it had been either of them in your position, it would have taken a lot more. You were the forgiving sister, though, and you’d really just needed proof that your sisters thought that you were as important as you felt them to be. 
When Eli came in the room a few minutes later, it was to see the three of you in a rather familiar position; you in the middle, each of your sisters holding on to as much of you as they could, completely content. They’d always like to hold you like that, starting when you were a baby. Alexia would carefully put you on the couch in between them, and put a movie on. They would take turns telling you all the important details your brain was far too small to comprehend, but you didn’t squirm, and you didn’t fuss. You would stay plopped right in between them, one of each of their fingers gripped tight in your hands. 
It was a lot different now, because you were all bigger. It looked like an uncomfortable pile of limbs on the couch, but Eli knew you were all as comfortable as you’d ever get. 
-------
Neither of your sisters seemed very willing to let you out of their sight anytime soon, which you were sure would grow annoying very fast. For now, though, you enjoyed the attention, especially when Alexia pushed the wrapped box that had been sitting on the table into your hands. 
And, you’d already forgiven them before you’d seen the camera they’d bought you, one that you’d been desperately wanting for a while. If you hadn’t forgiven them, though, you would have now. You could be bought, and your sisters were well aware of it. As was your Mami. She rolled her eyes as you stared in awe at the camera, as Alexia and Alba looked on proudly, sharing a discreet fist bump. Personally, Eli thought you’d let them off kind of easy, but she shouldn’t have underestimated you. You were a youngest child, and you knew how to get what you wanted. 
“Can we go see your photos after dinner?” Alba asked, not even getting a glance from you, your attention completely zeroed in on the camera in your hands. 
“Nope.” You replied. Alexia and Alba looked uneasily at each other, and then at their Mami for guidance, before you spoke again. “Alexia, you are going to clean my room. And Alba, you are going to make me those cookies I like. We can go see the gallery tomorrow.” 
Your face was smug, and your mother stifled a laugh as your sisters looked disgruntled at each other. Begrudgingly, though, they both nodded. 
“Anything for the princess.” Alexia mumbled, and Alba snickered quietly. 
“What was that?” You asked, turning your attention to your sisters. They looked at you in defiance, smirks on both of their faces, not willing to let you completely walk all over them, even if they deserved it. 
“You heard me.” Alexia teased. “The baby princess always gets her way.” 
“Really, Ale?” You asked calmly, before turning to Eli, your new camera briefly forgotten on the table in front of you. “Mami, do you have any plans in two weekends? I was thinking we could take a trip just the two of-” 
Alexia cut you off by rather aggressively throwing herself at you, covering your mouth with her hand. “NO HERMANITA!” The blonde shouted. “Oh, gross, nena, really?” She groaned, pulling her hand away when you licked it. You smiled triumphantly, managing to push away from her a bit. 
“You are not a princess, nena. Just a little baby.” Alba chimed in, reaching over from her chair to pinch your cheek in one hand. “Now keep quiet before you ruin the surprise and give Ale a stroke.” 
Your mother shook her head, taking pity on her eldest daughter, who looked prepared to explode at the thought of the surprise being ruined. “Do you think I do not know you were planning a trip for the four of us, Alexia? Honey, you asked me several times if I was free that weekend, and reminded me not to make any plans then either. You also asked me for hotel recommendations, and pretended it was for you and Olga. You are a bad liar, mija. I have known for weeks.” Eli laughed. 
Alexia frowned, shoving you and Alba both away from her as you both collapsed into giggles, despite the fact that this was entirely her fault, and you and Alba were blameless. She knew there was teasing coming her way, but the smile on your face was well worth it. Order had been restored, and both of your sisters had made promises to themselves, and to each other, to not let their arguments hurt you anymore. You were just happy to have them both there, at home. All four of you together, how it was supposed to be. 
-------
it will really always be funny to me that my sister and i do not say the words "i'm sorry" to each other. like we'd both rather die than apologize. she could hit me with her car and i wouldn't want her to apologize because... ew. anyway sometimes having a sister is cool and sometimes its not but i love mine.
everyone applaud me for not splitting this into two parts. seriously i am astounded at myself right now.
hope you all like it :) give me all your thoughts.
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a-pute11as · 7 days ago
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Softie - Alexia Putellas
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warnings - none?
words - 1.3k
Game day was your favourite, the build up of emotions, the performance anxiety mixed with the joy you felt every time you stepped onto the pitch. Nothing could ever beat the highs you felt when playing the sport you loved so much. Today was one of those days, well it was meant to be, yet the difference was that a very discoloured and swollen ankle caused by a dodgy tackle during international break meant you’d be missing out. The Barca medical team had decided it would be best to miss out on the upcoming away game, advising you to stay home and focus on rehab for the couple of days that your teammates would be away. 
Alexia had always been overprotective, both as your captain and girlfriend, she always had your best interest at heart and wanting her squad at full fitness meant she was quick to agree with the medical advice, even if that meant a couple days of prolonged separation. At first she did try her best to figure out a way you could successfully rehab whilst traveling with your team, but given the amount of walking an away trip often endured and the crutches you were temporarily restricted to, she decided against it. 
“Lo siento mi amor, we both know it’s for the best” Alexia hummed, her hand pressed against her cheek as you were saying your goodbyes at the front door of the shared apartment. Your body half limped against the wall as your crutches had been abandoned next to the sofa in your bid to say a proper goodbye to Alexia.
“Can you change your mind? It’s not too late for me to pack some things” You muttered, leaning into her soft hand as her thumb rubbed back and forth along your cheek. 
“Cari, you know what my answer is” She whispered, planting a small kiss on your forehead, leaving you to mumble in defeat.
You said your goodbyes and Alexia was soon gone, leaving you alone with the lack of comfort from your favourite person.
The next few days were full of rehab at the training center, consistent check ins from your girlfriend and a couple of facetime calls when she didn’t believe that you were doing your at-home recovery, something that Alexia often had to bribe you into doing.
You were now more stable on your ankle, meaning you could get around without the reliance on your crutches, allowing you the extra freedom of moving as you pleased. Ale was due home in a couple of hours and you knew she’d be tired so you set about the task of tidying your apartment. It didn’t take too long but the slightly limp in your step did somewhat slow you down and drain extra energy. 
After finishing you were quick to take a shower and put on a change of clothes, consisting of a pair of Alexia’s Spanish national team shorts and her hoodie. Stumbling back towards the sofa, you planted yourself on it comfortably, waiting for the door to open to embrace the person you’d had been missing. 
It didn’t take long for you to adjust yourself into a comfier position whilst the time seemed to drag. You searched for a questionable English reality show, one that Ale would ridicule you for whenever you asked to watch it together, she never got the appeal of British humour yet it made you feel at home. Your phone pinged as you made another adjustment to your leg to seek some kind of peace from the discomfort of baring weight on it had caused. 
Amor -
Get some sleep, the plane has been delayed slightly so i will be late home and i know you’re tired already
You furrowed your eyebrows at her suggestion of sleep, determined to greet her with wide eyes and a smile as soon as she entered the room. 
You -
Ale i’m wide awake, i’ll be here when you’re up so you can tell me all about it
In reality you already knew all about it, you had watched the match with Ellie, who was also kept back from traveling due to recovery, you had been receiving updates from both Patri and Pina about the ‘cute’ things Ale had said in passing conversations about you. As well as a message from Kiera asking if your girlfriend would ever not make up excuses for the time when you both snuck away from a team celebration to cuddle. Her usual excuse was to blame it on you, but in reality she was tired after a big win and didn’t want to look too soft to the rest of the team. 
*Incoming FaceTime call from Amor*
“Hola cari” Alexia smiled, as the phone lit up your face.
“Hi babe, everything okay?” You smiled back, stifling a yawn that tried to expose your tiredness to your girlfriend. 
“Just thought I’d check in before the flight, make sure you’re as wide awake as you say you are” Her smile shifted into a smirk knowing exactly the type of person you were. 
“No confias en mi, amor?” You questioned, tilting your head to the side, teasing her intentions. 
“No cariño, confío en ti, pero siempre estás cansada y siempre te quejas." She responded, mocking your head tilt with similar teasing intentions. 
“Ale who’s that?” Patri said, peering her head into the screen, a smile appearing on her face as she realised who it was, “It’s lover girl!” She added, using the nickname she had given you when you first let her know about your relationship. She was quick to take the phone from Alexia’s han for herself. 
“Patri, give her the phone back” You laughed, knowing she had every intention of causing some kind of trouble.
“No, venga, say hello to everyone” She held the phone up, announcing your presence causing you to wave at your teammates that had now focused their attention on the phone.
“Are you staying up to give your girlfriend a goodnight kiss?” Pina laughed, as she began to blow kisses towards the phone.
“Oye, dámelo” Alexia said, standing as she grabbed the phone from Patri’s hand swiftly, “The flight is boarding now amor, go to sleep”. You mumbled in response before saying your goodbyes and hanging up.
Even though you were determined to stay awake, it didn’t take long for your eyes to grow heavy as the comfort from Alexia’s borrowed clothes took over your senses.
“Mi amor, wake up” Alexia cooed, her hand running through your hair to stir you through your sleep.
Your only response was a few very tired grumbles as your eyes opened to the sight you’d been waiting for. It took a couple of seconds for you to realise what was going on before a sleepy smile overtook your face.
“Ale, you’re home” You smiled, pushing yourself up off the sofa and wrapping your arms around her quickly.
“Si, I thought you weren’t tired huh?” She laughed, placing a kiss on the top of your head. 
“It was an accidenttttt” You whined, “I got comfy in your clothes and they smelt like you so it made me tired”. 
“Oh nena, vamos a la cama” She suggested, taking hold of my hand and leading me towards our bedroom. 
“I’m not even tired amor” You announced, as if there was any use convincing her that you were telling the truth. 
Within 5 minutes both you and Alexia were settled in bed, your head resting on her chest as her fingers made their way through your hair slowly. Your hands ran up and down her chest as you both sleepily talked through how you spent your days and the parts you missed each other the most.
“Patri and Pina didn’t stop teasing me about you staying awake for me to get home” Alexia laughed slightly, “They don’t think I’m tough anymore”.
You sleepily laughed in response, “You’re a massive softie, I think they already knew that”. 
a/n - not sure how i feel about this one, so v sorry if its a lil shit x
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benjinotes · 4 months ago
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𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞 - benjicot blackwood (fancast)
summary: the last thing you expected while coming to your brother's football game was to catch the attention of one of his teammates.
pairings: benjicot blackwood x fem reader
warnings: juicy, whipped benji, little mentions to gore, overprotective older brother(mentions only), modern au, sweet reader, too much fluff. aged up reader. aged up benji.
n/a: idk anything about american football, Jacaerys is a Strong/Targaryen.
wc: 4k+
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don’t translate without my permission !
The noise of excited shouts was one of the only things Benjicot could hear outside the locker room, mixed with the distant sound of laughter and lively conversations, all echoing indistinctly, as he took another long drag on his cigarette.
Taking his phone out of his pocket and checking the time, he saw that he still had about 45 minutes before he needed to enter the locker room and prepare for the game. Despite this, the anxiety inside him continued to build, making it hard for him to stay calm.
It was the first game of the season for Benji and one of the most important of the championship. However, the time he had spent away due to a foolish fight had left him a bit rusty and out of sync on the field, and despite the extensive training he had undergone in recent weeks, he still struggled, which not only made him anxious but also extremely angry.
The fight with Aeron Braken, the Greens center, had not only been ugly and bloody but also extremely difficult for the coach and his teammates to forgive him for it. Braken’s broken nose had resulted in Benji being suspended during summer training and the early games of the season. Nevertheless, Benji did not regret his actions, believing that Aeron’s stupidity had forced him to react the way he did.
Still, he couldn't bear to deal with the consequences of his own actions. Almost being expelled was a tough blow to take, and the ways he found to vent his frustration were anything but healthy and cool. However, what really left him with a sour taste in his mouth was the fact that all of his teammates looked at him with disappointment after the fight plus the game he made them lose. Those looks came back even stronger during the stern lecture that followed in the locker room.
Benjicot still remembered the long and stern lecture given to him by the team's coach, Harwin. He swore that this was one of the rare occasions when he had seen the coach so enraged, not only because of the defeat but also because of the frequent conflicts in which Benjicot was involved. However, deep down, he understood the source of Coach Strong's anger. After all, that had been the last game of the season, and Benjicot had ended the team's chances of victory against their biggest rivals.
Plus, if any of his teammates had behaved similarly, Benji himself would not hesitate to direct his frustration towards at them. So he was no one to judge the cold attitude his teammates and coach had towards him.
After taking one last drag from his cigarette, Benjicot threw it to the ground, crushing the butt with force and irritation while letting out a sigh full of frustration and nervousness, allowing his eyes to wander over the dimly lit parking lot, taking in the sparse activity around. It was then that he noticed your figure wich seemed out of place as you looked around with a confused and uncomfortable posture, causing him to furrow his brows in questioning before heading towards the figure with curiosity.
He had never seen you before around college, let alone at the football stadium, and observing your posture and the way your eyes moved around the parking lot, as if searching for something or someone, it was clear to him that you were clearly not a common stadium visitor, or at least not that one specifically.
Even so, as he approached you, Benjicot's gaze was irresistibly drawn in your direction. The parking lot lights illuminated your pretty, delicate face, highlighting your big, confused eyes, which seemed a little brighter than usual. Every detail of yours left Benjicot a little perplexed, making him blink hard to regain the concentration that you had snatched from him without realizing it, yet he just continued to walk towards you, a little more enthusiastic than before.
However, he couldn't help but notice that you were carrying a large training bag, just like the one he had left in the locker room before going out to smoke. This made him frown even more, a little confused and somewhat disconcerted, since he knew all of his teammates' girlfriends, and if you had been introduced to him, he would certainly have remembered.
“Hey!” Benji called as he approached you, a smirk forming on his lips when he saw you jump in surprise at his sudden appearance. He couldn’t help but notice how your lips parted in surprise, adding an extra layer of charm to your reaction.
You quickly turned toward the voice and gave a small, polite smile in his direction. "Oh, hey!" You replied softly, and the boy's smirk grew at the sound of your voice, causing him to tilt his head in an almost imperceptible movement towards it.
Benjicot took the opportunity to look at you closely, noticing how your cheeks were flushed from the night cold, contrasting with the red tip of your nose, which made you even more beautiful. He also noticed the way your beautiful hair was gently blown by the wind and the delicate necklace around your neck with a letter, probably your initial. However, what caught his attention most was the smile you had on your face, which seemed more genuine than a simple polite smile.
He scratched his throat almost gently. "Are you lost?" He asked curiously, shifting his gaze to the bag in your hand.
The question made you sigh while making an upset grimace, and Benjicot had to bite his tongue hard at the sight. He had no idea what was happening to him, but at least the metallic taste in his mouth was helping him to concentrate. "I think so." You admitted softly, and Benji nodded, waiting for you to continue.
"I came to bring my brother's training bag, but I don't know where he is." You continued, and he almost sighed in relief when he heard the word "brother" instead of "boyfriend."
Still, he couldn't help but feel uncomfortable knowing that you were the sister of one of the guys on the team, but that you had never spoken to him before or even met him.
Perhaps it was a stupid mindset, but he couldn’t shake the feeling nonetheless.
"What's your brother's name?" Benjicot asked, trying to sound soft, but his tone still came out a bit rude, which made him scratch his throat again. "Maybe I can help you. I'm a football player too." He admitted, this time ignoring the tone of his voice and giving a smirk at your relieved expression.
“Really?” You asked, relieved, as you saw him nod. “I’m looking for Jacaerys Strong; he’s my brother!” You said with a small smile. You couldn’t help but notice that his face seemed to grow a bit paler, which made you furrow your brows in concern.
Benjicot blinked, surprised. Jacaerys was not only his teammate but also one of the players who had been most upset with him after the big fight. Moreover, he was Coach Strong's son. The realization that you were Jacaerys’s sister—and thus possibly the coach’s daughter—caused a slight discomfort in Benji’s stomach, making him feel uneasy. Although he didn't know why.
"Oh yeah, don’t worry." He said after a short time of silence, scratching his throat and ignoring your worry. "If you want, I can give it to him." Benji offered to help, slightly uneasy, but the corners of his mouth curled up as you grinned relieved.
"That would be great, thank you so much," you said, giving him another warm smile as you handed over the bag gently. You didn’t notice how Benji seemed to hold his breath when your delicate hand made brief contact with his rough one. "You have no idea how much this helps me. I should already be with my mother and stepfather by now, and I was getting really anxious trying to find my brother or dad"
Dad. Benjicot swallowed hard at that word but tried to keep his posture straight. "I understand; there's no need to worry." He said he was trying to hide his nervousness. "You can go to your family now." Benjicot spoke, although he didn't want your short conversation to end. However, he knew that sooner or later he would have to get dressed for the warm-up before the game.
You nodded."Anyway, thanks again...?" You stretched out your hand, hoping he would say his name.
"Benjicot, Benjicot Blackwood...?" He asked back, reaching out his hand to shake yours as gently as possible. A shiver ran down the back of his neck when he felt your touch, and he gave a satisfied smile when he heard his name. Trying to ignore the mention of your last name, Strong, at the end.
"Well, have a good game!" you said with a small, gentle smile and a small blush on your cheeks after a few moments of silence, gently withdrawing your hand. He gave a soft, contained laugh, though he clearly missed the warmth of your touch.
"Thank you," Benjicot replied, gently squeezing the training bag between his fingers. "I'll see you after the game." He said it without thinking, but you were already heading towards the stadium. He took a deep breath before turning around and heading towards the changing rooms with his heart racing, but this time not with nervousness.
— — —
It had been a few days since Friday's game, and in that time, Benjicot and you hadn't exchanged any words, which left him frustrated in a way. Since your meeting, Benjicot has started seeing you everywhere at the university, something that hadn't happened before. But now, you always seemed to be there almost everywhere he went, looking at him from afar, sending sweet smiles his way, and waving to greet him, and he felt stupid for not having noticed you sooner.
Benji couldn't concentrate on anything because of this, which made him even more restless. With each training session, his frustration accumulated, and he became more aggressive in exercises and in disputes on the field. Your smiling face and constant presence, even from a distance, moved him in a way he couldn't explain. He tried to focus on his training and academic tasks, but his mind always returned to you, distracting him in a way that left him a little disconcerted.
He felt sick about having an interest in his coach's daughter, but he couldn't help it. Your presence almost left him mesmerized and even a little dazed. At that point, it was too late to turn back, and he knew he couldn't go back, not when you had already infested his every thought and not when you looked so beautiful sitting on the café terrace across the street.
He swore he had forgotten the right way to breathe when his eyes met yours, and without wasting any time, he walked over to your table.
"Hi." He greeted you as he sat across from you, his heart fluttering when you smiled too softly.
"Hi, Benjicot." You greeted back, looking at him over your laptop, and he tilted his head a little when you said his name.
"Call me Benji or Ben." Benji said casually as he took a cigarette out of his jacket. You nodded. "What are you doing there?" He asked, pointing his chin at his laptop, more interested in hearing you talk than knowing the answer.
“Nothing special, to be honest.” You replied softly, giving a light cough when Benji took the first drag of his cigarette, which caused him to put it out immediately. “It’s just my final project for literature class.” You frowned a little as you spoke, which made Benji chuckle. However, he quickly composed himself when the waitress came over to take their order.
"Congratulations on winning Friday's game." You said, taking a sip from your drink. He blushed slightly as he heard your, and you smiled a little when you noticed, prompting him to take a sip of his beer to cover it.
"Thanks." He said proudly, knowing that he had been one of the reasons the team had won, as he had scored a touchdown in the second half and another in the second half. "It was my first game after being suspended." He admitted it, almost widening his eyes when he saw that he had let that information slip.
"I know," you said, giving him a smile. He bit his cheek once again, trying to understand why he felt so nervous about the soft look you were giving him. "Cregan told me about the fight during summer training," you admitted, and Benji grimaced at that.
He wasn't jealous of Cregan; quite the contrary, Cregan was a good friend and was already dating his youngest aunt, Alysanne. However, Benji was furious that he had missed the opportunity to meet her earlier. He still didn't know if he wanted to punch Bracken again for causing this loss or if he regretted his own impulsive temper that led him to this. Either way, frustration was evident in his expression.
When you realized he wasn't going to speak, you leaned forward a little in an attempt to break the silence, and Benji couldn't help but take a discreet look at your chest. "Well, if it's any consolation, my brother said that guy deserved the punch." You admitted it, and Benji looked into your eyes, a little surprised.
"What? Wait? Seriously?" He asked at once, and a good feeling passed through his chest as you giggled. Fuck, you looked pretty.
“Yes, he did,” you replied, and once again, confusion crossed his face. The day that fight happened, Jacaerys had been furious with him. Jacaerys was probably one of those who bothered him the most during the entire situation. Although before he hadn't minded so much, knowing that his brother considered it deserved now made him, in a way, calmer.
"Did your father say anything?" Benji asked hesitantly, but you just shook your head. "And what did you think of that?" He found the courage to ask, not knowing for sure if he wanted the answer.
You put the drink on the table calmly and looked at him for a few seconds, creating a silent tension that made him anxious. Before he could react, you took his rough hand in both of yours and said, with disarming sincerity, "I don't think anything about the fights, but I enjoy your company." He scratched his throat with his free hand, visibly surprised and a little disconcerted, and then intertwined the fingers of his other hand with yours. The unexpected gesture made his face flush, causing a feeling of warmth to take over his body.
"I also enjoy your company." He admitted it without any shame, giving your hand a squeeze. "I hope we can meet more often," he said, and he smiled when he saw your flushed face.
Laughing softly, still blushing, you replied, "I don't think that's going to be a problem, Benji." He couldn't help but feel his heart beat faster at the way you said his name.
— — —
Over the next few weeks, you and Benji met up more times, not only at the little cafe near the university but also in other places outside the university campus, causing you to get closer and closer, and this time, instead of staying distracted during games and training due to your influence, Benji became even more focused, but his mind was constantly thinking about you.
Benjicot was enveloped in an unsettling certainty: he was in love with you. This realization disturbed him, yet it did not come as a surprise. After all, it was entirely natural to fall for someone like you. Your sweetness pierced through the most violent and unpleasant facets of his personality, and despite that, you embraced him completely without judgment. This led him, almost unconsciously, to walk in love with you.
Falling in love seemed like a feeble concept to him, and he knew that such a mundane term could not capture what he felt for you. So he didn’t merely fall towards you; he walked with each step almost unconsciously, yet fully aware of his ultimate destination: you, and only you.
He knew that, by now, your brother was already aware of what was happening between you two. The way Jace observed him in the locker room made this clear, and even though he had known Jace for some time, he feared that he, like your brother, would not accept whatever both of you had.
However, Benji was determined to reveal his feelings to you, and perhaps that was precisely the reason why his hands were so sweaty at that moment as he waited for you in the same parking lot where he saw you for the first time.
He swore he could throw up at any moment, and the fact that you were taking longer than usual made him uneasy, afraid that for the first time you would dump him. He was more nervous than his game night.
So when he looked up, his heart almost came out of his mouth as he saw you walking towards him clumsily, the cold coat covering you all over, and he swore you looked more beautiful than the day before.
"I'm really sorry. I had to take Luke to class, and then I got stuck in traffic." You started, but before you had finished speaking, Benjicot stood in front of you, holding you in his arms with such gentleness. that made your heart beat loudly.
"I'm in love with you," he said bluntly, looking at you with intense determination but a nervous posture. You opened your mouth, too stunned by the sudden confession.
To say you were surprised was an understatement; you were completely stunned by the confession, even though you realized the clear feelings that Benji had for you. He always showed special care, treating her with attention that stood out from the way he interacted with others. He opened doors, pulled out chairs, and gave subtle compliments—small gestures that revealed his dedication. However, you never expected this intensity to be exposed so directly.
Yet, despite the shock, you weren't dissatisfied. In fact, this intensity of his was one of the reasons why you liked him so much.
"What?" You managed to ask, and Benjicot blinked slowly before moving even closer to your body.
“I’m in love with you,” he repeated, his heart beating in tune with yours. "I spend every day thinking about you. Damn, I'm pretty sure you're the first thing I think about when I wake up." He licked his lips, closing his eyes briefly to hide his nervousness.
"I never believed in all that shit about good luck charms, but ever since you came into my life, everything started going right for me. I play better; I'm calmer. Shit, I even stopped smoking so much because of you." He admitted it, and you felt your eyes begin to water at the confession.
"Please tell me something," Benjicot pleaded softly, anxiety evident in his voice. The silence that followed his confession seemed like an eternity to him, and worry was beginning to take over his body.
You could clearly see the nervousness in his eyes and the subtle trembling of his rough hands that held your shoulders. You blinked once again, still processing the intensity of his words while keeping your own feelings in mind.
So, without further hesitation, you took a step forward, and before Benji could say anything else, you connected your lips to his with a force that left him surprised, yet he didn't take long to respond to the kiss with the same amount of force and intensity that he confessed his feelings.
Benjicot moved his hands to your waist when he felt your arms hugging his neck, then squeezed your waist to the point that you opened your mouth in surprise.This left an opening for him to massage your tongue with his own, entrancing you with the way he dominated the kiss that you had initiated yourself.
Neither of you know how long the two of you were immersed in kisses and making out; however, neither of you cared, only separating occasionally due to a lack of air.
But when you two finally separated, you saw his swollen lips curving in an adoring smile, which made you give him the same smile in his direction. "I think you like me." He hummed, the scar on his lip becoming more visible as his smile grew.
"Actually, i’m completely in love with you." You admitted it sweetly, and Benjicot grinned before crushing his lips to yours once more.
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lol i’m too juicy, mb
tag list: @h-0-error @whiteoakoak @spider-stark @rebeccawinters @haydee5010 @knight-of-flowerss @weird-things-i-think-about @rhaenys-nyra @haydee5010
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hischierhoney · 9 months ago
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OFF LIMITS
nico hischier x hughes sister!reader
part 2: I Know available now!
It’s not the first time they’ve run into you on a night out, and Nico’s pretty sure it won’t be the last. You live in New York, close enough that your paths overlap quite often. It is, however, the first time he’s seen you this drunk. On top of that, it’s the first time Nico’s run into you without your brothers with him.
Jack may be younger than you, but what he lacks in age he makes up for in overprotectiveness. When they run into you at a bar, Nico rarely gets a chance to even say a word to you before Jack is questioning how much you’ve had to drink or why you’re even out in the first place.
But Jack is in Toronto, for the All Stars game, and Luke’s still too young to be out at a bar and is also out of town, and you’re there, standing under a neon sign, leaning up against the wall. You look hazy. Out of it. There’s a guy standing nearly over you, arm next to your head on the wall. Nico’s stomach twists.
“Isn’t that Hughes’ sister?” Someone asks.
Nico nods, juts his chin at the scene unfolding. “Does she look uncomfortable to you?”
His teammate lets out a snort. “Was wondering the same thing.”
Nico keeps a watchful eye on the situation for just a moment. He doesn’t want to overstep, but something feels off. When you put your hand on the guy’s shoulder and try to push him away, and he stays put, caging you in farther, the switch flips. He’s gone from concerned friend to overprotective captain within a second. He passes his beer off to someone and makes his way across the bar in a few short steps.
“Hey man. Back off.” He snaps.
The guy turns with a glare. Nico stands his ground. Your eyes meet his, and he watches relief wash over your face. He knows then that he’s made the right choice.
“I saw her first,” the guy sneers.
Nico really didn’t want to get in a fight tonight. He was supposed to have a chill night out with the guys, maybe talk to a couple girls, get his mind off of… things. But now he’s here.
“Nico,” you say, softly, and he watches the guy’s face drop as he realizes you know Nico.
“Hi,” he says, kindly and quietly to you. He juts his chin at the guy and shoves his shoulder firmly. “Get lost.”
The man melts away into the crowd. Nico watches him go. Then he turns back to you, to where you’re leaning against the wall, doe eyed and drunk as hell as you stare up at him. His breath gets caught in his throat for just a moment- if your brothers knew the things he thought about when you looked at him like that, they’d have his head. Jack and Luke are a bit oblivious, he thinks. He’s lucky he’s not around you and Quinn at the same time very often. There was that game last year, in Vancouver- you in your Devils jersey, elbowing him lightly, and Quinn’s glare trained on him, one raised brow, like he was just waiting for Nico to take a wrong step.
“My hero,” you say, reaching out to tug on his wrist.
Your words are extremely slurred, and when he gets a closer look he realizes you’re probably close to blacking out. The light is gone from your eyes. He winces.
“Okay, schatz,” he says. He ruffles your hair just to get you to stop staring up at him through your eyelashes, afraid of the way it makes his heart jump. “Can I call someone to come get you?”
You shrug. “Where’s Jacky? Or Lukey?”
Nico groans. “Toronto, and who knows. Not here, though.”
You purse your lips. “Right.” You dig in your pocket for your phone, find it, and Nico watches you try and turn the screen on with no luck- it’s dead. “Huh. That’s not good.”
And… Nico could call one of your brothers. Could ask for some sort of phone number- a roommate or a friend or anyone. But as you stare up at him, you lean away from the wall and fall into his chest, and he knows he needs to act quickly. Preferably before you pass out at the bar.
…..
You don’t remember the walk out of the bar, or the car ride, or the elevator up to the apartment that you’re sure you must’ve taken. Your world zaps back into focus on the entryway of Nico’s apartment. You’ve been here twice- both for parties. It’s different when it’s not full of people. Feels more like Nico.
You toe your shoes off in the doorway. Nico swipes them to the side with his foot and then reaches out to catch you when you stumble. You lean into his shoulder and laugh- he smells good, like honey and whiskey. You want to breathe him in. He laughs, too- you can tell by the way his broad shoulders shake.
He leads you out of the entryway and into the kitchen. He grabs you by your hips to maneuver you, and you nearly squeal at the feeling of his fingers splayed against your body. Instead, when he moves you to lean against the counter, you sigh. You brace yourself, elbows on the granite, and stare up at him as he moves through the room.
“Stop staring at me like that,” he says in a warning tone.
“Like what?” You ask, innocently.
If he’d look at you, you’d bat your eyelashes at him. But he’s not looking, and you’re not going to waste your energy. He has his head in the fridge, an empty glass in his hand. He returns with a pitcher of water and pours it into the glass before sliding it over to you.
He never clarifies what he means by staring like that. You want to circle back to it, but you’re getting really tired, and the water is cool and refreshing. You laugh when you spill a little bit, the water running down your chin and neck. Nico just groans and rolls his eyes.
“You’re drunk,” he states, like you both didn’t already know it.
You nod. “I had a lotta tequila.”
He gives you a look of exasperation mixed with affection. “Trying to forget?”
You shrug. “Something like that.”
Once you’ve finished the glass, he starts maneuvering you again, hands on your shoulders this time as he walks you down the hallway. You wonder what it would be like to have him do this all the time- maybe when you’re not drunk. Does he manhandle his girlfriends, his dates, like this? Maybe manhandle isn’t the right word. You don’t feel handled, you feel… taken care of. Like he’s making sure you’re exactly where you should be. It’s sweet. It makes you shiver just a little bit.
He mistakes the movement for a chill, and he rubs his hands up and down your shoulders. You sigh. The two of you step into the bathroom, and he digs through the drawer until he finds a new toothbrush and toothpaste, and he hands them both to you.
You stumble your way towards the bedroom five minutes later, his hands on your hips again. He pushes open the door to his bedroom and leads you to the bed, having you sit down on the edge while he heads for the dresser. You look around. You’ve been to his place, but never here. It’s… calm. Quiet. The sheets and duvet beneath you are soft, and the lamp next to the bed casts a warm glow over everything. He has trophies taking up space on his desk. The bed is unmade, blankets rumpled and messy.
“Always wondered what your room looked like,” you say.
His shoulders tense, though he shakes it out a few moments after. “Yeah?”
You nod, forgetting he isn’t looking at you, and then supplement with words. “Can learn a lot about a person from their bedroom.”
He laughs and looks over his shoulder at you. “What have you learned, then?”
You shrug and cast your eyes to the ceiling. He goes back to rifling through the drawers. You flop backwards onto the end, laughing lightly at the way it bounces beneath you.
Something lands on your stomach- a large t-shirt and a pair of shorts. You pick them up and hold them above your head.
“Get changed,” he says. When you lean up to look at him, the whole room spins. He sighs, like he can tell. “I’ll be back in a second, okay?”
…..
Nico nearly panics five minutes later, because he knocks on the door to ask if you’re decent and you don’t answer. He’s torn between worry about seeing something he shouldn’t, and worry about you dying- one of them trumps the other, so he shoves his way into the room frantically.
You’re laid out on the bed, swallowed up by his t-shirt, the drawstring of the shorts pulled tight around your waist. Your lips are just barely parted, soft sighs escaping with each rise and fall of your chest. You’re asleep. He could leave you, but right now you’re asleep on your back, and very drunk, and he’s worried you’re going to throw up and- they warned him about that, years ago, when he first started going to parties. Friends don’t let friends sleep on their backs.
He crawls up onto the bed and tucks you into the blankets. Then he rolls you onto your side, and sighs when you immediately try to roll back onto your back. He repeats the process, and this time you groan loudly in response. Without really thinking about it, he sits down on the bed behind you and props his leg against your back. That seems to keep you in place- you lean into the warmth but you don’t try to roll over again.
So. That’s great, except, now he’s stuck. Realistically, he was going to stay anyways. If he was the last person to see you and something awful happened, he’d never forgive himself, and neither would your brothers. So it’s fine, really, that you’re leaning against him, but… you’re warm, and breathing softly, and your hair is strewn all over the pillowcase, and god, he hates the way it all makes him blush.
He can’t do anything about it, especially not now, with the state you’re in. So he just sits and watches you sleep, the way he’s sort of always dreamed about.
Hours later, Nico’s woken from a half asleep state by a loud noise- it’s his cell phone, ringing on the nightstand. He scrambles to pick up, blinking blearily at the screen. 4:53 am, and Jack is calling him. He wouldn’t normally answer, but it’s Jack, and by now he’s probably heard about you, so he swipes to take the call.
“It’s not even 5am, Jack,” he says softly.
“Hischier.” A voice returns- it’s not Jack.
“Quinn.” He replies, carefully.
He keeps his voice low. His gaze flickers down to you. You’re asleep -on your side, thank god- one arm wrapped around his leg. He swallows tightly and carefully brushes a stray piece of hair from your face. You don’t stir.
“It’s not even 5am,” he repeats.
Quinn scoffs. “I know. Woke up to go do some early morning training, and imagine my surprise when I see about ten texts from various people telling me you took my baby sister home with you last night.”
Right. Everybody knows everybody in the NHL. Nico rolls his eyes. You’re older than both Jack and Luke- you’re not a baby. He refrains from saying that, though- knowing it’ll only upset Quinn more. He may sound relatively calm now, but Nico can sense the undercurrent of tension.
“It’s not like that,” Nico says.
“Right. And you’re just whispering for the fun of it, then? Not because you’re afraid to wake her?”
He pinches the bridge of his nose. “She was wasted. I brought her back here to keep an eye on her. Did they tell you about how I nearly punched a guy to get him to leave her alone?”
He hears Quinn falter whatever he was going to say next. Then he speaks up again. “Doesn’t explain why you’re close enough to her right now that you’d need to be whispering.”
“I was worried she was going to choke on her own vomit,” Nico says curtly. “So I stayed up most of the night making sure she stayed on her side.”
“Right, sure, by what- curling up with her?” Quinn sneers.
Nico slumps down against the headboard. “Jesus, Hughes. You trusted me to take care of your brothers. You said that yourself. You can’t trust me with this?”
“It’s a bit different and we both know it,” Quinn says.
Nico figures that’s fair. If it was his sister… he understands. He just wishes Quinn would give him the benefit of the doubt.
“Look, man. Nothing happened. I swear to you, I wouldn’t ever do anything to harm her, alright? We ran into her at a bar, she was wasted and by herself and trying to push some guy away and he wasn’t letting up. So I put a stop to it, and we couldn’t call any of her friends because her phone was dead. And not sure if you’ve noticed, but your brothers are out of town. I didn’t want to leave her alone.”
He hears Quinn sigh. “You just happened to be there to save the day?”
Nico groans, this time a bit too loudly. You shift next to him, and suddenly you’re awake, blinking up at him with soft eyes. His heart catches in his chest. You wrinkle your nose, likely in confusion at the sight of him on the phone at 5am. He mouths your brother’s name, and your confusion only grows. You gesture for the phone.
“Quinn,” you say, sleepily. “It’s 5am. Why the fuck are you calling?”
Nico can’t hear what your brother is saying anymore- a welcome reprieve, really. You roll your eyes and he holds back a laugh. When he meets your gaze, you’re fighting a laugh, too, he thinks.
“So you called because you were checking on me, right?” You ask, blinking up at Nico. “Not to harass my friend, right? Because that would be a rude thing to do at 5am, you know.”
You’re quiet for a few more moments. Then you yawn and roll your eyes again. “Okay. Well. I’m fine. I’m going back to bed. Goodnight.”
You hang up on him. Nico’s torn between laughter and panic, wondering if Quinn’s going to call again. The phone stays silent in your hand, though. He takes it from you, sets it down on the nightstand carefully. Your arm wraps back around his leg, and he tries not to let it make him sigh in relief.
“Sorry about him,” you say, quietly. “He’s like a guard dog. But one of those little yappy ones.”
Nico laughs. “Ankle biter.”
You nod and laugh, too. “Why’d you even answer?”
Nico drags a hand down his face. “He called from Jack’s phone.”
“Sneaky little bitch,” you scoff.
He shrugs. “To be fair, I probably should’ve at least let someone know where you were. If I’d woken up to a message about my sister like the one Quinn probably got…” he scrubs at the hair on his jaw. “Not sure I’d have reacted differently.”
You huff- your warm breath washes over his leg. “You hockey players are a bunch of gossips, you know that?”
He grumbles at that, not even giving it a real response. He slumps down further against the headboard, eyes feeling heavy, head feeling even heavier. You pat your hand against his knee and sigh.
“You should lay down,” you mumble.
He sighs. “Yeah. If you’re feeling okay I can go to the couch. Didn’t want to leave you alone, I was scared you’d throw up.”
You stare up at him. He stares right back. Pretty eyes. God, your brothers would kill him.
“No, like, just- lay down,” you tell him, patting the bed next to you. “It’s your bed.”
His heart does a somersault. His stomach follows suit. He shouldn’t. Jack will punch him, Luke will deliver the final blow, and then Quinn will fly down from Canada to stomp on his grave. But he’s exhausted, and the bed is comfy, and you… you’re there, like he’s always dreamed. He won’t touch you. He’ll just lay down right next to you, barely under the blankets, plenty of space between the two of you in his big bed. It’ll be fine.
…..
You wake up hours later with a raging headache and your head against Nico’s chest. You nearly panic until you remember who he is. Then you worry he’ll think it’s weird, having you pressed against him like this, but you realize his arm is wrapped tightly around your waist. He’s strong. You know that, but it’s different to feel it for yourself, the way the thick muscle presses against your back. His cheek is resting on top of your head, too, and he’s just barely snoring, soft sounds through his lips.
You’d stay right there forever if your head didn’t hurt so bad.
When you try to wiggle free, he holds on tighter, groaning softly. You try to pry his arm off your waist and he grunts this time. When he finally wakes up enough to be somewhat coherent, he doesn’t let go.
“Whatimesit?” He asks groggily, lips brushing against your forehead.
“Dunno,” you admit. “Head hurts. S’there ibuprofen in your cupboard?”
He groans softly and then peels his arm away. Before you can make a move, he rolls out of bed and stumbles towards the bathroom. You watch him go and try to pretend you don’t shiver at the roll of his back muscles beneath his t-shirt. He comes back with a glass of water and pills in his hands.
You fight a laugh at the sight of him, sleep rumpled and groggy, brows furrowed tightly. You push yourself up to sit up, leaning on your left hand and rubbing your eyes sleepily with your right. He hands over the water and the pills. You take them eagerly.
You blink up at him after you down the whole glass and cock your head. “Did I dream that Quinn called?”
Nico snorts and sits down on the edge of the bed. “Nope. That was real life.”
You roll your eyes. “Overprotective asshole.”
Nico laughs at that, eyes slipping closed. “Like I said. If I were him, I’d have had the same reaction.”
You let yourself fall back down to the bed. “Right, like you’d ever…” you cut yourself off with a laugh. “I mean, he and Jack and Luke are always so worried about teammates being into me or something. It’s ridiculous.”
Nico laughs, but it sounds hollow. You lay on the bed and stare at the ceiling. You’re already planning how you’re going to chew Quinn out for this one.
“I don’t blame him,” Nico says, quieter this time. “Just wish he wouldn’t have called so early.”
You close your eyes. “He’s annoying. Why’s he worried? Like… none of you guys have ever shown any interest in me, so. ”
Your lack of dating hockey players is not for lack of trying. There’d been Quinn’s teammates in college, and Jack’s from the other teams, too. You’ve had crushes that you’ve eventually let fizzle out after getting nothing in return. Nico’s the only crush that’s stuck around this long. Because despite the fact that you can barely even call him your friend, sometimes he pulls shit like this- taking you back to his place and staying up late to take care of you, fielding phone calls from your protective older brother. Nico’s a giant human teddy bear. You think at this point it’s gone beyond a crush.
“Why d’you think that is?” Nico asks, breaking you from your train of thought.
“Why do I think what is?” You reply.
You swear you feel his hand brush against your wrist.
“That none of us ever show any interest?” He says.
He’s quiet. Quieter, at least. More tentative. Softer. You pry one eye open and look up at him, and you swear he’s blushing. Hm.
“Because…you’re not- nobody’s interested?” You say, softer than even him.
He tilts his head. Your mouth feels dry.
“You remember the first Devils game you came to?” He asks. You nod, and he continues. “Before the game, in the locker room, Jack mentioned his sister was going to be there, and, well, you know how hockey players are. Couple people made comments about wanting to meet you, asked if you’d be at the afterparty. Jack made it pretty clear you were off limits. And, you know. Guys do that shit all the time, get overprotective over their sisters, and it’s never been, you know, an issue. Half the time I don’t even meet the guys’ family, you know?”
He trails off and scrubs his hand through his hair. You watch him closely.
“But that night, after the game, I was leaving and I saw… this girl. This beautiful girl. And she was wearing a Hughes jersey, and I was…” he laughs and closes his eyes. “I was coming up with all these stupid pick up lines, about how I was better than him, and I was walking towards her, and I swear I looked away for a second and then Jack was there. Hugging you, and glaring at me over your shoulder. I got the message.”
You reach up and pinch the bridge of your nose. “I hate my brothers.”
Nico laughs. “In Luke’s defense…”
“Don’t defend any of them, Luke’s the worst of them, he’s just quiet about it,” you scoff. “He chased my college boyfriend out of my dorm with a hockey stick.”
Nico laughs. You laugh, too, but you shake your head. He nudges his knee against yours. When his thumb brushes against your wrist this time, you open your eyes. That blush is there, soft and rosy on his cheeks.
“So you get it, then,” he says, head tilted as he blinks down at you. His hair is falling over his forehead messily. “Why I’ve never made a move.”
You’re so busy trying to process all the information of the day that you almost miss it. Why I’ve never made a move. It could’ve been a fleeting moment, just a quick crush when he saw you the first time, but something about this tells you it’s not. He presses his thumb to your pulse point on your wrist, and the warmth of his hand on your skin makes you shiver slightly. You stare up at him and chew on your lower lip.
“I think you should ask me about my limits,” you say, quietly. “They’re a lot different than my brothers’, you know.”
The grin on Nico’s face grows wider. “S’that so?”
You nod eagerly. He lets out a low, slow breath, like he’s bracing for impact. Something in your chest aches. He plants a hand next to your head and leans towards you, and your heart leaps in your throat.
“What’re your limits on kissing hockey players?” He asks. His other hand comes up and cups the side of your face. He brushes his thumb against your Cupid’s bow. “Y’know. If the opportunity were to come up.”
You shrug. “Would depend on the player, I suppose.”
He nods in understanding, pursing his lips. “How about… hm. 6’1”, brown hair, brown eyes. Team captain. Nice guy, I guess. Would definitely make sure you got home safe from the bar.”
You reach up and draw a hesitant line on his jaw with your fingertip. “Team captain, huh? I do like a man in charge.”
He nods. You nod back. For a moment, the two of you sit in limbo.
In the end, you’re the one to wrap your arms around his neck and pull yourself up to kiss him. When you do, though, he responds eagerly. He cages you in with both arms, and as you melt for him, he does the same for you. It’s a sweet kiss, one full of hope and excitement. You’re surrounded by him, by his arms and his touch and the smell of him on the sheets. You’ve never been more happy you ran into him at a bar than in that very moment.
…..
You’re back in that same bar from weeks ago, standing under the very same neon light. Except this time, there’s no guy hovering over you, and this time, you and Nico both know the other is going to be there. He’s at the bar, pretending he’s just noticed you, smiling and waving as he orders. You shake your empty cup at him, and he nods.
He wanders over a few minutes later, drinks in hand. He leans against the wall next to you and hands you the cup. The neon light glows bright on his dark hair. You sip your drink and smile up at him. Politely. Friendly. Nothing more. He’s a polite, friendly distance away. There’s space between the two of you.
“If we’re gonna make this believable, you’re going to have to come say hello to the rest of the team,” he says.
You nod. “In a minute.”
Across the bar, one of his teammates is yelling about a game on the screen. For now, you want just a minute with Nico. A moment for just the two of you. One where he’s not your brothers’ team captain, but your boyfriend instead.
The word feels new in your brain, would feel even newer on your lips if you said it. So far, you’ve only tried it out a couple times- when he asked the question, and then after that in the bathroom mirror, a wide grin on your face. You haven’t told anyone else. Nico’s worried about Jack and Luke’s reactions, and the season’s almost done- he wants to wait to tell them afterwards, when the results of a game won’t rest so heavily on how they take the news. It’s been a lot of staying in dates, movie nights at home on his couch, which both of you are partial to anyways. And lots of this, too- seemingly chance meetings at local bars, quick texts from him telling you where he’s headed with his friends and you showing up, purely coincidental to anyone other than him.
Eventually, you follow him through the crowd of people to a secluded corner full of hockey players. You spot your brothers, blissfully unaware, nursing matching beers. Just before everyone catches sight of the two of you, Nico sneaks a hand back and squeezes yours. You smile brightly.
“Look who I found!” Nico calls out.
He moves his grip on your hand to your wrist, raises your arm like you’ve won a fight. You laugh and shake your arm free of his hold. You’re met with cheers from the team, loudest of all from your brothers. You can wait to tell them. For now, the way he smiles at you is more than enough.
…..
“Should we just tell them we know they’re… a thing?” Luke asks.
Jack shakes his head, watching you and Nico. “Nah. Let ‘em sweat. She’ll slip up eventually, or he’ll start to freak out.” He sees Nico reach to grab your hip, then pull back at the last second like he’s been burned. A mix of disgust and amusement passes through him- you’re his sister, after all. “Jesus, dunno why they think they’re fooling anyone.”
Jack’s known since the day he got back and saw you at lunch. You’d been overly happy but basically refused to talk about your impromptu stay at Nico’s. Then, he’d seen Nico at practice, and he’d been much the same. By the time the team had gone out to a bar and you mysteriously happened to show up, he’d had his suspicions and had relayed them to Luke. They’d watched you and Nico leave the bar together one night when you thought nobody was looking.
Luke laughs. “Okay, but, when do we tell Quinn?”
Jack turns to him with wide eyes. “We don’t! D’you want our captain to die?”
Luke directs his gaze back towards you and the aforementioned captain. Jack follows suit and tries not to roll his eyes. The two of you aren’t touching, but the smiles on your faces say it all.
“I mean,” Luke starts quietly. “They’re kind of cute. And we want them to be happy, right?”
“Don’t even start,” Jack says firmly.
He’ll let it go for now, in the interest of finishing out the season on a good note. But after that, all bets are off. Definitely. Probably. Jack’s the one who set the rules, who declared you off limits, and he’ll stick to his word.
No matter how much the two of you together are starting to grow on him.
Part 2: I Know
if you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading! i hope you’ve enjoyed
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cashmoneyyysstuff · 2 months ago
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tomura follows you around everywhere. it’s a bit suffocating but it’s endearing cus it’s him y’know ?
he’s clingy, a bit overprotective and to top it all off he’s a loser with no friends, so he has like—no choice but to be by you all of the time constantly everywhere. his logic, not yours.
but it’s a bit much at times. you’re used to it by now but from an outsiders point of view it could look a little freaky because there is practically no space between you at all. he’s always sorta roaming behind you just looking around while you do your thing, he looks spaced out most of time except when you ask him something and his eyes immediately zip over to answer you.
he’s almost completely pressed to your back, his hands are always fiddling with something on you, your hair, the back of your shirt, your pant pockets. anything and everything in his reach will be pulled and prodded to keep himself busy. he’ll tug at your shirt a little harder to signal he’s bored and will tell you so, whining n telling you to “hurry up.”
“i want to leave, this place stinks.” he mumbles, lips close to your ears, his hair tickles and you shrug your shoulders at the ticklish feeling. you turn to look at his slightly furrowed brows, irritation very present in his features. you boop his nose “be patient, i’m almost done.” you tease. you hear him grumble behind you, going back to tugging at your clothes and wrinkling them “patient, patient. i’ve been plenty damn patient. said you were almost done ten minutes ago..”
if you want to go the kitchen he’s stalking over to where you are, if you leave the room for a few seconds you can’t turn your back for a millisecond before he materializes behind you, it scares you every time and he laughs about making you jump every time. he’s annoyingly sneaky.
this man has absolutely no shame to me, he will absolutely just stay by the door while you pee. like he could be telling you about how one of his teammates fucked up one of his games while you walk around doing your own thing. but then when you get to the bathroom you tell him to wait a sec and when you reach for the door he stops you, looking just as confused as you. “i’m not done.” he says, raising a brow. and no matter how incredulously you stare he is hellbent on finishing his damn story even while you’re sitting on the loo. even has the nerve to go “you done ?” when he finishes lol
loosely based on @moodyvoid s lil post about shigaraki that i want to tattoo onto my skin
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fanfictionismyaddiction · 2 months ago
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When Sweet Turns Sour
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Word count: 1.8k
Pairing: lando norris x girlfriend!reader
Summary: Lando's intense love and jealousy, while initially endearing, gradually strain his relationship as his insecurities begin to overshadow their happiness.
Warnings: jealousy, possessiveness, emotional strain, insecurities, emotional manipulation
________________________________________________________
A Little Jealousy Never Hurt Anyone
You and Lando had been dating for almost a year now, and it was nothing short of amazing. He was everything you ever wanted—funny, caring, and incredibly sweet. Sure, dating a Formula 1 driver came with its own set of challenges, but you knew what you were signing up for when you fell for him.
One thing you didn’t quite expect, however, was just how jealous he could get. It started out as little things—like the time you were chatting with his teammate, Carlos Sainz, at a race weekend. Lando had walked up, wrapping an arm around your waist and pulling you into his side.
“Hey, lovebirds, what are you talking about?” he asked with a smile, though you noticed the way his grip on your waist tightened just a little.
“Just the race,” you replied, not thinking much of it. Carlos had simply been asking about your thoughts on the track, and you’d given your honest opinion. But Lando’s smile didn’t quite reach his eyes.
“Yeah, well, don’t let him bore you with too much car talk,” Lando joked, but the slight edge in his tone didn’t go unnoticed.
You found it endearing at first—how protective he was, how he seemed to care so much about who you talked to and how close you were to others. It made you feel special, like you were his number one priority. But as time went on, the jealousy started to wear on you.
Sweet Turns Sour
It was after a particularly long day at the track that things took a turn. You were at a team event, mingling with the drivers and their partners. Lando was busy chatting with some of the engineers, so you found yourself in a conversation with Daniel Ricciardo, who always had a way of making you laugh.
“Honestly, the way Lando handled that corner today was brilliant,” Daniel said, shaking his head with admiration. “But you should’ve seen his face when he crossed the finish line—priceless.”
You chuckled, picturing Lando’s victorious grin. “He does have a way of making everything look easy.”
As you continued talking, you didn’t notice Lando approaching until he was right beside you. His smile was forced, and there was a certain tension in his posture that you’d come to recognize.
“Hey, mate, mind if I steal my girlfriend back?” Lando’s tone was light, but the underlying message was clear.
Daniel, ever the jokester, raised his hands in mock surrender. “All yours, mate. All yours.”
You felt a little embarrassed as Daniel walked away, sensing the jealousy radiating off Lando. As soon as you were alone, Lando pulled you into a tight embrace, burying his face in your neck. His breath was warm against your skin, but his grip was almost too firm, as if he was trying to remind you that you were his.
“You okay?” you asked, running your fingers through his hair in a soothing motion.
“Yeah, just missed you,” he mumbled, though you could hear the strain in his voice. “I don’t like it when other guys make you laugh like that.”
You smiled, trying to reassure him. “You’re the only one who can really make me laugh, Lando.”
The Overprotective Side
It wasn’t long after the Daniel incident that another side of Lando’s jealousy began to emerge—his overprotectiveness. You were out shopping one afternoon, enjoying the rare downtime together. As you were browsing through clothes in a store, a friendly shop assistant approached you, offering help. He was polite, probably in his mid-twenties, and just doing his job.
But Lando’s eyes narrowed the moment the guy started talking to you. The assistant complimented a dress you were holding, saying it would look great on you. Before you could even respond, Lando stepped forward, placing himself between you and the assistant.
“She doesn’t need any help, thanks,” Lando said curtly, wrapping an arm around your shoulders possessively.
The assistant blinked, taken aback by Lando’s abruptness. “Of course, just let me know if you need anything,” he said before quickly retreating.
“Lando, that was a bit much, don’t you think?” you asked gently once the assistant was out of earshot.
Lando sighed, his expression softening as he looked at you. “I’m sorry. I just… I don’t like the way he was looking at you.”
“He was just being nice,” you pointed out, but Lando’s jaw tightened.
“Maybe. But you’re mine, and I don’t want anyone else thinking they have a chance,” he replied, pressing a kiss to your forehead.
You couldn’t help but smile at how fiercely he wanted to protect you, but a part of you couldn’t shake the feeling that this was more about his insecurities than anything else.
The Social Media Incident
The second time his jealousy flared up was through social media. You had posted a picture on Instagram from a night out with some friends. It was a harmless photo—just you and a couple of friends, including a guy you had known for years. The comments were mostly positive, but one stood out to Lando: the guy friend had commented with a fire emoji and a simple “Looking great!”
Lando saw it before you even had a chance to reply. The next thing you knew, he was in your messages, not angry, but clearly annoyed.
“Who’s that guy?” Lando asked, even though you’d introduced him to your friend several times before.
“Just a friend, Lando. You know him,” you replied, trying to downplay the situation.
“Yeah, but why is he commenting like that on your picture? Doesn’t he know you’re taken?” Lando’s jealousy was evident in his words, though he tried to mask it with a casual tone.
You sighed, feeling a mix of frustration and amusement. “Lando, it’s just a compliment. It doesn’t mean anything.”
“Still, I don’t like it,” he admitted. “I just don’t want anyone getting the wrong idea.”
You reassured him that he had nothing to worry about, but the possessiveness in his voice lingered in your mind.
The Party Dilemma
One evening, you and Lando attended a party hosted by one of his friends. The night was going well until you started chatting with one of the other guests, a charming guy who was also a big F1 fan. He was asking you about what it was like to date Lando, clearly starstruck by the fact that you were with one of his idols.
Lando, who had been across the room, noticed you talking to the guy. You saw him making his way through the crowd, his eyes locked on you. By the time he reached you, he had that familiar tight-lipped smile on his face.
“Hey, everything okay over here?” Lando asked, though it was more of a rhetorical question.
The guy, oblivious to Lando’s mood, nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, man, just asking your girlfriend what it’s like to be with an F1 driver. Must be a crazy life.”
Lando slipped an arm around your waist, pulling you close. “It is, but she handles it like a pro,” he said, but there was a possessive edge to his tone.
The conversation quickly fizzled out, and once the guy left, Lando turned to you, his expression softening.
“Sorry if I came on too strong,” he murmured, his fingers brushing your cheek. “I just hate seeing other guys all over you.”
“They weren’t all over me, Lando,” you gently corrected him, but he just shook his head, pulling you closer.
“To me, it feels like they are,” he whispered, pressing a kiss to your temple.
The Photographer Incident
During one of Lando’s races, you were approached by a photographer who asked if he could take some candid shots of you for a feature about F1 drivers’ partners. You agreed, thinking it would be fun and not really a big deal.
The photographer was friendly, making you laugh as he snapped photos. But Lando, who had just finished a debrief, noticed from a distance. The moment he saw the two of you together, he made a beeline for you, his expression unreadable.
“Mind if I join in?” Lando asked, his tone light but his eyes serious as he slid an arm around your waist, pulling you into his side. The photographer, sensing the tension, quickly wrapped up the session.
As soon as the photographer left, Lando turned to you, his eyes searching yours. “I didn’t like how close he was getting,” he admitted.
“He was just doing his job,” you replied, though you couldn’t help but notice how tightly Lando was holding you.
“Maybe. But I don’t like sharing you,” he said with a small, possessive smile.
You chuckled, trying to brush it off, but the intensity of his words lingered in your mind long after.
The Touchy Subject
The final straw came during a dinner with some friends. One of them, a guy you’d known since childhood, was particularly affectionate—nothing out of the ordinary for someone you’d grown up with. He would playfully nudge you, drape an arm around your shoulder, and joke around like you were siblings.
Lando, however, didn’t see it that way.
Throughout the dinner, you noticed Lando’s grip tightening on his utensils every time your friend got a little too close. His jaw was clenched, and his eyes were locked onto the two of you with an intensity that made you uncomfortable.
At one point, when your friend made a joke and lightly squeezed your shoulder, Lando abruptly stood up, startling everyone at the table.
“I need some air,” he muttered, not even looking at you as he walked out of the restaurant.
You excused yourself and followed him outside, finding him pacing near the entrance. He looked up when he saw you, his expression a mix of anger and frustration.
“Lando, what’s going on?” you asked, genuinely concerned.
“I can’t stand it,” he confessed, running a hand through his hair. “The way he touches you, like he has any right to… It drives me crazy.”
“He’s just a friend, Lando,” you said softly, stepping closer to him. “He’s always been like that. There’s nothing between us.”
“But there could be,” Lando snapped, then immediately regretted his words. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. I just… I hate the thought of losing you to someone else.”
You reached out, cupping his face in your hands. “You’re not going to lose me, Lando. But you need to trust me, trust us.”
He sighed, leaning into your touch. “I do trust you. It’s just… I love you so much, and sometimes it scares me. I don’t want anyone else to have what we have.”
His confession was heartfelt, but it also made you realize just how deep his insecurities ran. You loved Lando, and you knew he loved you just as fiercely. But his jealousy was becoming more than just a quirk—it was starting to overshadow the good moments, making you question where the line between love and possessiveness should be drawn.
As you stood there, holding him close, you couldn’t help but wonder how much longer you could handle the sweet turning sour.
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pitchsidestories · 24 days ago
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for the girls II Kika Nazareth x Reader
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masterlist I word count: 1347
a/n: dear readers, this is for the girls..and for the anon who asked if we'd write another Kika fanfic. 💜❤️
“Chicas, you haven’t. told us about your Portugal trip yet!”, Mapi clicked her tongue disapprovingly.
It was the dinner night after a big game at the team’s favourite restaurant. Far away from the buzzy and touristy La Rambla, in one of the less busy neighbourhoods where you football players could eat and yap in peace. In this minute the candles were lit by the waiters and turned everything into a warm glow.
“True, did you two enjoy it? Were you girls surfing? The water must be cold by now.”, Ellie mused with a dreamy look in her blue eyes.  
“We did. And it was amazing.”, Kika affirmed.
“Yes, we’ll go there again over the Christmas break. The waves were the best I’ve ever ride on.”, you enthused thrilled.
“You two went surfing?!”, Alexia gasped outraged by your recklessness.
“Yeah?”, the Portuguese forward cleared her throat nervously.
“It was super fun, Ale.”, you replied nonchalantly, slightly annoyed by the older Spaniards mothering, for some time her overprotective side always came through when it came to you.
“Can’t you do something less dangerous?”, Alexia sighed.
“We had everything in control.”, you tried to assure the midfielder.
“Still. In the middle of the season.”, she pouted.
“Don’t worry, we didn’t spend too much time on the water anyway.”, Kika intervened, smiling cheekily, holding your hand in hers.
“Kika.”, you exclaimed blushing deeply.
“That’s too much information.”, Mapi chuckled amused.
“Wait, what?!”, Alexia asked shocked.
“Stop acting like a mum.”, the Portuguese laughed.
“You’re lucky I’m not.”, your captain said through clenched teeth.
In your mind you reminisced about your trip to Portugal which felt like ages ago but was only a week prior. How could you explain to Alexia that every day spent with Kika felt as fresh as a summer’s day no matter the actual weather?
“I was faster than you, Kika!”, you grinned triumphantly, your feet had reached the sea water before your teammates.
“You started early!”, she shook her head heavy breathing.
“Lies.”, you countered smiling innocently.
“It’s true.”, the brunette insisted smirking.
“Whatever.”, you shrugged. What you didn’t plan was to get lost into your friends’ brown eyes. They’re so beautiful you thought to yourself.
“You know that friends don’t look at each other like this?”, Kika observed.
“Looking like what?”, you asked biting your lips anxiously. 
“The way you look at me right now.”, the forward replied earnestly.
“I.. sorry.. I think.. I forgot something at the beach.”, you mumbled.
“Y/n..”
“Do you need something as well?”, you turned your head around to look into her eyes.
“No.”, she denied.
You nodded slowly: “Okay.“
“Okay.“, she replied.
There was nothing else to say so you waded out of the water, forcing your heart to stop hammering against your chest.
Kika joined you a bit later, both of you laying on your beach towels and letting the sun dry the water off your skin.
She never mentioned it again and as the day went on, you started to wonder if you had imagined the conversation you had earlier.
You stayed out at the beach to watch the sunset together but once night started to fall, the temperatures dropped and a slight breeze rolled in from the sea. Kika and you found shelter in the van you rented. It was just big enough for the two of you with a twin mattress in the back and a makeshift kitchen where you prepared a quick dinner for the two of you.
Parked a bit away from the actual beach, you had a perfect view at the waves but without heating, the van cooled down as quickly as the outside temperature.
“It’s getting kind of cold… Do you want me to get another blanket?”, you asked Kika who was, like you, sitting on the mattress with a thin blanket wrapped around herself.
“Uhm… sure.“, she nodded.
Wordlessly, you got up and pulled out another blanket.
“Here you go.“
“Come here, we can share this one.“, Kika decided as she unfolded it and gently placed it over both of your legs once you sat back down.
“Thanks. Who thought it would be this cold in our van at night?”, you asked while sucking in a breath.
Kika laughed: “Definitely not me.“
“Me neither. But now we know.“, you joined the laughter, shaking your head about how unprepared you both were.
“We do. Are you still cold?”, Kika asked while her eyes searched your face.
Your grip tightened around the edges of your blanket, a desperate attempt to keep your hands from shivering: “No…“
Kika clearly looked right through your lie. “Move over.“, she demanded.
You did as you were told while the football player moved closer, pulling you into her.
You cheeks started to burn which you chalked up to Kikas body heat.
“Why are you so hot?”, you laughed.
“I’m Portuguese.“, she replied plainly, shrugging.
“Of course.“
“That must be it.“, she grinned.
“Appreciate the heat though.“, you answered, finally laying down. Kika did the same, never letting go of you.
For the shortest moment, you thought you would both fall asleep until you could feel the football player stir close to you. Her chest was so close to yours that you could essentially feel her rapid heartbeat against your ribcage.
“Why are you so nervous? Can’t you sleep?“
“I..no. There’s something else I’d like to do.”, Kika admitted quietly in the dark.
“What’d you like to do?”, you asked her nervously.
“I’d like to kiss you.”, the forward confessed.
“What about the being friends talk from earlier?”, you raised an eyebrow.  
“Well, what about we stop being friends and start dating.”, she suggested boldly.
“You mean like Marta and Caro, Mapi and Ingrid.”, you began listing the couples in the team with your fingers.
“Yes.”
“I like that. So, you didn’t mind when I glanced at you earlier.”, you realized.
“No, not at all.”, Kika insisted.
“I want to kiss you too.”, you smiled sheepishly at her.
“When what are you waiting for.”, the brunette chuckled.
You didn’t need more than this, you left a featherlight kiss on her lips. “Do you want more?”, you gave her a challenging look.
“Please.”, she responded promptly. Now it was Kika who entangled you in a kiss. The Portuguese tasted like never-ending summer; the warmth spread through your whole body chasing the cold away.
“Wait, so you’re together now?”, Keira’s question brought you back to the present evening.
“Jep, we’re.”, Kika confirmed with a proud grin on her lips.
“If you hurt y/n, Kika…”, Alexia warned her.
“Stop, Ale. You’re neither my mami nor my big sister.”, you interrupted the captain annoyed.
“I promise I’ll not hurt her. I couldn’t be happier.”, your girlfriend declared solemnly.
“Good.”, the blonde nodded satisfied.
“You can calm down now.”, you rolled your eyes at her.
“We should order another round of drinks.”, Mapi suggested enthusiastically.
“Sounds like a good idea.” Kika waited until everyone had a newly filled glass in their hands to toast. “Cheers to the power of love and friendship.”
“To another Barca couple.”, the defender from Zaragoza added smirking.
“You look like a proud aunt.”, Ingrid observed smiling.
“I feel like one.”, Mapi acknowledged, resting her head on her girlfriend’s shoulder.
The rest of the evening was a joyful time with teammates who become friends and some of them lovers.
“And that’s a wrap.”, your girlfriend confirmed once she took a mirror selfie which had the whole team in it.
Slowly each of the women went down a different road which would lead them home so by the end of your walk it was only Kika and you walking hand in hand through the streets which were lit by the lamplights.
“That was nice.”, you hummed.
“Agreed, come on time to go home, meu amor.”, she replied. At the end of the road, you both knew that your place was waiting for you.
“I’m coming.”, you told her, almost running now, because you couldn’t wait to be in the four walls you called your home now with the woman you loved.
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its-avalon-08 · 4 months ago
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max, jealous trope, ferrari driver, she is laughing with carlos
grumpy lover boy (mv1)
✦ pairing - max verstappen x female!driver!reader
✦ genre - jealousy, playfulness, fluff
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(i adore this man so much, im dying)
The paddock was alive with energy and excitement as fans and teams buzzed about, preparing for the upcoming race. Max Verstappen stood by Red Bull's garage, his eyes scanning the crowd. He caught sight of his girlfriend, Y/N, across the way at Ferrari's setup, chatting animatedly with her teammates, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.
Max and Y/N had kept their relationship a secret from the public eye, preferring to avoid the added pressure and media scrutiny. It wasn't easy, especially with both of them being high-profile drivers, but they managed to make it work.
As Max watched, Carlos said something that made Y/N laugh—a genuine, hearty laugh that lit up her face. She playfully grabbed Carlos's hand in the midst of her laughter, and Max felt a sharp pang of jealousy.
He clenched his jaw, his mood instantly darkening. Daniel Ricciardo, noticing the change in his friend's demeanor, sidled up to him with a smirk.
As Max continued to watch Y/N laugh with Carlos and Charles, his grumpy demeanor grew more evident. Daniel couldn't resist poking fun at his friend.
"Mate, you're glaring so hard, I'm surprised the Ferrari garage isn't on fire," Daniel said with a chuckle, leaning casually against the wall beside Max.
Max grunted, not taking his eyes off Y/N. "She's just laughing at his joke. It's no big deal."
Daniel raised an eyebrow, a sly smile playing on his lips. "Sure, no big deal. That's why you're standing here looking like someone just stole your lunch."
Max shot him a look. "I'm not… okay, maybe I am a little jealous. But can you blame me?"
Daniel laughed, clapping Max on the back. "Oh, I don't blame you. It's just funny seeing you all whipped. Never thought I'd see the day."
Max rolled his eyes, though he couldn't hide the small, begrudging smile. "Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up."
"Seriously, though," Daniel said, his tone softening a bit. "She really does have you wrapped around her finger, doesn't she?"
Max sighed, his gaze softening as he watched Y/N. "Yeah, she does. And I'm fine with that. Just wish I didn't have to watch her being all friendly with Carlos."
Daniel smirked. "Well, look on the bright side. At least it's Carlos and not someone like… I don't know, Lewis."
Max groaned at the thought. "Don't even joke about that, Dan."
Daniel chuckled, clearly enjoying himself. "Relax, mate. She's yours, and everyone can see it—even if they don't know it."
Max nodded, feeling a bit more reassured. "Thanks, Dan."
"No problem," Daniel said with a wink. "Now, let's get back to work before you burn a hole through Carlos's head with that death stare of yours."
Max finally tore his gaze away from Y/N, shaking his head with a smirk. "Alright, alright. Let's go."
As they walked away, Max couldn't help but glance back one more time, feeling a mix of jealousy and adoration for the girl who had him completely and utterly whipped.
(jumping to carlos and y/n)
Carlos noticed Max's intense glare from across the paddock and shifted uncomfortably. He turned to Y/N with a concerned expression.
"Y/N, did I do something to upset Max?" Carlos asked, his eyes wide with worry.
Y/N followed his gaze and saw Max glaring at them, his arms crossed and his jaw clenched. She laughed softly, shaking her head. "No, you didn't do anything, Carlos. He's just being a bit… overprotective."
Carlos let out a sigh of relief, though he still looked a bit uneasy. "Are you sure? Because he looks like he's ready to come over here and punch me."
Y/N chuckled, giving Carlos a reassuring pat on the arm. "Trust me, it's nothing. Max is just a little jealous, that's all. He'll get over it."
Carlos's worried expression softened into a smile. "You two are really cute together, you know that?"
Y/N blushed slightly, glancing over at Max who was still sulking. "Thanks, Carlos. It's not always easy, but we make it work."
Carlos grinned, shaking his head in amusement. "I don't know how you manage to keep it a secret with how obvious he is sometimes."
Y/N laughed again, the sound light and cheerful. "I guess we just have to be careful. But it's worth it."
Carlos nodded, giving her a supportive smile. "Well, if you ever need any help keeping the secret, you know where to find me."
"Thanks, Carlos. I appreciate it," Y/N said, genuinely grateful for his understanding.
Carlos glanced over at Max once more, then back at Y/N with a mischievous glint in his eye. "Maybe you should go over there and give him a little reassurance. Before he starts plotting my demise."
Y/N laughed, shaking her head. "Yeah, maybe I should."
As Y/N made her way over to Max, Carlos watched with a smile, glad to see his friend happy—even if it did mean occasionally dealing with a very grumpy and jealous Max Verstappen.
(cuteness incoming)
Y/N made her way across the paddock toward Max, her heart warming at the sight of his grumpy expression. She slipped behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her cheek against his back.
"Hey, you," she said softly.
Max stiffened for a moment before relaxing into her embrace. He turned around, his eyes locking onto hers, and without a word, he cupped her face and kissed her passionately. Y/N melted into the kiss, her arms sliding up to wrap around his neck.
When they finally broke apart, Max rested his forehead against hers, his breathing heavy. "You have no idea how much I needed that," he murmured.
Y/N smiled, her fingers tracing soothing patterns on the back of his neck. "Feeling better now?"
Max huffed, his grumpy demeanor still lingering. "A bit. Just… don't like seeing you so close with Carlos."
Y/N chuckled, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips. "You know there's nothing to worry about, right? It's just you and me."
Max sighed, his arms tightening around her. "I know. I just can't help it sometimes."
Y/N pulled back slightly, her eyes filled with affection. She began peppering his face with soft kisses—his cheeks, his nose, his forehead, and finally his lips again. "There, all better?"
Max couldn't help but smile, the grumpiness slowly fading from his features. "Yeah, all better. You always know how to fix me."
She grinned, giving him one last kiss. "That's my job, isn't it? Besides, I like seeing you smile."
Max's smile widened, his eyes sparkling with love. "I love you, Y/N."
"I love you too, Max," she replied, resting her head on his chest. "Now, let's go back to work before Daniel makes even more fun of you."
Max chuckled, his mood considerably lighter. "Alright, but only because you asked so nicely."
Hand in hand, they walked back toward their respective garages, ready to face the rest of the race weekend together, their bond stronger than ever.
537 notes · View notes
bachiras-toaster · 7 months ago
Note
Bf!Rin headcanons? 🤭
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RIN ITOSHI x gn!reader
authors notes. i am IN LOVE with rin so im glad i wrote this instead of my college essays
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╰┈➤ the type of person to keep your relationship strictly private. in fact, it’s because he loves you so much that he wants to keep your relationship private.
╰┈➤ private, not secret.
╰┈➤ it was no surprise to the public when it was discovered that professional footballer, rin itoshi, was dating you, especially since you did have connections to the Itoshi brothers previously anyway.
╰┈➤ from the beginning, the paparazzi pressing on the matter pissed him off. he hated how interviewers would always eventually get to bringing your name up, because it meant that your relationship was starting to be shared with the world.
╰┈➤ but more than that, it was because he had a such a soft spot for you that he couldn’t help but become nervous when people brought you up. and as annoying as the interviewers were, he couldn’t stand to be mad at them when they gave him an excuse to talk about you.
╰┈➤ he’s probably half the reason your relationship wasn’t as private as he’d hoped. he was just such an unintentional blabbermouth.
╰┈➤ when you’re actually with him in public, he tends to get overprotective.
╰┈➤ when you’re in the streets, you need to be holding hands; when you’re at social gatherings, his palm needs to be attached to your hip.
╰┈➤ not just for safety reasons, but he supposed he also needed to constantly remind people that the two of you are together.
╰┈➤ when he realises that he’s getting approached by fans in the street, he’ll subtly hide you behind him so that you’re not pestered, and you’ll watch with a soft smile as rin is forced to take photos and sign autographs.
╰┈➤ despite maintaining a cold facade, he somehow manages to talk do gently when it’s to you.
╰┈➤ if the two of you are at a party he’s clearly uncomfortable being in, he’d slowly scoop your hands into his and plant a gentle kiss on your knuckle before muttering, “it’s getting loud. do you want to leave?”
╰┈➤ honestly, it’s quite impressive how quickly he’s able to switch tones.
╰┈➤ he can go from kindly whispering words of affirmation in your ear to screaming expletives to a random man, threatening to fight him where they stood and ordering him to stop hitting on you.
╰┈➤ rin’s jealousy is actually an unheard of level of rage.
╰┈➤ every time bachira jokes with you, isagi compliments you, or any of his other team members hang out with you one-on-one, it’s like a ticking time bomb in his mind. 
╰┈➤ rin trusts you with all his heart, but his possessiveness is a little louder than his compassion, and he’s rather eat both of his shoes than put you aline in a room with a man that isn’t him.
╰┈➤ he is willing to start the most outrageous scenes over it.
╰┈➤ once, shidou publicly dedicated a shot to you during an important match just to piss rin off, and he went ballistic.
╰┈➤ he had maintained himself on the pitch, but as soon as he reached the locker room, rin was already prepared to pack shidou up and send him to the emergency unit.
╰┈➤ a good fight definitely would have ensued, had he not been stopped by his teammates holding him back.
╰┈➤ plus, you continuously warned him not to fight because you hated seeing him show up to your dates with bruises and marks— his injuries from football were already enough. 
╰┈➤ he hated defying you, but sometimes he just really couldn’t help himself.
╰┈➤ the days where he would literally feel himself freeze before knocking on your apartment door because he knew that his injuries would tell you that he got into another fight were the worst for him.
╰┈➤ because you always looked at him with that certain face of disappointment before simply sighing and letting him in, ready to properly tend to his wounds.
╰┈➤ he’s so gentle when he’s in private with you.
╰┈➤ you could spend hours cradled in his arms, listening to the dulcet mumbles of his voice as he told you about his day.
╰┈➤ when be gets home from a match or training, all he wants to do is cuddle you mindlessly with a tv show in front.
╰┈➤ sometimes he’s mumble about how annoying his teammates were today and how he’s glad he can finally lay down with you.
╰┈➤ to many’s surprise, he’s really the sweetest boyfriend ever.
813 notes · View notes
lizlovestofangirl · 5 months ago
Text
"i happen to love happiness"
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pairing... op81 x norris!reader
now playing... daylight by taylor swift
summary... lando is not happy about the developments between his teammate and his sister
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
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liked by oscarpiastri, alexandeasaintmluex, lilymhe, and others
yourusername girls love monaco, proud of you lan
view comments:
mclaren our favorite sibling duo!
yourusername also your only sibling duo??
landonorris you're going to make me lose my job
user y/n being an icon as always
lilymhe gf 😍😍
yourusername gf 😍😍
user oh to have norris genes
user ikr every day i wake up mad that i dont look like a norris sibling
landonorris thanks for coming, y/n/n
yourusername 🫶
user them still using their childhood nicknames for each other is my favorite thing ever
alexandrasaintmluex mother
yourusername 💍?
charles_leclerc seriously y/n
alex_albon you get used to it 😊
yourusername you guys are just mad i stole your bitchessss
user the day y/n gets pr trained is the day i die
user i'm new to f1, is it a big deal that oscar is in her likes?
user no, lando and oscar are very close so it makes sense that y/n and oscar follow each other and like each other's posts. especially bc y/n is somewhat of an influencer
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liked by carlossainz55, maxverstappen1, landonorris, and others
mclaren a very requested norris siblings dump!
view comments:
landonorris whos that ugly rat next to me in all these photos
yourusername die.
danielricciardo awe look they used to get along
landonorris false, we chased each other with knives
yourusername false, i chased you and you cried
user y/n being the younger sibling and the chaser is my favorite thing ever
oscarpiastri my favorite norris and her annoying older brother
user WOAHHHH OSCAR
user oscar i was not aware of your game
landonorris excuse you?
charles_leclerc scureriaferrari where's mine and arthur's dump 🤨🤨
scureriaferrari our bad, on it
mclaren copycats
user oh how i love admin beef
yourusername's story
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view reply from landonorris
landonorris y/n/n
landonorris what the fuck
landonorris where are you
landonorris who is he
yourusername jesus lando no "i hope it goes well"
landonorris i hope it goes terribly you're too young to dare
yourusername IM 21?!?!
view reply from georgerussell63
georgerussell63 i was asked to check in on you
yourusername everything's going great, thank you george
view reply from alex_albon
alex_albon i was also asked to check in on you
yourusername i promise it's all fine tell lando to calm down
view reply from carlossainz55
carlossainz55 he's sitting in your apartment waiting for you to come home btw
yourusername great.
view reply from lilymhe
lilymhe GIRLS DATE TOMORROW I NEED DETAILS
yourusername 🫡
TWITTER:
landonorris this is my formal request for everyone to go on a manhunt for my sister and this boy (i just gagged while typing that) she is on a date with. she is at a nice italian restaurant in monaco. internet do your thing.
user overprotective brother lando has made his public debut
user lando i have some unfortunate news for you.
landonorris WHAT
user oscar was just spotted at a nice italian restaurant in monaco
landonorris no.
f1wagupdates oscar piastri was just seen with who appears to be lando norris's sister, y/n norris. y/n posted a picture of their meal on her instagram story with the caption "first date, kinda nervous" and tagged monaco as a broad location. what do we think?
view attached image
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user oh my god they're adorable
landonorris i just vomited
danielricciardo oh this is fun
user i cannot wait to see how this unfolds
landonorris oscarpiastri if what i am is hearing is true, count your fucking days.
user a non-pr trained norris strikes again
INSTAGRAM
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liked by oscarpiastri, lilymhe, francisca.cgomez, and others
yourusername i can explain
view comments
landonorris y/n im nauseous
landonorris how could you do this to me
landonorris no point in soft launching i already know you betrayed me
yourusername i will explain if you come to my apartment and KNOCK instead of breaking in
landonorris will HE be there
yourusername no.
yourusername food will be provided
landonorris deal
georgerussell63 ok this is cute
landonorris GEORGE YOU TRAITOR
maxverstappen1 y/n you're going to kill your brother with a heart attack
yourusername good 😊
user THEYRE SO CUTE
user ahhhh y/n in her gf era
user more like wag era!!
fransisca.cgomez im so happy for you 🥹
yourusername ily kiks
lilymhe ❤️
liked by yourusername
charles_leclerc you torturing lando is incredible
yourusername thanks i've had lots of time to train and perfect my abilities
danielricciardo ok but on a real note you deserve this, so glad you're happy
yourusername this is why you're my second favorite driver 🫶
landonorris IVE BEEN DEMOTED TO 3RD?!?
yourusername pls you're 18th
user bye i want to know who y/n has beef with on the grid
oscarpiastri 🫂
liked by yourusername
user THIS IS GETTING REALLL
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liked by yourusername, mclaren, logansargeant, and others
oscarpiastri 🧡
tagged yourusername
view comments
user OH MY GOD ITS HAPPENING ITS OFFICIAL
yourusername ❣️
liked by oscarpiastri
lilymhe this is the cutest thing ive ever seen
alex_albon i tell you im in love with you in your comments??
lilymhe shush alex
landonorris hello.
oscarpiastri hello.
yourusername LADIES, LADIES! THERES ENOUGH OF ME TO GO AROUND
user oh how i love yn
logansargeant OSCAR??? WITH A GIRLFRIEND?? THIS IS UNHEARD OF
oscarpiastri 😐
mclaren so... need another paddock pass for canada?
oscarpiastri yes 😅
landonorris no
user my ynoscar heart cant take this
user THE SUNSET DATE??
user THE AQUARIUM DATE??
landonorris bleh.
TWITTER
landonorris oscar jack piastri i am in your walls
yourusername he was actually just in mine this morning 😊
user Y/N 😭
landonorris OH MY GOD Y/N
landonorris YOU'RE LITERALLY A CHILD YOU SHOULD NOT BE DOING THAT
landonorris ARE YOU AT LEAST BEING SAFE???
f1tea make the replies lando's search history
user how to get my little sister's boyfriend to leave her but not hurt her feelings
user are condoms 100% effective
user oscar piastri social security number
user how long until the average couple breaks up
user should i be happy that my sister is in a relationship
user what to do if you don't get along with your teammate anymore
user oscar piastri mclaren contract end date
user oscar piastri dating history
user oscar piastri location
INSTAGRAM
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liked by carlossainz55, maxverstappen1, yourusername, and others
landonorris look at what i have to deal with. i hate happiness.
tagged yourusername, oscarpiastri
view comments
yourusername awe lando this is probably the sweetest thing you've ever done in response to my relationship
landonorris stfu i'll delete this
user norris sibling bond has not been broken
user WAR IS OVER (??)
maxverstappen1 i see some of the convincing worked
landonorris don't flatter yourself
maxverstappen1 i actually take full credit for this
georgerussell63 hey it was a group effort
alex_albon ^
charles_leclerc ^
carlossainz55 ^
danielricciardo ^
logansargeant ^
lewishamilton ^
oscarpiastri am i allowed back at your house or no
landonorris you may come if you feel so inclined
zbrownceo see lando supporting your family is good for you
landonorris meh 2/10 experience
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liked by oscarpiastri, kellypiquet, alexandrasaintmluex, and others
yourusername i happen to love happiness ❣️
tagged oscarpiastri
view comments
lilymhe AWEEEEEEEE
liked by yourusername
iamrebeccad this is precious
liked by yourusername
logansargeans he's giggling and kicking his feet rn
oscarpiastri am not
georgerussell63 are too
alex_albon are too
alexandeasaintmluex my favorite ❤️
yourusername i love u
user YNOSCAR HAS MY ENTIRE HEART
user how can they be so cute
francesca.cgomez y/n/n and her boy 🥹
liked by yourusername
oscarpiastri you're my favorite person
yourusername and you're mine
landonorris gag
yourusername FUCK OFF LANDO
landonorris i am still nauseous but this is growing on me
yourusername jesus finally
996 notes · View notes
girlgenius1111 · 10 months ago
Text
adrenaline junkie
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r loves to do dangerous things, relishing in the thrill, the rush of ecstasy that rushes through her. until her overprotective teammates find out about some of her hobbies. and then others find out. it doesn't go great.
disclaimer- as has been established, i do not have BDE, so i haven't ever ridden a motorcycle. or done like most of the things r does in this.
At first, it was only small things that the girls noticed. How you would climb up on stuff and jump off, prompting intense scoldings from your captains and the coaches. If this was any indication as to how they'd act if they learned about your... more intense hobbies, you were pretty determined not to let them find out.
There were different rules for professional athletes than people who's jobs didn't rely on their ability to walk. While it wasn't in your contract, you weren't supposed to do anything physically dangerous. No motorcycles, no skydiving, no cliff jumping, no zip lining, no swimming with sharks. It was all very discouraged.
You were an adult, though, a whole entire individual who could safely decide to do dangerous things for fun. Your teammates still thought of you as a kid, Alexia and Lucy especially. And sure, you were young, but completely capable of making rational decisions for yourself.
You'd had a couple close calls; as big of a city Barcelona was, your teammates all lived near you, and it only made sense that it was only a matter of time before you were caught. Your motorcycle was parked in the building's parking lot, but none of your teammates knew that it was yours when they came over. At least, not at first.
-----
You'd decided to use your bike one morning to go grab coffee. The place was too far to walk, but it was a nice day, and you wanted to enjoy the fresh air. It was a few days into the holiday break, so you knew that a lot of your teammates would be out of Barcelona, at home with their families. This is why you didn't worry about going to the coffee shop that a lot of your teammates frequented. Which would turn out to be a mistake.
You'd had to circle the block the coffee shop was on before you could get a spot right in front. You pulled in, turning the engine off and taking off your helmet, leaving your jacket on. When you turned your attention to the coffee shop, or rather the little tables outside of it, you froze.
There, at one of the little tables with their coffees, sat Ingrid and Frido, jaws practically on the floor as they stared at you. Deciding to play it cool, hoping that if you acted like you hadn't done anything wrong, they'd be alright about it, you walked over to their table.
"Hey guys! I didn't know either of you were still in town." Ingrid was supposed to take Mapi with her to Norway, (Mapi had been complaining about the upcoming cold weather for weeks, but every time she even mentioned spending Christmas with Ingrid's family, she got this disgusting, love sick look on her face). Frido was also supposed to head home to Sweden.
Their only response was to gawk at you, stunned into silence.
"Guys?" You said, playfully waving a hand in front of their faces. This seemed to bring them out of their temporary stress-induced coma. Ingrid stood up, almost knocking the whole table over in the process.
"Are you CRAZY?" She shouted, hands flapping in the air as she spoke, gesturing wildly. Frido's mouth was opening and closing, as if she had so many things to yell, she couldn't settle on one.
"About...?" You said, looking between her and Frido, pretending that you didn't know very well what they were upset about.
"YOU KNOW WHAT ABOUT!" Ingrid yelled, pointing a finger insistently behind you.
"Ingrid, you're kind of making a scene." You mumbled, looking out of the corner of your eye at the pedestrians nearby staring at the Norwegian. She only scoffed in response, hands on her hips, waiting for you to explain yourself.
"You know who is going to make a scene? Alexia, when she finds out her perfect, precious, protégée rides motorcycles in her free time." Frido said finally. Your cool demeanor vanished.
"No, no, Frido you cannot tell her, she would kill me. Kill me dead. And if she didn't Lucy would. Actually, I'm pretty sure half of the team would kill me. Besides Pina. And Mapi."
Ingrid lets out an indignant noise. "Sell the motorcycle and we won't tell."
"You want me... to sell it? Come on, guys, it's not even that dangerous." You try, faltering when both girls rise to their feet again.
"NOT THAT DANGEROUS?" They shout together, and you throw your hands in the air, cutting them off before their lecture can really begin.
"Alright, alright, I'll sell it. You guys are boring. And you better not tell anyone about this. No one. Not even Mapi." You said, making them promise they wouldn't speak a word of it.
They insisted on driving home with you, following your bike in Ingrid's car. They honked whenever anyone came even close to you, and every time you caught a glimpse of them through their windows, Frido was staring at you like a cop tailing a murder suspect. At one point, you were going maybe 5 over the speed limit, and Frido stuck her head out the window, instructing you to slow down immediately.
If it wasn't so incredibly annoying, it probably would have been funny.
You parked the bike elsewhere, now, in case either of the Nordic girls decided to check and make sure the motorcycle was really gone.
-----
Mapi must have cracked Ingrid, you're sure of it. And you knew, too, that she only told Alexia on you because she was jealous that you had a motorcycle and she didn't. Of course, Ingrid thought you'd gotten rid of it. You hadn't. And Alexia, being Alexia, was suspicious enough to figure out that you still owned the motorcycle. She'd come over, accompanied by Lucy and Irene, completely unannounced. You'd let her in, somewhat confused. She snooped around without telling you what she was looking for, before triumphantly holding up the keys to your bike. They were hanging on the hook where they always were, but no one had ever thought to pay attention to them before.
Alexia yelled at you like she'd never yelled before, about the dangers of riding a motorcycle, about lying to her, about not listening when the older girls had tried to keep you safe. She was going on and on, and while Irene and Lucy had started off looking like they agreed with her, they were also definitely over the lecture after a few minutes.
You were in hot water with Alexia as soon as the words left your mouth; you weren't stupid, you knew how she would react to what you had just said, but you had always been hotheaded and her hovering and nagging had gotten to you today.
"You don't need to know about everything in my life, Alexia! I've gone skydiving, and I haven't died. I swam with sharks, and didn't die. Cliff jumping? Zip lining? Bungee jumping? Drag racing? I have done all of that, all since I've been with this team, and I am completely fine. You aren't my mother, and I don't need you to act like you are. I don't need your opinion on everything I do, I don't need you watching my every move. I can do what I want." You snapped. Alexia took a step back from where she'd been standing, a look of hurt flashing across her face.
"Y/n, you're way out of line," Lucy said, looking angry again. Irene nodded her head in agreement.
"No, no. She's right. I'm not her mother. She can do what she wants." Alexia said softly. She dropped the keys onto the counter, and walked out your door without another word.
You were flooded with guilt. Alexia had been more of a parent figure than anyone else in your life had ever bothered to be. You were grateful for it, you really were. She was part of the reason you were the person you were today, having spent the last of your teenage years on the team with her. She'd always watched out for you, always took the time to make sure you were okay. She'd expressed to you, before, her worry that she was overstepping, doing more than you wanted her to do. You'd thrown that right back in her face.
"You need to apologize. That wasn't fair of you." Irene said coldly.
"I just-"
"-No. You and I both know everything that Alexia has done for you, gone out of her way to do for you. She loves and cares about you, obviously you doing stupid and dangerous things is going to bother her." Irene's voice was deadly serious, arms crossed over her chest as she stared you down.
"When you moved here from England, do you know that Alexia called Leah, and talked to her for hours trying to get to know you, and make the transition as easy as possible?" Lucy cut in.
"When you got that concussion last season and you were in the hospital, she sat awake, all night, next to your bed, too worried to rest." Irene continued.
"She has an England shirt with your name on it that she wears to watch you play, did you know that? No one is allowed to see her in it, but she doesn't miss any of your games for England. Not one."
"Your first Christmas here, she went all out with Christmas decorations. You were living with her then, and she wanted the day to be special, even if it wasn't the way she normally did it."
They were switching off, seemingly having endless examples of all the things Alexia had done for you. You were blinking, hard, memories of how easy Alexia had made everything for you flashing through your mind. Lucy spoke more gently.
"You were 16 when you got here, y/n. She has done more for you than anyone. You're her kid whether you like it or not. It doesn't matter that you're 19 now, it doesn't matter that you don't live with her anymore."
"She deserves better than you lying to her about your dangerous hobbies, and she deserves better than how you just treated her. Fix it." Irene finished, tone still just as cold as it had been. She was, herself, rather protective of Alexia, you knew. Her reaction was completely warranted, you knew that too.
Irene turned then too, walking out your door and shutting it behind her. Only Lucy remained, staring at you critically.
"I didn't mean to hurt her feelings." You said weakly.
"I know. You did, though."
"I don't know why I said any of that, I was just annoyed."
"You're young, it's a young person thing to not think before you speak. You do it all the time, normally it doesn't end as poorly as this did." Lucy tried to joke, hating the sad frown on your face, even if you probably deserved it. You just shook your head, looking up at her as a single tear fell down your cheek.
"What do I do, Luce?"
"Give it a couple hours, and then go apologize. And sell the damn motorcycle. Or I'll remove the engine or something." At this, you did smile, if only weakly. "C'mere," she said gruffly, pulling you into a tight hug. "It'll be fine, kid. Alexia would forgive you for anything."
You hoped she was right.
-----
You stood at Alexia's door, about a half hour later. You'd meant to wait as long as Lucy had said, but you couldn't do it. You were fidgeting with your fingers as you waited for her to answer, not really sure what would greet you.
You'd seen Alexia mad, obviously. And you'd seen her sad, though less often. But you'd never seen her sad because of something you'd done. It made you feel sick, that you'd repaid her years of kindness with rude comments that completely disregarded how much she had done for you, because you were slightly annoyed with her behavior. If she was sad, you weren't sure how you could fix it.
When she answered the door, you were stunned, stunned, to see Alexia's eyes slightly red and puffy, like she'd been crying.
"Hola pequeña," she said roughly, wiping at her face as if to rid it of the evidence as to how upset she was.
"Can I come in?" You asked.
"Of course," she said, stepping to the side immediately to let you in. She led you to the living room, and you both took seats on the couch. The Alexia sitting next to you was not one you were used to seeing; you could tell how hurt she was by what you said. You could also tell she was trying to pretend she wasn't hurt, whether because she didn't want to make you feel bad, or because she was embarrassed at the obvious and uncharacteristic display of emotion. You chewed on your lip for a minute, trying to figure out how to apologize.
"Ale, I'm so sorry," you began.
"It's fine," she said, brushing your apology off. She tried to smile at you, but it was weak, and it didn't reach her eyes. It was going to be hard for you to get out what you needed to say, you knew. You weren't good at expressing your emotions, and you'd never really admitted to Alexia what an important role she had played in your life. You tried to show her through actions, but your words earlier had undone anything you'd accomplished in terms of letting her know how much you appreciated her.
"No, it's not fine. I was completely unfair to you. I didn't mean what I said, not at all. I... you've been... for me..." You trailed off, words getting jumbled. "I don't know why this is so hard for me to say."
"It's alright, pequeña, I get it," Alexia said, and she did sound less upset, like she knew what you were trying to say.
"I'm not used to having people in my life that care. I mean, I am now, because I have you and the team, but it still surprises me sometimes when I do something, and people... people care about what happens to me. You've always cared, though. Even when I was an angsty 16 year old with an attitude problem, and I didn't want you to care, you did anyway."
You take a big breath, trying to steady your voice. "You've been more of a parent to me than anyone. I value your opinion, I really appreciate that you care enough to be mad at me when I do something stupid. I'm sorry I said otherwise, because that wasn't true. I was just frustrated, but you deserve better than that. I'm really sorry about what I said, and I'm sorry that I don't express how much I appreciate everything you've done for me."
You take a peak at Alexia once you've finished talking, and find her looking out the window, jaw set tightly. At first, you think she's upset about something that you said. You see her lip wobble slightly, though, before she bites down on it, and realize what's actually going on. Your captain schools her features, before turning to you.
"Thank you for apologizing. I... I was hurt by what you said. I can't help but worry about you, and I know I probably go overboard with it sometimes, but I look at you and see the scared 16 year old you were when you got here, and all I want to do is protect you."
Alexia shuffled closer to you on the couch. "And I know you appreciate me, pequeña. You might not say it, but you show it. You don't need to thank me for caring about you, though. You shouldn't ever feel like you have to thank anyone for that. You deserve love, pequeña, I hope you know that."
You fall somewhat unsteadily into her arms, which wrap around you in a comforting embrace. You blink your tears away, wondering how your apology to Alexia turned into her comforting you, but that was the magic of Alexia Putellas.
"Y/n?” She says, chin resting on top of your head.
"Yeah?"
"Did you really do all those things you said you did?" She sounds slightly ill at the idea, and you wince, wishing you hadn't overshared all of those details.
"Yeah," you answer meekly.
"Dios mio," she mumbles.
"I'll sell the motorcycle," you say placatingly. Alexia lets out a short laugh at that, pulling back from you to look you in the eye.
"I know you will. You aren't ever riding that thing again."
"Well..." You said, unable to stop yourself from glancing towards where you had parked said motorcycle.
"You did not... drive it here... to apologize to me..." Alexia choked out, baffled.
"I did," she groans in exasperation. "But only because I'm taking it back to the dealership right after this. I called, they're gonna buy it back off me." You smile sheepishly at her.
She glares at you. "You better be telling the truth."
"I am, Ale, I promise." You rise, heading back towards the door.
"Good. Off you go, then. Get rid of that deathtrap. And wear your helmet. And drive under the speed limit. And stick to side streets, not busy ones. And-"
"-Alexia, I've been riding it for a year, I'll be fine." You say, fighting the urge to roll your eyes. The blonde looks genuinely anxious at the idea of you driving off on it. "I promise, the dealership isn't far from here, and I'll text you once I'm back home."
She nods, looking at the motorcycle parked outside with an expression full of disdain. "Drive safe," she says finally, and you promise that you will.
-----
You did drive safe. It wasn't your fault that someone ran a red light, or that it just happened to occur right as you were in the middle of the intersection. It wasn't your fault that the car practically t-boned you, the last minute braking doing very little to ease the impact. It wasn't your fault that you were thrown off the bike, sliding and rolling painfully along the pavement until you came to a stop several feet away.
It wasn't your fault.
Still, as you looked up at the sky, feeling yourself begin to lose consciousness, you knew that the fact that it wasn't your fault would not get you out of trouble with Alexia. She couldn't kill you if you were already dead, though, you thought. That was horrifying, and you jerked your eyes back open, trying to stay awake. It was no use, though, and your eyes closed against your will, head rolling weakly to the side on the concrete as spots flooded your vision, until everything around you was dark and quiet.
-----
HA.
part 2 tomorrow :)
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